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Bar Chat

06/05/2014

Going for Greatness

Baseball Quiz: [Courtesy of George Will] Who batted at least .300 and drove in at least 100 runs in each of his first 11 seasons? Answer below.

Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force!

You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely.

But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to Victory!

I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory!

Good Luck! And let us all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.

[On June 6, Ike issued this next statement that was broadcast by Allied radios in London]

People of western Europe: A landing was made this morning on the coast of France by troops of the Allied Expeditionary Force. This landing is part of the concerted United Nations plan for the liberation of Europe, made in conjunction with your great Russian allies.

Although the initial assault may not be made in your own country, the hour of your liberation is approaching….

[Ike then repeated much of the June 5 message.]

California Chrome

“In all of sports there is no grind tougher, no combination of tasks more demanding and no timetable more merciless than the one that faces a 3-year-old colt named California Chrome on Saturday out at Belmont Park...

“Consider the rules that mark the progress of California Chrome toward an equine Valhalla that hasn’t had a new initiate for 36 years.

“They are the reasons that horses like Secretariat and Seattle Slew and Affirmed, as Triple Crown winners, rank right up there with DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak, Ted Williams’ .406 season, the Boston Celtics’ eight consecutive NBA titles, Don Larsen’s perfect World Series game and Johnny Vander Meer’s two consecutive no-hitters.

“Think about how long the above records have stood and then realize there have only been 11 Triple Crown winners since they started keeping score in 1919....

“To win the Triple Crown, a colt or filly must prevail over three different race tracks in three different states at three different distances...all within a five-week span....

“Which brings us to Saturday’s vespers – the Belmont Stakes, contested over a course of a mile and a half.  This isn’t a horse race. What it is is a marathon dance with the devil for colts who probably will never, ever be asked to run this distance again.”

Izenberg then described the last three champs... Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Affirmed, summing up their careers thusly.

“Three different colts but one intangible tie binds them forever. Call it class. Call it heart. But the truth is they shared an instinctive and rare quality that defies definition.

“DiMaggio had it in the summer of ’41 when for 56 games it seemed as though nobody would ever get him out. Williams had it when he hit .406 in 1941. And so did these three horses.

“Critics insist the format of the Triple Crown should be changed to make it easier.

“ ‘Hey,’ Nick Zito, a trainer whose horses twice ruined someone else’s Triple Crown dreams, once told me, ‘it’s supposed to be hard. That’s why they call it the Triple Crown.’

“This last is both an explanation and a rebuttal to those who would change it.”

But, as reported by Tom Pedulla of the New York Times, there appears to be momentum building to radically change the grueling schedule.

Stuart Janney III, the vice chairman of the Jockey Club and a member of the New York Racing Association’s board, and others are calling for the three races to be spread out over three months. Janney said there was a groundswell of support from owners and trainers to adopt such a schedule.

But Patrice Wolfsohn, owner of 1978 Triple Crown winner Affirmed, is opposed.

“It would just be awful. It is a wonderful, unique set of races, and if you changed it, it would invalidate it.”

Penny Chenery, owner of Secretariat, agrees. “It would make it an entirely different event,” she said.

But Tom Chuckas, the president of the Maryland Jockey Club, said, “I respect tradition, but I also think tradition cannot impede the growth or betterment of the industry. When we get our most attention, we tend to consolidate, which is not beneficial.”

So Chuckas proposes the Derby stay on the first Saturday in May, while the Preakness would be the first Saturday in June and the Belmont the first Saturday in July.

Heck, change it. Only two starters from the Derby’s 19-horse field this year joined California Chrome in the Preakness.

The New York Post’s Sam Gardner had a piece on Chenery, now 92, who along with Affirmed owner Wolfson and Seattle Slew co-owner Sally Hill will be personally on hand to celebrate with Cal Chrome should it win. Penny had some great thoughts on the Belmont.

“(In) a lot of ways, it’s a jockey’s race. [For other riders], it’s kind of, ‘If I can’t win, I’ll make sure he can’t either,’ and so I hope that Victor [Espinoza] can get him out in the clear so that he can ask him to go when he, the rider, feels it’s time to turn on the gas.’

“If Espinoza does push all the right buttons, Chenery said she fully expects to see Chrome in the winner’s circle. But even though she will be thrilled to have a new member in her Triple Crown clique, in her eyes there never will be another Big Red.

“ ‘In his first two races, Secretariat won by 2 ½ lengths, so in other words, Ronnie [Turcotte, jockey] didn’t turn him loose. He gave him just enough to make sure that he would win without squeezing the lemon dry, as Horatio Luro used to say,’ Chenery said. ‘But in the Belmont, there was no such strategy holding him back, and I think Secretariat...just said, ‘I’ll show you what I can do.’

“ ‘Secretariat was unique. He was a show-off, a ham. He loved the attention...that memory of his run in the Belmont and the wild scene in the winner’s circle, that’s unique to Secretariat in my mind.’”

“Our nation was built on stories like (Chrome’s of Dumb Ass Partners). The little guy who isn’t supposed to win but triumphs. The hero who isn’t from the right class, or the right neighborhood, or the right tax bracket, who succeeds wildly.

“But there seems to be fewer and fewer of these tales today. Not only does the little guy get crushed, but the game is rigged against him. Wall Street traders get information before the rest of us and profit from it. Government takes more and gives less. Companies are rewarded for having fewer employers with smaller paychecks. Even in sports, the team with the most money is likely to win.

“Even if there was a bit of self-serving myth to the American Dream – there are plenty of people who start at the bottom, worked hard and stayed there – it’s a fundamental part of who we are as a country and an idea. We have to believe that anyone can grow up to be president, that anyone can be an overnight millionaire (through ingenuity, not the lottery), if we’re going to maintain our exceptionalism.

“Those who look to America longingly – the immigrants that pour across our borders – they come for that idea. Here, you’re not stuck. Here, there is no fate.

“California Chrome will not solve all the political problems that keep people stuck. But it’s good to have a story like him every so often, to remind us of that collective legend. To remind us why these stories always inspire us.

“It doesn’t matter who your father was. Who your mother was. How much your family makes.   Any ‘dumb ass’ can make it in America.”

By the way, Chrome’s jockey, Espinoza, is just 2-for-67 at Belmont Park, the last of the two being in 2004. He has ridden three Belmont Stakes losers, including War Emblem in 2002 when that horse was going for the Triple Crown.

Spurs – Heat

Tony Parker will play for San Antonio in Game 1 on Thursday. Tim Duncan said, “We’ve got four more to win. We’ll do it this time.” And, “We’re happy it’s the Heat again. We’ve got that bad taste in our mouths still.”

Said LeBron, “They want us, so they got us.”

Last year, James shot 44.7% in the series against the Spurs after shooting 56.5% in the regular season, while Chris Bosh averaged just 11.9 points a game.

Spurs will win in six, thus denying the Heat a chance to join an elite group in NBA history: three-peaters.

Rangers – Kings

“The three extra days of rest that the New York Rangers have over their opponent in the Stanley Cup Final is thought to be an advantage....

“(But) history shows that the Los Angeles Kings are likely to be hamstrung only during Game 1. Afterward, the benefits of extra rest disappear.

“In the 13 previous series since 1987 where one team had an advantage of three days of rest or more, the well-rested team won the Cup just four times. And that is despite holding an 8-5 edge in Game 1, which the Rangers will play on the road.”

At this point, there is little to say about the NBA and NHL finals...sports fans are just waiting to see who steps up, and who chokes.

Ball Bits

--Controversial slugger Jon Singleton made his major league debut on Tuesday for Houston and homered. The 22-year-old just signed a five-year, $10 million contract, this after he had been suspended 50 games last season for his second drug violation and he’s admitted an addiction to marijuana, for which he spent a month in rehab.

Coupled with fellow slugger George Springer, suddenly the Astros have an exciting lineup. And after a recent 7-game winning streak, the now 25-34 ‘Stros are no patsy.

--Mike Trout returned Tuesday after sitting out two games because of back stiffness, and then after playing an inning and striking out, left the game with the same back issue. Not a good sign. And not a good year for pitchers and the game’s young stars such as Trout and Bryce Harper, Harper still out another six weeks or so after surgery on his thumb.

--In the offseason, Mets GM Sandy Alderson signed free agent outfielder Chris Young to a one-year, $7.25 million contract as he sought to provide some pop for the linequp. Alderson could have signed Nelson Cruz, who then signed with Baltimore for $8 million. Young is hitting .195, 4 HR 14 RBI. Cruz has 21 HR, 55 RBI and is batting .313.

--June 4, 1968, Dodgers pitcher Don Drysdale threw his sixth consecutive shutout, giving him 54 straight scoreless innings, a streak he extended to 58 in a game against the Phillies, breaking the mark of 55.2 set by Walter Johnson in 1913.

But as Craig Muder of the Baseball Hall of Fame points out, in the fifth inning of the Philadelphia contest, Howie Bedell drove in Tony Taylor on a sacrifice fly, ending the streak at 58 2/3, with this being Bedell’s only RBI of the season and one of just three for his career.

[Actually, I just looked up that Bedell had his 3 RBI in 145 at-bats. With Milwaukee in 1962, he had his other two RBI in 138 ABs. Yikes. That sucks!]

Orel Hershiser broke Drysdale’s record in 1988 with 59 scoreless.

--Maria Sharapova and Eugenie Bouchard will match up in one of the French Open semifinals, Sharapova now being the overall favorite after all the upsets on the women’s side. [The other is TBD.]

On the men’s side, as I go to post, Ernests Gulbis will square off against Novak Djokovic in one semi, with the other matchup yet to be decided, though we hope it’s Nadal vs. Andy Murray.

--Dan Marino withdrew from a concussion-related lawsuit against the NFL. His lawyers said: “It was never Marino’s intention to initiate litigation in this case, but to ensure that in the event he had adverse health consequences down the road, he would be covered with health benefits.”

Marino and his lawyers say they have no idea how his name got attached to the suit.

--Alabama football coach Nick Saban’s $6.9 million salary was unanimously approved by the school’s Board of Trustees. Yes, totally obscene.

--Jeff Rude in Golfweek had a piece on Curtis Strange. It really is amazing to think that Strange won back-to-back U.S. Opens in 1988 and ’89, the second his 17th overall PGA Tour title, he had been the leading money winner on tour three of the previous four years...but then he never won again. Anything. Including a seniors event. 25 years.

Strange was just 34 at the time of his last triumph. He did have four seconds afterwards, including just a stroke out of the 1994 U.S. Open playoff at Oakmont.

But to him it all came down to Medinah in 1990, as he was bidding to become the only golfer besides Willie Anderson to win three consecutive Opens.

He was just two strokes off the lead entering the final round but closed with a 75 for T-21. 

Allan Strange, Curtis’ identical twin brother, said of the ‘90 Open finish, “A helluva letdown. Thank God for beer, but they didn’t have enough on the airplane home.”

Curtis said he “lost a lot of energy” post-Medinah. He recalls feeling “very lethargic.” He developed a sleep disorder. Doctors at the Mayo Clinic couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him.

Finally his family physician, a good friend and fishing partner, diagnosed depression, but Strange rebelled and didn’t do anything about it for a year. Then he took the doctor’s advice (it’s now 1993), began taking daily medication, and remains on it to this day. “Everything got better overnight,” he says.

But he didn’t play any better and that was probably due to too many swing changes. But now, 25 years later, he can honestly say, “No regrets. No regrets at all.”

Speaking for myself, I was always proud to say I went to the same college as Curtis Strange. Go Deacs.

--Russia is at risk of being suspended from international swimming competition following a series of positive doping tests, according to the Associated Press. Three of its competitors, including world record-holder Yuliya Efimova, have been banned and are serving suspensions for failing drug tests and at least five were banned last year.

Russia is to host the world championships next year in Kazan.

--After more than two months without any word on the condition of Formula One legend Michael Schumacher, who suffered a near-fatal head injury in a skiing accident last December, Gary Hartstein, a former F1 doctors, said: “ I can conceive of no possible reason that Michael’s entourage, understandably extremely protective of his and their privacy, would not tell his fans if significantly good things have happened.”

An F1 media member, said: “Slowly, everybody is really worried. Grenoble and the family have been silent for weeks. Why?”

Doctors began waking Schumacher up gradually from his coma more than 18 weeks ago. [Irish Independent]

--Former NYPD commissioner Bernard Kerik filed a “bombshell complaint” in Manhattan Federal Court on Tuesday, claiming former attorney Joe Tacopina (A-Rod’s lead attorney as well) ran a full-service firm: “extortion, drug abuse, betrayal, fraud, extramarital affairs – even racketeering,” as described by the New York Daily News. I told you the guy was a dirtball.

--From the Moscow Times: “A man who confessed to eating a fellow fisherman walked out of a courtroom in Russia’s Far East with a suspended sentence of 3 ½ years.

“Alexei Gorulenko confessed to eating one of his companions after the group of four men became lost in the taiga during a fishing trip, but said he had not killed the man.”

--Brad K. passed along the story out of Montana, via Reuters, of a man who was hunting for bears with his father, only to be mauled by a bruin himself. The 47-year-old was too badly hurt to be questioned by authorities. The 68-year-old father was a short distance away, heard a rifle shot and hurried to the location of his son, only to find the son severely injured. The bear had already vanished.

Until the offending bruin is captured, I’m staying indoors.

Top 3 songs for the week 6/8/74: #1 “Band On The Run” (Paul McCartney & Wings) #2 “The Streak” (Ray Stevens...oh, you younger folk have no idea what a crazy time this was...streaking at school...) #3 “You Make Me Feel Brand New” (The Stylistics...classic...)... and...#4 “Dancing Machine” (The Jackson 5...one of their worst...) #5 “Sundown” (Gordon Lightfoot) #6 “Billy, Don’t Be A Hero” (Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods...not a bad one...) #7 “Help Me” (Joni Mitchell...ditto...) #8 “The Entertainer” (Marvin Hamlisch... “The Sting,” 40 years ago! Actually, 41...the film came out in ’73...) #9 “Midnight At The Oasis” (Maria Muldaur...yeah, the lyrics are moronic, but musically great tune...) #10 “For The Love Of Money” (O’Jays)

Baseball Quiz Answer: Al Simmons hit at least .300 and drove in 100 in each of his first 11 seasons, 1924-34. Albert Pujols had 10 straight, but in his 11th, 2011, he had 99 RBI and batted .299.

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