Oakland A’s (Philadelphia, 1901-54; Kansas City, 1955-67)
Quiz: 1) Who was the Cy Young award winner in 1990? 2)
Who are the two shortstops to win the Rookie of the Year award?
3) Who was Fireman of the Year in 1966? 4) Who was the last
batting champion? [This is hard…except for Johnny Mac] 5)
What was Catfish Hunter’s uniform #? 6) Who am I? I hit 42
home runs in 1953 and my initials are G.Z. 7) Who are the five
to hit 250 home runs in an A’s uniform? Answers below.
Rod Beck
We note with great sadness the death at the age of 38 of former
major league relief pitcher Rod Beck. Beck’s body was
discovered at his home in Phoenix and as of this writing the
cause has not been determined. His longtime agent Rick
Thurman commented.
“He was kind of a throw back, a real blue collar guy who worked
his way up and worked hard. He was the kind of guy you wanted
to have in a foxhole with you. But he was a real Teddy bear at
home. He was a great guy, really unbelievably great.”
Beck saved 286 games in his 13-year career, including 48 for the
Giants one season and 51 for the Cubs in 1998.
Below are comments from this column.
BC 6/17/03
“And on a different topic, from Lawrence Rocca of the Star-
Ledger comes this tidbit. Pitcher Rod Beck, one of the top
closers in the game the last ten years, was trying to make a
comeback with the Cubs Triple-A Iowa club. Beck was living in
a Winnebago outside the stadium and he routinely opened it up
to fans after the game where he shared beers with them. Mr.
Beck, you have just been placed in the Bar Chat Hall of Fame.”
BC 7/31/03
“Remember a few months ago when we honored relief pitcher
Rod Beck with induction into the coveted Bar Chat Hall of
Fame? Beck, recovering from Tommy John surgery, was toiling
with the Cubs AAA affiliate in Des Moines. What endeared him
to us was the fact he was living in a trailer beyond the outfield
fence and loved entertaining the fans there after the games.
Beck was shortly thereafter called up by the San Diego Padres
(after gaining a release from the Cubs) and as of Wednesday had
gone 13 for 13 in saves. Rod, you da man!”
Now we say, Rod, RIP.
—
Steroids, Part XLCVX
No apologies for all I’ve written on the steroids topic. Bar Chat
is a running history, after all, just like that weekend column I
have something to do with.
This time, though, we start with track star Marion Jones. This is
one screwed up woman, sports fans, yet that was hardly the
image we all formed when she burst on the scene, seemingly
having it all together.
Lance Pugmire wrote in Saturday’s Los Angeles Times that
Jones has thrown away the $millions she made on the track and
in her many endorsements and according to court documents has
“total liquid assets throughout the world” of about $2,000.
It was just seven summers ago that Jones won a women’s record
five medals, 3 gold, at the Sydney Games but then it quickly
went downhill from there amidst steroid allegations and some
bad personal relationships.
Last year Jones had her $2.5 million dream home in Chapel Hill,
N.C., foreclosed on, and this year she sold two other N.C. homes
to “pay bills,” as she put it.
Her financial condition is laid out in a 168-page deposition, part
of a breach-of-contract suit filed against former coach Dan Pfaff,
who by every count is an above the board member of an
otherwise sleazy fraternity that included Jones’ former
coach/boyfriend Tim Montgomery.
It appears most of Jones’ money has gone to her attorneys due to
all manner of suits and countersuits related to her role in the
BALCO scandal. She used to earn $70,000 to $80,000 a race,
plus $100s of thousands in appearance fees, let alone race
bonuses and the endorsements.
So if you see a bag lady who still looks like she could run a 10.0
100-meter, it’s probably her. Then again, Jones is so clueless
that despite the fact she has massive debts, she was last seen
driving a Porsche.
Jason Giambi
Giambi will not be speaking to baseball investigator George
Mitchell until July due to the fact the attorneys can’t get together
before then. In his statement the other day, though, Giambi said
in part:
“I will continue to do what I think is right and be candid about
my past history regarding steroids….I alone am responsible for
my actions and I apologize to the commissioner, the owners and
the players for any suggestion that they were responsible for my
behavior….I will not discuss in any fashion any other
individual.”
Finally, for the first time, Giambi actually uses the word
“steroids.”
But there won’t be any transcripts because Giambi’s words could
be matched with his grand jury testimony in the BALCO
investigation.
And, recall, it was during this testimony that he told of how
Barry Bonds introduced Giambi to trainer Greg Anderson during
an All-Star tour of Japan after the 2002 season, according to the
book “Game of Shadows.” Bonds reportedly told Giambi, “My
(stuff) is better than your (stuff).” When Anderson discovered
Giambi was using a steroid that drug testers would easily spot
(baseball was about to test for the first time in 2003), Anderson
put him on a regimen of undetectable drugs that would later be
known as the “clear” and the “cream,” plus injectable
testosterone and different types of pills. Anderson also advised
Giambi on the use of human growth hormone. [Brian Costello /
New York Post]
The New York Daily News’ Mike Lupica, a fierce critic of
Giambi’s, praises Jason for at least being the only one to step
forward and talk forthrightly.
“Giambi decided to sit down with Mitchell (rather than weasel
out of it). He is better than so many other guys in his sport by
doing this you can’t even count them all.”
Baseball, and its union, recognizes that there is little it can do to
prevent Giambi from talking because if baseball doesn’t do
something, Congress will get involved again and then all hell
will really break loose. No more appearances like that of Mark
McGwire and Sammy Sosa, for example. It would be Gitmo for
the next group of witnesses.
Of course we still don’t get anything out of Barry.
Mike Lupica:
“Giambi is no saint here, and no victim, and no hero. But he
shows some stomach, and not the kind Barry Bonds has on him
as he limps toward Henry Aaron. He does that at a time when no
other active ballplayer has shown that kind of stomach, or nerve,
or even honor.
“George Mitchell doesn’t talk to the guy he wants to talk to, the
one trying to break Aaron, a bum who lets his friends go to
prison to protect him. At least Mitchell gets to talk to somebody,
Giambi. Who by sitting down this way, becomes the standup
guy about drugs that he says he has wanted to be all along.”
[One correction on Lupica’s comments. Bonds, sadly, is running
well these days.]
Speaking of Sammy Sosa….he hit No. 600 this week, just the 5th
to do so, and as Mets announcer Gary Cohen said when it
happened, baseball just shrugged. Sammy Sosa is almost as
despicable as Bonds.
Jon Saraceno / USA Today
“When Sammy Sosa slinked off into obscurity, I never believed
for a second I had witnessed my last home run hop. Not with
Sammy’s XXL-size ego. Not when he was so tantalizingly close
to baseball immortality, only a dozen moon shots away from the
rarefied atmosphere that, for decades, belonged to three
unassailable baseball comets named Aaron, Ruth and Mays….
“ ‘You don’t see a milestone like that every day,’ Sosa told
reporters after hitting No. 600 against the Chicago Cubs, the
team for which he clubbed 545 home runs.
“Sorry, Sammy, but I don’t feel like celebrating.
“Instead, I heard more of the same narcissistic celebration of self.
If Ernie Banks was Mr. Cub, Sammy Sosa is Mr. Rub (Us the
Wrong Way). For so long in the Windy City, Sammy was a feel-
good breeze for deprived Cubs fans. He was entertaining and
full of life. Now he leaves many of them, and me, ambivalent.
“His act has worn Lindsay Lohan-thin.
“ ‘To set an example for a lot of young players who want to be
like us, (you have to) fight and never give up,’ Sosa said.
‘Because if you want to reach something, the only guy who can
stop you is yourself.’
“He should know.”
And as to Sosa’s problems with the English language when he
was hauled before Congress, Saraceno notes:
“Funny, but his command of two languages sounded pretty good
after swatting No. 600. He had no trouble comprehending, or
answering, softball queries. Nary was a fastball forthcoming
regarding his suspected use of drugs.”
Meanwhile, aside from Giambi’s July testimony, the BALCO
investigation is to come to a head this month as well. Bonds will
either be indicted for perjury or he won’t. I’m guessing at this
point he won’t.
But whither the investigation over income tax evasion? Geezuz,
nail the guy on something.
Stuff
–But wait, there’s more on steroids! Texas Rangers owner Tom
Hicks suspects two-time AL MVP Juan Gonzalez was a user. “I
have no knowledge that Juan used steroids. His number of
injuries and early retirement just makes me suspicious.”
Hicks, in an interview, said one of the biggest mistakes he ever
made was signing Gonzalez to a $24 million contract “after he
came off steroids, probably. We just gave that money away.”
Of course Gonzalez was a user. My educated guess is that at
least half of those hitting over 35 home runs a season during the
steroids era were doing it.
–USA Today / Gallup surveyed fans on whether sports are doing
enough on the doping issue.
“Do you think each of the following sports is doing enough – or
not doing enough – to deal with the use of performance-
enhancing drugs by its athletes?” 67% said pro baseball was not
doing enough and 63% said that of professional football.
43% said track and field wasn’t doing enough and 42% said that
of cycling.
When asked to give their “best guess” of how widespread the use
of performance-enhancing drugs is in various professional sports,
football topped the list, with 33% of fans saying “all” or “almost
all” players used those drugs. Baseball was next at 27%.
–Pacman Jones pleaded not guilty to two felony charges of
coercion stemming from allegations that he threatened to kill
Minxx club employees in Las Vegas. Jones, who returned three
punts for touchdowns last year and picked off four passes, faces
a maximum of 12 years in prison. Jones has been involved in at
least 11 police investigations around the country in just the past
two years, though he is yet to be convicted of any crimes.
–Interesting piece by Stuart Miller in the New York Times. As
he put it, growing up, when you watched a baseball game and
saw the count go to 3-0, it was like ‘look out.’ But today, batters
swing at 3-0 only 6.3 percent of the time [for 2006]. Tim
McCarver said “That doesn’t surprise me. I don’t think hitters
are as aggressive.”
According to 2006 stats from baseballreference.com, swinging
on 3-0 produced a .385 batting average, and allowing a strike
dropped hitters to a .296 average.
Keith Hernandez, though, doesn’t necessarily disagree with
today’s strategy. “Batters today are far less disciplined than in
the past, so some managers might be holding them back.”
Personally, I want baserunners, first. Be choosy, Metsies.
–Sports Illustrated asked 14 major league experts – general
managers, assistant G.M.’s, scouting directors and such – to
name the five current players they would draft first if they were
starting a team. And the winners?
Jose Reyes (Mets shortstop) and Jonathan Papelbon (Red Sox
closer) were on the most ballots, 8. A-Rod was on 7 and Tigers’
pitcher Justin Verlander was on 6.
–Atlanta manager Bobby Cox was ejected Saturday for a record-
tying 131st time, matching the mark held by John McGraw,
though 14 of McGraw’s came as a player.
–Speaking of ejections, Mets catcher Paul LoDuca was thrown
out for arguing two strike calls while at the plate on Saturday. I
love the guy’s passion for the game, but this was one of the
stupider moves I’ve seen in the course of a ballgame. Us Mets
fans were watching the action, all thinking, you can’t argue that,
Paul, and then as he pointed to the umpire, we all thought, what a
freakin’ idiot. No wonder Orangutans are rated higher than
humans in intelligence, according to the Bar Chat scale.
–Speaking of animals, and apes, it’s time for “Animal Tales.”
A recent study of western lowland gorillas in Gabon shows that
they use napkins to wipe their faces after eating a meal. Actually,
they use leaves. “They are picky about the parts of the plant
they eat but will take a leaf to clean themselves at random.”
I’ve gotta tell you, I’m unimpressed. But the male lowland
gorilla can grow to 5’9” and exceed 600 lbs., so you tell him.
Far more impressive to me is the orca, who, according to the
London Times, regurgitates food as bait for gulls and then lurks
beneath the surface, waiting for a gull to take the half-digested
food. Whomp! [crunch crunch]
So we hereby put seagulls near the bottom of the intelligence
chain. You’ve undoubtedly noticed they only eat garbage, after
all. At least orcas and sharks and whales eat fresh stuff.
Well, this all means it’s once again time for a revised ranking of
intelligence, as selected by Bar Chat’s crack staff.
1. Orangutans
2. Spider monkeys
3. Crows
4. Dogs
5. Beavers…they sold their homes at the top of the market.
6. Grizzlies
7. Tigers
8. Chimps…and slipping.
9. Eagles…would be higher except they’ve been known to
occasionally feast on garbage themselves.
10. Killer whales
11. All sharks except the hammerhead, which has taken one too
many punches, if you know what I mean.
12. Elephants
13. Raccoons…amazing how they can get into garbage cans with
those small hands.
14. House cats…I’d lose half my readers if I didn’t put them
somewhere.
15. Lions…we learned long ago they really aren’t the kings,
tigers are.
16. Dolphins…not higher…see below….they’ve been
outmaneuvered.
17. Humans…bought second homes at the top of the market.
98. Turtles
99. Goldfish…if I saw a plastic bag being wrapped around me,
I’d do all I could to get out of there. But they just submit.
100. Donkeys/mules…we load them up and they never
complain. Why they didn’t form a union, I’ll never know…but it
speaks volumes about their lack of confidence and drive.
101. Seagulls
102. Plankton
Brad K. passed along the tale of the father who killed a black
bear at the Chattahoochee National Forest in northern Georgia.
This makes it Bears 1 Man 1….and we’re going to extra innings!
You see, this 300-pound bruin “raided a family’s campsite, and
the father saved his sons from harm by throwing a log at the
beast, killing it with a single blow,” according to the AP.
“Chris Everhart and his three sons were camping when the
encounter happened Saturday. The bear took the family’s cooler
and was heading back to the woods when the youngest son, 6-
year-old Logan, hurled a shovel at it.”
Bad move, Logan. You’re lucky your father was there.
“The bear then dropped the cooler and started coming at the boy,
said his father. Fearing what might happen next, Everhart, an ex-
Marine, grabbed the closest thing he could find – a log from their
stash of firewood.
“ ‘I threw it at it and it happened to hit the bear in the head,’
Everhart said. ‘I thought it just knocked it out but it actually
ended up killing the bear.’”
As to the tally Bears 1 Man 1….recall a black bear killed the boy
in Utah last week.
Also, the AP says nothing about the idea that the Georgia bear
was upset when he opened the cooler and didn’t find any beer.
That’s why it then made a move for the kid. It’s just a tragic tale
all around. Bears love beer just as much as we do, though it’s
just not that easy for them to obtain it, seeing as tavern and liquor
store owners are freaked out when they walk in the door.
And what about this tale out of Florida.
“Marine Officials Warn Of Biting Dolphins”
“Florida experts said wild dolphins are becoming more
aggressive because boaters are feeding them.”
May I suggest they are really sharks dressed in drag.
And then there’s this one…also from Brad K.
“A 62-year-old Florida man depended on his instincts when a
bobcat attacked him…
“Dale Rippy, a resident of Wesley Chapel, Florida, was pulling
trashcans back to his house when he saw what he thought was a
large cat. After realizing the animal was a bobcat, he set the
trashcans down and prepared for an attack.
“Having grown up on a farm, Rippy said he knew the bobcat
would attack when it didn’t run away after seeing him.
“ ‘When it growled, I knew it was going to jump and bite me,’ he
said.
[I would have offered the bobcat a beer, personally.]
“The animal then jumped on him and began to scratch and bite.
Rippy said he knew if he could get a good hold on the animal, he
would be able to choke it, even if that meant letting the bobcat
take a couple of bites.
“ ‘I started choking it when it got a good hold,’ he said. ‘I
choked it ‘til he died. I got scratched up pretty good.’”
Rippy, no relation to Rodney Allen Rippy, was not seriously
injured, though he is taking rabies shots. But goodness gracious.
Rippy, who lives 25 miles north of Tampa, said he’s also seen a
panther in the area near his home. If this fellow invites you and
your family for a little holiday cheer…pass.
And this just in….. “Romanian bear kills U.S. woman, hurts 2”!!
“A bear attacked a group of U.S. tourists on a remote trail in the
Carpathian Mountains, killing a woman and injuring two other
people, authorities said (Sunday).
“The group of six tourists chased off the bear when it tried to
approach them near a cabin about 75 miles north of Bucharest,
but the bear reappeared on a trail and attacked the group around
10 p.m.”
The bear is still loose! All tourists in Europe should be on alert.
Even those dining at a café in Paris.
But one question for the victims. It was 10 p.m., for crying out
loud. I would have been checked into a Four Seasons by then,
not wandering in the mountains. See above scale on human
intelligence.
And to update….Bears 2 Man 1
–Alex Rodriguez and the Yankees were in San Francisco this
weekend and A-Rod went ballistic at the plate, with two four-hit
games. But A-Rod being A-Rod, he couldn’t help but praise San
Francisco to no end because he is probably going to become a
free agent at the end of the season and he knows the Giants will
have lots of money to spend after Bonds disappears.
“I love San Francisco. I love the stadium, it’s one of my favorite
stadiums.”
Of course when he made this statement, he had played all of one
game there.
I do [stop the presses!] agree with A-Rod on one thing. He is not
going to participate in the All-Star Game’s home-run derby
because he doesn’t want to damage his swing.
Good for him. Maybe baseball will dump this stupid exhibition,
which is no better than the NBA’s slam-dunk contest. I mean,
who gives a [darn]?
A-Rod bashing will resume at its regularly scheduled time next
chat.
–The Mets Oliver Perez is 5-0 with a 1.26 ERA against the
Yankees and Braves, but 2-6 with a 4.44 ERA against the rest of
baseball. Whassup wit dat?
–Seattle’s Ichiro is known for his honesty, so I loved this
statement, as noted in SI.
“I’m not excited to go to Cleveland, but we have to. If I ever
saw myself saying I’m excited going to Cleveland, I’d punch
myself in the face because I’m lying.”
Your editor, though, needs to go back to Cleveland before year
end because there is a Beach Boys exhibit at the Rock ‘n’ Roll
Hall of Fame I must see; though I could be buried in a snow
squall on the way to the museum, never to be seen again…or
until spring, when the drifts melt.
–Finally, it would appear PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem
has seen the light as he is saying the tour will come up with a
drug policy by year end. Of course if Tiger Woods hadn’t been
the most vocal proponent of one, Finchem would have continued
to avoid the issue.
–2006 U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy said this of Tiger
Woods after his second place at Oakmont.
“What’s happening is freaking scary, if you ask me. I played
with him two rounds at the PGA Championship last August,
again the first two here, and he looks much more comfortable
with the swing he and Hank Haney have been working on. The
drives that were way off aren’t anymore. There’s more good bad
ones, if you know what I mean. And if people think he’s going
to mellow when he becomes a father, that’s crazy. He’ll want to
win even more for his kid.” [Bob Verdi / Golf World]
You know, Ogilvy has a reputation as being just about the
smartest player on tour (Tiger is numero uno in this category),
and his comment about Tiger and fatherhood is a good one.
Bob Verdi himself had this to say of USGA president Walter
Driver.
“Walter Driver…who can strut even while standing still, deigned
to share a room with scruffy media mongrels before the
tournament. In his speech Driver declared that the previous two
Opens – at Pinehurst and Winged Foot – had been ‘impeccable.’
This could be taken as a bit of revisionist history, inasmuch as
Driver was a spinmaster during the mess he precipitated in 2004
at Shinnecock Hills GC, where the course spun out of control.
Only now, apparently, does Driver comprehend that that week
was ‘peccable.’ Better late than never, but you know what they
say around USGA headquarters. What’s the difference between
God and Walter Driver? God doesn’t go around acting like
Walter Driver.”
–This is a good one. Virginia Tech golfer Drew Weaver, totally
out of nowhere, became the first American to win the British
Amateur golf tournament since 1979, when he defeated an
Australian, Tim Stewart, at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. Weaver,
a junior, earned an invite to the British Open and next year’s
Masters. The winner in ’79? Why none other than Wake alum
Jay Sigel.
–John Paul Newport has a story in the Wall Street Journal on the
Bridge, a new golf club in the Hamptons with an initiation fee of
$750,000, which doesn’t include tax (another $62,000). Annual
dues are $20,000. Great Gatsby II con-tin-uesssss…..
–At the US Open, here was the equipment breakdown.
Balls: 107 played Titleist (Pro V1, 40; Pro V1x, 67). Callaway
16, Nike 15, TaylorMade 8, Srixon 6, Bridgestone 4
Irons: TaylorMade 50, Titleist 31, Ping 17, Cleveland 15, Nike
15, Callaway 14
Drivers: TaylorMade 50, Titleist 29, Callaway 19, Nike 16, Ping
16, Cleveland 14
Putters: Odyssey 49, Titleist 47, Ping 20, Never Compromise 10,
TaylorMade 10
Shoes: FootJoy 89, Adidas 29, Nike 19…Buster Brown 2
[Source: Golfweek]
[One of the above is false…can you identify it?]
–Good point by Russell Adams in the Journal on the NBA draft.
With the two best players, Greg Oden and Kevin Durant, going
to Portland and Seattle, it will only heighten the Western
Conference’s dominance of the East, making it “even more
irrelevant.” This greatly hurts the NBA. At least the NFL and
MLB have leagues that are close to parity. Baseball, for
example, had a season last year in which 16 of the 30 teams were
still within five games of a playoff spot with only a month left to
play. And the NFL has managed a system whereby a skillful
GM can bring a team up from the bottom in just two or three
years.
[I think all would agree that after Oden and Durant, there is a
huge drop-off in talent. Sports Illustrated’s mock draft has
Florida’s Al Horford going third, for example. Horford is a nice,
serviceable player…maybe a future 15-8 (points/rebounds)… but
no All-Star in my humble opinion. And he’s third?! I still think
teammate Corey Brewer, though, is a future star, as is Ohio
State’s Mike Conley Jr.]
–Mason Levinson of Bloomberg News had a story on Steve
Clarkson, a former three-year starter at quarterback for San Jose
State who runs the most expensive QB school these days. To
show you how ridiculous some of the sports camps have become,
Clarkson charges $1,400 for four days. [Most of the others, like
Peyton Manning’s, charge about $500.]
But if you want a private tutoring session, Clarkson charges
$3,000 plus expenses to be flown in for one evaluation. If he
agrees to continue, it’s an additional $1,000 per four-hour lesson.
Now you might not think this is such a big deal, except the lead
character in Levinson’s story was 11-year-old David Sills, from
Bear, Delaware. The kid’s father swears he’s not living his
dream through his son.
A Rutgers coach, observing the proceedings (and prospects) at
Clarkson’s camp, said too often a high school QB enters his
senior season with a dead arm because he’s attended three or four
camps the preceding summer.
I’m not a parent, and, yes, there are some things I guess I can’t
possibly understand, but you just don’t know how much I’ve
been holding back on this topic overall. For starters, it’s a shame
we have few three-sport stars in high school these days, let alone
the fact the prep schools run the show, at least in the New York /
New Jersey area.
But here’s the real deal. If our society is really better off in 20
years because of the leaders we’ve been raising the past ten years
in this new era of hyperactivity for our nation’s youth, then it’s
all been for the good.
I won’t be around in 20 years, though, because if I don’t commit
hari-kari when Bonds hits #756, I certainly will when A-Rod
passes Bonds…….and that’s a memo.
–Juan Pablo Montoya won his first NASCAR Nextel Cup race.
NASCAR has been eagerly awaiting this moment as Montoya
can bring a whole new group of fans to the sport.
–Oregon State became the first school to go back-to-back since
LSU in winning the College World Series, once again defeating
North Carolina for the crown.
–Holy cow! Tyson Gay ran the second fastest time ever in the
200 meters at the U.S. track and field championships this
weekend. His 19.62 has been surpassed only by Michael
Johnson’s 19.32 at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Gay also won the
100 in 9.84. [Phil W., can you believe it’s been 11 years
already? And who was that rocker we met in the bar?……..sorry,
folks. I guess I could just pick up the phone and call Phil.]
–Mike Lupica, a good friend of Don Imus: “That big
conversation about race everybody said we were going to have as
soon as Imus got fired – what happened to it?” The Daily News
polled its readers and 94% want Imus back on the radio. I
suspect he will be in September.
–According to a federal government study, 29% of American
men report having 15 or more female sexual partners in a
lifetime, while only 9% of women report having sex with 15 or
more men. Huh.
–I’m really sick of Lynn Johnston’s moralizing in “For Better or
For Worse.” Enough with this Shannon garbage. And for crying
out loud, put some fashionable clothes on her, Lynn! Just
because Shannon is a special needs kid doesn’t mean she doesn’t
understand what’s hip these days.
–Here’s an awful one from Oakland, California. “A sport-
utililty vehicle crashed into a fire hydrant, which shot like a
‘bullet,’ striking and killing a man walking nearby, police said.”
[AP] The poor guy was walking with his wife when a 2007 Ford
Escape blew a tire and swerved onto the sidewalk, striking the
hydrant. The hydrant hit Humberto Hernandez in the back of the
head, killing him instantly. His wife was unhurt.
It’s funny how you remember certain stories from “60 Minutes”
for years and years and one for me was about tire blowouts, like
from tractor-trailers, and how often they killed innocents.
Recently in New Jersey, we had two drivers killed when vehicles
next to theirs blew a tire and it flew into the victims’ cars. As in
the Oakland case, it’s all so tragic, yet at the same time you can’t
help but conclude, sometimes life is just plain stupid, almost like
a squirrel running in front of your car. Or think of all the drivers
killed trying to avoid deer.
OK, enough musing for today.
Top 3 songs for the week of 6/26/76: #1 “Silly Love Songs”
(Wings…dreadful…you can do better, Sir Paul!!!!!) #2 “Get Up
And Boogie (That’s Right)” (Silver Convention…ughh) #3
“Misty Blue” (Dorothy Moore)…and…#4 “Sara Smile” (Daryl
Hall & John Oates) #5 “Shop Around” (Captain & Tennille…
stupid tune) #6 “More, More, More” (Andrea True Convention
…you know, for a disco tune, not that bad) #7 “Afternoon
Delight” (Starland Vocal Band……..Help!!!! I can’t breathe!!!!)
#8 “Love Hangover” (Diana Ross) #9 “I’ll Be Good To You”
(The Brothers Johnson….NOW YOU’RE TALKIN’! These
guys are underrated) #10 “Kiss And Say Goodbye”
(Manhattans)
*Todd Rundgren turned 59 the other day. His “Hello It’s Me” is
my second favorite song all time, next to Elvin Bishop’s “Fooled
Around And Fell In Love.”
Actually, “Fooled Around….” starts out with the line:
“I must have been through about a million girls…”
So I’m wondering if the above Federal study on sexual partners
is including this guy. I mean a million girls would skew the
averages, know what I’m sayin’?
Oakland A’s Quiz Answers: 1) Bob Welch won the Cy Young
award in 1990, 27-6. 2) Walt Weiss, 1988, and Bobby Crosby,
2004, were Rookies of the Year at short. 3) Jack Aker was
Fireman of the Year in 1966. 4) The last batting champ to wear
an A’s uniform was Ferris Fain, who did it in both 1951 and 52.
5) Catfish Hunter’s uniform # was 27. 6) Gus Zernial hit 42
homers in 1953. Over his 11-year career with a number of
teams, Zernial clouted 237 HR with 776 RBI and a .265 average.
He didn’t play his first full season in the big leagues until he was
27. 7) 250 home runs: Mark McGwire, 363; Jimmie Foxx, 302;
Reggie Jackson, 269; Jose Canseco, 254; “Indian Bob” Johnson,
252. [I figure this last figure separated the men from the boys in
this quiz, along with Fain.]
Next Bar Chat, Thursday.
