A.L. MVP Quiz: Oakland”s Jason Giambi was recently named
MVP for 2000. 1) Since 1960, what player won the A.L. MVP
with less than 70 RBIs? 2) Also since 1960, what two players
won the A.L. award for seasons in which they hit 50 or more
homers? Answers below.
LBJ and Nixon
With all the talk of ballot irregularities in Florida these days, I
thought we”d take a quick look at two other elections.
Lyndon Johnson earned the nickname “Landslide Lyndon” for his
1948 Senatorial race in which he won a key primary fight by a
mere 87 votes. At least that was the reading of the final count.
But there”s a lot more to the story. Back then, Johnson, who had
been in the House since 1937, decided to forego his congressional
seat for a run at the Senate. Texas was a largely Democratic state
and winning the primary was tantamount to taking it all. LBJ”s
main primary opponent was former Governor Coke Stevenson.
The results of the July 24 primary showed Stevenson with a
71,000 vote lead over Johnson out of 1 million cast, roughly a 40-
34 percent advantage. Since Stevenson hadn”t captured 50%, he
was forced into a runoff with LBJ.
The morning after the runoff, Johnson was behind again, this time
by 854 votes. After several days of recounts, and vote-buying,
the margin was reduced to 150. The New York Times” Sam
Howe Verhovek picks up the story.
“And then, a miracle – by some accounts, or a gargantuan fraud
by others. Box 13 in Alice, a town in a South Texas county ruled
by a party boss named George Parr, produced a previously
unreported 202 votes. They went overwhelmingly for Mr.
Johnson, and (coupled with votes from other places that
materialized) he was the winner by 87.”
An inquiry was held but Johnson was able to get the Texas
Democratic Party”s executive committee, and the courts, to
certify him as the winner.
It was later discovered that those last 202 names were listed in
alphabetical order, with identical handwriting. Some of those
listed said they hadn”t voted.
In a twist that has echoes of today, and no one seems to be
mentioning this yet, Johnson had crony Abe Fortas get the
election up to the U.S. Supreme Court, where an associate
justice, Hugo Black, ruled that the “federal government had no
right to interfere in a state election.”
This is what the Johnson camp wanted because it meant that the
Democratic committee”s decision in favor of LBJ would stand.
So LBJ went off to the Senate where he quickly became a force,
with the rest being history. But was he ever bothered by his
methods? Verhovek reports.
“I don”t think it ever bothered Lyndon Johnson,” said 87-year-old
J.J. Pickle, a campaign aide who later took over Johnson”s House
seat where he served for 32 years. “He won, and he set out right
away to become comfortable in the Senate and believe you me, he
did. As far as he was concerned, it was done. He said, ”Well,
that”s settled, now let”s get down to business.””
You can see how LBJ could have played a huge role in the
election shenanigans of 1960 in his home state when Vice
President Nixon lost by only 46,000 votes there.
And speaking of 1960, while I have written extensively of the
JFK-Nixon race in previous Bar Chats (see the archives), I have
to add a note I picked up from an article by Peter Carlson in the
Washington Post.
In my pieces I mentioned that the New York Herald Tribune was
running a 12-part series shortly after the election, detailing the
fraud in Illinois and Texas, in particular, that may have thrown the
race to Kennedy. After four parts of the series had run, Nixon
called up management and asked them to pull the remaining
pieces, since it didn”t serve any purpose to continue.
What I didn”t know is that the chief reporter for the series was
Earl Mazo, a Washington-based national correspondent for the
Herald Tribune, who was encouraged by reporter friends in
Chicago and elsewhere to check out the fraud stories. Mazo told
Carlson, “They were chastising me, (saying), you national
reporters, you”re missing the story. Why don”t you come out and
look?”
So Mazo went out to Chicago, where he obtained voter lists in
various precincts that seemed suspicious. As reported to Carlson.
“There was a cemetery where the names on the tombstones were
registered and voted,” he recalled. “I remember a house. It was
completely gutted. There was nobody there. But there were 56
votes for Kennedy in that house.” [In the interest of fair play,
your Republican editor has to admit that Mazo also found some
instances of tampering in Southern Illinois for the Republicans,
but on nowhere near the scale of Chicago or Texas.]
Emil Zatopek
Perhaps the greatest distance runner of all time died last week at
the age of 78. Zatopek was a Czech cult hero, setting 18 world
records in distances ranging from the 5,000 to the marathon. He
was the first to run 10,000-meters under 29 minutes and he won
his first gold medal at the ”48 London Games.
But it was during the ”52 Games in Helsinki that he achieved true
hero status as he won gold in the 5,000m, 10,000m, and the
marathon, a feat no one had accomplished, nor has anyone since.
Zatopek was also known for his training regimen which was quite
controversial at the time. For instance, he was the first distance
runner to incorporate interval training, running dozens of 200 and
400-meters at full speed to improve his explosiveness and
stamina. He would also train in combat boots, run in place in the
bathtub, and run as far as he could while holding his breath (to
build lung capacity).
But during the 1960s, Zatopek, who was an officer in the Czech
Army, fell out of favor with the Communist government for his
support of the Prague Spring. He was sent to work in a uranium
mine for 6 years as punishment.
Drinking and Golf
Dave Kindred had a piece in the current issue of Golf Digest
discussing how the sport of golf institutionalizes drinking, from
10th-tee halfway houses, to beer carts, to the 19th hole. Of course
much of this is changing…and probably for the best. [Your
editor”s already shaky game goes completely to pot when he
drinks just one beer on the course.] But while we don”t condone
boorish behavior here at Bar Chat, it is somewhat amusing to
look back on the legends of the game and how they acted at
times.
For example, there was Walter Hagen, who once was out all night
with Al Jolson before the last round of a tournament, hired a
limousine, changed from his tux to his plus fours en route and
then stepped lightly to the first tee. He won, of course.
Sam Snead has written that “players floated around barrooms at
night trying to kiss the bartender good night, because they
couldn”t tell him from their girlfriends.”
Playboy Doug Sanders was once asked to describe a player”s
party. “I don”t know how much wine we drank, but we had to
empty the trash twice just to get rid of the corks.”
And, of course, there is Roger Maltbie, a rather legendary
guzzler, who once lost his $40,000 winner”s check inside a bar.
Maltbie adds that he knew more than one player who imbibed
during a round to settle the nerves.
Broadcaster Peter Alliss, who was an excellent player in his day
as well, remembered a morning in France when Irish legend
Christy O”Connor, known to be “a man of iron constitution,”
strolled to the first tee in evening dress, attended by a waiter
bearing a tray of black coffee. “Alas, you couldn”t get away with
that today,” says Alliss.
No, today”s golfers are much more responsible and with the
money that is out there they have more of an incentive to stay in
great shape, and off the sauce.
Potpourri For $20
–During last season”s NBA Championship Finals, I must say I
finally came to appreciate Shaquille O”Neal. Forget basketball,
he”s a good man in many respects. And his legendary generosity
continues to grow as reported by the Lakers 1st-round pick, Mark
Madsen.
When Madsen was drafted, Shaq called him up and insisted that
they go shopping. He proceeded to drop $2,500 on clothes for
the rookie, saying, “Madsen, you”re a rookie in the league. I”m
going to take you out this time and then you”re on your own.
More than anything, I”m helping you out with your fashion
sense.” Also, during this fall”s pre-season camp, Shaq purchased
22 Rolex watches for every guy on the team, even those about to
be cut.
–During the filming of “The Wizard of Oz,” the Munchkins were
paid $50 a week, Toto earned $125.
–Yankees manager Joe Torre will make $3 million in 2001. He
wants $5 million for 2002. Look for Steinbrenner to say, “See
ya,” and hand the job to Lee Mazzilli next fall.
–It was great to see Detroit Lions tight end Charlie Sanders
during the Thanksgiving game. So I had to look up Charlie”s
stats, as he was one of the first modern players at his position.
At 6”4″ and 225 lbs., Sanders could also motor with the ball.
Anyway, for his 10 years in Detroit he caught 336 passes for a
14.3 avg. and 31 TDs.
–Temple basketball coach John Chaney on the firing of close
friend Bobby Knight. “I”ve put my hands on kids a thousand
times; I”ve used profanity. I once choked John Calipari, when we
were coaching against each other.”
–Ichiro Suzuki has just signed a contract to play for the Seattle
Mariners. Suzuki will thus become the first Japanese position
player to play in the major leagues. He has won 7 straight batting
titles in Japan”s Pacific League, hitting .387 last year, and has a
career average of .353. Suzuki, an outfielder, has great speed and
some pop. In addition, in 1997 he went 216 consecutive at-bats
without striking out!
Suzuki picked Seattle because of its large Japanese community
and the Mariners already have closer Kazuhiro Sasaki. Plus, the
Mariners are owned by the Japanese chairman of Nintendo Japan.
Top 3 songs for the week of 11/24/62: #1 “Big Girls Don”t Cry”
(The 4 Seasons) #2 “Return To Sender” (Elvis Presley.#2 for 5
straight weeks to Frankie Valli”s tune) #3 “All Alone Am I”
(Brenda Lee…great song).
MVP Quiz Answers: 1) Rickey Henderson won in 1990 while
playing for Oakland, a season in which he had 28 HRs, 61 RBIs,
and 119 runs scored to go along with his .325 BA. 2) Roger
Maris was MVP in 1961 for his 61-homer year. Ken Griffey, Jr.,
won in 1997, a year in which he hit 56 HRs.
San Francisco”s Barry Bonds continues to wonder why he is so
unloved among all baseball people. So he went to former
teammate Shawon Dunston, a player he respects, to ask for his
opinion. “Because you”re a (jerk),” said Dunston. [David
Waldenstein / Star-Ledger]
Next Bar Chat, Wednesday.Marbury vs. Madison. [And that”s
not Stephon Marbury.]
