Stumblin' Along 4/20 '25
Peter Cottontail
Peter Cottontail
- Easter Fun Facts
- Yankees Week 4 Notes
- YouTube Rabbithole
![Gene Autry – Peter Cottontail / The Funny Little Bunny – Vinyl (45 RPM, 7", Single), 1950 [r3167543] | Discogs](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!6PR9!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5a580996-cd44-4f00-bc32-3d4056da620d_496x500.jpeg "Gene Autry – Peter Cottontail / The Funny Little Bunny – Vinyl (45 RPM, 7\", Single), 1950 [r3167543] | Discogs")
Alright @YouTheReader,
Today’s tune is Kanye West’s Jesus Walks.
Nah, I’m kidding, too controversial. Unfortunately, Kanye is too busy harassing Taylor Swift on Twitter, exposing his new wife’s body, or having a full-on conversation with his kitchen stove wearing a weird, provocative garment.
So, instead, this Easter, we’ll focus on Gene Autry’s Peter Cottontail.
Here Comes Peter Cottontail was co-written by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins in 1949. Gene Autry recorded the song in 1950. His version became a massive hit, landing #5 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Nelson and Rollins were also the writers of another holiday hit Frosty The Snowman. After the massive success of Peter Cottontail, Autry would record his famous Frosty for the Christmas of 1950.
In 1951, Gene Autry sang Peter Cottontail in the Action Western Hills of Utah. Can’t say I’ve seen it, but the movie poster is class.
A holiday classic, on to some…
Easter Facts
Last year, I concocted a list of 10 Fun Facts about Easter. As one does, I did my research using The Pioneer Woman and Good Housekeeping. What? The women love Easter, so they know.
10. The Easter Bunny is German.
Germans started celebrating the tradition of Osterhase as early as the 1500s. The Easter Bunny didn’t get Americanized until the Germans immigrated to America in the 18th century. There is a bit more on Osterhase at #1.
9. Easter vs Halloween is an underrated rivalry.
This was a shocker. Who would’ve thought Halloween has a low-key-high-key rivalry with Easter on candy sales?
8. The mass production of Jelly Beans.
Jelly Beans have been around since at least the American Civil War. The Bostonian, William Schrafft, urged people to gift jelly beans to Union soldiers. (Source: Way Back Machine) The candy started to take off as a mass-produced candy during the 1930s as a gift for kids on Easter Sunday. The majority of the population claims red as their favorite flavor.
7. We eat a lot of chocolate…like a lot of chocolate.
Around 90 million chocolate bunnies are sold for Easter in the United States alone.
6. Easter keeps Peeps afloat.
Peeps make 2 billion marshmallow chicks per year, which averages out to about 5.5 million per day. I’m assuming the vast majority of these get eaten on Easter. Good Housekeeping suggests dipping your peeps in melted chocolate, which is a great new recommendation.
5. The origins of the name Easter.
The name stems from the Anglo-Saxon goddess named Eostre. Scholars believe pagans would have festivals to celebrate her to represent the start of spring. Her sacred symbols were eggs and hares, so that makes sense.
4. White House Easter Egg Roll.
Since President Rutherford B. Hayes, the White House’s South Lawn has been host to an Easter Egg Roll. It is one of the oldest White House annual traditions. Some historians say that First Lady Dolley Madison, wife of President James Madison, suggested the egg roll when they were in office from 1809 to 1817. Allegedly, even Abraham Lincoln may have hosted some, too, but they were recognized as informal. (Source: White House History)
3. Cadbury Creme Eggs rebranded.
The Cadbury Creme Eggs we know today were invented back in 1923. In 1963, they started to be sold under the name Fry's Creme Eggs. It wasn’t until 1971 that they got their current name, Cadbury Creme Eggs. Good call, but I wonder why they felt the need to change from Fry’s?
2. The reason for colored eggs.
Some believe we dye our eggs to represent the blood of Christ. Others believe it’s because they look nice and kids are more likely to eat them instead of the brown or white everyday egg. It may have also come from the Osterhase story below.
1. Easter Egg hunt origins.
The legend of Osterhase has it that a poor woman living in Germany decorated eggs with colors for her children to find in their garden. As soon as the kids found the hidden eggs, they claimed they saw a large hare hopping away. The medieval origins of eggs symbolized fertility and rebirth, which coincided well with spring and the resurrection of Christ.
That’s sort of how we got the modern Easter Sunday.
Game 15 (4/13)
- Carlos Rodon on the mound against his former team, the San Francisco Giants. Aaron Judge just misses a home run to straight away CF, ends up off the wall for a double. The captain scores on a 2-out RBI bloop single from Paul Goldschmidt. The Yankees score 2 more in the Bottom 2nd on a JC Escarra double and Ben Rice's opposite field single. Things are going swimmingly until Carlos Rodon gets bit by the home run twice, allowing 4 runs. Jazz Chisholm finally snaps his hitless streak with a solo shot in the 8th, but the Yankees lose 5-4.
Game 16 (4/14)
- Carlos Carrasco walks two Royals in the 1st and gives up a Bobby Witt Jr. solo homer in the 3rd. Otherwise, Carrasco doesn’t allow anybody to reach safely as he gives the Yankees 5 solid innings. Jasson Dominguez makes a web gem catch on the warning track in LF, looks a bit more comfortable out there. In the meantime, the Yankee bats start to wake up in the 4th inning when Jazz plants a ball into the Yankee bullpen to even the score at 1. The Yanks then hit 3 more solo shots in the 5th as Trent Grisham, Rice, and Austin Wells take turns using the RF porch. The Yankee bullpen arms of Fernando Cruz, Tim Hill, Luke Weaver, and Devin Williams combine to throw 4 scoreless innings in relief as the Yanks win 4-1.
Game 17 (4/15)
- It’s MLB’s Jackie Robinson Day, where every ballplayer wears #42 to honor the Dodger legend. Missed the 1st inning because I was having some Guinness in classy New York City establishments. Max Fried is on the hill. The YES Booth is talking about the origins of why the Curveball is nicknamed Uncle Charlie. (*See below.*) Fried allows 2 runs in the 4th inning as the Yankees’ bats are quiet until they knock Michael Wacha out of the game in the 6th. The Martian has himself a night going 3 for 3 at the dish with a bases-loaded, bases-clearing double down the LF line. The Yankees get 6.2 innings out of Fried, an inning + a third from Luke Weaver, and Devin Williams has a 1, 2, 3 9th. Yanks win 4-2.
Game 18 (4/16)
- Clarke Schmidt makes his first start of the season and gives up an early 1st inning run to the Royals. In the bottom half of the 1st, the Yanks load the bases with less than two outs but can’t squeak any runs across as Volpe strikes out and Wells flies out. Volpe makes up for it in the 3rd inning with a 2-run double. Cody Bellinger tacks on another run in the 4th inning with a double of his own. Schmidt then gives up 2 Royal runs in the 5th. With the score tied in a close game, David Cone gets a charley horse in the booth and blames it on his night at PJ Clarke’s from the night before. (People forget that PJ Clarke’s is where Jackie Kennedy took the boys for burgers growing up.) In the 7th inning, Aaron Judge homers to the Yankees’ bullpen. With Devin Williams and Luke Weaver taxed from pitching multiple times this week, the Yankees turn to Fernando Cruz to get a two-inning save. The game ends on a Bellinger web gem as the right fielder sells out on a frozen rope that would’ve tied the score. Yanks win 4-3 and sweep Kansas City.
Game 19 (4/17)
- The Yankees play their first regular-season game in the vacation home that George Steinbrenner built down in Tampa Bay. Honestly, the Rays should just play there every year, it’s a much better ballpark than the Trop. The Yankees open up the game with 3 straight singles, including one from Aaron Judge that scores Paul Goldschmidt. Will Warren can’t get out of a 2nd inning jam as Aaron Boone hands the ball over to Ryan Yarbrough. The former Ray gives up 6 hits and 2 runs, but gives the Yankees 2.2 innings of work. Yanks tie the game up at 3 as Oswaldo Cabrera goes yard out of the 9-hole. The Yankees score 3 runs in the 6th as Ben Rice collects his 4th hit of the day on a 2-run single to LF. The Yankee bullpen combined to go 7.1 innings, allowing just 2 runs, capped off with Devin Williams again throwing another clean-inning save. Yanks win 6-3.
Game 20 (4/18)
- The Yanks get on the scoreboard in the 2nd inning as Trent Grisham scores JC Escarra on an RBI single. Carlos Rodon is a bit wild on the day with multiple pitches thrown just a bit outside to the backstop, but his velocity is way as he peaks at 98 MPH. The Southpaw gets some help from Anthony Volpe in the 4th inning, who makes a terrific play in the SS-3B hole. Rodon finishes with 9 strikeouts in 6 innings pitched. Mark Leiter Jr. comes on in relief and immediately gives up a double off the wall. The Ray tries extending for 3rd but gets thrown out to make the first out on a great relay throw from Volpe. Luke Weaver closes the door as the Yankees pitch their first shutout win of the season. Yanks win 1-0.
Game 21 (4/19)
- The Yanks score first in the 1st as Goldschmidt grounds into a bases-loaded double play and Jazz scores Judge on a 2-out single. Grisham hits a solo shot in the 2nd inning to make things 3-0. In the 4th inning, Ben Rice gets drilled in the elbow, the 2nd time he’s been hit today. Judge gets in on the RBI action with a bases-loaded opposite-field blooper. Up 6-1 entering the bottom of the 4th, Carrasco gives the Rays 3 back to make it 6-4. After staying in the game to run the bases, Rice gets pinch-hit for in the 6th as he’s on his way to get X-rays on his elbow. The Yanks again tack on 2 more runs in the Top of the 9th, and then Devin Williams implodes, giving up 4 runs in the bottom half. The Yankees fail to get the extra innings ghost runner in from 3rd base with no out, and then Yoendrys Gomez immediately gives up a walk-off homer. Yanks lose 10-8, finishing the 4th Week of the season with a 13-8 record.
