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Bar Chat

07/24/2023

Brian Harman Bags A Major

Brief Add-on posted Tuesday p.m.

MLB

--Yippee, Mets just beat the Yankees in the first game of their Subway Series, 9-3, Pete Alonso officially busting out with two home runs, five RBIs…Justin Verlander with six scoreless, ERA down to 3.24.

--We note the passing of former 1970 No. 1 overall draft pick Mike Ivie.  He was 70.  According to an obituary from North Augusta, South Carolina, he “passed away peacefully at his home…after battling ongoing health issue.”

Ivie was drafted out of an Atlanta high school in 1970 at age 17.  A year later he went 8-for-17 in a cup of coffee with the big league club, but then didn’t get called back up until 1974.  In 11 seasons he hit .269, 81 home runs, 411 RBIs, but never made an All-Star team.

He was drafted as a catcher, but wasn’t very good defensively at the position and bounced around to first base, third, and the outfield.  In 1975, he had 17 errors in 61 games at third base.

Ivie did have success as a pinch-hitter, hitting four pinch homers with the Giants in 1978, including two grand slams.  He hit a career-high 27 homers the following year.

NFL

--In a bit of a surprise, Saquon Barkley and the Giants agreed to terms on a one-year deal worth up to $11 million.  The deal includes a $2 million signing bonus.

Barkley’s deal is $10.1 million fully guaranteed, including the signing bonus, and the $1 million in incentives includes an equal amount paid for 1,300 rushing yards, 11 touchdowns and 65 receptions.

The deal does not include a “no franchise tag” clause, meaning the Giants can tag him again after this season.

Barkley had said in a podcast that he may consider not playing this season amid his stalemate with the Giants over a long-term contract, but no one really believed that.  For starters, he’d lose out on $10 million, the franchise tender.

Barkley is also just a great guy.  No one in the area has a bad word to say about him and he wants to be a Giant.

So good luck to him.  Hope he stays healthy.

Northwestern

Well, I wrote Sunday that Lloyd Yates would be a key figure and Monday, he became the fourth former Northwestern football player to file a lawsuit against the school, accusing it of negligence while providing the most detailed account to date of the alleged hazing that occurred within the program.  The suit claims that members of the coaching staff were aware of the acts – and, in some instances, subjected to them as well.

According to Yates’ lawsuit, assistant coaches were “run” by players “on more than one occasion.”  The complaint defines “running” as incidents in which a group of players forcibly held down a nonconsenting individual and [rubbed] their genital areas against the [person’s] genitals, face, and buttocks while rocking back and forth.”

The lawsuit does not identify the coaches who were allegedly subjected to the hazing acts, nor any of the players who allegedly participated in them.

“We were all victims, and I want to make that clear,” Yates said in a news conference Monday. “No matter what role – if you were being hazed, or on the perpetrating side – it was just a culture that you had to find a position within.”

Like I said Sunday, Yates is “60 Minutes” bound.  Book it.

But fellow Demon Deac classmate Phil W., son of the great Stu W., the world’s greatest Mets fan, reminded me that ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips was athletic director at Northwestern from 2008-2021!  Oh s---.  Phillips is now part of a couple of lawsuits.  Just what our conference needs, as some of the schools, see Clemson, Florida State, could bail.  This blows.

Ryder Cup

I noted that U.S. Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson will have a tough choice in filling out his team for the September competition in Rome, with the likes of Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson failing to make the cut at The Open, and JT having missed 3 of 4 cuts in majors this year.

Here’s the deal.  The top six in points make the team, and then Johnson has six captain’s picks.

With just four events left, this week’s 3M in Minnesota, and the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, NC, and then the first two FedExCup playoffs, here’s how the points stack up.

1. Scottie Scheffler
2. Wyndham Clark*
3. Brian Harman*
4. Brooks Koepka*
5. Xander Schauffele
6. Patrick Cantlay

*It helps bigly to win majors, boys and girls…

7. Max Homa
8. Cameron Young
9. Jordan Spieth
10. Keegan Bradley
11. Collin Morikawa
12. Rickie Fowler

13. Sam Burns
14. Justin Thomas

Thomas wouldn’t ordinarily enter the 3M, but at No. 75 on the FedExCup points list, with only the top 70 this year making the playoffs, he had no choice.  He must perform in both the 3M and Wyndham to get into the playoffs, or else he is definitely not going to make the Ryder Cup squad, which was unthinkable start of the year.  [It would be a crime if in that situation he was still put on the team.]

But Zach Johnson isn’t necessarily just going to go down the points list to fill out his team.  He’s looking for team chemistry.

If the Ryder Cup points standings stay as they are, Nos. 7-12 are certainly a good lot, but Morikawa hasn’t exactly set the world on fire.  Burns, for example, won the WGC Match Play event (hint hint…the Ryder Cup is match play), but he was weak in the majors.

It will be interesting for Zach.

--I didn’t have a chance to note that in last week’s PGA Tour opposite field event, the Barracuda Championship in Truckee, California (Lake Tahoe), Akshay Bhatia picked up his first win, another lefty just like Brian Harman.  This was a Stableford format, Bhatia defeating Patrick Rodgers in a playoff.

Bhatia’s got game.  He’s now fully exempt on the PGA Tour through the 2025 season and vaulted to No. 90 in the FedExCup* standings.

*I’ve given in…I’m now going to use this spelling permanently, as most publications use.  But, as you know, others use FedEx Cup, which is mostly what I’ve employed.

Kind of like for years I wrote Hizbullah, because that’s what the Daily Star of Lebanon (which went under fairly recently…sad, great paper) and Benjamin Netanyahu used…listen to him, he says Hiz-bul-lah.  But then everyone seemed to agree on Hezbollah.  Which f’s up my archives, but how Hezbollah got into Bar Chat just now is a mystery…only to me.

--On the Korn Ferry Tour, the top 30 on the points list at the end of their campaign, which has a ways to go, earn PGA Tour cards, though this hardly guarantees they get into every event, especially if the new 2024 season really comes off as stated, which would contain a lot more limited-field events.

Anyway, the aforementioned Phil W. is responsible for keeping me updated on the plight of Korn Ferry golfer Thomas Walsh, the son of a Wake Forest classmate of ours, Phil a best friend of the father, me having seen Dad last about ten years ago.  Great guy, ditto his Demon Deacon wife, Elizabeth. 

Thomas is currently No. 40 in the standings after last weekend’s super T2.

Stuff

--The Celtics and star Jaylen Brown reached agreement on the richest deal in NBA history – five years, $304 million supermax contract extension.

Brown’s deal exceeds two-time MVP Nikola Jokic’s $276 million extension with Denver.

Brown averaged a career-best 26.6 points and 49% shooting last season.  He and Jayson Tatum combined for 56.7 points.

--A Saudi Professional League team, Al Hilal, has submitted an offer worth $332 million for France striker Kylian Mbappe, currently with Paris St.-Germain.  It would make Mbappe the most expensive player in the sport’s history, dwarfing the $263 million P.S.G. paid for Brazilian forward Neymar six years ago.

But Mbappe practiced with P.S.G. yesterday and there is no guarantee he’s going to make the move, the same one Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema have made.

As in very LIV Golf-like.

But Mbappe already makes $36 million a year at P.S.G., his hometown club, though he has said the next season is his last there, talking about testing free agency.

--The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department confirmed that the woman found outside the Montana town of West Yellowstone over the weekend had been attacked and killed by a grizzly bear.  She was hiking.

Injuries and wounds suffered by the woman were consistent with those of a bear attack, wildlife officials and specialists said.

Experts found tracks made by an adult grizzly bear and at least one cub.  No animal carcasses or day beds – favored spots where grizzlies nap during daylight hours – were around, park officials said.

The forest service shut down Custer Gallatin National Forest as a result.

Roughly 4 million visitors pass through West Yellowstone each year, the town serving as a gateway to Yellowstone National Park.

Wildlife officials and specialists began trapping operations since the killing.  The grizzly bear population has been growing in the region.  It was the third bear fatality in as many years in the same national forest.

I can’t believe the poor woman was hiking alone!  Geezuz.  I don’t like going through some of the wooded parks around my place anymore because I’m scared of rabid coyotes, of which there is a growing population, with a few people bitten the past few months.

Next Bar Chat, Sunday p.m.

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[Posted Sunday p.m., before late baseball action.]

*I did, again, post a little Add-on Tuesday, which was primarily about PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan.  If you missed it, check the archives.  I will have some very brief comments Tues. p.m. this week.

Baseball Quiz: The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts has a shot at league MVP this season, though Ronald Acuna Jr. will have something to say about it (as well as Betts’ teammate, Freddie Freeman).  But if Betts won, he’d become just the sixth in baseball history to win the MVP Award with two franchises.  Name the five. Answer below.

The Open Championship

After the first round at Royal Liverpool, we had an interesting leaderboard….

Cristo Lamprecht (A) -5
Tommy Fleetwood -5
Emiliano Grillo -5
Brian Harman -5

Jordan Spieth -2
Rory McIlroy E

Justin Thomas had the worst round of his career, 82, +11.

And after two rounds….

Harman -10 …67-65
Fleetwood -5
Sepp Straka -4
Jason Day -3
Min Woo Lee -3
Shubhankar Sharma -3
Adrian Otaegui -2
Grillo -2
Spieth -2
Cameron Young -2
McIlroy -1

JT missed the cut, which was at +3, by eight, 82-71.  It has been a miserable 2022-23 season for him, missing three of four cuts in the majors, the exception a T65 at the PGA.  He’s had only 3 top 10s.

Harman’s play, on the other hand, isn’t necessarily a surprise.  The two-time PGA Tour winner has had a very good year, with 3 seconds.

Lamprecht disappeared with a 79, barely making the cut.

The third round then started out with Jon Rahm, 12 shots back at +2, firing an 8-under 63 to shoot up to -6 before Harman even teed off.

We learned from NBC that in the last 40 years, 36-hole leaders with a 5-stroke lead in the majors had won the last seven biggies.  Pressure was on Harman, who hasn’t won in seven years.

Harman then proceeded to bogey two of his first four holes, and his lead was down to just two shots over Rahm and a slew of others.  Every golf fan watching was looking ahead to Sunday.

‘Holy Toledo,’ we mused, ‘this is going to be a wild shootout.’

But then Harman steadied the ship and had four birdies after the rough start to get to -12 and after three rounds….

Harman -12
Young -7 …after a 66 that should have easily been a 64, or even 63
Rahm -6

Five tied at -5

If we are going to have excitement Sunday, we need some wind and rough weather.

Well, I wrote all the above Saturday, and Sunday did indeed dawn rainy, and the rain persisted, and it was miserable.

And after Harman and Young dropped shots, thru four we had this…

Harman -11
Young -6
Fleetwood -6
Straka -6
McIlroy -6…-3 on the day
Rahm -6

And then while Rahm got a miracle birdie at No. 5, Harman and Young both bogeyed it.

Harman -10…thru 5
Rahm -7…6
Fleetwood -6…8
Straka -6…8
McIlroy -5…11
Tom Kim -5…10
Young -5…5
Grillo -5…11

But Harman again bounced back with birdie on the par-3 sixth, back to -11.  Young birdied it too, now -6.

And Harman birdied No. 7….

Harman -12…7
Straka -7…9
Rahm -7…7

And after nine holes, Brian Harman remained comfortably in front.

Harman -12…9
Straka -7…11

Six at -6.

Game over?  Yup.

Well, maybe I was a bit too fast, as I write in real time….

Harman bogeyed No. 13….

Harman -11…13
Kim -7…16
Straka -7…15
Rahm -7…13

But Harman once again rebounds with a long birdie putt on No. 14, back to -12.  Amazing.

Straka birdies No. 16 to have sole second at -8.

But Harman birdies 15, 5-shot lead at -13.

And he goes to the devilish par-3 17th with a 6-shot advantage.

Harman then closes the deal…what a freakin’ display.  His driving was superb, irons crisp, putting better than anyone in the field, and it adds up to his first major.

Harman -13
Rahm -7
Day -7
Kim -7
Straka -7
McIlroy -6
Grillo -6
Young -5
Sharma -5

And the Liverpool local, Matthew Jordan, a super T10, -4.

Particularly big/important finishes for the likes of Tom Kim, Straka, and Grillo.

--Aside from Justin Thomas, among the other big names to miss the cut were Dustin Johnson, Collin Morikawa, Tony Finau, Justin Rose and Phil Mickelson.

JT is hardly a shoo-in for the Ryder Cup, which is startling, but he came in this week 13th in the points standings and will fall at least another notch or two, I’m guessing.  Dustin Johnson didn’t help his cause either.

--LIV golfers did not have a particularly good tournament.  In fact, kind of out of nowhere, Henrik Stenson was the best at -3, T12.

Among the better-known figures, defending champ Cam Smith was +1, ditto Patrick Reed, while Abraham Ancer was +3, Bryson DeChambeau +7, and Brooks Koepka +8.

--Finally, I absolutely love Royal Liverpool, a terrific site.  Hope I’m alive to see one more there.

--On a different issue, for the record, Erica Herman dropped her $30 million lawsuit against Tiger Woods, according to court documents first obtained by the New York Post.  The dismissal of the lawsuit was filed on June 29.

--Now it’s all about Jay Monahan and getting a deal done that most of the players agree to, all this while the focus is supposed to be on the chase for the FedEx Cup.

MLB

--Friday, Shohei Ohtani started on the mound against the Pirates in Anaheim and it was the first time he’s yielded four home runs, and third straight start where he’s been rocked, though he won the game, 8-5.

Ohtani is 8-5, but the ERA is up to 3.71.  The issue Friday wasn’t the cracked nail or a blister.  Manager Phil Nevin blamed fatigue for Ohtani’s problems, as he walked three times, and scored twice, as in lots of time on the bases.

“I mean, he’s human,” Nevin said.

You also have to wonder how much the trade talk is impacting him.  He says little in his postgame press conferences and is trying to convince everyone he’s focused on the playoff chase.

Saturday, five Pirates pitchers combined to shut out the Angels, 3-0, Ohtani 0-for-4, L.A. falling to 50-49.  Ohtani said Friday of his status, “This is my sixth year.  My feelings haven’t changed about wanting to go to the playoffs with this team and win once we’re there.”

But as you see below, the Angels entered play Sunday 4 games back in the wild card.

Meanwhile, Pittsburgh signed the No. 1 overall draft pick Paul Skenes to an MLB-record $9.2 million signing bonus, topping the $8.1 million the Tigers gave Spencer Torkelson in 2020.

Torkelson, in his second season with the Tigers, has yet to bust out, 22 home runs in 727 at-bats, with a .659 OPS.

--The Yankees took the first two in their series with Kansas City at the Stadium, 5-4 on Friday and 5-2 Saturday.   Yesterday, Gerrit Cole went 6 1/3, 2 earned, 10 strikeouts, but it was a no-decision, Cole 9-2, 2.78 in 21 starts…as in lots of NDs this year.  Giancarlo Stanton and DJ LeMahieu hit late home runs to pull it out for the Yanks.

But Anthony Rizzo’s massive slump continues…since his last home run on May 20, he has gone homerless in 45 games, 30-for-165, .181.

Kansas City went into Sunday 28-72.  The A’s are 28-73.

But the Yanks completed the sweep today, 8-5, as Rizzo broke out…4-for-4, a home run, double, 2 RBIs, 3 runs scored.

--The Mets were playing Boston in Fenway Friday night, up 4-3, bottom of the fourth, when Beantown saw a rainstorm for the ages.  You’ve all seen the video of the insides of the ballpark, totally flooded.  Talk about a sanitation disaster.  ‘Germ city’ my mother, aka Nurse Vicki, would have said.

So the game was suspended and the Mets somehow prevailed when it resumed, 5-4 Saturday afternoon, despite some atrocious situational hitting.

Time for a sweep Saturday night…only Max Scherzer, Mr. Inconsistent, like his co-ace Justin Verlander, allowed four home runs for the fifth time in his career, the Mets falling 8-6.

The Mets just can’t get Scherzer and Verlander to have back-to-back solid performances, though to be fair, Verlander has pitched much better of late…it’s Scherzer who is not pulling his fair share of the load.

As for Pete Alonso and his Rizzo-like slump, he had two hits in each of Saturday’s games to show signs of breaking out a bit, but since May 30, he is 21-for-130, .162.

People keep talking about his slump since he returned from his injury, June 18, but he was 4-for-27 before he went down June 7, so you have to include that.

New York and Boston play Sunday night. Will Alonso truly bust out a la Rizzo?

--The Braves are in Milwaukee for a potential playoff preview and after Atlanta took the first 6-4, Milwaukee won Saturday 4-3, despite the Braves’ Austin Riley continuing his All-World hot streak.

Riley homered a fifth consecutive game, accounting for all three Atlanta runs, and over the five games has six homers and 16 RBIs, tying franchise records held by Eddie Mathews for home runs in consecutive games and RBIs in five.

I do have to add that a Boston College alum, Sal Frelick, had a spectacular MLB debut for Milwaukee, the outfielder going 3-for-3, two RBIs and two outstanding catches, the first Brewer with three hits and two RBIs in a debut, ever.

Today, Atlanta beat Milwaukee 4-2, Riley 0-for-4, Frelick 1-for-3.

--The Orioles hooked up with the Rays in St. Pete this weekend, Tampa Bay taking the first 3-0, Baltimore the second 6-5, as Baltimore stayed on top in the AL East.

And the Orioles won today, 5-3.

--Saturday night, the Dodgers crushed the Rangers in Arlington in a potential World Series matchup, 16-3, as Freddie Freeman had two home runs, four hits, three RBIs, average up to .328, with 20 homers, 70 ribbies, and 35 doubles.  As Ronald Reagan would have told Nancy while reading the Sunday morning sports page, Nancy fixing him blueberry pancakes, ‘Not bad…not bad at all.’

--Going back to last Tuesday, MLB had a night not seen since 1894, 129 years, when 12 teams scored double-digit runs.  Three of the games were 11-10, a feat that Elias said had also never occurred on the same day.

So then Wednesday, not one team scored in the double digits out of 15 games.

Key standings thru Saturday’s play….

AL East

Baltimore 60-38
Tampa Bay 61-41…1

AL West

Texas 58-41
Houston 55-44…3

AL Wild Card

Tampa Bay 61-41…+5.5
Houston 55-44…+1
Toronto 54-45…--
Boston 52-47…2
New York 52-47…2
Seattle 50-48…3.5
Los Angeles 50-49…4

NL Central

Milwaukee 55-44
Cincinnati 54-46…1.5

NL West

Los Angeles 57-40
Arizona 54-45…4
San Francisco 54-45…4

NL Wild Card

Arizona 54-45…+0.5
San Francisco 54-45…+0.5
Cincinnati 54-46…--
Philadelphia 52-46…1
Miami 53-47…1
San Diego 48-51…5.5

These wild card races are going to be outstanding.

NFL

--The owners finally approved the sale of the Washington Commanders to a group led by Josh Harris.  The vote was 32-0 to ratify the record-setting, $6.05 billion purchase from Daniel Snyder.  Snyder bought the team and its stadium in Landover, Md., from the Jack Kent Cooke estate in 1999 for $800 million.

Washington was a truly miserable franchise in the Snyder years and this week, he agreed to pay the NFL $60 million as part of the closing of the sale after a lengthy investigation, conducted by attorney Mary Jo White, concluded that the team withheld revenue it should have shared with other franchises and that Snyder sexually harassed a former team employee.

White also found that the Commanders failed to cooperate with her investigation.

The 17-month investigation led by White, a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New Yor, and former chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, sustained allegations made by two former team employees, Tiffani Johnston and Jason Friedman.

--Saquon Barkley told “The Money Matters” podcast that he is considering sitting out the season but, “Anybody [who] knows me, knows that’s not something I want to do…but now I’m at a point where I’m like, ‘Jesus, I might have to take it to this level.’  Am I prepared to take it to this level?  I don’t know.”

--In College Football…Colorado coach Deion Sanders had another surgery Thursday to remove blood clots in one of his legs and missed his highly anticipated appearance Friday in Las Vegas at the Pac-12 Conference’s annual football media day.  It’s his second surgery in four weeks after he had blood clots removed in his left thigh, and below his left knee in June.  He indicated then he would need more surgeries, including to remove blood clots in his right thigh.

Wednesday, he said the surgery this week would remove those clots and that he also would have surgery to straighten out two of the remaining toes on his troubled left foot.

Sanders still predicted he would be able to run on the field for his first game as the Buffaloes’ coach Sept. 2 at TCU.

This guy has had so many medical issues since he was first bothered by leg and foot problems in 2021.  It’s cringeworthy stuff, including the amputation of two toes and the sides of his left calf.  Deion called it a near-death experience and you can see why.

So we hope he manages somehow.

--The situation at Northwestern gets worse by the minute, with even civil rights attorney Ben Crump getting involved after receiving reports of hazing with the athletic program that impact not only the Wildcats’ football team but also baseball and softball.

Crump said some Northwestern athletes he spoke with said they attempted to report the allegations of abuse to coaches and administrators and were “met with hostility and retaliation.”

Lloyd Yates, a quarterback at Northwestern from 2015 to 2017, said “I find it hard to believe that [coaches] were not aware of what was taking place.”  Yates, who is Black, said the culture “was especially devastating for many players of color.”  He said players were “physically and emotionally beaten down” and that some “have contemplated suicide” as a result.

As a fan of college sports, I’m sure many of you have the same thoughts I have.  I keep thinking, ‘Gee, I hope none of this stuff goes on at Wake Forest.’  This is a summer where you just know some serious conversations are taking place at athletic departments across the country.

Northwestern has a terrific reputation.  Not anymore.  This also has “60 Minutes” written all over it, which would be a further killer.  Yates would be featured.

--San Diego State is remaining in the Mountain West Conference, as the two parties reached agreement in a complicated situation.  The MWC withheld $6.6 million owed SDSU when the Aztecs attempted to bolt for the Pac-12.

But when the Pac-12’s television contract talks dragged out, and with SDSU having asked the Mountain West for an extension past a June 30 deadline, SDSU decided it had to remain in the conference for at least the next two years, as the fee to withdraw before then is nearly $34 million.

Stuff

--The U.S. had a rather mediocre 3-0 opening win over Vietnam in the Women’s World Cup in Auckland, New Zealand.  Sophia Smith tallied twice, as well as assisting on Lindsey Horan’s score.

Vietnam didn’t get a single shot off, while the U.S. wasted one opportunity after another.

But it was a win.

Next up, a much sterner test against the Netherlands, who took on Portugal in their opener, Sunday, and prevailed 1-0.

--Lionel Messi made his debut Friday night with Inter Miami and he did so in dramatic fashion, a superb last-ditch, free-kick game-winner, giving Inter Miami a 2-1 Leagues Cup victory over Mexican league side Cruz Azul.

After scoring, Messi whipped the sellout crowd into a frenzy.

“What I saw was the goal.  I saw the goal, I knew that I had to score,” Messi said on Apple TV+. “It was the last play of the game and I wanted to score so we didn’t go to penalties.  So it was very important for us to get this win.”

Just what the MLS had in mind in bringing Messi to Miami.

--Manchester United kicked off their summer tour of the United States with a 2-0 win over Arsenal at MetLife Stadium, Saturday, before 82,262 fans, a record for soccer in New Jersey. 

--Staying in New Jersey, Geaux Rocket Ride punched his ticket into the Breeder’s Cup Classic in November with a win in the Haskell Stakes at beautiful Monmouth Park, “Money Mike” Smith, 57, up top.  Mage, the Kentucky Derby winner, finished a solid second, but favorite Arabian Knight, a Bob Baffert horse (Baffert not banned in Jersey), was a disappointing third.

--Josef Newgarden, this year’s Indy 500 winner, won both races in Iowa Raceway’s Indy Car doubleheader this weekend, very entertaining both days, as I caught each ending.

But this is what you got for your tickets, Sat. and Sun.  Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, Zach Brown Band, and Ed Sheeran…four different shows…pre-race, post-race.  Pretty freakin’ good.

--We note the passing of the great Tony Bennett, 96.  Bennett, the smooth singer with an enduring hit in “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” remained perpetually cool enough to win over younger generations of fans well into the 21st century.

No less than Frank Sinatra called the former singing waiter “the best singer in the business” after he became a star in the 1950s.  Bennett went on to win 20 Grammy awards, including a lifetime achievement award.  The older he grew, the more diverse his collaborators became.  Bennett was in his late 80s when he recorded a 2014 album of duets with Lady Gaga and went on a world tour with her in 2015.  Partners on his popular “Duet” albums ranged from Paul McCartney to Aretha Franklin to Willie Nelson and U2’s Bono.

Bennett’s wife, Susan, revealed in early 2021 that he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in 2016, but he kept recording after the diagnosis and later tweeted, “Life is a gift – even with Alzheimer’s.”

Bennett retired from performing after his final concerts at Radio City Music Hall on August 3 and 5, 2021.

Tony Bennett’s career was dilled with highs and lows.  Discovered by Bob Hope, he was in his 50s in the late 1970s when he found himself facing a decaying marriage, a cocaine habit, a $2 million tax debt and limited career prospects.  He pulled out of it by turning over his management to his son Danny, who propelled his father to new heights of popularity by introducing him to younger generations.

Born Anthony Dominick Benedetto, Aug. 3, 1926, in New York City, he was only 10 when his father died and his mother struggled as a dressmaker to support him.  As a boy, his love of music was matched only by his interest in painting.

After serving as an infantryman in Europe during World War II, Bennett was singing under the name Joe Bari when Hope caught his act in New York’s Greenwich Village.  The comedian was so impressed that he had the singer change his name to Tony Bennett and used him as an opening act.  Bennett signed with Columbian Records and the result was a string of pop hits such as “Because of You,” “Blue Velvet” and “Rags to Riches.”

Bennett recorded “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” in 1962 – a tune by two little-known songwriters that his musical director, pianist Ralph Sharon, had stashed away.  It only reached No. 19 on the Billboard Pop chart but became his signature song.

“People ask me, ‘Don’t you get tired of singing that song about San Francisco?’” Bennett said in an interview years ago. “I say, ‘Do you get tired of making love?’”

Through Danny’s marketing, Bennett was discovered by a youthful audience that found him cool and he appeared often on MTV.  His “MTV Unplugged” album won the top Grammy as album of the year in 1995, as well as best traditional pop vocal performance.  “Tony Bennett has not just bridged the generation gap, he has demolished it,” the New York Times wrote in 1994. “He has solidly connected with a younger crowd weaned on rock. And there have been no compromises.”

No compromises indeed.  “I wanted to sing the great songs, that I felt really mattered to people,” he said in “The Good Life” (1998), an autobiography written with Will Friedwald.

Bruce Weber / New York Times:

“It’s hard to overstate Mr. Bennett’s lasting appeal. He was still singing ‘San Francisco’ – which led many people to think he was a native of that city, though he was actually a through-and-through New Yorker – more than half a century later.  He sang on Ed Sullivan’s show and David Letterman’s.  He sang with Rosemary Clooney when she was in her 20s, and Celine Dion when she was in her 20s.”

Bennett was lifelong liberal Democrat who participated in the Selma-to-Montgomery civil rights march in 1965.

Weber:

“Mr. Bennett passed through life with as unscathed a public image as it is possible for a celebrity to have. Finding even mild criticism of him in reviews and interviews is no mean feat, and even his outspoken liberalism generally failed to attract vitriol from the right….

“With the possible exception of his former wives, everyone, it seemed, loved Tony Bennett.  Skeptical journalists would occasionally try to pierce what they perceived as his perfect veneer, but they generally discovered that there wasn’t much to pierce.”

Top 3 songs for the week 7/26/80:  #1 “It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me” (Billy Joel)  #2 “Magic” (Olivia Newton-John)  #3 “Little Jeannie” (Elton John)…and…#4 “Cupid/I’ve Loved You For A Long Time” (Spinners) #5 “Shining Star” (Manhattans)  #6 “Coming Up (Live at Glasgow)” (Paul McCartney & Wings)  #7 “Steal Away” (Robbie Dupree)  #8 “Tired Of Toein’ The Line” (Rocky Burnette)  #9 “Take Your Time (Do It Right)” (The S.O.S. Band…video of this one on Soul Train is terrific…)  #10 “The Rose” (Bette Midler…C week…back to the 60s…)

Baseball Quiz Answer: Five to win the MVP Award with two franchises….

Bryce Harper: 2021 Phillies, 2015 Nationals
Alex Rodriguez: 2007 & ’05 Yankees, 2003 Rangers
Barry Bonds: 2000-04 & 1993 Giants, 1992 & ’90 Pirates
Frank Robinson: 1966 Orioles, 1961 Reds
Jimmie Foxx: 1938 Red Sox, 1932-33 Athletics

F. Robby is of course the only one to win in both leagues, a feat that Betts could match.

Very brief Add-on sometime Tues. p.m.

 

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