Baseball Quiz: This is a good one…gleaned from the New York
Times. Jeff Bagwell needs four stolen bases to become the 10th
member of the 400 / 200 club…400 homers, 200 stolen bases.
Name the other nine.
Stuff
–West Nile virus season is here again. Heck, last night I saw
swarms of mosquitoes all over some of my windows…like a
freakin’ month earlier than normal.
From experts at Kansas State, “The symptoms can be mild, as in
a cold with headache and fever that lasts for a few days and then
it’s over, or it can get worse and develop into meningitis or
encephalitis.”
“If the really bad headache lasts for more than two days that is a
good reason to see a doctor.”
[High Plains Journal]
–Yeah, he has since apologized, but the Timberwolves’ Kevin
Garnett set his reputation back more than a bit with the following
statement after his scrap with Sacramento’s Anthony Peeler (who
was suspended two games for elbowing Garnett).
Addressing the topic of Wednesday’s Game 7, Garnett said:
“This is it, for all the marbles. Sitting in the house, I’m loading
up the pump, I’m loading up the Uzi. I got a couple of M-16s,
couple of (9 mms). I got a couple of joints with silencers on ‘em.
Just loading up clips, couple of grenades. Got a missile launcher
with a couple of missiles. I’m ready for war.”
You’re a jerk, Garnett.
–Peter Vecsey of the New York Post had the following take on
the ending of the Lakers – Spurs pivotal Game 5 and Derek
Fisher’s winning shot.
“According to rigid rules, the most a shooter can do within three-
tenths of a second off an in-bound pass is to tip it into the basket;
there’s not enough time to catch and shoot. Meanwhile, The Fish
That Saved L.A. was bequeathed enough time to catch, control,
step, elevate and release with only four-tenths of a second at his
disposal.
“Based on pure logic, if nothing else, the refs should have
instantly wiped out the basket; you can get served at I-Hop in
less time than Fisher was permitted. Clearly, common sense
isn’t all that common anymore.
“No, the red light did not flash until the ball had cleared Fisher’s
fingertips. That’s because the shot custodian was screened out
on the opposite side; thus he was forced to guess when, in fact,
the fading Fisher – showing nothing but assets and elbows –
caught the ball. The guy screwed up, clean and simple. And the
refs either couldn’t think on their feet or lacked the onions to
make a command decision against a team that attracts the most
advertising dollars and magnetizes the most TV viewers.”
–So the International Olympic Committee has ruled that
transsexuals can compete in the 2004 Games. As Mark R.
correctly pointed out, if you allow these folks doesn’t it kind of
make a mockery of the strict drug restrictions placed on all the
normal folk?
–But now that the Athens Games are on, it’s time to focus on
some of the other potential stories and one that is intriguing is the
100-meter match-up between Maurice Greene and Tim
Montgomery, the latter having taken the world record from
Greene in 2002. Montgomery is living with Marion Jones
(producing a future superstar sprinter in the process) and both are
implicated in the BALCO / steroid scandal. So Greene has
entered the fray, saying he stands by the U.S. Anti-Doping
Agency that could still bar both Jones and Montgomery from
competing in the Olympics.
“There is no room in our sport for drug cheaters whatsoever,”
proclaimed Greene. Assuming Montgomery is allowed to
participate, this could be the most memorable duel of the entire
Games.
–Earlier this year, I believe I wrote about a golfer that had been
bitten by a crocodile in Malaysia. Turns out he’s now sued the
course after needing 38 stitches on his leg, this after clubbing the
croc with a 5-iron or something. The victim, Terry Hong Kee
Siong, told reporters he was looking for his ball when he stepped
on what he thought was a piece of wood. Err, not quite, it was
the 15-foot croc.
At another club in Malaysia, a 15-foot python found its way on
the course. It was captured before it could squeeze someone to
death.
[South China Morning Post]
–A fellow sautéed 30 cicadas in Bloomington, Indiana and got
rather ill from what doctors said was a “significant allergic
reaction.” I hope the poor sap wasn’t reading Bar Chat and some
of the recipes I’ve been passing along. Perhaps he didn’t wash
them off first, either. [On a related topic, always wash off your
beer cans too, folks.]
–Pete Thomas of the Los Angeles Times had a story about the
killer whales plying the waters off Monterrey in their seasonal
search for gray whale calves. Don’t worry, the gray whale isn’t
endangered but Thomas interviewed various researchers who had
the following observations on killer whale behavior.
“After each slaughter the killer whales call in others to join a
feast that can last more than 10 hours. (Nancy) Black recalls the
the time in 1998 when the whales abruptly left one kill to swim
to another nearly 10 miles away. ‘There definitely had been
some kind of vocalization’.
But Black, being a researcher, was reluctant to talk about the
personal bonds developed with the subjects of her work, though
she admitted “they might recognize us…They seem almost as
curious about us as we are about them. We think they might be
seeking interaction.”
Thomas writes: “Before (an) attack on (a) calf off Carmel, for
example, the same five killer whales…milled around the 22-foot
inflatable (where the researchers were) for 15 minutes. (One
scientist) reached down and almost touched one as it hovered
vertically just beneath the surface, peering upward…
“Two weeks later, Black watched from the inflatable as one of
the subjects, along with a calf, a juvenile and a young adult,
corralled a school of salmon.
“That was not unusual. But what followed was.
“The juvenile surfaced with a dead salmon in its teeth and gently
released it alongside the inflatable. A crew member reached out
and hauled it aboard, earmarked for dinner.
“ ‘It makes you wonder,’ Black says.”
–Michael Wines of the New York Times wrote of the mine
detection training taking place in Mozambique these days. A
Belgian company is working with Gambian giant rats. Yup, big
rats that it turns out are quite adept at finding mines. [They sniff
out the TNT and because they are so light they don’t detonate the
mine itself.]
Following Mozambique’s civil war, in an initial test case last
November the Gambian rats were able to find all 20 live mines.
As the trainers note, unlike dogs, rats keep working as long as
they are rewarded, in this instance with bananas and peanuts.
The rats are normally vicious in the wild, but the domesticated
variety are docile.
–The other day I wrote of the hero dog in Central Park that had
defended its owner while she was being assaulted. Well the
woman has come forward to tell her story and aside from her
own courage in kicking the attacker she owes “Cookie,” a
shepherd mix whom the woman and her husband adopted from a
New Jersey shelter, big time as it bit the man repeatedly before
the dirtball fled, leaving a trail of blood. [He still hasn’t been
found, however.]
“ ‘Before this happened, people in the park would ask me about
what Cookie would do to protect me’ because he’s such a
scaredy-cat, she said.
“ ‘I would always say Cookie would run away…He’s still a
coward, but the instinct that came (during the attack) was
amazing.’”
Cookie…Animal of the Year candidate.
[New York Post]
–Congratulations to Randy Johnson, the Big Unit, for his perfect
game on Tuesday. That’s just about the last time I’ll watch the
Braves all season, too. Johnson is 40, the oldest pitcher by three
years to ever toss one of these gems. There have only been 15 in
the post-1900 era, by the way. Cy Young tossed one at age 37,
with David Cone and Dennis Martinez performing the feat while
36.
–Gerald M. in Detroit is going bonkers over the Tigers’ solid
early season play and he’s singing the praises of catcher Brandon
Inge, who thru Tuesday’s action was hitting .295 with 4 HR and
19 RBI. Considering that Inge is a .207 career hitter, his success
thus far is significant. Well I promised Gerald that I’d urge
everyone to stuff the ballot box for Inge when it comes to voting
for the All-Star game. This is as far as I’m going, however, until
he gets to .320, 15 HR and 45 RBI.
–Sorry, Anaheim Angels fans, about the apparent loss of Troy
Glaus for the season. He was off to a great start and on track to
reach my own stated target of 48 home runs (reduced from 89
following the first week of the season, as you’ll recall). It’s a
shame.
–So I’m reading some travel tips in Newsweek and I see this
item.
“Ring of Kerry, Ireland: Base yourself at Kenmare and drive
counterclockwise around the cliffs of Iveragh Peninsula. Don’t
lean too far to the right.”
Ah, think about this. Someone needs to tell the editor they drive
on the left over in Ireland…or am I missing something?
–We note the passing of Tony Randall. For many of us “The
Odd Couple” was brilliant and Randall and Jack Klugman were
terrific. [Johnny Mac and I agree they were also better than
Matthau and Lemmon, the latter two having done the screen
version.] The show was one of the first to break new ground
with its guest-star list, including Howard Cosell. Finally,
Randall was a terrific ambassador for New York City.
–June Taylor, of June Taylor Dancers fame, died at age 86.
Her beautiful gals opened “The Jackie Gleason Show.” Always
wanted to party with them…know what I’m sayin’?
Top 3 songs for the week of 5/17/75: #1 “He Don’t Love You
(Like I Love You)” (Tony Orlando and Dawn) #2 “Before The
Next Teardrop Falls” (Freddy Fender) #3 “Jackie Blue” (Ozark
Mountain Daredevils…very underrated group)
Baseball Quiz Answer: 400 / 200 club.
Hank Aaron…755 HR / 240 SB
*Barry Bonds…658 / 500
Willie Mays…660 / 338
Frank Robinson…586 / 204
Reggie Jackson…563 / 228
*Sammy Sosa…539 / 233
Dave Winfield…465 / 223
Jose Canseco…462 / 200
Andre Dawson…438 / 314
*Entering 2004
Next Bar Chat, Tuesday.
