Baseball Quiz: OK, guys. Today’s installment is hard but I
expect you to take it to your neighborhood watering hole this
weekend and get your friends involved.
I was perusing the list of 20-game winners and was surprised to
see that in the National League there were more in one season,
1969, than any single year since 1914. So…1) Name the nine
20-game winners in the N.L. in 1969. In the American League,
there were a whopping twelve 20-game winners in 1973, the
most ever! 2) Name them. Answers below.
—
In light of Barry Bonds hitting #715, and as he now stares down
Henry Aaron, I thought it was a good time to reprise a piece on
Hank I did at the time of the then 30th anniversary of his passing
Babe Ruth…4/8/74.]
Hammerin’ Hank…Bar Chat 4/8/04
Today is the 30th anniversary of one of baseball’s historic
achievements, Hank Aaron hitting home run #715 to pass Babe
Ruth. I have to admit, I was one of those growing up that didn’t
appreciate Aaron’s greatness. I was a Willie Mays / Mickey
Mantle fan, especially growing up in the New York area (I went
to Mays’s first game as a Met in 1972), and because Aaron never
had that monster season you associated with the likes of Ruth,
Gehrig or Willie, I just never thought of Aaron in the same
breath. But then there he was, suddenly at 600 home runs and
heading higher. I appreciate him now, that’s for sure.
Henry Louis Aaron was born on February 5, 1934, in Mobile,
Alabama. From a young age, once he realized he could play the
sport of baseball he seemed to be a man on a mission.
At 18 he signed with the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro
League for $200 a month. Aaron was a shortstop and batted
cross-handed. With the integration of the big leagues, though,
the Clowns were a barnstorming team like the Harlem
Globetrotters and as Aaron said, “We never made it to Indiana
the whole time I was with the team.”
One time while in Washington, D.C., Aaron related “We had
breakfast while we were waiting for the rain to stop, and I (was)
sitting with the Clowns in a restaurant behind Griffith Stadium
and hearing them break all the plates in the kitchen after we were
finished eating. What a horrible sound. Even as a kid, the irony
of it hit me: here we were in the capital in the land of freedom
and equality, and they had to destroy the plates that had touched
the forks that had been in the mouths of black men. If dogs had
eaten off those plates, they’d have washed them.”
After he was turned down at a Dodgers tryout because he was
too skinny, a Braves scout, Dewey Griggs, wrote to management,
“This boy could be the answer.” [He also told Aaron to uncross
his hands.] The Braves signed him for $7,500. It was still 1952
and he was sent to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where he hit .336 with
9 home runs and 61 RBI. The following season, Aaron, Felix
Mantilla and Horace Garner were sent to Class A Jacksonville to
integrate what was then known as the Sally League. [Those of
you who collected baseball cards in the 60s can’t help but hear
this name and remember, “Dick Stuart once hit 66 home runs in
the Sally League!” It seemed to be on the back of almost every
card in those days.]
Aaron, despite constant taunts and threats, was MVP, hitting .362
while driving in 125. The next year, 1954, the Braves toured
with the Dodgers before the season started and all the black
players from both squads had to stay in the same hotel, so Aaron
hung out with the likes of Jackie Robinson, Don Newcombe and
Roy Campanella. They told him how to handle the big leagues
as a black man, advice that Aaron would take to heart.
“There’s only one way to break the color line,” Aaron once said.
“Play so good they can’t remember what color you were before
the season started.” In other words, either you were good or you
were gone. After listening to Jackie Robinson, Aaron knew he
had to always prove himself. “If there’s a single reason why the
black players of the 50s and 60s were so much better than the
white players in the National League, I believe it’s because we
had to be. And we knew we had to be.”
Aaron played 122 games in ‘54 for the Milwaukee Braves hitting
.280, but then he blossomed in 1955, batting .314 with 27 home
runs and 106 runs batted in. It was the start of a streak that saw
him have 20 consecutive seasons with at least 20 home runs.
“The thing I had on my side was patience. It’s something you
pick up pretty naturally when you grow up black in Alabama.
When you wait all your life for respect and equality and a seat in
the front of the bus, it’s nothing to wait a little while for the
slider inside.”
Aaron didn’t back away from anyone. The Yankees’ Tony
Kubek once recalled a time when he was outside a Tampa hotel
with Aaron and a bunch of rednecks pulled up and began
harassing Hank. One challenged him and Aaron dropped the guy
with three good punches.
In 1956, Aaron won his first of two batting crowns and in 1957
was the N.L. MVP (his only selection for this honor) as he led
the league in homers and RBI (44-132). It was a breakout
season, to say the least, and in a late September game he hit an
11th-inning home run that clinched the pennant for Milwaukee.
His teammates all greeted him at home and carried him off the
field. Aaron would later say it was the most satisfying round-
tripper of his entire career.
The Braves won the ’57 World Series against the Yankees and
the team returned to the Series the following year, only this time
New York got its revenge. In the two fall classics (his only ones)
Aaron hit .364.
Milwaukee eventually fell out of favor as the team’s play slipped
a bit and the franchise was moved to Atlanta for the 1966 season.
This marked a big change for Hank Aaron.
“I was tired of being invisible. I was the equal of any ballplayer
in the world, damn it, and if nobody was going to give me my
due, it was time to grab for it.” Aaron hit 44 home runs his first
year in Atlanta and 39 the next, but then in 1968, the year of the
pitcher, Hank saw his production slip to 29 HR and 86 RBI. He
was now at 510 home runs but he had also just turned 35 as he
approached the ’69 campaign. Aaron began to think of
retirement, but the noted historian, Lee Allen, convinced him that
he could leave his mark on the game in many different ways.
Aaron proceeded to blast 44 dingers that year in leading the
Braves to the N.L. West crown (only to then see the club get
swept by the Mets in the league championship series), but after
following up ’69 with 38 and 47 home runs (the latter a career
best at 37) his next two seasons, he was suddenly at 639 lifetime
and the talk of breaking Babe Ruth”s mark was picking up.
Aaron signed a 2-year contract that made him the first player to
earn $200,000 a year.
But approaching the Babe wasn’t a real popular thing. Atlanta
police assigned a bodyguard to him and Hank began to talk of
the hate mail he was receiving. In 1973 alone, Aaron got
930,000 letters as he finished the year at 713 home runs, one shy.
[One typical letter read, “You can hit all dem home runs over
dem short fences, but you can’t take that black off yo’ face.” But
to be fair, as Aaron got closer to the Babe the vast majority of the
mail was overwhelmingly positive.]
As the ’74 season began, the Braves opened up in Cincinnati for
a three-game series. Braves management wanted Aaron to break
the record in Atlanta, naturally, but Baseball Commissioner
Bowie Kuhn ordered Atlanta to play Aaron in 2 of the first 3
games in Cincinnati. [The reasoning was sound if flawed at the
same time. How could you say you were putting your best
product on the field if the soon to be home run king wasn’t in the
lineup?]
In his first at bat of the season, Aaron hit #714 off Cincinnati’s
Jack Billingham. He then sat out the second game and went 0
for 3 in the third.
[By the way, it’s amazing how many books you read that say
Aaron sat out both the second and third games. No. Geezuz,
sports book writers, do some freakin’ basic research!]
So we go to Atlanta, April 8, 1974. The Dodgers are the
opponent and they have Al Downing on the mound. Aaron
walked in the first and then in the 4th inning he deposited a 1-0
fastball into the left-center bull pen…#715.
Braves reliever Tom House caught the ball and sprinted across
the field to hand it to the new home run king, Henry Aaron.
“In that great crowd around home plate I found him looking over
his mother’s shoulder, hugging her to him, and suddenly I saw
what many people have never been able to see in him – deep
emotion,” House said. “I looked and he had tears hanging on his
lids. I could hardly believe it. ‘Hammer, here it is,’ I said. I put
the ball in his hand. He said, ‘Thanks, kid,’ and touched me on
the shoulder. I kept staring at him. And it was then that it was
brought home to me what this home run meant, not only to him,
but to all of us.”
By the way, supposedly Hank Aaron never saw one of his 755
home runs clear the fence – he always kept his head down until
he reached first base to make sure he touched the bag, figuring
that “looking at the ball going over the fence isn’t going to help,”
he would say.
And to close this out, Aaron scored 100 runs 15 times, including
13 consecutive seasons, he wracked up 3,771 hits, #3 all time, is
#1 all time in RBI with 2,297, 3rd in game played, 2nd in at bats,
won 4 Gold Gloves, stole 240 bases, and, something he himself
is most proud of, never fanned 100 times in a season, an
amazing feat for a power hitter.
So here’s to Henry Louis Aaron, Hammerin’ Hank. Today, he’s
70 and a senior vice president of the Braves, but as an article
from Atlanta had it the other day, he’s in such great shape he
could probably contribute coming off the bench.
[Sources: “Crossing the Line: Black Major Leaguers, 1947-59”
Larry Moffi & Jonathan Kronstadt; “Talkin’ Baseball” Phil Pepe;
“Baseball: The Biographical Encyclopedia” from the editors of
“Total Baseball”; “Baseball Anecdotes” Daniel Okrent and Steve
Wulf.]
Stuff
–Back to Barry Bonds, because it’s just so easy.
Mike Vaccaro / New York Post:
“There is only one positive to be gleaned now that the Babe has
been passed, now that there is only one man separating Barry
Bonds from what has always been the most coveted record in
baseball history. And that is the man himself, the man who
etched into granite the number – 755 – that Bonds now pursues.
“If that happens, if Henry Aaron is at last accorded the proper
recognition he has long been overdue, then perhaps this
nauseating chase will yield some good after all. Maybe out of
Bonds’ scandalous cloud we will finally remember to embrace
Aaron, who spent his entire career covered in virtue, who never
once came close to embarrassing himself or his sport the way
Bonds does every day.
“And who got where he got by enduring the most wretched
gauntlet that any athlete since Jackie Robinson ever had to
suffer….
“And we have the nerve to even allow Barry Bonds an ounce of
sympathy because he gets booed when he steps to the plate? We
have the temerity to tsk-tsk fans who bring steroid-themed signs
to the ballpark, who fill the air with nasty chants, who refuse to
forget that an indeterminate number of the 715 homers, and
counting, that Bonds has thus far collected came via syringe?….
“Yes, it was Aaron’s fate to be overshadowed his whole career
by Willie Mays, to be overshadowed even in his grandest glory
by a man who had died in 1948. It was his misfortune to spend
most of his athletic prime in a country still divided by Jim Crow,
and to stalk Ruth’s record when Redneck America’s stubborn
voice refused to be quieted.
“He is the one who should be celebrated today. He is the one we
should learn about as Bonds slowly winds his way from here to
755. If paying attention to Bonds means we finally pay attention
to Hank Aaron, then maybe some good can come of this after
all.”
Harvey Araton / New York Times:
“Barry Bonds gets to the real record now, chasing Hank Aaron,
while trying to outpace soon-to-be 42-year-old knees burdened
by bulk and a federal grand jury reportedly still trying to corner a
rat behind the race. Forty home runs from Aaron, a government
posse possibly in pursuit. This promises to be ‘Sopranos’-like
drama, even if you think Bonds falls somewhere between the
anti-Babe and the Antichrist….
“By now, we should know that unless he is hauled off by the
authorities, Bonds is not leaving the stage without the home run
record, without No. 756, even if he has to limp to the plate like
Kirk Gibson four times a night next season in the American
League.
“Deal with it. Understand that people, some of them even living
outside the San Francisco city limits, believe more what they
hear from ‘Bonds on Bonds’ than what they heard about ‘Game
of Shadows.’ Know there are fans that make little distinction
between highly profiled actors and filthy-rich athletes. Fans who
will tell you that in a country at war, in the nation of Enron, the
morality play inside the stadium is no more relevant to their lives
than those contrived for an HBO script….
“(For me), the shame of the steroid era has always been less
about the tainted numbers and more about the overriding
message of the manipulation, the performance-enhancement
scourge that worked its way down from the majors to the minors
to the colleges and the high schools. Baseball didn’t invent
steroids, but somewhere along the way, it adopted a bodybuilders
ethos and in the process used the hugely popular obliteration of
its generational links to encourage still-developing young people
not to accept what nature bequeathed them. Not to play by the
rules because the rewards were certifiably great, and worth the
risk.”
Jerry Izenberg / Star-Ledger:
Years after hitting his final home run, when they asked Henry
Aaron “why he played and what it all meant to him to come to
the plate and put who he was and what he did on the line against
a pitcher who knew he would have to be his best, Henry said:
“ ‘The thing I like about baseball is that it’s one-on-one. You
stand up there alone, and if you make a mistake, it’s your
mistake. If you hit a home run, it’s your home run.’
“And now comes Barry Bonds, and a brand-new question hangs
over the moment each time Bonds hits a home run:
“In Barry’s case, does the thesis Aaron put forth mean anything?
If he hits a home run, is it really his?….
“So the pursuit goes on. I don’t know what people expect Henry
to do in terms of encouraging Bonds. So far he has done
nothing, and that’s who Henry is. This is Bonds’ showcase and
Henry is not going to turn gate-crasher at this late age. He
knows what he’s achieved, and so do we all….
“(Bonds) stands in the center of a mushroom cloud and swings
biceps bigger than your thighs and reaches out for what is surely
ersatz glory in the teeth of what used to be the joy only a genuine
hero could provide….
“But if this investigation, whose results are coming one way or
the other just as sure as a nine-inning tie means extra innings…if
that probe or, possibly, a criminal one proves that Bonds – like
Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro and the obvious others –
was ‘juiced,’ then anyone who says ‘So what?’ is dumber than a
box of rocks.
“And if somebody has to ask why it does matter, then he is even
dumber than the others.”
As for Bonds himself, he gave his first interview since passing
Ruth to ESPN’s Jim Gray and admitted all the allegations hurt.
“I’m only human,” he said. Of course he didn’t discuss the
whispering and ongoing investigations, but did say “I would be
disappointed” if an asterisk was placed next to his records.
But as part of his sudden public relations blitz, Barry told Gray
he really is trying to be a better person. He’s also now
conveniently denying he said anything derogatory about Ruth,
but if he did, mind you, that was the old Barry.
I mean to tell you, I might as well hand out the “Dirtball of the
Decade” title now. He’s earned it.
[Barry’s in New York this weekend to take on my Mets. More
fodder for the editor.]
–But here’s another candidate for “Dirtball of the Year.” The
Masai warriors of Kenya. Yeah, it may not be politically correct
to do so, but these a-holes have been killing off the lions in two
of Kenya’s most popular national parks as part of their little
initiation right to prove their manhood and worth as a warrior.
Well, Masai, freakin’ get with the program. Go kill a wildebeest
or something. [Wildebeest, you may recall, are underrated on the
danger scale; probably braver than the overrated hippo.]
Anyway, according to conservation groups, the Masai have
killed 108 lions since 2001 and suddenly only 825 are left across
the biggest strongholds in Kenya.
Across all of Africa, incidentally, there are only 28,000 lions left.
Back in 1950 the number was 500,000.
So knowing the nomadic Masai aren’t big readers of
StocksandNews, and since I don’t have to worry about them
showing up at my home, let’s just say it’s time to blow these
guys away. Give ‘em a taste of their own medicine, know what
I’m sayin’? Yes, it’s time to unleash thousands of Florida gators
on the tribe. That’ll show ‘em. [London Times]
–Oh yeah, Florida State is running a great football program these
days. Two former players, including A.J. Nicholson who was
just selected in the draft by Cincinnati, have been charged with
stealing $1,700 in electronic equipment from current running
back Lorenzo Booker. Former wide receiver Fred Rouse
acknowledged his role and was charged with three felonies. As I
go to post, though, Nicholson hasn’t turned himself in.
Incredibly, as the Tallahassee police spokesman said, think about
the fact Nicholson was drafted in April and still decided to rob
his teammate on May 20. This same jerk was accused of a
sexual assault in Miami and sent home from the Orange Bowl,
and yet Cincinnati still drafted him.
So we hereby nominate the whole Bengals organization for the
“Idiot of the Year” category.
–Lance Armstrong was cleared by Dutch investigators in a long-
running probe into 1999 allegations he was doped up when he
won the first of his record seven-straight Tour de France titles.
Of course Armstrong is still a dirtball for dumping Sheryl Crow.
–Here’s a great story that some of you may be able to relate to.
From Jessica Garrison of the Los Angeles Times:
“Single people everywhere dream of a match made in heaven.
“Ann Majerik dreamt only of a match made in Beverly Hills.
But when her high-priced matchmaker disappointed her, she
sued. And on Tuesday, a jury awarded her $2.1 million.”
You see, Majerik paid $125,000 to Beverly Hills matchmaker
Orly Hadida. In return she was promised face time with a
“cultured gentleman” who had an “estate of up to $20 million.”
But Ms. Majerik was never introduced to one meeting these
rather high standards.
According to Orly (the former Israeli beauty pageant winner goes
by her first name), Majerik is a serial suer of matchmakers.
On the other hand, Orly charges fees as high as $200,000 by
saying she has “set the standard in professional matchmaking for
the past 25 years.”
And this isn’t the first time Orly has been sued. Once she was
charged with burning down the Palm Springs house she and
her husband shared, though the charges were later dismissed.
Back to Majerik, she’s a 60-year-old social worker from Erie, Pa.
Knowing that, you might be thinking how the heck could she
afford $125,000?! Well her husband died in 1999 and I guess he
left her something substantial. That or Majerik poiso…….oops,
better not go there. I could lose my International Web Site
Association license.
–I’m assuming Jeff B. and I aren’t the only ones out there who
read “For Better or For Worse” each morning, but we have some
advice for cartoonist Lynn Johnston. It’s time for the cop, Paul,
to get into a violent scuffle with Liz’s former boyfriend,
Anthony. For crying out loud, Ms. Johnston, you used to be a
trailblazer…but you’re boring us to tears these days.
–Baseball trivia: The other day Johnny Mac passed on a note
about Zeke Bonura. Zeke Bonura? Hell, I never heard of Zeke
Bonura and I’m a decent fan of the sport.
Turns out Zeke was a pretty fair player. In fact he had a .307
career average with 119 home runs and 703 RBI from 1934-40,
including four 100-RBI seasons, his best being 1936 when he
drove in 137 for the White Sox. But Zeke entered the military in
1941, at the age of 32, and served in World War II for the
duration, never playing again. Incidentally, Bonura was born in
New Orleans, pre-Nagin, 1908.
So I just pulled out my copy of “Baseball Anecdotes” by Daniel
Okrent and Steve Wulf and they have this passage on Zeke.
“Zeke Bonura was a pure hitter whose .307 lifetime average was
all the more impressive for his painful slowness – as a runner,
and as a thinker. Playing in Chicago for Jimmy Dykes, who
called him ‘my pet ox,’ Bonura often stood uncomprehending
outside the batter’s box, unable to fathom the signs flashed from
third base. On one occasion, Dykes became so exasperated as
Bonura tried to puzzle out the sign that he shouted, ‘Bunt, you
meathead. Bunt. Bunt! B-U-N-T.’
“After Bonura was traded to the Senators before the 1938 season,
the White Sox didn’t bother to change their signs for their first
series against Washington and Bonura. Dykes told Coach Bing
Miller, ‘Why should we? He couldn’t remember them when he
was with us.’ But when Bonura, leading off third, saw Dykes
absently swing his scorecard at a dugout mosquito, he
unexpectedly rumbled toward home, his 210 pounds separating
the ball from the catcher’s embrace. Afterward, Bonura
explained his dash (one of only 19 stolen bases in his entire
career): ‘I saw Dykes give the sign to steal, and I forgot I wasn’t
on his team anymore.’”
–Boy, I’ve been watching Mets games almost exclusively this
season, but the umpiring has never been worse. Not a game goes
by when there isn’t a hideous call. Most of them aren’t even
close. Nothing like the days of my youth with Shag Crawford
and Harry Wendelstedt.
–I also agree with Mets broadcaster Keith Hernandez. I hate the
term “walk-off hit.” “Walk-off home run” is acceptable, but
when a guy singles to drive in the winning run, it’s simply a
game-winning hit, not a walk-off. Thanks for letting me get that
off my chest.
–Albert Pujols has 25 home runs in 52 games (thru Tuesday’s
action). In 2001 when Bonds hit his 73, Barry clubbed his 28th in
his 53rd game and had 46 in 108, to give you another benchmark
by which you can judge Albert’s pace. I still say, though, that
Ryan Howard is as big a threat to break Bonds’ fake record this
year.
–I’ve given the Wake Forest basketball team a lot of grief for
their dreadful 2005-06 season, but I did see that all five seniors
graduated…and there’s something to be said for that.
BUT I’D RATHER HAVE A FINAL FOUR TEAM THAN A
BUNCH OF GRADUATES!
–Steve Mizerak died. There was a time when I actually watched
his sport, pool, on television when it was part of ABC’s “Wide
World of Sports.” Mizerak won four U.S. Open Championships
against the likes of Minnesota Fats and Willie Mosconi.
Mizerak, a Jersey boy, was only 61 and died of complications
from gallbladder surgery.
–Sports Illustrated’s Sign of the Apocalypse
“Barbaro’s jockey, Edgar Prado, was booed Sunday at Belmont
Racetrack [ed. two Sundays ago] by fans angry they had lost
money when the horse fractured his leg in the Preakness.”
Top 3 songs for the week 6/3/72: #1 “I’ll Take You There” (The
Staple Singers…irritating tune) #2 “Oh Girl” (Chi-Lites…more
like it) #3 “The First Ever I Saw Your Face” (Roberta Flack…
Clint makes out with the hot-looking blonde chick to this song in
“Play Misty for Me”)…and…#4 “The Candy Man” (Sammy
David, Jr. with The Mike Curb Congregation…now how many
of you knew that was the official group title? I sure as hell
didn’t) #5 “Sylvia’s Mother” (Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show)
#6 “Morning Has Broken” (Cat Stevens…terrorist)
Baseball Quiz Answers:
1) N.L. 20-game winners in 1969 (9):
Tom Seaver, 25; Phil Niekro, 23; Juan Marichal, 21; Ferguson
Jenkins, 21; Bill Singer, 20; Larry Dierker, 20; Bob Gibson, 20;
Bill Hands, 20; Claude Osteen, 20.
[By the way, if you thought there had to be a lot more in 1968,
the “Year of the Pitcher,” there were only 3…Marichal, 24;
Gibson, 22; Jenkins, 20.]
2) A.L. 20-game winners in 1973 (12):
Wilbur Wood, 24; Joe Coleman, 23; Jim Palmer, 22; Catfish
Hunter, 21; Ken Holtzman, 21; Nolan Ryan, 21; Vida Blue, 20;
Paul Splittorff, 20; Jim Colborn, 20; Luis Tiant, 20; Bill Singer,
20; Bert Blyleven, 20.
[Wood also lost 20 that year…24-20.]
Next Bar Chat, Tuesday.
