Book review: "The Greatest Game Ever Pitched"

I recently read the book "The Greatest Game Ever Pitched", by Jim Kaplan. The book tells the story of a baseball game played in 1963 between the San Francisco Giants and the Milwaukee Brewers. The pitchers that day were Juan Marichal and Warren Spahn, who are both now in the Hall of Fame. As the title states, both pitchers were excellent that day; there was no score through nine inning. The extra innings kept piling up, and both pitchers kept going. In the 16th inning, the game was still scoreless and both starting pitchers were still in the game. Finally, in the bottom of the 16th, Willie Mays (another Hall-of-Famer) hit a home run off of Spahn to give the Giants a 1-0 victory.

This book not only tells the tale of this particular game, but also serves as a duel biography of both pitchers. Spahn and Marichal had many differences - Spahn was born and raised in Buffalo, while Marichal was one of the first baseball stars from the Dominican Republic. Also, in 1963 Spahn was over 40 and nearing the end of his career, while Marichal was in his 20s and just establishing himself as a star. In spite of these differences, Kaplan weaves together their stories and shows how the two had many similarities as well.

Overall, the book proved to be an interesting view into baseball across several decades, as well as a good insight into the lives of two great yet often overlooked pitching stars. I would recommend this book for any baseball fan.

Glorified Gluttony

I'm not the type of person who usually comes out with a hand-wringing, "the world's going to hell in a handbasket" type of rant, but something happens every 4th of July that I think deserves mentioning. I'm talking about the annual hot dog eating contest. The competition has been going on for many decades, but in the past few years ESPN has decided to televise it. I refused to watch it this year, but I did see it a couple of years ago, and I'm sure it's still the same. It might be the most disgusting thing shown on television. There are millions of people, not only on the other side of the world, but also in the US, who don't have enough to eat. Yet these morons who have conditioned themselves to gorge their stomachs are treated as heroes. Everyone involved - the competitors, fans, Nathan's and ESPN - should really be ashamed of themselves.

It is particularly disturbing that ESPN tries to call this a "sport" and make money off of it. Of course, if anyone actually called the network out on this, their response would be that they are just airing what people want to see. This is pure, unadulterated BS. ESPN calls themselves the "worldwide leader in sports" for a reason. They are big and powerful enough to influence (for better or for worse) the nation's viewing habits. If the powers that be at ESPN think there is money to be made by televising hot dog eating, or a spelling bee, or poker, you can be damn sure that they will ram that pseudo-sport down America's throat and brainwash us into thinking that that is what we wanted in the first place.

As a parent, I feel that I have a vested interest in trying to make the world a better place for future generations. Seeing a segment of our society worship and glorify those who engage in such gluttonous behavior is a real cause of concern for our future. I hope that we all can find better ways to celebrate our nation.

P.S. I heard that this year, for the first time, there is now a women's competition in the hot dog eating contest. Susan B. Anthony must be spinning in her grave.