[Posted Sunday]
Los Angeles / Brooklyn Dodgers Quiz: 1) What years did
Walter Alston manage? How many World Series did the
Dodgers win under his helm? 2) Who was the 1974 Cy Young
award winner? 3) Name the four Dodgers who won Rookie of
the Year honors, 1979-82. 4) Name the 8 players whose uniform
is retired. 5) Who holds the record for longest hitting streak at
31 games? 6) Who is the single-season RBI leader? 7) Who was
the last to win a batting title? Answers below.
Danica Mania
I was watching the Indy 500 on and off Sunday, mainly to see
how 23-year-old Danica Patrick was doing. By lap 175 or so
(out of 200) it was getting very interesting. Well, as you all
know by now she ended up fourth to Britain’s Dan Wheldon and
she deserves all the credit in the world. A star was born and now
little girls have a real role model instead of this Brittany /
Lindsey crap. Guys 20 to 80 have one as well.
Bear-zilla!!!!
New Jersey has a new bear drama and this is the real deal, folks.
In the northwestern Jersey community of Stillwater, a bear
believed to be 600 pounds(!) took aim on the Ellis family’s steel
garage door. According to Mike Frassinelli of the Star-Ledger:
“On May 6, while the Ellises were on vacation, the bear punched
out the garage door window and turned the rest of the door into a
soft pretzel.
“ ‘That’s a steel door,’ Howard Ellis said. ‘It’s not armo-plate,
but you and I couldn’t pull it off.’
“A Stillwater police sergeant who responded to the incident
searched the outside of the home. He didn’t see the bear, but
knows it was there.
“The evidence? A new pile of bear dung next to the police car.
“ ‘Bear’s got a sense of humor, I guess,’ Howard Ellis said.”
Well, officials then placed a 300-pound bear trap next to the
Ellises garage. The trap lures a bear into it with bacon and then
closes when the bear enters to take the bait. “But Bear-zilla
forced his way out of the $2,000 trap, bending it in the process.”
I’ve seen the pictures and this is incredible stuff.
Of course I’ve told you before that there has never been a
recorded human death at the paws of a bear in New Jersey,
going back to Colonial times. I’d say that’s about to change.
[Reminder…under the strict reporting guidelines of Bar Chat…
if the victim proves to be a child I will write little of it. Should it
be an adult, however, expect gory details. It’s the Bar Chat
difference.]
Top Ten Makers of the Modern American Summer
In the June / July issue of American Heritage, Frederic Schwarz
acknowledges 10 people who are most responsible for the season
of summer.
1. Thomas Midgley, chemist. The inventor of leaded gasoline
back in 1921, in 1930 he came up with the Freon family of
chlorofluorocarbons.
“Not only did they make home refrigerators, freezers, and air
conditioners practical, but the damage they did to the ozone layer
will have us all wearing sunscreen for decades to come.”
2. David R. Francis, president of the Louisiana Purchase
Exposition Company. Better known as the 1904 St. Louis
World’s Fair, this event, rightly or wrongly, has been credited
“with the invention, or at least popularization, of the ice-cream
cone, the hamburger, the hot dog, the club sandwich, cotton
candy, peanut butter, Dr. Pepper, and iced tea.”
Frankfurters were sold at Coney Island in the 1860s, but the 1904
fair was nonetheless “a watershed of creativity for American
snacking.”
3. General John A. Logan. As head of the Union veterans’
organization, in 1868 he established May 30 as Memorial Day.
4. George Freeth, surfer. Emigrating from Hawaii in 1907,
Freeth not only introduced surfing to Southern California he also
served as possibly the country’s first lifeguard.
5. Dwight D. Eisenhower. Hey, as you’re driving across country
this summer, just remember it was Ike, as president, who decided
the nation needed an interstate highway system. Of course back
then the primary purpose was for defense and quick
mobilization, but we thank him anyway.
6. William Willett, builder. While Benjamin Franklin first
floated the idea of setting clocks ahead in summer, it wasn’t until
1907 that Willett, having written a pamphlet on the topic, began
working members of the British parliament to adopt his proposal.
It wasn’t put in place until World War I, though; first by
Germany and then Britain. The United States finally went along
when it entered the war in 1917.
Congress repealed the law after the war, reinstituted it during
World War II, and then permanently (subject to local option) in
1966.
7. Maurice Yock, inventor. In 1957 this New Zealander patented
the “jandal,” a sandal with a thong between the first and second
toes…the modern flip-flop.
8. Steven Spielberg, producer-director. Think “Jaws,” 1975.
This flick “introduced the concept of the high-budget, special-
effects-laden summer blockbuster, inaugurating a durable
summer tradition at the minor cost of wrecking American studio
films forever.”
9. John Muir, naturalist. The founder of America’s conservation
movement, Muir was instrumental in getting millions of acres set
aside as national parks and forest.
10. Ed Headrick, engineer. In 1967 he added concentric grooves
to the top of Wham-O’s Pluto Platter and renamed it Frisbee.
“Pre”
May 30, 1975, marks the 30th anniversary of the death of former
running great Steve Prefontaine who died in a one-car accident in
the hills of Eugene, Oregon at the age of 24. At the time of his
death he held every U.S. record between 2,000 and 10,000
meters and would have been a favorite in the 5,000 and 10,000 in
the 1976 Olympics, Pre having finished 4th in the 5,000 at the ’72
Games. In addition, Prefontaine was a three-time NCAA cross
country champ.
No doubt he was also a cocky sonuvagun, but he backed it up.
Following are some quotations from the best all-around distance
runner America has ever produced.
“Some people create with words or with music or with a brush
and paints. I like to make something beautiful when I run. I like
to make people stop and say, ‘I’ve never seen anyone run like
that before.’ It’s more than just a race, it’s a style. It’s doing
something better than anyone else. It’s being creative.”
“A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who
has the most guts, who can punish himself into an exhausting
pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more.”
“To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the Gift.”
“Somebody may beat me, but they are going to have to bleed to
do it.”
Voyager I
This really is amazing. 28 years ago NASA launched this little
spaceship and now it is believed to have reached the solar
system’s final frontier. At 8.7 billion miles from the sun,
Voyager has entered the “heliosheath, a region beyond
termination shock – the critical boundary that marks the
transition from the solar system into interstellar space.”
[CNN.com]
Sister ship Voyager II was also launched in ’77 and was sent in
the opposite direction of Voyager I. It’s traveling at a slower
speed and is an estimated 6.5 billion miles from the sun.
Communication is difficult from these distances because the
cellphone coverage is spotty….let alone the fact that NASA is hit
with huge roaming charges.
Other Stuff
–The Indy 500 is nowhere near the spectacle it used to be when
the truly best drivers in the world clamored for a ride (like the
1960s when Jimmy Clark and Graham Hill won it) thanks to the
split between CART and the IRL. But it’s slowly regaining its
lost luster and I try and catch it.
And I can’t help but comment that it’s always great to see Jim
Nabors in the pre-race ceremonies singing “Back Home Again in
Indiana.” Watching “Gomer Pyle” as a youth, I’ll never forget
the first time Nabors sang this tune…I think the whole nation
was shocked. “You mean Gomer has that kind of voice?”
Having Nabors around for this event is one of those precious
slices of Americana you hope lives forever.
–NASCAR is in the process of selecting a site for its Hall of
Fame and the choices are between Charlotte, Atlanta, Daytona
Beach, Kansas City and Richmond. Personally, I’d like to see it
in Richmond but from a practical standpoint (as well as history)
I’ve got to go with………….Charlotte!
[Tried watching the World 600 Sunday night. Wow, that was dull.
OK, I guess the end was pretty good…but who stayed up for it?]
–We note the passing of actor Eddie Albert at the age of 99. Of
course he’s best known for his role as Oliver Wendell Douglas in
“Green Acres,” which ran from 1965-71. Albert was born
Edward Albert Heimberger but dropped the family name after he
got a job in radio because people would introduce him as Eddie
Hamburger.
But I didn’t realize Albert, at the age of 39, served at the Battle
of Tarawa during World War II, earning a Bronze Star at one of
the most vicious conflicts of the entire war.
–Venezuela’s Chico Carrasquel also passed away the other day
at age 77. Carrasquel was his nation’s first star player in the
major leagues and was the first Latin player selected to start in
the All-Star game back in 1951, one of four appearances he made
in this showcase. A shortstop, Carrasquel paved the way for
other Venezuelans, including fellow shortstops Luis Aparicio,
Dave Concepcion, Ozzie Guillen, and Omar Vizquel.
–Sports Illustrated has a blurb on former major league slugger
Jimmy Wynn, the Toy Cannon. Wynn’s most productive years
were between 1965 and 1974 and he finished his career with 291
homers.
Standing just 5’9” and weighing a mere 165 pounds, Wynn
nonetheless had prodigious power but he was saddled with
having to play the bulk of his career in the Houston Astrodome,
where he still managed to hit 97 of his round-trippers.
Understand that the ball did not carry at all in the Astrodome. It
was dead air and the dimensions were huge…340 down the lines,
390 in the gaps and 406 in straightaway center. Compare that to
today’s Houston Minute Maid Park where it’s 315/326 down the
lines and 362/373 in the alleys. Wynn would have been a
member of the 400 home run club playing just about anywhere
else in baseball.
–Sports Illustrated also has a piece on the state of the home run
in 2005. As players go off steroids, the numbers are declining.
But part of it has to do with the rise of a bunch of young pitching
stars. 38 of the 62 starters with an ERA better than 4.00
(respectable these days) are in their 20s.
Milwaukee Brewers G.M. Doug Melvin adds:
“You’re always going to have power hitters who will hit 40 or
even 50 home runs. But the effect (of steroid testing) will be on
the middle-of-the-road hitters, who aren’t going to hit 20 to 25
anymore. You trust what your eyes tell you, and certain guys are
not as big as they were. We all see it.”
–In the ‘nice work if you can find it’ department, CBS
announcer Jim Nantz was just signed to a new contract through
2012.
–And if you are having trouble getting into a private golf club
(though these days it shouldn’t be that hard due to all the
overbuilding), GolfWorld suggests you try Switzerland. I didn’t
realize the country has 88 clubs following a building boom of its
own and at least 30 “urgently need more members to stay in
business.”
–Former Bar Chat “Dirtball of the Year” Bill Romanowski has
settled with ex-teammate Marcus Williams for $415,000.
Romanowski, you’ll recall, was stoked on steroids when in a
2003 training camp incident with the Raiders he inexplicably
smashed Williams in the face. Marcus hasn’t played since.
–But here’s a good guy. NASCAR’s Jeff Gordon donated $1
million for a children’s hospital in Concord, NC. Gordon’s act is
not to be confused with those of Wall Street’s titans who give to
charity solely to satisfy their ego after working over their clients.
Gordon makes his money the old-fashioned way…he earrrrns it.
–I am saddened to inform you that the 124-pound catfish I wrote
of last chat, a world record catch for an Illinois man, died while
being transported to a cat food manufacturer.
–I have to admit I haven’t watched more than 20 seconds of the
NBA playoffs, but I am keeping up with the box scores and hope
that Tim Duncan, being a fellow Wake alum and all, takes San
Antonio to the title. Duncan’s playing great and he shocked the
world the other night by hitting 15 of 15 from the free throw line
as the Spurs took a 3-0 series lead over Phoenix.
–Geezuz, it was great seeing the Yankees pummeled Saturday
by the BoSox, 17-1, as Boston wracked up 27 hits, one short of a
team record. It was the most hits allowed by New York since
1928.
–The New York Mets’ Jose Reyes recently had a streak of 7
triples in 44 at-bats.
–Hey, Mark R. Looks like you’ll be paying me that $100 we bet
on baseball attendance. Turnout for interleague games was up
25% over the average for all previous interleague contests.
–So I’m perusing US magazine (yeah, I scan this from time to
time in an effort to stay hip) and I mean to tell ya, I had no clue
Mischa Barton was just 19. Goodness gracious, I thought she
was in her 30s. And just who is Eva Longoria dating? I thought
it was San Antonio’s Tony Parker, but it could also be ‘NSyncer
JC Chasez…or Kiefer Sutherland. I’m just so confused.
–Angelina Jolie swears she has not slept with Brad Pitt.
Commenting on the relationship during the filming of “Mr. and
Mrs. Smith,” Jolie says, “We got on great. But as far as anything
past friendship, absolutely not.” Huh.
–I see that the great musician Ramsey Lewis turned 70. Now
here’s some trivia for you. Which 1965 version of the tune “The
‘In’ Crowd” charted higher; Dobie Gray’s or Ramsey Lewis’s
instrumental? If you said Dobie Gray……..you lost! Lewis’s
version topped out at #5 in August ’65, after Gray had released
the tune first that January with it peaking at #13.
Top 3 songs for the week of 5/29/71: #1 “Brown Sugar” (The
Rolling Stones) #2 “Joy To The World” (Three Dog Night) #3
“Never Can Say Goodbye” (The Jackson 5)
Los Angeles / Brooklyn Dodgers Quiz Answers: 1) Walter
Alston managed from 1954-76 (2040-1613); the Dodgers won
four World Series in that time – 1955, 59, 63, 65. 2) 1974 Cy
Young winner: Mike Marshall. 3) Rookies of the Year, 1979-82:
Rick Sutcliffe (79), Steve Howe (80), Fernando Valenzuela (81),
Steve Sax (82). 4) Retired uniform #s: #1 Pee Wee Reese, #4
Duke Snider, #19 Jim Gilliam, #20 Don Sutton, #32 Sandy
Koufax, #39 Roy Campanella, #42 Jackie Robinson, #53 Don
Drysdale. 5) Longest hitting streak, 31: Willie Davis, 1969. [He
hit .311 that season] 6) Single-season RBIs: Tommy Davis, 153
(1962). 7) Last batting champ: Tommy Davis, 1963 (.326).
[Tommy also won the title in ’62 when he hit .346.]
Dodger tidbits:
Despite Davis’ splendid season in 1962, the same one in which
Maury Wills stole 104 and scored 130, the Dodgers lost out to
the San Francisco Giants by a game. Having tied in the regular
season, the two played a best of three playoff with the Giants
winning 2-1. So the final regular season marks were…
San Francisco…103-62
Los Angeles……102-63
Don Sutton (233) and Don Drysdale (209) are the only two to
win 200 games in a Dodgers uniform.
From 1959-66, either Drysdale (3 times) or Sandy Koufax (4) led
the N.L. in strikeouts. The only exception was 1964 when
Pittsburgh’s Bob Veale whiffed 250.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday.
