Larry the K's Lineup

  This week’s death of Michael Collins at age 90 from cancer --- the Apollo 11 command module pilot who stayed in orbit 69 miles above the moon while Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin” took their fateful flight in the lunar module or LEM down to the Sea of Tranquility --- should be mourned by all Americans. That’s because Collins was truly a rare American hero: a humble man whose task was nonetheless vital to the success of John F. Kennedy’s vow to land men on the moon and bring astronauts back home safely before the end of the 1960s. Collins, who had practiced the docking maneuvers essential to the return of the moon walkers aboard Gemini 10, had to be able to do the same in real time: capture the LEM known as Eagle, so Aldrin and Armstrong could join Collins and return to the Earth in the Columbia command module. It was said that Collins --- who was largely out of radio communications with mission control at the Johnson Space Center in Houston because of how the moon bloc...

There's an ongoing effort in the greater Attleboro area that I'd like to share with my readers: The Attleboro Public Library and the 23 rd annual Relay For Life of Greater Attleboro, which raises money for the American Cancer Society, are holding a poetry-essay event to raise community awareness about cancer. Organizers urge people to share their poems or essays of up to 500 words on the topic of “Slam Cancer: How I’ve been touched by the disease” by emailing entries to slamcancer21@gmail.com now through Monday, May 3. It’s hoped that the subject will inspire people to open up about how cancer has touched them and demonstrate that every cancer diagnosis affects many people, from patients and survivors to caregivers and family members. The poem or essay could be a personal story of surviving cancer, it could relate the experience of helping to care for a loved one battling cancer or it might be a story about a friend, spouse or relative with the disease. Your submission also c...

  The 118 th Boston Marathon, held on Monday, April 21, 2014, was arguably the most inspiring marathon of modern times, coming as it did one year after the 2013 terrorist bombings at the finish line. Relive this marathon triumph as a tribute to what the marathon will be again in the future whenever the health czars feel like letting us live our lives again without being stuck in our virtual purgatory that is severely harming everyone’s mental health. CLARIFICATION:  Although I have run 17 marathons, as mentioned in the column below, finishing all but one, in my younger days, starting in December of 1976 and ending in April of 1996, I only ran two of those in Boston: in 1977 as a "bandit" or unofficial runner and in 1996 as a lottery marathoner ---- one of the lucky runners who won an official number courtesy of winning a Boston Athletic Association lottery to gain entry into the race. Of my other 15 marathons, three were in New York City (1982, 1983 and 1987); one (my first)...

  Monday will mark the second straight year that there will be no marathon on Patriots Day due to the coronavirus pandemic. As things stand now, the marathon organizers --- the Boston Athletic Association or BAA, as it’s universally known --- hopes to run an in-person marathon on Columbus Day weekend, Monday, Oct. 11, 2021, as well as a virtual race. They want to allow 20,000 in-person runners and another 10,000 virtually. Noble sentiments, but take it from a marathon old guy: it's NOT going to happen in 2021! Why? Because given how swiftly things change --- and seldom for the better since the start of this damned pandemic --- all bets are off. Given my years of running experience, I will be surprised if an in-person marathon comes off this year; it seems like the health experts will never be satisfied enough to allow that to happen. 20,000 people in one place? What was routine in 2019 may never be routine again! In other words, there are too many health czars who want to keep us ...

  Enjoy this short quiz about The Longest Game; answers are at the bottom. 1. The Longest Game started on April 18-19 and was suspended at 4:07 a.m. on Easter Sunday after the Rochester Red Wings and PawSox had played 32 innings. Why did the June 23 finale receive unprecedented news coverage worldwide? 2. Name the two Hall of Famers, one with each team, who played in the Longest Game. 3. The Longest Game was 1-1 until both teams scored in the 21 st inning. Who knocked in the PawSox run to make the game 2-2? 4. Former Red Sox southpaw Bruce Hurst pitched the 27 th through 32 nd innings in the early-morning hours of April 19. What Red Wings player did he strike out at 4 a.m.? 5. Which PawSox pitcher, who as a member of the Boston Red Sox was traded before the 1986 season to the New York Mets, got the win after pitching a scoreless 33 rd inning? 6. Which former Red Sox second baseman, who was named the MVP of the 1986 American League Championship Series, scored the winni...

  The Pawtucket Red Sox --- who sadly now live on only in the memories of its loyal fans --- have officially morphed into the Worcester Red Sox. But those PawSox diehards ---- who will dearly miss hanging out at McCoy Stadium on balmy summer evenings ---- as they enjoy baseball at its purist and soak in the beautiful sunsets unique to McCoy ---- will forever consider the team now playing in Worcester as the Pawtucket Red Sox. As such, it’s notable that this weekend represents the 40 th anniversary of what was unquestionably the most historic PawSox moment: The Longest Game, the 33-inning marathon played April 18-19, 1981 before being concluded on June 23, 1981. Last year, with the PawSox’s final season at McCoy being a casualty of the coronavirus pandemic, The Longest Game was unsurprisingly named the No. 1 of the Top 10 PawSox moments. I wrote about The Longest Game for The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro, MA, in this column that appeared on Monday, July 13, 2020. I’m posting it t...

  Springtime is for baseball --- and remembering Ike. My Dad would have enjoyed the just-ended nine-game Red Sox winning streak after they lost three straight to start the 2021 season. He was a huge Sox fan, and we especially bonded during the “Impossible Dream” year of 1967. Although he’s been gone for 18 years, he always seems to be rooting for the Sox alongside me during the baseball season. Enjoy this tribute to him. This column was published in the April 2021 edition of Jewish Rhode Island of Providence, RI : February, March and April usually give me multiple opportunities to remember my father Ike. That’s because his yahrzeit (the 9 th of Adar II   or Adar I, depending on whether it’s a leap year) is close to two Jewish holidays and an unofficial New England holiday. That lets me remember Ike on his yahrzeit, days before Purim; on the corresponding English anniversary of his death (March 13, 2003); on the eighth day of Passover when Yizkor is recited; and on Op...

  Community newspapers are the lifeblood of local journalism as they provide all of the local news that no other source possibly can. The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro, MA has been doing just that for more than a half-century --- and their predecessors (The Attleboro Sun and The Evening Chronicle of North Attleboro) had been doing that since the late 19 th century. It was a privilege to be part of The Sun Chronicle for more than three decades --- 28 years as a full-time editor and columnist and four years as a contributor. The paper has been doing some of its finest work since the pandemic broke 14 months ago, and its special commemorative section, published March 27-28, that paid tribute to the newspaper’s 50 th anniversary was quite an accomplishment. With that in mind, I’d like to share my column, below, as well as the links to the entire section, which was written by men and women with whom I proudly worked with from 1989 through 2017. Enjoy. This column was published in The Sun...

I voted Tuesday (April 6) in North Attleboro, MA, in a town election, and the highlight of the day was just being around folks again after the last 14 months of living in a virtual purgatory. I ran into a couple of familiar faces, and the poll worker who checked me in talked baseball with me for a few minutes. (Turnout was low --- just 7.4 percent of the eligible voters --- so there were no lines to worry about and plenty of time for chatter.) I realized how much it meant to me just to be out and about again --- albeit socially distanced and masked up --- when, while walking back to my car, I initiated a conversation with the police officer near the high school exit door for five minutes. I felt compelled to tell him that this was the first time I had been at the high school since running the Kids Day Race in 2019 --- the race and the annual July festival were canceled last year. In addition, I told him that I used to enjoy running the May race to benefit the North Attleboro scho...