September 27, 2004
A FITTING EPITAPH:
From Role Model to International Bully in Three Short Years: In September 2001, Europe wept for us. Now it won't even play baseball. (Frederic Morton, September 27, 2004, LA Times)
"How is your baseball team doing?" I asked my young bank teller friend in Vienna recently.A small pause. "Tomorrow is our final game."
"Finished for the season?"
"Well, not just for the season," he said, looking down to count again, rather unnecessarily, the dollar bills he had just counted. "Uh, it's in view of what's been happening. I mean, I guess we're over that phase. We're going back to soccer."
Here lies:
Europe
(600 B.C.-August 1914 A.D.)
"Back to soccer."
Posted by Orrin Judd at September 27, 2004 12:00 PM
This is a big blow for Major League Baseball. What will we do for shortstops without that pipeline to Vienna? Guess we'll have to settle for Dominicans.
Posted by: Fred Jacobsen (San Fran) at September 27, 2004 1:20 PMInteresting that the people of nearly every nation in the Axis of Good play either baseball or cricket.
Posted by: oj at September 27, 2004 2:56 PMIf someone commissioned a parody of the "alienating traditional allies" whine, this would be rejected as way over the top.
Posted by: Peter B at September 27, 2004 2:57 PM