Baseball Quiz: 1) Who was the last NL batter to drive in 160 or
more runs in a single season? 2) What two AL teammates tied
for the league lead in RBI with 159 in 1949? [Hint: Not
Yankees.] Answers below.
Mario Andretti, Part II
In 1967, Mario decided to give NASCAR a shot (back then it
was the Grand National championship they were driving for) and
he hooked up with the Holman-Moody racing team, which was
the racing laboratory, so to speak, for the Ford Motor Company.
John Holman and Ralph Moody are legends of NASCAR. At
one point, greats like Cale Yarborough, Junior Johnson, Bobby
Allison, Fireball Roberts and David Pearson all drove for them.
There was a time when Holman-Moody built, staffed, and
provided pit crews for 6 different teams. The fact that the two
thoroughly despised each other didn”t seem to matter that much.
Ford asked them in 1967 if they thought Andretti could win at
NASCAR. Mario was making a name for himself on the USAC
(Indy Car) circuit, but Holman and Moody thought it would
take Andretti a lot of time to win at their level. Enter Jake Elder.
Elder was a welder (sorry, I can”t improve on this) who in 1960
heard that Richard Petty was looking for someone with his
skills. Petty then hired him for $97 a week, big money for Elder
at the time. Jake then proceeded to become one of the great “set
up” men in the business; responsible for getting all facets of a
race car together, a complicated task since each racer has to be
tailored to the individual driver. Elder had joined Holman-
Moody in ”65 and they assigned him the task of getting Mario
prepared for the Daytona 500.
“To get Mario ready…we had to change 5 or 6 motors in about 8
days,” said Elder. “They weren”t running. Mario at that time
wasn”t so bright about what was going on in NASCAR.”
What was going on was the fact that the best motors went to John
Holman”s top drivers, who were Freddie Lorenzen and Dick
Hutcherson at the time. Holman and Moody both thought they”d
just give Mario an average car and see what he could do. In the
preliminary races, Mario didn”t fare too well.
A few days before the big race, Andretti approached Elder. “I
want to tell you something,” said Mario. “I got to looking at
Fred”s motor and Hutch”s motor. There is something different.
and I can”t figure out what it is.”
When he didn”t get a satisfactory response, Andretti went over
the heads of Holman and Moody, straight to Ford Motor. They
shipped down a new motor from Charlotte to Daytona. Elder
recalls it was real complicated setting it up (you have to change
all the lines, filters, etc.).
At the time the leaders were running at 180 mph. Hutcherson
told Mario that he couldn”t run that speed. Mario did in practice.
Then he ran 181.5 during the actual race, led 79 of the 200 laps,
and won.
Car owner Moody, who drove with Mario before the race to
show him the proper line to take on the track, recalled the day of
the 500.
“He poked his ass in that thing, and he was gone.” [Andretti ran
out of gas twice during the race, hitting the hill and then coasting
into the pits to refuel.] “(Then) he”d get way behind, and he
(still) just blew them all away again. First shot he was ever
there. Tell me he can”t drive a race car.”
[Sources: Peter Golenbock”s “American Zoom” and “The Last Lap.”]
Animal Chat
There are two main sanctuaries left in Africa for the mountain
gorilla. At one of them in the Congo, the population is being
ravaged by the civil war in the region. Hundreds of the estimated
2,000 gorillas have been killed for food (as well as all the
elephants).
But the situation in the other park in Rwanda, despite being near
the military action as well, has fared much better with the
gorilla population actually rising over the past 10 years from
324 to 358. One of the big differences is that the park rangers
who protect the animals from soldiers and poachers are paid
regularly. Thus, they take pride in their work and have grown
attached to them.
And after a lull following the deaths of 8 tourists back in 1998,
some tourism has resumed, which brings needed money into the
park system.
But in Tanzania, they are having problems with the population of
the rare black rhino. In one sanctuary, 7 of 17 have died recently
of disease. Said the conservator, “We don”t know the source of
the deaths, but early samples indicate that it is babesiosis.”
So the editor is sitting here, at the keyboard, wondering what to
do with the term “babesiosis.” He could attempt something
witty, but inevitably it would offend a portion of his female
readership, so he decides to say nothing; left alone to muse of
what might have been. [Actually, the editor has nothing even
remotely humorous to add.]
Then there are the New Jersey seals. It turns out that several
species have chosen to winter on the Jersey Shore. Normally,
these folks migrate from the Arctic to Canada or New England,
but with their population booming and the food stock
increasingly depleted, they have come to New Jersey, the global
headquarters for StocksandNews and all the information they
need to become more well-rounded mammals.
Now I wouldn”t be writing about this recent development unless
there was something out of the ordinary here. For starters, don”t
confuse the 5 different species now found in New Jersey with the
sea lions of circus fame. No sirree, Sammy, these are KILLER
SEALS! At least they are capable of being so. Said one Jersey
conservation official, “They are very cute, but in an instant
they”ll bite your face off.”
Wohh…actually, the hooded seal can get to 8.5 feet in length and
weigh up to 900 pounds. But the most dangerous is the 750-
pound gray seal, which has an aggressive disposition. Aside
from the fact that a seal skull is like a dog”s, they also have
canine type teeth. And a bite from one is very infectious because
of the high levels of bacteria the seal has in its mouth.
So we have just fulfilled our monthly public safety requirement,
as mandated by the Federal Web Site Administration. And one
other thing, never stand between a gray seal and the ocean – its
escape route. You will be attacked and shredded to pieces.
[Source: Star-Ledger / Ana Ayala]
In about 2 weeks, the 1,000 or so New Jersey black bears should
be emerging from hibernation, hopefully supplying us with non-
stop action.
Stupid Human Trick
Johnny Mac passed along this tale from Australia (and Reuters).
It seems that a motorist drove into a gas station near Queensland
the other day and began filling a “jerry” can with gasoline. Well,
our chap was apparently rather drunk and smoking a cigarette
when it was accidentally dropped into the gas.
“The petrol exploded, his car burst into flames and the man was
blown 15 feet through the air, crashing to earth on a nest of angry
ants.”
A police spokesman told Reuters, “He suffered a few small burns
and some ant bites. We took a vote and this is one of the
stupidest things we”ve ever heard of.” Good thing he wasn”t
blown onto a gray seal.
Top 3 songs for the week of 3/8/69: #1 “Everyday People” (Sly
& The Family Stone) #2 “Proud Mary” (Creedence Clearwater
Revival) #3 “Build Me Up Buttercup” (The Foundations)
Baseball Quiz Answers: 1) Hack Wilson is still the last NL
batter to drive in 160 or more in a single season when he had his
record 191 in 1930 for the Cubs. 2) In 1949, Red Sox teammates
Ted Williams and Vern Stephens each drove in 159. Williams
and Stephens also combined for 82 of the Sox 131 homers that
year (Williams with 43, Stephens 39). [Williams also had 162
walks to go along with his .343 average, so his on-base average
was something like .490.] But the Red Sox finished 2nd to the
Yankees…one game back.
Next Bar Chat, Friday. I just noticed that it is “Women”s History
Month,” a good time to profile…Gertrude Ederle.
