Baseball Quiz: After last Friday”s RBI quiz, I needed to follow-
up. How many players have had 170 or more RBI in a single
season? Answer below.
Declaration of Independence
While it was signed on July 4, it wasn”t published for the first time
until July 6 as it appeared in the Pennsylvania Evening Post under
the title “A Declaration by the Representatives of the United
States of America, in General Congress Assembled.”
The Evening Post was a four-page paper and the Declaration
covered the entire first page and part of the second. Oh, to be
sitting in a tavern as it was first passed out. Imagine the bar chat
then!
Thomas Paine
And speaking of bar chat, no other book in the history of the
United States had such a quick sale, relative to population, as
Thomas Paine”s pamphlet, “Common Sense.” It sold 100,000
copies in less than 3 months; this when the population of the
whole country was around 3 million. It is said that within a
month, it was read by, or to, almost every American in the land.
Published in January 1776, “Common Sense” presented the
natural rights philosophy that was to be embodied in the
Declaration of Independence.
Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its
best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst, an intolerable one.
Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence; the palace
of kings are built upon the ruins of the bowers of Paradise!
Monarchy was an absurd form of government; one honest man is
worth “all the crowned ruffians that ever lived.”
Paine presented the alternatives to being ruled by Britain:
continued submission to a tyrannical king, and a vicious economic
system; or liberty and happiness as a self-sufficient republic.
“O! ye that love mankind! Ye that dare oppose not only the
tyranny but the tyrant, stand forth! Every spot of the old world is
overrun with oppression. Freedom hath been hunted round the
Globe. Asia and Africa have long expelled her. Europe regards
her as a strange and England hath given her warning to depart.
O! receive the fugitive and prepare in time an asylum for
mankind.” [All spelling and phrasing is correct.]
Yeah…I”d say that was rather brilliant.
“Common Sense” rallied the undecided and those who were
wavering. It proved to be a trumpet call to the radicals. John
Adams observed, “Every Post and every Day rolls in upon us
Independence like a Torrent.” [Again, spelling and phrasing are
correct. Actually, I shouldn”t be writing that. I feel so small just
typing this.]
[Source: “The Growth of the American Republic.”]
Jefferson / Adams – July 4, 1826
And every Fourth I will feel compelled to retell this.
Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, founding fathers and our 2nd
and 3rd presidents (Adams, 2nd), both died on the Fourth of July,
1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Adams last words were reported to have been, “Thomas Jefferson
still survives.” He had no means of knowing that Jefferson had
died the same morning at 9:50 a.m.
For his part, Jefferson had ten days earlier declined an invitation
to attend ceremonies in Washington marking this golden
anniversary. Barely able to hold pen in hand, he wrote his last
testament to the American people:
“All eyes are opened, or opening, to the rights of man. The
general spread of the light of science has already laid open to
every view the palpable truth, that the mass of mankind has not
been born with saddles on their back, nor a favored few booted
and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately, by the grace of God.
These are grounds of hope for others. For ourselves, let the
annual return of this day, forever refresh our recollections of
these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them.”
[Source: “The President,” Henry Graff.]
Fireworks
O! watch out ye children of America. The Earth Island Journal, a
quarterly publication your editor does not subscribe to, says that
the dangers of fireworks are substantial. According to the New
York Times (which is referencing this journal), aerial displays can
generate “increased levels of airborne arsenic, cadmium, mercury,
lead, copper, zinc and chromium. [I guess the mercury comes
from those ever popular exploding tuna.] Citing a Swedish
technical journal, Earth Island links airborne chemical particulates
to lung cancer and heart attacks.”
Terry Forrestal
Now this is gruesome. Forrestal was a stuntman who appeared in
flicks ranging from “Braveheart” and “Titanic,” to James Bond
pictures like “A View to a Kill” and “Octopussy.”
I said “was” because Mr. Forrestal had a nasty little spill. It was
just reported that on June 10 he died in a jumping accident in
Norway. To wit:
“Mr. Forrestal died while attempting what is known as a base
jump from the 3,000-foot Kjerag cliff in Lysefjord, Norway, The
Times of London reported. In base-jumping – an acronym
derived from Bridge, Antennae, Span, Earth – jumpers leap from a
fixed point, like the top of a building, bridge or mountain, for a
relatively short drop, using a special parachute.
“After completing seven successful jumps in Norway on an
expedition that was his own but was being documented by a
television crew, Mr. Forrestal jumped from Kjerag and landed
awkwardly on a ridge, possibly breaking his legs. Eleven hours
later, while waiting to be rescued, he apparently attempted a
second jump from the ridge using his reserve parachute, which
failed to open.” Dohh!!
What this account fails to point out is that Forrestal was also
Homer Simpson”s stunt double.
Top 3 songs for the week of 7/1/67: #1 “Windy” (The
Association) #2 “Groovin”” (The Young Rascals)
#3 “Little Bit O”Soul” (The Music Explosion).
New Jersey Bear Hunt: It”s back on! State Senate failed to
follow-up on State House bill, banning the hunt. 20% off license
fee for StocksandNews readers…actually, probably not.
Quiz Answer: Players with 170 or more RBI.
Hack Wilson, 191 (1930); Lou Gehrig, 184 (1931) 175 (1927)
174 (1930); Hank Greenberg, 183 (1937) 170 (1935);
Jimmie Foxx, 175 (1938); Chuck Klein, 170 (1930);
Babe Ruth, 171 (1921).
I guess I shouldn”t complain too much about today”s stats.
Except they show no signs of letting up!
Seriously, I wish there were more NASCAR races on Saturday
nights like this past race from Daytona. Good show.
Next Bar Chat, Wednesday…Johnny Mac”s Baseball History,
One-Hit Wonders and Giovanni da Verrazano…In other words,
you want to keep it where it is.
Bar Chat…brought to you by your
GMGoodwrenchServicePlusChevrolet team.
