Acquiesce
- Ellis Island’s Registry Room
- Yanks Week 16 Notes
- YouTube Rabbithole
Alright @YouTheReader,
Today’s tune is Acquiesce by Oasis. With the iconic band making its reunion tour, this song is one of their openers on their set list, so I figured it fit.
In an interview with The Sun, Noel Gallagher summed up the song’s backstory…
"It was written going to a studio in Wales to record 'Some Might Say.' The train broke down and I was stuck for four hours and I wrote that song. Someone had said 'Acquiesce' on the phone and I'd written it down. Liam still doesn't know what it means. People have the misconception that the song is about me and Liam, which annoys me as the lyrics in the second verse are, 'To sing my soul to sleep, And take me back to bed.' It's absolutely not about me and Our Kid, and we've never shared a bed-and if I was looking for someone to take me to bed, it wouldn't be Liam!"
(Source: SongFacts)
Acquiesce has since become a popular vocabulary word in Spelling Bees. According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, it means to accept, apply, or submit tacitly. Using it in a sentence would work like “Fans of sports teams must acquiesce to ownership and management decisions.” While the song was written in 1995, it fits the dynamics between the Gallaghers of Oasis, with Liam singing the verses and Noel on this chorus.
Oasis is class. Great tune, on to a bit of history and sports…
If you’re interested in the backstory of what Ellis Island and Liberty Island were before they got their names, check out Stumblin' Along 6/22 '25 or Stumblin' Along 6/29 '25. Today’s bit of history is about the Registry Room at Ellis Island…
From 1900 to 1924, this Registry Room at Ellis Island was filled to the brim with new arrivals waiting to be inspected and registered by Immigration Service officers. While it looks beautiful today, back then this was a loud, confusing, and frightening space. Imagine spending a week to 10 days getting seasick in the Atlantic Ocean. At least the Gustavino tile ceiling, quarry tile floor, decorative Caen-stone plaster, and chandeliers were a nice touch. On most days, over 5,000 people would file through the hall.
The open hall wasn’t always so open. Starting in 1901, they decided to get their ducks in a row by setting up railings to guide the new immigrants through the Registry Room. It looks almost like the lines to an amusement park, except instead of riding King Da Ka, you’re answering frequently asked questions without the help of The Google of what is the right thing to say.
By 1909, The Registry Room decided to get rid of the amusement park lines in favor of benches. It looked more like a courtroom proceeding, which I guess it technically was. Very nice of Ellis Island, much easier on the knees.
The United States Immigrant Inspector’s job was conducting face-to-face interviews with every immigrant. They sat at their “rostrum desk” in the Registry Room. There, they would use the official list of a ship’s passengers, called the Manifest of Alien Passengers, to cross-reference the immigrants’ names and where they were from. The Immigrant Inspector was only allowed to admit persons who were “clearly and beyond a doubt entitled to enter the United States,” and was responsible for barring “contract laborers, polygamists, paupers, convicted criminals, anarchists, or anyone "likely to become a public charge."
(Source for quotes: National Park Service)
This was the exact location where hundreds of thousands of European family last names were slightly changed at the behest of an Immigration Service officer who was probably thinking about when he could dip out for his next smoke break or what he would eat for lunch.
By the 1930s, Ellis Island had shifted from a new arrival immigrant station to a detention station. Deportees and immigrants whose papers weren’t in order were sent to Ellis Island. It was then that the Registry Room served more as a recreation area for detained families.
The initial face-to-face interview in the Registry Room was just the new American immigrants’ first pit stop. They had several other proceedings on Ellis Island before they were clear. If you can ever get the chance to check out Ellis Island, do it. The Registry Room has a real chilling feel, like you’re standing in a pretty important building with a ton of history.
More on Ellis Island next week, finishing off about the Yanks….
Game 90 (7/6)
- Max Fried is on the mound in a must-win to salvage the series with the Mets and snap a six-game losing streak. Yanks strike first in the 3rd inning on an Austin Wells 2nd decker solo home run. Yanks add two more runs in the 4th on Anthony Volpe and Wells, as both beat out potential ground ball double plays with runners on corners. Aaron Judge hits his 33rd homer of the season in the 5th. The Mets score two in the bottom half, but Fried strikes out Soto and gets a weak fly ball off the bat of Alonso. The Queens team threatens again with two more runs in the 6th. In the 7th, Cody Bellinger makes a brilliant shoestring catch on a sinking line drive off the bat of Soto and fires a perfect throw to double up Lindor off 1st base. One of the nicest plays in the season, if that ball gets by Bellinger, the Mets probably come back. Yanks win 6-4 as Fried picks up his 11th win of the season.
Game 91 (7/8)
- After an off day, Aaron Boone announces he’s moving Jazz Chisholm back to 2nd Base and benching DJLM as the Yanks host the Seattle Mariners. Bellinger extends his hitting streak to 13 games, picking up the team’s first of the game in the 4th. The game gets delayed with two outs in the 5th, but is quick enough that Will Warren doesn’t have to be hooked. Warren goes 5.2 innings and leaves as the winning pitcher thanks to a Mike Stanton towering 3-run home run in the 6th. Austin Wells tacks on another 2 runs as he homers for the 3rd straight game. Judge adds some finishing touches with his 34th homer of the season in the 7th. After not scoring a run before the rain, the Yanks scored ten to win 10-3.
Game 92 (7/9)
- The Yankees announce they have designated DJLM for assignment, ending his tenure with the team. Rough ending, but a good Yankee. Cam Schlittler makes his MLB debut on the mound in the Bronx. He walks his first batter, but he bounces back to strike out two in the 1st while reaching triple-digit velocity. Leading off, the Martian singles and later scores on a Cody Bellinger single to extend his hit streak to 14 games. Stanton then adds to the 1st inning lead with a single that scores Judge. The rookie pitcher goes 5.1 innings with seven strikeouts but is plagued by two longballs. Nonetheless, Schlittler picks up his 1st career W as Jazz Chisholm homers twice. Yanks win 9-6.
Game 93 (7/10)
- Marcus Stroman against Bryan Woo isn’t much of a fair fight. Stro gives up the 1st run in the 2nd inning after Ben Rice can’t knock down a 50/50 chopper at 1st base. Stroman does his job, giving the Yankees 5 innings of 2 runs before giving the ball to Clayton Beeter for two innings. The rookie reliever doesn’t seem to have a put-away pitch as he gives up a 3-run bomb in the 7th to make things 5-0. In the meantime, Woo is pitching a no-hitter. The Yanks don’t get their first hit until Jazz Chisholm leads off the 8th with a single. Jazz then scores on an Austin Wells sac fly. With two out in the 8th, Mike Stanton pinch hits for Jorbit Vivas and sends one into the Yankees’ bullpen to make it 5-3. In the 9th inning, Bellinger extends his hitting streak to 15 as he singles to set up 1st and 2nd with one out. Down to their final out on a 3-2 pitch with the bases loaded, Austin Wells lines a 2-run single to tie things at 5 apiece. Devin Williams throws a scoreless 10th frame, which sets up an Aaron Judge sac fly scoring Anthony Volpe, who somehow eludes Cal Raleigh’s tag, despite the ball getting to home plate well before the shortstop touches home plate. Best comeback of the season thus far. Great win.
Game 94 (7/11)
- Yanks host the Chicago Cubs in their final series before the All-Star break. Carlos Rodon is named to the AL All-Star team and backs it up with 8 shutout innings. Aaron Judge makes 3 ridiculously great catches out in Right Field to preserve Rodon’s scoreless outing. Oh, and offensively, Cody Bellinger goes yard 4 times, with one of his homers getting robbed. After a nail-biter, Yanks win an 11-0 laugher.
Game 95 (7/12)
- Max Fried has an uncharacteristically off game as he allows 4 runs in 3 innings with no favors from his infield defense. The southpaw is removed from the game in the 4th with a nasty blister on his throwing thumb. The Yankees can’t string together a full comeback, but in the 9th inning, Aaron Judge hits his 35th home run of the season and 350th of his career.
Move to Make?
- Kick the tires on Oneil Cruz. The talented Pirate is participating in the Home Run Derby this week and has immense talent, but hasn’t been able to put it all together in Pittsburgh. Originally a shortstop, Cruz was moved to Centerfield this season, and his 7 errors are the most among outfielders. While he’s never played 3rd, Cruz has plenty of arm talent and infield reps to play the hot corner. Trading for a player to play a new position would come with some risk, but Oneil Cruz is the type of talent that I think the Yankees would bet on. In a seller’s market at a trade deadline, the 3rd Base options are few and far between. Cashman generally never trades away highly-touted prospects for rental pieces. The Yankees could make the case to the Pirates that Spencer Jones would produce the same results as Cruz this season if he’d been playing CF in Pittsburgh (minus the league-leading 29 steals). At 26 years of age, Cruz would still be under team control until 2028.
