Issue #12: Baseball Diamonds in the Pacific
The history of Spring Training on Catalina Island, five turnkey Bay Area homes, and my recap of the Noir City film festival's opening night.
The Silvert Lining is a place where I talk about real estate, cool homes for sale, things I’m looking forward to, and how I’ve been spending my time. In addition to this newsletter, I also post regularly on Instagram. You can follow me at Dan Silvert Homes.
On Sunday night I was not planning to watch the Chiefs versus Bills AFC Championship game because I’m a 49ers and Patriots fan. Then I found myself eating dinner at the bar at Charlie’s restaurant in St. Helena after wine tasting at nearby Elizabeth Spencer and the game was on. If almost any sporting event is on TV in my vicinity I am unable to turn away. My girlfriend, who watches approximately one football game per season, was torn because she likes Taylor Swift, but she is also a proud native of California’s Central Valley and has a moral obligation to root for fellow Central Valley native Josh Allen. We even ordered dessert just so we could stay at the bar to see the end of the game.
The Super Bowl is slated for February 9 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The most exciting thing about the Super Bowl being just around the corner is that it means baseball is back. The Cubs’ pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training on February 9 with other teams following suit that week.
As is well documented in this newsletter, my Oakland A’s fandom is waning with their impending move to Sacramento. I attend a few Giants each season, but would hardly call myself a devoted fan. Although this wine tasting with Dusty Baker for new Giants season ticket holders is enticing. I am a man without a team who still loves the game and history of baseball!
In May 2024, I visited California’s Catalina Island, which is approximately 30 miles from Long Beach, for the first time. While on a tour around the island, I learned that the island’s modern tourist era began when chewing gum magnate William Wrigley, Jr. bought the majority of the island in 1919 and developed the town of Avalon. Once Wrigley became the Cubs’ majority owner in 1921, he brought the team to the island for Spring Training thus increasing the volume of tourists visiting Catalina Island. His motto was, “The Cubs Are Here, You Should Come Too.” Wrigley built a training field that matched Chicago’s Wrigley Field on Catalina Island, and the Cubs held Spring Training there from 1921 to 1951 (save for 1942-45 due to WWII). The business development and cross-promotion of this endeavor was brilliant!
The Cubs are on the move once again as they are playing the Dodgers in this season’s MLB opening game in Tokyo on March 18.
The Bay Area’s real estate market is having a “new year, new me” January. There are more homes for sale and many of my clients are ready to make offers. Based on chatter in the field, the market seems to be on the upswing. This week I looked for new listings that are completely turnkey. Here are five favorites:
Let me know if you are looking for a new home, and I can create a customized search based on your wants and needs that will email you homes that meet your search criteria. You can schedule time with me to discuss your search for a new home or selling your current home by emailing me at DanSilvertHomes@gmail.com. DRE #01963734
On Friday, I attended Noir City Film Festival's opening event at the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland. TCM host extraordinaire Eddie Mueller kicked off the evening with some astute off the cuff remarks mixed in with the history of the first film, The Narrow Margin. The 1952 film is a 70-minute classic noir, which features Charles McGraw as a tough but sensitive cop assigned to accompany a mobster's widow to Los Angeles to provide grand jury testimony. It's a twisty ride, literally and figuratively, as the entire film takes place on a train from Chicago to Los Angeles. Made as a "B film," it catapulted Richard Fleischer into the ranks of Hollywood's preeminent directors. RKO Pictures owner Howard Hughes (who was later portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator) liked the film so much that he almost reshot it as an "A film" starring Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell. Fortunately for Marie Windsor, Hughes did not follow through and her breakout role as the mobster's wife reluctantly making the cross-country journey made it to the big screen.
Hell's Half Acre completed the opening night double bill. The 1954 noir film was made on location in Honolulu, Hawaii and I loved seeing vintage footage of landmarks I’ve visited. The film features Evelyn Keyes as a widow who believes her late husband - who was presumed dead after the attack on Pearl Harbor – is alive and living in Honolulu. She arrives on the island and starts investigating, which quickly leads to her going undercover as a taxi dancer (demure by 2025 standards) in Honolulu's red-light district. Featuring a slack guitar infused tropical soundtrack, this movie is a fun but not exceptional romp.
I will be back at Noir City tonight for a Marsha Hunt double feature of Raw Deal and Mary Ryan, Detective.
Oooh, those desserts at Charlie's look amazing (as does that Orinda home), I've been wanting to go there for a while now. The last time I was in that building was when it was Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen, which was one of my favorites in St. Helena.
Ah, me & the wife and the three little kids lived on Talbot Ave. in Albany. Seeing that place on Nellson Ave. brought back memories. Also, as a fellow baseball fan, you might want to subscribe (as I do) to Molly Knight's newsletter on Substack. The really decadent fun is when she invites her subscribers to watch a game together and share commentary. All over the county and overseas. It's a hoot.