*It”s almost Opening Day for the baseball season, traditionally
one to take off as I did in my youth when Opening Day fever
wracked my body, forcing me to stay home and watch the Mets
on the tube. It is also the start of mostly baseball sports quizzes
here at Bar Chat. And, with a national audience, I will try and
have something for every major league city. To wit.
Cincinnati Reds Quiz (1890-1999): 1) Who is #2 all-time for
hits in a Reds uniform (next to Pete Rose)? 2) What post-1950
pitcher threw 30 shutouts? 3) How many have hit more than
45 homers in a single season? 4) What pitcher holds the record
for most K”s in a single season? Answers below.
Rock Hall of Fame Quiz: Who were the first two “non-
performers” to be selected (1986)? Answer below.
FBI “Ten Most Wanted List”
Last week marked the 50th anniversary for the formation of what
is formally known as the “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List.”
It all started when a wire service reporter asked the FBI to come
up with their “10 worst” criminals. The agency was none too
happy to comply and the resultant publicity so pleased Director J.
Edgar Hoover that he decided to make it an official program.
Two of the initial Top 10 were captured within a month.
458 have made the list altogether, 7 women, and the bureau has
caught 429 of them, 137 as a direct result of citizen cooperation.
Admission is reserved for criminals with the longest rap sheets or
most spectacular crimes. The first Most Wanted bandit was
“Tough Tommy” Holden. In 1949 he shot his wife and her two
brothers to death in Chicago after a drinking party and vanished.
Holden was also known to be the most notorious train hijacker
since Jesse James. In 1951 Holden was captured in Oregon after
a newspaper reader recognized him from a picture.
Another typical poster boy was Willie Sutton, “the Babe Ruth of
bank robbers.” Sutton was arrested when a clothing store
salesman spotted him on a New York City subway and
recognized him from the poster. Unfortunately, the poor
salesman was gunned down just two weeks later (after receiving
front page plaudits from the New York Times) on orders from
Mafia boss Albert Anastasia. Albert”s motivation: “I hate
squealers.” [Source: Jeff Glasser / US News & World Report]
Some of the others who made the Top Ten were James Earl Ray,
Ted Bundy and Olympic bombing suspect Eric Rudolph.
It was on April 17, 1968, that Most Wanted posters sent out
across the country targeted “Eric Starvo Galt” for conspiracy in
the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Two days later,
agents discovered “Galt” was an alias for James Earl Ray who
had lifted the surname from a character in Ayn Rand”s “Atlas
Shrugged.” Ray was captured in England two months later but
made the list a 2nd time (one of 6 to do so) after escaping from
prison.
Over time, the Top 10 changed to include antiwar revolutionaries
such as Angela Davis and Bernadine Dohrn and today, the focus
is on international terrorists such as Osama bin Laden (where a
$5 million award for information leading to his capture is yours
for the taking if you feel like making your next vacation
Afghanistan). But despite the international flavor, the latest
member of the club is Boston crime boss Whitey Bulger.
Billie Austin Bryant had the shortest stay on the Top 10. He was
put on immediately after killing two FBI agents on 1/8/69.
Bryant was found two hours later.
Currently, Donald Eugene Webb is the senior member of the list,
having been on since May 4, 1981. Webb”s specialty was
jewelry store burglaries but he found his way on the list as a
result of his killing a police chief in a small Pennsylvania town.
If alive, he”s 68. He should be considered armed and dangerous.
[Additional source: David Stout / New York Times]
Boys Will Be Boys
So the San Diego Padres Al Martin seems to have a problem. He
can”t decide whom he wants to be married to, or maybe he thinks
two wives is okay.
This past Monday, Martin was arrested on assault charges, along
with a woman who claims to be his wife, Sharon Haggerty-
Martin. Now it just so happens that Martin is also married to
Cathy, the woman assumed to be his only wife by most who
know him.
The police report contained accusations of bigamy, threats with a
gun and a wedding that Martin admits attending but didn”t think
was real. He allegedly hit Haggerty-Martin in the face after she
confronted Martin over their marital status. Our StocksandNews
microphone, complete with a new battery, was there to record the
scene.
Al: “Whazzuuup!”
Sharon: “Why…you…no…good…sonofa—–!”
Al: “Whoaa! Now hold on a second…get off me…[whack]
[Enter the cops]
Cops in unison: “Whazzuuup!”
In the police report, Haggerty-Martin said the Las Vegas
wedding occurred on December 11, 1998, and that at the time,
she didn”t know Martin was already married.
And then there is former CBS correspondent, the late Charles
Kuralt of “Sunday Morning” fame…as well as his “On the Road
with Charles Kuralt” segments. Everyone loved Kuralt when he
was on the air, but sometimes when you think you really know
someone….
As a result of a recent court case, it has been discovered that
when Kuralt died in 1997, his wife Suzanne first learned after the
funeral that Kuralt had been having a 29-year affair with his
mistress, Patricia Shannon. The judge awarded a Montana
fishing retreat to Shannon, ruling that a letter Kuralt wrote her
two weeks before he died which expressed his wish that Shannon
be given the 90 acres after his death was valid. “Any other
conclusion would not make sense and defies logic.”
Kuralt”s two children argued the letter merely expressed his
intention to someday draft a will giving Shannon the property,
valued at $600,000. The legal battle had originally been between
Kuralt”s wife and Shannon but Suzanne Kuralt died last October
and Charles two daughters from a previous marriage took up the
legal battle.
Mistress Shannon has refused to comment publicly about her
relationship with the . But in court hearings, she said that he
played the role of husband and father for his secret family while
his wife lived in New York. Once again our StocksandNews
microphone captured a 1983 discussion between Charles and his
wife. [This tape was subpoenaed by the courts].
“Well, Suzanne, looks like I have to go on the road for CBS
again.”
“Oh, Charles, you were just out for three weeks. Where to this
time?”
“Back to Montana. Lots of interesting folk out there, you know.”
Joe DiMaggio on Opening Day
“You always get a special kick on opening day, no matter how
many you go through. You look forward to it like a birthday
party when you”re a kid. You think something wonderful is
going to happen.”
Red Sox fans take note, Sports Illustrated is picking your team to
win the World Series this year. Ergo, fat chance.
Top 3 songs for the week of 3/28/64: #1 “She Loves You”
(Beatles) #2 “I Want To Hold Your Hand” (Beatles)
#3 “Twist And Shout” (Beatles)…and #4 “Please Please Me”
(Beatles).
Reds quiz answers: 1) #2 in hits – Dave Concepcion with 2,326.
2) Jim Maloney. Were it not for injuries, this was probably a
Hall of Famer, especially using today”s standards. He finished
his career with a 134-84 record and a 3.19 ERA. 3) George
Foster, 52 (1977) and Ted Kluszewski, 49 (”54) and 47 (”55).
4) Mario Soto, 274 (1982). Soto went 14-13 that season with a
2.79 ERA for a team that finished 61-101.
Rock Hall of Fame Quiz: Alan Freed and Sam Phillips. I will
profile both of them in the next week or so.
Next Bar Chat, Wednesday.
*This was posted early due to travel.
