Toronto Blue Jays Quiz (1977-2002): 1) Who was the first
manager? 2) What two years did they win the World Series? 3)
Who is the only AL MVP? 4) Who was AL rookie of the year in
1979? 5) Who threw the only no-hitter in franchise history? 6)
Who was the 1st 20-game winner? 7) How many from the
Opening Day lineup back on 4/7/77 can you name? Answers
below.
Bob Hope and Golf
I am an unabashed fan of Bob Hope and mourn his passing as
much as the next guy. I’ll have a few comments elsewhere on
the site later this week but for now, Hope’s legacy is as much
about golf as almost anything else. Think back 30-35 years
and how much you looked forward to the Bob Hope Chrysler
Classic, which to me was the first real tournament of the
year on the PGA Tour. Back in those days, the celebrity pro-
am seemed so much more fun than it is today, primarily because
those folks were real celebs, unlike the clowns you see today.
And Hope was always in rare form, being able to play a decent
game of golf himself back then, even at age 65 or 70. For those
of us living in colder climes, January in the desert was a terrific
diversion.
And don’t forget that it was just two years ago that Arnold
Palmer shot his age, 71, at the Hope, a terrific achievement.
Finally, there was the historic 1995 pairing with Hope, President
Clinton, and former presidents Bush and Ford. For one moment
we threw politics aside and only Hope could have pulled it off.
But as for the sport of golf in general, the 7/28 edition of
Barron’s has a piece by Jonathan Laing that is rather telling.
Golf is slumping, big time.
In 1950 there were 3.5 million golfers. Today, about 26 million.
But there are increasing signs that the boom is turning into a
bust, a la tennis from 1987-1997.
In 2002, 518 million rounds were played in America, but only
502 million in 2002. The early estimate for ’03 is for a further
3% drop. Meanwhile, revenues in the Phoenix, AZ area are
down 25-35% from the 2000 peak, to give but one example of
the trend in this regard.
And the number of new courses that is opening has also fallen
from 400 in 2000 to 220 in 2002. Of course many of us would
argue there are already far too many courses. 50 foreclosed in
’02 and the number doing so in ’03 and ’04 is bound to be much
higher.
Stock market losses have hit private memberships particularly
hard, while in the case of both public and private, part of the
problem is that today’s parents can’t afford to spend 5-6 hours+
at the club.
Back to Bob Hope, his signature song, “Thanks for the
Memory,” was penned by composer Ralph Rainger and lyricist
Leo Robin for Hope’s first feature film, “The Big Broadcast of
1938”:
Thanks for the memory
Of candlelight and wine, castles on the Rhine
The Parthenon and moments on the Hudson River Line
How lovely it was!
Thanks for the memory
Of rainy afternoons, swingy Harlem tunes
And motor trips and burning lips and burning toast and prunes
How lovely it was!
Many’s the time that we feasted
And many’s the time that we fasted
Oh, well, it was swell while it lasted
We did have fun and no harm done
And thanks for the memory
Of sunburns at the shore, nights in Singapore
You might have been a headache but you never were a bore
So thank you so much.
Thanks for the memory
Of sentimental verse, nothing in my purse
And chuckles when the preacher said “For better or for worse”
How lovely it was
Thanks for the memory
Of lingerie with lace, Pilsner by the case
And how I jumped the day you trumped my one-and-only ace
How lovely it was!
We said goodbye with a highball
Then I got as “high” as a steeple
But we were intelligent people
No tears, no fuss, Hooray! For us
So, thanks for the memory
And strictly entre-nous, darling how are you?
And how are all the little dreams that never did come true?
Aw’flly glad I met you, cheerio, and toodle-oo
And thank you so much.
—
Bob Uecker
Born on January 26, 1935 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Bob Uecker
was brought up by the Milwaukee Braves baseball team in 1962,
hitting .250 in 64 at bats. It would be the highlight of this
catcher’s playing career, though we have to note he did club 7
home runs in 1966 for the Phillies, but it was with a batting
average of .208.
Overall, Uecker finished up at an even .200 for his career,
with 14 homers and 74 RBI in 731 at bats as he managed to hang
around for most of six seasons, retiring after the \’\’67 campaign.
But then Ueck found success as a broadcaster and company
pitchman (think Miller-Lite and “front-row”) and this past
weekend he was awarded with the Ford C. Frick Award for
broadcasting excellence at the same ceremony honoring new
inductees Eddie Murray and Gary Carter. Suffice it to say,
Uecker stole the show with his remarks, some of which follow.
“I was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Actually, I
was born in Illinois. My mother and father were on an
oleomargarine run to Chicago back in 1934* because we couldn’t
get colored margarine in Wisconsin.
[*ed. he gets confused.]
“On the way home, my mother was with child, me, and the pain
started and my dad pulled off into an exit area, and that’s where
the event took place.
“It was a nativity-type setting, an exit light shining down and
three truck drivers there. One was carrying butter, one had
frankfurters, and the other guy was a retired baseball scout who
told my folks that I probably had a chance to play somewhere
down the line.
“I remember it being very cold, it was January. I didn’t weigh
very much, I think the birth certificate says 10 ounces. I was
immediately wrapped in swaddling clothes and put in the back of
a Chevy without a heater. And that was the start of this
Cinderella story that you’re hearing today.”
And this, concerning the first ball his father gave him:
“It was a football. I was very young, and he didn’t know a lot
about it. He came from the old country. We tried to pass it and
throw it and kick it, and we couldn’t do it.
“It was very discouraging for him and for me. We almost quit,
and finally we had a nice-enough neighbor who came over and
put some air in it.”
On his first contract:
“I signed for $3,000 with the Braves of Milwaukee, which I’m
sure a lot of you know, and my old man didn’t have that kind of
money to put out. But the Braves took it. I remember sitting
around our kitchen table counting all this money, coins out of
jars, and I’m telling my dad, ‘Let’s forget this. I don’t want to
play.’
“He said, ‘No, you are going to play baseball. We’re going to
have you make some money, and we’re going to live real good.’
So I signed.”
About playing for manager Gene Mauch and a pending trade:
“I’d be sitting there and he’d say, ‘Grab a bat and stop this rally.’
“Or he’d send me up there without a bat and tell me to try for a
walk. Or look down at the third-base coach for a sign and have
him turn his back on you.
“But you know what? Things like that never bothered me. I’ve
set records that will never be equaled, .200 lifetime batting
average in the major leagues, which tied me with another sports
great averaging 200 or better for a 10-year period, Don Carter,
one of our top bowlers. And I did that without playing every
game.”
On catching knuckleball pitchers:
“The key is to wait until it stopped rolling and then just pick it
up.”
About his family:
“I’d take my kids to a game, and they’d want to come home with
a different player.”
“And my two boys are just like me. In their championship Little
League game, one of them struck out three times, the other one
allowed the winning run to score, and they lost the
championship. I couldn’t have been more proud.”
And more comments:
“In St. Louis, where I won a World Series for them in 1964,
(GM) Bing Devine came to me before the Series and said, ‘We
would like to do something for you. We would like to inject you
with hepatitis. We need to bring an infielder up.
“Next season, when they presented the rings, it was something
you never forget. They threw mine out to left field and when I
found it in the grass in the fifth inning, I was awed. I had
endorsement contracts where they paid me to not let anybody
ever see me using their stuff.”
“I am honored. But I still think I should have gone in as a
player.”
[Source: AP / New York Post]
Of course there have been other Uecker quotes over the years.
“Anybody with ability can play in the big leagues. But to be able
to trick people year in and year out the way I did, I think that was
a much greater feat.”
On a Little League game involving his 14-year-old:
“He struck out three times and lost the game for his team when a
ball went through his legs at third base. Parents were throwing
things at our car and swearing at us as we left the parking lot.
Gosh, I was proud. A chip off the old block.”
And
“I set records that never will be equaled – in fact, I hope 90
percent of them don’t even get printed.”
“Philadelphia is such a bad city that when a plane lands there,
nobody gets off, everybody gets on. Even if you win a rowing
race in Philly, they boo you unless you go over the rapids.”
“Philly fans are so mean that one Easter Sunday, when the
players staged an Easter egg hunt for their kids, the fans booed
the kids who didn’t find any eggs.”
“The highlight of my baseball career came in Philadelphia’s
Connie Mack Stadium when I saw a fan fall out of the upper
deck. When he got up and walked away the crowd booed.”
“One time, I got pulled over at 4:00 AM. I was fined $75 for
being intoxicated and $400 for being with the Phillies.”
“Winning and losing is nothing. Going out and prowling the
streets after the game is what I liked. You’d get half in the bag
and wake up the next morning with a bird in your room – that’s
what baseball is all about.”
[Source: “Baseball’s Greatest Quotations,” Paul Dickson. I used
an ESPN adaptation on one of them.]
Stuff
–Wow nice game, Bill Mueller of the Boston Red Sox.
Mueller became the first major leaguer to hit grand slams from
both sides of the plate in the same game on Tuesday night. He
had three homers overall in the contest and 9 RBI.
Only 12 players in baseball history have hit two slams in a game.
My two personal favorites were Tony Cloninger, a pitcher, who
did it for the Braves back in 1966, one of my first real baseball
memories, and Detroit’s Jim Northrup, who accomplished the
feat in 1968.
–Lance Armstrong officially received $465,000 for winning the
Tour de France and he graciously gave it to his teammates and
support staff. But in case you were wondering why he felt so
compelled to do such a thing, you need to know he earned $3.25
million from his sponsor, the U.S. Postal Service.
–Remember a few months ago when we honored relief pitcher
Rod Beck with induction into the coveted Bar Chat Hall of
Fame? Beck, recovering from Tommy John surgery, was toiling
with the Cubs AAA affiliate in Des Moines. What endeared him
to us was the fact he was living in a trailer beyond the outfield
fence and loved entertaining the fans there after the games.
Beck was shortly thereafter called up by the San Diego Padres
(after gaining a release from the Cubs) and as of Wednesday had
gone 13 for 13 in saves. Rod, you are da man!
–You may have seen that story in West Virginia where a rabid
beaver attacked a little girl and then chased her mother before
meeting its death at the hands of two shovel-wielding men. Now
this was very rare, beavers known more for their home-building
skills, particularly with the condo developments springing up all
over America. But as Johnny Mac points out, the girl was
participating in a pig-picking, and Johnny is probably correct in
deducing that the beaver was only avenging his friend, Porky.
It’s a theory worth exploring; another new alliance in the battle
between man .and the animal kingdom.
–Mark R. tells me that a huge debate is taking place in
Philadelphia these days as Eagles ownership has decreed that
fans will not be allowed to bring hoagies into the new Lincoln
Financial Field due to security concerns. Many fans are saying,
bull, the Eagles just want more concession money. But Mark
and I agree, you could hide an awful lot in an official hoagie,
especially a 6-footer. Times have changed, sports fans. Suck it
up.
**News flash: The hoagy ban was rescinded…the hoagy ban was
rescinded!!!!!
–So as we noted last week, the Rolling Stones are in Toronto for
a concert and the restrictions on what you could bring in are
quite severe. Harry K. passed along a piece by Gerry Flahive of
the Globe and Mail.
“Items Allowed: cotton puff balls, feathers, marshmallows,
meringue, air guitars, Kleenex (not in boxes), hair extensions,
adult diapers, 1 breath mint, Yorkshire pudding, sideburns,
arthritis medicine, oxygen previously inhaled and marijuana
intended for personal medicinal use.
“Prohibited items: Bazookas, personal scaffolding, boulders, full
23-volume copies of the Oxford English Dictionary, personal
gurus, microwave ovens suits of armour, Paul McCartney,
tractors, live lobsters, Humvees, helicopter-mounted motion-
picture cameras, portable professional recording studios,
paternity suit subpoenas for Mick Jagger.”
Top 3 songs for the week of 7/29/67: #1 “Light My Fire” (The
Doors) #2 “I Was Made To Love Her” (Stevie Wonder) #3
“Windy” (The Association)
Toronto Blue Jays Quiz Answers: 1) Roy Hartsfield was first
manager, 1977-79, 166-318. [First three years for the Blue Jays
were awful 54-107, 59-102, 53-109.] 2) Blue Jays won the
Series in 1992 (Atlanta) and 1993 (Philadelphia). 4) Alfredo
Griffin, shortstop, was rookie of the year in 1979. 5) Dave Stieb
threw the only no-hitter in 1990. 6) Jack Morris was the 1st 20-
game winner, 21-6, 1992. 7) Opening Day lineup, 4/7/77:
John Scott, LF
Hector Torres, SS
Doug Ault, 1B
Otto Velez, DH
Gary Woods, CF
Steve Bowling, RF .man, don’t remember this guy at all.
Pedro Garcia, 2B
Dave McKay, 3B
Rick Cerone, C
Bill Singer, P
Except for Ault (11 HR 64 RBI) and Velez (16-62), the above
were awful. Roy Howell, .316, and Bob Bailor, .310, ended up
being the best players that first season. Bill Singer went 2-8,
while Dave Lemanczyk led with a 13-16 mark. Jerry Garvin was
10-18.
Next Bar Chat, Tuesday. I’ll get around to the travelogue I wrote
of last time. Sorry, Ken S.
“Of lingerie with lace, Pilsner by the case”
God bless you, Mr. Hope.
