BASEBALL IS BACK!

   FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4TH., 2016
           BASEBALL IS BACK!

     My title may seem inappropriate
given the fact the 2016 Baseball season
officially closed with the end of the
World Series Wednesday night. But
that series seems to have given a
rebirth to our "National Pastime."
      Who would ever believe a die
hard Yankee fan would find himself
glued to the TV and cheering for a
National League team from Chicago?
Well that's me.
       My interest stemmed from the
fact the manager of the Cubs is a
fellow native Hazletonian. I never
met John Maddon, unless he played
Softball against me sometime years
ago. I left Hazleton about three years
before he graduated.  
        But his success as a manager,
even before he moved to Chicago,
was big news back in the old
hometown. One of the Hazleton
radio stations even carried the
Tampa Bay Rays games when he
managed there. Other than Maddon
there was little reason for anyone
in Hazleton to give a hoot about a
team from Florida!
         Given the Yankees dismal
record this year and the departure
of "home grown" players like
Andy Petttitte, Derek Jeter, and
Mariano Rivera over the last
couple years my enthusiasm for
the game was at an all time low.
        But the contest between two
teams who hadn't even been to, let
alone won, a World Series in what
seems to have been forever suddenly
attracted a lot of attention. Ratings
for the games were higher than they
have been for years.
        So, in my case, I found myself
cheering not so much for the Cubs
as for a fellow "home town boy."
        The games were great. The
comebacks were great. And all at
a time when the American public
was drowning in the nastiest
political campaign most of us
can ever remember! We all needed
Baseball. This baseball!
        Hope Maddon eventually
signs with my Yankees and that
all your NEWS is good!