Hey, it’s a slow Saturday morning. This idea comes from several recent cultural releases: The Beatles music coming available on iTunes (I was listening to Sgt. Pepper while running this morning); an old documentary about the Beatles that TiVo found for us; the recent 30th anniversary of Lennon’s murder; and the well-received new documentary Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story, which features an interview with Koufax (who agreed to appear in the film only when convinced that the story of the Jewish-American love affair with baseball cannot be told without him).
The link? Both are regarded, by many, as the greatest ever at what they did (rock group, left-handed pitcher). Both enjoyed relatively short careers marked by dominance (the Beatles run from 1962-70, Koufax from 1961-66). And both then disappeared overnight* for somewhat analogous reasons (Koufax’s body no longer worked, the Beatles no longer could work together–and I’ll leave out Yoko).
So to what extent have both endured in our minds because their careers were, relatively speaking, like comets. We never saw Koufax struggling as a 35-year-old who had lost something off his fastball. We never heard the inevitable mediocre Beatles album without a single that could capture the public’s ear. We never saw them trying unsuccessfully to adjust to new musical tastes. We never saw them as 65-year-olds, voices shot and bodies ravaged by years of drug use, still trying to strut around the stage (of, course, the Beatles stopped touring for the last four years together, so this may not be fair). And the arguments that either was not the greatest ever always zero-in on that lack of longevity–Koufax did not last as long as Randy Johnson, the Beatles did not last as long as U2.
What we have for both are memories of a relatively fleeting period. And good things get better in our memories over time when there is nothing new or recent to affect that memory.
Anyway, just a thought. OK, back to real work.
* Putting aside whatever the former Beatles did as solo artists or members of other groups, some of which was terrific, some not so much. And put aside the question of if there would have been a reunion (and how many) had Lennon not been killed.
Posted by Howard Wasserman on December 18, 2010 at 10:52 AM
Comments
So this what Cubs fans do in the off season?
Posted by: Ediberto Roman | Dec 20, 2010 10:20:49 PM
Beatles on i-Tunes? What about the town that said NO? Back in the summer of 63 Rolling Stones played a gig at a church hall in Horsham, England for $80. Promoter booked Beatles from Brian Epstein, but they never appeared. Nobody would hire him a hall. Rolling Stones, yes but they didn;t want the Fab Four in their town! That amazing story forms the basis of a fact to fiction novel published in US ‘Tear My Heart’ tells the whole amazing story with romance, blackmail, abuse, love, success and the whole feel of the 60s. Rolling Stones are to this day still the biggest thing to appear in Horsham – the town that said no to the Beatles.
Posted by: Cary Vincent | Dec 20, 2010 4:58:26 AM
Just wanted to say that the director of this film, Peter Miller, is an old college buddy of mine. If you haven’t seen it already, you should.
Posted by: Joseph Slater | Dec 19, 2010 2:40:34 PM
We never heard the inevitable mediocre Beatles album
Well, I think this is disputable, though I guess it depends on what you want to compare them to.
Posted by: Matt | Dec 18, 2010 3:12:10 PM
Howard, is Sandy Koufax the best left-handed pitcher in the history of baseball? For thoughts on the topic, visit this link:
Posted by: Tim Zinnecker | Dec 18, 2010 3:01:09 PM