Jim Mitchem 🖤

I was a senior in ‘82 in Houston. My best friend was a kid named Marty who was from Milwaukee. I learned to love the ‘true blue brew crew’ that went to the ‘82 World Series. He went to college and I went into the USAF and we never kept in touch - but I’m happy for Marty tonight.

Welp - it’s gotta be dramatic or it’s the end of baseball for 2026.

Mickey Mantle, Reggie Jackson, Willie Mays, Ernie Banks and Hank Aaron in Belvedere Bulldogs uniforms, filming "The Field," the Mr. Belvedere episode that opened the ABC sitcom's sixth season on September 16, 1989. George Owens — a sportswriter played by Bob Uecker, himself a former big-league catcher — was coaching his son Wesley's team and pushing the boy hard; Wesley even cheated trying to measure up. George's own playing days had never put him on a field with the greats, so for his birthday Belvedere arranged the gift: the five legends turned up at Wesley's game the next day to take on the kids, with George alongside them. Johnny Bench, Harmon Killebrew and singer Robert Goulet suited up for the episode too. The five men in this frame hit 3,026 home runs between them — Aaron's 755, Mays's 660, Jackson's 563, Mantle's 536 and Banks's 512. Four were already in Cooperstown; Jackson, the youngest of them and only two years retired, joined them in 1993. All five were first-ballot Hall of Famers. It was one of the last times Mantle ever pulled on a uniform — he died in 1995. ⚾ Five first-ballot Hall of Famers, 3,026 home runs between them, suiting up to play a kids' team on a sitcom — the greatest gathering of baseball legends ever on a TV show? 👇️

16 hits to 3 hits. It’s more than Milwaukee pitching and great game planning, it’s totally mental for Tampa Bay now. And it’s over. Unless TB does something crazy dramatic tomorrow. Then they might win 4 in a row. #worldseries

Day 3 of the NE FL nor’easter that no one asked for. It’s also a king tide. The last shot is the foam line from high tide this morning.