The Greatest Game IV: Saving The Game For The Fans

The regular baseball season came to a close Sunday with exciting and/or excruciating Division and Wild Card races decided by a few outs. The SF Giants were deservedly triumphant (Disclosure: we love them), having been derided in most pre-season projections, while the Yankees were truly embarrassed in Boston, the scene of some of their major triumphs and embarrassments of the past. The Mets were just the Mets.

The Yanks' players and management are low-keying their losses to the Red Sox in the last two games, but, upstairs, George's offspring and GM Cashman must be fuming over how Boston manhandled their team. David Ortiz slighted them and then laughed about it, bunting for a hit with nobody on base and with a lead. When "Big Papi" bunts his way on base, then chuckles about it, and the next pitch doesn't send the Red Sox batter sprawling, that's embarrassing, folks. People named Thurman and Catfish are spinning.

You can be sure that the Minnesotans were watching and understanding what Joe G and the Yankee players apparently did not: The Bombers looked like tired Boomers. We see the possibility of a  long winter ahead and, if the Yankees do not make the Series, perhaps many new opportunities for Michigan Avenue shopping trips in the Girardi family's future.

MLB announced its attendance results as the season passed into the playoffs: down 1%. While that might not sound so bad, and MLB will surely put on a good face, it's bad. We still think that baseball is superior in every way to football and basketball, to name two spectator sports. With that in mind, we offer up our suggestions for spectator/audience improvements:

1. Enforce the Rule Book strike zone as written and discipline home plate umpires to follow it more closely than they currently do. Each night, pitchers, catchers, batters, managers, announcers and fans struggle to figure out where the strike zone is. Why? Each umpire gets to make it up as he goes along, every night, sometimes every inning or every batter. Take back the game from the home plate umpires.

2. There is no need for the batter to leave his box after every single pitch. There should be no need for pitching coaches and catchers to go to the mound so often. Umpires (again) here is where you can help; keep batters batting, keep pitchers pitching.

3. Put an end to the awful, obnoxious and loud music at games and inane chatter in the booths. Nobody needs this "music," nobody likes it. The only exception is Enter Sandman, Mariano's intro. Baseball, like love,  is actually better with the silences in between the action. Also, in the announcing booths, especially Fox and ESPN, it is okay to have more than 3 seconds in which nobody is talking. Tell your Directors and Producers to take a hike; your skills are enhanced by talking less and describing better, when you do. Announcers who use the word "unbelievable" should be heavily penalized, for example. Your only reason for being there is to make what happens on the field believable to the audience, especially the radio audience.

4. The best idea that the game's founders had, perhaps any game's founders have had, is the Home Run. Imagine the brilliance of making an out of bounds play the most exciting part of the game! MLB has tried to manufacture HR's by juicing the ball, looking the other way when players juiced themselves, and juicing the bats among other silly ideas. How about just making some of those mammoth outfields smaller? What were those Mets' owners thinking, when they built homer-stingy Citi (1.35 per game), while their crosstown betters found a subtle way to create even more HR's in their new palace? Fans love Home Runs: some more homers and fewer walks, please.


5.  Shorten the season. Go back to the 154-game regular season schedule, or even less. Absolutely get rid of November games. 

Bonus Suggestion: The term "Relief Pitcher" is supposed to mean that a pitcher enters the game to relieve the pitcher on the mound. Actually, the one who is relieved is more often the batter. Some teams have truly great "closers," relievers like Mariano Rivera of the Yankees who are very good at what they do, but that is the exception. The great majority of "relievers" are, in fact, really minor league pitchers who were not good enough to be starters in the majors. That call to the bullpen, which now too often comes in the 5th inning (starters are exhausted from searching for the strike zone) is a long distance call: Scranton, Pawtucket, Wichita. Get the Minors out of the Majors, or drastically reduce ticket and weenie prices.

Oh yes, one more style issue: ditch those ridiculous dark colored jerseys, which only look like softball uniforms.

Ed Note: For those of you who believe that baseball is an important component of American life and style like us, we refer you to our previous Greatest Game posts from August 2009 (link, above right), in which we expand on some of these themes. 

The Good, The Very Bad, The Ugly, And The Truly Wonderful

1.Sensitivity, Rhymes with Nativity
Earlier this week, in the hardware store, we saw the outdoor grill section being prepared for....Christmas lights. In September. This morning, upstairs in Costco, we saw tall rows of various Christmas/Holiday decorations and wrapping. October 1.

Must we do this? No. It is insulting and totally disrespectful to the various reasons for our celebrations. A RareBurgher would never buy this stuff now, and we would tell the manager to put it away. Retailers need the holidays more than ever, in order to reach their targets and pay the rents, but the best do it sensibly and with sensitivity.

2. October Classic
Major League Baseball, which may be a misnomer of major proportions, has scheduled the possible seventh game of the 2010 World Series for November 4. We worry about a lot of things beyond our control these days, but you might think that the geniuses who rule baseball just might be able to protect one single sacrosanct part of the game: October. Apparently, they cannot.

As it happens, we were present at the first November Series game in history in 2001 at The Stadium. Tino had homered to send it into extra innings and an extra month in that sad and unusual fall. We thought, at the time, that it would not be repeated ever again for many reasons. Jeter won the game with this swing. The world is an infinitely better place without November baseball.

3. Alls Wellies that Ends In Wellies
The northeast was hit with heavy rains and high winds this week, causing flooding, downed-trees, power outages and other inconveniences. But there was one wonderful thing about all of this wetness:

Women all around town in their Wellies! We bumped into a friend of ours in the grocery store this week and watched her leaving in her jeans, Wellies and Barbour. And, yes, she did get into her Land Rover, and, no, we did not think it looked like an "advert." We think she and all the girls looked great in every color, even pink, but we love the classic olive best. Wellies and rain are like baseball in October and Christmas at, well, Christmas time! Perfect.

4. Miracles Do Happen Even On TV
For many years TV audiences have been putting up with commercials that were many decibels louder than the regular shows, causing them to have to leave their own living rooms or reach for the remotes. Now, the Senate, yes that would be the mind-numbingly inept pre-Mid Term Election Senate of the US of A, is going to seek legislation to force TV stations to reduce the volume, according to the NY Post:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/pols_take_on_the_tv_racket_I5ffyGI4HpfMxL80dt8G6K

Could it be that we can all finally agree on something that is universally good for the country, good for Congress, good for your audio-health, which costs nothing and will make you feel much better? Please, let's not blow this opportunity; if we can do this, we really can do anything....

....again.


5. The Sartorialist
When we needed a photo to illustrate our "Wellies" report this week, we turned to our friends at The Sartorialist to see if they had any in stock. We had to go to press before they responded, but it reminded us of just what a great resource Glenn's photos can be for those who care about style:
http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/

Want to start the day with a smile on your face? Bookmark The Sartorialist, if you have not already done so. Here's a peek:

You're welcome.



Ed Note: What we've been reading/viewing/listening to:
-The Oslo detective novels of K.O.Dahl.... Superior.
- Clutch by Paul Sullivan
- The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet by David Mitchell
    ....the Dutch in Japan, 1800, odd, but worth the effort.
- Prime Suspect 1&2, Netflix
- Lost In Translation, Netflix
- A Day In The Life, Jeff Beck live:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5HK1uBdvGA

What We Are Thnking About These Days

What's on a RareBurgher's mind?

....We want to see models, not actors or celebs, on magazine covers again, and we do not want to know the models' names.

....We do not listen to either Beck or Olbermann, Maddow or Palin. We listen to Bach and Mozart in the morning, Neil and Van in the afternoon, and Bud Powell in the evening.

....We think that, if the Creator had wanted to "brand" us, She/He would have made us Cheerios, Coke, or "Harvard."

....We listen to all this lame  talk about whether Federer or Laver was the best of all time and think of one word....Pancho!

We respect Jackie Robinson, but still understand that Willie Mays was the best ballplayer ever.






....We can deal with unemployment, dwindling stock portfolios, dim-witted recruiters, health issues, and the vagaries of residential real estate sales, but we draw the line when a friend describes it all as a "Metamorphosis." Please.


....We think that designers should take clothes and style more seriously than they take themselves.

....We do not want our shops, wardrobes, restaurants, food, stock portfolios, schools, weddings or funerals "curated." We want curators back inside the museums,  where they belong.

.

...We run when we hear the word "friend" used as a verb, and want to have lunch with those whom we would never demean by referring to them as part of our "network."

....We still read the Times, even though it has evolved into Newsweak.

....We want to remind the chattering classes that Lincoln got a lot more substance into two minutes with 194 words in his Address at Gettysburg, and not one of them was I, me, or mine.

....We wonder why all of these attractive young women insist on driving otherwise empty vehicles the size of small houses, like Yukon XL's and Denalis, across town to yoga class to purify their bodies and souls?

.

....We want to know why so many children of the financial elite cannot say "please" or "thank you" to the staff at their clubs or to shop-owners, who treat them with great courtesy?

....Watching two quarters of the new NFL's Transformer-like helmet-bashing, head-hunting, and chest-thumping game full of penalties reminds us that baseball is the superior game in every conceivable way.

RareBurghers' Simple Guide To A Young Man's Interview Wardrobe

©2010TWMcDermott/RareBurghers

Okay, the summer after graduation is over, which means that many young men will begin or continue a series of job interviews. It also means that parents or grandparents will be thinking about how a particular young man's "wardrobe" might help facilitate employment.

Our answer to that would be: start from scratch.

RareBurghers has a few helpful tips for families who want to begin making a return on that quarter mill they just shelled out for a B.A. You will notice that we address the tips directly to the young man, despite the fact that he may not be paying and parents will be tempted to go shopping with him. He should do the shopping himself, after calm consultation with interested parties. Basically, if he cannot follow these simple tips, with some loving guidance, he should not go to job interviews yet; he isn't ready, even if his mother or father owns the company.

cap toe oxford

1. Start with the shoes. This is the only way to revise or begin building any man's wardrobe. Many will argue that you begin with The Suit. To those we say that the best bespoke suit in the world will not make up for uncomfortable or inappropriate shoes no matter how poised the interviewee.

Can you wear the Gucci loafers your mom gave you last Christmas? No, Nyet. Even if you are interviewing for a trader position and every male in that room is wearing Vibram-soled Gucci loafers, the answer is no. Buy a pair of comfortable black cap-toe oxfords: skip the squared-toe models. Bonus: should you ever land that job, you can wear these shoes later at your wedding.

As an alternative, especially when interviewing for less formal positions, invest in a pair of simple black loafers without buckles or tassels. The latter shoes should cover most of your instep and not appear to be slippers. Remember to buy the shoes well before any serious interviewing takes place, so that you can break them in.

If you spring for similar shoes in brown, that is a good way to build on the essentials, but wear the black shoes to the interviews.

Those of you who are familiar with RareBurghers know about our own designer-shoe adventures, so please be cautious, when choosing where to shoe-shop. Alden makes quality shoes in basic styles. Some department stores also carry affordable basics. Buying cheap shoes is like buying a cheap car. Buy the best possible shoes, even if  they cost slightly more than you or your benefactors think you can afford.

2. Now The Suit. After securing the right shoes, finding the right suit or suits will be more natural, since a good suit flows up from the shoes, not down from the chin,which, of course, will be clean-shaven.

We recommend a charcoal grey worsted-wool suit. Don't  worry about getting a more expensive high "thread count." A mid-count weave will breath easier in warm weather and re-fresh after hanging overnight. We choose charcoal over navy, because it's a bit more versatile; the trousers may be worn with a dark blazer for casual wear. Also, when removing the suitcoat in an office, grey trousers look much better than navy, which make everyone look like a police officer.

navy pinstripe

If you buy two suits, we prefer a navy pin-stripe, by a slim margin, over solid navy for the second. The stripes should be at least 1 inch apart. Avoid loud chalk or pin-stripe suits often worn by British Bankers.

As with the shoes, buy a suit that may cost a bit more than you  or your benefactors wanted to spend; however, this first time around, don't go over three figures: $500-1000 will do it. Those JCrew suits? Fine, but you will need to have a good tailor work on them. Go to a store to try them on first before ordering online. When properly dressed for business, you should never wear a suit-coat if the sleeves are too long to allow some shirt cuff to show. Do not even think about having no vent on the suit-coat. We prefer a trouser cuff, but no cuff is okay, especially when wearing no-lace shoes.

Finally, a word about the possibility of wearing a navy blazer with brass buttons and grey trousers in lieu of the suit. Actually, two words. Absolutely not. For business, if you wear  a "jacket" that is not part of a suit, you cannot wear brass buttons. Ever. Save that for the Club, Bub.

3. The Tie. Unless you have been in a Ravi Shankar retro-phase, you will not own any Nehru suits. This is a good thing, since the modern western suit is specifically designed to show off a necktie, no matter what Silicon Valley says. 

You may already have some ties hanging on the floor of your closet. These could very likely be bright, cute, affordable Vinyard Vines'-type ties. Riding the train to the interview, you might see many men wearing these ties to work. Despite this, do not wear them to the interviews; the men in those rooms either believe that they earned the right to wear fish on their ties at work, or their wives purchased them as less expensive alternatives to Ferragamo or Hermes' ties. The women interviewing you will not be impressed by cute.

Get 2-3 fairly conservative ties. We recommend dot-ties: white on navy, light blue on navy, especially small white dots on black with the grey suit. A black or navy silk knit tie is always a good bet, and goes well with that charcoal suit.  J Crew or Banana Republic usually carry most of these.

Width? Do not wear the thinny-thin ties. Contrary to what some believe, you are not making a statement with your tie (nor the shoes and suit for that matter). The tie design and width should not distract the attention of the person with whom you are speaking. When in the presence of the dullest interviewer or the smartest, most attractive woman of your dreams, the tie should not be a reason for someone to break eye-contact.

sterling silver/pewter buckle

4. A "Brief" guide to Socks, Belts, Shirts, Boxers.

Socks. Yes, wear them. We recommend over-the -calf, but, in summer, these can get warm. You want to stay comfortable, so mid-calf cotton socks are fine. In winter, always wear merino wool socks. Get six pair, two each of black, navy, grey.

Belts. Yes, wear one. (Parents and Grandparents, a sterling silver or close facsimile buckle is a great gradutaion gift). By purchasing both the black and dark brown leather belts for this accessory, you have all of your belt needs covered for years, except for the rides on the Harley. If you choose one belt only, make it a black mid-width one with a silver or pewter-type buckle, not shiny-yellow brass.

Shirts. Buy two white broadcloth or pinpoint oxford shirts with straight colors. Buy one or two blue shirts of same cloth; the blue should not be too light or dark. Also, those solid silk knit ties look good on  a striped shirt. A French cuff is okay, but only use knots, not metal links to secure the cuffs. Button-downs? Okay, if you must for times when they might tell you to take your tie off and relax.

We recommend having someone measure your neck and arm length, and buying the closest possible comfortable fit. You must try-on shirts sold in M, L,XL sizes, like those from JCrew. The sleeves should fall just below the wrist bone for most of you, and the neck should not pinch or gather when wearing a tie.

Boxers. Absolutely.Whatever else you were thinking about, stop. You will know.

If anyone is flinching at the possible total cost of this wardrobe, $2500 or so, consider that this is about 1% of the cost of that college education. Consider also, that for most young gentlemen, they simply cannot get to that promised pot of gold without "suitable" attire.

Seersucker, Milk & Sugar, Summer Rain

You knew, of course, that the word "seersucker" comes to us from the Asian Hindi, and is based on the Persian expression "shir or shekar," meaning milk and sugar. Well, at least you know it now.

The milk and sugar are thought to refer to the seersucker's smooth and  "crinkled" stripes. It is the crinkle or bump that holds the fabric away from the skin, allowing air to circulate and keep us cool. The crinkle also means that ironing is not needed: always a good thing as far as we're concerned.

Will a seersucker suit keep you cool in the "new hot," daily summer temps of 93-95'F with high humidity in many areas? Honestly, no. New York City just had its hottest June since 1872, and July may also break records. All of the 10-hottest years since records have been kept have occurred since 1998. 


All the crinkle in the world can't make up for that kind of heat, and we find little solace (sorry) in our Republican friends' idea that this warming is a natural temporary event, kind of like a Trillion USD in bad mortgages.

But, we can change the accepted season for Seersucker, which used to be strictly enforced as Memorial Day to Labor Day. We say that you should feel free to wear it beginning in mid-spring, then well into warm October.

With a long season of milk and sugar, anything is possible, isn't it?

                                  ___________________________________________

Speaking of milk and sugar, we finally had some summer rain this week. Our summer intern, Lung Ta, writes....

Summer rain,

like young love:      

brief, wet,

heavenly 
                                                      
                 fall.                              

                            

                                 __________________________________________

      
  RareBurghers is a global way of life, as shown by these words from the Importance of Living by Lin Yutang....                  

"....He sees with one eye closed and with one eye opened the futility of much that goes on around him and of his own endeavors, but barely retains enough sense of reality to determine to go through with it. He is seldom disillusioned because he has no illusions, and seldom disappointed because he never had extravagant hopes. In this way his spirit is emancipated."


Sounds a bit like Philip Marlowe or Sam Spade (not to be confused with Jack), which is okay with us. Lin, we salute you as an early and true RareBurgher.

                                             ________________________________________

We end with our collage of the week....also from Asia....

                         radius                                                             2010



Ed Note: "Summer Rain" and "Radius," both copyright/2010/rareburghers. All rights reserved.


                                  

More, You Know He's A RareBurgher When He....

copyright©2010TWMcDermott

Has a closet door filled with ties he likes and, despite current "fashion," wears them whenever he feels like it.

Is a sucker for a seersucker suit in summer in the city, in the country, or on the island, and is not afraid to wear one all the way through September.

Would never think about wearing a navy blazer with brass buttons to something called work, unless he happens to manage a private club.

Wouldn't even think about chewing gum ( unless sitting in a dugout or bullpen),  even when making a sudden, rapid descent into the airport at Kashgar, China.

Might have a row of ties, all of which have dots on them, and he might wear one of them every day for weeks or months.

Wears black laces in brown oxford shoes and vise versa once in a while.

May only have two ties that he always wears, a navy with stripe and a solid black or navy: both knitted- silk, made in Italy, one with a point, one squared.

....and He would never....

    Read his BlackBerry, while having lunch with his daughter.

    Wear a white shirt with a tan poplin suit.

    Wear a "poplin" suit with less than 60% cotton.

    Worry that his linen trousers or coat are wrinkled.

    Dry-clean the same suit more than twice a year.

    Wear a suit without a vent in its coat.

                                     "Dark Roast" ©2010 RareBurghers $175
                                        
                                        

RareBurghers Expurgated Guide To Bow ties

©twmcdermott2010


Prologue

I once worked in a company owned by a very nice, very smart man who always wore a bow tie with his suit. He was in his sixties and portly; the bow ties looked so natural on him that I could not have imagined him wearing a longish necktie.

One August, over twenty years ago, I was invited to attend his birthday party during a business convention in Las Vegas, of all places. I say "of all places," since that particular town does not spring to mind when you think about men who favor wearing bow ties without the tux; also, one is never eager to visit that place in high summer, if at all. On this occasion, I thought it would be fun to buy a bow tie to wear to the party, and so I did (shown above), despite the fact that I had previously only worn them, like most men, to formal affairs.

Funny thing, but, after finally succeeding in tying it in the hotel-room mirror, it immediately felt as though I had been wearing bow ties my whole life. Funnier still, people at the party thought it looked just right too with my navy suit, and my old boss was very pleased at my effort.

And so began my bow tie years.

Some Can, Some Can't


There does not appear to be any particular rule about who might look good in a bow and who might not. Some tall thin men can, some cannot. Some short and stout ones cannot, some can. Some men with full chins can pull it off, others appear too have added one too many chins. Some can only wear them at weekend parties, or when professing to a college class, while certain others can wear them all the time: for business, at the club, saving democracy, or sitting in a favorite chair reading a book.

Truthfully, there was some disagreement in my immediate family as to which group I belonged. I thought that I looked pretty good in just about every situation. My spouse, daughters and son disagreed. They thought it made me look nerdy. Most business colleagues seemed to enjoy my wearing bows and thought they gave me a distinctive style, but several eventually admitted that they were embarrassed when I wore them  to meetings with other companies.

Despite the lack of unanimous acceptance, I always felt comfortable wearing a bow and acquired quite a few in various styles and sizes.

Favorites, And Not


My trusted standby was a navy with white dots (left/top), which we might call The Churchill. I wore out a couple of these. Whenever I saw a good one in a store, like Brooks Brothers or JPress, I bought one. How do we define a "good one?" It's silk, of course, and it may be unlined or have a thin lining, which affords ease in the tying (more about that later, don't panic yet). It should have either a sliding length-adjuster or a small t- hook that fits inside a marked neck-size.

As with "regular" ties, the idea here is not to attract attention away from you. So, loud colors or intricate patterns are to be avoided. You begin to see, then, the beauty of the dot ties: achieving timeless style through simplicity of design vs. making a fashion statement.

When I now look at the bow ties remaining in my collection, I do wonder what I was thinking about when I wore or purchased some of them. One in particular stands out (below right), because of its large size and bright colors. It is hand-painted silk from Dunford Wood in Oxford and I bought it in Harrods. I have never worn it.

Fit To Be Tied (the expurgated part)


Men who favor bow ties have a secret: they know how to tie them and you don't.

Perhaps you still have your friend or spouse tie those formal bow ties for you. That can be fun. We assume that nobody in our audience would even consider having one of those "pre-tied" things. That would be a travesty. Some of you might even have a bow tie hanging in the closet, but you just could not understand the instruction booklet that came along with it. That is understandable; we've all been there.

Here is the thing: you can overcome this problem without therapy or even tears. Our suggestion is to try tying it yourself a few times any old way that you'd like to try. Don't try this fifteen minutes before a party is to begin or your train is set to leave. Do it in your own free time. You might even get very close to success by yourself.

After that, you're really ready for some expert instruction:


http://www.beautiesltd.com/category/how-to-tie-a-bow-tie-instructions


Yes, these are the best instructions available. Be patient, go slowly, and they will make perfect sense to you after a few tries. Once you get it, it is like riding that proverbial bicycle; your fingers will not forget. You will be able to tie one, while siting in your airplane seat about to land in London, Hong Kong, or Timbuktu.

As your style evolves along with your life, our rule is: step bow-ldly,  but lightly.