Stumblin' Along 5/10 '26
Stumblin’ In
Stumblin’ In
- History of Mother’s Day
- Yanks Week 7 Notes
- YouTube Rabbithole
Alright @YouTheReader,
Happy Mother’s Day to all the Moms out there! Today’s tune on this Sunday Stumblin’ Along is Stumblin’ In by Suzi Quatro and Chris Norman because it’s one of my mom’s favorites.
This song was released in 1978. It was written by Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn. Chris Norman was the frontman for the band called Smokie. Chapman and Chinn had previously written for Smokie before the band decided to cut ties with the writing tandem. Chapman was producing Suzi Quatro’s album “If You Knew Suzi”, which they were recording in Cologne, Germany. By random happenstance, Smokie received an award in nearby Düsseldorf and after the ceremony, Quatro & Chapman joined them at a party where music broke out.
According to Chapman, “Suzi was playing bass, and Chris was there with his arm round her, and they were singing into a mike, and I thought what a fantastic duet they’d make because they looked so great together. The next day, I was in the studio with Suzi, and during a break, I came up with the line, ‘Our love is alive’…I looked at Suzi and said ‘What about this, with you and Chris? Wouldn’t it be great?’ and she said it sounded fantastic.”
(Source: The Record Producers)
Chapman finished writing the song with Chinn, and the duet was included on Quatro’s album. This song peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1979 at #4 in the US. Prior to Stumblin’ In, Suzi Quatro had never been on the US Top 40, and Smokie’s “Living Next Door To Alice” had reached #25. Stumblin’ In, a song that happened under random happenstance at a party, ended up being the biggest hit for everyone involved. It is a great tune @Mom.
It also plays well with Stumblin’ Along…
The History of Mother’s Day in the US
Anna Jarvis is the Mother of Mother’s Day in the United States. Born on May 1, 1864, in Webster, West Virginia, Jarvis was 1 of the 13 children. Sadly of the 13 children, Anna was 1 of only 4 to reach adulthood as infant- and child-mortality rates there and throughout Appalachia were extremely high in those days. In 1858, 6 years before Anna was born, her mother Ann Jarvis started organizing Mother’s Day Work Clubs to educate the families in Appalachia. She would give tips such as promoting the use of boiling water to prevent the spread of diseases.
The Jarvis family moved to the newly formed Webster County in West Virginia right around the outbreak of the American Civil War. Webster County was on the border of the Union and Confederate lines. The Battle at Philippi, which took place just 15 miles from Webster County, was one of the earlier battles of the American Civil War. With the population of West Virginia being mixed with loyalties to opposing sides, Anna Jarvis’ mother urged members of the Mother’s Day Work Clubs to remain neutral and to take care of both sides’ soldiers. After the Civil War, Ann Jarvis tried to further reconcile differences by establishing a Mothers’ Friendship Day, where Union and Confederate veterans would break bread.
When Anna Jarvis was 12 years old, her mother was teaching Sunday school classes when she stated the prayer, “I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will found a memorial Mother Day commemorating her for the matchless service she renders to humanity in every field of life. She is entitled to it.” This had a deep effect on Anna Jarvis, who would go on to state the same prayer at the time of her mother’s memorial service in 1905, and she added to it, “By the grace of God, you shall have that Mothers Day.” This led Anna Jarvis to begin a letter-writing and public-speaking campaign urging local, state, & national figures to support a new holiday. She and her supporters started observing the 2nd Sunday in May for the holiday, which is still the case to this day. Within a decade of her mother’s passing, Anna Jarvis was able to get President Woodrow Wilson to sign Mother’s Day into effect as a national holiday in 1914.
Anna Jarvis’ idea of Mother’s Day was intended to be about a son or daughter honoring their mother, rather than celebrating all mothers. Her intentions behind the holiday were not as communal as she had envisioned. She resented that by the 1920s, the holiday had become centered around cards, flowers, candies, and gift-giving. By 1925, when American War Mothers used the holiday to fundraise, Jarvis crashed the event and was arrested for causing a public disturbance. As if that wasn’t enough, in 1935, Anna Jarvis accused First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt of “crafty plotting” by using Mother’s Day in fundraising material for charities trying to combat high maternal and infant mortality rates. Jeez, sounds like Eleanor was just trying to help. Anyway, Anna Jarvis, the mother of Mother’s Day, would sadly die in debt from taking legal action to end Mother’s Day as a national holiday, and alone in an insane asylum. Always a bummer to re-read every year. I suppose the lesson here is not to lawyer up if you start a national holiday. At least she got us a well-deserved holiday.
(Source: History Channel)
Game 34
- Sunday afternoon game in the Bronx against the Orioles, Ben Rice gets the scoring going in the 1st inning with his 12th home run of the season. Aaron Judge immediately takes back the most big flies on the team by going yard in the 3rd. Max Fried doesn’t have his A Game but gives the Yankees 5.1 innings, allowing 3 runs. Rice gets removed from the game in the 4th inning after awkwardly getting handcuffed on a Fried pickoff attempt. The Yankees’ lineup bats around and blows open the game in the 8th inning as Jasson Dominguez hits both a 2-run homer, along with an RBI double from each side of the plate. Yanks win 11-3.
Game 35
- WFAN announces on Monday morning that John Sterling has passed away. The Yankees pay tribute to their legendary radio announcer with a pregame ceremony by Suzyn Waldman and Michael Kay. In the 1st inning, Aaron Judge hits his 14th home run of the season, with Kay honoring Sterling by saying, “It is high, it is far, it is gone, a Judgian blast” just as Sterling would. Judge’s home run is all the offense Cam Schlittler would need, but the Yankees would pile on the Baltimore pitching to score 12 runs. Immediately after the game and right before Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York, the stadium played Sterling’s classic “Ballgame over, The Yankees win” call.
Game 36
- A week after playing Texas down in Arlington, the Rangers come to the Bronx. Elmer Rodriguez makes his 2nd career start in the big leagues and struggles out of the gate in the 1st inning, allowing 3 runs on two walks, three hits, a hit by pitch, and a wild pitch. The 22-year-old rookie would settle into the game and pitch into the 5th without giving up another run. As El-Rod was getting acclimated to wearing Pinstripes, the Yankees quickly made a comeback against Jacob deGrom. The former Met allowed a Cody Bellinger 1st inning RBI-double and a 2-run Ryan McMahon home run in the 2nd inning. Yanks would take the lead in the 6th inning, when Jazz Chisholm found the bleachers. Bellinger broke open the game in the 7th inning, hitting his 2nd double of the night to plate two more runs. The Yankees win 7-4 as David Bednar closed out his 10th save of the season, going 1.2 innings.
Game 37
- The Yankees have their 5-game winning streak snapped as their bats go quiet against Nathan Eovaldi while Will Warren struggles for the first time all season. Eovaldi nearly threw a complete game, allowing only a solo home run to Aaron Judge. Warren gave up 3 big flies and 6 runs in only 4 innings. Yanks lose 6-1.
Game 38
- The rubber match of the Rangers series immediately becomes eventful when Jasson Dominguez collides into the LF wall while making the best catch of his big league career. The 23-year-old had to be carted off the field and placed in concussion protocol. Down a man, Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger each leg out their own triples in the 1st inning. This was the first time the Yankees had two triples in the 1st inning of a game since Willie Randolph and Bucky Dent combined to do so in a game in 1980. Due to Ryan Weathers’ getting scratched from his start with an illness, the Yankees called up another rookie, Brendan Beck, to make his MLB debut. While Beck doesn’t start the game, he pitches the bulk of the middle innings, allowing 2 runs in 3 innings pitched. Down 2-1 in the 6th, New York pulls away thanks to a bases-loaded, bases-clearing opposite field double from Trent Grisham. With the bullpen able to piece together 27 outs, the Yankees win yet another series, winning 9-2 on Thursday afternoon.
Game 39
- With the Martian on the IL, the Yankees call up Spencer Jones to make his MLB debut out in Milwaukee. Unfortunately for the 6’7” rookie and the Yankees lineup, they face off against Jacob Misiorowski. With a 104 mph fastball, 97 mph slider, and 90 mph curveball, the Brewers’ 6’7” pitcher was unhittable. In 6 innings of work, Misiorowski struck out 11 batters as Max Fried failed to match zeroes in a sloppy 2nd inning. The Yanks lose 6-0 on Friday night, getting shut out for the 3rd time this season.
Game 40
- Paul Goldschmidt leads the game off with a home run. Cam Schlittler tosses 6 shutout innings with 6 Ks, leaving the Yankees with a 2-0 lead. Brent Headrick and Camilo Doval combine to give up the lead by the 8th inning. In extras, Ryan McMahon singles home the Yankees’ invisible runner in the 10th, only for Fernando Cruz and Tim Hill to give up the game on a walk-off sac fly. To start the bottom of the 10th, Cruz just couldn’t find the zone, throwing a wild pitch while the Brewers were trying to sacrifice bunt. With one out and runners on 1st & 2nd, Hill one-upped Cruz by firing to 3rd base on a sac bunt attempt. Sloppy, stupid loss in a game that Schlittler shoved. Yanks lose 4-3.
Next
- The Yankees will try to avoid getting swept by the Brewers on Sunday as Carlos Rodon makes his season debut. After going 34-18 with a 3.50 ERA the past two seasons, the southpaw should slot right in as a major upgrade over the 5th spot that Luis Gil and Elmer Rodriguez previously held. Rodon was brought along slowly out of spring training this season after getting surgery to remove loose bodies and a bone spur in his left elbow last October.
Around the MLB
- Despite all the great baseball the Yankees have played over the past three weeks, they haven’t been able to run ahead of the pack in the AL East thanks to the Rays. Tampa Bay has won 13 of its last 15 games and gets to play the Red Sox in a doubleheader today after yesterday’s game was rained out. The dark magic the Rays are playing with this year is with Nick Martinez. The 35-year-old journeyman soft-tosser is pitching like a bona fide ace with a 1.71 ERA. Batters are hitting just .119 off Martinez's changeup this season.
- This week, the Tigers placed Tarik Skubal on the IL as he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow. While he’s expected to miss 2-3 months, the injury clouds his future free agency this winter. If Detroit can’t maintain a shot at the playoffs, they could look to deal their southpaw to a contender. Thus, Skubal has most likely thrown his last pitch in a Tigers’ uniform.
- Seattle’s Cal Raleigh is 0 for his last 29 at-bats. The Mariners’ catcher hasn’t recorded a hit since April 27th and has struck out 13 of those 29 ABs. After a 2nd-place finish in the AL MVP vote with 60 home runs in ‘25, Raleigh has hit just 7 home runs while striking out 51 times in 37 games this season.
- Since taking over the Phillies managerial job on April 28, Don Mattingly has Philadelphia playing .750 ball with a 9-3 record. Pretty impressive when you consider that Donnie Baseball already matched the Phillies' win total before he was elevated to the manager (9-18). Bryce Harper has been one of the catalysts to Philadelphia’s hot streak as he’s hitting .357 in the month of May with 3 home runs.
- Yesterday, the Cubs had their 10-game winning streak snapped, but it’s not a big deal when you’ve already completed two 10-game winning streaks before the middle of May. Whereas the lineup was the key to their first long winning streak, their most recent has been the Chicago pitching. Shota Imanaga has been excellent this season, pitching to a 2.28 ERA with 53 strikeouts in 47.1 innings.
- The Dodgers will probably sleepwalk to their 13th division title in 14 seasons. Shohei Ohtani has a 0.97 ERA but lost his latest start. The player the MLB placated into changing their DH/pitching rules is batting .248 from the dish this season. Rob Manfred can’t wait to give Ohtani another CY Young and MVP award.
