Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Quiz [What a dumb name, by
the way]: 1) What were the first two parks they played in, 1961-
65? 2) Who was the first manager? 3) Who is the only infielder
to win three Gold Gloves? 4) Name the first three to win 20 in a
season. [All before Nolan Ryan did.] 5) Who had the highest
single season batting average? 6) Who is the only batting
champion? [Not the same as No. 5] 7) Who is the career leader
in wins, pitching? Answers below.
All Kinds of Stuff
–In light of the HBO film “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee,”
which I thought was terrific, I thought I’d reprise a column from
back in October 2001 when I was in the region.
—
Well, I venture to say there weren’t too many doing what I did
today. Actually, I virtually guarantee there was no one else.
Using Rapid City, SD, as my base, I set off on a long drive down
to Wounded Knee, in the heart of the Pine Ridge Indian
Reservation south of Badlands National Park.
I haven’t been to this part of the country since I was a kid and I
had forgotten just how beautiful it was. It also helped it was a
gorgeous day. So after watching “Meet the Press” (hey, some
things never change), I started on the drive, picking out a good
country/western station when about an hour into it word of
the action in Afghanistan forced me to switch the news on.
But when I got to the Pine Ridge Reservation, while the scenery
was still good I also began to see just how hard life is for the
folks living on some of these territories. And at one point I
began to doubt whether I should continue on to Wounded Knee.
You see, Wounded Knee, in case you forgot, was the last battle
of the Indian Wars. But while Little Big Horn was the Indians’
last big conquest of the white man, Wounded Knee was the final
massacre of the Indians. I knew that all I would see is a marker,
nothing more, but it’s all part of our history so I continued on.
As I pulled up to it, alone in this small lot next to the main road, I
tried to soak in the surrounding sights as I was casually jotting
down some notes from the narrative on the board. Suddenly, a
car pulled up with two men and out hopped “Larry.” Well, Larry
was a local Native carrying some trinkets, but what unnerved me
was his companion driving away behind the marker where I
could no longer see him. This isn’t a well-traveled area, folks.
My only thought was “Oh S—!”
Larry shook my hand, I gave him my name, and then he asked
what I was writing down. “Just history,” I told him, feeling for
my Swiss Army knife. He then pressured me to pay $20 for a
necklace and I coughed it up. Larry then ran to find his friend,
who had hidden the car, and I, err, got in my car and….oh, it
wasn’t really that awful. We both sped away in opposite
directions. The rest of the drive was fantastic. A little more on
that later.
But first….Wounded Knee.
The Indian Wars had basically ended by 1888, especially after
the capture of Geronimo. Then late that year, Wovoka, a Paiute
in Western Nevada, fell ill and in a delirium imagined he had
visited the spirit world where he learned of a deliverer coming to
rescue the Indians and restore their lands. To hasten this day
Wovoka said that the Indians had to take up a ceremonial dance
at each new moon, the “Ghost Dance.”
By 1890 the Sioux took it up with such fervor that it alarmed the
white authorities. An effort was made to arrest Sitting Bull, one
that ended in his bloody murder on December 15. The military
then decided that it was best to round up the remaining Sioux in
the Pine Ridge Agency. At the time a Chief Big Foot led 106
warriors and 250 women. On December 28, the Chief was
arrested with 40 of his men while trying to escape the dragnet
and forced to camp at Wounded Knee with the rest of the group.
On the 29th, as the Indians faced a US 7th Cavalry force of 470
soldiers, arranged on bluffs overlooking the Indians’
encampment, a shot was accidentally fired by a deranged Sioux
(this is one version) and suddenly all hell broke loose. When it
was over, 200 Indians and 25 soldiers were dead, the “Battle of
Wounded Knee.” The Indian Wars were officially over.
[I was disappointed the HBO film didn’t at least give the casualty
figures…for the record.]
But Wounded Knee would play another vital role in our history
about 80 years later. In 1965 LBJ acknowledged the plight of the
Indians in establishing the National Council on Indian
Opportunity to target federal antipoverty program funds into the
reservations. But by 1968 Indian militants were impatient with
the pace of change and began to adopt the ways of the civil rights
and black power activists. That year, two Chippewas living in
Minneapolis, George Mitchell and Dennis Banks, founded the
American Indian Movement (AIM) on the promise of advancing
“red power.” They occupied Alcatraz in San Francisco for a
time in ‘69, claiming the site “by right of discovery.” And in
1972 they launched a widely covered sit-in at the US Interior
Department and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (which happens to
be the most corrupt federal agency of them all).
In 1973 AIM led 200 Sioux in occupying the village of Wounded
Knee. They had been provoked by the light sentences given a
group of local whites that had killed a Sioux the previous year.
The organizers sought to draw attention to the plight of Indians
living on the reservation there. Among those neglected were, of
course, the children, 80% of whom had dropped out of school.
The Indians then took 11 hostages and held them for weeks as a
standoff ensued between AIM and the FBI and federal agents.
Finally, when AIM tried to bring in food and supplies, a shoot-
out resulted and one Indian was killed. The standoff ended and
the federal government reexamined all of the Indians’ rights and
the programs.
Well, that’s Wounded Knee. I ended up driving some 300 miles
today, through the rest of the spectacular Badlands, alternating
news on the war front with country music and, believe it or not,
the Minnesota Twins / Chicago White Sox game. Then about 50
miles from Rapid City, I stopped at the town of Wall. If you
haven’t been out this way, Wall is a mini-version of “South of
the Border;” Wall Drugs, specifically, a block of souvenir stores.
I really wanted a beer, though, so I hit up the Badlands Bar. To
give you an idea of what kind of place Wall is there were two
signs in the bar that caught my eye. “Jane Fonda…American
Traitor Bitch” and “Vietnam: We Were Winning When I Left.”
The bartender was a great guy and I could have stayed there all
afternoon, but like I said I was still 50 miles from home and that
wouldn’t have been too responsible now, would it?
[Ed. note: Last fall, 2006, I ventured back into Pine Ridge,
briefly, and it wasn’t a great experience.]
—
–The Baseball Hall of Fame doesn’t really care at this point
whether or not Barry Bonds is a steroids abuser; these days it’s
more concerned with obtaining memorabilia pertaining to his
quest for #756; but thus far, Barry Dirtball is reluctant to cough
anything up. “I’m not worried about the Hall. I take care of
me.” The Hall doesn’t have anything connecting Bonds to his
500th, or #s 714 and 715, and all it wants is something like a hat
or jersey to connect fans to the event.
Bonds is playing in New York this week and Mets pitcher Tom
Glavine was asked by the Daily News if Commissioner Bud
Selig should be on hand when Bonds breaks Aaron’s record.
“It’s not too hard to figure out that most people think there’s
something there. But it’s like we’ve talked about, and I’ve talked
about, so much – suspicions of something and proving something
are two different things. At the end of the day I think that’s what
Bud is going to have to think about is, ‘Well, do we act on our
suspicions or do we act on the proof we do or do not have?’”
For his part, on Tuesday Bonds was supposed to meet with
reporters two hours before the game, but in entering the
clubhouse he told the assembled masses, “You all better get
lost!”
–New England Patriots defensive lineman Marquise Hill died
following a jetski accident on Lake Pontchartrain. His girlfriend,
on her own jetski, survived as both went into the water.
Stupidly, though, neither was wearing a life jacket. You’re on a
freakin’ giant lake, for crying out loud.
–A National Academy of Sciences study is the latest to note that
the toll on birds from wind farms is still just a tiny fraction of
the “hundreds of millions of birds killed by house cats and man-
made menaces such as pesticides, cars, and power lines.” [Adam
Aston / Business Week]
–Wake Forest snuck into the NCAA baseball tournament. The #1
seed in the field of 64 is Vanderbilt, which would be a great story
if the Commodores prevailed. Wake, incredibly, remains the last
ACC team to win the whole deal, 1955. The first Division I title
was handed out in 1947 and in looking at the past winners it’s
amazing that Minnesota won three crowns before 1965. I mean
this was pre-global warming folks. It never got above freezing
all year ‘round in Minnesota in those days….really. Last year’s
winner, Oregon State, was the first northern squad to win it since
Minnesota’s third championship in 1964.
–Juliet Eilperin wrote an expose in Sunday’s Washington Post
about the millions of sharks that are killed each year around the
world; anywhere from “26 million to 73 million, according to
recent calculations by an international team of scientists.”
Of course this is awful and it’s one reason why sharks have every
right to chow down on swimmers, but Ms. Eilperin notes that the
number of deadly shark attacks basically peaked in 2000 at
eleven, worldwide, and was just four in 2006. Of course she is
receiving her data from the totally discredited International Shark
Attack File compiled by the Florida Museum of Natural History.
And how can I make such a claim? Well, it’s all been
documented before in this space, but the above gives me another
excuse to pull out the definitive expose from a column of mine,
2/16/06. [I promise this is the last time I use it….until the next
disinformation campaign by the world media.]
—
[2/06]
Shark Scandal………..Another Bar Chat Exclusive…
I’ve had it, sports fans. Once again, the supposedly definitive
International Shark Attack File out of the University of Florida is
providing the world with bad data. The other day these folks
released their official report on 2005 and said there had been
only four fatalities in the world…two in Australia, one in the
Pacific island chain of Vanuatu and one in the United States.
That’s wrong.
Bar Chat 6/9/05
“On Monday, another spear fisherman was killed by a great
white shark in the waters off of Cape Town, South Africa, the
second such incident in the past 19 months. Henri Murray
attempted to fend off the beast with his spear gun before the
shark ‘snatched him in its jaws.’ Murray’s partner shot the shark
with a spear but to no avail.”
Bar Chat 6/30/05
“Folks, this is a Bar Chat Exclusive. The shark deaths reported
by the University of Florida and its International Shark Attack
File (ISAF) are severely undercounting the number of shark
fatalities. And how can your editor make such a claim? Stick
with me….
“From 1925-2004, the ISAF says that of the fatalities around the
world, about half were a result of Great White attacks, with the
other half being victims primarily of Tiger and Bull sharks.
“To cite a few examples of country death tolls, there were 134
fatal attacks during this time period in Australian waters and 25
fatal attacks in Papua New Guinea. That’s what the ISAF data
tells us.
“But when it comes to Vanuatu, where the 7-year-old girl was
killed by a possible great white last week (Bar Chat 6/28), the
ISAF says there has been only one fatal attack here, until last
week’s, since 1925 and that one was in 1997.
“So here’s what you won’t find anywhere else….putting two and
two together.
“From the New Zealand Herald, 6/25/05:
“ ‘A teacher in Vanuatu says he twice warned the family of the
New Zealand girl (Alysha) killed by a shark not to get into the
water…
“ ‘Mr. Tilison had paddled out in a canoe to Alysha’s parents’
yacht just after it pulled into the attractive white, sandy bay
where he lived, shortly before lunchtime on Wednesday.
“ ‘“They had just dropped the anchor and jumped in for a swim,”
he said. “I went out and introduced myself and told them it was
not safe to swim in the sea.”’
“ ‘Mr. Tilison said he made it clear that fishing boats came into
the bay to wash down, and the strong smell attracted sharks…
“ ‘“I told them not to swim because here we do not swim in the
salt water. We swim in the fresh water, not on the beach.”…
“ ‘(Tilison) said there were local children in the water but they
were close to shore where it was safe….
“ ‘(Tilison) heard Alysha ask her mother if she could go for a
swim.
“ ‘Her mummy said, “It’s not safe” ….but she went for a swim
…after 10 minutes the shark attacked.’….
“ ‘Mr. Tilison said just two days earlier locals saw a great white
shark in the area. “It was a very big one…they thought it was the
same one.”’”
“But here’s the clincher….Mr. Tilison told the New Zealand
Herald’s Angela Gregory, ‘this was the fourth death he
remembered, the last three years ago.’”
“What?! Go back to the ISAF data. I thought Vanuatu had only
one fatal attack since 1925 and it was in 1997!
“You know what this means, folks….the international tourism
industry, in paying off the ISAF, is hiding the true facts. The
death toll is considerably higher. No one should be leaving their
home, let alone come within 10 miles of the water. If we were
told the truth, the coastal real estate market would collapse,
banks would go under, and the world would be plunged into
depression.
“Yes, I’m on the case, sports fans. We will not let this issue die.”
Bar Chat 7/19/05
“By the way, I did send a note last week to a Dr. Burgess at the
International Shark Attack File to get him to look into his
institute’s understating the carnage in Vanuatu, per a recent Bar
Chat. Dr. Burgess has yet to respond. He gets one more week to
do so or he”s immediately inducted into the Bar Chat Hall of
Shame.”
So here we are…seven months later…and once again Dr. George
Burgess and the University of Florida are pulling the wool over
our eyes. How could they not include the attack in South Africa?
That wasn’t a grouper that killed the poor sap, though giant
groupers aren’t to be messed with…as anyone who’s been to a
decent aquarium knows.
This joker, this Burgess fellow, should be shut down and a full
congressional investigation, nay, a trial in Karachi, needs to be
conducted in short order.
[And this from Bar Chat, 6/22/06]
Bob S. alerted me to a huge story from Brazil. As reported in
Marine News Today:
“A surfer died Sunday after a shark bit him in the leg in waters
off northeastern Brazil, Brazilian media reported.
“Humberto Pessoa Batista (no relation to pitcher Miguel, or
former Cuban leader Fulgencio, who was deposed by Castro in
1959), 27, was with about 30 other surfers some 50 feet from a
beach in the city of Olinda when he was attacked, firefighters
told the Agencia Estado news service.
“Olinda is just north of the much larger city of Recife, about
1,300 miles northeast of Sao Paulo. The area is known for large
concentrations of sharks. [Ed. I didn’t know this!]
“While surfing has traditionally been banned in the area,
authorities lifted the restriction this year because few sharks had
been seen.
“Rescue workers tried to take Batista to a hospital, but the shark
bite ruptured his femoral artery and he died of a hemorrhage…
Firefighters could not immediately be reached for comment. [Ed.
guess they were out fighting a fire.]
“Batista’s death was the 18th since 1992 caused by shark attacks
in the area. The sharks are attracted to waters off Recife by a
large coral reef where they go to feed.” [Ed. “All you can eat”
fish special on Thursdays, $8.95.]
Our sympathies to the Batista family.
But once again…focus in on the above statement that this was
the 18th shark attack fatality since 1992!
You know what this means, sports fans. Once again, the
International Shark Attack File in Florida has screwed up big
time and is underreporting the number of fatalities.
You may recall I’ve been all over this, most recently in Bar Chat,
2/16/06. In this instance, the latest data through 2005 have only
12 recorded deaths in Brazil since 1992 and the above is telling
you there’ve been 18.
Now we’ve written Dr. George Burgess of the Univ. of Florida
before to explain himself when presented with the evidence but
he has yet to respond. It’s pretty simple to me. A special
prosecutor must be appointed and a UN investigation called
immediately. Personally, I suspect all parties are lying and the
true figure in Brazil is actually closer to 7,800.
—
–More animal tales from just this week.
Brad K. alerted me to the story of the “four-foot-long, 80-pound
monitor lizard that (has) been lurking in an Orlando suburb for
months.”
It seems an officer shot at it twice this past Sunday, but “the
animal [monster] scampered into a retention pond,” according to
Lt. Dennis Stewart of the Casselberry Police Department.
Ilene Gothelf, whose home borders the pond about 10 miles from
Orlando, told the AP, “If they did shoot it, I’m sure it’s going to
be angry if it comes out now. I want to know that it is safe for
the kids to come out.”
Ilene, it may not be safe, ever. In fact I suggest you sell your
home and absorb any loss you may have. I really don’t know
where you should go, come to think of it, nowhere really being
safe these days, but your kids are meat for the lizard which has
undoubtedly gained another 30 pounds since this story first hit.
Brad K. summed it up. “There is only one thing worse than an
on the loose wild monitor lizard and that’s a wounded one
looking for kids.” This has Sci-Fi Channel straight to video
written all over it, if you ask me.
–From Wednesday’s Star-Ledger here in New Jersey.
“Chihuahua killed in Middletown coyote attack”
Never stood a chance, friends. Our sympathies to the owner.
But I forgot to tell you my parents saw a coyote in their yard the
other day. I mean I grew up there! I could have been playing
hoops in the driveway, going for a loose ball, only to be mauled!
[It’s “Web Sweeps Month”.]
–Here’s another AP tale from this week.
“Man clad in underwear pins leopard”
Now there are some stories you really don’t want too much
information on, know what I’m sayin’? But Arthur Du Mosch
was sleeping in his home when a “wild leopard…leapt through a
window of his home and hopped into bed with his family.”
And where did this happen? Israel, for crying out loud! A
fellow who works with the wildlife authority there said a half
dozen leopards have been spotted recently near Du Mosch’s
small community of Kibbutz Sde Boker in the Negev desert in
southern Israel.
Incredible as it may seem, Mr. Du Mosch subdued the animal
after struggling with it for 20 minutes, thus giving neighbors
something to kibitz about.
–Jim Maloney
The other day, I received a nice note from Michael F. concerning
my sponsorship of former Reds pitcher Jim Maloney’s page on
Baseball-Reference.com. Michael feels as I do that Maloney is
one of the more underrated pitchers of the past 50 years, but alas
his career was shortened by injuries.
Maloney came up as a 20-year-old flamethrower with Cincinnati,
going just 2-6 in 11 games his first year. He followed that with
so-so 6-7 and 9-7 marks the next two and then in 1963, still just
23, Maloney burst on the scene with a 23-7 mark and 265
strikeouts in 250 innings. On May 21 of that season, Maloney
stuck out eight consecutive Milwaukee Braves, tying what was
the record at that point, and two years later, on June 14, 1965,
Maloney whiffed 18 in an 11-inning contest.
Maloney, despite constant arm problems, was 134-80 at age 29,
before being forced out of the game two years later, losing his
final four decisions to finish up 134-84. Like with so many
players of his era, before the advent of modern sports medicine,
you can only muse that had he pitched another 8 years (until he
was 37), averaging 15 wins a seasons, he ends up with over 250
and is a strong Hall of Fame candidate.
But Maloney is perhaps best known among decent baseball fans
for his two no-hitters. It could have been three, but for this we
turn to the book “Ninety Feet from Fame: Close Calls with
Baseball Immortality” by Mike Robbins.
“On June 14, 1965, the hard-throwing Reds right-hander no-hit
the New York Mets for nine innings. Unfortunately for Maloney,
Cincinnati couldn’t manage a run either, and the contest went to
extra innings. Maloney shut the Mets down in the 10th, but
faltered in the 11th, allowing a solo home run to outfielder
Johnny Lewis. The long ball cost him not only the no-hitter, but
also the game….
“Maloney had pitched nine no-hit innings and more besides, so
some chose to consider this a no-hitter. Others didn’t, on the
grounds that he did eventually give up a hit.
“Remarkably, the same thing nearly happened to Maloney again
a little over two months later. On August 19, 1965, Maloney
threw another nine-inning no-hitter and didn’t even let the Cubs
hit a ball to the outfield until the 8th. Yet once again he found
himself in a 0-0 extra-inning game. Fortunately, Reds shortstop
Leo Cardenas got Maloney the run he needed in the 10th,
homering off the foul pole, and Maloney earned a no-hitter that
was beyond debate. Only 13 times before in baseball history had
any pitcher taken a no-hitter to extra innings. Maloney had
turned the trick twice in a single season.”
[Maloney fanned 12 in the Cubs game, but walked 10!]
“Four years later, on April 30, 1969, Maloney collected a more
conventional nine-inning no-hitter against the Houston Astros.
[Cincy won 10-0 as Maloney struck out 13.] But by this time
Maloney’s list of no-hitters paled in comparison to his list of no-
hitter misses. In addition to that 11-inning loss, Maloney had
thrown five one-hitters and combined on a sixth with reliever
Clay Carroll. Twice in his career Maloney had to leave no-hit
bids after suffering injuries, the second of these a perfect game in
the 7th inning. All this, and Maloney was still in his twenties.
Future no-hitters seemed certain. But the man whom Sandy
Koufax called the hardest thrower in the National League was
pitching on borrowed time. Maloney had had a chronically sore
arm since his second season in the big leagues. On days the arm
felt good, a no-hitter was always a possibility. On days it felt
bad, Reds fielders had to remain on their toes. ‘It hurts most of
the time, now,’ Maloney admitted in 1969.
“The arm hurt so much that in one game against the Mets that
year, the famously tough Maloney asked to come out. The Reds
lost, and the next day manager Dave Bristol reportedly told his
pitchers that in the future they’d just have to pitch through their
pain.” [As Mike Robbins added, “That sort of thinking might
help explain why four potentially great Reds pitchers – Maloney,
Don Gullett, Gary Nolan, and Wayne Simpson – all saw their
careers derailed by arm injuries in the late 1960s and 1970s.”]
Then in 1970, Maloney tore his Achilles tendon running the
bases. Ironically, that particular game, Don Gullett came in to
replace Maloney in the third inning and Gullett went on to gain
his first major league win. But, like Maloney, Gullett, who was
91-44 in seven seasons with the Reds, had blown out his arm by
age 30.
Lastly, on September 4, 1991, Robbins notes that “baseball’s
ominously named ‘Committee for Statistical Accuracy’ ruled that
no-hitters lost in extra innings weren’t official no-hitters.”
Oops…one more tidbit…Maloney was a pretty fair hitter, batting
.201 with seven home runs!
[Other reference for the above, “Baseball: The Biographical
Encyclopedia,” by the editors of Total Baseball. *This is a must
have, by the way.]
–Johnny Mac and I were exchanging notes during Tuesday’s
Mets-Giants game when reliever Scott Schoeneweis, who has
struggled recently, entered the game and promptly got into
trouble again. J. Mac observed, “This freakin’ Schoeneweis is in
the middle of more rallies than Al Sharpton.”
–So the Atlanta Braves have defeated the Metsies 6 out of 9 thus
far in ’07. But the Mets are five games in front.
Thru Tuesday’s play…
Mets…30-11, ex-games against the Braves
Atlanta…23-20 in other contests
Ha!
–Then there’s the Yankees, 21-29 thru Tuesday and now 14 ½
games behind first place Boston. But as if that wasn’t bad
enough, on Wednesday we learned Alex Rodriguez “stepped up
to the plate with a mysterious, busty blonde in Toronto,” as the
New York Post revealed. “The cozy duo dined with two pals at a
pricey steakhouse late Sunday night, then headed to a glitzy strip
club before making their way to his hotel, where the pair ducked
into an elevator and headed upstairs just after midnight. Cynthia
Rodriguez, A-Rod’s wife and mother of their 2 ½-year-old
daughter, Natasha, was nowhere to be seen during the slugger’s
big night out on the town.”
And get this…A-Rod stayed at Toronto’s Four Seasons hotel –
down the street from the Park Hyatt, “where most, if not all of
his Yankee teammates and coaches are staying during a three-
game stint.” What an a-hole…what a selfish jerk. [Dan Mangan
/ New York Post]
But baby, you’ve gotta love it! For those of you not from the
area and unaware of A-Rod’s amazing insincerity, this takes the
cake. We wish both him and the Yankees the worst.
–In “For Better or For Worse,” I’m thinking Michael is just like
Stray-Rod, as wife Deanna is about to find out. Plus, while
Deanna has all these redecorating plans, did Michael ever get
that freakin’ book advance check?!
Top 3 songs for the week of 5/31/69: #1 “Get Back” (The
Beatles with Billy Preston) #2 “Love (Can Make You Happy)”
(Mercy) #3 “Aquarius / Let The Sunshine In” (The 5th
Dimension)…and…#4 “Oh Happy Day” (The Edwin Hawkins’
Singers) #5 “Hair” (The Cowsills…best opening drum riff of all
time…no, really….) #6 “These Eyes” (The Guess Who?) #7
“Atlantis” (Donovan) #8 “Gitarzan” (Ray Stevens) #9 “In The
Ghetto” (Elvis) #10 “Grazing In The Grass” (The Friends of
Distinction)
*I was curious where the ’69 Mets stood on 5/31/69 and it turns
out they were 21-23, 9 games back. They actually bottomed at
18-23, before embarking on an 11-game win streak. So from that
18-23 start, they went 82-39 the rest of the way en route to their
miracle World Series title.
L.A. Angels Quiz Answers: 1) They played their first year in
Wrigley Field, a Pacific Coast League park, and 248 homers
were clouted in the band box. Then the Angels played four
seasons in Dodger Stadium before the “Big A” was built for the
”66 season. 2) Bill Rigney was the first manager, 1961-69. 3)
Bobby Knoop was a three-time Gold Glove winner at second
base, 1966-68. 4) First three 20-game winners: Dean Chance,
1964 (20-9); Clyde Wright, 1970 (22-12); Andy Messersmith,
1971 (20-13). 5) Darin Erstad has the highest batting average,
season, at .355 for 2000, though he finished second in the league
to Nomar Garciaparra’s .372. What is so screwed up, however,
is that Erstad’s .355 was sandwiched between a .253 mark in
1999 and a .258 average in 2001. He’s never hit .300 again.
Hmmmmm. 6) Alex Johnson is the only Angel to win the
batting title, .329, 1970. Johnson was a real ass…fyi. 7) Chuck
Finley leads in career wins with 165.
And here’s an Angels tidbit that floored me. They didn’t average
20,000 fans per game for a season until 1978.
Next Bar Chat, Monday a.m.
