RIP Willie Mays

I didn’t go baseball crazy until the late 1970s, so I missed all the hoopla by a handful of years. But anyone who knows a little about the game knows that one highlight of Willie Mays sprinting straight towards the outfield wall with the #24 on his back facing directly to home plate. The ball somehow magically drops in straight over the back of his head and into his waist-high glove.

Perhaps most pertinent here, Mays was a fixture in pop-culture commentary, by the likes of Woody Allen, Peanuts, and songs “Say Hey (the Willie Mays Song)” in 1954 by the Treniers and “Talkin’ Baseball (Willie, Mickey, and The Duke)” in 1981 by Terry Cashman.

Here’s the line on Mays, who has passed away at the age of 93 in Palo Alto, California, from heart failure:

• He played in the Negro League as a teen and then from 1951 to 1973 for the Giants, first in New York and then when the team moved to San Francisco. He missed time from 1952 to 1954 for his stint in the Army.
• A case can be made that he’s the greatest baseball player ever, including the full package of speed, arm strength, excellent fielding, home-run hitting, and hitting for average.
• He was the oldest living member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
• His nickname, “The Say Hey Kid,” was based on his optimism and his love for the game.
• Mays had a lifetime .301 average, with 660 homers and 3,293 hits. He was named to 24 All-Star teams and awarded 12 Gold Gloves. Ridiculous numbers.
• He finished his career third overall in home runs at the time behind only Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron.
• He made more than a few of those over-the-shoulder catches but that famous one was in the 1954 World Series against Cleveland, and that was his only championship.
• Mays came along four years after color-barrier-breaking Jackie Robinson, which was fortuitous for Mays because Americans were getting TVs en masse so he became an even more massive superstar than would have been possible just a few years earlier.
• While Robinson became an outspoken hero of civil-rights causes, Mays laid low on that front and, in a different way, did his part to bring whites and Blacks together, if only because so many white fans enjoyed watching him play so much.

RIP Bill Walton

Bill Walton was mostly before my time in the worlds of college and pro basketball, but he was so much bigger than life that it was impossible not to feel his presence long after his playing days.

Memories of Walton for me were mostly when I was obsessed with the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s and his playing days were winding down and he was starting anew as an NBA color commentator. He would always do hilariously weird things in his tie-die shirts like rubbing dirt all over his body, making casual references to how much he liked doing drugs, being part of the Grateful Dead culture, eating birthday cakes and cupcakes with the candles still lit, and bringing fun-hearted spiritual-hippie presents to his colleagues.

Walton, who passed away this week from cancer at age 71, was a winner. He won 49 straight games and two high-school championships in California. He won 88 straight games at UCLA and national championships in 1972 and 1973. He was picked first in 1974 by the Portland Trail Blazers. He was league MVP in 1978 and won championships with the Blazers in 1977 and Boston Celtics in 1986.

Also passing away this week was Amy Winslow, who was once the manager of my second-favorite band Guided by Voices. She also worked with Yoko Ono, Surfer Blood, Kiwi Jr., and helped launch the Rachel Maddow Show. The cause was breast cancer at age 59.

And Tony Scott, who played for six years through the end of the 1970s into the 1980s for the St. Louis Cardinals, passed away at age 72. He stole 87 bases during that period as the Cards' centerfielder. 

RIP Whitey Herzog

If you grew up in the St. Louis area in the 1980s like I did, then chances are you'll never have a more favorite Major League Baseball team than those St. Louis Cardinals ones from the early to the middle part of the decade. Likewise, you probably don't have a more cherished manager than Whitey Herzog.

"The White Rat" took the "Runnin' Redbirds" to three World Series over a span of six years and while he only one won of them, he was the perfect mix of old-school militant leader - with a perfectly square head and buzzcut - and innovative playcaller of "Whiteyball" who valued offensive speed and defensive craftiness over brute home-run power. 

Whitey Herzog has passed away at age 92. 

His Cardinals won the World Series in 1982 and those were some thrilling games. Even though they weren't champions, the 1985 and 1987 teams may have been my favorite teams. I don't think I ever watched more baseball that I did in 1985 with Jack Clark, Tommy Herr, Vince Coleman, Willie McGee, Terry Pendleton, Ozzie Smith, Andy Van Slyke, Joaquín Andújar, John Tudor, Bob Forsch, and Todd Worrell. Meanwhile, the 1987 team with many of the same players went back-and-forth until the very end in losing to the Minnesota Twins in seven games.

Whitey always felt like one of Cardinal Nation's own, which may have helped because he grew up near St. Louis in New Athens, Illinois.

Some interesting facts about Herzog:

• His real name was Dorrel Norman Elvert Herzog.
• A broadcaster covering his games in the minor leagues nicknamed him "Whitey" because of his light blond hair. 
• He was in the Army Corps of Engineers for two years.
• Herzog was mentored by iconic New York Yankees manager Casey Stengel as a Yankee minor leaguer and said, "Instead of thinking about girls, I would be thinking about what the hell he talked about all day. Casey broke it down into the hundred little things that would make the difference. Once I began coaching and managing, I kept passing them along to my own players. In Casey, I had an Einstein."
• He played eight seasons in the majors, with the Washington Senators, Kansas City Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, and Detroit Tigers.
• He didn't last a full season in his first MLB managerial stint with the Texas Rangers in 1973.
• Before joining the Cards, he was hired to manage the Kansas City Royals and lost to the New York Yankees three years in a row in the AL Championship Series.
• Royals fans are not likely to forget Whitey either. He surpringly called his 1977 team the best he ever coached, and they finished 102-60 in the regular season and featured Darrell Porter, Frank White, Amos Otis, George Brett, and Dennis Leonard.
• Bruce Sutter, the Hall of Fame closer on that 1982 Cardinals team, told The New York Times, "How many managers can you blow a game for and go out fishing with him the next morning?"
• He was the second-oldest living member of the Baseball Hall of Fame behind Willie Mays.

Hitting baseballs and beer at DC Beer Fest

I attended my first DC Beer Fest at Nationals Park this weekend and the coolest things might not have even had to do with beer.

We got to go down on the field and into the first-base dugout. I never knew there are batting cages under the seats behind the dugout and, with my friend Jason and some his friends, we went in and hit some balls. I rocked every pitch, not bad considered we were already about an hour into the fest.

But back to the real reason we were there, the first stop we made was at the Silver Branch booth, which is a beer from Silver Spring that I drink often and is one of my favorites. 

Supposedly my other Washington D.C. regional favorites were there as well. But I never did see the Aslin, City State, or Other Half booths.

Samplings I had never had before but enjoyed included:

• 450 North (slushy beers from Columbus, Indiana)
• Magnify (the New Jersey brewery’s watermelon jolly rancher beer was my favorite of theirs)
• Tucked Away (Manassas, Virginia)
• Trouvaille (the Annexation of Puerto Rico IPA was probably my favorite of the whole evening)
• Redbeard (Staunton, Virginia)

RIP Brooks Robinson

Brooks Robinson, it's pretty easy to argue, is the greatest defensive third baseman in baseball history. He won 16 Gold Glove Awards, second only to Greg Maddux and tied with Jim Kaat, both of whom were pitchers and not position players like Robinson.

He has died at age 86, and 23 of those years were spent playing for the Baltimore Orioles, his one and only major league team. Robinson was a World Series winner in 1966 over the Dodgers and in 1970 over the Reds. The Hall of Famer was also an All Star for 15 straight seasons and hit 268 home runs and 1,357 RBIs.

Known as "Mr. Oriole" and "The Human Vacuum Cleaner," he was by all accounts a great guy and someone I would have liked to seen play in person. Being a St. Louis Cardinals fan, I can appreciate great defensive third basemen, as I've gotten to enjoy Ken Reitz, Terry Pendleton, Gary Gaetti, Scott Rolen, and Nolan Arenado over the years.

Will Ferrell Has Not Hit the Ball Out of the Park in a Long Time

Will Ferrell stretches the limits of comedy just a little bit with Ferrell Takes the Field, currently airing on HBO. 

It's a mockumentary that succeeds on some levels but is not very good on most. The premise of Farrell taking his legendary comedic talents to the baseball field is pretty original, as he gets traded and plays for a bunch of different teams in the Arizona cactus league before the 2015 season. 

The tone, however, is off, with Farrell over-acting the supposed seriousness of his endeavor. He did the same thing recently in his role as disillusioned Eric Jonrosh in The Spoils of Babylon, which was equally bad (even if Ferrell's bit parts were the best thing about it). 

Farrell is no doubt slipping (ala Sandler) since his heyday with Saturday Night Live. In fact, he hasn't been in anything really compelling at all since his run of Blades of Glory, Semi-Pro, and Step Brothers back in 2007-2008. 

I'm not sure if he'll ever recover any past glory at this point. And even if Farrell Takes the Field is far from his worst work, it's just not worth wasting your time with when there's so much other great stuff out there to be watched these days. 

Even the fact that this is thankfully raising funds for cancer doesn't redeem it as entertainment worth watching. 

**1/2 out of ***** stars 

Bonus: In longing for better days, Ferrell's best movies are: 

6. Wedding Crashers
5. Elf
4. Zoolander
3. Old School
2. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
1. Austin Powers: International man of Mystery (even though it's Farrell's first move and he just plays a bit part in Mike Myers' masterpiece) 

42 Tells Jackie Robinson's Rookie Story Very Well

Sixty-eight years ago today.

One of the most monumental days not just in baseball history, but in all of American history. Jackie Robinson made his Major League debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

And so I finally watched 42, the 2013 film that brings his rookie season to life. Unknown actor Chadwick Boseman gets his big break and plays the star who not only became the first black man in the league but also went on to play in six World Series - winning one, in 1955. Boseman is likable and was the right choice. Harrison Ford is also exceptional as Branch Rickey, the Dodgers' owner who was determined to do the right thing for society and baseball.

Some of the most powerful scenes include when Philadelphia Phillies manger Ben Chapman yells terrible obscenities from the dugout as Robinson stands in the batters box, teammate Pee Wee Reese's transition to being on Jackie's side, and some of the behind-the-scenes dealing of Rickey and others to make Robinson happen at that time.

There are several inaccuracies to make 42 a little more dramatic. But overall, this look at one slice (the biggest slice) of Robinson's career is depicted very well. It's a crucial story to be told and retold and 42 serves it well.

**** out of ***** stars

CARDINALS

I'm pretty lucky to have experienced three World Series championships so far in my lifetime. 1982. 2006. 2011.

The Beginning of Summer in Photos

I haven't been blogging as much as normal. And since a picture tells a few words, perhaps it's easiest to give you an update of how my summer is starting off with a few shots.

It's already somehow been three weeks since the family returned from our annual pilgrimage to Emerald Isle in the Outer Banks, North Carolina. Jackson had a great time this year getting to meet his cousins from Nashville: 3-year-old Andrew (pictured, watching Jackson ride his bike in front of our beach house, the same one we've rented out for the past three years) and 5-year-old Alexander.

Last week featured a lot of America's Pastime. My St. Louis Cardinals were in town. Unfortunately, the Washington Nationals were in the midst of a rare hot streak and swept the three-game series. Good thing I'm a Nats' fan as well. The Tuesday night game I saw with my friend Jeff included the return of Ryan Zimmerman to the Nationals' lineup after a lengthy injury. It didn't seem like it was going to make much a difference when the Cardinals were up 6-1 after homers from Albert Pujols and Lance Berkman. But the Nats rallied for an 8-6 win. It was one of the most exciting games I've ever seen. Luckily I skipped Wednesday's 10-0 game. I returned with Jeff again, as well as Rachel, Jackson, Theo, and others from Rachel's work crowd, for a thrilling walk-off win by the Nationals. And, as you can see in this photo, Jackson was happy to have met Screech and try his first cotton candy, which gave him plenty of energy to stay up well past the time when we got home, after 11 p.m.

And finally, I just returned from a quick trip to the Ohio office of The Nature Conservancy in Dublin, outside of Columbus. I didn't have time to explore the city (Ohio's largest), but did have some pretty good pad thai and ice cream in the 'burbs. We're exploring starting a public-education campaign on climate change in that state, which is experiencing more extreme drought conditions around its crown jewel, Lake Erie.

Hope everyone is having an equally busy and entertaining start to your summers.

Beatles Action Figures Help Relive Childhood

The great thing about having a kid is that you can still find ways to be selfish. Or at least still find ways to spend money on consumer goods that serve no real utility.

Jackson (pictured left) loves the Beatles and R.E.M. and I think action figures are pretty sweet. Well, I have yet to find a Michael Stipe figure, but The Beatles' Yellow Submarine figures became a necessity.

I had originally planned just to get my favorite Beatle, Paul. But Jackson had other plans. Once he got that, and saw on the box that there were figures of the other three Beatles as well as the Blue Meanie, Jeremy Hilary Boob PhD (aka The Nowhere Man), Fred the Submarine Captain, the Glovey Lovey, and the submarine itself, it was all over.

As you can see behind him in his room, we now have the entire set (a couple of hundred dollars later). Jackson has progressed to the next stage of wanting doubles of all of them, and also the Lord Mayor. But the company inexplicably didn't make a figure of him (Jackson knows him from the bedtime book we have of the Yellow Submarine).

Luckily I can sidetrack him with the box of baseball cards I just bought him.

Environmental Journalists Converge on Madison, Wisconsin

Enjoying day one at the Society of Environmental Journalists conference in Madison, Wisconsin. I wore myself out biking 30 to 40 miles this afternoon around the lake south of town and the hilly and beautiful University of Wisconsin campus, so I can't wait for the writers awards to finish up tonight. I'm going to go back to my hotel room and watch game one of the Cardinals' playoff series then hit the hay.

But a couple of highlights from tonight's speakers:

Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle claimed that his state's residents will be the first to drive their cars on ethanol derived from cheese waste. He told a story about a guy who works in rural Wisconsin in what looks like a little moonshine lab. Once he gets his pure ethanol, he takes it and mixes it directly into tanks in area gas stations. With approval from the gas station owners, I assume.

And Tia Nelson, daughter of the founder of Earth Day, admonished her audience and demanded they to do better reporting on climate stories. She cited a recent study in which 900 peer reviewed articles found zero evidence that the climate wasn't being negatively affected by humans. In the same period, news articles gave as much space to climate naysayers as climate experts in 52 percent of the articles.

Gotta Love Redbird Fans

That's really all that needs to be said.

Courtesy of Deadspin - a great sports blog.