Masters Quiz: 1) Who is the first player to win 3 times?
[Tournament started in 1934] 2) Which foreign golfers have
won 3 times? 3) Who won more titles, Ben Hogan or Sam
Snead? 4) Name the five winners whose first names begin with
the letter ‘C’. Answers below.
Saku Koivu
Our heartfelt congratulations go out to the Montreal Canadiens
captain, Saku Koivu, who on Tuesday night returned to the ice
just 7 months after beginning treatment for a form of stomach
cancer that claims half its victims within five years. For 8
minutes the crowd gave him a standing ovation, in as emotional a
scene as you’ll find in sports. Koivu, whose cancer has been in
remission since February, now stands as a symbol of hope for
others suffering a similar fate, and since the Rangers once again
failed to make the playoffs, I’ll now follow the Canadiens own
Stanley Cup quest with more than passing interest.
Augusta 2002
Tiger Woods is an incredible 2-1 favorite, but your editor, fresh
on the heels of his superb pick of Maryland in the Final Four
(along with only 50 million other ‘pool’ players), has his semi-
upset special for this weekend…David Toms at 30-1.
I’m also sure many of you are rooting for John Daly. Here is
what CBS commentator David Feherty had to say the other day.
“If he can come back and win (any) tournament again, it’s
probably the greatest comeback in the history of golf. You can
come back from a physical injury like Hogan did. But John had
his brain in a jar for years and his liver on a stick. He was
completely disconnected. To get reconnected again, that’s
remarkable.” [Brad Parks / Star-Ledger]
The highest score ever, by the way, is Charles Kunkle’s 340 back
in 1956…78-82-85-95. Hey, at least he made the cut!
Babe Ruth and the Candy Bar
Ira Berkow had a piece in the New York Times the other day,
discussing the plans of the company which currently makes Baby
Ruth bars (Nestle) to celebrate the 75th-anniversary of the
Bambino’s 60-home run season in 1927. Well, there are all
kinds of problems with this, primarily the fact that back in 1921
when the Curtiss Candy Co. of Chicago introduced the Baby
Ruth bar, Curtiss claimed it had nothing to do with the Yankees’
slugger, rather that the product was named after President Grover
Cleveland’s daughter Ruth, who had died at age 12 back in 1904.
Well, this was the biggest crock of caramel you ever did hear,
because Cleveland finished his second (non-consecutive) term 24
years prior in 1897 and why would Curtiss honor Ruth in this
fashion, 17 years after her tragic passing, anyway?
But the Babe had it all figured out and knew that Curtiss was
simply cashing in on his name. Ruth had, after all, become an
overnight sports sensation by 1921, as his record 29 home runs in
1919 eclipsed the TEAM totals of 10 of the other 15 clubs in the
majors that year. Ruth then followed it up in 1920 with an
astounding 54, exceeding 14 of the remaining 15 teams, the only
exception being the Philadelphia Phillies with 64. [Actually,
think about this…Ruth hit 54, no one else in baseball had 20.
That’s like Bonds hitting 73 and number two being at 26.] So, of
course, Curtiss was trying to pull a fast one.
Ruth thus formed his own candy company, for the purposes of
manufacturing the “Babe Ruth Home Run Bar,” at which point
Curtiss sued for patent infringement and they won. Or, as
Berkow put it, “So, as the manufacturers of the candy bar then
would have had people believe, there was no more association
with Babe Ruth than he had with Hershey’s Kisses, or Tootsie
Roll…You’d have to be from Mars to swallow that one.”
Now, in 2002, the makers are all too happy to draw a connection
to baseball and Ruth they initially claimed they never had. Does
this blow, or what?
I’ll tell you what else ticks me off. After reading Berkow’s
article, I went for my copy of “Babe,” by Robert Creamer,
purportedly the definitive tale of Ruth’s life. Here is how
Creamer describes this tale of deceit.
“When Babe endorsed a new product called Babe Ruth’s Home
Run Candy, the Curtiss Candy Corporation appealed to the
Patent Office. Curtiss had been making a candy bar called Baby
Ruth, ostensibly named for President Grover Cleveland’s
daughter Ruth, who was born in the White House. Curtiss
claimed that the new Ruth candy bar would be impinging on the
Baby Ruth bar. The Patent Office agreed and Ruth was abruptly
out of the candy business.”
There you have it, the “definitive” story on the life and times of
The Bambino, and Creamer couldn’t even put two and two
together. Dope. Well, hopefully we’ve now set the record
straight.
As for Cleveland, he was part of one of the dirtiest campaigns in
American history, the presidential election of 1884. Cleveland’s
opponents had discovered that the bachelor (Grover married after
he took office) had a liason with one Mrs. Maria Halpin, who
claimed that Cleveland was the father of her illegitimate son. It
couldn’t have been known with certainty back then, but
Cleveland accepted responsibility for the child, thus precipitating
the opposition song:
Ma! Ma! Where’s my pa?
Gone to the White House.
Ha! Ha! Ha!
This was 1884, remember.
Actually, to give Cleveland his due, historian Michael Beschloss
wrote the following in his book, “American Heritage: The
Presidents.”
“Grover Cleveland brought a sense of moral order to the
presidency. With a rare strength of character, he closely adhered
to a set of principles of virtuous conduct, and was unafraid to
make ethical judgments that sometimes were politically costly.
His two terms as president provided a kind of road map of the
benefits and liabilities of moral leadership in public office.
Cleveland’s efforts were targeted toward routing out corruption
and upholding observance of the law. The American people, he
believed, deserved efficient government, free of waste and
incompetence.”
[One other baseball note, last week I had my Pirates quiz, with
the amazing stat, to some of us at least, that Paul Waner still
holds the single season RBI mark with 131, set back in 1927. As
Johnny Mac then pointed out to me, the Pirates had 3 players that
year with 100 RBI, none of whom, including Waner, had even 10
home runs. As a team they had 54 dingers. Ruth had 60 that
year, again, exceeding 11 of the other 15 team totals. Lou
Gehrig’s own 47 that season exceeded 7 other teams.]
Stuff
–So if you ever had a ‘thing’ for that cousin of yours, according
to the Journal of Genetic Counseling, the risk of having children
with genetic disorders is only about 1.7 to 2.8% higher in first-
cousin couples than in unrelated couples. Now 30 states have
laws against this kind of thing, so be careful. Also, as editor, I
must issue the disclaimer that StocksandNews is not liable for
whatever may occur as a result of my bringing this topic up.
–For those of you stranded in airports, simply pigging out to
relieve the boredom, you should know the following:
Cinnabon…34 grams of fat, 14 unsaturated.
Wendy’s Big Bacon…30 and 12.
McDonald’s Super Size Fries…29 and 5.
But, a Dunkin’ Donuts jelly-filled donut has just 8 and 1!
[Source: Newsweek] Here’s Homer. “Mmmm, do-nuts.”
Speaking of Homer, I didn’t see the article but I heard Brazil was
suing the producers of the “Simpsons” for the episode which ran
two weeks ago, where Lisa and the family went to find her little
foster friend. One of the better ones, I believe.
–When Phil Garner was fired after just six games as manager of
the Detroit Tigers, he was saved from a dubious record, 10-
straight seasons of managing a losing baseball team. The only
other skipper to do this was Connie Mack, back in the days of the
Philadelphia Athletics. Mack, who owned the team, had two big
losing streaks, 1915-24 and 1934-46 (though in between he did
have those great 1929-31 squads, the story of which our own
Johnny Mac…no relation…has chronicled). Overall, he
managed from 1901-50, finally retiring at age 87. Good god,
boy, step down.
Top 3 songs for the week of 4/13/68: #1 “Honey” (Bobby
Goldsboro…I remember getting this on the back of a cereal box)
#2 “Young Girl” (The Union Gap) #3 “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of
The Bay” (Otis Redding)
**Thanks to Chad O. for informing me that the Minnesota –
Maine Frozen Four Final is being shown on ESPN Classic,
Saturday, April 13 at 7:00 PM.
Masters Quiz Answers: 1) First to win 3 times: Jimmy Demaret
(1940, ’47, ’50) 2) Foreign 3-time winners: Gary Player (1961,
’74, ’78); Nick Faldo (1989, ’90, ’96) 3) Hogan vs. Snead:
Snead won 3 times (1949, ’52, ’54), Hogan twice (51, ’53) 4)
Winners whose first names begin with the letter ‘C’: Craig Wood
(’41), Claude Harmon (’48), Cary Middlecoff (’55), Charles
Coody (’71), Craig Stadler (’82).
Best threesome for the first two rounds…David Duval, Ernie Els,
Greg Norman.
Next Bar Chat, Tuesday.
