Baltimore Orioles / St. Louis Browns Quiz (1901-2001): 1) Who
is the single season RBI leader? [Hint: 1920s…yeah, it’s hard as
hell.] 2) What year did Camden Yards open? 3) What player
won the MVP award in the 70s? 4) What five uniforms are
retired? 5) What pitcher with the initials T.P. fired a no-hitter in
1968? 6) Who was the last Oriole to win the batting title?
Answers below.
Potpourri for $20
–We note the passing of Linda Lovelace, the star of that Oscar-
winning flick, “Deep Throat,” which co-starred Laurence
Olivier. Born Linda Boreman in 1949, Lovelace was forced into
pornography (I realize I’ve just confused some of my readers) by
husband Chuck Traynor (she claims at gunpoint) and wasn’t paid
a penny for her critically-acclaimed role in “Deep Throat,” a
picture which cost just $30,000 to produce and supposedly
grossed upwards of $600 million! Sadly, and seriously, Lovelace
had to go into hiding because of Traynor’s abusive ways and
later in life she helped wage anti-pornography campaigns.
Linda died from injuries sustained in a car crash. For his part,
Traynor later married Marilyn Chambers.
–As a Wake Forest alum, I note with extreme pride that our
baseball team now holds an all-time best #3 ranking in Baseball
America. Top Five: 1. Clemson 2. Rice 3. WFU 4. Stanford
5. South Carolina. Wake is playing Clemson this weekend. If
you’re in the Clemson area, check it out.
–Jay Chiat, advertising legend, died at age 70. Co-founder of
Chiat / Day, the agency which by the early 90s was a raging
success, Jay Chiat was best known for his groundbreaking “1984”
commercial for Apple. The spot, which introduced Apple’s
Macintosh PC, first ran during the 1984 Super Bowl and marked
the beginning for the intense hype that all Super Bowl
commercials now receive.
Which gives me an excuse to pull out the list of the top ten “Ad
Jingles” for the 20th century, according to Advertising Age.
1. “You deserve a break today.” (McDonald’s)
2. “Be all that you can be.” (U.S. Army)
3. “Pepsi-Cola hits the spot.”
4. “Mmmm good!” (Campbell Soup)
5. “See the USA in your Chevrolet.”
6. “I wish I were an Oscar Mayer wiener.”
7. “Double your pleasure, double your fun.” (Wrigley’s
Doublemint Gum)
8. “Winston tastes good like a cigarette should.”
9. “It’s the real thing.” (Coca-Cola)
10. “A little dab’ll do ya” (Brylcreem)
*My personal favorite was always: “My beer…is Rheingold…
the dry beer…”
–New Jersey officials have a problem on their hands concerning
a species of Florida blowfish (or puffer fish) that almost killed 3
New Jersey residents recently after they ate it and became
violently ill, including one victim whom was on a respirator for five
days before recovering. The fish were all caught in the
Titusville, FL area and sold in New York and New Jersey
markets. The problem is that they contain a toxin, which is far
more deadly than sarin (nerve gas).
Now you may be wondering how the fish get this way? Well,
the blowfish are chowing down on toxic shellfish, with the
shellfish picking up the toxin from eating bad plankton. [Ally
McBeal always looked like she was eating bad plankton.
Clearly, she doesn’t eat much more than that.]
By the way, if after eating fish your tongue and gums go tingly
and your limbs feel lighter than air, you better seek help…
IMMEDIATELY! [Source: Kevin Coughlin / Star-Ledger]
–Pennsylvania game officials are concerned about 6 wild boars
that recently escaped from a private game preserve located 75
miles east of Pittsburgh. The monsters are known to be prolific
breeders. My best advice here is that if you see any boars,
foaming at the mouth and hitchhiking on the Pennsylvania
Turnpike, steer clear.
–4,000 high school seniors were recently surveyed to gauge their
“financial literacy.” One of the questions was to pick the
investment that would supply the best returns over 18 years
while saving for a child’s education. 78% said a U.S. savings
bond or a savings account, with only 19% picking stocks. Now
this finding was criticized by a few Wall Street types, but it
seems to me that the kids are smarter than we think.
–Speaking of money, the other day I mentioned that the annual
expenses for most PGA Tour players run at least $300,000,
meaning that most players really don’t fare anywhere near as well
as the average viewer probably thinks. One of the reasons why
guys like Johnny Mac and myself love following golf as much as
we do is because it is the one sport where you are out there all
alone (yeah, that’s tennis, too, I guess), trying to excel in a game
where the competition is simply fierce. Most of you know that
only the Top 125 on the list each year are exempt from having to
qualify for the following one, so it’s interesting just to look at
the latest money list for 2002, and see someone like much-
ballyhooed David Gossett struggling at #132, while a top pro like
Steve Pate (who has been injured) is at #159. Heck, David
Duval is at #84.
But the real purpose of this rambling is I bet you could win a lot
of coin at the 19th hole by asking your partners who is currently
#3 on the money list? Jose Maria Olazabal. Retief Goosen at #4
may stump more than a few also. [Woods and Mickleson are
one-two.]
–Speaking of golf…and laser eye surgery…just saw where PGA
Tour player Scott Hoch is having real problems with some
surgery he had recently, specifically, his third procedure since
January 2001. Be careful out there, folks.
–While we are doing our public service announcements, the
Wall Street Journal had a recall notice for Horizon Fitness
treadmills (under the Paragon, Quantum and Omega brand
names). Seems a control malfunction can cause the motor to
accelerate sharply…which really means if you’re not careful you
could fly right out a window. I wouldn’t buy any treadmills
under the Acme label either.
–After the story of Abercrombie & Fitch and its incredibly
insensitive move to design t-shirts which made fun of Asians
(see last Bar Chat), Harry K. informs me that there’s a Wong
Family Picnic at Toronto’s Centre Island each year. A few years
back, Harry tried taking his family down to watch the Dragon
Boat Races which are held at the same time and he couldn’t get
near the place because the ferries were overloaded. The point
being over 10,000 attend the Wong affair, or, as Harry put it,
“What the hell was A&F thinking? ‘Hey, let’s alienate
thousands of well-heeled customers around the world, yeah,
that’s the ticket!’”
–So did you hear about the dog that was stranded on an
abandoned Indonesian tanker out in the Pacific? All the national
news stations ran it either Sunday or Monday, proclaiming that
thanks to the efforts of the Hawaiian Humane Society the 2-year-
old was now rescued. Well, guess what? As of this writing
(Wed. PM), the dog is still on it, and I have yet to see any story
outside of the National Post of Canada (and reporter Heather
Sokoloff) who has set the record straight, though I imagine it’s a
big deal in Hawaii.
Now hopefully you know how much I love dogs (as Johnny Mac
says, you never see any rescue cats), but I’m not so sure we
really want to save this mixed breed terrier who goes by the
name of Forgea. After all, Forgea did have a job on board,
before the crew of 11 abandoned ship when a fire crippled the
256-foot vessel (killing one). Forgea”s mission, you see, was to
kill and eat rats. Let him be. He has more than ample food to
last him a decade and maybe he’ll turn into a kind of sea monster
or somethin’. And now you know…the rest of the story.
–Interesting table in Sports Illustrated a few weeks back
(courtesy of Elias Sports Bureau) concerning the number of years
some major leaguers finished in the Top 10 in both batting
average and home runs during the same season. The leaders in
this category are all in the Hall of Fame.
Stan Musial…12 seasons
Hank Aaron…11
Ted Williams…11
Lou Gehrig…10
Rogers Hornsby…10
Babe Ruth…10
Al Simmons…10
Willie Mays…9
Frank Robinson…9
Jimmie Foxx…8
Harry Heilmann…8
Mickey Mantle…8
Among active players, the results are:
Frank Thomas…6
Mike Piazza…5
Barry Bonds…3
Juan Gonzalez…3
Gary Sheffield…3
Mo Vaughn…3
Larry Walker…3
Boy, I have to be the first one to admit that Musial so often gets
lost in any discussion of the greats, mostly because he didn’t
quite get to 500 home runs (he had 475). But, he’s #4 all-time in
hits, #7 in runs scored, #4 RBI, #5 games played, #9 at bats, #19
triples, #3 doubles, #2 extra base hits, #2 total bases, #11 bases
on balls…all in hitting .331 (#2 to Tony Gwynn’s .338 for
players starting their careers after 1940…sneaky on my part, I’ll
admit, but that’s why I’m editor).
I also have to note that after all these years, I’m finally beginning
to appreciate Hank Aaron’s career. Having grown up a Mantle
and Mays fan, I suspect I’m not alone in this regard.
Top 3 songs for the week of 4/28/62: #1 “Good Luck Charm”
(Elvis Presley) #2 “Johnny Angel” (Shelley Fabares) #3
“Mashed Potato Time” (Dee Dee Sharp)
“…ask for Rheingold…wherever…you buy beer.”
Baltimore Orioles Quiz Answers: 1) Single season RBI leader:
Ken Williams, 155, 1922. [Williams was a pretty fair player,
accumulating 196 home runs and 913 (or 914, depending on your
source) RBIs, along with a .319 career average.] 2) Camden
Yards opened in 1992. 3) MVP / 70s: Boog Powell, 1970…
35 HR 114 RBI. 4) Uniforms retired: Earl Weaver, Brooks
Robinson #5, Frank Robinson #20 (also retired by Cincinnati,
you’ll recall), Jim Palmer #22, Eddie Murray #33. 5) Tom
Phoebus pitched a no-hitter in 1968. Career started out solidly,
but arm problems did him in at age 30, as he finished up his
career with a 56-52 lifetime mark. 6) Last Oriole to win a batting
title: Frank Robinson, .316 in 1966…his triple crown year, 49
HR and 122 RBI.
Lincoln and Grant
[Used this two years ago.]
In 1864, even though the Union appeared to be winning the Civil
War, many in the north were upset at the tremendous casualties
that General Grant’s armies were taking. They were also
disturbed at the stories of Grant’s heavy imbibing. A committee
visited President Lincoln, urging the removal of the general.
“What for?” asked Lincoln.
“Why, he drinks too much whisky,” replied the committee.
“Ah,” rejoined the President, “can you inform me, gentlemen,
where General Grant procures his whisky?”
The committee confessed they could not.
“Because,” added Lincoln, with a twinkle in his eye, “if I can
find out I’ll send a barrel of it to every General in the field!”
[Source: “The Civil War Reader,” Richard Harwell]
You’re reading Bar Chat. Next one, Tuesday.
