"FAIR IS FOUL AND FOUL IS FAIR"

by Richard C. Jaffeson

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                           F A M E   F O R U M 

                           N E W S L E T T E R

                   N A T I O N A L   W O M E N 'S
          B A S E B A L L   H A L L   O F   F A M E

                    National Syndicated Column
                       (contents are protected)
   Copyrights(c), NWB Hall of Fame, 1998-2004
TXU877085, TXU959430, TXU973266, TXU013972,
TXU986753, TXU949885, TXU004037, TXU022893,
TXU026161, TXU047111, TXU050230, TXU151901.
                          Issue Number 00181

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Volume V, Number 10                   Publisher and Author
April 9, 2002                                      Richard C. Jaffeson
Washington, DC                             HallFame@usa.com

                 http://www.eteamz.com/hallfame
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COLUMN:  FAIR IS FOUL AND FOUL IS FAIR
                    by Richard C. Jaffeson


Inside a dark misty cavern partially recessed into a hillside
of central Maryland, from the west in the background filling
an otherwise black starless sky there were repeated flashes of
lightening striking the cold night air like brilliant silver
branches of broken gothic trees followed by distant rolling
thunder drumming its long low vibrating song down upon this
trembling naked earth, three wiccans spoke...


"Double, double, toil, and trouble,
fire burn, and cauldron bubble.
At four corners of this burkitt place,
we mix a brew for thou curse erase."

"One old cat, two old cats, we are three,
add no more this game called thee.
Thrice aloud the bowed boxman whines,
Gonfalon cries, 'Tis time, tis time!'"

"Round the cauldron horn thee doth go,
into the fungo circle we throw..."

"Splinter of mace from ash not oak,
sultan swats and one called poke.
Busted thumb smoked by woods hand,
rosin sweat through clemens gland.
Hottest sting from a thumper bat,
goat's beard off the fisker mask."

"Round the cauldron horn thee doth go,
into the brimy steam we throw..."

"Stitched hide of horse and hair,
moldy orchard chips from past year.
Nine tail feathers of the oriole,
one black raven alone and cold.
Wounded duck, pigeon, and dying quail,
from on the pond to pot they do sail."

"Round the cauldron horn thee doth go,
into the boil and bake we throw..."

"From blackburne's secret mud arise,
high, sacrifice, shag, and infield flies.
Sweated reddish band with maple leaves,
a bloodied wrap from thy wounded knee.
A ghostly chorus of 'My Lady Friends,'
our refrain replaces to broadway send."

"All seeth thou first in charmed pot,
work thy magic while still white hot.
Fan and flames will sing this rhyme,
Gonfalon shouts, 'Tis time, tis time!'"

"Now thick the gruel is a ready cure,
cool it by your true one's blood pure.
When the charm is firm and fixed,
it will then break your dreaded curse."

"Heed these our words, listen more,
to wrest the soul of your King George.
Seize his birthright enlist the pens,
of Edgar and Henry to make amends."

"Heed these our words a wiccans' spell,
visit that safe harbor they knew well.
Kindred spirit will bring him home,
so-called curse to rest his bones."

"Heed these our words, chant this day,
there be one more merrylander to save.
For also the keye is in these parts,
Frazee first played his words to start."

"On the week opened the grand hub gate,
they shall not share titanic's fate.
Find and follow, our names and words,
by noon finale raise dreaded curse,"

"For a charm to break this trouble,
it like a dream doth boil and bubble.
And, now about this hot cauldron sing,
wiccans and friends join the webring."

"Our tasks neigh disposed this night,
to vanish in dawn's early light.
Our work done well and dance sublime,
Gonfalon calls, 'Tis time, tis time!'"


As the daylight approached, three wiccans vanished in an instant
blink of an eye, and all that remained was a thin curling wisp of
white smoke where once the cauldron fire burned brightly.  But,
two mortals remained, the ones that witnessed this scene unfold,
and only they learned the secrets that were told.

"Look, they're gone!  You said this was going to be unusual.
It was more than that, and I can see why you invited me along.
No one would do this by themselves.  What does this mean?"

"Shhh, quiet sweet Sara, my precious one, there's still magic
in the misty air.  Sense it!  Feel it!  Breath slowly and hold
it deeply inside, fill your lips and lungs with their scent,
and open your mind to the words."

The stillness and silence remained for several moments, while
the sun quietly began its daily rounds to lighten the sky and
warm the cool morning air, but the spell was not broken.

"Sara, I said I would attempt to explain this scene once it
finished, and now is the time.  Let's try to determine what
the words in the chant represent, and what we have to do."

Looking back in surprise, Sara replied, "What do you mean 'we?'
What do 'we' have to do?"

"The wiccans gave us the words to break a so-called curse that
began long ago in 1920.  Don't worry, because I recorded what
was said, but we have to act quickly to interpret their mystery
and accomplish all the tasks by noon today."

I continued and summarized, "In heeding the wiccans' words,
they mentioned King George, and the pens of Edgar and Henry.
These are all 'merrylanders,' so the curse must be broken in
this state regardless of how it affects another place."

"OK, George is easy," I determined, "that's our Babe Ruth,
who was born and raised in Baltimore.  It's his curse we have
to break, and it's not just for the Red Sox's sake.  It's his
name we have to clear.  Ruth is buried in Hawthorne, NY, and
not here.  We must visit his birthplace on Emory Street near
Camden Yards, repeat the wiccans' chant, and add any other
remarks that are significant."

"As for Edgar's pen," I also knew that, "there is only one
Mr. Poe who wrote the Raven in 1845.  They even named the
football team after his most famous poem.  To cover Poe,
we'll visit Westminster Burying Ground, and that's also
downtown at Fayette and Greene Streets towards the harbor."

"But, who is Henry?" I asked.

"I know that," Sara chimed in, "I was named after his wife.
He preferred 'H.L.,' it stands for Henry Louis, and he was
very prolific with a pen, --Mencken.  In 1956, they finally
placed him in Loudon Park Cemetery on Frederick Street also
in downtown Baltimore."

"There is one more," Sara concluded, "the wiccans mentioned
'keye,' that has to be Francis Scott Key, and he lived north
of here near Keysville, MD.  Where else?  He was buried in
Frederick at Mount Olivet Cemetery.  And, we can visit that
site on the way in to Baltimore."

"You're right, Sara!  And, Harry Frazee, who sold Ruth to
the Yankees in January 1920, was the first owner to have
'The Star Spangled Banner' played at the start of a game
in September 1918.  Babe Ruth was a Red Sox at the time.
This must include Key.  This is all coming together!"

"At each location, we must repeat the wiccans' chant, and
recite a significant quote about each person.  We'll take
them in chronological order, --Key, Poe, and Mencken; and
conclude with Ruth.  Lets go, daylight is burning!"

In fifteen minutes, they arrived in Frederick and parked
at Mount Olivet Cemetery.  Key's statue can be prominently
seen from the gate.

Francis Scott Key (1779-1843), Mount Olivet Cemetery Gate
See Photo Pages: http:www.eteamz.com/hallfame/albums


The wiccans' chant was recited along with all four stanzas
of "The Star Spangled Banner," which are inscribed at the
base of the Francis Scott Key statue.

Next there was a thirty minute drive to Baltimore on I-70
straight as an arrow towards the city, and then on US-40
into downtown, which provided time for more conversation.

"Tell me about this curse.  What is it?  When and where
did it start?"  Sara inquired as we drove.

"It was on January 5, 1920," I began, "that Harry Frazee
sold Babe Ruth's contract to Colonel Ruppert of the Yankees
for $125,000 in cash and a $300,000 loan for a mortgage on
Fenway Park.  Ruth's first Yankee game was April 14, 1920.
Up to then, Boston won every World Series they had been in,
1903, 1912, 1915, 1916, and 1918.  But, afterwards the team
lost the seventh game of every World Series in which they
subsequently played.  And, that's the so-called curse."


Boston Red Sox World Series Appearances
Year   Opponent Games   Boston   Games

1903    Pirates      3          Pilgrims     5  (Red Sox)
1912    Giants       3          Red Sox   4
1915    Phillies      1          Red Sox   4
1916    Dodgers   1          Red Sox   4
1918    Cubs        2          Red Sox   4

1946   Cardinals  4          Red Sox    3
1967   Cardinals  4          Red Sox    3
1975   Reds        4           Red Sox   3
1986   Mets        4          Red Sox    3


"After the 1986 World Series with the Mets, George Vecsey
with the New York Times began his column with the title,
'The Red Sox Have Babe Ruth Curse.'  Then Boston Globe
columnist, Dan Shaughnessy, answered this with his book,
'The Curse of the Bambino,' published in 1990.  The text
is more like a rambling Red Sox history and explanation,
but the 'curse' phrase became institutionalized, similar
to a bad habit, and they did it to themselves.  We'll
break that curse, if it does exist."

"What did he do with the money?" Sara inquired.

"Who?  Oh, you mean Frazee, right?!  Yes, that certainly
was a lot of cash in 1920."  I responded.  "He needed
the funds to produce Broadway plays, and one was called,
'My Lady Friends.'  This was also during Prohibition and
the 'Roaring Twenties,' money went fast."

"But, back to the Red Sox team.  Since 1903, there have
been 97 World Series, and only two years they did not
occur in 1904 and 1994.  Boston was in 9 World Series,
9% of them, and they were successful in 5, that's .556,
which is a respectable percentage in baseball."

"Yeah, that's better than our Senators," Sara reflected,
"They won only 1 World Series, and were in 3 from 1903
through 1971, that's 4% during those years.  They were
saddled with the phrase, 'First in War, First in Peace,
and Last in the American League,' which wasn't correct
or fair.  Charley Dryden of the San Francisco Chronicle
tagged the Senators with that phrase many years ago."

"The major hurdle in the American League is New York.
There's nothing wrong with Boston, but Yankee teams
have been in 37 of 97 World Series, 38% of the games,
and they won 25, that's an amazing .676."

Our trip continued, we were soon approaching downtown.
"OK, precious one, time is going fast.  There's the
turn for Greene Street.  Let's find those Poe bones!"

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), Westminster Burying Ground
See Photo Pages: http:www.eteamz.com/hallfame/albums


"Gee, look at that marker.  He didn't even reach age 50.
What is this, 'Hic Tandem Felicis Conduntur Reliquae?'"

"It's in Latin, Sara.  Poe had a sad life, and he drank
excessively.  The inscription reads, 'Here, at last,
he is happy.'  And, that'll cover his quote, now let's
recite the wiccans' chant and keep moving.  This place
is creepy.  Mencken is next at 3801 Frederick Avenue."

H.L. Mencken (1880-1956), Loudon Park Cemetery
See Photo Pages: http:www.eteamz.com/hallfame/albums


"I know a lot about Mencken," Sara remarked, "but he
wrote so much, what should we recite?"

"Anything favorite?" I asked.

"Well, there is the 'Mencken Creed,' but it's lengthily.
Let's do the chant, and I'll read his epitaph, which is,
'If after I depart this vale you ever remember me and
have thought to please my ghost, forgive some sinner,
and wink your eye at some lonely girl.'"

"Is that it?!" I inquired.

"He wasn't very romantic or sentimental," Sara replied.

"And, now we can race to homeplate and Ruth's old abode
on 216 Emory Street."  We turned towards Camden Yards.

George Herman "Babe" Ruth (1895-1948)
Gate of Heaven, Hawthorne, NY, and
Babe Ruth Home and Museum, Baltimore, MD
See Photo Pages: http:www.eteamz.com/hallfame/albums


"This will complete our tasks, sweet Sara, with one final
wiccans' chant, and we can conclude with Spellman's words
found on Ruth's headstone, 'May The Divine Spirit That
Animated Babe Ruth to Win the Crucial Game of Life Inspire
the Youth of America.'"

"Certainly, a nice sentiment, lasting tribute, and note
of encouragement.  These are the thoughts that should be
associated with his name!"

"Do you think this will work?"  Sara inquired, "You know,
what we've done, our visits to these sites and our chants?"

"Maybe so, but it's interesting that the last Red Sox to
see Babe Ruth hit a homerun passed away on March 27 in
Greensboro, NC.  Mace Brown was 92, and spent four decades
in baseball as a pitcher, coach, and scout.  He saw it all,
walked the miles, and his last request was to be buried in
a Red Sox uniform.  The final witness is gone."

"We have done what the wiccans instructed.  Beyond that,
the spirit of Babe Ruth represents baseball, his lively
expressions and exceptional accomplishments at homeplate
can be seen in photographs and newsreels.  His image and
legend cannot be diminished through a mere recent phrase,
for his spirit will supersede that, as will some future
Red Sox team achieve success in the World Series."

"Adage adieu when winged victory shines,
Gonfalon shouts, 'Tis time, tis time!'"

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  NATIONAL WOMEN'S BASEBALL HALL OF FAME
             Richard C. Jaffeson, Executive Director
     PO Box 15282, Chevy Chase, Maryland  20825

                           HallFame@USA.com
                  http://www.eteamz.com/hallfame

         "National Women's Baseball Hall of Fame"
         is a registered trade name with the State
         of Maryland.  MD672265, October 19, 1998.

         Programs, articles, and contents presented
         herein are protected under provisions of the
         U.S. Copyright Office, Library of Congress.
         Fame Forum registrations are listed below:

TXU877085, TXU959430, TXU973266, TXU013972,
TXU986753, TXU949885, TXU004037, TXU022893,
 TXU026161, TXU047111, TXU050230, TXU151901.

       Copyrights(c), NWB Hall of Fame, 1998-2004
___________________________________________