Hi Friends!
Today's "WTF?" © stevenn beck
It's unusually cold, the two area NFL teams are terrible as are the two NYC basketball teams and two of the three area hockey teams. Just one thing to do: talk baseball - the summer game - and dream of those 85 degree days in late May.
Fortunately my workout today provided the catalyst; dragging myself out of bed on this miserably cold mid-November morning, I made it to the gym, did my thing on the machines and then hit the treadmill. Some of the gyms have video-on-demand, not this particular location…just a few commercial and cable channels - you know, like it's "dejas vu 1975" (all over again) but I got lucky: the YES network happened to be re-broadcasting Derek Jeter's last home game (part of a series YES calls Yankee "classics") and the game was in the 8th inning, the Yankees ahead of the Baltimore Orioles 5 to 2.
We all know, of course, that the already emotionally charged evening associated with Jeter's final home game developed into one of the most memorable non-playoff games ever when the Yankee reliever allowed the Orioles to tie score in the tope of the ninth inning - just as the electricity in the stadium was about to hit it's emotional peak - taking the air out of everyone's balloons so-to-speak - until, given an unexpected opportunity, Mr. Jeter took another turn at bat in the last of the ninth inning with the potential winning run on second base - and promptly singled the runner home….ending his Yankee Stadium career with a dramatic "walk-off" base hit. I know some people in their sixties…wise in years, experienced in the ways of the world, jaded when it comes to millionaire athletes and the modern sporting scene (if not the world in general) who were moved to tears. (Including myself of course….what can I say? I am a sucker for the dramatic.)
And this was an outcome so steeped in drama that it could have come from the pen of a writer in Hollywood - and might have been rejected as too "predictable and lame" an ending…theatre of the absurd. The crowd of over 47,000 screaming, applauding, calling Jeter's name…Jeter's uncharacteristic emotional response when he turned and saw that the run her had safely crossed home plate..the hugs and handshakes from his teammates and manager…the sudden appearance of some of Jeter's former and most renown teammates (as well as the manager of the successful late 90s teams, Joe Torre)…more hugs and congratulations…Jeter hugging his parents and other family members and saying a heartfelt thank-you to the fans. Jeter taking a farewell "tour" of the field and then trotting out to his shortstop position to take one last look…
It WAS extraordinarily dramatic - and I loved it. But television blew it. Big time….here's my problem - and I'll explain it this way:
The best televised dramatic ending to a baseball game I personally have watched was the final pitch of the 6st game of the 1986 World Series between the Mets and the Red Sox when the Mets - down 3 games to 2 -and behind 2 runs in the final inning - were down to their final strike - several times - when they suddenly rallied and won the game (tying the Series). As the winning run raced across the plate, Shea Stadium - damn I MISS Shea Stadium! - erupted in joyous celebration, Vin Scully, the longtime announcer for the Dodgers who was in the booth for NBC-TV that evening - announced the fact that the Mets had won - and then shut up. Stopped talking. Nothing. What? A professional baseball announcer - paid to be a "talking head" - smart enough to know when to stay quiet? It was awesome….television as the visual medium….it was baseball….but it was also art. Scenes of the Mets players and management celebrating. The fans hugging one another and screaming for joy. The legendary "Sign Man" holding up an appropriate message. A shot of the dejected Red Sox players sitting morosely in the dugout, several players clearly crying. The old manager of the Sox sitting in silence on the bench, staring at the celebration on the field. A shot of the Bill Buckner, the Sox first baseman who had committed a crucial error (allowing the winning run to score), his head down, walking dejectedly off the field. More shots of the Mets. The fans. A replay of the winning play. Watching the broadcast even now, I would get chills. This….this was drama. For two minutes….the viewer…mesmerized with pictures. Great television.
The Jeter Yankee telecast? The Yankees' announcer (Michael Kay) just could not help himself from interjecting almost immediately with some predictable comment better saved for a later time; his words were unnecessary, the moment spoke for itself. Irrelevant analysis that detracted from my enjoyment - even knowing the outcome in advance - of this very dramatic ending. Now to be fair, Kay did stop talking and allowed the pictures to tell the rest of the emotional story - but the opportunity for greatness had been lost.
Bob Dylan - one of my heroes - once answered an interviewer's question about his writing with this response "I see things…and feel things…that others do not - or cannot". OK, perhaps this is that same kind of situation. Maybe. In the meantime, retroactive kudos to Vin Scully, still alive, still doing Dodgers' games…and a big "WTF" to all television announcers who dare to mess with the dramatic moment because they can't keep themselves from talking.
These wonderful moments don't come often enough. And pictures...can speak for themselves…
Bye for now, be safe!
Stevenn
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