Monday Morning Video Laugh - November 2, 2026

Let's use this month of Mondays to salute the multi-cam sitcom.   Here are some classic scenes shot in front of a live studio audience.  And we start with Felix and Oscar.

Dinner last night:  Spaghetti and meatballs.

The Sunday Memory Drawer - Election Day Musing

 

Hard to believe but I did.   In my adult years, I couldn't be bothered as I believe that all our elections now are ridiculous displays of non-civility and pandering.  Yet, when I was much younger, I had an opportunity to see somebody looking for the big job in the White House and I grabbed it.

This all comes to mind when Netflix ran a four-hour documentary about Robert F. Kennedy's campaign for President in 1968.  Naturally, I gobble up any information on those years when you still had respect for politicians in this nation.   These days, they show up on late night comedy shows.   Back in the day, there was an aura about them.  Regardless of the party affiliation, they all presented a serious demeanor that is not seen with today's current conga line of civic leaders.

So, the Netflix documentary brought me back to Kennedy's campaign and the day it arrived in my hometown of Mount Vernon, New York.  This was a big deal for us.   I remember the news of his stop on the City Hall steps was published in the town newspaper, The Daily Argus, about a week in advance. He'd be there at around 330PM.   As a result, our school teachers told us that, if any of us wanted to attend, we could leave school early.

Okay, that was good enough for me.   I'd go see Donald Duck's Presidential campaign if I could get out of class before 3PM.

Of course, I had to clear my participation with the homestead.   In those days, both my father and mother were working at night.   So, the one I needed to apprise of my afternoon's activities?

Grandma.

Now this would not be a slam dunk as my grandmother had disdain for all things political since the last President she liked was in office.   That would be Dwight Eisenhower.   Everybody else since earned major thumbs down.  And that especially included the Kennedy family.

"Those crazy Catholics."

I reasoned that this might be the only time I would ever see a Presidential candidate reasonably up close and personal.

"Be careful in case somebody shoots him."

At that point, I had no clue how prophetic my grandmother's words would be.

On the day of the campaign stop, I made my way downtown instead of coming home from school.   Those times were much safer.   Little kids were never in danger and could fearlessly walk around their hometown cocoon with abandon.

Of course, I didn't count on the throngs of people down there.  Apparently, people in this town did read the Daily Argus.  I remember being surprised that none of my school chums were there.   Or my pals from the neighborhood.  Indeed, everybody there was much taller than me.  I couldn't see a thing.   

Somewhere in front of me, I heard the unmistakable New England accent of a Kennedy.   The crowd was wildly ecstatic.   But, with my lack of proximity, Robert Kennedy could have been in Ohio for all I knew.   

What I could see did take my breath away.   I could easily stare up at the roofs of City Hall and some of the adjacent buildings.   Up there were things I had never seen before.   

Men with rifles.   Guarding the candidate.   

I don't think I had ever seen somebody with a rifle before.  At least, somebody who wasn't doing battle with the Cartwrights on "Bonanza."   

It was that image that lasted with me.   Not the words of Kennedy or the warm reception he got from the crowd.   Nope, as I walked home, I was consumed by the men with the rifles.

Is this the country we live in?

About six months later, we would get our answer.

Dinner last night:  Korean chicken from Chin Chin.

Classic Musical Comedy Production Number of the Month - October 2026

 Woo hoo.  A five Saturday month allows us to take in a classic musical number.  And as we also wind up a month of baseball...those damn Yankees!

Dinner last night:  Sandwich.

All Dressed Up for Halloween

 Trick and little Treat.

Thank God for the orchid. Meanwhile, it looks like she has a little more chest hair than he does.

The perfect Halloween costume for that little piece of shit down the block.

When I look for Halloween costumes, I always check the Old Testament first.

The consequences of sex with Kobe Bryant.

What a novel career. Wedding and funeral planning at the same place. One stop shopping.

What happens when your Easter Bunny visits Three Mile Island...

In about five seconds, Dad's backpack is going to feel a lot lighter.

Dinner last night:  Sandwich.

How Did I Miss This?

 

Like a bolt of lightning, this hit me suddenly and powerfully.   A good friend of mine called.   Knowing how strongly I felt about the 2017 Houston Astros cheating scandal that cost the Dodgers their World Series, he telephoned to ask if I had seen this documentary on PBS's Frontline.

It was news to me.   The really surprising part of that is the film is already 3 years old.  Where was I?   Did this get zero press?

The story is there and all true.   We've all known about the trash can banging and sign stealing, etc..   But we never heard it to the detail that it's brought to life in this film by baseball journalist Ben Reiter.

Indeed, a lot of the film is thanks to some young baseball geek who got a job with the Houston Astros when they became "data-driven."   You want to see a whistle blower in action?   Listen to what this guy reveals.   It's old news, but still very old news.   I was angry all over again, especially in the way that MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred doled out the punishment for this crime.

This documentary reminded me once again that scumbag Carlos Beltran, then with the Astros, masterminded the whole caper.  Did he get what was due him?  Hell, fucking no.   He just got inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame and the Mets Hall of Fame.  Talk about hypocracy.

Personally, I salute Ben Reiter for keeping the story out there, even if it somehow got buried on PBS.

It all brought to mind the very first time the Astros visited Dodger Stadium after 2017.   No matter what men's room you entered, all the urinals had something on the bottom.   A baseball card of a Houston Astro.

Did it make me feel good pissing on Jose Altuve?   You bet it did.

LEN'S RATING:  4 Stars.

Dinner last night:   Hamburger.

This Date in History - October 28

 

I guess I could call this Throwback Wednesday.  Happy birthday to Bruce...well...I'll update it below.

97:  EMPEROR NERVA IS FORCED BY THE PRAETORIAN GUARD TO ADOPT GENERAL MARCUS ULPIUS TRAJANUS AS HIS HEIR AND SUCCESSOR.

The nerva!

306:  MAXENTIUS IS PROCLAIMED ROMAN EMPEROR.

Mentioned because...

312:  CONSTANTINE I DEFEATS MAXENTIUS, BECOME THE SOLE ROMAN EMPEROR OF THE WEST.

Six years in charge, door to door.

1061:  EMPRESS AGNES, ACTING AS REGENT FOR HER SON, BRINGS ABOUT THE ELECTION OF THE ANTIPOPE HONORIUS II.

I'm really curious about this concept of an antipope.

1420:  BEIJING IS OFFICIALLY DESIGNATED THE CAPITAL OF THE MING DYNASTY.

I bet the air was bad there even then.

1492:  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS DISCOVERED CUBA ON HIS FIRST VOYAGE TO THE NEW WORLD.

Babalu.

1628:  THE SIEGE OF LA ROCHELLE ENDS WITH THE SURRENDER OF THE HUGUENOTS.

Okay, now there's a Huguenot Street in New Rochelle, NY.  Hmmm, what a coinky dink.

1775:  AMERICAN REVOLUTION - A BRITISH PROCLAMATION FORBIDS RESIDENTS FROM LEAVING BOSTON.

Obviously trying to preserve the Red Sox paid attendance.

1776:  AMERICAN REVOLUTION - BRITISH FORCES ARRIVE AT WHITE PLAINS, NY.  

Hey, I know where that is!

1886:  IN NEW YORK HARBOR, PRESIDENT GROVER CLEVELAND DEDICATES THE STATUE OF LIBERTY.

Gift shop to follow.

1897:  FASHION DESIGNER EDITH HEAD IS BORN.

Well, actually, her whole body came out, too.

1914:  PHYSICIAN JONAS SALK IS BORN.

Thank you for that polio vaccine you will invent.

1919:  THE US CONGRESS PASSES THE VOLSTEAD ACT OVER WOODROW WILSON'S VETO, PAVING THE WAY FOR PROHIBITION TO BEGIN THE FOLLOWING JANUARY.

Idiots.

1922:  ITALIAN FASCISTS LED BY BENITO MUSSOLINI MARCH ON ROME AND TAKE OVER THE ITALIAN GOVERNMENT.

He doesn't realize that there's a rope with his name on it.

1929:  BLACK MONDAY - A DAY IN THE WALL STREET CRASH OF 1929.

Sell!

1940:  TELEVISION PRODUCER SUSAN HARRIS IS BORN.

The genius behind TV's "Soap" and "The Golden Girls."  From my hometown of Mount Vernon, New York.

1949:  CAITLYN JENNER IS BORN.

Well, technically, not really until 2015.

1952:  ACTRESS ANNIE POTTS IS BORN.

Wonderful on "Designing Women."

1955:  BUSINESSMAN BILL GATES IS BORN.

Yeah, he invented some stuff.

1958:  JOHN XXIII IS ELECTED POPE.

He dies in 1963, so not a long gig.

1962:  END OF THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS - SOVIET PREMIER NIKITA KHRUSCHCHEV ORDERS THE REMOVAL OF SOVIET MISSILES FROM CUBA.

JFK's shining moment.

1964:  VIETNAM WAR - US OFFICIALS DENY ANY INVOLVEMENT IN BOMBING NORTH VIETNAM.

Yeah, sure.

1965:  CONSTRUCTION ON THE ST. LOUIS ARCH IS COMPLETED.

I always wonder how they managed to build that in the first place.

1998:  AN AIR CHINA JETLINER IS HIJACKED BY A DISGRUNTLED PILOT.

Well, is that any way to display your anger?

2006:  BASKETBALL COACH RED AUERBACH DIES.

Fifth foul.

2010:  ACTOR JAMES MACARTHUR DIES.

Bury 'em, Dan-O.

2023:  ACTOR MATTHEW PERRY DIES.

And then there were five.

Dinner last night:   Salad.

Len's Recipe of the Month - October 2026

 

Last month, I extolled the virtues of an air fryer.   Well, now let me start sharing some specifics.   And, yes, you can cook a steak in one of these contraptions.

Welcome to Ribeye in An Air Fryer.

The key is to marinade your meat overnight.    I like to concoct it with some teriyaki marinade.   You can buy a variety of versions in a store.   Or look on the internet for a recipe.

Put your steak in a Ziploc freezer bag and then pour some of the marinade into the bag.   Seal it and store it in the fridge overnight.   

On the day you are going to cook it, pull the steak out and let it get to room temperature for a couple of hours.  Then dry out the meat with a paper towel.

Set your air fryer for 12 minutes and 400 degrees Fahrenheit.   Cook it all and when the machine buzzes, check the temperature of the meat.   It should be 125 degrees.   If it's lower than that, give it another minute.

Remove the steak and cover it with tin foil for twenty minutes.   I used the rest time to cook up some sauteed mushrooms.

What a meal!

Dinner last night:  Sandwich.

Monday Morning Video Laugh - October 26, 2026

 Our "I Love Lucy" 75th anniversary month concludes with perhaps the best scene in the whole series.

Dinner last night:  Sandwich

The Sunday Memory Drawer - Halloween on the Small and Big Screen

 

Regular readers will remember that I wrote this in previous Octobers.

I hate Halloween. 

Always have.

Always will.

I hated the notion of picking out a costume when I was a kid.   I hated dressed up for adult costume parties.  Thank goodness nobody throws those damn things anymore.   Or maybe they do and I'm just not invited.

I don't care. 

And I hate it even more now that I spent Halloween of 2015 on an emergency room gurney with a fractured kneecap.  Fun times. 

I guess I am just one rotting pumpkin. 

If you want to know all my horror stories about trick or treating and the like, do a search of some past Sunday Memory Drawers.  It's all there in blood curdling detail.

But, there is one part of the annual festivities that I enjoy.   It's the scary movies that turn up on TV.   That takes me back to Saturday nights long ago.

For Chiller Theater and you see the opening above.  Every Saturday night on WPIX, they would run one of them.   For a while, they were hosted by this guy. 

Zacherley (recently deceased himself) was this NY radio deejay who got an extra gig on the weekends, doing intros for some cheesy horror movie that might have played in the local drive-in circa 1955.  He'd welcome us all every Saturday night.

"Hello, boys and ghouls."

He was creepy as all hell but this pre-teen loved it all.  The problem in my house is that both TV sets, both my parents and my grandparents, were tuned to Lawrence Welk and his bubbles.  I'd have to wait patiently so I could flip some set over to Chiller Theater.  If I did that downstairs, my grandmother was no fan.

"Oh, this is too spooky for me.  I go to bed."

Even better.   That left me alone in my glory with the likes of Mothra, Gorgo, or the wife and/or daughter of some monster.  

For some mystical reason, one of my favorite Chiller Theater movies was this mess called "Frankenstein's Daughter" that was made for about six dollars in 1958.   You'll notice the name of John Ashley, who was the actor who played the hero in this piece.   Well, years later, when my writing partner and I had become friends with the late actress Deborah Walley, she happened to drop his name into the conversation since Ashley had been once married to her.   I immediately blurted out.

Frankenstein's Daughter!

It was a gut, knee-jerk reaction that got me one, make that two, quizzical looks at the luncheon table.  The actor had gone on to perform in and produce dozens of other movies.   But it was this thing that had stayed with me for life.

I could be a strange kid and apparently a strange adult as well.

The best part of Halloween for me was that, at some point during late October, WOR Channel 9 in New York would get around to showing this.  My very favorite Abbott and Costello comedy of all time.

It was another one of those movies that popped up on WOR's Million Dollar Movie all the time and I would be glued to the freakin' TV for the whole week. Bud and Lou in a haunted house. Enough said. But, almost miraculously, the film gets stolen by their co-star Joan Davis, who had such wonderful chemistry with Lou that it's a shame they didn't team up permanently. The dance number they do in the kitchen as they slosh through some rain puddles is absolutely brilliant.  To quote Lou in this movie...

"If you see a pair of pants flying through the air, don't grab 'em.  I'll be in 'em."

I outgrew most of this horror picture stuff as I got older.   But, later on, one movie took hold of everybody's attention and didn't let go.

We had heard all the stories.    Heads turning.   Vomit spewing out all over the place.   And movie patrons getting sick in their seats and literally running up the aisles to safety.

You just needed to be part of that.   The movie was barely open a week when a contingent of my friends ran downtown to the one theater where it was playing.

The line was two blocks long.

We stood in it for an hour.

In a driving snowstorm.

Wind chill temperatures of 10 degrees.

At one point, my friend and I looked at each other.   Our eyes asked the same question.  What the fuck were we doing here?  We left for the warmth of any place else.

I ultimately didn't see "The Exorcist" until it came to Mount Vernon, New York six months later.   In the middle of the summer.   And an air-conditioned theater.  It was still as effective and I was nice and comfortable in my seat.

I can tick off some other horror movies that have captured my fancy.

"The Birds."

"Psycho."

"The Omen."

At some point every few years, I do revisit all of the above via my DVR.

And, yes, I do own a copy of "Frankenstein's Daughter."

Dinner last night:  Orange chicken from Panda Express.

Classic Movie Trailer of the Month - October 2026

 One of the best baseball movies ever.

Dinner last night:  BLT at Art's Deli.

Len's Jukebox of the Month - October 2026

The summer has passed but the music still warms us. 

Dinner last night:  Salisbury steak.

Dead Comics Society

 

Fresh on the heels of last week's documentary on Martin Mull, we have another one.   It's practically the same movie.   So, if you're a fan of Norm MacDonald, this film is for you.

Indeed, the format of this movie is almost a copy of the one about Martin Mull as it involves a lot of extensive interviewing of the subject matter who died a year or two later.  As a result, Norm is virtually in every frame of the film.  If it's not his 
"talking head" dialogue, the footage is culled from what seems to be thousands of talk show and podcast appearances.   

In a way, Martin and Norm are very similar performers who had a modicum of success but never became huge mega-stars.  I have to admit that I did enjoy Norm when he anchored SNL's Weekend Update for a while.   Unknown to me was the reason why SNL eventually fired him.  It seems he made one too many weekly jabs at O.J. Simpson, who happened to be good friends with NBC executive Don Ohlmeyer.

"Norm" is a perfectly serviceable documentary and it now serves as a tribute to the lead who apparently fought cancer for 9 years without telling anybody.  For that reason alone, this movie is worth checking out.

LEN'S RATING:  Three stars.

Dinner last night:  SPO from my freezer.

This Date in History - October 21

 

Happy birthday in Heaven to Joyce Randolph, the original...and only true "Trixie" of "The Honeymooners."

1096:  DURING THE PEOPLE'S CRUSADE, THE TURKISH ARMY SUCCESSFULLY FIGHT OFF THE PEOPLE'S ARMY OF THE WEST.

Rhetorical question: was there a People's Army of the East?

1097:  FIRST CRUSADE - CRUSADERS LED BY GODFREY OF BOUILLION BEGIN THE SIEGE OF ANTIOCH.

Against Bouillion, the enemy was really in the soup.

1520:  FERDINAND MAGELLAN DISCOVERS A STRAIT NOW KNOWN AS STRAIT OF MAGELLAN.

Well, that was easy to name.

1774:  FIRST DISPLAY OF THE WORD "LIBERTY" ON A FLAG, RAISED BY COLONISTS IN MASSACHUSETTS.

...and justice for all.

1797:  IN BOSTON HARBOR, THE 44-GUN US NAVY FRIGATE USS CONSTITUTION IS LAUNCHED.

I always love the word "frigate."

1824:  JOSEPH ASPDIN PATENTS PORTLAND CEMENT.

A national holiday declared by the Mafia.

1833:  ALFRED NOBEL IS BORN.

He invented dynamite and that stupid award.

1854:  FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE AND 38 NURSES ARE SENT TO THE CRIMEAN WAR.

I wonder how many of them were cute.  And wearing squeaky shoes.

1861:  THE CIVIL WAR - UNION FORCES UNDER COLONEL EDWARD BAKER ARE DEFEATED BY CONFEDERATE TROOPS IN THE SECOND MAJOR BATTLE OF THE WAR.

Back when they were not shy about raising that flag.

1879:  THOMAS EDISON INVENTS A WORKABLE ELECTRIC LIGHT BULB.

Good.  Now he could see the other things he was inventing.

1902:  IN THE US, A FIVE-MONTH STRIKE BY UNITED MINE WORKERS ENDS.

Dig they now must.

1921:  PRESIDENT WARREN G. HARDING DELIVERS THE FIRST SPEECH BY A SITTING US PRESIDENT AGAINST LYNCHING IN THE DEEP SOUTH.

He was sitting because he wanted to.  FDR was sitting because he had to.

1921:  "THE SHEIK" STARRING RUDOLPH VALENTINO PREMIERES.

And women swoon all over America.

1924:  ACTRESS JOYCE RANDOLPH IS BORN.

I met her once.  Nice lady.

1928:  BASEBALL STAR WHITEY FORD IS BORN.

I met him once.  Dirt bag.

1940:  ERNEST HEMINGWAY'S NOVEL "FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS" IS PUBLISHED.

It tolls for thee.

1942:  JUDGE JUDY SHEINDLIN IS BORN.

Boy, I wish there were nine of her on the US Supreme Court.

1945:  WOMEN ARE ALLOWED TO VOTE IN FRANCE FOR THE FIRST TIME.

Viva La France.

1959:  US PRESIDENT DWIGHT EISENHOWER SIGNS AN EXECUTIVE ORDER TRANSFERRING WERNHER VON BRAUN AND OTHER GERMAN SCIENTISTS FROM THE US ARMY TO NASA.

Outer space, here we come.

1959:  IN NEW YORK CITY, THE GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM OPENS TO THE PUBLIC.

Yeah, that round looking building.

1967:  VIETNAM WAR - MORE THAN 100,000 PROTESTERS GATHER IN WASHINGTON, DC.  A PEACEFUL RALLY IS HELD AT THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL.

As opposed to the thousand other non-peaceful rallies that will happen over the next five years.

1969:  POET JACK KEROUAC DIES.

On the road no more.

1973:  JOHN PAUL GETTY III'S EAR IS CUT OFF BY HIS KIDNAPPERS AND MAILED TO A NEWSPAPER IN ROME.  IT DOESN'T ARRIVE UNTIL NOVEMBER 8.

Forget the ear.   That's some shitty mail service.

1973:  FRED DRYER OF THE LA RAMS BECOMES THE FIRST PLAYER IN NFL HISTORY TO SCORE TWO SAFETIES IN THE SAME GAME.

Seems odd that it took that long.

1979:  MOSHE DAYAN RESIGNS FROM THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT BECAUSE OF DISAGREEMENTS OVER POLICY TOWARDS THE ARABS.

Moshe Dayan:  "Are they coming on the left?"

1983:  BASEBALL PITCHER ZACK GREINKE IS BORN.

He had a phenomenal season for the Dodgers in 2015 and hasn't been the same since he left.

1984:  FILM DIRECTOR FRANCOIS TRUFFAUT DIES.

Truly that was the Last Metro.

1990:  ICE CREAM KING TOM CARVEL DIES.

Yes, I worked for him.   And, yes, I believe he was murdered.

1992:  LAWYER JIM GARRISON DIES.

Back and to the left.  Back and to the left.  Back and to the left.

2003:  ACTOR FRED "RERUN" BERRY DIES.

No longer happening.

2012:  POLITICIAN GEORGE MCGOVERN DIES.

And he thought he lost big in 1972.

2013:  RECORD SMOG CLOSES THE CITY OF HARBIN, CHINA.

Doesn't say much about the emission controls over there.

2014:  PUBLISHER BEN BRADLEE DIES.

All The President's Dead Men.

2015:  COMIC MARTY INGELS DIES.

Making Shirley Jones a widow.

2019:  ACTOR JERRY FOGEL DIES.

The last member of "The Mothers-In-Law."  Interviewed him once.   Nice, nice guy.

Dinner last night:  Leftover chili.

Facebook Sort Of Like

 

Aaron Sorkin must love social media.   This is the second movie he has written and directed about Facebook.   The first, "The Social Network" was the story about how the concept got started.   This new one is "The Social Reckoning" is much less kind.  It's all about how Facebook used algorithms to promote hate speech.

Or did they?

You really can't tell from this film which is two hours of nothing but Congressional hearings on the subject.   Of course, the main target is owner Mark Zuckerberg, this time played by creepy actor Jeremy Strong who always makes me feel uncomfortable watching anything he is in.

The rest of the cast is pretty basic.  Jeffrey Allen White from "The Bear" plays a WSJ reporter digging into the story.   He's getting his ammunition from a Facebook staffer/whistle blower played by recent Oscar winner Mikey Madison.

And that's it.   A bunch of interrogations as the three characters have various dialogues and monologues on the subject.   Naturally, the movie's conclusion is dovetailed with the activities on Capitol Hill circa January 6.   It's Aaron Sorkin at work.  Of course, it would.

The acting here is fine.  The subject matter is interesting.   I liked it...sort of.  But don't be surprised if your eyes close periodically because...well, it's Aaron Sorkin.

LEN'S RATING:  Two-and-a-half stars.

Dinner last night:  Sandwich.

Monday Morning Video Laugh - October 19,2026

 Our 75th anniversary salute to Lucy and Ricky continues.  The cheese that is a baby.

Dinner last night:  Grilled sausage.

The Sunday Memory Drawer - Where Did My World Series Tickets Go?

 

Sadly, for the first time in several years, I am not going to Chavez Ravine for the World Series.  There are no games or tickets.   Back when, there were some games that I should have had tickets for.  Back then, my team, the New York Mets, were in the hunt.  And my World Series tickets?  

Well, that's an interesting story that still has no ending.

How did this young, fledgling baseball nut miss out on seeing his idolized group of nine play in their very first World Series?

It's still a mystery.   And the one person who might have had the answer is gone.

My father.

Let me start at the beginning.

The New York Mets came out of nowhere to suddenly become a baseball powerhouse.  Thanks to the efforts of manager Gil Hodges, Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Jerry Grote, Nolan Ryan, Cleon Jones, and Tommie Agee, they were going places in that very magical and memorable summer.

Me?  I was an integral piece of the puzzle.  At least I thought I was.  After all, the Mets got really good exactly one year after my dad hand purchased for me my very own ticket plan.  A Saturday plan with two phenomenal loge seats just to the right of home plate.  I felt like my money (okay, well, Dad's) had pushed the team over the top.  It was as if I was one of the principal owners of the franchise.

One year after we wisely bought into the Flushing Meadow dream, the Mets skyrocketed to the top.  And were suddenly bound to the first round of the baseball playoffs.  Their first task was to win three out of five games against the Atlanta Braves.   A victory in that series would punch the Mets' ticket into the World Series.

For several weeks in September, I could barely speak.  I was then overcome with emotion and exhileration.

The first two games were to be played in Atlanta with the final three slated for my home, Shea Stadium.  Here's where I thought my great insider status would cash in for me.  Prime tickets to it all.

As a partial ticket plan holder, we received the much-hallowed application in the mail.  It was for the first round.  Our response...and my father's money order...went back the same day.

When that first set of tickets arrived, I literally stared at it for fifteen minutes.  I was staring at a pot of gold.  I was going to see my team in the first playoff game ever to be played at then-new Shea Stadium.  

My father's glimpse of the tickets was a little less enthusiastic.

"These aren't your regular seats."

I knew that.  When you're only a partial plan holder, you can't possibly get your regular seats.  They will put you elsewhere.

In the case of my father and me, they put us in a Laguardia Airport flight path.  We were behind home plate alright.  But way above home plate.  Not only could you watch a baseball game, but you could also simultaneously watch the movie being shown that month on the Eastern Airlines Shuttle to Boston.

I was just happy to be going.  My dad?  Not so much.

His mood became a lot worse once the day of the game arrived.  Luckily, the Mets had taken care of the Braves in Georgia and now were just one win away from going to the World Series.  The first jolt of our reality happened when we realized we were entering in a gate different from our usual.  

"This is bad."

I didn't care.

We boarded one of the escalators and then realized we needed to take two more to get up to our seating level.  My dad looked out as the ground below kept getting smaller and smaller and smaller.

"They better win today because we're up too high."

Now, mind you, in the very second Met game I ever went to with my father, we sat on the very same upper deck.  But, in a few short years, he suddenly had become much less amenable to heights.  Maybe it was the price of the tickets.  Maybe he felt that, as partial plan holders, we deserved better treatment.  Whatever the case, my father was not a happy guy on this warm October Monday afternoon.

It was all so glorious for me.  The Mets won that day.  And I was as high as a kite.  Literally and figuratively.

I went home and waited for the next ticket application that would be my transportation to the next level of heaven.

And waited and waited and waited.  It sounds like a long time but it was probably just two days.  And I asked my father if we had gotten anything from the Mets yet.

"They're probably still working on it."

Oh.

But, my father's added comment should have been a clue to me.

"But if they're gonna put us up so high, I don't want them"

OH.

Two more days.  And I'm not hearing anything about a ticket application arriving in the mail.  Nor does my dad seem concerned.

Meanwhile, the Mets will be hosting their first ever World Series game in just five days.  It was hard for me to believe they were that behind in fulfilling ticket orders.  But, according to my father, they obviously were incompetent.

Two more days and I pressed my dad.   We should have received something by now.

"I'll check with the post office."

Oh.

I assume he did, although I never did actually see him go there.  But the answer he got from them was a little suspect.

"They think somebody saw what the application was and stole it."

Really???

Another day clicked off the calendar and my father finally did what he should have done a week earlier.  He called the Mets.  And, leaving nothing to chance, I stood next to him as he dialed the phone.

Well, according to the Mets, they send the application and, when no money was returned by the due date, the ticket offer expired.  My father asked if there were any tickets available.  The answer was obviously no.  I swallowed hard and teared up a little.  I have learned since that you never ever accept this answer from a baseball team.  There are ALWAYS tickets.

I was crestfallen and I think my dad was sad watching my world collapse.  He tried to console me.

"Well, the seats would have been lousy anyway."

Hmmmm.  Still focusing on seat location, eh?  My mother tried to help the situation. 

"Well, you have school anyway."

Seriously????

I watched the Mets win the World Series without me.   I listened to the first game on a transistor radio in English class with a really cute girl.  Okay, that helped a little.  She hugged me when Tommie Agee made his second great catch of the day.  Okay, that helped a lot.

On the day of the second game, we were off for teachers' conferences so Mom's great excuse blew out the window on that day.  And, for the Series winning game three?  I went home at lunchtime and never went back to school.  I watched it with Curt Gowdy, Lindsey Nelson, and nobody else.  After they won, I ran out onto the street to accept congratulations.  In this Yankee-centric neighborhood, everybody else was at school.  And didn't care.

Since then, I have heard many great stories from pals in college and beyond who actually were taken to that World Series.  I relive the joy vicariously through them.  And still wonder what happened in my house.

Was the ticket application really stolen?  Did we really wait too long to call the Mets?

And was my own father capable of pulling a fast one because he didn't want to sit in crappy seats?

I hate to think the latter.  But still do.

Meanwhile, I made sure to attend every Met World Series game at Shea in subsequent years.  There would be no more ticket snafus.  And wherever they chose to seat me, I would caress that location.  

And when the Dodger postseason ticket notification comes every year, I address it ASAP.

You don't mess around when it comes to World Series tickets.

Or do you?  Dad?

Dinner last night:   Pasta bolognese from my freezer.

Classic TV Theme Song of the Month - October 2026

 Well, in this baseball month, it is a theme song.

Dinner last night:  Sandwich.

Picture This, Picture That

 

More of the sad parade that is called Life. Take, for instance, this bunch up north. Mom hasn't quite figured how to correctly apply that fake suntan lotion.

Yeah, kid, I hear you. Birthdays suck.

So, Granny, are they real?

Will somebody please call the ASPCA about what this guy is doing to that dog?

Hey, Mom, how about a blink?

I'd give ten bucks to the first person who yells "timber."

"All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth. Oh, yeah, and a new family."

Don't fuck with Grandma.

Dinner last night:   Sandwich.