Bruce Slutsky was born in New York City in 1949. I retired six years ago after working as a Science/Engineering Librarian at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark for 25 years. I was married to Karen until she passed away in February 2021. I have a son Lee who is now 35 years old. I am very much interested in the popular music of the 1960s, especially Bob Dylan and the Beatles. I am interested in rock and roll radio. I am an enthusiastic fan of the New York Mets.
Over the years I have donated small amounts to numerous charities and non-profits. These include radio stations, disaster relief organizations, and medical organizations. I understand that some overhead is expected as it takes money to make money. These organizations must work hard to minimize overheads so that the funds raised go directly to charity.
I am annoyed when shortly after I make a donation, I receive email and paper mail appeals for more money. It costs to prepare these brochures asking for more money. Please don't pester people shortly after they donate and try to minimize costs.
It's Sunday, so Bruce and Lee are at Citi Field as part of our 20-game ticket package. Things have not gone well for the Mets, especially after the trade deadline. There were plenty of fans with Angel's uniforms to see superstar Shohei Otani.
Starting pitcher Dave Peterson pitched well over seven innings with eight strikeouts leaving the game tied at 1-1. Pete Alonso, hit by a neck pitch last night, hit a double in the eighth inning to tie the score at 2-2. In the ninth inning, the Mets loaded the bases. Rafael Ortega singled to right field for the walk-off win.
This must be the only Dylan recording that can be classified as jazz. It is from the album New Morning and features some scat singing. I never heard it on the jazz radio station WBGO.
Congratulations to Dwight Gooden and Darrell Strawbery for having their numbers retired by the Mets in 2024. Both were instrumental in the Mets World Series victory in 1986.
There are no written rules on criteria for when a former player's number can be retired. Under previous owners, only 37-Casey Stengel, 14-Gil Hodges and 41-Tom Seaver's numbers were retired. Since Steve Cohen became owner 17-Keith Hernandez, 36-Jerry Koosman, Mike Pizza-31 and Willie Mays-24 had their numbers retired. Certainly, in the years to come David Wright-5 will have his number retired. It is possible that the Mets will retire Gary Carter-8.
Sadly, Gooden and Strawberry had problems with drug abuse. I am certain that their problems are in the past and we should honor them for their accomplishments.
Several months ago, I reported that I was leaving a discussion group for seniors since I felt that the meetings were poorly run. Last night I attended a meeting of residents of my co-op since the meeting was not run properly by the President of the co-op board.
A meeting was scheduled to discuss an assessment made to the shareholders as costs were rising. At first, the President said he would show a PowerPoint showing how costs have risen in recent years and take questions and comments later. As soon as he started the former treasurer started to make a comment. Then, the former President made another comment and people started shouting. The current President should have insisted that all be quiet, but several people had to interrupt. I immediately left the meeting and returned to my apartment. At least the managers at my former employer knew how to run a meeting.
The good news was that I watched the Mets beat the Atlanta Braves 10-4.
I'd like to comment that there is no sense of community in my co-op.
So what am I doing now? I am listening to the radio, of course. I am listening to the archived version of Sounds of the Sixties with Tony Blackburn. I do most of my radio listening on the Internet. I have an HD radio on the dining room table, a Bose AM-FM radio in my bedroom, and a car radio. The only traditional AM-FM stations that I listen to on a regular basis are:
WBGO
WFUV
WFAN
WEPN
WCBS-FM
WINS
In the car, I exclusively listen to several stations on SIRUSXM including:
60s Gold
50s Gold
The Bridge
The Elvis Channel
The Beatles Channel
Deep Tracks
Classic Vinyl
Classic Rewind
My favorite internet radio station is Pop Gold Radio.
What is the significance of 18 years? Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, and Ron Darling have broken the 17-year record of Lindsay Nelson, Bob Murphy, and Ralph Kiner who broadcasted games from the Mets from the team's inception in 1962 until 1978.
I just hope that Gary, Keith, and Ron, will stay with the team for many years to come.
I was at a meeting of older adult baseball fans today in Manhattan when female baseball umpire Perry Barber revealed the well-known lyrics to Take Me Out to the Ball Game were just the refrain of the song. Here are the complete lyrics:
Katie Casey was base ball mad.
Had the fever and had it bad;
Just to root for the home town crew,
Ev'ry sou Katie blew.
On a Saturday, he young beau
Called to see if she'd like to go,
To see a show but Miss Kate said,
"No, I'll tell you what you can do."
"Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack,
I don't care if I never get back,
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game."
Katie Casey saw all the games,
Knew the players by their first names;
Told the umpire he was wrong,
All along good and strong.
When the score was just two to two,
Katie Casey knew what to do,
Just to cheer up the boys she knew,
She made the gang sing this song:
"Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack,
I don't care if I never get back,
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, your out,
At the old ball game."
Here is the version by the late Harry Caray at Wrigley Field
Thanks to my 20-ticket plan for this season I was at Citi Field for the third time in a week. Yesterday's afternoon game was the lowest of the low, so we must go up from there.
Rafael Ortega who was released by the Texas Rangers and the Yankees in 2023 was the hitting star as hit got two hits in a six-run fifth inning for the Mets. I guess we can call him a "ReplaceMet" after Tommy Pham and Mark Canha were traded.
Kodai Senga pitched effectively for the Mets after he gave up three runs in the first inning. He left after six innings giving up three runs on four hits with seven strikeouts. Fortunately, the hitting for the Mes came to life scoring seven runs. This time the four relief pitchers were able to hold the lead.
The Mets are now 53-65, just 1/2 game ahead of the last-place Nationals. The next seven games for the Mets are against the Pirates and Cardinals.
I had the misfortune of being at this game played 12 days after the trading deadline. Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor were nursing minor injuries and were not in the lineup. Most players were recently recalled from the minor leagues or castoffs from other teams. Those included starting pitcher Devi Reyes, outfielders Abraham Almonte, D.J. Stewart, Rafael Ortega, and relief pitchers Reed Garrett, and Josh Walker. When the Mets were behind 13-3 infielder Danny Mendick was brought in to complete the game. He gave up eight runs in the ninth inning as the Braves were taking batting practice against him.
The only highlight of the game for the Mets was a three-run homer by Daniel Voglebach.
This was the worst Met game I've seen in person over the 61 years of the franchise. The full and partial season ticket holders are really shortchanged by the tanking strategy of the management. Time will tell if the eight prospects acquired will work out.
The Mets made a slew of moves before and after the opening game. With Reyes on the active 26-man roster, New York designated right-hander Jimmy Yacabonis for assignment early Saturday afternoon. Yacabonis pitched 3 2/3 innings in relief in Friday’s 7-0 loss to Atlanta.
Following the game, the Mets optioned Reyes to Triple-A Syracuse, recalled right-hander Tyson Miller from the same affiliate, reinstated outfielder Tim Locastro from the 60-day injured list and designated for assignment Almonte.
Robbie Robertson Interviewed About Playing with Bob Dylan
The sad news came today that Robbie Robertson just passed away. I followed his career with The Band as a solo artist since 1968. Garth Hudson is the only surviving member of the group.
This Monday night game was part of our 20-ticket package for this season. The Mets lost three in Kansas City and three in Baltimore right after the controversial moves at the trading deadline. The highlight of the game was two home runs by Pete Alonso and good pitching by Kodai Senga to give the Mets a 7-2 lead at the end of six innings. At about 9 PM it started to rain, and the tarp was put on the field. We decided to leave since we anticipated a long rain delay.
The game resumed after 11 PM. Danny Mendick hit a three-run homer to cap an 11-2 victory for the Mets. I guess a few diehards stayed until the end. Can the Mets with a depleted roster play competitive baseball until the end of the season?
According to my record in this journal, the last time I visited The Museum of the City of New York was in Jun 2021, so it was time for a return visit. All museums have permanent and temporary exhibitions. The newest exhibit honored the Museum's centennial by showing the many ways the city has inspired storytelling in film, television, and other media. It features an immersive film that is a montage of cinematic moments.
Another exhibition was "Food in New York" which examines how food creates a powerful social network.
Some of the permanent exhibits were:
Activist New York
New York at its core
This work by Pop Artist Red Grooms was in one of the galleries
I bought a 20-game package for this season with the hope that the Mets would at least get into the playoffs. The team has recalled some players from AAA Syracuse who have not been impressive in the series against the Kansas City Royals, one of the worst teams in baseball. The Mets were swept in that series.
How will the eight prospects acquired by the Mets perform in the long run? Three of them are less than 20 years old and would be several years ago from the major leagues. Very often players will do well at the minor league level but perform poorly when they are recalled to the parent team.
IMHO the trade deadline should be moved back to June 15 where it stood until 1985.
Major moves in the roster should not happen in the middle of the season.
There should be a limit on how much money can be moved during a player transaction. Steve Cohen is paying $98 million in salaries to Verlander and Scherzer. In total he has paying $138 million to players not on the Mets' roster.
On June 15, 1977, the Mets traded franchise player and
future Hall of Famer Tom Seaver to the Cincinnati Reds for:
Pat Zachry
Doug Flynn
Steve Henderson
Dan Norman
Three of the four players listed above were adequate major
league players but could fill Seaver’s shoes.
Over the next seasons, the Mets’ records were:
1977 64-98
1978 66-96
1979 63-99
1980 67-95
1981 41-62
1982 65-97
1983 68-94
Over the past few days leading up to the trading deadline
the Mets traded
David Robertson – Relief Pitcher
Max Scherzer – starting pitcher and future Hall of Famer
Justin Verlander – starting pitcher and future Hall of Famer
Mark Canha – Outfielder
Tommy Pham – Outfielder
Dominic Leone – Relief Pitcher
Thus almost 25% of the roster was traded. In return, the Mets got the following minor-league prospects:
Luisangel Acuña
Ronald Hernandez
Marco Vargas
Justin Jarvis
Drew Gilbert
Ryan Clifford
Jeremy Rodriguez
Jeremiah Jackson
The Mets have obviously weakened their team for the remainder
of this season. I assume that AAA
players from Syracuse will be brought up to fill out the roster. Last night the
bullpen could not protect a three-run lead in the 10th inning. Call-up Josh Walker balked in the winning
run. Is this what we will have to put up
with for the rest of the season?
Nobody knows how the eight prospects acquired in the trades
will work out. They could become
all-stars or busts. This is a gamble
that Steve Cohen and Billy Eppler have made. I can not see the Mets being
competitive again until 2025 at the earliest.
Perhaps Steve Cohen will open his wallet for free agents in the coming
off-season. He really likes to spend
money, but in my opinion, he is being reckless as he is spending up to $54
Million to Astros in the Verlander trade and $38 Million to the Rangers for Scherzer. Why spend big bucks to pay pitchers to play
for other teams? I think the Commissioner of Baseball should limit the amount
of cash sent in trades. An owner should
not wholesale changes in the roster in the middle of the season lowering the
quality of the team for season ticket holders.
I bought a 20-game package for this season.
I am just tired of reading about trade speculations in The Athletic, MLB.com, and ESPN. I get disgusted when I hear about trades that are actually made. It is now 9:20 AM and the deadline is 6 PM, so I expect a flurry of trades to be made in the next few hours. Some quotes that I have read in the many years I have been a baseball fan:
The best trades are the ones you don't make
The best trades are the ones that benefit both teams.
These trades made at the deadline benefit the teams that are in contention while the teams with poor records suffer. Let me take my "beloved" Mets as an example. As of this writing, they have made three trades in the last few days:
They traded their #1 relief pitcher, David Robertson, for two low-level minor leaguers.
They traded their best starting pitcher, Max Scherzer for an AA infielder who is at least a year away from making the parent team. The Mets are giving the Texas Rangers $36 Million as part of the deal
They traded outfielder Mark Canha for a minor leaguer.
There are rumors that pitchers Justin Verlander, Brooks Raley, Adam Ottavino, and outfielder Tommy Pham could be traded.
Even though Mets GM Billy Eppler says: 'This is not a rebuild, or fire sale or liquidation, it's a repurposing, the team is weakened for the rest of the season. The Mets' record is now 50-55 but will likely get worse as a result of these trades. There is no guarantee that the minor leaguers will eventually come to the Mets and be impact players.
I think the Commissioner of Baseball should like the amount of money that is given as part of a trade.
