Lee Lowenfish

I have a ticket stub somewhere for the 1964 Father's Day Mets-Phillies doubleheader which I went to with my father at newly-opened Shea Stadium. It was the day that future Hall of Famer Jim Bunning pitched a perfect game but the Mets were still so bad that I don't remember much drama. I remember more Bunning exclaiming to Ed Sullivan on his TV show that night that he told his fielders to dive for everything to aid his chance at immortality.  

Father's Day June 20, 1982 is the one I really remember. The hated Yankees are hosting the Orioles and I'm watching a nail-biter on TV with my nephew Eric in his bedroom above the kitchen in my sister Carol's house in suburban Fanwood NJ. Bespectacled backup catcher Joe Nolan comes up to pinch-hit for Rick Dempsey in top of the 11th inning against fearsome Goose Gossage.  He blasts a two-run homer into Yankee Stadium's lower right field stands to break a 3-3 tie.  I leap from the couch cheering wildly (in those pre-arthritis days when I could get up quickly.)  I hear a crash below me in Carol's kitchen - a plate must have fallen off a wall.  "Eric, grow up!" she shouts at her soon-to-enter-college only child.  It is in a voice that could be heard two suburbs away. 

I would be 40 a week later (and 6 days from now, I will be 84.)  Maybe one of these days I will grow up, but it's not really on the calendar of my twilight years.  I think back to how 1982 actually didn't turn out too well for Joe Nolan and the Orioles although my Birds made a great run at the eventual AL champion Milwaukee Brewers.  I went down to Baltimore for all 4 of the games against the Brewers that the Orioles had to sweep to win the division.  They won the first 3 convincingly. but in the Sunday afternoon matchup of future Hall of Famers Don Sutton versus Jim Palmer, the Brewers won 10-2 behind two solo HRs by future Hall of Famer Robin Yount and six late insurance runs.  It was still a close game when Joe Nolan pinch-hit for Rich Dauer around the fifth or sixth with runners on base. But Ben Oglivie made a great catch in the left field corner to stifle the rally. 

i was seated high up in the left field upper deck and actually didn't see the great catch until watching it on TV that night.  What I did see before the game was Sutton and Palmer shake hands before they went to their respective bullpens to warm up.  Some years later I met Sutton when he was broadcasting for the Atlanta Braves and I had my occasional Shea Stadium press pass.  Don remembered that handshake and asked if I had a photo of it.  Unfortunately, I didn't but the memory lingers on.  Don is gone now and so is my sister Carol Ann Lowenfish Norton who did live to see my Branch Rickey biography come out in 2007.  In fact, in one of her great acts of thoughtfulness after she had moved to California, she arranged for us to stay at a guest house on the UCLA campus where pictures were prominent of Jackie Robinson and his fellow Black football teammates from the late 1930s, Woody Strode and Kenny Washington, the latter who would integrate the NFL in 1946.

I hope Wikipedia is right that Joe Nolan is still with us at 75.  Thank you Joe for the memories of a special Father's Day in my life as a fan. I don't have any children of my own but has maintained a shared baseball love with Eric.  And here's to more special memories for fans of all 30 MLB teams and other teams of all kinds.  I will have more to say later in the summer and early fall about the seemingly unavoidable lockout of the MLB players on Dec 1. I highly recommend savoring every pitch and possible memorable moment in what is left of the 2026 season.  And never forget that baseball will always live locally and in our minds.  

As for the 2026 Orioles, I have vowed not to get too enthusiastic until they make it to .500 and stay above it.  Before games on Mon Jun 22, they are still 5 under with almost half of the season gone. The starting pitching is improving as evidenced by a gritty Father's Day win for RHP Brandon Young in a rubber game rout of the Dodgers in LA. Young has the intriguing mien of a quiet Texas gunslinger and after a rocky rookie 2025 season, the 2024 Oriole Minor League Pitcher of the Year is showing signs of maturing.  I am close to the point of writing down the 5 current starters in the rotation: Young, Kyle Bradish, Shane Baz, raw rookie Trey Gibson, and the only southpaw Trevor Rogers.  But I must remind myself of my promise to myself in first sentence of this graf!!   

Here is the one TCM baseball tip.  W Jun 24 at 5AM - "Whistling in Brooklyn" (1943). Red Skelton as the Fox enlists some of the Brooklyn Dodgers to foil a

gangster's scheme.  Also with memorable character actors Ray Collins/Sam Levene/Rags Ragland. 

That's all for now.  Always remember:  Take It Easy But Take It and Stay Positive Test Negative!  

I must admit that I was one of those Knicks fans that gave up on the NBA Final Game 4 (W Jun 10) when they trailed the youthful Spurs by 27 at the half.  Even when the rally started in the second half, I was switching to baseball games.  Lucked into seeing Pirates outfielder Tyler Callihan in his first MLB game hit the game-changing 3-run HR in bottom of 8th against the Dodgers. I missed his first HR against none other than Shohei Ohtani.  Quite a debut for a Cincinnati Reds castoff. Just hope that Buccos brilliant rookie shortstop Conner Griffin recovers quickly from injury because Pirates are hovering too close to .500 line right now. 

I have to also admit that I even fell asleep in the fourth quarter of the Knicks' stirring comeback but was awake for the miraculous tipin by OG Anunody of Jalen Brunson's desperation shot that gave the New Yorkers a 107-106 victory and a 3-1 lead in games.  Kudos to Brunson who used a baseball analogy after

the game to explain the comeback. He said they needed "a lot of singles" to get back into the game.  The modest Anunoby - born in London but grew up in Jefferson City, Missouri and played college ball at Indiana U - said that he was just trying to help the team win.

Like Charles Barkley and I think many others, I'm having a hard time mastering OG's last name.  It is "an-uh-NOH-bee". As a baseball fanatic, I kept putting in a "d" near the end to make it resemble Larry Doby, the American League's Jackie Robinson, the future Hall of Famer that broke the color line in mid-1947 and didn't flourish until 1948, Cleveland's last World Series-winning season. Happily, there is a clear baseball connection on the Knicks.  Josh Hart, one of the three Villanova Wildcats on the team with Brunson and Mikal Bridges, is the grand-nephew of Elston Howard, who broke the color line for the Yankees in 1955. Howard died in 1980 so Hart never him but he is very proud of the family connection.

Before the series began, I hoped for Knicks in 6 so we could clinch at home.  Now I believe it is time to strike when the iron is hot.  Let's finish it off in San Antonio this Sat June 13 at 835P on ABC, channel 7 in NYC area.   If not, then Game 6 at MSG Tu Jun 16 and Game 7 in San Antonio F Jun 19. It won't be easy but getting off to a good start certainly will help.  Have not watched the finals closely in recent years. One oddity to me is that Knicks are wearing white unis and Spurs dark ones in every game. 

Turning to baseball, the Orioles continue to confound with their inconsistency. I tried to tell myself that I won't get emotionally involved with the team until they are at .500 and showing signs of staying above it.  I didn't succeed LOL.  As I post Fri morning Jun 12, they are still 4 under .500. Just when you think that their starting rotation is serviceable, would-be ace Kyle Bradish comes up with two straight clunkers of only 4 innings each. Then I have to read that he thought he pitched well mentally (if not physically). You don't know what you are getting from either Shane Baz - bestowed a 5-year contract before even throwing a pitch for Orioles - or Trevor Rogers from game to game.  Had to read Rogers saying after he gave up a game-losing 3-run HR that it was a good pitch but the batter was sitting on it (how can you call that a "good pitch"?!). Thank God for unheralded Brandon Young, who was the organization's Pitcher of Year in 2024 but was shaky last season. On the position player front, Gunnar Henderson remains in the worst offensive funk of his career and as a shortstop he often makes the great play but his overall mechanics and defensive game awareness are not elite. 

Every team has problems I know so enough of my whining.  It has been a weird MLB year in general with only a handful of teams with double-digit records over .500 - the Rays and the Yankees in the AL East, Atlanta in the NL East, Milwaukee in the NL Central, and of course the Dodgers in the NL West (even they have some eyebrow-raising issues with Mookie Betts hitting well below .200). The best news for fans of genuine competitive balance are the surprise St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central, the currently first-place White Sox in the AL Central, and a little less impressively the Washington Nationals in the NL East.   

The College World Series begins today at 2P EDT in Omaha with an entirely different group of eight teams from last season. Good for collegiate competitive balance.   Format is double-elimination in two four-team brackets winding up with best-of-3 series ending on June 21 or 22.   Today June 12 is Troy v West Virginia followed at 7P by Ole Miss vs UNC-Chapel Hill.  Sat matchups are highest seed standing Georgia vs Texas & Alabama vs Oklahoma.

Congrats to the PSAL NYC high school champions Tottenville from Staten Island that beat John Jay HS from Brooklyn, 4-2 in last weekend's title game. 

And program note for Su Jun 14 at 1P on MLB Network -  "Grass Routes" visits the storied minor league franchise, Rochester Red Wings.

That's all for now but always remember - Stay Positive, Test Negative, and Take It Easy But Take It.