Kid Willie Mays making circus catches in centerfield. The Dodgers played in Brooklyn. Baseball, the national pastime, isn't what it used to be. Today, the game has been transformed by strikes and lockouts, free agency, huge salaries, rising ticket prices, new franchises from Florida to Colorado, monster cable TV contracts, charges of front-office racism and the suspension of owners like Marge Schott and George Steinbrenner. This follows on the heels of similar deals in Chicago and San Francisco.
Cities are so desperate to keep their teams that they all cave in to the demands.
August 19, 1992. We were regaled with stories of his bravery and genius. Textbooks praised his seamanship. He was the discoverer par excellence . There were parades and holidays.