LFS: The Storyteller

©2015 by Lee Frederick Somerstein I love baseball, especially its history. That is why I am upset by the decision from Commissioner Rob Manfred that Hits King Pete Rose will forever be banned from baseball because he bet on the game both as a player and manager. That Rose did, indeed, place bets – even on his own team – is not in question. In fact, he stupidly admitted in his news conference after Manfred’s announcement that he still bets on baseball to this day. He definitely deserved a severe punishment. What bothers me is the commissioner’s – and Major League Baseball’s (MLB’s) – petty vindictiveness and hypocrisy. What bothers me even more is that even though Rose technically could be eligible for a plaque in the Baseball Hall of Fame (HOF), that august institution still refuses to consider his entry because of the baseball ban. In 1991 the HOF passed a rule that bans anyone on baseball’s ineligible list from entrance into the hall. The HOF Board of Directors could ...

© Text & Photos by LeeZard Tuesday August 27 – New York, NY-Cooperstown, NY I am leaving New York City via its maze of parkways and expressways, Belt Parkway, Van Wyck Expressway, Whitestone Expressway and the Hutchinson River Parkway, on my way to the New York State Thruway. The Thruway – I-87 – is familiar ground; it is the gateway to the rugged and beautiful Adirondack State Park (2.6 million acres!) where I spent many happy youthful days. When thinking of New York, most people think of the city and they assume the whole state is like that but heading into Westchester County and away from the tumult of the Big City, the rest of New York State reveals itself, lush and green. At Albany the Thruway turns west, eventually becoming I-90. After too many miles of freeway I exit onto U.S. 20 west in the town of Waynesburg. The route gently twists through long stretches of forest, dotted by some fine old homes and the occasional farm. At one farm I spot a “Produce” s...