QUARANTINE BLOG # 302

January 26, 2021

We begin with some signs (and other visual aids) of the times:

👉  Pitchers and catchers report to spring training on February 13, and so in anticipation of a 162 game season, for the next several Tuesdays we will do stories of baseball fields that exist today only in the memories of their fans.  Why Tuesday?   See "Star Trek: Generations".

First, Forbes Field, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates from June 30, 1909 until June 28, 1970.

The ballpark opened on June 30, 1909, with the visiting Chicago Cubs defeating the Pirates 3-2 in front of an announced crowd of 30,338 at the 25,000-seat park. The Pirates made their final appearance at Forbes Field on June 28, 1970, sweeping a doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs. 

Aside from the opening of Forbes Field, the 1909 season proved to be a special one on the field for the Pirates, who advanced to the World Series and defeated the Detroit Tigers to claim their first title.

Forbes Field was home to the Pirates for three of their World Series seasons, including 1925 and the 1960 campaign that ended with Bill Mazeroski belting a walk-off home run in game seven of the World Series to defeat the New York Yankees.  It was also there on May 25, 1935 that Babe Ruth hit his final three home runs.  Decades later – April 17, 1955, to be exact – Forbes Field was the setting for the beginning of baseball legend Roberto Clemente’s career.

Roberto Clemente in right field

Forbes Field helped introduce to Major League Baseball an era of modern concrete-and-steel, multi-deck ballparks that would set a standard around the sport.  Over time, however, Forbes Field – like many of the ballparks of its era – began to feel out of date. The Pirates would eventually move to Three Rivers Stadium.  A section of Forbes Field caught fire on December 24, 1970, and another fire occurred in 1971. The process of demolishing the ballpark was completed later that year.

Today, much of the site is occupied by the University of Pittsburgh’s Posvar Hall. There is one iconic reminder of Forbes Field inside of the building – home plate is in the same spot it occupied when baseball was played around it.

If you would like a piece of Forbes Field as a souvenir, you can purchase a stadium seat for $3,500 purchase a stadium seat for $3,500.  Shipping included.

👉  Today is National Plan for Vacation Day.  It was created by Project: Time Off of the U.S. Travel Association to encourage, well, planning a vacation, because, they say, Americans had 662 million unused vacation days, which accounted for an estimated $236 billion loss to the US economy.  Somehow I don’t think the day will be well celebrated, what with the Chinese virus and all.  But I’ll cross my fingers nonetheless (even though it makes typing difficult).

👉  Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte resigned today because his coalition government could not decide how to spend the more than 200 billion euros in European Union economic-recovery funds earmarked for Italy.  His resignation has triggered a search for a new governing majority, but if none can be found, then the EU’s third-biggest economy is likely to hold elections in coming months.  Elections could pose major public-health challenges amid the pandemic, and would also delay further Italy’s efforts to come up with a plan for reviving its battered economy with EU help.

👉  I’m not sure I’m ready for this, but Coca Cola introduced two new soft drinks yesterday, Coca-Cola with Coffee and Coca-Cola with Coffee Zero Sugar.  The new drinks are infused with Brazilian coffee.  Coca-Cola with Coffee is available in three flavors – Dark Blend, Vanilla and Caramel – while the zero-sugar, zero-calorie version comes in Dark Blend and Vanilla.  All 12-ounce cans have 69 mg of caffeine while Coca-Cola says the same serving of a Coke has 34 mg and a Diet Coke has 46 mg of caffeine. The average cup of coffee has 95 mg of caffeine.

👉  In other menu news, Chick-fil-A Chick-fil-A premiered its new Grilled Spicy Chicken Deluxe Sandwich yesterday.  The company says the new offering is for a limited time.  “We know guests are looking to add more variety to their meals, especially after a year where new food experiences were limited,” Leslie Neslage, director of menu and packaging at Chick-fil-A, said.  “The Grilled Spicy Deluxe offers the spicy flavors our guests have come to know and love, now available in a grilled option.”

👉  Speaking of food:

👉   Today’s close is from A Daily Word  by Ed Young.

The older I get, the more I love my family.  My wife, my sons and daughters in law and my six grandchildren are more precious to me than anything else in this life.  But if I were starting my family over again, I’d strive to do better.  I would listen more.  Love my wife more.  Spend more quality time with my children.  Praise them more often for doing right.  If I had it to do over again I’d let them know how grateful to God I am for each of them, every day.  Because family matters.

Puritan reformer and preacher Jonathan Edwards married Sarah Pierpoint, and they had 11 children.  Every day Jonathan and Sarah Edwards would sit down with each one of those children alone, and say “Let’s talk a little about you.”  Also, every day, this husband and wife rode on horseback together for an hour or more.  And 150 years after Edwards’ death, his family was still growing strong.  By 1900, the Edwards clan included 13 college presidents, 66 professors, a law school dean, 100 attorneys, 32 judges, 56 physicians, a medical school president, over 80 public office holders, over 100 missionaries, and a whole platoon of clergymen.  Edwards’ legacy was not his writings or the sermons he preached.  It was the family he loved and led.

What about you?  Is your family your number one priority?  Do they know it?  Tell them today, and let your actions prove that it is true.

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