Baseball Quiz: 1) Who was the last N.L. pitcher to lose 20
games? [He led the league in losses 4 straight seasons.] 2) Who
were the National League\’\’s last two 24-game losers? [Hint:
Neither is also the answer to #1.] 3) What N.L. pitcher led or
tied for the season lead in wins each of 4 years, 1952-55?
Answers below.
Johnny Mac\’\’s Baseball Chat – Red Sox, Part II
By 1975, the Red Sox had surrounded the aging Yaz with some
impressive young talent. Carlton Fisk was establishing himself
as a premier catcher, Rick Burleson was a good looking
shortstop, and they assembled a brilliant outfield of Jim Rice,
Dewey Evans and MVP / Rookie of the Year / Gold Glover
Freddy Lynn. They won the East comfortably and dismissed
Reggie Jackson and the A\’\’s 3-0. On to the World Series and the
awesome 108-54 Big Red Machine. In keeping with the Sox bad
luck, however, Jim Rice had broken his wrist late in the year and
would not appear in the Series.
What followed was a classic for the ages. Boston\’\’s Luis Tiant,
the ageless wonder, was brilliant in Game One, throwing a
complete game 5-hit shutout. Tiant\’\’s teammate, "The
Spaceman," Bill Lee, was nearly as brilliant in Game Two,
nursing a 2-1 lead into the ninth. But the Reds tallied twice off
Sox reliever Dick Drago with 2 out, as Ken Griffey Sr. drove in
the winning run.
Game Three has its own place in history. The Sox, down 5-1,
rallied to take the game into extra innings. With Cesar Geronimo
on 1st in the bottom of the tenth for the Reds, pinch hitter Ed
Armbrister was called on to bunt. He bunted one right in front of
the plate and hesitated, causing a collision between himself and
catcher Fisk. Fisk then threw wildly to first, allowing Geronimo
to take third. An intense argument ensued, with the Sox claiming
interference on the play. It was to no avail, and Joe Morgan
singled home the winning run shortly thereafter.
Tiant was game as they come in Game Four, throwing 163
pitches in the 5-4 Red Sox win. Lynn made a brilliant catch in
the ninth, preserving the win for El Tiante. But Tony Perez
awoke from an 0-15 collar, hitting 2 homers to support Don
Gullet as the Reds took Game Five 6-1 for a 3-2 series lead.
That set the stage for what many consider the greatest game in
Series history.
Delayed three days due to rain, Boston was able to start Tiant
again. Ciny starter Gary Nolan didn\’\’t have much that day,
allowing a first inning three-run jack to Freddy Lynn. A bevy of
relievers kept it close until the Reds were able to tie it in the fifth,
with Griffey\’\’s tirple being the damaging blow. They finally
chased Tiant with 2 in the seventh and one more in the eighth,
taking what seemed like a commanding 6-3 lead. With 2 on and
2 out, manager Darrell Johnson sends Bernie Carbo up to pinch-
hit against Rawly Eastwick. Quickly down two strikes, Carbo
just manages to foul off a good pitch. Not choking up a
millimeter, Carbo goes for the downs and hits the next offering
into the centerfield bleachers to tie it up. That would be the most
famous home run in Red Sox history, for the next 90 minutes or
so, anyway.
The Sox load the bases with none out in the bottom of the ninth,
but Freddy hit a lazy fly to left and George Foster threw out
Denny Doyle at the plate. The Reds threatened in the 11th and
with Griffey on first, Morgan blasts one to right field. Dewey
Evans dives into the stands, making a spectacular grab and then
doubles up Griffey, who was off and running at the crack of the
bat. The game goes into the 12th, with Cincy trotting out Pat
Darcy, their 8th pitcher of the game. Fisk leads off and clubs a
1-0 sinker deep to left. Fair or foul??? Fisk is willing the ball
fair as he trots up the line.it\’\’s fair, it\’\’s fair…Sox win! We now
have a new most famous home run in Sox history. What a game.
Game Seven.Fenway Park. This is it, all those years of
frustration are about to be wiped away, the mighty Reds are on
the verge of being vanquished. Cincy starts ace Don Gullet
while Boston counters with the Spaceman. Gullet doesn\’\’t have
it, actually walking home 2 runs as the Sox grab a 3-0 lead.
They can taste it in Boston now. Lee is sailing along, shutting
them out thru 5. The sixth seems innocent enough…Rose is on
first with one out and a routine grounder looks like an inning-
ending double play. Rose slides hard into Doyle at second,
forcing the throw off-line and extending the inning. Perez steps
to the plate and Lee decides, for some reason known only to him
and his pharmicist, to uncork his euphus pitch, a 40 mph arching
lob that resembles a slow-pitch in softball. Perez waits the hour
or so for the pitch to arrive and drives it into the bullpen for a 2-
run dinger. Lee develops a blister and leaves, then Rose ties the
game with a single in the 7th.
We remained tied until the 9th, when manager Darrell Johnson
has an inexplicable brain lock, bringing in rookie Jim Burton to
start the inning. Griffey works a walk and is sacrificed to second
by Geronimo. Driessen gorunds out, moving Griffey to third.
Rose walks on a 3-2 count, bringing up the clutch Joe Morgan.
He lines a soft one to center, just out of the reach of the charging
Lynn. Griffey scores the go-ahead run. The Sox go quickly in
the bottom of the inning, with Yaz popping out to end the most
exciting Series ever, at least of my lifetime. Tantalizingly close,
but no ring.
The Red Sox are dazed, stumbling to two third place finishes in
\’\’76 and \’\’77. They have an aging staff of Tiant, Rick Wise,
Fergie Jenkins and Bill Lee. They pick up a young stud starter
from the Indians, Dennis Eckersley, and acquire veteran right-
hander Mike Torrez from the hated Yankees. With Tiant still
effective at 38 and second year man Bob Stanley going 15-3 in
relief, the Sox are coasting to the division championship. Oops,
here come the Yankees in the rear view mirror. A seemingly
insurmountable lead is down to a few games when the Yankees
sweep them in the infamous "Boston Massacre." To their credit,
the Sox actually fight back in the last week to tie the Yankees
and force a one game play-off at Fenway. Bucky Dent\’\’s homer
off Torrez ended the nightmare season and the Yanks went on to
win yet another championship.
They drifted around the next 7 seasons, never seriously
contending, with another talented squad that somehow never
fulfilled the promise of their youth. Freddy had a monster year
in 1979, but slipped a bit in 1980 and was traded to the Angels,
as per his request. He never regained his early form and his
career would have to be labeled disappointing. Fisk was thought
to be aging at 32 and was shipped to the White Sox, where he
only lasted another 13 years (!) on his way to the Hall of Fame.
Burleson blew out a rotator cuff and was more or less finished by
30. Eck had a few so-so years as a starter, so he was shipped out.
[I think we know how that turned out.] John Tudor, who showed
some promise as a lefty starter (not an easy thing to be in
Fenway) was traded away, only to later lead the Cardinals to two
pennants. Rice and Evans stuck around for the rebuilding years,
and they did managed to assemble yet another talented group.
Wade Boggs, Marty Barrett, Rich Gedman, Bruce Hurst, Oil Can
Boyd and young flamethrower Roger Clemens all made their
way to the majors through the Red Sox farm system.
1986.yup, this is the year. This will be different. It\’\’s destiny
smiling on us for a change. After winning the East easily over
the Yanks, the Sox found themselves down 3-1 to the Angels.
Luckily, the Angels have some pretty bad mojo of their own, and
the Sox rally to win the series. Dave Henderson, a late season
pick-up from Seattle, provided the spark with that 2 out, 2-strike
homer off Donnie Morre in game 5. Now, on to New York.
The Mets had gone 108-54, but had been pushed hard by the
Astros in the NLCS. They suddenly looked beatable. The Sox
struck first at Shea, with Hurst and young Calvin Shiraldi
teaming up for a 4-hit shutout, besting a game Ron Darling, 1-0.
[Editor: I was at this affair. It was cold and miserable and simply
a crappy game.] They then roughed up the Mets stud Dwight
Gooden and took Game Two by a 9-3 margin (although Clemens
did not pitch well either). Home to Fenway for three (if needed),
up 2-0. Can\’\’t get any better than that.
The Mets jumped on Oil Can for 4 in the first and coasted to a 7-
1 win behind Bob Ojeda. Instead of coming back with Hurst,
McNamara (the Boston skipper) decides to go with Al Nipper,
10-12 in the regular season, with an ugly 5.38 ERA. Nipper
hadn\’\’t pitched an inning in the ALCS, but McNamara rolled the
dice with him anyway. Snake eyes.Carter hit 2 homers and
Dykstra added another as the Mets evened things with a 6-2
victory behind another stellar effort by Darling. At the very
least, the Mets would get another game at home. A win in Game
Five would almost clinch for them. But Bruce Hurst came up big
for a second time as the Sox again handled Doc Gooden in a 4-2
victory. It was on to Shea.
Clemens took the hill for the clincher, opposed by veteran Bobby
Ojeda. The Sox got 2 early runs, but the Mets tied it with 2 in
the fifth. Boston reclaimed the lead with one in the 7th, but New
York again tied it in the 8th. I will kindly spare my Boston
friends the gory details of the infamous 10th inning. Anyone
unfamiliar with them shouldn\’\’t be reading this article anyway.
Game Seven is not all that well remembered because of Game
Six, but the Sox had an early 3-0 lead off a spent Darling and had
Met killer Hurst on the hill. Sid Fernandez turned in a brilliant
middle relief stint, keeping the Mets in the game until a rally in
the 6th tied the contest. Strawberry and Series MVP Ray Knight
hit homers and Keith Hernandez had a clutch hit as the Mets
roughed up Schiraldi en route to an 8-5 victory. Another one that
was so close you could taste it. Unbelievable stuff.perhaps the
greatest post-season ever, all things considered. Every series a
nail-biter, extra-inning games galore, heroes and goats, more
than enough to go around. And the Sox lose another
heartbreaker.
Give them credit, they remained competitive. A division
championship in 1988 (swept by the A\’\’s though). Another in
1990 (same opponent.same result). Yet they continued to
develop talent, bringing up Jody Reed, Mike Greenwell, Ellis
Burks, Mo Vaughn. They did make a disastrous trade in the
pennant race of 1990, shipping off minor league standout Jeff
Bagwell for aging reliever Larry Anderson. With Vaughn in the
pipeline, I guess they thought Bags was expendable.oh well.
Some wasted years with Butch Hobson at the helm followed the
1990 season. They managed to win the division for a third time
in 1995 (with Mo as MVP) but were again swept in the play-offs,
this time by the Indians.
1997 saw the hiring of current skipper Jimy Williams (I have no
idea why he spells it with one "m," do you?), the departure of
future Hall of Famer Clemens and the emergence of budding
superstar Nomar Garciaparra. In \’\’98 the Sox were able to sign
the premier pitcher in baseball, Pedro Martinez, and went to the
play-offs as a wild card (once again losing to the Indians). Then
\’\’99 brought another wild card, a stirring come-from-behind win
over the Indians, and a loss to the Yankees in the ALCS.
The current crop features Manny Ramirez as a valuable off-
season addition, although injuries have taken a major toll.
Maybe if Nomar and Pedro can get healthy, they can still make a
run at it.
That is a storied but star-crossed history, isn\’\’t it? Maybe there is
something to this "Curse of the Bambino?" A local sportswriter
pointed out that Pedro has gone winless since his humorous shot
at the Babe a few weeks ago (wake him from his grave, maybe
I\’\’ll drill him in the ass, said the disabled ace). Who knows? You
have to make up your mind if it\’\’s better to be Alydar or some
nag who finishes up the track. The Sox have made it interesting
over the years, but the disappointment is there. Just think of the
roster of Hall of Famers who have passed through…Cy Young,
Tris Speaker, Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Grove, Ted
Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, Roger Clemens…those are first-
ballot all-time greats. Plus throw in Bobby Doerr, Wade Boggs,
Jim Rice, Rudy York, Freddy Lynn, Harry Hooper and you have
some collection of talent. You know, maybe it would be fitting
this year if the Cubs and the Sox met in the Series.Game Seven
could go maybe 19 innings.would be interesting, no?
Stuff
–This week saw the ABCD basketball camp take place here in
New Jersey, an event that showcases the best high school talent
in the country (rising juniors and seniors). One of the players is
6\’\’7" Lebron James from Akron, Ohio. James has drawn
comparisons to Magic and Kobe. But, as a rising junior, he is
getting ink for another reason. He wants to go pro after his
junior year.in high school.
Camp leader Sonny Vaccaro said, "If he was in the draft this
year, he would have gone in the lottery." This is getting a little
out of hand. [Source: Steve Politi / Star-Ledger]
–A 5 by 3 inch drawing by some guy named Leonardo da Vinci
went for $11.4 million at auction this week. They say this da
Vinci character was pretty good. This is the same price that
another so-called great, Michelangelo, received for one of his
drawings earlier this year. Kids, this is why your mother keeps
your early stuff. Da Vinci\’\’s work was titled "Horse and Rider."
I\’\’m trying to find a sketch I did the other day, "Web editor at the
craps table," but I seem to have misplaced it.
–Awhile back I wrote of the problem Vancouver, BC was having
with the cougar population. Now it turns out that there have
been a series of attacks on little girls by coyotes in this lovely
city. The other day a one-year-old was playing in her yard, with
the mother gardening nearby, when a coyote grabbed the girl by
the head. The mother managed to chase it away and the girl was
lucky to require just a few stitches. A week earlier a coyote had
tried to drag a 6-year-old into the bushes, and in a third incident,
a young girl tried to pursue some coyotes into their den when
they turned on her, but she escaped serious injury. [It\’\’s also
never a good idea to pursue a badger into his or her den.]
Coyotes in this area have no natural enemies and no apparent
fear of humans. [Remember, a cougar was found in a Vancouver
parking garage.] So the hue and cry has gone up to cull the herd.
But as our Canadian wildlife expert Harry K. notes, there have
been just 15 coyote attacks in all of British Columbia in the last
15 years, while during the same period, dogs are responsible for
90 assaults.
But today there are 200-300 coyotes in Vancouver and they are
shifting their diet from rats to cats and dogs. Conservation
experts say it\’\’s only a matter of time before they graduate to
humans.
–"Cow Falls Through Roof, Hurts 1"
From the AP, in Turkey this cow apparently wandered from the
hillside and went crashing through a roof of a coffeehouse, which
was built into the side of the hill. A group of men was playing
dominoes when the cow landed on top of one of them. The
fellow suffered a broken leg and needed stitches to his forehead.
Said the man\’\’s wife, "They told me that a cow fell on top of my
husband. I thought they were kidding me. May God protect us
from a worse accident."
On a related matter, what our government isn\’\’t telling us is that
the much discussed national missile defense is really meant to
deal with the flying cow threat, particularly those shot from
North Korea.
–Top Ten Lists from 1965
Since I mentioned the other day that \’\’65 was perhaps the best
year for rock and roll, I thought I\’\’d supply you with two
representative top tens.
5/15/65
1) Mrs. Brown You\’\’ve Got A Lovely Daughter / Herman\’\’s
Hermits
2) Count Me In / Gary Lewis & The Playboys
3) Ticket To Ride / The Beatles
4) I\’\’ll Never Find Another You / The Seekers
5) Silhouettes / Herman\’\’s Hermits
6) Help Me, Rhonda / The Beach Boys
7) I Know A Place / Petula Clark
8) I\’\’ll Be Doggone / Marvin Gaye
9) Just Once In My Life / The Righteous Brothers
10) Wooly Bully / Sam The Sham & The Pharoahs
6/26/65
1) Mr. Tambourine Man / The Byrds
2) I Can\’\’t Help Myself / Four Tops
3) Wooly Bully
4) (I Can\’\’t Get No) Satisfaction / The Rolling Stones
5) Wonderful World / Herman\’\’s Hermits
6) Crying In The Chapel / Elvis
7) For Your Love / The Yardbirds
8) Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte / Patti Page
9) Help Me, Rhonda / The Beach Boys
10) Seventh Son / Johnny Rivers
**Actually, \’\’66 or \’\’67 could be better. Whether you like it or
not, next Friday we\’\’ll explore those years. [And I\’\’ll get back to
my music quizzes, which I totally forgot about. Sorry.]
Top 3 songs for the week of 7/11/64: #1 "I Get Around" (The
Beach Boys) #2 "Memphis" (Johnny Rivers) #3 "Rag Doll"
(The 4 Seasons).
Update
–The other day I was talking about what a great run golfer Scott
Hoch is on at age 45 and said it was the best streak for a golfer
that old in quite some time. I should have mentioned,
specifically, since Hale Irwin won the U.S. Open and the Buick
Classic, back-to-back, at the same age in 1990.
–On Wednesday I wrote of Will Allen, the New York Giants\’\’
first-round draft pick who was robbed last weekend in Syracuse.
Since the early reports, Allen has since come forward and said
that the robbers did NOT rip an earring from his ear. We are
thankful that Mr. Allen still has his lobe and we wish him well
this rookie season.
–Regarding that bear attack in New Jersey about two weeks ago,
the idiot father who threw a bagel at the bear, thus encouraging
the bruin to attack his 5-year-old son, will be fined by state
forestry officials. The penalty could be as high as $2,000, since
state statute prohibits intentional feeding of bears and harassing
wildlife. The bear is still on the lam. Wildlife officials said they
have given up the search.which means they want the bear to
escape. We would advise all bears, however, that when thrown a
bagel, as tempting as it may be (particularly if fresh), just throw
it back and walk away.
Baseball Quiz Answers: 1) Last N.L. pitcher to lose 20 games?
Phil Niekro. Niekro led the league in losses from 1977-80,
though in the first 3 years his Atlanta Braves finished last and
thus his performance was pretty darn good. \’\’77: 16-20,
\’\’78: 19-18, \’\’79: 21-20, \’\’80: 15-18. 2) Last 24-game losers: The
New York Mets\’\’ Roger Craig (1962: 10-24) and Jack Fisher
(1965: 8-24.despite a very respectable 3.93 ERA). 3) N.L.
leader in wins for 4 straight seasons: Robin Roberts. \’\’52: 28-7
(30 complete games), \’\’53: 23-16 (33 complete games),
\’\’54: 23-15 (29 CGs), \’\’55: 23-14 (26 CGs).
–The All-Star game drew a television audience 9% higher than
last year.
Next Bar Chat, Monday…from Montreal.
