Baseball Quiz: Name the pitchers who have appeared in at least
1,000 games. I’ll give you the initials of all 13, entering the
2008 season. [R.G., M.J., R.H., M.T., L.S., J.M., K.T., D.P.,
H.W., D.E., J.F., M.S., J.O.] Answer below.
Tragedy at Churchill Downs
You know I love the Triple Crown races, at least the first two
when there is still hope for someone to take all three, which I
maintain would be an awesome moment for the country. And so
it was that on Saturday, the real deal, Big Brown, won going
away, so it’s on to the Preakness with hopes we’ll have our first
Triple Crown winner in five weeks since Affirmed in 1978.
Alas, just as we were watching the celebration we learned second
place finisher Eight Belles, the filly attempting to become just
the fourth of her kind to win the Derby, suffered a catastrophic
collapse just after crossing the finish line, breaking her two front
ankles and forcing track doctors to immediately put her down.
Dr. Larry Bramlage, the Derby’s on-call veterinarian, said the
filly’s injuries were too severe to even attempt to move her off
the track.
Coupled with the fact it was less than two years ago that the sport
lost Barbaro, following a similar accident at the Preakness, there
were renewed calls that the sport of thoroughbred racing is
nothing more than barbaric and cruelty to animals. Only this
time, the debate could become more heated than ever. I count
myself as a reasoned, and mild, animal rights activist (I’m still
for using them in medical testing), but I have to admit I really
haven’t given this particular topic much thought so I present the
following as just an opinion, for now.
William C. Rhoden / New York Times
“Why do we keep giving thoroughbred horse racing a pass? Is it
the tradition? The millions upon millions invested in the betting?
“Why isn’t there more pressure to put the so-called sport of kings
under the umbrella of animal cruelty?
“The sport is at least as inhumane as greyhound racing and only
a couple of steps removed from animal fighting.
“Is it the fact that horse racing is imbedded in the American
fabric? And the Triple Crown is a nationally televised spectacle?
Or is it the fact that death on the track is rarely seen by a
mainstream television audience?
“The sentiment was summed up by Dr. Larry Bramlage on
Saturday when, asked about fillies racing against colts, he said,
‘One death is not an epidemic.’
“A national audience was exposed to the bittersweet experience
of a tremendous victory by Big Brown and – moments later – the
stunning news that Eight Belles had been euthanized. As we
watched Big Brown’s owner celebrate the unmitigated joy of
winning the Derby, we watched Bramlage describe the details of
Eight Belles’ horrible death….a condylar fracture on the left side
and the left front that opened the skin, went through it and was
contaminated….
“After the race, Larry James, Eight Belles’ trainer, choked back
tears as he answered questions about the filly’s death. But even
through the grief, James instinctively toed the industry line about
racing. He discounted the notion – and veiled criticism – that the
dirt surface might have contributed to her death. He also refused
to concede the point that horse racing is an extremely dangerous
sport, saying that these types of injuries occur in any sport.
“Within the racing industry, Eight Belles was a tragic but
glorious casualty. The industry is in denial: racing grinds up
horses, and we dress up the sport with large hats, mint juleps and
string bands.
“Why do we refuse to put the brutal game of racing in the realm
of mistreatment of animals? At what point do we at least raise
the question about the efficacy of thousand-pound horses racing
at full throttle on spindly legs?
“This is bullfighting.”
But then there is the other side of the debate…
Jane Smiley / New York Times
“Some people think there should be no horse racing. Certainly,
horse racing as a spectator sport is staggering under the weight of
these recent horrors – Barbaro, and now this. But…without
horse racing, there would no thoroughbreds as we know them,
and there is nothing like them. The thoroughbreds I have bred
and trained and now ride, modest specimens all, are athletic,
game and eager, full of energy and intelligence. Beautiful, too.
“It is not racing per se that is cruel, it is American racing as it has
been, on dirt tracks at continuous high speeds, for lots of money.
Horses in Europe, who run on the turf and only exert themselves
all out at the end of fairly long races, do not break down as
frequently as American horses on American tracks….
“It is possible, though, that Eight Belles would have run herself
to death on any surface. We all know people who cannot admit
defeat, and horses can be the same. We all know people who
simply defy their own weaknesses and go on. I see Eight Belles’
death as heroic in that sense – stubborn and foolish, shocking and
tragic, but not, in the end, an accident. I think the filly’s courage
deserves respect, not pity.”
Jerry Izenberg / Star-Ledger
“I’ve been coming to this race for 45 years. I have seen horses
bleed and pull up or break down here. But I cannot ever
remember seeing anything as sad here as what happened at the
end of America’s race among races. Neither can equine surgeon
Larry Bramlage, who pointed out he’s never seen a horse break
down that far past the wire….
“They speculated about when the fracture began to chip away at
the bones, and the vet conceded that while you can’t be sure, it
may well have been actually happening during the race.
“Now think about this filly and imagine what happened, and yet
she ran because that’s what she was created to do. She dug in
and gave no indication that each step may well have set the stage
for her final steps.
“She was born to run, and she was determined to catch Big
Brown. She died trying.”
Stuff
–My Derby selection, Denis of Cork, finished third out of 20.
Not bad, not bad at all.
–Ironically, the trainer of the great filly, Ruffian, died this
week; Frank Whiteley Jr., 93. It was on July 6, 1975, that
Ruffian, undefeated in 10 starts, was matched up against Foolish
Pleasure, the winner of that year’s Kentucky Derby, in a mile-
and-a-quarter race at Belmont Park. Nearly a half mile into the
race, in front by a neck, Ruffian shattered her right front ankle.
A team of veterinarians operated on it into the night, but when
she came out of anesthesia, Ruffian struggled so violently she
smashed her cast and at 2 a.m. was put down. That night, she
was buried 70 yards beyond the finish line at Belmont. [Richard
Goldstein / New York Times]
–Just watch…when ESPN broadcasts “The Zen of Bobby V.”
about manager Bobby Valentine’s life and career as a manager in
Japan, there will be a hue and cry among Mets fans to bring him
back….it’s the Bar Chat Guarantee! I’m not sure that wouldn’t
be a bad idea, having grown weary of Willie Randolph, myself.
–Oh, the life of Roger Clemens. A source close to him told the
New York Daily News “He had chicks stashed in every city –
like every athlete, you play golf, you go get drunk and [have
sex.] In some ways, it’s a lonely life.” [I wouldn’t know.]
The News reported on Sunday:
“A few years ago, country singer Mindy McCready brought a
special guest to her mother’s North Fort Myers, Fla., home.
“It was the first time Gayle Inge had met Roger Clemens face-to-
face, although they had talked on the phone numerous times and
she knew her daughter had traveled to Las Vegas and other cities
with the world-famous pitcher….
“In past years, he’d called Inge’s home looking for her daughter.
He’d flown Inge’s sons on his private plane and bought a sleek
set of golf clubs for Tim McCready, their father and Inge’s first
husband, just like the ones Clemens used. He’d even asked Tim
McCready for permission to have a relationship with his
daughter.
“All was fine until the visitor mentioned something that caught
Inge off guard.
“ ‘A conversation about his sons came up,’ Inge says.
“Then it hit Inge: Roger Clemens, father of four, was still
married.”
Unreal. But Clemens, playing the role of village idiot, stupidly
launched this defamation suit against trainer Brian McNamee
and now his life in total is fair game.
“Every avenue will be explored at deposition,” says Earl Ward,
one of McNamee’s lawyers. As the News reports, “And the
questions won’t be easy – they’ll be about drug use, sex, money,
reputation.”
“As we say in my business, it’ll be a s— show,” said another of
McNamee’s attorneys, Richard Emery.
And the past few days there have been reports that Clemens was
cavorting with golfer John Daly’s former ex- , Paulette Dean.
The Daily News: “For much of his career in Major League
Baseball, Clemens flirted with disaster, living a secret life that
has only recently come under the glare of the spotlight. The
results have been dramatic; something even Clemens’ lawyer
Rusty Hardin says is unprecedented as he has watched his
client’s reputation disintegrate.”
[Sunday night, Clemens issued a statement apologizing for
“mistakes in my personal life for which I am sorry.” What a jerk.]
–Mike Lupica of the Daily News has a piece on ticket prices at
Yankee Stadium. Talk about outrageous.
“There is a guy I know who has tickets behind the Yankee
dugout, has had them for awhile. Last season each seat cost
$150 per game. This season, because it is the last season at the
old Yankee Stadium, the cost went up to $250. Next season, if
he wants to keep the same seats when everybody moves across
161st St. to the new Yankee Stadium, the cost will go to $850 per
seat.”
You’re reading that right. If this same guy wants to save his seat,
he has to sign a minimum four-year contract!
Then you have the front row seats, dugout to dugout, or what are
known as Spike Lee seats. “The plan is to sell these for $2500
next season. Per seat.”
So you wonder how the Yankees can get away with this (as the
Mets, who open their own new stadium in ’09, observe what the
reaction is before establishing their ticket floors) and it’s because
they already sold four million tickets for the entire 2008 season.
But just watch. Unless the product on the field is top shelf, I can
guarantee when you turn on a Yankees game in, say, 2010, after
the novelty of the new place begins to wear off, you’ll see empty
seats right behind home plate.
You already see that at the Nationals ballpark I wrote of from
Washington, D.C., last week. The primo seats are largely empty.
Corporations, and lobbyists (it being Washington), bought them
up but unless the match-up is attractive, or the weather
outstanding, they are already going unused. And then in another
year or two, when it’s renewal time, some boss is going to ask,
“Now tell me again why we are shelling out $80,000 for a box at
these games? I’m hearing you guys don’t even use them!”
[A look inside the boardroom…another free feature of Bar Chat.]
I’m amazed at baseball’s record attendance the past few years,
especially when you can now see all your favorite team’s games
on television, which wasn’t always the case just five to ten years
ago. I’m guessing this trend begins to reverse in two to three
years. Go on baseballreference.com and look up some teams and
their attendance marks in the old days. They were miserable.
–The Los Angeles Angels’ Triple-A affiliate, the Salt Lake Bees,
got off to a 21-1 start, believed to be the best in minor league
history, according to Dan Graziano of the Star-Ledger. And it’s
not as if the major league club is chopped liver. In other words
you’d have to call the Angels’ the best overall baseball franchise
at the moment.
–I forgot to mention this animal tidbit the other day, via Lewis
Smith of the London Times.
“Orangutans have confounded naturalists by learning to swim
across rivers and to fish with sticks.
“Naturalists were shocked to see the apes swim across a river to
gain access to some of their favorite fruits at a conservation
refuge on Kaja Island in Borneo. Orangutans were previously
thought to be non-swimmers. The wildlife experts were equally
surprised to see an orangutan pick up a tree branch and stun a
fish before eating it. Other apes introduced to the island were
seen trying to spear fish with sticks after watching fishermen
using rods. The naturalists also noted that the apes quickly
worked out that it was even easier to steal fish from unattended
lines used by the humans on the island.”
No surprise here, as we gear up for our next all-species update,
June 30.
–In SI’s annual survey of the PGA Tour:
Who is the nicest Tour wife? [Can’t choose your own.] Richelle
Baddeley 16%, Amanda Byrd 13%.
Have you ever had a romantic relationship with a gallery
member? Yes 20%. No 80%.
If you were forced at gunpoint to vote for the Democratic
presidential candidate, whom would you choose? Barack Obama
53%. Hillary 16%. I’d take the bullet 31%.
Would you rather be paired with Tiger or Phil? Woods 87%.
Mickelson 13%.
Do you know any pro golfers who have used performance-
enhancing drugs? Yes 6%. No 94%. [interesting]
Have you ever been hungover during a Tour round? Yes 50%.
No 50%.
Who’s the biggest gossip on Tour? Caddies 27%. Sharon (Fred)
Funk 15%. Kimberly (Brian) Gay 15%. Both Rory and Amy
Sabbatini also garnered a number of votes.
So, do you think Sharon and Kimberly are pleased to see this?
Turnabout is fair play, right?
–59-year-old Jim Mahoney, a retired marketing executive who
plays golf out of Sanctuary Cove, Waverly, Ga., played 502
rounds of golf in 2007, as documented by GolfWeek. His best
score was 68, his high was 90. Mahoney’s favorite courses in
the world are: 1. Royal County Down (N. Ireland) 2. Pine Valley
3. Cypress Point 4. Ballybunion 5. Pebble Beach. He went
through four pairs of shoes last year and, yes, has one helluva
wife.
–Tim Layden of Sports Illustrated says the sport of track is in
great danger in terms of its future in the Olympics, thanks to the
drug scandals.
“The default reaction to this trend is to hold the next generation
of track athletes responsible for proving themselves clean, thus
restoring public confidence in their sport. The athletes
understand this, and some are taking extraordinary steps.
Sprinters Allyson Felix and Tyson Gay, each of whom won three
golds at the ’07 world championships, are among several athletes
in multiple sports who have joined a pilot program created by the
U.S. Anti-Doping Agency aimed at leaving no doubt that
participants are clean. The program is rigorous. Gay described
being tested six times in two weeks in March, on each occasion
providing urine and five vials of blood. Felix drives 30 miles
from her home in Valencia, Calif., to a lab in Palmdale for an
hour long session of blood.”
The problem is NBC, which is broadcasting the Games, has
chosen to highlight swimming and gymnastics in Beijing, by the
schedule that has been set, while many of track’s events will be
on delay. As Layden writes, “It is dangerous for a network – to
throw its passion behind track athletes, only to be embarrassed
later when they are found to have cheated.”
But Layden adds, “Perversely, track and field has damaged itself
with a vicious cycle of good intentions, testing its athletes
endlessly (as much as 40 times a year, according to some athletes
I have interviewed; and now Gay and Felix will get more than
that), increasing the likelihood of finding cheaters.”
–We note the passing of Buzzie Bavasi, general manager of the
Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers from 1951 to 1968 (and later
the Padres and Angels). It was back in 1946, though, that Bavasi
began to make a name for himself as GM of the Dodgers’
Nashua, N.H., farm club.
Branch Rickey had signed Jackie Robinson, and then soon after
four other blacks, including two, Roy Campanella and Don
Newcombe, who were earmarked for a farm team in the United
States. Rickey tried to place them with a Dodger club in
Danville, Ill., but the management there said no. Bavasi
convinced him to try Nashua. So I thought I’d try and find a
story among my extensive library of baseball books that wasn’t
in Bavasi’s obituaries and came up with one from the book
“Crossing the Line: Black Major Leaguers, 1947-1959,” by
Larry Moffi and Jonathan Kronstadt.
“Most of the Dodger higher minor league teams were located in
the South, and [Campanella and Newcombe] were too talented
and experienced to play in a lower league. So with Campanella
looking on, one of Rickey’s assistants called around to Dodger
farm teams trying to find them a home. It was not easy.
Fortunately, two solid baseball men – future club president
Buzzy Bavasi and future Hall-of-Fame manager Walter Alston –
were running the Dodger Class B team in Nashua, New
Hampshire. All Bavasi cared about was winning. ‘If they can
play better than what we have,’ he said, ‘then we don’t care what
color they are.’….
“Campy, Newcombe, and their wives were the only blacks in
Nashua, but they were welcomed by most of the locals. ‘These
people were wonderful,’ Campanella said. ‘Newcombe and I go
any place we want to, do anything we please, and are treated like
long lost sons.’
“It did not hurt that the pair quickly became league stars. In his
debut, Campanella had three hits, including a 440-foot home run,
the first of 14 he hit that season in a league marked by faraway
fences. His 14 homers not only led the league, but made his
father into a farmer. Jack Fallgren, a Nashua poultry farmer,
offered 100 baby chicks for every home run hit by the local team.
At the end of the season, Campy collected his 1,400 chicks and
shipped them to his father, who started a farm on the outskirts of
Philadelphia….
“Campanella hit .290 that season with 96 RBIs, and he and
Newcombe led Nashua to the New England League title,
sparking playoff wins over Pawtucket and Lynn. Their season
had been remarkably free of racial incidents. Campy’s only
serious confrontation came when Manchester’s Sal Yvars threw
a handful of dirt in his face while he was catching. ‘Try that
again and I’ll beat you to a pulp,’ Campanella fired back, and
that was the end of it. More intense was the confrontation
between Bavasi and the general manager of Nashua’s rival,
Lynn. After a key Nashua win late in the season, Lynn’s GM
approached Bavasi. ‘If it wasn’t for them niggers, you wouldn’t
have beat us,’ he said. Bavasi assaulted the man, and the pair
had to be separated.”
Buzzy Bavasi…a good man and a key figure in integrating
baseball.
–Johnny Mac points out that the Phils’ Ryan Howard has struck
out 44 times already this year (in 32 games) and in his worst full
season for this stat, Joe DiMaggio struck out 39 times.
–The Yankees’ Robinson Cano hit .306 and .342 in ’07 and ’06.
Thru Sunday’s play, Cano is 18 for 117, .154. ‘Sup with dat?
–Phil W. passed along a story on the great Jane Jarvis, organist
for the Mets from 1964 to 1979 and still going strong today at
age 92. Many of us wish organ music was still the predominant
sound at ballgames (including the others in the Big Four sports)
instead of the incessant pounding we’re subjected to. But I loved
that Jarvis said among her favorite players was Tommie Agee.
Many of us miss Tommie, who died all too soon at the age of 58,
over seven years ago. Geezuz, time is flying.
As for Jarvis, she almost met a tragic end a few weeks ago. The
construction crane collapse on East 50th St. in Manhattan that
claimed seven lives was adjacent to her own apartment and she
was forced to move out temporarily. [Flip Bondy / New York
Daily News]
–Sara Tucholsky, a senior hitting .153 for her career on the
Western Oregon softball team, hit her first home and as she
sprinted to first, collapsed with a knee injury. Well, the rules are
you have to touch all the bases, and, that a player cannot be
assisted by the team in doing so. What to do then? The
opposing first baseman from Central Washington, Mallory
Holtman, asked the umpire if she and her teammates could carry
Tucholsky around the bases. The umpires said nothing in the
rule book precluded help from the opposition, so Holtman and
shortstop Liz Wallace then lifted Sara and resumed the home-run
walk as she touched each base with her good leg.
[Bob S. passed this along after I had seen it on the “Today” show
and we hereby throw it in the December file for Bar Chat
“People of the Year.”]
–This is good. Tom Shales, Washington Post, on the Oprah /
Tom Cruise interview:
“Let’s talk about that baby girl of yours,” said Winfrey.
“She really is just magic,” said Cruise.
“Magical is a great to way to explain it,” Winfrey said a little
later. But Cruise had another way: “There are moments of real
joy. Yeah, joy. She’s just [pause] joy,” he said, searching for the
right word. He told a long story about dressing up as Santa
Claus one Christmas and appearing at the front door. When he
got to the punch line, he sounded like any other proud papa
anywhere in the world: “And Suri looks at me and she says, ‘No,
Dah-Dah’!” Cruise said, exploding in laughter.
He thought that was easily the cutest, funniest, sweetest little old
thing in the world, or so it appeared.
Earlier, Winfrey had announced an urgent need to “pee” as a way
of breaking for a commercial. Near the end of the hour, she
stuck a bare foot into the camera lens to demonstrate how
“comfortable” she felt even though, she told Cruise, “I swear,
driving up here, my heart started palpitating – and it wasn’t the
altitude.” Oh, come on, Oprah; are you saying you were just all
a-flutter about confronting Tom Cruise again? Give me a break.
Better yet, give me $20 million; you’ll never miss it.
When last seen, Winfrey was zooming off into snowy woods on
the back of Cruise’s snowmobile, the actor handling the driving.
“You’ve gotten to live your dream,” she’d told Cruise earlier.
“You’ve gotten to live your dream.” Looking again at the
vastness of the vista, she misted up and turned to Cruise.
“I wish for you the peace that this mountain can bring,” Winfrey
said. “I wish this for you. I really do.” She seemed to be
waiting for a heavenly choir to sing the words she’d just spoken,
but none showed up.
–This whole situation with the Indianapolis Colts’ star receiver
Marvin Harrison is unbelievable. Harrison is involved in some
fashion in a Philadelphia shooting last Thursday where the gun
used matches a weapon Harrison owns. The victim was shot in
the hand and as yet hasn’t identified the shooter.
–22-year-old Anthony Kim showed he is a golfer to be reckoned
with in winning the Wachovia Championship. That’s eight
golfers in their 20s who have won this thus far in ’08, an
encouraging sign for the future health of the sport, especially
those events when Tiger is not entered.
–Ripped from the wires:
“Wildlife officials say an alligator in the Florida Keys has died
after eating a toy turtle the size of a cookie-cutter. The 9-foot
male gator was known by locals as ‘Bacardi’ because of his No.
151 tail tag….
“A necropsy showed the plastic toy stuck between the alligator’s
stomach and intestines, blocking his ability to digest food.” [AP]
Bacardi’s relatives have a real case should they choose to sue.
–Be glad you don’t live in the village of Guntur, in the southern
India state of Andhra Pradesh. A fire broke out at one of the
country’s largest chili markets, burning hundreds of thousands of
pounds of chili peppers and covering the nearby area with a
cloud of stinging smoke. Aside from the impact on the eyes,
“People are coughing uncontrollably,” an official said.
–Ashley Dupre, Eliot Spitzer’s ‘Kristen,’ threw herself a 23rd
birthday party Wednesday at a posh club in Chelsea (Manhattan),
Marquee. An insider told the New York Post’s Page Six that
“although Dupre tried to ‘stay inconspicuous,’ she turned heads
with a sweatshirt ‘three sizes too small, and also, her boobs were
popping out.’
“She was getting the stares of male partygoers who apparently
didn’t know the merchandise was worth $4,300 a night,
witnesses said.”
Huh.
Top 3 songs for the week 5/5/79: #1 “Reunited” (Peaches &
herb) #2 “Heart Of Glass” (Blondie…dreadful) #3 “Music Box
Dancer” (Frank Mills…equally so…how the hell did this get up
there?)…and…#4 “Knock On Wood” (Amii Stewart…sucks) #5
“Stumblin’ In” (Suzi Quatro & Chris Norman…eh) #6 “In The
Navy” (Village People…awful) #7 “I Want Your Love” (Chic)
#8 “Goodnight Tonight” (Wings) #9 “Take Me Home” (Cher)
#10 “He’s The Greatest Dancer” (Sister Sledge….yup, sports
fans, we’re heading back to the 60s after this awful list)
Baseball Quiz Answer: Thirteen pitchers to have appeared in
1,000 games:
Jesse Orosco…1252
Mike Stanton…1178
John Franco…1119
Dennis Eckersley…1071
Hoyt Wilhelm…1070
Dan Plesac…1064
Kent Tekulve…1050
Jose Mesa…1022
Lee Smith…1022
Mike Timlin…1011
Roberto Hernandez…1010
Mike Jackson…1005
Rich Gossage…1002
Next Bar Chat, Thursday.
