Sunday, February 7, 2010

A Letter From a Reds Fan...

Several years ago, when Bubbie and I lived in Texas, I became acquainted with a newspaperman in Rockdale, Texas by the name of Mike Brown. Here’s the scoop.

Some historical cemeteries in Texas were being recognized for their esteemed contents and Bubbie’s father’s cousin in Israel had heard about it. A relative of Pop’s (Bubbie’s dad) was, apparently, buried in a cemetery in Rockdale and the Israeli cousin had contacted Pop and wondered if he (Pop) would attend the dedication ceremonies. No, he would not, but Pop contacted Bubbie who asked me to find out what the real story was.

I contacted the Rockdale newspaper’s office who put me in touch with an editor (Mike Brown) at the paper (The Rockdale Reporter) . Mike had recently written an article about the upcoming dedication and informed me that the cemetery was being dedicated as a repository of the remains of Confederate Civil War veterans. Coincidentally, Pop’s ancestor was also buried there, in the segregated “Jewish” section of the cemetery. Pop’s ancestor, a fellow with the last name of “Crown” had died in a fire at a local hotel, leading to his permanent residency in Rockdale.

Crown is actually the Anglicized version of the name “Crohn.” Another relative if this Mr. Crown is Dr. Burrill Crohn who described the disease named after him in 1932. Dr. Crohn was Pop’s uncle. All of this, however, is anther story for another time. This is about Mike Brown.

I e-mailed Mike after the Yankees clinched number 27 in November 2009. Because I know that Mike is a devout Cincinnati Reds fan, I teased him about being a Yankees hater. Here is his reply.

Gee Michael,

I don't know why anyone would possibly classify me as a Yankee hater.

Doesn't everybody use the term "bloated plutocrats?"

As I've previously told you I was rooting for the Yankees against the Phillies for obscure and cabalistic reasons of my own involving the 1975-76 Reds.

Since this is me, my reactions to the WSJ (Wall Street Journal) article are unique and several degrees off center.

I love the way the WSJ refers to "Mr. Sabathia (they spelled his last name
Incorrectly…), Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Teixeira. " At this newspaper we only "Mr." somebody in obituaries. Guess you have to die to get any respect.

What a law firm that would make, Sabathia, Rodriguez and Teixeira. How many
people do you know who would have to take a pay cut to become an attorney?
Sorry, I guess that re-tort was out of line.

And, of course, that made me think of Groucho's law firm in "Animal Crackers."
Hungadunga, Hungadunga, Hungadunga and McCormick.

Then I got copied on a reply to you from Mr. Menard who referred to "doyens
of the Red Sox nation." Wow, have they ever fallen. I would have thought
it would have been hundreds instead of just doyens.

Which made me think about either Roger Angell or Roger Kahn who wrote about
trying to get the word "cerebration" into print three times and each time an
editor changed it to "celebration."

Probably a Yankee fan.

Mike

No comments: