Detroit Lions Quiz: 1) Who was the last coach to have a winning
record (for at least one full season)? 2) Passing yards, career? 3)
Receptions, career? 4) Interceptions, career? 5) Passing yards,
game? [Hint: Last ten years] 6) Receiving yards, game? [Hint:
302] 7) Passing TDs, game? [Hint: Only 5] Answers below.
The Hit Man
Mr. “Wall of Sound” is sure in a heap of trouble. As you’re
aware, Spector remains out on bail following the ruling by the
Los Angeles County coroner that the death of B-movie actress
Lana Clarkson at Spector’s home a while back was a homicide.
Spector, though, recently told Esquire magazine that Clarkson
“kissed the gun,” killed herself. As of this writing, no formal
charges have been filed against him, but, what the heck, I
thought it was a good time to take a little look back at the life of
one of the great music producers of all time!
Described by author Tom Wolfe as “The First Tycoon of Teen”
in his book “The Kandy Kolored Tangerine Flake Streamline
Baby” (c. 1964), Spector was born on 12/26/40 in the Bronx.
The family moved to California when he was 9 (another source
says 12) following the death of his father, who committed
suicide, and young Phil began playing the guitar while at Fairfax
High School in Los Angeles. By age 16 he was playing in local
coffeehouses and in 1958 he wrote the tune “To Know Him Is To
Love Him” (inspired by the epitaph his mother had had inscribed
on his father’s tombstone – “to know him was to love him”), a
song recorded by the Teddy Bears, a group that included his
schoolmates Annette Bard and Marshall Lieb. It was a #1
Billboard hit and sold 2 ½ million copies worldwide.
[Bard suffered severe facial injuries in a 1960 car accident and
later changed her name to Carol Connors. She became a
songwriter and is responsible for “Gonna Fly Now,” the theme
for ‘Rocky.’ Bill Conti recorded it.]
But the record producers walked off with $17,000 of the $20,000
due Spector, an experience that convinced him he needed to
control his own music from here on.
Spector had entered UCLA after high school but he couldn’t
afford the tuition, so he moved to New York City where he
worked as a U.N. interpreter (speaking French). It was in New
York that he got his musical career back in gear, after the bad
experience with the Teddy Bears’ hit, and Phil co-wrote
“Spanish Harlem” with Jerry Leiber, a huge ’61 tune for Ben E.
King. By this time Spector had formed his own Philles label
(Phil+Les, for his old pal, producer Les Sill).
At this point Spector decided he was going to focus on quality
over quantity. According to rock historian Irwin Stambler,
“Spector waited until he had written a song he felt would
succeed, then he carefully selected the artist, recorded as many
takes of the song as he felt necessary to gain the effect he
wanted, and, finally, concentrated promotion on the specific song
rather than spreading the effort among a dozen or more titles.”
[Source: “The Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock And Soul”]
Spector began churing out the hits. “He’s A Rebel” was a smash
#1 with the Crystals, along with other top twenty songs “Da Do
Ron Ron,” “Then He Kissed Me,” “Uptown,” and “He’s Sure
The Boy I Love.”
The maestro was perfecting his unique “wall of sound,” and he
used some of the best session men in the industry, folks like Glen
Campbell, Sonny Bono, Leon Russell and drummer Hal Blaine.
More hits followed. “Be My Baby” with the Ronnettes.
“Corinna, Corinna,” Ray Peterson. “Every Breath I Take,” Gene
Pitney. “Pretty Little Angel Eyes,” Curtis Lee.
By age 21 Phil Spector was a millionaire. And he was just
getting started.
“Wait Til’ My Bobby Gets Home,” Darlene Love, and the
ultimate wall of sound tune, the Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve
Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’”. [Spector also produced “Ebb Tide”
and “Unchained Melody” for the boys.]
But at the same time Spector was developing quite a
reputation as a weird recluse, a hard partier. He disappeared
behind the walls of his 23-room L.A. castle, only to return later
in the decade to work with the Beatles, doing the remix of the
album “Let It Be.” He also handled the production for the LP
“Concert for Bangla Desh,” along with George Harrison’s “All
Things Must Pass” and John Lennon’s “Rock ‘n Roll.” [Spector
co-produced “Imagine.”]
Aside from working with the Beatles, though, his only trip back
into his more traditional style was a 1969 hit for Sonny Charles
and the Checkmates, Ltd., “Black Pearl.” [Great tune.]
Spector survived two near fatal auto accidents in 1974 and 75,
emerging only briefly to produce the Ramones LP “End of the
Century.” He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
in 1989.
Now I’ve omitted the story of his Christmas album because I
covered that extensively in the past, plus I didn’t say anything
about his marriage to Ronnie Bennett of the Ronettes. Well, fret
not, my friends, for we’ll dig up some dirt on the latter next chat.
[For his part, Paul McCartney recently remixed “Let It Be,”
again, and eliminated any references to Spector.]
2003 Baseball Stat Wrap-Up
Granted, the following is for real baseball junkies, but Johnny
Mac and I have put together some thoughts and comments on the
just completed regular season.
Personally, I always get excited when no one hits 50 homers, as
was the case in both leagues this year. Jim Thome and Alex
Rodriguez each had 47. And the RBI totals weren’t outrageous,
with Preston Wilson leading the NL with 141 (though there
needs to be a Coors Field * next to his name), while Carlos
Delgado had 145 in the AL. However, after Delgado the next
AL total was A-Rod’s 118, so not a lot of stat inflation here. In
fact, AL batting champ Bill Mueller’s .326 was the lowest to lead
the league since Rod Carew’s .318 way back in 1972.
But with Albert Pujols’ .359 in the NL, that makes 11 straight
seasons with the leader at .350 or better. Pujols also became the
youngest to win the NL crown since Tommy Davis did it in
1962, both accomplishing this feat at 23 years of age. But that
also turned out to be the peak in Davis’ career, as he hit .346
with a super 153 RBI for Los Angeles that season, though he did
win another batting crown in ’63 (.326).
Pujols led the NL in doubles with 51, too, the 7th straight season
someone has reached 50 in this category. To show you the
significance of this, the 50 double mark was hit only once in the
NL between 1966-94.
Jim Thome is up to 381 career homers at age 33. He’s going to
be a surefire Hall of Famer, though maybe not in his first try.
Atlanta had one of the best outfields in baseball history, with all
3 driving in 100. [Sheffield, 131; A. Jones, 116; C. Jones, 106.]
Plus Javy Lopez also drove in 100 (109). And check out Chipper
Jones’ consistency the last 8 seasons in the ribby category.
110, 111, 107, 110, 111, 102, 100, 106…plus he played at least
156 games each year.
The New York Mets had the highest cost per victory, in the
$1,750,000 range, with a payroll of $116mm and only 66
victories. By comparison, 3 of the 8 playoff teams had payrolls
of $55 million or less. Minnesota ($55.6mm), Florida
($48.3mm) and Oakland ($50.3).
Florida’s Jack McKeon (72) is the oldest big league manager
since Casey Stengel managed the ’65 Mets.
Tom Verducci in Sports Illustrated had the “Beat the traffic
award,” handed to Rangers outfielder Juan Gonzalez. “Out for
the season with a torn calf muscle, (Gonzalez) cleaned out his
locker with two weeks left…and left the team to return to his off-
season home in Puerto Rico.”
Roy Blount Jr. had a special piece in SI on triples, “the most
exciting 12 seconds in sports.” Of course you don’t see that
many these days, as Tim McCarver points out that most players
stand around in the batters’ box, looking at the ball, before they
start running.
Also, players muscle up as they get older (steroids), as well as
slow down. Then again, you have those like Garry Templeton,
who hit 18, 13, and 19 triples his first three seasons, then at age
24 he began to sulk, got ornery and became a real pain in the ass.
He was never in double figures again.
Ted Williams hit 25 triples his first 2 seasons and only 46 his
next 17. Blount writes, “The triple’s magic wears off as a player
matures.” It also exhausts them.
But since Blount brought it up, I have an excuse to once again
mention……..Summit, New Jersey’s own…Willie Wilson, who
according to the great sportswriter “may be the fastest
centerfielder ever,” adding, “Wilson probably robbed or cut off
as many triples as he hit, and he led the AL in hitting them at the
ages of 25, 27, 30, 32 and 33.” Rah-rah, for Wil-lie, Rah-rah, for
Wil-lie…Summit’s in the stands saying Rah-rah, for Wil-lie.
[Sorry, high school flashback. Speaking of which, did you know
that the current quarterback at Summit High represents the 11th
straight season that the Schroeder family has had a representative
directing the football team? Pretty cool story. Their father was a
super QB in the late 60s. Bar chat con–tin–ues…………..]
Finally, as Johnny Mac pointed out in an article long ago, Owen
Wilson of Pittsburgh holds the record for 36 triples in a single
Season, set way back in 1912. This will never, ever be broken.
And how about a word on hitting pitchers? I didn’t realize that
the worst of all time for a pitcher with at least 200 at bats was
Ron Herbel, who went 6 for 206, a .029 average. Well, seeing
this I had to look up two other hurlers known for being
incredibly inept at the plate. Hank Aguirre, 33 for 388, .085, and
Bob Buhl, 76 for 856, .089. In 1962, Buhl went 0 for 70. I know
I’m missing others so we’ll fill in the gaps down the road.
Those are my thoughts, now on to Johnny’s.
I’m as happy as the next guy Pujols beat out Helton (we don’t
need another Rocky Mountain aberration in the record books),
but intentionally walking Helton in the 8th inning down 10-7 and
a zillion games out of first was a weak move by the Padres the
last game of the season. In case you missed it, Helton lost the
crown by .0002.
And remember the Bar Chat Hall of Fame member Rod Beck?
After sitting out the entire 2002 campaign, he was called up by
San Diego to replace Trevor Hoffman and responded by saving
20 games after June 15, posting a 1.78 ERA.
This year’s winner of the Magglio Ordonez “Geez, I didn’t know
how good he was” award…
Carlos Beltran, KC…first off, his name is often confused with
Adrian Beltre, who sucks, but Carlos is really some player; a
speedy centerfielder with some pop in his bat. In each of his four
full seasons he has driven in 100, scored 100, hit over 20 homers
and stolen 30 three times (with a lifetime SB percentage of 88%
to boot).
Others on the list include…
Richie Sexson (45 HR, 124 RBI for the hapless Brewers)
Derrek (sic) Lee (31 HR, 92 RBI for Florida)
Carlos Lee (31-113, 100 runs for the late-gagging White Sox)
Mark Loretta (who hit .314 for the Padres)
Scott Podsednik (career minor leaguer who also hit .314, scored
100 runs and stole 43 bases in his rookie year for the Brew crew)
Aubry Huff (34-107, 47 doubles and a .311 average for the
somewhat improving Devil Rays)
Jay Gibbons (100 RBI for the Orioles)
Joe Borowski (another career minor leaguer, drafted in ’89, who
had 33 saves for the Cubbies)
As for A-Rod and the MVP award, look, I think he’s the best
player in the game, all things considered, but to give him the
award when he didn’t have his best (or second best, or third
best) season, well, I don’t know. I mean he’s probably been
robbed in the past, but he made the decision to sign with Texas,
and that means he hasn’t played in a meaningful game in three
years.
With the sun apparently setting on Randy Johnson’s career, I am
sure we will see his angular frame accepting a plaque in
Cooperstown five years after he calls it quits. Since coming to
the NL midway thru the ’98 season (during which he would turn
35) the Big Unit has gone 97-36, while striking out 1,658 in
1,227 innings and winning four straight Cy Youngs.
For what it’s worth, the Braves certainly don’t treat ex-mates
very well. Besides beating the crap out of Tom Glavine (0-4,
10.35 ERA), they roughed up Kevin Millwood pretty good, too
(0-4, 7.77 ERA…when your earned run average is the same as a
jumbo jet, that’s not a great thing).
Back to the Braves outfield, not only did they all drive in 100,
but they also scored 100 and hit 102 homers, collectively.
Barry Bonds’ #’s get stranger and stranger every year. I mean
they just never pitch to this guy. With his 90 RBI and 45
homers, that means he drove himself in half the time and picked
up just 45 base runners. Of course it didn’t help that with
runners in scoring position (RISP), Bonds was walked 73 times
in 150 plate appearances, though it does need to be noted that he
hit .338 in those situations so it wasn’t his fault. With RISP and
2 outs it’s even weirder…41 walks (against just 9 hits) in 69
plate appearances for an on-base percentage of .725.
On to the AL Cy Young award, you have to go with Toronto’s
Roy Halladay, 22-7, who logged 266 innings (a huge total these
days), even completing 9, while giving up just 32 walks. Plus
Halladay was 5-1 in September with a 1.41 ERA.
As for the firing of White Sox manager Jerry Manuel, talk about
a no-brainer. Chicago had as good a lineup as anyone (Alomar,
Thomas, Lee, Konerko, Everett, Magglio). But when it comes to
the Orioles canning Mike Hargrove, well, they were just
beginning to show a little improvement and have some decent
young players. You need a little stability to develop talent. But
you have to hand it to Peter Angelos (the owner for those of you
who don’t follow the sport), it’s no easy task to completely screw
up perhaps the premier organization in the sport (in terms of
structure, talent production, etc.), while emptying a great
ballpark.
And for you Twins fans out there, what’s the deal with Cristian
Guzman? The guy is a total zero. I mean after all he had an on-
base percentage of just .268! And he bats in the two-hole.
Back to A-Rod, he turned just 28 at mid-season and now has 345
career dingers, about 40 ahead of Jimmie Foxx who has always
been the leader by age through 31-32. Yeah, 800 is not a stretch.
Nomar Garciaparra was issued just one intentional walk all
season because the lineup is so deep. Boston had 8 guys drive in
85 or more. The Mets, Reds, Indians and Padres didn’t have one.
Well, the preceding was for all you folks who enjoy tipping a
few at the local watering hole. Print it out so that after the 4th
round you have some back-up.
Stuff
–So undoubtedly you saw the story of Little Joe, the 300-lb.
gorilla that escaped for a second time from Boston’s Franklin
Park Zoo, hurting two people before being returned to its home.
Of prime concern, as pointed out in the Boston Globe, is that
today’s adolescent male apes are increasingly testing the security
systems at the zoos. In one instance, a gorilla leaped 12 feet to
get over a wall. Now that’s the kind of vertical jump that has
NBA scouts drooling. Plus the opposing players would be leery
about guarding the beast too closely for fear of catching ebola.
But did you know that the # of captive gorillas in the U.S. has
grown from 270 to 375 over just the past 20 years? And as
zookeepers tell us it’s the bachelors that are the primary problem,
but then isn’t that always the case? There’s also the issue of
terrorism and it’s the feeling here at Bar Chat that the gorillas
have been passing notes on to the black bears, along with their
knowledge of the English language. Who’s to say that when you
call Dell Computer with a problem, for example, that the call
hasn’t been outsourced to a zoo, or a wild animal park? I’m
tellin’ ya, it’s just another huge campaign issue.
–On a related topic, the AARP has done a survey that reveals
that 1 in 7 women older than 50 prefer dating younger men.
Overall, 34% of those 40 to 69 currently do. Men prefer dating
Hollywood starlets and super models.
[Oh, c’mon…I’m a bachelor, what do you expect me to write?!]
–The Editor admits he would flunk the eHarmony.com
compatibility quiz.
–Kenyan Paul Tergat set the world record in the marathon last
weekend in Berlin…2 hours, 4 minutes, 55 seconds, shattering
the old mark by 43 seconds. The conditions were perfect; no
wind and a flat course. Tergat was running his 6th marathon and
is also a 5-time world cross-country champion, as well as a two-
time Olympic silver medallist in the 10,000-m. So in case you
are wondering, by my back of the beer coaster calculation,
Tergat’s amazing time works out to about a 4:45 per mile pace.
Goodness, gracious. [2:02:21 is a 4:40 pace.]
–Hey, I’ve completed two marathons myself……in about 4:30
each, so Tergat could have watched a whole NBA game after
finishing, while I completed my race. And did I ever tell you
about eating black bean soup the night before my second
marathon? [Long-time readers will remember….this ranks
among the five dumbest things I’ve ever done in my life.]
–A successful fish farmer can earn about $1,800 to $1,900 per
acre. I’m liking this idea more and more as I get older.
–You know, I saw this piece on Drudge’s site that a man was
bitten by a rattlesnake while shopping at Wal-Mart and there is a
much bigger issue here, though the AP story didn’t pick up on it.
As you know, Wal-Mart is receiving increasing publicity for its
failure to pay its employees a decent wage. The latest issue of
Business Week goes into the topic in some depth, with many not
earning enough to exceed the poverty level. And now the
company is hiring low-wage rattlers to maintain order in the
shelves! Let’s face it, folks, at some point this all has to stop.
–I got a kick out of the fact the Wall Street Journal had an article
on golf in Japan on Wednesday, after my last Bar Chat covered
the topic, though mine was far easier to understand. We call that
the “Bar Chat Advantage.”
–That’s “Bar Chat”…keeping the world informed even while
you drink.
–We’re trying out new tag lines in our latest attempt to win a
Pulitzer. Your contributions are welcome.
–“Thank you, Brazil!” …singer Alanis Morissette, in Lima,
Peru. [Newsweek]
Top 3 songs for the week of 10/3/64: #1 “Oh, Pretty Woman”
(Roy Orbison) #2 “Do Wah Diddy Diddy” (Manfred Mann) #3
“Bread And Butter” (The Newbeats)
Detroit Lions Quiz Answers: 1) Last coach to have a winning
record: Joe Schmidt, 43-35-7 (1967-72). 2) Passing yards,
career: Bobby Layne…15,710 (1950-58). 3) Receptions, career:
Herman Moore…670 (1991-2001). 4) Interceptions, career:
Dick LeBeau, 62 (1959-72). 5) Passing yards, game: Charlie
Batch, 436 (11/18/01). 6) Receiving yards, game: Cloyce Box,
302, 1950. Boy, if you got this one have a frosty. 7) Passing
TDs, game: Gary Danielson, 5 (12/9/78).
Next Bar Chat, Tuesday. Ronnie Spector tells us what a dirtball
Phil really was.
