6/15/99
Softball: Bones
Dear People,
Congratz to all on last weekend's breathtaking 24-19 paragon of aerobic epicureanism, each individual inning a nearly mango-like cornucopia of textures, tastes and stirringly sensual competitive rigor. When it was all over and all had left, I must confess that I tarried a bit longer on the rich virgin clays of the Codornices infield, and as the darkness seeped into the surrounding organic grasses, I found myself contemplating Walt Whitman's uncanny prediction that "Gauguin will one day soothe the eye, but it is Ty Cobb who will capture the heart." Of course at that wondrous park, the spirits of all three seem to dance an endless pas de deux, the swirling synergies of fine art, transcendental literature and cantankerous unsportsman-like conduct offering both solace and shelter for every new generation of email-based unaffiliated amateur softball playing peoples.
In any case, and as you probably know, this Saturday, June 17th, will mark the 92nd anniversary of the day legendary Giant's catcher Roger "the Rhino" Bresnahan began using "cricket leg guards," the first new protective gear worn by a professional baseball player since the contentious introduction of the catcher's mask 14 years earlier! Newspaper accounts of that fateful day suggest great tension in the air, with Pirates manager Fred Clarke even filing an official protest of de facto forfeiture with the league. Obviously, hindsight suggests that Clarke was a pompous and reactionary fool, but at the time, 'ol Rhino took great risks in standing up for his tender little shins, and in retrospect, his act of courage is now seen by many historians as a defining moment of the Progressive Era, a simple gesture that simply said "my fibula before owner profits."
Nine decades later, I suspect that none of us ever think about it whenever we put on our extra-strength sun screen, multi-layered knee pads and individually contoured groining cups. Yet the fact is that without the likes of the Rhinomeister, these protections may have remained forever forbidden in both professional and amateur sport. Therefore, in honor of this towering figure of pre-OSHA era prolitarian struggle, there will be a game this Saturday at 5PM at Codornices Park, IF I get enough commits by this Friday Noon. So make that commit; Do it as a statement that says once and for all, a player's skeletal integrity is not negotiable....Raymond
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