THE WORLD SERIES WHERE HOPES AND EXPECTATIONS INVARIABLY CLASH

By Edwin Cooney

Since October of 1903, baseball's World Series has, at least, dominated America's sub-headlines. This year is quite special because the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers, at least in the public's mind, will seek to settle old scores going back to 1941 when Joe McCarthy led the Yankees and Leo Durocher led the boys from Brooklyn. (Note: Leo had played shortstop for Babe Ruth's 1920’s Yankees and neither thought much of the other.)

Beginning in 1941, the Yankees prevailed covering  ’47, ’49, ’52, and ’53 until 1955 when Brooklyn finally conquered the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. In each of those World Series, something out of the ordinary happened.

In 1941, Dodgers catcher Mickey Owen missed a curveball thrown by pitcher Hugh Casey with two out in the ninth of Game 3 that led to a Yankee victory that turned the series around.

In 1947, Yankee pitcher Bill (whose given name was Floyd) Bevens no hit the Dodgers at Ebbets Field but lost to the Dodgers when Cookie (Harry) Lavagetto hit a pinch-hit double that led to a 2 to 1 Dodger victory. (Ironically, Bevins, who barely avoided the glory realized by Don Larsen 9 years later, never pitched another game for the Bronx Bombers.)

In Game 1 of the 1949 series, Yankee outfielder Tommy Henrich  (“Old Reliable”) hit a dramatic 10th inning homer off Dodger pitching great Don Newcombe to spoil an almost sure Dodger triumph.

In 1952, with the Yankees winning 4 to 2, Jackie Robinson came to the plate with the bases loaded and hit a high pop-up that neither the first or third baseman could see. In fact, neither could Yankee pitcher Bob Kuzava see it. However, Billy Martin came tearing in from second base and caught the ball knee high for the out that ended the inning.

In 1953, Dodger pitcher Carl Erskine struck out 13 Yankees in Game 4, but again Billy Martin came out hitting over .500 with two homers and 8 runs batted in to win the series for the Yankees as well as the MVP award for the 1953 World Series.

In the 1955 World Series, the first one I could comprehend, the Yankees won the first two games, but the Dodgers came roaring back to win it all. The final game at Yankee Stadium was a shutout for young Johnny Podres. It survived a near homer by Yogi Berra which was caught by left fielder Sandy Amoros because he was wearing his glove on his right hand instead of his left. As the Dodger's bus moved out of the Stadium, the Bronx streets were empty, but when the bus reached Brooklyn, the Dodgers got off the bus and joined the delirious crowd.

The year 1956 saw Yankee Don Larsen pitch a perfect game. The series ended with a 9-zip Yankee victory led by a Yogi Berra homer.

Space doesn't allow a series by series description, but the Dodgers swept the Yankees in 1963 and the Yankees won in 1977 led by Reggie Jackson's 3 homers in the sixth and final game. The Yankees won in '78, but the young phenomenon Fernando Valenzuela (who just passed away at age 63) beat the Yankees in 1981 in six games.

Who would ever believe that during the 1946 series, both Ted Williams of the Red Sox and Stan Musial of the Cardinals would both hit below par. Williams who had suffered an injury to his right elbow only hit .204 while Musial would bat a mere .222. That was the last World Series for both Hall of Famers. No one even imagined that would occur!

Who can forget those “amazing” Mets of 1969 who beat the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles in five games following their first game loss to the O’s?

As I write this, the Dodgers, thanks to the bat of Freddy Freeman's grand-slam, lead the Yankees by one game. There could be as many as six games remaining which would allow Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, and Giancarlo Stanton to catch fire.

Three second basemen, Bobby Richardson and Bill Mazeroski in 1960, Chuck Shilling of the Giants in 1962, and Al Wise of the 1969 Miracle Mets have hit dramatic series home runs.

Since the 1903 Boston Americans or Pilgrims, who today masquerade as the Red Sox, beat the Pittsburgh Pirates in 5 games to 3, Americans have matched their hopes and expectations with the fans of an opposing team. Although not until 1992 was there an international flavor to the “Fall Classic,” millions of Americans believe that —after all — America is the world!

Even more to the point, don't expect American baseball fans ever to declare that “the world won the World Series!” The “world” can’t win, because America owns the world — doesn’t it?!

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
EDWIN COONEY

OCTOBER, THE MOST WONDROUS MONTH OF THE YEAR!

 By Edwin Cooney

No month on the calendar is as unique as October. It is bedecked with beginnings and ends, starts and finishes.

If you're into baseball, the post season with all its unexpected drama succeeds an already fascinating season. Autumn color and crispness stirs the senses and circulates blood flow with both anxiety and hopeful anticipation.

Although we celebrate July 4th as our country’s birthday, some insist that Friday, October 19th, 1781, the day Lord Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington at Yorktown, Maryland, was America's real birthday!

If you are anticipating an October birthday, you share your birthday month with six United States presidents: Jimmy Carter (October 1st), Rutherford B. Hayes (October 4th), Chester A. Arthur (October 5th), Dwight D. Eisenhower (October 14th), Theodore Roosevelt (October 27th) and John Adams (October 30th).

Additionally, you share your October birthday cheer with two legendary Yankee Hall of Famers. Mickey Mantle was born Tuesday, October 20th, 1931, and his pal with whom Mantle would enter the Hall of Fame in 1974, Edward Charles (Whitey) Ford, was born on Sunday, October 21, 1928.  

October is no stranger to historic events: On October 1st, 1961, Roger Maris hit his long anticipated home run #61 off an obscure Red Sox pitcher named Evan (Tracy) Stallard. On October 10th, 1973, Spiro Agnew became the first Vice President since 1832 to resign. (Note: John C. Calhoun resigned the Vice Presidency to accept his election to the United States Senate by South Carolina.)

On Wednesday, October, 14th, 1964, the Soviet leadership ousted Nikita Khrushchev from power. Two days later, on Friday, October 16th, China detonated its first atomic bomb.

In 1973, President Richard M. Nixon committed the “Saturday Night Massacre” by firing Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Bill Ruckelshaus, Richardson's assistant, due to the fact that they refused to fire Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox for insisting the president release specific tape recordings of the president's conversations. This began Mr. Nixon's downhill path to impeachment and resignation.

Unfortunately, October has brought tragedy and death to mark and mar October’s high religious holidays throughout the Middle East.On Saturday, October 6th, 1973, Egypt and Syria launched their Yom Kippur War against Israel. On Tuesday, October 6th, 1981, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was murdered in Cairo. In addition, there is the recent tragedy of Saturday, October 7th, 2023 from which the world still suffers.  

Beatle John Lenin was born on the afternoon of Wednesday, October 9th, 1940 during a Nazi air raid over Liverpool, England.

At 5:04 p.m. on October 17th, 1989. the Loma Prieta earthquake disrupted the baseball World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A’s which was about to be played at Candlestick Park. Forty-two people were killed during the 6.9 magnitude quake and part of the freeway collapsed over Oakland.

Looking back, October was especially fun for "us kids" as we anticipated Halloween with wonderful smelling pumpkins and plenty of candy corn shaped like triangles.

"Tangy ‘Tober,” as I like to think of it, features tastes and textures that thrill the palate with delightful doughnuts, cider and cocoa, and really cuddly sweaters along with childhood memories of hayrides in the country.

Important personal and historic events occur every month of our individual and collective years as we wonder, wander and will ourselves towards eternity. However, there are special times that are separate from other times in our hearts. Yet, to this observer, October and August, with April close behind, are particularly memorable.

God bless those who prefer Nat King Cole's "Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer" or who wonder at the promises of romantic love in June, the gifts of Christmas and the thankfulness of November. Nor ought we to minimize January as it opens its gates to a new year! For me, however, October blends anticipation and expectation mellowed by hope in such a way as to steady the spirit. Schools and colleges are open, football is settling in, and hockey and basketball are in full swing.

When, in the early 1950’s, the mighty Yankees would crush the hopes of Brooklyn Dodger fans, those sad days would beckon to the inevitable October days that were to come as Brooklyners would chant, "wait till next year!”

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
EDWIN COONEY    
   

FOR GOD’S SAKE, NEVER HOLD YOUR NOSE!

By Edwin Cooney

You shouldn't be surprised that in this topsy-turvy political era, I have a friend who tells me he may well…hold HIS nose and vote for Donald Trump! I guess I should be grateful that he's even considering holding his nose, but I'm desperately hoping he'll forget his nose and follow some of his individual principles which are both admirable and perfectly grand.

This is a gentleman who's a registered Democrat and a dedicated Christian. Insofar as I know, he hasn't voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since he abandoned Jimmy Carter for Ronald Reagan in 1980. I'm grateful that he's considering politically stutter stepping this November 5th!

Both decency and individual equity require a distinction between Reaganism and Trumpism. Reaganism is principled and contains goals and rules for application. Mr. Reagan tried to use government only for the ultimate military defense of the public. Other uses of government must be limited but primarily used for the benefit of business magnates and bankers whom FDR used to call "economic royalists.”

Trumpism uses government to settle scores with all sorts of people, big and little, including ethnic minorities. Trumpism denies past sins by glorifying Jim Crowism as "states' rights" and demonizes current efforts  such as climate purification as a socialist conspiracy or as a political hoax.   

As a student of history and a voter, I'm fully aware of the foibles most politicians display from time to time.

Nixon seldom told the truth when a quality lie would often do just as well. Jerry Ford, solid citizen that he was, was too politically collegial to have allowed Nixon to resign without a catch-all. (Nixon aide John Ehrlichman insisted that Richard Nixon never knowingly "stepped into darkness as he would have done minus a pardon escape tunnel dug by ‘good old Jerry.’") Jimmy Carter, although a wonderful humanitarian, was derelict in not preparing himself to handle Congress before seeking the presidency. (Besides, presidents don't wear sweaters when giving major addresses nor do they carry their own bags.)

Ronald Reagan's ignorance of the needs of those who lacked his resources was deliberately arrogant and demeaning of others.

George H. W. Bush, though grand in many ways, was a fool to ask the people to "read my lips. No new taxes."

Bill Clinton was an emotional teenager when it came to personal conduct and he was deceitful even in federal court.

George W. Bush was both careless and reckless when anticipating and carrying out foreign policy.

Barack Obama may have been exceedingly articulate socially and even culturally wise, but he wasn't thorough enough when dealing with the Taliban!

Joe Biden's presidency occurred at a time in his life when he couldn't handle it as he once might have!

Donald Trump's fundamental fault is that his ambition is about himself and little else. His ongoing promise to "make America great again" lacks both timeline and definition. Is America great because we are sinless, always tolerant, and richer than any other nation? What makes a nation great or not so great?

Other circumstantial questions come to mind. Who was the last Republican presidential candidate to identify with a former member of the Soviet KGB? If some nations are “shithole nations,” is that due to their culture, their religion, or their social values?

If voters are to judge the Harris/Biden administration, wasn't there once a Pence/Trump administration? After all, wasn’t it Mike Pence rather than Donald Trump who upheld the Constitution of the United States on the afternoon and throughout the evening of Wednesday, January 6th, 2021?

As for how long or often Mr. Trump would be a dictator, I can't know or even guess! However the idea that "dictatorship" is in Mr. Trump's social, emotional mindset or vocabulary disqualifies his candidacy as I see it! Even more significant are the names of the 90 plus people who are insisting in writing, on tape or on video that he is unfit for the office. That can hardly be brushed away by any genuine patriot! These are men and women who’ve been associated with and often appointed to high office by Mr. Trump.

Adlai Stevenson once observed that neither political party has a monopoly on either virtue or rascality. It has been possible from the very outset of our republic that we could choose a very, very bad president!

Keep in mind that the alternative to Mr. Trump and Ms. Harris doesn't have to be one or the other. It can be neither. Of course, “neither” isn't on the ballot! Hence, I insist it's got to be Kamala Harris!

Unlike my nose-holding friend and considering who is running, I'm going to let my nose do what's natural to it! After all, noses — like political candidates — both run without my consent!

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,

EDWIN COONEY