Sad News - Lenny Schneider passes away at 67

On July 11, 2008 I discussed 1978-1981, my Queens B'nai Brith Singles years. There was a short discussion of Lenny Schneider.

Tonight I received a phone call from Herb Hollander saying that Lenny passed away today at the age of 67. I checked back in this journal and it was on June 7, 2008 that I met him at the Flushing Town Hall at a jazz concert. At that point I hadn't seen him in over 20 years.

My condolences to his family.

Rarity in Baseball last night

While the Mets were playing their first regular season game at Citifield last night the Yankees lost to Tampa Bay 15-5. When I checked the box score, I found out that first baseman outfielder Nick Swisher pitched the 8th inning for the Yankees. Since they were losing so badly manager Joe Girardi didn't want to "waste" another relief pitcher. Newsday reported that this was the first time since 1997 that the Yankees used a position player as a pitcher. Back then it was Wade Boggs. I did a little research and found these instances when the Mets used a position player to pitch (see chart to the upper left)

First Major League Game at Citifield

Last night was special in my life. It is not every day when a new stadium opens in NYC. There will be two opening this week. I will be brief here, but will write something more detailed after my first game this Saturday April 18. When I got home last night at 6 PM, we watched the pre-game show on SNY. We did not watch Jeopardy at 7 PM as usual. Karen taped the show at 5 PM on Channel 55 from eastern Long Island. I did not even turn on the computer. Here is the historic first pitch from Tom Seaver to Mike Piazza.



The game itself was a disappointment as the Mets lost to the San Diego Padres 6-5. The only highlight was David Wright's home run.

Beatles Song of the Day - Good Day Sunshine

First of all, a Happy Easter to readers of this journal who celebrate it. It was quite cool this morning, but the sun was out, a big difference from yesterday. With that thought in mind, here is an appropriate Beatles song:

I Just Hate Rainy Saturdays and Monday is Coming

I won't even talk about the movie we saw just to get out of the house for a few hours today. It didn't stop until about 6 PM.

Car Inspection Today

Since NJIT is closed on Good Friday I thought this would be a good day to bring me car in for its yearly state inspection. It is hard to believe that I own this Chevy Cavalier for 9 years now. since I don't drive to work I have only put on 35,000 miles on the car. For the first time I needed some work to pass the emissions inspection. The car needed a new catalytic converter. I had no choice but to have it installed.

First Seder at the White House

For the first time in history there was a Passover seder at the White House. Thank you Mr. President for reaching out to the Jewish community. Please see the article in the New York Times.