Category Archives: University of Virginia

Cleaning Out The Attic

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The scratching in the attic has quieted down.

Last count in Editor/Husband’s trapping project: Bears, Raccoons & Squirrels – 0.  Mousies – 6.*

* As in many sporting statistics, context is important and there’s often an asterisk: Editor/Husband has trapped either six individual mousies, or one single mouse over and over. Or, some variation of that. I suggested id’ing the mouse by marking its head with a Sharpie pen before releasing it outside. Editor/Husband is going with the less precise, “This one looks a bit smaller than the last one” method. As usual, my method would be complicated, but far more definitive.

This is what six mice in the attic sound like when accompanied by a stand-up bass. (Fun Fact: mice cannot play stand up stand-up basses, because they are too small.)

drums

I don’t feel too bad putting a mouse outside when the weather is nice. They have their little fur coats after all.  Our cats really don’t care one way or another.

(And, yes, we only use live traps. We’re not murderers.)

# # #

This conversation really took place on Christmas morning.

Editor/Husband hands me a gift bag. I look inside.

Me: It’s an orange.

E/H: It’s a Christmas tradition.

Me: That’s nice. (Reaches in and takes orange.) This orange is cold. (Pause) Did you get this out of the fridge? (Pause) Is this the orange I bought at the grocery store on Sunday?

E/H: It’s a Christmas tradition.

orange

Christmas tradition.

Here’s the other gift Editor/Husband gave me.

ted

It is 855 pages and weighs nearly three pounds … which is about the same weight as 88 house mice.

(I am on page 98.)

# # #

While Editor/Husband continues to de-mousify the attic, I’m cleaning things up as well, by going through a few folders filled with this year’s baseball photos.

And, I keep coming back to this little scrum of photos that I took at the indoor batting cage at the University of Virginia.

They make me smile. Because, they are in focus.

All you really need is just one baseball …

acc baseball

And, just one bat …

a buncha'bats

(Wooden preferred …)

quiet bats

And, a little pine tar if you can spare it …

pine tarMaybe a few extra baseballs in case the first one gets hit into the woods …

bucket of balls

(And, now I’ve cleaned out my baseball attic … for this season, anyway.)

Winter Is Only Three Days Old …

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“There are only two seasons – winter and baseball.” ~ Bill Veeck (1914-1986, Renowned Baseball Owner, Promoter, & All-Around Interesting Guy)

And, winter’s only three days old.

There may be no box scores to pore over, but baseball seems far more resilient than my basil plants that quickly kicked their buckets when the nights turned cold many weeks ago.

icy cat

The only cat outside here on an icy night is this terracotta one.

The Baltimore Orioles are still trying to climb out of the PR mess they created when they backed out of their “pending physical” agreement with “Failed Physical” Free Agent Pitcher Grant Balfour last week.

(Spoiler Alert: There is still nothing and no one under my Orioles Christmas tree.)

Watching baseball writers gleefully tear apart this Orioles-Balfour story during an otherwise quiet holiday week is like watching my cats tussle over a handful of turkey treats. Lots of pushing, shoving, pawing, and the occasional shrieking.  (That shrieking would be Stevie.)

stevie 9 21 13

Stevie. Post Treats.

But, it’s never winter for long.

And, the Orioles aren’t the only game in town.

The college baseball season begins in mid-February, which is just a few snowstorms away.

The University of Virginia, which is 40 minutes down the road (hey, UVa, are you reading this? When are we going to get our season ticket seat assignments?) will begin their season on February 14 ranked #12.

And, here’s a weird thing. College Baseball has issued its list of Pre-Season All-Americans. Really? You can do that? You get to be an All-American without even playing yet?

Well, heck, then maybe I’m an All-American. I haven’t played yet either. But, I think a lot about baseball. (I’m thinking about it right now.) That must be worth something. So, thank you for this honor, National Collegiate Baseball Writers.

But, truly, big congratulations go out to UVa’s Mike Papi (who we call El Oso Sueño for no real reason, except that we like the way he stalks around covering left field) and Brandon Downes (who we call Brandon Downes because that’s his name) for being named Pre-Season All-Americans.

Mike Papi

UVa’s Mike Papi out in left field.

Brandon Downes Tips His Cap

UVa’s Brandon Downes cap tipping.

If the temperature at UVA home games falls below 45, there’s free coffee and hot chocolate for fans.

This fall I went to some UVA intra-squad games and the temperature dipped into the 50s. I dressed for a blizzard and below-zero wind chills and I was still cold. (Editor/Husband wants me to clarify that the temperatures dipped into the “high” 50s that night. But, I’m pretty sure it was 10-below.)

So, can February chill keep me away from a baseball game? (Editor/Husband hopes so.  But don’t be so sure, honey.)

In the meantime, while I dream of sunshine and the baseball that comes when the weather turns warm against my face, and the outfield grass grows thick and lush and impossibly green, here are some of my photos of the UVa Cavaliers playing baseball in the sweetness of 2013.

(Most of these photos are from UVa games played in September and October.)

Nathan Kirby

UVa Sophomore Nathan Kirby.

Nick Howard

UVa Junior Nick Howard tidying up.

John LaPrise

UVa Sophomore John LaPrise.

Jack Roberts Freshman

UVa Freshman Jack Roberts.

Safe

(He’s safe.)

counting the days

Counting the days ’til baseball returns.

Waiting For Spring

Waiting for spring in the dugout.

warm bullpen

The bullpen is waiting, too …

And, boy, so am I.

Black & White Chronicles: The Catcher

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Blogging is a young person’s game. Either that, or I’m blaming yesterday’s migraine.

In any event, the point of yesterday’s Black & White Chronicles post was to highlight a couple of photos taken from behind the net at Davenport Field (home of the University of Virginia baseball team).

So, imagine my surprise, to see that my favorite behind-the-net photo hadn’t posted. Wasn’t even in the post that it had inspired.

Oops. Let’s try again …

Here’s the catcher.

matt thaiss

Matt Thaiss. He’s a freshman. He was drafted by the Red Sox this spring, but came to UVa instead. He’s very good.

He can hit. He can run (especially well for a guy who squats down for most of the game). He can throw out base-stealers and bunters.

And, I just like this photo and was annoyed it didn’t post yesterday. So, Catcher gets his own post.

Sunday, October 20, 2013. Davenport Field, University of Virginia. Intrasquad Game.

More Black & White From Davenport Field

Black & White Chronicles: Fall Ball

Black & White Chronicles: Timeless

Black & White Chronicles: Fall Ball

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homeplateIf I have my choice at a baseball game, I’ll sit as far away from the protective netting as possible.

I would love to catch a ball – fair or foul – to show off to my friends like a deer head stuck up on a wall or the ribbon you get at the fair when your pumpkin tops 200 pounds.

But, it won’t happen. Because, when I see a baseball whizzing toward me (and by “toward”, I mean anywhere, really, within eight or nine sections), I duck.

I will never reach out and grab a ball out of the sky. I will never steal the ball from an outfielder’s glove. And, by golly, Red Sox Fan Out There In The Bleachers, I will never-never-ever wrest a ball away from another fan and throw it back on the field.

I will duck.

So, I appreciate that someone has invented this net to protect me from a good head-wallop. But, given the choice, I’ll take my chances. Because the net gets in my way – just one more barrier between me and the field.

These past few weeks, the University of Virginia has had a fall baseball season – intrasquad games mostly. The games were quite good. But, they closed off the bleachers, because it was chilly and the fans were sparce, and they sat us all in the “good seats”.

Good Seats

Behind that damned netting.

So, all I could do was make the net a part of the photos. More and more over the past several games, I’ve been shooting in black and white. And, I kind of like it.

How better to illustrate a history-rich, simple game? How better to show how baseball is, at its essence, black and white – you pitch, you hit, you run, you throw, you score?

How better to celebrate the true heart of the game than by stripping away all the extraneous noise?

All that’s left is black and white.

first base

strike3

??????????

??????????

hes out2

knothole kids

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baseballstill

September 22, October 6, and October 20, 2013. Davenport Field, University of Virginia. Exhibition & Intrasquad games.

More Black & White From Davenport Field

Black & White Chronicles: Timeless

Black & White Chronicles: The Catcher

Turn Down The Volume

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October 6, 2013

University of Virginia, October 6, 2013

“Turn down the volume on your day.”

That’s how I start most of my Yoga classes when I teach.

It’s pretty much impossible in our world to turn everything off completely – even for an hour. But, turning down the volume a little, well, that’s a start. If only for that one hour of Yoga.

Turning down the volume is the Yogic path of Pratyahara.

To be Fancy Pants about it, the deal of Pratyahara is this – withdraw the senses inward. Close your eyes and look inside. Close your ears and listen to your breath. Close your touch and just feel the air on your skin.

Just find the quiet inside.

Clearing out the clutter in your brain for a few minutes each day can be as rewarding as cleaning all that forgotten junk out of your garage. (Some of the gunk in your brain can be covered with dust, grease, and mouse nests, too.)

That’s why I love this photo I took.

Hanging out at the batting cage, little kid in the center up there, shows his Pratyahara.

Hey, if the crack of the bat gets too loud, just cover your ears.

The batter in the cage is probably swinging away in his “zone”, oblivious to the rest of us, which is simply his Yoga and Pratyahara without all the Sanskrit.

(And, you thought I would never post about Yoga again!)

Timeless.

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Davenport Field, University of Virginia. October 6, 2013. photo: Jackie Howell

Davenport Field, University of Virginia. October 6, 2013. photo: Jackie Howell

“Time doesn’t seem to pass here: it just is.” ~ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Some things don’t change much over time.

Trees. Mountains. Crossword Puzzles. Whether 2013 or 1913. You can count on them to not change a whole lot.

(Happy 100th birthday crossword puzzles!)

Right fielders, as you can see, don’t change a whole lot either.

And, that’s just one reason why baseball can resonate so richly and deeply. It’s the same game you remember as a child. It’s pretty much the same game your father remembers. And, your great-grandfather. (And, great-grandmother, thank you very much.)

This photograph would have been a throwaway. Except I took it in black and white, because, I don’t know, I was just messing around.

And, Tony Butler, a University of Virginia freshman, became timeless.

Sunday, October 6, 2013. Davenport Field, University of Virginia. Intrasquad game.

#1: Home Sweet Home ~ Spring Training in Charlottesville, VA

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In baseball – as in life – the goal is to come home.

Spring Training ended Saturday.  Opening Day is (officially) Monday.

Hope Springs Eternal.

I have one spot left on my top five Spring Training series.

And, I come home to Charlottesville, Virginia.

It isn’t home. Not exactly. But, it’s just a few minutes up the road and that’s close enough.

Charlottesville isn’t the most amazing or the most interesting or the most historic Spring Training location.

No Babe Ruth. No Jackie Robinson. No island, no dance hall.

Charlottesville is my #1 Spring Training place, not because of what happened here, but because it’s home. And, every home should have somewhere to warm up your baseball bones.

Between 1890 and 1916, many teams spent Spring Training in Charlottesville.

The Boston Reds in the 1890s. The Boston Beaneaters (today, the Atlanta Braves). The young Boston Red Sox. The Washington Senators (who had officially changed their name to the Nationals in 1901, but who everyone still called the Senators, until the team just gave up and changed it back in the 1950s. So really, call them whatever you like here).

The Washington Post

The Washington Post

Teams unpacked at Wright’s Hotel near the train station (it was later the Clermont and is now the Starr Hill Building). Or, they rented local fraternity houses.

They trained on cold and snowy days – and there were plenty of them in March – indoors at Fayerweather Gymnasium (now home to the University of Virginia Department of Art). It was a state-of-the-art facility with one of the longest indoor tracks in the country.

They played at UVa’s Lambeth Field, which one reporter at the time called “the best college field.” (It’s still in use today for intramural sports).

Lambeth Field, Charlottesville. Early 20th-century. Photo Courtesy of UVa Small Special Collections Library

Lambeth Field, Charlottesville. Early 20th-century. Photo Courtesy of UVa Small Special Collections Library

Walter “Big Train” Johnson, one of the greatest pitchers to ever play the game, spent a couple Spring Trainings there as a National/Senator. (How good was he? He would win more than 30 games a season – twice – and consistently had an ERA around a sinful 1.50. Yeh, The Big Train was good.)

Teams jogged through Charlottesville as part of their training. They played games against UVa’s team. They took day trips to Thomas Jefferson’s home, Monticello, and rode the trolley to Fry’s Springs resort, known for its healing mineral baths and “Wonderland” amusement park.

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