German grammar with the natural gender of what is described. However, since the diminutive forms ending in "-chen" or "-lein" are grammatically neuter, there exist several notable counterexamples such as "das Mädchen" ("girl") and "das Fräulein" ("miss"). Thus these are not illogical, whereas "das Weib" (old, regional or anthropological: woman; a cognate of the English "wife") is really an exception. Furthermore, in German, the gender of nouns without natural gender is not predictable. For example, the three common pieces of cutlery all have different genders: "das Messer" ("knife") is neuter, "die Gabel" ("fork") is feminine, and "der Löffel" ("spoon") is masculine. Students
Frank Messer urged team management to approve a traditional play-by-play sportscaster, which the Yanks had not had since the firing of Red Barber after the 1966 season. Messer was eventually given the gig of emceeing the Old-Timer’s Day ceremonies by 1970 – an event in which he participated until the year before his death – and special events, beginning with the retirement of Mickey Mantle’s Number 7 jersey in June 1969. Messer’s steadiness and dry wit blended well with Rizzuto’s enthusiasm. For many years, New York Yankees yearbooks would refer to Messer as "One of the real pros in the business." The