Baseball Quiz: Name the top five father/son combinations for
runs batted in. Answer below.
From Crawfordsville, Indiana – What? Where’s that? And why
is your editor here?
Well, without boring you to tears, it’s part of my little project on
Gen. Lew Wallace, participant at the Civil War Battle of Shiloh
and almost twenty years after that the author of “Ben-Hur.”
Crawfordsville is the home of his museum, as well as the study
where he wrote the epic, and I spent the afternoon perusing some
rare books and getting a first-class history lesson from
Cinnamon, Bethany and Derek, historians and guides here. My
thanks to the three for their efforts and their hospitality.
A key source for Wallace in writing “Ben-Hur” was a book titled
“The Life and Words of Christ” by Cunningham Geikie,
published back in 1877. This is a rare work and so I donned
white gloves to skim through the text, complete with Wallace’s
own scribblings in the margins. Many wonder how Wallace,
without having visited the Holy Land, could have nailed the
period in the manner he did, capturing the geography and such.
Here’s an example of the writing in “The Life and Words of
Christ.”
“As soon as Herod was dead, his sister Salome and her husband
set free a multitude of the leading men of the Jews, whom Herod
had summoned to Jericho, that he might have them butchered at
his own death….
“A bloody street battle followed, in which 3,000 were slain, and
the Passover guests were shut out of the city….the winds, long
chained by Herod, had broken loose.”
I figured one or two of you may have been mildly interested.
Me? I’m exploring a few angles on “Ben-Hur” that may or may
not result in a multi-year project. I’ll reach a decision by year-
end, or someone else will make it for me.
—
Turning to the events of the day, I of course have to acknowledge
the victory of the Carolina Hurricanes, who captured the first
professional title of any kind for the state of North Carolina in
winning the Stanley Cup. But I have to admit I only watched the
second period of Game Seven. Just not into hockey like I used to
be and it’s all about the collapse of my New York Rangers.
And speaking of collapses, goodness gracious; can the Dallas
Mavericks have sucked any more than they did in losing four
straight to the Miami Heat? Unfortunately, my Wake Forest boy,
Josh Howard, didn’t exactly distinguish himself, while Dwayne
Wade is clearly the Second Coming.
I also have to issue a public apology to my friend Trader George.
Yes, George, Mark Cuban is truly an idiot. I used to like the
guy, seeing him as a colorful rogue who challenged the
loathsome commissioner, David Stern.
But Cuban went way over the edge this year and morphed into a
bonafide “Jerk of the Year” candidate.
SHARK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bob S., a k a “Bass-O-Matic Bob,” just alerted me to a huge
story from Brazil. As reported in Marine News Today:
“A surfer died Sunday after a shark bit him in the leg in waters
off northeastern Brazil, Brazilian media reported.
“Humberto Pessoa Batista (no relation to pitcher Miguel, or
former Cuban leader Fulgencio, who was deposed by Castro in
1959), 27, was with about 30 other surfers some 50 feet from a
beach in the city of Olinda when he was attacked, firefighters
told the Agencia Estado news service.
“Olinda is just north of the much larger city of Recife, about
1,300 miles northeast of Sao Paulo. The area is known for large
concentrations of sharks. [ed. I didn’t know this!]
“While surfing has traditionally been banned in the area,
authorities lifted the restriction this year because few sharks had
been seen.
“Rescue workers tried to take Batista to a hospital, but the shark
bite ruptured his femoral artery and he died of a hemorrhage…
Firefighters could not immediately be reached for comment. [ed.
guess they were out fighting a fire.]
“Batista’s death was the 18th since 1992 caused by shark attacks
in the area. The sharks are attracted to waters off Recife by a
large coral reef where they go to feed.” [ed. “All you can eat”
fish special on Thursdays, $8.95.]
Our sympathies to the Batista family.
But once again…focus in on the above statement that this was
the 18th shark attack fatality since 1992!
You know what this means, sports fans. Once again, the
International Shark Attack File in Florida has screwed up big
time and is underreporting the number of fatalities.
You may recall I’ve been all over this, most recently in Bar Chat,
2/16/06. In this instance, the latest data through 2005 have only
12 recorded deaths in Brazil since 1992 and the above is telling
you there’ve been 18.
Now we’ve written Dr. George Burgess of the Univ. of Florida
before to explain himself when presented with the evidence but
he has yet to respond. It’s pretty simple to me. A special
prosecutor must be appointed and a UN investigation called
immediately. Personally, I suspect all parties are lying and the
true figure in Brazil is actually closer to 7,800.
–More on the U.S. Open
Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson didn’t see the end of the U.S.
Open as they were participating in some joint events in Canada,
but when reached by reporters and explained how Mickelson
played the 18th, especially his difficult second shot where Phil
went for the green, Nicklaus said:
“Put the ball in play. You don’t ever give up the end of a golf
tournament,” adding he had learned a lesson from a tournament
in 1963 when he used the wrong club off the tee on the last two
holes when he was leading and went bogey-bogey to lose. “I
didn’t like that feeling and said I’d never do that again, and I
never did.”
Watson admitted it was tough to second guess but said: “What
are you playing for? You’re playing to win, not be a hero.”
[ESPN.com]
And this bit from Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post that I
didn’t have a chance to include last time.
“For 69 holes, Mickelson fed on the rabid scene that surrounded
him here. Then, finally, on the last three holes, the maelstrom
fed on him. Golf is not meant to be played in a coliseum
atmosphere with a racing heart and adrenaline pumping. It’s
wonderful theater to witness. But for Mickelson, the
Palmeresque brew of borderline pandemonium, universal
adulation and Open pressure was simply too much on the final
three holes….
“If you walked every step with Mickelson, you could sense that
something entirely different was at work. If Mickelson wants to
know ‘how I did that’ or why he feels like ‘an idiot,’ perhaps he
would understand better, and forgive himself more, if he had
been standing among the reporters who watched all his diabolical
trouble shots from a few yards away. He was like a man trying
to focus on brain surgery in the middle of an Attica jailbreak.
“Yelling crowds engulfed him as he played dastardly recoveries
after wild drives on the last three holes. Four times on those
holes, Mickelson ran full speed through the crowd, pushing
people aside so that he could get a clear view of where his
desperate shots had finally landed. A golfer can run once, like
Sergio Garcia and Corey Pavin did famously, but by the final
crazy hole, Mickelson was playing golf in a state of barely
controlled agitation, literally running to his fate.
“Whether he knew it or not, Mickelson had joined the mood of
the mob – joyful, hopeful but, in a golf sense, mindless. Grab
that driver, Phil, don’t play it safe. And Mickelson did just that,
not carrying a 3-wood Sunday despite Saturday-night advice from
his caddie. Mickelson let the big dog eat all day. And it
devoured him. He hit two fairways.
“On No. 16, his drive found the rough and led to bogey. At 17,
his next drive landed in a garbage can. Honest. After a free
drop, he saved a zany par. But once your ball goes in the
garbage, what’s next? An Open down the drain? Panic was in
place.
“Finally, by the 18th hole, Mickelson had completely lost his golf
senses. He hit four of the most poorly judged, badly executed
and disastrous shots that any great player has ever inflicted on
himself one right after the other.
“When his final tee shot left the club, Mickelson said, ‘Oh, no.’
It’s hard to hit the Champions Tent. But he did it. The fates
gave him a double-edged break. From a hard-pan lie in the
rough, he could pitch safely back to the fairway, probably make a
bogey at worst and have a Monday playoff. Or he could bomb
his ball into the 18th grandstand 200 yards away and get a free
drop near the green, virtually ensuring a bogey at worst and still
leaving the possibility of an Open-winning up-and-down for par.
“Or he could do what the crowd wanted: He could try the brave,
dumb ‘Tin Cup’ shot, a big slice carved between two trees that
might, with luck and ideal execution, somehow reach the green.
“ ‘No problem, Phil,’ yelled a fan as Mickelson contemplated
this trick shot from hell.
“ ‘I had 185 yards to the front of the green. I thought I’d just put
the 3-iron on the green or if not, get up-and-down,’ Mickelson
said. ‘I was playing for par. If I make par, I’d win the
tournament. I just thought, ‘I can slice this.’”….
“(Instead) his shot took off with a normal 3-iron trajectory, but
rocketed straight into the center of an enormous tree. Cut?
There was no cut. The thing went straight as a string. And the
ball bounced back, as is proper.
“After that, fate merely played out. With Ogilvy in the house at 5
over par, Mickelson had to gamble for bogey. After a slice over
a tree, a blast from a fried egg lie in a trap and a desperation
pitch from the fringe, Phil was phinished. Finally, with one last
‘We love you, Phil,’ hanging in the air, Mickelson avoided a
triple bogey by sinking a meaningless eight-footer.
“Perhaps the madness of crowds was not the main cause of
Mickelson’s downfall. But it certainly contributed. As early as
the fifth hole, Mickelson tried to hit a 4-wood out of deep rough
when he had only 140 yards to the hole. What!? His full swing
produced a shocking one-yard duff. Was that shot, an evil omen
of bad judgment, what lurked in Mickelson’s mind all day?
“ ‘This one is going to take a little while to get over,’ said
Mickelson, understating what he called his most painful loss.
“Three days in bed, he was asked?
“ ‘Oh, yeah,’ Mickelson said.
“While Phil is huddled there, he shouldn’t be too hard on
himself. He tried to give the people what they wanted: a golf
memory for a lifetime. Who knew it would be a disaster, not a
triumph, for the ages.”
*And this postscript. Bill C. wrote he was at Winged Foot on
Saturday and in walking with Mickelson, Bill could see he was
way too caught up in the adulation (by the drunken throngs).
“You can hit it around the tree, Phil,” as Bill noted. And Phil
would then try. As Bill also correctly wrote, “Tiger would have
tuned them out.”
–Ryder Cup Point Standings (thru the U.S. Open)
I don’t know if you’ve looked at this recently, but Johnny Mac
and I are distressed. Remember, the first ten are in and then the
captain (Tom Lehman), has two captain’s picks. Lehman
himself is #19 on the points list.
1. Tiger
2. Mickelson
3. Furyk
4. Chad Campbell
5. Toms
6. Zach Johnson
7. Brett Wetterich
8. Vaughn Taylor
9. Lucas Glover
10. Davis Love XXIX
11. Fred Couples
12. Tim Herron
13. Tom Pernice, Jr.
14. Arron Oberholser
15. Scott Verplank
As Johnny Mac said, “Not exactly Murderers Row.”
At least if the captains’ picks had to be made today, Lehman
would go with Couples and Verplank.
Slaughter
June 25 is the 130th anniversary of the Battle of Little Bighorn,
Custer’s last stand. So it’s an excuse to reprise a piece I did Oct.
2002 when I was out Montana way.
Following the completion of the transcontinental railroad, the US
Government signed a treaty at Fort Laramie, Wyoming, with the
Lakota Sioux, Cheyenne and other tribes of the Great Plains,
granting the Indians a large area in eastern Wyoming that was to
be a permanent reservation. Whitey promised to protect the
Indians “against the commission of all depredations by people of
the United States.”
But in 1874, gold was discovered in the Black Hills (current day
South Dakota, specifically near Lead and Deadwood), yet this
was part of the Indian reservation. No problemo, said the white
man, and soon thousands of prospectors were swarming all over
the region in direct violation of the Fort Laramie treaty. The
army actually tried to keep the people out, and then the
government tried to buy the Black Hills from the Indians in order
to avoid another confrontation, but the Indians had learned their
lesson.
The Lakota and Cheyenne began to openly defy authority and
many opted to leave the reservation, attacking settlements
outside the agreed upon boundaries. In December 1875, the
Commissioner for Indian Affairs ordered the tribes back to the
reservation by January 31, 1876, or they would be treated as
“hostiles” by the army. Of course the Indians didn’t comply and
the cavalry was called in to deal with the situation.
By June 1876, the army decided to launch three separate
expeditions to seek out the Sioux and Cheyenne, led by General
Crook, Colonel John Gibbon and General Alfred Terry. They
were to converge in eastern Montana, where the Indians had
begun consolidating under the leadership of Sitting Bull and
Crazy Horse.
Crook’s forces were knocked back on June 17 in the Battle of
Rosebud (about 25 miles southeast of Little Bighorn…as we try
to paint a picture for you). The Indians were full of confidence.
“That’s right…we showed ‘em who’s bad around these parts,”
said Crazy Horse. [Actually, I have no idea what he said.]
Meanwhile, Terry and Gibbon gathered about 50 miles northeast
of Little Bighorn. They suspected they would find a large Indian
encampment in the Little Bighorn Valley, so Terry sent
Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and the 7th Cavalry
along the Rosebud Creek to approach from the south, while Terry
would accompany Gibbon’s forces back up the Yellowstone River
to approach from the north.
Custer’s 7th numbered about 600 men and at dawn on June 25, he
spotted the Indian camp from a spot called the Crow’s Nest, in
the Wolf Mountains some 14 miles away. Custer had to
underestimate the strength of the Lakota and Cheyenne at this
point (they numbered about 2,000 warriors), because he divided
his forces into three battalions. Of the 12 companies, Custer took
five, while assigning 3 each to Major Marcus Reno (no relation
to Janet, as best as I can ascertain) and Captain Frederick
Benteen. [The last ‘company’ watched the pack train.]
Benteen was then ordered south to scout around, while Custer
and Reno headed directly toward the Indians in the Little
Bighorn valley.
In continuing to paint the picture for you (I’m assuming you have
a beer coaster that you can doodle on), Custer and Reno are
about 4-5 miles from what would be the last stand at this point.
Custer then turns straight towards what would be his final resting
place (from the right on your coaster), while Reno is ordered a
little to the south, where he is to cross the river and attack. At a
spot now known as Garryowen, a large force of Lakota greet
Reno. “Yoh, wassup?” “I’m here to take you out,” said Reno.
Fighting commenced and Reno was immediately forced to
retreat, first into some woods, and then back up into the bluffs
(about 3 miles to the right of Last Stand). It was total chaos for
Reno. Benteen then joined him, after receiving orders from
Custer to “Come on; Big village, be quick, bring packs.” [These
were the actual words, not your editor’s. Benteen didn’t “come
on.”]
At this point, no one knew for sure where Custer was, but Reno
and Benteen heard heavy gunfire miles away. Captain Thomas
Weir took a company to a point where he could see Custer’s
battlefield, but by this time the firing had stopped and nothing
could be seen of Custer or his men. When Benteen and Reno’s
forces joined Weir, they were attacked by a large force of Indians
and Reno ordered a retreat back to the original position they had
established before breaking up. So these seven companies
entrenched and held their defenses throughout the day and most
of the next. The Indians opted not to storm the position and then
withdrew when word reached them that General Terry and
Colonel Gibbon’s forces had been spotted.
As for Custer, his precise movements are not known, but what
you see from the battlefield, where markers have been placed
where extensive research revealed individual members of his
company to have fallen, it was a fairly organized, but bloody
retreat to Last Stand Hill. You see a few clusters of 20-30 dead,
and then you have the final resting place, where Custer and 41 of
his troops met their end.
Northern Cheyenne Chief Two Moon recalled that “the shooting
was quick, quick. Pop-pop-pop very fast. Some of the soldiers
were down on their knees, some standing…The smoke was like a
great cloud, and everywhere the Sioux went the dust rose like
smoke. We circled all around him – swirling like water around a
stone. We shoot, we ride fast, we shoot again. Soldiers drop,
and horses fall on them.”
The 7th Cavalry lost the five companies (C,E,F,I, and L) under
Custer, about 210 men, plus 53 others were killed under the
command of Reno and Benteen. It is said the Indians lost no
more than 100 dead. They removed their dead from the
battlefield, after mutilating the cavalrymen. With Terry and
Gibbon fast approaching (arriving the next day), the Indians
quickly broke camp and scattered in all directions. Many of
them returned to the reservation and surrendered over the coming
years. Reno, incidentally, was exonerated by an 1879 court of
inquiry looking into his handling of the retreat during the fight
and his direct responsibility for the defeat.
–Music notes from Rolling Stone…I started subscribing to stay
hip.
Christina Aguilera… “Ain’t No Other Man”
“You know how Britney married a hot, unwashed dude and
immediately killer her career? Well, Xtina married a schlumpy
accountant or something and immediately cut her hottest track
ever: this horn-and-break-beat-powered Chaka-licious party jam.
That accountant must be packin’!”
Steely Dan…concert tour, July 7 – Sept. 2
“We’ll be doing a continuous set – no intermission – so there
will be an incredible rising line of orgasmic blowing, wailing,
singing, caterwauling and carrying on,” Walter Becker says
about Steely Dan’s summer tour, on which they will welcome
former Dan-man Michael McDonald as opening act and guest
vocalist. Becker promises a “cavalcade” of hits and rarities:
“We’re planning a hard-hitting, super-slamming set – this is no
time for halfway measures.”
Sounds pretty good, eh?
Top 3 songs for the week of 6/24/78: #1 “Shadow Dancing”
(Andy Gibb) #2 “Baker Street” (Gerry Rafferty…one of the
great beginnings for a song, ever, and then it simply fizzles) #3
“It’s A Heartache” (Bonnie Tyler)…and…#4 “You’re The One
That I Want” (John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John) #5 “Take
A Chance On Me” (Abba) #6 “You Belong To Me” (Carly
Simon) #7 “Use Ta Be My Girl” (The O’Jays…that’s ‘to’ guys,
geez…) #8 “Love Is Like Oxygen” (Sweet)
*Brian Wilson turned 64 on Tuesday. I can’t believe he actually
lived this long. But it’s an excuse to say once again that my
three favorite Beach Boys songs are “When I Grow Up,” “All
Summer Long,” and “Sail on Sailor.” And since it’s summer
they are in continuous play on my car stereo.
Baseball Quiz Answer: Father/Son RBI combos –
Bonds: Bobby and Barry….2,907 (thru Mon.)
Griffey: Ken and Ken Jr. …2,431
Bell: Gus and Buddy………2,048
Alou: Felipe and Moises….2,038
Perez: Tony and Eduardo…1,934
Next Bar Chat, Tuesday.
