**Happy New Year…Bar Chat returns 1/6**
NBA Quiz: 1) 3 numbers are retired for the Chicago Bulls, name
them. 2) Name the 7 Detroit Pistons who have their number
retired…one is a coach. 3) Name the 3 Indiana Pacers whose
jerseys are hanging from the rafters. Answers below.
Death of a Hero…12/31/72
On December 23, 1972, a catastrophic earthquake struck
Nicaragua, killing some 6,000. The relief effort was a chaotic
affair and into the breach came baseball legend Roberto
Clemente. A Puerto Rican native, the 4-time National League
batting champion, 12-time Gold Glove winner, and 1971 World
Series MVP for the Pittsburgh Pirates was a hero to all of Latin
America and when Clemente learned that the soldiers under
Nicaraguan dictator Somoza were pilfering relief supplies before
they could get to the victims, Roberto decided to personally do
something about it.
Not knowing for sure whether the supplies on earlier planes he
had chartered reached those needing the aid most, Clemente
thought that if he showed up in Nicaragua himself, out of
personal respect for the star the army would acquiesce and
distribute the material, as well as protect the relief workers who
were themselves being harassed. So on New Year’s Eve, a DC-7
was made ready for the mercy mission.
Clemente’s wife, Vera, was concerned and offered to go with
him, but Roberto told her, “Well, we both cannot go. We have
guests coming to celebrate the new year and one of us must
stay.” Then he added, rather cryptically, “But the thing is you
should not worry about this day. It is only one day in our lives,
and for us – with love – every day is the same. We will have
them for many years.”
“But I promise you one thing. If anything – anything at all – is
wrong with this plane, I will cancel the trip.”
[Source: Vera Clemente, as told to the Star-Ledger’s Jerry
Izenberg in a December 2002 piece for the paper.]
The selected plane had been having engine problems and it was
overloaded. The first time it attempted to take off it was forced
to return for more work on the engines. Vera, at the airport to
pick up some guests, remembers shaking hands with the
mechanic, the pilot and the plane’s owner, all of whom would
later die.
At 8:00 PM that evening, Vera picked up the phone at her home.
The guests were there and amidst the noise in the house, by the
time she got to it there was only a dial tone. Later she found out
Roberto had been trying to call and he then gave a note to
another mechanic, not accompanying the flight. “Tell her we
had to try a couple of times but now we are ready and I will see
her soon.”
Vera was drawn to the relief headquarters at Hiram Bithorn
Stadium so while the party was going to dinner in Carolina, she
stopped by to check on the mounds of clothing and boxes of food
that would be loaded on future flights to Nicaragua. That’s
where she was at 9:33 PM. She didn’t know her husband had
just died.
Former major leaguer Rudy Hernandez recalls, “We were in the
bar (at his restaurant) and it was typical. All over the island,
parties were just getting started. Then I got a call and we turned
on the radio and in that instant the music stopped everywhere on
this island.” [Izenberg]
Hernandez continued:
“The streets were (suddenly) empty…All of us cried…And then,
because my place was on the beach, we saw those giant
searchlights and the light from the flares crisscrossing on the
waves and we heard the sound of helicopters.”
Former Pirate Rennie Stennett:
“That night, we went to (teammate) Bob Johnson’s apartment for
the New Year’s Eve party (he was throwing on the island). [A
lot of teammates were in Puerto Rico for winter ball.] Sometime
during the night, somebody said, ‘Look out the window, there’s a
ship on fire.’ We all looked, and we could see flames coming
from the water.” [Source: “Talkin’ Baseball” / Phil Pepe]
Stennett’s party didn’t know what had happened until about 4:00
AM, however.
One of Clemente’s close teammates, Manny Sanguillen, may
have been on the flight himself, but because he couldn’t find a
parking spot at the airport he didn’t hook up with Roberto, whom
many felt would have convinced Sanguillen to tag along. So
when Sanguillen heard the news of the crash he hopped in a
small boat with some other guys and started diving at the site to
see if he could find his friend. Hernandez recalls:
“There are sharks out there, man. I mean real, man-eating sharks
and he didn’t care. It was craziness. Craziness everywhere… It
was the night the happiness died.” [Izenberg]
As it turns out, just 90 seconds after takeoff, around 9:30 PM, the
pilot came on with a single statement, “We are coming back
around.” There were two explosions, one in the air and the other
when the plane hit the water. The fact that the plane was
overloaded was a cause of the crash, as the cargo undoubtedly
shifted severely once off the ground.
For eleven days, divers searched the wreckage but it was down
some 125 feet in extremely dangerous waters and a few of the
rescue workers were hurt in the effort. At the same time, each
day hundreds of people stood on the beach, waiting for word.
Clemente’s body was never found.
News of the tragedy struck the baseball community like a
thunderbolt. As Phil Pepe notes, though, in the midst of the
anger that Clemente should die in a mercy mission, there was at
least some small satisfaction that he had banged out his 3,000 hit
in his final game (a double off the New York Mets’ Jon Matlack,
9/30/72, and one I personally recall watching on television).
New York sportswriter Jack Lang.
“The first thing that crossed my mind was why should we wait
for this guy, let’s put him in the Hall of Fame (rather than wait
the required five years after a player retired). When I got to the
hotel, I called Joe Reichler (a retired AP baseball writer then
working in the commissioner’s office) and I mentioned it to Joe
and he said, ‘That’s funny, I was thinking the same thing. Let
me talk to (Commissioner) Bowie (Kuhn) about it.”
Kuhn was all in favor of it, though the president of the Hall of
Fame, Paul Kerr, didn’t like the idea at first. He was finally
convinced it was the right thing to do and a special election was
held that spring. [One legendary a-hole, sportswriter Dick
Young, was violently opposed and wrote columns saying as
much.]
Pepe adds:
“Some writers wondered if this was setting a dangerous
precedent, (but) clearly…he was eminently qualified and would
surely be elected five years after he had played his last game.”
To be elected Clemente would need 75% of those who voted in
the special ballot. He ended up receiving 93. Not only was
Clemente thus the first player to be enshrined without the five-
year waiting period but also he was the first Latin American to
gain admittance.
But perhaps the best way to end this story is with some of
Clemente’s own words.
“If you have an opportunity to make things better and you don’t,
then you are wasting your time on this earth.”
Stuff
–Weather Alert: Your editor follows the weather closely this
time of year due to his extensive holdings in the energy sector,
but if you are basking in the above normal temperatures we’ve
seen in most of the U.S. recently, just know that around January
6, if the National Weather Service is right (not that they ever
are), the Big Cold of the season will begin to hit the U.S. I see
that the temperature range for that day in Minneapolis is already
forecast to be 6 / -11.
*The above is but another free exclusive of Bar Chat, though it
doesn’t mean that the editor of this column has anything to do
with the guy writing “Week in Review,” that character also
owning oil stocks.
–George Elliott died the other day at age 85. It was around 7:00
AM on 12/7/41 that radar trainee Elliott was manning a
mountaintop station in Opuna, Hawaii. Suddenly, he saw a
mammoth blip on the screen, soon estimated to be 137 miles off
the Hawaiian Islands, and deemed it to be an invading force.
The private in charge conferred with Elliott and they called
headquarters at 7:10 to both alert them and seek guidance, but
the two were told the radar plotters were out to breakfast. At
7:20 they got a call back and the experts had decided the blips
represented a dozen B-17s coming down from San Francisco. 35
minutes after that, 183 Japanese warplanes attacked Pearl
Harbor. No doubt, if Elliott’s initial hunch had been taken
seriously, U.S. planes at Pearl Harbor and elsewhere would have
had time to scramble into the air and take on the enemy…or at
least avoid destruction. Countless lives would have been saved.
–The Baseball Hall of Fame will announce its latest inductees on
January 6. First-timers Paul Molitor (3,319 hits) and Dennis
Eckersley (197 wins, 390 saves) are locks. But the interesting
thing will be how well four others do…Bruce Sutter, who
garnered 54% of the vote last year (75% is still the required
number for admission), Jim Rice (52%), Andre Dawson (50%),
and Ryne Sandberg (49%). Look for increases for Sutter, Rice
and Sandberg, but I’d be surprised if any hit the magic number.
At the same time I can’t see Dawson doing any better.
–According to a bit in Sports Illustrated, only 37% of Lou
Gehrig autographs out there are authentic. 39% of Jackie
Robinson’s are, 40% of Michael Jordan’s, and, surprisingly, at
least 55% of Mickey Mantle’s pass muster.
–Season tickets to the Portland Trail Blazers are off 20% and
average attendance down 3,300 in just one year thanks to the
image problem the team has with thugs like Rasheed Wallace
and Ruben Patterson. Good for the citizens of Portland. Don’t
waste your money.
–Follow-up: In case you missed it, with the holidays and all, Joe
Namath did apologize for his boorish behavior a week ago
Saturday when he asked ESPN sideline reporter Suzy Kolber to
kiss him (twice). And Bobby Knight apologized for his latest F-
bomb assault on the media. Texas Tech, Knight’s employer,
took it in stride. Why, I’ll never know. I used to be a big Knight
supporter…no longer.
–Kinnelon, New Jersey has some rather exclusive, $1 million
dollar homes and a family residing in one was away on vacation
for two weeks. When they returned, they let the family dog out
in the backyard and whomp! Turns out a 325-pound black bear
had made a den under their deck while they were away and the
bear killed the dog. Police were called and one officer fired 14
shots from his revolver, but many of the bullets bounced off as
the bear charged. Finally, another officer unloaded his shotgun.
End of story……….except always check under your deck to see
if a bear is making a home there. I’d also check the hall closet,
just to be on the safe side.
–Speaking of wintertime pests, remember to check those logs
you’re bringing in from outside for the fireplace. Lots of bugs
live in ‘em, you know, and the last thing you want is to wake up
in the middle of the night to the sound of “crunch, crunch.”
–A while back I wrote of those who complain when a wind farm
goes up in their neighborhood, like the proposed one (I think it’s
still just being planned…sorry if it’s already in place) off the
coast of Cape Cod. Oh, the poor birds, opponents say. Bull.
Only a handful ever fly into these things, whereas it’s house cats
that are the real danger to our avian friends.
I read another piece on the subject this week with further proof.
One house cat allowed to roam free outside kills about 20 birds
on average a year. And a study in Michigan revealed that at least
60 birds were killed in an 18-month period by a single cat that
researchers had followed.
There are 77.7 million house cats in the U.S. alone, 26 million
more than there were just 15 years ago. Plus there are another
60-100 million stray or feral cats. You start adding up the
carnage.
Dammit….as Bob Barker says, get your freakin’ cats spayed. I
want my birds, for crying out loud. And if you all don’t
cooperate, I’m going to introduce cougars into your
neighborhoods. So there.
[Haven’t quite figured out how to do this, let alone how to
protect my own life, but I’m workin’ on it.]
–Uh oh, bad dog alert, that being Princess Anne’s English bull
terrier, Dottie, which you may have seen killed one of Queen
Elizabeth’s beloved corgis. The corgis went rushing to greet
their guests, the Princesses terriers, when Pharos the corgi was
attacked by Dottie. Both were put down.
–A just released study of a 2001 incident at an Ohio county fair
reveals that 19 people fell victim to E. coli after bacteria was
spread through sawdust in the air at an exhibition hall, the first
time ever E. coli was connected to a contaminated building.
Evidently, the sawdust had been spread on the concrete floor.
The hall was housing cattle, sheep, horses and dogs, so beware,
ye county fair aficionados. [Source: High Plains Journal]
[E. coli claims 61 lives a year in the U.S., though none of the 19
mentioned above died.]
–A former Miss South Africa from 1991 and Miss World
runner-up, Diana Tilden-Davis, was attacked by a hippo while
canoeing in Botswana. The beauty survived, though she’ll have
some rather bad nightmares the rest of her life, I imagine.
Recently, a couple was killed by hippos on their honeymoon in
the same country.
Well this gives me an excuse to once again warn all of you, boys
and girls. For all the talk of killer lions and tigers, as well as
marauding elephants and rampaging crocodiles, hippos are the
deadliest.
So now…your exclusive list of “Animals I’d Least Like to Face
in the Driveway While Picking up the Morning Paper.”
1. Hippo
2. Cougar
3. Rabid Skunk
4. King Cobra
5. Nile Crocodile
Five more…
6. Polar Bear
7. Feral Cat
8. Elephant Seal
9. Al Qaeda
10. Monitor Lizard
–Speaking of crocodiles, a saltwater variety killed a 22-year-old
south of Darwin, Australia the other day. The young guy was
with two other companions when the three decided to rinse off
after riding around on their trail bikes. But as they entered the
swollen river, a 13-foot croc approached, and whomp! The
victim was dragged under. The other two, however, had to cling
to a tree in the middle of the river for 22 hours before a
helicopter (looking for the three after they were reported
missing) spotted them. The croc, at one point, returned, but
somehow they fended it off. [South China Morning Post]
–Did you know that Boise State QB Ryan Dinwiddie finishes his
career as the most efficient passer in NCAA Division I-A
history? Dinwiddie tossed 82 touchdowns and only 20
interceptions, while accumulating 9,818 yards through the air.
–I didn’t realize I was premature last week in awarding the New
England Patriots home-field advantage throughout the playoffs,
but they won it anyway this weekend. Plus, in a shocker,
considering the St. Louis Rams only had to beat Detroit, and
didn’t, the Philadelphia Eagles get home-field advantage in the
NFC. Ergo, coupled with Kansas City getting a home game, let
alone Green Bay in a wild-card match-up, we have some great
potential re: cold weather football. Actually, since the weather
pattern is about to change (see above), it’s a lock for New
England, mused the editor.
–And as the regular season ended, we acknowledge K.C.’s Priest
Holmes for setting the single season NFL record for touchdowns
with 27 and Indy’s Mike Vanderjagt (a former Canadian Football
League player) for breaking the all-time mark with his 41st
consecutive field goal. Pretty awesome.
–Just a note about the Giants coach, Jim Fassel. His exit has
been sort of bizarre, as it was he that went in to ownership and
said “Fire me.” So for two weeks he’s been walking around like
Jacob Marley and, frankly, we’re all sick of it. This is a guy who
took the team to the playoffs in only 3 of 7 seasons. In other
words, he didn’t get it done. Good riddance.
–The full story of the killing at Rao’s restaurant in Manhattan
last Monday night is too funny (yeah, I’m not feeling sorry for
the victim). Here is part of the account from Murray Weiss,
Gersh Kuntzman and Marsha Kranes of the New York Post.
The players – Albert Circelli, 37, and Louis Barone, 67, two
small-time hoods, along with Broadway singer Rena Strober,
who was belting out tunes at the small, 10-table establishment
where it is absolutely impossible for you or I to get a reservation.
“Circelli was at the bar paying his tab when he began to trash
Strober, a patron who was singing ‘Don’t Rain on My Parade’ a
capella…
“In Rao’s informal atmosphere, diners often burst into song.
“ ‘Ah, shut up. Get her off. She sucks,’ Circelli snarled, Barone
told cops in his confession.
“After listening to Circelli spew more rude remarks about
Strober, Barone said he told him, ‘Hey, have some respect.’
“Circelli responded by turning his venom on Barone, telling him,
‘F- you, I’ll f- you in the a– and I’ll split you in two,’ Barone
told cops.
“The invective infuriated Barone, who allegedly pulled out his
.38-caliber revolver. Circelli ran for his life, heading for the
front door…
“Barone allegedly chased after him and fired two bullets, one of
them fatal.”
Man, let’s face it, that’s lifted straight out of “Goodfellas.”
–Yikes…former major leaguer Ivan Calderon was shot to death
in a store in Puerto Rico on Saturday. He appears to have been
singled out.
–I agree with Johnny Mac’s conclusion that the most over-hyped
story of 2003 was Annika Sorenstam at Colonial. But I
acknowledge she handled the situation with total class, as I wrote
at the time, though the bottom line is she didn’t make the cut!
–And now…………..your Bar Chat “Dirtballs of the Year”.
Boy, there was no shortage of them in 2003 and the list has
grown in just the last few weeks with the likes of Rasheed
Wallace and Latrell Sprewell (not that both haven’t already been
dirtballs all along). Others……..
Mr. Cellphone, Joe Horn; the Yankees’ Jeff Nelson (“Jerk of the
Year” for his entire body of work); Manny Ramirez; Pedro
Martinez; Ohio State’s Maurice Clarett for falsifying a police
report, let alone for his academic shortcomings; Keyshawn
Johnson (don’t sign him, Jets); Kobe Bryant; former Georgia
basketball coach Jim Harrick and his son (both earn “lifetime
achievement awards”); Mo Vaughn (for refusing to retire
gracefully while preventing the Mets from collecting on the full
insurance policy)…and…
Lawrence Taylor: As Ira Berkow wrote in the New York Times,
remove Taylor’s plaque from the Football Hall of Fame because
of Taylor’s recent admissions that he not only cheated on his
drug tests, he clearly was ‘high’ on some game days. [Not that
others aren’t, but Taylor is admitting he had an unfair
advantage.]
Michael Jackson: As Johnny Mac puts it, just how screwed up do
you have to be to accept life advice from Daryl Strawberry?!
[Interesting “60 Minutes” interview, eh?]
And the winner….Oakland Raiders linebacker Bill Romanowski.
Folks, this is one of the most despicable people on the planet. I
don’t care how many defend him, such as his former college
coach, Jack Bicknell. And I don’t care how many good things he
has done for his community…blah blah blah. As that other guy
who writes “Week in Review” has long pointed out, this whole
‘hiding behind one’s charity’ bit is one of the biggest scandals in
the country.
No, Romanowski has been a pill-popping, steroid munching
terror for years now and it’s about time he was called out on it.
Of course, instead, Fox Sports hired him. Oh brother.
What really clinched the “Dirtball of the Year” award was
Romanowski’s criminal act in punching out teammate Marcus
Williams in training camp, thereby shattering Williams’ left eye
socket and threatening his career.
Here’s hoping the BALCO steroid investigation, the one in
which Barry Bonds has testified along with Romanowski, blows
wide open and nails the dirtball.
And just what does Romanowski win? Why if it isn’t the first
annual “Dave Bliss / Bar Chat Dirtball of the Year” trophy, to be
displayed in the Bar Chat Hall of Fame at a site to be determined.
[The dirtball wing will have a separate entrance and admission
fee.]
And why Dave Bliss? It was Johnny Mac’s idea, and a great
one, for Bliss, the former Baylor University men’s basketball
coach, was the man who in the middle of the investigation into
Baylor player Patrick Dennehy’s disappearance (Dennehy was
later found murdered, allegedly by teammate Carlton Dotson)
was caught on tape trying to persuade his players to defame
Dennehy’s character, along with the nature of improper tuition
payments that Bliss had himself paid.
So rather than give Bliss the first award, it only seems
appropriate to keep his name in perpetuity.
That’s enough stench for one year, I think you’d agree.
Undoubtedly, we’ll have ample material in 2004. [Preview:
Bonds will be our winner.]
–But let’s leave this on a good note…and Johnny Mac and I
would like to personally thank some of the good guys out there,
men like Curtis Martin, Tim Duncan, and Tom Watson. And
Britney Spears, for being, Britney……………….how did she get
in here?!
Top 3 songs for the week of 12/28/68: #1 “I Heard It Through
The Grapevine” (Marvin Gaye) #2 “For Once In My Life”
(Stevie Wonder) #3 “Love Child” (Diana Ross & The
Supremes)
NBA Quiz Answers: 1) Retired #’s for the Bulls – Jerry Sloan,
#4; Bob Love, #10; Michael Jordan, #23. 2) Detroit Pistons –
Chuck Daly, #2; Joe Dumars, #4; Isiah Thomas, #11; Vinnie
Johnson, #15; Bob Lanier, #16; Dave Bing, #21; Bill Laimbeer,
#40. 3) Indiana Pacers – George McGinnis, #30; Mel Daniels,
#34; Roger Brown, #35.
*Among the many celebrities who passed away in 2003, we bid a
fond farewell to John Ritter, David Brinkley, Gregory Peck,
Katharine Hepburn, Johnny and June Carter Cash, Herb Brooks,
Dave DeBusschere, and especially, Fred Rogers and Bob Hope.
RIP….and have some fun up there.
Next Bar Chat…Tuesday, January 6.
Happy New Year!
