Sliding Home : From 4/27/06

My sister in law Laurie called from Providence to tell of the exploits of her son Ben, the 7 year old athletic phenom. It seems he fulfilled his dream of sliding into a base in the season's first baseball game. Unfortunately, it will be his last for the year because it's not permitted according to league rules. This reminded me of my youthful sliding career, honed by Saturdays at the beach in games of running bases at Washington Baths with Uncle Hy and cousin Marty. My father would work Saturday. Later I would employ my skills on the concrete at Tanahey Park. I needed the element of surprise to overcome my lack of speed. I could usually do it without tearing my pants, but no matter I could do no wrong in my mom's eyes. My little league's team expert was none other than the recently rediscovered Marty B. He once pulled off a perfect pop up slide into third. Being ready to go quickly allowed him to dash home on the wild throw. That led to a rare team victory for LMRC (Lower Manhattan Republican Club). I reminded Marty of that famous slide (forever etched in my mind) a few months ago. He claimed he did it because he got his spikes caught. He also remembered getting a congratulatory hug by teammate Glen Farber's mother who was quite hot. Marty viewed the recent G and S post that mentioned the great boxer Barney Ross. Marty said his family was related to Ross. Ross, who grew up in Chicago, was born Barnet Rasofsky on 12/29/07 on the LES. Marty's dad who, amongst other things, wrote articles covering the fight beat, dreamed of Marty becoming a boxer. Marty as a kid would avoid fights-like most of us good Jewish boys in Knickerbocker Village. But he did claim a victory or two against some of the tougher neighborhood bullies.