Baseball Quiz: 1) Which month has had the most no-hitters, 1876 to the present? 2) Name the seven pitchers to throw a perfect game and who also won 200 games. [I’ll give you one…Cy Young. The other six all pitched post-1950. Two are in the Hall of Fame, aside from Young.] Answers below.
So we’ve learned that Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz were on the list from 2003 of 104 that tested positive for steroids, joining the likes of Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Jason Grimsley and David Segui. [Bonds wasn’t on the original list but, as the New York Times’ Michael Schmidt reminds us, federal agents seized his ’03 sample and retested it, which showed the presence of steroids.] Of course for his part Manny just served a 50-game suspension for testing positive.
Recognizing many of you are sick of this story, just understand I’ve covered it extensively for the 10+ years of Bar Chat and I’m not about to stop documenting it now, especially since there’s more than enough material contained herein for a good little pocket book one of these days. [The second future best-seller being “Shark Attacks and Other Animal Maulings!”]
So now we look to the world champion Red Sox teams of 2004 and 2007, and like previous titleholders before them (see New York Yankees), the teams and their awesome accomplishments are now tainted. Former 2004 teammate Dave Roberts said, “It’s very sad, but I don’t think those championships are tainted. Not at all. David Ortiz and Manny were two of the best teammates I ever had. I wouldn’t change a thing.” Right. Were you using, Mr. Roberts?
For his part, Ortiz said, “I will not hide, and I will not make excuses.” Ken Griffey Jr. offered, “The guys I feel sorry for are the young ones. Guys like Ryan Howard, Prince Fielder, and Ryan Braun aren’t getting the recognition. It stinks.”
Back to the Red Sox’ title teams, Tyler Kepner of the New York Times:
“Both (Ortiz and Ramirez) were revealed to have tested positive in 2003, and guilt by association may stick to that merry band of self-described idiots.
“ ‘I’m sure that’s what people are saying,’ (Johnny) Damon said. ‘When and if that (full) list comes out, I’ll be able to determine what that (2004) championship means to me.’
“Damon now bats behind Derek Jeter, a cornerstone of Yankees championship teams that also included players said to have used performance-enhancing drugs. If any fans naively believe their teams were pure while the Yankees were tainted, Thursday brought a new reality.
“ ‘I’m pretty sure this wasn’t the only organization that had somebody doing it, you know?’ Jeter said. ‘What does that mean?’
“Perhaps it means that if an asterisk sticks to one group of champions, it could also apply to all. And if every great team of an era has an asterisk, what is the point of the asterisk, anyway?”
And as Bob Costas points out, it obviously wasn’t just the winning teams that were juicing. “Texas didn’t win anything during that period of time, and it’s pretty clear that Texas might have led the league in massive steroid use. So I don’t know how you evaluate or devalue championships during that period of time.”
Bill Plaschke / Los Angeles Times
“Once (Manny) was suspended in May for 50 games for violating baseball’s drug policy, I knew he had probably been dirty for most of his career, and so did you.
“You cheering Dodgers fans talked repeatedly about forgiving a man for his one mistake, but, c’mon, you knew this was not only one mistake.
“You Dodgers officials talked about the honor he showed in admitting his bad judgment, but, of course, you knew, this was about a career of bad judgment.
“Turns out, this guy has probably been juicing for at least the last decade, which is why, this spring, he was busted for using a female fertility drug to restore his manliness. When it comes to long-term steroid use, everything shrinks but the homers….
“Upon Ramirez’s return to the Dodgers in San Diego earlier this month, I asked the first question, wondering when he started using steroids and when he stopped.
“Sorry, all you righteous Red Sox fans, but your heroes are no better than our heroes. The historic comeback from the three-games-to-none deficit against the New York Yankees in the 2004 playoffs? It was indeed too good to be true. That first world championship in 86 years? Truly a dream. The second World Series title three years later? As magical as it seemed. Turns out, the heavy lifters in those lineups had some help. Ramirez and Ortiz doing it with syringes and pills. They were just Barry Bonds with bigger smiles, Mark McGwire with fewer freckles. The curse of the Bambino lives.”
“David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, a modern, Boston version of Ruth and Gehrig, are dirtied. The sluggers combined for 388 home runs from 2003 through ’07, two world championships, and, according to The New York Times, two failed steroid tests – from the infamous ‘anonymous’ 2003 survey samples, the gift from the players that keeps on giving.
“Does this mean the Red Sox’s world championships are tainted? No more than the titles of the Yankees, Marlins, Diamondbacks, Angels and every other team from the most distrustful era in the history of the game. There was no such thing as a ‘clean team.’ There were only teams in which the dirty had yet to be uncovered.
“I cannot repeat this enough: We are only in the beginning of the discovery phase of the Steroid Era. Hundreds upon hundreds of players took steroids, and do you know how many have actually admitted to using steroids? About 17. That’s it. Seventeen out of 127 implicated players. Seventeen out of, what? Five hundred users? A thousand? More? That’s how proud they are of making a choice that the apologists dismiss as ‘everybody was doing it’ and ‘there were no rules against it.’ All these years later, despite the excuse makers, and even when we understand what happened, and the users know it is an unspeakable shame….
“Here are the home run leaders in the American League from 2003-07: 1. Alex Rodriguez. 2. David Ortiz. 3. Manny Ramirez. Life was great for them until five months ago. Since then, all have been reported to have flunked the 2003 steroid test.
“The retired steroid user doesn’t answer questions or doesn’t even show his face around baseball. Some cross their fingers that their choice remains secret until they get on a Hall of Fame ballot. (I don’t think the leaking lawyers will allow it.) That was Sammy Sosa. One day he broke his silence to say he was patiently waiting for the Hall. A week later he was busted by a leaking lawyer. There are scores of nervous former stars out there, hoping they get through another day without their name lighting up the Internet the way Ortiz’s name did on Thursday.
“But you can’t change history, you can only hope someone doesn’t uncover it.”
Then there’s Jose Canseco, who of course has been right all along. After the Ortiz and Ramirez revelations, Canseco offered, “And I’ll tell you this, Major League Baseball is going to have a big, big problem on their hands when they find out they have a Hall of Famer who’s used.” Canseco refused to divulge who he believes it is. “Just remember, I have never lied about this subject.” You’d be hard pressed to say he has. Canseco also says his original estimate that 80 percent of the players were using is low.
“Many players resent being painted with a broad brush as part of a steroid era. Derek Jeter in particular bristles when he hears the sweeping generalization that ‘everyone’ used the juice.
“ ‘You can’t say everyone,’ Jeter said earlier this season during a conversation about steroid use. But it’s a little late for public indignation.
“Where were the so-called clean players when loud, angry protests could have made a difference in establishing testing with integrity much earlier? When they could have forced Fehr and the players union to back off its intransigent stance against drug testing?….
“The disclosures from baseball’s secret list will continue, but the players should stop admonishing fans and the news media for using a broad brush.
“It’s your fault, players. You knew first and chose to keep quiet, and this is where silence gets you: Names will continue to come out.
“Everything is not O.K. Don’t be misled by attendance figures. Fans continue to attend games in extraordinary numbers because fans love the game. Increasingly cynical, they seem to have divided players into two categories: those who have gotten caught using steroids and those who have not.
“Protest if you wish, but it’s way too late to fight for your image. You should have done that years ago, when the faucet first started to drip.”
Michael Wilbon / Washington Post
“Bottom line is, people don’t much seem to care. Oh, reporters and editors and producers do. And card-carrying AARP members, which is at least how old you have to be to have grown up treating baseball in general and home run numbers specifically with biblical reverence….
“Except for the most naïve, we’ve gone from being outraged over these revelations to resigned. Ramirez, arrogant as he sounded, was probably right on the mark when he told reporters: ‘This isn’t going to have any impact on either of us. We’re going to both keep hitting.’
“Sure enough, nobody has had a record or personal statistics taken away. Contracts keep escalating. But one thing could definitely be impacted: Hall of Fame voting. It’ll probably come as a shock to somebody paying as little attention to anything as Ramirez, but baseball writers vote on the Hall of Fame. The next generation of voters, whatever their affiliation, probably won’t hold baseball in such regard that they’ll keep all the juicers out of Cooperstown….
“There are precious few A-listers who would surprise me at this point if their names popped up. Tony Gwynn, Cal Ripken Jr., Ken Griffey Jr., Frank Thomas, Curt Schilling, Albert Pujols. Even if one or more of those names appeared, it doesn’t mean fans or even sponsors would care beyond the moment. Perhaps it mattered more with Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens because each was so reviled. Bonds and Clemens are two of the most disliked team-sport athletes over the last 20-plus seasons. Everybody else, from Jason Giambi to A-Rod, seems to keep playing, sometimes after what seems to be the bare minimum when it comes to apologies….
“It doesn’t seem to be a very big deal to most people following baseball, least of all the paying customers.”
Mike Lupica / New York Daily News
“It is clear by now that we are going to keep finding out about the guilty in baseball a couple of names at a time. But something else is equally clear after a decade of drug stories, some big, some small, in baseball:
“As much of a failure as the Major League Baseball Players Association has failed at protecting the guilty – by either tipping them off to drug tests or alerting them to positive tests in violation of court orders and the sport’s collective bargaining agreement – it has done a much worse job of protecting the innocent.
“It doesn’t mean that the players who used drugs and then lied about it for years are in the clear. Or that Bud Selig is in the clear, or owners and general managers, or the media. Everybody was on the bus, some just got off sooner than others. Now there is this raging debate about whether the two Red Sox World Series championships are ‘tainted.’ As Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci pointed out the other day, which World Series aren’t over the last 10, or 15, or 20 years? Come on.
“But if you are going to line up the enablers on drug use in baseball, the leaders of the players’ union go first. They tried mightily to protect the guilty and finally couldn’t – can’t – protect anybody. And so every time two more names come out from a survey conducted six years ago, it is as if the whole sport is dirty. As if a legendary meathead like Jose Canseco is right the whole sport had turned into Woodstock.
“ ‘There’s a lot more than 100 people playing baseball,’ Derek Jeter said the other day, talking about the names on the ’03 list.
“Doesn’t matter now. There’s just perps and suspects in baseball. The union always said it fought drug testing because it was a civil liberties issue. Now, at the other end of all this, there are no civil liberties, for anybody, because if the government can seize the drug tests of baseball players, it can seize yours as well….
“Now there is no protection, and everybody remains a suspect. The whole thing is as sloppy as the drip of the mud. A-Rod confesses, but only to Texas, and never says exactly what he was using beyond ‘boli.’ And talks about years of clean tests since coming to New York. Ortiz tested positive in ’03 but not in ’04 when the official testing began. Was he just cycling on and off? Was he getting tipped? Was he clean? Was he already hip enough to medical science to switch to undetectable drugs?
“And if the users of ’03, including A-Rod, are dirty forever, how have they beaten drug tests for five seasons?
“Ortiz denied everything. Now he is on the ’03 list. Albert Pujols, the best hitter in the game, denies everything. But plays in a climate where now the deniers, even if proven innocent, are suspects along with everybody else.
“Where there is no guilty or innocent anymore, not in the eyes of the public. Just the ones who’ve been caught and the ones who haven’t.”
Lastly, Tyler Kepner had a piece the other day, before the Ortiz / Ramirez news, on Fred McGriff, who, looking back, should get serious Hall of Fame consideration, McGriff having retired in 2004 after 19 seasons with 493 homers. Fred makes his first appearance on the ballot this winter.
“I think even without those guys [meaning Bonds, Sosa, McGwire et al] being accused of this and that, my numbers stack up pretty good against them. It’s not like they were that much better. If you really start to look at the numbers, I was still right there.”
Consider that in his prime years, 1988 through 1996, McGriff led the majors in homers with 296. He led the American League in homers for Toronto in 1989, with 36, and three years later led the National League with 35. But no player since has led either league with a lower total. “They started saying, ‘What’s wrong with Fred?’” McGriff said. “Other guys were hitting 50 or 60 and I was hitting 30. It was like, ‘You’re getting old.’”
On the other hand, is McGriff really worthy? Yes, he had nine seasons with 30+ home runs, and eight 100-RBI seasons (though never more than 107). But he was an All-Star only five times and never a serious candidate for MVP honors. I don’t know…I’d lean against.
New York Mets GM Omar Minaya issued another apology for his treatment of sportswriter Adam Rubin, but it wasn’t really an apology. And as Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post put it when it comes to the sorry state of the Mets:
“Sometimes it takes a good, cleansing rain to turn murky into clear.
“Sometimes it takes spending a quiet trading deadline around a mediocre team to make you realize just what irrelevance looks like, and feels like, to hammer home the point that whatever mathematical games you play when you look at the standings, fourth place in the division and eighth place in the wild-card is nobody’s definition of contender.”
And of all the Mets’ walking wounded, ironically, the man who might come back first is Billy Wagner, who the team has no intention of keeping or negotiating with for next season. Think about this…Jose Reyes has been on the disabled list since May 21 with a freakin’ “tight hamstring.” Strap it up, Jose, and get the hell out there! And back to Minaya, as more than one person has observed, he is nothing more than a dead man walking.
As for the trade deadline, I feel sorry for Pittsburgh fans like Shu, who have seen the whole starting lineup (virtually) traded away to save money. But at the same time, call-up Garrett Jones tied a club record with ten homers in July, while another up-and-comer, Andrew McCutcheon, hit three home runs in a game over the weekend.
But then you have the Phillies, who stole last year’s A.L. Cy Young winner, Cliff Lee, from the Indians…unless the prospects Philadelphia sent to Cleveland pan out in a big way. Plus you have Boston, who acquired All-Star Victor Martinez [on the eve of his bobblehead doll night in Cleveland.] But the Schmets? Nothing. Bernie Madoff had something to do with this. I also blame Ruth.
You’ve got to hand it to the guy. Seriously, friends. Since when have you cared about the world swimming championships in a non-Olympic year unless you were a family member or an up-and-coming swimmer yourself? I didn’t think so.
So why did we care this time? Because of one Michael Phelps. Throw in the swimsuit controversy and you had something worth following, especially because Serb Milorad Cavic was once again the villain.
In the semis of the 100-meter butterfly in Rome, Cavic bested Phelps’ world record by turning a 50.01 to break Phelps’ mark of 50.22. Phelps, in his heat, did 50.48.
But it was Cavic’s comments after that added to the story as he slammed Phelps for complaining about competing in an inferior suit, while Cavic used the controversial, soon-to-be-banned polyurethane model. Cavic, who also continues to believe he won at Beijing despite all the photographic evidence to the contrary that he was outstretched at the wall, then offered to buy Phelps his own poly gear.
Concerning the suit, Phelps said before the final, “I’m wearing this,” referring to his inferior LZR Racer brand. “If he wants to wear a different suit, he can throw this one on.”
So in the dramatic final, Phelps rallied to win in 49.82, besting Cavic’s 49.95, and it wasn’t quite that close. Phelps immediately showed as much emotion as he ever has, tugging at his Speedo.
“How can it not motivate you?” said Phelps. “When there are things that are said, the only thing it does for me is fire me up…and I love it.”
Cavic actually showed some class in defeat. “This is just a testament to Michael Phelps. He can do it all.”
And as the New York Times reported, what is even more remarkable is that Phelps, in warming up for the 100-fly, pushed off the wall and slammed head-on into an Australian swimmer. Phelps told coach Bob Bowman his left shoulder felt funny, Bowman said Phelps didn’t have to swim if he didn’t want to, but Phelps “just looked at me like I was crazy,” said Bowman.
Oh sure, there were other stories at the world championships, but it was all about Phelps in the end…he’s why some of us actually read the stories rather than skim a headline or two. It’s why some of us don’t have the same interest in a PGA Tour event if Tiger or Phil isn’t in it. Phelps is swimming.
[Speaking of Tiger, he came from being tied for 95th at the end of round one all the way back to win the Buick Open, his 69th PGA Tour title, and as he had the lead heading into the final round (after shooting 63-65 in rounds two and three), he improved his mark to 36-1 for his career when ahead after 54 holes. Remarkable.]
–Sporting News asked 118 top coaches and folks in the know to rank the 50 Greatest Coaches ever, a fascinating discussion topic. Some of the panelists were Whitey Herzog, Roy Williams, Lenny Wilkens, Barry Switzer, Tom Osborne, Don Shula, and Lou Carnesecca. Following is a partial list of the results.
Coach K. is No. 19, Bill Belichick No. 20, Herb Brooks No. 50.
–Steroids, Part XXIX…Pitcher Bronson Arroyo said he wouldn’t be surprised to see his name on the list of 104, as he told the Boston Herald that he had learned a then-legal supplement he was using was tainted with steroids, Andro. Arroyo, a former teammate of Manny and Big Papi, also issued an indictment concerning pitchers. “A lot of people were doing it, a lot weren’t. I think pitchers probably gained 3 or 4 mph on their pitches and power hitters got some more power.”
Remember how way back, when the whole steroids debate began, “experts” said they didn’t see how pitchers could gain an advantage, and then that argument progressed to, ‘Well, it helped with their recovery time’? Now Arroyo is telling you it goes well beyond that.
–And it would appear the Red Sox buried another steroids story involving their organization as two security guards were fired under suspicion of being users, which the two then admitted, both of whom also having been employed by Ortiz and Ramirez over the years to run errands and such. But Major League Baseball\’s investigation didn\’t appear to extend to the players themselves. As one of those fired said, "They didn\’t ask much at all; they wanted to make it disappear."
–Baseball broadcaster Harold Reynolds on Rickey Henderson. It was 1987, and Rickey had missed a big chunk of the season due to injury. Reynolds led the A.L. in steals with 60 for Seattle, so after the season was over, Reynolds got a call from Rickey.
“The phone rings. ‘Henderson here.’ I say, ‘Hey, what’s going on, Rickey?’ I think he’s calling to congratulate me, but he goes, ‘Sixty stolen bases? You ought to be ashamed. Rickey would have 60 at the break.’ And then click, he hung up.”
–Spectacular run by Rachel Alexandra in The Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on Sunday as she won by six lengths on a very sloppy track against the likes of Belmont Stakes winner Summer Bird.
—Fred Funk won the U.S. Senior Open golf tournament by six strokes.
–Incredible story developing in the world of Formula One racing as the great Michael Schumacher, seven-time world champion who retired in 2006, announced he would replace the injured Felipe Massa for Ferrari while Massa, who miraculously survived a horrific accident, recovers. The next race is Aug. 23. Heck, “Schumi” is recovering himself from a neck injury sustained in a motorcycle accident in February.
–Ah yes, as I’ve mentioned before HBO has a way of stringing you along just enough so that you have to keep the subscription. I’m loving another season of “Entourage” these days, but this fall “Curb Your Enthusiasm” returns and Larry David said the Seinfeld cast will appear together in the finale of the season; the first time in 11 years they have appeared together on screen. They’ll actually be in five episodes in a storyline about the cast reuniting. David worked closely with Seinfeld on the show-within-a-show script. Sounds brilliant.
–From the AP: “Nine years after vanishing from outside her Australian family’s home, Muffy the dog was found alive and well this month in another backyard – 1,200 miles away – officials said Thursday.”
Animal rights activists were investigating a complaint when they found Muffy sleeping outside on a scrap of cardboard. A microchip in Muffy’s neck identified her owners and after a few days they were able to track them down.
So how did Muffy get there? Thus far officials haven’t been able to decipher her barking, but it all sounds pretty simple to me. Muffy left because she was tired of being called “Muffy”! I mean for crying out loud, would you like to be called Muffy? Imagine the trauma. Everyone in your dog obedience classes, for starters, would be killing you. “Ha! There’s Muffy!” “Boy, what a name. Hey, Muffy. Fetch this!”
–Just got some spam for Mighty Mendit, which reminds me, Brad K. previously told me the product doesn’t work.
–Speaking of Brad, he passed along the following incredible story from the AP.
GRANTS PASS, Ore. – “Everett Skinner and his family have started keeping their windows closed at night after a bear broke into their southwest Oregon home and he fatally shot it.
“The bear ripped off a window screen and climbed into their den Saturday night, Skinner said. Skinner’s daughter Nicole awoke at about 11:30 p.m. to a strange shuffling sound and was the first to spot the bruin. She quickly retreated to her parents’ room to get help.
“Everett Skinner grabbed his shotgun and went to the den, where he and the bear saw each other at about the same time. He said the animal stood up and headed towards him, so he fired.
“ ‘It didn’t even faze him,’ Skinner said. In all, he fired his shotgun four times, killing the animal. Skinner said he tried to donate the carcass to a wildlife rehabilitation center that takes road-killed deer, but apparently none of the animals there eat bear meat. Eventually, he used his tractor to bury the bear.”
“Family members have done what they can to clean up the den, but Skinner says they’re probably going to have to replace the carpet because of the ‘rather bloody mess.’”
Good lord, I should hope so! And since Oregon has one of the highest rates of unemployment in the country these days, I imagine you could get quite a deal on new carpeting. Plus, as Brad noted, good thing the bear finally went down. Otherwise, the bruin would have been in line for Obamacare.
–Goodness gracious…what a week. “Police in Las Vegas say a tamed tiger that escaped from a magic act has been captured. Police say the residents in the city’s northwest section reported seeing the tiger wandering their streets Thursday night. Police Lt. Les Lane [no relation to former Packers’ running back MacArthur Lane…nor was MacArthur related to small screen star Lois] says the cat belongs to Fernando’s Brothers magic act. He says the cat got loose, but ‘they got it back into custody.’ The cat was found in a resident’s backyard.”
Sounds like the Fernando Brothers need to work on their act before they go charging $20 a pop during these stressful economic times. “And now, ladies and gentlemen, watch this tiger disappear! And there he goes…right down the street!”
–Fellow Guinness drinker Pete M. forwarded the critical new study out of the University of Wisconsin that confirms the old adage “Guinness is good food for you!” carries some weight after all. In fact, according to researchers, “A pint of the black stuff a day may work as well as a low dose aspirin to prevent heart clots that raise the risk of heart attacks.” Of course 12 pints a day makes you brain dead, so one must be careful to stick to the recommended dosage.
–A Boston federal court jury ordered Joel Tenenbaum, a 25-year-old doctoral student, to pay four record labels $675,000 for illegally downloading and sharing some 800 songs over the Internet off his home computer and at college. The jury could have ordered him to pay up to $4.5 million. If the verdict stands after a planned appeal, Tenenbaum said he’ll file for bankruptcy to cut his losses.
–So Mr. Tenenbaum is a dirtball, it’s safe to say, but when it comes to Man and the All-Species List, if we ever thought we were going to get back into the Top 20, forget it. This weekend there has been a big story in New York involving a dog. From the New York Post:
“A 1-year-old wonder dog miraculously survived a six-story plunge off a housing-project roof after being tossed by a heartless Brooklyn teen, who was arrested yesterday, authorities said.
“Oreo’s legs were shattered, and she suffered internal injuries, but the female, black-and-white terrier mix is expected to pull through.
“Fabian Henderson, 19, grabbed the dog and savagely hurled her from the building in the Red Hook Houses.”
The incident occurred weeks earlier but the ASPCA’s special agent did an investigation that led to the arrest. Henderson has a prior record for robbery. Two days after the report first hit, the dog continues to improve, thank God.
–And we note the passing of another dirtball, Rev. Ike, 74. Rev. Ike preached the power of what he called ‘positive self-image psychology’ and was one of the first televangelists to reach the masses through television. Oh, no doubt, he was entertaining. Many of us remember catching him from time to time. Back in the day there were only about seven channels, even in the New York area, so it was hard to miss him. Basically, though, he just ripped off the naïve and poor. “If it’s that difficult for a rich man to get into heaven,” he would say, “think how terrible it must be for a poor man to get in. He doesn’t even have a bribe for the gatekeeper.” So…the solution was to send him your money which he then spent on cars, clothes and homes. [AP]
–But wait…there’s more! “Man” may not even make the Top 100 when the next All-Species List is revealed. University of Hawaii football coach Greg McMackin was suspended for 30 days without pay by the school after he used a derogatory comment (three times) while describing Notre Dame’s chant before last year’s Hawaii Bowl, which ND won 49-21, the Fighting Irish’s first postseason victory in 15 years. Something to do with the use of the word ‘f—-t’. Needless to say, Notre Dame was pretty ticked off and if the teams ever face each other again, let’s just say Hawaii’s players would probably require about 30 major knee reconstructions following the contest.
–There was a big music festival over the weekend in Jersey City, the All Points West Music and Arts Festival, specifically, that is supposedly the biggest on the East Coast these days, and I got a kick out of a picture with the caption, “Newark native Ice-T performs….” Just another excuse to tell you again that he spent many of his childhood years in upper-middle-class Summit, N.J. and that I sat next to him one year in elementary school. Among my classmates, it’s become a favorite running joke, and one of my friends who bumped into him in New York City last year told Fitz that he was perfectly cool with people who now bring up this part of his bio that he had wanted hidden before.
Top 3 songs for the week 8/1/64: #1 “A Hard Day’s Night” (The Beatles) #2 “Rag Doll” (The 4 Seasons) #3 “The Little Old Lady (From Pasadena)” (Jan & Dean)…and…#4 “Everybody Loves Somebody” (Dean Martin) #5 “Where Did Our Love Go” (The Supremes) #6 “Wishin’ And Hopin’” (Dusty Springfield) #7 “Dang Me” (Roger Miller) #8 “I Get Around” (The Beach Boys) #9 “Memphis” (Johnny Rivers) #10 “The Girl From Ipanema” (Stan Getz/Astrud Gilberto)…now that is a great week in music, sports fans. Five of these are easily in my own Top 200…1, 2, 4, 6, and 9.
Baseball Quiz Answers: 1) September has the most no-hitters, 23%, while the rest are either 15% or 16%, except for April at 13%. [October has 2%, March 0%…source ESPN the Magazine] 2) 200 wins and perfect game: Cy Young, 511; Randy Johnson, 303; Dennis Martinez, 245; David Wells, 239; Jim Bunning, 224; Catfish Hunter, 224; Kenny Rogers, 219. [David Cone won 194.]
