Philadelphia Eagles Quiz: 1) Last NFL championship?
2) In 1969, their 1st round draft pick was a spectacular two-way
player from the Big Ten. Who was he? 3) Most rushing yards,
career? 4) Most TDs, career? Answers below.
Baseball – 1964
I should have done this during the pennant stretch but, oh, what
the heck.
First, you have the incredible collapse of the Philadelphia
Phillies. Here were the standings on September 18, 1964:
Philadelphia 89-58
St. Louis 82-64 6.5 games back
Cincinnati 81-65 7.5
San Fran. 81-66 8.0
There were just 15 games to play and the Phillies proceeded to
go 2 and 13 the rest of the way. At the end, it looked like this.
St. Louis 93-69
Philadelphia 92-70
Cincinnati 92-70
San Fran. 90-72
Phillies manager Gene Mauch caught major heat for panicking
early in the streak and using his two star pitchers, Jim Bunning
(19-8) and Chris Short (17-9), 3 times each on just two days rest
down the stretch. The duo lost all of those games.
But it was a team effort. Twice Phillies pitchers allowed runners
to steal home. And outfielder Johnny Callison let a fly ball
bounce off his glove to allow the winning run to score in another.
One of those steals of home was by none other than Chico Ruiz.
The Cuban Ruiz was a career utility player who hit just .240
(1964-71) and is perhaps best known for once saying, “Bench me or
trade me.”
It was in the 6th inning of a scoreless game between the Phillies
and the Reds on September 21st that Ruiz, with the great Frank
Robinson at the plate, stole home without orders to do so.
[Robinson could have taken his head off.] That was the only run
in the game and it was the start of a killer 10-game losing streak
for the Phillies. [*Ruiz died in a 1972 car crash.]
Over in the American League, in August of 1964 the Yankees
went to Comiskey Park in Chicago for a 4 game series with the
White Sox. The Sox swept them and took over 1st place.
On the bus to O”Hare Airport, Yankees utility infielder Phil Linz
pulled out his recently purchased harmonica and played “Mary
Had a Little Lamb.”
Well, rookie manager Yogi Berra, riding in the front of the bus,
was none too pleased.
“Knock it off,” yelled Yogi. “You lose 4 straight and act like we
won the pennant.”
Linz, who did not hear Berra, turned to Mickey Mantle and asked
what the manager had said.
Mantle, without missing a beat, told Linz, “He said to play
louder.”
So Linz resumed his recital and a now furious Berra stormed
back and said, “Shove that thing up your a–!”
Berra then knocked the harmonica out of Linz”s hand,
whereupon it hit Joe Pepitone in the knee, prompting Pepitone to
scream out in mock pain. Everybody was laughing but Yogi.
Berra fined Linz $250 on the spot, quite a sum for a utility player
back then. But Linz had the last laugh as he scored a $10,000
endorsement contract from Hohner Harmonica. [I saw two #”s;
$5,000 and $20,000…so I just invented a third.]
But the Yankees ended up going 22-8 the rest of the way and
secured the pennant. They then, however, lost the Series 4
games to 3 to St. Louis. Linz, subbing for the injured Tony
Kubek, did hit 2 home runs. [For his career he had just 11 in
1372 at-bats.]
Belgrade
I saw this AP report on Sunday which should remind those who
think all is well, now that Slobodan Milosevic is out, that
they are mistaken.
“Thirty-five fans and two policemen were injured after a massive
fistfight broke out at Belgrade”s main soccer stadium minutes
after the match began between Yugoslavia”s two main teams,
Red Star and Partizan. Just three minutes after the Yugoslav
Championship match began, flares were fired from a section
occupied by Partizan fans, followed by a stampede onto the field.
Red Star fans then began throwing rocks and bottles against the
rival group.” Many were taken away on stretchers.
What the report failed to say is that the two teams are
representatives of basically the hardliners and the opposition
groups in the country. Red Star was Slobo”s team, the gangsters.
Casey Martin
As you may recall, this is the golfer who, because of a
degenerative disease in one of his legs, is allowed to take a cart
while playing a PGA Tour event.
But Martin, entering this week, was in danger of losing his tour
card and, now, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the Tour”s
appeal. And to cap off matters, after last week”s tournament at
Kingsmill, where he had missed the cut by a shot, he jumped a
fence to avoid autograph seekers and injured his good leg.
I”m with the tour, take away the cart.
Me
So on Saturday I fly to Oklahoma City, by way of Houston, and
in the Houston airport I quaffed an ale before my connection.
Well, it just so happens the guy next to me mentioned that he had
already had a real long day, having started in Anchorage. “My
flight was initially aborted because of wolves,” said he.
“Wolves?” said I, immediately thinking of my nature expert,
Harry K. from Canada. Yup, some wolves appeared on the
runway as the pilot started to accelerate and he stopped before
hitting them.
When I arrived in Oklahoma, it was the beginning of the second
half of the Oklahoma – Kansas State football game, a huge event
for the locals. You see, the quality of OU football has been
nowhere near the days of yore but suddenly they were #8 and
facing #2 KSU. A good time was had by all as OU prevailed
41-31. This place was fired up. Great to see.
And I have to add this. The people of Oklahoma City have to be
the nicest I”ve ever met in my life (next to my relatives in
western Pennsylvania, of course).
Duke – Wake Forest
Yes, sports fans, I have lots of tickets for the November 4th game
between these two super football teams. Any takers?
[Actually, they”re without a doubt the two worst teams in the
nation this year, both winless. But don”t tell anyone. I really
would like to unload these.]
Top 3 songs for the week of 10/16/65: #1 “Yesterday” (The
Beatles) #2 “Treat Her Right” (Roy Head) #3 “Hang On
Sloopy” (The McCoys)
*Baha Men”s “Who Let The Dogs Out” is now #10 on the
Billboard album chart. Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof.
Eagles Quiz Answers: 1) 1960. 2) Leroy Keyes (Purdue). As a
rookie in 1969, he rushed for 361 yards and caught 29 passes.
Then he was turned into a defensive back and intercepted 8
passes between 1971 and ”72. But by 1974, he was out of
football. 3) Wilbert Montgomery, 6,538 yards. 4) Harold
Carmichael scored 79 TDs.
I went to a great barbecue place today in OKC, “County Line,”
where I also had a few Shiner Bock”s. What a great beer! That”s
Shiner Bock, brewed by Spoetzl Brewery, Shiner, TX.
Next Bar Chat, Wednesday. Ooooo-klahoma…
