"Ya Gotta Believe!"

"Ya gotta believe!”  Tug McGraw shouted those words after a meeting Team President M. Donald Grant held in the lockerroom after another loss entering the final weeks of the 1973 season.

It became the rallying cry for the team as they marched through late August and all through September, 1973 until the last day of that season . They had been 12 ½ games behind in mid-August and ended up at 82 and 79 to clinch their second division title. They may have had a just over .500 season record, but for the final six weeks, they dominated all of Major League baseball with their play.

They went on to beat Pete Rose and the Cincinnati Reds “Big Red Machine” for the pennant. And almost completed the trifecta against the Reggie Jackson-led mighty Oakland A’s, coming up short after leading the World Series three games to two.

But the cry “ya gotta believe” inspired the team and the fans to actually believe in the impossible, because it almost happened. Because a quirky, funny relief pitcher showed in his insolence that it could be done if you believed.

The Wilpons never really took to retiring numbers of the Mets great ballplayers until 2016 with Piazza.  Seaver’s number was retired by the Doubleday-owned team, and Stengle and Hodges were retired by the Payson ownership. It seems to this Mets Fan that the Wilpons did not appreciate or respect Mets’ history.

But thankfully, Steve Cohen has righted that wrong, by retiring Koosman, Hernandez, Mays, Gooden and Strawberry, since he bought the team at the end of the 2020 season.

Now he needs to retire one more from the distant past, #45, Tug McGraw, because without his swagger, the 1973 Pennant would not be flying above the stadium.

“Ya gotta believe!”

The Usurpation By Evil People of the Religion of "Peace"

 

The Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam all have their roots in the Old Testament where God gave to Moses the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. In all these religions, while the order may be different, they all speak of the same precept: how man needs to get along with his fellow man in order to receive entry into God's Kingdom.

 In Arabic, salaam is translated as peace and is considered as one of the holy names of God. Islam is a religion of universalism, tolerance, peace, and reconciliation. Islam teaches that life is sacred and that the believer has a duty to uphold truth and justice. But for some, these precepts are not considered and instead, are ignored.

 I have asked my Muslim friends how they can still support Hamas as that entity continues to murder helpless innocents. The answer, cited like a talking point, is that Israel practices Apartheid.

 I have looked at them in amazement and disbelief, knowing that they are spewing the BS that Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar espouse, filled with rage and hate.

I have tried to have rational conversations with them to no avail. I have explained there are Palestinians in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. But they tell me they are only token representatives, put there by Netanyahu to shut up criticism.

 Today, I read that Hamas murdered two more hostages who were actually both over eighty years old, Amiram Kuper and Yoram Metzger. Both were kidnapped alive and even filmed by Hamas for their terrorist propaganda video.  This was after five young girls were filmed, brutalized and raped last week by these same barbarians.

 And yet, the world sits by and says nothing. It seems that the dream which the Mufti of Jerusalem and Adolf Hitler had in 1941 has become a reality in today’s world.  And they are rejoicing in Hell to see it come to pass.

 Even American Jewish “leaders” like Charles Schumer and Bernie Sanders remain silent as these atrocities unfold each day for the world to see. They stand with Tlaib and Omar, their sympathizers and Iran as innocent Jews are slaughtered indiscriminately without regard to any sense of humanity.

 It is said by Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and their supporters that the Holocaust never happened, and instead, it was a “Jewish Conspiracy” to put the Jews into what is now Israel. But, General Eisenhower knew that this statement would come to be believed and so, he made certain there was film and pictures to show the Holocaust was real.

 And today, with the support of Joe Biden, the Demo-Nazis in the Demo-Nazi Party, the uneducated,  spoiled, rotten to the core college antisemites, students, professors and administrators alike, and those who stay silent, like the Germans of the 1930s and 1940s, the Twenty-First Century Holocaust is raging in the US and Israel with abandon as the whole world watches and does nothing.

 So, with my apologies to any Muslim who still believes that Islam is a religion of peace, look again. Your religion has been usurped by the most vile, the most evil people who ever existed. Any resemblance to the religion you were raised in is gone and exists in its name only.

 Too many are violating the Fifth Commandment, “thou shalt not kill”, and the Second Commandment, “thou shalt not take the name of God in vain”. I believe when one cries “Allah Akbar” as you kill or mutilate another person, you have violated both these commandments. And when you stand by and do nothing, you are as guilty as the one who does the killing.

 And God is watching, taking notes. Take heed.

 

 

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How Art and Life Imitate Each Other

 

If you saw Judgement at Nuremberg, you would have seen Burt Lancaster play the part of a fictional judge, Ernst Janning. But the character was actually based on the real life Nazi judge, Osvald Rothaug. This “judge” did in real life what Ernst Janning was said to have done in the movie.

 On May 30, 2024, we learned that Acting Judge Juan Merchan of the Supreme Court of the State of New York has shown he can do better than Judge Rothaug by presiding over a case which never should have been brought against Donald Trump. He took away his First Amendment right of free speech. He also did not allow the jury to have the printed instructions which he read to them.

In this case, this corrupt, partisan, Demo-Nazi hack also proceeded to violate Donald Trump’s Sixth Amendment Constitutional rights and New York State’s Constitution by not allowing the jury to have written instructions of how the law should be applied. And, he suspended Donald Trump’s rights by telling the jury that in spite of the fact that that in a criminal trial he must be found guilty BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT, they didn’t have to follow that basic American Right.

 Then, after Biden’s stooge from his weaponized DOJ, Matthew Colangelo, secured this conviction on questionable Constitutional grounds,  Adolphus Biden called Trump a convicted felon moments after the verdict.

 Seems like old senile Biden doesn’t realize HE lives in a glass house. I guess he thinks his son will be exonerated for breaking gun laws and income tax evasion. He certainly will use his powers to grant him a pardon before he leaves office when HIS son is convicted.

 If you are a fair-minded person, you must believe this was not a trial that should have been brought. Even if you don’t like Trump, you must agree his rights as an American have been violated. And, your right to vote against him has been stepped on, by a corrupt, activist judge, a biased media and a DA who pledged when he ran for office to “get Trump” no matter what.

 If you had no problem with any of this,  I rue the day when you find your rights in jeopardy by a similarly Nazified system which finds it so easy to run ramshod over our Constitution. The judge must be removed and disbarred along with the inept DA Alvin Bragg, or this Nazi-like system of justice will only become worse.

 Thankfully, Trump will appeal and fair-minded judges will overturn this travesty. For all our sakes.

 

My Battle With Bladder Cancer

Tomorrow, Wednesday May 29, I begin a six-week regimented immunotherapy treatment to combat my persistent recurrence of bladder cancer. I have tried Keytruda, chemotherapy, and several surgeries to no avail. I have been fighting this since September, 2021.

Thereafter, I believe it will be done monthly for six months and then quarterly for two more years. Essentially I will be treated with the TB vaccine, which has proved successful in treating bladder cancer, small cell lung cancer and several other cancers since 1990. 

The purpose is to "trick" the immune system to fight off the invading disease, and by so doing, the immune system will finally recognize the cancer and attack that, too. Up to now, the cancer is only a mutation of cells already in the body and the immune system had no reason to believe it was harmful since it was not foreign.

It sounds so simple, right? But, unlike more recent vaccines created recently, this has been around for well over 50 years. I was opposed to getting "the shot" for me and thankfully, I know it was not that which caused this cancer.

Instead, I was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2011, dealt with it with Chemo and surgery, and was deemed cancer-free in 2015. I proved to myself that I am a strong-willed, positive person. I have used that attitude to get me to this point, as well.

I have faith in God, a strong and loving support system in my corner, and my determination to overcome this challenge and obstacle in my path.

I WILL BEAT this. But I know that prayers work, too. So just know that prayers and good wishes will be gratefully and graciously be accepted. 

God Bless All of you. Amen.

Darryl and Doc - Together Forever

 

Recently, Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden met with the media to discuss the news that they have achieved immortality in Mets History. They have always been joined since 1984 and will both have their numbers retired and flown on the roof of Citifield this year.

 They join other Mets immortals: Stengel, Hodges, Seaver, Piazza, Koosman, Hernandez and Mays, along with MLB immortal Robinson.

 As a Mets fan since 1962, it has been, for me, more down years than up. But following the 1973 World Series, it truly was a painful period, culminating with the Wednesday Night Massacre where M. Donald Grant traded The Franchise, Tom Seaver, to the Cincinnati Reds for Doug Flynn, Steve Henderson, Dan Norman, and Pat Zachary. Without Tom Terrific, there were no terrific times at Shea for the rest of the decade.

 But then, in January 1980, the Payson family sold the team to a group headed by Nelson Doubleday and Fred Wilpon. Because the Mets were such failures, especially in 1979, they were positioned first to draft soon after they closed on that deal. They used that overall number one pick to choose eighteen-year-old Darryl Strawberry. Suddenly a long-suffering fan, like me, had reason to hope for a brighter future.

 Then, in 1982, the Mets were again in position to draft number one overall. They used that pick to draft a seventeen-year-old high school phenom from Tampa, Dwight Gooden.

 By May 6, 1983, twenty-one-year -old Strawberry was brought up to The Show and never went back to the Minors again. That year, he hit .257, had twenty-six home runs, drove in seventy-four runs batted in, and won the 1983 Rookie of the Year, while only playing in one hundred-twenty-two games.

 In 1984, eighteen-year-old Dwight Gooden was unexpectedly brought up at the start of the season. He only averaged 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings, struck out 276, won seventeen games and had an ERA of 2.60. Oh, and he was an All Star, along with Strawberry, and won the 1984 Rookie of the Year award.

 Together, these two players, along with Keith Hernandez and later, Gary Carter, comprised the Mets’ “Core Four” for the balance of the 1980s. They brought excitement back to Shea Stadium for the balance of the decade, leading the Mets to winning seasons from 1984 to 1990 and winning two NL East championships, the pennant in 1986 and the most exciting World Series I ever saw that same year.

 Darryl Strawberry left the Mets after the 1990 Season and Dwight Gooden left after 1994. They each had some sparks of brilliance after they left. Strawberry won two more World Series in 1996 and 1999, and Gooden finally pitched a no-hitter in 1996 and won another World Series in 2000.

 We all know what happened to both men in 1987 and the years after with substance abuse. After battling those demons for much of the next few decades, each man has used that experience to help others overcome those devils.

 Finally, The Straw Man and Dr K will be honored with the highest tribute any team can bestow on its players. They were asked about it during an interview and each claimed they were humbled to be so recognized.

 As for me, as a long-suffering and loyal Mets fan, “Orange and Blue Since ‘62”, I can tell you it is finally about time. I am happy to see that the current Mets’ ownership recognizes the team’s history and is making good on what should have been done since Seaver’s number was retired so long ago.

 Congrats Darryl and Doc. You deserve it! Lets Go Mets!!

 

 

 

A Toast To A Married Couple

 

There is always a reason for events to occur. We may not be privy to the Master Plan, but we try to manage these events as they are presented. This day, we celebrate one of these events.

 Fifty-three years ago, two people met on a school yard in Queens County, New York. At the time, the event was insignificant to the participants hecause neither one thought anything of an ice cream cone, other than perhaps as it related to a laundry or dry-cleaning bill. Little did either one know at the time that the ice cream cone would lead to a “Hello", which led to a walk, perhaps from the school to her house, to a Sunday afternoon poker game with her father, to a kiss under a lamppost, to six children, fourteen grandchildren. And countless great-grandchildren. Little did they know. Events.

As they moved through the remaining years of the 1940's, they knew that their destinies were intended to be shared, as best as possible under the Master Plan. They tried hard to manage the events leading to a day, a mere fifty years ago today, almost a lifetime to some, more than a lifetime to others. But, of course, the Master Plan was waiting for them to seize upon the events of that day, as they stood at the altar of Saint Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church, in Ozone Park at about four o'clock that Sunday afternoon. Events.

 Soon they were married, but before they were married one year, they were forced to separate, he to Georgia, she to Ozone Park, because of a little appendage on the map of the world called Korea. But of course, she was not alone. She carried within her a piece of him that he had given her before he left. And five months later, when she flew to him, it was obvious what she carried. Events.

 And by Friday night, May 11, they were really no longer two. Instead, they had become one. Keep in mind, that in reality, they became one many more times after that first time. All because of an ice cream cone. Events.

 Their lives together, even when they were apart, were held together by an event that took place fifty years ago. Some of the people who were there then, or who were there to witness a part of their lives together along the way, both friends and family, are not here now, either by circumstance or by death. But those people are here in spirit because these two people touched the lives of Many. Events.

 Those people who have affected and have been affected by these celebrants include, but certainly are not limited to Albert, Fortunata, Annie and Mike, Katie, Billy and George, Anna. Joe, Rita, Tom, Rose, Eddie and Katty. Loretta, Don and Florence. Marian and Josephine. Even Father Kenny. Others include Joy. Frank, Matty and Betty. Lois and Carmine. Eileen and Joe. Sal and Louise. Sophie and Andrew. Richard. Rita, Gerry and Venard. Events.

 But the people who are in this room this day are the people they wanted to have be with them as they renewed their vows they took so long ago. These witnesses have come because of the love they have shared with these celebrants and the love they continue to share as time moves forward to another series of destinies. Events.

 So please raise your glasses, whether they contain wine, beer, soda or water. To Nancy and Frank, I wish you Salute, Sto’lat, Schlanka, Cent’anni. To many more years of love and happiness as you share your remaining time together here, knowing that those who you love and those who love you wish for you this EVENTFUL day, the promise of eternal love to be shared by each of you.

 Forever and Always.

Prologue from my book Life Is But A Dream.

Originally Dated: October 2, 1999, Selden, New York Nancy and Frank’s Golden Anniversary

 Restated: July 24, 2020, Holbrook, New York at my book publication, Life Is But A Dream

 December 6, 2023 the seventy-seventh anniversary of their meeting for the first time in John Adams High School, Ozine Park, NY

 

Sixty Years and Counting

 

Where were you the day America lost its innocence? I was in the principal’s office at Our Lady of Victory school when the news bulletin flashed at 1:30 and then Walter Cronkite appeared on the screen to report that President Kennedy was shot. I hadn’t finished my science fair project and I was waiting for the principal to admonish me for my failure to get it done timely.

 By 2PM, it didn’t matter. JFK had died.

 It was a somber weekend, for sure. The heavens opened and poured all day Saturday, from Long Island to Washington. For a twelve-year-old kid, up to that point, it was the saddest and most depressing day in my life.

 Sunday was better. It was a brisk, sunny, fall morning as I walked to OLV, where I served the ten o’clock Mass at my local parish. When I got home, my parents were watching the continuing coverage which was transpiring in Washington and Dallas. My Dad put the football game on the radio as a distraction. When Oswald died after Ruby shot him, the cheer from the crowd was deafening on that old AM radio.

On Monday, November 25, from sunrise to late that night, we watched the funeral, the walking procession with the riderless horse from the White House to the Church to Arlington National Cemetery and back to the White House, where many world leaders and dignitaries paid their respects. It was a truly sad day. And our country has not been the same since.

Sixty years have elapsed since November 22, 1963 and we are no closer to solving this crime than the day it was committed. With all the technology we have developed, and all the theories, conspiracy or forthright, we have heard, our government is unwilling to release the information surrounding this tragedy for us to finally put it all to rest. Why? Do certain people fear that something will be exposed which might be embarrassing to them? Or criminal?

So many of the actors in this event are now dead. But the agencies where they worked still exist. Obviously, Parkland Hospital is still in Dallas and so is the Texas School Book Depository. The administrators of those facilities have nothing to fear in any investigation of the actions done that day by their predecessors or employees.                                                                                           

But what about the government of the United States? Can its agencies lay claim to the same? The FBI, the CIA, the Secret Service -  are these entities’ hands clean and pure? Or the Congress? Yes, they have on occasion pronounced that committees were formed to investigate Kennedy’s assassination. But nothing of any import has ever been released. Why not?

The same is true with every President’s administration since Johnson. He proclaimed via executive order that the records would be sealed until 2039, seventy-five years after the Warren Commission completed its work. And no President since then has had the guts to write an executive order to override this decision. Why? Executive orders are not law under the Constitution.

Not long after the Kennedy assassination, Mark Lane wrote a book called Executive Action, which provided an excellent theory how and why JFK was murdered. This was written in 1966 or 1967 and the movie of the same name, was released in 1973. This was probably the earliest of the thousands of conspiracy theories espoused by many since then.

Since then, we are no closer to knowing the why for JFK’s death.

The question which we all should be asking this many years later, to paraphrase Senator Howard Baker of his question to Watergate witnesses, is: What did the government know and when did it know it? Perhaps, the next President will have the balls to write and declare an executive order to overturn Johnson’s coverup order and get the answers to all the questions surrounding this terrible day.

We will never recover the innocence we had on November 21, 1963 and lost on November 22, 1963. But for our posterity, we can be proud that we tried.

Then, maybe, finally, John F. Kennedy will be able to rest in peace.  Amen.