Kansas City Royals Quiz (1969-2001): 1) Who was the first
manager? 2) What 2 seasons did they win the pennant? 3) Who
is the single season home run leader? 4) Who is the only 3-time
20-game winner? 5) Who are the only two to win the batting
title? 6) Who is the career leader in innings pitched in a Royals
uniform? Answers below.
British Open
You can’t be a golf fan and not like Ernie Els. Along with Nick
Price, by all accounts one of the two you’d probably most like to
have a few beers with. [They quaff with the best.] So we were
particularly pleased to see him win, even if my dream sequence
of Tiger winning the British and then losing to Mickelson in the
PGA won’t come to pass.
And as Johnny Mac told me, hopefully everyone tuned in to
witness the drama that the sport can provide, even without
Woods. Neither Johnny or I, who both follow the sport closely,
had any clue who Gary Evans and Thomas Levet were, so I
imagine many of you didn’t either. And having played in
weather a lot worse than Saturday (this past April in Ireland), I
could relate to some of the problems the golfers had, though we
were playing for pints, not $1.2 million.
But I have to bore you with another word about fellow Wake
Forest alum Scott Hoch. Now here’s a guy who’s made no secret
of his disdain for links golf, having skipped all but a handful of
Opens, and then there he is, with a 3-over 74 in the first round,
and I’m thinking, ‘No doubt Scott mails it in in the second so he
can go home.’ But noooo, he ended up being the highest
American finisher, just two off the lead. So here’s to you, Scott.
I admired your performance. [What a choke job by all the other
Americans, though.]
And then there is Colin Montgomerie. There was a time when I
sort of felt sorry for the man…no longer. Monty is a first-class
jerk. Nice consistency, too. 74-64-84-75. [Kind of like my
calculus quiz scores in college…actually, they were worse.]
Monty addressed the press after his final round 75. In describing
his actions on Saturday, he said, “I would have spoken…Tiger
was here and you were more interested in him…I was off after
him and I left here and no one wanted to speak to me. I didn’t
storm off. I didn’t go off in a temper, OK? I played in very
difficult circumstances yesterday and I’m very disappointed at
the way you guys keep on trying to believe that I have a bad
temper on the golf course.
“I haven’t shown a sign of temper on a golf course for five years.
I’m very, very disappointed. I’m hurt by it, I’m really hurt. I’ve
pulled out of tournaments for the next two weeks. I can’t handle
it any more.” Then, as the London Times’ Mel Webb wrote,
“With that, he turned his back on the people who had claimed
that he had stormed off on Saturday. And stormed off.”
As for Tiger, I thought he was a class act. Anyway, following
Saturday’s debacle, it’s not all bad being able to hang out with a
babe like Elin Nordegren now, is it?
Britain, Part II
In January 2001 in this space, I wrote of Britain’s “Doctor
Death,” Dr. Harold Shipman, who having been convicted of 15
murders the prior January, was further implicated in up to 300
more deaths from 1974-1998. Well, updating the story,
authorities now are convinced he murdered at least 215, on top of
the first 15, though the final toll may yet reach the original 300+
estimate.
So for those not following this unbelievable story that closely,
I’ll just repeat a few things from 1/01.
Shipman was a general practitioner who serviced the Greater
Manchester area. He won his patient’s trust through years of
attention, being one of the few to make house calls. An audit
revealed a pattern of behavior where the women in his care
tended to collapse and die suddenly in mid-afternoon, an unusual
time of death, with Dr. Shipman being present at the moment of
death far more than would be normal. More specifically, he
normally showed up in response to a patient complaint of some
kind of ailment, or it could have been a routine checkup.
Once at the home, he then administered the deadly injection.
According to a story last Saturday (7/20/02) in the New York
Times, Warren Hoge adds, “Most of his victims were found
sitting in their living room chairs, looking as if they had just
fallen asleep. Sometimes he would stay on the scene and report
the death to relatives himself. Other times, he would leave and
wait to receive word, then return.”
Amazingly, the relatives then accepted Shipman’s explanation
for the sudden death, assuring them that an autopsy wasn’t
required. Shipman’s injection of choice was diacetylmorphine,
or heroin, which is available by prescription in Britain. He
would then alter the medical records and persuade fellow doctors
to co-sign dozens of cremation certificates.
So why didn’t his fellow physicians become curious? After all,
he signed a total of 521 death certificates, including the
following comments in one of his cremation forms.
“Saw patient at home, diagnosis made, arranged admission
ambulance, patient dead when went back, all within 10 minutes.”
As the audit later discovered, there was no noted attempt at
resuscitation. Why didn’t other doctors bring this up? And why,
after a conviction in 1976 for forging prescriptions for his own
drug habit, was he allowed to continue practicing?
So how was he finally caught? One of the reasons he avoided
detection all those years was there appeared to be no motive in
any of his victim’s deaths. But in his last case, an apparently
healthy 81-year-old woman who died during his visit, lawyers
for the victim received a revised copy of her will leaving
Shipman $600,000. It was obviously a forgery and an
investigation led to his arrest and the discovery of the other
cases.
Shipman, currently serving a life sentence, has refused to discuss
his patients. The last killer of this magnitude was Colombian
Pedro Armando Lopez, the “Monster of the Andes,” who
allegedly killed 300 young girls in Colombia, Peru and Ecuador
in the 1960s and 70s.
[Other sources: AP, Jeremy Laurance / Independent (UK), T.R.
Reid / Washington Post, Roland Watson / The Times of London]
Baseball
Well, there is some good news. If the strike date being bandied
about by the players, September 16, comes to pass, that means
we may not have any players hit 50 home runs? Isn’t that great?
I always felt the best way to cut down on the career numbers was
to cancel about half of every three seasons, so maybe this latest
strike will last until next June or so. We might be able to keep
Fred McGriff out of the 500-homer club that way.
And following up on my last Bar Chat, where I listed baseball’s
“30 Most Memorable Moments,” Phil W. chimes in that Major
League Baseball left out the three most important, if not
memorable, events that reflect the state of the sport today.
–The Curt Flood decision and the start of free agency.
–The collusion of the owners years ago that eliminated any trust
the players have in their bosses.
–The last strike in 1994, which eliminated the World Series that
season. Looking back that was a real good thing because
otherwise Matt Williams and Ken Griffey, Jr. may have hit 60
homers. Jeff Bagwell also had 116 RBI in 115 games that year
before the stoppage. What we did miss, though, was Tony
Gwynn’s legitimate attempt at .400, Gwynn ending up at .394
with 45 games left. [Here’s some trivia for you, what pitcher led
the AL in wins that season? Jimmy Key, 17, for the Yankees.]
By the way, Mets fans like Phil W., Johnny Mac, Tony P. and
yours truly would all probably agree that, as Phil wrote, the real,
single most memorable event was the 1969 doubleheader with
the Pirates when the Mets swept both game 1-0, with the pitchers
driving in the winning run in both. [Don Cardwell and Jerry
Koosman…Kooz’s only RBI of the season.]
Here’s another totally unrelated baseball tidbit. A long time ago
Johnny Mac reminded me that Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine of
1975 and 1976 didn’t have one player who hit 30 home runs.
You could probably win some ale on that one, but it’s true.
In 1975 Bench had 28, Foster 23 and Perez 20. In 1976 Foster
had 29, Morgan 27, Perez 19 and Bench only 16. [Wow, in ’76
the St. Louis Cardinals had 63 as a team, led by the big slugger
Heity Cruz with 13. Actually, San Diego also hit just 63, Dave
Winfield’s 13 leading the club. The only N.L. players to hit 30 in
’75 or ’76 were Mike Schmidt (twice), Dave Kingman (twice…
he should be in the Hall…cough cough), Greg Luzinski and Rick
Monday. Oh, how I yearn for those days.]
Michael Schumacher
Since I know I have more than a fair number of European and
Canadian Formula One fans (I’m not as big in Latin America…
it’s the economy down there, you know), I’d be remiss in not
congratulating Michael Schumacher, even if he is a jerk, for
matching the great Juan Manuel Fangio by winning his 5th
Formula One driving championship.
But Fangio won his 24 individual races in just 51 starts, while
Schumacher (he won this weekend’s French Grand Prix) got the
checkered flag for the 61st time in 173 starts. Fangio won his
titles with Alfa Romeo, Mercedes, Maserati and Ferrari in the
1950s. Mmmm, Maserati.
Morgan Shepherd
Speaking of racing, an interesting thing occurred in NASCAR
over the weekend at the event in Loudon, N.H. 60-year-old
Morgan Shepherd, who hadn’t driven since February 1999, took
his own car out (with zero corporate sponsors) and finished 40th
out of 43. Thank God he survived. The track is a piece of s—.
Glenn Robinson
Speaking of, err, you know, the NBA’s Glenn Robinson was
arrested for domestic assault, battery and illegal possession of a
firearm. Coupled with Allen Iverson’s alleged gun-toting, if I
were a parent, I’d avoid taking my kid to an NBA game this
coming season. If these guys get a call against them, no telling
what they’ll do.
Seattle Seahawks
Hey, Seattle, way to christen your new football stadium! In case
you didn’t hear, a man jumped to his death during the team’s
open house for the fans to check out the new digs.
Bear Tale
Thanks to Harry K. for passing along the latest from North Bay,
Ontario (you know, Lake Nipissing and Sturgeon Falls). A man
was cycling on a trail when he came across two bear cubs. Frank
Epple was watching them when…WHOOSH…out of the bushes
came the mother, charging at him. Then the mother suddenly
stopped about 75 feet away. “She was grunting and snorting and
lifting her front paws and stomping them on the ground,” said
Mr. Epple. Then the bear charged him again and he pedaled
away, faster than Margaret Hamilton in the Wizard of Oz. I only
bring this up because “the area is heavily wooded and a favorite
place for kids.” So I expect Harry to be sending me more stories
before school starts up again.
Lastly, back to the British Open…
Two years ago I wrote a little story that bears repeating, one
concerning the inferior equipment that the golfers who
participated in the British Opens of the 1800s had to work with.
During his final practice round (2000), Tiger’s coach Butch
Harmon flipped him an ancient golf ball on the ninth tee at St.
Andrews. It was a “guttie” from the old days, the kind used in
the late 19th century. The Washington Post’s Leonard Shapiro
gave the following account.
“Woods had already hit his regular ball – a swoosh model, of
course – to the front edge of the green, almost 350 yards away.
But now, with the antique hard molded rubber ‘guttie,’ his
second drive off the tee fell 110 yards short of the first. Instead
of a putter for his second shot, Woods used a 5-iron.”
Which is why you need to treat with respect the awesome 77 that
Young Tom Morris shot at St. Andrews back in 1869, on largely
the same links.
Top 3 songs for the week of 7/20/68: #1 “Grazing In The Grass”
(Hugh Masekela) #2 “Lady Willpower” (Gary Puckett & The
Union Gap) #3 “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” (The Rolling Stones)
Kansas City Royals Quiz Answers: 1) First manager – Joe
Gordon, 69-93…not bad…but they canned him. 2) Royals won
the pennant in 1980 and 1985; the Series in 1985. 3) Steve
Balboni hit 36 homers in 1985, still the record. 4) 3-time 20-
game winner: Dennis Leonard [20-12 (’77), 21-17 (’78… 38
decisions in 40 starts), 20-11 (’80).] 5) Batting champs: George
Brett (’76, ’80, ’90) and Willie Wilson (’82). 6) Innings pitched:
Paul Splittorff, 2,554. Splittorff also leads in career wins with
166, Leonard had 144.
Opening Day lineup for the K.C. Royals’ first game…4/8/69
Lou Piniella, CF
Jerry Adair, 2B
Ed Kirkpatrick, LF
Joe Foy, 3B
Chuck Harrison, 1B
Bob Oliver, RF
Ellie Rodriguez, C
Jackie Hernandez, SS
Wally Bunker, P [Went 12-11 on the season]
*Now get this, pitcher Jim Rooker was 4-16 (but with a 3.76
ERA), however, he slammed 4 homers in 57 at bats (.281 BA). I
forgot he was that good at the plate.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday…I promise, some country music.
