Chunichi Dragans vs. Yokohama BayStars
Yokohama Stadium
It sounds like this (turn up the volume)
Pre-game
The BayStars take the field
Beer service
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The Joy of Japanese Baseball
Seventh inning
Posted in Baseball
Tagged baseball, Japan, Nippon Professional Baseball, sports, Yokohama, Yokohama BayStars, Yokohama Stadium
10 Comments
Sanja Festival, Tokyo
The Sanja Festival is a Shinto festival that takes place mid-May in Asakusa, a district in Tokyo. It is a celebration of the three founders of the Sensoji Temple.
The videos above and below show celebrants parading the mikoshi (portable shrines) through the streets toward the Sensoji Temple. Each of the mikoshi represents a neighborhood.
Posted in Travel
Tagged Asakusa, Japan, mikoshi, Sanja Festival, Sensoji Temple, Shinto, Tokyo, travel
3 Comments
80 Years Ago Today
D-Day, June 6, 1944. American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches in Normandy. It was the start of Operation Overlord, a mission that would eventually lead to the liberation of France from the Nazis. This is Omaha Beach. The American 1st and 29th infantry divisions landed here. It was the sight of the strongest resistance and of the most Allied casualties.
The Normandy American Cemetery includes the graves of 9,387 American soldiers, most of whom participated in the landing on Omaha Beach. Their average age was 23-24. There are another 1,557 names on the Wall of the Missing.
Posted in History
Tagged D-Day, France, history, Normandy, Normandy American Cemetery, Omaha Beach, World War II
5 Comments
Flour Power
The Mill City Museum and Ruins, Minneapolis
The Mill City Museum is built within the shell of what was once among the largest and most technologially advanced mills in the world. It was a flour mill that operated continuously for some 85 years.
The first Washburn A Mill was opened in 1874. In 1878 it exploded, destroying the mill and much of the surrounding area and killing 18 workers. The new mill, the one shown above, replaced it in 1880. From that time until 1930, Minnesota led the nation in flour production.
During the 1960’s the flour industry moved out of Minnesota due to a number of technology, transportation and tariff issues. The Washburn A Mill closed in 1965. The then-vacant building suffered a major fire in 1991. In the aftermath, the city cleared the rubble and reinforced the walls. The Minnesota Historical Society developed the museum that has been open on the site since 2003.
The Ruins
The Process
Posted in History
Tagged Flour mills, history, industry, Mill City, Mill City Museum, Minneapolis, museums
4 Comments
The Art of Glass
Works from the modern and contemporary galleries at Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, N.Y.
Musee des Beaux Arts, Rouen
French painting from the 19th and 20th centuries
The Musee des Beaux Arts in Rouen, France, dates back to 1799 when it was housed in a church. in 1803 a number of works that had been confiscated by Napoleon were added to its collection. The current building was opened in 1888 and underwent a complete renovation in 1994. The museum houses European art from the 16th century to present day, as well as a large collection of impressionists paintings. The works below are all 19th century French paintings.
Posted in Art
Tagged 19th century, art, France, Impressionist, Musee des Beaux Arts, museums, New Jersey, Rouen
7 Comments
Josephine Slept Here…
…with Napoleon
The Chateau de Malmaison, located in Reuil-Malmaison, about 9 miles from Paris, was the home of Napoleon Bonaparte and his wife Josephine. While Napoleon was out galavanting in Egypt, she bought the house in 1799. Or, more precisely she signed a contract to buy the house, it was up to him to come up with the cash when he got back. He did. Later, as emperor, Napoleon would enact a law that prevented women from signing a contract without the consent of a husband, father or brother.
For two years, from 1800 to 1802, the Chateau de Malmaison was the seat of French government. Josephine lived there until her death in 1814. Napoleon moved out in 1809 after their marriage was annulled. Despite his love for Jospehine, Napoleon had sought the annulment because she could not give him an heir.
Josephine was born Marie Josephe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie in Martinique to a noble French family. She initially married Alexandre de Beauhamais. She had two children with Beauhamais. Her husband was a bit of a philanderer and she was able to get a court ordered separation. Alexandre was beheaded during the French Revolution. Josephine was also imprisoned, but she was released after the fall of Robespierre.
Jospehine apparently had a number of affairs with political figures before marrying Napoleon in 1796. In 1804, when Napoleon was “elected” emporer, she became the Empress of France. She is often referred to as Josephine Beauhamais, but she used the name Josephine Bonaparte after her marriage. She died in 1814 from pneumonia.
Jospehine was responsible for the renovation of Chateau de Malmaison and for the beautiful gardens that surround the chateau.
Posted in History, Travel
Tagged Chateau Malmaison, France, history, Josephine Bonaparte, Napoleon, travel
5 Comments
Water Lilies, Monet and More
Marmottan Monet Museum, Paris
The Marmottan Museum is housed in a building that was once the hunting lodge of the Duke of Valmy. It was sold in 1882 to Jules Marmottan, a wealthy businessman and avid art collector. He left it to his son Paul when he died one year later. Paul Marmottan expanded both the building and the collection. He bequeathed to the Academy des Beaux-Arts and it was opened as a museum in 1934.
Monet’s Water Lilies
More Monet
And More
Whatever Happened To? Roger Clemens
On the mound, Roger Clemens was “The Rocket.” Few major league baseball pitchers can match his accomplishments. He won 354 games. Eleven times he was an all-star. Seven times he won the Cy Young award as the best pitcher in the American League and twice he was a World Series champion. His career, which most notably included the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays, lasted 24 years.
Off the mound, Clemens was a constant source of controversy, both during his playing days and after. One of his Major League managers would pronounce him “a complete asshole.” During the 2006 World Baseball Classic, he made this comment about Japanese and Korean fans: “None of the dry cleaners were open, they were all at the game, Japan and Korea. So we couldn’t get any dry cleaning done out there, but I guess the neatest thing is that 50,000 of them were at Anaheim Stadium.”
But the biggest source of controversy concerning Clemens’ career is the question of whether he used performance enhancing drugs. In 2017, the Mitchell Report, the conclusions of a Congressional investigation into the use of PED’s by Major League baseball players, identified Clemens as a user of anabolic steroids. This was based on testimony given by his personal trainer Brian McNamee. Clemens claimed he never failed a drug test and never used PED’s. After testifying to that effect before Congress he was charged by the Department of Justice with six felony counts of perjury, false statements and contempt of Congess. After one mistrial, he was found not guilty in a second trial.
Clemens sued McNamee for defamation. The suit was thrown out. McNamee sued Clemens for defamation. Seven years later Jay Schreiber of the New York Times (March 18, 2015) reported “Lawyers representing Clemens and lawyers for his former trainer Brian McNamee reached a settlement in McNamee’s long-running defamation suit against Clemens…
“As a result, McNamee will receive an unspecified payment from Clemen’s insurer, AIG.”
There was no admission of wrongdoing, but the issue of Clemens drug use never seems to go away. Forbes carried this story by Christian Rec (Dec. 23, 2020):
“Two former federal authorities who were central to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) steroids trafficking case, and who later helped compile much of the damning evidence in the Mitchell Report on baseball’s doping past, say that there is no doubt two of baseball’s biggest names — Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens — cheated with performance-enhancing drugs during their major league careers.
“‘We had DNA evidence in the Clemens case, with Clemens’ DNA and an anabolic steroid within a needle that was used to inject him,’ said (Jeff) Novitzky (Criminal Investigator for IRS).”
Clemens personal life was no less free of controversy. The New York Daily News published this story by Teri Thompson on May 2, 2008:
“Roger Clemens carried on a decade-long affair with country star Mindy McCready, a romance that began when McCready was a 15-year-old aspiring singer performing in a karaoke bar and Clemens was a 28-year-old Red Sox ace and married father of two, several sources have told the Daily News.
“Contacted by the Daily News Sunday through his lawyer Rusty Hardin, Clemens confirmed a long-term relationship but denied that it was of a sexual nature.”
An AP story from Nov. 18 of that year included McCready’s comments:
“Country singer Mindy McCready claims she broke off her relationship with Roger Clemens when the baseball star wouldn’t marry her, according to an interview set to air Monday on the syndicated TV show ‘Inside Edition.’
“McCready told “Inside Edition” she met Clemens when she was 16, not 15, as reported by the Daily News in April. She told the TV newsmagazine they met in a karaoke bar, that her relationship with the pitcher didn’t turn sexual until several years later and that the relationship lasted for a decade.
“‘Carrying on a relationship with him is not something I’m proud of,’ she said, according to a partial transcript released by the show. ‘Roger Clemens is one of the most wonderful men I’ve ever known. … He treated me like a princess.’
In 2013, McCready, at age 37, committed suicide.
Since 1984. Clemens has been married to Debra Lynn Godfrey. The couple had 4 sons, including some ballplayers. Koby, 37, after being drafted by the Houston Astros in 2005, had a nearly 10-year minor league career. Kody, 27, made it to the major leagues in 2022 with the Detroit Tigers. He has since been traded to the Philadelphia Phillies and is currently playing for their AAA minor league affiliate. Kacy, 29, was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2017 and had a two year minor league career.
Like their father, a couple of the Clemens’ boys were no strangers to courtrooms.
A story in USA Today (by Scott Boeck Feb. 29, 2021) reported:
“Roger Clemens’ son, Kacy, and his friend Conner Capel were awarded $3.24 million in their lawsuit against a bar in Houston.
“The two minor leaguers sued Concrete Cowboy in 2019 claiming they were assaulted by bouncers at the bar after complying with their request to move away from a waitress station on New Year’s Eve in 2018.”
Then on April 10, 2023, TMZ carried this story about Kory:
“Roger Clemens‘ 34-year-old son, Kory, has been arrested again for DWI, TMZ Sports has learned … and the allegations against the MLB legend’s kid are scary.
“According to court documents, Kory was busted by the Houston Police Dept. in Texas at 2:22 AM on April 7 following a car accident.
“In the docs, prosecutors allege Clemens struck another vehicle, which caused ‘heavy’ front-end damage. They also say Kory was throwing up at the scene and was ‘unsteady on his feet.’ They added in the documents that he reeked of booze, had bloodshot eyes and slurred his speech … and stumbled when he walked.”
Roger Clemens never really was able to pass by an available pitching mound.
ESPN reporated on Aug. 25, 2012: “Pitching for the first time in five years, Clemens tossed 3-⅓ scorelees innings Saturday night for the Sugarland Skeeters of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. Age 50.”
mlb.com wrote (Oct. 22, 2015): “Roger Clemens and Oil Can Boyd really did pitch against each other in a baseball game this week.
“The Men’s Senior Baseball League, the largest amateur baseball league in America, is in the midst of its 2015 50-and-up World Series tournament, and there were a number of stars on hand for this one as Clemens’ Houston Old Stars beat Boyd’s Boston Wolf Pack, 4-1.”
During the pandemic Hayden Bird of Boston.com (June 12 2020) caught up with Clemens:
“Roger Clemens will manage in a Texas baseball tournament: Though Major League Baseball continues to be on hold, fans in Texas may soon have the ability to see plenty of games this summer.
“The Sugar Land Skeeters, an independent league team, announced earlier this week their intention to form a four-team professional league to play from July 3 through August 23. After the new teams are formed in a player draft, all games will be played at Constellation Field (the Skeeters’ ballpark).
“Former Red Sox pitcher Roger Clemens and his son, Koby, have reportedly committed to managing two of the four teams in the league. Clemens praised Skeeters owner Kevin Zlotnik.”
And it was only last month when Chron.com (by Dan Carson March10, 2024) filed this story:
“The traveling circus that is Savannah Bananas baseball took over Minute Maid Park on Saturday night, and Astros fans were treated to the sight of a franchise great taking the mound for the historic occasion.
“Seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens emerged from the Savannah dugout in the second inning to a standing ovation from the 41,000-strong sold-out crowd. Sixty-one years young and wearing the bright yellow uniform known around the nation for goofy, avant-garde baseball, the two-time World Series winner immediately went to work.
“The night was a mixed showing for Clemens, however. ‘The Rocket’ pitched well but was taken yard early by former Georgia Southern infielder Jason Swan, who sent a two-run bomb over the left field wall in the top of the inning. The two-time World Series winner ultimately got out of the frame on a comebacker ground out, ending his Bananas career.”
On the baseball diamond he was still “The Rocket” and there seems to be plenty of ballparks where they’re still willing to roll out the red carpet for him. Because of the PED suspicions, Clemens has been denied some of the honors that you would expect a player with his level of success to enjoy.
On the question of the Red Sox choosing not to retire his number, Clemens told boston.com (Deysha Smith, Aug. 23, 2019 ):
“It’s not going to change how great I was here. It was just meant to be that I’m tied with Cy Young for wins [354] in Boston.”
He was equally cavalier about his much-discussed failure to be elected to the baseball Hall of Fame. “I never played to make the Hall of Fame. My first couple of years I played to make a good living for my family. And after that, to win championships, which I was able to do. As far as Cooperstown, there’s a bunch of cool stuff of mine that is in there, and if they look at facts and do all that, they would know exactly where I stood.’’
In 2009 a group of Daily News reporters published a book about Clemens titled “American Icon.” A quote from a review of that book, which I found in the New York Times (May 11, 2009) best answers the question of Whatever Happened to Roger Clemens:
“The very qualities that once made Clemens a demigod on the mound, aggression, tenacity and a relentless need to win, were the very qualities that would sabotage him in real life, in the legal arena, on Capitol Hill and in the court of public opinion.”
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Whatever Happened To?
Posted in Baseball, Sports, Whatever Happened To?
Tagged baseball, Mindy McCready, Mitchell Report, MLB, PEDs, Roger Clemens, sports
9 Comments
Whatever Happened To? Mary Lou Retton
At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, a high school sophomore from West Virginia became the first American woman to win the all-around gold in gymnastics. With Mary Lou Retton’s historic performance combined with her congenial smile and perky personality, she would soon be dubbed ‘America’s sweetheart.’ And would be front and center on the boxes of Wheaties, a first for a woman.
By 1986, she’d retired.
“At an age when most people are embarking on their careers, 18-year-old Mary Lou Retton announced yesterday she was retiring and would concentrate on school. ‘My decision to retire was based on my feeling that I have achieved the goals as a gymnast that I set out for myself several years ago,’ said Miss Retton, who vaulted to fame, fortune and a picture on Wheaties boxes in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
“‘My goals are now toward college,’ she said. ‘But I’ll always be a part of gymnastics, whether as a commentator or coaching. I’ve spent my whole life in the gym – 11 years of hard work. Now I have the rest of my life to do what I want.’ As a freshman at the University of Texas, Miss Retton is attending school part time and is studying speech and English this semester.” (New York Times, Sept. 30, 1986)
College was not the only thing that the aftermath of Olympic stardom had in store. There were TV interviews, public appearances and commercial endorsements.
“Prompted by her down-home friendliness and salable grin, corporate America besieged Miss Retton with endorsement offers following her Olympic triumph. The daughter of a former player in the Yankee farm system, the product of sturdy West Virginia coal-mining stock, a perfect ‘10’ and patriot to boot, the kid was the essence of Americana, and advertisers rushed to cash in on her.” (Robin Finn, New York Times, Nov. 25, 1985)
I found an ad in Newsday (Oct. 8, 1985) that advised you could “See Mary Lou Retton Cook Up A Perfect 10 COOKBOOK: America’s favorite athlete teams up with Tyson Holly Farms!” A Cincinnati Post ad (May 9, 1996) proclaimed: “Look Who Will Be Joining The Fun At The Revco Health & Beauty Expo!” and a spot in the Buffalo News (June 2, 1992) noted “American gymnast and gold medalist Mary Lou Retton shows Walmart shoppers they can be active and confident when wearing Depend Silhouette Underwear.”
Not all of her endorsements worked out.
“Gymnast Mary Lou Retton, whose Olympic-sized grin is used to symbolize wholesome American sports, is suing a sponsor for dumping her as a spokeswoman because of body changes ‘caused by her maturing as a woman.’
“Retton, 20, was under a four-year contract signed in 1985 with the National Bowling Council and the Bowling Proprietors Assn. of America, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court. The organizations ended the agreement in June ‘on the ground that Mary Lou Retton, due to changes in her physical image caused by her maturing as a woman, was no longer a suitable spokesperson,’ the suit complained. The suit seeks $250,000 in damages.” (Los Angeles Times, Jan. 11, 1989)
A columnist at the Ottawa Citizen (Earl McRae, Jan. 14, 1989) had some fun with that news.
“The National Bowling Council canned Mary Lou Retton because, says The National Bowling Council, Mary Lou Retton’s body was changing as she matured into a woman. This was an incredibly sharp observation by The National Bowling Council. How Mary Lou Retton ever thought she’d get her bodily changes as she matures into a woman past the highly intelligent members of The National Bowling Council defies belief. Mary Lou Retton should be ashamed of herself for even attempting such a biological trick.
“Couldn’t Mary Lou Retton see that all bowlers look like she did before she tried sliding womanhood past them? Couldn’t Mary Lou Retton see that all bowlers are slim, sinewy, flat-chested and pubescent? Didn’t Mary Lou Retton realize that all bowlers are gifted with stratospheric intelligence and nothing escapes them? I mean, did Mary Lou Retton not appreciate the reason she was picked in the first place was because The National Bowling Council saw the obvious link between its sport and high-performance, strenuous, gut-busting gymnastics?”
Florida Today (March 19 2007) carried an advertising supplement with the headline “MARY LOU RETTON IS A BIOMET TOTAL JOINT REPLACEMENT RECIPIENT. DISCOVER HOW BIOMET CHANGED MARY LOU’S LIFE.”
That one didn’t work out either. Ten years later Mctlaw, a product liability law firm in Seattle, posted this (Nov. 28, 2017):
“Biomet hired Olympic gold medal gymnast Mary Lou Retton to sell the Magnum hip. Biomet aggressively promoted Retton as a Magnum hip replacement success story. Unfortunately, Retton’s Magnum hip failed, and she had to have it surgically removed. Mary Lou Retton has had to file her own lawsuit against Biomet. Strangely, Biomet continues to use Retton’s image and story to promote the success of the Magnum hip.”
One of Retton’s other activities was inspirational speaking. You can get an idea of what these talks were like by looking at the book she published in 2017.
“Now the former Olympic gymnast has shared her recipe for joy in a new book, ‘Mary Lou Retton’s Gateways to Happiness: 7 Ways to a More Peaceful, More Prosperous, More Satisfying Life’…
“She makes no apologies for the seven ‘gateways’ to happiness cited in the book – including relationships, attitude, discipline and family – are built around her growing relationship with God. ‘My Christianity is the core of who I am, and my relationship with God is first and foremost in my life.’” (Lynn Van Matre, Chicago Tribune, April 13, 2000)
Retton had a few forays into politics.
“When then-President Ronald Reagan was photographed with the American team, the petite gymnast was front and center, and wrapped under the Commander in Chief’s arm. She was subsequently featured in his re-election campaign, and remained active in Republican politics through at least 2004. She and fellow former gymnastics star Kerri Strug were guests at the GOP convention in New York City, during which George W. Bush was again chosen as the party’s nominee. Together, they recited the Pledge of Allegiance during the live broadcast. Retton was also one of the professional athletes who signed a letter of support for Presidential Bush.” (Rita Dorsch, grunge.com, Oct. 15, 2023)
On a more controversial note, Retton defended USA Gymnastics when dozens of other gymnists came forward with the statements that resulted in the Larry Nassar sex abuse scandal. In reponse to that scandal and to the role USA Gymnastics played in covering it up, Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017. Retton met with Feinstein:
“The federation has had no shame… When the sex abuse bill was introduced, (USA Gymnastics President Steve) Penny and others from U.S.A. Gymnastics met with Feinstein about the federation’s sexual assault policies. How about this for a public-relations stunt: Tagging along was Mary Lou Retton, the smiling, bubbly sweetheart from the 1984 Games, as they said that the federation’s policies were solid and that gymnastics was a happy, safe place.” (Juliet Macur, March 29, 2017, New York Times).
No one believed them. The bill was passed and Penny would soon resign.
Retton had married Shannon Kelley, a former University of Texas quarterback and Houston real estate developer in 1970. Together they had four daughters, all of whom had some involvement with gymnastics on one level or another. They were divorced in 2018.
Retton had a serious health scare last year when she was hospitalized with a rare form of pneumonia.
Kelsey Dallas of the Deseret News (Oct. 11, 2023) filed this story:
“Mary Lou Retton, the first American gymnast to win gold in the Olympic all-around competition, is fighting a rare form of pneumonia and has been in an ICU for more than a week, according to her family.
“Retton’s daughters went public with the situation on Tuesday when they launched a fundraising drive on behalf of the former champion. Retton will need help with expenses because she’s not currently insured, the Spot Fund fundraising page says.
“‘We ask that if you could help in any way, that 1) you PRAY! and 2) if you could help us with finances for the hospital bill,’ family members wrote, noting that Retton is ‘fighting for her life.’”
The public responded with $459,000 in donations. Some journalists responded with questions about why she was uninsured and why a fundraiser was needed to cover her expenses.
“Olympic champion gymnast Mary Lou Retton walked away with a cool $2 million in her 2018 divorce, court papers exclusively reviewed by DailyMail.com reveal.
“She was also expected to collect around $2 million more in compensation after a legal spat with the manufacturer of her two metal hip replacements.
“The revelations cast more doubt on why the five-time gold medal winner had no health insurance when she was struck down with a rare form of pneumonia and why her family resorted to begging for cash online to bail her out.”(James Franey and Alan Butterfield, Daily Mail, Jan. 29, 2024)
On the health insurance questions, Retton said: ““When COVID hit and after my divorce and all my pre-existing (conditions) — I mean, I’ve had over 30 operations of orthopedic stuff — I couldn’t afford it… That’s the bottom line: I couldn’t afford it.” (Martha Ross, Mercury News, Feb. 1, 2024 )
Recovered and back home, she told NBC News (NBC News, Jan. 8, 2024, Aria Bendix, Natalie Kainz and David K. Li) “I mean when you face death in the eyes, I have so much to look forward to…
“I’m a fighter and I’m not going to give up. I’m not going to give up. I have no idea what the future holds for me. I don’t know if I’m going to have lasting issues with my lungs. They don’t know. I wish I had answers. But I would never give up. It’s not in me.”
She also confirmed that she now has health insurance.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/embedded-video/mmvo201567301737
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(A note on sources: Links are not provided for the stories from the New York Times because those stories are behind a paywall and require a subscription to access. The other newspaper citations that do no include a link were accessed on https://www.newspapers.com/.)
Whatever Happened To?
Posted in Sports, Whatever Happened To?
Tagged gymnastics, Mary Lou Retton, Olympics, sports
14 Comments
off the leash 