Who is John Mayberry Jr's Father?
From windblown Yankee Stadium, site of Mayberry the Younger's first major league hit and home run (three-run job to the non-wind field in the fifth off Andy Pettitte), the guessing game in the press box has been: Who is the guy in the "Panama" cap that Fox keeps showing during Mayberry's at bats?
The Phillies' beat guys insist that whoever it is, it sure as heck isn't Mayberry, Sr., the longtime Royals' first baseman who started in Houston and finished with the Yankees. We are operating without benefit of the Fox audio so nobody's accusing them of misidentifying him. But all available information is: that isn't John Mayberry, Sr.
It would be very funny if it were Amos Otis.
What isn't that funny, for those of us of a certain vintage, is that two-thirds of Philadelphia's outfield consists of the sons of Brief Yankees of the '80s: Mayberry, Jr., and Jayson Werth, who is both the stepson and adopted son of a very valuable Yankee utilityman during their A.L. East runaway season of 1980.
Of more lasting import, it is impossible to guess the last time a Yankee home game that did not feature the Red Sox or Mets as visitors, had such a percentage of fans rooting against the home team. Raul Ibanez's 17th homer was greeted with enough guttural "Raul" chanting, and concomitant applause and cheering, to suggest the place is between 40 and 50 percent full of Phillies' fans.
With the additional notation that the Yankees and their partners are finally harvesting the seats in the old park (they are visible from the subway, piled in what a year ago was right-centerfield), we'll check back with you later on the subject of Mike Pelfrey, The Yips, and an actual (partial) explanation of Steve Blass Disease.
Update: nobody's commenting from the Fox booth but it was apparently just an honest mistake. The real John Mayberry, Sr., was shown after his heir banged a double to right in the top of the 7th.
I've been trying to determine if Cardinal rookie Blaine Boyer is related to the Boyer brothers: Ken, Clete and Cloyd.
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please see alittlechinmusic.com, a marvelous baseball blog by peter stadlen
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Several years ago, John Jr. was playing for the Spokane Indians, the Rangers' short season A franchise in the Northwest League. I was at a game with my grandson(he was 3 or 4) We had to leave our seats frequently for ice cream, the batting cage(he's a natural hitter) and of course, the potty. I thought I recognized the very kind African- American man at the end of the row. My grandson is multi racial and this man had commented on how good looking he was. I finally put two and two together and asked him if he was John Mayberry. He was, and I commented on how well his son's college baseball career had gone. He agreed, but said being a pro ball player is a lot tougher. I'm glad he was there to see his son's legit Yankee Stadium dinger. I loved the way Junior's teammates reacted to his shot with feigned indifference. Baseball is about fathers and sons, and now my grandsons love it too.
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I was watching the game on FOX and saw these shenanigans unfold. Absolutely hilarious.
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