Baseball Quiz: Name the seven active pitchers with 200 or more
wins. Answer below.
Barry Bonds…the Loathsome Cheater
Facing the media for the first time on Tuesday since his grand
jury testimony in the BALCO case was leaked last December,
Bonds had the following to say.
On the role of the media in baseball’s steroid controversy.
“All you guys lied. Should you have an asterisk behind your
name? All of you lied. All of you have said something wrong.
All of you have dirt. All of you. When your closet’s clean, then
come clean somebody’s else’s. But clean yours first, OK?”
On passing Babe Ruth.
“If I was a long way away (he’s 11 home runs shy of tying the
Babe), this would not be the same, not at all. Because Babe Ruth
is one of the greatest players ever, and Babe Ruth ain’t black,
either. I’m black. Blacks, we go through a little more.
Unfortunately, I said it. I’m not a racist, though. But I live in
the real world.”
Am I wrong, or is Michael Jordan still about the most popular
athlete of the last 20 years? Isn’t he black? And does PGA Tour
attendance spike when Tiger is in an event? Isn’t he black? But
I digress.
Does Bonds view steroid use as cheating?
“I don’t know what cheating is. Is steroid use going to help you
in baseball? I just don’t believe it. I don’t believe steroids can
help you, help hand-eye coordination, technically hit a baseball.
I just don’t believe it, and that’s just my opinion.”
On Jose Canseco’s book.
“You know, to me, Canseco, you have to come to a lot more than
what you’re talking about, and fiction, man. There’s a whole
bunch of books and stories that are out there. Basically, it’s just
to make money. That’s all it is, about making money.”
How do you explain your massive numbers the last five years,
Barry?
“Hard work, that’s about it.”
Yes, bird flu would be appropriate about now.
Okinawa
Last time we looked at some of the athletes who fought on Iwo
Jima, February – March 1945. A month later, Okinawa was to
be the last large major amphibious offensive of World War II.
The 100,000 Japanese defenders were told to defend the island to
the death in the hope of buying time for Japan’s shipyards to
finish building new warships. Of course the soldiers on Okinawa
weren’t told the Allied bombers had already destroyed Japan’s
shipbuilding capacity.
But give the Japanese credit for their own bravery as the goal of
the Thirty-second Army was “One plane for one warship. One
patrol boat for one ship. One man for ten enemy. One man for
one tank.”
The Allies arrayed some half a million men and more than 1,500
warships against the Japanese, who then launched up to 1,900
kamikaze missions during the months long campaign, resulting
in 34 ships being sunk and 368 damaged.
On April 1, 1945, the largest amphibious landing in the Pacific
began with some 60,000 Marines hitting the beaches, having
taken five nearby islands in the preceding five days.
Bud Wilkinson, former Big Ten star scholar-athlete and
quarterback for the University of Minnesota (and later coaching
legend at Oklahoma) was a hangar deck officer on the carrier
Enterprise. Larry French, who compiled a 15-4 record for the
1942 Brooklyn Dodgers in what proved to be his last season
(197-171 lifetime) was a Lieutenant Commander on the same
ship.
The Enterprise was attacked by 85 Japanese aircraft during one
15-minute period. As legend had it, the “Big E” had room for
only two kinds of sailors; “the quick and the dead.”
Future NFL great Art Donovan was on the USS San Jacinto with
an anti-aircraft gun crew. [PC alert] “Those goddamn Japs, they
were coming down and blowing up our ships left and right,” he
recalled. “We nearly lost the Navy to those wild bastards. And I
figured it was only a matter of time and percentages before the
San Jacinto took a hit and went down.”
Later, Donovan was on Okinawa as an ammunition handler. “I
never fired the gun. My job was to make sure the guys who did
were never empty. There were Japs all over the place. You’d
never really see them, you’d hear their bullets whistling past your
ear when you’d get into a firefight. But it still beat the hell out of
facing the goddamn kamikazes.”
Landing Easter Sunday morning, April 1, major leaguer Hank
Bauer recalled, “They gave us 72 hours to take that airfield over
there, and we took it. We walked across it in 15 minutes. Boy,
they were waiting for us up in the hills. There wasn’t no one
around. We set up our defense around that airfield.”
“About five o’clock or 5:30 that evening a goddamn Jap airplane
tried to land on that airfield. I don’t know what he was thinking
about with all of them ships out there. He knew them weren’t
the Jap ships. Well, hell, he never got out of the cockpit.”
Golfer Charlie Sifford, later the first black to win a PGA event
(1957), was with the 24th Infantry. The great Gil Hodges hit the
beach at Okinawa with the 16th Anti-Aircraft Battalion.
While the first few days were relatively easy in some sectors, the
Japanese were entrenched elsewhere. Hank Bauer recalled,
“April 4th we were up in the hills looking for them and all hell
broke loose. For 40-some days it was rough. I got hit the 53rd
day…Got hit with a piece of shrapnel in the left thigh. It went in
here on the outside and came out on the other side….We went in
with 64, and six of us come out. The only thing they ever told us
was, ‘Keep your head and your ass down.’”
Not all were as lucky as Bauer, that’s for sure. Wisconsin All-
American receiver David Schreiner was a legend in the Big Ten.
He was killed on Okinawa.
Ohio State freshman tackle Lou Groza was with a medical unit.
Once the island had been secured, Groza was reading about a
new pro football league in the works, the All-American Football
Conference. Soon after, he received a contract from Paul Brown,
who was starting a franchise in Cleveland. One stipulation –
Groza had to come back alive.
And there were others, like Illinois All-American Alex Agase,
who was selected in 1942 while with the Illini and then in ’43
with Purdue where he was serving as a Navy cadet. After
fighting on Okinawa he returned to Illinois and in 1946 was an
All-American again.
But it was also on Okinawa that the great journalist, Ernie Pyle,
met his end; killed by a sniper.
The battle for Okinawa didn’t end until July 2. By that time
12,000 Americans had died and about 100,000 Japanese. The
atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima August 6…Nagasaki
Aug. 9. The Japanese surrendered the day after.
[Source: “Duty, Honor, Victory: America’s Athletes in World
War II,” Gary Bloomfield…all above quotes are from this book.]
Academy Awards
Best Picture…..Best Actor…..Best Actress
1928. Wings…Emil Jannings (The Way of All Flesh / The Last
Command)…Janet Gaynor (Seventh Heaven / Street Angel /
Sunrise)
1929. The Broadway Melody…Warner Baxter (In Old Arizona)
…Mary Pickford (Coquette)
1930. All Quiet on the Western Front…George Arliss (Disraeli)
…Norma Shearer (The Divorcee)
1931. Cimarron…Lionel Barrymore (A Free Soul)…Marie
Dressler (Min and Bill)
1932. Grand Hotel…Fredric March (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde)
and Wallace Beery (The Champ)…Helen Hayes (The Sin of
Madelon Claudet)
1933. Cavalcade…Charles Laughton (The Private Life of Henry
VIII)…Katharine Hepburn (Morning Glory)
1934. It Happened One Night…Clark Gable (It Happened One
Night)…Claudette Colbert (It Happened One Night)
1935. Mutiny on the Bounty…Victor McLaglen (The Informer)
…Bette Davis (Dangerous)
1936. The Great Ziegfeld…Paul Muni (The Story of Louis
Pasteur)…Luise Rainer (The Great Ziegfeld)
1937. The Life of Emile Zola…Spencer Tracy (Captains
Courageous)…Luise Rainer (The Good Earth)
1938. You Can’t Take It With You…Spencer Tracy (Boys
Town)…Bette Davis (Jezebel)
1939. Gone with the Wind…Robert Donat (Goodbye, Mr.
Chips)…Vivien Leigh (Gone with the Wind)
1940. Rebecca…Walter Brennan (The Westerner)…Ginger
Rogers (Kitty Foyle)
1941. How Green Was My Valley…Gary Cooper (Sergeant
York)…Joan Fontaine (Suspicion)
1942. Mrs. Miniver…James Cagney (Yankee Doodle Dandy)
…Greer Garson (Mrs. Miniver)
1943. Casablanca…Paul Lukas (Watch on the Rhine)…Jennifer
Jones (The Song of Bernadette)
1944. Going My Way…Bing Crosby (Going My Way)… Ingrid
Bergman (Gaslight)
1945. The Lost Weekend…Ray Milland (The Lost
Weekend)…Joan Crawford (Mildred Pierce)
1946. The Best Years of Our Lives…Fredric March (The
Best…) …Olivia de Havilland (To Each His Own)
1947. Gentleman’s Agreement…Ronald Colman (A Double
Life)…Loretta Young (The Farmer’s Daughter)
1948. Hamlet…Laurence Olivier (Hamlet)…Jane Wyman
(Johnny Belinda)
1949. All the King’s Men…Broderick Crawford (All the King’s
Men)…Olivia de Havilland (The Heiress)
1950. All About Eve…Jose Ferrer (Cyrano de Bergerac)…Judy
Holliday (Born Yesterday)
1951. An American in Paris…Humphrey Bogart (The African
Queen)…Vivien Leigh (A Streetcar Named Desire)
1952. The Greatest Show on Earth…Gary Cooper (High Noon)
…Shirley Booth (Come Back, Little Sheba)
1953. From Here to Eternity…William Holden (Stalag 17)
…Audrey Hepburn (Roman Holiday)
1954. On the Waterfront…Marlon Brando (On the Waterfront)
…Grace Kelly (The Country Girl)
1955. Marty…Ernest Borgnine (Marty)…Anna Magnani (The
Rose Tattoo)
1956. Around the World in 80 Days…Yul Brynner (The King
and I) …Ingrid Bergman (Anastasia)
1957. The Bridge on the River Kwai…Alec Guinness (The
Bridge…) …Joanne Woodward (The Three Faces of Eve)
1958. Gigi…David Niven (Separate Tables) …Susan Hayward
(I Want to Live!)
1959. Ben-Hur…Charlton Heston (Ben-Hur)…Simone Signoret
(Room at the Top)
1960. The Apartment…Burt Lancaster (Elmer Gantry)
…Elizabeth Taylor (Butterfield 8)
1961. West Side Story…Maximillian Schell (Judgment at
Nuremberg) …Sophia Loren (Two Women)
1962. Lawrence of Arabia…Gregory Peck (To Kill a
Mockingbird) …Anne Bancroft (The Miracle Worker)
1963. Tom Jones…Sidney Poitier (Lillies of the Field)
…Patricia Neal (Hud)
1964. My Fair Lady…Rex Harrison (My Fair Lady) …Julie
Andrews (Mary Poppins)
1965. The Sound of Music…Lee Marvin (Cat Ballou) …Julie
Christie (Darling)
1966. A Man for All Seasons…Paul Scofield ( A Man…)
…Elizabeth Taylor (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?)
1967. In the Heat of the Night…Rod Steiger (In the Heat…)
…Katharine Hepburn (Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner)
1968. Oliver!…Cliff Robertson (Charity) …Katharine Hepburn
(The Lion in Winter) and Barbra Streisand (Funny Girl)
1969. Midnight Cowboy…John Wayne (True Grit) …Maggie
Smith (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie…aka The Prime of QB
John Brodie)
1970. Patton…George C. Scott (Patton) …Glenda Jackson
(Women in Love)
1971. The French Connection…Gene Hackman (The French
Connection) …Jane Fonda (Klute)
1972. The Godfather…Marlon Brando (The Godfather) …Liza
Minnelli (Cabaret)
1973. The Sting…Jack Lemmon (Save the Tiger) …Glenda
Jackson (A Touch of Class)
1974. The Godfather, Part II…Art Carney (Harry and Tonto)
…Ellen Burstyn (Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore)
1975. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest…Jack Nicholson (One
Flew…) …Louis Fletcher (One Flew…)
1976. Rocky…Peter Finch (Network) …Faye Dunaway
(Network)
1977. Annie Hall…Richard Dreyfuss (The Goodbye Girl)
…Diane Keaton (Annie Hall)
1978. The Deer Hunter…Jon Voigt (Coming Home) …Jane
Fonda (Coming Home)
1979. Kramer vs. Kramer…Dustin Hoffman (Kramer vs.
Kramer) …Sally Field (Norma Rae)
1980. Ordinary People…Robert De Niro (Raging Bull)
…Robert Redford (Ordinary People)
1981. Chariots of Fire…Henry Fonda (On Golden Pond)
…Katharine Hepburn (On Golden Pond)
1982. Gandhi…Ben Kingsley (Gandhi) …Meryl Streep
(Sophie’s Choice)
1983. Terms of Endearment…Robert Duvall (Tender
Mercies)…Shirley MacLaine (Terms of Endearment)
1984. Amadeus…F. Murray Abraham (Amadeus) …Sally Field
(Places in the Heart)
1985. Out of Africa…William Hurt (Kiss of the Spider
Woman)…Geraldine Page (The Trip to Bountiful)
1986. Platoon…Paul Newman (The Color of Money) …Marlee
Matlin (Children of a Lesser God)
1987. The Last Emperor…Michael Douglas (Wall Street)
…Cher (Moonstruck)
1988. Rain Man…Dustin Hoffman (Rain Man) …Jodie Foster
(The Accused)
1989. Driving Miss Daisy…Daniel Day-Lewis (My Left Foot)
…Jessica Tandy (Driving Miss Daisy)
1990. Dances With Wolves…Jeremy Irons (Reversal of
Fortune) …Kathy Bates (Misery)
1991. The Silence of the Lambs…Anthony Hopkins (The
Silence…) …Jodie Foster (The Silence…)
1992. Unforgiven…Al Pacino (Scent of a Woman) …Emma
Thompson (Howards End)
1993. Schindler’s List…Tom Hanks (Philadelphia) …Holly
Hunter (The Piano)
1994. Forrest Gump…Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump) …Jessica
Lange (Blue Sky)
1995. Braveheart…Nicolas Cage (Leaving Las Vegas) …Susan
Sarandon (Dead Man Walking)
1996. The English Patient…Geoffrey Rush (Shine) …Frances
McDormand (Fargo)
1997. Titanic…Jack Nicholson (As Good As It Gets) …Helen
Hunt (As Good As It Gets)
1998. Shakespeare in Love…Roberto Benigni (Life Is Beautiful)
…Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakespeare in Love)
1999. American Beauty…Kevin Spacey (American Beauty)
…Hillary Swank (Boys Don’t Cry)
2000. Gladiator…Russell Crowe (Gladiator) …Julia Roberts
(Erin Brockovich)
2001. A Beautiful Mind…Denzel Washington (Training Day)
…Halle Berry (Monster’s Ball)
2002. Chicago…Adrien Brody (The Pianist) …Nicole Kidman
(The Hours)
2003. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King…Sean
Penn (Mystic River)…Charlize Theron (Monster)
Baseball’s Veterans Committee, continued
Final bios for those eligible for the March 2 vote on
enshrinement into Baseball’s Hall of Fame. Click on the archive
link below if you missed the first four parts in the series. To
refresh your memory on those eligible…
Dick Allen, Bobby Bonds, Ken Boyer, Rocky Colavito, Wes
Ferrell, Curt Flood, Joe Gordon, Gil Hodges, Elston Howard, Jim
Kaat, Mickey Lolich, Sparky Lyle, Marty Marion, Roger Maris,
Carl Mays, Minnie Minoso, Thurman Munson, Don Newcombe,
Tony Oliva, Vada Pinson, Ron Santo, Luis Tiant, Joe Torre,
Maury Wills, Smoky Joe Wood.
From contributor Johnny Mac.
Tony Oliva: A gifted and graceful player, Tony seemed well on
his way to Cooperstown when a severe knee injury robbed him
of the second half of his career. Unlike Pete Reiser, Herb Score,
or Lyman Bostock, other talented players whose own careers
were cut way too short for various reasons, Oliva had already
compiled a record worthy of consideration prior to his injury. He
made his mark right away, winning rookie of the year honors in
1964 while leading the league in hitting, runs, doubles and total
bases. The next season he won another batting title, becoming
the first player in history to do so in his first two seasons, and he
would start his career by making the All-Star squad eight straight
years.
Oliva captured a third batting title in 1971, led the league in hits
five times, doubles four times, won a Gold Glove and garnered
five top ten MVP finishes (twice ending up second). Although
he came back after sitting almost the entire ’72 season, he was
never the same player. Oliva endured seven operations on the
knee and retired after the 1976 season at the age of 35.
But while I have little doubt Tony would have easily been a Hall
of Famer were it not for the injury, it happened. His career stats
of 947 RBI and 870 runs are hardly eye-popping and we can’t
just ignore the fact that he was finished as a great player by the
age of 30, no matter what the reason. As much as I liked him, I
have to take a pass on the Hall of Fame.
[Oliva – Lifetime: 220 HR 947 RBI .304]
Vada Pinson: A favorite of our editor, the sleek and stylish
Pinson could do it all; hit for power and average, track down
anything in center, had an excellent arm and could steal 25-30
bases. Signed by Cincinnati out of McClymonds High in
Oakland, he joined fellow alums Frank Robinson and Curt Flood
in the Reds’ system (man, what was in the water in Oakland
then?). Getting 96 at-bats in 1958 disqualified him for rookie
status in 1959, unfortunate since he would have won the award
going away. [131 runs scored (led league), 205 hits, 47 doubles
(led league), 20 HR, 84 RBI, 21 steals, .316] This kind of thing
would haunt his entire career. He made only two All-Star teams;
stuck behind a glut of outfield talent that included Willie Mays,
Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Billy Williams and teammate
Frank Robinson.
Pinson won only one Gold Glove as Mays, Clemente and Flood
dominated the voting here, too, for the decade. And Vada was
always second fiddle in Cincy, behind Robinson and later Pete
Rose and Tony Perez. He only appeared in one World Series, a
losing effort in 1961 when he batted .091. The Reds traded him
to St. Louis after the ’68 season, where he formed a greyhound
outfield with Lou Brock and Flood. A broken leg would hamper
his ability, the Cards dumped him after one year and Pinson was
never the same player again. His career numbers are good, but
not Hall material. [Editor: DRAT!]
Ron Santo: On the other hand, another of our editor’s favorites
presents a bit of a different story. For some reason, third base is
under-represented in Cooperstown. Originally a defensive
position, the great players of the first half century were mostly
singles hitters (Jimmy Collins, Pie Traynor…later, George Kell).
Eddie Mathews probably changed the conventional wisdom
(although purists would argue for the largely forgotten Harlond
Clift), thus paving the way for the sluggers to follow.
Santo combined the best of both worlds. He was a tremendous
defensive player, winning five Gold Gloves and routinely leading
the league in assists, put outs and double plays. At the plate he
hit for power (25-30 homers a year, 342 lifetime, and over 1300
RBI), good average and had a great eye, leading the league in
walks four times and twice in on-base percentage. Santo made
nine All-Star squads and was durable, often playing 160+ games
in a season. And he did all this while hiding his diabetes, a
disease that later cost him both legs. He was the first player ever
to invoke his 10- and 5-privilege, turning down a trade to the
Angels after the 1973 season. He did OK a trade later on to the
White Sox, playing just one season before hanging them up.
For my money, Ron Santo might be the best player eligible who
is not in the Hall. It’s about time the Veterans Committee
corrects this mistake. [Editor: YIPPEE! Go J. Mac!]
[Santo – Lifetime: 342 HR 1331 RBI .277]
Luis Tiant: One of my favorites, El Tiante baffled major league
hitters for 19 years with an assortment of pitches and release
points. He also had an engaging persona and was always joking
in a thick Latin accent, while playing pranks and smoking one
cigar after another. His father, Luis Sr., was a legend in the Latin
and Negro Leagues, possessing many of the pitching qualities of
his progeny. Junior came up with Cleveland and after four
decent years had a huge campaign in 1968 (21-9, 1.60). Of
course that was the year Denny McLain won 31 and Bob Gibson
had a 1.12 ERA so who remembers Tiant? The Indians tried to
protect his arm, barring him from his normal practice of pitching
winter ball, but it didn’t work as he lost 20 the next year.
Cleveland then gave up on him, shipping him to Minnesota,
whereupon he hurt his shoulder during the 1970 season and he
was released by the Twins.
Next up Atlanta, who picked him up in spring training, but the
Braves released him. Yes, it looked pretty bleak for Luis. But
the Red Sox gave him a minor league deal and he worked
himself back into shape, going 15-6 in 1972 as Comeback Player
of the Year. Then all he did was reel off seasons of 20, 22, 18
and 21 wins, pitching some memorable games in the 1975 post-
season.
Tiant spent a few years with the Yankees, finishing up with
Pittsburgh and Anaheim. His 229-172 record, 2400 strikeouts
and only 1100 walks compare favorably to contemporary Hall
residents like Catfish Hunter and Jim Bunning. While I doubt
he’ll get in, he was sure fun to watch.
[Tiant – Lifetime: 229-172, 3.30 ERA]
Joe Torre: Now entering his 10th season as Yankee skipper,
Torre’s ability to handle Steinbrenner alone should be enough to
qualify him. A solid player for many years, he made nine All-
Star teams, won an MVP award and a Gold Glove. Surprisingly,
he won a batting title (as part of his MVP campaign). He also
grounded into a gazillion double plays, but hey, nobody’s
perfect. The playing credentials are on the cusp and his
managerial record prior to the Yankees was nothing special, but
his current run ensures him a place in Cooperstown, if not this
year certainly in the future.
[Torre – Lifetime: 252 HR 1185 RBI .297]
Maury Wills: The stolen base king of the 1960s, Wills came
close to never making the majors. Signed in 1951, he bounced
around the minors for 8+ years. Erratic with both the glove and
the bat, he received a call-up from the Dodgers in 1959 because
Don Zimmer was hitting .165. But Wills was no instant success
himself, hitting a hollow .260 with just 7 ribbies in 83 games.
But Maury was given the starting shortstop job anyway and the
next season he hit .295 with 50 steals (the 40 errors were a
problem, though). Wills followed this with his two best seasons,
winning an MVP in 1962 with his record 104 stolen bases and
130 runs scored. And despite the shaky start to his career in the
field, he ended up winning two Gold Gloves. Wills never scored
100 again and his on-base numbers were always rather poor,
even in his best years. Career stats don’t warrant consideration
and I doubt he will receive much support.
[Wills – Lifetime: 20 HR 458 RBI .281, 586 SB]
Smokey Joe Wood: A real blast from the past, Smoky Joe had
two major league careers; one as an excellent pitcher for the
powerhouse Red Sox of the early 1900s (Wood was on the team
1908-15) and the other as an outfielder for Cleveland from 1917-
22 after suffering a thumb injury that basically ended his pitching
days. In his prime, Wood threw as hard as anyone in the game,
Walter Johnson included, and his 1912 season of 34-5, 1.91
ERA, 35 complete games and 10 shutouts remains among the
finest ever. Wood starred in the World Series that year, going
3-1 and beating Christy Mathewson in relief in the deciding
contest.
Although brief, his career mark of 116-57 and winning
percentage of .671 is excellent. It’s also important to note he
was just 22 when he had his monster season on the mound. Who
knows what might have happened if he had had access to today’s
medical technology? Wood went on to coach at Yale for 20
years and lived to be 95. After all these years he remains one of
the great “what-ifs” in baseball history.
[Wood – Lifetime: 116-57, 2.03 ERA; 23 HR 325 RBI .283]
The Veterans Committee releases the results of its balloting on
March 2.
Stuff
–Men’s College Basketball…AP poll (thru Sunday’s action)
1. Illinois
2. North Carolina
3. Boston College…doh!…lost 2/23 to #23 Villanova
4. Oklahoma State…doh!…just lost to mediocre Nebraska
5. Kentucky
6. Wake Forest
7. Duke
8. Kansas…doh!…lost to #22 Oklahoma
9. Arizona
10. Michigan State
The battle for the #1 seeds is heating up. Oklahoma State may
have lost its shot. But will Boston College get a #1? Only if
they win the Big East tournament. [ed. 2/24: the preceding was
written before the Villanova loss.]
–Women’s AP Poll
1. LSU
2. Duke
3. Stanford
4. Ohio State
5. Tennessee
T-6. Baylor
T-6. Michigan State
8. North Carolina
9. Rutgers
10. Notre Dame
–NASCAR tied its highest television rating ever for the Daytona
500.
–The Wall Street Journal had a story the other day on Spring
Break and how some of the traditional hot spots are now dealing
with it in a more family-oriented fashion. But it reminded me of
Spring Break 1979, when your editor and his buddies found their
way to Ft. Lauderdale. We had 9… count ‘em…9 guys in 1 ½
rooms. But I bring this up because we only paid for 8! Yes, we
were brilliant. Two of the guys were identical twins so we just
made sure they never walked out or in at the same time. It was a
small motel (Blue Atlantic?) and the owners were outside a lot,
always with a perplexed look on their faces. I also ran out of
money by the 3rd day because I played the ponies at nearby
Pompano racetrack. But that’s a different story.
–The great punter Reggie Roby died of an apparent heart attack
at the age of 43. In the modern era, there are only two punters
worth mentioning, Roby and Ray Guy. Everyone else is an
afterthought. Roby had a career average of 43.3 and once
averaged 49.8 as a junior at Iowa.
–I was home part of Monday, channel-surfing, when I came
upon “The View.” I had never seen this claptrap but I couldn’t
help but watch a few minutes because Tina Turner was on.
Goodness gracious. The woman is 65 and looks phenomenal!
–Harry K. passed along his favorite Hunter Thompson saying.
“I hesitate to recommend a lifestyle based on alcohol, drugs and
automatic weapons, but it has always worked for me.”
Top 3 songs for the week of 2/24/68: #1 “Love Is Blue” (Paul
Mauriat) #2 “(Theme from) Valley Of The Dolls” (Dionne
Warwick) #3 “Spooky” (Classics IV…liked ‘Stormy’ better,
which peaked at #5 about ten months later)
Baseball Quiz Answer: Seven active pitchers with 200 wins…
Roger Clemens…328
Greg Maddux…305
Tom Glavine…262
Randy Johnson…246
David Wells…212
Mike Mussina…211
Kevin Brown…207
[Incidentally, 102 pitchers in baseball history have won 200.
And here’s some trivia for you. Bobo Newsom is the only
‘modern-day’ hurler in this category to have a winning
percentage below .500. Newsom (1929-53) was 211-222, .487.
Jack Powell (1897-1912) is the other, 248-255.]
Next Bar Chat, Tuesday…..Boxing! A trip down memory lane.
Unfortunately, you’ll probably need to be at least 45 years of
age to appreciate this. And…our exclusive post-Oscars
commentary. That is if I manage to stay awake.
