Spring Training 2021 comes to an end on March 30, and the 2021 MLB season officially begins April 1, with the Yankees vs. Blue Jays at 1:05 at Yankee Stadium.
My archives are a series of Ozzie Sweet original film/pictures taken in 1971 at the Washington Senators Training camp. This year made it 50 years ago. Since 90-percent of those pictures have not been seen in public, I thought, time to share them. On March 22, I began posting pictures of Ozzie Sweets 1971, Washington Senators, photoshoot for Sport magazine on my Twitter page.
Why 1971? In February 1971, the Washington Senators spring-training camp opened, helmed by manager Ted Williams.
Ted Williams Ranked the fourth greatest ballplayer in the history of MLB
In camp is Curt Flood, who lost his challenge to baseball reserve clause in court. And Denny McLain, who broke baseball’s rules associating with gamblers.
Curt Flood, age 33, left the team 13 games into the season, never to play again. Denny McLain fought with Ted Williams all season, winning only 10-games, losing 22. By the age of 28, 1972 playing for two other teams, 2x Cy Young and 1x MVP, and last pitcher to win 30 games going 31-6 1n 1968, was out of baseball forever.
The teams are rested, 6 days for the KC Royals, and 5 days for SF Giants. The team that comes up short will say that the long layoff hurt them. Now for my last MLB prediction for 2014, SF Giants in 6 games (could be 5). The second long layoff for KC Royals will impact them this time…
June 1, is Marlyn Monroe’s birthday and would have been 88 today. Earlier this week in The Huffington Post was this story:
“12 Famous People Who Really Made The Most Out Of Their Last Words ” By Shelley Emling.
The second famous quote, was said by Joe DiMaggio,“I finally get to see Marilyn.” speaking of his former love Marilyn Monroe. DiMaggio died in 1999 following a battle with lung cancer. At his bedside was his attorney, Morris Engelberg, who told Vanity Fair magazine that the Yankee great never got over Monroe’s death from an apparent drug overdose in 1962.
Late in the afternoon in 1982, I got a call from Hy of Hy Zazula Studio and asked me to wait for a call from him to meet at his studio. The call comes late, and when I arrive his son David is there also and before going into the work area they say I cannot talk about what we will be working on. I enter the work area and covering a large light table are chromes of Marilyn Monroe; we then study the selects to create the budget for approval. The next morning I meet with HY before 9AM, and give him my final numbers, and within a day we started working on the prints for the book, Marilyn Monroe The Last Sitting
Every now than I run across a 20 x 24 limited edition Print of Marilyn Monroe in an art gallery or auction house and it reminds me of how I met Marilyn Monroe… Happy Birthday Marilyn!
When I was a kid it was popular with owners of station wagons to post on the rear side window small yellow stickers of places that they had visited. Whenever I would pass one I would stop look at the stickers, and think to myself, someday I am going to see them This also inspired me to reading about our National Parks and states. That youthful inquisitiveness has never left me and in 2010, my wife I headed out on our first 50 day cross country road trip since we have made three cross country trip plus 10 other road trips.
On the first trip heading back from California all I could think of was, I am going to see Mount Rushmore, except for Yellowstone National Park it the most popular sticker.
Also, aware of the Crazy Horse Monument, and before, and while on the trip would talk about it, to my friends, but to my surprise most of had never heard about it.
We stayed three days in Rapid City South Dakota, and visited Mount Rushmore three-times and it was never a disappointment. The second day we started out early first seeing Custer State Park, it is a large park with an abundance of prairie wildlife
Every September they bring in cowboys to do a buffalo roundup and about twenty thousand spectators watch from the hills. I highly recommend visiting it.
From there, we headed over to see the Crazy Horse Monument with no expectation. As you arrive off in the distance you get you first impression (the last image was taken from a mile away) of its size. Seeing it in person you realize the magnitude of the concept of this monument that started in 1947 by Korczak Ziolkowski, at the request of Sioux chiefs who said they wanted ”the white man to know the red man had great heroes too.” (The New York Time Oct 21 1982) Today with the passing of his wife two of their ten children carry on, and hope to finish this project by 2047. I think it will be difficult without public involvement, something that Korczak and the Sioux wanted to avoid….
These images all were taken in 2010 the fourth image is what the completed image will look like. To convey its scale all four heads on Mount Rushmore would fit into the opening under Crazy Horse arm…
If interested in purchasing any of these images contact me through
1922 The Yankees, who have been sharing the Polo Grounds with the Giants since 1913, begin construction on their own ballpark in the Bronx. The stadium will become known as the ‘House that Ruth Built,’ acknowledging the Babe’s popularity and influence. Visithttp://www.ballparkprints.com see over 25 additional images from 1921 to 1937 the building of Yankee Stadium
On May 12, 1966, four days after the final baseball game played at Sportsman’s Park, Busch Memorial Stadium opened with the St. Louis Cardinals winning 4 -3 in 12 innings over the Atlanta Braves. In 1970 the grass field was replaced with Astro Turf to make the conversion from baseball to football easier.
On May 12, 1966, four days after the final baseball game played at Sportsman’s Park, Busch Memorial Stadium opened with the St. Louis Cardinals winning 4 -3 on a Lou Brock single in 12th inning over the Atlanta Braves. In 1970 the grass field was replaced with Astro Turf to make the conversion from baseball to football easier.
Following the 1902 season, under the new ownership of Frank Farrell and Bill Devery, the American League Baltimore franchise was moved to Manhattan. The team then became known as the New York Highlanders. Their first home ballpark, which was built in six weeks, received its name, Hilltop Park, because it was situated on top of a hill overlooking the Hudson River. It opened on April 30, 1903, with the Highlanders winning 6-2 over Washington. The final game at Hilltop Park is played on October 5, 1912. In 1913 the team began playing in the Polo Grounds and were now known as the New York Yankees. Hilltop Park’s original location was at West 168th Street, Fort Washington Avenue, 165th Street, and Broadway in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. It was demolished in 1914 and is now the site of Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center.
http://www.harlem.org/ click on the link to scan the image for names of the jazz greats in this iconic photograph
Of the first three photographers, I highlighted two I meet and worked with, Ernst Hass and Dan Budnik at Frenchy’s Color Lab in NYC. Frenchy’s and there was a Frenchy who was one of those bigger than life characters he came to New York from France around 1947-48 and started working in the New York as a motorcycle messenger. In 1969 Frenchy opened Frenchy’s Color Lab and it quickly became one of the top two Dye Transfer printing houses in the world.
I graduated from the Germain School of Photography in the spring of 1971 and started working as a studio freelance assistant photographer doing lighting set-ups, loading film, developing film sometimes, printing and whatever else needed to be done in the course of a day that started before 8AM and usually ending late at night for about $20.00 a day. I loved it, and never thought of it has work.
One of the photographers I encountered (1971) was Art Kane someone whose work I admired. That same year 1971 late summer I got a job at Frenchy’s, because the guy in front of me wanted $105 and I accepted $100 per week. It was a life changing and over time will expand. Around 1977 Art Kane walked in, he knew Frenchy and was now looking to get back in the business and get his career on track again. Over the next five years, I would see Art Kane, and we have lunch, and dinners while working together.
Art Kane was originally going to be the first photographer for these weekend blogs but as I read up on him I realized how personal it was to me knowing him as I did. When rereading his New York Times obituary stopped me cold again the same way it did in 1995.
The Who
Young Bob Dylan
1961
Louie Armstrong Life This image one of the few Dye Transfer prints I requested and still have
Three weeks ago on my twitter page ( https://twitter.com/ballparkprints ) I created “The Weekend Photographers Corner.” The first two photographers I selected Ernst Hass, and Dan Budnik
Last Sunday I selected Philippe Halsman 1906 -1979 http://philippehalsman.com/ as this weeks photographer who’s work is amazing, and as fresh today as was when he created in his studio, on location, and the darkroom..
This week while watching Jeopardy April 16, one of the categories was “Staff of Life and the $1600 question:
1954 Philippe Halsman Snapped This Carmen Jones Actress, The First Black Woman On A Life Cover
I was surprised to see his name no even tried to answer the question and I knew I pick was the right one for this weekend
The answer is to the question is one of these images…..
Enjoy, and seek out more of his work, Ernst Hass, Dan Budnik and I hope you join me next week for ??????
BALLPARK PRINTS 
