Detroit Tigers Quiz: 1) Sparky Anderson managed from 1979-
1995. Who replaced him? 2) Who was the last Tigers’ batting
champ? 3) Who was the last to win the Cy Young award? 4)
Who was the last 20-game winner? 5) Who has the single season
record for doubles with 63? [Hint: pre-1960] 6) Who am I? I
threw 376 innings in a single season, post-1950. Answers below.
Bob Barker
Hank Stuever of the Washington Post had a great piece on the
soon-to-be retired Barker and his “The Price Is Right.” Barker,
83, is “essentially the longest, oldest, most continuous anything
on the air.” Recently, during a commercial break, an audience
member asked “What are you going to do after [you retire]?”
“Well, I plan to do a little more drinking,” Barker deadpanned.
Barker is taping his last episode in the first week of June after 35
seasons. CBS will air two nights of a retrospective on May 16
and 17. About 5 ½ million viewers tune in on an average day.
People wait outside for as long as 18 hours for one of 325 seats
in the audience; nine are picked to play.
Stuever:
“Just the sound of it feels, somehow nostalgically, like being in
bed with the flu. [‘Come on down!’ roars the announcer, Rich
Fields – who replaced the late Rod Roddy in 2003, who replaced
Johnny Olson in 1986 – as you beg some 7Up and toast to stay
on down.] There is the sound of it starting at 11 a.m., over those
gooey-warm CBS airwaves, just when the day is still technically
young and yet already somehow wasted. It feels like skipping
class again and again, the MWF 10:30 section of Lit 125: The
Emerging Self.
“It is the sound of human, couch-bound torpor (hospital waiting
rooms; snow days!) mixed gleefully with supply-side economics.
You win by knowing the stuff that matters – the going price of
soup, of baby wipes, of pain relief. Also there is wonder,
exaltation, a new pool table, his-and-hers Jet Skis, this beautiful
living room set. All this can be yours. If…”
The show’s longtime producer, Roger Dobkowitz, 61, notes: “Of
all the reality shows out there now, we’re the most real….Think
about it this way. The median age in this country is 36 or 37,
which means half the country does not know life without Bob
Barker. You’re young, you go out in the world and all the new
things happen – jobs, marriage. But turn on the set and Bob’s
doing the television show, and it’s all okay.”
Barker remembers the late producer Mark Goodson presenting
the concept and persuading him to host. “I think we’ll get a good
run out of this,” Goodson said. “I do, too,” replied Barker, who
already had a good run hosting “Truth or Consequences.”
[But Hank Stuever had something interesting on the awarding of
the prizes. “A 36-year-old woman in Phoenix, according to the
Arizona Republic, is trying to sell a baby grand piano she won on
a February episode, because she owes between $6,000 and
$12,000 in taxes on her total take (which included six nights in
Puerto Vallarta and a dinette set), when really what she most
wanted was to kiss Barber on the cheek before he’s gone (which
she did).” Another couple is trying to raise $44,000 to pay the
income and sales taxes on an $86,000 Dodge Viper.]
Stuff
–It’s kind of funny how last time I noted golfer Rory Sabbatini
was far and away the most despised player on the PGA Tour
among his fellow competitors. Then, following the first round of
The Players Championship, Sabbatini proved the point.
Sabbatini opened with a 67 to Woods’ 75 and said “I think he’s
more beatable than ever.”
Now there’s nothing wrong with being competitive, and as
Sabbatini went on to say in an interview, “I think a lot of people
have commented in the past when (they) play with Tiger, they
stand and watch the show. I’m not someone to watch the show.
I’m there to participate to win.” There need to be more like
Rory. But don’t outwardly challenge Tiger. For his part, Woods
later responded “If I remember the quote correctly, he said he
likes the new Tiger. I figure I’ve won 9 out of 12 and I’ve won
three times this year, the same amount he’s won in his career. So
I like the new Tiger as well.”
As for the figure I quoted last time, that 25% of the guys on Tour
can’t stand him, Sabbatini remarked, “I don’t know 25% of the
guys on Tour, and there’s probably 25% I wouldn’t want to play
golf with. You can pick your battles, but I’m not out here to
make friends. I’m out to win golf tournaments.”
Golfer Chris DiMarco defended Rory. “I think he’s really
misunderstood. He wears his emotions on his sleeve and
sometimes says things he shouldn’t say.” [Damon Hack / New
York Times]
Meanwhile, Phil Mickelson won his 31st PGA Tour title, holding
off a game Sean O’Hair. O’Hair, though, was headed for a 2nd
place finish, worth $972,000, when he found the water twice on
#17, ending up with 7 on the par-3 hole. After bogeying #18,
O’Hair had dropped to 11th and $225,000. I don’t know if I’ve
ever seen a pro drop that much money in the final two holes. But
it also pointed out why the final three holes, including the great
par-5 16th, is easily the best finish to a tournament every year.
[As for Tiger vs. Sabbatini, Tiger shot a final round 67 to finish
even-par. Rory, after his opening 67, shot 79-71-72 and ended
up 1-over.]
–Arnold Palmer’s good friend, former touring pro Dow
Finsterwald, told Golf Digest Editor-in-Chief Jerry Tarde about
Arnie’s penchant for signing autographs and his relationship with
his fans.
“The way he treats people (is the secret to Arnie’s enduring
success). You only have to look at how he signs autographs –
not the number, but the way he writes his name. Every letter is
perfectly penmanshipped. Look at most other athletes today:
Their autograph is a scrawl across the page, unidentifiable,
probably unreadable. Not Arnold’s. And the other thing is, he
looks you in the eye when he talks to you. Those are rare
qualities.”
Advisor Doc Giffin (a fellow Wake boy), estimates Arnie has
signed an average of 100 autographs a day. Give or take, 2.8
million over his lifetime.
IMG vice chairman Alastair Johnston says “One of the things
he’s proud of is that his autograph is practically worthless on
eBay because he’s signed so many of them.”
Palmer himself had the following comments on his career in the
June 2007 issue of Golf Digest.
“Bad weather was a huge problem for my generation. The
raingear was terrible; none of it was really waterproof. There
were no non-slip gloves, and the grips all got slippery. The golf
courses had very poor drainage systems. Courses would mow
the fairways as close as they dared because the tour was in town,
and there often wasn’t that much grass to begin with. So when it
rained, the fairways turned into mud. The mud would cake on
our leather shoes something terrible; you’d scrape it off, take two
steps, and it would be right back on there….When our leather
shoes got wet, they weighed a couple of pounds apiece. You
ever watch those NFL games played in the 1950s, the crappy
helmets and pads and big, heavy cleats they wore? What we had
was the golf equivalent of that.”
“One of the great mysteries in golf is how you can be playing
great and then suddenly lose your game in the middle of a round.
It happened to me at Olympic [1966 U.S. Open he lost to Billy
Casper]. When the train leaves the tracks, it’s very rare you can
get it back on track. What happens is, you get a little anxious.
That causes you to start swinging quickly, and worse, thinking
quickly. You start pressing, for distance mainly but sometimes
trying to pull off shots you have no business trying. It’s very
hard – impossible, really – to reverse your thinking and go back
to the frame of mind you were in just a couple of holes before. It
happens to even the finest players, and when it happens they
could have the best sports psychologist in the world caddieing
for them and he couldn’t help.”
“Of all the people I’ve met, one man stands a little above the
rest: Dwight Eisenhower had a presence about him that was just
profound. On the occasions I was with him, he exuded a type of
character I hadn’t experienced before and haven’t quite
experienced since. He was humble and sincere, yet also honest
and direct. Ike is the only person I’ve met who made me feel a
little star-struck.”
–Again, it’s truly an embarrassment that Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki
won the MVP award this season after his flameout in the first
round of the playoffs. But I would have voted for him too.
–Yikes…this is an awful one. A Canadian woman was fatally
mauled by a tiger at an exotic animal farm in British Columbia.
What is even worse is that the woman was outside the tiger’s
cage. She was wearing a dress, showing some kids the animals,
when somehow the tiger reached through, grabbed the dress, and
slashed her legs severely.
–And check this one out…from the AP:
Thief River Falls, Minn. “Mike Olson had been working under
his dad’s deck for about 20 minutes when he realized he wasn’t
alone. ‘I cocked my head back, and I saw those two eyes looking
at me,’ Olson said of the Monday encounter. ‘I got out real fast.’
“Olson had seen what he thought was a gray wolf. ‘It was
probably 6 feet away,’ he said. ‘It was just laying down. It had
its head up and was just looking at me.’
“Olson and his dad, Erling, called the police, who responded
expecting to find a large, wolf-like dog beneath the deck.
“ ‘They put their head under the deck, and sure enough, it was a
wolf,’ said Craig Mattson, deputy chief for the Thief River Falls
Police Department.
“Police and the city’s animal control officer were unable to put a
noose around the wolf’s neck and capture it alive, Mattson said.
He said the animal had been growling and appeared to have
mange, a parasitic infestation of the skin. So, a section of
planking was removed and an officer shot the 104-pound male
wolf, Mattson said.
“It’s the first time Mattson can remember a wolf in town. As for
Olson, he cautiously went back to work on the deck Tuesday.”
–Now this sounds like a super-cool place. In Chatham, Kent,
England, a new theme park is opening based on the books of
Charles Dickens. Dickens World “will introduce visitors to life
in Dickensian times – from the architecture and street scenes to
the smells and sounds….Visitors can experience a harsh
Victorian schoolroom (like the one attended by Oliver Twist),
and take a boat ride in the dark through London’s sewers. The
ghost of Ebenezer Scrooge will make an appearance in the
haunted house, and there will be a Fagin’s Den play area).” [New
York Times] [I hope the Scrooge is based on the 1951 Alistair
Sims “Christmas Carol” version.]
–Bad move. GOP presidential candidate Senator Sam
Brownback was at the Wisconsin Republican Party convention
when he decided to use a football analogy to talk about the need
to focus on families. “This is fundamental blocking and
tackling,” he said. “This is your line in football. If you don’t
have a line, how many passes can Peyton Manning complete?
Greatest quarterback, maybe, in NFL history.” The crowd booed
him.
You’re in Wisconsin, Sammy Boy…think Brett Favre, stupid.
Brownback, according to the report, quickly realized what he had
said and put his head in his hands. “That’s really bad. That will
go down in history. I apologize.”
–In winning the Rome Masters, tennis great Rafael Nadal
extended his record clay court streak to 77 matches. On to the
French Open.
–Mark R., Phillies fan, called the other day to talk about how
Ryan Howard came to training camp in awful shape because he
did the banquet circuit last off-season. Two days later, Howard
was placed on the disabled list with a quadriceps strain. After
hitting 58 homers last year, he has just six thus far in ’07 and is
batting .204.
–As the Yankees remain mired under .500, 17-19, check out A-
Rod’s splits.
First 18 games…14 HR 34 RBI
Next 18 games…1 HR 5 RBI
It’s time for the booing to start again, sports fans.
–Nearing 500 homers…thru Sunday
Frank Thomas…492, age 38
A-Rod…479, age 31
Jim Thome…477, age 36
Manny Ramirez…476, age 34
–Us New York Mets fans like to think that shortstop Jose Reyes
is the Second Coming. So it’s tough for us to admit that these
days, there are suddenly three others, in the same league, who
can claim to be even better…Florida’s Hanley Ramirez (last
year’s Rookie of the Year), Philadelphia’s Jimmy Rollins, and
now Milwaukee’s out-of-nowhere sensation, J.J. Hardy. All
three have more power than Reyes, and Ramirez and Rollins
have more runs scored, through Saturday’s play. They are also
all under 30 years of age, which is why I left out another
outstanding shortstop, Atlanta’s Edgar Rentaria. All he’s doing
is hitting .333 this season, but he turns 32 in August.
–Last season, the Toronto Blue Jays signed reliever B.J. Ryan to
a $47 million, 5-year contract. Many thought this was a tad
outrageous, but Ryan responded with 38 saves in 42
opportunities. But now he’s been shelved for this season by
Tommy John surgery. So add Ryan to the likes of the injured
Mike Hampton…gobs of money to sit at home. If I were a GM
I’d have trouble offering a pitcher more than three years, but then
there is always another team willing to be stupid.
–I watched the fourth quarter of the New Jersey Nets’ third-
game playoff win over Cleveland and once again it was time to
marvel at Jason Kidd. All he did was score 23, dish out 14
assists, and pull down 13 rebounds. It’s the rebounding I
continually find amazing. He’s only 6’4”, but no one “wants it”
more than Jason.
–Bode Miller, one of the planet’s true jerks, quit the U.S. ski
team on Thursday because he was tired of conforming with its
rules. Miller said he would still ski as an independent and under
the U.S. flag. But then the next day, Friday, Miller’s cousin,
Liko Kenney, who Bode once bailed out of jail, was stopped by
an officer for speeding in Franconia, N.H., Cpl. Bruce McKay,
with whom Kenney has had past run-ins.
After a 1 ½-mile chase, McKay pulled his squad car in front of
Kenney’s, forcing it off the road. “The officer used pepper spray
on Kenney and his passenger, then turned around.” But Kenney
produced a gun and shot McKay four times, killing him, after
grabbing the officer’s gun. Kenney then ran over McKay.
However, Gregory Floyd, who was driving by the scene, grabbed
McKay’s gun, “then shot (and killed) Kenney when he refused to
put his gun down.” [AP] Authorities concluded Floyd’s actions
were justified.
This is just a horrible story, and as the New York Times reported
today, it is tearing apart the community on a number of levels
as relations with the police have not been good over the years.
Some are also wondering why Floyd is getting off.
–And this is stupid. Michelle Wie, who’s been out with a wrist
injury, still has her sights set on competing on the men’s tour.
Her coach, David Leadbetter, said Wie was going to focus on the
LPGA, but Wie evidently has other thoughts. She may tee it up
at the John Deere Classic, July 12-15, an event where she missed
the cut by two strokes in 2005 and then withdrew because of heat
exhaustion last year.
But in Wie’s last nine rounds against the men, she has failed to
break 76, and in her last eight LPGA rounds she has failed to
break par. She is slated to tee it up for the first time this
year at a women’s event in three weeks.
Where will Wie be five years from now, let alone 10?
–Update…on the recently fired baseball coach of Don Bosco
Prep in New Jersey. Paul P. writes in that a college scout came
up to see one of his players and the coach shuffled the lineup and
benched the kid that was being scouted. So there are two sides to
every story, that’s for sure.
–SI.com reported that two friends of Falcons quarterback
Michael Vick claim he has been involved in illegal dog fighting
at a home he owns in Virginia, despite Vick’s denials. “He
knows what’s going on in that house in Virginia,” one unnamed
source told SI. “There’s not a doubt in my mind he’s involved
with it.”
Last month, dozens of dogs were found at the home in
Smithfield, Va. Police were conducting a drug raid on the house
at the time the dogs were discovered.
New Falcons head coach Bobby Petrino, who has been on board
since January, said “I need to believe in Michael. Since I’ve
been here, a couple of situations have come up and we’ve talked
about them. His track record with me is that he’s told me the
truth. I’m going to believe what Michael tells me.”
Vick met with Commissioner Roger Goodell in April concerning
the allegations. Dog-fighting is banned in 48 states, including
Virginia.
–The NFL is looking into having a 17th regular season game by
playing them overseas, for all teams. Geezuz, this is one
incredibly stupid idea.
–Jeff Gordon won at Darlington…career #78.
–In case you’re watching “The Sopranos” later in the week, I
won’t spoil it for you…but what an awesome episode. Three
left.
–Lynn Johnston, creator of “For Better or For Worse,” is said to
be in poor health; a prime reason why she is quitting the strip (for
the most part…save syndication) in September.
But that doesn’t mean she has to drag her readers into her
personal hell, for crying out loud! I mean to tell you, if I wanted
to read sappy garbage like the current Grandpa Jim storyline, I
can read “Family Circus.”
Top 3 songs for the week of 5/15/65: #1 “Mrs. Brown You’ve
Got A Lovely Daughter” (Herman’s Hermits) #2 “Count Me In”
(Gary Lewis and the Playboys…underrated group) #3 “Ticket
To Ride” (The Beatles)…and…#4 “I’ll Never Find Another
You” (The Seekers) #5 “Silhouettes” (Herman’s Hermits) #6
“Help Me, Rhonda” (The Beach Boys) #7 “I Know A Place”
(Petula Clark…her best…and why isn’t she in the Hall of
Fame?!) #8 “I’ll Be Doggone” (Marvin Gaye) #9 “Just Once In
My Life” (The Righteous Brothers) #10 “Wooly Bully” (Sam
The Sham and the Pharaohs)….now that’s a top ten.
Detroit Tigers Quiz Answers: 1) Buddy Bell replaced Sparky
Anderson, 1996-1998. 2) Norm Cash was the last batting champ,
using his corked bat (true) to hit .361 out of nowhere. 3)
Reliever Willie Hernandez was the last Cy Young winner, 1984;
also the last World Series championship for Detroit. 4) Bill
Gullickson was the last 20-game winner, 20-9, 1991. 5) Hank
Greenberg hit 63 doubles in 1934. If you were thinking Charlie
Gehringer, he had 60 in 1936. 6) One of my all time favorite
pitchers, Mickey Lolich, threw an astounding 376 innings in
1971. That year he was 25-14 in 45 starts (no relief
appearances), so he averaged 8 1/3 per effort, by my back of the
beer coaster calculation. So I saw this in my reference book and
thought, did Wilbur Wood ever throw that many innings? Turns
out in 1972, Wood tossed 376 2/3 vs. Lolich’s 376 flat. [Steve
Carlton threw 346 in his remarkable 1972 season where he went
27-10 on a Phillies team that was 59-97. [The season was
shortened a bit by a strike.]
Next Bar Chat, Thursday.
