[Posted Sunday p.m. …no news on Durant…]
Baseball Quiz: Pittsburgh Pirates Quiz: For a franchise that has been around since 1891 (1882 if you include the Allegheny Pirates), they have some lousy franchise marks. 1) Who is the single-season RBI leader with just 131? Who is the career wins leader at 202 (this guy pitched from 1912-1926). Answers below.
MLB
—Cleveland upped its winning streak to a club-record 14 on Friday night with a 2-1 win at Toronto in 19 innings, the Indians using 8 relievers and the Blue Jays 9.
Then Saturday, Toronto ended the fun, winning 9-6. In defeat, Cleveland’s Rajai Davis hit for the cycle, becoming just the eighth Indian to do so and first since 2003. I forget who that was in ’03 (don’t email me the answer, I don’t care), but the two before ’03 were Tony Horton in 1970 and Andre Thornton, 1978…two classic Indians for some of us old-timers.
So I just looked up Tony Horton and I distinctly remembered 1969 (and the baseball card) as he drove in 93. But I totally forgot 1970 was his final season at age 25! What am I forgetting?
I forgot Tony Horton left the game because of an “emotional disorder,” and that he was such a perfectionist he couldn’t deal with any kind of failure. Like the time in 1970 when he hit three home runs in a game but was super down on himself afterwards for not hitting a fourth. I’ll have more on this next time. It’s related to another story I have in my archives.
As for Andre Thornton, from about 1977-85, he was one of the premier power hitters in the game.
–The Mets were floundering big time as they came home for a four-game set with the Chicago Cubs, having just been swept by the Nationals in Washington. They were 40-37 and the fan base was ready to pack it in and look ahead to football season. At least I was.
But the Metsies proceeded to do to the Cubs what they did last fall, winning 4-3, 10-2, 4-3 and 14-3, Thur. thru Sun. Now 44-37, mojo is back.
In Saturday’s 4-3 win, 43-year-old Bartolo Colon (7-4, 2.87) outdueled Jake Arrieta (12-3, 2.33). It was the third straight start Arrieta didn’t get into the sixth inning and as I’ve been tellin’ ya, a lot of it has to do with his workload last season, though I’m shocked so many articles I read don’t mention this. I fully expect him to be highly mediocre the rest of the way this season.
Sunday, Noah Syndergaard pitched seven innings of one-run ball as he improved to 9-3, 2.41. Wilmer Flores, who is clearly threatened by the imminent arrival of Jose Reyes, went 6-for-6, with two home runs and 4 RBIs; just the second Met in their history to have 6 hits, the other being Flores’ hero, Edgardo Alfonzo. The Mets pounded Jon Lester, who had the worst start of his career, giving up 8 earned in a mere 1 1/3, yet he’s still 9-4, 2.67.
–The Yankees got back to .500, 39-39, with two stirring ninth-inning comebacks last week against the first-place Texas Rangers at the Stadium, but then they headed west to San Diego and promptly lost 7-6 and 2-1 on Friday and Saturday, with star reliever Andrew Miller giving up a walk-off ninth-inning homer to Melvin Upton Saturday night.
In Friday’s loss, starter Nate Eovaldi gave up six runs in 4 1/3 as he fell to 6-6, 5.54. Eovaldi is one of those guys that mystifies you; great stuff but zero consistency. He’s capable of a one-hitter one day, and a performance like Friday’s the next and in each of his last six starts he has allowed 4 or more earned runs, after he had started the season 6-2, 3.71.
But the Yanks salvaged Sunday’s game, 6-3, behind two home runs from Mark Teixeira.
–With Clayton Kershaw on the DL (and out probably three weeks), the Dodgers quickly acted and traded for Atlanta pitcher Bud Norris, who immediately rewarded them with six scoreless innings on Friday in L.A.’s 5-0 win over Colorado. Norris had a 2.15 ERA in five June starts with the Braves after a very slow start.
The Dodgers then got another shot in the arm when Brandon McCarthy threw five scoreless on Sunday in L.A.’s 4-1 win over the Rockies, McCarthy’s first start after Tommy John surgery. Gotta admire that.
–Saturday, Chris Sale became baseball’s first 14-game winner (14-2, 2.93) as he yielded four earned in seven innings for the White Sox in their 7-6 win over Houston. He became the first A.L. pitcher to get to 14 wins before the All-Star break since David Wells went 15-2 in 2000.
–In the Angels’ 21-2 annihilation of Boston at Fenway Saturday night, C.J. Cron went 6-for-6 with two homers and five RBIs, while Carlos Perez had five hits and drove in six, the two thus becoming the first teammates with at least five hits and five RBIs in the same game since Gene Moore and Buck Jordan for the Boston Braves in 1936. Jordan is buried in Salisbury, N.C., while Moore lies in Laurel, MS., in case you want to pay your respects.
Friday, David Ortiz’ solo homer in the fifth inning of Boston’s 5-4 win over the Angels represented his 2,000th hit with Boston (2,393 overall) and home run No. 522, thus passing a trio of Hall of Famers at 521; Ted Williams, Willie McCovey and Frank Thomas. So Ortiz is 19th by himself with No. 18 Jimmie Foxx (534) and Mickey Mantle (536) at 17 directly in front.
–Thursday night, San Francisco ace Madison Bumgarner became the first pitcher to hit for himself in a game in an American League ballpark (i.e., a designated hitter game). Bumgarner rewarded manager Bruce Bochy with a double that started a six-run rally in the third as the Giants went on to defeat the A’s 12-6, Bumgarner improving to 9-4, 2.20. At the plate he is hitting .182, the same as his career average. He has two homers this year, 11 of his 13 career roundtrippers in the last 2 ½ seasons.
But Bumgarner will not be allowed to hit in the Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game, as was his dream. Bochy said the players union nixed the idea, not wanting a pitcher to take a hitter’s spot in the Derby.
The last pitcher to hit in a similar situation was Ken Brett in 1976 for the White Sox. [Tampa Bay pitcher Andy Sonnnanstine did the same in 2009, but this was due to a lineup card mix-up.]
Friday, the Giant’s Johnny Cueto moved to 12-1, 2.57, in the Giants’ 6-4 win over Arizona. For the Diamondbacks, Shelby Miller, who has been absolutely atrocious, fell to 2-8 with a 6.85 ERA!
–Sunday, the Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg came off the disabled list to pitch 6 2/3 of no-hit ball…remarkable…as he moved to 11-0, 2.71…Washington winning 12-1 over the Reds.
–Who was the N.L. Player of the Month for June? San Diego’s Will Myers, .327, 11 home runs, 33 RBI. As they said on Hee-Haw, “Saa-lute!” [Jon Lester was pitcher of the month.]
–Until reading Sports Illustrated this week, I missed something I need to get down for the archives, Kansas City pitcher Edinson Volquez’ start against Houston on June 24, where in just one inning of work he allowed 12 runs (11 earned), the first starting pitcher to do so since play-by-play records are available, 1913. Volquez’ ERA rose from 4.12 to 5.15, but give him credit. In his next start, 6/29, he threw 6 2/3 of scoreless ball in a no-decision against St. Louis.
–Finally, congratulations to the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, the winner of the College World Series, taking the deciding best-of-three game on Thursday, 4-3, over Arizona. But while this sounds like a mammoth upset in college sports, Coastal Carolina, while not a member of a Power Five conference, has had a highly successful baseball program for years, with this year being their 15th NCAA tournament bid. Their coach, Gary Gilmore, has won 1,100 games, including a nation’s best 55 this season.
But imagine recruiting now…as Gilmore can point to kicking the butts of his SEC and ACC rivals for the best talent in the region.
NBA Free Agency
As they say at the circus, and on cooking utensil infomercials (I have a confession to make…I watched 15 minutes of a Copper Chef infomercial the other day…), NBA Free Agency is the greatest show on earth, or maybe not.
I’m not going to remotely attempt to give every free agent signing, but some stand out. Yes, the salary cap is exploding with the new media deal. In 2014-15, it was $63 million. Last season it was $70 million. Next season it will be at least $94 million and for 2017-18, it is expected to be in the neighborhood of $107 million (which is why the likes of LeBron and Kevin Durant will sign short deals, with an opt-out after one year so they can then re-sign for a ‘max’ deal after next season…or so the story goes).
Point guard Michael Conley, once thought to be a target of the New York Knicks, signed a five-year, $153 million deal to stay in Memphis. This is a guy who averaged 15 points, 6 assists last season, playing in just 56 games. He’s solid, but he’s never made an All-Star team in nine seasons, yet he’s making Zack Greinke/Max Scherzer type money and those guys are superior relative to their peers.
I’ve expressed in the past how much I liked small forward Chandler Parsons, but he has been underwhelming the last few seasons for Dallas, missing a number of games due to two surgeries on his right knee, and yet Memphis signed him for four years, $94 million.
The basketball world is aghast that the Los Angeles Lakers gave center Timofey Mozgov, a guy who averaged 6 points, 4 rebounds for Cleveland, and less than six minutes a game when he got the call in the playoffs, $64 million over four years.
Many are also aghast that reserve Evan Turner, 10 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists for the Celtics, received $70 million over four years from Portland. At least this guy plays every game.
Detroit re-signed All-Star Andre Drummond to a five-year, max $130 million deal, while Washington’s Bradley Beal got $128 million to remain in place.
Toronto retained DeMar DeRozan for $139 million over five seasons, while small forward Nicholas Batum stays in Charlotte for five years, $120 million. [Not having watched Charlotte in years, I have no freakin’ idea who this guy is…just have to be honest.]
Dwight Howard and his declining talent was rewarded with a three-year, $70.5 million deal with the Hawks. [Howard grew up in Atlanta.]
The Hawks then re-signed wing Kent Bazemore to a four-year, $70 million package. He averaged 11.6 ppg, 5 reb…unreal, it just goes on and on.
Charlotte wasn’t able to re-sign point guard Jeremy Lin and he is now returning to New York, with Brooklyn, which could be entertaining; Lin receiving $36 million over three years.
The Lakers signed Luol Deng to a four-year, $72 million deal. Deng, 31, averaged 15 points, 8 rebounds for Miami last year after the All-Star break, when he filled in extensively for Chris Bosh.
Earlier, the Heat re-signed center Hassan Whiteside to a four-year, max contract worth $98 million, this after he made $980,000 last season.
The Boston Celtics landed a big star, forward Al Horford, as they try to haul in the biggest catch, Kevin Durant. Horford is signing a four-year, max contract valued at $113 million, after Atlanta wasn’t prepared to offer him a max five-year deal for their unrestricted free agent.
Rajon Rondo signed with the Bulls, two years, $28 million.
As for my Knicks, following the trade for former MVP Derrick Rose (who has played all of 166 games in five years since his big year), they have signed Bulls center Joakim Noah (four years, $72 million), who has also been injury-riddled.
But suddenly it’s win-now with the Knickerbockers and team president Phil Jackson. And so the Knicks filled out their new starting five by signing 30-year-old Courtney Lee, a serviceable shooting guard who has averaged 10 points per game over eight seasons. So it’s Carmelo, Kristaps Porzingis, Joakim Noah, Rose and Lee; if they stay healthy…a potential 44-38 team in my book. If they don’t the season will be another disaster.
–One NBA sidebar…O.J. Mayo, the third overall pick in the 2008 draft, was suspended for two years from the NBA, citing violations of the NBA/NBAPA Anti-Drug Program, the longest suspension in its history, but short of a lifetime ban.
Mayo, 28, has career averages of 13.8 points and 3.1 rebounds, averaging 8 ppg for Milwaukee last season.
In 2011, the NBA suspended Mayo for 10 games after testing positive for PEDs.
Wimbledon Upset
In one of the biggest upsets in the history of tennis, which means Grand Slam tennis, American Sam Querrey, the No. 28-seed, stunned Novak Djokovic 7-6 (6), 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (5). So much for Djokovic being Sportsman of the Year, I mused upon hearing this. And so much for all manner of other potential records.
Djokovic’s streak of 30 Grand Slam match-victories came to an abrupt end. There will be no fifth straight major title or a calendar-year Slam, either.
The last time Djokovic lost in the third round of a major was seven years ago, at the 2009 French Open.
But if Djokovic needed any excuses, he had one in that this was a match interrupted by multiple rain delays, including an overnighter after he lost the first two sets.
Djokovic said of Querrey, “He just overpowered me.” Novak could have added he simply succumbed to the pressure that hit Serena Williams as she neared some Grand Slam marks of her own.
So who is Sam Querrey? He had his best career world ranking in January 2011, 17th, and he’s won seven titles, but has only made it to the fourth round at three majors.
The last U.S. player to beat a World No. 1 at Wimbledon was Kevin Curren (American citizen-South African native), who defeated John McEnroe, 31 years ago, in a 1985 quarterfinal. The last American to beat the No. 1 in a Grand Slam was Andre Agassi, when he upset Lleyton Hewitt in the 2002 U.S. Open semifinals.
There was another big upset early on at the All England Club, that being second-seed Garbine Muguruza, the reigning French Open champion and runner-up here last year, who lost her second-rounder to a 124th-ranked qualifier, Jana Cepelova of Slovakia.
Cepelova has become kind of a giant killer. Last year she beat Simona Halep, then ranked third, in the first round on the same court at Wimbledon.
Euro 2016
In the quarterfinals….
Portugal 1 – 1 Poland [Portugal wins on penalty kicks 5-3]
Wales 3 – 1 Belgium
Germany 1 – 1 Italy [Germany wins on penalty kicks 6-5]
France 5 – 2 Iceland
Wales recorded the greatest win in their football history, besting Belgium 3-1 and thus reaching the semifinals of a major tournament for the first time.
Belgium scored first, but then Wales notched the next three, thus setting up a mouth-watering semi with Portugal; Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Gareth Bale, teammates at Real Madrid.
I mean, remember, Wales has been absent from major tournaments since 1958’s World Cup.
But the dream ended for Iceland as France blitzed them 4-0 in the first half, though credit Iceland for making it entertaining for their fans in the second; the female version being simply the most beautiful species on Earth.
I do have to comment, though, on the Germany-Italy match. I didn’t pick it up until the second half and the consensus was the whole contest was pretty horrid. But while no one likes ending these games in penalty kicks, this one was fascinating because it was the worst performance you have ever seen in such a format, period.
It was 2-2 after five kicks! [Germany had never missed three before, ever.] The misses, all due to the pressure, were unbelievably bad. It was epitomized by Italy’s Zaza, who had been subbed in in the final seconds just so he could be one of the designated penalty kickers and he couldn’t have missed worse. Just one gigantic mistake after another. Frankly, I loved it! Then again, I don’t live in Italy and I’m not Zaza’s cousin.
So here’s the deal. Euro 2016, in terms of the competition, has been less than scintillating, but the stories of Iceland and Wales have saved it. Now we all need to root for Wales in the semis.
Wed. Portugal v. Wales
Thurs. Germany v. France
–In other soccer news….former Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has signed to play for Manchester United after leaving Paris St-Germain. The 34-year-old spent four years with the French champions, scoring 50 goals in 51 matches this past season, a record for the club, including a record 38 league goals. Overall, he has 392 goals in 677 games. The guy is not just a scorer, though, he’s a winner. At Man U he will be reunited with former Inter Milan boss Jose Mourinho.
Rio / Olympic Trials
—As if Rio didn’t already have more problems than any site/nation has ever faced prior to an Olympic Games, the single biggest draw, globally, Usain Bolt (Michael Phelps is a regional draw), was forced to withdraw from the Jamaican Olympic Trials on Friday after suffering a Grade 1 hamstring tear, the mildest kind.
Bolt won his semifinal 100-meter heat but complained of a tight hamstring, which he has been suffering from, and a doctor told him he had a tear.
Bolt tweeted he had applied for a medical exemption to be excused from the remainder of the National Championships. “I will seek treatment immediately and hope to show fitness at the London Anniversary Games on July 22 to earn selection for the Olympic Games in Rio.”
The Jamaica Athletic Administrative Association selection policy allows for medical exemptions, as long as the athlete proves the injury prevented them from competing in the trials.
Bolt was hoping to earn gold in all three of his events – the 100 and 200 meters and 400 relay – for the third consecutive Olympics.
Bolt has the second fastest time in the world this year in the 100 at 9.88.
Meanwhile, the Jamaican trials proved controversial when Bolt’s longtime rival, Yohan Blake, who finished second in London, won the 100 title Friday, qualifying for Rio, but only after a false-start disqualification call against him was overturned after review. Hmmmm.
Most of his fellow Jamaican team members think Bolt will be just fine and we’ve seen before when he was supposedly sub-par entering an Olympic Games, he just rises to the occasion unlike few athletes in any sport.
One more re Team Jamaica. Elaine Thompson won the women’s 100, beating two-time defending Olympic gold medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.
–So this week marks the first time in 8 years I am not at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Oregon. I had a blast the last two times but, frankly, it’s a long trip, 11 nights lodging because of the format and, ergo, a lot of money, but I do really miss the two-day break in between where I would go to the coast (Newport) for some long walks on one of the great beaches in the world (for walking….not necessarily sunbathing because it can be cold. And you’d never swim at Newport because you’d be ripped to shreds by a Great White).
Anyway, one of the events I love watching, the 10,000 meters, was won on Friday by Galen Rupp, the silver medalist in London. Rupp has already qualified in the marathon, and this week will attempt to make the team in the 5,000; though he would be unable to run all three in Rio as the marathon and 5,000 are run on consecutive days.
Four-time Olympian and 41-year-old Bernard Lagat collapsed three-quarters of the way through the 10,000, but said he is not injured and will attempt to make the team through the 5,000.
Sanya-Richards-Ross failed to make the team. The 2012 400-meter gold medalist said she would retire after this season but it happened too soon as she injured a hamstring in the first-round 400 race. I wish I was there as “Her slow turn around the track became a thank you and a farewell shared by the savvy crowd and the elegant Richards-Ross, whose career will end with three Olympic gold medals and one bronze.” [L.A. Times]
Yes, we are a savvy group in Eugene. I’ll miss not seeing Pre’s Rock again. [Those not as savvy will have to look that up.]
And this just in…congrats to my girl, Allyson Felix, for winning the 400m trial, ditto LaShawn Merritt. No classier woman in the field of sports than Felix.
And this late development…congratulations to English Gardner for winning the women’s 100. And what a story by Tianna Bartoletta, who also qualified for Rio in the long jump!
But look what I wrote, live from Eugene, back on 6/25/12.
“[A sidebar: One girl to watch in the 100 for 2016 is Oregon sophomore English Gardner, who’s also hot, but I’m getting in way too much trouble with these comments and I’ve just been warned by USATF that I face suspension…something about excessive testosterone. “Geezuz, I’m 54!” I tried to explain.]”
I’m now 58. But find anyone else in the world who was that prescient and you get $5.
Last one from Eugene as I go to post…kudos to Justin Gatlin for winning the men’s 100. He looked awesome. [Yes, no snickering …I pray he is clean.]
–Nice to see Ryan Lochte make the U.S. team for an individual event, as he finished second to Michael Phelps in the 200m IM at Omaha. Phelps qualified in three individual events, including the 100-meter butterfly Saturday, which means he has a shot at four medals in Rio, including the medley relay. He may yet be a candidate for some of the freestyle relays as well. So he is more than likely to add to his record 22 Olympic medals for sure.
Meanwhile, Missy Franklin will have just two individual races in Rio, qualifying Saturday in the 200 backstroke, to go along with the 200 free, a far cry from London, where she won four golds and a bronze.
–Gee, wasn’t that great to have parts from a mutilated body wash up on Copacabana Beach, where Olympic beach volleyball matches will be held?
You want another example of how bad things are in Rio? According to the Associated Press: “Around 85,000 police officers and soldiers are set to be deployed to maintain security, but civil forces are so cash-strapped that they have been forced to ask for daily supplies such as pens and toilet paper, let alone their wages.” Eegads.
Golf Balls
–So, you think Dustin Johnson is in a pretty good place these days? The U.S. Open winner took a week off and then won the WGC-Bridgestone at Firestone, win No. 11 in his career. Who knows what he can do from here now that the monkey is off his back. I’d love to see him win the next two majors.
And I loved his attitude about the Olympics. He is raring to go, totally enthusiastic to represent his country. He’s golf’s Clint Eastwood. Mr. Cool. Kick ass, Bro.
–As expected, Tiger Woods formally withdrew from the British Open. With the PGA Championship just two weeks after The Open, July 28-31, my original guess Tiger would come back for that looks increasingly dubious.
—Davis Love III withdrew from the WGC-Bridgestone with a torn left hip labrum that will require season-ending surgery. Love said, “I’ve got to get it fixed. I don’t want to be limping around at the Ryder Cup,” where he’ll be captain.
—Members of Royal Troon Golf Club voted overwhelmingly on Friday to end the club’s male-only membership policy, which means Troon can continue to be in the British Open rotation.
Troon, which is hosting The Open championship from July 14-17, was the only club in the ‘rota’ not allowing female members and it would have been excluded going forward.
Muirfield, the site of 16 British Opens, was stripped of its right to stage the championship after a vote by members on allowing female members fell just short of the two-thirds required. [64% voted ‘for’.]
But I thought it was interesting what the club’s captain at Troon, Martin Cheyne said as it speaks to the health of the sport.
The membership vote “focus was on all categories of membership and how we could become more involved in promoting golf, a sport which is currently declining: declining in male, female and junior membership. What we did tonight was focus on the single issue of women’s members, but we need to focus on how we can encourage young people to play this game.”
In 2014, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews voted to end its male-only membership policy.
And what’s this? Those responsible for Muirfield (the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers) announced it had called a special meeting to try and gain approval to hold a second vote later this year.
–After my rant the other day about the Olympic golf format, which certainly isn’t helping in making some of the world’s best want to participate, I was reading Adam Schupak’s solution in Golf Week and it really is so obvious. Seeing as a gold medal isn’t the pinnacle of a professional golfer’s career, ditto professional basketball players, it really should have been restricted to amateurs. Golfer Adam Scott said during his news conference ahead of the WGC-Bridgestone this week, “I’d make an argument that having the amateurs in the Olympics would grow the game the most, not us.”
—Bubba Watson is placed in the December file for the right reason. He pledged to donate at least $250,000 to relief and recovery efforts after the severe flooding in West Virginia. Watson spends 4-5 months a year at his summer home near the Greenbrier Resort. The Tour also donated $100,000 to the American Red Cross to help people affected.
This coming week was to have been the Greenbrier Classic.
NASCAR
I love Saturday night Sprint Cup races and caught quite a bit of Saturday’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona, won by Brad Keselowski, his first win there and 20th of his career. But I was watching the Mets-Cubs game when ‘the big one’ hit…a 22-car accident near the halfway point. None of the drivers involved, thankfully, were seriously hurt.
NFL Bits
–The Indianapolis Colts signed quarterback Andrew Luck to a record contract, $140 million over the next six years, barring restructuring. The average value of $23.33 million and the guaranteed money of $87 million are also records.
But Luck, 26, suffered a wave of injuries last season, playing just seven total games because of an ailing shoulder, fractured ribs and a lacerated kidney.
Before Luck, Joe Flacco had been earning the most per year ($22.133 million) with the Ravens, while the Giants’ Eli Manning’s contract had given him the most guaranteed money at $65 million, from an $84 million, four-year extension he signed last September.
In case you were wondering, Aaron Rodgers is in the midst of a five-year, $110 million, $22 million per, $54 million guaranteed contract, through 2019.
Russell Wilson is guaranteed $61.542 million as part of his four-year, $87.6 million deal.
So compare these numbers, the biggest stars in their sport, with the NBA contracts and imagine how, say, the best receiver in the NFL is feeling. And of course all the NBA money is guaranteed.
–NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell earned just over $31 million for 2015, the league said on Thursday, a 7 percent decrease from his 2014 salary of $34 million.
July 1916
Matawan, New Jersey is the center of the shark universe these next few weeks because of a series of events commemorating what happened in the area 100 years ago. I have written extensively of this in the past and so we go back to the archives, specifically a piece I wrote about three years ago that also references work I did 10 years prior to that.
Bar Chat: 10/7/13
The other day, Director of Shark Attacks for Bar Chat, Bob S., wondered why Congress appeared to be covering up a most disturbing development – the fact that two bull sharks had been caught in the Potomac River over the past few months. Why no hearings?
Well, this wouldn’t be the first time bull sharks wreaked havoc in our nation’s inland waterways. So following is an oldie but goodie from the Bar Chat archives.
The International Shark Attack File notes that there have been 5 fatalities in New Jersey since 1670, more than all but three other states; Hawaii, Florida, and California. But four of them took place in one 12-day period in 1916.
Three years ago [Ed. now about ten], Peter Genovese of the Star-Ledger reviewed two books that had come out then, one titled “Twelve Days of Terror” by Richard Fernicola, the other “Close to Shore” by Michael Capuzzo. I saved the story but kept forgetting to use it until now. It certainly makes for a good, if gory tale as many of you head to the beach.
For those of you who travel the Garden State Parkway, at milepost 119.4, about six miles from the Raritan toll plaza, you’ll notice a non-descript body of water that is an authentic historic site. It was here that two victims met their fate in Matawan Creek on July 12, 1916 and the New York and Philadelphia papers ran headlines such as “HUNDREDS SEEK TO SLAY SHARK THINK MONSTER TRAPPED IN CREEK SKIPPERS SAY SEA ALIVE WITH SHARKS ”
As it turned out, this was near the end of the story, one that started on July 1. Charles Vansant, a 23-year-old vacationer from Philadelphia, was staying at the Engleside Hotel in Beach Haven when he was attacked in three feet of water.
“The first to reach him was Alexander Ott, who later became a swimming showman with Johnny Weismuller. Ott hoisted Vansant under his arms and started pulling him to shore, only to discover, to his horror, that he was in a tug of war with the shark over the body.” [Genovese]
A human chain was formed as they dragged the body onto the beach, but the shark managed to get away and disappeared.
Vansant’s leg was hanging by a thread and he died a half-hour later. Victim #1.
This initial attack actually didn’t receive much play in the news. That would begin to change on July 6 when Charles Bruder, age 28 and bell captain at the Sussex & Essex Hotel in Spring Lake (on the ocean, for those of you not familiar with the area), went for a swim on his lunch break. He was about 100 yards out when all hell broke loose.
“The shark tossed him repeatedly in the air – (his) body pinwheeled above the water – between strikes.”
Bruder screamed, “A shark bit me! Bit my legs off!”
Mortally wounded, Bruder was dragged onto the beach. Women fainted at the sight of his ravaged body. Victim #2.
An alarm immediately went up and down the Jersey coastline. Within 30 minutes, communities 30 miles away cleared the beaches. According to author Capuzzo, “For the first time in American history, people en masse were afraid to enter the water.”
While the media had basically ignored the Vansant attack, Bruder’s finally lit the fire. It didn’t help that Bruder was killed in front of hundreds of tourists, including the upper crust of society.
Amazingly, there were some scientists who refused to believe the two were victims of a shark. An assistant curator of the Museum of Natural History said it was a killer whale. The director of the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries said it was a swordfish. Personally, had I been asked back then, I would have said barracuda, just because it sounds cool.
We now move to July 11. Renny Carten is splashing about in a swimming hole in Matawan Creek when he is badly scratched and scraped by something neither Renny nor his friend could identify.
The next day, July 12, Lester Stillwell and five buddies decided to go swimming in the same spot. “One moment, Stillwell was floating peacefully on the water. The next, he was screaming, his arm held fast in the mouth of what one of the boys, Charlie Van Brunt, called ‘the biggest, blackest fish’ he had ever seen.” [Genovese]
“Young Stillwell ‘was shaken, like a cat shakes a mouse, and then he went under,’ according to one of the boys. For one terrifying second, he reappeared, shrieking, then disappeared under the water for good.” Victim #3.
The police were called and a group of men was rounded up. They entered the creek repeatedly. But as they were giving up the search, Stanley Fisher, 24, strong and athletic, gave it one more try.
“Suddenly, Fisher screamed; he had found Stillwell’s body. The next moment, the shark, lolling nearby, attacked. Three or four times, it pulled Fisher under. He finally worked himself free, but most of the flesh between his hip and right knee had been ripped off.” [Genovese]
Now this part is stupid. A doctor didn’t believe Fisher would survive the trip in a car to a hospital in nearby Long Beach, so he was placed on a stretcher and the group attending him waited for an hour at Matawan Train Station. When the train arrived, it was another 2 hours to Monmouth Memorial Hospital. Fisher died five minutes after getting there. Victim #4.
Well, you can imagine the furor in Matawan after seeing two of their citizens ripped to shreds. Dynamite was thrown into the creek. The New York Times wrote of women toting shotguns, patrolling the banks. The mayor offered a $100 reward for the shark. What the folks didn’t know, though, is that the shark had fled.
[And remember, this shark had been in a creek, not even close to the ocean. I also should have noted that the first attack in Beach Haven was way down south, then it moved north to Spring Lake, and then further north into the waters that fed into Matawan Creek.]
The press was in a frenzy at this point and it was time to kill all the sharks. Down in Maryland, a State Police schooner reported “big sea monsters” in Annapolis harbor. A Tampa, FL, boater said the Gulf of Mexico was thick with sharks. President Woodrow Wilson even ordered his Treasury Secretary to lead “a war on sharks.”
Then on July 14, Michael Schleisser and John Murphy, two fishermen from South Amboy, were out on Raritan Bay when their boat suddenly slammed to a halt. Something gigantic was in the net.
“Shark! It rose out of the net and onto the stern, snapping its jaws. With a broken oar that he had thrown as an afterthought into the boat, Schleisser, a renowned animal trainer and big game hunter, clobbered the shark to death. He and Murphy towed it back to South Amboy.” [Genovese]
The shark was cut open and it was later confirmed there were human remains in it. The monster was then placed in the front window of a New York newspaper and 30,000 gathered to look at it. But a few days later it disappeared. No one seems to know what happened to the carcass. Perhaps it was relabeled Red Snapper.
By the way, the 5th New Jersey fatality occurred at Seaside Heights in August 1926. The decapitated body of Charles Burke, 18, washed ashore. Well, hell, that could have been the work of a giant squid! [The editor has nightmares that he will one day meet his untimely demise at the tentacles of such a monster.]
So, boys and girls, enjoy the Jersey Shore this summer. Just don’t go near the water.
Stuff
–USA Today’s Kevin Allen makes a good point when analyzing the NHL’s choice of awarding an expansion team to Las Vegas (which I think is great). Aside from the fact building a fan base is a tough sell in the desert, and when there hasn’t been one before, “Games will take place on the Strip.”
“On the surface, it makes sense to have the games in a central location (T-Mobile Arena) that fans can easily access. Sure, there’s the potential of foot traffic from people who couldn’t get tickets to see Celine Dion and are scrambling for something to fill their evening, but it also could be a deterrent for locals who want to see games.
“If you live in and around Vegas, you avoid the Strip. It’s going to make it much harder for local fans to attend games if they’re weary of putting up with the traffic and crowds that are a constant in that part of town.”
You know, in virtually every other city in America, if a game (of any kind…football, basketball….) blows, you can save time by leaving early. That sure isn’t the case in Vegas.
Kevin Allen also notes that if an NFL team comes to Vegas, as seems likely, that could further kill interest in a nascent NHL team. [That stadium would also be built near the Strip by McCarran Airport.]
Shu, give me your thoughts on the topic (Shu being a frequent Vegas visitor and bettor on all things sports).
–It really is kind of unfathomable that Alabama’s football strength-and-conditioning coach, Scott Cochran, just got a $105,000 raise to $525,000, apparently more than 22 Division I head coaches earn. [Sports Illustrated] Ya think Cochran has some dirt on people there? Just musing.
–Until reading a piece in the New York Times by Joseph Loconte, I had no idea (or had killed the brain cell responsible) on the connection between J.R.R. Tolkien and World War I.
“In the summer of 1916, a young Oxford academic embarked for France as a second lieutenant in the British Expeditionary Force. The Great War, as World War I was known, was only half-done, but already its industrial carnage had no parallel in European history.
“ ‘Junior officers were being killed off, a dozen a minute,’ recalled Tolkien. ‘Parting from my wife,’ he wrote, doubting that he would survive the trenches, ‘was like a death.’
“The 24-year-old Tolkien arrived in time to take part in the Battle of the Somme.”
With the 100th anniversary of the battle this weekend, you should know that nearly 20,000 British soldiers were killed the first day, the most lethal in Britain’s military history.
And so it is that “The Lord of the Rings” “owes a great deal to (Tolkien’s) experience at the Somme. Reaching the front shortly after the offensive began, Tolkien served for four months as a battalion signals officer…
“According to the British historian Martin Gilbert, who interviewed Tolkien decades later about his combat experience, he came under intense enemy fire. He had heard ‘the fearful cries of men who had been hit,’ Gilbert wrote. ‘Tolkien and his signalers were always vulnerable.’
“Tolkien’s creative mind found an outlet. He began writing the first drafts of his mythology about Middle-earth, as he recalled, ‘by candle light in bell-tents, even some down in dugouts under shell fire.’ In 1917, recuperating from trench fever, Tolkien composed a series of tales involving ‘gnomes,’ dwarves and orcs engaged in a great struggle for his imaginary realm.
“In the rent earth of the Somme Valley, he laid the foundation of his epic trilogy.
“The descriptions of battle scenes in ‘The Lord of the Rings’ seem lifted from the grim memories of the trenches: the relentless artillery bombardment, the whiff of mustard gas, the bodies of dead soldiers discovered in craters of mud….
“On the path to Mordor, stronghold of Sauron, the Dark Lord, the air is ‘filled with a bitter reek that caught their breath and parched their mouths.’ Tolkien later acknowledged that the Dead Marshes, with their pools of muck and floating corpses, ‘owed something to Northern France after the Battle of the Somme.’”
Two of Tolkien’s closest friends perished at the Somme.
–I saw an interesting review of a flick coming out Sept. 9 on Capt. Chesley Sullenberger and US Airways Flight 1549 titled “Sully.” Tom Hanks portrays our hero, the pilot who landed on the Hudson River in 2009, saving 155 lives.
But this is a flick that is all of three minutes of action, the time it took for Sully to go from takeoff from LaGuardia Airport to the water landing after the jet sucked in geese.
The rest is it seems a helluva human interest story, because as we learned following that heroic day, Sully’s life was a little complicated, and not helped by comments like, “Simulations show that you could make it back to the airport.”
Boy, those of us who live in the area and know just how crowded the skies are over the Big Apple know that this is unlikely.
What is also intriguing is Clint Eastwood directs the flick and it has the full support of Sullenberger. In a statement on Friday, Sully said, “I was involved in the development and am thrilled it’s being brought to the screen by master filmmaker Clint Eastwood, starring Tom Hanks.”
–Since my last chat, a grizzly bear attacked and killed a 38-year-old mountain biker as he was riding along a trail just outside Glacier National Park, Montana authorities said.
Brad Treat and another rider were in the Halfmoon Lakes area when they apparently surprised the bear. The bear knocked Treat off his bike, and the second biker left to look for help.
Authorities then found Treat’s body, but not the bear. Treat was a law-enforcement officer with the U.S. Forest Service.
Six people have been fatally mauled by bears in the Northern Rockies since 2010, mostly in the Yellowstone area. The last lethal attack in Glacier was 1998, “when three bears killed and partially ate a park vendor employee while he was hiking,”
The most famous attack was in 1967, when bears killed two people in different parts of the park in a single night. Those attacks became the subject of a 1969 book by Jack Olsen titled “Night of the Grizzlies.”
–Congratulations to Joseph Aunders, Zach Zorn and Seth DuBois for hauling in a 240.2 pound Bluefin tuna the other day, hooking it 50 miles west of San Diego. The fight took 8 ½ hours and they didn’t land it until after dark. The fish dragged their 22-foot bay boat 15 miles.
Two days earlier, the 21- and two 18-year-olds boated a 136-pounder in the same area after more than 3 ½ hours.
The lads admitted their boat wasn’t designed for such journeys, not 50 miles off shore to catch hundred-pound plus fish.
But they were highly responsible and once they landed the monster, they kept in constant contact with the Coast Guard on their way back.
The 240-pounder neared the state record of 243 pounds, 11 ounces caught in 1990, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Because they couldn’t weigh it until the next morning, however, experts said the fish lost 15 or more pounds overnight.
But, it wouldn’t have been a record because it wasn’t brought in by just one angler.
I didn’t see what they sold the fish for. [Bryce A. Miller / San Diego Tribune]
–Interesting piece in Sports Illustrated by Ben Baskin on Japan’s Takeru Kobayashi, the one-time Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest winner who ruled Competitive Eating from 2001-06 in winning six straight mustard-yellow international championship belts on the Fourth of July before Joey Chestnut upset him, 66-63 dogs and buns, in 2007. Kobayashi then lost again in 2008-09, before a highly-publicized split with George Shea’s Competitive Eating association.
Last year, Matt Stonie ended Chestnut’s 8-year run.
As I noted in that other column I do, 71 percent of Americans favor mustard on their dogs. And despite all the tall tales of what hot dog’s contain, Nathan’s are 98 percent beef and water. The rest is seasoning and sodium-based additives.
Seven bites is recommended to eat a hot dog, including the bun.
One more, this weekend, at the original Nathan’s on Coney Island, they will sell an estimated 26,000 hot dogs from 46 registers.
–We note the passing of Oscar-winning director Michael Cimino, whose film “The Deer Hunter” is one of the greats of all time, though he was also responsible for the disastrous “Heaven’s Gate.” Cimino was 77. Circumstances surrounding his death are not known as he was found in his bed, only because friends had been unable to reach him the last few days and called the police.
1978’s “The Deer Hunter” won five Academy Awards, including for Best Picture and Best Director. It helped lift the emerging-legend status of Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep, with Christoper Walken winning an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
Roger Ebert, writing in the Chicago Sun-Times, called the movie “one of the most emotionally shattering films ever made.” I’ll say.
But Cimino’s “Heaven’s Gate” was fraught with problems from the beginning, with the initial $11.5 million budget soaring to $44 million, huge money for those times, and it hastened the demise of United Artists, as well as Cimino’s career. He worked sparingly after and became a Hollywood recluse.
Top 3 songs for the week 7/4/76: #1 “Silly Love Songs” (Wings…Sir Paul once again mailing it in…this one blows…) #2 “Afternoon Delight” (Starland Vocal Band…this one isn’t aging well at all…) #3 “Misty Blue” (Dorothy Moore)…and…#4 “Sara Smile” (Daryl Hall & John Oates…helps save the week…) #5 “Shop Around” (Captain & Tennille) #6 “More, More, More” (Andrea True Connection…now let’s be totally transparent…most of us hated disco, but this one isn’t all bad…especially if you live in the New York area because it has a distinct Gotham sound…) #7 “Get Up And Boogie” (Silver Convention…as opposed to this one that couldn’t suck more…) #8 “I’ll Be Good To You” (The Brothers Johnson….these dudes be bad, an’ sheeet…liked this one…) #9 “Kiss And Say Goodbye” (Manhattans) #10 “Love Is Alive” (Gary Wright)
Baseball Quiz Answers / Pittsburgh Pirates: 1) Paul Waner is the single-season RBI leader at 131, 1927. 2) Wilbur Cooper is the career wins leader, 202-159, 1912-24. For a more modern day hurler, it’s Bob Friend, who won 191 in a Pirates uniform (1951-65) but he’s also the career leader in losses with 218. [He’s my favorite old-timer I didn’t actually see play until his last days as a Met in 1966. Just love looking at his baseball card. You look at it and say, ‘That’s baseball.’ Or if you are the Yankees’ John Sterling, “That’s baseball, Susan.”]
Next Bar Chat, Thursday.
