Baseball Quiz [courtesy of Bob S.] Recently, Omar Vizquel set
the record for games at shortstop, passing Luis Aparicio’s 2,583.
Who are the leaders at the other positions, including pitcher and
three outfielders. Answer below.
Army Pfc. Ross McGinnis
On Monday, Ross McGinnis was presented with the Medal of
Honor for saving the lives of four comrades in Iraq by jumping
on a grenade tossed into their vehicle, thus becoming the fourth
so honored for his service in the Iraq War….all posthumously.
The others are Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith, Navy Petty
Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor and Marine Cpl. Jason L.
Dunham.
President George W. Bush: “No one outside this man’s family
can know the true weight of their loss. But in words spoken long
ago, we are told how to measure the kind of devotion that Ross
McGinnis showed on his last day: ‘Greater love hath no man
than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.’”
As reported by Ben Feller of the AP:
“McGinnis was in the gunner’s hatch of a Humvee on Dec. 4,
2006, on a patrol in Iraq, when a grenade sailed past him and into
the vehicle where the four other soldiers sat. He shouted a
warning, then jumped on the grenade while it was lodged near
the vehicle’s radio.
“ ‘By that split-second decision, Private McGinnis lost his own
life, and he saved his comrades,’ Bush said.
All four of McGinnis’ brothers in arms attended the ceremony.
Sgt. Cedric D. Thomas said, “I was like ‘3-2-1.’ Just like that,
the truck filled with black smoke.”
“If [McGinnis] wouldn’t have blocked it with his body, there’s
no doubt that nobody would have escaped it,” said the Humvee’s
driver, Sgt. Lyle Buehler, who was wounded by shrapnel. [James
Hohmann / L.A. Times]
McGinnis, only 19, was raised in Knox, Pa., about 60 miles north
of Pittsburgh.
—
Bo Diddley, RIP
It may be a surprise to some that Bo Diddley only had one
Billboard Pop Chart Top 40, the #20 “Say Man” in 1959. He
only had three top tens on the R&B chart, including his only #1,
“Bo Diddley / I’m a Man” in 1955. [The other two were #4
“Pretty Thing” and #3 “Say Man.”]
But there is no doubt that Diddley, who died the other day at 79,
was as much of a rock pioneer as other more commercially
successful artists, a fact made clear by his early induction into
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Diddley was, however, bitter
because the honors he received “didn’t put no figures in my
checkbook. If you ain’t got no money, ain’t nobody calls you
honey,” he once remarked.
Born Ellas Bates in McComb, Miss., on Dec. 30, 1928, Diddley
was later adopted by his mother’s cousin and took on the name
Ellas McDaniel; this after his father had died and his 16-year-old
mother couldn’t care for him. At five, his new family moved to
Chicago, where he learned the violin. Then at 10 he became
proficient at the guitar and entertained folks on street corners. It
was others in Chicago who gave him the name of “Bo Diddley.”
Diddley’s influence was most felt with the success of the Rolling
Stones, the Yardbirds and the Animals. Others such as Bruce
Springsteen, David Bowie, and U2 adopted Diddley’s fusing of
blues and R&B for various tunes.
—
The Editor Strikes Out…twice
On Saturday, I was out in Kansas City for Willie Wilson’s
annual Children’s Miracle Network celebrity baseball game.
Now I knew I was a big sponsor of the event, but didn’t realize
the scope until I got there.
But first, I checked into the hotel and as I had a few hours to kill
before heading to the park, I was mindlessly channel-surfing
when I stumbled on ESPN Classic. Of all the games and events
they could have been showing this particular day, it was the
deciding Game Six of the 1980 World Series, the Series where
Willie Wilson struggled, to say the least; 4-for-26 with a record
12 strikeouts. Willie also made the last out against the Phillies’
Tug McGraw…no. 12. Alas, he came back in 1985 to hit .367
(11-for-30) in the Royals’ 1985 Series triumph against St. Louis,
but it’s kind of sad too many remember him for 1980. A big part
of the reason this is so is because he had truly become a star that
year, collecting 230 hits (including over 100 from each side of
the plate) on his way to a .326 average, with 15 triples, 79 stolen
bases, and 133 runs scored. He ended up 4th in the MVP voting,
only to then flame out.
But that was then, this was now. Saturday’s game was at a
terrific new facility, CommunityAmerica Ballpark, home of the
independent Northern League’s T-Bones. It was about 2 ½ hours
before game time and I was escorted into the locker room where
the first thing I see is my name on a shirt, with
StocksandNews.com on the front. Yes, I had my own team! We
would be playing a local outfit, Farmland Foods.
I scanned the clubhouse and some of the names on the other
jerseys read “Jenkins,” “Henderson,” “Smith,” “Carter” and
“Hearn.” Then the players started coming in from their
autograph session. Yup…Fergie Jenkins, Dave Henderson
(Hendu), Lee Smith, Joe Carter, and Ed Hearn.
Hearn was first and had his locker next to mine. I introduced
myself and immediately told him that two nights earlier, Keith
Hernandez, broadcasting for the Mets, had mentioned Hearn for
being such a terrific backup for Gary Carter in the Mets’ 1986
World Series season. Hearn got a big kick out of that. [And
what a class act he is, as well as a multiple cancer survivor.]
The whole scene was very cool. All the players were terrific,
including two guys I had met before, Bob Dernier and Jay
Johnstone.
The other team, Farmland, had pitchers Dave Stewart, Al
Fitzmorris, Steve Trout and Dennis Leonard, Kevin Seitzer, Jim
Eisenreich, Joe Azcue, Bert “Campy” Campaneris and Willie.
So I headed onto the field (I had to buy baseball pants for this
deal, by the way) and proceeded to play catch for a while with
some of my fellow sponsors (the old-timers had more signing of
bats and balls to do) and then about an hour and a half before the
game we started taking batting practice.
Now understand I haven’t played any real baseball since pick-up
games in high school but I kid you not, I fielded my position,
second base, flawlessly in practice, though my arm is absolutely
terrible, as in I have the accuracy of Steve Sax (for you baseball
aficionados out there).
But when I got up for my 12 swings in the cage, I expected to be
awful and, hey, I made contact each time. Not exactly banging
out would-be hits, mind you, but with the likes of Willie and
Jimmy Wynn (my manager, incidentally) watching me, I thought
I’d be OK come game time.
By the start there were about 2,500 in the stands (the stadium has
seats for over 4,300 with the ability to hold another 1,300 or so
on the grass bank beyond the outfield walls and the centerfield
concourse) and a 10-year-old girl, a cancer survivor, sang the
national anthem. The poor kid suddenly started struggling
midway and all of us, including those in the stands, bailed her
out in what I have to tell you was a very touching moment,
with Willie putting his arm around the girl and leading us all.
So now it’s play ball. I’m batting 8th behind former major
leaguer Bill Pecota (a terrific guy…they all were).
StocksandNews was the visiting team. But there is one other
fellow I have to mention, former Tigers’ pitcher John Warden.
Warden only played in 1968, going 4-1, before he hurt his arm,
though not a bad year to be a Tiger, eh, as they won the World
Series. Warden actually holds a record for winning his first three
appearances, all in relief. Today, Warden is like Bob Uecker, an
MC who is absolutely hilarious. So he did all the announcing
from the field.
Well, to make a long story short, I played the first three innings
in the field (and batted a second time in the fourth). Willie told
Jimmy Wynn I should play the entire game (seven innings) but
there were other guys who wanted in and I let them take over for
me. [Some were former college players and 20 years younger
than your editor.]
So how did I do? I proceeded to fan twice, once against Dave
Stewart (a four-time, 20-game winner) and the other against
Dennis Leonard (a 3-time, 20-game winner). I went up hacking.
There was no way I was going to get cheated and Stewart, 51,
fanned me on three pitches, while Leonard, 57, also gunned me
down on three.
But, heck, I made contact three times, and I handled a play in the
field and just missed making what I would call a damn good one
by an inch. The second one was kind of funny. Our first
baseman, a fellow sponsor and good guy, John Gill, went into the
hole for a ball that was coming right at me. When I saw he was
grabbing it, my great baseball instincts (well, I do watch a lot of
baseball so I know what to do) took over and I sprinted to first to
take John’s throw but we just missed the connection as I had to
make a leaping attempt to snare it over the first base bag. Hall of
Famer Fergie Jenkins was pitching for us and he turned to John
and said, “Hey Gill….you have a second baseman, you know.
Let him take it.”
After leaving after three, another far younger player than your
50-year-old editor took over for me at second and during batting
and fielding practice, he looked to be good. But he proceeded to
immediately botch two plays and Jimmy Wynn turned to me and
said, “See, if you stayed in you would have made them.” [That
made my day, though probably wasn’t realistic. I told you of
meeting Wynn last fall….the epitome of class. Just a super guy,
who has trouble walking these days, thus the reason why he
wasn’t in the game himself.]
Well, StocksandNews is undefeated. We ended up blasting
Farmland, 12-3. In fact Joe Carter, he of the dramatic 9th-inning
home run off the Phillies’ Mitch Williams to win the ’93 Series
for Toronto, smashed a grand slam off Leonard for us. I can now
say I high-fived (knuckle-bumped) Joe Carter.
Which leads me to the following observation. Carter, 48,
Henderson, 49, Seitzer, 46, and Eisenreich, 49, can flat out still
hit. Watching them in batting practice was a thing of beauty.
Carter and Hendu were blasting shots and Seitzer and Eisenreich
were line drive machines. I swear Eisenreich, who hit .361 at
age 36 for the Phils, can still play today.
As for the pitchers, Fergie Jenkins, now 65 (unbelievably), can
still throw, as can Stewart. We were wearing helmets, in case
you were wondering about that….at least most of us. Last year
they say that J.R. Richard pitched and more than one guy told me
he was definitely throwing around 90 and scaring the hell out of
everyone. Willie said he had to tell him when he went into the
dugout to calm down. “J.R., it’s a charity game!”
And a word about Campy. Bert Campaneris can still play short
and is in terrific shape at 66. Another real gentleman, as well.
We had a big party after the game (beginning with tubs of beer in
the clubhouse) and I had a chance to talk to some of them more
at length, like Stewart. Ironically, my cousin idolized him and
once sent me a great picture of Dave and Andy, so I told Stewart
this and how now I could tell Andy he had struck me out and
Stewart proceeded to tell me how he pitched to me. He loved it.
So it was a great time and I want to thank Willie and his business
partner Helen Mohr for making it a special day. Willie is doing
some real good things in K.C. and it’s great to see. By the way,
he can still hit himself, but the wheels are beginning to go (right,
Willie?).
[If you want to look up any of the above players, check out
baseballreference.com]
Finally, I’ve been doing some work at the local historical society
for my high school class’ Web site and as I was going through
Willie’s senior year (my sophomore one), I saw a mention of a
Time magazine article from Jan. 21, 1974. I promise this is my
last extensive mention of Willie for a while, but I found the piece
and it has some interesting history on the recruiting game. As
you read these events of almost 35 years ago, you’ll be struck by
how some things haven’t changed, especially when we still have
cases like those of Reggie Bush and O.J. Mayo.
“Recruiting: The Athlete Hunting Season Is On”
“The basketball team at California’s Long Beach State College
was floundering when Jerry Tarkanian was hired as coach six
years ago. But Tarkanian knew just what to do about the
situation. With impressive speed he recruited new talent and
turned out a winner his first season. Last spring, when Tarkanian
departed for the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, he left
behind one of the top teams in the nation.
“Last week Long Beach learned the high price of success. No
sooner had the NCAA opened its annual convention in San
Francisco than the Committee on Infractions hit the school with a
three-year minimum probation in basketball and football for
violating dozens of association rules. Among the Long Beach
transgressions: moving one prospect’s family to a home near the
college, offering another money and jobs for his relatives, even
repairing one candidate’s wrecked car. For Long Beach,
probation means no postseason competition or any participation
in lucrative TV contracts. The only comfort was that the NCAA
did not prohibit all further recruiting.
“A halt in recruiting would paralyze the athletic program at Long
Beach or almost any school. Yet in recent months coaches have
warned that, as pressures to win increase, recruiting is getting
dangerously out of control. ‘You’re out there trying to sell
yourself and the facts about your school,’ says Texas Football
Coach Darrell Royal, ‘and the guy ain’t hearing a word you’re
saying. All he’s wondering is when you’re going to start talking
about money.’
“The NCAA, with a full-time staff of four investigators – there
were only two until 1972 – clearly cannot police its 769 member
institutions. And the competition for high school stars,
particularly in football and basketball, gets more intense every
year. ‘The go-getter gets the best man,’ says Tarkanian’s new
colleague, University of Nevada at Las Vegas Football Coach
Ron Meyer. ‘You can’t afford to leave a rock unturned.’ To lure
their victims out and get them to sign letters of intent, many
schools use inducements limited only by the imagination of their
recruiters.
“Illegal offers. According to NCAA rules, colleges may offer
student-athletes nothing beyond tuition, room, board, books and
$15 a month. In fact, many prospects report receiving offers of
much more. Offensive tackle Marvin Powell, now a freshman at
U.S.C., says some of the recruiters who came to his home town
of Fayetteville, N.C., last year promised to buy him ‘anything
from a Volkswagen to a Cadillac.’ According to Powell – who
says U.S.C.’s offer was limited to the chance to play on a
winning football team – alumni from other schools ‘were always
slipping me a $100 bill when we shook hands.’
“This year’s top high school basketball prospect, Moses Malone
from Petersburg, Va., has been offered cars, a campus apartment
and money. Jerry Eckwood, a fine football prospect from
Brinkley, Ark., insists he has not been tantalized with extra
benefits. But several big-time colleges have offered Eckwood’s
coach a job – provided Eckwood comes with him.
“The most common inducement is free tickets. The NCAA
permits every player four tickets to each of his team’s games –
and then winks at the common practice of scalping those tickets.
For the recent Sugar Bowl, Alabama split end Wayne Wheeler
hoped to get $100 per seat. At Alabama, the custom is so
established that there is an unwritten rule requiring players who
still have tickets on Thursdays before games to dump them at any
price, so that they can concentrate on practice.
“Flashing Bills. When football prospect Bill Seibolt from
Brookline, Mass., visited Ohio State late in 1972, he found
himself dining with Coach Woody Hayes. ‘I noticed his tie
clasp,’ recalls Seibolt, now a freshman at Penn. ‘‘I really like
that tie clasp, Mr. Hayes,’ I said. Before I knew it, Hayes was
giving it to me.’
“Though Hayes’ gift probably did not violate any NCAA rules, it
was symptomatic of the anything-to-please atmosphere that
suffuses such recruiting visits. The most seductive sell may be
offered at the University of Florida, where visiting prospects are
entertained by the ‘Gator Getters,’ a group of coeds organized to
escort prospects to games, meals and dances. Rumors abound
that high school athletes courted by Florida ‘can’t miss.’
“Though schools are required to house and entertain visiting
athletes ‘on a scale comparable to that of normal student life,’ the
rule is widely ignored. Richard Washington, now a freshman
basketball player at U.C.L.A., visited half a dozen schools as a
high school senior in Portland, Ore. ‘They flash you bills when
you get there,’ he reports. ‘You get an expensive room, a player
takes you to a top restaurant and fixes you up with a couple of
girls. It’s really nice.’ Students who travel to Las Vegas for a
look at the University of Nevada are put up at a Strip hotel, given
a tab for meals, and sometimes receive limited gambling money.
“Woody Hayes and former Chicago Bear Star Gale Sayers
(representing his alma mater Kansas) both visited Summit, N.J.,
recently – and for good reason. Summit is the home town of
running back Willie Wilson, one of the East Coast’s brightest
high school football stars. The two football celebrities were only
a part of a 40-man invasion force that, according to Wilson’s
coach Howie Anderson, lined up ‘like vacuum cleaner salesmen’
to see Wilson.
“No place is too remote. After 200 letters went out to Yankton,
S.D., for basketball player Chad Nelson, some recruiters traveled
there four or five times to make their pitch. Moses Malone’s
home in Petersburg has become a clearinghouse for college
coaches, and Jerry Eckwood played one of his last football
games in Brinkley with 50 recruiters cheering him on.
“Even after a prospect has seen his last scout and heard his last
offer, he still knows no peace. For weeks after returning from
Ohio State, Bill Seibolt kept receiving giant postcards with
pictures of the Ohio State stadium. Jerry Eckwood could not
escape pursuit even at his brother’s funeral; a recruiter from
Oklahoma came to pay his respects.
“ ‘The whole thing has been getting to me,’ complains Willie
Wilson. ‘It’s hard to do anything or plan anything. I’ve been
getting grouchy.’ Other prospects say that they feel guilty if they
do not satisfy recruiter requests to visit schools. Many black
athletes have an added complaint: recruiters often act as if blacks
are more susceptible than whites to under-the-table deals.
‘White coaches think that since most blacks are poor, we’ll jump
at the money,’ says Marvin Powell. ‘‘Your mama need help?
Tell her not to worry,’ they say.’ Says Moses Malone: ‘People
who try to buy me make me very mad.’
“Slow Reform. The expanding spectrum of recruiting abuses
exasperates veteran Penn State Football Coach Joe Paterno. [Ed.
Paterno was a veteran in 1974. So what is he now?] ‘Recruiting
is demeaning,’ he says. ‘The NCAA has not in any way met its
responsibility in policing recruiting rules.’ But what can be
done? Paterno suggests that the NCAA should follow the
‘vigilant example of the NFL.’ The NFL has a staff of 28
professional investigators checking suspicious practices, and has
succeeded in keeping pro football relatively scandal-free.
“Marquette Basketball Coach Al McGuire speaks for other
coaches, however, when he says that whatever reforms are
proposed, ‘individual coaches aren’t likely to de-escalate until
everyone does.’ That day will not come soon if the NCAA
convention is any indication. After disciplining Long Beach
State and two other schools, the NCAA delegates’ only other
major recruiting decision was to reject a proposal to restrict
recruiting contacts with prospects. Instead, they voted to let
collegiate athletes play one sport professionally without losing
the right to compete in other college sports. The unexpected
decision hardly seems calculated to dispel the play-for-pay
attitude that is prevalent on so many campuses.”
—
Stuff…a little catch-up for the archives
–Incredibly, through Monday’s play, Tampa Bay (35-22) and the
Cubs (37-21) have the best records in the majors. I really didn’t
think the Cubs were even a .500 team this year. So I issue my
33rd apology to Cubbie fans. But being a lifetime Mets fan, I
can’t jump on the bandwagon, though a couple of us are looking
to 2009 or 2010 for changing hats unless Willie Randolph and
Co. get their freakin’ act together.
For the Cubs, it’s amazing that 100 years after their last World
Series title, they have the best record in baseball this late in the
season for the first time. And as George Vecsey of the New
York Times points out, Chicago is starting to go nuts. In fact a
Wednesday night win over the Dodgers “sparked the highest
local television ratings for a Cubs game since May 1991.”
–Can you believe Josh Hamilton of Texas? I wrote of him a few
weeks ago, as in what an amazing story he is, and Sports
Illustrated has a great piece in its current issue. But now he is a
super candidate for the triple crown, leading the A.L. in all three
categories thus far. One other bit, as Shu notes, Hamilton is also
the first A.L. player to be named Player of the Month the first
two months of a season. [Shu is very proud that he picked him
for his Rotisserie League; as he should be, by god.]
–One of the stranger stats of recent vintage…the Braves thru
Monday were 30-28…23-7 at home and 7-21 on the road.
–For a second time this season, the Phillies’ Chase Utley has a
five-game homer streak (thru Monday). Utley now has 21 on the
season, when the record for a second baseman is 42, held by
Rogers Hornsby (1922) and Davey Johnson (1973).
–And then there is Cincinnati phenom Jay Bruce. Bruce, also
thru Monday’s play, is 15-for-26, .577, since being called up
with 3 home runs and 7 RBI in his first seven contests. He’s also
just whiffed once.
–Usain Bolt, 21, of Jamaica set a new world record in the 100
meters Saturday, 9.72. Immediately, he is under suspicion for
taking steroids. It’s really a shame how the sport has been
tainted, though in the case of Bolt, even when he was 15, he won
the world junior championship at 200 meters. I can’t imagine he
was juicing then.
But as Jere Longman of the Times notes, Bolt is under suspicion
primarily because he has run the 100 only five times
professionally, yet he has posted two of the three fastest
performances ever. Longman:
“If Bolt is clean – and at this point there is no evidence that he is
not – he already finds himself a victim of the most corrosive
aspect of pervasive doping: the innocent can no longer prove
their innocence.”
Nonetheless, I’m still fired up to see Bolt’s American rival,
Tyson Gay, the current world champion at 100 and 200 meters,
at the upcoming U.S. Olympic track and field trials in about three
weeks.
–So I’m reading a story in the Wall Street Journal by Steve
McGrath on payrolls for Britain’s Premier soccer league and this
is truly unbelievable. Chelsea, which lost to Manchester United
in the Champions League final the other week, has a payroll of
$263 million! Manu’s is $183 million, while another top club,
Arsenal, comes in at $179 million. The highest paid Premier
League player is Chelsea captain John Terry, $13.5mm. It was
Terry who blew the penalty kick in the Chelsea-Manu shootout.
–Kenny Perry has carved out a real nice career on the PGA Tour.
He won the Memorial, one of the top 7 or 8 tournaments, for a
third time and his 10th career event overall. And Jay Haas
continues to kick butt on the Champions Tour, winning for a
second week in a row.
–Newsweek has a story on endangered species in its latest issue
and Bar Chat’s second favorite animal to the yak, the wolverine,
is in trouble. “Although scientists say it faces a high risk of
extinction, in March the government declined to give it
protection under the Endangered Species Act.”
This is bad news, sports fans. Wolverines, after all, are capable
of taking down an elk, and as our friend Harry K. up in the Great
White North once pointed out, wolverines have been known to
destroy entire cabins.
So I’m thinking when the presidential debates take place this fall,
maybe the moderator could go, “Sen. Obama, where do you
stand on the wolverine?” “Ah, ah, ah………..” “Sen. McCain?”
“Being a huge fan of preserving wildlife, and knowing the power
of the wolverine to retaliate if he’s not protected, I see it as a no-
brainer. We’ve got to protect it and the first day I’m in office, I
will sign the act to do so.”
Aaarrrgghhh! Moderator: “I’d like to remind our audience that
both candidates have opted not to allow outbursts in the interest
of fairness.”
The next morning, in 3-inch banner headlines across all the
major papers, it’s “McCain to Protect Wolverine….Obama
doesn’t even know what it is”. McCain then ends up carrying the
election, 62-36 [with Bob Barr and Ralph Nader divvying up the
other two percent.]
–As reported by Beth Bragg of the Anchorage Daily News, a
grim milestone was reached the other day when park officials at
Mount McKinley called off the search for two Japanese climbers
missing since May 22, estimating they had been without food
and water for as long as 14 days. One hundred people have now
died on North America’s tallest peak since 1932. Including 39
who have died on peaks other than McKinley, 19 percent have
been Japanese.
The most famous climber from Japan to scale McKinley was
Naomi Uemura, whose 1984 death at age 44 is said to be the
most famous fatality in McKinley history.
“A national hero in Japan, Uemura was the first person to mush
alone with a dog team to the North Pole. He was one of the first
Japanese to step on the top of Mount Everest. He walked across
Greenland. [Ed. I would have taken a snowcat.]
“And in 1984, he was the first person to reach the top of
McKinley in the winter – though he didn’t get credit for a
successful summit because he vanished on the way down.
“It’s believed the wind may have knocked him off the mountain.
No one knows for sure, because his body has never been found.”
So who’s to say he wasn’t devoured by a Yeti?
–Goodness gracious…ripped from the pages of the Star-Ledger.
“Turkey makes smashing entrance at home”
“Lena Rosenblum and her family woke up yesterday morning to
a loud crash at their Livingston (N.J.) home.
“ ‘I thought it was a tree that went through the roof,’ said
Rosenblum… ‘We ran out of our rooms and downstairs, and my
husband said, ‘There is a turkey in the living room.’’
“A wild female turkey flew through the large picture window of
their Westmount Drive home and shattered the glass around 7
a.m.. The turkey remained in the house for 15 to 20 minutes
while the family waited for police to arrive.
“The turkey, standing roughly 2 feet tall, was likely being chased
by a predator, Livingston police Lt. Ed Zielke said.”
A predator? What predator? This is a town ten minutes from
where I live. Was it a cougar? A grizzly? A wolverine? I really
need to start packing some heat.
But back to our turkey, it remained still until the police came
(good thing it wasn’t a murder case….it taking them 15 to 20
minutes to show). Then:
“The turkey lifted its neck…when police arrived at the front of
the home, and when it heard a beep from the walkie-talkie of a
police officer, it flew out the window and back into the woods.”
[Robert E. Williams III and Nyier Abdou]
–Brad K. passed along this tragic tale from South Africa, as
reported by the AP.
“Police say six caged lions left only fingers and intestines after
eating a worker giving them water. The lions attacked the 49-
year-old man Tuesday after he went inside their cage to deliver
it, police said Wednesday.”
To quote the warden from “Cool Hand Luke,” what we have here
is a failure to communicate.
–From AFP: “A male macaque monkey that attacked tourists at
a temple in the capital of Cambodia was shot dead. The monkey,
which weighed 44lb, had bitten many people, and others said that
it was ‘a gangster,’ Chim Dina, a local official said. He added
that the authorities were working to catch more dangerous
monkeys in the area.”
I’m assuming the U.S. State Department is feverishly updating
its travel warnings for American citizens. If not, I blame
President Bush.
–And finally, we note the passing of comedian Harvey Korman
last Thursday. He was 81. I loved “The Carol Burnett Show”
and Korman and Tim Conway supplied much of the humor.
Korman also had memorable roles in films such as the part of
Hedley Lamarr in Mel Brooks’ “Blazing Saddles.” In that flick,
‘Hedley’ became exasperated when everyone insisted on calling
him ‘Hedy.’
Brooks said on Korman’s passing, “A world without Harvey
Korman – it’s a more serious world. It was very dangerous for
me to work with him because if our eyes met we’d crash to the
floor in comic ecstasy. It was comedy heaven to make Harvey
Korman laugh.”
Top 3 songs for the week 6/6/70: #1 “Everything Is Beautiful”
(Ray Stevens) #2 “Which Way You Goin’ Billy?” (The Poppy
Family) #3 “Love On A Two-Way Street” (The Moments)…and
…#4 “Up Around The Bend” (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
#5 “Cecilia” (Simon & Garfunkel) #6 “Get Ready” (Rare Earth)
#7 “The Letter” (Joe Cocker) #8 “American Woman” (The
Guess Who) #9 “Make Me Smile” (Chicago) #10 “The Long
And Winding Road” (The Beatles)
Baseball Quiz Answer: Career games at each position.
1B – Eddie Murray…2413
2B – Eddie Collins…2650
SS – Omar Vizquel…2588 and counting
3B – Brooks Robinson…2870
OF – Ty Cobb…2934
OF – Barry Bonds…2874
OF – Willie Mays…2842 (Rickey Henderson…2826)
C – Carlton Fisk…2226 (one ahead of Bob Boone)
P – Jesse Orosco…1252
Thanks, Bob S. Say, when we were in Vegas last February, do
you remember that……………..oops, I was just cut off.
Next Bar Chat, Monday. Back to a normal schedule, at least for
a few weeks. Some words about RFK.
