"Super Bowl Is a Passage to the Joys of Baseball."--NY Times ("Clemens is the 1st robin of spring.")

George Vecsey--the best when he's talking about baseball (just avoid him when he strays to globalist NY Times weepy boilerplate). He says what I'm thinking: this 2-week intravenous drip of nothingness called the Super Bowl is over in 1 more day which means: BASEBALL!!! Mr. Vecsey:

• "As this Arctic blast bears down on us, everybody has different dates circled on the calendar for the warmer months — April 8: “The Sopranos” begins its final season. Somebody gets whacked. July 21: The final Harry Potter book is published. Somebody gets whacked. April 6: Mets at Braves. We will gather at my family’s Southern outpost and buy a bunch of seats in the grandstand and talk about Lenny Dykstra and Tommie Agee, and observe the locals with their quaint hand-chopping ritual."

(Ain't that the truth. GUESS WHO'S THE 'FIRST ROBIN OF SPRING?' CLEMENS!)

"Meantime, I can already hear the first robin of spring, Roger Clemens, warming up down in Houston, waiting to auction himself to the richest contender. It’s nice that the old feller can wait until June for baseball, but what about the rest of us?"

• Now, Bernie...

"A lot of baseball fans (pro-Yankees, anti-Yankees or just astute human beings) are upset at the precarious status of Bernie Williams, who has reportedly been offered a minor league contract. Williams is a top 10 in most categories in Yankees records, but he will surely be stuck in an awkward feng shui in spring training." (!)

"Bernie doesn’t run the bases or play the outfield as well as some kids making the minimum salary. In this age of specialists, the Yankees are going with 12 pitchers,

• leaving no room for National League-style pinch-hitters and double-switch substitutes.

Bernie does not want to go to the Pittsburghs and the Tampa Bays, the Last Chance Saloons of baseball. This can only be uncomfortable."

• Mr. Vecsey will watch the Super Bowl, saying, "Got to do something until pitchers and catchers report."

(One more day).sm

• Items from the NY Times article by George Vecsey, 2/4/07, "The Super Bowl is a Passage to the Joys of Baseball." (I believe you have to subscribe to the Times to get the whole article).

Tweet Stumbleupon StumbleUpon