_________________________________________________________ F A M E F O R U M N E W S L E T T E R N A T I O N A L W O M E N 'S B A S E B A L L H A L L O F F A M E National Syndicated Column (contents are protected) Copyrights(c), NWB Hall of Fame, 1998-2006 TXU877085, TXU959430, TXU973266, TXU013972, TXU986753, TXU949885, TXU004037, TXU022893, TXU026161, TXU047111, TXU050230, TXU061149, TXU088068, TXU120937, TXU148132, TXU163784, TXU170668, TXU196853, TXU211917, TXU216769, TXU234252, TXU253116, TXU260664, TXU180346. Issue Number 00328 _________________________________________________________ Volume IX, Number 07 Publisher and Author February 24, 2006 Richard C. Jaffeson Washington, DC HallFame@usa.com http://www.eteamz.com/hallfame _________________________________________________________ 2005 NWB HALL OF FAME INDUCTIONS WINTER, BRENNEMAN, SWEENEY, FERENO SEE THE WEBSITE PHOTO PAGES "HALL OF FAMERS" http://www.eteamz.com/hallfame/albums DIDRIKSON, HOWARD, SCHILLACE, DANCER, FERGUSON, WINTER, WRIGHT, LUKASIK, MILLIKEN, BALLENTINE, GEYER, WALLACE, CIULLA, GUIDACE, MACURIO, SHELDON, BEAUCHAMP, HUDSON, BRENNEMAN, FERENO, SWEENEY TED WILLIAMS WEBSITE http://www.saveted.net _________________________________________________________ A. COLUMN: TO BE OR NOT TO BE (PART III) Prologue A former King, heretofore respected throughout his realm for remarkable deeds accomplished during a nineteen year triumphal reign, that in his youth was twice interrupted by foreign wars which he fortuitously emerged unscathed, finally succumbed to internal ailments in advanced age. Whereupon, a misguided prince absconded with the body of his honorable father for subjugation to most unholy acts akin to witchcraft and sorcery without regard to royally sanctioned ceremony and formally specified provision. Before enactment of explicit disposition off a beloved tranquil coast, the King's remains in the darkness of a midsummer night were stealthily flown to a distant land where it was beheaded and frozen, and steeled away in guarded containers with the mystifying supposition that at some future date it would be reunited again in life. A true friend and confidant of the King, who encountered a fateful untimely early demise, attempted to extricate his liege's remains from this most ungodly condition so it could be attended to properly in accordance with the last will and testament. Thus, the departed King would be delivered to the heavenly host in respect and dignity, a reflection of his acknowledged high status, and that his spirit could be brought to peaceful rest and not be subject to walk this earth alone forever. Personae Specter - King's ghostly apparition Vedette - Stadium sentinel on watch Horatio - Witness to tragic tidings Artimus - King's deceased confidant Dialogue Along the stadium walls in a kingdom's capital where once a noble sovereign managed fates of senators and citizens alike, along a wide muddied branch of an often forgotten tributary, one lone sentinel taking nightly rounds harshly called out. Vedette: "What ho? Stand to! Who enters here? Remark!" Horatio: "Tis only your compatriot. How goes the watch?" Vedette: "Hold fast! I command! What say the password?" Horatio: "Which manner of spirit vexes thee near midnight by such knavishness, a voice known a thousand times more by but one utterance for surely in any stupor thou recognizes this familiar tone with or without words. If need be so played to entertain and encounter the scene, I do willingly utter, 'Slodoka Gruzja brazowy.' Now pray allow me safe enactment." Vedette: "My dearest friend. Prayers aplenty are required before this night's finale. Forgive that impetuousness in this most unsettled condition." Horatio: "Did it appear again?" Vedette: "Aye, only to my second self would I confess for no one else would I divulge or even dare to understand the dark nature of this thing, this apparition, its continuance so disquiets and perplexes me." Horatio: "Thus, as was before. Be it our King?" Vedette: "Double aye, my lord! There it floated above the highest ramparts of Elsinore," the sentinel motioned with a hand to where the apparition transformed itself into a chilling unsettled worldly guise. "At first, I could not tell if it be ruler or player from vestiges of its garb, and it would not harken to my call, but held to hovering. Perhaps, it to you, for you knew him well in courts and on fields." Horatio: "Perhaps it be so, and thus here we shall remain to usher in the royal presence, and upon return listen to commandments, if it be disposed. Though late, much time remains before the first crow. If witnesses be needed, these accountants are two. We shall see. Here I brought extra cloaks to ward the night for the air bites shrewdly." Two colleagues stood firmly to watch the ramparts in the otherwise vacant stately structure as invisible ghostly clouds and currents washed past. In anticipation, they waited the apparition's return reluctant to speak until the younger sentinel whispered to break the silence. Vedette: "How long since hence it be our noble King?" Horatio: "Three years plus since the fateful summer. The next month would have seen his eighty-fourth year. His time was not unexpected with such afflictions of liver, kidneys, and heart; for it was a suitable feast to stroke the once mighty off the field of valor." "It was that which occurred afterwards for it served the meat of dissention, a most foul deed of misguided prince who without blessings stole the royal presence, and beheaded and frozen in a distant land supported claims of restoration and immortality by followers of the oldest hoax to plague mankind. Only the true eternal Lord has power of life and death, promises of resurrection are His alone and beyond mere mortals." "Not patricide or regicide, but visitation to ungodly realms was dispatched one most noble for this rendition verily be said, it was not good to be the King." Vedette: "Did not the King portend this unsavoriness?" Horatio: "Not by royal will in '96 or by contracts in '02 to affect this unholiest of business which claims life after death." Vedette: "Although frozen as is a diamond, there is something unsavory and spoiled in our scared grounds." Horatio: "You see the tragedy and concern before us." Vedette: "But, wait," there was a most fearful pause, "I sense again the loneliest of midnight chills." Horatio: "Oh, greatest trepidation, most honored King. I am too humbled to behold. From the cold sepulcher, not a strain from heaven or blast from hell for it is somewhere in between. Shall I call thee 'King,' or 'Splendid Splinter,' our twice triple crowned monarch. Look, my lord comes!" Awestruck they stepped back clutching their cloaks and slightly kneeling as the apparition appeared. Specter: "Mark me well, and fear not my words for they will not strike on thee, but serve only as double-edged swords to correct wrongful deeds and misguided actions which have forced my illusion." "I am doomed to walk the night and for the day remain beheaded and frozen in strange liquid till the foulest crimes are purged away. But, I am forbade to tell the secrets of my prison house for if the tale of it unfold would harrow thy soul and freeze thy blood crystal cold. Revenge this foul deed and avenge the unnatural murder." Horatio: "Murder?" Specter: "Murder most foul of closest friend set upon to uncover and secure my remains for placement as was original intent. What transpired after dismemberment is a matter of both deaths of those involved, and tis time to set the record straight." Horatio: "I seek to put the matter whole, my lord, and follow as you beckon to correct this shame." Specter: "During the year before this scene was written, in '02 I drew my last breath, and for that ending there is no complaint for His will be done. I played it well. But, being beheaded and frozen soon after this worldly departed was not in my request by document or contract." "Upon death they did quickly drain all natural vestiges of vital fluids, and slowly torturously force with head removed to lower what remained in a pool pure of liquid nitrogen, an unearthly atmosphere of below 340 degrees. Thus, the royal shrouds were stored in separate silver containers with soul departed and head and body parted." "But, in subsequent year, honorable friend Artimus on merit and oath to never allow a comrade remain behind, always faithful did investigate my placement to reveal sordid conditions in an attempt to secure my release, and inform the globe as what transpired." "And, for his efforts he met a quick fate, and awaits to greet me further hence once these matters settle. They claim it was by his own hand and sword, but this was not the case, for he had no reason to go thusly. At the time, through conversations reported, he most pleasantly was disposed." Vedette: "True, I read the watch commander's entry on this matter for the fateful week proved no signal of his dispatch. His mission was to save a friend, you my King, and his other work favored remembrance of another, your old hero in shoeless ghostly form. Some claim he was too close to you, sire." Specter: "Yes, in my presence at its frozen realm, he saw my face and delled it close, as I did once with that of poor Yorick. Even a Great Alexander would look as thus, but he was never crystallized and split asunder. Even mighty Egyptians thought they had the cure, which only gave cause to grave robbers and fires of iron boilers in future years. And, now mock me still from where I cannot defend, a false head was displayed to disdain my fame and name. More of a sordid plot by this twisted hoax, which only lacks Zimmermann's epistle to declare this a just war." "Ah, my friend and confidant so remains unsolved and yet to be resolved. His reports were published in August '03, and for those words his fate was sealed by the February next. And, for he who arranged my condition, also shares a princely steel cylinder, but this by his own choice as an unknowing follower the next month after my friend. Thus, there is the debaucher of myself and the double deaths to attend before the royal community sleeps well." Horatio: "What do you propose our course? Perhaps, infiltration as Prussia did to Fortinbras of Norway? With false promises and treaties, and Quisling-like treachery within, their ships sailed to seven ports. Inside were not German wines, grains, and cheeses; but troops with armor to take sleeping Norwegian cities without a drop of blood. We could the same with false containers, and once inside the fortress where you remain our agents could release you, and bring you safe harbor." Specter: "Such a ruse, even if successful, would be claimed as thievery and is dishonorable. And, I as contractual property without rights would be forced to return. Instead, I think of the Alito ploy." Horatio: "You speak of chess?" Specter: "Hardly a game more important than one of your own who seeks justice. His skills and forms were desired above all else, but conditions being what they are, he could never be chosen forthright. A substitute was proposed first, unacceptable to all sides, and withdrawn after a time, so the true candidate could be presented without substantive dissention. This would never have occurred if he emerged straightforward. The same approach should be for the King's remains, it cannot be addressed directly but secondarily. And, then proceed with the mission where former opposition is in agreement with our plan." Horatio: "We present an option so they willingly relinquish your remains as undesirable? How so?" Specter: "Make it so that it is they who do not want me, and convince them of the liability." Horatio: "Again, my liege, through what endeavor? Complaints of false promises? Misuse of insurance trusts? Formidable religious inquiries?" Specter: "If I divulge to comment, then the plan be known to all, and it will not proceed forthwith. They will on their own accord soon discover the unsuitability of this folly, and so release us all for there are others who are also imprisoned." "But, soft, methinks I scent the morning air, and must fly to my steeled grave. Consider my words. So adieu, adieu, remember me!" The ghostly vision passed as two witnesses stood together as the first light of day began to beckon. Horatio: "Say, what think you of this encounter?" Vedette: "It is commendable in your nature to give these duties favor. But, lost is lost, obsequious sorrow, and no preserver art thou. Do not display stubbornness, and let this fly. Tis unnatural to worry and proceed on such nebulous recommendation. Tis a fault to heaven, a fault against the dead, a fault to nature; not ours meant for correction. Think upon other matters, do not subject yourself to this contrary. I beseech you, bend the issue, and place cheer and comfort in your eyes." Horatio: "I must take up the cup, and not let it stand as unknown and left behind for I held him dear in my memory to change the misguided wrong and revise the proud contumely spurns of office, and remain I must to tell the story for there is divinity which shapes our world." Note: Significantly modified from "Hamlet," circa 1603, by William Shakespeare. Theodore "Ted" Williams, 83, August 30, 1918 to July 5, 2002. Arthur "Buzz" Hamon, 58, February 9, 2004. John Henry Williams, 35, March 7, 2004. B. NWB HALL OF FAME PRODUCTS These baseball items are available from the NWB Hall of Fame: new induction poster, commemorative buttons (2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, and 1999), personalized magnetic locker nametags, t-shirts, caps, knife, and model bats. The website main page has order information, and the photo page displays most items. http://www.eteamz.com/hallfame C. HISTORIC TIMELINE February 21, 1903 Tom Yawkey birthdate, MLB Hall of Fame, Red Sox owner from 1933 to 1976. February 22, 1874 Bill Klem birthdate, MLB Hall of Fame. February 22, 1918 Charlie Finley birthdate, MLB executive. February 22, 1934 Sparky Anderson birthdate, MLB manager. February 22, 1975 Drew Barrymore birthdate, actor. February 23, 1929 Elston Howard birthdate, MLB player. February 23, 1960 Demolition begins at Ebbets Field. February 24, 1874 Honus Wagner birthdate, MLB Hall of Fame. February 25, 1922 Rose Bascom birthdate, Cowgirl Hall of Fame. February 25, 1924 Marie Boyd, 156 points at Lonacoming, MD. February 25, 1972 Steve Carlton traded to Philadelphia. February 26, 1887 Grover Cleveland Alexander birthdate, MLB Hall of Fame. February 26, 1935 Babe Ruth signed with Boston Braves. February 27, 1877 Spike Briggs birthdate, MLB owner. February 27, 1964 April Heinricks birthdate, soccer star. February 29, 1736 Ann Lee birthdate, established American Shakers. February 29, 1972 Hank Aaron signs first $200,000 contract. March 1, 1917 Dinah Shore birthdate, entertainer. March 1, 1973 Robyn Smith first win at Aqueduct. March 2, 1909 Mel Ott birthdate, MLB Hall of Fame. March 3, 1860 Monte Ward birthdate, MLB Hall of Fame. March 3, 1872 Willie Keller birthdate, MLB Hall of Fame. March 3, 1962 Jackie Joyner Kersee birthdate, Olympic athlete. March 4, 1891 Dazzy Vance birthdate, MLB Hall of Fame. March 4, 1897 Lefty O'Doul birthdate, MLB executive. March 4, 1939 Joanne Carner birthdate, golf champion. March 5, 1939 Samantha Eggar birthdate, film actor. March 6, 1885 Ring Lardner birthdate, sportswriter. March 6, 1900 Lefty Grove birthdate, MLB Hall of Fame. March 6, 1940 Willie Stargell birthdate, MLB Hall of Fame. D. FAME FORUM ISSUES Volume IX, 2006 Season Publications Number 07, To Be or Not to Be (Williams), February 24. Number 06, Clifford's Favorite Valentine, February 10. Number 05, Models D29 and 36D (Marilyn), February 5. Number 04, Additional Recognition (letter), February 1. Number 03, Breaking Away (DiMaggio), January 20. Number 02, Annie's Big Apple (Runyon), January 10. Number 01, That Was the Year That Was (2005), January 1. http://www.eteamz.com/hallfame/news E. NWB HALL OF FAME PROGRAMS The National Women's Baseball Hall of Fame, an independent not-for-profit organization established September 1998, is situated in suburban Washington, DC. The objective is to recognize achievements of women in regulation baseball. The NWB Hall of Fame offers these programs for participants in regulation baseball with organized leagues. Managers are are encouraged to recommend recognition awards and suggest articles on their teams, players, or events. Applications are available through email and are posted on the website. NWB HALL OF FAME INDUCTIONS Nominations for the NWB Hall of Fame are due September 30. Inductions may include four current and one previous players by formal application or candidate statement. NATIONAL MVP AND MANAGER AWARDS MVP player and manager award requests are due December 31. Season nominations should be by a manager or administrator. One MVP player per team may be selected annually. Membership covers transmission of newsletters, announcements, invitations, applications, and access to all website pages. Membership is $9.00 renewed annually, and an application is available on the NWB Hall of Fame website. _________________________________________________________ NATIONAL WOMEN'S BASEBALL HALL OF FAME Richard C. Jaffeson, Executive Director PO Box 15282, Chevy Chase, Maryland 20825 301-847-0102 HallFame@USA.com http://www.eteamz.com/hallfame "National Women's Baseball Hall of Fame" is a registered trade name with the State of Maryland. MD672265, October 19, 1998. "National Women's Baseball Hall of Fame" is a Trademark/Servicemark pending with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Programs, articles, and contents presented herein are protected under provisions of the U.S. Copyright Office, Library of Congress. Fame Forum registrations are listed below: TXU877085, TXU959430, TXU973266, TXU013972, TXU986753, TXU949885, TXU004037, TXU022893, TXU026161, TXU047111, TXU050230, TXU061149, TXU088068, TXU120937, TXU148132, TXU163784, TXU170668, TXU196853, TXU211917, TXU216769, TXU234252, TXU253116, TXU260664, TXU180346. Copyrights(c), NWB Hall of Fame, 1998-2006 __________________________________________________________