The Artist

A month after returning from a much needed vacation in Latvia (and Sweden), I 'm still processing the new information uncovered regarding my paternal ancestors who lived in Latvia in the 19th century. The search began at my older brother John's initiative in the early 1990's, in interviewing our father Ingo and documenting as much family history as possible in preparation for a Maddaus family reunion in 1995.

I'd always been interested in the connection with Latvia, since the word Riga rolled off Aunt Frieda's tongue during a family vacation she shared with us in Wells Beach, Maine in the early 60s. Technically a great aunt, she was born there in 1881, as were 5 of her 6 siblings. Riga was part of the Russian Empire at the time and the family patriarch, Johann Karl Ludwig Maddaus, had been one of a number of Germans who settled there. Born in Hamburg, he was an art teacher and artist, specializing in portraits and religious art.

Brother John discovered, with the help of University Southern Maine Professor Juris Ubans, that 2 of Johann Maddaus's paintings were in the collection of the Latvian National Museum of Art, including a self-portrait. The latter is the only image we have of our great great grandfather, but to date it's one of 9 paintings I've had the opportunity to see in Latvia and Estonia during my travels there in 2005 and 2009.

The breakup of the Soviet Union and end of its occupation of Latvia, as well as the advent of the internet, has led to the web publication of a tremendous store of Latvian history in the past 15 years. I've been able to identify members of Johann's family in addition to our Great Grandfather Oscar Wilhelm Maddaus (who emigrated to the US in the latter part of the 19th century) and locate the family burial site in Lielie Kapi (The Great Cemetery) in Riga.

Another revelation was the identity of Oscar's in-laws, the family of Augusta Dorothea Rathminder, the details of whom had been lost sometime after their move to the USA.

There's quite a bit of research to digest, but I'm hoping to record more of it here and in a family history at some future date.

Yankee Heaven

With the recent surge by the New York Yankees, propelling them comfortably into first place, I have to take back everything I said about them last May and half of what I said about their manager. While nothing is secure in these post-2004 AL Championship Series years, at least the current team is performing relatively consistently (even to the point of losing to Roy Halladay most of the time) going 47-17 in their last 64 games.

Looking down on the current team, I'm sure, is one of their greatest fans, my Dad, who must be pleased with the progress and cautious about making any predictions for the playoffs. The fact that the Yanks completed a 4-game sweep of the Red Sox on August 9, 2009, the 100th anniversary of his birth, was a special occasion for him, no doubt.

Dad especially liked the players who had paid their dues in the Yankees farm system; veterans like Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, younger guys like Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera, and rookies such as Ramiro Pena and Fransisco Cervelli, are always perferred over Alex Rodriguez, C. C. Sabathia and A. J. Burnett, whose talents are appreciated, and Carl Pavano and Rick Rhoden, whose failures were lamented.

Also looking down on the current team with great interest is "The Iron Horse," Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig. The all-time Yankees hits leader with 2,721 will be eclipsed in the the record books by their outstanding shortstop, Derek Jeter, in the next week or so. Jeter stands at 2,713 and with a .330 batting average, needs only 5 or 6 games at his current pace to surpass Gehrig's mark. I'm sure Lou will be pleased with his successor, a man of quiet dignity like himself, who plays hard day-in, day-out (most games played in the majors since 1996, his rookie year) and puts singles, walks and advancing the runner above homeruns and personal statistics.

Jeter was always one of Dad's favorite from the time he played for the Double-A Albany-Colonie Yankees in the early 90s. One game, Jacob, Dad and I saw in 1994, Jeter batted right after Andy Fox, and before Tate Seefried, and went 2 for 4 with an error in the field. His presence was the more remarkable aspect of that game. You just knew the sportswriters were correct in predicting that Jeter would be the next starting shortstop for the big club. He stayed with the A-C Yankees for 34 games, batted .377 and moved on to Triple A.

There's no doubt Jeter will reach the record but its interesting to note that he also needs 3 homeruns to reach the 20 plateau for the season, not a great accomplishment in itself, but what will establish a new team record--20 or more homeruns in a season by 8 players on a team. Knowing Jeter's team approach and flair for the dramatic, I wouldn't be the least surprised if his 2,722nd hit was his 20th homerun of the season, any more than if it was a hustling infield hit to deep shortstop with Derek just beating the throw to first (and a tying run scoring with 2 outs in the 8th inning).

Jacob and I will be watching whatever the hit might be and I'm sure Dad and Lou will be, too. Maybe they'll get together to talk about the Yankees of yesteryear and trade Yogiisms.


"I always thought that record would stand until it was broken." Yogi Berra