Baseball Quiz: What Hall of Fame pitcher led the league in
strikeouts the most times? Answer below.
Johnny Mac”s Baseball Musings
A recent Sports Illustrated article on the great Josh Gibson got
me to thinking about the whole concept of the segregated
leagues. Looking back, it seems almost inconceivable that it
took some 80 years from the Emancipation Proclamation to
Jackie Robinson. I”m no Pollyanna and I don”t think sports can
cure any of society”s ills, but at its core sports is supposed to be
fair. You bring your best, I”ll bring my best and may the best
man or woman or team win.
No nonsense…no extra points for a hard upbringing…no “close
enough” to build self-esteem…just pure Darwinism at its best.
You outscore me, by one run or twenty, you win. You beat me
by one game or twenty, you win. Those are the rules, everyone
knows them, let”s play ball. The exclusion of black players was,
to me, antithetical to that concept. Forget the societal
implications, the class and ethnic struggles that define too many
situations.I”m talking strictly as a die-hard fan.
I want to know, not guess, how Gibson would have hit Grove or
Feller with the pennant on the line.how Foxx or DiMaggio
would have fared against Paige…how many bases Cool Papa
Bell would have stolen against Dickey or Cochrane. But we will
never know, and we are poorer for it.
Let us not forget the preeminent position baseball occupied at the
time. Pro football was a joke, routinely outdrawn (exponentially)
by college games, pro basketball consisted of exhibitions and
barnstorming for the most part and hockey was, well, hockey.
Baseball was it…the American game.Japanese soldiers didn”t
yell “screw Jack Dempsey” or “screw Red Grange” as they
charged into battle.they screamed “screw Babe Ruth” (feel free
to substitute your own epithet for “screw”…after all, the
Japanese soldiers did).
Therefore, baseball had a unique responsibility and they failed
miserably. In the thirties, you could argue that the two most
representative American athletes were Joe Louis and Jesse
Owens.so it”s not like baseball didn”t see the importance and
acceptance (relatively speaking) of black athletes.they just
chose the status quo over fairness.
[Please don”t think we are unfamiliar with the travails of Messrs.
Owens and Louis after their day in the sun…we”re just
commenting on the general acceptance they had as sportsmen,
due in no small part to their defeats of German athletes.]
Unfortunately for baseball, the man once looked upon as its
savior was perhaps more responsible for prolonging the
segregation than anyone, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who
most fans recollect as the first commissioner and the man who
banned the “Black Sox.” Baseball was at the crossroads in the
wake of the 1919 scandal and Judge Landis was given near
unlimited power to rule the sport. As in any situation resembling
this, the cure is sometimes worse than the disease. Giving credit
where it is due, Landis most certainly took a hard line against
gambling and cleaned house when and where it was needed.
Nothing can ruin a sport faster than the hint that the outcome is
fixed.
That being said, the Judge certainly held views on race relations
that could kindly be called unenlightened. As the S.I. article
reported, he believed there was white baseball and there was
black baseball and never the ”twain shall meet. His dictatorial
rule over baseball lasted far longer than necessary and greatly
hindered the attempts of right thinking people to integrate the
sport. By right thinking I don”t mean socially conscious.but
right thinking again in baseball terms. Many managers and
executives realized the talent available in the Negro Leagues and
drooled over a line-up card that would include a Gibson or Paige.
Owners, though, sought the path of least resistance and the status
quo continued until 1947. (I”m sure you all know the
details.covered in a previous Bar Chat). It doesn”t seem
coincidental that Landis died just a few years earlier.
So, in the collective memory we find some easily recognizable
names.Rickey, Robinson, Doby, the aforementioned Gibson,
Paige and Bell.even Dixie Walker and Pee Wee Reese played
their respective roles (villain and hero, if you allow a
generalization). There is one man, however, who blazed an
amazing path in all of this, but draws blank stares today when his
name is mentioned.Rube Foster. On Friday, his story.
One-Hit Wonders, Continued
Artists whose only Billboard Top 40 song was also a Top 10 hit.
[Only for the period 1961-1975. Chart debut and peak position
are also listed.]
Every Mothers” Son – “Come On Down To My Boat” 5/67 #6
The Exciters – “Tell Him” 12/62 #4
First Class – “Beach Baby” 8/74 #4
The Five Stairsteps – “O-o-h Child” 6/70 #8.great tune.
The Floaters – “Float On” 7/77 #2…broke my rule for era…
Love this one.
The Flying Machine – “Smile A Little Smile For Me” 10/69 #5
Focus – “Hocus Pocus” 4/73 #9
Inez Foxx – “Mockingbird” 8/63 #7
John Fred / His Playboy Band – “Judy In Disguise” 12/67 #1
Free – “All Right Now” 9/70 #4
The Free Movement – “I”ve Found Someone Of My Own” 9/71
#5
Friend and Lover – “Reach Out Of The Darkness” 6/68 #10
”I”m feelin” so groovy now”
Gale Garnett – “We”ll Sing In The Sunshine” 9/64 #4
The Gentrys – “Keep On Dancing” 9/65 #4
Norman Greenbaum – “Spirit In The Sky” 3/70 #3
Lorne Greene – “Ringo” 11/64 #1.yes, that Lorne Greene.
Greene was born in Ottawa, Canada, where he became a radio
broadcaster for CBC before getting his gig on Bonanza. Do
you realize it”s been 13 years since he died?
Roger Clemens…Dirtball
The more your editor thinks about Clemens throwing at Mike
Piazza”s head on Saturday night, the more I get pissed. So I was
delighted to see a piece on Monday by one of America”s great
sportswriters, Jerry Izenberg of the Star-Ledger newspaper.
Now you have to understand that Piazza was 7-for-12 with 3
homers against Clemens. Clemens had every reason to pitch him
inside. Fine. But then he went for his head and no, folks, the
pitch didn”t just get away. Anyway, here”s Izenberg, in part:
“It”s an argument older than the spitball, older than Ebbets Field,
older than Honus Wagner”s glove. Who owns the edge of home
plate? Who gets the six inches that Early Wynn used to say was
his office ”and nobody steps into my office unless I invite them
in.””
“But when Early Wynn sent them diving into the dirt, he knew
that he was going to have to come to bat. He knew that in such
moments of truth, retribution was waiting for him just 60 feet, six
inches away…There was no designated hitter to hide behind.”
What gets all of us who watched the sickening scene is that once
Piazza was down on the ground, Clemens just stood there. He
never made a move to home plate to check on a fellow player.
Pitchers do that all the time. This wasn”t a moment to be proud.
If he gave a damn, and it was the “mistake” Clemens purported it
to be, he”d have checked on the guy”s health. But not Roger.
You see, Roger doesn”t have to bat.
Roger Clemens, you are now in the running for Dirtball of the
Year. Nice company too.Robert Mugabe, for starters.
*Actually.what”s tough about this whole situation is that the
Yankees, as a team, are likeable. It”s hard to root against the
likes of Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams. But Roger”s not a
Yankee.
Baccarat Sting
Now you probably have to have been to Vegas or Atlantic City
to appreciate this but in Tuesday”s Star-Ledger, Patrick Jenkins
had a story on a Baccarat scam at The Claridge casino.
After a three-month investigation, 12 people were nabbed last
Thursday. It went something like this.
Two men were at a Baccarat table where Tam Nhut Ho was
dealing. I”ll let Jenkins tell it from here.
“(The two) began making low level bets and recording the cards
that were played, a common practice in baccarat.
“When it came time to shuffle the cards, the two left the table.
“Ho ostensibly prepared a new shoe but performed a false
shuffle, leaving the cards in the same order they had just been
played.
“Nine new players – but part of the team and armed with the
record of the cards played – began playing at Ho”s table.
Knowing the order the cards would come up, they bet heavily, as
much as $3,000 a hand. During the two hours they played, they
won $100,000.”
Then the detectives moved in. The 12 were arrested and
remanded to Atlantic County Jail…in a moment, the results of
the trial.
By the way, the suspects names are Hoang Phuong Ngoc, Hung
Vu Do, Hung Nam Tran, Tran Nam Hung, Nam Hung Tran,
Hung Tran Nam, Nam Tran Hung…sorry. The first three were
accurate.
Or as the baccarat dealer asked Peter Sellers in ”Casino
Royale,” “Carte?…No carte.”
Top 3 songs for the week of 7/13/63: #1 “Easier Said Than
Done” (The Essex) #2 “Surf City” (Jan & Dean) #3 “Tie Me
Kangaroo Down, Sport” (Rolf Harris…all together now.)
All-Star Break Tidbits
Some of us are so sick of another ”Year of the Hitter.” The runs
just keep piling up. [That”s part of the reason why the 4-game
Mets / Yankees series was such a joy to watch. Good old-
fashioned baseball. 2-1, 4-2, 4-2, 2-0.]
In 1999, 8 A.L. teams had team ERAs of under 5.00. This year
there are 7. In the N.L., in 1999 there were 4 teams who finished
the season with ERAs under 4.00. This year there are none.
In 1999, 4 teams in the A.L. had team batting averages below
.265. This year there are none at the break. Last year in the
N.L., 3 teams hit 200 homers. This year there could be 9!!
Quiz Answer: Walter Johnson, 12 times. Nolan Ryan did it 11
(9 A.L., 2 N.L.). Lefty Grove, Bob Feller and Dazzy Vance, 7.
Next Bar Chat, Friday.
