Summer Half

I don't know if my reading speed is increasing or if it is just a co-incidence that I seem to have finished two books in almost record time (for me anyway). First there was Trollope's mammoth, "The Way We Live Now" and now my latest in Angela Thirkell's Barsetshire novels - "Summer Half." I finished the latter book in about two or three sittings, the final one in a motel room in Richmond, Virginia. At first I didn't think I would like this one as much as the others since the scene was a boy's boarding school and one of the things I like about Thirkell are her depictions of country life.

However, once again I was surprised because as I got into it, I really liked it, not as much as "August Folly" or "Northbridge Rectory," but it was still very enjoyable. There were, of course, some of Thirkell's characteristic lighter touches - reference to other characters or locales in her books, similar referrals to Trollope's Barsetshire series and, for the second straight book, a reference to one of Shakespeare's history plays. The latter item in this book comes early on when Lydia Keith, a loud and precocious adolescent makes reference to something being covered with "bubukles and whelks and knobs." In the text the quote is recognized as being from Shakespeare without any further identification so that only those who are passionate about the history plays like DT and myself would immediately recognize it as Fluellen's description of the ill-fated Bardolph in Act III, Scene 6 of "Henry V."

The references to Trollope's novels are either direct or subtle. Very direct is having the current Dean of Barchester named Crawley and identified as the grandson of Josiah Crawley, who appears in "Framely Parsonage" and is one of the major characters in "The Last Chronicle of Barset." More subtle is naming a minor character Bunce after John Bunce a friend and supporter of the Rev. Septimus Harding in the book that got all this started "The Warden." A similar approach is taken to the current references - appearing in this book in his late teens is Tony Morland who is a younger and less attractive child in "High Rising." Far more subtle is having the Birkett family (along with the Keiths, the major families in the novel) occupy Northbridge rectory for the summer vacation - that being the site of the book of that name later in the series.

In addition to these lighter touches, I also noted the repetition of two more serious things. One has to do with males expressing sympathy and help to other males in indirect subtle ways. In "August Folly" a father uses this approaches to console his son about underachieving at university, in this book, more than once teachers or administrators at the school do this to help students out of difficult moments. I am probably not expressing this well, but basically the idea is that one male recognizes another male is in difficulty and says or does something to help them out of that difficulty without directly mentioning the issue. Given the difficulty males often have talking about their problems it may very well be the best approach - I was interested to see it again and also interested to see it used by a female novelist.

Thirkell's novels tend to be light, very easy reading, something that helps me and, I suspect, others to relax. But this is the second time that I recognized something deeper and more profound. In this book it has to do with Rose Birkett's engagement to Philip Winter, Rose being the 18 year old daughter of the head master and Winter a 25 year old student very dedicated to the students and the study of Greek. Rose has almost no redeeming qualities, while apparently very attractive, she has little or no intelligence, is extremely flighty and is now engaged for the fourth time. As soon as she is engaged she proceeds to flirt with every male within sight making Winter very jealous and unhappy in the extreme.

At first I not only disliked Rose and Winter, but found the whole thing very unrealistic especially Rose as described in the novel. But then I started to wonder if perhaps Thirkell is using her a means to end - specifically the vehicle for making Winter miserable and behave badly. Perhaps this is offered as way to allow or encourage the reader to think about unhealthy personal relationships of any kind and the importance of either avoiding or ending them. To behave as Winter behaves is to have almost lost all contact with reality possibly the way we act when we are obsessed with something or somebody, perhaps when we allow our whole sense of well being to be caught up in how someone else behaves or treats us. Not to say that isn't important, but like everything else it has to be kept in proportion.

In any event, as I read my way through these novels, my enjoyment increases with each one. Next is to reread "Pomfret Towers" and "Before Lunch" both of which I have read before, but remember very little about. It is especially nice to know that I have so many more to read.

On to Richmond

This week Carol and I are off to Richmond, Virginia for an all day Civil War conference sponsored by the Virginia Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission. Not surprisingly Virginia is well out in front of all states on their observation and commemoration of the 150th anniversary. Besides economic reasons, they have good historical reason to be starting now since the 150th anniversary of the John Brown raid takes place this year. I decided to go to this conference because I think it is important to show the New Jersey flag and demonstrate by our presence that New Jersey is at work on this as well. As far as I can tell from the Internet, we are ahead of all other northern states.

I am sure that I will write at some length about this after we get back, but the trip is also spurring memories of a different time in my life, May of 1970 probably because the time of year and the destination are roughly the same. Some 39 years ago on May 18th, I left my parents home in Wayne, New Jersey to go on active duty as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Army (2nd Lt's bars above right). As I think about that now, I realize how poorly prepared I was to make that trip and start a journey that would last for the next 20 months passing through Ft. Carson, Colorado and Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam.

For example, I fairly sure that day marked the first time that I had ever driven outside of the state of New Jersey, in fact, it may have been the first time that I had ever driven on the New Jersey Turnpike - if it wasn't the first time it was pretty close. After leaving New Jersey, I drove through Maryland, around Washington, D. C. on the way to Ft. Lee, Virginia in Peters burg, Virginia, the home of the Quartermaster School (about 20 miles south of Richmond). Other than a college basketball trip to Florida, it was the first time I had ever been in the south. Ironically those of us from the north were unhappy because we were in the south, while the guys from the south were unhappy because they were in north. Actually that's a pretty good metaphor for Petersburg, I never knew anyone who like it there.

There is another even greater irony to my military service. As I said, I was unprepared for the experience of just being on my own so far away from home, but at least at Ft. Lee, I was just going to school - can't do too much damage there. Later that summer, I took an even longer trip, driving from New Jersey to Colorado Springs, Colorado to join what would become the 4th Infantry Division. Quartermaster School helped me adjust to some degree to army life, but the real army was a different story, once you had those bars on your shoulder, you were expected to do what was necessary without excuses or explanations. Probably like most 2nd Lieutenants, one time, I tried the "I wasn't that kind of officer" excuse and got the response, "You are now, figure it out." Trust me, I never tried that excuse again.

The irony is that for 20 month period in the army, I had more responsibility and authority than I would have again for years in civilian life, at a time when I was especially unprepared for it. I remember how frustrating it was in my early days in banking where you couldn't even make the most basic decisions by yourself - things that you wouldn't think about asking someone permission for in the army.

I have been back in the Richmond area once before, on a Civil War trip with Carol and Paul when Paul was in middle school - long before I thought about writing a book about the Civil War. For some reason that trip didn't prompt these kind of memories, even though we did visit Ft. Lee which we most likely won't be doing this time. Based on what has happened so far this trip will be different, leading to more memories and most likely even more reflections.

Keeping Score In Two Centuries

When Paul and I were at yesterday's Mets' game, we did both did something that we have done as long as I can remember, we both kept score. My memory is that I taught myself how to keep score using a baseball guidebook and experimenting with a few games on television. I don't think my father taught me, but he may very well have helped along the way. Paul tells me that I taught him how to keep score one day while we were watching a game on television. I do know that I have taught some other people how to do it, including Carol who now likes to do a few innings at almost every game we go to. While I have known how to keep score for a long time, I hadn't done it on a regular basis until I started to take Paul to games. I am not one of those who keeps track of every detail, I do it because it helps me to stay focused on the game especially with all the dead time in today's games.

What brought this to mind is that after going to the Mets' game on Saturday with Paul and keeping score in the modern system, on Sunday I went to Elkton, Maryland for a vintage base ball tournament in my capacity of tally keeper (score keeper) for the Newark Eureka. Like most things about the game score keeping in the nineteenth century was very different than today's standard approach. While Harry Chadwick would ultimately introduce a scoring system not unlike today's, in the early days, the tally keeper kept track of only two things outs, or hands, and runs. That makes it sound very simple, after all there is no need to keep track of balls and strikes, how batters made out or got on base.

But as I said, the game is different and you have to pay attention. The best illustration of how that is so is the fact that in the 1860's and 1870's foul balls caught on the bounce were outs. I realized this early on when a batter foul tipped a ball that was caught by the catcher on one bounce with the batter back on the bench before I realized there was an out. Baseball then as now was a very subtle game.

Today the Eureka played two games, one against the Elkton Eclipse and one against the Havre de Grace club - a first year team. The Elkton club is really good, last year they pounded the Eureka and they had done the same to the Flemington team only yesterday. So it was a sign of progress that the Eureka lost only by a score of 12-6. The second match was an exciting back and forth affair that was tied at 14 after 8 innings. Unfortunately, the Eureka were wearing down after about five hours in the sun and Havre de Grace scored five times in the ninth for a 19-15 win. While the Eureka start off the season 0-3, there has been some real progress from last year.

As as been the case with every vintage game I have participated in, I had a great time. Taking part even as a tally keeper takes me back to my earliest days with baseball. Like most people, I guess, I played it before I ever went to a game so that days like today even more so than yesterday have elements of nostalgia. There is a teaching concept called hands-on-learning, learning by working with objects rather than text books. Well in many ways that is what vintage baseball is all about, men, and some women - witness Havre de Grace's catcher, using the objects of the old game (uniforms, bats, balls etc) and not using objects of the new game (gloves - a fad that will never catch on!) to play the game the way it used to be played. You learn a lot about how the game has changed as well as how it hasn't, just by watching. I look forward to the rest of the season with great anticipation.

Citi Field - Major League Ballpark Number 23

Today Paul and I attended our first game at Citi Field, the new home of the Mets. By my count that makes 23 baseball stadiums where I have seen a major league baseball game (sometimes I have my doubts whether what I have seen in Baltimore is major league baseball). That includes two ballparks for the Mets (as of today), the Phils, Reds and Tigers. Paul is a couple ahead of me, but he wants to see a game in every park which is not my goal. I have also been in both the Diamondbacks stadium and the Astros facility, but did not see a major league game there. With the new Yankee Stadium plus Milwaukee and the White Sox field to come later this summer that will get me up to 26. Not close to my cousins who will visit their 50th ballpark this year, but not bad all the same.

Both Paul and I liked the new stadium. The Ebbets Field like outside along with the rotunda were very nice touches - even though I never made it to Ebbets Field. After that to me the park was very much like Citizens Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia, especially the way the upper deck seats that we had were laid out. It is interesting to see a new ballpark at the same time that we have prepared a proposal to edit a book about Ebbets Field. Reading a chapter in the first book in the series about Forbes Field, one of the writer commented on how when PNC park in Pittsburgh was built, Pirate fans liked the nostalgic touches based upon Forbes Field. Yet when Forbes Field (as well as the rest of that generation of stadiums) was built, the prevailing attitude was not nostalgia, but looking forward to celebrate the new technology.

I understand that a number of Mets fans are unhappy with Citi Field. Part of it has to do with the sacrifice of the ability to see some portions of the field so that seats could be closer. Our seats, for example, were down the left field line and we couldn't see into the left field corner. There is also apparently some dissatisfaction with all of emphasis on the Dodgers and not enough emphasis on the Mets' traditions. The latter point is fair and should certainly be something that can be fixed.

The dissatisfaction with the emphasis on the Dodgers is, I suspect, to some degree due to the fact that the Giants and Dodgers have been gone for more than 50 years and only a minority of today's fans remember seeing them play. It needs to be remembered, however, that the Mets are the heirs to National League baseball in New York, something that goes back into the nineteenth century. I think the longest four years of my life as a baseball fan was the period 1958-61 when there was no National League baseball in New York and all we could do was root against the Yankees. I remember when the Mets started in 1962, as horrible as they were, I wanted to watch them over the Yankees, something my father couldn't understand even though he was no Yankee lover.

Mentioning my father reminds me again of the long four generation tradition of male Zinns being baseball fans. Paul and I have shared so many baseball memories dating back to his first Mets game in 1986 running through today. I had a chance to go to the Mets third game at Citi Field, but couldn't go because of a conflict. I was really disappointed at the time, but now I am really glad that Paul and I were able to go there together for the first time. It was made even more special by the fact that we met outside the stadium and walked through the Jackie Robinson rotunda for the first time together - another great father and son memory.

The Challenge Completed

My last book for the Victorian Challenge is Anthony Trollope’s “The Way We Live Now.” As I understand it Trollope wrote this book in the early 1870’s at a time when he was very disillusioned with life in England. At over 900 pages in the Oxford Classic version it is also a very long work even for Trollope. Surprisingly it was a very quick read for me, just under three weeks. Usually I can read a Trollope novel relatively quickly, but never at the rate of about 300 pages a week.

The introduction to this edition (which as always I read after the novel) suggested that the first half is very much an indignant satire of almost every aspect of English life, but that the second half settles down to be a more typical Trollope novel as the fates of the characters work themselves out. A big part of the story is the career of the mysterious financier, Augustus Melmotte who in spite of a questionable history, is sought after by everyone because of his supposed great wealth and financial acumen. In an online Trollope discussion group I saw something to the effect that this part of the novel is about a sort of natural dislike for those who make money from money. My reaction to that it is that the like or dislike should to some degree be based on exactly how the money is made.

In this novel, as in almost all of his novels, Trollope uses what I call two-one dynamics or what might be more typically called love triangles. The difference is that I counted at least four such triangles, some of which even overlap. For example, Paul Montague is in a competition with Roger Carbury over the hand of Hetta Carbury while at the same time Montague is the male interest in a dynamic between Hetta and the mysterious and dangerous Mrs. Hurtle. All of these are not exactly situations where two people are competing for the third, but in each case there is a three way dynamic at work.

What I found fascinating in this novel is that in one of these dynamics, Trollope crosses class lines. This concerns Ruby Ruggles, basically a commoner who is sought after by John Crumb, a dealer in meal and pollard at the same time that Ruby is infatuated with the ner-do-well baronet Felix Carbury. The rest of the female characters in these dynamics are struggling to marry for love not money or to avoid marrying because of their money. Interestingly Ruby ultimately comes up against the same issue – can she maintain her independence without marrying for financial reasons even though unlike the middle to upper class characters, she has at least some options as to how to support herself.

One of the things that I like about Trollope’s work is that at the end, the result is not all happy endings and/or each character getting what he or she deserves. Novelists who consistently make that happen (Jane Austen, in my opinion) create a world that isn’t real enough. True to form Trollope, once again, avoids that kind of situation, but does ends some character’s stories showing them to be working through their disappointments which I thought was a nice touch.

I am grateful for the challenge and the structure of the Victorian Challenge. It enabled me to finish George Eliot, start Elizabeth Gatskell and continue with Anthony Trollope. Fortunately there is still a lot more to read!

Hearing a Call

One of the reasons that I went to the nineteenth century baseball conference in Cooperstown is that I thought it would be important to meet others working in the field. The whole conference was very worthwhile and I did get to meet a number of other people ,some of whom have done a great deal of impressive work. An unexpected side light to all of that was a clear message about a book that I need to write.

Over lunch a number of us were talking about our research interests and I mentioned that I was working on a number of New Jersey team histories for the pioneer project (1855-1868). Another person mentioned that he was working on the Nationals of Washington D.C., one of the premiere teams of that era. I commented that they had come to New Jersey at one point to play the Irvington club. He responded by saying, "I bet we won," as graciously as possible, I said "As a matter of fact, you didn't." That led into my telling a little bit of the famous story of how the Irvington team conned the noted Brooklyn Atlantics to visit them early in 1866 and handed them their first defeat in three years and 43 matches. A somewhat controversial club, the Irvingtons were a dominant team in 1866 and 1867 before two of their players went on to join the famous Cincinnati Redstockings.

This reminded me again of how little is known of New Jersey history. Besides providing one of the first regular venues for baseball (Elysian Fields in Hoboken), New Jersey teams played a significant part in the games early days. Yet as this example testifies, someone knowledgeable about the field didn't seem to consider the possibility that a New Jersey team could pose a real threat to another prominent team.

As I have written before, the fault lies here in New Jersey, if we don't tell our own history who will. As soon as that exchange took place it was clear to me that this was a call, that I need to write this book about early baseball in New Jersey. Exactly where it falls in the scheme of things remains to be seen, but my work for the pioneer project gives me something of a framework. I am also working on the Protoball project which is an attempt to compile a record of all baseball games played before 1861 - continued work on that can help provide the research material for that period of the book.

Yesterday as I was thinking about this post, John Thorn, a noted baseball historian, proposed on the nineteenth century e-mail list that everyone submit their nominations on the greatest games of the nineteenth century. I wasn't the first to respond, but I was pretty quick in getting out the Irvington's famous victory over the Atlantic plus two important games played by the Eureka club of Newark. I am going to do my best to be a voice for New Jersey in this arena.

Baseball Hall of Fame - Always Something New

I have lost count by this point as to how many times we have been to the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, but it must be well into the 20's. Yet for all those times, there always seems to be something new. Part of the reason for that lies in the full title of the institution which I was careful to give above. The Hall of Fame itself is a relatively small room with the plaques of all the members that doesn't change that much or take that long to see.

The museum itself, however, is another matter. Like any good museum it changes exhibits, takes advantage of technology and uses the items in its collections. An example of this is the exhibit about ballparks that has been in place I would guess for the last five years. One of the highlights for me are three virtual ballparks, South Grounds in Boston (1890's), Ebbets Field and Comiskey Park. While Ebbets Field is an obvious attraction, I am even more fascinated by South End Grounds which was a state of the art wooden ballpark that burned after only six season. The museum staff created the virtual images of this ballpark using surviving pictures, of which, I recall there were only about a half-dozen or so.

Another reason that I always find something new in the museum is because my interests change over the years. One of the main permanent exhibits is one that traces the history of the game from the nineteenth century through the end of the twentieth. It has great artifacts and the part covering the period 1900-1960 depicts the baseball that I grew up with and the baseball that I read about. Up until about two years ago, I don't think I ever paid much attention to the nineteenth century portion of the exhibit, but that as has all changed beginning with the writing of the "The Major League Pennant Races of 1916." I guess that is because in 1916, the nineteenth century wasn't that long ago and many of the sources we used in that book referred back to the late 1800's.

That new interest has been magnified by my involvement in the Newark Eureka vintage team and especially by writing the histories of five New Jersey teams for the pioneer project. One exhibit that I have seen countless times is a display of game balls won by the Eckford club of Brooklyn during the 1860's. The practice in those days was for the winning club to take the game ball, bronze it and then display it in their clubhouse. While it was hard to see all of the balls on display, I did see one from a match between the Eckfords and the Newark club - one of the teams that I wrote about it. Pretty cool to see an actual ball from a game that long ago related to a team I had researched. One of the great things about the pioneer project is it will preserve the histories of these early New Jersey clubs.

There was also, by the way, one other thing new in the Hall of Fame, its captured in the picture above - "The Major League Pennant Races of 1916," on sale in the Hall of Fame bookstore. That was more than a little moving!

Like Father Like Son

This past Saturday, just before the 19th century baseball research conference opened at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, a man approached me and asked if I was the one from Verona, New Jersey. When I said, yes, he told me that while he now lives in New Hampshire, he used to live in Bloomfield and proceeded to ask me some questions about Verona. I then tried to confirm that he had lived in Bloomfield and he said yes, "I grew up there, I went to Bloomfield High School."

That led me to ask what Junior High School he went to, thinking for sure he would say South Junior High, but to my surprise, he said North. My response was to say, my father was a teacher at North for a hundred years. He said, "Not Hank Zinn?" - I said, "Absolutely." The man then told me that he had played basketball for my father and how my father didn't like any fancy play, just the basics.

Later in the day, he was kind enough to buy a copy of Paul and my book and he said he remembered something about playing for my father. Apparently the team only lost two games that season both to South, the other Junior High in Bloomfield. The first lost had been a close two point defeat at home, but then in the rematch at South, North had played poorly and lost by 20 points. To make matters worse on the bus ride back to North (which probably took all of 15 minutes) the players started to laugh and sing and joke around. According to this gentleman that provoked an outburst from my father like nothing any of them saw before and they won all their remaining games just to be sure that they never saw it again.

I didn't tell him that when I heard him mention the laughing and singing after a loss, I could feel myself starting to get mad at them as well. I never played or managed for my father, but all of the coaches I ever worked with through High School and College were the same way. To behave that way after a loss was worse than the defeat itself, it meant a lack of respect for the game and ultimately a lack of respect for oneself. It still annoys me to no end when I see athletes, especially at the college or high school level behave like that. To quote an old Charlie Brown cartoon, "Winning isn't everything, but losing isn't anything." The point is that to act as if a loss doesn't matter is to act as if what you are doing isn't important and, if so, why are you doing it.
To me the long term value of participating in sports is how it carries over into how we live our lives - inappropriate behavior in sports makes it less likely we will learn the things we need to learn.

While I wasn't surprised by how my father reacted in that situation, it wasn't something we ever discussed. He would never have told us at home about such an incident, but that aside, it's something I never remember us discussing. So after all these years it is interesting to know that we shared those values. Upper left on this post is a picture of the 1938 High Bridge soccer team, my father is the one in the bow tie (always a natty dresser!). That in itself is an interesting story, he went to High Bridge having never played or coached soccer, yet in his first season his team won the county championship, a feat they repeated the next year. While not in any way the same thing, I had a lot of success coaching Paul's recreation league soccer teams, again a sport I never played. Maybe some things are the genes after all!

A Romantic Weekend in Cooperstown (Where Else!)

There is an old Heineken beer commercial with two men talking, the dialogue goes something like this:

1st Man - What did you get your wife for your first wedding anniversary?

2nd Man - I got her this great washer and dryer.

1st Man - You can't give her something like that for your first anniversary, you should take her some place romantic.

2nd Man - Do you think I should take her to Cooperstown?

I don't know how much beer that ad sold for Heineken, but it is a commercial that has no little irony for Carol and myself. We first took Paul to Cooperstown in 1986, that was before baseball memorabilia took off, my memory is that there were one or two such stores in the whole village. We have gone back on a regular basis, many times with Paul (through college), but now continue to go there almost annually ourselves. While Cooperstown is well known for the Baseball Hall of Fame, the village also hosts two other excellent museums, the Farmer's Museum and the Fennimore Cooper Art Museum.

Over the course of our visits Carol has become as interested in the Farmer's Museum as I am in the Hall of Fame. In fact, I think at some level, she enjoys going to Cooperstown even more than I do - as witnessed by her comment after a brief one day visit - "I need at least two days." The suggestion that she likes it more than I do is typically greeted with skepticism by some cynical people (ie, women), but it is true.

By coincidence this year, the Hall of Fame hosted a 19th century baseball research conference, the day before our anniversary. So our plan was that I would go to the conference while Carol did what she liked and we even got to joke about the "take her to Cooperstown" aspect of the trip. Our plan had been to drive home the night of the conference, but then we got an e-mail about a program that night at the Bump Tavern (pictured above) which is part of the Farmers Museum. The program included dinner, talks about the tavern, and some 19th century musical entertainment.

After a little reflection, we decided to stay an extra night in Cooperstown and make that our anniversary celebration. It was well worth it, it was a very enjoyable evening, it was a way of experiencing living history in a relaxing and friendly atmosphere. We had both felt that this might be our only visit to Cooperstown this year, but we both came away wanting to go back - even if it isn't our anniversary! When I told a friend the Heineken beer commercial story and the irony that Carol likes Cooperstown as much, if not more, than I do, the response was you are really lucky. I am indeed and not just because of Cooperstown!

Jackie Robinson - 62nd anniversary

Yesterday was the 62nd anniversary of Jackie Robinson's first regular season game as a Brooklyn Dodger, thereby breaking the color line that dated back to the 19th century. Of special note in this year's observances was the dedication of the Jackie Robinson Rotunda at the Mets' new ballpark. Paul and I will be there a week from Saturday and I am really looking forward to it. I have to say I am very impressed with how Major League baseball has honored Robinson's memory - retiring his number 42 for all major league teams was an inspired idea as is the now standard practice of every player wearing 42 on April 15th.

I know my buddy DT doesn't want to hear this, but I am not old enough to remember Jackie Robinson's first year with the Dodgers. My only years of really active rooting for the Brooklyn version were 1956-57 and Robinson retired after the 1956 season. Looking back, however, I do know that the fact that it was a player on my favorite team who broke the color line had a lasting impact on me. Oddly for someone who grew up in the whitest of suburbs and didn't really know any blacks until I was in my 40's, the issue of equal rights for blacks (and for everyone else for that matter) has always been very important to me. Had it not been for the Brooklyn Dodgers and Jackie Robinson, it is very unlikely that I would have done things like send Paul to a minority high school in Newark and/or spend over 20 years of my life as a member of an inner city church in Paterson. Those and similar things have been very positive experiences for me and, again, I owe it to the Brooklyn Dodgers and Jackie Robinson.

Last night I watched the Mets' game and then the first inning of the Dodgers' game. Early in the Mets' game, Rachel Robinson was in the booth - I can't believe she is 86 years old, I think we need to see proof! I remember hearing former Dodger pitcher, Joe Black (first black pitcher to ever start a World Series game) say that Jackie Robinson had two things going for him - his faith and Rachel Robinson. And long since his death, she has not just kept his memory alive, but kept his work going.

The Dodgers game was announced by Vin Scully who as actually an announcer with the Brooklyn Dodgers so he knew Robinson first hand. I don't think he was with the Dodgers in 1947, but he told a story of how when the team was in Cincinnati, the death threats reached the point that everyone was concerned. Supposedly the Dodgers had a team meeting and outfielder Gene Hermanski said, "I know what we can do, we can all where number 42," at which point the locker room broke up in laughter - the point being that except for Robinson, they were all white. Scully then said, I never thought I would live to see the day when everyone did where 42, but here we are. A great story, well told.

The other thing of note was an article in yesterday's New York Times about how impressed Jose Reyes' of the Mets was that Robinson had stolen home 19 times in his career - somebody once described it as baseball's most exciting play. That, of course, led to his most controversial steal of home in the first game of the 1955 World Series, Yankee catcher Yogi Berra still insists Robinson was out. It is amazing how long that controversy has lasted, for three reasons, it was so long ago, it had no impact on the result of the game and, above all the fact that Robinson was clearly safe!

William Lloyd Letters - The So What Factor

Last week I noted that I had finished a very rough first draft of the William Lloyd letters - Lloyd served with the 33rd New Jersey throughout its service in the Civil War. The goal, of course, is to publish these letters and one of the things that I have to work on is what I call the "so what" factor. Given how many Civil War letter survive what is it that makes Lloyd's special or unique enough to merit publishing?

One way of approaching this question is to look at Lloyd within the context of his peers. How was he similar or different from his fellow soldiers - both factually and in terms of how he is revealed in his letters. I am going to pursue that basically by using some of the work done on the characteristics of Civil War soldiers and seeing in what ways - Lloyd was similar or different. For example, at 21 and married, he was somewhat younger than the norm and different in that most of his peers were not married.

However, I have also been thinking about Lloyd within a much larger context - the context of men anywhere at any time that serve in the military in war time. There are probably historical/anthropological works on this that look at all the data and do a scientific analysis which is fine. But I have been thinking about it more in relation to how Shakespeare depicts soldiers - specifically in Henry V, a play that spends a lot of time, not so much fighting, but rather talking about war. One of the many reasons for the timelessness of Shakespeare's work is the way that the topics he writes about and how he explores them in relationship to universal themes.

The particular thing that I am thinking about in Henry V, is the scene in Act IV the night before the battle of Agincourt. Leading an exhausted, hungry and badly outnumbered army, Henry tells his nobles he needs some time on his own, and tries to go off wearing a cloak that disguises his identity. Before he can go anywhere, however, he has three different encounters. The third is with three common soldiers, Michael Williams, John Bates and Alexander Court. This is reportedly one of the few times in Shakespeare that common people are given first and last names which some believe indicates their views should be listened to carefully.

Supposedly such encounters between common people and a disguised monarch or leader had two purposes before Shakespeare wrote Henry V. One was to allow the leader to see how much his men loved and worshipped him, the other was as a means for the common people to speak directly to their king, in which case he would always grant their wishes. Shakespeare, however, uses this encounter in a very different way - everything that Henry says the soldiers contradict especially Williams who in the end insults Henry to the point that the two agree to fight a duel if they survive the battle. Williams contrariness continues even after the battle when in peril of his life, he realizes that he had challenged the king himself and tells Henry it was his own fault for being in disguise.

My point here is that Williams and his two fellow soldiers are as contrary as they can be, yet as far as we know they are loyal soldiers who do their duty during the battle. That is very similar to the picture we get of William Lloyd through his letters - he is almost always contrary to authority, complains a lot, and describes a lot of nonmilitary like behavior. Yet at the same time, Lloyd ultimately does his duty and does it well. We know this because he is put into a leadership position (Sgt) at the beginning of his service and stays in one until the end of the war, even being promoted to Lieutenant when the regiment is mustered out of service.

What I think is universal here is that any victorious army and, therefore, any successful general has to rely to some extent on soldiers other than those who are die hard patriots fighting for the cause. In other words, those who don't want to be there in the first place, but ultimately choose to do their duty. Even Henry in his much smaller, rigidly structured army notes that. "There is no king, be his cause never so spotless, . . . . can try it out all with unspotted soldiers." This is even more true in large armies like the Union army in the Civil War. So what I am thinking here is that the "so what" factor of Lloyd's letters is that they give a picture of that kind of soldier - not the ideal warrior, but the one whose performance is essential for the army to be successful. An idea that needs a lot more thought and work, but which I think has some potential.

Tartuffe - Broadening Our Horizons

Back in February I wrote about a trip that Carol and I made to the Pearl Theatre Company's production of Twelfth Night in the East Village of New York City. The primary motivation for the outing was to see my god-daughter, Emily Ewing, who is doing an internship with this non-profit theater group. Emily's mother was my close friend, Edie Ewing who died this past December after a long and courageous battle with breast cancer. After that play we had dinner with Emily and she suggested we broaden our horizons with one of the Pearl's non-Shakespeare productions. We agreed on the assumption that she would again have dinner with us afterwards.

Yesterday was that outing where we saw the Pearl's production of Tartuffe by Jean Baptiste Moliere, a 17th century French playwright. Tartuffe is a satire largely about a religious hypocrite who gains power over a wealthy man through his (Tartuffe) piety. In fact, Tartuffe is a hypocrite who is deceiving the wealthy man both for money and because he lusts after the man's wife. The play was apparently suppressed by the religious establishment in France when it was first produced.

This marked our third time at the Pearl (the other time was to see Hamlet) and once again we came away very impressed with this theater company and especially their regular group of actors. Of a cast of 12 about half were also in Twelfth Night and three others were also in Hamlet. The one who sticks out for me is Sean McNall who we have now seen play Hamlet, Feste in Twelfth Night and now Camis in Tartuffe. Talking about him over dinner both Emily and I agreed that we would love to see him play Hal/Henry V - he is an actor of great range and he would be great in those parts.

Unfortunately Emily's internship ends in June, but I think it likely we will continue to go back to the Pearl. I am waiting with some anticipation to see what their 2009-2010 season will look like hoping against hope that they will do one of the history plays. Carol and I are both very glad that we took Emily's advice that we should broaden our horizons!

Writing Update

This has been one of the most unusual weeks of the about 15 months that I have been "retired." It is the first week in that time that I have had no meetings or other commitments, especially evening meetings. Part of the explanation is that a lot of what I do is church based and this being Holy Week, the secular side of the church kind of shuts down. That also makes it difficult even to do church work at home as information, follow up etc. from the church office isn't that easy to do.

As a result this has been a week to concentrate more fully on writing and reading and it has been productive in both areas. A lot of the reading has been focused on "The Way We Live Now" by Anthony Trollope, the last of my three books for the Victorian challenge. It is about 900 pages long, but for some reason I have been flying right through it, well past half way and enjoying it as well.

However, it has been the writing that has really gotten the most attention and it has been a very productive week - to the point that after doing one more thing, I think I am going to take off until Monday. Of course, a lot of that is involuntary, Easter has its own schedule and tomorrow, Carol and I are off to the Pearl Theatre in New York to see another play where my God-daughter is the assistant stage manager. I expect to write about that within the next few days.

There have been two focal points for the writing - the proposal for the Ebbets Field book and the editing of the William Lloyd letters. The proposal for the Ebbets Field book is due by May 1st, but it should go out of here well before that. I am very happy with the team that we have put together, five published authors with a good background in baseball, Brooklyn and ballparks. How's that for alliteration - DT would be proud. I think the proposal has gotten better in each draft, the input of the contributors plus the thought process has really made a difference. I am really excited about this possibility and very much hope we get the project. The process has also led me to think again about another book possibility - something that would combine a biography of Charles Ebbets, a history of the Dodgers from 1883 to Ebbets' death in 1925 and how the team became such a community institution. The Ebbets Field book could help set the stage.

I have also made quite a bit of progress on the William Lloyd letters. Lloyd was a member of the 33rd New Jersey and something like 40 of his letters survive. About two years ago, a special friend introduced me to her God-son who volunteered to transcribe the letters themselves. He did a great job (he is now part of the potential Ebbets Field team) and I have been working on editing them. To my surprise I have already finished a rough first draft, there is still a lot more to do, but I should meet my self-imposed deadline to get it off to a potential publisher by September 1st. I am going to intentionally take a break from that project to think a little bit more about the best way to do this. I keep seeing or feeling a connection between William Lloyd and the attitudes/actions of various soldiers in "Henry V," so I need to think about that some more. DT may have some thoughts as he usually does with anything regarding Shakespeare.

My non-fiction reading this week has been related to another possible book project. I have posted before about the possibility of a book about Andrew Jackson and his war with the Second Bank of the United States. My next step in pursing that was to read the biography of Nicholas Biddle, the President of the bank and Jackson's adversary. It would be an exaggeration to say that I can't put it down, but I am reading it with a lot interest in the subject. I think there are some related themes here that could make for an interesting book - the wisdom of populist attitudes towards banks, attitudes about people who make money from money, how the BUS actually worked and our relationship to material things. I need to keep reading and thinking about this as well as the larger Brooklyn book, no matter what happens with the Ebbets Field book - so we will see what happens, but I am grateful for such a productive week.

Remembering What's Really Important

A couple of weeks ago I had a phone call from the Director of Development at St. Benedict's Prep in Newark asking if I would help out with their search process for a new head of their finance department. I was glad to do so, Paul Zinn is a 1997 graduate of St. Benedict's and St. Benedict's is a wonderful place. As the Assistant Headmaster said to one of the candidates, "our mission is to provide a top flight education to those who can't afford one."

Being back at St. Benedict's reminded me of many things and, while there has been a lot of turnover, it was good to see some of the people who played an important part in Paul's time there. All of this reminded me of when we were going through the college search process. Paul had been accepted at Bates and we went to a reception for new students in New York City. The then head of admissions told me that Bates had targeted St. Benedict's as a place where they wanted to recruit students and they hoped Paul would be the pioneer in that regard. Paul did go there and it was definitely a great experience for him.

While I had heard of one other St. Benedict's graduate going to Bates, the assistant headmaster told me the story of the most recent Gray Bee to go to Lewiston, Maine. From what I understand this young man literally had no functioning immediate family - one parent missing, the other with major substance abuse issues. When it came to the financial aid application documentation, there was literally nothing available - ultimately all they could come up was a photo copy of a welfare check. Fortunately Bates was true to its word and accepted the young man and, I assume, gave him the necessary financial aid. Just to confirm how much the student was on his own, the assistant headmaster was the one who took him to school last September.

The search for the finance position went very quickly and I certainly hope the person works out. I don't know that I contributed that much to the process, but it was good to be re-connected to the school. I hope I can find other ways to help out now that I have been reminded once again, what is really important.

The time is out of joint

Other than some rain outs, most major league teams were in action yesterday. One of the classic debates this time of year is whether the pitchers are ahead of the hitters or vice-versa. It is one way of wondering when players will get into mid season form. Unfortunately there is already one aspect of baseball that is already in mid season form - the length of games. As much as I love baseball, this is one area where I think the game is going backwards.

Yesterday's Mets-Reds opener lasted 3:17 in a game where only three runs were scored and the Reds only had three hits. Not surprisingly, the Yankees-Orioles game was even longer at 3:31, although it seemed like it lasted over four hours. I suppose the
10-5 score mitigates the latter game, but American League games, especially Yankees games always seem interminable to me.

It doesn't have to be this way, the classic example that I have used is the Brooklyn Dodgers-Boston Braves 26 inning game from 1920 - the longest game ever played in terms of innings. That game lasted about 3:45, in other words, they played almost three games in just 15 minutes longer than it took the Yankees and Orioles to play one. I realize that is a obscure example from a different era of baseball, but I found a more modern example the other day. In preparing to submit the Ebbets Field historic ballparks proposal, I was looking at the first book in the series about Forbes Field. It has the box score from the classic seventh game of the 1960 World Series between the Yankees and the Pirates which Pittsburgh won on Bill Mazeroski's ninth inning home run. The score of the game was 10-9, it was the seventh game of the World Series and it took all of 2:36 to play!

Some might object to my concern on the basis of why would you want to see less rather than more baseball. My point is, however, that you don't see more baseball, you see the same amount of baseball, it just takes a lot longer to play it. Last year at Phillies/Marlins game, Carol asked me why the games take so much longer - I told her to focus on how much time is wasted by batters stepping out of the box between pitches. Changing that alone would make a big difference.

Two years ago we were at a minor league game in New Hampshire with Paul and Sarah. One of the pitchers took so long between pitches, that it was as if he didn't want to throw the ball. Thinking about that later, it occurred to me that he was being trained to throw that way. The idea must be something along the lines that you can control the game more by slowing it down. Yet that certainly isn't the way great pitchers work - they work fast to keep hitters off balance. Again changing that philosophy would make all the difference in the world.

I don't want to seem negative about opening day - one of the highlights of any season. But this has bothered me for a long time and, unfortunately, I don't see it getting better. On a more positive note, I know that my Shakespeare buddy, DT, enjoyed the Yankees-Orioles game because for at least for one day, the Orioles are in first place and ahead of the Yankees. Let the games continue, but could we please move it along a little!

The Play's the Thing - A Visit to the Past

My set of DVD’s of the BBC’s “An Age of Kings” series arrived in Friday’s mail. While my plan is to watch the whole series in regnal order (the order in which the events take place), I decided to watch a few selected scenes among other things to test my memory of something I saw almost 50 years ago. I chose somewhat by random three scenes – the great tavern scene in Henry IV, Part I, the band of brothers speech in Henry V, and the scene at the end of Richard III when Richard is visited by the ghosts of those he had killed on the way to the throne.

My memory of the great tavern scene was that I didn’t like it, primarily because I didn’t like Falstaff. While I still see his shortcomings very clearly, I can also now see how attractive he is as a character and just how funny he really is. Seeing the scene for the first time at the age of 15, I don’t think I was old or mature enough to appreciate it. Now I recognize the brilliance of the scene, just how funny and enjoyable it really is – perhaps one of the greatest scenes Shakespeare ever wrote. Hal is played by Robert Hardy who has had a long and distinguished acting career and certainly plays the part well. I didn’t know the actor, who played Falstaff, but he was good and the scene was as good as any other versions that I have watched.

Interestingly I had no memory at all of the band of brothers speech in the Age of Kings version. What I did remember was how disappointed I was at how short the actual battle scene is in this version. Now having seen Robert Hardy give the speech, I have to say I was disappointed, part of that is probably because to me every other version I have ever seen pales in comparison to Kenneth Branagh’s version in his movie of the play. My memory of the fight scene was exactly on target, the scene of the fighting at Agincourt lasted probably less than a minute and takes place primarily in Henry’s imagination. I think one of the reasons I was so disappointed all those years ago was that the battle scenes in Henry IV, Part I were so effective. Of course, I realize now that in the latter play the fight between Hal and Hotspur is crucial to the play while in Henry V the issue is not Henry’s valor, but how he inspires others to fight for him.

Finally I watched the ghost scene in Richard III primarily because I remember it as the most effective version of that scene that I have ever watched. My memory was accurate and it didn’t disappoint all these years later. While he tries to sleep the night before the battle of Bosworth Field, Richard is visited by the ghosts of his victims. Each of them tells Richard to “Despair and Die,” it is a lot easier to work in the ghosts in a film version, but even Olivier’s movie (which I hated) doesn’t come any near as close in its haunting realism.

As I watched these three scenes and thought about them, I started comparing them in my mind to other versions I have seen over the years – some as recently as last fall. At first I was disappointed to think that in some ways I have seen them done better at other times. But then I realized the importance to me of “An Age of Kings” is not that they were necessarily the best Shakespeare I have ever seen, but rather it was my first experience with Shakespeare. Regardless of whether they were the best, they were the first and they were good enough to keep me interested for almost five decades. That is more than sufficient reason to honor them and to watch them again – something I look forward to a great deal.

Opening Day - 2009

Usually it seems like it takes forever for the start of the baseball season to get here. While there was some sense of a wait this year, it all became a blur over the past few days. A blur of the past, present and future.

Today marked the opening match for the Eureka Base Ball Club of Newark which played the Flemington Neshanock at the Somerset Patriots home field in Bridgewater (pictured here). It was the first time that I was actually on the field at one of these minor league type stadiums, it was nice, but it didn't feel as intimidating as I thought it would.

It was an interesting match, played by 1864 rules where the major difference is that any batted ball caught on a bounce is an out. It changes the game dramatically as what would be line drive singles today are just ordinary outs. Most 19th century games and their 21st century counterparts are high scoring affairs, but today was exactly the opposite. I am not sure if pitchers were ahead of the hitters early in those seasons, but the cold wind today reminded why opening days in those days was usually in June. Of course, as somebody reminded me, on the other end, they played through Thanksgiving.

Today the Neshanock got off to a 2-0 start in the first, a lead they extended to 5-0 after six. The sixth was the only really bad defensive inning for the Eureka which is a hopeful sign. Last year too many times one or two bad plays let innings and games escalate out of control. The Eureka rallied in the 7th for three runs and then tied it with one out in the ninth. Having the last at bat is always crucial in baseball and it was today as the Neshanock scored quickly to with the match. The game didn't end though as in the 19th century, the bottom of the ninth was played regardless of who was ahead. There was no more scoring, however, so the Eureka dropped their first match of the year 6-5.

It was however, a close match, the Eureka seem to have improved and hopefully it will be a good year. While I could have done without the wind, it was great to be out on a base ball field again and great to see some of the guys who I got to know last year. I am really glad that I decided to get involved in this - I wish it had been around about ten years ago when Paul and I might have been able to play together, but you can't have everything.

The other reason that baseball sort of came on the scene like blur is the opening of the new stadiums for the Yankees and the Mets at the same time that I have been working on the proposal for the Ebbets Field historic ballparks book. I am especially interested in the Mets new stadium with its Ebbets Field like features especially the rotunda - Carol and I have tickets to a game on May 13th and I am really looking forward to it.

As part of my preparation for the proposal, I have been reading the first book in the series which is about Forbes Field. Apparently the relatively new PNC ballpark in Pittsburgh has some nostalgic features based upon Forbes Field. At some point in the book, one of the writers mentions how those kind of features are sort of a nostalgic look back at what is felt to be a simpler time. However, as he points out, when Forbes Field opened in 1909 that was not how people then looked at it - they thought of it as a modern ballpark with many features that incorporated the latest technology. An interesting thought when preparing (hopefully) to write about Ebbets Field - trying to look at it going into the future rather than looking back at it from today.

Clearly I am ready for the 2009 season!

State Budget Hearings - The Assembly

Today, April 2nd was my day to testify at the State Assembly budget hearings on behalf of the Historical Commission grant program which, in turn, funds the New Jersey Historical Society budget. This is the second year that I have testified at both the State Senate and Assembly budget hearings and for whatever reason, the two experiences are very different.

I don't think it has anything to do with party as the experience is the same across party lines. The purpose of the Senate hearings appears to be to allow anyone who wishes to, to get their position on the record. Most people testifying end up reading their testimony and the times I have been there, there have been few, if any questions from the senators. I am not trying to be critical, it is just so different from the Assembly.

At the beginning of the Assembly budget hearings, Assemblyman Lou Greenwald, who is the chair, asks people not to read their testimony. Rather he suggests that it would be better to use the allotted five minutes for interaction with the committee. At another hearing, I heard him say that what comes out of that dialogue is often used by the committee members in their own deliberations. That makes the experience more challenging, at least for me, but it certainly does seem to be a productive approach. Below is my written testimony which I kind of summarized verbally, I felt the testimony went fine, but I could have done a better job in the dialogue that followed. At the end Assemblyman Greenwald said we needed to have more dialogue and so I plan to pursue that. It was a draining experience, but one that was important.

"I am here to testify about funding for the Historical Commission’s grant program. I want to start by thanking this committee not just for the opportunity to be heard, but equally important the chance to be part of a discussion. In times such as these the more inclusive the process, the better the chance of finding the best solutions for the problems that face our state.

During the trying times of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln said that “we must learn to think anew.” That idea seems just as relevant in these difficult times as it did then. Thinking anew today about the state budget can mean many things, two that seem particularly appropriate are the ideas that tax payer dollars must be spent in the most cost effective way possible and that we should all be focused on strengthening our state’s economy. I believe that New Jersey’s history organizations can make important contributions in both areas.

I hope that we all agree that it is important for our school children to learn about the history of their community and their state. If so, then clearly strong history organizations can help to teach that history in a cost effective manner. If school children in Paterson or Bordentown are going to learn about the history of their communities, surely it is more cost effective to use resources and programs developed by history organizations rather than have each school district develop their own programs. As we move beyond the local this becomes even more true, if school children in Camden County and Monmouth County are going to learn about the history of their region, then again it must be cost effective to have multiple school districts drawing on the resources of county and state historical organizations.

Strong history organizations can also make an important contribution to our state’s economy. The strongest history organizations are those that develop strong programming which generates revenue which is in turn used to generate more programming and so on. In that way history organizations become a strong economic engine – an engine that helps not just that organization, but also the local and state economy as well. This can be especially important in difficult economic times like these when many families are looking for less expensive vacations closer to home.

The operative word in what I have said so far is strong – strong history organizations can make the contributions that I mention. Unfortunately most New Jersey history organizations today are not strong, and many are in serious danger of not being able to carry out their mission. Just one example, is that the New Jersey Historical Society, the only state wide history organization has been closed to the public since the middle of February. We plan to re-open soon, but the crisis remains. Our problem is not that our costs are too high, but our revenue is too low. The 25% cut proposed in the 2010 budget will have a devastating impact not just on NJHS, but on all history organizations. I urge you to restore the proposed cut – please help New Jersey history so that New Jersey history can help New Jersey."

A Case of Identity

Recently I was talking with a long time friend about a program he was working on to help improve the quality of life in a New Jersey community. In that situation one of the problems is that the community does not have a sense of its own community identity. That would be sad in any situation, but it is particularly sad in this case because the community has a rich history that has apparently been forgotten. Unfortunately much the same thing could be said of our state – we lack a sense of our identity, in large measure because we don’t know our own rich history.

At least part of the reason for this is that New Jersey history is not adequately studied in our public schools. Unfortunately there is now a very real risk that the situation will get worse. The State Board of Education will shortly consider new guidelines for teaching social studies in the our state schools – guidelines that put less, not more emphasis on New Jersey history.

In fact, according to a number of social studies educators, the new guidelines hardly mention New Jersey beyond the Revolutionary War. Among other things this could eliminate the teaching of New Jersey’s role in the Civil War, the Underground Railroad, industrialization and immigration. Especially upsetting to me is the possible elimination of teaching about New Jersey in the Civil War. With the 150th anniversary of the Civil War just two years ago the timing couldn’t be worse. This is especially true since an all volunteer group, that I am fortunate to chair, has put New Jersey in the lead among northern states in planning for the observation of this anniversary.

Just one sentence of a joint statement by social studies educators speaks volumes on this issue. “The 1947 New Jersey Constitution made radical changes in state and local government and brought the state to the forefront of progressive reforms that provided a model for other states to follow.” How many of us know anything about that? Yet, it is something that should make all of us proud to live in New Jersey. Couldn’t such justifiable pride help shape our identity as a state and, therefore, help us be the kind of state we can and should be.

Time is running out on this issue as approval of these standards could come as early as this month. This is a time for action. Please write the Commissioner of Education who serves as the Secretary of the State Board of Education at State Board of Education, 100 River View Plaza, P.O. Box 500, Trenton, NJ 08625.