One of the great artists of the last 100 years hung up his
microphone moments ago. The humble brilliance of Vin Scully can never be
duplicated. Those of us who savored our opportunity to enjoy his wit and wisdom
will be forever enhanced by the experience. He thanked the fans and insisted he
needed us more than we needed him. It is bigger than baseball. The world needed
and still needs folks like Vin to show us what matters most in the world.
It is not baseball that matters most. It never was. It is
respect. It eloquence. It is communication, family, appreciation. It is
humility and gratitude and transcendent perspective. It is wishing the best for
everyone and doing your best at whatever it is you do.
On September 23, 2016, I had the honor of attending my first
game at Dodger Stadium. I entered as dignitaries approached the mic and shared
their love and respect for Vin Scully. Vin sat and smiled, and rubbed the
occasional tear from his eye as the Mayor of Los Angeles, the Commissioner of
Major League Baseball, legendary Dodger lefties Sandy Koufax and Clayton
Kershaw, Oscar-winner Kevin Costner took turns honoring him. Finally he spoke.
As always, it was perfect.
Tears fell on scorecards in the crowd at Chavez Ravine. The
sun set and no one noticed as silence filled the venerable ballpark. I sat and
jotted down some words. I picked a key, D, for Dodgers. Today, while Vin’s
final game was underway, I pulled out those words and played some pretty chords
on my Gibson. I wound up and released a melody, high and outside, inside and
low, right down the middle, I can only hope. It was all of these things. Just
like Vin. Sharing a century of history essentially, each day, all between talk
of strikes and balls.
I am humbled to have heard and delighted I decided to listen
to as much of you as possible from the time I got that MLB.TV four years ago,
or so. It was a perpetual education and a constant reminder of the beauty of
the game I love. When Vin wrapped his last good-bye and wished us a great a
final time, MLB.TV summed it up succinctly with a flashy graphic. “Thank you
for watching. The game has ended. Yes it has. Yes it has.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The regular season is over. Yankee baseball will hibernate.
Vin has retired. The play-offs continue. On another majestic October day,
baseball again demonstrated why it is out national pastime and will always be
The Greatest American Game. Go Dodgers.
Operation 365 2 - Jefferson Jay - Words – 283 “Fantasy
Football Frustration”
And then there’s this. Ugh. I somehow overlooked the
concussions and broken bodies of the gridiron greats when friends asked my wife
if she wanted to play Fantasy Footbnall this year. She immediately answered, “Absolutely.”
What choice did I have left?
Leanne, my wife, hates football, or she did before she had a
rooting interest. I couldn’t let her play and hang on every play in every game
and sit idly by, disinterested. No, we are competitive when it comes to games
in this household. This meant I had to play. And I had to win. And my win, I
mean do better than her.
It had been a perfectly fine 18 years since my “The Future
Champions of This League” took down a terrific team led by the iconic Michael
J. Warrington in the Finals. I have abstained since 1998 and had no plans of
joining the litany of gamers dabbling in these duels. So much for well-made
plans.
So here on a Sunday, with nothing in the world to object to.
I bang my head against the wall instead. Why did I cut Matt Ryan? Matt Jones?
“Cause he’s a Redskin and they have a racist name? That’s not his fault! Why
did I think Matt Stafford would have a better game against the Bears then Matt
Ryan would against the Panthers? Why is every body named Matt?????!?!?!?!?!?!
Yes, it is maddening and about as irrelevant as anything could be. I felt
better when I couldn’t watch guilt-free ‘cause I was concerned about player
safety. Ugh. Ugh, indeed. When is Spring Training? How many weeks ‘til
mid-February…
Operation 365 2 - Jefferson Jay - Covers – 283 “(Won’t You
Come Home) Bill Bailey” by Hughie Cannon
One day, not too long ago, I was walking down to the store
to get a beverage. On the way back, there is the house that has a little “library”
of sorts in the front yard. I noticed a book teaching folks how to play songs
on the AutoHarp. I have an AutoHarp. I don’t use it too much, but I figured what
the heck, let’s bring this book home and see what she says.
Today, cover time came and first thing I found was this
book, whatever it’s called. It’s a very old book. I cracked it open and took
some stabs on a few tunes with my guitar. It was pretty fin, but I didn’t find
any that checked the box until I got to “(Won’t You Come Home) Bill Bailey.” A brief
bit of research lets you know that Patsy Cline, Aretha Franklin, Louis
Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald played this tune. Some fella named Arthur Collins
had a number one hit with it in 1902. I didn’t even know that that charts ands
hits back then. What on earth did the listen to them on. How did anybody know?
Maybe they read about it in the paper? A little more looking uncovered the
sheet music for that back then. You can see it here…
That is some awful racist stuff. Yuck. I could break that
down for a whole hunk of time, but I’ll pass. No need to deconstruct
century-old ignorance and race hate. I prefer to enjoy the day and this tune.
If it’s racist past, didn’t dissuade the Muppets, the Smurfs, The Jetsons and a
million other giants from the history books, I too, can teach and old song a
new trick. Love and respect will get you everywhere. Vin Scully knew this. Change
is omnipresent and people can always grow and learn new ways. It’s never too
late. No way.
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