Tennis Quiz: Name 10 of the Top 32 ranked Men”s players today
(ATP ranking). Answer below. [For the average sports fan, I
guarantee you this won”t be easy.]
*Folks…sorry this is all baseball, with the exception of the
above. I promise a baseball-free chat on Friday.
Johnny Mac…Great Teams / 1936-39 Yankees
Continuing our series, while most tend to focus on the Yankee
clubs of the Twenties, the ”36-”39 bunch were good.real good.
They reeled off four straight championships, a feat even the
famed Murderers Row didn”t accomplish. They had excellence
everywhere, including in the dugout. Joe McCarthy would lead
them to a total of seven World Series titles in his tenure, while
finishing first or second in 12 of his 15 seasons at the helm. He
would lead the 1932 team to the title, holding together the
remnants of the glory years (Ruth, Coombs, Lazzeri, Pennock,
Gehrig), while mixing in new talent (Dickey, Crosetti, Lefty
Gomez, Red Ruffing). The next three years the Yanks were in
transition, phasing out the stars of the 20s, bringing in new
blood, yet they still managed to finish second each season.
But 1936 marked the beginning of a new era for the Bombers,
the DiMaggio era. Joe was a rookie, although he certainly
played like a veteran (.323 BA, 125 RBI, 132 runs, 44 doubles,
15 triples and 29 homers.with just 39 strike outs!). And Joe D.
would just get better from there. Meanwhile, Gehrig, at 33, was
the bridge to the former great teams, and still a monster at the
plate. 1936 saw him hit 49 homers, drive in 152, and score an
astounding 167, while batting .354. Not a bad one-two punch,
but this club was loaded even further. Tony Lazzeri, Bill Dickey
and fleet outfielder George “Twinkle-Toes” Selkirk all drove in
100. Dickey also hit .362 as the catcher, while Frank Crosetti
and new third-sacker Red Rolfe scored runs by the bushel (132
and 116, respectively).
This ”36 Yankees squad crossed the plate 1,065 runs (in just 153
games) and won the pennant by 19 games. What a pleasure it
must have been to pitch for these guys. Red Ruffing (20-12),
Lefty Gomez (13-7) , Monte Pearson (19-7) and Bump Hadley
(14-4) not only benefited from one of the best offenses of all
time, but they allowed the fewest runs in the league as well.
With this combination in place, the Yanks rolled over the Giants
in the Series, 4 games to 2.
1937 saw them stroll to a pennant again, this time by 13 games.
The core was pretty much the same, and just as effective.
Gehrig, Dickey and DiMaggio combined to drive in an amazing
459, while Rolfe and Crosetti teamed up to score 270. Gomez
and Ruffing won 20 and Johnny Murphy had a nice year in relief,
winning 13 and saving 10. They again led the league in runs and
pitching, and dismissed the Giants for a second time in the Fall
Classic.
On to 1938, the team I thought might be the best of the bunch,
though it actually had the “worst” record for the run, 99-53. The
Yanks were never challenged and strolled to a third straight
pennant by nine over Boston. There were some changes on the
roster, all for the better. Joe Gordon had replaced an aging
Lazzeri at second. Gordon was a spark plug on offense and an
excellent defensive player. “Old Reliable” Tommy Henrich
earned a spot in the outfield and Spud Chandler joined the
rotation, going 14-5 en route to a career record of 109-43 (a cool
.717 winning percentage). For these three reasons, while some
may argue with this opinion, I feel the ”38 club was best.
Leading the A.L. for a 3rd straight time in runs scored and
pitching, they dispatched the Cubs in four straight in the Series.
Along came 1939, a sad time for baseball. The great Gehrig,
after 2,130 straight games, was forced to step aside, suffering
from the crippling effects of ALS. He would pass away within
two years. Even that couldn”t stop the Yankees, as they rolled to
a fourth pennant by 17 games, posting a stupendous 106-45
record. Trivia answer Babe Dahlgren replaced Gehrig at first,
and he was no “Iron Horse,” but they still had more than enough
firepower, with DiMaggio, Dickey, Selkirk and Gordon all
driving in 100, while Rolfe (213 hits) and newcomer Charlie
Keller had splendid seasons. And the pitching was deep, if not
spectacular. Eight different pitchers started over 11 games, as
Chandler was out most of the year. Lefty Gomez had a sub-par
year (12-8), but Ruffing won 21 and Murphy saved 19, a hell of a
total for 1939 (only one other pitcher in the league was in double
digits that year). And for a fourth straight season the Yankees
had the best combination of offense and defense, this time by a
wide margin. In the Series, the victim this time was Cincinnati,
with the Yanks blowing them away in 4, meaning that they had a
16-3 World Series, ”36-”39.
But in 1940 they dropped off a bit, losing a tight three-team race
to the Tigers. Key players like Ruffing and Dickey were
beginning to show their age and Dahlgren wasn”t the answer at
first base. In 1941, though, they bounced right back, going 101-
53 and winning another Series, making it 5 out of 6. Then the
war hit, but with rosters in a state of flux, Joe McCarthy was still
able to guide them to another spectacular 103-51 record,
however this time they lost the Series to St. Louis. Throw in one
more Series triumph in ”43 (revenge against St. Louis) and you”d
think McCarthy”s job would be quite secure, however, after two
so-so seasons in ”44 and ”45, he was fired 35 games into the ”46
campaign (even though the Yanks were 22-13 at the time).
All in all, quite a run, I think you”d agree. Those clubs from ”36-
”39 match up against any of the greats of all time. My choice of
the 1938 club as the best, while maybe not statistically correct, is
due to personnel. Gordon, Henrich and Chandler were better
than those they replaced at this particular stage in their careers,
and while the pitching staff might not have been of “all-time”
stature (though Gomez and Ruffing are in the Hall), they were
still at the top of the league in performance each season. For
their part, Dickey, Gehrig, and DiMaggio are as good as the
game has produced, and the “lesser-knowns” like Gordon and
Rolfe were super in their own right.
In light of developments over the past five years, though, many
will argue that the current Yankees squad, with its own awesome
run, deserves to be compared to the ”36-”39 group. Should they
repeat again this Fall, we”ll do that.
Hank Sauer
After my little blurb on the passing of the Cubs” great the other
day, I read an anecdote by Richard Goldstein of the New York
Times. It seems that after the 1954 season, one in which Sauer
had clubbed 41 homers and driven in 103, he received a stunning
contract offer. As Sauer recalled the episode, “They sent me a
contract with a $1,500 cut in salary. I said: ”Are you sure you”re
sending this to the right guy? I had a pretty good year.” They
said: ”You had a pretty good year but we still ended up in
seventh place. We could have ended up in seventh without
you.””
However, what the Times” obituary failed to do is what we
specialize in here at Bar Chat. Sauer, a late bloomer, was 38-
years-old entering the ”55 campaign and he hit a whopping .211
with 28 RBI. So Cubs management knew what it was doing.
[He did manage 26 homers for the New York Giants in 1957,
though, at age 40.] But the whole episode really reminds me of
the situation facing the despised Barry Bonds. Speaking of Mr.
Bonds.
I meant to note this on Monday but if you haven”t already done
so, find a copy of the current Sports Illustrated and the column
written by Rick Reilly. To say Bonds is savaged (and correctly
so) is an understatement. As Reilly writes, “Someday they”ll be
able to hold Bonds”s funeral in a fitting room.” And to give you
a sense of how his teammates really feel about him, after Bonds
hit his 500th home run this past April, “only one person came out
of the dugout to greet him at the plate: the Giants” batgirl.”
And if you were watching Sunday Night Baseball this week, you
saw a classic Bonds exhibition.standing at the plate admiring
his triple (which if he was running hard out of the box might
have been an inside-the-park job), and then nonchalantly
catching a fly ball with runners on first and third and one out,
when clearly he thought his catch retired the side. Bottom line,
Bonds is 37 and a free agent. I just wish all of the GMs could
legally get together and give him a Hank Sauer type offer. [I
apologize to my good friend, and lifelong Bonds fan, Paul C. for
these remarks. Paul, I”ll buy next round.]
Joe D
Last November, I wrote of Joe DiMaggio”s last days and the
battle that was waged over his estate, one which involved sports
memorabilia. According to Richard Ben Cramer”s scathing book
on the Yankee Clipper, DiMaggio”s attorney Moris Engelberg
was trying to get Joe D., basically on his death bed, to sign more
baseballs than contracted for, in essence creating a private stash
from which Engelberg could then sell the extras for his own profit.
Sunday”s Miami Herald reported that taped phone conversations
have been made available. In a September 4, 1998 call (Joe D.
died March ”99), Engelberg told memorabilia dealer DiStefano,
“I”m having (Joe) sign three, four thousand balls. He loses track.
Five thousand balls. That”s how I dribble mine in.”
Little League
All of this controversy over Danny Almonte was so predictable.
He looks old enough to be my brother! Heck, he looks older
than El Duque!
Gary Condit
OK, politics junkies. You”ve all heard the stories concerning
Condit”s district and its voting patterns. Well, I just purchased
Michael Barone”s 2002 Almanac of American Politics, so here”s
the skinny.
Democrat Condit captured 67% of the 2000 general election
against his Republican opponent. In 1998 he received 87%.
But the reason why Democrats are scared to death is because of
the following.
2000 – Bush 58%, Gore 38%, Nader 3%
1996 – Dole 52%, Clinton 40%, Perot 6%
“Hey, editor, how did this sneak into Bar Chat?”
“No idea.”
Top 3 songs for the week of 8/28/61: #1 “Wooden Heart” (Joe
Dowell) #2 “Tossin” and Turnin”” (Bobby Lewis) #3 “Michael”
(The Highwaymen)
Tennis Quiz Answer: In order of ranking, #1-#32 – Gustavo
Kuerten, Andre Agassi, Marat Safin, Lleyton Hewitt, Juan Carlos
Ferrero, Patrick Rafter, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Sebastien
Grosjean, Tim Henman, Alex Corretja, Pete Sampras, Arnaud
Clement, Roger Federer, Thomas Johansson, Tommy Haas,
Carlos Moya, Goran Ivanisevic, Jan-Michael Gambill, Thomas
Enqvist, Andrei Pavel, Fabrice Santoro, Dominik Hrbaty,
Nicolas Kiefer, Magnus Norman, Albert Portas, Nicolas
Lapentti, Hicham Arazi, Guillermo Canas, Greg Rusedski, Andy
Roddick, Nicolas Escude, Guillermo Coria.
Next Bar Chat, Friday.
