THE SIGNAL from David Katznelson
"In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is."-Yogi Berra
For my family, today is Elmer Flick Day. Started as a total joke on his birthday after my niece and I ended up at a statue of Elmer in Bedford, Ohio: for years now every January 11th we crowd around the dinner table (during non-Covid times at baseball institutions like The Double Play Bar and Grill in San Francisco) and see who can make the most outlandish toasts about the mysterious Hall-of-Famer.
Flick might be the least known member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Even the cemetery he was buried at did not realize he was there when we went looking. He played from 1898-1910 with the Philadelphia Phillies, the Philadelphia Athletics and the Cleveland Naps, the latter who turned down trading Ty Cobb for Flick in 1907. He was was the oldest living person to ever be put into Cooperstown. There are many a baseball enthusiast who think his election is one of the more baffling and undeserved. The true hall-of-fame manager Branch Rickey had pushed him through, thus this player with a mere 48 Home Runs who only played for 12 years in the majors without a World Series performance….is in (yes, in his career he was considered one of the “most dangerous hitters” with a .313 lifetime batting average, and is the 30th all-time triple leader).
So why make it a “thing?” Why Elmer Flick Day? Well, the main reason is: why the hell not—based on what I have read about the guy, I think he would have gotten a kick out of it anyway. In the past we have had baseball journalists around the toasting table, with prepared speeches about Elmer that sound totally authentic, even without an ounce of truth in them. How Elmer won the AL Batting Championship in 1905 after a fan turned him on to a crazy potato salad recipe that he would eat before every at-bat. How he bet on the black sox to win the series even after he knew they threw it…because he felt bad for them (he was that kind of guy)—and still took out a crew of disappointed kids in Chicago for Ice Cream after the last game. How his jokes poisoned not one but two teams he played on in his career, earning him the nickname Elmer Schtick. How he was almost elected president of the US as a write-in candidate because he was so loved by so many people due to his flair on and off the diamond. How his fame prompted a chocolate candy to be named after him.
Baseball is all about the stories…stories and legends…and on January 11th, on Elmer Flick’s birthday, we just like to help the legend grow, one toast at a time, one year after another. So Happy Elmer Flick Day to you. If you have a memory of him you want to share, throw it in the chat…or share it tonight as you dig into your main course (the kids get into it). The guy was just amazing and full of surprises.
New Documentary About Rembrandt Collectors Peers into the World of Those Who Live with Masterpieces
I am always up for seeing how other collectors live, and by the review, it sounds like you get some good insight. Jan Six’s story seems very nerdy and very compelling as he journeys to try and authenticate an unknown Rembrandt painting he bought. Us collectors always need to be authenticated.
Eavan Boland wins posthumous Costa Poetry Award
I’ve been digging into Boland’s poetry on a pretty consistent basis ever since she passed away in May…and included her poem Amber in this newsletter a while back. I am sorry it took me so long to find her, especially since she lived around the bay area for so long…her voice is really compelling to me and this award is so very deserved.
Michael Fonfara, Longtime Lou Reed Keyboardist, Dead at 74
Fonfara is one of those people who showed up on so many great records, including many of Lou Reeds seminal solo records (Street Hassle!) and on the great, forgotten Everly Brothers’ first reunion record Stories We Could Tell (it’s a good day to listen to it).
An Excerpt From Thought Forms: A Record of Clairvoyant Investigation
I just got myself a copy of this book from Sacred Bones: the new repressing of the seminal 1905 occult book. Annie Besant and Charles W. Leadbeater created one of the first attempts to put form to thoughts and emotions which they believed took shape in the human aura.
THIS MOMENT
By Eavan Boland
A neighbourhood.
At dusk.
Things are getting ready
to happen
out of sight.
Stars and moths.
And rinds slanting around fruit.
But not yet.
One tree is black.
One window is yellow as butter.
A woman leans down to catch a child
who has run into her arms
this moment.
Stars rise.
Moths flutter.
Apples sweeten in the dark.