Baseball Quiz: 1) The Mets” Lenny Harris now has 132 pinch-
hits for his career. Name the three he trails on the all-time list.
2) Who is the only player to strikeout more than 155 times in 5
different seasons? [Hint: He is not a Hall of Famer.] Answers
below.
David Brower / Earth Day
StocksandNews begins to fulfill its American Web Site
Association (AWSA) environmental sensitivity requirement. For
the next 3 editions of Bar Chat, we will celebrate Earth Day by
honoring those who have helped to make the world a better
place. [The preceding line was taken from the AWSA editor”s
guidebook.]
David Brower, the founder of Earth Day, died last November at
the age of 88. He really was a remarkable fellow. Born on July
1, 1912 in Berkeley, CA (where else?), Brower had an interest in
nature as a young boy. At 16 he enrolled at Berkeley but soon
dropped out to work in a sweet factory. Then at age 21 he went
trekking through the Sierra Nevada.
That same year, 1933, David joined the Sierra Club, which had
been responsible for bringing about the preservation of
Yosemite, Mount Ranier, and Glacier National Parks. Brower
then signed up with the Yosemite park service, where he soon
established himself as a great mountaineer, making the first
ascent of some 35 peaks in the Sierras.
From 1943 to the end of World War II, David was a member of
the 10th Mountain Division of Colorado, training those troops in
Italy and France who had to maneuver in the Alps. Seeing this
spectacular chain confirmed his desire to protect the Sierra
Nevada. [The Alps, while beautiful, are full of holes for tunnels
and such and Brower didn”t want to see his favorites suffer the
same fate.]
After the war, Brower worked with University of California
Press before becoming full-time director of the Sierra Club in
1952. Through his work the organization changed from a
conservative to an activist group as he launched them into
battle against the “plunderers” of the earth. Membership rose
from 7,000 to 70,000.
The Sierra Club put the fear into logging and mining interests.
This was an era which some would say was one of excessive
dam-building and Brower likened the architects of the program
to compulsive beavers: “They can”t stand the sight of running
water.” Through his efforts, two large projects in the Grand
Canyon were shelved and the Sierra Club helped to save portions
of the Florida Everglades as well as the seashore of Cape Cod.
The Sierra Club”s efforts later helped lead to the creation of the
Wilderness Act, under which motor vehicles were prohibited
from more than 150 wilderness areas. But some in the group
thought that Brower”s tactics were too dictatorial and that they
were alienating members of the business community and
Congress. It all came to a head when the Sierra Club refused to
oppose the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant project in California.
While Brower had originally been a supporter of nuclear power,
he grew increasingly wary of safety concerns.
So in 1969, David founded Friends of the Earth, which grew into
the largest international environmental organization in the world.
It was Brower who coined the phrase, “think globally, act
locally.” And he was the force behind the first Earth Day, April
22, 1970.
But there is an item about Brower that should be of particular
interest to readers of Bar Chat. It seems that he believed that
messages could be transmitted between species! So your editor
isn”t wrong after all. Elephants in India and Africa are now
communicating with black bears in New Jersey as part of their
plot to take over the human race. What”s really scary is the fact
that Wall Street has yet to factor this into their long-range
forecasts. [Source: The Daily Telegraph]
“Nuggets Guard Lenard Arrested”
When I first saw this headline I thought, must be another NBA
dirtball move. But, upon further analysis, instead we all owe
Voshon Lenard a debt of gratitude. Lenard was arrested on
misdemeanor charges of reckless endangerment and prohibited
use of a weapon after allegedly shooting at deer from his yard. A
neighbor said she saw him shooting at them. Lenard says he was
actually firing in the air in an attempt to scare them. They”re
giant rodents! Free Voshon! Free Voshon! [Here at Bar Chat
we draw a distinction between these vermin, and, say, the noble
Yak or the industrious, albeit compulsive, beaver. Also, Voshon
is not in jail.]
Beer, Here!
Johnny Mac passed along a Reuters story from last week about
the town of Tweed Heads, Australia. It seems that a truck
crashed and dumped thousands of bottles of beer into the river.
24,000 to be exact. So all Easter weekend the locals dived in to
recover the goods. One fellow reportedly brought up 400! Party
down, mates!
Baseball Tidbits
–In 1959, New York attorney William Shea was thinking about
forming a 3rd major league to be comprised of 8 teams. Of
course, the real solution was simply expansion as New York was
seeking to get back a second club, having recently lost the
Giants and Dodgers. But in a piece from the Sporting News at
the time, Shea had other concerns.
“It is shameful the way the big leagues have raided college
teams. There is keen resentment in the Southwest over
Cleveland”s having grabbed Gene Leek from the University of
Arizona.
“The third league will work in harmony with the colleges
through an arrangement similar to the one used by the National
Football League. We will not sign a collegian before he is
graduated, and we will institute a college draft.
“Associated with the college player problem is this much-
discussed bonus business. The majors are throwing away vast
sums and ruining a lot of promising young material with those
extravagant gifts for signing. What has happened to the great
majority of these bonus babies? How many are making good in
the major leagues?”
Actually, Shea was right. Most of them bombed. Like Gene
Leek (which is why I”m boring you with this story.I had to
look up to see what this guy actually did).
1959: 8-for-36, one HR, five RBI…Cleveland
1961: .226, 5 HR, 20 RBI…Los Angeles Angels
1962: 2-for-14…Los Angeles
Career: .221, 6 HR, 25 RBI
For his part, Shea was responsible for bringing baseball back to
New York (the Mets), as well as the simply awful stadium which
bears his name. Actually, some of you will cringe when you
recall going to Jets games there. Disgusting.
–Bernie Williams: The Yankees $12 million star outfielder has
become a big issue in these parts. He has now missed about 10
games due to his being in Puerto Rico to be with his gravely ill
father. Of course, this is a sensitive matter and no one wants to
appear to be callous. As to his return, manager Joe Torre said,
“I”ll leave it up to him.”
*Update: Williams has said he”s rejoining the Yankees on Friday.
Stuff
–NBA players receive $90 per diem. Actually, I don”t find that
too outrageous, as any business traveler will tell you.
–The official scorer at a baseball game receives $100.
–The Star-Ledger had a breakdown of a local athlete who earns
$3.6 million a year. The agent gets his 5%, as you would expect.
But the business manager and attorney receive another 5%,
collectively. And they don”t do squat, except lose the athlete”s
money.
Top 3 songs for the week of 4/17/65: #1 “I”m Telling You Now”
(Freddie & The Dreamers) #2 “Stop! In The Name Of Love”
(The Supremes) #3 “Game Of Love” (Wayne Fontana & The
Mindbenders).
*Regarding my last piece on Steve Earle, Dr. JM reminds me that
Earle”s best work is probably post-1995, with five “truly great”
CDs. His personal favorite is “I Feel Alright.”
Baseball Quiz Answers: 1) Pinch-hits: #1 Manny Mota, 150;
#2 Smoky Burgess, 145; #3 Greg Gross, 143. 2) Big whiffer:
Rob Deer, struckout 155 times or more in five different seasons.
During his career, 1984-96, Deer hit .220 with 230 career HRs.
Next Bar Chat, Monday. Rachel Carson.
