Skip to main content

That Time of Year

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” Catchers are squatting, and pitchers reporting - you be of good cheer.  “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.”

 Hah, you thought it was Andy Williams singing about Christmas.  Nope, for millions of baseball fans Spring Training rings in The National Pastime. A time of renewed hope and fresh starts. The season (for me) officially kicks off Monday, April 4, 2016, 7:05 pm (PST) with the Los Angeles Dodgers battling the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.

 With 162 games to play, 30 teams step confidently into opening day with renewed hope.

 Is this year "Next Year" for the Cubs? Ok, I’m a die hard Cubs fan at heart. Did anyone catch Bill Murray playing the 2016 Pebble Beach ProAm wearing Cubs golf slacks? John Daly would have been proud. Yes, every baseball fan has their special team. In California alone we have five teams to choose from: The Los Angeles Dodgers, Angels of Anaheim, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, and Oakland Athletics. Each storied franchise has it’s own spring traditions.

I’ll admit my spring ritual is to begin the season listening to games on my iPhone with play-by-play announcer Vince (Vin) Scully broadcasting. Now in his 67th season with the Dodgers! The longest tenure of any broadcaster with a single team in professional sports history. So let's check the schedule at MLB.com to see when my favorite teams are playing at home, that's a must.

Did you know, Vin Scully began his career as a student broadcaster and journalist at Fordham University. In 1950, Scully joined Red Barber and Cornelius (Connie) Desmond in the Brooklyn Dodgers radio and television booths at Ebbets Field. When Barber got into a salary dispute with World Series sponsor Gillette in 1953, Scully (along side Mel Allen) took Barber's spot for the 1953 World Series. He became the Dodgers principal announcer. At 25, Scully became the youngest man to broadcast a World Series game (a record that still stands).

 Vin Scully announced Dodger games in Brooklyn until 1957 when the club moved to Los Angeles. He is the only announcer to handle play-by-play and color analysis in the broadcast booth.

 Listen carefully and you will hear exciting replays of baseball history on the radio. . . "Two and two to Harvey Kuenn, one strike away. Sandy into his windup, here's the pitch: Swung on and missed, a perfect game!" One of Vince Scully's most famous calls.

 Are you ready for the 2016 season? Today with the magic of the iPhone, Android phone, tablet device, computer, or yes an ole’ fashioned transistor radio - fans of the game can experience the melodic cadence of baseball from anywhere. I delight in listening to Spring Training games to get an idea of who was traded to what team. Tune to your favorite local radio station or download MLB.com At Bat® and enjoy.

So, join me if you like. Opening Day, Monday, 7:10 p.m. (PST), from Petco Park in San Diego, CA. when the magical voice of Vin Scully will once again fill the air waves.

On second thought, maybe we should be singing the 1962 Danny Kaye song, "So I say D - I say Do - Dod - Dodg - Dodgers - team - team - team, Oh . . . "

Yes, it’s that wonderful time of year!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most Popular of All Time

Resurrecting the '90s Graphite

Let’s face it, there’s a certain danger in reading John Gierach's Trout Bum . His wit, self-deprecation, and sharp, effortless satire are entirely infectious. If you aren't careful, his words will inspire you to drop everything, wade into a freezing river, and try to outsmart a creature with a brain the size of a lentil. In my case, re-reading Gierach recently didn't send me straight to the river. It sent me digging through the dusty, spider-guarded corners of my garage. In the early 1990s, seeking a natural escape from Manhattan's concrete canyons, I decided to learn to cast a fly rod. I bought an Orvis Rocky Mountain —eight-and-a-half feet, three ounces, built for a five-weight line—and had absolutely no idea how to use it. To avoid aimlessly whipping the water like scrambling eggs, I took fly-fishing lessons from Al Cucci, co-author of Hatches , on the Delaware River. With his guidance, I fished renowned waters: the AuSable in New York and Michigan, and New Jersey...
Post a Comment
Read more

From Mailbox to Microphone

In this episode, catching up with Sierra . What happens when you combine a little imagination, modern digital tools, and the willingness to make a glorious, muddy mess? You get our guest’s latest project. I’m Patrick Ball. Welcome back to On the Fly . Today, we are diving into the world of native plants and guerrilla gardening with twelve-year-old creator Sierra. After watching her impressive, self-produced tutorial on how to make ‘Seed Balls,’ I had to know how she did it. It’s incredibly inspiring to watch Sierra evolve from a young artist wielding crayons and stationery into a savvy digital creator. She’s writing scripts, mastering voiceovers, and editing—all to make a positive, green impact on her local community. “She shoots, she scores, and she’s here to tell us all about it.” Please welcome Sierra to On the Fly ! Let’s get into it. Audio interview . . . For more blog posts showcasing Sierra’s talents, see: The Mailbox Surprise . . . and The Summer Surprise I’m Patrick Ball. Sta...
Post a Comment
Read more

The AI Debate Was Settled in 1954

In this episode, what a 70-year-old sci-fi mystery teaches us. Welcome back to On the Fly. I’ve been looking for a clear way to explain how we should be handling Artificial Intelligence today. I finally found the answer hidden in a book I just finished. The twist? It was written more than seventy years ago. Isaac Asimov's The Caves of Steel was published in 1954, when a computer filled an entire room, consumed enough electricity to dim the neighborhood, and had roughly the computing power of today's microwave. Yet Asimov set his story nearly 3,000 years in the future—a world where humanity lives in sprawling enclosed cities (New York) and depends on advanced technology for nearly every aspect of daily life. The remarkable part isn't how much of the technology he imagined. It's how accurately he predicted us. In Asimov's future, society struggles with the introduction of highly sophisticated humanoid robots powered by "positronic brains." Naturally, a lou...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Birth of a Cubs Legend

In this episode, The 162-Game Exhale — and the Birth of a Cubs Legend There’s a hush in the baseball world on Game 162 — a collective breath drawn in and slowly released. Scoreboards stop flipping. Dugouts empty. For six months, the game has been our steady heartbeat, pulsing from the cherry blossoms of Tokyo in March to the crisp, playoff-charged winds of late September. And now, as the regular season exhales, baseball fans everywhere pause to absorb the story we’ve just lived. For me, that story has been deeply personal. This season unfolded in the rhythms of my daily life. It was the summer soundtrack echoing beneath the constant turmoil of politics and sensational headlines. It was a handful of carefully chosen ballpark pilgrimages stitched together with countless nights in front of MLB.TV. And at the center of it all, for a lifelong Cubs fan like me, it revolved around one name — a young center fielder who turned hope into history: Pete Crow-Armstrong. The 2025 season didn’t begin...
Post a Comment
Read more