Sports

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Grappling with the complexities of
​365 seasons annually

The chill is gone.

Summer begins when the last snowman melts.

It can’t be summer already. Summer was just here. We’re finding our way back to things. It helps if the weather is a little better than just OK—lovely green and blue days with grasses swaying in the gentle breeze. Those days cause me to consider E. B. White who wrote, “I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.”

Rod Serling said, “You’re traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That’s the signpost up ahead—your next stop, the Twilight Zone.” Serling might have been talking about summer. Let the sweating begin. Suntan lotion? We need BBQ sauce. We shudder at sunburns we could pop popcorn on. Satan called, he wants his weather back. “Never stand in the sun when you can sit in the shade,” passes as wisdom.

I grew up without air conditioning, but with a rusty box fan. I put that fan in my upstairs bedroom window in accordance with the outside temperature. I pointed it outward so the fan pushed rising warm air out when the outside air was cooler than the air inside; otherwise, I wanted the fan blowing directly at me to aid evaporation of perspiration. Your experience may differ.

Russell Baker wrote, “Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it.”

Summer is a time for dillydallying. Some people prefer to dilly, others to dally.

Weather predicting is more difficult than herding cats. Perfect weather isn’t. We take what we get. It’s a dry summer when the lake needs watering. I favor cooler weather over hot, humid weather because I’m not a corn plant. I feel that way despite having my best effort in the 100-yard dash on a hot day. I completed 67 yards.

Summer is when it becomes safe to drive by a high school parking lot. It’s when I wonder why they didn’t cover potholes in driver’s training, I graze on watermelon and sweet corn, radish sandwiches make me drool, people don’t move much faster than not at all, and thunderstorms have lightning with legs. Noisy kids, construction sites, roadwork and lawn mowers abound. My favorite summer quote is by James Dent, “A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken.” My cousin thinks he’s a lawn mower. The neighbor just returned him. Mowing the lawn is an excuse for people who don’t golf to wear ugly clothing.

Summer is a time to yell at insects. I pick raspberries because I love to eat raspberries. I avoid making eye contact but mosquitoes pick on me because they have to eat, too. It’s impossible not to be one with nature around mosquitoes. A mosquito bite is a direct interaction with the world and the skeeters offer biting commentary. Mosquitoes are popular. People clap for them. Someone will say, “I don’t remember the mosquitoes ever being so bad.” That person will be right. Someone else will say, “The mosquitoes aren’t bad this year. That person will be right, too. With apologies to David Farragut, “Damn the mosquitoes, full speed ahead.”

Pendulous oriole nests look like dirty gym socks hanging from trees. You might live where green frogs call. You might not. They create a sound like the pluck of a loose banjo string, “plunk.”

Butterflies dance in the breeze. Butterflies give wings to flowers. Thanks to flowers, I can smell colors. Caterpillars get off the no-fly list. Monarch caterpillars spend their lives eating and growing 2,000 times larger in 9-14 days. We see the exoskeletons of escaped cicadas that should be considered winged and sonorous. Snowstorms of moths surround lights on ballfields, but it’s not summer until the crickets sing.

Summer is a pearl in an unshucked oyster and doesn’t end until we’re given a certificate of participation—a snow shovel. Summer just gets here when it begins to leave. Groucho Marx as Captain Spaulding, in “Animal Crackers” sang, “Hello, I must be going, I cannot stay, I came to say, I must be going. I’m glad I came, but just the same, I must be going.”

A cheering note to carry with you. The hotter the summer, the colder the following winter.

Excelsior!

​©Al Batt 2021

1. Who was guest host of “Jeopardy!” when contestant Scott Shewfelt gave “Who wanted to kick that field goal?” as his Final Jeopardy answer?

2. Name the Texas Tech Red Raiders basketball player whose glass-shattering slam dunk in the NCAA Tournament appeared on the March 25, 1996, issue of Sports Illustrated.

3. What St. Louis Blues defenseman suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed on the bench during a February 2020 game vs. the Anaheim Ducks?

4. What NASCAR driver finished sixth in the 2014 Indianapolis 500 and won Indy 500 Rookie of the Year honors? 

5. What Oscar-winning film from 1981 depicted the true story of British sprinters Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams, who both won gold medals at the 1924 Paris Summer Olympics?

6. At what stadium did the New York Giants’ Willie Mays make his famous over-the-shoulder catch of a fly ball hit by the Cleveland Indians’ Vic Wertz in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series? 

​7. What two brothers combined for 93 goals during the 1999-2000 NHL regular season?

1. Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

2. Darvin Ham.

3. Jay Bouwmeester.

4. Kurt Busch.

5. “Chariots of Fire.”

6. The Polo Grounds.

7. Pavel (58) and Valeri (35) Bure.

© 2021 King Features Synd., Inc.

It’s a busy time for baseball awareness in the Tri States. I’m not just talking about the White Sox and Yankees facing off at the Field of Dreams in Dyersville on August 12th. Dubuque County is known for its quality baseball all over. From high school to town team tournaments it’s a busy time on the diamond.

The Field of Dreams special, a year late thanks to Covid, was well worth the wait. What a boost in economic vitality and showcasing the Dyersville area across the country and the baseball world. Congrats to Roman Weinberg and his staff out at the sight. I stopped by a week ago and the buzz was incredible. The temporary stadium with it’s eight thousand seats looks very major league! The community is rolling out the red carpet for visitors. The White Sox are in first place in the Central ! The Yankees.........well they’re the Yankees with Aaron Judge, Garrett Cole, twenty seven world championships and an international fan base. It’s a ‘dream” matchup between two of the old American
League standards.

July also brought the annual Major League baseball draft. Wahlert High School’s Ian Moller was taken in the 4th round by the Texas Rangers. The 6’0”, 200 pound catcher is powerful with his swing and throwing arm. Moller didn’t play for the Golden Eagles, opting instead to compete on the club circuit before committing to the LSU baseball program. It remains to be seen if he ever puts on a Tiger uniform. The scouting report reads, “strong sturdy frame. Loose, easy and smooth batting stroke with raw power.”

​Another young man indirectly connected to Wahlert, was taken by the New York Yankees in the 13th round. Zach Messenger is a 6’6”, 225 pound right handed pitcher for the University of Virginia and touched 97 mph with his fastball this summer in helping lead the Cavaliers to the College World Series. Messenger is the son of Dennis and Lisa Messenger. She’s the former Lisa Sampson, who was an outstanding volleyball and softball player for the Golden Eagles. Her Dad was the late hall of fame basketball and softball coach of the Golden Eagles and at Waukon High School. Bob Sampson was a good friend and a longtime neighbor of the Dolphins on Dubuque’s west end. How proud grandpa would be today.

Maury, you asked me on the telephone when I’d send another “baseball memory”. This time grandpa thought you might enjoy a memory of mine unrelated to baseball. It’s just something that a “bunch of guys” thought was funny at that time. We even thought of it as “creative” although many might debate this!

When grandpa was about eighteen, I used to frequently meet all my friends on Friday nights “on the corner” in our neighborhood. My dad (your great grandpa) let me use the car he had whenever he didn’t need it. It was a 1926 big Buick, 16 years old (this was in 1942) which all my friends called “Betsy the boiler.” They would all chip in to buy gas (which was about 15 cents a gallon) and we would “cruise” down Main street. (Maury, ask your mom and dad what “cruising” is if you don’t know).

Downtown Dubuque merchants had recently decided to promote business by keeping their stores open until 9 p.m. on Friday nights. The city cooperated by having red lights flashing 4 ways every 5 minutes at the busiest intersection, 8th & Main, allowing shoppers the convenience of jay walking to get to the stores.

Because we knew a lot of people would be there, Maury, this is what we did. One Friday night about nine of us got into “Betsy” and I purposely drove so that we’d be the first car to go through 8th & Main after the light turned green. While waiting for the red light to change I would turn off the motor. When the light turned green I would leave the “starter switch” off, step on the starter, and of course the engine COULD NOT START ... .it would make a “loud grinding sound” familiar to everybody when the engine in their car wouldn’t turn over. We’d get out and open the hood by unhooking FOUR latches, two for each side! The guys would look under the hood and yell to me to “try it again”! The policeman standing on that corner would ask us if we ran out of gas! Traffic was backed up behind us and a lot of horns would start to honk! Bystanders would give us amused stares! We’d wind up (with people helping us) push “Betsy” through that intersection! Finally I’d turn the switch and of course the engine would start immediately! About that time the crowd would give a spontaneous cheer! We certainly were a nuisance, but did this “con job” for entertainment!

As grandpa looks back, Maury, “our gang” at that time did some crazy things. We never did anything that would hurt anyone but I guess you could say, at times, were rebellious in a harmless way. Hope you enjoyed this.

​Love, Grandpa

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