NOTE: The site will be down for maintenance, Wed., 7:00-10:00
pm ET. Don’t panic. It’s doesn’t mean I was mauled by a
cougar.
Los Angeles Dodgers Quiz: 1) What was the first year for
Dodger Stadium? 2) Who was the last to win league MVP? 3)
Who is the only one to win the Cy Young award in the 70s? 4)
What four Dodgers won the Rookie of the Year award from
1979-82? 5) Who were the two 20-game winners in 1969? 6)
Who was the last to win the batting title? 7) Who holds the mark
for most RBI, season? 8) Who are the only two to win 200
games in a Dodgers uniform? Answers below.
Ernie Pyle
I never read the letters to the editor in the Wall Street Journal,
but the other day I was drawn to this little one with the headline
over it… “Unforgettable War Story.”
You know how I recently mentioned John McCain’s favorite war
books? Turns out Ivan N. Kaye of Boulder, Colo., had an
addition.
“In regards to John McCain’s choices for books about soldiers in
wartime: Though not a book, the column by Ernie Pyle, ‘The
Death of Captain Waskow,’ will take about 10 minutes to read,
and a lifetime to forget.”
So I couldn’t help but look this up and share it with you, courtesy
of the journalism department at Indiana University.
Ernie Pyle…at the front lines in Italy, January 10, 1944.
In this war I have known a lot of officers who were loved and
respected by the soldiers under them. But never have I crossed
the trail of any man as beloved as Capt. Henry T. Waskow of
Belton, Texas.
Capt. Waskow was a company commander in the 36th Division.
He had led his company since long before it left the States. He
was very young, only in his middle twenties, but he carried in
him a sincerity and gentleness that made people want to be
guided by him.
“After my own father, he came next,” a sergeant told me.
“He always looked after us,” a soldier said. “He’d go to bat for
us every time.”
“I’ve never knowed him to do anything unfair,” another one said.
I was at the foot of the mule trail the night they brought Capt.
Waskow’s body down. The moon was nearly full at the time,
and you could see far up the trail, and even part way across the
valley below. Soldiers made shadows in the moonlight as they
walked.
Dead men had been coming down the mountain all evening,
lashed onto the backs of mules. They came lying belly-down
across the wooden pack-saddles, their heads hanging down on
the left side of the mule, their stiffened legs sticking out
awkwardly from the other side, bobbing up and down as the
mule walked.
The Italian mule-skinners were afraid to walk beside dead men,
so Americans had to lead the mules down that night. Even the
Americans were reluctant to unlash and lift off the bodies at the
bottom, so an officer had to do it himself, and ask others to help.
The first one came early in the morning. They slid him down
from the mule and stood him on his feet for a moment, while
they got a new grip. In the half light he might have been merely
a sick man standing there, leaning on the others. Then they laid
him on the ground in the shadow of the low stone wall alongside
the road.
I don’t know who that first one was. You feel small in the
presence of dead men, and ashamed at being alive, and you don’t
ask silly questions.
We left him there beside the road, that first one, and we all went
back into the cowshed and sat on water cans or lay on the straw,
waiting for the next batch of mules.
Somebody said the dead soldier had been dead for four days, and
then nobody said anything more about it. We talked soldier talk
for an hour or more. The dead man lay all alone outside in the
shadow of the low stone wall.
Then a soldier came into the cowshed and said there were some
more bodies outside. We went out into the road. Four mules
stood there, in the moonlight, in the road where the trail came
down off the mountain. The soldiers who led them stood there
waiting. “This one is Captain Waskow,” one of them said
quietly.
Two men unlashed his body from the mule and lifted it off and
laid it in the shadow beside the low stone wall. Other men took
the other bodies off. Finally, there were five lying end to end in
a long row, alongside the road. You don’t cover up dead men in
the combat zone. They just lie there in the shadows until
somebody else comes after them.
The unburdened mules moved off to their olive orchard. The
men in the road seemed reluctant to leave. They stood around,
and gradually one by one I could sense them moving close to
Capt. Waskow’s body. Not so much to look, I think, as to say
something in finality to him, and to themselves. I stood close by
and I could hear.
One soldier came and looked down, and he said out loud, “God
damn it.” That’s all he said, and then he walked away. Another
one came. He said, “God damn it to hell anyway.” He looked
down for a few last moments, and then he turned and left.
Another man came; I think he was an officer. It was hard to tell
officers from men in the half light, for all were bearded and
grimy dirty. The man looked down into the dead captain’s face,
and then he spoke directly to him, as though he were alive. He
said: “I’m sorry, old man.”
Then a soldier came and stood beside the officer, and bent over,
and he too spoke to his dead captain, not in a whisper but awfully
tenderly, and he said:
“I sure am sorry, sir.”
Then the first man squatted down, and he reached down and took
the dead hand, and he sat there for a full five minutes, holding
the dead hand in his own and looking intently into the dead face,
and he never uttered a sound all the time he sat there.
And finally he put the hand down, and then reached up and
gently straightened the points of the captain’s shirt collar, and
then he sort of rearranged the tattered edges of his uniform
around the wound. And then he got up and walked away down
the road in the moonlight, all alone.
After that the rest of us went back into the cowshed, leaving the
five dead men lying in a line, end to end, in the shadow of the
low stone wall. We lay down on the straw in the cowshed, and
pretty soon we were all asleep.
—
*Congratulations to the Cleveland Cavaliers. I have to admit I
missed LeBron James’ spectacular performance in Game Five,
and frankly hadn’t watched any of the series until Sat. night
when I caught the last 1 ½ quarters. But now we have a very
intriguing NBA Finals…Timmy vs. LeBron.
And how ‘bout Daniel Gibson?! 31 points in 29 minutes in
Game Six, for crying out loud. It’s awesome how some just step
up in the biggest moments…as others are choking. What
happened to Chauncey Billups, for example? And Rasheed
Wallace wrapped up his “Jerk of the Decade” award.
**Joey Chestnut!!! Hot dog eating champion of the world!!!
Just last Fourth of July, at the Nathan’s Famous contest on
Coney Island, Chestnut finished a mere 1 ¾ wieners shy of world
record holder Takeru Kobayashi.
But on Saturday in Phoenix, the American born Chestnut ate
59 ½ hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes, shattering Kobayashi’s
mark of 53 ¾.
And so this Fourth of July, we have ourselves an incredible
grudge match on our hands. It’s possible, nay, probable, that
folks will be talking of this in Ali-Frazier terms for decades to
come….and StocksandNews will cover the event as only we can.
Stuff
–More on A-Rod…because it’s just too easy.
What bothers me as much as anything is A-Rod’s arrangement
that he can stay wherever he wants on the road. From the New
York Post:
“As part of Rodriguez’s $250 million contract, he is entitled to a
suite in every city. The Yankees refused to comment on whether
Rodriguez is required to stay in the same hotel as the team, and
whether he was breaking any rules by staying at the Four
Seasons (in Toronto, while his teammates were at the Park
Hyatt).”
Turns out in countless other cities he stays apart from the others;
the better to keep his dalliances secret, one can only assume.
Talk about a bunch of crap. It’s really incredibly easy to despise
this phony jerk. His wife is a real piece of work, too. Show
some guts and leave him, Cynthia.
But noooooo….A-Rod took Cynthia to Boston this weekend and
showered her with diamonds, a la Kobe when he screwed up and
later shelled out $4 million for a diamond ring for wife Vanessa.
Meanwhile, Joe Torre said it was “inappropriate” for A-Rod to
scream “Mine” as he passed Toronto infielder Howie Clark while
Clark was attempting to catch a pop-up. This wasn’t some
hidden ball trick, or attempt to steal signals; it was purely bush
league. [A-Rod claims he said “Ha”. No way….look at the
tape.]
Actually, it’s just great fun having A-Rod in New York. Never a
dull moment, that’s for sure. And sure enough, he beat Boston
on Sunday night with a ninth-inning homer.
–Well, I was right. There was something very wrong with that
Hogzilla II story, now known as “Monster Pig.” It turns out it
wasn’t a wild pig, after all, and had been raised on a farm. The
owner then sold it to the hunting preserve four days before the
11-year-old boy killed it. The past owner, however, said the
photo was not doctored, as I still suspect.
–Barry Bonds said all the boos he’s receiving don’t bother him.
“As long as they all show up, I don’t really care,” he said. “As
long as it’s sold-out, that’s all that matters to me, that we put on a
good show.”
What an a-hole. This is the same guy who doesn’t run out
ground balls or pop ups. And kudos to Mets announcer Gary
Cohen for blasting Bonds unmercifully when Barry Dirtball was
at Shea last week.
But wait…there’s more! USA Today had an incredible puff
piece on Bonds and his friends.
“Jeffrey Rosenthal, vacationing with Barry Bonds and his family
at their Aspen home, made the mistake one night of telling the
San Francisco Giants slugger he wanted to work out in the
morning before skiing.
“Rosenthal was sound asleep when Bonds knocked on his
bedroom door.
“ ‘Jeffrey, you ready?’ Bonds asked. ‘It’s getting late.’
“It was 6 in the morning.
“ ‘Uh, Barry,’ Rosenthal said, ‘if it’s all right, let me catch up
with you later.’
“ ‘OK,’ Bonds said, ‘but when I get back, we’re hitting the
slopes.’”
Oh yeah…this is how it happened and Barry used just that
language. No doubt Barry punched a hole in Rosenthal’s door,
‘roid rage having set in.
And this from the New York Post’s George Willis, after Bonds
made this statement at Shea. “Can we help educate kids about
the sport, or is (steroids) all we’re going to talk about?”
Willis:
“Here’s what Bonds is teaching kids about baseball. That it’s
OK to cheat as long as you don’t get caught. That acting like a
jerk to fans and media for most of your career is OK as long as
you’re a great player. That the record held by Babe Ruth and
Hank Aaron doesn’t mean much. And that’s a shame.”
–The other day, then Giants reliever Armando Benitez (he’s
since been traded), balked twice in one inning, setting up a Mets
win. But on May 4, 1963, Bob Shaw of Milwaukee balked a
record five times in a game.
–Now this is a good one. Michelle Wie made her comeback on
Thursday at an LPGA event after being out all year with a wrist
injury. But Wie withdrew after the first 16 holes, at 14 over par,
claiming she had re-aggravated the injury.
Not so fast. From the AP and USA Today:
“Wie tweaked her wrist injury during the round. That was why,
she said, she halted the round, not because of an LPGA rule
banning any non-tour member for the season if she shoots 88 or
higher. A bogey on each of the final two holes would’ve put
Wie on the number – and perhaps out of some of her sponsor-
exempted LPGA events this year.
“After bogeying No. 7, her 16th hole of the day, she headed to the
next tee but was stopped by her manager, Greg Nared. The two
chatted, then called an LPGA official to end the round. ‘I had
issues with my wrist,’ Wie said. ‘Shooting 88 is not what I think
about.’
What a liar, and you can just imagine the chat in the ladies’
locker room afterwards, 99% of the LPGA Tour despising her to
begin with.
–The LPGA does deserve credit for a new drug policy. The first
time a tour member is caught will cost her 25 tournaments, the
second time 50 tournaments, the third time for life. Now if the
PGA would only get their act together. Commissioner Tim
Finchem is being a real jerk on this issue. All you need to know
is that Tiger Woods wants testing…so start testing! The longer
the PGA Tour waits, the worse it is going to be when someone
gets exposed, as will one day soon be the case.
–Korea’s K.J. Choi captured his fifth PGA title at The Memorial
…sponsored by Morgan Stanley. [The tag line got a bit
annoying, didn’t it sports fans?]
–George Dohrmann had a piece in Sports Illustrated on the
Michael Vick dogfighting case. It’s only a matter of time before
he is indicted and the president of the Humane Society of the
United States, Wayne Pacelle, says “There exists a dogfighting
subculture in the NFL and NBA, and to have an athlete of
[Vick’s] stature charged would be an enormous wake-up call to
everyone in professional sports who has dabbled in or dived into
the underworld of dogfighting.” And it turns out rapper Jay-Z is
among the many in his hip-hop mafia that pay homage to the
‘sport’ in their music and videos. So I have a question for
Budweiser…are you still going to use Jay-Z in your ad
campaigns?
–A study by the University of North Carolina’s Center for the
Study of Retired Athletes “found that of the 595 NFL players
who recalled sustaining three or more concussions on the football
field, 20.2 percent said they had been found to have depression.
That is three times the rate of players who have not sustained
concussions. The full data, the study reports, ‘call into question
how effectively retired professional football players with a
history of three or more concussions are able to meet the mental
and physical demands of life after playing professional
football.’” [Alan Schwarz / New York Times] Finally, the NFL
appears to be getting the message, though too late for so many
whose lives were adversely impacted.
–We note the passing of NHL great Dave Balon, who played for
both the Rangers and Montreal Canadiens. When I was
becoming a Rangers fan in my youth, Balon was on a line with
fellow winger Bill Fairbairn and center Walt Tkaczuk…the
Bulldog Line. That team also had the GAG line…goal a game…
with Rod Gilbert, Vic Hadfield and Jean Ratelle. Oh, those were
the days.
–Jacqueline Gagne, the hole-in-one phenom, reportedly now has
13 this year, including two in a single round May 10 at
SilverRock Resort in La Quinta, Calif. But if you think this is all
a big hoax, consider that on May 22, Gagne holed out while
being filmed by a camera crew from local ABC affiliate KESQ.
It was then shown on “Good Morning America” and “CNN
Headline News.”
–More A-Rod! His father-in-law, John Scurtis, defends him,
saying “We think he’s a great guy. We support him 100 percent.
He loves his wife. He loves his family. The press is making
something out of nothing.”
And so we nominate John Scurtis for “Idiot of the Year.”
–At the one-third point in the baseball season, Detroit’s Magglio
Ordonez had 41 extra-base hits…28 doubles and 13 home runs.
Babe Ruth holds the record with 119…44 2B, 16 3B, 59 HR.
[The all-time doubles mark is 67, held by Earl Webb.]
–Ichiro had 1,414 hits in his first 1,000 games, a total exceeded
only by Al Simmons, who had 1,443. [SI]
–Update: The little Chihuahua that was reportedly killed by a
coyote here in New Jersey may have been the victim of a
domestic dog. And this just in……..it wasn’t even a Chihuahua,
it was a fox terrier. Geezuz, how can we protect the homeland if
we can’t even tell the difference between a freakin’ Taco Bell
Chihuahua and a fox terrier?!
–Florida’s Billy Donovan finally decided to take the money and
run, accepting a $27.5 million, five-year deal to coach the
Orlando magic. Donovan, after guiding the Gators to a second
straight NCAA hoops title, spurred an offer from Kentucky and,
of course, Florida officials thought they were home free. Instead,
Donovan screwed them. [But this just in…now he’s having
second thoughts!]
–Detroit Tiger Gary Sheffield said some incredibly stupid things
in an interview for GQ, but I’m going to hold off on commenting
until my next “Week in Review” because it dovetails with some
topics I’ve been addressing in that space. I also saw Bill Cosby
on Saturday night. He was good, but non-controversial in this
appearance.
–Jeff B. and I see a new plot twist as “For Better or For Worse”
winds down. Lindsay Lohan wannabe April, as selfish as they
come, and, as Jeff put it, just another Patterson family wench
when matched with Liz, is now clearly headed to rehab. We also
expect Gerald to bed Becky, which will then upset Michael to no
end………..developing…..
–Happy Birthday to Jerry Mathers, who turned 59 on Saturday.
Geezuz, that’s kind of depressing to think about, actually.
Top 3 songs for the week of 6/6/70: #1 “Everything Is
Beautiful” (Ray Stevens….sorry, I like this one) #2 “Which
Way You Goin’ Billy?” (The Poppy Family…Afghan crooners)
#3 “Love On A Two-Way Street” (The Moments)…and…#4
“Up Around The Bend” (Creedence Clearwater Revival) #5
“Cecilia” (Simon & Garfunkel) #6 “Get Ready” (Rare Earth) #7
“The Letter” (Joe Cocker…al Qaeda…) #8 “American Woman”
(The Guess Who) #9 “Make Me Smile” (Chicago) #10 “The
Long And Winding Road” (The Beatles…the run was over…life
sucked afterwards……………..well it did, you know)
Los Angeles Dodgers Quiz Answers: 1) Dodger Stadium opened
in 1962. It’s still a beautiful place. 2) Kirk Gibson is the last to
win the MVP, 1988. 3) Mike Marshall won the Cy Young in
1974. 4) Rookies of the Year, 1979-82: Rick Sutcliffe, 79;
Steve Howe, 80; Fernando Valenzuela, 81; Steve Sax, 82. 5)
1969: Claude Osteen and Bill Singer both won 20. 6) Tommy
Davis is the last to win a batting title, having done it back to back
in 1962 and 63. 7) And Tommy Davis is the single season RBI
leader with 153 in ’62. 8) The only two to win 200 in a Dodgers
uniform are Don Sutton, 233-181, and Don Drysdale, 209-166.
Dodgers Tidbit:
Karl Benjamin Spooner came up to Brooklyn on Sept. 22, 1954,
at the age of 23. In his first big league start that day against the
New York Giants, Spooner tossed a 3-0 shutout, allowing just
three hits, all singles, and striking out 15. Talk about a debut.
But four days later, in his second start, he shut out Pittsburgh,
1-0, striking out 12.
The Dodgers, who finished five games back of the Giants,
looked at Spooner and his spectacular performance and thought
for sure they’d win the pennant in 1955. The lefty had it all; a
blazing fastball and wicked curve. Don Zimmer would later say,
“Ask anyone who saw him. They will tell you he would have
been another Koufax.”
Two appearances in 1954…two shutouts…27 strikeouts in 18
innings. Yup, Karl Spooner was headed for stardom. But it
wasn’t to be. From Mike Robbins’ “Ninety Feet from Fame:
Close Calls with Baseball Immortality”:
“It was just a spring training game, a chance for players on the
Dodgers and White Sox to work off any unnecessary pounds
they might have acquired over the winter. Nothing depended on
the result. They kept score only out of habit. Johnny Podres was
scheduled to work the first three innings for the Dodgers that
March afternoon in 1955, Karl Spooner the next three. Only
Podres got shelled by Chicago, so Dodgers manager Walter
Alston decided to call on Spooner an inning earlier than planned.
“The young pitcher hadn’t expected to work in the third, so he
hadn’t been warming up. Spooner threw some hurried pitches in
the bullpen, then a few more on the mound – no more than 15
altogether, he would later estimate – before the umpire signaled
for the Chicago batter to step in. Spooner could have told Alston
he wasn’t ready. He could have taken it easy on his first few
pitches in the game – it didn’t matter if he gave up a few runs in
an exhibition game. But Spooner was young and wanted to
impress, so he did what he’d always done, the only thing he
knew how to do. He gave it all he had.
“By the time Spooner left the park that evening, his shoulder was
throbbing. He tried to convince himself it was normal spring
stiffness, but of course it wasn’t. The shoulder would never
recover.”
Spooner would actually pitch through the pain that year, though
only go 8-6 in 98 innings of work with a 3.65 ERA as the
Dodgers did indeed win the pennant and the World Series. But
he never pitched another inning in the big leagues.
Karl Spooner would have a pretty lousy life after baseball. “I
wasn’t trained to do anything but pitch,” he said in 1981. “I
certainly didn’t have any skills. I remember shoveling s— just to
make ends meet. I was always in debt.” He was very jealous in
his later years of the money players were making. Then in 1984,
Karl Spooner died of cancer. He was just 52.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday….my own take on Sgt. Pepper.
