Giving Blood

Baseball Quiz: Pitchers striking out 300 in a season. 1) Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling led the N.L. in strikeouts with over 300 each of 1997-2002, the last to do so in baseball. Who was the last to fan 300 in the N.L. before them? 2) Who was the last to strike out 300 in the A.L.? 3) In 1892, Bill Hutchinson struck out 314 for the Cubs. Who was the next to fan 300 in the N.L.? [Don’t worry, it wasn’t in the early 1900s…not necessarily a trick question.] 4) In 1946, Bob Feller fanned 348 for Cleveland. Who was the next in the A.L. to strike out 300? Answers below. 

Totally Random, Haphard Stuff 

–So I received an e-mail about a blood drive that was being held at the Jets new training facility near here in conjunction with a mini-camp that the team is holding this week. Hey, I thought, kill two birds with one stone. Give up a little blood and have an opportunity to be fawned over by the New York Jets Flight Crew, the new cheerleading squad I mentioned awhile back. 

You know, since the girls were just selected Tuesday, I thought the blood drive would be in the main building, 50-100 of us good citizens giving it up for our fellow man, with the girls handing us juice and donuts after, maybe some photo ops….I mean what would you expect? 

Well, I showed up at the start, 9:30, and was directed to a beaten up old New York Bloodmobile that could have used a good wash. I was ten minutes early, the only donor, and there was no sign of the Flight Crew. Plus the weather sucked, drizzly, and around 60 degrees, while I was dressed for 80-degree temps. 

Alas, the needles seemed sterilized, the personnel pleasant, and my O+ blood is now working its way through the New York-area system. 

But when I exited the bloodmobile, there was quite a crowd developing for the open practice, though, again, I was freezing and was ready to take off when a woman came up to me (sorry, guys…not a Flight Crew member…go ahead and Google them, by the way; very cute) and she said I was entitled to tickets to an exhibition game for giving blood. 

Now understand I once had Jets season tickets and would go to the Jets-Giants exhibition game, which in the old days was a day-long boozefest (for a Saturday night affair) in the Giants Stadium parking lot. [Now they limit the hours the lot is open.]  By kickoff, it was ugly. Not the kind of event you would want to take a little kid to, let alone a date (especially if she was hot!). Yes, Jets exhibition games in the heat of summer are for guys only. 

Anyway, I gave blood, didn’t meet any of the Flight Crew, was cold, but I got tickets for a game I may attend for a beer or two in the parking lot and to check out rookie QB Mark Sanchez in the first quarter, then high-tail it before the riot breaks out. Us Jets fans, as I’ve made clear in this space over the years, are the world’s worst. An ugly, surly, drunken bunch, living off our only Super Bowl triumph from what is now 40 years ago.  

–Kenny Rankin died. The brilliant pop vocalist, musician-songwriter, died of lung cancer at the age of 69. He was preparing a new album with producer Phil Ramone when just a few weeks ago he became ill. Even at 69, one record executive said “he sounded absolutely amazing.” 

Among the many tunes he wrote and recorded were “Peaceful,” “In The Name Of Love,” and “Haven’t We Met.” 

Rankin also appeared as one of the guitarists on Bob Dylan’s landmark 1965 album, “Bringing it all Back Home,” in which Dylan moved from an all-acoustic folk music sound to an electric mix of pop and rock ‘n’ roll. 

Rankin impressed Johnny Carson so much, Carson had him on the “Tonight Show” more than 20 times, as Rankin sang tunes such as “Spanish Harlem,” “Round Midnight,” and the Beatles’ “Blackbird.” 

–I was looking forward to an L.A.-Cleveland NBA Final, as I imagine almost every casual fan was, so I have to admit I didn’t watch a minute of the first three games of L.A.-Orlando, though with the series at 2-1, L.A., now I will catch some action. It’s just that the local baseball fare has been quite entertaining. Mets-Phillies on Tuesday was as good a regular season game as you’ll ever see, for example. Thursday, though, we have a Game 7 Stanley Cup Final in Detroit between the Red Wings and Penguins. Gotta catch that one, folks. 

But I take you back to the 1969-70 World Champion New York Knicks. For those of us of a certain age that also hail from the New York area, along with the ’69 Mets and ’68 Jets (Super Bowl Jan. ’69), this Knicks team is still the best this area has ever produced. Talk about an 8-man rotation (9, including center Nate Bowman, though he only averaged nine minutes a game)…. 

Willis Reed, 21.7 ppg (14 rebounds); Walt Frazier, 20.9 (8 assists, 6 reb); Dick Barnett, 14.9; Dave DeBusschere, 14.6 (10 reb); Bill Bradley, 14.5; Cazzie Russell, 11.5; Dave Stallworth, 7.8; Mike Riordan, 7.7. 

Of course you all know that in the famous Game 7 win over the Lakers in 1970, Knicks captain Willis Reed, who had missed Game 6 due to a torn thigh muscle, scored the first two baskets in dramatic fashion before hobbling back to the bench for the duration. But, inspired by their leader, Walt Frazier took over to have one of the top five performances in NBA Finals history, scoring 36 points and dishing out 19 assists in the Knicks’ 113-99 victory. Frazier described the scene to Sporting News’ Bill Eichenberger in a recent issue. 

“This guy (Reed) could barely walk. We knew he was in a lot of pain. What I didn’t know until a couple years ago was that he had been over at The Garden at 9 o’clock that morning with trainer Danny Whelan trying to get ready to play that night. I’ll never forget Bill Bradley telling him, ‘Willis, if you can just give us a few minutes, that’s better than anyone else that we have.’ 

“A lot of people thought it was premeditated, the way he came on the court. But when we were in the locker room, everyone kept going in the training room where Willis was. And Coach (Red) Holzman said, ‘Hey, get out of here. Whether Willis plays tonight or not, we have to play the game.’ At that point they closed the door to the room. So when we came on the court, we had no idea whether Willis would play or not. 

“And you know what happened? When he came out on the court, we were just as flabbergasted as everybody else. Then I saw Jerry West, I saw Wilt Chamberlain, I saw Elgin Baylor, three of the greatest players ever, just mesmerized. They just stopped doing what they were doing to look at Willis. At that point, I said to myself, ‘We’ve got these guys.’ It gave me so much confidence to see them so enthralled with Willis and what he was doing.” 

It’s easy to forget Clyde’s point…that the Lakers had three of perhaps the top 15 players in league history…and couldn’t get it done against a team essentially without its leader. 

—John Daly makes his return to the PGA Tour this week in Memphis, after serving a six month suspension for bad behavior. But Daly failed to make the field for the U.S. Open as the last 36-hole qualifiers were held on Monday. David Duval did qualify, a major achievement, as did 52-year-old Fred Funk and 50-year-old Tom Lehman. And there is an interesting story behind another Open qualifier through the 36-hole process, James Kamte of South Africa, a black. Kamte, until two weeks ago, had never been in the United States but received a special exemption into the Memorial last week. He failed to make the cut there but then played well on Monday. Needless to say, by the time the first round rolls around at Bethpage, many will have learned his story. 

[Also, since I mentioned the kid last time, Kyle Stanley of Clemson, who was runner-up in the NCAAs two weeks ago, qualified for the Open. But last year’s U.S. Amateur champion, Danny Lee, the South Korean born, New Zealand resident, failed to. Lee would have been in the field automatically as Amateur Champion but he turned pro and thus gave up his slot and then failed in the 36-hole qualifier.] 

–The New York Times’ Alan Schwarz has covered the topic of concussions as extensively as any and he reports that an international panel of neurologists, updating their recommendations on concussion care, “said that any athlete 18 or younger who was believed to have sustained a concussion during a game or practice should never be allowed to return to the playing field the same day. The group had previously said that such athletes could return if cleared by a doctor or certified athletic trainer, but now contend that such determinations are too difficult and dangerous for same-day return to be considered safe.” 

Other doctors say, however, this will only lead to athletes hiding their injuries from coaches and trainers. 

“High school athletes in nine primary sports sustained an estimated 137,000 concussions in the 2007-08 school year,” according to an extensive study out of Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. “Football had the most, with more than 70,000, followed by girls soccer (24,000), boys soccer (17,000) and girls basketball (7,000).” 

—Mine That Bird trainer Chip Woolley Jr. is looking at a heavy summer schedule for his gelding. Hopefully The Miner has a rematch with Summer Bird in the Travers Stakes, Aug. 29, in Saratoga. Dunkirk is also lined up for the Travers, it would seem, though he just had some minor surgery.  

–The great Norman Chad (Washington Post) on the Belmont. 

“We’ve been told, time and again, that a Triple Crown winner could save horse racing. Yes, they meant a horse. But if a human comes along and does something that’s never been done before, Triple Crown-wise, how do other humans collectively yawn at such a feat? 

“What, we’re supposed to feel a greater emotional attachment to, say, Big Brown than Calvin Borel? 

“Humans produce art and music, science and math; horses produce massive horse droppings along the Central Park Bridle Path. 

“If Neil Armstrong had been the first man to walk on the moon alongside a horse, would we remember the horse more than the man? 

“When’s the last time you saw a funeral procession for a gelding, or a gerbil? 

“As a culture – and I think I can speak here for all cultures, from Norwegian fishing villages to Peruvian Incas to Pennsylvania Dutch – we tend to invest most of our passion to those areas of life that involve people, rather than animals, lampposts or sagebrush. 

“I love horses, but not a single one of them is crossing the finish line without a human sitting in the saddle. 

“(Secretariat was a great athlete, but he wouldn’t know the difference between a racetrack and a rock concert.) 

“Trust me – you can lead a horse to the starting gate, but you can’t make him think he should run unless you tell him. That’s where the Calvin Borels of the world come in. 

“(When Paul Revere galloped famously on his midnight ride to save us from the Brits, were folks toasting the stallion the next day at a Boston pub? Of course not! No one can even name the horse; for all we know, Paul Revere was riding a flying Lipizzaner that night.)” 

—The 1969 Mets, continued…Mets have won seven straight and are 25-23 as they head out west. 

June 6…win, 5-3, against the Padres in San Diego. Gary Gentry (5-4) goes 8 1/3, fanning 8, and Ron Taylor picks up the save. Tommie Agee has 3 hits, including a double and triple. 

June 7…win, 4-1, over the Padres as Jerry Koosman (3-3) goes all the way, striking out 11. Rod Gaspar goes 3-for-3. Johnny Podres (5-4) takes the loss. 

June 8…win, 3-2, over the Padres, running win streak to 10, as Tom Seaver (9-3) goes 7 and strikes out 14! The Mets are down 2-1 going into the top of the 8th but pull it out. Ron Taylor goes 2 innings for his 4th save. 

June 10…win, 9-4, as the juggernaut hits San Francisco. Tommie Agee has 4 hits and 3 RBI, including two home runs, his 8th and 9th on the season. Cleon Jones hits his 8th homer and also drives in 3. Jones is now up to 37 RBI and is batting .351. And Jerry Grote had 3 hits. As did…starter Don Cardwell (2-6)! Cardwell, in going 8 1/3 and allowing 4 runs, was 3-for-3 at the plate to hike his batting average to .238. He has driven in 4 runs thus far as well. For the Giants, Willie McCovey homers (his 20th) for the fourth straight game against the Mets and is now at .348 on the season with 47 RBI. [This is McCovey’s MVP season, as it turns out….45 HR 126 RBI (leading the league in both), and a .320 average (5th).] 

June 11…loss, 7-2, as the Giants snap the Mets club record streak at 11. McCovey goes 2-for-2 with 3 walks, while Willie Mays has 3 hits. Gary Gentry (5-5) didn’t have it and lasts only 3 1/3. Gaylord Perry (9-5) went all the way for San Francisco. Mets are now 29-24 and 7 games back of the Cubbies. 

Speaking of Perry, he of the spitter, Joe Trimble wrote the following account in the Daily News: 

“(Plate umpire) Doug Harvey spent much of the day looking for the grease the Jint righthander was supposed to use on the ball. Under a new edict by N.L. prexy Warren Giles, the pitcher can be ejected if he is doctoring up the ball, in the ump’s judgment. Harvey threw three balls out of the game but not the pitcher. 

“In New York on May 31, manager Gil Hodges noticed some sort of clear jelly on the balls thrown by Perry and gave the plate ump Frank Secory a five-minute lecture about it but was told that nothing could be done as the league office would not back them [the umps] up.” 

More next week…there’s a big trade coming, Mets fans. Big, big trade. I’m beginning to think this team could be kind of special after all. Just a hunch. 

–Last weekend in Eugene, Oregon, they held the annual Prefontaine Classic for track and field. As opposed to the drawn out Olympic Trials I attended, this is compressed, non-stop action. I just have to note that Dwight Phillips had a long jump of 28 feet 8 ¼ inches, the longest since Mike Powell’s world record 29-4 ½ in 1991. 1991?! Geezuz, time is flying so freakin’ fast. 

–Even Minnesota Vikings coach Brad Childress has had enough of Brett Favre’s act and given him a week to let him know if he was serious about playing this year following shoulder surgery. But now it’s reported Favre’s family already has taken down 25 rooms near Lambeau Field for the Nov. 1 Vikings-Packers game. 

–Phil W. passed along the tale of Wake Forest’s Jeff Teague, who has been convinced by NBA people in the know that he is a first-rounder if he goes out for the draft, which he is indeed doing. I say, Wake will be better off without both Teague and fellow first-rounder James Johnson. Phil reminds me, though, that it’s also about coaching, which in our case is highly suspect. 

–USC basketball coach Tim Floyd was forced to resign over the recruiting of O.J. Mayo. Floyd was accused of giving money, $1000, to a man who steered Mayo to the school for one of those one-and-done deals. Floyd supposedly told friends he’s innocent of the charge but didn’t want to have to fight it for months on end. Sounds like he’s guilty to me. 

–Update: Sources say NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield tested positive for meth, thus the reason why he was suspended indefinitely. If true, to say the least he should be booted from the sport the rest of the year, if not longer. Folks like yours truly were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but this isn’t smoking a little pot. Meth is the scourge of America, and racing isn’t exactly the kind of sport you want your opponent to be moving up on your rear at 200mph while strung out. 

–Seems my mention of shark attacks, even if long ago, off Long Beach Island, N.J., brought back memories for reader Tim L., who is now thankful he wasn’t devoured when as a kid he swam out past the breakers there. I no longer swim in the ocean, myself. I’m afraid of being attacked by a giant squid. 

–Shu said that Pink’s hot dog stand in L.A. is just OK, but a better alternative is Dillard’s Bar-B-Q concession stand behind home plate of Durham Bulls Park (Durham, N.C.) where they sell the Carolina Q dog, “a footlong hot dog smothered in chopped BBQ with a side of slaw.” I’m drooling.  Someone hand me a napkin. 

—Roy L.M. Boe, one time owner of both the Nets and Islanders, died at the age of 79. Boe acquired the then New York Nets in 1969 as the American Basketball Association franchise played out of Commack Arena on Long Island. Eventually the Nets moved to the Nassau Coliseum, hired Lou Carnesecca away from St. John’s University, and signed an NBA star, Rick Barry. The Nets reached the ABA finals in 1972, losing to Indiana. 

But after Barry left, the Nets acquired Julius Erving, who led the Nets to championships in 1974 and 1976, prior to the league’s merger with the NBA. Unable to afford the franchise fees, however, Boe was forced to trade Erving and sent him to the Philadelphia 76ers. Needless to say, this move didn’t work out too well, especially with the fans of New York and New Jersey. Boe ended up selling the Nets in 1978, the same year he parted with his 20% stake in the Islanders’ hockey team. Alas, the Islanders would win four straight Stanley Cups shortly thereafter, 1980-83. 

–And former University of Washington football coach Jim Owens passed away. He was 82. Owens coached the Huskies from 1957 until his retirement in 1974, going 99-82-6 with three Rose Bowl appearances. His teams went 10-1 in both 1959 and ‘60. But Owens had some troubles in 1969, when he suspended four black players who had declined to sign a pledge of loyalty to him. The move haunted him for decades after amidst charges he was a racist. 

–A sketchbook by Pablo Picasso was stolen from the Picasso Museum in Paris on Monday. If you happen to see it, it has a shiny red cover with the word “Album” written in gold letters on it. With 33 drawings dating back to 1917-24, the sketchbook is said to be worth $11.2 million. 

Because a lot of high school yearbooks also are red with gold lettering, be careful when accusing a student of stealing Picasso’s work as kids congregate this time of year, getting their yearbooks signed. 

–“Police in south-central Pennsylvania say a drunken driver, who was speeding in a police station parking lot, stopped his car between two marked cruisers so he could take a nap.” [The Patriot-News] 

The poor guy must have thought he was on a slot-car track, know what I’m sayin’? 

—Barry Bonds’ second wife, Liz Watson, said ‘I’m outta here, you jerk,’ and filed for divorce. 

—James Darren celebrated his 73rd birthday the other day, Monday, June 8. Actually, it was quite a day…Jerry Stiller, 82; Joan Rivers, 76; Nancy Sinatra, 69; Boz Scaggs, 65; Don Grady (“My Three Sons”) 65! [good god] Sonia Braga, 59 [ooh baby]….and Kanye West, 32. 

Anyway, Darren was born James William Ercolani in Philadelphia and is best known for his role in the exciting, no-frills series, “The Time Tunnel,” which only lasted 1966-67, but I recall it vividly. In 1961, though, he had a No. 3 Billboard Pop tune with “Goodbye Cruel World.” 

–Back when I was in my sales manager days, I used to travel around the country, wining and dining, and one of the clients I used to love to have lunch with in St. Petersburg, Fla., was Liz S., who still reads this column from time to time. Years ago, Liz remarked that she couldn’t remember who sang a song with the line “Though you may not drive a great big Cadillac.” It drove me crazy, from time to time, that I couldn’t remember who did it, but I finally heard the tune the other day and it is indeed a good one. William DeVaughn’s “Be Thankful For What You Got”: 

So I just heard from Liz and she is with her family vacationing outside Santa Fe in the national forest, and all kinds of stuff has been happening. A movie is being filmed there, there has been a real life search and rescue, and then a helicopter crashed and Liz swears she heard it go down. Doesn’t sound that relaxing…hang in there, Liz! 

Top 3 songs for the week 6/14/69: #1 “Get Back” (The Beatles with Billy Preston) #2 “Love Theme From Romeo & Juliet” (Henry Mancini) #3 “In The Ghetto” (Elvis Presley)…and…#4 “Bad Moon Rising” (Creedence Clearwater Revival) #5 “Love (Can Make You Happy)” (Mercy) #6 “Grazing In The Grass” (The Friends of Distinction) #7 “Oh Happy Day” (The Edwin Hawkins’ Singers) #8 “Too Busy Thinking About My Baby” (Marvin Gaye) #9 “These Eyes” (The Guess Who) #10 “One” (Three Dog Night) 

Baseball Quiz Answers: 1) Mike Scott, 1986, fanned 306 for Houston. 2) Last to strike out 300 in A.L., Pedro Martinez, 1999. 313 in just 213 innings…went 23-4, gave up only 9 homers. [That year, next on the A.L. strikeout list was Chuck Finley with an even 200.] 3) After Bill Hutchinson* in 1892, the next to fan 300 in the N.L. was Sandy Koufax, 1963, 306. 4) Next A.L. hurler to strikeout 300 after Bob Feller in 1946 was Sam McDowell (Cleveland), 325 in 1965. 

Wild \’Bill\’ Hutchinson was born in New Haven, 1859, and went to Yale. Between 1890-1892, his won-loss records for the Cubs were 42-25, 44-19, and 36-36, leading the league each year in wins, plus he also threw a rather incredible amount of innings…603, 561, and 622, as he completed 188 of his 194 starts those three seasons. Yup, you’re reading those numbers right. Otherwise, he was a mediocre pitcher and is not in the Hall of Fame. 

Next Bar Chat, Monday. Henry Hudson!…..maybe…if the material I dig up is worthy.