SWEDRH = SHREWD
DITEWG = WIDGET
SNAYWK = SWANKY
YIFNMA = INFAMY
LUQALS = SQUALL
BLAVIE = VIABLE
CARTOON ANSWER:
WITH THE HOME TEAM UP 10-0, FANS IN THE BASEBALL STADIUM WERE – – –
HED IDG ANY FA AL VI = HAVING A FIELD DAY
Good Morning, Everyone! ⚾️BASEBALL’S ALWAYS THE BATTER GAME! ⚾️
🎶Saw your picture in the paper today and I couldn’t believe my eyes…Dead before your time, but so long beyond your prime…Looking nothing like the memory from when I was a kid…Golden hair flowing down, on your knees, grooming the PITCHER’S MOUND…And it’s always 1976…The camera lies and the mirror plays tricks. So many things that the years won’t fix…Always 1976, Always 1976🎶….”1976″ – The Baseball Project 2011 (Dedicated to the Memory of the One and Only Mark Fidrych).
⚾️ As baseball fans we sometimes SQUALL especially when we lose,
We know what can be VIABLE, yet still cry in our booze…
Some games go down in INFAMY, could we have used a WIDGET?
And most times when we’re losing we just tend to fuss and fidget.
But set us up a SWANKY game and watch out spirits soar,
The runs accrue and we all cheer…the game is not a bore.
The manager makes all SHREWD calls, the bats they are on fire,
And we enjoy the happiness that baseball can inspire…
We suffer through the hard times, but constantly hold sway,
Remembering how good it feels when HAVING A FIELD DAY! ⚾️
With three “S” words today, which may be a first, two of them appear to be ROOKIES. Despite their seeming so familiar, I STRUCK OUT in finding both SWANKY and SQUALL on our ROSTER. And while WIDGET’s only COME UP TO THE PLATE just once before, for our remaining three words, it proved to be OLD TIMERS DAY. I found SHREWD a total of 12 times going back to 2015, with a recent showing just a few weeks ago in June, INFAMY’s been in play 11 previous times going back to 2012, and VIABLE has BOUNCED around at least 7 times since 2014. And no one STRUCK OUT with our words this morning…the Early Birds HIT them all OUT OF THE PARK. Ok…That’s our LINE-UP for today…And now…LET’S PLAY BALL!
Sitting in Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan, today we see four Detroit Tiger fans watching their team trounce the opponent. And with the entire FIELD SWAThed in green, and the absence of a SCOREBOARD, I can’t tell who’s getting SHUT OUT. But I can tell you this…With such an impressive LEAD, and the BASES of the dialogue LOADED with HEAVY HITTING excitement, these four are definitely HAVING A FIELD DAY! Way to go, David! You’ve hit another HOMER with this one!
Ok, eye candy. When I STARTed studying the cartoon, my FIRST thought was that we might be back in 1976, watching The Bird, Mark Fidrych on the mound, but nothing about the drawing looked dated. On the other hand, there’s really not much for Tiger fans to be cheering about today. Unfortunately playing at .307, and 34.5 games “outta first” as we say in NY, I’m not sure what year we’re in. But since I don’t follow the American League all that closely, perhaps there’s someone out there reading this who might know if this game really happened, and make the SACRIFICE to write in. I mean it’s “NO BIG DEAL“, but if it has happened, especially this Season, I’d like to give the Shout Out to the Tigers. Anyway, I made the CALL, and I’m going with present day. The man at left, wearing the vintage Fidrych Jersey and the Detroit cap, holds a cup in his right hand, while high-fiving the woman seated next to him. She, plus our other two characters are all SPORTing Tiger Jerseys, hers’ the blue like the man at the right end, while his seat mate is in the white one. She’s wearing a blue visor, while the man at right wears a Tigers cap backwards. As I mentioned earlier, the entire FIELD is shaded green, with the stands all in gray. And although there’s no Scoreboard, there are the words “HOME RUN” emblazoned on the Big Screen, gold lettering on a red background. Ah, that could be my clue, huh? We didn’t have those Big Electronic Screens back in the day, did we? Ok, STRIKE my first thought about 1976. Anyway, there’s the Foul Pole at far left, but it’s colored red where it should be yellow. And we see the following players…The Tiger Home Run Hitter is seen approaching Second, his fingers raised in the air as is one’s wont today. His teammate, grinning, is seen rounding it. The remaining, losing 8 players, are: The First Baseman, the Right Fielder, playing very shallow, the Second Baseman, the Shortstop scowling, hand on hip, the Third Baseman, and in the OutFIELD, the Center Fielder seen running towards the Left Fielder, who’s reaching up, open-mouthed, unsuccessfully for the BALL. And I’ve left the Eye Candy Pitcher for last. The slumped shoulders and look of utter defeat on his face says it all…There’s no joy in Mudville for this guy…So, There you have it, Folks, Done! Have a great day, Everyone, and I’ll CATCH you later…And to all our Detroit Tiger Fans Out there…Here’s hoping you HIT it off next year…⚾️🙋🏻
Jumble Answers 
Widget? But did get it along w the puzzle solution.I remember the Bird Fidyrich being on the cover of SI even though I am an avid Cleve Indians fan and not a Tiger fan.
Good Morning, Professor. Yep, Widget! 😉 And yes, the phrase being a common one, along with the Ballfield did make the solve an easy go. The Bird was a pretty memorable guy, he was definitely entertaining on the mound, that’s for sure. Sad that he met such a terrible end, and at such a young age besides. Have a good one, Prof. ⚾️🙋🏻
MIKE M: Have you seen the cover of Parade Magazine this morning? 🎸🙋🏻
Angela: I hadn’t seen it, but since you said, I went and looked at it. It’s a picture of all four Beatles. Must be an early picture, since none of them have facial hair.
Hey, Mike…Good pic, good article.🎸🙋🏻
Good morning. Got all the words straight down from 1-6. Easy today but when I checked to make sure the spelling was correct I found my second word different than WIDGET. Other than that even the cartoon answer was a breeze. Loved your post Angela. Another first on hearing your song choice. Until tomorrow stay well.
Good Morning, Brooklyn, I’m glad I got it up early enough for you to get to it. Sunday mornings are usually tough for us. And I agree, it was an easy, breezy one today. Thanks for the Shout Out..and I hope you have a great day. The weather’s definitely Top Ten material! ⚾️🙋🏻
Easy one this morning for a Sunday. I just returned from spending a week in Boston where we toured Fenway Park – what a beautiful stadium – and so much history. Maybe I should take a tour of the park where our Giants play, something I have never done even though I live here. Of course we seem to have the “name de jour” depending on whichever corporation sponsors it. Hope all of you have a good Sunday.
Hi Betty. Good Morning. Yes, Fenway is a pretty park. And there’s so much rich history in Boston period. What a great trip for you! But you’ve never been to Oracle? You need to get out there some night. There’s nothing like eating a hot dog at a ball game at night. And you made me LOL with the “name de jour” 👏🏻👏🏻. Too funny, but so true. You had Pacific Bell, then SBC, then AT&T….You needed a scorecard just to know where you were! 😂 Money talks! Anyway, I’m with you on today’s puzzle…a Home Run for sure! Have a great day, Betty….And talk to that Sinatra-loving Grandson of yours about taking in a game some night. I bet you’ll both have a wonderful time! ⚾️🙋🏻
Hi Angela, I’ve been to a Giants game and think our park is beautiful just never taken a “behind the scenes tour”. I loved the red seat in Fenway – totally cool and Boston is a beautiful city.
Oh, ok, that’s better! 😉 And now that you mention it, the colorist on the panel showed some red on these seats too, but I’ve never been to a game in Detroit, so I’m not sure if it’s accurate. Maybe I’ll amend my post just in case.😉 And yes, Boston is beautiful…there’s so much to see. ⚾️🙋🏻
Welcome back Betty, we missed you. The only time I actually saw baseball live when I was growing up was one game at Fenway Park, and the memory that stands out was the seemingly vast expanse of green grass.
Thank you, Steve. And speaking of baseball, did you read this morning’s Chronicle? It doesn’t sound like your A’s will be getting a new ball park any time soon.
Oops, haven’t read that one yet; maybe I shouldn’t. Actually, staying at the Coliseum site would be a lot better if they could make the money angle work out. You already got the Warriors; want a second baseball team over there? 🙂
Speaking of history Betty, if your timing had been just a bit different, you might have seen Carl Yastrzemski’s grandson Mike play in Fenway with the Giants. They play in Boston this year on Sept. 17, 18 and 19.
We did see Carl Yastrzemski’s uniform and I had just read an article before we left that his grandson was playing for the Giants and I think he was doing well – family tradition.
This almost had me down for the COUNT…Getting the solve in there had me almost STRIKING OUT…Now to see if I can DELIVER another rhyme…Ok. I’m ON DECK…⚾️🙋🏻
° Thinking he was SHREWD using the WIDGET as a VIABLE solution to the SWANKY Clubs software glitch, the members began to SQUALL saying the confusion was still one of INFAMY, and ended up HAVING A FIELD DAY at his expense…
Hi all – WIDGET was the only word that made me pause today. Then ‘HAVING A’ jumped out of the answer letters, and the rest followed.
Another funny coincidence today with the blowout ball game, when there was a game yesterday with the score of 23 to 2.
Angela, your mentioning the electronic scoreboards of course reminded me of Sonny and Cher in “The Beat Goes On” where among the new-fangled things they mention that are boggling their minds is “Electrically they keep a baseball score”, and that was in 1967. Agreed though, that the one in the cartoon today looks a lot bigger and more advanced than those were.
Mark the Bird, Bill “Spaceman” Lee – I’m not sure we’ll see characters quite like that again given the vast sums of money and data analysis we have now.
Have a great Sunday, everyone!
Yes, I remember the line. But even though the Score was being kept electronically, we still didn’t have all the “new fangled” 😉 animated Jumbotrons that we have now. That all came later. All the real “bells and whistles” came much later. But yes, The Bird was definitely a character. I remember how I loved watching him talk to the balls.😂😂 And I remember how cute he was too, with his being single a major draw with the women. As I said earlier, sad that he was dealt such a lousy hand at the end. Ah, life. So, here’s to The Bird..🍻May his memory live on! Hope you have a great day, Steve! Enjoy! ⚾️🙋🏻
Ok.. SCORE! 😂 A little EXTRA INNINGS on this one…but it’s all a SPORT! 😂🤦🏻♀️
💃🏻The woman was a SHREWD one, her lifestyle very SWANKY,
She lived above her means a lot, most due to hanky-panky…
Her reputation talked about…INFAMY often heard,
But she could give a WIDGET about gossiping’s free words…
She heard the SQUALL and hollers, from those who were strait-laced,
But she could not be bothered and refused to be red-faced…
Her life remained quite VIABLE, she lived it her own way,
And went to bed each night content from HAVING A FIELD DAY 💃🏻