Meeting Videos 2024 - Y's Men of Westport / Weston

Orin Grossman – World -renowned professor, musical interpreter and performer talks & plays Gershwin and Ellington.

Ed Hynes – British Raid on Danbury

Jeffrey Mayer – A Case for the Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln

Barry Kleinbort and Kim Maresca
Lyricist Barry Kleinbort and musical theater star Kim Maresca discussed and demonstrated their creativity in writing, composing and performing music theater.

Sports Writer and Author Kostya Kennedy – Jackie Robinson

Kelly Franco Throop talks Great Baseball Rivalries

The Lady Talks Baseball (by Roy Fuchs)

Last Thursday morning Kelley Franco Throop offered Y’s Men a bit of her substantial expertise on a subject most of us know well — baseball. In the real-world Ms. Throop is a practicing attorney. For this morning, she was our baseball maven. Rivalries are what make the game so compelling — the Yankee-Giants, Giants-Dodgers, and the one many of us grew up with, Red Sox-Yankees. She called the Red Sox-Yankees the “greatest of baseball lore.” No doubt! Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1919 to finance the musical No, No, Nanette, and brought on The Curse of the Bambino that lasted until 2004. 1941 became “A rivalry within a rivalry,” with Joe DiMaggio hitting in 56 straight games, while Williams hit .406. Another, the more “more refined” Giants against “Dem Bums,” which included the 1951 pennant race that came down to the last day of the season and forced a three-game playoff ending in Russ Hodges calling Bobby Thomson’s home run: “The Giants win the pennant!!!”

The Cubs-Cardinals, led by Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa, built their rivalry on home run duels, including in 1998, when McGuire hit 70 home runs, and Sosa 66. Kelley noted the Reds vs. the Pirates, an iconic 1970s rivalry that featured Roberto Clemente vs. Big Red Machine, and the 1972 League Championship Series that preceded Clemente’s death months later in a plane crash.

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