San Francisco Giants Quiz (1901-present…we’re ignoring the
1883 Gothams). 1) Last World Series title? 2) What was the first
year in Candlestick Park? 3) Name the two-time N.L. MVP in
the 1930s. 4) Who is the only Giant to win the Cy Young
award? 5) Who threw the last no-hitter? 6) Who is the career
leader in RBI? Answers below.
Phil Mickelson
I’ve never been a real fan of “Lefty,” but, like Tiger, he’s great
for the sport and that was a super win at Baltusrol. My problem
is that he just seems so disingenuous and calculating and you
almost never hear a fellow player say anything good about him
as a person (in fact I can’t remember one doing so).
That said he’s as entertaining a golfer as there’s ever been and
the vast majority of the public loves him. As Trader George was
telling me concerning a day he was out at the PGA, at one point
Tiger’s gallery crossed with Phil’s (one was on the front, the
other on the back) and Phil’s was bigger.
What Phil has mastered that other’s like Tiger just don’t seem to
understand is the simple act of making eye contact, saying a
word or two to someone in the gallery, signing autographs. No
one ever understood the paying public better than Arnold Palmer
and look where it got Arnie? For decades he was the #1
pitchman and, at 75, is still in the top five, incredibly. Phil
Mickelson isn’t #2 to Tiger these days when it comes to
endorsements because of his wins….it’s about charisma. Who
wouldn’t want him to sell their product…and that’s where the
PGA triumph, on top of the ’04 Masters, will really pay off in
spades over the coming years.
But I thought I’d include some comments of others on Lefty’s
performance this past weekend and his legions of fans.
Sally Jenkins / Washington Post:
“There is no more welcome arrival in golf than that of Mickelson
as a regular winner of majors. He is a strapping and charismatic
player, adored by an audience with whom he genuinely connects,
a rare thing in a sport that fosters remoteness. Throughout the
last four holes, he was buffeted down the fairways by
spontaneous waves of applause. While other players stood in the
fairways still as wax figures, Mickelson radiated energy and
fixed a crooked grin on his face, and if it sometimes looked
forced, the message it sent was that he understood the job of pro
golfer is a privileged one, even under duress.”
Brad Parks / Star-Ledger:
“Wherever Phil Mickelson went at Baltusrol Golf Club this past
week, there was always another voice shouting, ‘Jersey loves
Phil!’…
“Jersey loved Phil when he blew a three-stroke lead on the front
nine on Sunday. It loved him when he recovered that lead on the
back. It loved him through two weather delays, five bogeys and
countless times when he nearly let the tournament out of his
grasp….
“It doesn’t really make sense on the face of it, the relationship
between this man and this state. Mickelson is about as Jersey as
the San Diego Zoo. He’s a laid-back Southern Californian with a
goofy grin and nary a trace of Jersey attitude.
“ ‘It just blows me away, how people in this area identify with
him so much,’ said Tod Leonard, the golf writer for Mickelson’s
hometown paper, the San Diego Union-Tribune. ‘He’s really
nothing like them. And he doesn’t seem to be the typical
underdog that people in this area root for.’ …
“Fans clapped politely when other players walked up to a green.
Mickelson got applauded on one hole Sunday just for eating a
banana on the tee box….
“Most of all, they love the little ways he interacts with all the
people that some other prominent professional golfers – not to
mention any names – usually blow off.
“It’s the way he bumped fists and high-fived fans on his way to
shelter during the second weather warning Sunday.
“It’s people like 7-year-old Griffin Baker. Exactly 27 minutes
before Mickelson was scheduled to tee off on one of the most
pressure-packed rounds of his life, the sound of Griffin’s tiny
voice yelling ‘C’mon Phil’ as Mickelson walked off the driving
range stopped the man in his tracks.
“Mickelson looked right at the kid, smiled like that one little
cheer meant the world to him, and said, ‘Thanks, guy.’
“Then there was the interaction he had with the Finn family of
River Edge. It started earlier in the week when Mickelson saw
12-year-old David, a special needs child, and handed him a ball
and a glove, both signed.
“Mickelson made it a point to check in on David throughout the
week, and when he found him on the 18th green after winning the
tournament and gave him a smile and a high five, David was so
happy he darn near flew out of his wheelchair.
“ ‘He’s sky high,’ said John Finn, David’s father. ‘It’s the
perfect ending to a perfect week.’
[Editor note: There is a very touching picture of this exchange in
the Ledger…the look on David’s face is priceless…probably the
best moment of the kid’s life.]
Jerry Izenberg / Star-Ledger:
“(Mickelson) waved. He smiled. A 60-something lady in a large
hat did not join in the amen-corner chorus. She simply stared in
unabashed hero worship and, when he waved, her face lit up with
an aurora borealis of a smile.
“Suddenly, it became clear that this 35-year-old golf-tour
nomad…born and raised in California…educated at Arizona
State…residing in San Diego and previous winner of just one of
golf’s majors…had become Robert Treat with a putter…Bruce
Springsteen with a 5-iron…Jersey Joe Walcott with a driver.
“There is about as much logic to Mickelson being anointed as
local Jersey boy making good as there is for dubbing the
Mississippi Cotton Festival Queen the Hudson County debutante
of the year.
“But there he was. Without a boast or a brag – both of which
may be the occasional glue of New Jersey DNA – he was the
designated Everyman they sent out to win the PGA
Championship for them.
“You could make the case that for some of them, those who feel
that rooting for a mortal cinch to win once again is like cheering
for an automatic punch press, he had become ‘the anti-Tiger.’
Mike Vaccaro / New York Post
[Following his win and the official ceremony, PGA officials
were trying to spirit Mickelson away from the course so he could
hob-nob with some suits. Mickelson would have none of it.]
“Waiting on the other side of the ropes were a couple hundred
people with caps, magazine covers, course badges, and Sharpies.
“ ‘He’s not really going to sign for all of them, right?’ one of the
walkie-talkies asked.
“Someone flipped him a black magic marker and Mickelson
started scribbling furiously, smiling the whole way, engaging in
small talk with the fans, exchanging jokes and one-liners. Most
of them had that familiar look most autograph seekers wear, the
one that says: I just know he’s going to quit before he signs my
stuff. Mickelson knew that look well.
“ ‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘I have plenty of time.’
“If you want to know why Mickelson has become the People’s
Choice of golf, you should have been there yesterday afternoon,
maybe an hour after he had tapped in his clinching two-foot
birdie putt on the 72nd hole…
“We don’t ask that much of our sporting heroes, you know. We
really don’t. Stay out of the police blotter. Stay out of rehab.
Keep your Page Six appearances to a minimum.
“And try to remember that the fans are the ones who keep your
pockets lined with gold, so it shouldn’t kill you to treat them like
human beings every once in a while.
“Those are pretty fair standards. Yet it’s amazing how often
members of the sporting firmament disappoint us. Yes, it’s that
simple. It’s as simple as smiling at your fans, rather than
stalking past them with a thousand-yard stare, the way You
Know Who does.
“And it helps that Mickelson is just as accommodating on days
when he hasn’t doubled his total of career majors….
“Standing over his ball on the hill at 18, Mickelson took one of
those backyard whacks and won himself a second major, sticking
it within two feet of the pin. The gallery went berserk.
“ ‘New Jersey loves you, Phil!’ one roared.
“ ‘You’re one of us!’
“ ‘Let’s go down to the shore for a beer!’
“The beers would wait. Instead, the people would settle for the
People’s Champion standing in the sun for a half an hour,
wearing out the Sharpie, reminding us of a splendid truth:
Sometimes the affection we invest in our heroes really is paid
back. With interest.”
And now more thoughts from your editor. I’ve been to many a
golf tournament; talked to players, agents, PGA Tour staff and
the like. You know what? The vast majority of the golfers are
jerks. Trader George, Baltusrol member, told me of how he saw
John Daly after a practice round get approached by some fans for
autographs. Daly was in no mood to comply so what he did was
sign the hat or piece of paper and literally drop it, with pen, on
the ground and without muttering a word. You can’t make this
stuff up. I’ve seen golfers who when I simply say “Go get ‘em”
as they are leaving the practice range give me a stare like I
was about to give them bird flu. They are the biggest bunch of
prima donnas in the world.
[There are some important exceptions. Jay and Bill Haas, for
starters…and it’s why I’ll be rooting so hard for Bill over the
coming years.]
I told you how Dr. Bortrum and I went to the PGA on Saturday
morning and camped out at the 4th green (the water hole),
awaiting Tiger’s group. Tiger was in the third pairing of the day,
it was very early, and yet the stands in that terrific amphitheater
setting were packed. As he approached the green following his
tee shot we gave him a tremendous round of applause and then,
amazingly for New Jersey, it fell totally silent…just as golfers
like it. I leaned over to Bortrum and said “This is where Tiger
could change his whole image, overnight, if he just looked
around at the crowd for a second or two and in Trevino or
Zoeller fashion offered something like, ‘You guys are nuts for
coming out so early in this heat. You’re the greatest.’” He
would have won everyone over for life, not just because he’s the
best golfer on the planet, but because he would show he gives a
damn about us in displaying a human side. You know the New
York press also would have eaten it up. Of course instead, Tiger
was emotionless.
But back to Phil, here’s a fact I still find incredible. There is no
doubt that Phil won the tournament because he got together
beforehand with Baltusrol’s pro, Doug Steffen, to play a practice
round and pick his brain about the course. Heck, it’s not as if
Phil won by six and local knowledge is critical here, just like
with many of the old-time, traditional courses the majors are
often played on. So here’s what got me. Doug Steffen:
“I had a couple of club pros that sat down with me, but none of
the other tour pros asked for help. Phil and I spent about 10
hours together.”
Unbelievable. Not one other tour pro. What an arrogant bunch
of a-holes; all losers except the one man who figured it out…
‘Maybe this local guy can tell me something that on one hole is
the difference between par and bogey.’
Remember how I told you how I made sure my friend Todd
Brown had the best caddy for his event at a neighboring course
last week? Todd knew enough that Bobby’s help could be
invaluable…and it was.
Well, enough rambling. Back to the beginning. I’m still not
totally sold on Lefty, but that’s mainly because I can be stubborn.
There’s only ever going to be one Arnold Palmer and I’m
reluctant to put anyone else on that pedestal, from any sport. But
I’m enough of a sports fanatic to know just how much Phil
Mickelson means to the success of the PGA Tour. Momma
didn’t raise no fool.
Shea Stadium / The Beatles
Following up on last time and a mention of the Beatles concert at
Shea Stadium, Aug. 15, 1965, I realized I had a terrific source for
more tidbits. Years ago I met Sid Bernstein, the man who
promoted the Beatles in America and wrote a book “Not Just the
Beatles” (as told to Arthur Aaron). Bernstein devotes a large
portion of it to pulling off the Shea event and some of the facts
and economics behind the show are interesting, especially given
it was 40 years ago.
The idea of holding the largest rock concert up to that time was
Bernstein’s, but when he approached Shea Stadium officials they
were obviously skeptical. “Do you realize we have 55,000
seats?” said Jim Thompson, director of Shea operations.
“Yes, I know that you have that many seats, but I think the
Beatles can fill them.”
Thompson agreed but only if Bernstein supplied the stage, got
his own insurance, picked a date when the Mets would be on the
road for a spell so the turf could be repaired if necessary, and
guarantee $50,000 plus a percentage. Well they dickered over
the terms and came up with $25,000 guaranteed, plus Sid had to
pick up the insurance, stage and extra security.
Next Sid called Beatles manager Brian Epstein. Epstein didn’t
blanch at the 55,000 seats, but wanted to know how Bernstein
would price the tickets.
“I was thinking of $4.50, $5.00 and $5.65…..We will have a
sellout and the boys will gross $300,000 and be able to clear
$150,000 for one night’s work.”
Epstein agreed as long as there was a $100,000 guarantee to the
Beatles, with $50,000 up front immediately. Sid actually beat
that, a short while later delivering the full $100,000 to Epstein at
the Waldorf when Brian was in town.
A date was set for August, 1965, but in the interim Bernstein
promoted a Stones concert in New York at the Academy of
Music, with the Stones receiving $10,000 for two shows in May.
Meanwhile…Bernstein received a call from friend Walter
Hyman.
“Sid, I’m out here in the Hamptons vacationing with my family.
Some guys took an old French barge and turned it into a
discotheque. You have to walk across a gangplank to get onto
(it)….They have a band playing there called The Rascals and
they’re fabulous and drawing big crowds. I want you to come up
here and see them.”
Bernstein was swamped with work on the Beatles’ concert, but
found time to head out. Sid describes the scene when he arrived
at the Barge.
“When we got inside, the four members of The Rascals were
waiting….Felix Cavaliere, Eddie Brigati, Dino Danelli and Gene
Cornish were dressed in knickers, shirts with Lord Fauntleroy
collars and pilgrim shoes. I thought they looked ridiculous and I
thought that Walter was nuts. But then they started to play and
sing and I knew immediately why they had become the darlings
of the Hamptons summer scene. They were great!”
At the time they were just covering others’ material but
Bernstein knew that if they could come up with some originals
they had hit potential. They had the intangible “it.”
As for the Shea concert, security was becoming an increasing
concern, as in how the heck to get the Beatles in and out of the
stadium. Finally, it was agreed the Beatles would helicopter to
the World’s Fairgrounds, across from Shea, at which point they
would get into a Wells Fargo armored car that would then
proceed through the Shea Stadium outfield gates. The exit plan
was that the armored car would wait outside the stadium until the
Beatles had completed their last song. “As they were taking their
bows, the outfield gates would be opened and the armored car
would speed right to the stage. The boys would then hop in and
the armored car would speed out of the stadium to the waiting
helicopter for the short flight back to Manhattan.”
Murray the K was hired to be the MC, having developed a close
relationship with both Epstein and the boys. Bernstein then
booked King Curtiss and his band, Brenda Holloway, Cannibal
and the Headhunters, Sounds Incorporated and some dancers to
be the warm-up acts. Then about ten days before the concert, Sid
got a call from Ed Sullivan. It was agreed Ed would introduce
the Beatles that night.
[Some of the articles I saw the other day said that the Rascals
were part of the lineup. I see that the “VH-1 Rock
Encyclopedia” mentions that they were, too. Wrong! Bernstein
gave them seats up close for the concert as he was about to sign
them and at one point he flashed on the scoreboard “The Rascals
are coming….The Rascals are coming,” but they didn’t actually
perform. At least I’m stickin’ with Sid’s account.]
By the way, the Mayor’s office assigned a young intern to spend
the day with Bernstein. The kid’s name? Jeffrey Katzenberg…
yup, that Jeffrey Katzenberg.
[More next chat.]
Stuff
–Alexander Gomelsky, legendary coach of the Soviet basketball
team, died the other day. Known as the “Silver Fox,” he was
inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995. NBA
Commissioner David Stern called Gomelsky “one of the greatest
basketball coaches on the world stage.”
Gomelsky served three stints as head coach of the national team
– 1958-60, 1962-70 and 1976-88. But despite successes, as you
can see he was demoted a few times and he attributed this to the
fact he was Jewish. “The KGB thought I would go to Israel,”
Gomelsky once told the Los Angeles Times.
Gomelsky also guided the Red Army Club, CSKA, to European
titles in 1969 and 1971. One of his star players was Sergei
Belov, who noted back then that “All talented people, including
artists and ballet dancers, had problems with the KGB. But he
knew how to survive the system.”
Of course it was during the Olympics that Gomelsky became a
figure on the world stage, coaching the Soviets to a gold medal
in Seoul in 1988 after defeating the United States in the
semifinals. That squad was led by Sarunas Marciulionis,
Arvydas Sabonis and Rimas Kurtinaitis.
But the most difficult moment for Gomelsky was the 1972
Munich Olympics, when the Soviets defeated the United States
51-50 in the most controversial basketball game ever played.
You’ll recall that was the contest when the Soviets were trailing
50-49 with three seconds remaining but were given three chances
to inbound the ball. The first two failed, but the FIBA secretary
general gave the Russians a third try, whereupon Sergei Belov
caught a full-court pass and laid the ball in for the gold, marking
the first time the United States had ever been defeated in
Olympic play. The United States refused to accept the silver.
According to the Moscow Times:
“Gomelsky, who always referred to that Soviet team as ‘my
boys,’ watched the game from his Moscow apartment, having
been removed as head coach after a disappointing bronze medal
at the 1970 World Championships.
“Gomelsky told the Los Angeles Times that he cried after
watching the historic game and poured himself a glass of vodka.
‘It is something I have had to live with. It is the biggest scar on
my heart.’”
He got redemption in Seoul.
–Doh!!!! From the Star-Ledger newspaper here in New Jersey,
as reported by Bill Swayze.
“Stephen Sodones spotted it along the edge of Route 23 in
Jefferson, a snake just starting its precarious slide to the other
side of the highway.
“So the 62-year-old animal lover picked it up, hoping to carry it
to safety. But in doing so, Sodones quickly learned one of
nature’s more important facts: Snakes bite.
“What bit Sodones three times on the arm Monday night was a
copperhead.”
Sodones was hospitalized in critical condition but is expected to
recover.
–Mark Hyman had an interesting piece in the Sunday New York
Times on young kids throwing curveballs and the stress on the
arm. One consultant for the Atlanta Braves, Joseph Chandler,
has been studying pitch patterns in the Little League World
Series and found, for example, that during the 2001 title game
between Tokyo and Apopka, Fla., 64% of the pitches were
breaking balls.
Hyman:
“Sports medicine experts are united in warning that 11- and 12-
year-olds are too young to be throwing them…Chandler and
other prominent sports doctors recommend that young pitchers
lay off curveballs until six months after they turn 14.
“Professional ballplayers are even more cautious. When
Chandler polled 101 pitchers in the Braves’ organization, asking
at what age they would allow their sons to begin throwing
curves, the consensus was to wait a few months longer, until
their sons were nearly 15.”
Little League Baseball, which limits pitchers to six innings in a
week, said it will address the breaking pitch issue. Of course
then the problem would be umpires would have to know the
difference between a fastball and a curve, not always an easy
task, as any major league announcer could tell you.
–Alex Rodriguez is approaching 40 home runs on the season and
will soon become the first right-handed hitting Yankee to reach
that mark since Joe DiMaggion hit 46 in 1937. A-Rod already
has the mark for most homers hit at Yankee Stadium with his 21
this season. But boy is this deceiving. As pointed out by Dan
Graziano of the Star-Ledger, A-Rod, Gary Sheffield and other
right-handed sluggers are playing in an entirely different park
from what DiMaggio did.
“DiMaggio played his home games in a ballpark that, with its
short right-field porch and cavernous left-center and center
fields, had been built with lefty sluggers such as Babe Ruth and
Lou Gehrig in mind: From 1937 to 1973 (encompassing Joe D.’s
big years), the left-center field fence at Yankee Stadium
measured 457 feet from home plate. Center field was 461,
having been cut down from the 490 it was from 1923-1936.
“ ‘You definitely had a different mind-set when you were facing
a right-handed power guy as opposed to a lefty,’ said Hall of
Famer Whitey Ford, who made his living pitching in the old
Yankee Stadium. ‘If you had a big right-handed guy up there,
you could throw a strike and be pretty sure you were okay.’
“When Yankee Stadium was renovated in time for the 1976
season, left-center was a still-distant 430 feet. It changed to 411
in 1985 and to 399 in 1988.”
Speaking of field dimensions, the other day I mentioned Hall of
Famer Goose Goslin for his 11 seasons with 100 RBI. Johnny
Mac then reminded me Goslin spent much of his career in the old
Griffith Stadium and check out these bizarre dimensions. 424
feet down the left field line…that’s down the line! It then went
in to 383 in left center and back to 421 in center. Right center
angled back out to 441. [It was a more realistic 320 down the
right field line, though with a 30 foot high fence.]
Of course when you’re talking about ballpark dimensions,
growing up I loved to see games in Forbes Field where they kept
the batting cage in center field during the games. It was 457 in
left center and 435 straightaway.
[And one other note from Johnny Mac. In 1927 when Babe Ruth
hit his 60 home runs, the entire Red Sox club had 28…led by
Phil Todt’s six. Which is why, sports fans, 100 years from now
Ruth will still be considered the greatest slugger, ever (short
porch and all), no matter how many home runs A-Rod ends up
with.]
–The New York Knicks, thanks to their pitiful owner Jim Dolan,
are being forced to carry shooting guard Alan Houston and his
$100 million contract, even though he’s hardly played the last
two seasons because of injury and is far from being ready to
contribute. Team president Isiah Thomas was excited about the
prospects of saving $40 million in salary cap relief, the “Allan
Houston Rule,” only to see his power usurped by Dolan because
the latter likes Houston. Houston refuses to do the honorable
thing and retire. And so………here at Bar Chat, we find it
necessary to nominate this lame, ridiculously overpaid athlete for
“A-Hole of the Year.” My apologies to the Houston family.
–Ahem, Jeff B. and all other UConn basketball fans. Point
guard Marcus Williams was arrested for stealing four laptops
from student dorm rooms. Redshirt freshman A.J. Price was also
involved and as of this writing a third arrest is expected.
Williams had just competed for the U.S. in the “under 21” world
championship tournament. If he was better known, Williams
would be a candidate for “Bar Chat Idiot of the Year” but he gets
a pass until he gets in the NBA.
–No further word on Terrell Owens as an eager world waits for
the Eagles to suspend the jerk without pay.
Top 3 songs for the week of 8/22/70: #1 “Make It With You”
(Bread) #2 “(They Long To Be) Close To You” (Carpenters) #3
“Spill The Wine” (Eric Burdon & War)
#8 “Band Of Gold” (Freda Payne…always liked this one)
#9 “I Just Can’t Help Believing” (B.J. Thomas….underrated)
#65 “Green-Eyed Lady” (Sugarloaf…on its way to #3 in
October)
San Francisco Giants Quiz Answers: 1) Last World Series title
was 1954, defeating Cleveland. Since then they’ve won three
pennants – ’62, ’89, ’02. 2) First year in Candlestick Park was
1960. Initially, the Giants were in Seals Stadium the first two
years after leaving New York. This park had a capacity of
22,900. 3) Pitcher Carl Hubbell was the two-time MVP in the
1930s; ’33 and ’36. 4) Only Cy Young winner: Mike
McCormick, 22-10, 1967. [Juan Marichal was a six-time, 20-
game winner, including three where he won at least 25, yet didn’t
receive a single vote in those years. This was partly because thru
1966 the Cy Young went to just one pitcher, both leagues
combined, and Marichal lost out to Sandy Koufax three times
when Koufax won unanimously. He also lost out in years when
Dean Chance, Bob Gibson and Tom Seaver had spectacular
seasons. And did I tell you I have an authentic Marichal jersey,
purchased for about $150? Boy, that was stupid. Haven’t worn
it once. It’s tough to come up with the right weather for a
flannel, short-sleeved shirt (it’s what they wore in those
days)….know what I’m sayin’?] 5) Last no-hitter: John
Montefusco, 1976. [Mets fans…Ed Halicki’s no-no against us
was ’75.] 6) Career RBI: Always a good one….Mel Ott had
1,860 to Willie Mays’ 1,859.
Giants tidbit:
Back on 4/30/44, Phil Weintraub had 11 RBI in one game (the
club record). Phil Weintraub? In a 7-year career, Weintraub hit
all of 32 home runs with 207 RBI, though he did average .295.
In 1944, he had 13 HR 77 RBI and a .316 BA in 361 at bats.
“Mickey” was the pride of Chicago and died back in 1987.
Next Bar Chat, Tuesday…the Beatles finally take the stage.
