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Provenance
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Perry's nephew Jesse, her twin sister Warren's older son, is in his sophomore year at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washigton, where he majors in snowboarding! That's Jesse in the photo at right which was taken from the F train on the way to Keyspan Park in Coney Island where the Brooklyn Cyclones play. The Steeplechase and the lights of the ballpark can be seen in the background. Jesse's tour of New York included Shea Stadium, where the Yankees battled the Mets (and lost!); the observation deck of the Empire State building (too crowded); and Ground Zero.
"Mike Brennan" is one of 343 names inscribed on a plaque at Ground Zero memorializing the unflinching heroism of New York City's Bravest on one of the darkest days in American history. Mike was a firefighter with Ladder 4, Division 3, Battalion 9 on the west side of Manhattan. He was twenty-eight years old on September 11th, 2001, when he made the ultimate sacrifice in order to save the lives of others that day.
Mike Brennan, we salute you and will never forget you.
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Only the kid knows Brooklyn...
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** Lisa, Gino, Michael, and Christina Pesci, those wonderful people from Parsippany, New Jersey who host the Perfect Pitch Home Run Derby each spring, sponsor autograph sessions several times a year for pitching legend Don Larsen. They are also the owners and proprietors of Attilio's Kitchen, which will be opening at a new location in Dover, New Jersey very soon. By linking to the Perfect Pitch website below you can read about this amazing event that, through the efforts of the Pescis and their extended family and friends, has raised more than a hundred and fifty thousand dollars for local charitable organizations. Don Larsen's support for the Derby has been instrumental in its success, and his and his wonderful wife Corinne's contributions to it and the charities to which it donates cannot be underestimated or overpraised. The Pesci family and Don and Corinne Larsen, we salute you!
** On Sale Now: Breaking into Baseball: Women and the National Pastime, by Jean Hastings Ardell (Southern Illinois University Press.) Read about Perry and fellow umps Theresa Cox and Ria Cortesio in chapter six, "Behind the Plate." Congratulations to author Jean Ardell for her compelling examination of the contributions women have made to professional baseball. Also available: Play by Play: Baseball, Radio and Life in the Last Chance League, by Neal Conan (Crown Publishing.) Conan, longtime host of the National Public Radio show Talk of the Nation, was the voice of the Atlantic League's Aberdeen Arsenal during the summer of 2000, and devotes much of chapter nine to describing the life of an umpire through Perry's eyes. Both books are available through Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com.
** Perry's niece Christina, her brother Rocky's daughter, is the captain of the varsity squads of her Lawrenceville volleyball and softball teams. A study room in the campus library, nestled near the neighboring grounds of Princeton University, is named in honor of Jaqueline Barber as a tribute, courtesy of Rocky's generosity, to their amazing mother. It was at Jaqueline's (joking!) suggestion in 1981 that Perry started umpiring little league baseball near Palm Springs, California, where Jack lived for more than twenty years until her death in 1994. Well, Jack, the joke's on you; twenty-eight years later, Perry is still umpiring! And she thanks you every day for seeing in her what she could not see in herself and pushing her, gently, off the pedestal and onto the ballfield. Your children and grandchildren love and honor you always.
** It's never too late... Pick up a baseball rule book and learn the basics. Attend an umpiring clinic to get a feel for what umpires experience during a game. Or just support your local umpires, those men and women who work little league, high school, and adult league games for little pay and less appreciation, by cheering, not booing, them the next time you attend a game.
** Fun Fact: Perry is a Jeopardy! champion. She was also the champion on two other quiz shows, Tic Tac Dough and The Challengers.
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