Have you ever lashed out and felt better about things later? Perhaps.
Wonder how that Phillies fan felt when she chased down that homerun ball. Likely you saw it. Happened Sept. 5 in Miami. The ball landed in front of this woman, surrounding fans pounced, as fans are expected to, and a father came up with it and handed it to his young son sitting down the aisle.
The basic etiquette of a ballpark is that a bouncing ball belongs to the first person to snag it. Been that way forever.
Well, the Phillies fan felt the sort of rage you feel when someone burns the flag. She marched over and demanded the ball. The father, stunned by her audaciousness, and not wanting a scene, took the high road and handed it over.
The woman seemed quite pleased with herself.
Well, justice prevailed. Fans lashed out at the nervy woman, to a ridiculous degree. The Phillies made nice by gifting the father and son a clubhouse visit and various swag.
For a moment, you felt soothed over the way things worked out.
As a quasi-sportswriter, I have spent half my life in stadiums, usually out of the press box, the absolute worst place to watch a ballgame. I always preferred the stands, amid the vibrato of a game, feeling the swell of the crowd when a rally is brewing.
In a crowded stadium, you feel the hoofbeats of the game. There is a slight sense of anarchy to the place, as if a good party could suddenly go bad. But it rarely does.
I have seen the most remarkable kindness in packed stadiums, with strangers handing over foul balls to my kids, with strangers treating them to merch from the gift store. Sure, I have cute kids. But not that cute. They were just kids, sitting quietly, enjoying the game. And somebody noticed.
How grand is that?
There is the presumption, at least among me and my cohorts, that most people will do the decent thing at the right moment a majority of the time. It is the basic tenant of a functional society.
My granddaughter, Cakes, earned praise from her pre-school teacher recently for comforting a frightened classmate at the beginning of the fall term. The other child felt abandoned at dropoff, and Cakes spied her discomfort from across the school yard. Cakes approached her with a beetle she’d been letting crawl up her arm.
“Hey, want to hold this beetle?”
It’s tough to extrapolate, based on this one beetle, based on this one empathetic 4-year-old, too much about humankind. Perhaps it was an aberration, for we all know schoolyards can be tough places, as tough as board rooms, as unforgiving as criminal court.
But for a moment, this teacher wrote, a little girl spied another little girl in desperate need of a pal.
And Cakes became that pal.
Costs nothing to be kind. Yet, it’s also sort of priceless, right?
Meanwhile, I’m kind of grieving for my youth today. Robert Redford is gone, and I can’t quite believe it. The swaggery cowboy, the quippy sidekick, the poster boy for the golden age of American movies.
Almost feels like a death in the family.
He was the movie star of my generation, the sunny product of Santa Monica, burnished by the California sun.
I don’t know any actor who made so many different types of excellent movies: Butch Cassidy, The Way We Were, Downhill Racer, The Sting, The Natural, The Great Gatsby, Three Days of the Condor, Jeremiah Johnson, All the Presidents Men.
That scene outside the Plaza Hotel at the end of “The Way We Were” is possibly the most-haunting, heartbreaking moment in movie history.
The way she flips his hair, the way he grabs her wrist.
From all accounts, Barbra Streisand fell in love with him during the making of that movie. America sure did. The two of them were on every billboard. The theme song played in a loop on the radio, once every 15 minutes.
He seemed to attract women without even trying, which is a gift, I suppose, though it could kind of ruin you too.
Redford never seemed ruined. Not by fame. Not by the adoration. He didn’t crave it. But he didn’t whine about it either.
I remember at a college football game in the mid-’70s, there was a rumor that he was on the sidelines and the young college women in the stands went frothy in the mouth that he might be there. It was like when a mackerel swims into a school of tarpon.
“What am I, chopped liver?” I asked.
In comparison, yes.
Redford’s legacy is broad and humbling. It is a whole lot of classic movies, an embrace of the American West, his movie festival and institute.
For all time, he’ll be our Gatsby. He’ll also be the comeback kid blasting the stadium lights into sparky smithereens.
If there’s a metaphor for how Redford lived, that was it, turning the intrusive Hollywood spotlight into his own incredible fireworks show.
RIP, Roy Hobbs.
“Costs nothing to be kind. Yet, it’s also sort of priceless, right?” Kinda like today’s column I’d say. Well done maestro..
Thanks Jeff
Thank you for your tribute to Robert Redford. He was truly an every man’s actor — or maybe an every woman”s actor. I kind of grew up watching Robert Redford on the big screen. “All the President’s Men” helped me choose j-school for graduate studies — quite a switch from being an undergrad art major.
Kindness is underrated. Kudos to Cakes for reaching out to her classmate in distress.
What do Cakes and Redford have in common….besides undeniable beauty and charisma? Both are/were kind and caring about things outside of themselves. Thank you for tying them together in such an important life lesson, beautifully told, as usual. Beauty and beetles. Kindness and charisma. Great way to start my Hump Day. Thanks.
Tiger Stadium 1968. Sitting down the left field line, we got there early to see batting practice. Willie Horton catches a ball and is running into the dugout. “Willie!!” I yelled with my mitt out. He looks and tosses the ball right to me. A man jumps in front of me and grabs the ball that was meant for me. 57 years ago, and it still haunts me.
That’s crappy. That’s ballparks. I liked old Tiger Stadium. It had some grit.
What a great column. Kindness and baseball! Two days after Roberto Clemente Day. “Butch, I can’t swim.” “Don’t worry, the fall will probably kill you.” From memory and probably not exact but one of my favorite movie lines – or two I guess. He was a beach kid made good.
Would your wife sleep with Robert Redford for a million bucks? I’m just lucky that she doesn’t have a million bucks. 🥁
We lost the guy that was everything. 😢
“Just keep thinkin’ Butch. That’s what you’re good at”
Robert Redford every man’s favorite LA guy!
He might have been born in Santa Monica, but he went to Van Nuys HS in the San Fernando Valley where I assume he was raised.
He was an LA guy through and through — nonconformist, bit of a renegade with a love for the outdoors. He represented us well, though he would cringe at the thought that he needed to represent anyone other than himself.
You’re so right! I can’t think of any actors that are like him. None! Arrogant most of them. I got hit by foul ball on my back when I bent over to avoid getting hit. Do you think I got the ball?! Some guy(related to that woman) got it and waved proudly! So proud of little Cakes❤️
I have enjoyed your writing from afar for a long time. This one…. One of the experiences that made my wife and I realize there might be real love in the works was seeing “The Way We Were”. Yes, we were sappy college kids. And having spent time in all three, your line comparing school yards, board rooms and criminal courts, is just too damn apt. Thank you for enriching my life countless times
What a nice note, Ray. Thanks. Seems like we don’t have much romance anymore. But I sense a comeback.
Robert Redford was my first crush. I adored him not just for the blond hair & blue eyes, but his unwavering loyalty to Lola and their children, his commitment to the environment, founding Sundance, and one solid man filled with integrity and kindness. He gave me hope. His films filled me with joy & fascination. Hats off to Cakes for seizing the moment.
Thank you Chris for the Redford tribute. I have felt so sad…the way we were….so dashing. Cakes has it right, per usual. Grandchildren are the gift of a lifetime: enjoy
The point of view, the rare idiosyncratic easy grace. Through your prose, i see the Redford in you. So does Suzanne. To my mind, this is your finest writing. Ahhhh, the “vibrato” and “hoof beats” of the game—you’ve watched the same way I always have, almost like a child, feeling things out—a rare mature trait; the hyperbola on the roof, or up near it.
And kindness, that feeling going both inside and out, a need seldom asked for directly yet as innately human—and as beautiful—as experience….and you’ve tied it all together and brought it down and home to Cake’s instinctive act, which spoke of her inner dialog and who she is and is becoming. Nobody is doing this any better. In this time and place you should be syndicated to the heavens. Stay in the groove. Like a fine hitter on a streak; like the keening yet luxuriously expanding pleasure of a high arcing drive headed for the stadium lights; like Roy Hobbs; like your writing—beautiful. The pictures are like stars in the firmament of the prose.
Too Kind, Mr. Gale. As I try to remind everyone, I’m just the stenographer. The world provides the beauty. I merely caption it.
Being kind costs nothing. A smile, help with groceries, something from the top shelf where only a tall person can reach, an arm at a crosswalk. Plus, you will feel good about yourself the rest of the day for those few moments. I am glad she shared her beetle. Gives me hope, you know?
Well said!
well done ms. cakes ! !
and 2 words for Redford: Smolder On !
Well, by my unofficial count, this is your 231st consecutive awesome recounting of your view of the world – both past and present. And your reminder (Costs nothing to be kind. Yet, it’s also sort of priceless, right?), should always bring a thoughtful moment to everyone. Thank you for the gift of your thoughts and the talent that you have in presenting them.
The Natural, soaring musical score by Randy Newman. Redford was awesome and your “RIP Roy Hobbs” was a brilliant sign off. Thanks Chris.
YES! In the top 3 all-time baseball movies. There goes Roy Hobbs. THe best there ever was.
I saw him several years ago at a hotel in Bel Air — having had lunch — this gorgeous man walked in and everything stopped! I was a bit surprised tho as he projected as a tall guy………not the case. Who cares, he was so gifted and such a decent fella — RIP! Cakes takes the prize for her kindness…….wonder if the insect was a “rolly poly”??
Sweet Cakes!
Admittedly difficult to make a complete list of Robert Redford’s all-timers, but what was Out Of Africa — chopped liver?
Confession: Never saw it. On my list.
I just watched what I believe is Robert Redford’s last movie, Our Souls at Night, a 2017 movie (now on Netflix) with Jane Fonda and Iain Armitage. It’s a slow, quiet movie about two long-time neighbors who are lonely after losing their spouses. They have crazy on-screen chemistry. After making five movies, the first when they were very young, you can feel the connection between them! I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially because Robert Redford never lost that “thing” he has to make women weak in the knees!!!
And Iain is ADORABLE!!!
Today I watched Barefoot in the Park, and I loved it, too! They were both so young!
Weren’t they great in that? When she insists that he give her a proper kiss! One of my favorite Neil Simon movies.