Charlie Manuel in Philadelphia

Shibe Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1911

I think you have to give Charlie Manuel a great deal of the credit for the Phillies' success over the past few years. Yes, they have a great core of players in Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, and Chase Utley, along with some rising stars like Jayson Werth and Shane Victorino. But Manuel has managed each year to get the team to the end of the season healthy and strong. It really paid off last year. While it's unrealistic to expect the Phillies to repeat as World Series champs this year, it looks pretty good for the division championship (but Phillies fans can never count their chickens, not after 1964). Thank Charlie Manuel for handling the team with great skill and a good sense of pace over a long season.

The photograph is from the Library of Congress photostream on Flickr.  It shows people waiting to get tickets to the 1911 World Series between the Philadelphia Athletics and the New York Giants.  The A's ended up repeating as series champs in six games. Phillies fans can always hope.

Downturn Over? Motel 6 Index Rises

Yesterday morning, the Motel 6 Nashua rate went up to $59.99 from the usual $49.99.  When I came home in the evening, the rate was up to $89.99, the highest I've ever seen it.  Is the recession over, or are the leaves really starting to turn?

Poughkeepsie Railway Bridge Reopening

Poughkeepsie, New York, March 2008

The massive railway bridge over the Hudson River is opening once again as a pedestrian and bicycle bridge. For more details, see http://www.walkway.org/.

Update (25 Feb. 2011): they have a link to the text of a short piece on the bridge by Ian Frazier here: http://www.walkway.org/dynamic.php?id=newyorker.

Jet Lowe in Northampton

This bridge, built in 1897, carried the Boston & Maine Railroad across the Connecticut River just above Northampton. Today it is part of the Norwottuck Rail Trail. Jet Lowe took these pictures in 1984 for the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER).

See also my earlier post about this bridge.

Detail view looking north
Detail view looking East showing lattice truss configuration and bridge plate at far right

Portland in the Rain

I'd forgotten how rain can make any street into a reflecting pool, maybe even worth a photograph. Hurricane Danny helped me remember this.

Rainy street. Portland, Maine.

Rainy crosswalk. Portland, Maine.