centerfield maz

People may laugh when they hear a Monkees concert? But The Monkees are probably the most under rated, disrespected rock & roll band of all time . Many like me grew up with their TV show in the early seventies (second generation in reruns). In 1967 the Monkees TV show was groundbreaking, in the style of the Beatles; A Hard Day’s Night comedy /rock, the Monkees conquered the television market. Their show broke into the main stream, on at prime time (7:30 PM) the so called “younger generation” hit main stream America. They also introduced “the romp”; which is what developed into music videos. Each week a Monkees song would be played over a montage comedy skit or a scene where they performed the song live. Most of the rock groups & hipsters of that time loved & respected what the Monkees did for the generation. As for the music, their first four albums went to number one, The Monkees (October 1966) & More of the Monkees (January 1967) went five times platinum. He...

It is a sad day today in music & in our lives as we lost a friend, "the Big Man" Clarence Clemons of the E Street Band has passed away after complications from a stroke he suffered in Florida last week. Clarence Anicholas Clemons Jr. was born on January 11, 1942 in Norfolk Virgina. He became intrested in gospel music being a Southern Baptist as well as King Curtis & his work with the Coasters. He attended Maryland State College on a musical scholarship. He played football & was a team mate of Emerson Boozer. His football career was cut short by a serious car accident at a time when the Cleveland Browns were showing interest in drafting him. Clemons eventually married & moved to New Jersey. Throughout the sixties he worked in Newark, New Jersey as a counsellor for emotionally disturbed children. Clemons joined various bands & was playing with a popular Jersey Shore guy named Norman Seldin. One night while playing at the Wonder Bar in Asbury Park he le...

This is an updated post, as Danny himself contacted centerfieldmaz with a correction to the photo that was previously used. Danny said he was one of three bat boys that season & attatched some correct photos of himself. Thanks for the update & thanks for reading Danny............ Daniel Raphael Garcia was born April 29, 1954 in Brooklyn, New York. He was raised in Queens & attended Baruch College studying psychology. He played baseball & somewhere along the line got a chance to work for the New York Mets. In 1973 he was one of three Mets bat boys the N.L champions used. The 19 year old kid from Queens got a chance to sit in the same dug out as Tom Seaver, Willie Mays, Bud Harrelson, Tug McGraw, Rusty Staub & the rest of the legendary squad. He was the kid with the  semi afro sprouting from under his blue Mets cap. After the season, he went to play for the Alaska Gold Panners, & in 1975 was drafted by the Kansas City Royals, in the eleventh r...

It was great to have a chance to see a big act like Chicago in the intimate setting of the theater in the round at Westbury Music Fair, now known as the NYCB Theater at Westbury. Sitting in great sixth row seats, we had a real close up & personal view of the band. They were loose, joking around, even talking to each other during the songs. It was certainly a relaxed show for them even though they were bunched up together on the small stage & had the crowd right on top of them. As they walked down the ramp to the stage they shook hands & high fived the audience. On stage they were very personal posing for the camera phones, pointing to people in the audience, joking around & hamming it up. The band consists of four original founding members; Robert Lamm (vocals, keyboards & guitar on Beginnings) as well as the now legendary horn section; James Pankow (Trombone, percussion) Lee Loughnane (trumpet) and Walter Parazaider (saxophone, flute). Jason Scheff (bass, ...

As a young die hard baseball fan I only knew of Harmon Killebrew from the All Star Game & the occasional appearance on the Game of the Week. He came to life for me on his baseball cards, both in his pictures on the fromt & his big stats on the back. I heard & read how he was one of the most feared hitters in the American League. Being in New York I was exposed to AL baseball as well so would catch a glimpse of him when he played the AL New York club. He was always known as a good guy, a religious man who never drank or smoked. Harmon Killebrew was a baseball giant from the great days of my youth & always a favorite America Leaguer for me. Now at the time of his passing I would like to pay him tribute: Harmon Clayton Killebrew was born on June 29, 1936 in Payette, Idaho. He is only one of 26 MLB players to be born in the state of Idaho. Killebrew was a 12 letter man at various sports in high school, including All American Quarterback. While attending the College of Id...