Paladin, Chapter 15

 EXT. STREET - DAY

PALADIN walks down street until he reaches saloon and enters.

INT. SALOON - DAY

PALADIN enters saloon.  He walks to bar where lone bartender is cleaning glasses.  In the far corner of saloon he notices CHARLES and POLLYANNA sitting at a table engaged in conversation he couldn't hear.

PALADIN: (to bartender) Good morning.

Bartender looks up while continuing his work, but says nothing.

PALADIN: My name's PALADIN.  SHERIFF ROGERS appointed me as his deputy while he is out of town for a couple of days.  He took a prisoner to Reno to stand trial for murder.  

Bartender continues to be mute.

PALADIN: Nice talking to you.

PALADIN heads to table to talk to CHARLES and POLLYANNA.  He pulls up a chair and sits down to join the two.

PALADIN: Morning.  Mind if I join your conversation.  The bartender isn't a very good conversationalist.

CHARLES and POLLYANNA don't seem happy about the intrusion to their private talk.

POLLYANNA: What's that badge on your chest?  A joke?

PALADIN: No joke.  The sheriff appointed me his deputy while he's gone to Reno for a couple of days.  Thought I'd let you two know.

POLLYANNA: Okay.  We know.  Now, if you'll excuse us...

PALADIN: CHARLES, I was just talking to GRACE at the store and she was wondering where you were.  

CHARLES: Thank you for the information.  Have a good day, Deputy Sheriff.

PALADIN: You know, I'm sure I don't have to tell you, your wife is a very attractive woman.

CHARLES: What did you say?

PALADIN: Now I really must be going.  A deputy sheriff has many places to visit in town.  

CHARLES attempts to grab PALADIN's arm as he rises.  PALADIN avoids the attempt.

PALADIN: Is there something more you'd like to say, CHARLES?

He shakes his head in the negative and PALADIN leaves the saloon.

CHARLES: (to POLLYANNA) What was that all about...him talking about GRACE like that?

POLLYANNA: You're a fool, CHARLES.  He's trying to make you jealous...so's you'll leave me here and rush back to your mousy wife.

CHARLES: Yeah, you're probably right.  GRACE...very attractive?  Not is...never was.

POLLYANNA: Forget about her.  Look at me.  What do you see?

CHARLES: I see a beautiful woman.  A woman I want.  Not the woman I'm stuck with.  If it wasn't for my business losses years ago, I never would have married her.

POLLYANNA: And now that you're in a better situation and have found a better woman, you need to do something about Grace.  

CHARLES: You mean get a divorce?  It would cost me plenty.  Her father left everything in GRACE's name.  I'm only her husband.  If I weren't I'd have nothing.

POLLYANNA: But, you would inherit everything upon her death.

CHARLES: Death?  What are you suggesting?

POLLYANNA: I'm not suggesting nothing.  I'm just stating facts...facts that you should think about.  Enough of GRACE.  Will I see you tonight?

CHARLES: Of course.

Tetanus

In the late 1950s, when I was an eighth or nineth grade student at Kingsford Park School in Oswego, New York, I suffered an accident.  My gym class was rushing to go outside on a beautiful spring afternoon.  

From the doorway of the building, there was a declining pathway that led to the large grassy field.  Next to the pathway was a short wall.

I decided to save time by jumping over the wall.  I didn't make it.  I fell forward and landed hands first onto a gravel area.

When I got to my feet, I noticed blood coming from one of my hands.  I headed to the school nurse's office hoping for a Band-Aid.  

However, the nurse advised me this wasn't a scrape, but a puncture wound.  I would therefore need a Tetanus shot.  I went home and my mother took me to a local pediatrician to administer the shot.

To the best of my knowledge, that was the last time I got a tetanus shot...until Friday, January 9, 2026.  On that day, I got the dtap vaccine (Diphtheria, Tetanus and whooping cough).  Why?

At the end of March, we will be travelling to Florida to meet my new granddaughter, Macy Bea Lasky, who was born yesterday, January 17, 2026.  In order to insure we didn't jeopardize her health, we were advised to have the dtap vaccine...and we did.

Welcome Macy!

Designated Hitter

Baseball is a game which is basically a confrontation between a pitcher who throws a round ball and a batter who tries to hit the round ball with a round bat.

During baseball's evolutionary period, it became apparent that an increased emphasis on improving the specialized skill required of the pitcher contributed to a decline in his success as a batter.

There were suggestions calling for the elimination of the pitcher from the batting order.  Pitchers rejected such a call.  The great Babe Ruth said, "the pitcher who can't get in there in the pinch and win his own game with a healthy wallop, isn't more than half earning his salary."

On January 11, 1973 (53 years ago), the American League voted 8-4 to adopt the designated hitter (DH) rule.  A designated hitter was substituted for the pitcher in the batting order.  The National League did not adopt the designated hitter rule.  Their pitchers continued to bat.

As expected, the American League posted a higher batting average than the National League in 1973.  This trend continued year after year after year.

In 2022, the National League finally adopted the designated hitter rule.

Older players who are weak fielders or have a history of injuries have been able to extend their careers by becoming designated hitters, as the position is less physically demanding than those that involve playing the field while their team is on defense.

In 1997, at a time when the DH was only used in the American League, Tony Gwynn, then 37, said that "for a guy in my position, at my age, if they do put it in the National League, boy, would that be huge." 

However, opponents of the designated hitter have argued that it has allowed subpar and aging players to take up space on rosters longer than would otherwise be acceptable.

I like the DH.  What do you think?

Requiem for a Heavyweight

Requiem for a Heavyweight is a 1962 American film starring Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason and Julie Harris.  Quinn portrays Mountain Rivera, an aging professional boxer who was once ranked number seven in the world.  Gleason is his manager, Maish.

At the beginning of the film, Rivera is knocked out by the real Cassius Clay, who became Muhammad Ali.  As a result, Rivera is medically determined to be unfit for more boxing matches.

He then goes to a governmental employment agency looking for work.  I would have thought Rivera would pursue a young fighter he could coach.

At the agency, Rivera meets Grace (Harris), who is assigned his case.  She takes a interest in him.  Later, Grace tracks him to a bar where Rivera likes to hang out.  She tells him she arranged for him to have an interview with a children's camp for a counseling job.  They also talk about personal subjects.

Such a job runs counter to what plans Maish has for Rivera.  Maish is heavily indebted to a bookie and wants to extricate himself by signing up Rivera to be a professional wrestler.  This is not unprecedented.  The great Joe Louis wrestled after his retirement from boxing.

Maish sabotages the job interview by taking Rivera to a bar and getting him drunk.

Rivera resists transitioning to wrestling as a humiliation.  However, the bookie threatens Maish...so Rivera relents.  Maish also reveals that he had bet against Rivera, but that Rivera owes him...for whatever. 

In 1976, there was another movie about a heavyweight boxer, Rocky.   Rocky's opponent, Apollo Creed, is an act-alike of Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali.  Both Rivera and Rocky lost their fights.  Rocky's love life was a success; Rivera's was a failure.  Both of their apartments were non-descript.  

Paladin, Chapter 14

INT. SHERIFF'S OFFICE - DAY

PALADIN arrives at SHERIFF's office on time.

PALADIN: Morning, Sheriff.  Reporting for duty.

SHERIFF ROGERS: Great!  Raise your right hand and repeat after me.

PALADIN raises his right hand.

SHERIFF ROGERS: I do solemnly swear that I will uphold the laws of the State of Nevada and the Town of Windfall, so help me God.

PALADIN: I do solemnly swear that I will uphold the laws of the State of Nevada and the Town of Windfall, so help me God.

SHERIFF ROGERS: Okay.  You're deputized.  Put on the badge.  I'm gonna get my prisoner. 

PALADIN puts on the badge and waits.  Shortly, the Sheriff reappears with his hand-cuffed prisoner ready for the trip to Reno to stand trial for murder.

SHERIFF ROGERS: See ya in a couple of days, PALADIN.  Good luck.

PALADIN: Thanks.  Good luck to you.

EXT. STREET - DAY

PALADIN, SHERIFF ROGERS and his prisoner exit sheriff's office.  SHERIFF ROGERS and his prisoner mount their horses and head out of town.  PALADIN slowly walks down main street of Windfall.  He enters various stores and business establishments to introduce himself: barber shop, doctor's office, the bank, feed store, land office and the horse stable.  He makes a second visit to the general store.

INT. GENERAL STORE - DAY

PALADIN enters General Store as one female customer leaves.  GRACE is there alone.

PALADIN: Good morning, GRACE.

GRACE: Good morning, PALADIN.

PALADIN: (pointing to his badge) I wanted to let you and your husband know I will be deputy sheriff while SHERIFF ROGERS is away in Reno.  He said he should be back in a couple of days.  If there's anything I can do to help, please let me know.

GRACE: Thank you for your service to Windfall.  I wish you good luck.

PALADIN: Is your husband here?

GRACE: No...and I don't know where he is.  He sometimes leaves without telling me where he's going or when he'll return.  My situation worsens every day.  I blame POLLYANNA.  I believe she lures him away.  I don't know what to do.

PALADIN: Do you want some advice?

GRACE: Yes.  

PALADIN: It takes two.  Maybe she lures, but he catches the bait.  Do you want to keep your husband?

GRACE: Of course.

PALADIN: Then fight for him.  A relationship is not static.  It changes over time.  Both parties have to adapt to the changes or they can drift away from each other.    

GRACE: How can I compete with her?  She's more beautiful, more accomplished, more aggressive.  She's everything I'm not.  All I have with CHARLES is a piece of paper.

PALADIN: Then you have to adapt.  Why do you dress as you do?  Perhaps you need to wear prettier clothes, put on some makeup to get his attention.  If you want to keep him, you must be willing to compete with her.

GRACE: (shaking her head) Just clothes and makeup?  Do you think that's enough?

PALADIN: I don't know what you see when you look in the mirror, but I see an attractive woman in front of me.   

GRACE: You're making fun of me.  Please, don't.

PALADIN: No, I'm not making fun of you.  I'm trying to bring you to appreciate yourself and help you keep your husband.  I'm telling you the truth.  You must believe in yourself.

Tears come to GRACE's eyes.

GRACE: You are a very kind man, PALADIN.  Is there a Mrs. PALADIN?  

PALADIN: Because of the work I chose a long time ago, I could never ask a woman to care for me while I continually risk my life.  

GRACE: Perhaps a woman, the right woman, would be willing to do such a thing, care for you while you continually risk your life.  There are wives of military men and police officers who do such.

PALADIN: You are correct, but I choose otherwise.  As such, I have no wife, never had.  But, I find women, in general, to be very desirable creatures.  Back in San Francisco, I have many...female friends.  I'm not monogamous.  I treat them all with great respect.

GRACE: I'm sure many women love you, PALADIN.  

PALADIN: And I love them, too.

GRACE: You are a very unusual man.  Very admirable.  And very desirable.

PALADIN: Enough about me, GRACE.  Think of what I said.

GRACE: I will.

PALADIN: Well, I should be going.  Please tell your husband I'll be a deputy sheriff for the next couple of days until the SHERIFF returns.  Good day.

GRACE: Come back when you can, PALADIN.  I enjoy your company.

PALADIN leaves the store.

Aunt Frances

 My Aunt Frances was born in the Russian Empire in 1904.  That same year, she was carried by her mother, my grandmother, all the way to the United States, arriving at Ellis Island where they were met by my grandfather who came a year earlier.

They settled in Oswego, New York where they had family.  My mother was born three years later in 1907.

Aunt Frances graduated from Oswego High School.  One of her classmates was Matt Barkley who became my gym teacher at Kingsford Park School.

Aunt Frances graduated from the Oswego Normal School (now the State University of New York at Oswego).  

After graduation, she received two job offers as a teacher: in Amsterdam, New York and on Long Island.  As the former was closer to her family in Oswego, she chose it.  I once asked her if she thought about how her life would have been different had she chosen the latter.  She hadn't.

Aunt Frances stayed on in Amsterdam for most of her life, retiring from her teaching position.  Some of her friends there were the older sisters of the actor, Kirk Douglas (born Izzy Demsky), whom she never met.

Occasionally, during my youth, my parents would drop me off with Aunt Frances in Amsterdam on their way to spend a weekend in New York City.  I was very happy when this happened.  

My aunt was much more easy going than my mother.  Besides, I got to play with her beautiful miniature collie, Ginger.  Also, she introduced to me root beer floats, which I unfortunately don't get to experience at all in Brazil.

Some time after my grandmother died in 1976, Aunt Frances moved to south Florida.  In 1993, an expansion baseball team was created there called the Florida Marlins.  She became a fan, often listening to their games on the radio.

Aunt Frances eventually moved into a senior citizen assisted living facility in Florida where I visited her once.  On our last contact, I called to wish her a happy birthday.  I was impressed by the fact she recognized my voice before I could identify myself.

Aunt Frances died in 2004 at age 100.

    

Lee Remick

Lee Remick, the actress, was born December 14 1935 in Quincy, Massachusetts.  She made her Broadway debut at age 18.

Remick made her film debut in Elia Kazan's A Face in the Crowd (1957).  She portrayed Betty Lou, a teenage baton twirler, who marries the protagonist, played by Andy Griffith.

Remick came to prominence portraying a rape victim whose husband is tried for killing her attacker in Otto Preminger's Anatomy of a Murder (1959).  I consider this to be the best courtroom drama.

When her husband goes to bed early one evening after work, Laura (Remick), feeling bored and lonely, goes to a local bar to drink and play pinball.  Leaving, she is offered a ride by the proprietor who had previously befriended her and her husband.  On their way, he rapes and assaults her.

After arriving home, Laura tells her husband what happened.  He then goes to the bar and kills the rapist.  

Laura has several key scenes both before the trial and during it.  She flirts with her husband's attorney, Paul Biegler (James Stewart), and is intimidated by the prosecutor, Claude Dancer (George C. Scott).

In 1962, Lee Remick stars in the thriller, Experiment in Terror, opposite Glenn Ford.

Also in 1962, Lee Remick stars opposite Jack Lemmon in the romantic drama film Days of Wine and Roses.  They portray a couple who become alcoholics.  

There is a line in the movie that alcoholics often demonstrate obsessive behavior, pointing out that Kirsten's (Remick) previous passion for chocolate may have been the first sign of an addictive personality.  That doesn't apply to me.

Remick was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for the above film, but it was won by Anne Bancroft for The Miracle Worker.  

Remick died of kidney cancer in 1991 at the age of 52.  Que pena!