Jason Collins Raised His Hand, But Few Have Followed

Jason Collins, the first and thus far only openly gay man to play in the NBA, passed away of brain cancer. He was only 47.

Although Collins had a 13-year career in the NBA, he is best remembered from coming out as a gay man in the spring of 2013:

I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I'm happy to start the conversation. I wish I wasn't the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, "I'm different." If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I'm raising my hand.

Collins, who spent the bulk of his NBA career playing center with the New Jersey Nets before stints with the Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards, would return to the Nets (now in Brooklyn) at the behest of his former teammate and then head coach Jason Kidd thus becoming the first openly gay player in any of the four major professional sports leagues. Kidd, who now coaches the Dallas Mavericks, paid tribute to Collins praising his "courage" calling him "a pioneer."

While Collins courageously raised his hand, few have followed suit.

In fact, there has been no other active NBA player who has raised his hand in the 13-years after Collins raised his hand.

The same can be said for both the NHL and MLB although athletes in both sports have come out at the minor league or at the collegiate level.

In pro football, Carl Nassib became the first active openly gay player in the NFL when he came out while a member of the Las Vegas Raiders in 2021. Michael Sam, who was the first openly gay player selected in the NFL draft by the St. Louis Rams in 2014, played briefly in the CFL with the Montreal Alouettes in 2015.

Conversely, the WNBA has numerous openly gay players. Ditto for the recently established PWHL.

In the context of professional sports, being gay remains less of a stigma for women than men. The attitudes of former New York Mets player Daniel Murphy and future Los Angeles Dodgers Hall of Fame pitcher Clayton Kershaw haven't helped matters.

As such, I suspect that male professional athletes who are gay will not be forthcoming with that information until after their career is over, if at all.

Yet I also wonder if the passing of Jason Collins might inspire one of these male professional athletes to raise his hand. R.I.P.

Thoughts on The Near Mass Shooting on Memorial Drive in Cambridge

(Screenshot from NBC 10 Boston)

What I find absolutely remarkable about the near mass shooting which took place in Cambridge yesterday afternoon is how little conversation I've heard on the subject.

I did not learn about what had happened until right before I retired for the evening nearly 12 hours after the event had occurred. This was not discussed during work today at all. The first time it was brought up with me was when my mother sent me a text after work this evening.

As someone who has walked that stretch of Memorial Drive hundreds of times over the two decades plus, I can tell you that a man brandishing a high-powered rifle on a busy day in broad daylight wantonly shooting at people in Cambridge, Massachusetts is quite out of the ordinary.

While I understand that anything can happen anywhere at any time, there isn't a city in the world where I feel safer than Cambridge. Yet the fact that I have not heard this discussed within my own daily universe tells me how desensitized we are to gun violence. 

As it stands now, two people are in hospital with life threatening injuries. Of course, it would have been much, much worse if not for a Massachusetts state trooper and an ex-Marine with a license to carry who subdued the assailant. It was a classic case of good guys with a gun triumphing over a bad guy with a gun.

Still, questions remain of how the assailant got this high-powered rifle. Did he steal it? Did he access it through family or friends? Or did he buy it legally? If he bought legally, when and where was the purchase made?  Especially in view of his lengthy criminal record which included another shootout with police officers in Boston's South End almost exactly six years ago.

What is clear is that this man must spend the rest of his life in confinement in a correctional institution or in a high security mental hospital. Unfortunately, there are some people who simply cannot be part of a free society due to their reckless disregard for human life. 

Memorial Drive overlooks the Charles River which divides Boston and Cambridge. The assailant could have fired his rifle from Cambridge and shot someone walking in Boston. Fortunately, this did not come to pass. However, if not for the state trooper and ex-Marine, this could have very well come to pass with tragic results. At the very minimum, more people would have been shot.

For many years (usually on a Sunday) I would walk on Memorial Drive while listening to the Red Sox game on the radio. I have also attended various festivals and other gatherings such as the Head of the Charles Regatta which takes place each October. So, I can easily picture myself at the scene just as I could picture myself standing on Boylston Street during the terrorist attack at the Boston Marathon in 2013. 

In this particular case, I would have been on foot and would have very tried to flee to safety without attracting attention to myself while negotiating panicked vehicular traffic. I can only hope I never have to experience something so horrifying.

Of course, I cannot permit this event to stop me from living my life on my terms. However, it does serve as a reminder that I must keep my wits about me at all times yet do so with the knowledge that nothing is full proof. 

Mamdani Encourages & Excuses Anti-Semitic Hooligans Outside Park East Synagogue

This past Tuesday, outside the Park East Synagogue on the Upper East Side, anti-Semitic hooligans who assaulted and injured two members of the NYPD while carrying Hezbollah flags chanting, "We don't want no two states, we want all of it.!" 

Much as he did last November when a mob gathered outside the same synagogue, Mamdani said nothing about the violence and instead cast the blame on Jews peacefully attending shul claiming the event was an "ongoing effort to displace Palestinians from their homes.”

In point of the fact, there was an informational event at the Park East Synagogue about moving to Israel. Given the low regard Mamdani has for Jews in New York City, you would think he would be happy about the prospect of a Jewish Exodus from the city. Perhaps Mamdani doesn't want Jews to live anywhere at all.

The Mayor's words will only encourage more of these sorts of actions against other synagogues in New York City. In which case, it is only a matter of time before these rioters will overpower police, breach the barriers and kill Jews inside our houses of worship. As I have previously stated, I truly fear that there will be an October 7th-style attack against Jews in New York City before the end of the decade.

Bobby Cox Was a Pivotal Figure For Both The Braves & Blue Jays

 

Bobby Cox, best known for his lengthy tenure as manager of the Atlanta Braves, passed away today at the age of 84. 

Cox had been in poor health since suffering a major stroke in 2019 following the Braves home opener. His passing comes only 3 days after that of former Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner with whom he worked closely.

Born in Oklahoma and raised in California's San Joaquin Valley, Cox signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1959. He would toil in the minor leagues as an infielder for nearly a decade with the Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves and the New York Yankees before he reached the majors with the Bronx Bombers in 1968 where he played parts of two seasons. 

Cox would remain with the Yankees as a minor league manager from 1971 to 1976 leading the Syracuse Chiefs to an International League championship. He would be back in Yankee pinstripes in 1977 earning his first World Series ring as Billy Martin's first base coach.

His tenure with the Braves would begin in 1978 when Ted Turner hired him to be the team manager. At the time, Cox was 36 and was the youngest manager in all of MLB. His first tenure in Atlanta saw limited success. The Braves would finish in last place in the NL West in 1978 and 1979 as they had in 1976 and 1977 under his predecessor Dave Bristol (and Ted Turner for a single game). 

In 1980, Cox would guide the Braves to their first winning record since 1974 but would take a step back during the strike-shortened 1981 season. After Turner dismissed Cox in favor of Joe Torre (who in 1982 would lead the Braves to their first NL West title since 1969), Cox would take over the managerial reins of the Toronto Blue Jays.

While Cox is nearly synonymous with the Braves, he is also pivotal figure in Blue Jays history. During his four seasons in Toronto, Cox turned the team from a perpetual cellar dweller into a potent force in the AL with an outfield which consisted of George Bell, Lloyd Moseby and Jesse Barfield. Cox would lead the Jays to their first post-season appearance in franchise history when they won the AL East in 1985. Although the Jays would fall short in the ALCS against the eventual World Series champion Kansas City Royals after leading the series 3-1, Cox would win AL Manager of the Year.

Based on his success in Toronto, Turner would give Cox a second chance and bring him back into the fold in the 1986, this time as the team's GM. The Braves' struggles would continue as the team would finish in the last in the NL West for four of the next five seasons. Amid these struggles, Cox would acquire the likes of Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Steve Avery, Ron Gant and David Justice while drafting Chipper Jones. During the 1990 season, Cox would return to the Braves dugout serving as both manager and GM.

In 1991, the Braves would go from worst to first winning the first of 14 consecutive divisional titles - 2 in the NL West and a dozen more after moving to the NL East where they should have been all along. During the 1990s, Cox would lead the Braves to 5 NL pennants - 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996 & 1999. Alas, the Braves would prevail only in the 1995 World Series against the Cleveland Indians. Cox would become a three-time NL Manager of the Year in 1991 as well as in 2004 & 2005. Of further note, his 158 ejections are the most of any skipper in MLB history.

Cox would retire following the 2010 season. Beginning his managerial career as the youngest manager in MLB, he would end it as the oldest. His 2504 wins as a manager is 4th on MLB's all-time list. Only John McGraw (2763), Tony La Russa (2884) and Connie Mack (3731). Cox would be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014 along with fellow managers La Russa and Torre as well as Braves pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine along with slugger Frank Thomas.

Bobby Cox managed his way through baseball and through life. R.I.P.

Cubs Win 10 in a Row -- For The Second Time This Season & We're Barely Into May

The Chicago Cubs have done it again!!!

For the second time in the 2026 season, the Cubs have won 10 games in a row following a 7-1 victory over the Texas Rangers on Friday evening.

Following a 7-9 start, the Cubs won 10 in a row between April 14th thru 24th. Six of those victories came against the Philadelphia Phillies who ended up losing 10 in a row before firing manager Rob Thomson in favor of Don Mattingly. As an aside, the Phillies have won 8 of 11 games since Mattingly took over the reins of the club.

From there, the Cubs would lose 3 games in a row (twice to the defending back-to-back World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers and once to the San Diego Padres) before embarking on their latest double-digit win streak. Four of those victories came at the expense of the Cincinnati Reds who are now on an 8-game losing streak of their own. The Reds are winless in the month of May and have gone from first to worst in the NL Central. To add insult to injury, three of the four Cub wins against the Reds were walk-off victories.

At 27-12, the Cubs own the best record in MLB having won 20 of their last 23 games with a 3½ game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central. They have an 18-5 record at Wrigley Field with 15 consecutive wins at home.

All things come to an end. The Cubs will eventually lose a game or two. 

But don't be surprised if Craig Counsell's crew puts together another 10-game winning streak. 

After all, things do come in threes.

Why The U.K. Greens Make Me See Red

 

Despite the rise of anti-Semitism in the United States, I shudder to think what my life might would be like if I were living in the U.K.

The worst offenders are the U.K. Green Party. They make me see red.

It begins with their leader Zack Polanski, who is Jewish. The fact that Polanski would criticize the police response to the Golders Green attacker without mentioning the fact that he attacked Jews represents the ultimate betrayal. Polanski's deputy, Rachel Millward, is little better sharing a post which not only did not condemn the attack but minimized anti-Semitism as a factor in the attack. 

I would dare say that being anti-Semite is a prerequisite to be a Green Party candidate in the U.K.

In a social media post, Tina Ion called for the murder of all Zionists describing them as "rats" and "vermin."

Another Green candidate Sabine Mairey stated the March terrorist attack outside of Detroit was not "anti-Semitism" but was "revenge" for Israel "murdering people."  By this logic, one could justify an attack on a Buddhist Temple as an act of vengeance against the Chinese government for its genocide of Uyghur Muslims. 

Green candidate Raja Ateeq referred to Jews as "cockroaches" while yet another Green candidate Ifhat Shaheen openly praises Hamas for October 7th. Then there's Chandi Chopra who denies Hamas raped hostages.

People in the U.K. who hate Jews seem quite comfortable with associating with the Green Party, running under its banner and sharing these noxious views.

Yesterday, the Greens made gains in U.K. local elections at the expense of the Labour Party including the election of Zoe Garbett as the new mayor of Hackney. Alas, Hackney includes Golders Green and Garbett saw that a letter praising authorities for the arrest of the Golders Green attacker was blocked.

Perhaps even more chilling is the thought that voters in Hackney elected her because she would not praise the authorities for arresting a terrorist and because she accuses Israel of genocide as casually as she breathes.

This is a consequence of the rise of anti-Semitism in the U.K. The Green Party has tapped into it and is now making electoral gains because of it. All of which means life is going to get worse for British Jews for the foreseeable future.

Ted Turner Understood The Difference Between Israelis & Palestinians....Even if Belatedly

Following the passing of Ted Turner yesterday, I wrote a post about the day he spent as manager of the Atlanta Braves in 1977.

Today, I would like to give some thoughts on some remarks he made in 2002 about the Israelis and the Palestinians followed by his reconsideration of those remarks.

In an interview with The Guardian in June of that year, Turner had this to say:

Aren't the Israelis and the Palestinians both terrorising each other?"

The Palestinians are fighting with human suicide bombers, that's all they have. The Israelis ... they've got one of the most powerful military machines in the world. The Palestinians have nothing. So who are the terrorists? I would make a case that both sides are involved in terrorism.

Given that Turner made these remarks less than a year after the September 11th attacks they didn't go down well. Indeed, Turner took some heat in February 2002 when, while speaking to students at Brown University, he called the 9/11 hijackers "brave" Turner was chided for these remarks regarding Israelis and Palestinians as he made them the same day 19 Israelis were killed by a Palestinian suicide bomber aboard a bus in Jerusalem. Upon further consideration, Turner provided some sober second thought:

I regret any implication that believe the actions taken by Israel to protect its people are equal to terrorism. In that interview I condemned that violence on whatever side it may come. But I want to make it absolutely clear that my view was, and is, that there is a fundamental distinction between the acts of the Israeli government and the Palestinians. I believe the Israeli government has used excessive force to defend itself, but that is not the same as intentionally targeting and killing civilians with suicide bombers.

This is a nuanced view. Turner still maintained the Israeli government was using excessive force against the Palestinians. Yet Turner also recognized the difference between governmental excess and the actions of Palestinians who deliberately and wantonly murdered Jewish civilians and were rewarded for their actions by the Palestinian Authority. Turner's understanding might have come belatedly, but he did come to an understanding.

Nearly a quarter century has passed, and these facts have not changed. The Palestinians deliberately kill Jewish civilians and are rewarded for it by their government while the Israeli government defends its populace. But what has changed is our collective common sense over the matter. 

Had Turner made this statement in 2026, he would have been lauded for it by a significant segment of the Democratic Party as well as elements of MAGA (i.e. Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Candace Owens). Any attempt to provide sober second thought would be perceived as 'bending the knee to the Zionists.' For Democrats, accusing Israel of committing "genocide" is fast becoming a litmus test while turning a blind eye to the acts of Hamas, Hezbollah and their sponsors including Iran. 

What makes matters worse is the proliferation of anti-Semitic violence in Australia, Canada, the U.S. and particularly in the U.K. where the Green Party is openly siding with the perpetrators. 

And it will only get worse before it gets better. Ted Turner has left this world while those of us who remain must deal with the malevolence of anti-Semitism but those who excuse, justify and rationalize it. R.I.P.

When Ted Turner Was Manager of The Atlanta Braves For a Day

(AP Photo)

Ted Turner, best known for establishing CNN & changing the way the world watches news, passed away today at the age of 87.

Yet when I think of Turner, I think of sports - the Americas' Cup, World Championship Wrestling, the Atlanta Hawks and, especially, the Atlanta Braves.

Turner purchased the Braves in 1976 as a means to place programming on his TV station, WTBS. In the early days of Turner's ownership, there wasn't much worth watching.

In 1977, mired in a 16-game losing streak, Turner decided to place manager Dave Bristol on "a 10-day scouting trip" and appointed himself manager of the club. 

Turner thought there was nothing to managing a ballclub claiming, "Managing isn't that difficult; you just have to score more runs than the other guy."

Well, runs proved hard to come by on May 11, 1977 (almost 49 years to the day) when Turner suited up to manage the team against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium. Turner did have future Hall of Famer Phil Niekro on the mound. The knuckleballer gave up only 2 runs over 8 innings pitched. However, one of those runs was a HR by Dave Parker, another future Hall of Famer.

However, John Candelaria pitched better. The Candy Man gave up a single run over 8.2 innings pitched before future Hall of Famer Goose Gossage got the final out. This was Candelaria's career year when he won a career high 20 games and led the NL with a 2.34 ERA. The only run the Braves managed to get off the Candy Man was a RBI single by Barry Bonnell in the top of the 2nd inning. The Braves lost 2-1 and extended their losing streak to 17 games.

National League President Chub Feeney issued an edict against Turner continuing to manage due to a rule not allowing persons with a financial stake in their clubs to work in an on-field capacity. Turner appealed to MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, but to no avail. Turner was livid:

They must have put that rule in yesterday. If I'm smart enough to save $11 million to buy the team, I ought to be smart enough to manage it.

Of course, Connie Mack owned the Philadelphia A's for more than half a century and managed the team sporting a suit and a tie leading his club to five World Series titles. However, before becoming an owner Mack also played in major leagues for a decade during the 1880s and 1890s as a catcher.

Simply put, Ted Turner was no Connie Mack. 

The Braves would snap their 17-game losing streak the following night under interim manager Vern Benson besting the Bucs 6-1 with 3 RBI from Braves starting pitcher Max León. Ironically, Benson had played for Connie Mack as a member of the A's in both 1943 and 1946.

Bristol would return to the club, and the Braves would lose 100 plus games for the first time since 1935. Turner would fire Bristol after the season and replace him with Bobby Cox. However, it wasn't until the second time that Turner hired Cox that things started to turn in the Braves favor. Perhaps not coincidentally, it was around the time Turner decided to let baseball people run the Atlanta Braves. 

After the Braves won the World Series in 1995, Turner stated, "For the 10 years I ran [the team], it was a disaster.... As I relinquished control of the Braves and gave somebody else the responsibility, it did well."

At least Ted Turner learned from his mistakes. Some people never do. R.I.P.

With Bob Skinner's Passing, Vernon Law is The Last Surviving Member of the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates

Former MLB player, coach, manager & scout Bob Skinner passed away yesterday at the age of 94.

With his passing, Vernon Law is now the last surviving member of the 1960 World Series champion Pirates. Law turned 96 in March. 

Skinner is the third member of the 1960 Bucs to die this year with both Elroy Face and Bill Mazeroski passing away in February. 

Born and raised in and around San Diego, Skinner signed with the Pirates in 1951. He would miss the next two seasons due to military service before making his MLB debut in the 1954 season joining a Pirates club that would endure its third consecutive 100 plus loss season. Skinner would spend all of 1955 back in the minor leagues.

Splitting his time between the outfield and first base, it took a while before Skinner learned how to hit big league pitching. But the Bucs' patience paid off as he would hit .305 in 1957 following by a career best .321 in 1958 with his first NL All-Star Team selection. That .321 average was good enough for 5th in the NL that season ahead of future Hall of Famers Ernie Banks and Orlando Cepeda and behind future Hall of Famers Hank Aaron, Stan Musial, Willie Mays and Richie Ashburn, who would his second NL batting title.

The pinnacle of his career came in 1960 when Skinner drove in a career high 86 runs earning two NL All-Star Team selections while earning his first World Series ring as the Bucs upset the heavily favored New York Yankees. Alas, Skinner's contributions were limited. Although Skinner did have an RBI single in the first inning of Game 1, he would injure his thumb sliding into third base and was then subsequently hit by a pitch and was replaced by Gino Cimoli. Skinner would return during the climatic Game 7. 

Skinner would regress during the 1961 season see his RBI cut by more than half (86 to 42) while hitting only 3 HR as compared to the 15 HR he hit during the glorious 1960 season. In 1962, Skinner would rebound hitting .302 while belting a career best 20 HR along with 75 RBI. 

In May 1963, Skinner's tenure as a Pirates player came to an end when he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds for outfielder and pinch-hitting specialist Jerry Lynch. Ironically, Lynch began his big-league career with the Bucs and was teammates with Skinner in 1954 & 1956. 

While with the Reds, Skinner was relegated to the bench. In June 1964, the Reds sent Skinner to the St. Louis Cardinals for a minor leaguer and cash. While Skinner continued to ride the pine with the Redbirds, his stay in St. Louis was considerably more pleasant as he would earn yet another World Series ring and another 7-game triumph over the Yankees. Used mainly as a pinch hitter, Skinner would get an RBI single off Yankees reliever Steve Hamilton in the 9th inning of Game 6 in an 8-3 Yankees win. Skinner would share in his World Series glory with Dick Groat who was his teammate with the 1960 Pirates as well as the NL MVP.

After two more seasons in St. Louis, Skinner ended his playing career. In 1381 regular season games over 12 seasons, Skinner collected 1198 hits for a lifetime batting average of .277 with 103 HR and 531 RBI. 

In 1967, Skinner returned to his hometown of San Diego to manage the San Diego Padres who were at this this time part of the Pacific Coast League as the Triple-AAA affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. Skinner would lead the Padres to the PCL championship. 

In June 1968, Skinner would replace Gene Mauch as manager of the Phillies. Unfortunately, Skinner did not replicate his success in San Diego and would resign in August 1969. Aside from managing a single game for the Padres during the 1977 season after the team fired John McNamara and before hiring Alvin Dark, Skinner would not manage another big-league game.

In 1970, Skinner joined the coaching staff of the Padres who were by this time a big-league club. After serving two seasons as the team's hitting and third base coach, he would concentrate exclusively on batting instruction from 1972 to 1973. 

In 1974, Skinner would reunite with the Pirates as their hitting coach where he would spend the next three seasons. Skinner would join the Bucs in the post-season in 1974, but they would fall short to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS. In 1977, Skinner returned to the Padres for his second stint as hitting coach before performing the same duties with the California Angels in 1978. Skinner returned to the Pirates for the third time in 1979 where he would serve as hitting coach for the next seven seasons. In his inaugural year with the Bucs, Skinner would earn his third World Series ring as part of the "We Are Fam-a-Lee" Pirates.

In 1986, Skinner would join longtime Pirates skipper Chuck Tanner in Atlanta serving as the Braves hitting coach. He would also become the team's first base coach under being relieved of his duties early in the 1988 season. 

In 1989, Skinner would return to managing at the minor league level for the first time in over two decades when he managed the Tucson Toros, the Triple-AAA affiliate of the Houston Astros. Skinner would serve in this role for four seasons before joining the Astros scouting department before retiring after the 2009 season.

Skinner's son Joel played for 9 seasons in MLB as a backup catcher with the Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians and would manage the Tribe during the second half of the 2002 season. After George and Dick Sisler, the Skinners became only the second father & son to manage at the major league level.

While Bob Skinner was not a star player, he got to enjoy the glories of baseball during and after his playing career. R.I.P.

John Sterling Was the Voice of The Yankees; But Many Fondly Remember Him for Calling the Rick Camp HR

This morning, former New York Yankees radio broadcaster John Sterling passed away at the age of 87.

Sterling was the voice of the Bronx Bombers for more than 35 years before health issues forced him to abruptly retire early in the 2024 season although he would return for the post-season to say a proper goodbye. The Yankees would win the AL pennant fall short against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.

Naturally, Sterling is remembered for his personalized home run calls. To name but a few:

Alex Rodriguez ("An A-Bomb for A-Rod!!!")

Curtis Granderson ("The Grandy Man Can!!! Oh, The Grandy Man Can!!!)

Melky Cabrera ("The Melk Man delivers!!!)

Gleyber Torres ("It's Gleyber Day!!!)

Aaron Judge (All rise!!! Here comes The Judge!!!)

He is also remembered for his emphatic declaration after every Yankees victory, "Yankees win!!! Theeee Yankees win!!!"

Alas, this didn't go over very well in Boston especially when the Yankees beat the Red Sox.

But John Sterling's calls were, well, sterling.

Yet when I think of John Sterling, I think of his time with the Atlanta Braves during the early to mid 1980's. 

To be precise, I think of one game in particular. It took place on the Fourth of July 1985 between the Braves and the New York Mets. The Mets were leading 11-10 in the bottom of the 18th inning with the Braves one out away from defeat that appeared all but certain. Because coming to bat was relief pitcher Rick Camp, a career .074 hitter.

From here, I'll let John Sterling and Ernie Johnson set the scene.

John Sterling: Now two outs and no one on, the Mets are waving their outfielders in. The whole Met team waving their outfielders in. 

Here's Rick Camp the game on the line, two outs and no one on base.

And at least he took a good cut and followed it off.

Ernie, if he hits a home run to tie this game....

Ernie Johnson: Laughter!!!  

John Sterling: This game will be certified as absolutely the nuttiest in the history of baseball.

Ernie Johnson: Well, they could go to another pitcher but after 18 innings they've used just about everybody. 

John Sterling: Well, the only three guys left are Bedrosian, Perez, and Zane Smith. 

There's a strike 0 and 2.

Ernie Johnson: So they've researched that and they figure that Camp is the best hitter of the three left.

John Sterling: Right! It'll be an 0-2 pitch.

And he hits it to deep left!!! Heep goes back!!! And it's gone!!!

Holy cow!!! Oh, my goodness!!! 

I don't believe it!!! I don't believe it!!!

Rick Camp!!! Rick Camp!!!

I don't believe it!!!

Remember what I just said. If he hits a home run. That certifies this game as the wackiest, wildest, most improbable game in history.

On an 0-2 pitch, Rick Camp hit it over the left centerfield wall. I don't believe it!!!

If you only knew on the Braves, we kid Rick Camp about his hitting more than anything.

Ernie!!!

Ernie Johnson: Nobody can believe it!!! 

John Sterling: Camp makes it 11-11!!! His first major league homer!!!

I mean that is the most improbable act!!! Let's see it again!!! Ernie!!!

Ernie Johnson: We got to look at this another 50 times!!! Back goes Heep. It's out of here. 

John Sterling: And it hit the football bleachers. 

I mean if you told me John Sterling's gonna run for President and win that would be any more improbable. And I got to tell you that's improbable.

Unbelievable!!!

Well, John Sterling being President of the United States doesn't sound like a such a bad thing.

But it illustrates the odds of Rick Camp hitting a home run moments after Sterling mused about such a possibility. Such a notion was inconceivable. And yet it happened.

The serendipity and sheer joy in John Sterling's voice is why this is one of my favorite baseball clips which I play several times a year. It never fails to improve my mood even on this sad day. R.I.P.

On Being Ignored at Restaurants

On Friday evening after work, I ended up walking all the way home from South Station to Cambridge due to prolonged delays on the T.

While walking along Hampshire Street, I saw the S&S Restaurant across the street, a sight I have seen many times in the nearly five years I have been back in this area. I made a note to myself that I needed to check this place out. It has been in business in Cambridge for over a century.

Then yesterday, while reading a Facebook post from a friend, I learned that the S&S Restaurant would be closing next month. So, I decided to go there this afternoon.

As I was by myself, I was offered a seat at the bar. However, no seats were available at the bar. So, after a few minutes, I was given a table by one of the windows. This was at 2:40 p.m.

It was the last time anyone from the restaurant acknowledged my existence. At 3 p.m., I got up from the table and left the premises. 

The place had a crowd but was not busy. Indeed, I heard someone from the restaurant state that things had "died down." Under the circumstances, I think 20 minutes is more than a reasonable amount of time to wait for service. Five minutes into my wait, I had a feeling something was amiss. I'm inclined to think that I was deliberately being ignored. For what reason, I cannot say. But sometimes you just know something is up and it isn't good.

Well, if they don't want my business then that's fine. I'll spend my money elsewhere. I would have liked to have shared my experience about dining at the S&S Restaurant. Perhaps it would have conjured up childhood memories about dining at the Hoito in Thunder Bay. But since I didn't do any dining, this has conjured up other thoughts.

This is not the first time I have been ignored at a restaurant. In recent years, I have been similarly ignored at The Burren in Somerville's Davis Square as well as at the former R.F. O'Sullivan & Sons also in Somerville. When this occurs, I'll just leave quietly like I did today. However, the latter occurrence resulted in a confrontation as I was leaving. When I told the waitress I had been waiting for service for 20 minutes she told me, "We're a busy restaurant." To which I retorted, "Apparently too busy to serve me," and walked out. A short time later, R.F. O'Sullivan & Sons closed their doors.

In most of these instances, I cannot help but think these incidents are more a product of malevolence than incompetence. If this is the case, then it's not the end of the world. I simply won't do any further business with the establishment since they don't seem to want mine in the first place. In most instances, there is a Plan B whether it is finding another establishment or just going back home. 

Nevertheless, it is one of the occasional annoyances of life that I come across more often than I would like. It's the sort of thing which makes me lose my appetite for dining out.

Celtics Blow 3-1 Lead to 76ers in First Round of NBA Playoffs

The Boston Celtics had the Philadelphia 76ers where they wanted them with a 3-1 lead in the First Round of the NBA playoffs.

Tonight, the Celtics' season is over after the 76ers bested them 109-100 in Game 7. Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey led the 76ers' offense with 34 and 30 points, respectively.

It didn't help the Celtics that Jayson Tatum could not play due to a knee injury. Yet truth be told, the Celtics lost their mojo in a fourth quarter collapse in Game 5 and never truly got it back.

The Celtics owned the second-best record in the NBA Eastern Conference, and it wasn't enough. The Sixers now advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the New York Knicks.

It's been a bad week for Boston sports. Less than 24 hours ago, the Boston Bruins were knocked out of the first round of the NHL playoffs by the Buffalo Sabres although the Bruins were thoroughly outclassed in this contest. The Red Sox are still reeling over the abrupt dismissal of Alex Cora a week ago. Meanwhile, The Sword of Damocles hangs over the head of New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel due to his alleged affair with NFL sports reporter Dianna Russini who was forced to resign from The Athletic. 

Well, there is never any shortage of drama when it comes to Boston sports.

Bad Signs in JP

 

For as long as I have been in the Boston area, I have attended the Wake Up the Earth Festival which is held on the first Saturday in May in Jamaica Plain. Sponsored by a non-profit organization called Spontaneous Celebrations, the first such festival took place in 1979 after the community in both Jamaica Plain and neighboring Roxbury saw to it that the I-95 didn't raze these areas.

When I arrived in Boston in the spring of 2000, JP was my first home, and the Wake Up The Earth Festival was among the first bit of fun I had living here. After 8 years living in the Fenway, I would move back to JP and call it home for a decade before I left for New York City. Fortunately, my exile was only temporary.

I mention all of this because the Wake Up the Earth Festival is a blend of food, music and a hodge-podge of left-wing causes typically of an environmental nature. However, back in 2024, there were a whole bunch of signs concerning the Palestinians highlighted by a mural called "Palestinian Loss of Land 1947 to Present". 

Last year, following the release of the remaining hostages, there were a few small Palestinian flags, but it was far less noticeable. The same could not be said this year. One of the first things I saw was a huge sign which read "JP for Palestine".

There was another sign from Massachusetts Peace Action which read "We All Agree - No Taxes to Starve Palestinian Children". It's the sort of dubious claim which gets Jews stabbed in the U.K.

It must be said that this matter is front in center due to the War in Iran. There was an exhibit called "Eyes Wide Open - A Place to Reflect on the True Cost(s) of War" sponsored by Veterans for Peace, Massachusetts Peace Action and several other organizations. A basketball court was strewn with shoes and backpacks representing the schoolgirls killed in an U.S. airstrike at the outset of the war. There were signs which read "Remember the Children" and "In memory of the Iranian schoolgirls who were killed in an U.S. airstrike 02-28-2026".  

Indeed, those schoolgirls did not nothing to deserve their fate. The same can be said for the 118 children who were killed by the Iranian government during protests in January 2026. But where is the sign for these children? The people responsible for this exhibit are here to pillory the U.S. and Israel while turning a blind eye to the savagery of the Iranian regime not to mention its proxies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

What worries me is the possibility that future gatherings of the Wake Up the Earth Festival could devolve into overt support for Hamas and Hezbollah accompanied by the calling for the murder of Jews (re: Zionists) as we are witnessing in the U.K.

Don't say it can't happen here because it certainly can.

Is Starmer's Intervention Against Anti-Semitism After Golders Green Stabbing Too Little, Too Late?

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Following the stabbings of two Jewish men in the London neighborhood of Golders Green earlier this week, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer declared the following:

Of course, we protect freedom of speech and peaceful protest in this country. But if you are marching with people wearing pictures of paragliders without calling it out, you are venerating the murder of Jews. If you stand alongside people who say globalize the Intifada, you are calling for terrorism against Jews and people who use that phrase should be prosecuted.

I watched Starmer's full remarks. He said all the right things:

And yet the truth is while we can and we will bring the full power of the state to bear on this, this is about society every bit as much as it is about security. Moments like this we often say, 'This is not Britain,' That these attacks are an affront to British values, to British tolerance, British decency. But they keep happening, don't they?

And so today, instead, I will simply say that our values are not a gift handed generation to generation. They are something we earn each day through action. They come from us. 

Anti-Semitism is an old, old hatred. History shows that the roots are deep and, if you turn away, it grows back. Yet far too many people in this country diminish it. They either don't see it or they don't want to see it. 

Given his efforts to root out anti-Semitism when he succeeded Jeremy Corbyn as Labour Party leader, I am inclined to believe him. Yet this be may very well be too little, too late. 

When Starmer visited Golders Green prior to his remarks, he was heckled with some calling him "Starmer, The Jew Harmer!!!"

Of course, the surge in anti-Semitism in the U.K. didn't begin under Starmer's watch. But it has certainly accelerated. Consider this summary by Jonathan Sacerdoti:

This comes after the Yom Kippur terror attack at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation in Manchester, where a car was driven at people outside a synagogue and worshippers were stabbed, leaving Adrian Daulby and Melvin Cravitz dead and three others seriously injured. It comes after four Hatzola ambulances, run by a Jewish volunteer emergency service, were set alight in Golders Green, oxygen cylinders exploding and nearby windows shattering. It comes after petrol bottles and a brick were thrown at Finchley Reform Synagogue; after an attempted firebombing at Kenton United Synagogue; after counter-terror police arrested eight people over suspected arson plots against Jewish-linked sites; after a suspected security incident near the Israeli embassy in Kensington Gardens; after an arson attack on a memorial wall in Golders Green; after Jewish schoolboys were assaulted at Belsize Park station; after a Jewish man was attacked by teenagers in Hendon; after a Jewish father was abused on the Northern line; after Israelis were attacked in Leicester Square for speaking Hebrew; after a man in Wembley was asked whether he was Jewish and then punched in the face; after Jews leaving a West London synagogue were abused and assaulted; and after Gail’s in Archway was daubed with red paint and anti-Israel slogans because a bakery had somehow become another acceptable proxy for Jewishness.

The list is ugly because the facts are ugly. 

Synagogues. Ambulances. Schoolboys. Restaurants. Shops. Tube stations. Memorial walls. Men in their seventies. Men wearing kippot. People speaking Hebrew in public.

One could make a case that the U.K. is the most dangerous place on Earth to be a Jew. In which case, the U.K. might as well as be Gaza.

In order for Starmer to effectively combat anti-Semitism, he will need to borrow a phrase from one of his predecessors, Tony Blair. Starmer will need to "say what he means and mean what he says" and punish those who support violence against British Jews.

The problem, of course, is that anti-Semitism is now tolerated in the U.K. Which means Starmer would have to stand firm against any pushback up to and including the risk of Labour supporters defecting to the Green Party and their openly anti-Semitic leader Zack Polanski (despite the fact he is Jewish).

Indeed, following the Golders Green attack, Polanski made a retweet which accused the authorities of excessive conduct against the suspect without mentioning the attack. Polanski would apologize for the tweet which he said was made "in haste" but he did not condemn the attack itself. This is not surprising considering several Green Party candidates have called for violence against "Zionists". It would seem that British voters who want to kill Jews have a home in the Green Party.

So, it remains to be seen if Starmer will have the wherewithal to mean what he says about combatting anti-Semitism in the U.K.

And even if he does, anti-Semitism might be so deeply entrenched in British society that even the full force of the state might be powerless in excising it