I'd Rather Be Frying Bacon

In NYC, they have the alternate side of the street parking for street cleaning, which basically means one side of the street is off-limits for two hours a day, two days a week so the big streetsweepers can roll through and kick up lots of dust. Now, I don't own a car, so this typically isn't a problem for me, but I borrowed my parents' car this week in order to do things like drive to Indiana for Easter and take the cats to the vet for their one-year checkup. So I wasn't really thinking too hard about the whole alt-side thing until Martha mentioned, at about 9:35am, 5 minutes after the restrictions go into effect on our street, "Don't you have to move the car today?"

I took a look out the window and saw the far side of the street devoid of all but two cars -- one directly across from us and, all the way down at the end of the block, my car. Well, shit. To make things more exciting, a traffic cop had just pulled up behind the one across the street from us and was getting ready to write a ticket. So I quickly put shoes on, grabbed the keys and ran full speed down the block, jumped in the car, got the motor running, and put the car in gear just as the traffic cop came rolling past my car. Safe!

Oh, it was certainly an invigorating start to the day.

So I've had a reasonably productive Easter vacation.

More details here.

The subject line is the title of my favorite section of Ken Burns' Baseball documentaries, which covers New York City baseball from the mid-40's to mid-50's. Those were the days when the Yankees, Giants, and, of course, the Dodgers were the top teams in the sport. Many Subway Series were played in those years, and I think only one year went by without a New York or Brooklyn team in the World Series. And it was 50 years ago this fall when Brooklyn won its first and only Series title, beating the Yankees in 7 games. The Brooklyn Brewery is commemorating the event with special labels on bottles.

Personally, my favorite baseball watching in the city is the Brooklyn Cyclones, followed by the Cardinal Hayes team (because I get to see my students play) and Little League in Prospect Park.

Ah, spring is upon us!

The Sport That Never Sleeps
By LEE JENKINS

Published: April 1, 2005

Ninety-year-old Buzzie Bavasi is going on again about a time when there were three baseball teams in New York and 10 news media outlets on their tail, when football was an afterthought and basketball was a sideshow, when a color barrier was being broken and a Hall of Fame wing was being formed, all in the same outsized city.

He is not talking about Ebbets Field, The New York Herald Tribune or Jackie Robinson. He is talking about today.

( Starting this season... )