japanese baseball: july/august 2010

8/9/2019 Japanese Baseball: July/August 2010

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Japanese BaseballJULY/AUGUST 2010

EugeneLove Shack

Elderely libidosCleveland

Biter cofeeH.L. Mencken


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Japanese Baseball

Cover phoograph couresy of Flickr user the_worm_turns

Japanese Baseball is a general ineres zine founded in 2010.

Founded by Michael Wachs

[email protected]

htp://www.japanesebaseball.us/

witer.com/japbaseballLook for us on Facebook, oo.

MADE IN AUSTIN, TEXAS, AMERICA

Michael H. Carriere is an assisanproessor a he Milwaukee School oEngineering, where he eaches courses

on American hisory, public policy,poliical science, and urban design.

[email protected]

Kevin Dehan drew he picure.

[email protected]

Jack Dolgen is a wrier, musician, andavid eaer.

[email protected]

Vicoria Grace Elliot is some girl,usually ound on he Universiy oexas campus. Also she ges paid o

draw comics or he Daily exan.Tere's some oher su, bu ha's

abou i.

[email protected]

Ricky Federico is a graduae oNorheasern Universiy. He currenlylives in a unky ol' shack, where he

in roo is rused.

[email protected]

Sherry LeBlanc eeds hungry peopleand plays in a band called ShredShop. She lives in Ausin, exas and

knows ha you secrely love DaveMathews Band. You can' hide fom

he ruh.

[email protected]

Adam Schragin is a naive exanand wrier who conribues o he

Ausinis, heAusin A.V. Club, andserves as he edior o

[email protected]

H.L. Mencken was a Balimore basedwrier, edior, and conenious spiri.

He died in 1956.


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July/August 2010

Te minute green pests are sowonderully productive that they seem

to increase and multiply beore his eyes;and, paradox as it may appear, the more

he pulls up the more there are lef .

R.F. MuRRay

"ON GARDENING" fROmThE GENTlEmAN's mAGAzINE

(1888)


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Japanese Baseball

JApAneSebASebALL .US/805289255

Eugeneby Sherry LeBlancIllustration by Kevin Dehan

Te windshield magnied he sun as Ibaked in he passenger sea o our mobile oodpanry on he day I me Eugene. Angel, hedriver, pushed he air brake and I glanced a hereecion o my orearm in he rucks rearviewmirror. I was he color o roisserie chicken. Te

hea was already earing a my paience and heday had jus begun.As I climbed rom my sea ono he pavemen,

I was greeed by a group o voluneers sandingin a semi-circle around me. My riend Charles, who helped gaher everyone, pushed a youngman ino he middle o he circle. Sherry, his isEugene. Hes a voluneer frefgher! Ive knownCharles or years and is a rariy or he eighy-ve year old o muser up such enhusiasm. I

ook a good look a Eugene who smiled a me,revealing mossy eeh. Tick lm hung in slowmoion beween his lips. His skin resembledreshly rolled dough dipped in warm waer. Tebotom o his somach peeked rom he hem ohis shir and was covered in curly, dark hair. His

navy-blue baseball cap was pouring swea romhe edges. He was reckled and mois. I ignoredCharles inroducion and began working wihhe group.

Eugene sayed glued o my side as we se upables, unloaded he ood and organized grocerysacks. Everywhere he ollowed, I atemped oprovide a new disracion. Eugene, would youmind puting ve onions, six apples and six earso corn in a bag? Eugene, could you help Ms.


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July/August 2010

Ania carry her ood? Eugene, Charles needsyour help wih he spagheti. He sayed silen andworked diligenly. When I moved o a new ask,he ollowed. I was hecic and ho as we workedo move he amilies ou o he dangerous sun.

As I began unolding a able, he ben downbehind me and said in a husky hal-whisper, Doyou know wha is like o be 27 and no knowhe ouch o a woman? I handed him he ableand smiled, avoiding eye conac. He repeaedhimsel wih more inensiy.

Do you know wha is like o be 27 and neverknow he ouch o a woman? I began unoldinghe nex able as he ben down and whispered,Is no a good hing. I paused while my mind

raced, searching or he righ answer.Tis was he rs day I me Eugene and hers o many quoable quoes including:

Is your husband a regher?I always keep a gun and a bomb by my bed,

don you?You look like he ype who wouldn ake

money or sex. JB


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Japanese Baseball


Te Whole Shack Shimmiesby Jack Dolgen & Ricky Federico

Love Shack by he Georgian pop band Te B-52s is a landmark achievemen as a song, video,and culural ouchsone. You are encouraged o wach he video beore and aer Jack Dolgen andRicky Federico analyze i piece by piece over he course o 38 minues. Lisen online. JB

SELECT FACTS FROM THE "LOVE SHACK" WIKIPEDIA PAGE:In 2006, it was also named as one of VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 80s, plac-ing at #40. The Simpsons episode E-I-E-I-(Annoed Grunt) features the B-52'sperforming a version of this song entitled "Glove Slap". The Christian parod band,ApologetiX, released a version of this song called "Meshach" about the charac-ter in the Bible. B-52's singer Kate Pierson lived in the Love Shack in the 1970s.

phoTobYfLickrUSerhmk


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July/August 2010


A Woman of Valueby Adam SchraginTe ime is 7:00pm a Golden Manor, a

home or elderly Jews in San Anonio exas.I has been hours since an uncomplicaeddinner o unrecognizable sarches and proeinsrearranged ino soupy creams and creamy soups everyhing, even he vegeables - he pallor oTanksgiving sung.

Sid Rosenhal is horny. Youd be orgivenor misaking he waning years o ones lieas dedicaed solely o minor pursuis like backgammon and grandchildren, bu oremoson his mind is he disan rumbling o bloodsnaking hrough his penis. Sid didn imaginehis lie would ake a urn or he nearly eroicaer his children schemed, schemed o have him

commited, simply or saring a kichen re aerrying o microwave he oaser. And ye, herehe was, in he peak o his sexual lie, which jusso happened o be he wiligh o jus aboueveryhing else. I had been en years since his wie Ehel had passed away rom bone cancer,and hough heir las years ogeher were ender,heir romanic lie had been icy or a leas adecade previous. When she passed, Sid poo-pooed he idea ha hed have anoher sho a

love, and cerainly one a lus.Sid rs noiced Rachel during a ediousmid-aernoon bingo session made worse byhe voluneering eors o he well-meaningbu overly earnes Conrmaion Class rom henearby reorm synagogue. A sprighly youngperson was helping Sid wih he game, waered-down rules and all, and he spen he rs hal wondering abou his young persons srangeshade o nail polish, blue like a bruise. When he

looked up, he saw Rachel looking eiher a himor hrough him, done up in a rosemary-coloredbahrobe wih jus a hin line o saliva hanging oo her botom lip. Mauve irises were surrounded by a hread o veins, and her hair began mid-scalp and ell o in so paches. A beauiul redmouh, mois wih he dangling spi. Te youngperson gave up rying o eher Sids atenion oBingo, and coninued o play wihou him. Teway Rachel sared like she had a quesion she

hough he could answer.Laer ha nigh Rachel sumbled ino his

room, apparenly los en roue o he oile. Apoor excuse, or a probable one, bu neverhelessa surprise visi ha resuled in a ceremoniousexchange o gummy kisses and, o his deligh, ahand job, eecive despie her Parkinsons-relaedrembling. Aerwards, hey boh coughed andmade vague pillow alk abou swee experienceand swee cakes and decaeinaed coee. Whenhe awoke a 5 a.m., she had sumbled somewhereelse. Ta was wo weeks ago, and he aair hadbecome more regular han any bowel movemenhe could remember having. Teir rendezvouswas eiher in he dark, lae hours beore nighall

or mid-day aer Aciviy Hour. Tough he sa was requenly invasive during oher privaemomens, Sid knew hey recognized wha wasgoing on and hey gave he lovers a wide berh apparenly he sa had no desire o snachaway some nal happiness rom a man muchrusraed in his lie.

Tis lae uesday evening, Sid had scarcelyrewound his ape copy o Te Barry Sisers Teir Greaes Yiddish His beore Rachel padded

genly ino his room. A age y she was wicemarried, a real esae agen wih a loud laughand jus he suggesion o lines around hermouh. Bu a eighy, her percepion came andwen. She had los he laugh, bu was sill sure-ooed. Sid slid over in his bed and beckoned herover. She smelled like rosemary and age. I wasinoxicaing.

I can smell, he whispered a her, he wordsshufing ou all wrong.

Uh huh, Rachel assened. He pulled a herunderneah he covers, hal alling ou o srechpans and ino her lap. Sid was careul wih her britle cheeks, genle wih kisses on her blue veins and wih his hands on he knos on herback. He disrobed, and could see he liver sposon his ches and could race he disilled breaho Icy Ho o his neckbone. He applied a coa oVaseline o his long-suering penis, now edgingoward paien erecion. He applied anoher o


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Japanese Baseball

he warm lips o her labia, hen emporarily losrack o his surroundings. Unable o ener herrom above, he jus slipped and slid ino her, heirchess now sicky wih swea. Eishes-Chiyell,he Barry Sisers cooed. A Woman o Value.

Ah, Rachel, said Sid. Ah, my darling.Ah, Mor, said Rachel. He moved inside o

her a he slowes o incremens.One Look a You,he Sisers sang. Ain Kik

Au Dir.Sid gasped, exied and moved o her side.She pulled a him wih her hand. Ten suddenlyshe sopped, her ngers sill in rings around hismember, her eyes shu and her body giving wayo slumber. He lies ha way, in he dark, her handaround him, driing away himsel.

Te clich abou old love is ha i makes oneeel young again. Insead, Sid ound himsel a hecusp o somehing srange and new wih Rachelsarhriic hand wrapped around him, a sensaionnever beore replicaed in his marial bed. InRachels sleeping hand, he moans and a line oglue-like cum courses ou o him. Ah Rachel,Yuh Mein iere ocer. Yes, My Darling. JB


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July/August 2010


Goodbye Cleveland!by Michael Carriere As boh a baskeball an and an urban

hisorian, I ound mysel ascinaed by he nowex-Cavalier Lebron James public humiliaion ohis ormer eam and ciy. I is clear ha Jamesdid no handle his exi rom Cleveland wihanyhing resembling he grace and poise hedisplays on he baskeball cour. Dan Gilber,he owner o he Cavaliers, also pu his worsoo orward, as seen in he bizarre, haeul pressrelease he issued immediaely aer winessingJames ESPN special/specacle (one mus admireGilbers siuaional undersanding o loyaly:did Gilber eel any sense o loyaly o he 250individuals ha his company, Quicken Loans, lego in June 2008?). And hen here are he ever-

suering Cleveland spors ans, le down onceagain by hose hey raised o near-royal saus.Te unhinkable has happened: he king has lehis subjecs in he lurch.

Many commenaors were sruck by heimmediae reacion o he news among Cavs ans.A leas one such individual burned his Lebron Jamess 23 jersey in he sree, while ohersook o hrowing rocks a he James billboardouside o he Quicken Loans Arena. Yes, is sad

ha James is moving on o sun-soaked Miami, bu did his occurrence really warran suchexreme responses? Aer all, as my aher usedo ell me aer a paricularly rough nigh a heoul line, is only a game.

Ye in he conex o a Rus Bel ciy likeCleveland, Jamess decision o jump ship oMiami mus be undersood wihin he broaderhisory o he ciy. Te way ha Cavs ans begano alk abou Jamess berayal sounded a whole

lo like he language once used o address hedisloyaly o rms who le he ciy during hepeak o deindusrializaion. In many ways,James choice o leave Cleveland is bu anohersop on he longer narraive o abandonmenin Cleveland, anoher reminder ha anyhingdeemed producive and o grea value willineviably leave he ciy. Bu he James episodeis also a cauionary ale o he shorcomings opos-indusrial developmen. In he rush o use

spors gures and sporing arenas as engines oeconomic growh, ciy developers and heir alliesoen repeaed he misakes o he pas. Such adevelopmen sraegy urned James ino nohingmore han a commodiy, and commodiies, asdeindusrializaion once augh us, care litleabou placeand even less abou loyaly.

Tings didn always look his bad orCleveland. By he urn o he las cenury heciy housed he hird larges amoun o corporaeheadquarers in he naion, behind only NewYork and Chicago. A he same ime, indusrialrms such as U.S. Seel, he Leece-NevilleCompany (manuacurer o elecrical producs),he Carling Brewing Company, he Coi Road

Fisher Body Division o General Moors, andNaional Screw provided jobs or counlessresidens o Cleveland. And people ocked ohe ciy: by 1950, Clevelands populaion sooda 914,808.

Ye he orces unleashed by economicglobalizaion hi Cleveland hard. By he lae1960s/early 1970s plan closings had becomecommonplace, wih rms like he Carlin BrewingCompany shutering heir doors orever. By he

1980s, he siuaion had gone rom bad o worse.U.S. Seel closed is las Cleveland plan in 1984,while he Coi Road General Moors aciliy hadclosed shop in 1983a decision ha led o heloss o over seveneen hundred jobs. By he lae1980s, Cleveland was bu a shell o is ormer sel,as (predominanly whie) people ed he ciy inlarge numbers. By 1990, he ciys populaionsood a jus 505,616. Tose ha remained in heciy expressed disbelie in he ac ha so many

peopleand, more imporanly, companiescould simply pack up and leave he ciy. Tenarraive o abandonmen had come o deneCleveland.

I was his sory ha he world o spors wasmean o direcly address. Troughou he 1990s,ciy aer ciy recas spors eams as engines oeconomic growh. Cenral o his sraegy washe belie ha public/privae parnerships obuild new, downown arenas would revive dying


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ciies. Ciies such as Balimore (Camden Yards,1992), Denver (Coors Field, 1995), and Deroi(Comerica Park, 2000) all believed ha newsadiums would atrac boh people and capial back o he downown area. No surprisingly,

Cleveland go ino he ac as well, opening upGund Arena (now Quicken Loans Arena) in1994, as par o he ciys broader GaewayProjec redevelopmen plan. Such sae-o-hear aciliies, in addiion o appealing o ciy-wary suburbanies, were also mean o atrac opahleic alen, alen like Lebron James.

Such a developmen sraegy provedremarkably lucraive or ahlees like James, bui didn seem o do a whole lo or he res o

he ciizens o Cleveland. In 2004, as James wasnishing up his rs season as a Cavalier, i wasannounced ha Cleveland had he highes rae opovery in he naion. Aer James second season,saisics were released ha ound ha Cleveland

had los 24 percen o is manuacuring jobs inhe rs ve years o he weny-rs cenury. Like jobs, people also coninued o fee Cleveland:new census esimaes show ha Cleveland hadhe larges numerical decline in residens during2009, dropping 2,658, or close o one percen ohe populaion (by comparison, Deroi, oenheld up as he poser child or abandonmen, los1,713 residens during he same period). And inMay 2010, as Cleveland residens pleaded wih

photobyflickruserjimharper


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July/August 2010

James o say, he ciys unemploymen raehovered around en percen.

All o his is no o blame one ahlee or hesorry sae o a major meropolian area. Insead,he example o Lebron James shows us ha imay be ime o rehink how we revive Americanciies, as he sraegy o growing economieshrough sporing arenas has proven ineecive.Don believe me? Look pas Cleveland andocus on Balimore, where during he opening week o he 2010 baseball season he Oriolesdrew he smalles crowd in he hisory o heirsadium 9,129 ans. Te diminishing amouno ans may have somehing o do wih he acha people, as in Cleveland, coninue o ee he

ciy. In March 2010 i was announced ha heciy has los abou hree percen o is residenssince 2000. o re-grow ineres in his eam,Balimore Orioles owner Peer Angelos haspublicly declared ha wha he ciy needs is a newarenaunded in par by axpayer dollarsoreplace wha he has called aniquaed CamdenYards, a sadium ha is no ye weny years old.

In ligh o such pronouncemens, he imehas come o realize ha he healh o a ciy relies

on more han jus a young man who can dunka baskeball, or a eam ha has a sho o reachhe playos. Look beyond he loss o James inCleveland and one can see such groups as heCivic Innovaion Lab, a group ha provides boh sar-up unding and voluneer assisanceor individuals rying o sar businesses in heciy. One recenly unded endeavor ransormedan abandoned ciy mall ino he Gardens UnderGlass projec, a sel-described urban eco-village

ha eaures cars o vegeables and ruis grownon sie, under he malls arching glass domes. Tegroup has also unded companies developinggreen energy sources and new curriculummodels or Clevelands sruggling public schoolsysem.

Given he ciys hisory, i makes sense orCleveland residens o place James decisionwihin he broader narraive o abandonmenand o grieve or such a loss. Ye in heir grie

one hopes ha hose in Cleveland, indeed hoseacross he counry, come o realize ha heir ciiesremain remarkably resilienand o rehink whai means o ruly develop such regions. Ahlees,like rms, will leave. Insead, ocus developmenon hose who are mos invesed in he healh oheir ciies: ciy residens hemselves. JB

---Tis aricle originally appeared online a Hisory

News Nework (hnn.us).


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Japanese Baseball


b Victoria Elliott


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July/August 2010


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Japanese Baseball

japanesebaseball .us/805334103

originally from How to Sell Manuscripts (1920)


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Novel thingsappreciated.

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japanese baseball: july/august 2010

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