Texas Rangers Quiz (1972 – ): [Someone has to do it!] 1) Most
hits, season? 2) Most games won, career? 3) Most games,
career? (position player) 4) Highest batting average, season?
[Major hint: None of the answers to these questions are Ivan
Rodriguez, Juan Gonzalez, or Nolan Ryan.] Answers below.
Johnny Mac”s Baseball Chat.the Red Sox, Part I
[Continuing with our history of some franchises who haven”t had
a lot of recent glory…know what I”m sayin”?]
This bunch can break your heart, I will grant you that. They
have managed to lose some of the best pennant races and series
in history. They have lost spectacularly, they have lost
courageously, they have lost comically, but they have lost. New
Englanders have adopted an almost fatalistic approach with this
team, rooting as hard as possible, yet always expecting the worst
in the end. Tom Boswell recounts the scene in 1986, Game 6,
Sox up 2 runs, Mets have 2 outs and nobody on. One out from
the elusive championship. The players” wives are whooping it
up pretty good in the stands, all standing and cheering.all
except one, that is. Sherry Gedman, wife of catcher Rich
Gedman, is sitting quiet, almost expecting the carnage that is
about to unfold. Why is that? Because Sherry is the only native
New Englander of the bunch.she knew, she just knew.
It wasn”t always that way, you know. The Sox are an original
American League franchise, starting play in 1901. They won the
first ever, modern World Series in 1903. Led by player /
manager and Hall of Famer Jimmy Collins, they beat Pittsburgh
behind the pitching of Bill Dineen and Cy Young. They again
won the pennant in ”04, but the Giants of John McGraw, winners
of the National League, refused to play the upstart American
Leaguers.
The Red Sox began to show their age, and fell from contention
for the next 8 seasons. They turned the roster over in that span,
and assembled a young, talented bunch that would dominate the
teens, winning four titles in 7 years. One of the greatest outfields
in history; Tris Speaker, Harry Hooper and Duffy Lewis,
supported the pitching of Smokey Joe Wood, Buck O”Brien and
Hugh Bedient. In 1912 Wood had one of the great seasons ever,
going 34-5 with a 1.91 ERA and 258 Ks. They met the Giants in
the Series and won a thriller, 4-3-1. The “1” refers to Game
Two, which ended in a 6-6 tie due to darkness. The Sox scored a
run in the bottom of the tenth off Christy Mathewson to tie it,
which would eventually prove critical. In the deciding eighth
game, the Giants took a one run lead in the top of the tenth, but
the Sox scored 2 off Mathewson to win the Series despite batting
only .220. Joe Wood won three games. Wood is an interesting
guy, putting up great pitching numbers before blowing his arm
out in 1915. He didn”t play in 1916, but came back as an
outfielder with Cleveland, and had 5 pretty good years.
The Sox won titles in 1915, 1916 and 1918 despite trading the
great Speaker to the Indians. Pitching was the key, assembling a
staff of Babe Ruth, Dutch Leonard, Ernie Shore and Carl Mays.
We all know what came next…the team was bought by Harry
Frazee, a Broadway producer of some repute. Needing cash to
finance his production of “No No Nannette,” he sold off many of
his best players, notably Babe Ruth, to the Yankees. The
dreaded “Curse of the Bambino” took hold and the Sox have not
won a Series since 1918. What is generally not remembered is
just how many players the Sox contributed to the Yankees during
that span. It was not just Ruth.they sold or traded Herb
Pennock, Waite Hoyt, Sam Jones, Everett Scott and Jumpin” Joe
Dugan, all major contributors to the first Yankee dynasty.
The next twenty years or so were miserable, the team rarely able
to get near .500. The Red Sox posted years of 47-105, 51-103,
52-102 and 43-111. Picking up future Hall of Famer Joe Cronin
as player / manager in the mid-thirties turned things around, as
did acquiring aging but still effective stars like Jimmie Foxx and
Lefty Grove. They contended but never won, coming in second
to the Yankees in ”38, ”39, ”40 and ”42 – a pattern that would
haunt them for years.
The Sox developed some great young players during that time,
bringing up Bobby Doerr, Ted Williams and Dom DiMaggio in
successive years. The war would interrupt things for everyone,
and would especially affect Williams, who would serve in
combat in Korea as well as WW II. Re-assembling the team in
1946, they added veteran Rudy York and shortstop Johnny Pesky
and won the pennant by 12 games. Facing a good Cardinals
squad, the Beantowners grabbed a 3-2 lead going back to St.
Louis. Harry “The Cat” Brecheen, a crafty lefthander, stifled the
Sox in Game 6, setting up the deciding contest. Trailing by 2,
Boston scored twice in the eighth to tie it up. That set the stage
for heartbreak. With Enos Slaughter on first, Harry “The Hat”
Walker lined one to the outfield. The relay came into Pesky,
who hesitated slightly. Slaughter didn”t hesitate, as he attempted
to score all the way from first. Pesky”s throw was just late, and
the Sox lost. That was but the first in a series of near misses for
Boston.
The Sox lost a play-off to Cleveland for the 1948 pennant. They
then lost a thrilling race to the hated Yankees in 1949. [That
Boston squad had 2 players, Williams and shortstop Vern
Stephens, who each drove in 159.] And then the Sox assembled
one of the great hitting teams in history in 1950, only to finish 3rd
with the Yanks again winning it all. Let”s look at that 1950
squad. They added Rookie of the Year Walt Dropo to an already
potent line-up with the following results. Dropo hit 34 homers
and drove in 144, Stephens posted 30 / 144, Bobby Doerr 27 /
120 and Williams, in just 89 games, hit 28 homers and drove in
97. Billy Goodman, who wasn”t good enough to play regularly
for this club, was nonetheless good enough to lead the league in
hitting at .354. That had never happened before or since.
Goodman played outfield, third, first and short, with no more
than 45 games at any one position. The team scored a total of
1,027 runs and batted .302.
The Red Sox never quite managed to get the pitching necessary
to challenge the Yankees and stumbled through the fifties
playing .500ish ball, wasting the remainder of Teddy”s career.
They hit bottom in the early sixties, resulting in 8 losing seasons.
But Boston had their share of interesting guys, from 2-time
batting champ Pete Runnels to minor league home run legend
Dick “Dr. Strangeglove” Stuart to the hulking reliever Dick “The
Monster” Radatz. And they did start to lay the groundwork for a
good club, bringing up players like Carl Yastrzemski, Tony
Conigliaro, Rico Petrucelli, Jim Lonborg, George Scott, Joe Foy,
Mike Andrews, Sparky Lyle and Reggie Smith.
The Sox went from last in 1966 to winning a thrilling, four team,
last weekend, last game pennant race in 1967. The oldest regular
was Triple Crown winner and MVP Yaz, who was 27. Lonborg
was just 25 and had gone 22-9 on way to the Cy Young award.
But they ran into a buzz saw named Bob Gibson in the Series,
losing in seven games. Gibson went 3-0 for the Cards, with an
ERA of 1.00. Lonborg, who was unable to start Game One
because he pitched the last game of the season, won Games 2 and
5 before finally matching up with Gibson in Game 7. The
fatigue showed, and the Sox went meekly at Fenway, 7-2, with
Gibson hitting a homer for good measure.
Enthusiasm was high in Beantown nonetheless. The team was
young, talented, and exciting. Then it all started to fall apart.
Lonborg was injured in a skiing accident and went only 6-10 the
following year. He struggled for a few more seasons before they
shipped him out. Tony C., who was badly hurt by a beanball
thrown by Jack Hamilton in 1967 (he didn”t play in the Series)
missed the entire ”68 campaign. Although he had some success
in ”69 and ”70, his eyesight was never the same and he was
basically through as a player by age 25.
And the Sox never developed any quality pitching, and made the
mistake of trading away Lyle for the forgettable Danny Cater.
Then they screwed around with Petrocelli, moving him to third in
favor of Luis Aparicio, who was about 60 at the time (well, 38,
anyway). Future stars George Scott, Reggie Smith and Ben
Oglivie were traded. Despite all this, the Sox were never terrible
but they didn”t make it back to post-season play from 1968-74
and never fulfilled the great promise of ”67.
Friday.1975 and 1986.it”s all part of your therapy, Sox fans.
Fishing Records
Each summer we have to take a look at some records you all can
shoot for:
Great Barracuda – 85 lbs. Christmas Island, Kiribati
Giant Sea Bass – 563 lbs. Anancapa Island, CA
Striped Bass – 78 lbs. 8 oz. Atlantic City, NJ
Grouper – 436 lbs. Destin, FL
Atlantic Halibut – 355 lbs. Valevag, Norway [The angler was
that great sportsman, Odd (sic) Arve Gunderstad.]
Pacific Halibut – 459 lbs. Dutch Harbor, Alaska
Atlantic Blue Marlin – 1402 lbs. Victoria, Brazil
Pacific Blue Marlin – 1376 lbs. Cabo Blanco, Peru
Great White Shark – 2664 lbs. Ceduna, Australia.I”m
assuming this is “net” humans.
Swordfish – 1182 lbs. Iquique, Chile
Atlantic Tuna – 392 lbs. Fran Caneria, Spain
Bluefin Tuna – 1496 lbs. Aulds Cove, Nova Scotia
Pacific Bigeye Tuna – 435 lbs. Cabo Blanco, Peru.
obviously a hot spot.
Freshwater Targets
Largemouth Bass – 22 lbs. 4 oz. Montgomery Lake, GA
Smallmouth Bass – 10 lbs. 14 oz. Dale Hollow, TN
Blue Catfish – 111 lbs. Tennessee River, Alabama
Muskellunge – 67 lbs. 8 oz. Hayward, WI
Brook Trout – 14 lb. 8 oz. Nipigon River, Ontario
Brown Trout – 40 lb. 4 oz. Heber Springs, Arkansas
Lake Trout – 72 lbs. Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories
Rainbow Trout – 42 lb. 2 oz. Bell Island, Alaska
[Source: Sports Illustrated Sports Almanac]
But I just have to add that after glancing through my
“Encyclopedia of the Sea,” by Richard Ellis, I now realize I was
fortunate with the barracuda I recently caught in the South
Pacific. [Pictured on “Week in Review”…for just a few more
days, thankfully.] Al, the local who took me out into the ocean,
said he would cook up the three we caught. Being the naive sort
in these matters, I said, sure, as long as I can wash it down with
some brews! Alas, Ellis writes:
“Perhaps more dangerous to man (as opposed to an attack) is the
barracuda”s potential to carry ciguatera, a poison that can be
transmitted when the fish is eaten.”
So we flip to “ciguatera” in the ol” encyclopedia and find:
“A kind of poisoning caused by eating the cooked flesh of certain
fishes. The symptoms, which may appear immediately or any
time within thirty hours of eating the fish, are tingling about the
lips, tongue, and throat; nausea; vomiting; abdominal cramps;
and diarrhea. Dull muscle pains and aching increase until the
victim is unable to walk. Teeth feel loose in their sockets, and
temporary blindness may occur. About 7 percent of those
infected die. There is no way of identifying ciguatera poisoning
in a fish before it is prepared, and no way of predicting which
species will transmit it. The fishes with the highest instance of
ciguatera poisoning are the barracuda, various jacks, and some of
the groupers.”
Thank God we had a feast that night with the locals and the
barracuda never made it around to me. Of course, for that
matter, I never did identify anything else I was eating either.but
the beer was good.
Potpourri
–Custer State Park in South Dakota was the seen of a tragedy
last week, as 76-year-old Ernest Barna was gored to death by a
buffalo. It seems that Barna was part of a group taking pictures
of a herd when a bull approached. Everyone got back into their
cars, except Ernest. According to the park superintendent (and
the AP), here is what happened next.
“The bull walked past, nudged Barna, then turned, gored him in
the side and threw him.” [Whether or not it was a record toss is
in dispute.]
But this wasn”t the only incident in the park that very day. An
87-year-old Texas man (this is what the retired folk are doing
these days.not that there is anything wrong with that) was
attacked by a buffalo and needed stitches.
Now the park superintendent said the two attacks weren”t
connected. Oh, right. You know damn well they were
connected. And did you know there are something like 300,000
buffalo now roaming the Plains?! And as Johnny Mac adds,
“We pull them back from the brink and this is how they treat
us?” It”s getting to the point where it will be totally unsafe to
drive across about a five-state area. And if the buffalo hook up
with Canada”s caribou, well, let”s just say that the whole nation”s
security will be at risk. If you thought the slowdown in capital
spending was bad.
–And then there is the case of Lizzie Grubman. One of my
favorite sections of the Sunday Times is the style section, where
you get to see pictures of all the pretentious people in the New
York City area at their various “charitable” functions, which are
really just cheap ways to get your picture in the Times.
Grubman is the 30-year-old public relations agent for stars like
Britney Spears, rapper Jay-Z and Tommy Mottola. Oh, to my
friends in Oklahoma and the rest of you good people in the
Midwest and other great parts of this country, if you could see
how these “beautiful people” act, you”d be floored.
Anyway, late last Saturday night Pretty Lizzie is partying at a
popular nightspot in the Hamptons, Conscience Point Inn, best
described in the Daily News as a place that “draws an Armani-
clad crowd of boldface wanna-bes who sip champagne as hip
hop blares on a sprawling dance floor or relax in The Shag
Room, with flowery banquettes and plush pillows.”
Grubman had parked her Mercedes SUV near the front entrance
when bouncers asked her to move it. “—-you,” Lizzie is alleged
to have said to one of them. When told again to move the
vehicle, Miss PR Agent to the Stars said, “—- you, you white
trash,” according to one of the bouncers” police statements.
So Lizzie starts to pull away, and then, suddenly, she throws the
car in reverse and plows into the crowd standing outside, hitting
16, with 14 requiring hospitalization. [None of the injuries were
serious…but there were lots of broken bones.] Miss Grubman
fled the scene, but was later picked up by police. She is in a heap
of trouble. We couldn”t be happier.
–Will Allen, a defensive back from Syracuse, was the New York
Giants” first-round draft pick this past spring. Like so many of
his ilk, he took his signing bonus and spent it on jewelry. But
we”re not talking a signet ring, no sirree Bob, Will purchased a
51-carat platinum and diamond bracelet valued at $120,000,
another diamond bracelet worth $11,000, a gold Rolex ($9,000),
and two gold earrings worth $10,000…just for starters.
Well, he”s returning to his Syracuse apartment the other night
when 3 masked men robbed him. Allen tried to wrestle the gun
away from one but was attacked by the other two. They sprayed
him with gasoline (gas is falling in price, after all) and threatened
to light him on fire if he didn”t cooperate.
It”s normally at this point where I, having been attacked by
marauding bears upset over a column, normally give up, and
Will was no different. Nonetheless, the robbers still ripped an
earring from his ear. Ouch!
As Johnny Mac mused, when will these guys consider something
like T”bills?!
Top 3 songs for the week of 7/11/70: #1 “Mama Told Me (Not
To Come)” (Three Dog Night) #2 “The Love You Save” (The
Jackson 5) #3 “Ball Of Confusion” (The Temptations)
–Fred Neil: The songwriter for “Everybody”s Talking,” the big
hit for Harry Nilsson from the film “Midnight Cowboy,” died the
other day.
Texas Rangers Quiz Answers: 1) Hits, season: Mickey Rivers,
210, 1980. 2) Games won, career: Charlie Hough, 139.
3) Games, career: Jim Sundberg, 1512. 4) Highest BA, season:
Julio Franco, .341, 1991.
–The Colorado Rockies have now played 523 home games and
in all but 24, a home run has been hit.
Next Bar Chat, Friday. More Red Sox history and some music
lists.
