Baseball Quiz: Name the six Latinos in the Baseball Hall of
Fame. Answer below.
Masters / Majors Quiz: 1) Who is the weakest driver to win at
Augusta since 1986? 2) Since Tiger won his first major at
Augusta in 1997, who are the only three golfers over age 40 to
win a major? 3) Aside from Tiger, since the ’97 Masters, who
are the only four to win a major while in their 20s? Answers
below.
Opening Day
Hank Aaron on approaching home run #714
“It’s the Cadillac of baseball records.”
“It means a lot to me to be as close to Babe Ruth’s home run
record as I am. I’m not concerned about it. In fact, I try not to
think about it except when somebody brings it up.”
Babe Ruth
“Cobb is a pri–. But he sure can hit. God Almighty, that man
can hit.”
“Hot as Hell, ain’t it, Prez?”
[On being introduced to Calvin Coolidge on a particularly hot
day in Washington.]
Hall of Famer Bob Lemon
“Baseball is a kid’s game that grownups only tend to screw up.”
“I never took the game home with me. I always left it in some
bar.”
Sandy Koufax
“Pitching is…the art of instilling fear.”
“Show me a guy who can’t pitch inside and I’ll show you a
loser.”
Bob Gibson
“Rules or no rules, pitchers are going to throw spitters. It’s a
matter of survival.”
“Why do I have to be an example for your kid? You be an
example for your own kid.”
Headhunter Don Drysdale
“My own little rule was two for one – if one of my teammates
got knocked down, then I knocked down two on the other team.”
“The pitcher has to find out if the hitter is timid. And if the hitter
is timid, he has to remind the hitter he’s timid.”
Bob Feller
“I would rather beat the Yankees regularly than pitch a no-hit
game.”
Sportswriter Thomas Boswell
“Cheating is baseball’s oldest profession. No other game is so
rich in skullduggery, so suited to it or so proud of it.”
Playboy and pitcher Bo Belinsky
“When I lose, I drink, and when I win I celebrate.”
Players’ Union chief Don Fehr
“I don’t think American culture would collapse if baseball
collapsed.”
[Quoted by George Will in his column of March 13, 1990. Will
noted at the time: “That flippancy is trivially true and utterly
foolish. Symphony orchestras, steel mills – American culture
could survive without lots of things. But baseball, unlike, say,
the textile industry, depends for its health on a perishable hold on
the public’s imagination.”]
Yes, one man has come close to single-handedly destroying the
game of baseball. Donald Fehr.
[Source for all the above, “Baseball’s Greatest Quotations,” Paul
Dickson]
But now…….your official 2006 World Series prediction….
The New York Mets will win it all. Book it.
And I have a solution to the Barry Bonds mess. Root for
Philadelphia sensation Ryan Howard to hit 75 home runs.
Seriously. If this guy gets off to a hot start, look out.
You see, Barry’s record 73 dingers is staying in the record books
whether we like it or not. Even with an asterisk, it will be there.
So we need to erase it the only way we can these days, and Ryan
Howard is the answer.
Letters to the editor / Sports Illustrated…Barry Bonds
“Lyle Alzado dead at 43. Florence Griffith Joyner dead at 38.
Ken Caminiti dead at 41. Good luck, Barry.”
–Thomas E. Jennings, Austin
Too bad Bob Gibson and Don Drysdale aren’t still on the mound.
Something tells me that either one would have taken care of our
problem long ago….a little beanball is what I’m sayin’.
New York Daily News long-time sportswriter Bill Madden had a
column on the “60s Boys” – all of them born in the tumultuous
decade and who are, or will be eligible for the Baseball Hall of
Fame. A few assorted comments.
Ken Griffey Jr. – “…absolute first-ballot Hall of Famer.” Agree.
Jeff Bagwell – “Because he was never oversized, especially for a
first baseman, there was never a hint of steroids associated with
Bagwell…” You’ve gotta be kidding me? The guy’s upper body
was massive!
Jeff Kent – “Because he set the all-time home run record for
second basemen during the steroids era, there will be some
skeptics about his authenticity.” You know, I honestly never
thought of Kent this way. Hmmmmmm.
Mike Piazza – “Although there were always steroids whispers
about him, he managed to stay under the radar when Mark
McGwire, Sosa and Bonds were being outwardly fingered as
juicers….Is it just a coincidence his body began to break down in
2003, the year before MLB began testing for steroids?” I’ve
given Piazza a pass, too.
Rafael Palmeiro – “…the only way he makes it into (the Hall) is
as a visitor.” Agree.
Sammy Sosa – “Hardly anyone believes his body breaking down
at the start of testing in 2004 was a coincidence. Told Congress
he never took illegal steroids in the U.S. or the Dominican
Republic, as if anyone knew what’s legal and what isn’t in the
Dominican. Just the same, nobody called him on it. Maybe a
forthcoming thorough investigation, reaching into the
Dominican, will provide the kind of proof that BALCO delivered
on Bonds.”
Barry Bonds – “The incriminating evidence presented by ‘Game
of Shadows’ pretty much puts the lie to all his record-breaking
accomplishments after the 1998 season. Still, there are many
voting baseball writers who maintain Bonds was already a Hall
of Famer before he reportedly began using steroids. It’s
convoluted thinking – after all, wasn’t Shoeless Joe Jackson a
Hall of Fame player before he participated in the 1919 World
Series fix? – but Bonds will probably still get his share of votes.
Nevertheless, as the overriding figure of baseball’s disgrace, the
steroids era, he should be confined to the same life-without-
parole sentence as Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe. To elect him
would be a disservice to all the Hall of Fame sluggers – Willie
Mays, Frank Robinson, Mickey Mantle, et al. – whose legitimate
home run feats he cheated his way past.”
That’s not entirely accurate, Mr. Madden. Bonds would have
ended up around 625 without cheating.
But switching gears, we note that Kris and Anna Benson have
split up as Kris, now with the Orioles, was evidently caught
messing around with one of Anna’s friends.
“She’s completely crushed; she didn’t see this coming,” said
Anna’s spokesman. “She had no choice but to take this action.”
But as Lloyd Grove and Dave Goldiner of the New York Daily
News put it:
“What’s bad for Kris Benson could be good for new teammates
Miguel Tejada, Melvin Mora and the rest of the O’s.
“Anna Benson once vowed to sleep with every one of her
husband’s teammates if she caught him in the sack with another
woman.”
Anna’s spokesman denies the former stripper will now pursue
this path.
Back to Bonds, more from the New York Daily News’ Mike
Lupica.
“If you don’t think (George) Mitchell is going to give this
(investigation) a full shot with the whole world watching him,
you’re nuts. He and his people will talk to every owner, they
will talk to the commissioner, to general managers, managers,
trainers, clubhouse attendants. They will talk to any player who
will cooperate. And if they don’t cooperate, then guess what?
That goes into George Mitchell’s report, too. Put down the name
of every player who does the same as pleading the Fifth in front
of Mitchell and his investigators.
“If Donald Fehr and Gene Orza of the Players Association, the
ones who fought real drug testing in baseball for years, who said
this was some sort of huge privacy issue, say now that they have
to fight Mitchell to protect the privacy of these players, baseball
fans ought to read about that in George Mitchell’s report. Then
they should ask Fehr and Orza one last time exactly who they are
protecting?….
“Maybe there is a lot more to know about Jason Giambi, who
seems to think he has passed the steroid test with flying colors
because he apologized for nothing last season and started hitting
home runs again in July. Maybe there is more to know about
McGwire and Sosa and Palmeiro and the new names that might
come out of this.
“Maybe people at the Yankees will have to explain to George
Mitchell again how they didn’t have a single concern about
Giambi and steroids before they signed him to one of the biggest
contracts in baseball history.”
And there’s sportswriter Jeff Pearlman and his upcoming book,
“Love Me, Hate Me” on Barry Bonds. I noted in Bar Chat a few
weeks ago that Pearlman quotes Ken Griffey Jr. as saying Bonds
came over to his house one off-season and announced he was
going to start using steroids. But after an excerpt of the book
was run in ESPN the Magazine, Bonds and Griffey said the
conversation never occurred. Baseball’s code of silence had
struck again.
But then there’s former utility player Jay Canizaro. Pearlman
commented in a recent piece for Slate.com, passed to me by Phil
W.
“Canizaro…had spoken to me at length about his early years
with the Giants, when he watched Bonds balloon from Lara
Flynn Boyle to Lee Haney. A former steroid user, Canizaro
knew all the signs of a juicer. Zit-coated skin….Moodiness.
And Bonds was a juicer.
“ ‘Hell, he took off his shirt the first day and his back just looked
like a mountain of acne,’ Canizaro told me. ‘Anybody who had
any kind of intelligence or street smarts about them knew Barry
was using some serious stuff.’”
But Canizaro now denies he said these things to Pearlman, even
though Pearlman has him on tape. Pearlman writes:
“My blood was boiling. I asked him how he could go on
national TV and deny what he told me, especially considering I
had it all on tape.
“Canizaro hemmed and hawed. He stammered and stuttered.
Finally, with a hint of humiliation in his voice, he admitted that
he was, of all things, scared.”
Canizaro was scared he’d be seen breaking that code of silence
among ballplayers. Pearlman:
“Four years ago, when former San Diego Padres star Ken
Caminiti told Sports Illustrated that steroids were an epidemic in
baseball, he wasn’t cast out by his peers. Why? Because
Caminiti refused to name names. When Jose Canseco tattled on
stars like Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro and Juan Gonzalez in
his book ‘Juiced,’ he was deemed a liar and a fraud. Jason
Giambi, later unmasked in the book ‘Game of Shadows’ as the
Yankees’ DHI (Designated Hormone Injector), audaciously
referred to Canseco as ‘delusional.’”
But in the case of Griffey, Pearlman is mystified. By all
accounts Griffey has stayed clean and he’s suffered because of
it.
“The Cincinnati Reds star has every right to rip Bonds, to
scream, ‘Yeah, Barry told me he wanted to use! And I think it’s
bullshit!’ Instead, he’s slave to the code. On the same day he
denied my book’s contents, Griffey was asked whether he
thought Bonds had used performance-enhancing drugs. After a
lengthy pause, Griffey spoke as only a brainwashed ballplayer
could. ‘[Barry] believes in going to the weight room five and six
times a week…he works hard,’ he said. ‘I’ve got cousins who
work in gyms that all they do is lift weights and make Barry look
small. You go in the gym and give 100 percent, you’re going to
see results.’
“In other words, the code rules all.”
Former Commissioner Fay Vincent and Dr. Paul McHugh of
Johns Hopkins / Wall Street Journal:
“Barry Bonds is embarrassing himself and major league baseball
not by a dearth of talent, of which he has plenty, but by an
absence of character. If a baseball game is to be more than
entertainment – although supremely entertaining it is – and
remain one of the ways of demonstrating to us all character in
action (as with such splendid examples as Lou Gehrig, Ted
Williams, Henry Aaron, Jackie Robinson and Cal Ripken), then
only disdain, from fans and players alike, for those who spoil the
story needs to be heard and heard resoundingly.
“Players who support Barry Bonds and agree with his lawyers or
union officials that what he did was ‘not illegal at the time’
forget – presuming they ever knew – what brings those who love
the game to cheer their teams and remain loyal to them. If you
don’t see at a glance what’s wrong with Mr. Bonds, you’re not a
fan: You’re a spectator.”
Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully:
“With Aaron, it was a privilege to be there (when he broke
Ruth’s record)…It was just a great moment. With Bonds, no
matter what happens now, it will be an awkward moment. That’s
the best word I can think of now. If I had my druthers, I would
rather have that awkward moment happen to somebody else.”
Stuff
–April 4, 1841. President William Henry Harrison succumbed
to pneumonia and septicemia.
Yes, this was the man who refused to wear a coat or hat at his
inauguration on a cold, windy March 4, 1841. He spoke for
almost two hours, delivering the longest inaugural address in
U.S. history, even though “not one person in a hundred could
hear it,” as New Yorker Philip Hone complained.
From Bill Kauffman in The American Enterprise:
“William Henry Harrison was at pains to counter the general
belief of the country’s mandarins that he was a lightweight.”
Harrison was slandered during the campaign and labeled an
“alcohol-guzzling, Indian-slaying frontiersman.”
“Thus his epic speech. Derided as pretentious for its many
classical references (Daniel Webster, after taking a shot at
editing it, joked, ‘I’ve just killed 17 Roman proconsuls as dead as
smelts’), Old Tippecanoe’s marathon address does traverse the
path of tedium. But give President Harrison credit: he kept his
central promise, which was ‘that under no circumstances will I
consent to serve a second term.’”
Harrison caught a cold and his condition rapidly worsened. “He
was bled and blistered; he was fed opium and brandy; he was
given an American Indian treatment involving live snakes.
Nothing worked.” [Bill Kauffman]
Harrison’s last words, as legend has it, were to the doctor.
“Sir, I wish you to understand the true principles of the
government. I wish them carried out. I want nothing more.”
As Bill Kauffman writes, “No Sandburg or Schlesinger wrote
him into the pantheon. Nathaniel Willis was a fine poet, but the
best he could do on short notice was:
Death! Death in the White House!
Ah, never before
Trod his skeleton feet on the
President’s floor!
“But let us remember Tippecanoe by what he told an Ohio
audience during the campaign of 1840:
‘The old-fashioned Republican rule is to watch the Government.
See that the Government does not acquire too much power.
Keep check upon your rulers. Do this, and liberty is safe.’”
–My friend Jeff B. has been awfully quiet since UConn lost to
George Mason. After watching the Patriots against Florida, you
can see why. Or as Mike Lupica put it, “At the end, this year’s
UConn men’s basketball team looked like one of the great
underachieving 30-win teams ever.” Yup, got that right.
–Terrell Owens just wrote a rap song with his brother titled “I’m
Back.” This is his answer to his detractors:
“To the haters that said I wouldn’t get my money / I’m laughing
in your face ha-ha that’s funny….
“Some said I was gonna sign just a one-year deal / But I got what
I wanted up front, 10 mil”
Oh brother. Someone clothesline him.
–I actually watched the finish of the Nabisco LPGA event, the
first major of the year for them. Karrie Webb picked up her 7th
career major in dramatic fashion and Michelle Wie finished just
one behind…along with pin-up Natalie Gulbis! You go, girl!
[Natalie, that is.]
–Meanwhile, Phil Mickelson cruised to a 13-shot victory…..
13 SHOTS!!!!!! Holy Toledo!
–According to the National Golf Foundation, there are now
fewer private clubs in the U.S. than in 1931. As reported by
Bradley S. Klein in GolfWeek:
“A host of reasons explains the attrition: In addition to upscale
daily fees that have mimicked the luxury of private clubs,
changes in tax codes have reduced the deductibility of
entertainment-related club expenses. But most of all, the shift in
fortunes can be attributed to sweeping changes in consumer
behavior underscored by decreased leisure time, less disposable
income and an increased emphasis on family-oriented
recreational activities not traditionally offered by private clubs.”
–Golfer and heartthrob Camilo Villegas missed out on
qualifying for the Masters by a stroke at The Players
Championshp, but you’ve gotta love what he told GolfWorld’s
Tim Rosaforte after finishing his round, exhausted from playing
five weeks of high-caliber tournament golf in a row.
“After this week, I deserve a couple of cookies. The cookies in
the locker room are great. I’m going to go jump on those.”
Ah yes, the innocence of youth.
–Remember Greg Owen, the fellow who just a few weeks ago
three-putted the 17th hole from three feet and lost at Bay Hill?
He was asked how he slept the night after blowing the event.
“I got out of bed at 5 in the morning and washed the car.”
I imagine he shammied the paint right off.
–PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem just signed a new six-
year contract that will pay him $4.5 million a year, in case you
were wondering what he makes….as I was. Seems to me he
deserves it. The total PGA Tour purse was $56.4 million in 1994
when he took over from Deane Beman. In 2006 the total will be
$256.8 million. In between Finchem negotiated three critical
television contracts, including the last one that goes through
2011.
–Duke alum Ken P. on the plight of his alma mater and the
lacrosse mess.
“If I were the father of a Duke lacrosse recruit for next year, I
would be on the phone to Virginia or Johns Hopkins in a second,
as well as Duke to release my letter of intent.”
Ken, a friend of 35 years (yikes) would also shut the program
down for two years, assuming the kids are guilty, of course.
I was a little surprised by the amount of mail I received on this
topic, including those of you with kids at other schools that have
had similar issues, though maybe not quite as serious.
–Wake Forest baseball! Yes, alums, we have something to cheer
for as the Demon Deacons are off to a great start, 23-7 and 8-4 in
ACC play. And start following freshman Allen Dykstra, a 6’5”
slugger who has 11 homers in the first 30 games. We also have a
closer, Ben Hunter, who has yet to allow a run in 26 innings.
–I’ll have more on the Masters next time but the changes made
to lengthen Augusta yet again are being slammed left and right.
And it’s unbelievable that neither Arnold Palmer nor Jack
Nicklaus was consulted beforehand.
For example, as the New York Post’s Mark Cannizzaro put it,
“The first tee has now been pushed so far back it’s almost at the
doorstep of the famed Eisenhower Cabin. If they push it back
any farther, the first tee box will be in South Carolina. On the
11th hole, the tee has been pushed so far back into the woods
players might need a park ranger guide to get there.”
Nicklaus said “I think they’ve ruined it from a tournament
standpoint.” The guy only won six green jackets, for crying out
loud. Augusta is now 520 yards longer than 1997, the year Tiger
won his first title. From 1958 to 1997 the course played the
same 6,925 yards from the championship tees.
Phil Mickelson noted that he probably has something to do with
the changes.
“(Several years ago) I hit an awesome drive on No. 11 – a hot
draw around the corner, and it took off down the hill and I hit
sand wedge in (to the green)…Darn it if Hootie (Johnson, the
Augusta National chairman) wasn’t standing right there. And
now, the hole is not even close to the same. So, if I had one shot
to take back, it would probably be that tee shot.” [Mark
Cannizzaro]
–Wohh….Brad K. passed along another coyote story. They’ve
been spotted in Buckhead, the wealthy neighborhood in Atlanta.
A couple of ‘em were caught on tape wandering the railroad
tracks near the Lenox MARTA station. But this 11Alive News
piece Brad sent said the following:
“Otherwise known as prairie dogs, coyotes are only found in
North America and are a relative of the domestic dog.”
Who the hell is the reporter on this one? Prairie dogs? Only
found in North America? Is this guy a total idiot? Has he ever
heard of drug-running coyotes crossing the border with Mexico?
Do you think Wily Coyote would take well to being called a
“prairie dog”? No, I don’t think so.
–New Orleans’ Chris Paul had a triple-double on Sunday,
including a team-leading 12 rebounds. Paul is 6’1”. He should
have been finishing his junior year at Wake in the NCAA
championship game, for crying out loud!
–Goodness gracious. Actress Ali MacGraw just turned 68. Boy,
that was one hot, err, [I’ve been told I’m not supposed to use the
term ‘babe.’ Girls don’t like it.]
Top 3 for the week of 4/5/75: #1 “Lovin’ You” (Minnie
Ripperton…tweet tweet…chirp chirp…) #2 “Philadelphia
Freedom” (The Elton John Band) #3 “No No Song” (Ringo
Starr)
Baseball Quiz Answer: Six Latinos in Hall of Fame –
Tony Perez / Cuba, Rod Carew / Panama, Luis Aparicio /
Venezuela, Juan Marichal / Dominican Republic, Orlando
Cepeda / Puerto Rico, Roberto Clemente / Puerto Rico
Author David Maraniss has just written a book on Clemente that
is getting good early reviews. He also has a piece in the
Washington Post concerning the racism that Clemente faced, a
double barrel full since he was a Spanish-speaking black man.
And Clemente didn’t back down. For example:
“(Clemente) hated being quoted in broken English by
sportswriters who did not know a word of Spanish. When he
drove in the winning run and was named the Most Valuable
Player of the 1961 All-Star Game in San Francisco, the headline
in the Pittsburgh Press the next day read ‘I GET HEET’ and the
wire service account quoted Clemente as saying, ‘When I come
to plate in lass eening…I’ope that Weelhelm [Hoyt Wilhelm]
peetch me outside…’”
But Maraniss notes:
“Late in his career, Clemente got his sweet revenge, and he did
so in a way that solidified his reputation as the most revered of
Latino ballplayers. The moment came in the locker room after
the seventh game of the 1971 World Series. The Pirates had
defeated the favored Baltimore Orioles with Clemente playing
brilliantly at the plate, on the base paths and in the field – an all-
round performance that the pitch-perfect baseball writer Roger
Angell described as ‘something close to the level of absolute
perfection.’
“For all of his career to that point, Clemente had felt
misunderstood and underappreciated. Now he had proven
himself, and the network microphones and cameras, and the
nation’s attention, were focused on him alone. And what did
Clemente do? He said that before he answered any questions he
wanted to say a few words of thanks in Spanish to his aging
parents in Carolina (Puerto Rico). The symbolic meaning of that
moment reverberated throughout the Spanish-speaking world and
down through the years.”
Incidentally, Maraniss brings up something I had forgotten as a
fan. That 1971 Pirates team fielded the first all-black and Latino
lineup in major league history: Rennie Stennett at second, Gene
Clines in center, Clemente in right, Willie Stargell in left, Manny
Sanguillen catching, Dave Cash at third, Al Oliver at first, Jackie
Hernandez at short and Dock Ellis on the mound.
Had he not died on that mercy mission to Nicaragua, New Years
Eve, 1972, Roberto Clemente would have been just 71 today. I
can’t imagine he would have been silent on issues of the day like
steroids.
Masters Quiz Answer: 1) Weakest driver to win at Augusta
since 1986 was Jose Maria Olazabal who averaged only 239.8
yards on his tee shots in 1999. [Heck, in ’94 he averaged 275 in
winning his first green jacket.] 2) Golfers over 40 to win a major
since Augusta 1997: Mark O’Meara, 41, 1998 Masters and
British Open; Vijay Singh, 41, 2004 PGA; Payne Stewart, 42,
1999 U.S. Open. 3) Aside from Tiger, golfers in their 20s to win
a major since Augusta 1997: Ernie Els, 27, 1997 U.S. Open;
Justin Leonard, 25, 1997 British Open; David Duval, 29, 2001
British Open; Ben Curtis, 26, 2003 British Open.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday….LIVE…FROM THE ROCK AND
ROLL HALL OF FAME! Plus more Masters’ stuff.
[I’m spending Wednesday in Cleveland and will be posting late
Wednesday night from there after visiting the Hall.]
