Note: Next BC not until Monday, Aug. 24
Baseball Quiz: Who was the last minor leaguer to hit 50 home runs in a season? [Hint: Post-1970…and he played in the majors after. In fact, he was MLB rookie of the year the season after the 50.] Answer below.
PGA Championship
Jason Day -15
Jordan Spieth -13
Branden Grace -12
Justin Rose -12
Martin Kaymer -11
In the end….
Jason Day -20…first ever in a major to shoot this number
Jordan Spieth -17
Branden Grace -15
Jim Nantz misspoke at the end when he said there were a lot of folks rooting for Jordan Spieth, but that Jason Day was a popular champion.
Wrong…true golf fans love Spieth, but 100% of us wanted Day in this one. I talked to and heard from a lot of people since the U.S. Open, let alone the British Open, and everyone…everyone… wanted Jason Day to get his major.
Where Nantz was right is that now we truly have a Big Three…Spieth, Day and Rory McIlroy.
We didn’t get any real drama on Sunday, when all of us were expecting it, Whistling Straits being as great a venue for a major and potential excitement as there is, but in the end we got the right winner.
I also loved what Sir Nick Faldo said about Spieth and Day in the end. Sunday was as fine an example of integrity and sportsmanship among two great champions as you’ll ever see.
I mean think of it. Here I am, a New York Jets fan who is not only long-suffering in terms of not winning a title, but just as importantly has to root for a totally dysfunctional team with guys driving 143 mph with a loaded gun, drugs and a kid in the car, and two teammates getting into a petty argument, upon which one guy breaks the starting quarterback’s jaw, and that’s in just the past few weeks.
Let alone the Ray Rices and Adrian Petersons of the world (or a ton of others who the average reader may not recognize right away but you’ve caught wind of their cases).
Golf has its issues, but you can literally count them on one hand when it comes to conduct “detrimental to the game.” It’s just one reason why many of us not only love playing the sport (one that can literally last a lifetime), but cherish the camaraderie, integrity and sportsmanship Sir Nick was addressing.
—Rory McIlroy, who shocked a lot of us by recovering from his injury so quickly, finished an admirable 17th by himself, -9.
—Phil Mickelson, who has struggled mightily all year, nonetheless finished T-18 with a fine 66-69 weekend performance. He’s still in the President’s Cup discussion.
–And kudos to Dustin Johnson who not only finished T-7, he shot 68-69 Sat. / Sun. But that 69 was spectacular considering he had a quadruple-bogey 8 on the first hole. I swear, he’ll take more from this performance than any of his choke jobs. He showed real guts when he could have packed it in. He’ll finally break through next year.
–Hopefully we get some fireworks in the upcoming FedEx Cup, but by the conclusion of this everyone is focused on football.
For now…many of us are already eager for next April and The Masters…a tradition unlike any other…on CBS.
–Yes, for the record, when looking at Jordan Spieth’s magical year, as CBS and others pointed out, there was some symmetry to 1960, when Arnold Palmer won the Masters and U.S. Open, only to lose a heartbreaker at St. Andrews, and then stumble to a 74-75 in the middle rounds of the PGA to finish T-7.
–After missing his third cut in a major this year, there was talk Tiger Woods may enter next week’s Wyndham Championship in Greensboro in a final attempt to make the FedEx Cup playoffs, but this isn’t likely. He entered it per PGA rules after Friday’s play just to cover himself in case he wanted to give it a go.
Instead, he said after completing his second, rain-delayed round Saturday morning, “I guess the PGA Tour season may be coming to a close, but I’ve still got plenty of golf to play around the world,” and pick up big-time appearance fees, he could have added.
After missing just one cut in his first 48 major championships as a pro, he has missed the cut in six of the last 22, including the three in a row and four of the last five.
For the record, in 10 tournaments this season, Woods made the cut in six of them and broke 70 in seven of his 27 rounds. Since 2014, his best finish is a share of 17th in 17 tournaments.
–Japan’s Hiroshi Iwata shot a first-round 77, but then fired a 63 in the second round, the first to post a 63 in a major since Jason Dufner did so in the second round of the 2013 PGA Championship, which Dufner won. Iwata finished T-21, with a 70-71 weekend.
—John Daly had another of his meltdowns in Friday’s second round when he hit three tee shots into the lake off the par-3 seventh hole. The fourth found the green and after taking a few steps, Daly heaved his 6-iron into the water. Daly ended up with a 10 on the hole…shooting 73-82, +11.
–So I love DraftKings.com for golf, but boy what a frustrating Sunday for moi. I was as high as 6,000 on Saturday, out of 188,925 entries, and as regulars know, if all six of your guys make the cut you’re almost guaranteed to make money. I was thinking sizeable money…but then my six collectively went E-par in the fourth and I didn’t even get a penny…finishing 46,270, with 45,840 paying out.
The one thing about this game, though, is that you end up really not liking the underperformers and I can count on one hand the number of PGA Tour players I don’t like. [Bubba Watson being one of them.]
So I’m not giving the names in my group because it’s almost not fair.
–Gotta give the Yankees major kudos. Having blown a 7-game lead in just 16 days to the Toronto Blue Jays, the Yanks headed to Toronto for a critical three-game set, a half-game back, and on Friday, in a true playoff atmosphere, the Yankees defeated the Blue Jays 4-3 on a clutch 3-run, pinch-hit home run by Carlos Beltran in the eighth, New York down 3-0 as they go on to win 4-3, thus snapping Toronto’s second 11-game winning streak of the season. [The Jays have never won 12 in a row.]
Then they followed that Saturday with a 4-1 win as Masahiro Tanaka threw a complete game to go to 9-5, 3.56.
But they lost on Sunday, 3-1, so now the standings are:
Yanks 64-52
Jays 65-54…0.5
Orioles 60-56…4
[I do have to note that on Thursday, in Toronto’s 4-2 win over the A’s, Mark Buehrle improved to 13-5, 3.31, as is he now 211-157 in what has been a very good career…not Hall of Fame worthy, but a rung below, which ain’t bad.]
–There is some talk the Yankees could be interested in Jose Reyes, despite the $48 million remaining on his contract. Reyes cleared waivers, according to CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman, and the Yanks would use Reyes at second base, where he played as a rookie back in 2004.
It kind of makes sense. Reyes could be a very productive hitter in the “Little Bandbox formerly known as Yankee Stadium”. And he’d provide insurance at short. When asked about Reyes, GM Brian Cashman said he wasn’t interested in acquiring a shortstop, but he declined to say whether he thought Reyes could play second.
–The Yankees announced they are honoring Alex Rodriguez for his 3,000th hit after all, Sept. 13 prior to a game against the Blue Jays.
But A-Rod is in a 3-33 skid with zero RBIs over the 8 games.
Thursday, the Nationals opened a 4-game series in San Francisco and the Giants beat Stephen Strasburg 3-1 (Strasburg allowing 2 earned in six).
Friday, the Giants pounded Max Scherzer and the Nationals lost 8-5, despite Bryce Harper’s 30th home run. Scherzer gave up 6 earned in just three innings and in four of his last five starts, he has been less than scintillating. In fact, over his last eight starts, he has a 5.05 ERA. His record is now just 11-9, 2.73. Let the questions over the $210 million contract begin.
Saturday, the Giants handed the Nats their fifth straight loss 12-6, as they pounded Gio Gonzalez (2 2/3 innings, 6 earned runs)
In 11 2/3 innings against Strasburg, Scherzer and Gonzalez, the Giants scored 14 earned runs. Washington dropped to 10-19 since the All-Star break.
Then on Sunday they lost their sixth straight to the Giants’ and Madison Bumgarner, who in improving to 14-6, 2.98, not only pitched his second straight complete game, with 14 strikeouts, but he also hit his fourth homer of the year (10th of his career).
–So the Mets could have really taken advantage of Washington’s pathetic ways, but noooo….
Friday, starter Bartolo Colon allowed 1 run in seven innings…but the Mets lost 3-2 in ten.
Saturday, starter Jon Niese allowed 3 runs in six innings…but the Mets lost 5-3 in 14 innings.
Sunday, the score was tied 1-1 after six, Matt Harvey giving up the lone run, but then there was a rain delay and afterwards the bullpen imploded…Pirates won going away, 8-1.
But the Metsies still have a 4 ½ game lead over the Nationals.
Mets 63-55
Nats 58-59…under .500!
The Mets now head to Baltimore for two crucial games and the Orioles and Chris Davis are red hot with the bats…Davis with nine home runs in August, 34 for the year.
As for the Pirates, they remain five back of the Cardinals (75-42), but are ahead of the Cubs by 2 ½ in the wild-card chase.
Pirates 69-46
Cubs 67-49
[San Francisco, which trails the Dodgers by 2 ½, is 64-53.]
—Boston manager John Farrell said Friday that he had a “highly curable” form of cancer and has taken a medical leave for the rest of the season to deal with lymphoma. Farrell said the cancer was discovered when he had hernia surgery in Detroit earlier this week. He plans on being back with the team for spring training.
So the interim manager is bench coach Torey Lovullo and all Boston did on Friday and Saturday is crush the Mariners 15-1 and 22-10, the first time a major league team had back to back games with 15 runs and 21 hits since the 1950 Red Sox.
In Saturday’s game, Boston lit up Seattle’s King Felix for 10 runs in 2 1/3 and this officially ended any thoughts he had of another Cy Young, as his record fell to 14-7 and his ERA ballooned to 3.65.
Meanwhile, Boston rookie Jackie Bradley Jr. had a Red Sox record five extra base hits, Saturday, in going 5-for-6, two home runs, 3 doubles and 7 RBI. At 25, he was also the youngest in baseball history to get five XBHs in a game.
—Zack Greinke pitched Sunday and he moved to 13-2, 1.58 ERA, as the Dodgers beat the Reds, 2-1. Greinke also homered.
Top ERAs in the majors since 1947 among pitchers qualifying for the league ERA title.
1. Bob Gibson, 1968 Cardinals, 1.12
2. Dwight Gooden, 1985 Mets, 1.53
3. Greg Maddux, 1994 Braves, 1.56
4. Luis Tiant, 1968 Indians, 1.60
5. Greg Maddux, 1995 Braves, 1.63
6. Dean Chance, 1964 Angels, 1.65
–Last Wednesday night, Clayton Kershaw tied his mentor Sandy Koufax’s franchise record of six straight 200-strikeout seasons while tossing eight scoreless against the Nationals.
Kershaw equaled the mark set by Koufax from 1961 to ’66. Koufax and Tom Seaver (1968-76) are the only pitchers in modern NL history to accomplish the feat in six or more consecutive seasons.
–The Dodgers’ Justin Turner was out 17 days before returning this week with a MRSA infection that I told you was going to be more than the one-week deal the team originally claimed.
It turns out he had an ingrown hair on the inside of his right thigh, he said this weekend, and when he tried to scratch it, “It just started getting bigger and bigger.”
“It was scary,” he said. Luckily, during an off day after the team faced the Mets in New York, trainer Stan Conte took one look at him and sent him to the emergency room.
The infected area was carved out and couldn’t be stitched closed because of fears of reinfection. Yikes.
–After posting on Wednesday, Seattle’s Hisashi Iwakuma pitched his first no-hitter, 3-0 over Baltimore, in Seattle. The 34-year-old from Japan, who is in his fourth MLB season, struck out seven and walked three.
It was the fourth no-hitter of the 2015 season, the others thrown by Cole Hamels, Max Scherzer, and San Francisco rookie Chris Heston.
–For the record, when I posted last Wednesday morning, I didn’t realize Tuesday was the first time in Major League Baseball history that all 15 home teams on the schedule won their games.
So Matt Bonesteel of the Washington Post wondered about some other potential firsts in baseball that we have yet to see.
Like five home runs in a game. Or a perfect game with 20-plus strikeouts. [The record for strikeouts in a perfect game is 14 – Sandy Koufax (1965) and the Giants’ Matt Cain (2012).]
–Speaking of records, can you believe Matt Kemp was the first Padre to hit for the cycle on Friday in San Diego’s 9-5 win over the Rockies? But it’s true. Kemp tripled in the ninth for the feat. [It was also Kemp’s first of his career.]
The Padres said 258 times a player fell a triple short.
–I don’t watch the Little League World Series but have to note for the record the screw-up by the Cascade (Washington) coach that cost his team a chance to tie the game against Idaho in the bottom of the final inning.
“With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Cascade had a runner on third base, trailing by one run. With the ball still in play, a Cascade coach touched the runner on third, instructing him to run home and score the tying run.
“The runner made it home safely, but because the coach made illegal contact with the player, the umpire was forced to call the runner out and end the game.
“The coach, Brendan McCarthy, said he was ‘crushed.’”
From The Columbian: “Their third baseman was asking for time, the umpire didn’t grant time, and I told Mason to go,” McCarthy said. “I think in that confusion, I did put my hands on (Hill), and the umpire ruled I assisted him… I’m crushed.”
–Former Jets coach Rex Ryan is perhaps a little too obsessed with his time in the organization as he went out and signed IK Enempkali to a contract with the Bills after the linebacker broke Geno Smith’s jaw.
Enemkpali read a statement of apology after arriving in Buffalo, apologizing “to the Jets organization, the fans, my teammates and the coaches.” He said he should have walked away from the situation. “It was never my intention to hurt anybody. I’m just very grateful to Rex Ryan and the Buffalo Bills organization for giving me the opportunity to further my career here in 2015.”
But IK didn’t apologize to Geno Smith. It’s also not known what further steps the league will take.
Meanwhile, it is clear Geno Smith was almost as much to blame as Enemkpali for the incident.
Head coach Todd Bowles, when asked if any of his anger was directed at Geno, said, “Yes, it was. It takes two to tango. One to throw a punch, but two to tango.”
Cornerback Darrelle Revis: “I hold both of them responsible….If somebody’s in your face, you should know if somebody’s going to attack you (based on) their demeanor, in that way, of how they approach you.”
Bottom line…his teammates and coaches weren’t rushing to defend Geno, which makes you wonder even more if the team will just release him. The problem is, they are so thin at the position that unless they come up with an alternative, he’s still probably as good as they have.
“For the Jets, a season that has not begun has been turned on its head. Before the team has even played a game, people were again asking, Why do bizarre things always happen to the Jets?
“Why can’t this star-crossed franchise, going on 47 years without a title, get out of its own way?….
“(The) incident – which may have taken only seconds to start and finish – becomes merely the latest in a sordid Jets history. The players come and go, and so do the coaches, but it’s always something….
“Some teams celebrate their history; the Jets have so much to forget, from the Rich Kotite years to Dan Marino’s fake spike to Mark Sanchez’s butt fumble.
“Is this simply a string of endless bad fortune, or a franchise that is badly broken, just like its quarterback’s jaw?
“When Rex Ryan roared into town in 2009, he declared that the Jets’ past was dead. No more of the ‘same old Jets.’ But by the time Ryan was fired after last season, that’s just what they had become.
“Bowles has not made such promises, but vowed, like several predecessors, to turn this ship around.
“Only two weeks ago, Sheldon Richardson, a star defensive lineman who was already suspended for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy, was charged with several traffic violations after a car he was driving was clocked at 143 miles per hour. The car also contained a 12-year-old and a loaded handgun and smelled of marijuana, according to a police report….
“I’m not sure these are the same old Jets, but you have to admit, they sure look familiar.”
–I love what Jerome Bettis said to SI’s Dan Patrick. Bettis “admitted he had been anxious about his Hall of Fame bust before enshrinement weekend. ‘I’m very, very happy. It looks just like me. I didn’t want to have a bust that was sitting there that looked like some other guy.”
–You know who I’m tired of hearing about? Michael Sam. He announced on Friday he was stepping away from professional football, citing a tumultuous past year “where I became concerned with my mental health.”
He was playing with the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes. He had already sat out the team’s first five games for “personal reasons” and failed to record a tackle in his debut Aug. 7.
Aug. 15, 1965…the Beatles take the stage…
I did a series on the following ten years ago in this space.
OK, time to wrap up the tale of the first stadium-sized rock concert in history, the Beatles at Shea Stadium, August 15, 1965. As we pick up our story, that day the Beatles were taken by police escort from the Warwick Hotel in Manhattan and flown by helicopter to the World’s Fairgrounds in Queens. From promoter Sid Bernstein’s book “Not Just the Beatles”:
“The helicopter did a turn around the stadium to let the boys see the crowd, which was almost filled to capacity by 7:30. When the helicopter flew over Shea, I knew who the occupants were, but I’m not sure if the crowd did. The copter landed in the Fairgrounds and the Wells Fargo armored car brought the Beatles and Brian (Epstein) into the stadium. They quickly got out of the car and ran under the stands to the umpires’ dressing room .
“The screaming in the ballpark was unbelievable. I have never heard noise like that in my life. The place was in a frenzy.
“I went to see the Beatles in the dressing room. They were absolutely in awe. They were in Shea Stadium in New York, fifty-five thousand seats, and the place was packed. No rock ’n’ roll act had ever played to an audience anywhere close to that size. We could hear the screaming in the dressing room.
“They were nervous but this event was so unique and so different that you would have to have had nerves of pure steel not to be nervous.
“Five minutes before show time, we proceeded from the dressing room along a walkway to the visitors’ dugout. When we got to the entrance of the dugout, I said to the boys, ‘Okay, guys. I’m going to get up on stage and introduce Ed Sullivan. He will come up and introduce you. When he does, and I hope you can hear him, just run up these dugout steps onto the field and up to the stage. You’ll be surrounded by security, so don’t worry about safety.
“Murray the K introduced me as the man who had brought the Beatles to America and I stepped forward to introduce Ed Sullivan.
“I introduced Ed and said that he was a great American. He then walked out and, with little fanfare, thanked me for the introduction and said just five words: ‘Ladies and gentlemen – the Beatles!’
“The boys ran out of the dugout waving and turning and surveying the crowd as they ran to the stage. Thousands of flashbulbs went off. I wondered if the Beatles were in as much wonderment about the scene in front of them as I was. They got up on stage, checked their tuning, looked at each other and began to play ‘Twist & Shout.’ Brian and I stood stage right, right next to each other.
“ ‘This is quite amazing,’ he practically shouted in my ear. ‘I hope we can get them out of here.’”
It turns out all Epstein was concerned with was the security. Bernstein says he mentioned that at least five times during the 32-minute set.
Bernstein:
“Some kids tried to jump out of the stands onto the field, but no one ever came close to being a threat.
“I can’t really say much about the music that night. The screaming crowd was so overpowering that I doubt anyone heard the music. I know I didn’t – and I was standing right at the foot of the stage.
“Ringo’s fans had a custom of tossing jelly beans onto the stage for him. [And jelly beans rained down from the upper deck but no one was hurt.]
“As soon as the Beatles finished playing, the armored car sped across the field to the stage. I shook hands with the four boys and Brian. I could see that Brian was relieved. ‘Great, Sid,’ he said. ‘Just marvelous. Thanks again. I’ll talk to you soon.’”
The Beatles sped off in seconds, out of Shea, and were on their way to Canada.
“The screaming continued, but the audience soon realized that there would be no encore. The crowd began to empty out of the stadium very slowly, as when one departs from a loved one or object of admiration. I waited until everyone was out of Shea; I wanted to make sure that no one was injured or harmed in any way.”
Bernstein made his way to the First Aid station where a staff of doctors and nurses had been assembled. There were 10 to 15 kids lying on stretchers when he got to the staging area. As Sid walked in, one of the doctors recognized him. “Hi, Mr. Bernstein. It was quite a night.”
Bernstein:
“All of a sudden, the kids jumped off their stretchers and besieged me. Once again, the kids wanted to know if I had shaken the Beatles’ hands.
“ ‘Yes I did,’ I replied.
“ ‘And did you wash your hands yet?’ they asked, almost in unison.
“ ‘Not since I shook John, Paul, George and Ringo’s hands, no.’
“ ‘Wow! Can we please shake your hand?’ they implored.
“ ‘Sure,’ I said. And they all lined up and one after another shook my hand.
“The kids all left, vowing never to wash their hands again.”
Premier League
I didn’t catch any of the action this weekend, but my Tottenham Spurs blew a 2-0 lead for a 2-2 draw with Stoke City (which beat us twice last season). Very questionable coaching on the Spurs side, as star Harry Kane was replaced early in the second half.
Leicester City, 14th last season, is now 2-0 with a 2-1 win over West Ham.
And in the biggest contest of the weekend, Man City thrashed Chelsea 3-0. Dr. W., Chelsea partisan, said it could have been worse for his “aging” team.
—Lindsey Vonn broke her ankle training in New Zealand on Thursday She was heading back to Colorado for treatment. The problem is the World Cup season begins Oct. 24 in Soelden, Austria.
“If American Pharoah’s Triple Crown triumph is going to buoy the thoroughbred horse industry, the early evidence may be in: Yearling sales are on the rise.
“At its annual sale of one-year-olds of elite breeding and potential, the auction house Fasig-Tipton Co. saw a 40% increase in gross sales over 2014.
“The two-day sale, which started Monday and which annually attracts the industry’s top breeders and owners, totaled $46.7 million for 145 horses that sold for an average price of $322,448 and a median of $250,000.”
Last year’s sales reached $33.2 million for 114 horses.
One yearling Monday night went for $2 million, a colt sired by Tapit, currently the leading stallion in the U.S., based on the race earnings of his progeny. [Five young South American men bought it….a group named El Capi Racing LLC.]
American Pharoah, by the way, went for $300,000 two years ago, when owner Ahmed Zayat, who had put it up for sale, decided to buy him back.
–Phil W. sent me a piece on Wake Forest football by Ed Hardin of Greensboro.com and it’s not good. Wake’s already thin roster was reduced last weekend by “a strange sickness…a stomach flu raged through, affecting about 40 players.” This comes at the worst possible time.
“Wake has a lot of work to do, maybe more than any other team in college football,” wrote Hardin. “The Deacons are coming off a season in which they finished last in the nation in total offense. And it was last by a lot.
“This year, Wake will be young and inexperienced. Again.”
Oh joy. Looks like 3-9 is the best we can expect.
–The World Track and Field Championships are being held in Beijing, Aug. 22-30, and once again Usain Bolt is the star of attraction, just as he was in 2008 at the Beijing Olympics when he first burst on the scene. He’s going to be 30 next year, though, and has been battling nagging injuries, but he’s focused on competing through the Rio Olympics before calling it a day.
Bolt holds the world records at the 100 (9.58), 200 (19.19) and 36.84 for the 4X100 relay.
But this year his best 100m time is 9.87 so we’ll see if once again he can just flip a switch in Beijing.
–I’m a little confused with U.S. 800-meter champion Nick Symmonds. I wrote the other day how he is missing out on the world championships because he refused to wear Nike gear at events he doesn’t believe are team events (Symmonds having signed with Brooks), but now it seems he is still trying to find a way to compete, when I thought he was purposely pulling out to prove a point.
–The Harlem Globetrotters dropped their longtime foe, the Washington Generals. Since 1952, the Generals were the opponent, but the Globetrooters, who have changed hands a number of times in the past decades and are now owned by Herschend Enterprises, called Generals’ GM John Ferrari, who had taken over for his father-in-law, Red Klotz, in 1987, and said it was over.
Globetrotters legend Sweet Lou Dunbar, who currently coaches one of the Globetrotters teams, said in a statement, “All great rivalries come to an and…we are excited to take on a new opponent.”
63 years ago, Globetrotter founder Abe Saperstein asked Klotz to create an opponent and, except for a night in 1971, the Generals did what they needed to do, lose.
“Beating the Globetrotters,” Klotz once said, “is like shooting Santa Claus.”
Ferrari said he estimates the Generals lost about 16,000 times.
“The journey of a mountain lion that successfully crossed four highways came to an end early Monday when it was struck and killed by a vehicle as it tried to make another run across a major L.A. freeway.
“The puma named P-32 is the only known male to venture out of the Santa Monica Mountains and wander north into other habitat areas….
“P-32 was best known for dashing across the 101 Freeway near Thousand Oaks on April 3. He managed to cross Highway 23 near the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and settled into a natural area in the Simi Hills.”
The state has been trying to settle mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains, but one dominant male can force another out of the area and then they have to deal with the freeways. P-32 was the first male to be studied that successfully fled the range, though he is the 12th mountain lion killed on a freeway or road since researchers began studying the mountain lion population in 2002. [Veronica Rocha / Los Angeles Times]
–I got a kick out of an ABC News story from Friday concerning Minnesota dentist Walter Palmer, killer of Cecil the Lion, with ABC reporting Palmer had illegally killed a black bear in Wisconsin during a 2006 hunt. The New York Post then ran a cover story on it this Saturday.
Heck, I wrote of this in my “Week in Review” column of Aug. 1st! I said his ‘prior’ was from 2008, not 2006, because of the following, as the Post reports:
“Palmer, who lied to authorities about killing the bear in September 2006, pleaded guilty to making false statements about the hunt two years later, according to officials. He was fined $3,000 and sentenced to one year of probation….
“(According to ABC), U.S. Attorney John Vaudreuil said Palmer knew he was out of the kill zone and offered the three guides he was with about $20,000 in hush money to have them lie about where the bear was bagged.
“ ‘As soon as the bear was killed, Palmer and the three guys he was with – guides – they agreed they would lie about it,’ Vaudreuil told ABC’s 20/20. ‘He was lying to us. He was offering to pay about $20,000 to keep the others who were in the hunt, to have them lie, so that’s a fairly aggressive cover-up.’
“When Palmer tried to bring the bear back to Minnesota, Palmer lied to authorities, but the guides did not. He later pleaded guilty to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.”
Top 3 songs for the week 8/18/73: #1 “Touch Me In The Morning” (Diana Ross…where? Oh, sorry….) #2 “Live And Let Die” (Wings…just a cool song…) #3 “Brother Louie” (Stories…Danger, danger when you taste brown suga’… we eat too much of it in our processed foods…that was the message of this one…)…and…#4 “The Morning After” (Maureen McGovern…song about a controversial pill…) #5 “Let’s Get It On” (Marvin Gaye) #6 “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” (Jim Croce…sorry, didn’t like this one…) #7 “Get Down” (Gilbert O’Sullivan…just wish these guys would go away…) #8 “Delta Dawn” (Helen Reddy…good advice from Ms. Reddy…always try to take the first flight out in the morning…) #9 “Uneasy Rider” (Charlie Daniels…forgot this was a top ten…my favorite CDB song is “Carolina” from the High Lonesome LP…) #10 “Feelin’ Stronger Every Day” (Chicago)
Baseball Quiz Answer: Ron Kittle hit 50 homers for Edmonton (Alberta) of the Pacific Coast League in 1982 (he also drove in 144) He was then rookie of the year for the White Sox in 1983, hitting 35 homers and driving in 100, but that was his best season and he finished up with 176 home runs for his career.
Next Bar Chat not until Mon. Aug. 24. Will be in Iowa most of the coming week.
