Remembering a Met whose hit was unforgettable
Staten Island: It was a school day afternoon, June 26, 1963. I sort of remember hearing it on the radio (the Mets didn’t televise midweek day games). It’s fixed in my brain. Must have been a great Bob Murphy call. Lindsey Nelson was considered the “Voice of the Mets,” but Bob was the best. You didn’t need television with Murphy around.
Frank Thomas hit a sixth-inning home run, following it up with an eighth-inning single, and the Mets and Cubs were tied at four going into extra innings. In the top of the 14th inning, with one man on, Thomas tried to shoestring a line drive by Cubs Hall of Famer Billy Williams.
It went under the Thomas glove and rolled into the Polo Grounds’ left-center no man’s land as two runs scored on the
inside-the-parker, and the Cubs led 6-4. Disaster. And then to compound matters in the bottom half, Jim Hickman, after a single to right, somehow managed to get himself thrown out trying to reach third on a Ron Hunt single.
Walks followed to Jim Piersall and Sammy Taylor around a Frank Thomas fly-out bringing Tim Harkness to the plate, with lefty Jim Brewer on the mound and two outs. Harkness miraculously hit the ball deep over the right-center wall for a game-winning grand slam, and one of the most heroic Mets victories was with us.
Harkness, a 1963/64 New York Met, died on Dec. 1, one month shy of his 88th birthday. Marc Gold
Hard to hear
Bellerose: Does AOL have any clear, native English-speaking telephone agents? Or do they all have foreign accents that those of us with hearing problems can not understand? Please, let’s get more English-speaking agents. Marg Stamm
Day of reverence
Avon-by-the-Sea, N.J.: Eighty-four years ago, the picturesque harbor in Honolulu was rocked by an unprovoked attack that changed the course of our nation and the world. The peaceful seas within that tranquil port in Oahu turned into a hellish lake of flames, twisted wreckage and agonizing death. On Dec. 7, 1941, Imperial Japanese forces bombed Pearl Harbor in a surprise attack. More than 2,400 Americans lost their lives on that “Day of Infamy.” It forced the U.S. to be rudely awakened from its “isolationist slumber.” It caused the nation to again become the “arsenal of democracy,” and the U.S. became steadfast in its commitment to winning the Second World War. On this Dec. 7, we should remember those who perished at Pearl Harbor, and those who gave their lives during the war, with a prayer of gratitude and an unyielding determination to carry on their legacy of honor, courage and commitment during these challenging times. Ophelia Paolino
Claus of action
Jersey City: Every Dec. 24 since the late 1950s, the Department of Defense has jocularly cooperated with local news organizations across the country to share “radar tracking images” on the evening news of an unidentified sleigh and eight tiny reindeer as they swiftly flew across Canada from the North Pole toward the U.S. Given our newly rechristened Department of War’s recent vigilance in destroying boats with unidentified cargo and their crews on the high seas on the apparently unsupported presumption that they must be drug runners, I look forward this Christmas to seeing this obvious narco-terrorist blown out of the skies on my evening news by the war criminals defending me and mine. And a very merry, safe and secure Christmas (and happy Chanukah) to all! John Esche
Friendly fire
Blairstown, N.J.: When did you ever see a king call a dictator in another country and ask permission to send long-range missiles to another country that’s being constantly battered? Wake up, America! Our king will not help Ukraine. He has to answer to Vlad Putin, who has blackmail on the king. It goes back to 2013 in Moscow, before our king took his throne. If Putin releases the information, the phony evangelicals will rebuke the king and the braindead MAGA people will renounce him. The king is all bellicose bluff and bluster, and the people fall for it. But the king is afraid of Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. The only ones who can help Ukraine are the EU and NATO. Ron Cristi
Not an invitation
Astoria: To Voicer Steven Kaszab: Likening the enforcement of U.S. immigration law to the KKK and the Nazi persecution of Jews is manipulative wordplay in its most cynical and dishonest form. One has nothing to do with the other. Nazis rounded up Jews because they were persecuting Jews. ICE is rounding up people who have no legal right to be in the country. People like you always justify the illegal presence of these people by quoting the opening line of the poem on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. Emma Lazarus wrote that to be auctioned off to raise money for the pedestal. It was never meant as a clarion call for all and sundry to come leech off American taxpayers — people like me. You’re Canadian. How is this any of your business? Bradley Morris
Right-wing rebuke
Suffern, N.Y.: I’m glad people are waking up to the toxicity of Tucker Carlson. My only question is where was such insight when pro-Iran Patrick Buchanan was spewing this filth and disease 40 years ago? Buchanan accused Israel of trying to drag us into a war with his precious Iran, which he admired because it was a religious dictatorship. Also, Carlson is a gibbering idiot like Rachel Maddow, but nobody ever calls him out on that either. Wallington Simpson
Nationalist hypocrisy
Bayonne: To Voicer Adnan Aslam: Thanks so much for your dissertation on Judaism and Zionism coming from your bastion of religious freedom, the nation of India. Seriously? Marty Wolfson
Deep heartbreak
Brooklyn: I can truly understand how Rodger Kepler felt about losing his life partner of 52 years (“Husband mourns man who died after shove,” Dec. 5). The sad thing about it is that the suspect got off without bail. What is the city coming to? A violent act was committed against an innocent person. I would feel the same thing if my spouse of 52 years, George, was a victim of a crime. Charlie Pisano
Finish playing
Brooklyn: To avoid another situation like the one at the University of Mississippi, of football coach Lane Kiffin abruptly quitting for a new job at LSU, the NCAA should just adjust the timetable for the athlete transfer portal as well as coaches who are looking to leave. The portal should start the day after a national champion is crowned in that sport. Same for coaches: No school can talk to a coach until the day after a national champ is crowned in that sport. This way, you avoid the situation that happened to the UMiss football team last week. In this new era of paying players and coaches leaving for more money every year, this is the norm. However, if you do it this way, you don’t disrupt a season and everyone gets to explore their options. John De Angelo
Not so far away
Manhattan: Six phrases from your article (“Floods & landslides kill over 1,300 in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand,” Dec 3) capture the experiences suffered by Indonesians and their neighbors: “many clinging to rooftops;” “bridges collapsed;” “vanished roads;” “raging current swallowed his home;” “clung to a lychee tree with his daughter;” “all homes gone or buried.” Meanwhile, as if we on this side of the world can pretend not to share the same climate system that now batters Indonesia and its neighbors, our president eviscerates climate protection initiatives in favor of fossil fuel combustion, while Gov. Hochul violates the directives, deadlines and spirit of our state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). Hello? Rachel Makleff
Hampered hookup
East Meadow, L.I.: Why hasn’t New York already joined 25 other states, including virtually the entire Rust Belt, in approving the use of electric meter socket adapters? These devices are installed right at the meter, eliminating the need for extremely expensive and time-consuming service upgrades when installing solar panels or an EV charger. If we’re serious about going green, we need to make it as affordable and convenient as possible. Greg Hecht
