Larry the K's Lineup

  One thing that former President Donald Trump has accomplished is to make Richard Nixon --- who resigned in disgrace over the Watergate scandal on Aug. 9, 1974 --- look like a saint in comparison. Improving Nixon’s legacy is something that the younger me wouldn’t have thought possible. But then Donald Trump changed all that. Between Trump’s role in inciting an attempted coup of the government by marshaling right-wing extremist groups to invade the Capitol on Jan. 6 and to come perilously close to do bodily harm to then-Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi --- and then his decision to take hundreds of classified documents home with him in a clear violation of United States law, Nixon's place in history has improved considerably. Sure, Nixon orchestrated the cover-up of the Watergate burglary and ensuing scandal, which eventually sent numerous members of the Nixon Administration to jail. But Nixon didn’t attempt to overthrow the government, nor did he mi...

CUTLINE: Tony Conigliaro is shown in his hospital bed the day after the night that he was beaned by Los Angeles Angels pitcher Jack Hamilton on Friday night Aug. 18, 1967. For those like myself who were in attendance at Fenway Park, it's a moment we'll never forget. (Boston Globe file photo on Boston.com)  To commemorate tomorrow’s 55 th anniversary of one of the most iconic moments of the Boston Red Sox’s fabled 1967 Impossible Dream season --- the beaning of Tony Conigliaro on the sultry summer night of Friday, Aug. 18, 1967 --- I thought I’d share this column that I wrote for The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro, MA, as the 50 th anniversary of that moment approached. That column was published on Aug. 16, 2017. At the same time, I’m taking this opportunity to renew my plea for the Boston Red Sox to retire Tony Conigliaro’s No. 25.   Conigliaro, known forever to Red Sox fans of that era as “Tony C,” shares a unique place in the history of the Sox and that magical Impossible ...

  The Red Sox, after an excellent month of June, have been historically awful in July and so far in August and after losing three of four games in Kansas City over the weekend to the lowly Royals, stand in last place in the American League East at 54-56. They’re five games out of the third and final playoff spot in the American League. Given how little Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom did to improve the team that came within two games of going to the World Series in 2021 in the off season --- especially with respect to the bullpen and the lack of a closer --- it shouldn’t come as a surprise how bad the team has become. And there’s no reason at all for optimism, especially with the Red Sox scheduled to play the Atlanta Braves two games at home on Tuesday and Wednesday, which will be followed by a game against AL East rival Baltimore and three more against the New York Yankees. The Red Sox have yet to win a series against the AL East; going 2-2 in a four-game series at Yankee Sta...

CUTLINE:   Larry Kessler and his daughter Alana both won age-group medals in the Hope Health 5k Run / Walk held Sunday, Aug. 7 in downtown North Attleboro. Alana won the 20-29 age group while Larry finished second in the 60-69 age group, his last in that group as next week he will turn 70. The 20th anniversary of the Hope Health 5K Run / Walk to benefit hospice care drew a field of about 150 runners and walkers, who defied the ongoing heat wave by finishing the race. Covering a course revised at the last minute due to road projects in the streets near downtown North Attleboro, the runners did as they've been doing for two decades: raising money for local hospice care. That has been the one constant of the race, which over the years has changed names and distances as it originally had been a 5-miler before being scaled back several years ago to a 5K (3.1 miles). The race almost got changed to a 2.9-miler before the dedicated and longtime race director, Dr. Mark Young, added a loop o...

Larry Kessler is encouraged by his daughter Alana in the final stretch of the Arnold Mills Four Miler in Cumberland, R.I., on July 4th.     CUTLINE:  Larry Kessler trails his daughter Alana, who had already finished the Arnold Mills 4-Miler in 34:17 on the Fourth of July, as he heads to the finish line. He did the race in 58:41.  Alana went back on the course to encourage her very slow father to finish the race. (Photo by Alana Kessler) While the COVID-19 pandemic drags on and shows no signs of ever completely going away nearly 2 ½ years after it began, many of us have decided to get along with our lives, at least as much as possible. I tackled that issue in this column, which I wrote for the August 2022 edition of Jewish Rhode Island of Providence. The link to the column, on the publication’s website, follows: https://www.jewishrhody.com/stories/its-time-for-me-to-rejoin-the-human-race,14665? Last summer, despite being fully vaccinated, I was a long way from fee...

 When I texted a friend and fellow 1950s-60s Boston Celtics fan that legendary center and coach Bill Russell --- the glue that kept those teams together -- had passed on Sunday at the age of 88, he texted back the following: "Greatest winner in team sports history. 11 titles in 13 years. Two NCAA titles. Gold medal in the Olympics. Way more titles than Babe Ruth. Or (Michael) Jordan or even Tom Brady." I couldn't agree with him more, and I texted back the following: "He was the original GOAT! And a decent human being. Celts don't win 11 of 13 without him." Indeed, they do not. My belief in Russell being the greatest of all time, even ahead of Brady and Jordan, has nothing to do with me approaching 70 in a couple of weeks, but everything to do with Russell's legacy. He not only set records that will be hard to be beat --- he and his arch-rival Wilt Chamberlain still hold the No. 1 and No. 2 all-time rebounding records --- but he was a leader on and off th...

I don't have a Facebook or Twitter account, and as the stupidity, ignorance and completely insulting and hurtful comments continue to pile up on those and other social media outlets, I'm glad I don't. One of the latest instances of ignorance showing up on Facebook occurred earlier in July during the recent heat wave, when the Atlantic Sports Bar and Restaurant in Tiverton, R.I., did what so many non-Jewish people seem to feel empowered to do these days: use the Holocaust for an alleged "joke" and-or political talking point. In this case, the "joke" was not only tasteless, but was indicative of the lack of compassion by the person or persons who posted it. It featured a photo of Anne Frank --- the same Anne Frank whose diary of her hiding from the Nazis in an Amsterdam apartment inspired millions over the years. Frank was 15 when, after being captured by the Nazis, was killed in a Nazi concentration camp --- one of 6 million Jews and 11 million-plus peopl...

The Apollo 11 liftoff on July 16, 1969. Tomorrow (July 20, 2022) will be the 53 rd anniversary of Apollo 11, the first manned moon landing. In conjunction with the 50 th anniversary of that historic event three years ago, I wrote a column for The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro, MA that outlined why that moment should always be celebrated as one of the crowning achievements of mankind. I posted that column on this blog on April 29, 2021 as a tribute to one of the three astronauts who were part of the Apollo 11 crew, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, who had died at that time. His death left the second moon walker after Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, the only surviving member of the Apollo 11 crew. The link to that column on the newspaper’s website is: https://www.thesunchronicle.com/features/stories/moon-matters-why-the-lunar-landing-of-50-years-ago-was-important-then-and-remains/article_10d99193-5277-5f4c-9b5f-c91daa89d1a4.html As a companion to that column, I offered this...

"Walpole Joe" Morgan shouts "Play Ball!" at PawSox Heritage Day. WooSox employees with longtime PawSox connections are honored at PawSox Heritage Day. Larry Kessler's ticket to the final PawSox game on Sept. 7, 2020 that never was. CUTLINES: 1.  "Walpole Joe" Morgan, a former PawSox and Red Sox manager, shouts "Play Ball!" at PawSox Heritage Day at Polar Park in Worcester on Saturday, July 9.  (Worcester Red Sox photo) 2.  Worcester Red Sox employees with long tenures at the Pawtucket Red Sox who were honored in a pregame ceremony during PawSox Heritage Day at Polar Park on Saturday, July 9 are, from left: WooSox Vice Chairman Mike Tamburro of Seekonk, WooSox Senior Vice President of Communications Bill Wanless of North Attleboro and Senior Vice President of Corporate Partnerships Michael Gwynn.  (Worcester Red Sox photo) 3.  The author's ticket to what would have been the final game in PawSox history on Monday, Sept. 7, 2020. That game, ...

At the same time I was enjoying my Fourth of July by running the 54 th annual Arnold Mills Four Mile Race in Cumberland, R.I., a gunman --- it’d be hyperbole to call him a “crazed” gunman --- was the latest person to use an automatic weapon to turn a public venue into a shooting gallery, killing seven and wounding more than three dozen during a parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Ill. Thankfully, the event I was in, as well as the annual parade that follows that more-than-half-the-century July 4 th tradition, was completely peaceful and free of any such heinous crime, but for how long? How long will people be able to attend public events and feel safe from being killed or wounded by yet another deranged individual who can --- thanks to the Supreme Court --- practically carry and buy weapons anytime they want to because a majority of Congress is being paid off by the National Rifle Association to not reinstate the automatic weapons ban? How long will we feel free to att...