Author: Shannon Shark @metspolice

China has issued behavior guidelines for foreign visitors. There are a few reports trickling out on the internet, but only the Wall Street Journal version contains this language:

Inside Olympic venues, too, it is illegal to display “any religious, political, and ethnic slogans, banners, and other items”– but the guidelines don’t give any specific examples of what such items might be.

I’m not saying it’s accurate or not, just that The Guardian and a chinese news source didn’t mention that, and I haven’t seen the release. But that’s not that the point….

I’m troubled by: illegal to display “any religious, political, and ethnic slogans, banners, and other items

So I can’t bring a “Go USA” sign? Can I wear a cross around my neck? A guy i know wears a small Christian symbol on his jacket – will he be jailed? What about someone from Cleveland bringing a “Go Tribe” pennant?

Here’s where I saw it: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121241380981137725.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

And what ever happened to Banner Day at Shea? Do they still have it? Maybe if a rainout forces a double-header they could send off Shea with one last solid Banner Day Doubleheader!

I respectfully disagree with my colleague and feel that MLB should retire Babe Ruth’s number across all teams.

Simply put, no single player did more to save baseball than did George Herman Ruth. Even before the Black Sox scandal of 1919, baseball had been beset with accusations of games fixing for decades. Gamblers were a constant presence at ball parks and the public’s view of the “professional” game was quickly sinking to new lows. Attendance had been suffering as the public was drawn more towards the “pureness” of amateur competition.

Judge Landis did much to clean up the game, but the public was already disillusioned. It took a man of mythic proportions, a man who could accomplish feats never dreamed of to bring back the fans.

His numbers are legendary, but it went further than that. He was in many ways a kid at heart – he loved the fans, loved kids, and was very approachable (unlike Cobb, the other all-time great of the time).

Ruth not only saved baseball, but helped transform it into a spectacle. The Yankees had to build the first modern stadium in order to accomodate the crowds that would gather to see him.
Ruth was also among the first players to internationalize the game. Yes, other’s had travelled across the oceans prior to him, but nobody had the impact he did.

It was a good thing for baseball to retire Jackie Robinson’s number – what he did transcended the game. But there would not have been a game for him to impact if not for the Babe.

The Babe’s granddaughter is trying to get MLB to retire #3 for all teams.

Don’t.

#3 is already retired by the team Babe Ruth is most associated with. That’s plenty.

Will we retire Barry Bonds number everywhere? He has better numbers and sold more tickets.

I’m not in favor of the league wide retirements…such as Wayne Gretzky’s #99.

http://www.retirebabesnumber.com/

So I saved this for Monday so more people would see it. On Thursday the Mets announced there were nearly 53,000 people at Shea. Yes I know they announce paid attendance.

Howie Rose, during the 9th inning, conceded the point and suggested there were 40,000. No way no way no way.

These are actual photos from the game. Note the sky, it’s two different times of the day so we’re not being tricky.

Howie, you know better….way better…all those years being the original Mets Police on the original Mets Extra before the castrated it with Todd Kalas.

So the question is Howie – what’s motivating you to exaggerate?