Joe, Ray & More

Let’s start with a positive today, a tribute to a baseball lifer. RIP Brooklyn-born Joe Pignatano, 92. Affectionately dubbed Piggy, he was a big leaguer from 1957-’62, almost exclusively as a backup catcher. He had only 689 at-bats in that span, socking 16 homers. He earned a World Series ring in 1959 as a member of the L.A. Dodgers. He caught one inning as a defensive replacement during that Fall Classic. After his playing career ended, he served as a coach for three organizations from ‘65-’84. He was the Mets bullpen coach from ‘65-’81. He kept a vegetable garden out there, endearing himself to fans. He earned his second championship ring in ’69, the Mets’ miracle run. He was married for 66 years until his wife’s death. He is a father of two. Well done, sir.

RIP Ray Liotta, 67, who died in his sleep while on film location in the Dominican Republic. He will always be remembered as the star of Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990). Born in Newark, raised in Jersey, his career spanned 1980 to the present. He’s a graduate of the University of Miami, where he studied acting. There are 126 titles under his name at IMDb, six either in post production or still filming. He won an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, ER (1994). Other notable roles: the psycho in Something Wild (1986), Shoeless Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams (1989) and Sinatra in The Rat Pack (1998). He made at least five appearances in eight TV series, 36 as co-star with JLO in Shades of Blue. He is a dad of one. Here’s a quote attributed to him: “Research is good to a degree, to learn how to hold a gun. You want to look like you know what you’re doing and get a basic sense. But your imagination is all you need. They say that the imagination is more powerful than knowledge.” Gone too soon. Thank you, sir. Here he is in character as mob turncoat Henry Hill:

Former NYC mayor Bill de Blasio, arguably the worst in Big Apple history, is running for congress. No surprise, he isn’t qualified for anything but politics.

Never fails, headline from nypost.com: “Gun, ammo stocks rise after Texas school shooting.”

Fodder for sci-fi writers, headline from NYP: “Elderly New Yorkers to get robots that make small talk, crack jokes to help relieve loneliness.”

Headline for Maureen Callahan’s NYP op-ed piece: “Our greatest public-health crisis? The angry young American male.”

Much more incoming than outgoing today at the floating book shop. My thanks to the donors, and to the woman who bought seven thin cook books; and to the gentleman whose dad served in the service with Harlan Ellison, who purchased the master of speculative fiction’s Strange Wine, a short story collection. One of the donors, Herbie, told me the library is closed due to Covid protocols. I spent about ten hours there last week, masked, while my PC was on the fritz. For at least the next week I expect to be asking myself repeatedly: “Is this a symptom?”

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