Learning To Fly | NY Baseball Week 4 Report | City Reliquary Museum | Ancient Rome | YouTube Rabbithole
Alright @YouTheReader,
With this being the last Stumblin’ Along of Sophmore Slump, I had to pick a special song. Today’s tune is Learning To Fly by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. After writing No Football Friday 3/1 ‘24 with Darren Kiely’s Sunrise, my grandpa mentioned to my grandma that the ending paragraphs reminded him of this tune.
Tom Petty wrote this song on their album Into The Great Wide Open in 1991. It peaked at #28 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on Billboard’s US Mainstream Rock.
Born in Gainesville, Florida, on October 20, 1950, Tom Petty was the eldest of Earl and Kitty. His road to music was rooted in his difficult relationship with his father. He listened to Elvis Presley and the Beatles as an escape. When he was just 17 years old, he dropped out of high school and started a band called Mudcruth. The band got its name after the farm where two of its other members lived. Tom Petty would quickly become the band’s frontman and songwriter. During their band's start, Petty worked blue-collar jobs to support himself.
In 1974, he and the Mudcrutch would take their talents to Los Angeles. They signed with Shelter Records but after releasing their lone single the band broke up due to their lack of initial success. Nonetheless, Shelter Records saw the potential in Tom Petty so they offered him a solo contract. On his own, Petty would reconnect with some of Mudcruth - Mike Campbell (guitar) and Benmont Tench (keyboards). The two of them had been playing with a bassist named Ron Blair and drummer Stan Lynch. Petty was able to reform a version of his former band with some additions and restructured his contract with Shelter Records for the new band to be Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. In 1976, they released their first self-titled debut album which had success. So after being alone and being a bit in the dark, the “town” or LA would eventually take notice of Petty and his band.
The chorus of this tune is so good and it can have so many different meanings. Everybody can probably relate to it in some way as it pertains to the highs and lows of life. What goes up must come down, that’s usually what we all learn in life in our own ways.
In terms of the rocks and sea lines here, Petty told Performing Songwriter, “That was inspired by the Gulf War. I remember that line about the rocks melting and the sea burning being directly inspired by seeing this whole thing on TV. I think that was the jumping-off point. It became something a little more substantial than that but that is how it started.”
In terms of your day-to-day life of things you have control over, the good old days are the nostalgic feelings we can feel about our past. While it is a humbling feeling to know things from the past won’t ever be the same, you may look back at this time right now as the good old days so try to enjoy them.
I promised myself I would try to stick to the lyrical annotations with this one because I could probably write a whole theorized essay on what I’ve learned from Week to Week Notes.
Sidenote: I probably already be doing that enough.
So the song comes from the perspective of someone learning to fly or better yet learning on the fly. People told Petty that life is tough so expect heartbreaks which leads to the loss of innocence (crown being knocked off).
After hearing about the hardships that come with life, rather than deciding not to learn to fly, the protagonist of the tune decides to start his journey. He doesn’t necessarily know where it’ll lead him, but he’s willing to stick with it, which is the most important part.
You could use drinking as an analogy here. After you had a few, you might feel nice in the moment, but it’ll come with a hangover.
Life’s a balancing act. Gotta learn to ride the waves.
Since March 1st (my grandpa’s birthday by the way), I’ve listened to this song a ton so I’ll always associate this song with him. When you set an impossible goal for yourself as ambitious as Learning To Fly, you’re going to fall or Stumble quite a bit, but Along the way, you’ll learn from it each time.
On to the Stumblin’ Along, it’s a fun one…
Yesterday’s ballgame at Yankee Stadium was a celebration for John Sterling. The voice of Yankee radio had been calling games for the Bronx Bombers since 1989. Before working for the Yanks exclusively, John Sterling was a broadcaster for the ABA/NBA and NHL dating back to the 1970s. He is an iconic radio broadcaster and Yankees fans surely will miss his familiar voice. Sterling called all of the 90s Yankees Dynasty, saw the debuts of Bernie Williams, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettite, and Jorge Posada. He is most famous for his home run calls where he’d give Yanks nicknames. People forget, so I gotta remind them, that they initially started with Bernie Williams, when he happened to blurt out in joy Bern Baby Burn, Bernie Goes Boom!
So yesterday, I figured I’d Stumble Along to Yankee Stadium and poll Yankee fans…
“What’s your favorite John Sterling call?”
- “Bern Baby Burn” was the lead vote-getter with (8).
- "That’s an A-Bomb, from A-Rod.” (7)
- “Don’t you know, Robbie Cano?” (7)
- “Giancarlo, non si può stoparlo.” (6)
- “A text message…You’re on the Mark, Teixeira.” (4….I’m including Nick next to me from O’Hara’s response in this. Thanks Nick!)
- “El Capitan!” (3)
- “The Giambino.” (3)
- “The Yankees Win…The Yankees win….Theeeee Yankeeess Win.” (2)
- Jimmy G and Jay K, who I went to school with at UAlbany and bumped into at Billy’s said, “Melky Cabrera! Ohh the Melkman delivers!” Which is a classic.
- Bald Vinny’s favorite call was the “1998 World Series last out. I had that as my voicemail on my answering machine for years.” Bald Vinny is a famed Bleacher Creature and has started many Roll Calls, very nice guy!
- “Hicks hits one to the sticks.”
- “Who can? McCann can.”
- “It’s Gleyber Day! Like a good Gleyber, Torres is there!”
- “Never nervous Yangervis!”
- “Nick is positively Swish-a-licious.”
- “Derek Jeter’s home run call from the 1996 ALCS” I’m guessing he’s referring to the Jeffrey Maier homer.
- “Has anybody said Shane Spencer yet?”
- “It is high…It is far…It is…caught.”
- “Back to back, belly to belly!”
- “That’s baseball, Suzyn.”
Thank you to all the Yankee fans for your responses, that was cool to get a consensus like that. I’ll be back again soon!
Normally I’ll try to have the New York baseball report on Saturdays but with the NHL and NBA playoffs starting, I figured to wait for Sunday.
Game 14 (4/13 ‘24)
- Missed the 1st game of the doubleheader while in the parking lot at Citi Field. The Yanks won thanks in part to Oswald Cabrera’s 2-run homer was the ultimate decider in a 3-2 win.
Game 15 (4/13 ‘24)
- The 2nd of the doubleheader, was back on my arse to watch it. Cody Poteet in Yankee debut went 6 strong innings. Yankees jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on Anthony Rizzo's single and a Mike Stanton bases-loaded walk.
- Juan Soto hits a 3-run homer to CF. Cleveland started the year off hot and the Yanks in the Saturday doubleheader made it look easy. Another win.
Game 16 (4/14 ‘24)
- Rizzo has 2 fielding errors in the first 2 innings of the game. Seems to be experiencing some type of issue with his glove, which is weird because he is a former Gold Glover and has always been a surehanded 1st baseman.
- The Yanks lineup strikes in the 3rd inning with a rally of Anthony Volpe walking, Soto singling, and Judge going deep.
- Jose Trevino hits a solo shot, his first of the season, but the bats then go quiet as Nestor Cortes can’t get out of the 5th inning. Cleveland comes back as former top Yankees prospect, Estevan Florial, hits his 2nd homer of this series.
- With 2 outs in the top of the 9th inning, Anthony Volpe doubles to tie the game. In extra innings, Rizzo would drive in 2, but the Yanks lost 8-7 on a sac fly.
Game 17 (4/15 ‘24)
- In the 1st inning, Luis Gil starts the game off wild and Rizzo misses a catchable foul pop-up. The Yanks get on the scoreboard first on an Oswaldo Cabrera baseknock.
- Gil gets himself into trouble with walks in the 2nd inning. Toronto scores twice but Gil gets out of it by picking off Bo Bichette. Gil would go 5 innings and allow 3 runs on 7 walks. He’s got nasty stuff but needs to improve on his command. Bullpen went 3 scoreless innings but the Yanks’ bats were asleep. Yanks lose 3-1.
Game 18 (4/16 ‘24)
- Finally sit-down for the game in the 7th inning. After a few pints of Guinness, I stopped at Shake Shack for a 2-for-1 Avocado Chicken Bacon sandwich. $12, not bad it was calling my name, but I scarfed it down in 3 bites.
- Alex Verdugo gives one a ride in the 9th inning that looks like it had a chance of going out but landed for a double. Yanks lose 5-4. They have now lost 3 straight games.
- THE SKY IS FALLING!!!!
Game 19 (4/17 ‘24)
- A 3 PM start, can’t watch at the office. While on my lunch break, I did see that Leo DiCaprio is in talks of starring as Frank Sinatra in a Martin Scorsese movie. You kidding me? Cinema is so back!
- More importantly, Taylor Swift has all of us Swifties in a dizzy trying to decode her latest trick from the Tortured Poet’s Department. What could it all mean? What is she trying to tell us?
- Back to the baseball… Juan Soto cracks an 8th inning home run… Mike Staton goes yard in the 9th innning… Aaron Judge gives the Yanks the lead…
- The Yankees win. The sky is no longer falling.
Game 20 (4/19 ‘24)
- Clarke Schmidt against the Rays. The NBA Play-In Tournament is also on the TV for this fine Friday night. Schmidt strikes 3 straight out to get out of trouble in the 2nd inning.
- The Yanks offense is sleepwalking until the 7th inning when they explode. Juan Soto hits an absolute moonshot. The YES Network camera guys capture an awesome moment of Soto and Aaron Judge celebrating the home run before the ball even lands. Electric, as the kids used to say, inject it into my veins. The Yankees win on a double play. Nice Friday night win.
Game 21 (4/20 ‘24)
- Went to Yankee Stadium and polled fans in the parking lot, Billys, Dugout, and Stan’s what their favorite John Sterling calling is?
- I wasn’t paying $75 for nosebleeds so I got back home in the 7th to a scoreless game. Yanks lose 2-0 in the 10th inning. Aaron Judge on his bobblehead day struck out 4 times and received boos from clown Yankee fans. The Yanks are 14-7 and we’re about 13% into the regular season.
The Mets are hot. Winners of 6 straight and 8 of their last 10. Catcher Fransico Alvarez tore a ligament in his thumb and will be out for about 2 months. That means more Omar Narvaez and the return of Tomas Nido. Since April 9th, Harrison Bader (formerly Bronx Bader) has been on a bit of a heater at the dish. In his last 9 games, Bader has gone 14 for 36 with 1 homer and 8 runs scored. He has raised his batting average from .233 to .306, while also making a nifty catch in CF. That’s all I got on the Mets’ winning streak, they’re playing good ball.
Quite a few Sundays ago, somehow in my drunken stupor, I Stumbled Along to The City Reliquary in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The museum filled with cool New York City history is open on Saturdays and Sundays from Noon to 6 PM. For a $10 visit, you can see a ton of cool relics from The City. This week's Stumblin’ Along on Week to Week Notes features another piece on an assortment of things on one of their displays.
Today’s focus is on the beers on display. Did you know there was a Knickerbocker Beer and Yankee Premium Beer?
The beer was brewed by the Ruppert Brewery located at 92nd and 2nd. It was the official beer of the New York Giants, the baseball team before they headed to San Francisco. The brewery closed in the 1960s, so sadly you can’t buy a Knick Beer today. Interestingly enough, the owner of the Ruppert Brewery was Jacob Ruppert. Nicknamed the “The Colonel”, Jacob Ruppert was also the owner of the New York Yankees during their days of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.
Born in 1867, Jacob Ruppert was the son of Jacob Ruppert Sr., the original owner of the Rupper Brewery. At 19 years old, Jake Jr. started working at the brewery and by 31 years old he was elected to Congress from NY’s 15th District. He would serve 4 terms and decided in 1906 that he was done with politics, so he became the colonel in the Seventh Regiment of the National Guard instead. He inherited his father’s brewery in 1915, the same year he would buy the New York Yankees.
Jacob Ruppert bought the New York Yankees for $450,000. After 3 seasons of so-so baseball in the Bronx, he hired Miller Huggins with the advice of American League president Ban Johnson. With the help of Huggins, Ruppert made a trade with the Boston Red Sox for Babe Ruth and built the House that Ruth Built. When Jacob Ruppert bought the Yankees in 1915, they were an also-ran franchise that hadn’t sniffed a World Series. By the time of his death in 1939, the Yankees had won 7 World Series and were beginning to take shape as the premier franchise in America’s Past Time. He would get one of the original Yankees plaques in Monument Park in 1940, but wouldn’t be elected into the Hall of Fame until 2013.
In the 1950s, the Yankees would again be associated with beer as Yankee Premium Beer cans were sold. The brewery, Yankee Brewing Company, was based out of Staten Island. The manufacturer of the beer was the American Can Company. There is limited information online about the American Can Co, but they were founded in 1901 and brewed beers until 1986. I guess the main takeaway for today’s history bit on the Knicks and Yankee Beer was that the greatest sports franchise in all of the land and globe was fueled by beer.
This week your quick bit on The Roman Empire brought to you by Week to Week Notes featuring Ancient Rome: The Exhibition in New York is on the Roman Abacus.
The ancient Romans would use an abacus to help them count and calculate large sums. It was a calculator before batteries. Made up of columns of counters, they would use pebbles called calculi, which of course is what the English word “calculate” would stem from. Each column of the abacus would consist of a board with 2 rows separated by a scale.
The top columns would essentially be the larger number. Think about how we use tallies, once we hit “5” we make that cross or tally mark. The abacus was used in the same sort of way as every time the bottom column reached 5, you’d add 1 pebble to the top column and take the 4 you counted away. It looks like it would work, right to left, so you’d start moving pieces up to count on the left side. Rather than get too wordy and confuse people, here is an example of what 637 would look like on a Roman Abacus.
Roman businessmen of their day carried a “pocket abacus” to help them calculate their day-to-day transactions. Pretty cool!