My August started with another memorable week teaching Baseball and American Culture in the Special Studies program at Chautauqua, the adult education mecca located in southwestern New York State just past Jamestown. Our theme this year was baseball and comedy. Co-teaching with veteran literature teacher Mark Altschuler, we started with Abbott and Costello's evergreen "Who's On First?" Next up was the hilarious baseball scene in Buster Keaton's 1927 film "College" followed by Ring Lardner's "Alibi Ike" - originally written in 1914 and soon to become a phrase in the American language. We delved into both the short story and Joe E Brown's movie interpretation.
I had never taught "Damn Yankees" before and whatta revelation. That was Walter Mitty Me! in the opening scene of the movie when Joe Boyd, the frustrated middle-aged Washington Senators fan, is screaming at his black-and-white TV: "Don't try to murder the ball - just hit it up the middle!" Soon Boyd is transformed into slugging hero Joe Hardy played in the movie by Tab Hunter. Ray Walston and Gwen Verdon recreated their Broadway roles in the film as the Devil and his assistant Lola. Costumed hilariously, Jean Stapleton, later to become immortal as Edith Bunker, has a memorable turn as one of the neighbors of Joe Boyd's wife.
Douglass Wallop's novel "The Year The Yankees Lost The Pennant" fortuitously came out in 1954, the year the Yankees DID lose the pennant. The Broadway musical opened in 1955, the only year the Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Yankees in the World Series. The show ran into 1957 including a London run as "What Lola Wants". '57 was also the year the Yanks lost in October to the Milwaukee Braves but the play has lasting power not because of its Yankee-bashing, but because of its warm and convincing take on the life crisis of a middle-aged male. It continues to be performed in high schools, and with a diverse cast, opens in the Washington DC area this fall. It is hard to match "You Gotta Have Heart" for a peppy optimistic number and "Whatever Lola Wants (Lola Gets)" for good clean seduction. The lament of Lola and Joe Hardy, "Two Lost Souls" with Verdon also dancing with choregrapher Bob Fosse (and future husband), touched me.
Whatta great name for a writer about baseball, Wallop. Douglass Wallop (1920-1985) was actually a onetime news service reporter who transcribed General Eisenhower's 1948 memoir "Crusade in Europe". He wrote several novels and a baseball history, but if remembered at all, it is for his whimsical novel which was reissued in 2004 in a new edition introduced by the first famous baseball analyst Bill James. BTW, Mel Allen, the Yankee broadcaster who used to call home runs White Owl Wallops (and Ballantine Blasts), appears as himself in the film.
Other highllights of the class included the showing of the mirthful short subject "Gandhi at the Bat" based on Chet Williamson's "New Yorker" story and Harpo Marx playing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" on what was reportedly the most widely watched "I Love Lucy" show. The claas ended with a showing of George Carlin's immortal "Baseball vs. Football" monologue that he performed on the first "Saturday Night Live" in 1975. Our surprise guest afterwards was Kelly Carlin, also a teacher at Chautauqua, a writer based in LA, and George Carlin's only child. She has donated her father's archive to the National Comedy Center in nearby Jamestown, which is on its way to becoming a Comedy Cooperstown.
Mark and I are talking about a Baseball Comedy Part II during Chautauqua's Week 5 at the end of July 2026. I'm lobbying for excerpts from Richard Greenberg's play "Take Me Out" in which the player agent who falls in love with baseball (and one of the stars) delivers this elegy:
"Baseball is better than democracy - or at least that democracy as it's practiced in this country - because, unlike democracy, baseball acknowledges loss. While conservatives tell you, 'Leave things alone, and no one will lose,' and liberals tell you, 'Interfere a lot and no one will lose,' baseball says, 'Someone will lose.' Not only says it, insists upon it." (p34)
Not exactly something that super-agent in the real world Scott Boras might say, but I believe this elegy is worthy of our.attention.
And now for the sad tale of the return of the Woerioles. In a year where there is no clear favorite for the World Series and a lot of surprise teams from the Heartland I think have a genuine shot - eg. Milwaukee, Detroit, and Toronto - the O's never threatened. I wish I am wrong but it seems like another "rebuild" is coming to Camden Yards as well as already-announced higher ticket prices and changes to the stadium that may spoil the acclaimed creation in the early 1990s that sparked the new wave of old-style baseball parks.
All of the so-called young core of the team have had down years. Some have mysteriously fallen into a baseball abyss like the switch-hitting catcher Adley Rutschman the number one pick in the country in the 2019 draft (Bobby Witt Jr now a Kansas City star shortstop was the number two). Hard to pinpoint what happened to a former "can't-miss" prospect. Probably the "high point" was his performance in the Home Run Derby at Seattle in 2023 when his father, along with his father scholastic coaching royalty in Oregon, pitched to him and Adley blastied home runs from both sides of the plate. It was just an exhibition and Dad was lobbing balls - and not real MLB baseballs - from 40 feet away.
Adley is now on the IL with his second oblique injury of the year, supposedly not as bad as the first one on the other side of his body. What I had long feared has come to fruition - the buildup for Samuel Basallo the heir apparent to Rutschman has begun. After only FOUR GAMES IN HIS MLB CAREER, the Orioles with great fanfare held a press conference to announce that the 21-year-old from the Dominican Republic had been signed to a 8-year contract, meaning that his salary arbitration years had been bought out plus two more of his free agency.
Not surprisingly, Basallo has gotten off to a slow start with the bat while catching a little and playing some first base and DH-ing. None of the other vaunted core with more MLN experience has provided much offensive help with the slight exception of shortstop Gunnar Henderson who has seemingly lost his power bat and who good pitching tends to stifle. Sadly, fellow infielder and grittier Jordan Westburg must now be burdened with one of the worst adjectives in baseball parlance, "injury-prone". Jackson Holliday, the 2023 top pick in the country, has not shown much improvement and he might even miss playing shortstop. Not sure he has the arm for that and he is still showing signs of feeling overmatched at the major league level.
Recently, fired manager Brandon Hyde made his first comments since his ouster, expressing regret on how Holliday was rushed to the majors. Sure hope that Basallo doesn't meet the same
fate.
The only truly bright spot in 2025 has the outstanding pitching of southpaw Trevor Rogers whose performance has taken away some of the sting from the trade of power-hitting outfielder Kyle Stowers to the Marlins (along with power-hitting infielder Connor Norby). Though not yet a contender and with ownership (like Baltimore's) not seemingly committed to spending money wisely, the Marlins are developing a scrappy, dangerous young team - ask the Mets who just lost three out of four at home to Miami.
I feel for the Baltimore fans who will not accept another rebuild and last week allowed the Red Sox winnite fans to take over the ballpark. Just like doing the dark years before Buck Showalter led the turn around in 2012. Undoubtedly Yankee fans will do the same when they visit Camden Yards September 19-21. In another item of bad news, the 2026 schedule was just announced and like this year the Orioles will wind up the regular season at Yankee Stadium. At least they don't play in 2026 7 of their last 10 games against their rivals as they do late this month.
I don't want to end on such a sour note so here are some kudos to some baseball people who are flying under the radar.
** The defensive quickness of rival third basemen caught my eye when I attended the last regular season home game of the Brooklyn Cyclones against the Hudson Valley Yankees on the Sunday before Labor Day. Juan Matheus (pronounced Matthews) for the victorious Yankees and Diego Mosquera for the Cyclones are both Venezuelans, Matheus from Lara and Mosquera from Valencia. Interestingly, they both have the same slender build, 5' 10 and 155 pounds - it possibly projects them more to the middle infield.
I love going to minor league games. Pat O'Conner, the last president of the National Association of minor leagues before Rob Manfred took over and even more their offices to NYC, used to guarantee that at every minor league game you will see a future major leaguer. I like to believe he was right. The Cyclones, the Mets' top High Single-A farm club, are coasting to the playoffs in which they are likely to host Game 2 on Th Sep 11 and if necessary Game 3 F Sep 12. For further info, check out brooklyncyclones.com
**Third baseman Caleb Durbin, who come to Milwaukee from the Yankees in the Devin Williams trade, went to Washington U of St Louis, hardly a baseball factory. After doing a little digging, I realized that catcher and later baseball exectutive Muddy Ruel went to WUSL before World War I. After World War II so did Dal Maxvill who won World Series rings for the St. Louis Cardinals as both a shortstop and a GM.
**On Sept 4, YouTube will start showing a documentary about the late Jeff Torborg, the former Rutgers star and catcher of three of Sandy Koufax's no-hitters and later a highly respected manager and coach.
That's all for now but as always Stay Positive, Test Negative, and Take It Easy But Take It!