tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18105492.post5784218252867896688..comments2023-03-17T07:18:49.868-04:00Comments on Issues & Views - The Blog: The long-dead Brooklyn Dodgers still haunt New YorkElizabeth Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06957503056880341197noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18105492.post-88826480401276958522010-09-29T17:55:13.838-04:002010-09-29T17:55:13.838-04:00Jeff Kallman wrote:
... but then I'm even les...Jeff Kallman wrote:<br /><i> ... but then I'm even less thrilled with the name. Surely there should have been some thought given to naming the park Stengel Field . . . ?</i><br /><br />I am in complete agreement here. In fact, I think it's appalling that every athletic field is not named for a hard working player or manager. It seems unbelievable that some corporation overrides in importance the actual labor of the athletes themselves, without whom there would be no game. There's plenty of space inside and outside the stadium to sing the praises of the corporate funder/owner. You would think that, out of respect, these companies would gladly commemorate some outstanding player -- and there are plenty of them. <br /><br />Actually, I wish there was a movement afoot to have the new stadium, that they have the nerve to call "Yankee Stadium," given its rightful name, that is, "Steinbrenner Stadium." And the House that Ruth Built would be just a memory of the past, as with a great many long-gone monuments. I'd rather see it respected that way. Did you see my post: <br /><a href="http://issuesviews.blogspot.com/2010/07/georges-new-edifice.html" rel="nofollow">George's new edifice</a><br /><br /><i> ... wouldn't be too hard on Citi Field's deriving its design from Ebbets Field. Remember---the Original Mets (I'm old enough to have seen them live and in person) began their lives in the Polo Grounds. Perhaps their grafting the colours of the Dodgers and the Giants had everything to do with honouring New York's National League past</i><br /><br />I love this idea. I think the two ancestors of the Mets (Giants and Dodgers) should certainly be memorialized, and I love the use of the two colors -- one from each club -- on the Mets' uniforms. I thought that was a classy idea, and actually found it touching. And I like very much the idea of savoring the spirit of Ebbets Field and the Polo Grounds. I didn't mean to give the impression that the past should not be celebrated at all. They just should not have "disappeared" the Mets. <br /><br />The over-stressed, pandering, condescending Robinson nonsense has nothing to do with this sensible approach to the past. To me, it's become something of a psychosis. I am sick of it! And next season it will start all over again -- with everybody forced/coerced to wear his number -- among other idiocies throughout the season.<br /><br />What were Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, et. al? Chopped liver?<br /><br /><i>[Note to readers: Click on Jeff Kallman's name in his post above to discover, as I just did, his two wonderful nostalgic blogs about sports and radio.]</i>Elizabeth Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06957503056880341197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18105492.post-28338551764288956412010-09-28T17:57:00.178-04:002010-09-28T17:57:00.178-04:00File this under better late than never---I hadn...File this under better late than never---I hadn't seen your splendid essay until today, oddly enough. I'm not thrilled about the Citi Field rotunda being that big a monument to a player who was never even close to being a Met . . . but then I'm even less thrilled with the name. Surely there should have been some thought given to naming the park Stengel Field . . . ?<br /><br />p.s. GreekGeek: I once lived in Orange County. Angel Stadium isn't quite sixty miles from Los Angeles. (I've gone to games in both Angel Stadium and Dodger Stadium. It only <i>seems</i> like a sixty mile difference because of the chronic traffic jams in southern California!) The Angels were <i>born</i> the Los Angeles Angels; if they were so ashamed of their past they'd have remained the <i>Anaheim</i> Angels, under which name they won the franchise's first World Series rings.<br /><br />I wouldn't be too hard on Citi Field's deriving its design from Ebbets Field. Remember---the Original Mets (I'm old enough to have seen them live and in person) began their lives in the Polo Grounds. Perhaps their grafting the colours of the Dodgers <i>and</i> the Giants had everything to do with honouring New York's National League past and, at least, honouring the team in whose former home they were playing their home games while waiting for Shea Stadium (which sat on the site Robert Moses tried to jam down Walter O'Malley's throat) to be finished.Jeff Kallmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00993306002655762270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18105492.post-31342136882666689402009-05-06T04:04:00.000-04:002009-05-06T04:04:00.000-04:00Meanwhile modern Dodgers fans, schooled by Vin Scu...Meanwhile modern Dodgers fans, schooled by Vin Scully who was calling the games Jackie played in and still tells us about the Brooklyn Dodgers (and Jackie) in our nightly broadcasts, are mystified and miffed.<br /><br />Commissioner Bud Selig said on this year's Jackie Robinson Day how nice it was that there was finally a "fitting" place to honor Jackie Robinson, since, you know, Dodger Stadium isn't the place. No, he did not play here... except while growing up in Pasadena, attending UCLA, and meeting and marrying Rachel RObinson. Yes, Jackie Robinson transcends teams and stands for more than the Dodgers.<br /><br />But he was and remains a Dodger, not a Met. Why are they pretending to be the Dodgers?!<br /><br />I suppose the crurent Dodgers should be flattered. The Anaheim Angels are so ashamed of their own past that they've affixed Los Angeles' name to their team, although they play sixty miles away in Orange (not Los Angeles) County. The Mets are so ashamed of their own past that they've rebuilt Ebbets Field, Disneyland-style, in an effort to borrow glory by osmosis.<br /><br />The Mets have actually been doing this since they began -- claiming Dodger history and getting it wrong! Their uniforms fuse Dodger blue and Giant orange. That is the one color barrier Jackie refused to break -- he retired rather than be traded to the Dodgers' arch-rival. Every time a Dodgers or Giants fan sees a Mets uniform, we are reminded that the Mets have coopted someone else's history without understanding a thing about it.<br /> <br />So, I suppose this is more of same, and like the ghastly mistake of combining blue and orange, after a while people will stop noticing the emperor not only has no clothes, but his underwear is on inside out.<br /><br />Still, I hope the Mets fans keep clamoring for their own team to be recognized. Despite the silly uniforms, I think they've achieved a <I>few</I> things in the last 50 years.Greekgeekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04139874200146511931noreply@blogger.com