Texas Rangers / Washington Senators Quiz (1961-2003): 1)
Who was the first MVP? 2) Who was the only rookie of the
year? 3) Whose # is the only one retired? 4) Who are the only
three 20-game winners in franchise history? 5) Who am I? I led
the A.L. in ERA in 1969. Answers below.
Rachel Carson
We have a tradition here at Bar Chat, honoring Rachel Carson
for Earth Day. And each year I come up with a new tidbit or two
to add to the tale. Of course I do this to prove to my critics that
I’m really a closet greenie. So, once again, the Rachel Carson
story.
Born May 1907 in a 5-room farmhouse in Springdale, PA,
Carson always had a certain fondness for nature, though she
grew up wanting to be a writer. Then, while at Chatham College,
a science teacher convinced Rachel to change her major from
English to Zoology.
Meanwhile, back during World War II, the U.S. military had
been making great use of an insect spray, DDT, which was
particularly effective in fighting lice and other disease-carrying
insects. But the effect on humans was little tested. Following
the war, however, E.I. DuPont, the manufacturer, had large
stockpiles of DDT left over and the U.S. Department of
Agriculture championed its use.
We didn’t know it at the time, but DDT wasn’t the only potential
problem. By the late 1950s, the daily flushings from industries
and cities were turning America’s waterways into sewers.
Rachel Carson was now an editor with the Fish and Wildlife
Service and she thought our nation was acting too quickly in
approving and using various chemicals and pesticides, so she
sought to do a formal study. But when no one seemed interested
in supporting this effort, Carson turned to marine biology and
began a broad look at the earth’s life-support system in 1958.
The main subject of her 4-year study was the effect on wildlife of
the new poisons being produced by the likes of DuPont.
Carson’s work would thrust the concept of environmentalism
into the mainstream of human thought.
By 1962, having been convinced by friends to write a protest
article on the widespread use of DDT to control mosquitoes,
Carson published her first piece in The New Yorker, later
expanding it to a book, “Silent Spring.” It would prove to be one
of the most influential works of the 20th century. As writer /
editor Harold Evans notes, “She had the scientific training, she
had the reverence for life in all its forms and she had the literary
ability to make the subject readable.”
Here are just a few selected passages:
“There was once a town in the heart of America where all life
seemed to be in harmony with its surroundings. The town lay in
the midst of a checkerboard of prosperous farms, with fields of
grain and hillsides of orchards where, in spring, white clouds of
bloom drifted above the green fields. In autumn, oak and maple
and birch set up a blaze of color that flamed and flickered across
a backdrop of pines….
“Then a strange blight crept over the area and everything began
to change. Some evil spell had settled on the community;
mysterious maladies swept the flocks of chickens; the cattle and
sheep sickened and died. Everywhere was a shadow of death.
The farmers spoke of much illness among their families. In the
town the doctors had become more and more puzzled by new
kinds of sickness appearing among their patients….
“There was a strange stillness. The birds, for example – where
had they gone?….
“….Even the streams were now lifeless. Anglers no longer
visited them, for all the fish had died….
“No witchcraft, no enemy action had silenced the rebirth of new
life in this stricken world. The people had done it themselves…..
“It took hundreds of millions of years to produce the life that
now inhabits the earth – eons of time in which that developing
and evolving and diversifying life reached a state of adjustment
and balance with its surroundings….Given time – time not in
years but in millennia – life adjusts, and a balance has been
reached. For time is the essential ingredient; but in the modern
world there is no time.”
The book was purposefully divided into two sections because
Rachel had to address different constituencies. The first part was
an ecology primer that millions of ordinary readers could
understand, while the second was an argument against the
chemical industry’s scientists. The book connected the new “age
of poisons” and “nature’s web on interwoven lives” to the
everyday existence of her readers.
Knowing she would face fierce counterattacks, Carson concluded
with a huge 55-page appendix of “principle sources.” The
invitation was to “tear it apart if you can.” The chemical
industry blasted her, the conclusions labeled “baloney.” Ezra
Benson, Eisenhower’s former Secretary of Agriculture, said
Carson was “probably a Communist.” She was accused of being
a hysterical woman who loved animals more than humans.
Two years into “Silent Spring,” Rachel was stricken with cancer,
yet she felt a solemn obligation to finish the book.
“The beauty of the world I was trying to save has always been
uppermost in my mind,” she said. “That, and anger of the
senseless, brutish things that were being done…if I didn’t at least
try I could never again be happy in nature.”
President Kennedy had his Science Advisory Committee
evaluate Carson’s findings and the prestigious group validated
her thesis.
Then in 1963, the American Academy of Arts and Letters gave
her an award:
“A scientist in the grand literary style of Galileo and Buffon
(French naturalist), she had used her scientific knowledge and
moral feeling to deepen our consciousness of living nature and to
alert us to the calamitous possibility that our short-sighted
technological conquests might destroy the very sources of our
being.”
Rachel Caron died on April 14, 1964. The pesticide DDT was
banned in 1972.
[Sources: American Heritage magazine; “The American
Century,” Harold Evans; “The Century,” Todd Brewster and
Peter Jennings; “Muckraking!” edited by Judith and William
Serrin.]
**BUT…we’re not finished. I was reading a piece by Tina
Rosenberg on DDT in the Sunday Times Magazine, the April 11
edition, and her claim that today DDT can help those suffering
from malaria in Africa and elsewhere. Rosenberg thus blames
Rachel Carson for countless deaths.
As Rosenberg writes, “The move away from DDT in the 60’s
and 70’s led to a resurgence of malaria in various countries…
those that then returned to DDT saw their epidemics controlled.
In Mexico in the 1980s, malaria cases rose and fell with the
quantity of DDT sprayed.”
Rosenberg adds this about Carson’s classic work.
“Carson detailed how DDT travels up the food chain in greater
and greater concentrations, how robins died when they ate
earthworms exposed to DDT, how DDT doomed eagle young to
an early death, how salmon died because DDT had killed the
stream insects they ate, how fiddler crabs collapsed in
convulsions in tidal marshes sprayed with DDT….
“Rachel Carson started the environmental movement. Few
books have done more to change the world.
“But this time around, I was also struck by something that did
not occur to me when I first read the book in the early 1980’s. In
her 297 pages, Rachel Carson never mentioned the fact that by
the time she was writing, DDT was responsible for saving tens of
millions of lives, perhaps hundreds of millions…
“ ‘Silent Spring’ is now killing African children because of its
persistence in the public mind. Public opinion is so firm on DDT
that even officials who know it can be employed safely dare not
recommend its use.”
Ah Ha! See, I told you each year we add a little twist to the
Rachel Carson story. What will it be next year? Spreading some
beer in a foil plate doesn’t really kill garden slugs; rather it turns
them into alcoholics?! Well?
Richard Nixon and the Environment
Yes, your editor’s favorite president, next to Ronald Reagan (just
don’t tell anyone), played a leading role in the environmental
movement. But back during the campaign of 1968, neither
Nixon nor Hubert Humphrey addressed it. After all, a poll taken
following Nixon’s election showed that only 1% believed the
environment was the most important issue facing the new
president. Shortly after taking office, for example, Nixon told
Henry Kissinger of a meeting he had had with the Sierra Club.
“What is the Sierra Club?” Kissinger asked. Two years later,
though, the polls had changed. The environment was now the #1
issue among 25% of the people.
Nixon, ever the pragmatist, saw an opportunity to champion a
movement that was beginning to stir and so in his 1970 State of
the Union Address he declared, “Clean air, clean water, open
spaces – these should once again be the birthright of every
American.” The result was the Clean Air Act of 1970, which
forced the auto industry to meet emission standards. [Granted,
Detroit didn’t initially do a great job at this, but it was a start.]
Well, the first Earth Day was also in 1970 and 10,000 schools,
2,000 colleges and almost every town in America took part.
100,000 celebrated in New York City and the environmental
movement was officially born.
At the time environmental responsibilities were looked after in
various departments of the Federal Government; Interior for
water, Health, Education & Welfare for air quality, and the
Department of Agriculture regulated pesticides. Nixon then
proposed, just two months after the first Earth Day, the creation
of the Environmental Protection Agency to take over the
scattered functions while giving the EPA greater regulatory
power. The agency opened its doors on December 2, 1970 and
the first administrator, William Ruckelshaus, was a strong leader.
Did Richard Nixon champion the environment for political
reasons? Perhaps. Should anyone care? Of course not, the man
got things done. That’s just my opinion….I paid for this site!!!
[Source: “One of Us,” Tom Wicker]
The Worst Songs…Ever
Blender magazine, which I have to admit I’ve never read, is
getting a ton of press for its “The 50 Worst Songs Ever” list,
headed up by Starship’s 1985 tune “We Built This City.”
Well, about four years ago I did a bit in this space that was
better, quite frankly, examining a series of columns Dave Barry
wrote in 1992 and 93. I held onto them all that time (having
initially received them from my brother) and I wrote Mr. Barry
asking permission to reprint them for Bar Chat. After about six
weeks, his assistant called and politely said “No.” We ended up
having a pleasant chat and I learned that at least once a week,
someone is literally passing off whole Barry columns as their
own. With the Net being what it is I bet it”s more like 5-10 times.
Well, I did tell the assistant that I have quoted Barry before and
felt within my rights to pull a bit or two from his pieces, and so I
did. But now, with Blender’s list there is a crying need to repeat
Barry’s opinions, as well as my own. After all, when it comes to
a topic like this we get rather passionate about it.
Barry, who hangs his hat at the Miami Herald, polled the
newsroom for their thoughts on the subject back in ”92. [For
purposes of this discussion we are limiting the results to mostly
popular music from the 50s, 60s and 70s, as opposed to
Blender’s more current selections.]
Some of the nominations Barry received were as follows:
“A Horse With No Name” – America
“Billy, Don”t Be A Hero” – Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods
“Kung Fu Fighting” – Carl Douglas
“Me And You And A Dog Named Boo” – Lobo
“Seasons In The Sun” – Terry Jacks
“Feelings” – Various artists
*Now you”ll recognize that some of these have been featured in
my “Top 3 songs of the week” lists. What one person hates, it
seems, the buying public has loved.
Other responses: “Every song ever recorded by Bobby
Goldsboro.” “Virtually every song recorded since about 1972.”
Well, after Barry then polled his nationwide audience, he came
up with the following Top 3 Worst Songs of All Time:
#1 “MacArthur Park” – Richard Harris
#2 “Yummy Yummy Yummy (I Got Love In My Tummy)” –
Ohio Express
#3 “Having My Baby” – Paul Anka
As to the #3 entry, one reader wrote: “It has no redeeming value
whatsoever – except my friend Brian yelled out during the birth
scene in the sequel to ‘The Fly,’ in full song, ‘Having my
maggot!’”
Other assorted observations, including worst lyrics of all time.
From Bobby Goldsboro”s “Honey”:
“She wrecked the car and she was sad; And so afraid that I”d be
mad, but what the heck;
“Tho” I pretended hard to be; Guess you could say she saw
through me; And hugged my neck.”
A reader said of Goldsboro, “Bobby never caught on that he
could have bored a hole in himself and let the sap out.”
Now one artist who got an honorable mention, whom your editor
personally likes, was Mac Davis for hits such as “Watching
Scotty Grow” and “Baby Don”t Get Hooked On Me.”
Heck, I liked both of these! But there is a line in “Baby…” that
some argue is the worst of all time.
“You”re a hot-blooded woman child; And it”s warm where you”re
touching me.” Yeeshh!
How about some more. A lot of folks wrote in on “Sugar
Sugar,” “Afternoon Delight” and “In The Year 2525.”
Regarding this last one, there is hatred bordering on violence
for this Zagar and Evans piece of crap.
As to my all-time worst, yes, “MacArthur Park” is right up there.
“Sugar Sugar” and “Yummy Yummy,” too, it goes without
saying. But my most visceral hatred is reserved for “The Lion
Sleeps Tonight” (The Tokens…sorry, Jeff B., but you just got
two NCAA titles out of the UConn men and women). On more
than one occasion I have come close to jumping out a window
(or driving the car off a bridge) when this tune comes on the air.
You have to understand, it”s not a matter of turning the dial; just
hearing the first few bars ensures that you are stuck with it for 2,
maybe 3 days. [Just writing about it, I”m breaking out in hives.]
Stuff
–I don’t know what to do. As I go to post, prior to Wednesday
evening’s baseball match-ups, Barry Bonds has now homered in
7 consecutive games. I mean King BALCO is turning 40 years
old in July, for crying out loud, yet he’s threatening to club
another 70 this season unless he’s stopped. My friend Johnny
Mac was hopeful that when Bonds hit #666 this would actually
be a good omen, it being the sign of the devil and all. Maybe
he’d pull a groin muscle that wouldn’t heal for 25 years. But
noooooooo, Bonds hit #667 the next night.
[By the way, the record for homering in consecutive games is 8,
held by Dale Long in the N.L. (Pittsburgh, 1956…Long hit 27
that season and 132 in his career), and Don Mattingly (Yankees,
1987, 30 overall that year) and Ken Griffey Jr. (Seattle, 1993, 45)
in the A.L.]
–The New York Post’s Page Six titled Wednesday’s column
“Omarosa’s A First-Class Pain.” Seems the terrorist was all
ticked off when she wasn’t upgraded to first class from coach on
a flight from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. According to a witness
report, Omarosa screamed at the American Airlines agent,
“Don’t you know who I am? I was on ‘The Apprentice!’”
Omarosa is al Qaeda, you know. Just my opinion…time for a
beer.
Top 3 songs for the week of 4/24/65: #1 “Game of Love”
(Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders…I do a good job on this
one after a few adult beverages) #2 “Mrs. Brown You’ve Got A
Lovely Daughter” (Herman’s Hermits…never dated a Brown, I
must say) #3 “I’m Telling You Now” (Freddie & The Dreamers)
Texas Rangers Quiz Answers: 1) Jeff Burroughs was first MVP,
1974. 2) Mike Hargrove is the only rookie of the year, also 1974
(though the team was only 84-76 that season). 3) Nolan Ryan,
despite pitching only five seasons for Texas, is the sole player to
have his uniform # retired. [He did have two of his no-hitters
with them, but this is still weak.] 4) 20-game winners: Fergie
Jenkins, 25-12 (1974); Kevin Brown, 21-11 (1992); Rick
Helling, 20-7 (1998). 5) Dick Bosman was the A.L. ERA
champion in 1969, 2.19 (14-5).
Next Bar Chat, Tuesday.
