To Absent Friends - Brooks Robinson

Baseball Hall of Famer and Baltimore Orioles all-time great  Brooks Robinson died earlier this week at the age of 86.  As I grew up and followed baseball in the 1960's, it was accepted fact that Brooks Robinson was the best, the VERY best, third baseman in all of baseball.  Of course growing up in a National League city in a time when there was no interleague play and baseball games from all over were not available on multiple televised platforms (did the concept of "multiple televised platforms" even exist in the 1960's?), I only got to see Robinson play in the All-Star game every year, so you had to take people's word for it that he was the best at his craft.

Like a lot of people, I suppose that the first time I ever REALLY got to see Brooks Robinson over an extended period of time was in the 1970 World Series, won by the Orioles over the Reds in five games.  Brooks hit .429 with 2 HR and 6 RBI in that series, but it was his play at the hot corner that really earned him Series MVP honors.  The plays that he made time after time in that series were beyond my ability to describe.  Go to YouTube and look them up, kids.  They still make my jaw drop fifty-three years later.

Check out the lead sentence on his Hall of Fame plaque: "Established modern standard of excellence for third baseman."  Yep.

Robinson played for 23 seasons, all with the Orioles.  He was an eighteen time all-star, a sixteen time Gold Glove winner, an American League MVP (1964) and a World Series MVP (1970).  His Orioles played in four Fall Classics, winning two of them. In the O's losing Series against the Pirates in 1971, Robinson hit .318.  As one of the Pirates heroes of that Series, Steve Blass, noted upon his passing "It was an honor to compete against him."

Yet in reading his obituaries and hearing the appreciations for him, Robinson was far more than just a great ball player in Baltimore.   He was a sports hero, a vital member of the community - he remained in Baltimore after his career ended - and just an all around Good Guy, and that is the guy who'll be missed in Baltimore far more than the ball player.  It made me think of the outpourings of tributes that were bestowed upon Franco Harris here in Pittsburgh upon his death last year.

The best story I read was THIS ONE from Washington Post sports writer Dave Shenin, which talks about, among other things, just how many people named "Brooks" live in the Baltimore area.  "In New York, they name candy bars after you", the article posits, "in Baltimore, we name our children after you."   It also includes this great story that tells you much about the man:

Letters addressed to Robinson would frequently arrive at Memorial Stadium, trumpeting the arrival of another newborn Brooks, and Robinson would send an autographed picture to each return address, invariably inscribed: “Brooks, I’m honored you have my name. I hope to say hello to you some day.”

RIP Brooks Robinson

 

Football Weekend in Review

Well, it was quite a football weekend here in The Burgh.  

First, Pitt lost to Cincinnati, 27-21.  It was a game that I am sure most Pitt fans had marked for the "W" column at the outset of the season, so this had to be a shocker.  Talking to some folks who were at the game, I am told that Pitt did not look all that strong, and that this could be a long season for the Panthers, and that one particular someone that I know who put fifty bucks on the Panthers to go OVER 6.5 wins is now figuring that he's not going to see any return on that bet.

I missed the Pitt game myself because Linda and I toddled on out to Moon Township to see the Robert Morris Colonials take on the Red Flash of St. Francis University beneath a gorgeous late summer sky at Joe Walton Stadium.

See what I mean about that sky?

For our effort, we got to see RMU break a 13 game losing streak, one that extended back to November 2021, by defeating SFU 31-21.

It was a most entertaining and satisfying game, and sent us home happy, and it gave us a taste of how totally awesome it was going to be the next day, when the Steelers took on the San Francisco 49'ers in what was one of the most highly optimistic and awaited season openers in years, but who would have guessed then that the highlight of the Pittsburgh football weekend would be that win by Robert Morris?

Well, by now we all know by now how THAT turned out.  The Niners 30-7 victory was a thorough and total and complete ass-kicking of the Steelers.  The twenty-three point deficit wasn't an accurate depiction of how completely outclassed the Steelers were yesterday.  It was much, much worse than that.   In point of fact, I cannot think of a single positive thing to say about the performance of Rooney U yesterday.  Plain and simple, they stunk up the joint. On the bright side, the 49er beat down of the Steelers wasn't the worst loss of the day in the NFL.  That prize goes to the New York Football Giants, 40-0 losers to the Dallas Cowboys.

So let's move on.  

Next up are the Cleve Brownies next Monday night.  The Browns wiped out the Bengals 24-3 yesterday, so nobody at Acrisure Stadium better be taking them lightly.  It behooves the Steelers to avoid another disaster like the one we saw yesterday.

I never did get around to doing my Steelers Preview for 2023 over the weekend.  In that preview, I was going to say that the Steelers would win 11 games, make the playoffs, and win at least one playoff game.  I will stand by those predictions.  I wasn't going to make a Super Bowl prediction, but based on what I saw yesterday, it won't surprise me to see San Francisco playing in that game come February.  They're really good.

Oh, and if you weren't looking, the Deion Sanders Story continued with the Buffaloes putting a 36-14 beatdown on Nebraska on Saturday.  The Legend of Coach Prime continues.

Prime's Time

Week 1 of the college football season got off with a bang this past weekend, and there is still one game left for Labor Day night tonight, but who wants to see Dabo Swinney?  I'm taking a pass and going to see the Pirates and Brewers at PNC Park.

From the local standpoint....

• Pitt paid off a cupcake and walloped Wofford.  We'll know more about the Panthers after they play a real D-I school next week, Cincinnati.
• Robert Morris was a cupcake  that got paid off and was walloped by Air Force.
• Penn State unveiled what could be a star QB in Drew Allar, kicked WVU's ass, and scored a TD with :06 remaining to turn a 31-15 route into a 38-15 route.  This pleased those who bet PSU and the OVER, and it reinforced a pattern of behavior of questionable sportsmanship from Lions coach James Franklin.
• In that game, when WVU had a chance to close the gap, Mountaineer  head coach Neal Brown called for a trick play on fourth and short yardage that had the second string QB throwing a pass to the first string QB.  The play blew up in their faces like a cheap exploding cigar.  The question in Morgantown now becomes will Brown be fired at the end of the season or during WVU's bye week in mid-season.

All the other big names played this weekend - Alabama, Ohio State, USC, Michigan et al, but the real story, the only story worth talking about was the debut of Deion Sanders - COACH PRIME - as the new HC at the University of Colorado, and the Buffs stunning 45-42 upset over heavily favored TCU, a team that we last saw playing in the College Football Playoff Championship Game last January.

If you've followed the story in the off season, you know the details:  Sanders left HBCU  Jackson State to take over the 1-11 Buffaloes, sent all but ten players from last year's Colorado team packing, and brought in over eighty new players from the transfer portal, one of whom, Shedeur Sanders, his son, he installed immediately at quarterback.  Young Sanders threw for over 500 yards and four touchdowns, and had four different receivers gain over 100 yards in reception yardage.  It was about as entertaining as college football gets.

For all of the hype and bombast that Deion brought with him to Boulder, most experts said that if Colorado manages to win four or five games this season, that was about all that could be expected.  They looked better than that on Saturday, but that defense did give up 42 points as well, so we'll see. One thing for certain, though, is that Coach Prime will make the Buffs Must See TV this fall, at least through the early weeks of the season.

To Absent Friends - Jimmy Buffett

Jimmy Buffett

1946 - 2023

Singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett passed away two days ago at the age of 76, and I mourn his passing.  No, I was not a Parrothead.  Never attended one of his concerts, and I think, but am not certain, that I might have purchased a "greatest hits" CD of his which I may or may not still own, but that is the extent of it.

Here is why I am grateful to Jimmy Buffett.  I love Hilton Head Island.  One of my favorite places to visit over the years.  At just about every bar and restaurant on Hilton Head, you can find a guy playing a guitar and singing to entertain the customers, and the staple of every single one of these minstrels is the vast repertoire of songs by Jimmy Buffett.  Margaritaville, Cheeseburgers in Paradise, Come Monday, It's 5:00 O'Clock Somewhere....these guys play them all, and listening to them when vacationing and having a great time is a pure joy.  Here is COME MONDAY, my personal favorite Buffett tune.

So when I think of Jimmy Buffett, I think of wonderful memories of Hilton Head and Florida and South Carolina beach towns (the guitar strumming singer playing at bars is not limited to HHI) with Marilyn and now with Linda, and I am grateful for that legacy.

RIP Jimmy Buffett.

To Absent Friends - Rich Morgan

I don't usually  offer up Absent Friends posts for people that I know on a personal basis.  There are exceptions to that rule, and today I present one of them, my friend Rich Morgan who passed away earlier this week at the age of 76.

I got to know Rich 10 or so years ago through his cousin and my pal, David Cicotello.   David introduced Rich to the Pirate Chat Facebook group, and away we went.  At that same time, Rich had a retirement job in Guest Services at PNC Park, and Marilyn and I would often make it point to look him up at his post manning the elevator along the first base side of the park.

Over the years, I came to learn that Rich was a US Navy veteran (I believe that he served in the Viet Nam War), an avid golfer, and a huge soccer fan, particularly of Liverpool in the English Premier League.

Perhaps the most remarkable and admirable part of the Rich Morgan Story was the fact that he was the recipient of a kidney transplant over twenty-five years ago.  He then became a tireless advocate for organ donation.  For several years, he hosted a golf outing to raise money for Pittsburgh Team Transplant, an organization for whom he competed in the National Transplant Olympics.  I am proud to say that I played in his outing three times over the years.  I also got to tee it up with him several times over the years when David was in town.

In recent years, Rich battled cancer, undergoing several operations and courses of treatment.  When in 2017 it was discovered that Marilyn had cancer, Rich was a constant source of inspiration and comfort to us both, always ending his messages to us wth his inimitable phrase, "Fuck cancer!"  He paid his respects to me at the funeral home when Marilyn died in 2021 and offered that exact sentiment to me.  It was a great comfort at the time.

He could also be a cantankerous curmudgeon at times, but who doesn't love a cantankerous curmudgeon?.  I remember when I wrote all about our trip to Great Britain in 2019. Included in that write up was mention of our  stop to see Stonehenge during the course of our nine day trip.  Rich chose to respond to that write up by focusing on only one part of the story.  He said "Stonehenge has to be the biggest and most over-rated tourist trap in the world.  What a waste of time and money to go here."  That may not be an exact quote, but it's pretty close.  At first I thought, well, gee, thanks a lot for that, Rich, but in the end, I laughed it off, and it became a source of kidding between us.

In the end, it was the cancer that ended Rich's time with all of us.  I last saw him on July 16 at PNC Park.  David was in town and Rich and Lorraine joined Andy Terrick, David, Linda, and me at the Pirates-Giants game.  I am so, so glad that we were able to do that.  Physically, you could tell that Rich was not doing well, but he was the same old Rich, emphatically stating several times throughout the game that Henry Davis "is NOT a right fielder for the love of Mike!"   Also evident that day, was the loving and supportive relationship that he and Lorraine had right up to the very end.

I will close this tribute in a way that Rich would surely approve.  First, if you are not already signed up to be an organ donor, do so today.  Not tomorrow, but today.  And secondly, Fuck Cancer.

RIP Rich Morgan

YNWA

"The Boys From Biloxi"

Long before there was such a thing as Artificial Intelligence (AI), there was the fertile and prolific writer's brain of John Grisham, the author of forty novels, all of them best sellers.  I can just see Grisham sitting at his desk as he contemplated  writing Novel Number 41.

He probably scribbled a few notes on a yellow legal pad that went something like this....

• Two first generation immigrant families produce two sons.  One son struggles to become an attorney, one drifts into vice and illegal doings
• They each produce sons born 28 days apart who become Little League teammates and All-Stars, and good buddies through high school
• Each follows in Dad's footsteps
• Each now become enemies on opposite sides of the law
• Add healthy doses of crooked cops, scumbag hoodlums and thugs, a murder or two, jury tampering, horrifying views of prison life, ruminations on the death penalty, and hinky Old South (or maybe not so old) Mississippi politics.
• Set it in Biloxi, Mississippi during the course of the 1950's, -60's, -70's, and -80's.

Toss all of these elements into the patented "John Grisham AI Processor", and  BOOM! out pops "The Boys From Biloxi."  Grisham probably didn't even break a sweat while churning it out.

Yes, it is formulaic.  Yes, it seems like Grisham wrote this one in his sleep, and yes, there are a few plot points that are a bit inexplicable.  It is also a vintage Grisham story.  Gripping and totally and completely readable and enjoyable.  I can't disagree with critics who have said that Grisham is now just phoning it in and waiting for the residual checks to roll in, but I will also tell you that I can't wait for the next time Grisham goes to his AI Processor and cranks out his next best seller.

"The Boys From Biloxi" gets Three Stars form The Grandstander.

Football and Futbol

THE STEELERS

The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Buffalo Bills 27-15 last night, and now stand at 2-0 in the NFL Practice Games season.  We all know that that and $7.95 will get you a cup of coffee at Starbuck's, but, still, winning is better that losing, and the Steelers have shown us several things about which their fans can get excited.

Foremost has been the performance of second year quarterback Kenny Pickett.

Pickett has only played three offensive series in these two games. Each of those series has resulted touchdowns for the Steelers.  He has completed nine of eleven passes for two touchdowns, and the one he threw last night, a 25 yard bullet that threaded a needle to Pat Freiermuth on the goal line was a thing of beauty.

Muuuuuuuuth!!

These are only practice games, to be sure, but last night's win over Buffalo gave us a lot to dwell on.  Among them....

• Jaylon Warren's 63 yard run from scrimmage for a TD.  Talk about great execution!
• The Steelers first unit defense stuffing Josh Allen and the Bills first unit offense in the first quarter.
• Performances by WR's George Pickens and Calvin Austin.
• The play of rookie OLB Nate Herbig.  That kid looks like he's going to be one terrific player.

Joey Jr.'s first INT

• Rookie Joey Porter Jr making his first interception and then giving the football to his Dad in the stands.  It can be seen HERE, but what isn't seen in this video is the fact that Joey Sr had a Terrible Towel stuffed in his back pocket.  Somewhere, Myron Cope was smiling.

One more practice game next thursday night in Atlanta followed by a 17 day layoff until the 49'ers come to Acrisure Stadium to open the season.  Things change when you start playing games that count, but it is hard not to be excited by what we have seen so far from the '23 Steelers.

THE WOMEN'S WORLD CUP

The Women's World Cup ended today with a 1-0 victory by Spain over England.  I claim no expertise in futbol, but I believe that I am safe in saying that the better team on the pitch today was Spain.  They dominated the game, had a tenacious defense that swarmed all over the English players when they got near the Spanish goal, and are worthy Champs.  

The most exciting play of the game, however, came when English goalkeeper Mary Earps (later named the outstanding Keeper of the entire tournament) stopped a penalty kick for Spain midway through the second half.   Earps punctuated her save with a heartfelt scream that had those of us who read her lips blushing.  Had the kick been successful, it would have effectively sealed the win for Spain.  As it was, the game remained in doubt and Spain was forced to hold off England's furious efforts to score for the remainder of the came and through over thirteen minutes of stoppage time.

If ever a 1-0 ninety-plus minute soccer game can be described as "exciting", this game certainly was.  Perhaps I am coming to understand the Beautiful Game, after all.

Much of the excitement of the World Cup for American viewers, of course,  disappeared when the defending champs and tournament favorite USA was eliminated after their first game in the knockout round.  The team managed to score all of four goals in five games, three of them coming in one game against a clearly non-competitve Viet Nam.  A tremendously disappointing performance for the squad.  I admit that I pretty much lost interest in the rest of the tourney until the Final Four games matches were played.

Earlier in the week, USWNT Manager Vlatko Andonovski announced that he was resigning his position with the team.  Resigning, yeah right.

Lionel Messi

Since his debut last month, Lionel Messi has been running roughshod through Major League Soccer.  Prior to his arrival, Miami had the worst record in all of MLS.  Since then, they have not lost a game, and Messi has been scoring goals, seemingly, at will.

This performance is surely a testimony to Messi's greatness.  No one doubts that, but does it also tell us that the MLS is a distinctly inferior brand of futbol as it is played throughout the rest of the world?