[Posted early for Canada Day. I will resume the normal Tues. /
Thurs. schedule next week.]
Chicago White Sox Quiz: 1) What two players won the A.L.
home run title in the 1970s? 2) Who is the club’s single season
RBI leader? 3) When was the ChiSox last Series title? 4) Who
was the last Cy Young winner? 5) Who is the career hits leader?
6) Career HR? Answers below.
Wow, what a U.S. Senior Open. I’m not a huge viewer of the
Senior Tour, but I never miss the Open and this year proved to be
special. Yes, I’m a big fan of Tom Watson, but I always liked
Don Pooley. The announcers didn’t give Pooley enough credit
for his PGA career. Sure, he only won twice, but any fan of the
sport knew him well and I had a special little episode with him at
the PGA at Winged Foot (the one won by Davis Love).
I was at PIMCO at the time and we sponsored a table at the event
so I got to see quite a bit of action that week. But by Sunday, I
was anxious to get home and watch the conclusion on television,
however, I thought I’d walk 18 with the first group off and it was
Pooley, alone, without a ‘marker.’ Just me and a guy from Texas
I was chatting with by the 3rd hole. Those of you who have been
to an event know it’s the best way to really appreciate what these
guys go through, week after week, and Pooley was fun to watch.
By the 6th hole he was bemused that the two of us were following
him and he gave us a nod after he came off each green, and then
at the end he smiled and said, “Thanks, guys,” in a most humble
and sincere way. A good man, as Johnny Miller said Sunday.
So we congratulate Don Pooley on his super win versus one of
the game’s greats, Tom Watson. That last round was another
example of what makes sports so special.
Canada Day
In honor of my good friends from up north who visit this site
(which I appreciate greatly), I thought I’d excerpt a famous, and
terrific, speech from World War II, that of Canadian Prime
Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, June 17, 1941.
Canada had entered the war in September 1939 (in support of the
Commonwealth and Great Britain, which declared right after the
Nazi invasion of Poland on September 1st), and would go on to
suffer 42,000 war dead, a fact that I venture to say about 1% of
Americans know and appreciate.
Prime Minister King delivered this speech in New York City.
—
I speak to you tonight as the head of the government of a country
which, for almost two years, has been actively and unitedly at
war. In accepting your invitation, I have not been unmindful
that, though it was extended by Canadian friends, I, nevertheless,
would be speaking in a country other than my own, and to
citizens or residents of a nation which is at peace – or at least,
officially at peace.
[King then explains why Canada is in the fight.]
We believe that everything which free men value and cherish, on
this side of the grave, is in peril in this war. The right of men,
rich and poor, to be treated as men; the right of men to make the
laws by which they shall be governed; the right of men to work
where they will, at what they will; the right of womankind to the
serenity and sanctity of the home; the right of children to play in
safety under peaceful heavens; the right of old men and women
to the tranquility of their sunset; the right to speak the truth in our
hearts; the right to worship in our own way the God in whom we
believe.
We know that if we lose this fight, all fruits will wither and fall
from the tree of liberty. But we shall not lose it. We shall not
lose it because the people of Britain stand and will stand in
undaunted fortitude and magnificent resistance. We shall not
lose it because, although some nations may lie crushed today,
their souls can never be destroyed. We shall not lose it because
we, on this continent of North America, who have been the
pioneers of the frontiers of freedom, have already begun to stamp
out the prairie fire of tyranny, anarchy and barbarism which
every day draws close to our homes.
For today, whether we will it or not, we are all roof watchers and
fire fighters. As Canadians, we are proud to fight the flames
with the people of Britain who have maintained for free men
their faith in freedom, and kept inviolate the majesty of the
human spirit.
As Canadians, we are proud of our great and good neighbor, and
grateful to know, as all the world knows, that she is with us heart
and soul; that her genius, her skill and her strength work against
time for those who fight for freedom.
Some day peace will crown the sacrifices of all. When that day
comes the peoples of the British Commonwealth and the peoples
of the United States will be found at each other’s side, united
more closely than ever in one great endeavor to undo the wrongs
that have been done mankind. For it is, I believe, the unshaken
and unshakable purpose of both that there shall be established
upon this earth, now so rapidly becoming hideous with the
blackened ruins of civilization itself, a freedom wider, and more
deeply founded, than ever before in human history.
Surely we have all come to see that the present conflict is
something more than a war between Germany and other powers;
that is “a struggle between permanent and irreconcilable
claimants for the soul of man.” On the one side stands spiritual
freedom with its high regard for human values, the dignity of
manhood, the worth of honest toil and the sacredness of human
personality. On the other side is the spirit of Nazism and
Fascism with their “coarse material standards,” their “cult of
power as an end in itself,” their “subordination of personality to
mechanism” and their “worship of an elaborate and soul-
destroying organization.” This false and evil spirit has, in our
own day, in our own and other lands, permeated all too deeply
many phases of social and industrial life. It must be the purpose
of our high endeavor to destroy it for all time.
While that work is being done, it will be ours, as well, to do all
that lies within us to make supreme upon the earth that friendship
among men and nations which has ever lain hidden in the heart
of mankind.
—
RIP
–Timothy White: I note with sadness the death of Mr. White at
age 50. If you’ve read this column over the years, you still may
not know him, but Timothy White was, most recently, editor-in-
chief of Billboard, as well as author of the best rock book I ever
read, “The Nearest Far Away Place” on the Beach Boys. He also
wrote another book I rely on for research, “Rock Lives” (as in
individual lives), but perhaps is best known for one I haven’t
read, “Catch a Fire: The Life of Bob Marley.” White dropped
dead at his office in New York, which has been all too often an
occurrence the past week or so. The great hurdler Willie
Davenport, whom I forgot to mention last week, died at O’Hare
Airport…just 57. And then you had the deaths of Darryl Kile
and John Entwistle, who passed away suddenly from cardiac
arrest. As for Entwistle, bassist for the Who, I’ll do more at a
latter date.
–Jay Berwanger: The first winner of the Heisman Trophy,
Berwanger died at age 88 a few days ago. He was also the first
player ever drafted by the NFL, though he never played a down
in the league.
Berwanger scored 22 touchdowns in 23 games at the University
of Chicago (his numbers for ’35 really weren’t that great,
however), but when drafted by the Eagles, who then offered him
$125-$150 a game, good money in those days, he turned it down
to go into business (he also turned down an offer from the
Bears).
As for the trophy itself, he gave it to his Aunt Gussie, who used
it for a doorstop, seriously.
–Arthur “Spud” Melin, the co-founder of Wham-O, passed
away. I did a Christmastime story on Wham-O for my “Wall
Street History” link (12/14 and 12/21), if you want to look them
up.
–I’ll do something on Rosemary Clooney, Thursday.
Duncan Hines
Now tell the truth. If you are under the age of, say, 45, how
many of you know that the cake mix guy was real? Yes, there
really was a Duncan Hines, and I had no clue until I read a
review of a book, “Duncan Hines,” by Louis Hatchett. [The
review was by Edmund Levin in The Weekly Standard.]
Hines was born in 1880 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. A
traveling salesman, he had a weakness for food. Actually, he
was obsessed with food and in those days, the big challenge for
one in his position was to find decent places just to get a ‘clean’
meal, let alone an edible one.
Over the years he began to keep a list of good places to eat and in
1934, a Chicago Tribune reporter did a story on Hines’s favorite
spots. Well, soon the phone was ringing off the hook, and didn’t
stop, so Hines and his wife decided to put their choices in book
form. He wasn’t looking to make a dime (he basically paid for it
himself, just as a favor to friends), but one thing led to another
and soon he was publishing all manner of books on eating and
restaurants. By the 1940s, Duncan was one of the best known
figures in America!
But it took an advertising maven, Ray Park, to really capitalize
on the name. Park did some market research and found that
American housewives trusted Duncan Hines more than anyone in
the country, so in 1948, Hines, a humble and modest man, agreed
to a product endorsement contract and the rest is history.
Reviewer Levin says that Hines really didn’t want to sign the
deal and was duped by Park. Ask your parents and grandparents
if they remember the story.
Bears!!!!
Now as I’ve mentioned countless times before, my state of New
Jersey has never had a fatal bear attack, going back to Colonial
times, but one of these days…Actually, if it occurs, I’ll use
proper discretion in reporting the mauling.
Last Friday, though, we came awfully close when a 16-year-old
boy, alone in his double-wide in Sussex County (bear country in
these parts), heard a noise in the kitchen, sought the source, and
lo and behold, there was a 250-pound black bear, munching out
on some hamburger patties that he had found in the freezer.
The boy ran into his bedroom, called police, and when they
arrived he crawled through his window to get outside. The
police waited for a half hour, as the bear chowed down, before it
reemerged and…well, let’s just say New Jersey has a new rule
that isn’t so good for a bear that is caught breaking and entering.
But here’s the payoff. This bear was so smart that it opened up a
container of fortune cookies and “daintily” unwrapped each one,
50 in all. “The wrappers were neatly left on the floor,” said a
policeman. I’m tellin’ ya, before you know it, the bears will be
insider-trading and shifting expenses into the revenue column.
[Tanya Drobness / Star-Ledger]
Then there was the case on Saturday of the two summer
employees of Glacier National Park in Montana. They stumbled
on a grizzly just ten feet away. Ouch! Andrea Haver “dropped
to a fetal position and later said she felt the bear on her,” but
suffered only minor scratches, while Theron Jourda “ran at the
bear and hit it in the side, distracting it, and then dropped into a
fetal position.” Jourda received deep puncture wounds on his
shoulder and upper arm, but the grizzly opted not to chow down
and the two were able to hike to medical attention. [AP]
Stuff
–I must say, I wish I could bet on the British Open. Evidently,
Tiger Woods is 3-2 and 2-1 in both Vegas and Britain. Someone
like David Toms (30-1) or Vijay Singh (20-1) would make for a
good wager.
–You know who’s terrific…broadcaster Joe Buck. This guy has
the best sense of humor around, but on Saturday, during the Mets
/ Yankees game, broadcasting partner Tim McCarver was totally
clueless at times when it came to Buck’s musings. Buck should
dump McCarver and get someone like Ed McMahon to laugh at
all of his one-liners.
–Speaking of the Mets, we have to deal with reliever Armando
Benitez, one of the true jerks in the game. Not only does he
choke in every big contest, but he has to be the most immature
multi-millionaire in the history of the game.
Last week a rookie was called up and assigned the empty locker
next to Armando. Uh oh. Benitez wanted his space, so he went
ballistic on the poor clubhouse attendants, who probably make
minimum wage. The next day he apologized to them, meekly,
but then demanded to know who had spread the story to the press
in the first place. “Who said it? I will crush him.” He wasn’t
kidding.
–If you’re from the Richmond area, you must be having fun
with this one. I saw where an assistant basketball coach, Mike
Wilson, was dismissed for lying on his resume. This stuff I just
don’t understand. Wilson put that he was head coach at
Pittsburgh’s Bethel Park High from 1979 to 1981, when the
school had the same one from 1975 to 1998. Wilson graduated
from the school but never coached.
–3 high school and college pole-vaulters died this year. Kids, if
this is your sport, don’t tell your parents, because you’ll never do
it again. Trust me.
Top 3 songs for the week of 7/6/74: #1 “Rock The Boat” (The
Hues Corporation) #2 “Sundown” (Gordon Lightfoot) #3 “Billy,
Don’t Be A Hero” (Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods…this
group, not the song, is underrated)
Chicago White Sox Quiz Answers: 1) HR champs in the 70s: Bill
Melton, 33 (1971); Dick Allen, 37 (1972) and 32 (1974). No
telling what Allen would have done had he been on steroids.
This guy was simply awesome…when he wanted to be. 2)
Single season RBI: Albert Belle, 152 (1998). 3) Last Series title:
1917 (last won pennant in 1959 and lost to the Dodgers). 4) Last
Cy Young winner: Jack McDowell, 1993. 5) Career hits: Luke
Appling…2,749. 6) Career HR: Frank Thomas, 348 (entering
’02)
**Congratulations to Brazil for winning its 5th World Cup. Just a
terrific tournament, and it’s also fun to see the great ones, in
this case, Ronaldo, come through in the clutch.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday…nothing but baseball, beer and maybe
a little “Fireball,” if you keep it where it is.
