Los Angeles / Brooklyn Dodgers Quiz (1884-2001…none of the
answers are pre-1930) 1) When was the last year they won the
Series? 2) Within 50,000…give the all-time best attendance
figure for Dodger Stadium. 3) Name the 4 who won Rookie of
the Year in consecutive seasons, 1979-82. Name the 5 who won
the same award for the period 1992-96. 4) How many of the 10
retired uniforms can you get? [Hint: 2 are managers.] 5) Who is
the single season RBI leader? 6) Name the only pitcher to throw
a no-hitter in the 70s. 7) Who are the top 3 in club history for
home runs? Answers below.
Maybe the Best
Seattle Slew, son of Bold Reasoning, died Tuesday at the age of
28; 25 years to the day Slew won the Kentucky Derby, the first
leg in his Triple Crown of 1977. Mickey Taylor, co-owner along
with wife Karen, said, “He was the most complete thoroughbred
the industry has seen. He just kept raising the bar with every
record he broke.”
Bought for just $17,500, Slew entered the Derby having won his
first 6 races without trailing. Then he went on his magical run,
Jean Cruguet up top, winning the Derby after taking the lead in
the first turn, the Preakness after briefly starting in second, and
the Belmont, leading start-to-finish.
Slew retired at the early age of 4 (28 in dog years…sorry),
having won 14 of 17 races (the other finishes being two seconds
and a fourth) and earning $1,208,000. Among Slew’s last wins
was the Marlboro Cup (Angel Cordero riding) in 1978 against
that year’s Triple Crown winner, Affirmed.
But it was in stud that Seattle Slew shined even more, becoming
one of racing’s greatest sires, 102 stakes winners, including 1988
Derby winner Swale and 1992 Horse of the Year, A.P. Indy,
which in total earned some $75 million in purses.
Mickey Taylor, a former lumberman from Washington, and his
wife earned more than $100,000 per mare.
The aforementioned Cordero, who turned 60 on Wednesday, said
Slew was the only horse he ever rode that seemed lost in
concentration at the starting gate. As Joe Drape of the Times
wrote, “Seattle Slew’s chest expanded, his neck got taut and he
stared through the gate, just raring to go.”
But as sportswriter Jerry Izenberg noted, Slew had the
misfortune of being sandwiched between the Triple Crown
winners Secretariat and Affirmed. In other words, Slew spent his
whole life not being Secretariat. I once asked Slew if this
bothered him and he kicked me in the head, which is why I’m
scared of horses to this day.
Mickey and Karen Taylor spent the last few years helping to
make sure Slew was enjoying his elder years. I’d say the ol’ boy
was. Hell, just this year 43 of 46 mares were in foal! Geezuz.
Alas, the end was sad, as it is with all of racing’s best, thanks to
the fact great sportswriters like the Times’ George Vecsey are
around to chronicle it. Describing the final scene, with the
Taylors at Slew’s side, Mickey related to Vecsey.
“We have a black labrador, 8 months old, named Chet, after my
father. Chet went into his stall, and Slew licked Chet’s face, and
Chet licked Slew’s face. Then Slew looked up at me and said:
‘You get on with your life. I’ve got to go.’”
“We told him to go to sleep,” Karen Taylor said, crying. “He
gave us a lot of love.”
[Sources: Joe Drape and George Vecsey / New York Times;
Steve Bailey / AP; Jerry Izenberg / Star-Ledger.]
Triple Crown Winners
1919: Sir Barton
1930: Gallant Fox
1935: Omaha
1937: War Admiral
1941: Whirlaway
1943: Count Fleet
1946: Assault
1948: Citation
1973: Secretariat
1977: Seattle Slew
1978: Affirmed
*Our own Lamb creator, Harry Trumbore, just reminded me he
witnessed Slew in the Preakness. Got the most wicked sunburn
in doing so, thanks to a plethora of Black-eyed Susans I imagine,
bro. His college friend bet on Slew and stupidly cashed in his
ticket because he needed the $2.20, or whatever it was. Johnny
Mac also had the right idea when he said that Slew had the
perfect life; 4 years of work and 24 of having the ladies pay to,
well, you know.…
Stuff
–John Daly had a minor stroke last Friday. He was complaining
of numbness in his left leg and arm and went to the hospital, only
to find he had suffered the stroke as a result of a reaction to diet
pills. Doctors advised him to get off them immediately, so now
poor Daly, who was making a great comeback, knows his weight
is likely to balloon, to “500 lbs.” he himself proclaims. You
can’t help but root for the guy.
–Earl Shaffer died at age 83. In 1948 Shaffer was the first to
hike the full 2,160 miles of the Appalachian Trail from Georgia
to Maine in one journey. He did it again, going the other way,
and then to celebrate his 80th birthday he hiked the full length in
1998. At that time, Peter Genovese of the Star-Ledger caught up
to him on the portion crossing New Jersey and asked him for
some long-hiking tips. I’m not making these up, as surprising as
they may be for some of you.
Never wear socks (cause blisters)
Wear heavy flannel shirts (to neutralize the heat)
Long pants (to protect against brush burns and poison ivy)
Don’t carry a tent (sleep under the skies…and get eaten alive by
mosquitoes and spiders? No way, man)
Never cook (instead, snack on bagels, raisins and peanut butter)
[Source: AP / Star-Ledger]
Your editor and two high school friends once went on a planned
one-week hike of the Trail. We frantically called my father to
pick us up after 3 days because the forecast was for rain.
–Lou Thesz passed away at 86. He was one of pro wrestling’s
greatest, making his name against the likes of Gorgeous George,
Killer Kowalski, and Verne Gagne by using his physical skills
rather than show business. He dominated the sport in the 1940s
and 1950s and he really wrestled, most of the time, at one point
winning 936 consecutive matches from 1948 to 1955.
–Otis Blackwell, dead at 70. One of the great songwriters,
Blackwell is responsible for over 1,000 tunes, including some of
the following:
“Don’t Be Cruel”, “All Shook Up”, and “Return To Sender” for
Elvis; “Great Balls Of Fire” and “Breathless” for Jerry Lee
Lewis; “Fever”, Peggy Lee’s signature piece and “Handy Man”,
a James Taylor hit.
Blackwell sold his first 6 songs for $150.
–The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is holding hearings on the
burgeoning Canada Geese problem. Just 15 years ago there were
only 200,000 “resident geese” along the Atlantic Flyway, from
New York to Virginia. Today there are 1.1 million and some 3.6
million, overall, in the United States. My state of New Jersey
has 85,000 that, of course, leave tons of feces carrying E. coli,
salmonella, and other killer diseases along the way, as well as
fouling the drinking water.
Unfortunately, we don’t have enough natural predators around;
animals like foxes and coyotes, along with snapper turtles and
raptors, which eat the young. So, we’re looking for more than a
few brave coyotes in these parts. Send your resume to “Contact
Us” at StocksandNews.com. We pay $42 a day for all the geese
you can eat, and, if you happen to kill a deer or two, we’ll look
the other way. [Source: AP]
–I was catching up with my mail and read a piece by David Tell
in the 4/29 issue of the Weekly Standard concerning the FBI’s
search for the anthrax killer. Barbara Hatch Rosenberg is the
Bureau’s main expert on the case, and Tell notes that both she
and the government are pinning their case on stuff like the fact
that the suspect “left no potentially incriminating personal marks
on last fall’s letters: no fingerprints anywhere on the envelopes
or xeroxes, and no saliva on the envelopes’ adhesive flaps.”
Tell adds, to Rosenberg this indicates “that the mailer was a
spook-like U.S. government insider, someone with ‘training or
experience in covering evidence…(as well as having an)
organized, rational thought process in furtherance of his criminal
behavior.’”
To which Tell has the brilliant conclusion:
“Actually, though, all he exhibited was a bare minimum of
human brain function and an animal instinct for self-
preservation. Ask yourself: Would you be willing to touch with
your bare hands, much less lick with your tongue, an envelope
containing two billion spores of the universe’s most dangerous
bacterium? The question answers itself.”
–The Montreal Expos drew 3,780 to their game with Colorado
Tuesday night.
–Let’s see, Milwaukee is 9-24 and Tampa Bay 9-22. I’ll say that
Milwaukee finishes 56-106 and Tampa Bay 48-114.
–How ‘bout those Nets? Wouldn’t you know, I was splitting
season tickets the past few seasons and gave them up this year.
Pretty good, eh? And while I’m a huge Tim Duncan fan, being a
Demon Deacon and all, clearly Jason Kidd should have been the
league’s MVP.
Top 3 songs for the week of 5/12/73: #1 “Tie A Yellow Ribbon
Round The Ole Oak Tree (Dawn featuring Tony Orlando) #2
“You Are The Sunshine Of My Life” (Stevie Wonder) #3 “Little
Willy” (The Sweet…you had to hide this one from your parents)
Los Angeles Dodgers Quiz Answers: 1) Last Series victory,
1988. 2) Best attendance: 3,608,881 in 1982. 3) Rookies of the
Year: 1979 / Rick Sutcliffe; 1980 / Steve Howe; 1981 / Fernando
Valenzuela; 1982 / Steve Sax. 1992 / Eric Karros; 1993 / Mike
Piazza; 1994 / Raul Mondesi; 1995 / Hideo Nomo; 1996 / Todd
Holandsworth. 4) Retired uniform #’s: #1 Pee Wee Reese; #2
Tommy Lasorda; #4 Duke Snider; #19 Jim Gilliam (this was the
toughest); #20 Don Sutton; #24 Walter Alston; #32 Sandy
Koufax; #39 Roy Campanella; #42 Jackie Robinson; #53 Don
Drysdale. 5) Single season RBIs: Tommy Davis, 153 in 1962. 6)
No-hitter in 70s: Bill Singer, 1970. 7) Top 3 home runs: Duke
Snider, 389; Gil Hodges, 361; Eric Karros, 257 (entering 2002).
Next Bar Chat, Tuesday.
