New York Mets Quiz (1962-present): 1) Name the four Rookies
of the Year. 2) Name the three whose uniform is retired. 3)
Who am I? I managed for eleven games and my initials are S.P.
4) Who preceded Davey Johnson at the helm? 5) Who is the
only Met to lead the N.L. in RBI? 6) Name the five pitchers to
win 20 games. 7) Name the three to win the N.L. home run
crown. 8) Who is the career leader in hits? Answers below.
More Thoughts on Tiger
Washington Post columnist John Feinstein had the following
comments on Tiger Woods, especially in light of Jack Nicklaus’s
classy farewell at St. Andrews. Tiger has often said Nicklaus
and his records were his inspiration since childhood. Feinstein:
“(But) Woods seems to think that Nicklaus’s legacy is only about
numbers, that winning golf tournaments is the only thing that
measures a champion. Nothing could be further from the truth,
especially in golf.
“Woods already holds many records. One of them, which is
unofficial, is that he has been fined for using profanity publicly
more than any player in history. While using profanity in the
crucible of competition is hardly a great crime, it is indicative of
Woods’s attitude that, rather than try to curb his use of language,
he has complained that he is being treated unfairly since there are
always microphones following him when he plays. Last month,
during the U.S. Open, Woods missed a putt and childishly
dragged his putter across the green, damaging it as he did so.
When he was asked about the incident later, he shrugged and
said, ‘I was frustrated,’ (no apology) as if he was the only player
among 156 dealing with frustration. In recent years he has
allowed his caddie, Steve Williams, to frequently treat spectators
and members of the media rudely, not only defending him but
also appearing to sanction his misbehavior.
“Woods is extremely popular with the golfing public, in part
because of his extraordinary play and in part because of a
carefully crafted image built around a series of commercials that
show him to be a funny and friendly guy. Sadly, that’s not the
Woods most people encounter. He is the master of the TV sound
bite, but he rarely shares any of his real thoughts with the public.
“We tend to embrace our sports heroes not just for their greatness
but also for allowing us to see that they are fragile. Arnold
Palmer is the most popular player in golf history because he
always shared his emotions in victory and defeat with his fans.
Nicklaus and Watson both warmed to the role of icons as they
grew older. Woods still doesn’t seem to understand how to be a
champion off the golf course. When Phil Mickelson put the
green jacket on him during the TV ceremony after his victory at
this year’s Masters, Woods didn’t even glance back at his
longtime rival. As one player put it, ‘He treated Phil like a
butler, not a fellow champion.’
“Someday, Tiger Woods will walk across the Swilcan Bridge on
the 18th fairway at St. Andrews and say farewell the way
Nicklaus did on Friday. No doubt he will be cheered for his
greatness as a golfer, just as Nicklaus was. But those cheers –
and the tears – were not just for a golfer, they were for a man;
one who has always won and always lost with grace and dignity.
As a golfer, Woods will no doubt continue to close the gap
inexorably on Nicklaus’s records. He has a much longer road to
travel to match him as a true champion.”
But fellow Post columnist Michael Wilbon counters.
“There’s a lot of junk in sports these days…But the four days of
the British Open, for me, were a break from BALCO and a
diversion from pitchers throwing at batters’ heads.
“There’s plenty in sports to criticize, but occasionally there’s
something to celebrate. And Tiger Woods’s place in the athletic
universe is something that is overwhelmingly uplifting, as these
things go. At the moment, Tiger is a little bit Ali, a little bit
Jordan, a little bit Nicklaus at their best. And he’s 29 years old…
“Feinstein criticizes Woods for not trying to curb his language,
which can get pretty foul when he misses a putt or hits a bad
shot, just like most of us. And because Feinstein is a golf
historian, I know he knows that Nicklaus, whom he justifiably
praises to the high heavens, could have cursed up a storm if he
wanted in 1962 or thereabouts without it reaching the television
because he wasn’t followed everywhere with sound men holding
frighteningly high-tech boom microphones so close they can pick
up the sound of his stomach churning. So, apparently to
Feinstein (and others) …it’s not enough to win major
championships, to win so much and with such style it
revolutionizes the entire game and elevates the profile of the
profession – no, he’s got to smile the way they want him to
smile, accept only as much money from Coke and Nike as they
want him to accept.
“(Tiger’s critics) say he isn’t beloved, which to me is clearly
ignoring mountains of evidence to the contrary…millions of
people adore Tiger….I’m not about to suggest Tiger Woods is
perfect. I find that his caddy, Steve Williams, acts boorishly too
frequently. But I’ve also been in enough of Tiger’s galleries to
know that they are full of non-traditional golf fans who behave
very often in, shall we say, non-traditional ways and need to be
kept in check.
“And if it offends (some) that Woods is more feared than
beloved, he probably would take that as high praise. How many
of the truly great performers, at their very best, were cuddly and
lovable in the heat of competition? I can think of Magic and
Shaq, and not many others.
“Certainly not Russell and Chamberlain, not Oscar or Bird, not
Ali and Jordan, and not even Nicklaus.
“Have people such short memories they’ve forgotten that
Nicklaus was disliked in many quarters for knocking off the
King, Arnold Palmer? You think Nicklaus cared, or would take
back that he supplanted Palmer and therefore angered some
folks?
“If Nicklaus had half the major championships he won, the
applause wouldn’t have been near as loud at St. Andrews last
Friday….
“(Tiger) doesn’t need to wave like Jack or be like Jack. Tiger
Woods is 29, a champion already and an icon. Can you imagine
how the game of golf would be reduced without him?
“He’s a work in progress, as we all are. And I consider myself
lucky to be able to watch the length and breadth of his career.
When Nicklaus waved bye-bye from Swilcan Bridge at St.
Andrews Friday he was in essence handing the game over to
Tiger Woods, a champion and caretaker golf is lucky to have.”
OK…so where does your editor fall in this debate? I’ve already
said Tiger will go down as perhaps the greatest athlete of all
time…ever…all sports…taking into account competition, media
attention, etc. And there is no doubt that having Tiger in a golf
tournament is not only great for the sponsors, it’s great for all of
us. Heck, if Tiger isn’t competing on a given week the level of
interest just isn’t the same as when he is.
All sports need a superstar…see also Jordan and the NBA’s best
days, or Bobby Orr and Gretzky for hockey, or the aura of Ruth,
DiMaggio and Mantle and their impact on different generations
of Yankee ball clubs. Any golf fan can tell you about the sport’s
wasteland…the time before Tiger when a top performer was
anyone who won all of two tournaments in a single year.
But at the same time, what frustrates me to no end is Tiger could
be a huge, positive force outside his sport. No doubt he has,
indeed, done much good with his dollars, but if he’d just smile a
little more and treat those who respect him with class instead of
disdain his legions would swell even more. Arnold Palmer
understood this like no other athlete of his generation and I keep
thinking that eventually Tiger will.
Yes, I do understand we live in totally different times and while
all of us like to dream how cool it would be to be Tiger, starting
with the money and Elin, there are other times you think it can’t
be worth it. [I’d still like to give it a shot, though.]
So we’ll continue to watch Tiger, intensely. I’ll be out at
Baltusrol for the PGA in a few weeks. Speaking of Baltusrol,
Trader George, a member there, tells me everyone is fired up at
the club because with Tiger’s win at St. Andrews it means even
more revenue for them and the rumor is Baltusrol is going to
build a par-3, a la Augusta, with some of the funds that he’ll
bring in. Of course at the same time there are a ton of us
thinking “What if?” If only Tiger had sunk a few more putts at
Pinehurst…ahhh, the Grand Slam….
Pop Charts…the UK
I’ve always meant to check out the top hits on the UK charts so I
thought those of you who are 60s fans would be curious to know
what our allies across the pond considered to be the #1 pop hit
for various eras. Not all U.S. / Billboard top songs charted in the
UK, after all…and obviously vice versa.
Frank Ifield is a classic example. I’m sure at one time or another
I’ve mentioned that his 1962 song “I Remember You” is a classic
and it peaked at #5 on the Billboard charts. That was his only
top 40 in America.
But Ifield, born in England though he spent his youth in
Australia, had four #1s in the UK in less than a year, 9/62-7/63.
“I Remember You”
“Lovesick Blues”
“Wayward Wind”
“Confessin’ (That I Love You)”
In other words, I just may have to find his greatest hits album.
Could be pretty good.
So what was the Beatles first chart-topper in the UK? “From Me
To You,” 5/63.
Of course the Beatles didn’t hit it big in America until early
1964, but here’s what the Brits were listening to prior to and
right after the British Invasion, starting with “From Me To You.”
#1 Hits / UK
Gerry & The Pacemakers – I Like It…6/20/63
Frank Ifield – Confessin’ ( That I Love You)…7/18/63
Elvis Presley – (You’re The) Devil In Disguise…8/1/63
Searchers – Sweets For My Sweet…8/8/63
Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas – Bad To Me…8/22/63
Beatles – She Loves You…9/12/63
Brian Poole & The Tremeloes – Do You Love Me…10/10/63
Gerry & The Pacemakers – You’ll Never Walk Alone…10/31/63
Beatles – I Want To Hold Your Hand…12/12/63
Dave Clark Five – Glad All Over…1/16/64
Searchers – Needles & Pins…1/30/64
Bachelors – Diane…2/20/64
Cilla Black – Anyone Who Had A Heart…2/27/64
Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas – Little Children…3/19/64
Beatles – Can’t Buy Me Love…4/2/64
Peter & Gordon – A World Without Love…4/23/64
Searchers – Don’t Throw Your Love Away…5/7/64
Four Pennies – Juliet…5/21/64
Cilla Black – You’re My World…5/28/64
Roy Orbison – It’s Over…6/25/64
Animals – The House Of The Rising sun…7/9/64
Rolling Stones – It’s All Over Now…7/16/64
Beatles – A Hard Day’s Night…7/23/64
Manfred Mann – Do Wah Diddy Diddy…8/13/64
Honeycombs – Have I The Right…8/27/64
Kinks – You Really Got Me…9/10/64
Herman’s Hermits – I’m Into Something Good…9/24/64
Roy Orbison – Oh Pretty Woman…10/8/64
Sandie Shaw – (There’s) Always Something There To Remind
Me…10/22/64
Supremes – Baby Love…11/19/64
Rolling Stones – Little Red Rooster…12/3/64 (not U.S. top 40)
Beatles – I Feel Fine…12/10/64
Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames – Yeah Yeah…1/14/65
Moody Blues – Go Now! …1/28/65
Righteous Brothers – You’ve Lost That Lovin” Feelin”…2/4/65
Kinks – Tired Of Waiting For You…2/18/65
Seekers – I’ll Never Find Another You…2/25/65
Tom Jones – It’s Not Unusual…3/11/65
Rolling Stones – The Last Time…3/18/65
Much more in coming chats. By the way, #1 today in the UK is
James Blunt – “You’re Beautiful.”
Stuff
–NASCAR
Remember, motor- and gear-heads, there are seven races to go
before NASCAR settles on the top ten that then race for the
Nextel Cup over the final ten events of the year. Currently, Jeff
Gordon is mired in 15th position and wouldn’t qualify for the
“Chase for the Championship”, nor would Little E., in 13th.
Thru 19 races
1. Jimmie Johnson…2,672 points…2 wins
2. Greg Biffle…2,595…5 wins
3. Tony Stewart…2,587…3 wins
4. Rusty Wallace…2,442
5. Kurt Busch…2,347 (last year’s champ)…1 win
5. Ryan Newman…2,347
7. Mark Martin…2,320
8. Jeremy Mayfield…2,285
9. Elliott Sadler…2,276
10. Dale Jarrett…2,254
You qualify for the “chase” by being in the top ten after race 26,
or, by being within 400 points of the leader.
11. Jamie McMurray…2,233
12. Carl Edwards…2,200…2 wins
13. Dale Earnhardt Jr. …2,195…1 win
14. Kevin Harvick…2,149…1 win
15. Jeff Gordon…2,134…3 wins
[Kasey Kahne, in 21st place in the points standings, has the other
win this year.]
If you don’t follow these things (I’m assuming a vast majority of
you don’t), in NASCAR, with a normal field of 34 cars, except
for bigger events like Daytona, top fives and top tens are key.
Gordon has had a ton of poor finishes, while Rusty Wallace, with
zero wins, has the 4th most top tens.
Thus completes our semi-annual NASCAR update, as required
by law.
–World Golf Rankings
1. Tiger…16.24
2. Vijay…12.19
3. Ernie…9.36
4. Phil…8.58
5. Retief…7.61
6. Sergio…7.35
7. Adam Scott…5.86
8. Padraiq Harrington…5.52
9. Jim Furyk…5.43
10. Kenny Perry…5.24….surprised?
11. Chris DiMarco…5.21
11. David Toms…5.21
–So the Northwestern University national championship
women’s lacrosse team shows up at the White House for a photo-
op with the president and a bunch of the girls were wearing flip-
flops, much to the chagrin of both school officials and family
members. Well, at an appearance on “Today,” one of the girls
said they were going to auction off the flip-flops they wore with
the proceeds going towards a fund for a 10-year-old girl with a
brain tumor. I’m sure the little girl is just thrilled……..Geezuz,
what a bunch of morons.
–We note the passing of Hall of Fame lineman Jim Parker, 71.
Parker, one of Johnny Unitas’s key blockers, was named to eight
straight All-Pro teams and was the first full-time offensive
lineman to be elected to the Hall in 1973. Parker wore #77.
–Johnny Mac and I realize that sometimes our baseball tidbits
have a limited audience, but when I noted Pirates old-timer Bob
Friend the other day, Johnny had this rather startling finding, at
least we both thought it was.
In 1960, fellow Pittsburgh hurler Vernon Law won the Cy Young
award with the following stats.
20-9, 3.08 ERA, 272 IP, 266 H, 40 BB, 120 SO, 18 CG
Meanwhile, Bob Friend was…
18-12, 3.00 ERA, 276 IP, 266 H, 45 BB, 183 SO, 16 CG
But Law won the prize and Friend didn’t receive a single vote. It
ain’t fair, I tell ya. [Law did out hit Friend, .181 to .068. OK,
we’ve officially exhausted this one.]
–Just a follow-up on last Sunday’s “Nature” episode on hippos, a
story that still has me upset. On more than one occasion I have
pointed out that hippos are the most dangerous animal in Africa,
if not the world, but the hippos featured on this program were
just a big bunch of wimps. I mean for crying out loud, a pod of
them backed down from a bunch of freakin’ hyenas that were
munching on a dead hippo. The hippos actually ran away! I’m
beside myself. Or as Trader George pointed out, a hippo with
no………………Actually, I can’t tell you what Trader George
said. I’d lose my International Web Site Association license.
–Here’s another animal tale that ticks me off. The recovery of
the bald eagle population in America is one of the great
environmental success stories of the last century. But the
comeback is threatened by the demand for eagle feathers.
In a piece by Steven Bodzin of the Los Angeles Times, Native
Americans are excluded from the very strict rules on the
collection of feathers (you can’t even take one off the forest
floor) because feathers, heads and talons are used in ceremonies
and worn on tribal regalia.
So the National Eagle Repository was established, an actual
federal agency near Denver, for the express purpose of collecting
deceased eagles from zoos, highway departments and game
wardens, where the remains are parceled out to the Native
Americans so they won’t be tempted to kill live birds.
But as Bodzin writes, “the system of legal protections and
government-controlled distribution of eagle parts…is showing
signs of breaking down.
“And the demand for eagle feathers has begun to soar. Black-
market prices for eagle feathers and parts are climbing too. And
that, wildlife experts fear, could set off a wave of illegal
poaching – with disastrous results.
“One reason for the growing demand for feathers is that
thousands of non-Indian practitioners of New Age religions have
embraced Indian beliefs and ceremonies. Four of them are
arguing in federal court in Utah that restrictions on possessing
eagle artifacts violate their constitutional right to freedom of
religion.”
Oh brother.
“Demand is growing among Native Americans as well: Indian
leaders, seeking a revival of the community bonds that can
improve education and prevent alcoholism, are promoting
traditional beliefs and ceremonies.”
Just shoot me.
Eagles are so vulnerable because they produce few young.
According to an expert with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
“The way they thrive in numbers is through longevity.” Bodzin
adds:
“Eagles are usually between 4 and 8 years old when they pair up
and begin laying eggs. They remain productive for about 10
years, usually having one successful chick per year. In harsh
climates, where they live about 12 years, a typical couple will
produce six fledglings. No more than half of the baby eagles
survive long enough to reach adulthood.”
Seems to me like this is a job for the Nazgul. Anyone killing an
eagle has to deal with them.
Top 3 songs for the week of 7/22/72: #1 “Lean On Me” (Bill
Withers) #2 “Too Late To Turn Back Now” (Cornelius Bros. &
Sister Rose) #3 “Alone Again (Naturally)” (Gilbert O’Sullivan
…one of the most depressing songs in the history of civilization)
…#7 “Where Is The Love” (Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway)
#10 “School’s Out” (Alice Cooper…ya know, this song has
aged pretty well over the years)
New York Mets Quiz Answers: 1) Rookies of the Year: Tom
Seaver, ’67; Jon Matlack, ’72; Darryl Strawberry, ’83; Dwight
Gooden, ’84. 2) Retired uniforms: Gil Hodges, #14; Casey
Stengel, #37; Tom Seaver, #41. 3) Salty Parker managed the
club for 11 games in 1967…4-7. 4) Frank Howard preceded
Davey Johnson, 1983, 52-64. 5) Howard Johnson is the only
Met to win a RBI title…117, ’91. 6) 20-game winners: Tom
Seaver, 4 Xs (’67, ’71, ’72, ’75); Jerry Koosman, ‘76; Dwight
Gooden, ‘85; David Cone, ‘88; Frank Viola, ‘90. 7) Three to
lead league in home runs: Dave Kingman, ’82; Darryl
Strawberry, ’88; Howard Johnson, ’91. 8) Ed Kranepool is the
career leader in hits with 1,418. Yes, New York’s other #7
batted .261 for his career, all in the Mets blue and gold. And yes,
Trader George, my ‘will’ does stipulate you receive my Ed
Kranepool tumbler should I pass before you do. [To the rest of
you, understand this is possibly my most valuable possession.]
Mets Tidbits:
–Entering 2005, Mike Piazza, at .301, was the only Met with a
career average of .300.
–In 1977, John Milner, John Stearns and Steve Henderson led
the team with just 12 homers each. Oh yeah, this 64-98 squad
was exciting.
–In 1965, Jack Fisher and Al Jackson led the team with 8 wins
apiece as the Mets were a far from lovable 50-112.
–The 1972 Mets finished 83-73 (strike year) despite hitting just
.225. The pitching staff’s ERA was 3.26.
–The Mets have never thrown a no-hitter, nor had a batting
champion. Regarding the former, they have 23 one-hitters,
including five by Seaver.
–Shea Stadium is the fifth-oldest Major League ballpark.
Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, Yankee Stadium and Dodger
Stadium are older. Shea, however, is far and away the ugliest
and worst facility ever built by man.
Next Bar Chat, Tuesday.
Oops, just saw James Doohan died. More next time.
