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The Boys of Crown Heights

by 08/08/2021
Neighborhood: Crown Heights

Dr. Schpahl looked like a Nazi out of central casting. A thin mensur crawled down his right cheek, across his pock-marked face, to below his mouth. He spoke in clipped, accented barks, most of which were expressions of severe disappointment. That he was a Hebrew teacher and not a camp commandant may have been a […]

Mel Allen, Dads and Baseball

by 06/19/2021
Neighborhood: Bronx, Yankee Stadium

My ear remembers that voice, even as my hearing has grown dim. Mel Allen died 25 years ago, and time keeps on marching to the cadence of going, going, gone. But this isn’t meant to be morose. Mel passed away on a Father’s Day. Here we are again on that commemorative third Sunday in June about to […]

Yankee Stadium’s Special Dirt

by 05/30/2021
Neighborhood: Bronx

In 1992 our middle school band was chosen to perform at Yankee Stadium on Opening Day. Not the national anthem, just a few songs from our repertoire. The performance was slotted for about two and a half hours before game time. When we arrived there was hardly anyone in the stands. We lined up in […]

World Series

by 04/07/2019
Neighborhood: Flushing, Shea Stadium, Woodside

When I was thirteen years old and in the seventh grade, I loved to go to Shea Stadium, home of the New York Mets.  I loved baseball and would sneak into the ball park all the time. When the Mets were on road trips, I practically lived there. It was my stadium. I would sit […]

Good Eye

by 02/20/2015
Neighborhood: Uncategorized

It’s the middle of the season and my son won’t swing at the ball.   Jesse is seven and this is his third year playing league baseball.  For the entire season he hasn’t swung the bat.  Since the pitchers on the other teams have little or no control, he is almost always assured of getting a […]

Spring Training

by 08/02/2011
Neighborhood: Westchester

I spent a few days last week in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and while the beach season is still some weeks away, something beyond the college Spring Break assault is on the front-burner for many Floridians: Major League Baseball’s spring training. It’s on TV, in the newspapers, and I overheard hotel guests at breakfast talking about […]

Number 89

by 04/06/2010
Neighborhood: Staten Island

Walking toward the Staten Island Ferry on my way to work, I noticed a boat departing, when it should have been arriving. Being in the exact spot it would normally be, but headed in the wrong direction, it was, at first, disorienting. I checked my watch: 2:53. “This is not good,” I thought. Making my […]