Skip to main content

Sheer artistry at the ballpark

Sophie decided not to go to the Indians/White Sox game with me tonight and I wish she had been there. Not because it was a great game (except for one inning, it was) or because the Indians won (they didn't). No, I wish she would have been there to see the most brilliant catch I have ever seen at a baseball game. It was sheer artisty and proved once again that Indians center fielder, Grady Sizemore, is a rising superstar in major league baseball.

With one down in the 7th, a fly ball was slammed into deep center field, destined to hit off of the scoreboard and result in extra bases. Instead, Sizemore timed the ball out perfectly, made a ballet like leap into the air, and I mean LEAP, it must have been a good 10 feet into the air, and then, after the ball did bounce off of the board, he caught it. Landing with a graceful plop onto the warning track, he jumped up and sailed the ball back into the infield, preventing the White Sox from advancing their runners.

It's one thing to see a play like that on television. ESPN has gotten us all used to these type of web gems. But to see it live, to witness the grace and skill of a ballplayer of this caliber was... AWESOME. That's the only way I can describe it.

Despite the loss, I still came away from the game feeling I'd seen a human marvel tonight. Man, I wish Sophie had been there.

Aloha

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

MARATHON FOOTNOTES (for those who didn't think I would really footnote a stream of consciousness thought): Footnote #1 Academy Award Winning Best Picture Films from 1969 to the Present: Midnight Cowboy, Patton, The French Connection, The Godfather, The Sting, The Godfather II, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Rocky, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, Kramer Vs. Kramer, Ordinary People, Chariots of Fire, Gandhi, Terms of Endearment, Amadeus, Out of Africa, Platoon, The Last Emperor, Rain Man, Driving Miss Daisy, Dances With Wolves, The Silence of the Lambs, Unforgiven, Schindler’s List, Forrest Gump, Braveheart, The English Patient, Titanic, Shakespeare in Love, American Beauty, Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind, Chicago, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Footnote #2 Members of the band YES, from 1969 to the present: In 1969, Yes is formed with Jon Anderson on vocals Peter Banks on guitar, Bill Bruford on drums, Tony Kaye on keyboards and Chris Squire playing bass. This group records...

A Trip Through the "My 90's Tapes" Collection Pt. 9: Mötley Crüe, "Girls, Girls, Girls"

Column 3, Row 13: Mötley Crüe , Girls Girls Girls. I was never a big fan of Mötley Crüe. I liked their radio hits, but I never listened to one of their albums in their entirety until 1989’s Dr. Feelgood , which was orchestrated in a way to dominate radio stations and suck in casual fans, like me, who had trouble getting past the Crüe’s purposeful sleaziness. That said I always admired them more than the other Sunset Strip bands. Bassist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee were such a formidable rhythm section and laid down a solid groove to all their music. Guitarist Mick Mars had a knack for making his guitar hiss sinister, matching his perpetual scowl. Vince Neil was nothing to write home about as a vocalist, which made his unpolished singing just a little more intriguing than most of the other front then who dominated mainstream rock in the mid-late 80’s. Girls Girls Girls was released in May of 1987, just in time for a long summer of Mötley Crüe taking over the mi...

Midnight Movies and My Favorite Rock Pics

While you're waiting with baited breath for my next post about music and movies, please take an hour out of your life to listen to the Planet LP podcast that I appeared on last week. The show's host is Ted Asregadoo, a friend of mine from the Popdose heyday. Ted and I collaborated on several Popdose posts, and I've appeared on Planet LP a few times. I always enjoy speaking with him and this conversation was particularly fun. The subject was midnight movies, a phenomenon from the latter part of the 20th Century that faded away with the advent of home video and especially streaming.  I have good memories of going to the local cineplex in the middle of the night with my high school buddies to see cult movies like The Wall, Cronenberg's The Fly, the original Last House on the Left and The Holy Grail. They were bonding moments and we'd talk about the movies for weeks on end. Last House was a particularly scarring screening. If you've seen Wes Craven's gruesom...