Bruce's Journal is Always Free - No Patreon or Substack for Me

 

Since October 2005, I have published this journal to freely share my thoughts with others, whether or not they are acquainted with me.  The entries may be about:

• My Background
• Baseball Games
• Bob Dylan
• Oldies
• Radio broadcasting
• Unusual experiences
• Anything else

I can consider it a vanity press.  I don't have to worry about fact-checkers or copy editors.

I never wanted to monetize this journal.  I write it mostly for fun and am not concerned about making money from it.  I always wonder if my writings have any impact on anybody.  Do people think I am some kind of a nut?

There are services called Patreon and Substack where writers charge readers.  They offer a few paragraphs for free and then ask the reader to subscribe, usually for a year, to read their entire articles.  This is just not for me.

Casey Stengel Chapter of SABR Holds a Meeting at the 14th Street Y

 

Every year, the NYC Casey Stengel Chapter of SABR holds an in-person meeting.  This year the meeting was held at the 14th Street YM-YWHA on East 14th Street.  There were several speakers on topics of interest to New York baseball fans.

• Eric Weiss ran his yearly trivia contest
• Jay Goldberg discussed his project, The Memory of America: Remember Your First Baseball Game. He interviewed many fans who talked about the first game they saw in person.  My first game was on July 15, 1957 as the Brooklyn Dodger beat the Milwaukee Braves 20-4 at Ebbets Field.
• Lee Lowenfish, a noted author, discussed his biography of Frankie Frisch who once played for the New York Giants.
• David Fenichel talked about his campaign to build a statue of Jackie Robinson at the site of Ebbets Field.
• Journalist Ken Davidoff discussed his book 101 Lessons from the     Dugout: What Baseball and Softball Can Teach Us About the Game of Life
• Scott Tanenbaum, Professor of Sports Studies at Manhattanville University, discussed his book, Bleacher Seats and Luxury Suites, which examines Americans’ changing understandings of urban areas, inclusion, and the body politic.

The turnout at this meeting was somewhat disappointing since only 30 or so people came.  When I was first involved with the chapter, it drew over 100 people to meetings held at the New York Public Library.  It remains a challenge for the chapter to get more involved in the society.

Are Mets Fans Too Critical Over the Lack of a Jewish Heritage Day?

This website lists Theme Games and Heritage Nights at Citi Field in 2026.  There is no Jewish Heritage Night.  Does this imply anti-semitism by the Mets management?  The last such event was held in 2023.  Was there an outrage in 2024 or 2025?  I have seen many posts on social media criticizing the Mets.

Sadly, anti-semitism has grown tremendously in recent years.  My only comment is that Met owner Steve Cohen should address this issue.  He was raised in a Jewish household, but I have never observed him expressing a Jewish identity.

OK, Steve - let us hear you.

 

I am Glad I Didn't Stay Up to Watch the Mets Last Night

 

The Mets just started a series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on the West Coast, meaning the games start at 10 PM in NYC.  They lost 4-0 and were able to get just 3 hits as they lost their sixth game in a row. Will Sammon of The Athletic gives a good analysis of the Mets' woes.  Juan Soto is not expected back anytime soon, but one player can't turn the team around.  There are 145 games to go.

Athletics 1 Mets 0 as the Losing Streak Hits 5

 

The only scoring of the game was a home run by Nick Kurtz in the third inning.  The pitching of Freddie Peralta and Sean Manaea was good, but the offense was limited to 4 hits.  Posters on social media are already calling for manager Carlos Mendoza to be fired after a record of 7-9.  I think it is a little premature, but podcaster Kelley Franco, aka @threeinningfan, explains what the Mets need to do to turn things around.

Box Score

My Comments on Bruce's Journal

 

This is journal entry #5400 since October 2005, so I thought I should make some comments about this journal:

• There have been over 8,500,000 hits to this journal, but how many of them are real and how many of them are from robots?
• What people access this journal regularly?  I understand that people choose to be anonymous when they surf the web.  I am aware of a few regular readers who access it after I post the most recent entry on Facebook. Are my readers acquaintances or complete strangers?
• Very few people make comments either on the journal directly or on Facebook.  Does my journal have any impact on anyone, or is it just a vanity press for me?
• Some of the things I reported never happened.  Paul McCartney never teamed up with Bob Dylan.  There was never a movie based on Dylan's album Blood on the Tracks.
• Many of the YouTube videos I posted were taken down for various reasons.  It would be a very time-consuming project for me to revise the entries with "defunct" videos.
• Likewise, many of the linksin my entries are no longer valid.

Diamondbacks 7 Mets 1 at a Cold Citi Field

 

Last night's game was part of our 20-Game package, so we went and dressed warmly as the temperature was in the 40s.  The two earlier games in this series were moved up to 4 PM due to the cold weather, but Thursday's game started at 7 PM.

The game started well as Luis Robert Jr. hit a first-inning home run.  That lead held up until the 7th inning when the starting pitcher, Nolan McLean, began to falter.  The following relief pitchers, Luke Weaver and Luis Garcia, were ineffective.  The Mets lost 7-1.

Game Recap

Bob Dylan and Question Mark

 

The other day Bob Dylan performed in Saginaw, Michigan, the home of Rudy Martinez, professionally known as Question Mark.  His group, The Mysterians, had a big hit in 1966 called 96 Tears.

Len Levin of SABR Has Passed Away at Age 95 (Society for American Baseball Research)

 

For several years after my retirement, I was active in the SABR Games Project.  Authors would research and write accounts of professional baseball games.  As Coordinator of Fact Checking, I either reviewed the game myself or sent it to another team member.  After the game was fact-checked, I would send the manuscript to Len Levin to copyedit before publication.  I must have exchanged hundreds of emails with him over the years. I did meet him at two SABR National Meetings. It was always a pleasure to work with him.

Obituary by Jacob Pomrenke, SABR's Director of Editorial Content

Comments about Len by John Fredland, Coordinator of the Games Project:

Sad news for the Games Project and SABR in general: Len Levin, who served as copy-editor on a remarkable variety of SABR publications, including nearly every Games Project article during my five-and-a-half years as committee chair, died today at age 95. Len's reviews of our articles facilitated our weekly output until he broke his hip last December, and he struggled with his health after that.

I will miss how Len's revised articles arrived in my inbox overnight, with countless improvements in phrasing and citations brought into compliance with the SABR Style Guide. He once told me he worked on the articles after his wife Linda went to bed at night. He was born about a month after Ernie Banks and three months before Willie Mays, when the Philadelphia Athletics were defending World Series champions. He was a great teammate, and it is heartbreaking that he is gone.

Radio Log Saturday April 4th

 

Here is a list of radio stations I heard today:

• 1010 WINS
• WFUV
• Classic AT 40 with Casey Kasem
• Elvis Radio on SiriusXM
• Rewound Radio
• 60s Gold on SiriusXM
• WBGO - Rhythm Revue with Felix Hernandez
• WABC - Cousin Brucie

Passover Seder in the NYC Subway

 

The story on the TV News last night states that this seder took place on the #6 train.

• A rapper known as Kosha Dillz started hosting pop-up Passover Seders on subway trains three years ago.  It is obviously an abbreviated version.
• The moving celebration brings together riders of different backgrounds, including some attending their first Seder
• Organizers say the quick, unconventional format is designed for people who might otherwise skip the holiday
• Participants say the experience is both meaningful and uniquely New York

I think there should have been a seder on a New Jersey Transit train.  With their history of long delays, there could have been a complete seder.

Everybody Plays the Fool by the Main Ingredient on April Fools Day

 

I have to be careful about what I read on the Internet on April Fools Day.  Somebody stated that the Mets traded Richard Lovelady to the Baltimore Orioles for Pete Alonso.