Baseball Quiz: 1) Since 1901, who are the only two pitchers in
the A.L. to walk 200 batters in a single season? 2) Since 1940,
name the 7 A.L. pitchers who have whiffed 300 or more in a year
at least once. [Hint: In one particular season, two accomplished
the feat.] Answers below.
Wine Quiz
Name the top 12 countries in wine production. Answer below.
Television: 50 Greatest?
Lists are always good to get the juices flowing, so in case you
missed it, following are the “50 Greatest Shows of All Time,”
according to a poll in TV Guide. We’ll discuss on the other side.
1. Seinfeld
2. I Love Lucy
3. The Honeymooners
4. All in the Family
5. The Sopranos
6. 60 Minutes
7. The Late Show with David Letterman
8. The Simpsons
9. The Andy Griffith Show
10. Saturday Night Live
11. The Mary Tyler Moore Show
12. The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
13. The Dick Van Dyke Show
14. Hill Street Blues
15. The Ed Sullivan Show
16. The Carol Burnett Show
17. Today Show
18. Cheers
19. thirtysomething
20. St. Elsewhere
21. Friends
22. ER
23. Nightline
24. Law & Order
25. M*A*S*H
26. The Twilight Zone
27. Sesame Street
28. The Cosby Show
29. Donahue
30. Your Show of Shows
31. The Defenders
32. American Family
33. Playhouse 90
34. Frasier
35. Roseanne
36. The Fugitive
37. The X-Files
38. The Larry Sanders Show
39. The Rockford Files
40. Gunsmoke
41. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
42. Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In
43. Bonanza
44. The Bob Newhart Show
45. Twin Peaks
46. Star Trek: The Next Generation
47. Rocky and His Friends
48. Taxi
49. The Oprah Winfrey Show
50. Bewitched
Alrighty…first off, I’m not so sure it’s fair to put 60 Minutes in
the same category as the others, but its ranking seems
appropriate.
Now, I love Seinfeld, but #’s 2-4 are clearly the Top 3 of all time,
and you can interchange them. I’d slot Seinfeld around #7. The
Sopranos at #5? One of my all-time best, that’s for sure, but I
think we need one more good season to solidify such a lofty
ranking.
Of course you know what I think of The Simpsons. As long as
it’s Top Ten, I’m a happy camper.
David Letterman? Over Carson? Are you guys nuts?!
Letterman isn’t even Top 30.
Ed Sullivan has to be in the Top Ten. C’mon. Anyone who had
the clout to replace the Beach Boys (at the last minute because
Brian Wilson was “sick”) with the Dave Clark Five is worthy of
Top Ten status.
Friends at 21? Hey, I’m watching it this year, and liking it
(though why it’s on at 8:00 I’ll never know…totally
inappropriate), but not #21. Maybe, 45.
M*A*S*H should be Top Ten. Taxi should be Top 30.
Donahue? Anywhere? You’ve got to be kidding me.
The Cosby Show should be Top 15. Your Show of Shows, #23.
Nightline? Gimme a break.
And as Johnny Mac commented, Roseanne? Geezuz. What about
The Odd Couple? Like J Mac, I’d slot the latter in the Top 30.
Finally, what about the original Star Trek? Or Deputy Dawg?
Or Combat? Or Rat Patrol (the favorite Sunday night fare as a
college student…Rat Patrol…in Color!!!)
So my personal Top Ten…because I own this site…no particular
order.
I Love Lucy
The Honeymooners
All in the Family
60 Minutes
Ed Sullivan
Tonight Show / Carson
M*A*S*H
The Simpsons
The Dick Van Dyke Show
Meet the Press…or, The Sopranos.
Just stirring things up, folks. I expect this to be the weekend
dinnertime conversation with your spouse.
Dr. Hugh Hicks
Mr. Light Bulb died the other day at age 79. Now at first I
thought, why does the New York Times have this dentist’s
obituary? Sure, the Smithsonian thought the guy’s light bulb
collection was one of the three best in the country, but so what?
Well, in reading Douglas Martin’s appraisal of Dr. Hicks’s life,
it’s all kind of funny, especially one episode.
Hicks’s love of all things bulbous began when as a kid, his
mother tossed a bulb into his crib. Seriously, he could have
choked on the shards, or bled to death. This has to be just about
the dumbest thing I ever heard of, and thus the mother,
posthumously, becomes eligible for Bar Chat Idiot of the
Century.
Anyway, Hicks ended up with some 60,000 bulbs, including 15
that Thomas Edison handled, as well as a bulb from Edison’s
Vanderbilt mansion, which was later demolished. [In the bulb
world, this stuff is important. Actually, I guess it’s no different
than collecting Danny Napoleon baseball cards.]
Once, while on vacation in the Bahamas, Hicks saw some street
lights being taken down so he did what any bulb collector would
do, he took ‘em.
But the reason why I’m boring you with this tale is because of an
incident involving Hicks in the Paris Metro, circa 1964.
According to Martin, it seems that he recognized some 1920’s-
era tungsten bulbs along the wall. “He did not know that the
bulbs were wired so that if one was removed, all would go out.”
Hicks quietly removed one, the tunnel suddenly went black, and
people were screaming as he frantically tried to replace it.
“But I couldn’t get it back,” Hicks later said in an interview.
“So, you know me, I grabbed two more and took off.”
Canada’s Rebellion
Harry K. passed along a note that back in 1837, Canada had its
big rebellion. One of the “Radicals” was William Lyon
Mackenzie, who led the revolt for an American-style republic
in Ontario (while another fellow, Papineau, did the same in
Montreal). Legend has it that Canada’s big event was really
nothing more than a drunken brawl, so I did a little digging into
the book, “A Brief History of Canada,” by Roger Riendeau.
Rather than sum things up in my own words, I hope Mr.
Riendeau doesn’t mind if I quote him extensively on the incident.
In December 1837, “Mackenzie seized the opportunity to
overthrow the provincial government at Toronto (formerly York)
when most of the troops guarding the capital were dispatched to
Lower Canada. On December 5, about 500 men from the
surrounding farming district gathered at Montgomery’s Tavern.
Armed with rifles, staves, and pitchforks, they marched down
Yonge Street, whereupon they confronted a small contingent of
loyal volunteer militia. Mackenzie’s front rank fired, then
dropped to the ground to let the next rank fire over their heads.
Thinking that the men in front of them had been shot down, the
men in the back ranks fled in panic. Two days later, a force of
1,500 militia marched up to Montgomery’s Tavern and dispersed
the remaining rebels within 20 minutes. During this somewhat
pathetic skirmish, one defender and two rebels were killed.”
Yup, I’d say they were drinking. You’re reading Bar Chat.
Crunch Time
Just saw this item in the National Post. According to a new
Canadian report, people with tight abs actually live longer! Over
8,000 participated in the study, going back to 1981, and those with
low levels of stomach muscles and endurance die earlier than
those who do sit-ups and crunches. But as reporter Tom
Blackwell notes, “Oddly, the scientists reported that muscles
associated with performing push-ups do not extend one’s
lifespan.”
The researchers don’t know exactly why abdominal muscle
strength is so important, except the theory that maintaining
strength and endurance keeps you mobile as you age. Also, more
muscles and less fat tend to protect people from type 2 diabetes
and other diseases.
Baseball Tidbits
–I asked Johnny Mac, our resident expert on all things baseball,
to come up with a reason why the newly retired Jose Canseco
should be in the Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible for the
vote. “I can’t come up with a legitimate one why anybody would
consider him,” replied J Mac.
By the time he was 27, Jose Canseco had already accumulated five
100 RBI seasons and five where he racked up 30+ homers. He had
209 dingers at this point, and the sky was the limit. But over the
next 10 he was injury plagued, for starters, and he finished up
with 462 HR 1,407 RBI and a .266 batting average.
Additionally, he was also one of the truly awful fielders of his
generation. In an era when getting 500 home runs should no
longer be an automatic ticket to Cooperstown, Jose falls short.
Sorry, dude. [He also hit just .152 in 14 World Series games, in
case you were looking for more evidence.]
–The Dodgers’ Kazahisa Ishii has begun his career by winning
his first 6 games. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, since
divisional play started in 1969, only 5 other pitchers won their
first five starts. But, in digging a little deeper, I found that with
one notable exception, such a start to one’s career was no
guarantee of future success.
–Santo Alcala (1976)…14-11, career
–Marty Bystron (1980)…29-26
–Ben McDonald (1990)…78-70
–Carlos Perez (1995)…40-53
–Fernando Valenzuela (1981)…173-153
We wish Mr. Ishii the best.
Top 3 songs for the week of 5/17/75: #1 “He Don’t Love You
(Like I Love You)” Tony Orlando & Dawn #2 “Before The Next
Teardrop Falls” (Freddy Fender) #3 “Jackie Blue” (Ozark
Mountain Daredevils)
Wine Production (thousands of gallons)
1. France – 1,591,000
2. Italy – 1,534,000
3. Spain – 863,000
4. U.S. – 533,000
5. Argentina – 419,000
6. Germany – 324,000
7. Australia – 224,000
8. South Africa – 210,000
9. Portugal – 206,000
10. Romania – 171,000 [Surprised? I am.]
11. China – 137,000
12. Chile – 126,000
*Actually, the genesis of this quiz was a depressing article in
U.S. News on how South African women drink heavily, even
during pregnancies.
Baseball Quiz Answers: 1) A.L. pitchers to walk 200: Nolan
Ryan (202 in 1974, 204 in ’77); Bob Feller (208 in ’38).
2) 300 K’s in a single season / A.L.
–Bob Feller: 348 in 1946
–Sam McDowell: 325 in ’65, 304 in ’70
–Mickey Lolich: 308 in ’71. Vida Blue: 301 in ’71, as well.
–Nolan Ryan: 329 in ’72. 383 in ’73, 367 in ’74, 327 in ’76
(teammate Frank Tanana had 261), 341 in ’77, 301 in ’89 (at age
42…amazing).
–Randy Johnson: 308 in ’93
–Pedro Martinez: 313 in ’99
“K” Tidbits
–I was looking at the tandem of Randy Johnson and Curt
Schilling and their performance last season, which got me
thinking about the whole strikeout issue as defined in the above
quiz. The combined total for the duo was an astounding 665
(Johnson – 372, Schilling – 293). I mentioned the Ryan / Tanana
combo above, which was at 588. Back in 1965, Sandy Koufax
had 382 and Don Drysdale 210 (592). This season, after 39
games, Schilling has 95 and Johnson 77 (172…another possible
record on the way), let alone the fact they have a combined won-
loss record of 14-2, following their 43-12 mark of last season.
–In 1966, Koufax threw 323 innings without hitting a batter, a
N.L. record. Not that he was a wimp, of course, as he finished
his career on top that year…27-9, 1.73 ERA and 317 Ks.
–On May 15, 1960…Don Cardwell, traded to the Cubs, throws a
no-hitter in his first start for his new team. Imagine the headlines
the next day. [Any discussion of no-hitters for a Mets fan leads
to the still amazing fact that they have never thrown one in club
history.]
–May 15, 1918. Walter Johnson beats the White Sox’ Lefty
Williams, 1-0, in an 18-inning duel, each going the distance.
Washington’s Johnson went 23-13 with a 1.27 ERA that year,
completing all 29 of his starts, slightly different from today’s
game, eh?
Next Bar Chat, Tuesday.
