Today is
St. Patrick’s Day, but no St. Pat’s activities for me. Instead, it’s my annual
Mets fan gathering at Cask Republic, a craft brew bar in South Norwalk,
Connecticut. I’m not a beer fan, so this year I got a glass of malbec to go
with my burger and fries. Interestingly, most everyone else—all men—had salads.
We
generally talk baseball, with not much personal chit-chat. There was the
continuing argument over who’s eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame: does
taking steroids disqualify a player, or not? There were logical claims pro and
con the steroid-takers. On one side, it’s an artificial substance, so a form of
cheating, and since players are paid so much, of some do it, it puts at a
disadvantage those who would prefer not to damage their bodies in this way. On
the other side, aat the time some players used steroids, they were not a banned
substance in the major leagues, and players will, and have, always used
substances to improve their performance—who knows what players used in the
past?
This
argument bores me. The games has changed so much over the decades that it seems
to me players of one era aren’t comparable: there are new criteria and
sabermetrics has created new stats. One person even argued that some of those
voted into the Hall in the early years wouldn’t have been eligible today;
maybe some could be voted out, or put into a separate category. Maybe it’s time
to say, “You’ve been in the Hall for 75 years. Now it’s time to move you out.”
The high
point of the gathering is the trivia contest. Our group’s convenor makes up the
contest, which several years he’s offered in a Jeopardy format, with several
categories varying in value from 100 to 500 points. Today’s categories:
Players
who’ve been on 3 of the 4 New York teams (Mets, Yankees, Dodgers, Giants)
Between the
wars (I and II) Hall of Famers
ERAs under
2
Mets
managers
3,000+ hits
and 500+ stolen bases
Expansion
teams’ first year
Players of
the 2000s
There was also a "batting practice" category, which the quiz creator
admits is frankly sexist—it’s super easy, and only available to me. It’s a
point of honor for me not to choose any of these questions.
I no longer
remember the question, but at my first chance, my answer was Casey Stengel, and
I got admiring glances from the others. Another one I got right that stumped
the others: which Mets manager won the World Series with another team not in
New York? (Answer: Dallas Green) And another question I got right: what
National League East pitcher in 1985 had an ERA of 1.54? (Answer: Doc Gooden)
On the other hand, a question I should have gotten right—what player was with the
Mets 1983-1990, the Dodgers 1991-1993, and the Yankees 1995-1999?—I just couldn’t
dredge from memory. Mets fans out there, do you know?
I used to
write down as many questions as I could so I could tell Jack when I got home.
He enjoyed testing himself, though he often thought the questions were too
obscure to be fun.
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I’m
participating in the 11th annual Slice of Life Challenge over at Two
Writing Teachers. This is day 17 of the 31-day
challenge. It’s not too late to make space for daily writing in a
community that is encouraging, enthusiastic, and eager to read what you have to
slice about. Join in!
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