Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Turning down World Series tickets can be done



     It’s sad that the Chicago City Council needs an ethics panel to yank back the World Series tickets that aldermen should know enough not to accept on their own.
     It is possible to turn down World Series tickets. I know, because I’ve done it. Not so much from ethical as practical considerations. But the process is the same. You just say no.
     But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s begin at the beginning.
     I grew up near Cleveland and followed the Indians. My father, a nuclear physicist, didn’t do the whole sports thing. But my mother was a fan. She was 12 when the Indians won the World Series, and I knew that team well — ace Bob Feller, Larry Doby, the second black player in the league, third baseman Al Rosen, who was Jewish. Jewish players meant a lot to me.
     My grandfather took me to my first game, around 1966, but that was it. He was a stern, silent Pole, and I only got the one game with him. Otherwise I would go to the enormous Cleveland Municipal Stadium with friends. I remember one doubleheader against the Red Sox in 1973 where we waited in the parking lot for the players to go to their cars. I got Carl Yastrzemski’s autograph, Gaylord Perry’s too. I still have the program.

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7 comments:

  1. Wonder if you are rooting for the Indians or the Cubs. ;)

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  2. Photo reminds me of Bentham's panopticon prison design. Pretty grim.

    john

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  3. Or a Victorian train station. Without the smoke. Will Neil tell us where/what it is? And its pertinencel?

    Tom Evans

    Tom Evans

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  4. That was a great column! I'm envious of the Yaz autograph. I did a pilgrimage to Cooperstown to touch in plaque the year he was inducted. Always tried to get number 8 for my Little League uniform (never succeeded!), copied the batting stance, probably to my detriment...

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  5. Grrr... to touch his plaque...

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  6. Wow. Says it all. Movies are made about shit like that....

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