As improbable as the first album from The Baseball Project was, a second batch of songs seemed as likely as a game with 2 triple-plays.
But Volume 2 is here, and there are a couple of tracks of special interest to Red Sox fans, including one about Tony Conigliaro.
However, the neat feat of the bunch, is a song about Bill Buckner.
Lazy Sox fans blame the loss of the 1986 World Series on that ball the rolled through Buckner's legs.
But anyone who knows anything about baseball---or life, for that matter---knows it's a game of many, many intersecting decisions and paths. And today's result is not due to the last thing that happened, but due to the hundreds of choices and accidents that lead up to the moment.
Improbably, all of the inopportunities and bad breaks and poor decisions leading up to Buckner's replay-ready moment, are documented in this song.
Really? A song that puts Calvin Schiraldi in context? That takes Jim Rice to task for not legging out an extra base here or there? Or that remembers that former Met Tom Seaver was supposed to pitch Game One of the series for the Sox, but injured his knee?
You'd expect to hear this on some nostaglia Sports Yappers program, but not in a song.
A song that also reminds us of Buckner's many talents and achievements, as a rock solid, tough-as-nails career player.
Good on you, The Baseball Project.
Here's to a "Volume 3", as I'm looking forward to a song about the life lessons that can be gleaned from Grady Little's decision to pitch Pedro in the 8th inning of the 2003 ALCS.
See the video on Youtube.
I was sitting in the auxiliary press box in right field at Shea Stadium on the night of Game 6 and had a perfect view of the ball going through Billy Buck's legs. And I also saw enough of the events unfolding that night to know that anyone who blamed Buckner was merely looking for an easy scapegoat.
ReplyDeleteNow Grady on the other hand.... I was there that night, too and couldn't believe that he left Pedro in.
One was a physical mistake. The other was a complete mental malfunction that could easily have been avoided, especially when you've already been told by your superiors that you're to pull Pedro at 105 pitches no matter what the situation.
LOVE the new Baseball Project CD.