5/19/99
Softball: Streaks
Dear People,
Congratz to all on last weekend's thoroughly delightful 16-5 manifestation of sizzling athletic mediocrity. Yes, the score suggests rout and boredom, but there was in fact a clear Je ne sais quoi in the air that had inexplicably lain oblivious to the crass calculations of mere distribution of pointage. I suppose you had to be there.
In any case, some of you may have noticed that Luis Gonzalez of the Arizona Diamondbacks has now hit in 30 games in a row, and thus has pulled within a razor-thin 26 games of tying Joe DiMaggio's hallowed 1941 56 game hitting streak. Once again, the confluence of sport and coincidence has left me replete with goose bumps, for as all of you undoubtedly know, this very Saturday, May 22nd, is the 38th anniversary of the day that legendary Cubs pitcher Bob Buhl began his own storied record of 88 hitless at bats over the course of three seasons, from 1961 to 1963. I get a bit misty eyed in internalizing the raw dimensions of Buhl's lonely journey, for the simple fact is that this shy and unassuming hero can claim he failed to get a single throughout the entire period of history from the creation of the Berlin Wall and the outbreak of the Cuban Missle Crisis to the first airing of Petticoat Junction. Such feats demand to be recognized, and I for one plan to do so. Therefore, there will be a game this Saturday at Kleeberger North, at Noon, IF I get enough commits by this Friday morning....Raymond
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