March 24, 2006
TIME BEGINS AGAIN IN A WEEK:
And a Great Joy Visited the Team (Thomas Boswell, March 23, 2006, Washington Post)
Mr. Soriano, meet Mr. Robinson. No, not the one you've had breakfast with in coffee shops all over Florida as he tried to sweet-talk you into doing what every player has done since 1869 -- in a crunch, play where the team tells you. No, the real Robinson is back, finally -- the same 70-year-old who tried to punch Mike Scioscia in the mouth last year.Several Nationals players also missed the pregame Kool-Aid. Maybe they were underserved. "Let's face it. He didn't really have a choice but to come back and play," said one Nats veteran. "We all know he's not happy. He's not going to be a good outfielder right away. He's going to drop some balls. Everybody will be on him. 'Was he really trying?' That's when I'll support him. He realized the team always has got to come first. Now, top to bottom, we have a lineup that's much better than last year."
In the end, that's what matters. This is high-pay hardball, not Ultimate Frisbee. Happy is optional.
Somehow Peter Gammons is the more famous, but Mr. Boswell can write circles around him. Posted by Orrin Judd at March 24, 2006 6:22 AM
A long time ago, Donald Hall, a poet and sometimes baseball writer noted the following: Roger Angell writes as though he practices writing, Peter Gammons as though he doesn't practice, and Tom Boswell as though he doesn't need to.
Posted by: Foos at March 24, 2006 1:04 PMDock Ellis in the Country of Baseball is a hoot.
Posted by: oj at March 24, 2006 1:09 PMEveryone knows that the baseball season doesn't really start til after the FA Cup final.
And in even numbered years when either the World Cup or Euro is being played not til those tournaments are over.
The first two months of the season is just to give Wrong Sawx and Cub fans hope before it's cruelly dashed in the remaining months.
Posted by: Jim in Chicago at March 24, 2006 1:23 PMBoston area sports scribes like Gammons have benefitted for a quarter of a century from the decision to locate ESPN in Bristol. Had they decided on a more southerly location like Annapolis, Boswell probably would have gotten the gigs Peter snared with the network (On the other hand, this probably would have meant wall-to-wall Tony Kornheiser on the channel by about 1982 or so...)
Posted by: John at March 24, 2006 1:35 PMWhat, no George Will?
Posted by: joe shropshire at March 24, 2006 1:56 PMJim, As a Cubs fan, my hopes are already dashed. Makes it easier to get on with the more important things, though. Good luck to all you folks who have a team to root for. Can't wait for football season.
Posted by: jdkelly at March 24, 2006 6:08 PM