Thoughts of a Common Man

 Leave me alone! 😂 

I knew it was going to be a problem - three games in three nights - the starting time at 08:08 each night. I don’t have much wiggle room on what time I wake up because I’ve been waking up early for decades and I have work and I also have a cat who thinks he’s an alarm clock. So, I knew there was a problem. It’s worse than I thought because I haven’t been able to catch up at all and damn… …I’m tired! Why do they need to do a 10-minute national anthem and then bring a rapper on to yell at me for another 10 minutes? “Start the game!” I yelled each night. And in Game 4 - two Yankees fans grabbed the ball out of Mookie Betts’ glove after he caught a foul ball down the line. I laughed when I first saw it happen - because it was so damn dumb! What were they thinking??? We have had to mute the announcers each night - not so much because I hate the announcers but because they don’t shut up! I watch a lot of Yankees games and am used to their announcers as they let the game breathe. A national a...

We’ve all heard the joke told by the ‘comedian’ at the MSG rally where he labeled all Puerto Ricans as garbage. The joke wasn’t funny and it was also punching down at an entire race of people at a political rally. That wasn’t all - he also told that hysterical ‘carving watermelon’ joke about blacks. I’d never heard of the guy beforehand, but his act was vetted prior to the rally and deemed acceptable by a party of people who are now openly telling the nation that they only want whites here. I got news for them. It’s not going to happen. Go to a city. Watch a baseball game. Go to a worksite - anywhere in the country. There are way more than white people who make up this land. This country was built on the backs of immigrants. Native Americans made up iron working crews. The masons and painters were Italian men who were vilified when they entered. I was on a site last week and I spoke with the foreman of the framing crew - he’s from Guatemala - speaks perfect English - even bought me a b...

Did you notice that we didn’t ever have to worry about rigged elections? That’s only a truly recent phenomenon - all started by the rantings of one crazed man. Usually I don’t have any sort of trouble voting - takes five minutes - the fire hall is less than a mile from here. I sign next to my name from last election and the process of voting doesn’t take long at all. In and out in five minutes. Yet, I know that others don’t have it quite so easy. Blocks of people are in areas where voting is MADE difficult for them. I read today that Puerto Rico citizens aren’t allowed to vote for president even though they’re considered to be American citizens. Calls are made to people in poor neighborhoods to let them know that the voting date has changed or balls are closed down. All sorts of deceit. We should all get a vote, and we should take advantage. I have friends who have never voted. I find that crazy. And yet, much like the World Series, I know who I WANT to win, and this election promises ...

Game 3 is tonight and Yankees are down two. Could easily be up two, but didn’t finish plays and they’re certainly playing a good team. I’m still confident and me and a buddy of mine have been trying to talk another friend to spring for tickets. Standing room tickets are going for the cheap price of $835 - with fees included, you can stand and watch for just less than $1,000.00 I love the Yankees. Would never consider dropping a grand for a ticket. Kathy and I went to the American League Championship Series in Cleveland in 1998. We paid $100 for our seats. How high can the prices go? See the rally in NYC yesterday? Whole lot of white people making fun of Puerto Ricans, Mexicans and blacks. One comedian told a joke about blacks and watermelon. So funny! (I’m being sarcastic, of course). I certainly can’t wait for the election to be in the rear view and hopefully we don’t ever have to see another orange politician ever again. I’m thinking I put the golf season behind me too… …was a great ...

What a world. I watched one of the greatest baseball games I’ve ever seen last night. A true game of inches - Gleyber’s ball was caught by a fan at the top of the wall - Oswaldo was mere inches away from a double play grounder in the 10th - Nestor tried a ‘get ahead’ fastball and Freddie was ready. Just a tremendous game between two great teams, and it came down to one single out. Now, the anxiety was almost too much. When Ohtani flew out to Verdugo - who made a ridiculous catch - I said to Kathy: “Seriously? Football is better than this? Really?” She laughed. And I was disappointed, of course, but I understood why Nestor was in the game - he owns Ohtani - it’s left on left against Freeman. Perhaps Hill could’ve been the choice - but he wasn’t. Freeman is good. He won the battle. Oh my God! After the game the Yankees ‘fans’ went insane. “Fire Boone! Fire Cashman! Trade Judge!!” One pitch was not executed in one game! Judge will be fine. They played a great game and failed to execute on...

Game 1 - Friday Night Yankees 6 Dodgers 4 Cole is the staff ace and the best pitcher in this series. He’s also a true competitor and my favorite part of watching him pitch is that he gets really focused when things get tight. Yankees lead 1-0 Game 2 - Saturday Night Dodgers 8 Yankees 7 There are going to be a lot of runs in this series. Ohtani and Judge and Soto and Muncy will all hit homers in this game and by the end of the night I will be absolutely exhausted and looking forward to my early morning round of golf. More than that I will be ready for Sunday night off. Series tied 1-1 On to New York. Game 3 - Monday Night  Yankees 9 Dodgers 5 Clarke Schmidt is a good pitcher. He will give a good start as the Yankees jump out to an early lead on long balls from Torres, Judge and Stanton. The game will get a little hairy in the middle innings but Nestor will strike out Ohtani in a big spot. Yankees lead the series 2 games to 1 (I will pick up the prediction as the series moves on - th...