Last week I finally got to play with my son David and my grandson Jackson, all together in a row, on the Gotham Batmen softball team (see photo). It's been a long long time coming and I can truly say that it was one of the greatest moments of my life!Can you imagine that Jackson hit a long homerun which I caught on video tape, David got the game en …
The name Aaron is a most significant one in history.Aaron was the older brother of Moses and his partner in all of his accomplishments. In Hebrew the meaning of Aaron is lofty; exalted; high mountain. The second name (first until recently) in all of baseball history in the baseball encyclopedia is Hank Aaron, one of the very greatest players ever t …
When I was young my first job out of law school was as an investigator for the National Labor Relations Board and one of my first cases involved the Long Island Press against which an Unfair Labor Practice Charge had been filed. My job was to interview the Long Island Press Editor David Starr, present him with the allegations, record his responses …
"Just do it" is the iconic Nike slogan and to me it is a very compelling and profound mantra. Every day I say it to myself (out loud) before I start my morning exercise regimen. It would be so easy to take a day off, but not if you tell yourself to "just do it". Nike was really onto something!Do you know the derivation of the slogan?
Since I was young I always liked to "take pictures". As such, we have walls of photo albums and other walls covered with "blowups". With the advent of the digital age and the iPhone camera, if anything, I have upped my game. I believe that a key secret to taking memorable photographs is being in the moment, seeing a shot, and whipping out my iPho …
Since I was young I always liked to "take pictures". As such, we have walls of photo albums and other walls covered with "blowups". With the advent of the digital age and the iPhone camera, if anything, I have upped my game. I believe that a key secret to taking memorable photographs is being in the moment, seeing a shot, and whipping out my iPho …
According to the Gotham website, I have composed, to date, 284 Friday With Fred blogs for Gotham.In my dreams, they would make an interesting coffee table book, but for now I strive to continue fulfilling the creative task. At present, Gotham has seven daily Bloggers: starting with Corey on Sunday (a "tough beat" according to the previous Sunday bl …
Last week our telephone dial tone disappeared. My first reaction was to call the phone company (Verizon) and ask for a repair man. However, I could not find the telephone repair number on the telephone bill or in the Yellow Pages for Verizon. There was nothing else to do but resort to Google and I did so and I found a link for Verizon repair. I cl …
Last Friday the Batmen lost our season opening game 8 to 6. What's worse is that I walked someone with the bases-loaded and two outs to cost us the game. I have carried that loss and that misstep with me all week and it haunts me, yet motivates me to do better in tonight's game. I try to console myself with the thought that I should be appreciati …
One of the pleasures (rights) of being a grandparent is indulging (spoiling) the grandkids. Just such an occasion occurred this past Sunday when we accompanied my son Alex and his son Shawn to the Grasshoppers Comics store in East Williston. We arrived when it opened at noon and had the luxury of being the first and only customers. Our son Alex ha …
President Clinton authorized the appointment of a special prosecutor in early 1994 concerning the Whitewater matter and in August 1994, the original special prosecutor was replaced by Kenneth Starr. In the fall of 1997, three years after the investigation started, Special Prosecutor Starr made an impeachment referral to Congress concerning the Moni …
This blog is dedicated to Paul Napolitano who invited me to be his guest at the Yankee home opener this past Monday. Like a little boy, Sunday night, I was all excited in anticipation, but Mother Nature conspired to frustrate me as there was an unusually heavy Spring snowstorm in the night. When I awoke Monday I found that everything was blanketed …
In these politically charged times I am amazed at the number of people who I truly like and respect who are diametrically opposed to my political point of view. I think I have my feet on the ground and have a balanced point of view and am willing to listen to both sides. However, when I listen to some of my opposing view good friends I question m …
Forgetting money, everything has an inherent tangible value (more or less to each person and in differing situations or contexts). For example, when we visited Cuba in 2016 I brought little paper American flags which I saved after their use for decorations on the Fourth of July and inexpensive white Rawlings baseballs. Anticipating its unique …
When I vacation in Key West I have a regular Friday night routine of sitting on a bench across the street from the weekly "Sound Check" at Key West's iconic rock n' roll Green Parrot venue. I've come to consider the bench, fronting the Court House Deli, to be the epicenter of Key West culture and humanity. There, no one has a label or preconce …
Fridays With Fred
A perfect way to send you into your weekend