Classic was a classic<\/a>\u201d (March 22) wonderfully describing Team Italy\u2019s thrilling performance in the World Baseball Classic that conjured the pure joy and magical memories that Opening Day still gives.<\/p>\nAfter a brutal cold winter with record snowfalls, tariff issues and now the war in Iran, the distraction of a new baseball season couldn\u2019t come soon enough, with the Yankees playing MLB\u2019s first game at San Francisco. Baseball is a wonderful way to congregate and connect by having conversations about the game, strategies and life, all at its own pace and rhythm. The game lends itself to dialogue with total strangers, irrespective of political leanings, and over the years has brought me joy, fascination and faith in humanity.<\/p>\n
Babe Ruth hit a three-run homer on Opening Day in 1923 in the newly built Yankee Stadium, coining the phrase \u201cThe House that Ruth Built.\u201d On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson first stepped onto Ebbets Field in Brooklyn as the first Black man to break into Major League Baseball. World War II had ended and democracy prevailed. The New York Metropolitans opened Shea Stadium in Flushing Meadows, Queens, on April 17, 1964, when Willie Stargell of the Pittsburgh Pirates got the first hit ever at Shea, a home run. Enjoy the new season, and may it bring you endless new distractions and memories! Chris Karalekas<\/p>\n
Performative play<\/p>\n
Rego Park: I don\u2019t watch much sports nowadays. I don\u2019t like the grunts, growls and fist-pumping. Did Joe DiMaggio or Tom Seaver carry on like this? Michael Jordan? There is an element of homoerotic sadism to it. How about a tip of the cap? The fans who go for this look like they brought notes from their mothers excusing them from gym in high school. Jeff Rosenblatt<\/p>\n
Songs for the seasons<\/p>\n
San Francisco: As we move from the NFL to the Olympics to March Madness, we\u2019re also moving through the iconic, seasonal sports theme songs. Like constellations in the night sky, we go from Johnny Pearson\u2019s \u201cHeavy Action\u201d (ABC\u2019s\/ESPN\u2019s \u201cMonday Night Football\u201d theme) to John Williams\u2019s \u201cOlympic Fanfare and Theme,\u201d incorporating Leo Arnaud\u2019s \u201cBugler\u2019s Dream\u201d (the Olympics), to David Barrett\u2019s \u201cOne Shining Moment\u201d (CBS\u2019s NCAA basketball tournament highlights montage music). Sadly, the others from my childhood are gone: John Scott\u2019s \u201cGathering Crowds\u201d (from \u201cThis Week in Baseball\u201d with Mel Allen), Keith Mansfield\u2019s \u201cOlympic Champion 2\u201d (NBC\u2019s 1980s Wimbledon theme), Jan Stoeckart\u2019s \u201cHorizontal Hold\u201d (CBS\u2019s 1970s-1980s \u201cNFL Today\u201d theme), Sam Spence\u2019s \u201cJourney to the Moon (Preparation)\u201d (1980s \u201cNFL Week in Review\u201d closing theme), and Craig Palmer\u2019s \u201cEnergy\u201d (1980s NFL SuperPro Club theme). Stephen A. Silver<\/p>\n
Win-win-win<\/p>\n
Bartlett, Ill.: Someone should explain to former MLB umpire Richie Garcia that there is no \u201cumpire\u2019s strike zone.\u201d There is only one strike zone, the one defined in the rulebook, which the Automated Ball-Strike System will enforce. I predict three outcomes for this initiative: egregious mistakes will be corrected, umpires will become more consistent, and we will discover that they\u2019re much better at their jobs than we thought. All are great outcomes. Glenn Bischoff<\/p>\n
Off-side<\/p>\n
Beechhurst: On a recent MS NOW broadcast, the villainous and execrable ex-CIA Director John Brennan said he tends to believe Iran more than President Trump. There you have it, folks \u2014 a former deep state operative dumping on the honored American foreign policy tradition that \u201cpolitics stops at the water\u2019s edge.\u201d Like so many other snobby lefty loons who view American power as a problem for the world, Brennan would like nothing better than to see Operation Epic Fury turn into an epic failure. Trump\u2019s revoking of that bum\u2019s security clearance back on Aug. 15, 2018 was a wise decision, but he should have done it on day one of his first term. James Hyland<\/p>\n
That was fast<\/p>\n
Brooklyn: How is it possible that 30 seconds after we dropped the first bomb on Iran, gas station owners were falling over themselves to post higher gas prices, which have now risen to about $1 more per gallon than they were a month ago? Yet, media outlets are warning that even if the war ended today, it would take quite some time for gas prices to return to their previous levels? Could it be that price-gouging is taking place? Carol Katz<\/p>\n
Profit motive<\/p>\n
North Bergen, N.J.: The war with Iran shouldn\u2019t be seen merely as a costly error or the result of confused leadership. It isn\u2019t even about the availability of petroleum and natural gas. It\u2019s a manifestation of the dangers inherent in the military-industrial complex that President Dwight Eisenhower warned us about in his 1961 farewell address. Munitions have become profitable consumer items. Once used, bullets, missiles and even $100 million fighter jets shot down by \u201cfriendly fire\u201d have to be replaced. War has become a costly game for the entertainment of the few in which the many suffer, die or just pay taxes to keep the game going. For the war games to end, the public must be made aware of the vast profits made by the military-industrial complex, and we must see Congress expose the excesses and actively work to rein them in. Irving A. Gelb<\/p>\n
State sanctity<\/p>\n
Manhattan: Voicer Steven Davies is outraged by Joshua Davidson\u2019s absolutely correct observation that antisemitism globally has exploded with both violent and verbal attacks against Jews all over the world since the massacres and mutilation of Israelis on Oct. 7 2\u00bd years ago (\u201cHatred\u2019s global war against all Jews everywhere<\/a>,\u201d op-ed, March 22). He epitomizes the self-hating Jew who throughout history sought to placate Jew-haters because he wanted to fit in with the \u201cin crowd.\u201d Well, Mr. Davies, there is one place on Earth where Jews are not afraid to show they are Jews without fear of attacks by the antisemites you identify with \u2014 the state of Israel, our only true ally and partner against the terrorist state actors and gangs that threaten all decent people everywhere. Ephraim Savitt<\/p>\nCentury of conflict<\/p>\n
Springfield Gardens: To Voicer Terry Hansen: The Arab-Jewish conflict began on April 4, 1920, when a Muslim religious procession in Jerusalem left six Jews dead, about 200 wounded and a handful raped. The crucial question is how to end this endless conflict. Hamas must be abolished and the current Israeli government voted out. The new government must again offer the 2008 plan for a Palestinian state and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas must accept the plan. If he had accepted it in 2008, the current problems in the West Bank indicated in your letter would not be occurring. Ebere Osu<\/p>\n
Out of range<\/p>\n
Lake Placid, N.Y.: It\u2019s a sad day. After 30 years, I can no longer get your paper in Lake Placid? They stopped sending it to the North Country. I don\u2019t know why, but it is a huge bummer! Sam Tilden<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new season for baseball & our shared humanity Huntington, L.I.: Perhaps it was the March 22 back-page…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":644188,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2376],"tags":[5,4,1690,10217,51043,62,2548,2547,5386,142],"class_list":["post-648336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-yankees","tag-baseball","tag-mlb","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-county","tag-new-york-yankees","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkyankees","tag-opinion","tag-yankees"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116306028657854718","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=648336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/644188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=648336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=648336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=648336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}