Baseball Quiz: 5 players have had 8 or more 200-hit seasons.
One is Willie Keeler (who played 1892-1910, so I”m giving you a
break.though I shouldn”t). Name the other 4, all post-1920
players. Answer below.
Robert F. Kennedy…1964
“For Republicans, their issue is she”s a carpetbagger. My issue is,
what”s in the bag?”
–Al Sharpton
Sharpton made this comment last fall after Hillary Clinton first
announced she was interested in the New York Senate seat.
But she”s not the first to make a run for the Senate in New York
without first being a true resident. RFK, Robert F. Kennedy, did
so in 1964. I have been holding onto this story since last October
and now is as good a time as any. [Don”t worry, Hillary fans.
This has nothing to do with her. It”s just basic political history.]
In an article in the October 1999 issue of American Heritage,
Kevin Baker writes that by 1964, the recent death of JFK had
given Americans a small idea of the potential of Bobby Kennedy.
Baker: “During the brief zenith of his career, Robert
Kennedy was a sort of combination rock star, saint, and
existential hero. His appeal was almost frightening for a
democracy, freighted as it was with so many quasi-mystical,
inchoate longings: for his murdered brother, for glamour and
power, for a restored, reunified America.”
Incredible as it might seem, it wasn”t until August 1964 that
Kennedy”s future took the turn that it did. Appearing at the
Democratic National Convention, he introduced a film tribute to
his brother, received a teary, ecstatic ovation that went on for
sixteen minutes, and then proceeded to give an emotional speech.
Bobby was only 38-years-old. He was still Attorney General but
his relationship with President Johnson was rather strained, to say
the least. So he decided to go for the New York Senate seat
occupied by Republican Kenneth Keating.
Actually, Kennedy had spent as much time at the family”s
Riverdale, NY estate as he had at Hyannis Port or Virginia, for
that matter, so it wasn”t totally outrageous that he should choose
to run for the Senate from the Empire State. And New York”s
demoralized Democratic leaders were looking for someone to
take on the surging Rockefeller Republicans.
Kennedy fended off the carpetbagger comments with his usual
wit. Advisors told him to end his speeches, “Ich bin ein New
Yorker.”
And so, just ten weeks before the election, he declared his
intentions on August 26. [Gosh, I wish our campaigns were like
this today.] On September 1, polls showed him leading Keating.
Now Keating was no slouch. 64, dignified, a veteran of World
War”s I and II, Harvard Law grad, he had served six terms in the
House before winning the Senate seat in 1958. He then
established a solid record in the Senate as a domestic liberal and a
staunch Cold Warrior.
And does this sound familiar? “I welcome Robert Kennedy to
New York,” said Keating. “Indeed, as his Senator, I would be
happy to furnish him a guidebook, road map, and any other useful
literature about the Empire State which any sojourner would find
helpful.”
Keating then proceeded to attack Kennedy”s carpetbagger status
at every opportunity. Liberals such as Gore Vidal, I.F. Stone,
James Baldwin, and Paul Newman (pre-Newman”s pasta sauce
days) endorsed the Republican Keating. Even The New York
Times ripped RFK.
By October, Keating had a small lead. But his campaign was
being drawn into that of Barry Goldwater. Keating needed to
maintain his liberal support so he refused to endorse him.
The GOP was split and Keating”s campaign was undermined.
The prospect of victory drove President Johnson, himself, to
campaign for two days in New York with Bobby. As Baker
relates, LBJ kept grabbing RFK to his chest, going, “This ma boy.
I want you to elect ma boy.” RFK put up with it.
Kennedy surged back into the lead by mid-October. Keating
demanded a debate, RFK refused. Keating then bought 30
minutes on WCBS-TV for 7:30 p.m. on October 27 and
announced that if RFK didn”t show up, Keating and New York”s
other senator, Republican Jacob Javits, would spend half an hour
debating an empty chair.
But RFK bought 30 minutes on WCBS himself for 8:00 p.m.
Then at about 7:25, he showed up at Keating”s studio with a large
group of reporters and announced that he was ready to debate.
A brilliant maneuver, and Keating didn”t handle it well. His
handlers refused to let Kennedy into the studio, so Keating and
Javits debated the empty chair. But photographers were taking
pictures of Bobby staring at a sign that said “Please Keep Out.”
When the debate was over, Keating fled and Kennedy proceeded
to use his 30 minutes of airtime to relate to viewers what had just
happened, telling them, “I just don”t believe that”s the kind of
politics we want in New York.”
The two of them did end up debating that night, on the radio,
from 11:00 to 12:30 a.m. It obviously didn”t have the same
impact as the television forum would have. But, more
importantly, something else happened that night in New York.
A small-time hood known as Murph the Surf broke into the
Museum of Natural History and walked away with the
spectacular sapphire known as the Star of India. The radio
debate was pushed into the back pages of the next day”s newspapers.
On election day, Kennedy won by 720,000 votes. [LBJ”s margin
in New York state was nearly 2 million.]
The night Kennedy was sworn in, he showed his humorous side in
addressing the Women”s National Press Club. “First of all, I want
to say how delighted I am to be here representing the great state
of.ah.ah.”
Baseball Commission
A four-man independent panel has released an 87-page report on
the future of baseball to Commissioner Bud Selig. The panel was
comprised of former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, Yale
President Richard Levin, former Federal Reserve chairman Paul
Volcker and journalist-commentator George Will.
Selig said, “We”ve never had a report like this. I was struck when
I read it for the first time at the power of it.”
Among the commission”s recommendations were:
–The league share 40 to 50 percent of member clubs” local
profits among one another;
–The league levy a 50-percent tax on club payrolls that exceed
$84 million while encouraging clubs to have a minimum payroll of
$40 million;
–Creation of a “commissioner”s pool” from baseball”s central
fund to assist low-revenue clubs;
–Conduct an annual “competitive balance draft” in which the
weakest eight clubs would have an opportunity to select
nonroster players from the organizations that qualified for the
playoffs. [I like this one.]
In addition, on Friday, baseball”s owners voted to put off
realignment until at least 2002 and return to an unbalanced
schedule in which teams play more games against division rivals.
But the two biggest recommendations were that (1) teams should
be allowed to relocate. [No team has done so since the
Washington Senators moved to Texas after the 1971
season.don”t you feel old?!]
And (2) Paul Volcker held out the possibility that some teams
could fail and the number of teams would drop. Oh please, please
were that to become fact!!! While Volcker said that teams that
can”t make it from an economic standpoint should be looked at as
relocation candidates, it should not be one of the first options.
Specifically, we are talking about the Expos, Twins, A”s, Marlins,
and the Devil Rays. We could take a major first step in slowing
the power barrage if we simply eliminated two teams in 2002.
Then I”d eliminate another two in 2004. Then I”d…
[Source: Thomas Heath / Washington Post]
Gil Hodges Jr…He”s in a heap of trouble.
Thanks to J Mac for passing along this story from last week.
It seems that the grandson of Dodgers and Mets great Gil Hodges
really screwed up. Gil Hodges Jr. went out drinking with his best
friend, Lance Marino, in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn.
The two friends were getting hammered at the North Side Cafe
when they decided to have a little drunken fun. Marino stretched
out on the roof of Hodges” car and they took off. After about a
mile, Marino fell off the roof, hit his head and died at the scene.
Marino, 27, (Hodges is 26) was wearing a $68,000 Rolex and had
thousands of dollars on him. Do you get the picture as to why
Hodges may be in a little trouble?
You see, not only did Hodges blow a 0.19 on the ol” breathalyzer
(way over the legal limit) but he is now also responsible for the
death of one Lance Marino, a reputed associate in a crew of the
Luchese crime family.
Said one investigator, “The question now is: Is Gil Hodges Jr. a
dead man walking?”
The Sopranos have themselves another script.
[Source: The New York Post]
Big Brother
So I reported on my impressions from Day One of “Big Brother,”
the CBS TV show, in the 7/7 edition of Bar Chat. I caught a little
last week to see how I was doing. Not bad.
Karen, the mother, has been slamming her husband Tom. I wrote
on 7/7 that Tom was ready to kill her.not a bad comment on my
part, eh? [Yes, you have to be watching the program to care
about all of this.]
And I wrote on 7/7 about William, “He is a youth director. Don”t
let that fool you.” I also labeled him a “pompous ass.” Right on,
Mr. Editor. (On Thursday, either William or Jordan will be
banished). But, of more interest is the fact that William is really a
follower of Khalid Muhammad, the ugly racist who now leads a
group called the New Black Panther Party. The Daily News first
reported on this and CBS has a little egg on their face. They
trusted that William really was a “youth director.” This is one
ugly dude who is suddenly among the most hated individuals in
America.
Where have I been wrong? George. Boy, I blew that one.
I did say that Josh or Cassandra would win. I”ll stick with these
choices.
And it”s also apparent that the only night worth tuning in for is
probably Thursday. Banishment day.
Top 3 songs for the week of 7/20/74: #1 “Rock Your Baby”
(George McRae) #2 “Annie”s Song” (John Denver) #3 “Rock
And Roll Heaven” (Righteous Brothers…Editor says?…Underrated).
Jack Jones
The following comment is a little “inside.” You see, despite my
preference for 60s music, I love Jack Jones and consider him to
be one of the underrated singers of the century. Right now I”m
listening to Jones” “The Gershwin Album.” It”s brilliant. Now
this will really upset my brother…our “Lamb in Command”
creator. Let”s listen in as he reads this…… “Aaghhhhhh!”
Quiz Answer: Other four players who have had 8 or more 200-
hit seasons; Pete Rose (10), Ty Cobb (9), Lou Gehrig and Paul
Waner (8).
*1909 Honus Wagner baseball card went for $1.1mm this week.
Next Bar Chat, Wednesday…One-Hit Wonders and J Mac.
