Chicago Cubs Quiz: 1) Who was the manager from 1995-2000?
2) Who was N.L. batting champ in 1945? 3) What Cubs players
won Rookie of the Year honors in 1961 and 62? 4) Who am I? I
went 24-11 in 1964. 5) Name the Cubs’ four Cy Young winners.
Answers below.
Virginia Tech
What a great moment this weekend as the men’s golf team, not
even ranked nationally in the top 30, shot a 9-under par closing
round to capture a share of the ACC Tournament crown with
Georgia Tech.
And on Friday night, the only Virginia Tech alum in the major
leagues, Joe Saunders, tossed six scoreless innings in a win for
the Angels over Seattle. Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig gave
Saunders special permission to wear a VT cap.
Stuff
[The following is a bit more disjointed than normal, because I
had, err, a disjointed weekend.]
–Barry Bonds is up to 740 and it’s pretty obvious he is in great
form. It is truly amazing what he’s doing. I mean he’s going to
be 43 in July, for crying out loud. So note to the Feds…would
you indict the guy already?! We may only have another month!
–A-Rod is on pace for 114 HR and 295 RBI, though I’m sticking
with my 87-243 projection from April 9. David Wright, now
with just 7 homers in his last 94 games (including the playoffs) is
heading towards my projected two home runs, 23 ribbies for the
year. I also said Jose Reyes would steal 99 and drive in 156 and
he’s still on target for that. Back to Bonds, I thought the Giants
would be 2-56 coming out of the gate, but alas they are 9-8.
–“A man fleeing security drowned after he leaped over a railing
into a moat surrounding a casino….Police said the man fled
while being questioned abut his identification at the Isle of Capri
casino. [Kansas City, Mo.]”
Of course we always recommend building a moat around your
own place, obviously filled with crocodiles. But, sadly, a nine-
year-old boy in China climbed into a croc enclosure, taunted the
animals with sticks and a slingshot, and was, err, you know.
Three other boys with their friend were OK. From the London
Times:
“Investigators searched for the missing boy and decided to check
inside the crocodiles. Snipers used pork to lure them out of their
pool and shot dead the first animal to lumber on to the bank.
Inside it they found human remains that were….”
Well, you know enough. Suffice it to say, you may want to keep
some Taylor Pork Roll on hand if you face a similar situation.
It turns out, however, that the Chinese behave very badly in
general at all zoos and animal parks. At the Beijing Zoo, the
pandas are kept well out of reach of the visitors because people
had been tossing all manner of trash at them. [And, seriously, in
preparation for the Beijing Olympics, local officials are also
trying to break the natives of a bad habit…spitting on the
sidewalks.]
–Australian rescuers have basically given up hope that three
crewmen from an abandoned 40-foot yacht will ever be found in
what is being called a Mary Celeste-style mystery. A spokesman
for Queensland Emergency Management said “What (rescuers)
found was a bit strange in that everything was normal – there
was just no sign of the crew.” The yacht’s sails were up but one
was badly shredded. The engine was running, there was food on
the table, a laptop was turned on, and the radio and global
positioning satellite were working. Three life jackets were also
found on board.
One theory has emerged that the three were washed overboard by
a rogue wave, as gale-force winds hit soon after they set sail.
“One of the crew might have been urinating off the side of the
boat after a few beers to celebrate the start of the voyage when a
wave knocked him overboard,” surmised one expert. “The other
two tried to save him, when a second squall or freak wave struck
them.”
Well, I have my own theory. You guessed it, Godzilla, who we
know has been hiding out in these waters. Certainly it would
explain the torn mast as he wielded his head and jaw to snap up
the victims. “Eeeaahhh-aahh!!!” screamed Godzilla
triumphantly. But just like Area 51, we’ll never be told the true
story. And that’s a memo……..
–Interesting story in the Sunday Times Magazine by Jonathan
Rosen on starlings. It seems once or twice a year you see a news
report on their behavior, as they are known for their acrobatics in
forming shapes in vast flocks. They are also a pain in the ass, to
put it mildly, and do a number on crops, particularly grain,
though at the same time cut the insect population down to size.
But what I didn’t know is the starling was strictly a European
bird until 1890, when according to Rosen, “a drug manufacturer
who wanted every bird found in Shakespeare to live in America
released 60 starlings in Central Park. After spending a few years
nesting modestly under the eaves of the American Museum of
Natural History, they went from a poetic fancy to a menacing
majority; there are now upward of 200 million birds across North
America.” Seems almost too incredible, until you think of how
many starlings there are in your own neighborhood.
–Bad loss for the Mets on Sunday to the Braves, who’ve now
taken two series from my Metsies this year. But on Friday night,
a 40-year-old Bronx man was arrested at Shea Stadium after
being accused of trying to blind Braves pitcher Tim Hudson and
shortstop Edgar Rentaria by shining a high-powered flashlight. I
mean this is just freakin’ stupid, and because there was malicious
intent (the definition of a Bar Chat “dirtball”), he gets thrown in
the file for the yearend awards. In fact the Queens district
attorney even commented on the case. “In a game in which the
ball can travel upwards of 110 miles per hour, the defendant’s
alleged actions were dangerous to both spectators and players.”
Martinez was charged with interference with a professional
sporting event and second-degree reckless endangerment. The
idiot (he’s in the file for this too) faces up to a year in jail and a
$5,000 fine.
–New York Post columnist Phil Mushnick noted that at a time
when everyone else is falling all over Rutgers, there is a lot
below the surface that isn’t so great. I remarked last time that
Mushnick pointed out women’s basketball coach C. Vivian
Stringer wasn’t exactly a saint (I hinted at same a few weeks
before the Imus flap hit, actually…she’s kind of different), and
now Mushnick goes after the football program.
On Monday, it seems, Rutgers rescinded a scholarship offer to
recruit Reggie Dixon, a star at Plainfield, NJ, high school (I was
born there…and lived my first six years a few blocks from the
school…our house, last time I saw it, had been painted pink
…but I digress). As Mushnick notes, timing is everything.
You see, Dixon had been convicted in juvenile court of
aggravated sexual assault against a 15-year-old girl last summer.
It’s not the first time Rutgers has recruited athletes with records,
adult records. But the victim’s mother “told New Jersey’s Star-
Ledger (I missed this) that she had repeatedly called RU’s
attention to the fact” Dixon had a record for sexual assault.
“ ‘I called Rutgers so many times,’ she said. ‘I spoke with a lot
of people in the athletic department, and every one of them
pushed me off on someone else.’”
Just three weeks ago, March 31, Dixon signed his letter of intent
to attend Rutgers. Four days later Imus stuck his foot in his
mouth and the scene changed. And suddenly, this past Monday,
months after Dixon’s sentencing – he got three years probation –
and two weeks after signing with Rutgers, “Rutgers, for some
strange reason, changed its mind.”
Coach Greg Schiano released a statement in which he said,
“Based on the most recent review, we feel it is in the best
interests of all parties involved for Rutgers to release Reggie
Dixon from his national letter of intent.”
Of course it was all about the school’s image, post-Imus.
Obviously, if Imus hadn’t made his incredibly idiotic remark
about the women’s b-ball team, Reggie Dixon would be
enrolling this fall to play football. ESPN evidently had a report
shortly after Schiano’s statement.
As Mushnick writes:
“This time, RU and its athletic department, riding a wave raised
by the Imus storm, were basking in a glow that held them up to a
nation as courageous defenders of its female student-athletes
against Imus’ nationally transmitted denigration.
“Yeah, that was AD Bob Mulcahy who sat on the podium with
the women’s team during the nationally televised press
conference to tell Imus – and all of us – that low-brow verbal
attacks against young women will not be tolerated.
“And now word was about to spill that just a few days earlier
Rutgers had successfully recruited a football player with a record
for sexual assault against a 15-year-old girl? I mean, how would
it look?”
I think what Rutgers accomplished on the gridiron this past fall
was great…great for the state and even non-fans like yours truly.
But they are going to be under the microscope big time and
there’s that fine line between sacrificing your integrity for the
chance at another win or two.
–Now I haven’t seen an update on this one, but as of Thursday,
the Canadian coastguard was attempting to rescue occupants of
about 100 boats carrying seal hunters trapped by pack ice off the
country’s eastern coast. According to the BBC, “Fishermen have
described conditions as the worst for more than 20 years.”
Geezuz…did you know the quota for the hunt is 270,000?! I
understand the natives need to make a living and all, but that
many?
Anyway, I’m hoping to hear that a pack of elephant seals came
along and took out about 85 hunters…which would only seem
like fair play, eh?
–Colt McCoy (great name) lives in the Texas panhandle town of
Memphis (Pop. 2,000) and in his senior year of baseball, all
McCoy did was throw five no-hitters in his first five starts of the
season. He was a more pedestrian 5-3 with a 1.86 ERA last year.
His streak then ended, thus depriving him of the national record
of six held by two others, but at least McCoy is now garnering
the attention he always sought from both the colleges and even
the Yankees. Great stuff.
But Sports Illustrated noted the two who threw six consecutive
no-nos didn’t meet with much success later on.
Chris Taranto of Biloxi, MS (Notre Dame High School) and Tom
Engle of Lancaster, Ohio (Fairfield Union HS). Taranto set the
record in 1961 and signed with the Houston Colt .45s but was out
of baseball by 1963. Engle, a Mets second-round pick in 1989,
played eight seasons in the minors and peaked at AAA before
arm issues finished him off.
–It’s been great to see spring weather, finally. But I find this
incredible. Sports Illustrated notes that as of last week, there had
been 34 Major League games this season in which the game-time
temperature was below 45 degrees. In 2006, for the entire
season, there were 10.
–Another SI tidbit. Turns out the late Kurt Vonnegut was hired
to write for the fledgling publication in 1954, before it began
publishing. He knew nothing about sports but was asked to write
a caption about a racehorse that had jumped the rail at Aqueduct
and galloped across the infield. “Vonnegut pondered the task,
typed one sentence and then walked out of his office, never to
return. His caption: ‘The horse jumped over the f—ingfence.’”
Yup, SI’s loss was our gain. “Slaughterhouse-Five” was
published in 1969.
–We note the passing of a real original, Kitty Carlisle Hart.
There are some people who just make you smile when you hear
their name, and she was one of them. For those of us growing up
during the dream years for game shows (I say the 60s, others
may say the 50s), she was queen, appearing for 20 years on “To
Tell the Truth” and “What’s My Line?” For 15 years she was
married to dramatist Moss Hart, who co-wrote “The Man Who
Came to Dinner” and “You Can’t Take It With You,” as well as
directing “My Fair Lady.”
Kitty also had a long career on Broadway and was known for her
role in the 1935 movie “A Night at the Opera.” Kitty Carlisle
Hart was 96.
–Golf bits:
Boy, Chris DiMarco is struggling. As Golf Week points out,
after six consecutive seasons in the top 20 on the PGA Tour
money list, DiMarco was 53rd last year and thus far in ’07, with a
best finish of 19th, he is 105th.
Masters champion Zach Johnson read “Top Ten Things I Can
Say Now That I’ve Won The Masters” on Lettermen the other
night. From Golf Week, their top five.
“It’s so weird – before this weekend, I’d never broken 100.”
“Even I’ve never heard of me.”
“I just wrote down ‘3’ for every hole. Nobody checked.”
“Maybe I can parlay this into an appearance on ‘Dancing With
The Stars’.”
“Thanks to global warming, next year I’m playing without
pants.”
Curtis Strange (17 PGA Tour titles, including back-to-back U.S.
Opens) and Hubert Green (19 Tour titles, including U.S. Open
and PGA Championship wins) have been selected for the World
Golf Hall of Fame. No problem here. But as others have pointed
out, how can Tom Kite be in (19 wins, one major) and not Doug
Ford (19 wins, two majors)? The men’s hall is very weak,
especially compared to the women’s version, which has a
formula for getting in. Personally, I think 20 wins and/or three
majors should be an automatic qualifier for the guys these days.
No one doubts that ten wins is a great career, but 20/3 separates
the wheat from the chaff.
–ESPN.com had a prospective top ten for the NBA draft, now
that Ohio State’s Greg Oden has declared (can’t say that I blame
him, as much as I hoped he would stay one more year).
1. Greg Oden
2. Kevin Durrant (Texas)
3. Al Horford (Florida)
4. Brandan Wright (North Carolina)…expected to announce
5. Joakim Noah (Florida)
6. Yi Jianlian (China 7-footer)
7. Julian Wright (Kansas)
8. Mike Conley (Ohio State)
9. Corey Brewer (Florida)
10. Jeff Green (Georgetown)
This is a fascinating list for us junkies. Oden is going to be a hall
of famer, Durrant is obviously another Kevin Garnett (great, but
will he have anything to show for it?), but Horford as a #3?
You’ve got to be kidding me. And Noah as a #5? You can find
guys in Europe as good as them. Hey, they were super college
players, but I’ll be surprised if they are stars at the next level.
Now Conley, on the other hand, is going to be awesome, as is
Corey Brewer. I’ll predict both go in the top five instead of
where ESPN places them. As for Jeff Green, see Horford and
Noah.
–George Webster, an All-Pro linebacker with the Houston
Oilers, and one of the greats in the history of Michigan State,
died at the age of 61. In retirement, Webster applied for benefits
as a permanently disabled former player and was found to have
lost most use of a hand, foot, knee and ankle as a result of
football-related injuries, but he did not meet the NFL’s definition
of totally disabled. That was 1989. In 1998, the Supreme Court
let stand a finding by the NFL’s retirement board that Webster’s
disability was not related to his career. So Webster was stuck
with nonfootball disability monthly benefits of $750 instead of
football-related disability benefits of $4,000. As former
teammate Elvin Bethea said “The league doesn’t care about the
older players. They still don’t respect us for what we’ve done as
a group. We were the foundation for this league.” You got that
right. As we’ve seen the past year with head injuries and various
investigations, the NFL deserves to be in the Hall of Shame.
–The Boston Celtics’ Sebastian Telfair was busted for
possession of an unregistered, and loaded, handgun after his
SUV was pulled over at 3:53 a.m. in Yonkers, NY. Telfair and
his companion claimed they didn’t know who the gun belonged
to so they both were charged. It was Telfair’s second gun
incident, the first being when he was with Portland and a loaded
Smith & Wesson belonging to him was found aboard a team
plane.
–Funny item in Barron’s this week on John Madden’s NFL
video game. I had no idea there was a curse behind it.
“The so-called Madden Curse hits the football player featured on
the cover of the game’s latest edition – in the form of either
injury or poor performance during the real-life season. Last year,
Seattle Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander graced the
game box’s cover and he cracked a bone in his foot. The year
before, quarterback Donovan McNabb of the Philadelphia Eagles
suffered a sports hernia after he was featured. Daunte
Culpepper, Michael Vick and Ray Lewis were among others
plagued by the curse.”
Vince Young has been named as cover boy for the 2008 edition.
Madden NFL sold 7 million copies last year, making it the top-
selling game in North America.
–Mitt Romney on the campaign trail. “The source of America’s
strength is its people!” I always thought it was our nukes…….
…..just kidding!!!!!
–In “For Better or For Worse,” Liz has officially dumped
Warren (after he ditched her, really), but I do not as yet owe Jeff
B. $10 because she hasn’t stumbled into Anthony’s arms. I’m
going to have to apply for a bridge loan, however, it would seem.
We also have learned that the only reason why the Pattersons can
afford all new furniture is because Dr. P. has been dealing drugs,
as we correctly suspected all along.
–It goes without saying we have to select Alec Baldwin as a
“Dirtball of the Year” candidate for 2007. He’s also going into
the “Jerk” file.
–Mel Brooks put “The Producers” to bed last night, saying “It’s
been the best experience of my life since World War II.”
–You know what was an underrated tune? The Association’s
“Goodbye Columbus,” the title track from the film. The problem
was it was too short…which may partially explain why it didn’t
hit the top 40.
Top 3 songs for the week of 4/19/75: #1 “Philadelphia Freedom”
(The Elton John Band…that’s what he called it then) #2 “(Hey
Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong
Song” (B.J. Thomas…longest title in history…but a good tune)
#3 “Lovin’ You” (Minnie Riperton…chirp chirp…tweet tweet)
…and…#4 “No No Song” (Ringo Starr) #5 “He Don’t Love
You (Like I Love You)” (Tony Orlando & Dawn) #6
“Supernatural Thing-Part I” (Ben E. King…having trouble
placing this one) #7 “Chevy Van” (Sammy Johns) #8 “What
Am I Gonna Do With You” (Barry White…damn, I miss Barry)
#9 “Emma” (Hot Chocolate) #10 “Before The Next Teardrop
Falls” (Freddy Fender)
Chicago Cubs Quiz Answers: 1) Jim Riggleman managed the
club from 1995-2000, going 439-516. 2) The 1945 batting
champ was Phil Cavarretta at .355. 3) Rookies of the Year: 1961
– Billy Williams; 1962 – Ken Hubbs. 4) Larry Jackson went 24-
11 in 1964. How good was that? The team went 76-86. 5) Cy
Young award winners: Ferguson Jenkins, 1971; Bruce Sutter,
1979; Rick Sutcliffe (2 teams…16-1 with Chicago), 1984; Greg
Maddux, 1992.
*Larry Jackson was one of those who if he was pitching today
would be making $12-$15million a year. He won at least 13
games 12 straight seasons and finished 194-183 over his career.
Ken Hubbs, a second baseman, won the rookie award at the age
of 20, but he died in a plane crash two years later.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday….I didn’t have time for my Jackie
Robinson story, courtesy of Stu Baby. Lots of baseball bits,
including this one, next time.
