Just another Tuesday? I think not...

Today is Roger Maris' birthday...

I was lucky enough to see him play.

Long before the steroid boys of the 90's - Barry Bonds, Maguire, Sosa and the rest, there was the dynamic slugging duo of Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. Mickey (born on the same day as me) was a big strapping former coal miner. He looked the part. Maris didn't. He wasn't big and bulky. He was very unassuming - almost shy. But man, did he have a beautiful swing - and super fast hands. Here's some highlights from his career:

• 1959-12-11 NY Yankees trade Marv Thronberry, Don Larsen, Hank Bauer and Norm Seibern for Roger Maris, Kent Hadley and Joe Deaestri
• 1960-11-02 New York Yankees outfielder Roger Maris beats teammate Mickey Mantle for American League MVP Award, 225-222; second-closest vote ever
• 1961-04-26 Roger Maris hits 1st of 61 homers in 1961
• 1961-06-11 Roger Maris hits 19th & 20th of 61 HRs
• 1961-06-19 NY Yankee Roger Maris hits his 25th of 61 HRs
• 1961-07-02 Amidst 5 NY Yankee homers v Washington, Roger Maris hits 29th and 30th en route to 61 for the season
• 1961-07-17 Roger Maris loses a HR (of his 61) due to a rain-out in 5th
• 1961-07-24 Roger Maris hits 4 home runs, in a doubleheader
• 1961-07-25 Roger Maris hits home runs 37, 38, 39 & 40 in a doubleheader
• 1961-09-20 Roger Maris hits home run # 59 & barely misses # 60 in game 154 of the season. Yanks clinch pennant #26
• 1961-09-26 Roger Maris hits HR #60 off Jack Fisher, tying Babe Ruth's record
• 1961-10-01 NY Yankees right-fielder Roger Maris becomes MLB’s all-time home run leader when he passes Babe Ruth's mark with No. 61 off Boston rookie Tracy Stallard in 1-0 win at Yankee Stadium
• 1961-11-15 Roger Maris is voted AL MVP

Signed authentic Roger Maris autograph and photo. 

You can have one of these for yourself:

Check it out here.

I'm a NY Yankees fan and will be till the day after I'm dead.

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Go for 'B' if you can.

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Exactly.

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Sunset Landscape (by Jason Anderson)

I like this a whole lot.

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Living at the New Jersey shore for as long as I did, this was my favorite time of year there.

Sophie King, 6, of Doylestown, PA surfs in Ocean City, NJ.

We called this time of year 'Locals summer' for good reason. The summertime people - the Bennies - would all disappear after Labor Day weekend.

(Benny is a pejorative term used by year-round residents of the Jersey Shore to describe stereotypically rude, flashy, loud tourists from North Jersey and New York.)

Now that I live here in Florida, we have the same kind of migration, but it's seasonally reversed. The 'snowbirds' come here in the winter and stay for 4-5-sometimes up to 6 months or more. Same stupidity. same traffic clusterfucks. 

A snowbird is a person who migrates from the colder northern parts of North America to warmer southern locales, typically during the winter. The southern locales include the Sun Belt of the United States, as well as Mexico and the Caribbean. Snowbirds used to primarily be retired or older, but are increasingly of all ages.

Conversely, a sunbird is one who leaves warmer locales in the summer, migrating to cooler locales such as higher elevations or more northerly regions.

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The NY Times snowbird map:

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Snowbirds play a LOT of golf...