Abraham's Son, Chapter 21

 INT. ABRAHAM'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

ABRAHAM listens to the Mets baseball game on the radio.  It is the top of the ninth inning.  There are two outs and the Met pitcher has faced the minimum 26 batter so far.  

ANNOUNCER (O.S.):  Pinch hitting for the Giants will be Gregor Blanco.  He's hitting .242 with 2 home runs and 20 RBIs.  The left-handed hitter is their last hope to end this thing Wheeler's got going for him...here's the first pitch...ball one, a slider, belt high, but a little inside...the crowd is on edge...strike one, Blanco looked at a fastball right over the plate at the knees...what drama here at the Stadium...one ball and one strike...swung on and missed, a curve ball, almost in the dirt...one ball and two strikes.  One strike away for Wheeler and immortality...swung on, a line drive into right field, here comes Bruce, he dives...and makes a great catch for the third out.  Zach Wheeler has pitched the first perfect game in the history of the New York Mets.

ABRAHAM turns off the radio, not sure what to think.

Janice Paige

Janice Paige (originally Donna Mae Tjaden) was born September 16, 1922 in Tacoma, Washington.  After high school, she moved to Los Angeles, California where she became a professional singer and a model.

A Warner Bros. talent agent saw her potential and signed her to a contract. She began co-starring in low-budget musical films, often paired with Dennis Morgan or Jack Carson. 

Janice Paige co-starred in Romance on the High Seas (1948), the film in which Doris Day made her movie debut. She later co-starred in adventures and dramas, in which she felt out of place. Following her role in Two Gals and a Guy (1951), Janice Paige decided to leave Hollywood.

Janice Paige appeared on Broadway and was a huge hit in the comedy-mystery play, Remains to Be Seen, co-starring Jackie Cooper.  It was staged at the Morosco Theatre from October 3, 1951 until March 22, 1952.

From May 13, 1954 until June 23, 1955, Janice Paige appeared at the St. James Theatre as the female lead, Babe Williams, in the musical, Pajama Game.  One evening during that period (age 8 to age 9), my parents took me to see the play.  

I haven't forgotten Janice Paige after almost 70 years.  A beautiful red-haired woman singing I'm Not At All In Love.

I'm not, at all in love, not at all in love, not I!
Not a bit
Not a might
Though I'll admit he's quite a hunk a guy

But he's not, my cup of tea, not my cup of tea, not he!
Not an ounce
Not a pinch
He's just an inch, too sure of himself for me...

Janice Paige returned to the Broadway stage in 1963 (Shubert Theatre) starring in the play, Here's Love.  It was based on the classic film, Miracle on 34th Street.

In 1968, Paige portrayed Mame at the Winter Garden Theatre.  In 1984, she appeared a final time on Broadway, this time at the Music Box Theatre in Alone Together.

Yesterday was Janice Paige's 101st birthday.  Happy birthday, Janice.  

Edmond O'Brien

Edmond O'Brien was born September 10, 1915 (108 years ago) in Brooklyn, New York.  An aunt who taught high school English and speech took him to the theatre from an early age and he developed an interest in acting.  He began performing in plays at school.

O'Brien studied for two years under such teachers as Sanford Meisner.  He began working in summer stock in Yonkers, NY. O'Brien made his first Broadway appearance at age 21.

His theatre work drew the attention of Hollywood.  In 1939, O'Brien made his first film as the romantic lead opposite Maureen O'Hara in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Over the next 35 years O'Brien appeared in over eighty films.  Among the most memorable to me were The Killers with Ava Gardner (1946), White Heat with James Cagney (1949), The Barefoot Contessa again with Ava Gardner (1954), The Man Who Shot Liberty with James Stewart (1962) and Seven Days in May with Frederick March (1964).

Edmond O'Brien won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for The Barefoot Contessa.

To me, his finest work was in The Killers.  In 1927, Ernest Hemingway had written a short story of the same name about a gas station attendant who was killed by professional assassins who came to his small town in New Jersey.  Why did they want to kill him?  He said, "I did something wrong...once."

Screenwriter Anthony Veiller concocted a story for the film about what was that something wrong:  The gas station attendant had been tricked into double crossing his fellow-thieves after they had committed a massive robbery.  O'Brien portrayed an insurance investigator who solves the mystery of that something wrong...once.

In the late 1970s, O'Brien fell ill with Alzheimer's disease.  He died from it on May 9, 1985 at the age of 69.    

The Goodbye Girl

The Goodbye Girl is a 1977 romantic comedy-drama starring Richard Dreyfus, Marsha Mason and ten year-old Quinn Cummings.  It was nominated for five Academy Awards:  Best Picture (Ray Stark, producer) won by Annie Hall, Best Actor Richard Dreyfus (he won), Best Actress (Marsha Mason) won by Diane Keaton for Annie Hall, Best Supporting Actress (Quinn Cummings) won by Vanessa Redgrave for Julia and Best Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen (Neil Simon, husband of Marsha Mason) won by Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman for Annie Hall.

Paula (Mason) and her daughter Lucy (Cummings) are returning to their Manhattan apartment, which they share with Paula's actor-boyfriend Tony, from a shopping trip in anticipation of moving to Los Angeles where Tony has landed an acting job.  

When they arrive they discover that Tony has abandoned the pair and has instead gone to Italy for a part in a movie.  To Paula's further dismay, she has discovered that Tony has sublet his apartment to a third person, which means Paula and Lucy could be living on the street.  Paula means to fight eviction.

In the middle of the night, Elliot (Dreyfus) arrives at the apartment he sublet from Tony, only to be locked out by Paula.  After much arguing, they eventually agree to share the apartment.  

When Elliot says, "I got a lawyer acquaintance," a famous line from the play, A Streetcar Named Desire, Paula realizes she is stuck living with another actor, much to her chagrin.  Elliot is in New York to play the lead in an off-off Broadway production of Richard III.

Unfortunately for Elliot, his director wants him to play the role as an exaggerated homosexual stereotype, "the queen who wanted to be king."  The New York theatre critics pan the play, especially Elliot's performance.  The show closes after one night.

Philip Fleischman, one of my high school history teachers, once mentioned that if you put two people together in close proximity for an extended period of time, one of two things will happen:  love or hate, but not apathy.  So what happens to Paula and Elliot who start out disliking each other?

Well, to give away the plot, they fall in love.  But then, a complication arrives.  

While in a different play, Elliot is discovered by a movie director who offers him a four week stint in a film he is making in Seattle.  Both Paula and Lucy are convinced this is Tony all over again.  Elliot will leave and never return, which he denies.

Ironically, Paula says, "If you are ever up for an Academy Award, I will keep my fingers crossed."  As I previously mentioned, Dreyfus won such Award for playing Elliot.

Elliot convinces Paula he will return by asking her to come with him to Seattle.  She declines but agrees to restring his guitar, his one possession he didn't take with him.  We are sure Elliot and Paula will live happily ever after...with Lucy, of course. 

   

Abraham's Son, Chapter 20

INT. ABRAHAM'S HOUSE - DAY

SUPERIMPOSE: A FEW YEARS LATER

A few years later, ABRAHAM wakes up in his bedroom.  He walks into his son's bedroom and wakes him up.  ABRAHAM picks IKE up and gives him a hug and a kiss.  IKE hugs and kiss his father.  ABRAHAM dresses his son.

INT. ABRAHAM'S KITCHEN - DAY

ABRAHAM and IKE eat breakfast together.  There is a knock on door.  They are expecting LIZ, IKE's teenage babysitter, who helps ABRAHAM with IKE.  ABRAHAM opens door and LIZ enters.

ABRAHAM: Good morning, LIZ.  

LIZ: Morning.  

LIZ rushes over to see IKE and the two engage in some very friendly interaction.

ABRAHAM: LIZ, I'd like to go to the park in a little while.  Do you want something to eat?

LIZ: No thanks.

EXT. PARK NEAR ABRAHAM'S HOUSE - DAY

ABRAHAM pushes IKE's stroller, accompanied by LIZ.  When they reach park, ABRAHAM takes IKE from stroller and IKE and LIZ go to playground.  ABRAHAM sits on nearby bench and starts to read newspaper.  

First article ABRAHAM reads: "ROBERT SILVER, prominent Washington attorney, has been appointed by the president as his chief adviser.  SILVER, a graduate of Benjamin Cardozo High School in Queens, Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania Law School, has had a close relationship with the president for many years.  He has resigned his position as a name partner with his law firm..."

Second article ABRAHAM reads:  "The president has again repeated his intention to reject United States participation in the international climate treaty sponsored by the United Nations. 

The intent of the treaty is to decrease global warming by holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels..."    

ABRAHAM suddenly notices a stranger is sitting on bench next to him.  Strangely, he didn't notice his arrival, he simply just appeared.  The stranger bears a remarkable resemblance to ABRAHAM, but in a weird way.  ABRAHAM keeps reading.

STRANGER: Good morning, ABRAHAM.  How are you?

ABRAHAM: Excuse me, do I know you?

STRANGER: No.  But, I know you.

ABRAHAM: And how do you know me?

STRANGER: I've been following you your whole life.  I know all about you.

ABRAHAM reacts nervously.

ABRAHAM: Ah, please, I'd like to be left alone to read my newspaper.  Will you excuse me?

STRANGER: Pretty interesting about ROBERT SILVER, don't you think?

ABRAHAM: What?  Were you reading over my shoulder?

STRANGER:(laughs) I know everything about you, what you read, what you ate for breakfast today...Honey Nut Cherrios with blueberries and low fat milk...and coffee with low fat milk.

ABRAHAM is shocked.

ABRAHAM: Who are you?

STRANGER: A MESSENGER from God.

ABRAHAM is stunned.  In disbelief.

ABRAHAM: You're crazy.  

MESSENGER: Really?  Who would know your mother called you kleyner when you were little?  

ABRAHAM:Only my mother and me.

MESSENGER: Who would know your brother was dyslectic?

ABRAHAM: Only my brother and me.

MESSENGER: Who would know what SARA wrote in her note, "Don't look for me.  I'd make a terrible mom.  Love, SARA?"

Now, ABRAHAM is incredulous.

ABRAHAM: I've shown that note to nobody.  How do you know?  She must have told you.

MESSENGER: No, she didn't.  I've never talked to her, but I know everything about you.  Who would know your first time masturbating...on that beautiful spring day...you were fourteen...home alone...bored...started touching yourself...felt good, so...

ABRAHAM: Nobody knows that.  I've told nobody.  How?

MESSENGER: I told you.  I've been following you your whole life.  Look, you go to synagogue every shabbos to pray to God.  So, why do you doubt when a MESSENGER from God comes to you?

ABRAHAM: Well, it's the first time in my life and I don't know what to say.  So, you know a lot about me.

MESSENGER: No, I know everything about you.

ABRAHAM: Whatever.  I need more proof you're really from God.

MESSENGER: What proof do you want?

ABRAHAM: You've talked about the past.  What about the future?  Can you make things happen?  Can't God make things happen, like in the Bible?

MESSENGER: What do you want?

ABRAHAM thinks.

ABRAHAM: Tonight, there's a ball game, here in Queens, the Mets.  Have their pitcher throw a perfect game.  Can you do that?

MESSENGER: Would you believe I am a MESSENGER from God if it happens?

ABRAHAM: Yeah, I would.  Can you do that?

MESSENGER: Okay.  I'll meet you here tomorrow morning, same time and we'll talk more.  Bye, ABRAHAM.

MESSENGER walks away and disappears from view leaving ABRAHAM shaking.  After a while he calms down and walks over to where IKE and LIZ are playing.

Title IX

Before the 1970s, women were not encouraged to participate in sports.  Such activities were considered to be not "ladylike."  Women were also thought to be too fragile for such participation.  Based on modern data, females always wanted to participate, but were not given the opportunity or the encouragement.

When I graduated from Oswego High School (OHS) in 1963, boys participated in 8 different sports.  Girls were relegated to being cheerleaders for the boy's teams.

The differences between the sexes in body composition are well known: males typically have proportionately more muscle mass, more bone mass, and a lower percentage of body fat than women.  Thus, in competitive sports, men have a distinct advantage.  In order to encourage females to participate in sports, it is better for them to compete against other women rather than men.

As an example of such a competitive disadvantage, in 2017 the US national women's soccer team held a scrimmage against an under 15 boys team and lost 5-2.  The US women's team was ranked number one in the world in comparison to other women's teams.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights enforces Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Title IX protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance. 

Title IX states: No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

As a result of Title IX, today OHS has 15 boys sports and 15 girls sports.  

In today's society, there are two more categories of athletes: the transgenders.  There are men who want to be women and women who want to be men.

Quandaries have arisen as to whether such men (who want to be women) should compete against women in sports.  Lia Thomas, a student-athlete at the University of Pennsylvania, wanted to compete on its women's swim team.  Lia was born male and has the physical advantages of a male over a female.  But Lia is transgender.  What to do?  

Thomas began swimming on the men's team at the University of Pennsylvania in 2017, and during Lia's freshman year, recorded the sixth-fastest national men's time in the 500-yard freestyle.  

In the 2021–2022 season, when competing on the women's team, Lia was recorded as the fastest national women's time in the 500 freestyle.  Lia as a male at birth was thus competing against women at birth who represented, as explained above, inferior competition.

To me, a man competing against women is similar to an athlete taking a performance enhancing drug, which of course is not allowed.  It would not be fair to the athletes not taking the performance enhancing drug.

How many transgender athletes are there?  Thirty-two.  

To me, the solution to this quandary is the greatest good for the greatest number.  It is not fair for people like Lia to compete against women at birth who would be at a competitive disadvantage against such a male athlete.  

The result was Lia, a man at birth, won a national women's swimming championship.   Really?  

Transgenders should compete only against other transgenders.  In a similar way, handicapped athletes compete only against other handicapped athletes.  

Comments?

Ron Guidry

Ron Guidry was born August 28, 1950 in Lafayette, Louisiana.  In 1969-1970, he excelled as a left handed pitcher for the University of Southwestern Louisiana baseball team.

Guidry was selected by the New York Yankees on the third round of the 1971 Major League Baseball draft.  He made his debut with the Yankees on July 25, 1975.

Two years later, Guidry became part of the Yankees starting rotation.  He finished the season with an impressive record of 16 wins and only 7 losses.  Guidry was an important factor in the Yankees winning the 1977 World Series championship.  

On June 17, 1978, Guidry struck out a record 18 California Angels.  His totals that year were an amazing 25 wins and only 3 losses.  Guidry again led the Yankees to a second straight World Series victory.

In his fourteen year baseball career, Guidry won a total of 170 games with 1,778 strikeouts.  He won the Cy Young award as the best pitcher in the American League in 1978.  

Guidry was named to the All-Star game four times.  His number 49 was retired by the New York Yankees.  There is a monument in his honor at Yankee Stadium.  

I think it was the summer of 1993 when my young son Bret and I, along with my friend Joe and his young daughter Regine, took a trip to upstate New York to visit my home town of Oswego plus Cooperstown, the location of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

We were having lunch in a restaurant in Cooperstown when I recognized Ron Guidry at a nearby table.  He was there for a money making autograph signing.  Many patrons were hovering near him. 

As I recall, Regine, who, unlike my son, grew up in a home where professional baseball was not important, asked her father why so many people were interested in this man.  He said she should go ask him.  And she did.

According to my friend Joe, Regine asked Ron, "Are you famous?"  He replied, "I used to be."

Regine returned to our table a few minutes later.  And shortly thereafter, so did Ron Guidry.  Apparently, he was so charmed by Regine (he had two daughters himself) that he wanted to meet the group she came from.

We chatted with Ron Guidry for some minutes.  He mentioned that originally he did not want to be a pitcher, but preferred being an every day ball player.  However, he was told that being a pitcher was his ticket to the major leagues.  It certainly was.