Happy birthday, 'Morning Edition'

A favorite program, NPR's "Morning Edition," turns 34 today.

No, I wasn't listening when Bob Edwards began the program on Nov. 5, 1979.

But I listened later. Still do. Awoke this morning at 5 a.m. with a stomach ache and listened to the program awhile before drifting off to dream for a couple more hours.

I still love the show -- I am an NPR junkie -- but I miss Edwards.

It was his voice I heard on Sept. 11, 2001, as I drove to work on the Tuesday morning none of us will ever forget.

And I remember the tail end of his four-minute Friday morning chats with the legendary Red Barber. Funny thing is the ol' Redhead wanted to talk about everything but baseball, mostly the camellias in Tallahassee.

Listen to a selection of those memorable broadcasts here. Edwards later wrote a charming book about his banter with Barber. He can still be heard on his own show on Sirius/XM.

I listen to NPR's afternoon show "All Things Considered" almost each weekday. The local segments are hosted on WUOT-FM by my friend Brandon Hollingsworth.

And I'll usually dial up other favorite programs produced by either NPR or PRI, including "Fresh Air" at noon daily, "Wait..Wait...Don't Tell Me!" on Saturdays and, of course, the old favorite "A Prairie Home Companion."

Friday nights haven't been the same since Marion McPartland's death. Her "Piano Jazz" kept me company on drives home from Farragut.

I guess it says something about me that my two favorite media are newspapers and radio. Old habits die hard, especially for an old soul.

Happy birthday, "Morning Edition."

Oh, how I love this grand ol' game

I love this game, this national game, this baseball.

Oh, how I love it.

Here's one of its quirks. How many times have you seen a player make an outstanding defensive play to end a half-inning only to come up to bat in the following frame?

That just happened in San Diego, to Dodgers shortstop Dee Gordon. He made an amazing play for the third out, one that makes you dance a joy jig. Then he led off the top of the fifth. Oh, yeah. He just hit a triple.

Amazing.

I'm listening to velvet-voiced Vin Scully, octogenarian, master of his craft. Nobody, and I mean nobody, compares to Vinnie. He's been with the Dodgers since Brooklyn and Red Barber and he is a national treasure. I told some folks earlier I could listen to him read names out of a phone book. He's forgotten more about this grand ol' game than most of us will ever know. And I love it when he throws in tidbits about Broadway plays and such during his broadcast.

Today is my birthday, Christmas, New Year's and Fourth of July rolled into one. Opening Day. Hurray!

I watched Al Kaline throw out the first pitch in Detroit. "Field of Dreams" and all that. Yeah, I believe it. Yeah, I got misty-eyed. Sue me.

You can have your football, your hoops, your soccer, your hockey. Whatever you love is fine. I like most of it, too.

But baseball is my balm.

Oh, how I love it so.