NBA Quiz: Name the top 5 all-time rebounders? Answer
below.
Doctor Death
Dr. Harold Shipman, Britain”s “Doctor Death,” may now have
murdered up to 300 women from the period 1974-1998.
This past week, reports of a clinical audit of Shipman”s practice
surfaced, and it”s all quite chilling.
But first, Shipman was the general practitioner who serviced
the community of Greater Manchester. Last January, he was found
guilty of murdering 15 women, mostly elderly. Police suspected
him in about 22 other cases, but elected not to try them.
Immediately, suspicions arose over other instances of death
among his patients. An audit was thus begun, one which
discovered that 297 more patients died in his practice than in
comparable practices in the area and that there was a higher
death rate among his patients for his entire career.
What the audit has uncovered is that Shipman would win his
patients” trust through years of attention. He was known for
being one of the few to make house calls.
The audit also revealed a pattern of behavior where the women in
his care tended to collapse and die suddenly in mid-afternoon, an
unusual time of death. And Dr. Shipman was present at the
moment of death far more than is normal. Mid-afternoon was
important because that was when the patients were likely to be
on their own. Furthermore, most of the victims died between
1pm and 3pm, and on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
The victims were generally women between the ages of 75 and
84. And in last year”s trial, it was discovered that a lethal
injection of diacetylmorphine, or heroin, was Shipman”s method
of choice. Heroin is available by prescription in Britain.
Shipman would then alter medical records and persuade his
fellow doctors to co-sign dozens of cremation certificates. But
Shipman would first issue death warrants with just his signature,
never conferring with colleagues. [The British Medical
Association is now probably going to mandate that two
physicians sign each certificate in the future.]
So how the heck was Shipman able to avoid detection for so
long? Weren”t his fellow physicians curious? Shipman, after all,
signed a total of 521 death certificates. And on one of his
cremation forms he wrote the following:
“Saw patient at home, diagnosis made, arranged admission
ambulance, patient dead when went back, all within 10 minutes.”
As the audit observed, there was no noted attempt of
resuscitation! Why didn”t other doctors bring this up?
And way back in 1976, Shipman had been convicted of forging
prescriptions for his own use and was an admitted drug addict,
yet he was allowed to keep his practice.
So how did he get caught? Well, one of the reasons he was able
to avoid detection all that time was the fact that there appeared to
be no motive in any of his victim”s deaths. But that all changed
with his last case where an 81-year-old woman, who was
apparently healthy, died during his visit. The next day, the
woman”s lawyers received a revised copy of her will leaving
Shipman $600,000. It was obviously a forgery and an
investigation led to his arrest and the discovery of the other
cases.
But Shipman, who is currently serving a life sentence, refuses to
discuss his patients” deaths and continues to maintain his
innocence.
British police say that the public interest is not served by a
reopening of the case. Identities of the new potential victims are
being removed to spare the relatives, but the victims” families are
pissed and want a further prosecution.
What is the theory behind the deaths? Prosecutors are convinced
that Dr. Shipman was addicted to the sense of power he felt when
he snuffed out a life.
By the way, the last serial killer of this magnitude was
Colombian Pedro Armando Lopez, the “Monster of the Andes,”
who allegedly killed 300 young girls in Colombia, Peru, and
Ecuador in the 1960s and 70s.
[Sources: AP, Jeremy Laurance / Independent (U.K.), T.R. Reid /
Washington Post, Roland Watson / The Times (U.K.)]
Baseball and the Hall of Fame
January 16 is the day that will see the elevation of Dave Winfield
to the Hall of Fame. Beyond his selection, there are some big
question marks.
But first, just to review the procedure, 32 candidates this year are
eligible, selected by the Baseball Writers” Association of
America (BBWWA). The 32 either received at least 5% of the
ballots cast in 2000 or are first-year players selected by the
BBWWA”s screening committee.
Last year, 499 ballots were cast. To be eligible to vote,
BBWWA members must have covered Major League Baseball
for a minimum of 10 years. There are then 6 on the screening
committee, which actually prepares the ballot, and the vote of
only 2 of the 6 is necessary to nominate a player.
For the newly eligible, the player must have played 10 years and
been retired for 5 to be considered.
Now to actually get into the Hall, a player needs to receive 75%
of the votes cast. Each voting member may vote for a maximum
of 10 candidates. The selection criteria reads as follows:
“(Voting) shall be based upon the player”s record, playing
ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to
the team(s) on which the player played.”
[Before continuing, there is also a Veterans Committee,
consisting of 15 members; 5 must be former baseball players
who are members of the Hall of Fame, 5 are members of the
media, 5 others formerly connected to baseball but not from the
first two categories (such as general managers).
To be eligible for the Veterans Committee, a player must have
played 10 years, retired for at least 23 years and, for those
candidates after 1945, must have received 60% in any one prior
election, or 100 ballots up to the 1991 inductee class. There can
be only one Veterans Committee pick each year, that being the
candidate receiving the most votes from the 15 committee
members, along with being on 75% of those ballots.]
So back to today. Play along at home. Here are your choices for
2001. First year nominees are marked by an asterisk(*). For the
others, the percentage of the vote that they received in 2000 is
listed.
Steve Bedrosian*, Bert Blyleven (17%), Tom Browning*, Gary
Carter (50%), Dave Concepcion (13%), Ron Darling*, Jim
Deshaies* (yes, this is really a joke. Deshaies went 84-95 in his
career…but two guys selected him nonetheless), Steve Garvey
(32%), Kirk Gibson*, Rich Gossage (33%), Ron Guidry (9%),
Tom Henke*, Keith Hernandez (10%), Tommy John (27%),
Howard Johnson*, Jim Kaat (25%), John Kruk*, Don
Mattingly*, Jack Morris (22%), Dale Murphy (23%), Dave
Parker (21%), Lance Parrish*, Kirby Puckett*, Jim Rice (52%),
Dave Righetti*, Jose Rijo*, Dave Stewart*, Bruce Sutter (38%),
Luis Tiant (17%), Andy Van Slyke*, Lou Whitaker*, Dave
Winfield*.
Now, with the exception of Jim Deshaies, don”t get too upset at
some of the newcomers being on the ballot. They all had a few
outstanding seasons and this is their last moment in the sun.
Remember, most of them won”t be on 5% of the ballots and thus
will be ineligible next year.
So your editor has come up with the following picks, aside from
Winfield (a shoo-in based on his 465 HRs, 1,833 RBI, 3,110 hits,
7 Gold Gloves and 12 All-Star appearances).
Gary Carter (a crime that he hasn”t been selected as yet…this is
his 4th year on the ballot), Kirby Puckett (stellar career cut short
by glaucoma…but he hit .318 with over 2,100 hits, was a 10-
time All-Star, and shined in post-season play.plus an awesome
individual), and, just to shake things up here, Bert Blyleven.
Bert Blyleven? Hey, just my opinion. But what I”m most
incredulous about is the fact that Blyleven only received 17% of
the vote last year in his 3rd go round on the ballot. This is a guy
that went 287-250, playing for some awful teams, is #9 on the
all-time shutouts list with 60, had a 3.31 career ERA, and is #3
on the all-time strikeouts list! You may not think he deserves to
be in Cooperstown, but how the hell can only 17% of 499 so-
called baseball writers feel as I do?! And no, this isn”t another
Don Sutton, who I don”t feel deserves to have a plaque alongside
a Tom Seaver. [Actually, maybe it is.mused the conflicted
editor.] O.K. Now discuss amongst yourselves.
[By the way, for you Tommy John fans, he went 288-231, 3.34
ERA, with 46 shutouts. But the teams he played on were far
superior.]
Finally, for those of you not too familiar with the pattern of
voting, Jim Rice is on the ballot for the 7th time. Normally, if
you are eventually going to be voted in, there is a steady increase
in your vote over the first few years. Should Rice not receive
50% this year, his odds will have diminished considerably for
him ever being selected (except by the Veterans Committee).
I wrote the Hall of Fame the other day to find out how many
votes my main man, Dave Kingman, received his first time on
the ballot. The result ruined my week. Only 3 sportswriters
thought he was worthy! We”re talkin” Kong here. Geezuz.
[In my retirement years I”m going to do all I can to rectify this
miscarriage of justice.]
Ralph Ryder
One of 3 brothers to found the Ryder Truck Company (Ryder
Systems), Ralph died recently at the age 90.
Way back in 1933, James Ryder bought a black 1931 Model A
Ford truck for $35 to haul concrete blocks. That was all it took.
Ralph Ryder then dropped out of the University of Florida to join
his brother, buying a Ford V-8 to double the fleet. A third
brother, Harry, repaired the trucks.
By 1938, they had 15 trucks on the road, landing their first lease
account with a brewing company. [You go, boys!] By 1949,
they had transitioned to a 100% leasing operation, as opposed to
hauling others” freight, and they had 5 branches in Florida, 450
trucks, and $1 million in revenue. Then Ryder started acquiring
other truck companies, becoming Ryder Systems in 1955. The
shares of the company started trading on the NYSE in 1960.
In 1978 (47 years after its founding), James was booted out of
the chairman”s position by the board (Ryder hit $1 billion in
revenues that year) and Ralph left at the same time. James ended
up losing his fortune when he started a competitor, Jartran, which
flopped. [Source: Wolfgang Saxon / New York Times]
Stuff
–Tokyo”s main fish market had their first tuna auction of the
year, an event steeped in symbolism. So this year one giant tuna
went for a staggering (and record) $173,600. 444-lbs., $391 / lb.
Now that”s some expensive sushi.
–In Salina, Kansas last week, a man committed suicide by
jumping from a bridge overpass. But the guy crashed through
the windshield of a truck, killing the driver as well as himself.
–A friend of mine, Paul C., recently attended a game involving
the Sacramento Kings and wrote me that there is no doubt that
when he wants to be, Chris Webber is the best player in the
NBA. Well, after Webber”s performance last Friday night, it”s
tough to dispute that.
The Kings lost in overtime to the Pacers, 93-91, but Webber had
51 points (24-46 from the field) with 26 rebounds. The rest of
the Kings were only 15 of 59 in field goal attempts! You know
what, I was just thinking…Wilt Chamberlain used to do this
every night. Now muse about that!
–Johnny Mac alerted me to the story of Sherman Williams, the
former Cowboys running back who is already in jail for drug
trafficking. But this week he had to plead guilty to another
charge; passing bad money at a strip club.
Say it ain”t so, Sherm! He paid a dancer $1,000 in phony $100
bills. Hell hath no fury like a ripped-off stripper.
Top 3 songs for the week of 1/3/70: #1 “Raindrops Keep Fallin”
On My Head” (B.J. Thomas) #2 “Leaving On A Jet Plane”
(Peter, Paul and Mary) #3 “Someday We”ll Be Together” (Diana
Ross & The Supremes)
Top U.S. albums of 2000
1. No Strings Attached – ”N Sync
2. Marshall Mathers LP – Eminem
3. Oops!.I Did It Again – Britney Spears
4. Human Clay – Creed
5. Supernatural – Santana
*Les Brown died the other day at age 88. He formed his Band of
Renown way back in 1936. And, of course, he”s best known for
accompanying Bob Hope on his overseas trips, starting back in
1950.
NBA Quiz Answer: Top 5 rebounders – Wilt Chamberlain
(23,924), Bill Russell (21,620), Moses Malone (17,834), Lew
Alcindor (17,440), Artis Gilmore (16,330). #6 was Elvin Hayes
with 16,279. The role of Lew Alcindor will be played by
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Actually, I have a Lew Alcindor rookie
card. If you have one, it”s worth about $500, depending on the
condition.
Next Bar Chat, Wednesday.Bo Jackson. And Friday, our Bar
Chat classic, the story of the wolverine, and other nature tidbits.
*Yes, the editor is major-league bummed by the Wake Forest
loss to North Carolina. But let me add this, the ACC is back,
ba-bee!
