Baseball Quiz: 1) All time batting average for a pinch hitter,
season (minimum 35 at bats)? [Hint: He is a Met or Yankee.]
2) Lowest career batting average for a pinch hitter (300 at bats)?
[Hint: He spent a good part of his career with the Mets.] 3) Who
led the most times in the Triple Crown departments? i.e., home
runs, RBI, and batting average. Answers below.
Tiger
After his performance at the Memorial this past weekend, his 21st
PGA Tour victory in his last 51 starts (!), his competitors had the
following comments.
Paul Azinger: “He”s probably the most dominant athlete in the
history of sports. It”s incredible. I don”t know if the general
public appreciates it. If they don”t, they should.”
John Cook: “He”s so in control of what he does, he doesn”t care
what anybody else does.” [To me, that”s what comes through so
vividly.]
Tiger, himself: “I”m amazed by some of the shots I was able to
pull off this week. I hit the ball flush and high and the shape that
I wanted. If I wanted to step up there and hit a 2-iron 250 yards
in the air, I was able to do it. I did it consistently. That, to me, is
kind of cool.” [That, to me, is friggin” scary as hell.]
Yup, as Jim Nantz brought up all weekend (and Nicklaus
confirmed), the whole tour is totally psyched out. He”ll win the
Open by 5.the official StocksandNews prediction. [Then the
British Open by 6, the PGA by 4, 2002”s Masters by 12, the 2002
Open by 3, the 2002 British Open by 2, the 2002 PGA by 17, the
2003 Masters by 19, the 2003 U.S. Open by 14…at this point 48
tour players have committed hari kari.]
Another Bear Attack
Thanks to Harry K. for passing along the latest tragedy
concerning Canada”s bears and their attempt to take over the
country. It seems that an 18-year-old lad by the name of Kyle
Harry (no relation to Harry K…or is there?!) was camping with a
14-year-old girl (hmmm) near Yellowknife in the Northwest
Territories.
According to Shawn Ohler in the Edmonton Journal, “Kyle and
his companion first spotted the black bear as it entered a clearing
about 60 meters from their campsite. The teens then quickly
gathered their food and hid with it in their tent.”
So the two are sitting in there when they decide that after awhile
the bear must have left. The coroner picks up the story.
“When they exited the tent, the bear was right there – within 20
feet – so they fled. The bear could only chase one person, so it
chased Mr. Harry.”
Well, what does the girl do? She escaped up the ridge, only to
turn around and see the bear chomping on Kyle”s legs. He
screamed at her to get help, which she does. Only the idiot flags
down a vehicle on a nearby highway and gets whisked away to
the hospital for a little scratch, leaving behind her boyfriend
(who had undoubtedly saved up for 3 years to take her on this
camping expedition) to die.
WARNING: If you are under 18 years of age, you are not
permitted to continue, as the language is quite graphic and
unsuitable for minors. Click on the <*> below to exit.
<*>…Yes, Mr. Bar Chat, I agree I”m under 18 and will now exit
this site to check out Bloomberg.
Reporter Ohler continues with the story. “Wildlife officers and
police found Mr. Harry”s body 50 meters from his campsite, with
the bear feeding on him. An officer shot at the bear and hit it in
the neck, but the animal escaped.”
The coroner said that it was an aggressive attack. But here is the
StocksandNews safety tip of the month, from said coroner.
“My understanding is that if you try to run from a bear, it can
motivate the bear into a predatory stance,” he said.
That”s right, Mr. Coroner. Always try to make yourself as big as
possible, just like they do in the Holiday Inn Express
commercial.
Folks, to end on an even more serious note, this killer bear is still
loose. Readers in Ghana probably have nothing to fear, though
you certainly have your own problems, but those north of Fargo,
ND should take extra precautions.
Baseball Tidbits
Time to play a little catch up on the season.
June 9,1906: The N.L. Boston Beaneaters ended a 20-game
losing streak. They finished the season at 49-102 (the Red Sox
were 49-105 that season), but the Beaneaters pitching staff still
completed 137 of 152 starts (most in baseball) for a 3.18 ERA.
1907: Boston Red Sox manager Chick Stahl, who took over at
the end of the ”06 campaign and went 5-13, committed suicide
by swallowing poison shortly before the ”07 season was to begin.
As a player, Stahl played 10 years and had a .307 average with
1552 hits.
June 11, 1911: Tigers come back from a 13-1 deficit to beat
Chicago 16-15. That season, Ty Cobb hit .420 for Detroit with
248 hits, 24 triples, 127 RBI, 83 stolen bases, and 147 runs
scored in 146 games.
June 13, 1912: Christy Mathewson got his 300th win.
June 13, 1915: Bruno Haas debuted for the Athletics against New
York and walked 16 batters in 9 innings. He ended up walking
28 in his 14 innings of work that season, his only one in the big
leagues. In 1921 he played a few games with Akron in the NFL.
June 1, 1918: The White Sox loaded the bases with no outs in the
9th, trailing the Yankees by one run. Chick Gandil hit a liner to
Frank Baker at third base that became a game-ending triple play.
Dohh!
June 12, 1925: Giants turn bizarre triple play, 6-2-5-9-4-3;
shortstop to catcher to third to right fielder to second baseman to
first baseman.
June 2, 1928: Phillies hit 3 pinch-hit home runs against St. Louis.
For the season, however, they go 43-109 with only 85 homers
overall.
June 15-16, 1935: Senators” outfielder John Stone collects 12
hits over 3 games. I have to tell you, I never heard of John
“Rocky” Stone, but in 11 seasons with Detroit and Washington,
he hit .310 with 1391 hits.
June 8, 1950: Red Sox beat St. Louis Browns 29-4. Among their
28 hits are 3 home runs from Bobby Doerr and two each from
Ted Williams and Walt Dropo. That season, the Red Sox hit
.302 as a team, scoring 1027 runs in 154 games, but they still just
finished 3rd at 94-60, behind Detroit (95-59) and the Yankees
(98-56).
Anthony Quinn
Quinn”s story is a classic American tale, with a twist. Born in
Chihuahua, Mexico, he was taken across the border when he was
an infant by his mother. His father, who had fought in Pancho
Villa”s forces, joined them shortly thereafter and they settled in
Los Angeles.
For his first speaking part, Quinn convinced Cecil B. DeMille
that he was really an Indian for his role as a Cheyenne warrior in
“Plainsman.” Over his career, the Mexican played a Filipino, a
Libyan, a Spaniard, various American Indians, a Chinese
warrior, Algerian peasant, a Basque, a Colombian and lots of
Italians. He was also an Eskimo and a Russian pope.
Commented Quinn on his long career, “I think I”m lucky. I was
born with very little talent but great drive.”
But Anthony Quinn was also the role model for today”s NBA
stars, as he fathered 13 children by 5 women! One of his kids
drowned in W.C. Fields”s swimming pool.
David Manning
So how about Sony (Columbia) Pictures and the fictitious
reviewer, David Manning of the very real Ridgefield Press of
Connecticut? Since last July, “Manning,” a creation of Sony”s
PR Department, put out fictitious quotes, most recently on
Sony”s flicks “The Animal” (“another winner”) and “A Knight”s
Tale” (“Heath Ledger…is this year”s hottest new star”).
Newsweek finally figured the whole deal out and confronted
Sony, which then claimed it was very bad judgment and they
would try to figure out how it happened. As for The Ridgefield
Press, a weekly, they had no clue they were being used in this
fashion. [“Ishtar…Beatty”s finest!”]
Top 3 songs for the week of 6/6/64: #1 “Chapel Of Love” (The
Dixie Cups) #2 “Love Me Do” (The Beatles) #3 “My Guy”
(Mary Wells)
John Hartford
You have to be a certain age to remember Hartford, who died the
other day at 63. He wrote the song “Gentle On My Mind” (and
was the first to record it), a tune that became a hit for Glen
Campbell in 1968. Hartford did a little of everything;
songwriting, performing (he has some of the best acoustic
albums of all time), and even a little television (which is where I
remember him), appearing on “The Smothers Brothers Comedy
Hour” and “The Glen Campbell Show.” Ahh, good old family
entertainment. And for fans like my buddy Dr. John, he appears
on the successful soundtrack to the film, “O Brother, Where Art
Thou?”
But I have to tell you, I was shocked to learn that Campbell”s
“Gentle On My Mind” peaked at just #30 on the Country charts
and #39 on the Pop list! Man, I would have bet good money it
was at least Top Twenty.
Baseball Quiz Answers: 1) All time single season pinch-hitting
record goes to the Mets EDDIE KRANEPOOL! In 1974, #7
went 17 for 35, .486. 2) Lowest career PH average: Journeyman
Mike Jorgensen, who played from 1968-85, including stints with
the Mets, hit only .204, 72 for 353. 3) Babe Ruth led the Triple
Crown categories 19 times.1 BA, 12 HR, 6 RBI. Ty Cobb is
second with 17.12 BA, 1 HR, 4 RBI. Ted Williams had 16.
6 BA, 6 HR, 4 RBI.
*Barry Bonds: OK, we all now know he reached 30 home runs
faster than anyone in history. He next attempts to beat Mark
McGwire”s record of 37 through June 30. And it is easy to
forget that Bonds is the leading left-hander in NL history with his
524 (thru Monday).
*Gene Woodling: This veteran ballplayer died the other day.
Woodling was an integral part of the Yankees World Series
championship teams of 1949-53. Over his career, Woodling hit
.284 with 1585 hits, 147 homers and 830 RBI. He also served in
the military for two seasons during World War II.
**Just a note to all regarding some of the baseball stories,
particularly those from “Tidbits.” I have all kinds of reference
books but occasionally they get a few stats wrong (and I don”t
have the time to cross reference that often). So the other day a
book I used had Christy Mathewson with 374 wins, but a reader
said he had 373…and two other books reflect that figure. And
regarding my Chick Gandil anecdote above, the very thorough
book I was using had him as a Tiger, but when I just double-
checked, he was, of course, on the White Sox and never played
for Detroit. You get the picture. Mistakes can be made.
Next Bar Chat, Friday. The first hits for major groups.
