Before I begin my remembrance of Jim Henneman, I want to open with an act of sportsmanship I saw after the Belmont Stakes, the third race in the Triple Crown of classic races, this past Saturday June 7. In a repeat of the Kentucky Derby outcome, Sovereignty outran Journalism. Immediately after the race, winning jockey Junior Alvarado - who BTW grew up in Long Island - reached out and tapped with his whip losing jockey Umberto Rispoli and his horse. Rispoli quickly reciprocated the gestures.
I'm not a big horse racing fan and maybe such courtesy is not unusual in the so-called Sport of Kings. I know boxers tap gloves after a particularly vigorous round. But in this age of boundless cruelty and braggadocio on steroids, any act of genuine sportsmanship needs to be noted and praised.
And now in memory of Jim Henneman.
The baseball world lost a special person on May 22 when Baltimore sportswriter Jim Henneman passed away at the age of 89. A lifelong Baltimorean, Jim's credits included:
**Bat boy for the minor league Orioles before the Browns arrived from St. Louis in 1954
**Calvert Hall High School pitcher who competed against Al Kaline (they often playfully argued about how many times he walked the future Hall of Famer)
**Loyola College graduate who was already starting his sportswriting career while an undergraduate
**From mid-late 1960s press and public relations director for Baltimore Bullets NBA team (today known as Washington Wizards)
**Longtime sportswriter for Baltimore News American, Baltimore Sun papers, mlb.com, and in his last years PressBoxOnLine, paper edition and .com
**Author of the text for the handsome coffee table book "60 Years of Orioles Magic"
* President of Baseball Writers Assn on America, official scorer at Oriole home games
In late April 2024 he was honored by the dedication of the Jim Henneman Press Box at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. I was glad to attend a ceremony that brought him to tears. He was wearing Oriole orange that day - being a pro's pro, Jim usually was a model of impartiality in attire and attitude.
Jim was also a cigar smoker and one of my fondest memories is running into him at a mall in Sarasota a few spring trainings ago. "What are you doing here?" he growled as his cigar smoke wafted towards me. We had both come to hear a jazz gig and he remembered I used to write a NYC jazz newsletter.
The nickname I will always revere, The Prince of Paranoia, was Jim's gift to me, based on my frequent agonies about the Orioles. He calmed me down many times from the ledge. He never got too high about the Birds' chances or too low although he noted that as last year's second half team lapsed into mediocrity that it was the less- ballyhooed veterans, Cedric Mullins and Ramon Urias, who were producing the most in the late going. Alas, neither of them nor any other Oriole could stop the plunge towards a second straight winless post-season.
I am already missing our e-mails where he offered sage advice on Orioles and other baseball matters. How he loved going to Cooperstown where he regularly served on Hall of Fame committees. I remember his being indignant when I suggested that most of the voting was based on personality preferences. He emphatically denied that it was the case. I'm not sure I completely agree but Jim had the kind of no-nonsense authority that made you listen and rethink your opinions.
RIP Henny - you will never be forgotten - indeed you are already immortal.
As for the current edition of the Orioles, I started drafting this post when the Birds were in the middle of a six-game winning streak, something they - and us the addicted fans who want so much to believe in better times - had not enjoyed in almost a calendar year. As always starting pitching, relief pitching, solid defense, timely hitting were the reasons for several come-from-behind victories. The danger sign was that we had scored scarcely 20 runs in the 6 victories.
Now as I post before games on Mon Jun 9 (mercifully an off-day for my Birds), the glow from the streak has dissipated after a disappointing series loss to the Athletics in Sacramento. We fell to 12 under .500 after a lifeless Sunday loss to the A's, 5-1. The A's had lost 20 of their previous 22 games, but they can hit and have an All-World closer is Mason Miller. Getting to him has been a big problem.
I will say this about Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino. He delivers both real love for his players and tough love in his public commentaries. He has called out our inability to hit left-handed pitching as a major flaw. The supposed beneficial additiions of righthanded power production in outfielder Tyler O'Neill and backup catcher Gary Sanchez, both injured now, have not panned out. I doubted the moves when they happened off-season but surprise surprise wasn't consulted LOL.
I'll still keep watching until masochism reaches its breaking point (like most fans, that bar is very high). Meanwhile, as for the rest of MLB, some very interesting races are developing. There are new possible contenders in both Central divisions. Minnesota and St. Louis enjoyed long double-digit winning streaks to get them into contention and so far there have been no relapses for either team. Minnesota has to keep center fielder Byron Buxton healthy, something they and he have been unable to do for years. And if St. Louis displays some basic infield competence, they could hang around to make life for the first-place Cubs interesting.
One final salute to my Columbia Lions who won the first game over host Southern Mississippi in the Hattiesburg, MS regional. But then the arms and bats of Miami and SM took over and the season ended with two losses. Given that Columbia lost its two top pitchers and its starting third baseman in the first game of the season, the year turned out very successfully with another Ivy League regular season title and first tournament win since a double elimination format was introduced in 2023.
That's all for now. Always remember: Stay positive, test negative, and take it easy but take it.