Daily Archives: October 5, 2009

I didn’t pick this cause it’s been sampled, or because I especially like the strings, but simply because there are few sounds in this world that are more beautiful than the sound of Clifford Brown playing the trumpet.

Mr. Leitch on Mr. Jeter:

Jeter is just a magnet for positive energy. Whatever he actually does on the field, fans and teammates believe in Derek Jeter because he believes in himself. When he jogged back to the dugout after his groundout, his pace and cadence were the same as they would have been if he’d knocked the winning run home. He’s always like that. Jeter, above anything else, is a study in the power of human confidence. He has become the hero of the Bronx because he effortlessly exudes the qualities we wish we had ourselves: He is always confident, always composed, always in control. Baseball is an unpredictable game; failure is a constant. But Jeter doesn’t allow himself to absorb it, or even really acknowledge it. He just keeps cruising along, as if playing shortstop for the most scrutinized, glorified sports franchise in the world every day for the past fourteen years is the most natural thing on earth.

…Then Jeter showed up, in 1996. He was a fully formed True Yankee from the get-go. Jeter had been a Yankees fan all his life, which, considering how miserable the team was during much of that time span, showed real commitment for a kid who grew up in Michigan. Jeter was instantly the face of a franchise that, with the retirement of Don Mattingly, desperately needed one. Jeter was everything a marketer or a fan could hope for from a baseball superstar: humble, fresh-faced, energetic, bi-racial, constantly hustling, seemingly innocent, entirely devoted to the game of baseball…he was a new kind of Yankees hero. He was not a hulking slugger or bigmouthed self-promoter. He was the Professional. He was, for a franchise always eager to bulk up its own iconography, the ideal brand, someone willing to play the part as long as you let him play his game. The titles came, and the Yankees were shaped in Jeter’s image, intense competitors devoted to the team at all costs. He was—instantly—the true New York sports hero.

Man, is this ever cool.

And while you are at Zell’s Pinstripe Blog, dig this depressing stuff:

Today’s news is powered by . . . The Year of the Cat:

• Yanks set team record for dingers.
• A-Rod has a nice inning for himself.
• Limited number of playoff game seats go on sale tomorrow.
• 20 moments that shaped baseball in NY this season.  Here is the top Yankee moment:

1. June 24 at Atlanta

The offense is sagging and the Yankees are five games back in the American League East race. Brian Cashman flies in for a surprise visit, challenging the hitters in a meeting. Joe Girardi is ejected while the Yankees are being no-hit in the sixth. Francisco Cervelli’s homer fuels a seven-game winning streak, and the Yankees never look back.

(more…)

Monday morning commute. IRT. Let me speak in stereotypes.

Skinny white girl about twelve comes on the train. She’s wearing a colorful outfit–purple pants, turquoise cowboy boots. Bends down to put her metro card in her bag. Middle-aged black woman behind her turns around and tells the girl that she has bumped into her three times. The woman’s voice is sharp. The girl, shy, apologizes. Then, the girl’s father, milktoast white guy, steps in and tells the woman that she’s being a little harsh. They exchange words. 

A gay Latin guy, wearing headphones, comes to the black woman’s defense. Calls the little girl a racist. Starts going on about how she shouldn’t be treated any differently because she’s a white girl.  Which reminded me of an old family saying. 

Think Yiddish accent:  It’s not you, mind your own, sit down, shut up.

Then, burly white guy in a business suit tells the gay guy that if he’s such a gentleman, he should stand and give up his seat to one of the women. Next, an older Latin woman starts arguing with the Latin guy in Spanish.

And that’s what you call a New York brush fire. The black woman and the Latin guy got up and exited at the same station, leaving a few parting words on their way out. The white girl, dazed, and her father, relieved, exhale.  A think Dominican mother sitting next to me smiles at the girl and the girl thanks her. I talk to the Dominican mother about the nature of angry people and racism.

Happy Monday, folks.