Pittsburgh Pirates Quiz (1901-2002): 1) Name the 2 Cy Young
winners in club history? [Cy Young award first handed out 1956.]
2) How many World Series have they won? 3) What Pirate won
batting titles in 1927, 1934, and 1936? 4) Who won the batting
title in 1940? [This is tough, so you get the initials…DG] 5) Who
has the record for most RBI in a season? [Only 131, amazingly.]
6) How many years did Ralph Kiner hit 40 homers? 7) Who was
the last 20-game winner? Answers below.
Ray Charles
No jokes, just a straightforward tale of an incredible figure in
American music.
He was born Ray Charles Robinson, September 23, 1930, in
Albany, GA. Ray had his eyesight when he was young, but while
there are varying versions of the following, it seems that Ray had
watched his younger brother drown in a backyard washtub and,
coincidentally, around this same time Ray was losing his eyesight.
He was suffering from glaucoma, which went untreated, and he
lost his sight at either age 6 or 7. Ray’s father, a handyman, then
died at 10 and at 15, Ray was orphaned.
Musically, Ray had learned to play the piano when he still had his
sight, and then he took up the alto sax, clarinet, trumpet and organ
while at a school for the blind.
Having actually grown up in Greenville, FL, at age 18 Ray took
$600 in savings he had made playing local clubs and moved to
Seattle, WA. [You keep reminding yourself, he’s blind, and he’s
doing this.] His very first day in Seattle, he entered a talent contest
and got a job playing at a local Elks club.
Billed as R.C. Robinson, Ray played light jazz and blues, forming
a trio that went by the name of McSon, while emulating the style
of the Nat ‘King’ Cole Trio. Shortly thereafter, he changed his
name to Ray Charles to avoid confusion with the boxer Sugar Ray
Robinson.
What we find out later is that Ray was already a heroin addict, but
in 1949 he received his first recording contract and by 1951 had an
R&B hit with “Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand.” In just a few
years, Charles was a smash, scoring #1 R&B tunes “I’ve Got A
Woman” (1/55), “A Fool For You” (7/55), and “Drown In My
Own Tears” (2/56).
By 1958 he was appearing at the “Newport Jazz Festival,” and in
1960 he had the #1 Billboard Pop sensation “Georgia On My
Mind,” capturing a few Grammys for this one. Other monster hits
followed, “One Mint Julep” (#8, 3/61…instrumental), “Hit The
Road Jack” (#1, 9/61) and “Unchain My Heart” (#9, 12/61).
But on December 5, 1961, Ray was charged with narcotics
possession, after being arrested at a hotel in Indianapolis, and it
seems like it was then that everyone realized he had been fighting a
heroin addiction since his early years.
1962 saw three other Billboard Top Tens – the monster smash “I
Can’t Stop Loving You” (#1 for four weeks, 5/62), “You Don’t
Know Me” (#2, 8/62…and a personal fave of your editor’s), and
“You Are My Sunshine” (#7, 12/62). Charles was also fined in
July ’62 by an Atlanta court for refusing to perform at a segregated
dance where blacks were only spectators.
Then in ’64, Ray was busted again, seized by customs agents at
Boston’s Logan Airport for heroin and marijuana possession, but
he only received a 5-year suspended prison sentence due to the fact
that tests later showed he had gone cold turkey. [To tell you the
truth, I couldn’t find anything that said he had relapsed since.]
Other Billboard Top Tens
“Take These Chains From My Heart” (#8, 4/63)
“Busted” (#4, 9/63…appropriate)
“Love Me With All Your Heart” (#3, 5/64…with the Ray Charles
Singers)
“Crying Time” (#6, 1/66…a Buck Owens tune…awesome song)
A few tidbits:
2/77 – While performing for disadvantaged youth someone rushes
on stage and tries to strangle Charles.
11/77 – Musical guest on “Saturday Night Live.”
1986 – Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
1988 – Received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys,
called the “father of soul.”
Also in the 80s, Charles did a lot of country music, gaining a #1 in
’84 with “Seven Spanish Angels,” a duet with Willie Nelson.
Charles once said, “Soul is a way of life, but it is always the hard
way.” But historian Irwin Stambler adds that Charles “remained
singularly free from the bitterness and self-pity that might have
accrued under the circumstances.”
Charles has largely avoided social commentary about racial
matters, though he did take part in the civil rights movement,
however. Yet for the most part his attitude, even during the tough
times was, “My audiences have spent their hard-earned money to
get a few minutes’ entertainment. Everyone can see I’m black, so I
guess I don’t have to tell anyone about it.”
So quaff an ale to a great entertainer and a great American, who a
hundred years from now will also be remembered for his rendition
of “America the Beautiful.” Not a bad legacy, I think you’d agree.
Stuff
–Athens 2004: Man, I mean to tell you, I’d avoid the Olympics
next summer. Aside from the obvious terror threat, which is as
serious as any ever encountered for the Games, you have the
logistics nightmare, especially transportation.
But for the athletes themselves, it’s not any better. Anthee
Carassava had a piece the other day in the New York Times
describing a test event in rowing that took place last week. There
were gale-force winds, swamping boats and rowers. Organizers
called it “a fluke,” but a member of the Australian team said, “The
person who designed this course should be strangled. There are
wind generators on the hills. What do you think that says about the
area?”
Two other early problems. The German rowing team suffered
from Salmonella poisoning, eating meals prepared for them, while
in Athens and the surrounding area, there are packs of wild dogs
(60,000+) that terrorize everyone.
Back to Sydney, I say…only this time I want to see sharks actually
in the harbor during the triathlon.
–Speaking of sharks, a woman in California was killed by one
about 200 miles northwest of Los Angeles. She was wearing a
wetsuit and flippers and clearly the attacker mistook the fool for a
seal. Never, ever, boys and girls, dress like a seal.
[This would be just the 10th shark-related fatality in California
waters since the mid-1950s.]
–Jack and Tiger: More post-PGA feedback. The New York
Post’s Mike Vaccaro compares Woods to Ken Griffey Jr., as it
wasn’t too long ago that Griffey was considered a lock to beat
Hank Aaron’s home run record of 755. Now, Griffey struggles to
reach 500. Similarly, Tiger has his 8 majors, a long ways from
Jack Nicklaus’s 18.
Vaccaro also points out that Nicklaus had an equally incredible
19 second-place finishes in majors. Tiger has had only one.
And I shared some thoughts with an old friend, Allen H., who
vigorously defended Nicklaus, reminding everyone that Jack was
easily the best putter in the clutch and never seemed to develop the
yips. Plus, as AH put it, “Would you worry about beating Jack’s
record if you had $100 million in one hand and a beautiful blond in
the other?”
Good point. But I actually thought Tiger would have dumped Elin
a while ago. Something will change over the winter. Maybe
caddie Steve Williams is a victim of the coming purge. What I can
guarantee is a Sports Illustrated cover story on Tiger in February,
following the Super Bowl, titled, “Can Tiger Put It Back
Together?”
–Ed Townsend died the other day. Townsend wrote Marvin
Gaye’s smash “Let’s Get It On.” But Townsend also personally
recorded one of the all-time great tunes, 1958’s “For Your Love,”
which amazingly peaked at just #13. I’d stick this in my personal
Top 40.
–I loved this blurb in the NY Daily News, concerning Britney
Spears and Jared Leto. I have no idea who Leto is (except he’s
another Hollywood pretty boy).
“Spears and Leto found each other Saturday night in Los Angeles
when the pop tart and the matinee idol eyed one another at Dolce,
Ashton Kutcher’s restaurant. ‘They’d never met before,’ says a
source.
“Leto came over to chat and learned he and Brit were both headed
for Ben Affleck’s birthday party, thrown by Jennifer Lopez and
their agent, Patrick Whitesell. They decided to drive over together,
and arrived arm-in-arm.”
Why can’t this happen to me sometime? Actually, I liked Britney
with her hair the other way.
–Oh brother. New Jersey Senator Jon Corzine, who bought the
election over my man Bob Franks, is reportedly looking to buy the
New Jersey Nets. [Star-Ledger] And who is setting the whole
thing up? Why if it isn’t another New Jersey crook, former
Senator Robert Torricelli.
–Beijing resident Ma Lihua now holds the record for single-
handedly knocking over 303,000 dominoes. It took her 6 weeks,
working 12 hours a day, to set them up. But initially there was a
major problem. Cockroaches! Yup, Ma was using a Singapore
Exhibit Hall and cockroaches would come out and knock over a
domino, setting off a chain reaction. Sticky paper was thus placed
down to capture them before they could do more damage. When
Ma finally went for it, only 6 dominoes failed to fall and the whole
thing took 4 minutes.
We thus fulfill the domino reporting requirement for the next
decade, as spelled out by the International Web Site Association.
–Wohhh… “Giant gerbils infest China” [BBC News]. These
aren’t your run of the mill gerbils, sports fans. They can grow up
to 16 inches in length and as the story goes, “Authorities are
trying to combat the gerbils, not only by using poison, but also by
breeding eagles to devour them.”
Holy cow…breeding eagles! This is exciting stuff, unless you’re a
resident of northwestern Xinjiang. I see a great movie down the
road. [“Attack of the Gerbils…based on a true story.”]
–The Detroit Tigers are now 31-93 thru Tuesday’s play, and
pitcher Mike Maroth is 6-18, a lock to match (and exceed) Brian
Kingman’s 20-loss mark from 1980, much to Kingman’s dismay.
Teammate Jeremy Bonderman is also 6-16. We wish them all the
best.
–Par-tee!!!
According to the annual survey of colleges by The Princeton
Review, we learn the following.
Top Party Schools
1. Univ. of Colorado – Boulder
2. Wisconsin – Madison
3. Indiana – Bloomington
4. Illinois – Champagne / Urbana
5. Washington and Lee (Lexington, VA)
But, here are the Top 5 for Beer, specifically
1. Wisconsin
2. Texas – Austin
3. Washington and Lee
4. Indiana
5. Dartmouth
*I’m liking Washington and Lee more and more. Time to check to
see if they’ll accept my GRE’s for a Masters program, in anything.
[Lexington is also where Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson are
buried; Lee at the school bearing his name, Jackson at VMI, all
except his arm, that is. I think I have this right. Actually, I’m
wondering why I’ve never visited here before. ROAD TRIP!!!!]
Continuing with The Princeton Review survey…
“Students Almost Never Study”
#1…Colorado…of course
Great College Towns
1. NYU
2. Tulane
3. Georgetown
4. DePaul (Chicago)
5. Univ. of Miami…………mmmmm, South Beach
[Though any of these five would kill you, so I don’t see what’s
so great about them.]
“Students Most Nostalgic for Ronald Reagan”
#1…Washington and Lee……………done, I’m there.
“Students Most Nostalgic for Bill Clinton”
#1…Bard College (Annandale-on-Hudson)…remind me to skip
this one, forever.
My own alma mater, Wake Forest, never known as a party school
(but as some of us liked to say, ‘You can always make your own
fun), is actually ranked #9 out of 351 schools for “Major fraternity
/ sorority scene.” But then it’s #2 for “Least interaction between
races / class.” Doh!!
And a note to our own Dr. Bortrum, who attended Dickinson
College (Carlisle, PA) undergrad, before heading to Pitt to get his
Dr. B. stuff, Dickinson supposedly has the #1 college library in all
the land! Good for them. They beat out Harvard for the top slot.
–Mike Schmidt, Joe Morgan, and Johnny (I shot a 97 in a
Champions Tour event) Bench recently met with Baseball
Commissioner Bud Selig to discuss the status of Pete Rose. A
decision to reinstate will be made following the World Series,
which means one thing – this is all that will be discussed during
the event.
–Hey Jimmy Spencer, calm down, will ya? NASCAR driver
Spencer finished up this weekend’s event at Michigan International
Speedway, entered the pit area, and promptly punched rival Kurt
Busch in the face while Busch was still in his car, bloodying
Busch’s nose and chipping a tooth. There has been some real bad
blood between these two for over a year now. Anyway, NASCAR
fined Spencer $25,000 and placed him on probation for the rest of
the year. There has been a ton of this stuff recently.
Meanwhile, the reason why Matt Kenseth has a commanding lead
for the championship is his consistency, with 18 top-10s in 23
starts. [For you non-NASCAR folks, there are normally anywhere
from 33-40 cars in a race.]
Top 3 songs for the week of 8/24/74: #1 “(You’re) Having My
Baby” (Paul Anka) #2 “The Night Chicago Died” (Paper Lace)
#3 “Tell Me Something Good” (Rufus)
Pittsburgh Pirates Quiz Answers: 1) Cy Young winners: Vernon
Law, 1960; Doug Drabek, 1990. [Loved Law’s baseball card.] 2)
World Series titles: 1909 (Detroit), 1925 (Washington), 1960
(Yankees), 1971 (Baltimore), 1979 (Baltimore). 3) Paul Waner
won batting titles in ’27, ’34, ’36. 4) Debs Garms won the batting
title in 1940 with a .355 average. He was a .293 career hitter in 12
seasons. [I hate to admit this, never heard of the guy; just another
reason why the baseball record book is so great, though.] 5) Hall
of Famer Paul Waner holds the single season RBI mark with 131
in 1927. He was born 100 years ago, 4/16/03, Harrah, OK; 3,152
hits in his career, to go along with a .333 average. 6) Kiner hit 40
homers 5 straight seasons: 1947 (51), 1948 (40), 1949 (54), 1950
(47), 1951 (42). Willie Stargell is the only other Pirate to hit 40,
doing it twice; 1971 (48), 1973 (44). 7) John Smiley is the last 20-
game winner, 20-8, 1991.
Next Bar Chat, Tuesday.
