Oakland A’s Quiz (1901-2003): [Now remember, sports fans,
this includes Philadelphia, 1901-54, and Kansas City, 1955-67.]
1) What pitcher was A.L. MVP in 1952? 2) Who was the A.L.
Cy Young winner in 1990? 3) Most hits, career? [This is a
toughie…and frankly a great question. But here’s a hint. It’s not
Rickey Henderson and it’s not exactly a big time old-timer.] 4)
Most home runs, career? 5) Pitching – most games, career? 6)
Pitching – most wins, career? 7) Who were the two managers
during the A’s World Series run of 1972-74? Answers below.
MARIA KICKS BUTT…GREECE SHOCKS PORTUGAL……
METS SWEEP YANKS…MARIA NAMED SPOKESPERSON
FOR STOCKSANDNEWS!!!
First off, it’s safe to say that Maria Sharapova, maledom’s new
dream girl, possibly saved women’s tennis with her stunning win
over Serena Williams at Wimbledon. If Serena chooses to stay
competitive, it could be the start of a terrific rivalry. For her
part, Serena also deserves credit for handling the defeat with
total class.
Greece wins Euro 2004! Depending on who your bookie was,
Greece went off at 80 or 100 to 1, yet they bested Portugal, 1-0.
My own pick, Czech Republic, choked in the semis, losing to
Greece.
[By the way, gamblers in Asia place at least $1 billion in illegal
soccer bets each week, and twice that amount for Euro 2004.]
And the Mets swept the Yankees! Us Metsies haven’t had this
much fun in years……………….time to pop a bottle of premium
beer. It was also great fun knowing that George Steinbrenner got
to taste Sunday’s defeat on his birthday, King George being born
on the Fourth.
Ah, guys? Maria Sharapova turned down the editor’s offer to be
our new spokesperson. Sorry. I offered her a free subscription
and Net Zero access for six months, but that wasn’t enough.
Piggin’ Out
Each Fourth of July, it’s fun to read of the eating exploits of
those competing in events like the Nathan’s Famous hot dog
contest.
Badlands Booker is one contestant who holds a number of
records, including eating 49 doughnuts in eight minutes and 15
burritos in the same amount of time.
And then we have Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas, who
according to Isaac Guzman of the New York Daily News once
downed 432 oysters in 10 minutes. “With oysters, you don’t
have to chew, you just have to swallow,” said Sonya. Thomas
also eclipsed Paul Newman’s egg-fest in ‘Cool Hand Luke’ by
gulping 65 hard-boiled eggs in less than seven minutes. And she
weighs but 100 pounds.
But in the end, it was all about Takeru Kobayashi, who wolfed
down a record 53 ½ dogs for his fourth consecutive title. As the
ESPN announcers so correctly stated, Kobayashi is the greatest
athlete in the world right now. Barry Bonds? Pshaw. As for
Thomas, the Black Widow set a new women’s record with 32. I
want to party with her!
Baseball’s Hall of Fame Projections
Each year Johnny Mac examines the latest candidates for
Cooperstown. Granted, this is really for serious baseball junkies,
but as with almost all of our material in this space, we’re just
trying to give you some good bar chat.
This week we take a look at pitchers…next week position
players.
Roger Clemens: mortal lock, should get 98% first ballot entry.
As we’ve noted before, arguably the best right-handed starter in
history.
Greg Maddux: closing in on 300, four Cy Young awards, great
winning percentage (64%), excellent strikeout / walk ratio,
anchor of a staff that went to the post-season for a decade. Will
be selected on the first ballot.
Tom Glavine: this year would seem to cement his credentials,
leading the majors in ERA as of this writing, 2 Cy Young
awards, five 20-win seasons, about 100 games over .500,
durable, dependable.
Randy Johnson: ranks among the top five lefties ever (Grove,
Spahn, Koufax, Carlton), 120 games over .500, bucket of Cy
Young awards, 4,000 Ks, four ERA titles, eight times led league
in strikeouts, World Series hero…not much left on the list. If he
had found his control a few years earlier, no telling how many
records he could have rewritten…absolute lock.
Pedro Martinez: still a work in progress, but I would say he’s
already earned enough to be in the Hall; 3 Cy Youngs, a triple
crown (wins, strikeouts, ERA), five ERA titles, three strikeout
crowns, and the all-time best ERA compared to the league. In
fact, it’s not even close, he’s almost two runs better (2.58 vs.
4.50) for his career. Grove, who is second in this category, was
3.06 against the league’s 4.54. In his best year, Pedro hung up a
1.74 ERA in a league that averaged 4.97 (that was also the best
year in history for that stat), pretty staggering. His .700+
winning percentage trails only Spud Chandler all time, and Spud
had a very short career (109-43). I know Martinez has dropped
off a bit and has turned into a bit of a prima donna (alright, an a-
hole) but you can’t deny the talent and production.
For an era known for power hitting, the above five have really
excelled.
But there are a few others that merit consideration when the time
comes.
John Smoltz: I wasn’t too excited about his prospects before the
move to closer, but with Dennis Eckersley having opened the
door in this regard, Smoltz might have a good chance. He had a
superior career as a starter compared to Eck, and although not as
dominant this year, he’s racked up 124 saves in less than three
full seasons as a closer. A few more years and maybe he gets to
200, then he’s in. His control has been just awesome (2003: 8
walks, 73 Ks…2004: 2 walk, 36 Ks).
Mariano Rivera: now 34, he just seems to get better and this year
may be his best, 0.93 ERA, 29 saves. By season’s end he should
be in top ten, career for saves. Just three more productive years
would put him #2. And then you have his post-season numbers.
It’s frightening how good he’s been and how often he is closing
out big games. In 21 post-seasons series, he has pitched 96
innings over 61 games…7-1 with 30 saves and an ERA of 0.75!
I also like that he will go two innings, sometimes three, when the
situation calls for it.
Works in progress
All of Oakland’s trio are off to quality starts to their careers, but
way too early to speculate on any of ‘em.
Andy Pettitte: has put up good won-lost numbers (153-80), the
ERA is decent (3.94, about .65 of a run better than the league)
and he has also been in post-season every year of his career. Has
proven to be a quality guy in the clutch, going 13-8 in 30 post-
season starts and often pitching must win type games for the
Yanks. Just 32, needs to stay healthy and get to the 240-250 win
range.
Mike Mussina: is slowly climbing the ladder, now over 200 wins
(208-115, good percentage), good control, decent strikeouts,
gives you 30+ starts a year, fields his position (six Gold Glove
awards). At 35 and no history of injuries, could get another 3-4
good years. Downside is his lack of 20-win seasons, no Cy
Youngs and no real drama to his career. Now that he assumed
the #1 spot in the rotation, maybe he can put his stamp on some
big games, otherwise, needs to get close to 300 wins and that
seems unlikely.
Curt Schilling: surprised his career numbers are so low. 174-121
is OK, but hardly Cooperstown material. He had been around for
so long, assumed he had done better. Actually, he didn’t win 20
until 2001 in Arizona, although he had some good years in
Philly. Also had a three-year stretch when he went 2-8, 7-5 and
9-10. Has had some injuries that slowed him, had good post-
season in ’93, and that ’01 Series co-MVP, but needs to step it up
and fast if he harbors any dreams of the Hall. Bosox could
provide him another major post-season stage.
Al Leiter, David Wells and Jamie Moyer have all had productive
careers, but fall considerably short of the Hall. Ditto, Kevin
Brown, who has just over 200 wins and like Wells not much time
to add to the total. Not a serious candidate.
Stuff
–The local NBC News affiliate has a terrific consumer affairs
reporter, Asa Aarons, and the other day he had a funny story on a
fellow who ordered three medium pizzas from Domino’s for its
special price of $14.99. But when the customer presented his
coupon, the fellow at Domino’s said “I’m sorry, we don’t have
any medium boxes.” So the exasperated customer came up with
an obvious solution; put the pizzas in large-sized boxes. The
Domino’s guy still said no. Well, let’s just say Domino’s now
has some egg on its face thanks to Asa and the customer has been
taken care of.
–You know, Marlon Brando was such a jerk I really couldn’t
give a damn that he passed away.
But for those of you who are familiar with “On the Waterfront,”
the tale about Hoboken, N.J., my has this place changed since the
film was made in 1954. There was a time when Hoboken could
make a legitimate claim for having more bars per capita than
anywhere else in the country and as recently as the 1970s this
appeared to be the case. I moved to the place in 1981 and lived
in three different locations until early 1990.
Back in the early 80s, Hoboken was also the capital of arson. I’ll
never forget waking up one morning, the street outside my place
choked with smoke, only to find out later 6 or 7 had died down
the block after the landlord had someone torch the building so he
could sell out to new developers. My friend and I talked all the
time about how we would escape if our building met the same
fate.
And once the bull market began in August 1982, Hoboken
changed rapidly as the yuppies moved in, much to the chagrin of
the locals. Today, the average home sale is in the $335,000
neighborhood and old-timers are having trouble making ends
meet amidst soaring property taxes.
For young people who can afford it, though, Hoboken is one fun
place to live. Part of me wishes I could go back 20 years, but in
today’s hot spot, if you know what I mean.
–Golfer Stephen Ames won his first PGA Tour title by taking
the Cialis “Erection” Open. Meg Mallon won the U.S. Women’s
Open. What makes her victory particularly noteworthy is it came
13 years after her other Open title.
–And I guess we have to congratulate Switzerland’s Roger
Federer for winning the men’s title at Wimbledon, besting Andy
“Fly” Roddick.
–Baseball Bits:
Detroit’s Ivan Rodriguez hit .500 for the month of June (43 for
86), the first major leaguer to do so since Colorado’s Todd
“Thank God I’m Hitting at Coors Field” Helton accomplished
the feat in 2000. I-Rod is the first Tiger..EVER…to do this.
You have to hand it to Rickey Henderson. He’s 45 and playing
for the Newark Bears, a class A team, in another attempt to get
one last shot in the majors. So I check out Newark’s box scores
to see how he’s doing and the other day he went 4 for 4, with a
double, homer, 4 RBI and his 18th steal. No doubt, he can
contribute with a pennant contender. I hope he gets a shot.
This shocked me, though I guess I shouldn’t have been.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle and Business Week,
only 42 of the 750 active major league players hold a college
degree, including 3 from Japan. In other words, some of us, i.e.,
Dick Vitale, shouldn’t be such hypocrites when decrying all the
high school kids, let alone college freshmen and sophomores,
going into the NBA. [I admit I’m a big offender myself.]
Yes, Derek Jeter is a first ballot Hall of Famer. He won’t have
A-Rod or Tejada type #s, but he will have 3,400+ hits, tons of
rings, and a reputation as a winner…the latter his most important
legacy.
Sports Illustrated has a story in the current issue on why baseball
is back. For one, they state that the six key clubs are once again
in the hunt for post-season play; the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs,
Dodgers, Giants, and Cardinals. SI labels them the “six crown-
jewel franchises, covering both coasts and the Midwest and
comprising the game’s three greatest rivalries.” When was the
last time all six had consecutive winning seasons in the same
two-year period? Never.
SI also points to the fact attendance is up 13% from last year,
with television ratings soaring among the key 18-34-year-old
demographic.
And let’s face it, until it’s proved Barry Bonds was all ‘roided
up, he’s the most compelling figure in all of sports, now that
Tiger Woods has descended to mortaldom.
[Bonds drew the 2,191st walk of his career, passing Rickey
Henderson for #1 on the all-time list in this category. He’s
already had 121 this season and has an out of this world .619 on-
base percentage.]
–Why we like golf, part XXV. So I’m reading the state paper
and see a piece on a New Jersey PGA event. A local pro, Mark
Schaare, held the second round lead even after calling a penalty
on himself when he “attempted to execute a soft whip from the
fringe and wound up striking the ball twice on the same swing.”
[Star-Ledger]
“I don’t know if it was a double hit, but it just felt so weird. I
knew I would feel better if I said I had a four,” said Schaare.
[Oops, forgot to see if he ended up winning the damn thing.]
–Now this is a great ad. Picture a white sheet of paper, with just
the following on it.
Dear Ketel One Drinker
We know you’re not influenced
by what other people drink,
however, we thought you might
like to know Arnold Palmer
drinks Ketel One.
–California
Sports Illustrated is featuring the state this week. A few things
are noteworthy for those of us who live outside it. Among
Californians, UCLA is more popular than USC, and the “Greatest
athlete who ever lived in or played for a team in your state” is
Joe Montana, hands down with 36%. Barry Bonds and Magic
Johnson are next at 12% each.
However, in the list of 50 Greatest California Sports Figures,
understand that the following was done in December 1999, thus
the ranking for Tiger and Bonds should be much, much higher.
1. Joe DiMaggio, San Francisco
2. Jackie Robinson, Pasadena
3. Bill Russell, Oakland
4. Mark Spitz, Sacramento
5. Ted Williams, San Diego
6. Pete Sampras, Palos Verdes
7. Tony Gwynn, Long Beach
8. John Elway, Granada hills
9. Pete Rozelle, Los Angeles
10. Marcus Allen, San Diego
11. Duke Snider, Los Angeles
12. Anthony Munoz, Ontario
13. Tiger Woods, Cypress
14. Jack Kramer, Montebellow
15. Greg LeMond, Lakewood
16. Hazel Walker, Berkeley….tennis player…had to look this up.
17. Bob Mathias, Tulare
18. Barry Bonds, San Mateo…OK, stop it right here. Bonds is
by now #4 and Tiger is #6.
19. Billie Jean King, Long Beach
20. Florence Griffith Joyner….steroids…
21. Greg Louganis, El Cajon
22. Mark McGwire, Claremont…probably the right position.
23. Bill Walton, San Diego…I’d put him higher.
24. Rafer Johnson, Kingsburg
25. Frank Gifford, Bakersfield
26. Tom Seaver, Fresno…..c’mon, he’s at least #12!
27. Peggy Fleming…what?! This babe is #9, and #1 in your
editor’s heart.
28. Don Budge, Oakland…incredibly stupid pick.
29. Frank Robinson, Oakland…should be #13.
30. Don Drysdale, Van Nuys…got his autograph a few months
before he died.
31. Gino Marchetti, Antioch
32. Cheryl Miller, Riverside
33. Norm van Brocklin, Lafayette
34. Jim Hines, Oakland…hey, I liked this guy, but #34?! He’s
not even top 50.
35. Joe Morgan, Oakland…should be much higher.
36. Glenn Davis, Laverne…probably just right.
37. Pancho Gonzales, Los Angeles…so SI says “perhaps most
gifted tennis player of all time;” so why then is he way behind
Don Budge and Jack Kramer? Sacre bleu!
38. O.J. Simpson, San Francisco…hey, the guy’s a killer, but
he’s top 20 in this one.
39. Maureen Connolly, San Diego…whatever.
40. Willie Shoemaker, El Monte…move him up ten.
41. Bob Lemon, San Bernardino…no way.
42. Janet Evans, Placentia…OK.
43. Karch Kiraly, Los Angeles…give me a freakin’ break! He’s
not even top 50 in South Dakota.
44. Tommie Smith, Lamoore…superstardom overshadowed by
his Mexico City shenanigans.
45. Mickey Wright, San Diego…eh, probably should be 42.
46. Dennis Eckersley, Freemont…as time goes on, will possibly
be looked on as one of the top 20 pitchers of all time.
47. Bob Waterfield, Van Nuys…put him 49.
48. Rickey Henderson, Oakland…top 30.
49. Matt Biondi, Moraga…no way…tired of this politically
correct swimmer stuff, except Spitz and Evans.
50. Eddie Mathews, Santa Barbara…#43.
Now as SI points out, look who is excluded. George Brett! Ann
Meyers…swimmer, sorry. And no Gail Goodrich?! This guy is #49.
Or how about Lynn Swann, or Robin Yount? And then you have two-
time Super Bowl darling Tom Brady!
Now y’all debate among yourselves. I’m too ticked off.
–Headline in the Washington Post:
Snakeheads May Be Making Home in Potomac
Aaghhh! It looks like the northern snakehead is here to stay.
Yes, this native of China and Korea appears to have found a
comfortable place in the shadow of our nation’s capital. You’ll
recall the snakehead feeds on other species, thus the fear it will
wipe out everything else in the river, plus it can walk on land for
short spurts. And check this out, from a story by David A.
Fahrenthold and Joshua Partlow in the Post.
“Cliff Magnus, 44, a woodworking artist from Waldorf, was
practicing for a bass tournament when he saw a large bulge of
water pushing through the lily pads.
“Magnus cast, and the fish hit. Then things turned ugly.
“ ‘He tried to wrap me up in the motor a few times. He tried to
swim under the boat a couple times,’ Magnus said. ‘He put up a
big fight, a very good fight.’
“Magnus hauled out a two-foot-long snakehead, weighing nearly
six pounds.
“ ‘As soon as I saw it, I knew it was a monster,’ he said.
“Magnus tried to kill the fish by hitting it over the head with a
pair of pliers, but gave up after four or five blows. In all, the fish
spent more than four hours out of water by the time Maryland
Department of Natural Resources officials picked it up at
Magnus’s home…
“It was still flopping, Magnus said.”
And did you know that you can tell a fish’s age by examining the
bones in its head? Heck, I didn’t. The snakehead, for one, grows
rings for each year of life.
But, before you worry too much about the whole ecosystem in
Washington, you need to know that the snakehead isn’t capable
of breeding in the Chesapeake Bay because it can’t deal with
salty water. Ah ha! So if one rings your doorbell, just throw
some Morton’s on it and presto! A dead snakehead…………at
least that’s my theory and I’m stickin’ to it.
Top 3 songs for the week of 7/9/77: #1 “Undercover Angel”
(Alan O’Day) #2 “Da Doo Ron Ron” (Shaun Cassidy) #3
“Looks Like We Made It” (Barry Manilow)
*July 5, 1954…Elvis Presley walks into Sun Studio and croons
“That’s All Right,” winning over Sam Phillips. And thus this
date is given as the beginning of rock ‘n’ roll. Actually, as I’ve
written in this space before, Elvis walked into Sun in 1953, but
there’s only one way to settle this. Go to Memphis.
**Now it’s summer time and we know that what means, boys
and girls. Get out the Beach Boys CDs. But if you’ve seen the
greatest hits compilation on TV, I’m here to tell you that the best
one is the 1997 EMI-Capitol double-CD…38 of 40 selections are
super, excepting the last two, “Rock & Roll Music” and the god-
awful “Kokomo.” More importantly it contains all your editor’s
favorites, including “Be True To Your School,” “All Summer
Long,” “When I Grow Up (To Be A Man),” and “The Little Girl
I Once Knew.”
Oakland A’s Quiz Answers: 1) Pitcher Bobby Shantz was A.L.
MVP in 1952. [Frankly, this was kind of absurd. Shantz was
24-7, but Philadelphia was all of 79-75. Larry Doby was a
possible candidate, 32-104 for 2nd place Cleveland…] 2) 1990:
Bob Welch won the Cy Young, his 27-6 season. Amazingly,
Welch had just two no-decisions in 35 starts. Why? Dennis
Eckersley, that’s why. Eck was 4-2 with 48 saves and a 0.61
ERA…you’re reading that right. This was a year where he threw
73 innings and walked just 4…count ‘em…4. He also allowed
only 41 hits. An amazing season and without checking out
others, probably the best ever by a reliever…just guessing.
Johnny Mac may have a comment or two later. 3) Hits, career:
Bert Campaneris, 1,882. Shocked? I was. Al Simmons is 2nd
with 1,827; Rickey Henderson 3rd with 1,768. 4) HR, career:
Mark McGwire, 363; Jimmie Foxx had 302. 5) Games, career:
Dennis Eckersley, 525. 6) Wins, career: Eddie Plank, 284. [Of
course this was virtually impossible for 99.9% of you I imagine,
including myself. Plank goes back to the very early 1900s,
having won 325 overall.] 7) Managers during the A’s World
Series run of 1972-74: Dick Williams, 1972-73. Alvin Dark,
1974. Williams left over his disgust with owner Charlie Finley
and Finley’s interference in the ’73 Series against the Mets,
specifically, Finley’s placement of Mike Andrews on the
disabled list after he committed two errors in the second game.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday.
