Battlers
Gary Woodland, 35, reached the summit last night at Pebble Beach. His brilliance down the stretch kept his opponents at bay. What poise. Kudos, and also to Brooks Koepka, who made a great run at a third consecutive U.S. Open championship. Most years ten-under will do it. Woodland just refused to lose, as goes the cliché. Since it was on the west coast, I caught the last hour and a half. It’s always great to see a first-time winner, especially one so popular amongst his peers. Color commentator Paul Azinger dubbed it “a life-changing win.” He would know, having once won the PGA championship, which removed the tag “Best player to have never won a major” from him.
Bombs away! An MLB record was set this past weekend at the hitter’s paradise that is Coor’s Field in Denver. The Padres and Rockies combined to score 92 runs in a four game series. The previous record was held by the Phillies and Dodgers, who scored 88 way back in 1929… Also in baseball — a rare strategy by the Dodgers. In the ninth inning, up two runs, man on second, Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen told the home plate umpire he was going to balk intentionally. Why? To prevent the runner at second base from stealing signs from the catcher and relaying the information to the batter. Wow!
Here’s a link to a brief clip of my friend Johnny McMahon in underground roles he’s had: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne8reYt3PF4
It looked like the floating book shop would see a pathetic return for the first time in a while, then three customers showed in the final minutes of operation. My thanks to Tatiana, who bought The Burn: Why Your Scale Is Stuck and What to Eat About It by Haylie Pomroy, and to Natalya, who purchased four mysteries in Russian. I hadn’t seen her in months and feared she’d passed on, as she is battling cancer. I’d been unable to muster the resolve to ask her husband, Benedict, who I see regularly in the company of an attendant. Natalya gave me a hug and kiss from her wheelchair. I didn’t get one from Arlene, who ran the office of our co-op for many years, and who is also battling cancer and using a walker. She went home with three large hardcovers by Cynthia Freeman: No Time For Tears, Come Pour the Wine and Portraits. My thanks, and to the young man who chose a self help book before the other three came along to save the day.
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