Hot Stove #162 – Baseball: A Musical Love Letter

~ Lonnie Shalton

I normally would not hit your inbox so quickly again, but this message is time sensitive.

This past Saturday night, Rita and I attended the Lyric Opera performance of Baseball: A Musical Love Letter.

It was delightful. On so many levels.

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The time sensitive issue: There are only three more performances. This coming Thursday (7:30), Friday (7:30) and Saturday (2:00). The performances are in the Michael and Ginger Frost Production Arts Building in the East Crossroads area – entrance at 18th and Charlotte. Continue reading →

Hot Stove #159 – 2021 All-Star Game (Henry Aaron, Coca-Cola and Voting Rights)

~ Lonnie Shalton

On April 1, the 2021 MLB season began. On April 2, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred pulled the All-Star game from Atlanta. The broader story dates back to 1963.

Atlanta, Coca-Cola and Henry Aaron (1963-2021): In July of 1963, Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen did something that almost no Southern politician would do. He testified before Congress in support of civil rights legislation. “We cannot dodge this issue. We cannot…turn the clock back to the 1860s.” Continue reading →

Hot Stove #156 – Lew Krausse, Charlie Finley and Jim Chappell

~ Lonnie Shalton

The position players have now joined the pitchers and catchers, spring training is in full swing. In the words of the great reliever and poet Dan Quisenberry…

Rituals of spring training

Running of sprints

A gaggle of grown men laughing at sore muscles

Omnipresence of coaches, general managers, fans, scouts…

 If I close my eyes and listen

I hear the pop of ball hitting bat

Ball smothered in loved leather

And even the whoosh of ball

Spinning with raised seams cutting through air

Continue reading →

Hot Stove #155 – The Sports Gap – Chiefs to Royals

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~ Lonnie Shalton

We are now in the “Sports Gap” in Kansas City. The time frame between the last Chiefs game and the start of Royals spring training. For more years than I care to remember, the gap was about five weeks because the Chiefs were either not in the playoffs or made an early exit if they were. But in the Mahomes era, the Sports Gap has shortened, first in 2019 when the Chiefs made it to the AFC championship game. Then, in the 2020 and 2021 Super Bowl seasons, the gap was reduced to a mere 10 days. I prefer short gaps. Continue reading →