11 minute read

The Home Of Giants: More Thrills At Yankee Stadium JOSEPH SCOTCHIE

jscotchie@antonmediagroup.com

By the 1920s, baseball and prizefighting were the two major American sports. College football was huge. However, it wasn’t until the mid-1950s and the advent of television that the pro game took hold.

Advertisement

Whatever the attraction, Yankee Stadium was where history was made.

Starting in the Twenties, the Stadium was host to many great fights.

They included such championship brawls as the 1939 Joe Louis-Max Schmeling fight, in which Louis avenged an earlier defeat; plus those between Tony Zale and Rocky Graziano, Sugar Ray Robinson and Kid Gavilan, Sandy Sadler and Willie Pep, Rocky Marciano and Ezzard Charles, and Ingemar Johansson and Floyd Patterson.

A favorite was the June 28, 1939 bout between Louis and Tony “Two-Ton” Galento. The latter was known as “the Battlin’ Barkeep” as he tended bar in The Bronx in between ring dates. Imagine the conversation.

GALENTO: Got to take the night off, boss.

BOSS: And why?

GALENTO: Gotta take the train to the Stadium.

BOSS: What for?

GALENTO: The fights!

BOSS: Yeah?

GALENTO: Gotta step into the ring with Joe Louis. See you when it’s over!

(Louis won in a fourth-round TKO, even though Galento staggered the champ with a second-round haymaker.)

By the 1950s, the Yankee Stadium neighborhood was changing rapidly. The flight to Queens and Long Island was in full swing. Plus, fights were now televised.

On Sept. 28, 1976, at the newly-refurbished Stadium, defending heavyweight champ Muhammad Ali took on challenger Ken Norton. By now, Ali was 37. His best days were behind him. Ali won in a decision, one hotly disputed in the media and by the fans. By 1976, the crime situation in The Bronx was becoming out-of-control. A disparaging article on the fight in Sports Illustrated trashed the building as “Junkie Stadium,” while observing local thugs pawing the ladies in attendance. Prize fights would have to take place elsewhere.

But not football games. New York, in the early and mid-1900s, was a capital for Ellis Island immigrants and their offspring. The most famous college team in America was the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. The Irish often played at Yankee Stadium and the “D” train and Number Four trains were packed with the “subway alumni,” those ethnic Catholics came to cheer the Irish of Knute Rockne and Frank Leahy and such Heisman Trophy winners as Angelo Bertelli, Johnny Lujack, Leon Hart, Johnny Lattner, and Paul Hourning.

A zenith was reached on Nov. 9, 1946. Both Notre Dame and the Army squad coached by Earl Blaik were undefeated. It was more than a game. The postwar era represented an unprecedented peak of American history. Victorious in the European and Asian theaters of World War II, the game showcased the pride and greatness of this now-invincible nation. The game was the most anticipated match in college football history, ending in a thrilling, but inconclusive 0-0 tie.

With the nationally-televised Dec. 30, 1958 National Football League title game between the New York Giants and the Baltimore Colts, pro football made its debut as the new national pastime.

The game, naturally, took place at Yankee Stadium. The daylight turned from dusk to darkness as the two teams battled each other to a heart-stopping overtime barn burner, with the Colts and their quarterback great, Johnny Unitas, winning on a one-yard touchdown run by Alan Ameche.

That day, the Giants were led by quarterback Y.A. Tittle, plus Kyle Rote and matinee idol Frank Gifford in the backfield. The Giants were on a roll of their own. Two years earlier, while also playing at Yankee Stadium, the Giants defeated the Chicago Bears in the “tennis shoes’” game to capture the NFL crown. (The field was covered with ice. Head coach Jim Lee Howell instructed his charges to play in sneakers, an idea that worked swimmingly.)

At Yankee Stadium, the Giants, under

Allie Sherman, won consecutive Eastern Conference titles in 1961, 1962, and 1963, only to lose to the Vince Lombardi Green Bay Packers and the George Halas Bears in the title games. By 1972, the Giants were through with the House That Ruth Built, settling eventually in the swamps of New Jersey.

The year 2008 was the final one for the 1923 Yankee Stadium. The team stayed in The Bronx, which was great news. It’s not the same. The players, then and now, are not sentimental about these matters. In the old Yankee Stadium, however, players knew they were competing on turf where legends had roamed.

Today’s Yankee Stadium is just another ballpark hosting just another team. The old Yankees were under unbearable pressure, year after year, to win pennants and World Series titles. Managers and players suffered from ulcers, drinking problems, failed marriages. In 1961, while chasing Babe Ruth’s single season home run record, Roger Maris got so nervous that his hair began falling out. That pressure is no longer there.

There’s no need to despair. A century hence, the current Yankee Stadium, glorious as it is now, will grow old. A new Yankee Stadium, one constructed on ground where the 1923 Stadium once stood, will be constructed. History wheels will churn again. Let’s just hope that no youngster says to his pop, “Daddy, who was that man, Babe Ruth?”

Word Find

HOROSCOPES By Holiday Mathis

HOROSCOPES By

HOROSCOPES By

Holiday Mathis

This is a theme puzzle with the subject stated below. Find the listed words in the grid. (They may run in any direction always in a straight line. Some letters are used more than once.) Ring each word as you find it and when you have pleted the puzzle, there will be 20 letters left over. They spell out the alternative theme of the puzzle.

Holiday Mathis

ARIES (March 21-April 19). You don’t idolize anyone, and neither do you demonize anyone. You really have a balanced view of who people are and why they do what they do, which will serve you well this week. You’ll interact with new people, nd common ground and come out with some real treasures.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). So many come to you with outstretched hands. If only you could help them all... Who knows? Maybe you will! If you do, it will be a byproduct of you following the impulses to help yourself. What do you want? If you don’t know yet, you will by the end of the week.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Accept what you want and accept what you don’t want. Acceptance is crucial to change because you cannot change that which you don’t take on. ink of your current situation as a vehicle. You can drive this wherever you want, but you have to get inside it rst. Acceptance puts you in the driver’s seat.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). You’ve been known to do amazing things even when you’re tired, not in the mood, under the weather or otherwise encumbered.

Bottom line: You’re the kind of person who comes through to the best of your ability no matter what. Quietly celebrate your strength and others will celebrate you far less quietly.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). It’s easier to wake the sleeping than it is to wake the ones who think they are already awake. Luckily, it’s not your job to be the alarm clock. It will be enough for you to simply note the alertness of those around you, meet them where they are and then raise awareness.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). If you want someone to love you back, that’s a less optimal goal than wanting to see their smile. Focusing on others comes easy to you this week. e attention you give them brings you out of your own mind and into the heart of the world.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). Needing to know the reason for things is only human. e moment the mind lands on a reason (any reason at all, really), cognitive dissonance resolves. Until that point, agitation drives us forward. is week, provide reasons for people and for yourself. If you don’t, you leave yourself open to speculative ction.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). You keep putting yourself in new situations because they always lead to self-discovery. If there isn’t enough novelty around you, a change of location will help. Travel is an especially e ective way to jump-start your energy. If it doesn’t work for this week, at least get something on the books. Looking forward to travel can be half the fun.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). “ e more the merrier” only works up to a point. And for most of what you’re doing this week, merriment isn’t the point anyway. Small groups are better for keeping everyone accountable. When too many get involved, there’s a di usion of responsibility. You’re the leader who helps everyone see how much they count. Together you’ll move mountains.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). No one can get you to move if you don’t want to today. You are self-directed. You follow your whims and do what you tell yourself to do. Follow-through matters much more than what you actually follow through with. It could be anything. e important thing is to trust yourself and know that you are compliant with your higher wishes.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). No one wants you to feel obligated to them, and they will give of themselves freely without strings attached. ey may appreciate reciprocity, but they don’t expect it. ey know it comes in many forms. Know that when people consult you and prioritize you, it’s happening for a good reason. To understand that reason is to appreciate your own inherently lovable qualities.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). You’ll watch everything closely and extract abundant joy from minutiae: a toddler playing, a bird feeding, the patterns of passing clouds. Take on a disorganized area of your home, as it could be stopping the ow of energy through your world and preventing you from receiving money. Clean, clear and organize your way into a weekend payo .

THIS WEEK’S BIRTHDAYS

Welcome to your pickup year when you’ll have opportunities to swing back and pick up what you might have lost along the way. Some will nish a degree, others will take another whirl at a relationship that didn’t work out the rst time. Among the found items will be material objects such as jewelry as well as things of emotional value, such as the respect of an authority gure or the acknowledgement of a group. More highlights: complex relationships that get simple and lovely, a winning to please your inner child and a physical breakthrough.

International Word Find International Word Find

International Word Find

Favourite foods

Solution: 20 Letters

Word Find

This is a theme puzzle with the subject stated below. Find the listed words in the grid. (They may run in any direction but always in a straight line. Some letters are used more than once.) Ring each word as you find it and when you have completed the puzzle, there will be 20 letters left over. They spell out the alternative theme of the puzzle.

Favourite foods

Solution: 20 Letters

Ales Apple

Banana Bars

Basil Beans

Beer

Bites

Brawn

Broccoli

Buns

Cake

Cherry Chips

Chops

Cocoa Cut Duck

Ales

Flavour

Gingerbread

Glutton

Gravy

Jams

Layers

Leg ham

Licorice

Mint

Mixed

Mousse

Pasta

Pate

Peas

Pieces

Pork

Sausages Scones

Spaghetti

Stew

Sugar

Sweet

Syrup

Taco

Tarts

Tomato

Trifle

Varieties

FROM KING FEATURES SYNDICATE, 300 W. 57th STREET, 41st FLOOR, NEW YORK, NY 10019

CUSTOMER SERVICE: (800) 708-7311 EXT. 236

Creators Syndicate

Solution: Not much that I don’t like Date: 4/19/23 Creators Syndicate 737 3rd Street Hermosa Beach, CA 90254 310-337-7003 info@creators.com

Solution: Not much that I don’t like

Date: 4/19/23

CONTRACT BRIDGE — BY STEVE BECKER FOR RELEASE WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2023

Contract Bridge

737 3rd Street Hermosa Beach, CA 90254 310-337-7003 info@creators.com

By Steve Becker

The fickle finger of fate

of 1,460 points. He won the diamond lead with the ace, finessed the jack of spades at trick two, led another spade and collected the rest of the tricks without even breathing hard.

At the second table, with France North-South this time, the same contract was reached, and again the opening lead was a diamond. But at this table the French declarer played the hand more scientifically and went down as a result.

king of

It is possible to play a hand correctly and get a bad result, and to play the same hand incorrectly and get a good result. Consider the accompanying deal from a European championship match between Norway and France.

At the first table, with a Norwegian pair North-South, six spades was reached on the bidding sequence shown. West led the king of diamonds, and declarer breezed through the play to bring in the slam with an overtrick for a score

After taking the diamond with the ace, he was unwilling to settle for a mere 50% chance of making the contract by relying exclusively on a trump finesse. Instead, he decided to play the A-K-Q of hearts in the hope that the opposing hearts were divided 3-3 (a 36% chance), in which case he could discard his diamond loser on the third round of hearts.

He also had the added chance that even if the hearts broke 4-2, he could still fall back on the trump finesse. All factors considered, this gave him about a 2-to-1 chance to make the slam.

Unfortunately, West ruffed the second heart lead and cashed the queen of diamonds, and South went down one.

Sometimes, a little superior knowledge can be a dangerous thing!

Weekly Sudoku Puzzle

Enter digits from 1 to 9 into the blank spaces. Every row must contain one of each digit. So must every column, as must every 3x3 square.

Answer to last issue’s Sudoku Puzzle

Answer to last issue’s Crossword Puzzle

AUTO / MOTORCYCLE

***AAA*** AUTO BUYERS $Highest$ Ca$h

Paid$. All Years/ Conditions! WE VISIT

YOU! Or Donate, Tax Deduct + Ca$h. DMV ID#1303199. Call LUKE 516-VAN-CARS. 516-297-2277

DONATE YOUR CAR TO BREAST CANCER RESEARCH RECOVERY! Tax Deduction

Receipt Given Upon Pick-up, Free Towing. 501c3 Charity. 631-988-9043 breastcancerresearchrecovery.org

Drive Out Breast Cancer: Donate a car today! The benefits of donating your car or boat: Fast Free Pickup - 24hr Response

Tax Deduction - Easy To Do! Call 24/7: 855-905-4755

Wheels For Wishes benefiting MakeA-Wish® Northeast New York. Your Car Donations Matter NOW More Than Ever! Free Vehicle Pick Up ANYWHERE. We Accept Most Vehicles Running or Not. 100%

Tax Deductible. Minimal To No Human Contact. Call: (877) 798-9474. Car Donation Foundation d/b/a Wheels For Wishes. www. wheelsforwishes.org.

FINANCE

COMPUTER & IT TRAINING PROGRAM!

Train ONLINE to get the skills to become a Computer & Help Desk Professional now!

Grants and Scholarships available for certain programs for qualified applicants. Call CTI for details! 844-947-0192 (M-F 8am-6pm ET). Computer with internet is required.

TRAIN ONLINE TO DO MEDICAL BILLING!

Become a Medical Office Professional online at CTI! Get Trained, Certified & ready to work in months! Call 855-543-6440. (M-F 8am6pm ET). Computer with internet is required.

ARE YOU BEHIND $10k OR MORE ON YOUR TAXES? Stop wage & bank levies, liens & audits, unfiled tax returns, payroll issues, & resolve tax debt FAST. Call 888-869-5361

(Hours: Mon-Fri 7am-5pm PST)

HEALTH / WELLNESS

VIAGRA and CIALIS USERS! 50 Pills SPECIAL $99.00 FREE Shipping! 100% guaranteed. CALL NOW! 855-413-9574

DISH TV $64.99 For 190 Channels + $14.95 High Speed Internet. Free Installation, Smart HD DVR Included, Free Voice Remote. Some restrictions apply. Promo Expires 1/31/24. 1-866-595-6967

Don’t Pay For Covered Home Repairs Again! American Residential Warranty covers ALL MAJOR SYSTEMS AND APPLIANCES. 30 DAY RISK FREE/ $100 OFF POPULAR PLANS. 833-398-0526

DIRECTV. New 2-Year Price Guarantee. The most live MLB games this season, 200+ channels and over 45,000 on-demand titles. $84.99/mo for 24 months with CHOICE Package. Some restrictions apply. Call DIRECTV 1-888-534-6918 Arborvitae 6-foot

Do like making people

You might make a great addition to our Sands Point Preserve Express trackless train driver/conductor team! Send email telling us about yourself and why you’d make a good train conductor to info@sandspointpreserve.org Your dream of becoming a train driver/ conductor may soon come true!

BATH & SHOWER UPDATES in as little as ONE DAY! Affordable prices - No payments for 18 months! Lifetime warranty & professional installs. Senior & Military Discounts available. Call: 866-393-3636

BEST SATELLITE TV with 2 Year Price

Guarantee! $59.99/mo with 190 channels and 3 months free premium movie channels! Free next day installation! Call 888-508-5313

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

GREENPORT: Prime Main Street location. Suitable for retail/professional. 875 sq. ft. Original floors and architectural details. Owner, 516-241-8135.

Book Signing

May

5 out of 5 stars

Killer Actress Slayed Me

“Killer

Get ready for a fun ride.” Amazon.com/author/donnacooper

This article is from: