Baseball Quiz: 1) Who holds the record for years of service in
the major leagues? 2) Who holds the record for most at bats in a
season with 705? 3) Name the six players to have 250 or more
hits in a season. [Hint: All accomplished the feat from 1920 thru
1930.] Answers below.
Play Ball!!!! [All comments as of Wednesday afternoon.]
Mets fans rejoiced as New York’s junior team whipped up on
Atlanta, 7-2, opening day. Import Kaz Matsui went 3 for 3, a
homer and two doubles, and drove in 3. Matsui’s homer was in
his first major league at bat, thus becoming the first such player
since 1938 to lead off a game on opening day in that fashion.
So I’m amending my prediction of last time. The Mets will now
go 148-14 with Matsui leading the way; .487 batting average, 78
HR and 187 RBI. But left fielder Cliff Floyd was 0 for 5 in
game one and I look for him to hit only .091 with 3 homers and
6 RBI. Nonetheless, the Mets will roll.
I told you the Yankees would suck…1-2. Mike Mussina will
finish 2-32, with a 16.87 ERA.
Hey, Angels fans…looks like Troy Glaus is back on track having
homered twice in his first game. Glaus will finish the year with
89 dingers.
And Jeff B.’s Pirates are flying. Pittsburgh will go 136-26.
Oakland, used to slow starts, is 2-0. Is 150 wins possible?
And how ‘bout those Tigers?! 2-0!!! Could it be? Will the
Tigers go from 43-119 to 119-43?! Gerald M., it’s possible, I
agree. [Gerald also told me the Book-Cadillac hotel that I
referred to last time (known for Lou Gehrig and his
announcement he was taking himself out of the lineup after 2,130
consecutive games) is being looked at for a major renovation.
Gerald is begging me to consider an investment in the project.
Sorry, ain’t gonna happen. Wouldn’t be prudent.]
Finally, Curt Schilling will be dominant all year long, Red Sox
fans. I see a 31-3 record for the hurler.
Isn’t the first week of the season great?!!
[Did I pick the Astros, 0-2, to win it all? Doh!]
Hank Aaron
Today is the 30th anniversary of one of baseball’s historic
achievements, Hank Aaron hitting home run #715 to pass Babe
Ruth. I have to admit, I was one of those growing up that didn’t
appreciate Aaron’s greatness. I was a Willie Mays / Mickey
Mantle fan, especially growing up in the New York area (I went
to Mays’s first game as a Met in 1972) and because Aaron never
had that monster season you associated with the likes of Ruth,
Gehrig or Willie, I just never thought of Aaron in the same
breath. But then there he was, suddenly at 600 home runs and
heading higher. I appreciate him now, that’s for sure.
Henry Louis Aaron was born on February 5, 1934, in Mobile,
Alabama. From a young age, once he realized he could play the
sport of baseball he seemed to be a man on a mission.
At 18 he signed with the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro
League for $200 a month. Aaron was a shortstop and batted
cross-handed. With the integration of the big leagues, though,
the Clowns were a barnstorming team like the Harlem
Globetrotters and as Aaron said, “We never made it to Indiana
the whole time I was with the team.”
One time while in Washington, D.C., Aaron related “We had
breakfast while we were waiting for the rain to stop, and I (was)
sitting with the Clowns in a restaurant behind Griffith Stadium
and hearing them break all the plates in the kitchen after we were
finished eating. What a horrible sound. Even as a kid, the irony
of it hit me: here we were in the capital in the land of freedom
and equality, and they had to destroy the plates that had touched
the forks that had been in the mouths of black men. If dogs had
eaten off those plates, they’d have washed them.”
After he was turned down at a Dodgers tryout because he was
too skinny, a Braves scout, Dewey Griggs, wrote to management,
“This boy could be the answer.” [He also told Aaron to uncross
his hands.] The Braves signed him for $7,500. It was still 1952
and he was sent to Eau Claire, Wisconsin where he hit .336 with
9 home runs and 61 RBI. The following season, Aaron, Felix
Mantilla and Horace Garner were sent to Class A Jacksonville to
integrate what was then known as the Sally League. [Those of
you who collected baseball cards in the 60s can’t help but hear
this name and remember, “Dick Stuart once hit 66 home runs in
the Sally League!” It seemed to be on the back of almost every
card in those days.]
Aaron, despite constant taunts and threats, was MVP, hitting .362
while driving in 125. The next year, 1954, the Braves toured
with the Dodgers before the season started and all the black
players from both squads had to stay in the same hotel, so Aaron
hung out with the likes of Jackie Robinson, Don Newcombe and
Roy Campanella. They told him how to handle the big leagues
as a black man, advice that Aaron would take to heart.
“There’s only one way to break the color line,” Aaron once said.
“Play so good they can’t remember what color you were before
the season started.” In other words, either you were good or you
were gone. After listening to Jackie Robinson, Aaron knew he
had to always prove himself. “If there’s a single reason why the
black players of the 50s and 60s were so much better than the
white players in the National League, I believe it’s because we
had to be. And we knew we had to be.”
Aaron played 122 games in ‘54 for the Milwaukee Braves hitting
.280, but then he blossomed in 1955, batting .314 with 27 home
runs and 106 runs batted in. It was the start of a streak that saw
him have 20 consecutive seasons with at least 20 home runs.
“The thing I had on my side was patience. It’s something you
pick up pretty naturally when you grow up black in Alabama.
When you wait all your life for respect and equality and a seat in
the front of the bus, it’s nothing to wait a little while for the
slider inside.”
Aaron didn’t back away from anyone. The Yankees’ Tony
Kubek once recalled a time when he was outside a Tampa hotel
with Aaron and a bunch of rednecks pulled up and began
harassing Hank. One challenged him and Aaron dropped the guy
with three good punches.
In 1956, Aaron won his first of two batting crowns and in 1957
was the N.L. MVP (his only selection for this honor) as he led
the league in homers and RBI (44-132). It was a breakout
season, to say the least, and in a late September game he hit an
11th-inning home run that clinched the pennant for Milwaukee.
His teammates all greeted him at home and carried him off the
field. Aaron would later say it was the most satisfying round-
tripper of his entire career.
The Braves won the ’57 World Series against the Yankees and
the team returned to the Series the following year, only this time
New York got its revenge. In the two fall classics (his only ones)
Aaron hit .364.
Milwaukee eventually fell out of favor as the team’s play slipped
a bit and the franchise was moved to Atlanta for the 1966 season.
This marked a big change for Hank Aaron.
“I was tired of being invisible. I was the equal of any ballplayer
in the world, damn it, and if nobody was going to give me my
due, it was time to grab for it.” Aaron hit 44 home runs his first
year in Atlanta and 39 the next, but then in 1968, the year of the
pitcher, Hank saw his production slip to 29 HR and 86 RBI. He
was now at 510 home runs but he had also just turned 35 as he
approached the ’69 campaign. Aaron began to think of
retirement, but the noted historian, Lee Allen, convinced him that
he could leave his mark on the game in many different ways.
Aaron proceeded to blast 44 dingers that year in leading the
Braves to the N.L. West crown (only to then see the club get
swept by the Mets in the league championship series), but after
following up ’69 with 38 and 47 home runs (the latter a career
best at 37) his next two seasons, he was suddenly at 639 lifetime
and the talk of breaking Babe Ruth”s mark was picking up.
Aaron signed a 2-year contract that made him the first player to
earn $200,000 a year.
But approaching the Babe wasn’t a real popular thing. Atlanta
police assigned a bodyguard to him and Hank began to talk of
the hate mail he was receiving. In 1973 alone, Aaron got
930,000 letters as he finished the year at 713 home runs, one shy.
[One typical letter read, “You can hit all dem home runs over
dem short fences, but you can’t take that black off yo’ face.” But
to be fair, as Aaron got closer to the Babe the vast majority of the
mail was overwhelmingly positive.]
As the ’74 season began, the Braves opened up in Cincinnati for
a three-game series. Braves management wanted Aaron to break
the record in Atlanta, naturally, but Baseball Commissioner
Bowie Kuhn ordered Atlanta to play Aaron in 2 of the first 3
games in Cincinnati. [The reasoning was sound if flawed at the
same time. How could you say you were putting your best
product on the field if the soon to be home run king wasn’t in the
lineup?]
In his first at bat of the season, Aaron hit #714 off Cincinnati’s
Jack Billingham. He then sat out the second game and went 0
for 3 in the third.
[By the way, it’s amazing how many books you read that say
Aaron sat out both the second and third games. No. Geezuz,
sports book writers, do some freakin’ basic research!]
So we go to Atlanta, April 8, 1974. The Dodgers are the
opponent and they have Al Downing on the mound. Aaron
walked in the first and then in the 4th inning he deposited a 1-0
fastball into the left-center bull pen…#715.
Braves reliever Tom House caught the ball and sprinted across
the field to hand it to the new home run king, Henry Aaron.
“In that great crowd around home plate I found him looking over
his mother’s shoulder, hugging her to him, and suddenly I saw
what many people have never been able to see in him – deep
emotion,” House said. “I looked and he had tears hanging on his
lids. I could hardly believe it. ‘Hammer, here it is,’ I said. I put
the ball in his hand. He said, ‘Thanks, kid,’ and touched me on
the shoulder. I kept staring at him. And it was then that it was
brought home to me what this home run meant, not only to him,
but to all of us.”
By the way, supposedly Hank Aaron never saw one of his 755
home runs clear the fence – he always kept his head down until
he reached first base to make sure he touched the bag, figuring
that “looking at the ball going over the fence isn’t going to help,”
he would say.
And to close this out, Aaron scored 100 runs 15 times, including
13 consecutive seasons, he wracked up 3,771 hits, #3 all time, is
#1 all time in RBI with 2,297, 3rd in game played, 2nd in at bats,
won 4 Gold Gloves, stole 240 bases, and, something he himself
is most proud of, he never fanned 100 times in a season, an
amazing feat for a power hitter.
So here’s to Henry Louis Aaron, Hammerin’ Hank. Today, he’s
70 and a senior vice president of the Braves, but as an article
from Atlanta had it the other day, he’s in such great shape he
could probably contribute coming off the bench.
[Sources: “Crossing the Line: Black Major Leaguers, 1947-59”
Larry Moffi & Jonathan Kronstadt; “Talkin’ Baseball” Phil Pepe;
“Baseball: The Biographical Encyclopedia” from the editors of
“Total Baseball”; “Baseball Anecdotes” Daniel Okrent and Steve
Wulf.]
Stuff
–Storrs, Connecticut…who wudda thunk it? The new basketball
capital of the universe as the Lady Huskies joined the men in
capturing NCAA crowns. But here’s what’s really important.
After serious debate in the halls of StocksandNews, we give both
UConn and Georgia Tech credit for having the best mascot
costumes. Very authentic. We also still love the USC
cheerleaders, even though they haven’t had anything to do since
football season.
And how cool are Emeka Okafor’s parents? Emeka is one lucky
dude, as he himself knows all too well. Mr. and Mrs. Okafor
need to be paraded before all of America as great role models.
Actually, they’d be good picks for the audience at the next State
of the Union address.
**But, changing the subject, the UConn men lost during the
regular season to Providence, which lost to Rhode Island, which
lost to Lubbock Christian, which lost to West Texas A&M,
which lost to Colorado School of Mines, which lost to Nebraska
Omaha and Central Washington, as well as Seattle Pacific, which
then lost to Southwest Baptist (MO). In other words, Southwest
Baptist is better than UConn. So there.
–The Masters
Back on 1/20/04 in this space I predicted the major winners for
this year, so I feel obligated to now stand by these picks. It’s
David Toms at Augusta this week. But I asked Johnny Mac and
he’s going with Chad Campbell. I like his chances better.
Ladbrookes, by the way, has Tiger at 4-1, Phil Mickelson at 8-1,
and Ernie Els and Vijay Singh at 12-1. Toms is 50-1, Campbell
33-1.
Golf Digest asked the question ‘Which player would you most
like to see win the Masters?’ Mickelson was the choice of 36%,
Tiger 17%, and Els 11%.
The same survey asked, ‘Would you give up sex with your
spouse to become a member of Augusta National?’ Only 30%
said ‘yes,’ 70% ‘no.’ No? What are they, nuts?! ……………….
Back in 1931, an Augusta National membership was $350.
–John Daly’s wife Sherrie and her parents pled guilty in the
federal drug ring case that was to take place this week. The
father will serve 2 years in prison, while mother and daughter
face 5 years probation and 6 months home detention. Again,
Daly himself knew nothing of this.
–Thoughts on Arnold Palmer:
Frank Chirkinian, former CBS producer: “My first experience
with Arnold was in 1959, my first Masters. The camera is
strange – it’s all-revealing. It either loves you or hates you, and
it loved Arnold. And it has ever since. There was a quality
about him that exists today that makes you say, ‘Hey, I want to
know this guy.’”
Lanny Wadkins: “Arnold can look to the gallery left of the green
and all 1,000 people think he’s looking at them, like he’s making
eye contact with 1,000 people. I don’t think it’s anything he
tried too hard at. It’s just him – genuine and honest.”
Tiger Woods: “I think it’s safe to say that there has not been any
other player that’s been as comfortable in his skin as Arnold
has.”
–Ken Venturi has dug himself a hole so deep he risks falling in,
to stay. As some of you are aware, he recently wrote a book on
his years in golf, but he still can’t let go of a 1958 incident at the
Masters, the year of Arnie’s first triumph, where Palmer played a
2nd ball from an embedded lie. At the time, the 12th hole of the
4th round, Venturi led Palmer by one and Venturi, while choosing
his words carefully (kind of), has basically accused Palmer of
cheating. We’re talking 1958, sports fans.
Well, the current senior director of rules and competition for the
USGA recently commented that under the rules of the day,
Palmer was right, period. It’s a shame that Venturi is tarnishing
his own legacy in a big way. Then again, what do I care?
–I was listening to Imus the other day and they were discussing
the last “Sopranos” episode. I’m in total agreement; it was
brilliant and also highly disturbing. I imagine many of you were
like me, thinking “Tony, don’t go there!”
–Now this is scary…from an Agence France-Presse story:
“Berlin aquarium staff were startled to find that a carnivorous
piranha fish was recently released in the facility’s petting pool
for children…
“The piranha…had already begun taking bites out of other fish
when it was found and transferred to another aquarium…
“(Curator Rainer Kaiser) was puzzled about how the fish came to
be there, but said tortoises and other exotic marine life had been
found in the past left ‘by people wanting to get rid of them but
who didn’t dare flush them down the toilet.’”
Thank God people haven’t been dumping baby killer whales,
know what I’m sayin’?
–On Tuesday, Ringling Brothers was doing its circus thing at
Madison Square Garden when a daredevil, operating without a
safety net, slipped off the high wire and plunged 30 feet to the
ground. He landed on some safety mats, barely, and on his head,
though he suffered no serious injuries as of the last report on his
health. Being in great shape obviously helped.
When it happened, the circus sent out the clowns to distract the
crowd while the fellow was taken out on a stretcher. It’s safe to
say none of the attendees will ever go back. I wouldn’t. I hate
clowns.
–One of baseball’s great pitching coaches, George Bamberger,
died the other day. [He was also manager of the Brewers and
Mets.] Bamberger was Earl Weaver’s lieutenant in Baltimore
from 1968-77. In that time, Orioles pitchers won 20 games on
18 different occasions, including 1971 when four accomplished
the feat; Dave McNally, 21-5, Pat Dobson, 20-8, Jim Palmer,
20-9, and Mike Cuellar, 20-9. In this era of five-man rotations
and extensive use of a bullpen, you will never see this again in
our lifetime, until the robot era, which isn’t projected to begin
until 2020 or thereabouts, but then I digress.
–Barry Bonds faced a very hostile crowd in Houston his first two
games, but he managed to hit #659, unfortunately. Hank Aaron
was asked if he thought Bonds’s quest for 755 would be
tarnished.
“I’ll let the public judge for themselves. I’m just hoping and
praying nothing comes up.”
I’ll judge it right now…it’s a travesty!!!!!!!!!
Top 3 songs for the week of 4/8/72: #1 “A Horse With No
Name” (America) #2 “Heart Of Gold” (Neil Young…growing
up, I always confused the artists for these two tunes) #3 “The
First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” (Roberta Flack… think
“Play Misty for Me” / Clint Eastwood)
Baseball Quiz Answers: 1) Nolan Ryan had 27 years in the big
Leagues – 1966, 1968-93. 2) Willie Wilson, Kansas City, had
705 official at bats in 1980. [Lenny Dykstra holds the major
league record for most plate appearances, 773, with the Phillies
in 1993.] 3) Six with 250 hits: George Sisler, 257 (1920), Lefty
O’Doul, 254 (1929), Bill Terry, 254 (1930), Al Simmons, 253
(1925), Rogers Hornsby, 250 (1922), Chuck Klein, 250 (1930).
*Only two have had 240 hits in a season post-1990, Ichiro
Suzuki, 241 (2001) and Darin Erstad, 240 (2000). [Wade Boggs
had 240 in 1985.]
Next Bar Chat, Tuesday. Pssst…my sister-in-law is hosting
Easter dinner and it’s the Masters. HELP!!!
