Let Manhattan clear out Friday, let the authorities spray downtown full of disinfectant Saturday and then reaffirm your love of baseball Sunday by taking Peter Laskowich's Baseball Evolution Tour from 10 AM to 1 PM. Lovely weather is forecast, and I can vouch that what Peter will show you and tell you will enrich your appreciation of both baseball and New York no end. He is also leading a group in Brooklyn on Tuesday morning at 10, which I can't yet speak for from personal experience, but I would trust Peter to make it memorable.
Who among us couldn't use a little baseball boost at this moment in time? Take Peter's tour and you'll love this game more than you realize right now.
Here are some details from our historian friend himself, a lifetime Mets fan with deep Dodger roots and extraordinary Giant appreciation:
These tours link the creation of the game with the history of New York. No other bat-and-ball game has foul lines — why did baseball need them? Baseball's most valuable franchise was the Giants — how did they wind up moving to San Francisco? The early Yankees were New York's forgotten team —what sent them to greatness? How did pitching go from an underhand lob to fastballs, curveballs and brushbacks? Why was Brooklyn able to put a black man on the field when no other community dared consider it? This is the kind of thing we will address on Sunday and on Tuesday.
These are all New York stories. My tours, lectures and classes focus on New York, and my baseball-related tours, lectures and classes explain baseball through New York.
Best of all, “We are unlikely to discuss the 2009 World Series.”
Visit Peter's site for a broader look at what he does; contact him directly here for specific details regarding his upcoming outings.
FYI: Flashback Friday: I Saw The Decade End closes out its undying appreciation of the 1999 Mets next week, probably before Friday. Just keep your dial set right where it is. Until then, if you find yourself in need of the kind of fix only a Mets fan could understand, you are invited to revisit the Amazin' exploits of Mora, Pratt, Ventura and all their friends from ten years ago.
Trust me: It's better than watching the local news.