SB Nation Blog: The Lodo Magic Man

July 4th.

The Lodo Magic Man — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:23:27 -0000

Anybody going to the Friday, July 4th game interested in a PR meeting before the game and celebrating Indenpendance Day? I know alot of people will be going to the game, it always has been packed for the fireworks games. Meet inside the park or in LoDo? I know earlier in the year there was a PR meeting day, I was unable to attend that day.

I will be sitting in Section 131 Row 15 Seat 3. Feel free to join or suggest a meeting somewhere.

The Creation of Baseball

The Lodo Magic Man — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:12:09 -0000

I found this online several months ago. I don't remember where I found it, but it certainly is enjoyable to read:

In the big inning, God created Heaven on Earth. And it was without form, and void. God separated the dirt from the grass. He called the grass Outfield and the dirt He called Infield. God made the Infield a 90-foot square and the Outfield not less than 400 feet to center and 320 feet down the lines. He declared this Fair Territory. All other territory, God then declared, was Foul.

And God divided the players into two teams of nine players each, under direction of a manager, to play The Game on His field. God called some of these players Pitchers and some of them Hitters. He placed a Pitcher precisely 60 feet 6 inches from a Hitter. Then God commanded that it's one, two, three strikes you're out at the ol' Ballgame.

And God granted jurisdiction of The Game to lesser Gods, whom He called Umpires. God said the Umpires are infallible, blessed with Heavenly authority, whose judgment is not to be questioned under penalty of expulsion from The Game. And God looked at his creation and He was pleased. Then God created the Infield Fly Rule to confuse nonbelievers.

And God said, Let there be light beer, and there was. And, God said, let there be peanuts and hot dogs and overpriced souvenirs and let there be frosty chocolate malts with little wooden spoons that you can buy nowhere else except at this Heaven, which God called a Ballpark, and there was. God looked at His creation and it was good.

And the Lord God formed, from the dust, a collection of elite players in His own image. The Lord God then breathed the breath of life into His creation. God called this creation the National League.

And God said, It is not good for the National League to be alone. The Lord God shall make it a mate. And thus, while the National League slept, God took several of its top players and created the American League.

And God blessed The Game, saying, Be fruitful and multiply. Put teams in every city with deserving fans, God added, even if this occurs at the expense of starting-pitching depth.

From time to time, God understood, The Game would be corrupted by the Serpent. The Serpent was more cunning than any other beast and he would take many wicked forms: the Black Sox, segregation, the Designated Hitter, the Reserve Clause, dead balls, juiced balls, spit balls, corked bats, George Steinbrenner, AstroTurf, the 1981 strike, collusion, lockouts, Pete Rose, the 1994 strike, greenies, cocaine, HGH, Andro, steroids, $20 parking, corporate mallparks, Scott Boras, Donald Fehr, and Bud Selig.

But, God said, the goodness in The Game shall always prevail. As needed, the Lord shall bestow upon The Game a Savior. And the Savior, like the Serpent, can take many forms. The Savior shall remind Fans how blessed The Game truly is. The Savior shall be called by many names, including Cy, Matty, Honus, Big Train, the Babe, Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, Lou Gehrig, Branch Rickey, Jackie Robinson, Buck O'Neil, Hank Greenberg, Red Barber, Harry Carey, Vin Scully, Jack Buck, Satchel Paige, Bill Veeck, Roberto Clemente, Ernie Banks, Hammerin' Hank, Cool Papa, Dizzy, Lefty, Whitey, Stan the Man, Big Klu, the Say Hey Kid, Campy, Duke, the Mick, the Splendid Splinter, the Gas House Gang, the Big Red Machine, the Damn Yankees, Pudge Fisk, Pudge Rodriguez, Yaz, Pops, the Wizard of Oz, Fernando, George Brett, Moonlight Graham, Roy Hobbs, Wild Thing Vaughn, Bingo Long, the Ryan Express, Donnie Baseball, Rickey, Eck, the Big Unit, the Cactus League, Cal Ripken, Tony Gwynn, Camden Yards, Rotisserie Drafts, Web Gems, Derek Jeter, Dontrelle Willis, Vlad Guerrero, Ichiro, Granderson, Markakis, Joba, Tulo, And, God guaranteed, there are many more to come.

God looked upon His creation and He was very pleased. And God spoke, yelling, PLAY BALL!

A glimpse into the future

The Lodo Magic Man — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 13:00:22 -0000

Friday Sept 3, 2027.

"...and Holliday swings..and gets a hold of one! Deep to left field! Smith is back! To the track! To the wall! It's 12 rows into the bleachers, it's gone! And the Rockies have won their 5th game in row! The 23 year old rookie left fielder, Jackson Holliday, has hit a 2 run shot, and Colorado has swept the Giants!"

Both me and my son listened intently.....

"Son of the former Colorado Rockies great Matt Holliday, the rookie Jackson has hit 24th home run of the year. Colorado has pulled 3 & 1/2 games over idle Arizona and Portland. Hopefully this can get the Rockies on a roll like The Stretch that occured 20 years ago..."

Another voice interrupts.....

"Has it really been that long now? It just seems like yesterday. Those retired numbers that are now on the walls of Coors Field: 5, 2, 17, 26, 60, 38, 56. We as both announcers and fans certainly remember the slide, the streak, the throw, the shot. I can remember being in this very same.........."

I turned the radio off. My son looks up at me: "Dad, what was The Streak?"

I looked at my son, and said: "Son, you know those purple and white flags that say NL & World champions that we see when we go to a Rockies game?." "Yes", he said. "The Streak, The Slide, The Shot, all of it, was the greatest pennant run in the history of the game. It was the beginning of one of the greatest dynasties in the history of baseball. All of those pennants and world championships, were born out of all of it."

So everyone, just remember, this is the beginning. This run that we have witnessed, will be talked about for all time. This run to the pennant, will be something that will be remembered as one of the greatest accomplishments in the history of the game. It's not over for our men in purple. We will be back to the world series, many times. The sun has set on our 2007 season, but the 2008 sunrise is almost here, and is brighter for us than anything we can imagine. Keep your hopes up over the winter, and March will be here sooner than we think.