MVP Quiz: In the 1980s, 3 pitchers won the MVP award in the
A.L. Name them. Answer below.
Johnny Mac”s Baseball History
As baseball prepares to enter a new millennium (or has already
entered it, depending on your interpretation) it seems appropriate
to look back on a most fascinating decade…the nineties.
No sports fans, not the homer crazy 1990s, but the 1890s.the
“Gay Nineties.” [Rest assured, the sobriquet had a slightly
different connotation then.] Baseball was already mature, into its
second generation if you will. Recognizable players like Cap
Anson were already winding down their long careers and all-time
greats like Honus Wagner, Willie Keeler and Cy Young were
establishing themselves. The pitching mound was set at 60” 6″
in 1893, making that as good a point as any to demarcate the
“modern era.”
Although not an exact replica of the game today, any modern fan
would immediately recognize the game being played. Many of
the rules and all of the important dimensions in place today were
in place then. And the game was nasty.boy was it nasty. If
anybody thinks this modern bunch has invented anti-social
behavior, think again. As Bill James put it, if an umpire wasn”t
killed then, it was just not destined to happen. All the dirty tricks
were in force, spiking opposing players, first basemen grabbing
the runner”s belt loop as he tried for second, runners cutting
across the diamond from first to third if the umpire was
distracted (there was generally only one umpire in those days).
Although practiced by many, the team most responsible for this
behavior was the old Baltimore Orioles (original National
League version) and their ringleader, third baseman John
McGraw. They won, and as we all know, winning spawns
imitators.
Here”s an interesting sidelight…when the National League
condensed from 12 teams to 8 around the turn of the century, the
Orioles (who didn”t make the cut) were reincarnated in the new
America League as the Highlanders, who later became the
Yankees. How many Yankee fans know that Baltimore is their
linear ancestor? This could win you a beer sometime, file it
away.
The game was dominated by the Irish, sons of the first big wave
of immigrants who came to America in the wake of the great
potato famine. In fact, so large were their numbers that the
prevailing thought was the Irish were born to the game, somehow
genetically engineered for baseball. If this sounds at all familiar
(substitute your game and ethnicity of choice), understand that
narrow-mindedness and ethnic misunderstanding are nothing
new. Those who feel the modern world somehow invented this
stuff need a little time in the history section.
Great team names abounded.the Brooklyn Bridegrooms, the St.
Louis Perfectos, the Chicago Orphans (my personal favorite), the
Boston Beaneaters. There were many excellent clubs in the era
and I”m sure interesting articles could be written on many of
them. Maybe another time, for I am going to regale you with a
tale of the absolute worst team of all time.the 1899 Cleveland
Spiders. Sports fans, this was one pathetic bunch. The seasonal
record, 20-134, as ugly as that looks, doesn”t do this team justice.
First, a little background. The National League was the only real
major league at the time. The upstart American League (under
the leadership of Ban Johnson) was a year or two away, founded
after the aforementioned condensing of the N.L. As is the case
today, teams were in some financial difficulty and competent
ownership was in short supply. Cities with good teams had lousy
facilities and cities with good facilities had lousy teams. [Uh, is
everything destined to repeat itself? he asked rhetorically.] One
way out of this mess was to allow more than one team to be
owned by a single entity. I”ll repeat.owners could actually
have 2 teams in the same league at the same time. Anybody see
a problem with that? Thought so…I guess they didn”t think this
one through at the time.
Imagine, say, a Steinbrenner owning the Yankees and the
Rangers. As the Rangers drop out of the race, old George ships
say Rodriguez and Palmiero and Wetteland up to New York.
Think Texas fans would be overly thrilled? That is exactly what
happened in the late 1890s.
The Brooklyn and Baltimore teams, for example, were co-owned
and it led to the breakup of the great Oriole teams of the mid-
decade. Players such as Wee Willie “hit ”em where they ain”t”
Keeler, Joe Kelley, Hughie Jennings and Doc McJames were
shipped north where they were combined with established
Bridegroomers like Fiedler Jones, Brickyard Kennedy, and Tom
Daly, allowing them to easily win the pennant. [God, I love
those old nicknames, don”t you?.imagine trying to call
someone “Black Mike,” “Ducky Wucky” or “Twinkle Toes”
today.better duck.but I digress.] *For the record, those
nicknames refer to Cochrane, Medwick and Selkirk. Before you
write in, Medwick”s nickname was in fact “Ducky Wucky,” it
has been mercifully shortened to “Ducky” for posterity. He was
also the last Triple Crown winner in the N.L., but now I”ve
digressed from my digression. *And now the editor is
digressing.the story will resume on Friday…with the Spiders
tale.
One-Hit Wonders, continued
Artists whose only Billboard Top 40 song was also a Top 10 hit.
[For the period 1961-1975. Chart debut and peak position also
included.]
The Jelly Beans, “I Wanna Love Him So Bad” 7/64 #9
Sammy Johns, “Chevy Van” 3/75 #5
Janis Joplin, “Me And Bobby McGee” 2/71 #1
[Joplin had her other Top 40 with Big Brother and the Holding
Co., “Piece Of My Heart,”] #12
Ernie K-Doe, “Mother In Law” 4/61 #1
Claude King, “Wolverton Mountain” 6/62 #6
Jean Knight, “Mr. Big Stuff” 6/71 #2
The Larks, “The Jerk” 11/64 #7
Vicki Lawrence, “The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia”
3/73 #1
Curtis Lee, “Pretty Little Angel Eyes” 7/61 #7
The Lemon Pipers, “Green Tambourine” 12/67 #1…a song near
and dear to your editor, having used it in a commercial.
Bob Lind, “Elusive Butterfly” 2/66 #5
Little Caesar and The Romans, “Those Oldies But Goodies
(Remind Me Of You)” 5/61 #9
Dave Loggins, “Please Come To Boston” 7/74 #5
Shorty Long, “Here Comes The Judge” 6/68 #8
Los Bravos, “Black Is Black” 9/66 #4
Victor Lundberg, “An Open Letter To My Son” 11/67 #10
[This guys was a DJ…weird deal.]
Byron MacGregor, “Americans” 1/74 #4 [Ex-news director,
Backed by instrumental of ”America the Beautiful.”]
Tiger and St. Andrews
No, don”t worry, no tributes here. But since I wrote on 7/21
about the history of St. Andrews and how we should admire the
play of those like Old and Young Tom Morris, especially when
you consider the inferior equipment and course conditions they
had to deal with, then check this out from an article on 7/24 by
the Washington Post”s Leonard Shapiro.
During his final practice round for the British Open, Tiger”s
coach Butch Harmon flipped him an ancient golf ball on the
ninth tee. It was a “guttie” from the old days, the very kind I
wrote about and the ball used in the late 19th century. Here is
Shapiro”s account.
“Woods had already hit his regular ball – a swoosh model, of
course – to the front edge of the green, almost 350 yards away.
But now, with the antique hard molded rubber “guttie,” his
second drive off the tee fell 110 yards short of the first. Instead
of a putter for his second shot, Woods used a 5-iron, hit it over
the green, then saved his par.”
So there you have it, proof that when Young Tom Morris fired a
course record 77 at St. Andrews in 1869 (on largely the same
links), that was pretty awesome. I”m liking these true legends
of the game more and more.
Greenland
So much has been made the past week about all of the ice
melting in Greenland. Do you realize that it amounts to .005 of
an inch, annually?! Yes, melting ice from Greenland is
responsible for 7% of the annual increase in global sea level. But
this much vaunted rise that we are supposed to be panicked over
is a whopping 9 inches over the last century. Geezuz!! That”s
one little wave!
Now if we are going to keep building homes on coastal plains,
well, ya takes yer chances, as they say. And I guess if you live in
Bangladesh, below sea level, it kind of sucks. Of course, the G-
8 nations are bringing Internet service to Bangladesh, at least
they promised that in Okinawa. Doesn”t seem to matter that
these same villages still don”t have electricity!
Top 3 songs for the week of 7/29/72: #1 “Alone Again
(Naturally)” (Gilbert O”Sullivan) #2 “Brandy (You”re A Fine
Girl)” (Looking Glass) #3 “Too Late To Turn Back Now”
(Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose).
MVP Quiz Answer: Rollie Fingers, 1981, Milwaukee. Willie
Hernandez, 1984, Detroit. Roger Clemens, 1986, Boston.
Next Bar Chat, Friday…conclusion to the story of the Cleveland
Spiders and, we finally begin our tale of the 1968 Democratic
National Convention. Lots and lots of dirtballs in this one,
folks!
