Baseball Quiz: Since the Rookie of the Year award was started
in 1947, 9 players from New York National League teams have
been selected. How many can you name? [One player was
selected for both leagues in 1947 and 48.] Answer below.
Potpourri
–On March 11, 1958, a U.S. Air Force B-47E medium bomber
dropped its nuclear weapon in the woods behind the Greggs”
house in Mars Bluff, South Carolina….bet that got your
attention!
The Gregg sisters were in a playhouse in the woods behind their
house when around 4:00 they decided to move about 200 feet
away. The bomb was dropped near where they were originally
playing at 4:19.
To make a very long story short, Captains Koehler and Woodruff
were piloting their bomber during an extended training mission
that would carry a nuclear weapon to an air base in England.
At 3:53 PM, the bomber took off from Hunter Air Force Base
outside Savannah, Georgia. As the plane was reaching altitude,
the locking pin was to be engaged (the pin was purposefully left
disengaged early in a flight in case they had to release the bomb
because of an emergency), but the crewman couldn”t work the
lever.
The bombardier, Captain Kulka, had to go into the bomb bay,
dangerous because the entire plane then had to be depressurized.
When at one point he jumped up in search of the pin, he chose the
emergency bomb-release mechanism for his handhold. The bomb
dropped from its shackle and lay across the bomb-bay doors, with
Kulka spread across it like Slim Pickens in “Dr. Strangelove.”
The doors opened and Kulka managed to hold onto something
before he was able to pull himself up.
Meanwhile, the bomb dropped and detonated near the Greggs”
home. The explosion made a 50-foot crater and five members of
the family were hurt, but none seriously.
No, it wasn”t a nuclear explosion. In peacetime, the fissionable
nuclear core of the weapon was stored elsewhere in the aircraft.
In a war situation, the crew would have transferred the core to
the bomb bay and inserted it into the bomb. But, needless to say,
the damage from the 7,600-pound device was awesome.
In 1997, declassified Air Force radiation studies indicated that
there was some minimal radiation leakage with the 1958 accident.
The amazing thing is that the press at the time basically sloughed
off the whole episode. Just imagine what it would be like today.
[Source: American Heritage / Clark Rumrill]
–Lady Nancy Astor to Winston Churchill. “If I were your wife I
would put poison in your coffee.” “If I were your husband,”
Winston replied, “I would drink it.” Ouch! [Source: Smithsonian
magazine]
–Baseball”s Gary Sheffield has decided to play out the remaining
4-years of a $41 million contract with the Dodgers. It seems that
it”s not such a bad situation after all.
*…uh oh, this just in. Sheffield now wants to be traded to
Cincinnati. Never mind. He”s still a dirtball.
–The dimensions of the old Polo Grounds were as follows.
258” down the right field line. 280” down the left. 450” in right
center. 475” in center.
–Golfer Fuzzy Zoeller, commenting on the modern generation of
golfers and their ascetic habits: “They eat their bananas and drink
their fruit drinks, then go to bed. It”s a miserable way to live.”
[Source: New York Times / “Bartlett”s Book of Anecdotes”]
–Barron”s has a terrific table in the March 12 edition (as reported
by Richard Rescigno), detailing the stock performance of public
companies, who have bought naming rights to a professional
sports arena or stadium, since the sponsorship began. Some of the
worst performers are:
PSINet / Baltimore Ravens…-95%
TWA / St. Louis Rams…-96%
Pro Player – Fruit of the Loom / Miami Dolphins…-99%
The best was Target / Minnesota Timberwolves…+856%
(inception was way back in November 1990). And, if you”ve
been to the Target Center, you”d probably agree with me that it
has the best nightlife within a two-block radius of any I”ve ever
been to. Not that this is really important, mind you.
–Airfares: I noticed in the travel section Sunday that it cost
$1200 for an unrestricted round-trip from New York to Istanbul.
An unrestricted fare from Dallas to Las Vegas is $1442.
–How about that 16-year-old kid Ty Tryon who became the
second youngest golfer ever to make a cut in a PGA Tour event
this weekend at the Honda Classic. As Johnny Mac told me, he
has under—-…oh, I”ll leave out the rest. And in the interview
after his round on Sunday, this kid exhibited more poise than just
about any pro athlete I”ve seen in the past few years.
–Congratulations to my friend Jose Rebimbas. Jose has just
coached Division III William Paterson here in New Jersey to its
second Final 4 appearance in 3 seasons. And you may have seen
the articles in Sports Illustrated and the New York Times recently
concerning Jose”s program. He happens to have one special kid
on the team…Horace Jenkins. Now we”re talking Division III,
but if Jenkins isn”t playing NBA ball somewhere next year many
of us will be shocked.
I have had the opportunity to see Jenkins play a few times over
the past two years and he”s terrific. A little guard with a 44-inch
vertical jump, for starters, lightning quick and a great jump shot.
And to give you an indication of just how good he is against
major competition, this summer he outscored Duke”s Jason
Williams 49-30 in a Jersey Shore League game (with NBA
players in the mix).
So good luck, Coach, in next weekend”s Final 4 in Salem, VA.
[If any of you live nearby, it would be worth going to see Jenkins,
trust me.]
–Ski Buffs: Win some coin at the local watering hole. Austria”s
Hermann Maier won his 13th World Cup race this season, tying
the mark held by Sweden”s Ingemar Stenmark.
–March 10, 1876. Alexander Graham Bell: “Mr. Watson – Come
here – I want to see you.”
–After winning 20 games as a rookie in 1901, the New York
Giants ace Christy Mathewson asked for a raise. He had earned
$1500 that first season. Team owner Andrew Freedman obliged,
giving him two new suits. Christy was thrilled. It was something
“which I needed and which was a substantial item from my point
of view.”
–In 1907, Chicago White Sox pitcher Ed Walsh won 24 games.
For his efforts, he was rewarded with a $3,500 salary for the 1908
season. But Walsh made sure he had a clause in his contract that
guaranteed an extra $3,500 if he won 40 games, which had been
done just once in history, by Jack Chesbro in 1904. So Walsh
went 40-15. No pitcher has won more than 37 since.
–Casey Stengel, describing the Mets catching situation in their
first season, 1962:
“Now you have Chris Cannizzaro, who can catch the ball but
can”t throw it or hit it, then we got Hobie Landrith, who can
throw the ball but can”t hit it or catch it. We got Choo Choo
Coleman, who can hit the ball but can”t catch it or throw it. And
I even have guys who aren”t that good.”
Then there was the situation with catcher Harry Chiti, an aging
player with the Indians. In June of ”62, the Mets put out a press
release.
“In an effort to add more power to the bench, the Mets today
obtained Harry Chiti from the Cleveland Indians for $50,000 and
a player to be named later.”
Then, in September.
“The Mets sent Harry Chiti to Cleveland today to complete an
earlier transaction.”
In other words, Harry Chiti was traded for Harry Chiti.plus the
Mets threw in the $50,000. Needless to say, the Mets finished
40-120 that year. [Source: Jerry Izenberg]
–No more “squaw.” Squaw forms part of 1,053 place names in
36 states, including the site of the 1960 Winter Olympics (Squaw
Valley). So now since the word is considered offensive by Native
American women, many states have begun to change the names.
South Dakota”s Squaw Lake, for example, has been renamed
Serenity Lake. But in Idaho, where there are 93 place names
containing the word, the state legislature narrowly defeated a
proposal to change them.
“Our history books are being rewritten to be politically correct
and I find this offensive,” said Twila Hornbeck, a Republican in
Idaho.
Originally, the word was simply meant to mean “woman,” but
Native American leaders say that squaw is a vulgar insult, having
been derived from the Iroquoian word “otsikwaw,” which
translates to a female part of the anatomy. A tribe in Maine
claims it means “whore.” I guess this all means that a “squawk”
would be a noisy whore. [Source: London Times]
–Lisa Rose in the Star-Ledger reported on a 1964 Vee Jay
Records album, “The Beatles vs. The Four Seasons.” Vee Jay
took two albums that had already been released (for the Beatles it
was their unsuccessul first offering in the States with EMI.
before they hooked up with Capitol) and set them up like a
boxing match with a scorecard on the back. Well, they never told
the bands about it. Said Four Seasons co-founder Bob Guadio,
“Suddenly it was in stores and totally unauthorized.” Lawsuits
were filed and the double-album was quickly pulled. 18,000
mono and just 725 stereo were sold, ranking it no higher than
#142 on the album chart.
So why bring this all up? If you have one, it could be worth
$5,000 or more!
–Too much has already been said about that list from the
National Recording Artists Association, telling us what the 365
greatest songs were. But while I don”t have any problem with
“Over The Rainbow” being #1, how the heck can “Respect” by
Aretha be #4!!! I wouldn”t list that in my Top 1,000.
Top 3 songs for the week of 3/12/66: #1 “The Ballad Of The
Green Berets” (SSgt. Barry Sadler) #2 “These Boots Are Made
For Walkin”” (Nancy Sinatra…you go, girl!) #3 “Listen People”
(Herman”s Hermits)
Baseball Quiz Answer: The 9 NL Rookie of the Year”s playing
for New York NL teams are – Jackie Robinson (”47), Don
Newcombe (”49), Willie Mays (”51), Joe Black (”52), Jim Gilliam
(”53), Tom Seaver (”67), Jon Matlack (”72), Darryl Strawberry
(”83), Dwight Gooden (”84).
NCAA Tourney Picks: Your editor is just happy that his
struggling alma mater, Wake Forest, made it to the Big Dance.
Unfortunately, he sees them losing to Butler in the first round.
My final four is Duke, Maryland, Arizona, and Michigan State,
with Tommy Izzo”s squad emerging victorious once again. And
where the heck is Northwestern State?
…waiting for complaints from Northwestern State alumni…
Next Bar Chat, Wednesday.
