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Bar Chat

07/25/2016

Talkin' Baseball

[Posted 9:00 PM Sunday]

Baseball Quiz: With Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza being inducted into the Hall of Fame today, name the 12 players in the Hall (aside from Griffey) who played at least one season in the 1960s or later who never appeared in the World Series.  Answer below.

MLB

--What a stupid episode in Chicago on Saturday as star hurler, and scheduled starter, Chris Sale (14-3) was told to go home after he refused to wear the throwback uniforms they were assigned, cutting them all up in the clubhouse.  The White Sox issued a statement shortly after that he was scratched and dispatched following a “non-physical clubhouse incident.”  The game was then suspended in the eighth, tied 3-3, after endless rain delays.

Sunday, the White Sox announced Sale had been suspended five days for destroying team equipment and insubordination.

With the White Sox out of contention after a 23-10 start, Sale’s name has been mentioned as a possible trade target.  He’s a great pitcher but a pain in the ass for management to deal with at times; Sale having been vocal in support of Adam LaRoche and that whole deal of his in spring training over the first baseman insisting his 14-year-old boy be allowed in the clubhouse 24/7.

Well, the White Sox won the suspended game 4-3 with a run in the bottom of the ninth, and then they won the regular game today 5-4.

--Disappointing Saturday for the Mets, who lost 7-2 to the Marlins, the team they are fighting for a wild-card position, as Jacob deGrom (6-5, 2.73) labored through the second shortest stint of his career, lasting just 3 2/3 and giving up five runs on 10 hits.

The winner for Miami, though, was superstar Jose Fernandez who moved to 12-4, 2.54, while getting two hits to raise his batting average to .265.

And with the game in Miami, this also meant Fernandez is now 26-1 at home, lifetime, with a 1.47 ERA in 37 starts.  This is beyond belief.  [He is 8-12, 3.80, on the road.] 

One other note on Saturday, Giancarlo Stanton did it again, a jaw-dropping third-inning shot against deGrom that went 441 feet.  In two games against the Mets hurler this season, Stanton is 5-for-5 with three home runs.

But Sunday, Steven Matz (8-6, 3.36) won his first in nearly two months with six scoreless as the Mets shut out the Marlins 3-0.  Jeurys Familia closed out his 51st consecutive game, tied for third-longest in major league history, as well as his MLB-leading 35th save of the year.

So the Mets finish the crucial weekend series at 52-45, while Miami is 53-45.

During the course of the telecast, though, Mets announcer Gary Cohen mentioned a tidbit about last Tuesday night’s game that I had not heard.  In my last Bar Chat I wrote the following:

“The Mets are in the midst of a key three-game series in Chicago and after a desultory 5-1 loss on Monday, the Metropolitans pulled out a 2-1 win on Tuesday that had Mets fans buzzing after.  Closer Jeurys Familia loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the ninth and we were resigned to suffering a brutal loss; all of us knowing that after 32 consecutive saves to start the season, Familia was bound to blow one.

“Only he got out of it, the last two outs on a ground ball off the bat of Kris Bryant that the Mets turned into a spectacular double play.  Just huge, as it’s clear the Mets are going to have to fight tooth and nail the rest of the way to secure a wild-card slot, or better.”

So it turns out, according to Elias Sports Bureau, that this was the first time in Mets history that a reliever closed the deal with the bases loaded and no outs in a one-run game in the ninth.  55 years.  No wonder why we were buzzing as we went to bed that night.

--The Mets ended the weekend just five back of the Nationals as Washington blew a 6-4 lead today against San Diego, with the Padres scoring six in the 8th and 9th for a 10-6 win.   Yippee!  Jonathan Papelbon was a major reason why.

--The Yankees look like they are officially going to become sellers, with closer Aroldis Chapman on the block, seeing as he is a free agent at the end of the season and the Yankees not likely to offer him the money he’ll be looking for.  A number of teams are in the conversation, but, please, don’t trade him to the Nationals, Yanks!

Alex Rodriguez, in a 2-for-23 slump and hardly playing these days, reportedly met with team owner Hal Steinbrenner to discuss his situation, the Yankees being on the hook for roughly $28 million the remainder of his contract through 2017, and A-Rod still wanting to hit home run targets 700 and 714, he being at 696.

The Yanks would obviously have to pick up most of the salary to pawn him off, but there are one or two A.L. teams who might take him.

Separately, in Friday night’s 3-2 win over San Francisco at the Stadium, Starlin Castro had three hits off Madison Bumgarner and is now 14-for-27 (.519) off the All-Star in his career.

And another potentially on the trading block for the Yanks, starter Nate Eovaldi, threw 6 2/3 of 2-run ball in New York’s 5-2 win Sunday over the Giants, the enigmatic Eovaldi now 9-6, 4.80, with that electric arm.

--Also Sunday, the Red Sox’ Rick Porcello moved to 13-2, 3.57, as Boston beat Minnesota 8-7 at Fenway, Porcello yielding 4 earned in 6 2/3.

--In other games since last chat....

Baltimore’s Chris Tillman is suddenly 14-2, 3.18 (at least suddenly to me) as he went 7 innings, allowing the lone run in a 4-1 win over the Yankees on Thursday at the Stadium.  In Tillman’s last four starts, all wins, he has gone exactly 7 with 1 earned run in each.

Also Thursday, the Dodgers’ Justin Turner single-handedly ended Stephen Strasburg’s undefeated streak, Turner hitting two homers off him and driving in five in L.A.’s 6-3 win over Washington, Strasburg falling to 13-1, 2.83 after allowing all six runs in six innings.

Strasburg had been gunning for Rube Marquad’s record 19-0 to start a season (as a starter), set way back in 1912.  One of the others in front of Strasburg was Johnny Allen, who in 1937 with Cleveland was 15-0 before finishing the season 15-1.

So I had to look Allen up, remembering his name but forgetting what a nice career he had.  He came up as a 27-year-old rookie with the Yankees and went 17-4, as from 1932-44, he had an outstanding 142-75 record.  Allen died in 1959, only 54.

--Texas Rangers slugger Prince Fielder is facing the prospect of season-ending surgery after an MRI revealed the herniation of disks in his neck just above an area in which he had surgery two years ago.

Wow.  Not good.  Fielder has just 8 home runs and 44 RBIs, while hitting .212, with the Rangers (and Tigers) owing him a combined $24 million per year for 2017-2020 ($18m Texas, $6m Detroit).

--I wrote this on 1/11/16:

“The Royals re-signed free agent Alex Gordon, agreeing to a four-year, $72 million deal.  This is one guy I just don’t get.  He is a solid player, but after nine seasons in Kansas City, has just a .269 career average.  Yes, he’s a four-time Gold Glover, but he’s not a big bopper.  I just don’t see him as an $18 million per kind of guy.”

Through Saturday he was batting .203 with 16 RBIs in 222 ABs.  Just an awful, absurd signing.

--From the Los Angeles Times’ Houston Mitchell: Jose Fernandez has struck out 14 or more batters four times in 66 career starts with the Marlins.  In 3,686 starts made by others, they have struck out 14 or more all of four times as well.

And this from Houston Mitchell...Billy Hamilton had 153 stolen bases through his first 357 games. [Now 157 thru 361 a/o Sat.]  By comparison, in their first 357 games, Rickey Henderson had 189 steals, Vince Coleman had 256, Tim Raines had 199 and Lou Brock had 60.

--Commissioner Rob Manfred once again said he is open to ideas on speeding the game up to make it more entertaining to younger fans.  He said he’d consider a rule limiting the number of pitching changes per game, which while I hate change of any kind (my friends are nodding in agreement at that one), I’d have no problem with a move in this regard.

But this idea of Steve Phillips (long held by a friend Ken P.) of changing from four balls and three strikes to three for a walk and two strikes for a strikeout is beyond treasonous.  If President Erdogan of Turkey was in charge of the U.S., Phillips and the like would be rounded up as part of a sweeping purge of over-the-top radical thought.

There are easy ways to speed play up, but many of the rules already on the books just need to be enforced by the umpires.

Let’s not go overboard appealing to the younger fan, I say!  The point of baseball is to have a nice distraction, whether at home or at the game, that is conducive to drinking beer.

Actually, if you want more young fans to come to the games, put Pokestops in the outfield and you could have a couple hundred running around out there during the course of play.  Granted this would get a little violent when a Yoenis Cespedes is going after a fly ball, but it would be highly entertaining.

--One change that seems more likely, and is definitely getting a lot of play, is moving from a 162 game schedule to 154 games, which was baseball’s traditional schedule until 1961/62.  [You know what I forgot?  That the A.L. adopted the 162-game schedule in ’61, while the N.L. waited until ’62 with expansion.]

There is a lot of talk these days that with excessive travel, more players are getting injured and while Commissioner Manfred doesn’t buy it, seeing as how we’ve now gone over 50 years at a 162, without any seeming correlation between injuries and the schedule, Manfred is floating the idea of 154 to give the players eight more days off.

It’s true, some of the road trips are absurd, especially with the times players are rolling into a new city, like at 7:00 a.m. with a game that night.  As a fan, especially a paying one, you can’t possibly believe you are seeing the best possible product on the field.

But if MLB cuts the schedule to 154, it will expect the players to share in the decrease in revenue and that’s where the Players Association disagrees, as you might expect.

--Finally, I watched Mike Piazza’s entire acceptance speech for the Hall of Fame today in Cooperstown and especially for Mets fans, I strongly urge you to YouTube it (it’s slowly emerging in full as I write).  Forget any issues you have with him (as I did in determining his HOF status), this is a special guy who ‘gets it.’  You need to watch it in full, because it is loaded with stuff some of us love, including Papal references.

NFL Bits...training camp approaching...

--The NFL is investigating domestic violence allegations against Dallas running back Ezekiel Elliott, the first-round draft pick from this spring being accused of assaulting his girlfriend early Friday in Columbus, Ohio, where Elliott played his college ball at OSU.  But four witnesses say Elliott had nothing to do with the girl’s bruises and abrasions, alleging she got them in a bar fight.

Elliott was selected with the No. 4 pick overall after he rushed for more than 1,800 yards in each of his last two seasons at Ohio State and scored 41 touchdowns over that stretch.  He was to be the new face of the offense (and team) and his No. 21 jersey with the Cowboys has been the top-selling one on NFLShop.com over the past three months.

--The Steelers are going to be opening the season without star running back Le’Veon Bell, who is facing a four-game suspension because of a missed drug test or tests, as first reported by ESPN.  If true, Bell would join wide receiver Martavis Bryant, who was suspended in March for at least a year for a violation of the league’s substance abuse policy.

Bell’s suspension is under appeal.

--Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon can apply for reinstatement on Aug. 1 and, according to Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot, he took the first step in meeting with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell last week.

Gordon has been indefinitely suspended since February 2015 for numerous violations of the NFL’s substance-abuse policy.  He was supposed to be allowed to apply for reinstatement in April, but he reportedly failed another drug test.

NFL great Jim Brown, according to Cabot, has been working with the immensely talented, and troubled, Gordon.

--NFL tackle Eugene Monroe has retired at the age of 29, saying on the Players Tribune he was afraid for his own health.

“The last 18 years have been full of traumatic injuries to both my head and my body.  I’m not complaining, just stating a fact.  Has the damage to my brain already been done?  Do I have CTE?  I hope I don’t, but over 90% of the brains of former NFL players that have been examined showed signs of the disease. I am terrified.”

Previously, Monroe has advocated the NFL allow players to alleviate the pain of their injuries with marijuana instead of the powerful painkillers that are often prescribed.  It’s been speculated the Ravens released him in June because of this stance.

--We note the passing of former coach Dennis Green, 67, who died of a heart attack.

Green coached Minnesota for 10 years, 1992-2001, and led them to eight playoffs, going 4-8.  In the regular season he was 97-62.  He later coached three seasons with Arizona, going 16-32.

Before that, Green was the first black head coach in Big Ten history when he took over at Northwestern in 1981 and was just the third black head coach in the NFL when he was hired by Minnesota.  I always remembered how much the players loved playing for the man.

Olympics

--Nothing wrong with Usain Bolt, it would appear, as he dominated a 200m race at London’s Olympic Stadium, clocking in at 19.89 seconds at the Anniversary Games.

Bolt had missed the Jamaican trials earlier this month with an injury, so it looks as though he’s prepared to defend the 100m and 200m titles he captured at both the Beijing and London Games.

The fastest 200m time of the year is 19.74 by LaShawn Merritt of the U.S., while Bolt holds the world record set in 2009 – at 19.19.

At the same meet, America’s Keni Harrison broke a 28-year-old world record in the women’s 100m hurdles, crossing the line in an astonishing 12.20 seconds.

But, the 23-year-old, in tears at the finish line after learning of her feat, is not going to Rio because she stumbled at the U.S. Trials.

That’s the way the U.S. system works.  It’s about the Trials, as it should be.

But it’s also understandable that a far smaller nation like Jamaica has flexible rules to protect their stars and Jamaican team officials have been waiting to see if Bolt was healthy before placing him on the team, at the exclusion of another who had otherwise qualified in their own trials.

Which caused U.S. sprinter Justin Gatlin to cry foul, saying Bolt received preferential treatment he would not receive were he an American.

“He’s injured, gets a medical pass, that’s what his country does.  Our country doesn’t do that,” Gatlin said.

Bolt struck back against the two-time drug cheat, Gatlin.

“For me I felt it was a joke (what Gatlin said).  I felt it was a disrespect they think I’d back out of a trials.

“I’ve proven myself year on year that I’m the greatest.  I laughed when I heard it; I was disappointed, especially in Justin Gatlin.”

Let the fun begin, though we all know the likes of Gatlin and Merritt are going to be battling it out for silver and bronze, not gold.

--Meanwhile, on Sunday, the International Olympic Committee said in a statement that “all Russian athletes seeking entry to the Olympic Games Rio 2016 are considered to be affected by a system subverting and manipulating the anti-doping system.”

But the officials stopped short of completely barring the entire Russian delegation, however, any athletes who want to compete must appeal to individual sports federations to gain eligibility.

It’s less than two weeks before the Aug. 5 opening ceremony so I don’t see how many, if any, of the athletes who feel they are clean can still make it.

That said, I saw on the nightly news that some of the Russian teams were already heading over.  I will have far more on this potential disgrace next time.  [Just remember, this was the IOC’s decision...the IOC being replete with total bastards, racists and criminals.]

Golf Balls

--You know what’s depressing?  Today, Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas won his second PGA Tour event at the RBC Canadian Open and it was his first in five years, 2011.  I remember distinctly him winning that initial one, and where the [blank] did those five years go?!

For those of you watching, how awful was that bunker shot of Steve Wheatcroft on 18 that cost him big time on so many levels.  I thought he was going to cry.  I sure would have...total meltdown...and then I would have asked Johnny Mac for my sword (assuming he was there with its special carrying case).  Wheatcroft finished T-5.

--In the British Senior Open at Carnoustie, England’s Paul Broadhurst, 50, won on his first attempt.

NASCAR

Kyle Busch won his 38th career race at the Brickyard 400 (Indianapolis) on Sunday, thus becoming the first in NASCAR history to sweep both poles and races the same weekend, including Saturday’s Xfinity series race.

Five-time race winner Jeff Gordon finished 13th after replacing Dale Earnhardt Jr.  He’ll take DJ’s place next weekend as well at Pocono, Earnhardt still recovering from post-concussion syndrome.

But having watched a lot of the race, flipping with the Canadian Open, after the Mets game ended, I can’t help but note the huge numbers of empty seats at Indy.  Only around 50,000 are estimated to have showed up vs. a capacity of 250,000 (much higher for the Indy 500).

I wrote of this the other week.  NASCAR needs major juice.  But with Tony Stewart leaving, and Gordon basically retired, and Earnhardt’s future in question, this sport is hurtin’.

Stuff

--Sunderland appointed former Manchester United manager David Moyes to replace new England boss Sam Allardyce.  Allardyce was confirmed as Roy Hodgson’s successor with the national team.  If you follow Premier League action, you know Allardyce is a turnaround artist and is the perfect choice for England.

Allardyce was given the Sunderland job last October when the team was in early free fall and then had them playing their best at the end as they barely avoided relegation.

But a nice move by Sunderland to pick up the experienced Moyes. While his time at Man U wasn’t great (he was gone after 10 months, having succeeded the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson), he had 11 solid years at Everton.

--The New York Islanders have tired of their new home in Brooklyn after one year and are reportedly in talks with the Mets to have a new arena built next to CitiField in Queens, which would certainly be more conducive to retaining their old Long Island fan base, it being a little easier to get to than Brooklyn from the island.

The Islanders also want a better fan experience than the Barclays Center provides, with roughly 1,500 seats having obstructed views for hockey.

--As first reported by the Washington Post, George Washington University is investigating men’s basketball coach Mike Lonergan amid allegations by some players that they were victims of verbal and emotional abuse.

One former player told the Washington Post, he needed therapy to cope after his time playing for Lonergan.

One former member of the GW basketball staff said, “A lot of kids transfer because they have delusions of grandeur. Nobody transferred from GW with delusions of grandeur. They just transferred because they hated him. They couldn’t stand another second of him.”

The Post reported allegations of abuse first arose during the 2014-15 season and last year associate athletic director Ed Scott began to travel with the team and attend practices.

Players say Lonergan has been attacking athletic director Patrick Nero, and that Lonergan also routinely accused players of engaging in sexual relationships with Nero.

“It was very odd,” the former player said.  “He had this weird obsession.”

If this last bit is true, boy, that is indeed very weird.

Lonergan guided the team to the NIT championship this past spring.  He is under contract through 2020-21.

--The ACC and ESPN will partner on a TV network dedicated to the ACC’s member schools through the 2035-36 school year. ESPN has held the rights to the ACC since 1979, and signed a 12-year deal back in 2010 with the league that was reportedly worth $1.86 billion, or $155 million per year.  No financial terms of the new deal were revealed.

Earlier, the Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC landed their own TV networks, with the SEC run by ESPN, while the Big Ten is part of Fox; the Pac-12 wholly owns its network.

--Oklahoma State forward Tyrek Coger died Thursday at a Stillwater, Oklahoma hospital after he collapsed during a team workout.  The Raleigh, N.C., native was 21 years old.  An autopsy revealed he had an enlarged heart.

Coger had just moved to Stillwater, after transferring from Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington, N.C., where he averaged 12.2 points and 7 rebounds per game.  The 6-9, 240-pound power forward was going to be a key player for the Cowboys.

--The NBA’s decision to move the All-Star weekend from Charlotte will cost the state an estimated $100 million.  North Carolina governor Pat McCrory, who signed the discriminatory House Bill 2 that forced the NBA’s hand, is fuming.

“The sports and entertainment elite, Attorney General Roy Cooper and the liberal media have for months misrepresented our laws and maligned the people of North Carolina simply because most people believe boys and girls should be able to use school bathrooms, locker rooms and showers without the opposite sex present.”

But more than 200 major CEOs and business leaders signed an open letter calling for full repeal of HB2 – including many of North Carolina’s largest employers.

On Wednesday, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski called HB2 “embarrassing.”  Last week, the University of Albany announced it would not be playing its scheduled men’s basketball game at Duke this season because New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has banned state employees from non-essential travel to the state of North Carolina.

--Back on Jan. 12, there was a record Powerball jacketpot worth $1.6 billion, with three winners.  The last of the three finally emerged this week in California, Marvin and Mae Acosta, who purchased the ticket at a 7-Eleven in Chino Hills, Calif.  They opted for the lump sum payment of $327.8 million before federal taxes (their share of $528.8 million).

So they’ve been getting things in order and went to the California Lottery’s office in Van Nuys on Friday, July 15, where they were told they would have to be publicly identified after they came forward, by law, and they were given the weekend to brace for the onslaught.

They had moved into their Riverside County home just a year ago, but neighbors say moving vans appeared before they went to the lottery office and by last Tuesday, the blinds were closed and no one appeared to be in.  All this time, you can imagine neighbors were trying to figure out if they had one of the lucky ones in their midst, it long being known where the ticket was sold.

The Acostas requested privacy and issued a statement, saying they committed the funds to a Trust and charities important to them.  No one knows where they have gone.  A lottery official said, “They’re going to fall off the grid. That’s going to be an interesting challenge.”

But in reading a Los Angeles Times story on this by Joseph Serna and Paloma Esquivel, I forgot that a Pomona, Calif., nurse initially mistakenly believed she owned the winning ticket “after her son pulled a prank on her.”

Do you think that kid is still in the house? Is he buried in the backyard?

--Animal Chat....

From the Irish Independent: “An American surfer was in serious but stable condition after he was attacked by a large crocodile at a popular tourist beach in Costa Rica.

“A witness said a friend saved the surfer’s life by fighting off the reptile with his bare hands.

“Pat McNulty, who works as a consultant and is a certified trained lifeguard in Tamarindo, a northwestern town popular with surfers and eco-tourists, said the man was crossing a river with the friend when the crocodile struck.

“ ‘It was a vicious attack, and he was bitten several times in the legs as well as the head,’ Mr. McNulty told the Associated Press by phone from Costa Rica.”

The lifeguards on the scene were able to free him and get him to safety.  McNulty accompanied the victim to the hospital, saying after surgery that his condition was serious but stable.

Costa Rica media reported the victim lost his right ankle.

--From USA TODAY: “A black bear attacked a woman walking her dog outside her home about 40 miles northwest of New York City in New Jersey.

“The woman, whose name was not released, lives in the Pleasant Valley Lake area near a country club and a national wildlife refuge....

“She had just left her house at about 10 a.m. ET Monday and saw a bear with three cubs nearby.

“The adult bear charged the woman, causing her to fall backward.  A neighbor saw the incident and chased the bear into the woods, Lt. Kimkowksi of the Vernon Township Police Department said.”

The extent of the woman’s injuries is not known but she is hospitalized.

No word on whether the bear cubs scolded their mother for overreacting.

--Brad K. passed along this tragic tail from the AP and Daily Mail:

“The owner of an exotic animal park in New York was trampled to death by an antelope that escaped from its pen.

“Hans B. (I don’t need to give his last name), Sr., 81, owned the Hidden Valley Animal Adventure in Varysburg.  He went to feed the animals around 8:30 p.m. Sunday and didn’t return, WGRZ reported.

“(B.’s) family went looking for him and found him dead.  They also discovered the antelope near its pen with the door open.”

Officials said the victim was killed by a nilgai antelope – the largest Asian antelope, native to India, and No. 121 on the All-Species List.

It’s really a touching story.  The poor guy was a dairy farmer for more than 60 years and started the wildlife park in 2002 and the venue now houses more than 300 animals from 40 exotic species.  He would give daily safari tours.  [I know I’ve been past this place.]

“The funeral (was held) Wednesday, with (B.’s) cherished Belgian horses carrying him for one final procession.”

--A feel good story, kind of.  The “world’s worst zoo” in Gaza is in the midst of a rescue operation.  The zoo’s only surviving tiger is headed to Lionsrock Big Cat Sanctuary in South Africa, while the rest of the 16 or so remaining animals are headed to a sanctuary in Jordan.

International animal welfare organization FOUR PAWS announced this weekend it was shutting the zoo down and had arranged for new homes for those remaining.

But this isn’t happening for three weeks and I hope nothing awful happens to the animals in the interim.

The zoo in Gaza was a family-run operation and had hundreds of animals, but in the past two years, over 200 have died of starvation.

“The Oweida family that owns the zoo had taken to displaying the dead, mummified or taxidermed animals while the live animals suffered from lack of basic food, water, medical care and proper enclosures.”  [Michelle Malka Grossman / Jerusalem Post]

--We note the passing of Gary S. Paxton, who produced and wrote hundreds of songs, including the pop singles “Alley-Oop” and “Monster Mash.”  He died in Branson, Mo., age 77.

Paxton once wrote of his childhood: “I was molested when I was 7.  I started writing songs when I was 10. I had spinal meningitis at 11.  We moved to Arizona when I was 12 years of age.  I had my own rock ‘n’ roll band by the time I was 14.  When I was 16 years old, I wrote my first million-seller, recording it at age 17.”

After surviving this experience he was admitted to mental institutions twice for drug and alcohol abuse, he was accused of coming between televangelist Jim Bakker and his wife, Tammy Faye, he was shot three times by hit men apparently hired by a jealous singer and then he went on to have a Grammy winning career as a gospel performer.

Top 3 songs for the week 6/29/63: #1 “Sukiyaki” (Kyu Sakamoto)  #2 “It’s My Party” (Lesley Gore)  #3 “Hello Stranger” (Barbara Lewis....has held up well...)...and...#4 “Blue On Blue” (Bobby Vinton)  #5 “Easier Said Than Done” (The Essex)  #6 “Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days Of Summer” (Nat King Cole...time for a beer...not really being in the mood for soda and pretzels...)  #7 “One Fine Day” (The Chiffons)  #8 “You Can’t Sit Down” (The Dovells)  #9 “Memphis” (Lonnie Mack)  #10 “Surf City” (Jan & Dean)

Baseball Quiz Answer: 12 Hall of Famers who played at least a season in the 1960s and later who never appeared in the World Series....

Richie Ashburn, Ernie Banks, Jim Bunning, Rod Carew, Andre Dawson, Ferguson Jenkins, Phil Niekro, Gaylord Perry, Ryne Sandberg, Ron Santo, Frank Thomas (injured when team qualified), Billy Williams.

Next Bar Chat, Thursday.

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