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Rhatt Race Feedback
THE blasts leveled at J. Ed Newman and Jake Warner in Rhatt Race 16 elicited some response from the gentlemen in question… happily. We sent advance copies of RR 16 to both fellows hoping to provoke a published reply and as of this writing, we are batting .500. That’s better than I ever did in my sandlot baseball career.
J. Ed reacted promptly and predictably. He is a good sport and all ajay. He believes that both real and put-on ajay feuds should be fought – if that’s the word – in the pages of our journals… and that’s where Uncle Jed does his talking.
Newman’s ever present sense of humor can bite or caress but it never fails him. We hope he won’t have any trouble finding new targets for it. Maybe he and the old Carpetbagger can cook up some kind of hassle in the months to come. It will be something for us to discuss while quaffing Bud at the Tides’ bar next month.
On the other hand, Jake’s reaction was a letter explaining that “X” was a symbol of Christ dating back to ancient times. But as yet, no answering comment has appeared in The Boxwooder. We have been trying – without success – to motivate use of editorial comment by Jake in the pages of his paper but he prefers to expose unscrupulous encyclopedia salesmen. In fact, the only printed response we have ever received from Jake was in the December, 1971 National Amateur.
Had he made the same reply in print however, it wouldn’t change our initial reaction to his original crack.
Jake claims it wasn’t intended as a joke. What was it supposed to be… a lesson in theology?
More Baseball
THOSE who read our bit about the New York Giants in RR 16 might be interested in knowing that we did spend some time overseeing the spring training of the Cincinnati Reds here in Tampa. We stopped at their Redsland training complex on March 4th to watch them practice and it was a new experience to see major leaguers at such close quarters. Of course, the only ones we recognized were coaches Alex Grammas and Ted Kluszewski, and former pitcher turned sports broadcaster Joe Nuxhall. The long haired young players all look alike to us.
On March 28th the New York Mets paid their only visit of the year to Al Lopez Field. We had box seats next to their dugout for the game. Yogi Berra and company made the day a success by trouncing the Reds 8-0. Cleon Jones belted a three run homer, Willy Mays cracked a run scoring double, little Bud Harrelson went 3 for 4, and Tom Seaver pitched six innings of shutout ball.
Sitting just a few rows from us was the venerable Casey Stengel who spent the afternoon autographing scorecards for everyone from the Little Leaguers to senior citizens. Casey looked as spry as ever and never stopped talking baseball to anyone who would listen.
The Pittsburgh Pirates, National League Eastern Division champs in 1972, were the visitors on our next trip to Al Lopez Field and this time the Reds looked a little better. Young Don Gullet, showing improvement after his shelling by the Mets, held the Bucs to one run on four hits in six innings as Stahl, Bench, and Geronimo unloaded homers for the Rhinelanders who won 4-1.
The trouble with major league baseball in Tampa is that the season ends April 3rd!
When you finish reading this paper it will be almost time to begin packing for your trip to the NAPA convention in St. Petersburg. Don’t forget to leave room in your suitcase for some old cuts, type, dingbats or whatever for the auction.
National Calamity is the product of a frustrated sports writer – one Fred Liddle – who does his thing in the utility room at Tampa, Florida 33606. See you in St. Pete!