Category: default || By jt3y

Yesterday I mentioned rumors, first reported in The Daily News, that Wal-Mart has purchased Kennywood Plaza shopping center in Duquesne and plans to open a Wal-Mart there. You'd almost be able to see the North Versailles Wal-Mart from the Duquesne one.

Asks Alert Reader Officer Jim: "Isn't the usual colonial strategy to build a lot of forts around the conquered territory to effect control of the native population?"

Does this mean Western Pennsylvania is being colonized by Wal-Mart? Sound the alarm! "The bluecoats are coming! The bluecoats are coming!" Someone put lanterns in the Old North Church: One if by land, two if by sea ... or 1.97 if by Wal-Mart.

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Do you remember what was originally in Kennywood Plaza, besides Kmart? Answers at the end.

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The more I reflected on the vice presidential debate, the more I liked Cheney's performance better than Edwards', even if I didn't agree with the Vice President. Cheney seemed to be taking his time to actually think about the questions and give nuanced responses, while Edwards seemed to be regurgitating talking points.

The irony, of course, is that the Republicans have been hammering Yawn Kerry for being too "wishy-washy" with his long-winded, nuanced responses to everything. (I sometimes envision Kerry receiving his lunch order in the Senate cafeteria: "When I said I wanted mayo, what I meant was I wanted mayo on the side, in a little cup, not on the sandwich itself, although now that the mayo is on the sandwich itself, I will, of course, continue to support the eating of sandwiches, although not necessarily this sandwich at this present time.")

The conventional wisdom (whatever that is) seems to be scoring the debate a tie. By Friday night, the veep debate will be all but forgotten, I suspect, after the tops of the tickets meet again. I think the befuddled President who showed up at last week's debate won't be there --- he's much better dealing with average citizens (who tend not to ask so many pesky hard questions as reporters) than at formal events like debates and press conferences.

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When baseball returns to Washington, D.C., there could be a Mon-Yough area tie: A movement is afoot to rename the Montreal Expos for the Homestead Grays, the Negro League team that got its start in the Steel Valley. (Karen McPherson had coverage in the Post-Gazette; Richard Leiby had an item in The Washington Post.)

The Grays began playing most of their games in Washington in the 1940s, according to Leiby and the Web site RemembertheGrays.org, probably because Pittsburgh already had a championship-caliber Negro League team in the Pittsburgh Crawfords, as well as the all-white Pirates. (Back then, no one thought of the idea of building a publicly-financed stadium to boost attendance.)

The origin of the name "Grays" is still something of a mystery, according to Leiby:

Probably from their uniform color, history prof Rob Ruck at the University of Pittsburgh told us, but he called it "an unusual name for a black team at the time." Christopher Rehling, a Washingtonian who runs the Web site RemembertheGrays.org, said his "best guess" was that the name came from the color of the team's socks (as in White Sox and Red Sox).

The Grays started out as a group of Pittsburgh area steelworkers who played recreationally in the early 1900s as the Blue Ribbons, says Brad Snyder, the Washington author of "Beyond the Shadow of the Senators: The Untold Story of the Homestead Grays and the Integration of Baseball." His book, published last year, is considered the definitive account of the Grays, but he told us he never discovered the name's origin.

As for his preference, Snyder said: "The Nationals would be fine. The Monuments would not be a bad choice. The Grays would be great."

Despite their name, the Homestead Grays apparently didn't play any regular season games in Homestead, Munhall or Mifflin Township by the late 1930s. All home games were played either at Forbes Field in Oakland, or Griffith Park in Washington.

There's more about the Homestead Grays at 15122.com, and at the Negro League Baseball Players Association Web site.

Most sources think calling the Washington franchise the "Grays" is a long shot, in part because the team has been gone since 1950, and in part because it would be hard to create a mascot and advertising image. Washington, D.C., didn't have a Negro League franchise of its own, but nearby Baltimore did: the Black Sox and the Elite Giants. Maybe it would be more appropriate to reuse one of those nicknames instead.

It seems most probable that the Washington franchise will take the name of the two undistinguished Washington baseball teams that preceded it --- the Senators --- though if it's hard to come up with a mascot for the "Grays," coming up with one for the "Senators" isn't much better. I envision a giant, foam-rubber Ted Kennedy stomping around the field; and let's face it, that ain't exactly gonna bring in the kids like the San Diego Chicken does.

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The original tenants of Kennywood Plaza, as best as I can remember, were Kmart, Shop 'n Save, Thrift Drug and Towers, which I seem to recall was a catalog showroom like David Weis or Service Merchandise; my father bought a digital watch there in the late 1970s, when those were still quite novel. A Google search doesn't turn up anything about Towers except that there was a discount chain of that name in Canada that was bought out in the early '90s. I'm not sure if it was the same company that operated the Duquesne store.