Chapter 36: C-4

“Ain’t gonna need this house no longer
I’m getting ready to meet the Saints
When the Saints go marching in
When the Saints go marching in, go marching in
Oh Lord I want to be in that number
When the Saints go marching in

This old house once knew my children
This old house once knew my wife
This old house was home & shelter as we fought the storms of life
This old house once rang with laughter
This old house heard many shouts
Now she trembles in the darkness when the lightnin’ walks about

Ain’t gonna need this house no longer
Ain’t gonna need this house no more
Ain’t got time to fix the shingles
Ain’t got time to fix the floor
Ain’t got time to oil the hinges
Nor to mend the window pane
Ain’t gonna need this house no longer
I’m getting ready to meet the saints

This old house is getting shaky
This old house is getting old
This old house lets in the rain &
This old house lets in the cold
On my knees I’m getting chilly
But I feel no fear or pain
‘Cause I see an angel peeking through
A broken window pane

Ain’t gonna need this house no longer
Ain’t gonna need this house no more
Ain’t got time to fix the shingles
Ain’t got time to fix the floor
Ain’t got time to oil the hinges
Nor to mend the window pane
Ain’t gonna need this house no longer
I’m getting ready to meet the saints

Now my old hound dog lies asleeping
He don’t know I’m gonna leave
Else he’d wake up by the fireplace
And he’d sit there, howl and grieve
But my hunting days are over
I ain’t gonna hunt the ‘coon no more
Gabriel done brought in chariot
When the wind blew down the door

Ain’t gonna need this house no longer
Ain’t gonna need this house no more
Ain’t got time to fix the shingles
Ain’t got time to fix the floor
Ain’t got time to oil the hinges
Nor to mend the window pane
Ain’t gonna need this house no longer
I’m getting ready to meet the saints”

This Old House
By Hovie Lister & the Statesmen

Tue, Jul 14, 1970

Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger & Arlo Guthrie, Day 1 of 6 @ RCMH, 8pm.

1970 MLB All-Star Game, at the Brand New, Riverfront Stadium in Cincy. It had Officially Opened just 2 Weeks before. It was nice & new, but fuk me if it didn’t have an AstroTurf Field, which was basically Outdoor Carpet over Concrete, w/o much Padding. Jim McMahon, of the Chicago Bears, blames the constant Banging of the back of his head against AstroTurf, as he was Tackled, over & over & over, for his TBI, Traumatic Brain Injury.

As Ralf, I heard Jim being Interviewed, just after Junior Seau committed suicide in 2012. He talked of thoughts of suicide him, lashing out at his Family & not being able to stop, even though he hated doing so.

He still lived in the Chicago area, but more than once, he was driving his Car to a friends house in Evanston, IL, just North of Chicago, when he realized he was in Wisconsin, not knowing how he got there.

I was going to have our Rice Sports Medicine Institute, develop Field-Turf, ASAP, which mimicked real Grass much better than AstroTurf. We would sell it cheap enough, to encourage everyone with AstroTurf, to s/o to Field-Turf. Many Colleges & High Schools had installed AstroTurf, because it took much less care, than real Grass, so it was cheaper in the long run. It was horrible on the Players Bodies though. I thought AstroTurf was an abomination.

I was disappointed that few of my Yankee Team were at the Game. Dick Allen was Voted-In as a Starter, at 1st Base. but Reggie, Curt, A-Rod, etc were neglected, oh well, let’s give them a few more years to become popular. I was hoping to achieve that, by Winning a World Series or 2.

The American League Manager was Earl Weaver, as he was the Manager of the 1969 Baltimore Orioles, who had Lost to my Chicago Cubs in the 1969 World Series. Earl Weaver had chosen Billy Martin, as one of his Position Coaches. He had Billy Coaching at 3rd, so that was cool. Earl & Billy were old pals.

Because the Cubs were also in the 1969 World Series, Leo Durocher was the National League Manager for the 1970 All-Star Game.

It was great seeing Leo again, but Leo couldn’t believe I was the Yankee Owner now, less than a year since being a Player under him.

The Game dragged on, until the Bottom of the 12th Inning, when Pete Rose scored the Winning Run, by crashing into the AL Catcher, Ray Fosse. Fosse screwed up his Shoulder in the collision, never the same again. It was 1st thought that Fosse was OK, but it was found out later, that Fosse suffered a Fractured & Separated Shoulder. It Healed Incorrectly, causing Fosse to be bothered by it for the rest of his Career.

Pete got flack for being so aggressive in a meaningless Game, but “Charlie Hustle” always Played to Win.

Before the Game, I talked to Fosse, trying to Warn him. I mentioned that if he had to Make a Tag-Out at Home Plate, to make sure he Braced Himself, but to quickly Tag Out the Player, then drop away before the Player could hurt him. Hopefully he won’t get as hurt this time.

Plowing into Fosse was the only way Pete could knock the Ball out of Fosse’s Glove, Scoring the Winning Run, breaking a 4-4 Tie. Pete was going to be Tagged Out, as Fosse had time to be in position to Block The Plate with his body. Usually, a Player trying to Score, would try to go around the Catcher Blocking The Plate, reaching out to Touch Home Plate with his Outstretched Hand. Not Pete, instead of going around Fosse, Pete decided to run through Fosse as hard as he could, trying to knock the Ball out of Fosse’s Glove, which happened. It was a Play that would be Talked about forever after.

Wed, Jul 15, 1970

Travel Day.

Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger & Arlo Guthrie, Day 2 of 6 @ RCMH, 8pm.

We decided to change our Cars’r’U.S name, to Cars-4-U.S., as it flowed off the tongue better. We would also go by, C-4, as we were an Explosive Company in Potential.

Our Logo would have “C-4” inside of a Circle, with bright Red Letters, on a White Background, kind of like Coca-Cola. There were images of Explosions in the Background. It really drew your Eye to it, which was our goal.

As Ralf, I knew Gianni Agnelli would turn over being the CEO of Fiat, to his younger brother, Umberto. That would happen later in 1970. Gianni would remain Chairman, but would let Umberto run the day-by-day operations. Since 1966, Umberto had run, Fiat France.

The middle brother, “Crazy Eddie” was being bypassed, as he was erratic & couldn’t be trusted. He was considered the “Black Sheep” of the Family.

I suggested that we get Umberto to be the CEO of C-4, at least for the 1st year, getting it organized as efficiently as possible. Gianni agreed, saying he thought that it would be another great stepping stone in Umberto’s Development as a Leader.

Thur, Jul 16, 1970

Double-Header

Regular Season, Game 85, vs Oakland “A’s”. We Lost 2-8.

Regular Season, Game 86, vs Oakland “A’s”. We Won 4-1.

Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger & Arlo Guthrie, Day 3 of 6 @ RCMH, 8pm.

“Once upon a time you dressed so fine, threw the bums a dime, in your prime, didn’t you?
People called said “beware doll; you’re bound to fall”
You thought they were all a-kiddin’ you
You use to laugh about everybody that was hangin’ out
Now you don’t talk so loud, now you don’t seem so proud
About having to be scrounging your next meal

How does it feel?
How does it feel?
To be without a home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone

Oh you’ve gone through the finest school all right miss lonely
But you know you only use to get juiced in it
Nobody’s ever taught you how to live out on the street
And now you’re gonna have to get used to it
You say you never compromise with a mystery tramp but now you realize
He’s not selling any alibis
As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes
And say, “Do you want to make a deal?”

How does it feel?
How does it feel?
To be on your own
Without a direction home
A complete unknown
Like a rolling stone

Oh you’ve never turned around to see the frowns on the
Jugglers and the clowns when they all did tricks for you
Never understand that it ain’t no good
You shouldn’t let other people get your kicks for you
You use to ride on the chrome horse with your diplomat
Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat
Ain’t it hard when you discover that he really wasn’t where it’s at?
After he took from you everything he could steal

How does it feel?
How does it feel?
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone

Princess on the steeple and all the pretty people they all
Drinkin, ‘thinkin’ that they got it made
Exchanging all precious gifts
But you better take a diamond ring
You better pawn it babe
You use to be so amused
And Napoleon in rags and the language that he used
Go to him now he calls ya, ya can’t refuse
When ya ain’t got nothing, ya got nothing to lose
You’re invisible now you’ve got no secrets to conceal

How does it feel?
Oh how does it feel?
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone”

Like a Rolling Stone
-By Bob Dylan
aka Robert Zimmerman

I’m sorry, but I resorted to Mindbending a little, getting Bob Dylan to Sing like he did in 1963, actually Singing to be understood again, with much less of his mumbling. Listen to: Gotta Serve Somebody:

“You may be an Ambassador to England or France,
You may like to gamble, you might like to dance,
You may be the heavyweight champion of the world,
You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed,
You’re gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the Devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.

You might be a rock ‘n’ roll addict, prancing on the stage,
You might have drugs at your command, women in a cage,
You may be a businessman or some high degree thief,
They may call you Doctor, or they may call you Chief

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the Devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.

You may be a State Trooper, you might be a young Turk,
You may be the head of some big TV Network,
You may be rich or poor, you may be blind or lame,
You may be living in another country, under another name

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the Devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.

You may be a Construction Worker working on a home,
You may be living in a mansion or you might live in a dome,
You might own guns and you might even own tanks,
You might be somebody’s landlord, you might even own banks

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the Devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.