Opening Day Quiz: 1) Which of baseball’s expansion teams in
1969 (Montreal, San Diego, Kansas City or Seattle) had the best
won-lost record for the year? 2) Who was the leading RBI man
on each squad that first season? 3) Name the New York Mets’
Opening Day lineup for 1969. Answers below.
Baseball Tidbits
[Every few weeks, we’ll honor both the great and the obscure.]
–April 1, 1914…pitcher Rube Waddell died of tuberculosis at
the age of 37. A Hall of Famer, Rube was forced to retire at 33,
having compiled a 196-138 record (I have also seen 193-143 and
191-142), 2.16 ERA (#5 all-time) and 50 shutouts. He also led
the league six straight seasons in strikeouts.
–April 8, 1916…Tris Speaker chose not to report to the Red Sox
when management wanted to cut his salary from $11,000 to
$9,000. Speaker “only” hit .322 the year before. So in 1916 for
his new club, Cleveland, he won the batting title with a .386
average and went on to accumulate 3,514 hits (#5 all-time),
1,527 RBI (#36) as well as a .345 career BA (#7).
–April 5, 1925…Babe Ruth collapsed and required surgery for
an ulcer (too many hot dogs, seriously, and a bit of alcohol). It
was the “bellyache” heard ‘round the nation. The Babe was out
until June and ended up with 25 HR in 98 games. The Yankees
blew that year. Then in 1926, Ruth rebounded with 47 HR 146
RBI and a .372 average, but the Yankees lost to St. Louis in the
Series.
–April 1, 1963…Mets purchase Duke Snider. Why? He was an
old 36, but he still managed 14 dingers (thanks to the Polo
Grounds’ short porch in right…43 feet…slight exaggeration),
while hitting .243.
–April 8, 1969…the four expansion teams all won their
inaugural games.
–April 2, 1972…Mets’ manager Gil Hodges died of a heart
attack, two days before his 48th birthday. It was a depressing
time.
–April 6, 1973…Ron Blomberg of the Yankees became the
game’s first designated hitter. He was 1-for-3 against Boston.
–April 8, 1975…Frank Robinson became the first black manager
in the major leagues. He was also the Indians’ DH and homered
that day.
–April 5, 1977…The White Sox traded shortstop Bucky Dent to
the Yankees.
–April 7, 1977…Toronto Blue Jays debut with a 9-5 win over
the White Sox. They finish their inaugural season with a 54-107
mark.
–April 7, 1984…Jack Morris throws a no-hitter (I still remember
this one, a “Game of the Week” telecast) for Detroit against
Chicago. By May 24 the Tigers were 35-6 on the way to their
spectacular Series-winning season.
–And then there is Derek Bell.
1998 – Houston: 22 HR 108 RBI .314 BA
1999 – Houston: 12-66 .236…Mets acquire him in the off-
season.
2000 – NY Mets: After a blazing start, finishes just 18-69 .266…
signs unbelievable 2-yr., $9.75 million contract with Pittsburgh.
2001 – Pittsburgh: 5 HR 13 RBI .173 BA in 156 AB…nice
investment.
2002 – Pittsburgh: Pirates release Bell for insubordination, Bell
having said, “If it is (a competition for the starting job), then I’m
going into ‘Operation Shutdown.’” Upon being informed he was
released, Bell left a goodbye message. “Tell everyone I got onto
my yacht and rode off into the sunset.” The Pirates are still
responsible for his contract.
–According to Forbes, the Top Five franchise values are…
1. Yankees, $730 million
2. Mets, $482 million
3. Dodgers, $435 million
4. Boston, $432 million
5. Atlanta, $424 million
*Montreal…$108.00, err, $108 million. Major League Baseball
purchased the Expos for $120 million and has six months to
decide what to do with the franchise. While Bud Selig and Co.
would like to disband it, there is still a chance the Expos could be
moved to Washington, D.C. But for this season, the fact that the
other clubs in essence own a piece of the Expos could make for
some suspect maneuvers come season end, especially if the
Expos are playing a pennant contender…or, heaven forbid, they
are contending themselves. For his part, Selig did assemble a
qualified staff, including Frank Robinson to manage the team.
–Number of baseball postseason games won, of the last 224
played, by a team that maintained a payroll below the major
league mean…five. [Sports Illustrated]
–Rafael Palmeiro now has 7 straight seasons with at least 38
home runs, tied with Babe Ruth.
–Average # of home runs per team.
1990 – 128 (26 teams)
1993 – 144 (28 teams)
2000 – 190 (30 teams)
*I still believe Dave Kingman should be in the Hall of Fame.
Contributions are being taken to run full-page ads in the New
York Times for the purpose of getting him selected by the new
Veterans Committee.
Other Mets Opening Day Lineups
[Sorry, non-Mets fans, but from time to time you have to put up
with the fact that yours truly (and Johnny Mac) are huge ones.]
1962 Mets Opening Day Lineup
1. Richie Ashburn, CF
2. Felix Mantilla, SS
3. Charlie Neal, 2B
4. Frank Thomas, LF
5. Gus Bell, RF
6. Gil Hodges, 1B
7. Don Zimmer, 3B
8. Hobie Landrith, C
9. Roger Craig, P
Mets lost to the Cardinals, 11-4. As a matter of fact, the Mets
lost their first 8 Opening Day games, then rattled off 21 of 24.
1986 Mets Opening Day Lineup
1. Len Dykstra, CF
2. Wally Backman, 2B
3. Keith Hernandez, 1B
4. Cary Carter, C
5. Darryl Strawberry, RF
6. George Foster, LF…released in August
7. Howard Johnson, 3B
8. Rafael Santana, SS
9. Dwight Gooden, P
Beat Pittsburgh, 4-2.
Stuff
–NCAA Division I “Frozen Four”…Hockey:
Maine vs. New Hampshire
Minnesota vs. Michigan
[Thurs. / Sat.]
–Congratulations to the Lady Huskies and their 39-0 season! But
21 turnovers? C’mon.
–There have been 15 fatal skiing accidents in Colorado this
year…only one victim was wearing a helmet. Last year there
were 47 nationwide. Am I the only one who thinks this is a huge
total? [Michael Janofsky / New York Times]
–I am New Jersey’s only subscriber to Wyoming Wildlife (I
must be), so here is what the rest of you are missing.
Pepper spray is used successfully to repel both grizzly and black
bear attacks. Of the 5,346 hunters who checked through the
Dubois (WY) station, 47 percent carried bear spray on their hunt.
And stayed tuned, folks, because I just ordered a book on bear
attacks. Let’s hope the war on terror doesn’t impinge on my
efforts to pass on some scary tales.
–The Wall Street Journal had a recent piece on the amount of
radiation one gets from some airline flights (literally from the
stars). From Newark to Hong Kong, a passenger (pilot / flight
attendant) receives the equivalent of 3.2 chest X-rays. You
receive 1.3 for New York to San Francisco. Having done a bit of
traveling the past few years (including that Hong Kong segment),
I’m now feeling like a walking tumor.
Milton Berle
Dudley Moore, Berle and Billy Wilder died shortly after I posted
my last Bar Chat, so I just have to add a few words about Uncle
Miltie, in particular.
Born Mendel Berlinger in 1908 on West 118th Street in New
York City, he was the son of a successful paint salesman.
Milton’s mother, though, was the one who forced him into show
business and by age 31 he was earning a whopping $6,000 a
week at the International Casino on Broadway. After the war, it
was $10,000.
With the advent of television, there were still just 136,000 sets in
the U.S. by 1947. In 1948, Berle was to share a rotating host slot
with Henny Youngman and Morey Amsterdam for the “Texaco
Star Theater,” but the fan mail was so huge for Berle, NBC was
forced to give the show to him permanently. By the end of 1948
there were 700,000 televisions in America, many purchased
because of Uncle Miltie. As a result of the popularity of his 8:00
PM time slot on Tuesdays, restaurants and nightclubs changed
their closing night from Monday to then. Between 9:00 and
9:05, after Berle’s show the water supply across the nation came
under severe strain. He ended up signing an extraordinary 30-
year contract with NBC for up to $200,000 per, whether he
worked or not. [Eventually this was renegotiated down when he
left the network.]
Better known lines:
“I feel like a 20-year-old, but unfortunately there’s never one
around.”
[On stealing jokes…and upon hearing a fellow comedian.] “I
laughed so hard I nearly dropped my pencil.”
Lastly, if you want a fun Saturday night movie with the family,
“It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” is good stuff. Every comic
from the era (1963) takes a spin, including Berle.
Top 3 songs for the week of 4/3/71: #1 “Just My Imagination”
(The Temptations) #2 “Me And Bobby McGee” (Janis Joplin)
#3 “For All We Know” (Carpenters)
Opening Day Quiz: 1) Records for the 1969 expansion teams –
Montreal, 52-110; San Diego, 52-110; Seattle, 64-98; Kansas
City, 69-93. 2) Leading RBI men: Montreal, Coco Laboy (83);
San Diego, Nate Colbert (66); Seattle, Tommy Davis (80);
Kansas City, Joe Foy (71). 3) 1969 Opening Day lineup for the
Mets:
1. Tommie Agee, CF
2. Rod Gaspar, RF
3. Ken Boswell, 2B
4. Cleon Jones, LF
5. Ed Charles, 3B
6. Ed Kranepool, 1B
7. Jerry Grote, C
8. Bud Harrelson, SS
9. Tom Seaver, P
*Mets lost the game to Montreal, 11-10.
Go Terps! Not for nothing, but your editor did break his streak
of awful sports picks.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday…the Queen Mother and the Kinks.
