Homecoming

I encountered baseball history by the sea and watched Ducks hockey as the playoffs loom.

I always chuckle when I visit Balboa Island. Fans of the Arrested Development television show may remember George Sr. saying that “there’s always money in the banana stand.” He had hidden cash in one of the family’s Orange County businesses, and indeed Balboa has several places where visitors can procure frozen bananas dipped in chocolate. Above is a 2024 mosaic by Barbara Abbott portraying one such stand. Alas, it does not feature Tobias Fünke.

During our recent visit, Dori and I did not purchase a dessert. Instead, we opted to peruse the Balboa Island Museum. The free collection has exhibits on local history, yacht clubs, California painting, John Wayne, and surfer Duke Kahanamoku. I also noticed the above photo which isn’t from California but instead the small town of New Richland, Minnesota. I love that the local ball club put a dog front and center. Today, New Richland has a population of about 1,200.

Richard English’s quilt made from his collection of vintage Catalina Island pennants is an impressive piece. Completing the baseball motif, I noticed a World Series book on sale adjacent to another about ballparks through time. English himself published a book entitled Pennant.

The museum pays tribute to the Balboa Fun Zone, Newport Beach’s amusement park of sorts dating back to 1936. Evidence of this can be found in a model of its Ferris wheel.

While I became a New York Rangers hockey fan at an early age, some of you know that I am also a former Anaheim Ducks season ticket holder. I was definitely excited for my return to Honda Center to attend Fan Appreciation Night with Dori and her cousin on Sunday. The team is heading to the NHL postseason for the first time in eight years, and the final home game against Vancouver was filled with “we want playoffs” chants.

Before puck drop, the team honored Steve Carroll, Anaheim’s radio play-by-play announcer since 1999. Carroll is retiring at the end of the season and was visibly emotional at the outpouring of support. It’s going to be strange hearing someone else at the microphone.

Cutter Gauthier got the Ducks on the board with a power-play goal, but the 6’9” Curtis Douglas evened the score with his first career strike. Teddy Blueger and Anaheim captain Radko Gudas followed with a fight. Vancouver then took advantage of a penalty to grab a 2-1 lead off the stick of Jake DeBrusk. A second scrap erupted between Douglas and Jeffrey Viel before the first period had even ended.

After splitting a pizza, we settled in for the second period which was scoreless. Vancouver potted a shorthanded tally in the third, but Gauthier answered on the same power play to score an incredible 40th goal this season. Even better, less than two minutes later Leo Carlsson took a feed from Chris Kreider and beat netminder Nikita Tolopilo from a tough angle to tie the game.

Despite some good Anaheim scoring chances and a valiant effort from goalie Lukas Dostal, Marco Rossi’s power-play slapper at 4:50 of overtime gave the Canucks a 4-3 win. The Ducks could take solace in salvaging one standings point, but it was disappointing that they fell to the squad with the league’s worst record.

Monday night lifted my mood a bit. First, the Yankees rallied from two runs down in the ninth inning to beat the Angels 11-10 and snap a five-game losing streak. MLB Photos captured the excitement in the Bronx, while Angels closer Jordan Romano reacted to a rare poor performance. Mike Trout, Aaron Judge, and Trent Grisham all homered twice in the wild contest. In addition, the Sharks beat the Predators to clinch a playoff spot for the Ducks. It was a worst-case scenario, but I had dreaded a final game for the Ducks in Nashville that could have ended Anaheim’s postseason hopes.

While Beckett Sennecke did not get on the scoresheet against Vancouver, his speed and shiftiness were on full display. Sennecke’s talent reminds me of when I look at a Georgia O’Keeffe painting or listen to a Joe Sample jazz album. Witnessing mastery like that makes life worth living, which is something that dawned on me when I had Sample’s I’ll Love You playing on the way to work. As a rookie, Sennecke has piled up 23 goals and 37 assists while playing in all 81 games so far. It’s safe to say that he has been a major component of the team’s renaissance.