Baseball Quiz: Name the four active players who began the season with 2600 hits. Answer below.
Steve McNair, shot to death…and little else to say. It appears he was gunned down by his 20-year-old girlfriend, after which she turned the gun on herself. McNair\’s wife didn\’t know of the affair Steve was carrying on. In the game of football, though, I wrote in this space on 9/19/06:
“Around the league, one move is looking brilliant thus far. Baltimore obtaining Steve McNair. With him, stats don’t matter; he’s simply a leader.”
There was no one grittier in all my years of following the sport.
Roger Federer 15…Tiger Woods 14
I watched the last two hours of the Federer-Andy Roddick match and major kudos to Roddick for giving his all. But while Andy may have lost, we’d like to thank him for bringing wife Brooklyn Decker, the Sports Illustrated swimsuit model, along for the ride, though she was dressed extremely conservatively, don’t you think, guys?
As for Roger, in winning his sixth Wimbledon he surpassed Pete Sampras on the all-time list with the 15 majors, though Sampras still has one more Wimbledon than Federer.
On the women’s side, Serena won her 3rd Wimbledon in defeating sister Venus. Serena now has 11 major titles, while Venus has 7 (five Wimbledons for her). I caught a bit of this one as well and at least both put out a strong effort, as opposed to some of their other matches against each other.
In one of the great athletic feats of all time, Joey Chestnut became a 3-time champion of the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest on Coney Island, wolfing down a world record 68 hot dogs and buns in ten minutes to defeat six-time champ Takeru Kobayashi of Japan, who gobbled 64 ½ without a reversal of fortune. It was just in 2005 that Kobayashi prevailed 49-32 over Joey. So with the numbers soaring as they are, it’s kind of like 1998 and the summer of McGwire and Sosa. I’d say drug testing is in order. For his effort, incidentally, Chestnut took home a cool $20,000.
9. Ohio State
10. Oklahoma State
14. Boise State
18. Notre Dame
34. Western Michigan
35. Wake Forest [I’m fine with this…\’cuz we\’re headed much higher]
43. Rutgers
118. Kent State
—This is tiresome. First, Manny Ramirez gets a largely heroes welcome in returning following his 50-game suspension for using steroids. Now we have Roger Clemens and Rafael Palmeiro continuing to issue denials of one sort or another as to their own guilt.
Appearing at his induction into the College Baseball Hall of Fame the other day, Palmeiro said, “I’ve heard a lot of things out there that are wrong. People saying I took drugs all my life, I’ve never touched anything. I worked my butt off my whole career, as a kid, in college, the big leagues, I didn’t need anything. I didn’t have to cheat at the end of my career, for what? What was I going to gain from it? Whatever I took was tainted, had to have been. There’s no other reason unless I got set up.”
Oh, shut up. You failed a steroids test and were suspended by Major League Baseball. Yet Rafi continues to claim it was nothing more than vitamin B-12, the same B-12 that Clemens says he was taking. And last week Roger’s lawyer, Rusty Hardin, said his client is not on the 2003 list linking 100+ players to steroids.
So Hardin was asked why he was bringing this up, a year and a half after Clemens’ pitiful testimony to Congress, and Hardin said, “The only reason why I mention it now is because Roger is being mentioned with Sosa and Rodriguez…and Roger didn’t test positive.”
But trainer Brian McNamee never brought up 2003! His allegations, as contained in the Mitchell report, are about 1998 to 2001. Plus, Clemens’ story is all about using HGH and the 2003 MLB test didn’t look for the substance.
—1969 Mets, continued…Mets are 42-34
July 4…traditional holiday twin-bill in Pittsburgh (oh, those were the good old days). Mets win opener, 11-6, behind Tom Seaver (13-3), who goes 7 2/3, allowing 3 earned runs on 7 hits while striking out 7. Bob Veale (4-10) gets hammered. Tommie Agee had 3 hits, including his 12th homer and 3 RBI, and Cleon Jones and Al Weis also had 3 hits (2 RBI for Weis) in a 16-hit attack. Roberto Clemente had 3 hits and 2 RBI for the Bucs.
July 4…in the nightcap, the Mets won 9-2 for the sweep, getting 30 hits in the two games. Don Cardwell (3-8) went 7 strong and Jack DiLauro finished up for New York. Art Shamsky had 3 hits and 2 RBI and Al Weis had 2 hits and 3 RBI, completing a great doubleheader for him (5 of the 23 RBI he would have all season). Mets catcher J.C. Martin hit his 3rd home run. Dock Ellis (4-9) took the loss as he gave up 6 runs in 1 2/3.
July 6…still in Pittsburgh, Mets win 8-7. Pittsburgh was up 6-1 after two, but Mets come back behind Donn Clendenon’s 4 RBI, 3 on his 5th homer. Ed Charles hit his 2nd. Jim McAndrew started and was shelled, but Ron Taylor (4-2) got the win and Cal Koonce pitched 4 effective innings in relief for his 6th save. Clemente had 3 hits and 3 RBI in raising his average to .332.
July 8…Mets home to the Cubbies in a big 3-game series. Historic…you might say. 55,096 were in the stands at Shea on a Tuesday night as Jerry Koosman (6-5) outdueled Fergie Jenkins (11-6), 4-3. It was 3-1, Chicago, heading to the bottom of the ninth when the Mets pulled it out behind Cleon Jones’ 2-run hit and Ed Kranepool’s game-winner with two outs (Jenkins still on the mound). Earlier, Kranepool hit his 5th home run, the only hit Jenkins had given up going to the ninth. Koosman went all the way, scattering 8 hits and fanning 6.
July 9…one of the truly memorable games in Mets history as Tom Seaver (14-3) takes a perfect game into the ninth inning, only to have Jimmy Qualls break it up with a single. Seaver completes the one-hitter, striking out 11, as the Mets win 4-0. Ken Holtzman (10-5) took the loss in front of 50,709. In the process the Mets also stretched their latest win streak to seven.
July 10…The Cubs win, 6-2, behind Bill Hands (10-7) who goes all the way with a 3-hitter. Gary Gentry (8-7) was hit hard, giving up 5 earned on 7 hits in 4 1/3. Tommie Agee hit his 13th.
The Mets are now 47-35, 4 ½ back of the first-place Cubs who are 54-33.
–Hunt Auctions was slated to sell some rare letters dating back to baseball’s early years, including those written to Hall of Fame manager Harry Wright of the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, considered the first team of all paid players. The letters were donated to the New York Public Library in 1921 and some vanished 20 years ago, as reported by Jack Curry of the New York Times.
“The library lists as missing three scrapbooks of letters written to Wright during the 1870s, ‘80s, and ‘90s,” but then they showed up as part of the auction, with at least 23 lots of 25 from the same period as the missing scrapbooks.
David Hunt, president of Hunt Auctions, suspended bidding on Thursday until he learned more. Major League Baseball had authorized him to coordinate the sales and estimates the letters could fetch $35,000 to $50,000. The FBI is also now involved.
It turns out the letters in question are part of the Albert G. Spalding collection, he being the sporting goods entrepreneur and baseball manager who died in 1915, and it was his wife who turned everything over to the library. An inventory of the collection in 1987 found that 100 photographs were also missing.
–As of this writing, the whereabouts of Cuban pitching sensation Aroldis Chapman are still unknown, Chapman having walked out of his hotel and into a waiting car in Amsterdam, where the Cuban national team was in town for a four-nation tournament. Chapman, a 21-year-old lefty who reportedly throws 100 mph, is no doubt looking to defect and I’m hoping he signs this morning with the Mets and hits the mound shortly thereafter.
–A-Rod’s latest squeeze, Kate Hudson, has been making herself at home at his West Side apartment. But what I didn’t know is that Hudson had been dating golfer Adam Scott earlier this year. Hudson is bad news…she put a hex on Scott’s swing; he hasn’t been the same since.
–Agent Steve Boras is holding the Washington Nationals up, as expected; the Nats having selected pitching sensation Stephen Strasburg with the first pick in the June draft. Boras wants $50 million and is threatening to take Strasburg to Japan.
Of course Boras is also responsible for Manny Ramirez, among countless others. Manny apologized to fans and teammates before Friday’s first game back, but didn’t discuss his medical records, or just why it was he was suspended.
Bill Plaschke / Los Angeles Times
“If Friday was any indication, (Manny) will certainly spend the rest of the season as baseball’s most celebrated player, filling stadiums, creating buzz, everyone profiting from his crime….
“On the eve of the 70th anniversary of Lou Gehrig’s famous Yankee Stadium speech, it was indeed Manny Ramirez who seemed like the luckiest man on the face of the Earth….
“There are three long months remaining, yet he’s understandably acting as if he’s starting anew.
“ ‘It’s showtime,’ he announced with a grin from behind mirrored sunglasses during the indoor media session.
“The entire night was reminiscent of the constant scene around the San Francisco Giants several years ago.
“A player was bigger than the game. A drug issue elicited more responses than the score. The buzz was initially interesting and fun, but later bulky and onerous.
“On a night when Manny Ramirez was supposed to return as a shamed drug cheat, he actually created a stir befitting the greatest home run hitter in baseball history.
–And then there are my Mets. The other day, former Mets hurler John Franco questioned the team’s lack of leadership. “Nobody wants to step forward and be a leader. Something is missing and it’s hard to put your finger on it.” Franco then singled out David Wright for not being that man, at which Wright fired back, “With all due respect to Johnny, he doesn’t know what’s going on in this clubhouse.”
With all due respect, Mr. Wright, us fans know what’s going on out in the field, which is what really matters. You suck! Franco, who works with the team, nailed one issue in particular.
“I was down in spring training and (manager Jerry Manuel) had them guys working on fundamentals every day and doing the things that you need to do to win ballgames – taking the extra base, heads up, knowing situations. Every day you go in the meeting room and that’s what they talk about. They go out on the field and do it. But once the game starts, I think they have maybe too much individuality, where guys are worried about their own stats instead of worrying about getting the guy over…
“And if they don’t win, guys pack their bags and they go home for winter and they say, ‘Okay, I get my paycheck and that’s it.’”
[Back to Wright, he is 5 for his last 42 at the exact time he has to step up, including 0 for 22 against the Yanks and Phillies.]
–Gotta love Tiger Woods…even if you don’t…for dissing the New York Yankees, of all people. Tiger, in hosting the AT&T National down in Bethesda, Md., this weekend, let kids under 12 in for free during the tourney.
“We don’t want to have what happened at Yankee Stadium,” he said. “Tickets are so overpriced that you can’t bring the family. We want to have everyone come out and enjoy being in a family atmosphere, walk around, have a good time and not have it cost an arm and a leg.”
A family of four could enjoy a round at the tourney for about $120, all in, including free parking, while a family of four attending a Yankees game pays on average $410.
As for his tournament, Tiger once again closed the deal, his 68th career PGA Tour triumph, in besting Hunter Mahan. Tiger is now just five wins behind Jack.
[Separately, in the world of golf, Amy Mickelson had her breast cancer surgery. No word as yet on her condition.]
–Golf Digest has its annual list of the 50 greatest teachers and it’s headed by Butch Harmon, followed by Hank Haney, David Leadbetter, Jim McLean and Chuck Cook. It also lists the rates they charge for lessons…like $600/hour for Harmon, and $500 each for Haney and McLean. Leadbetter’s formal rate is $3,500 for three hours. Cook, at just $250, is a bargain.
—Tony Stewart captured his 35th career NASCAR Sprint Cup victory by winning at Daytona on Saturday night, this as Kyle Busch, who took the lead just before the last lap, tried to block Stewart and the two cars touched, sending Busch flying into the wall in a horrifying crash while Stewart was able to take the checkered flag. Amazingly, Busch escaped unscathed.
–We note the passing of actor Karl Malden, 97, whose death was announced as I was going to post last time. He’ll forever be known for his film roles in “A Streetcar Named Desire,” for which he won an Oscar, as well as flicks like “On the Waterfront” (another Oscar nomination) and “Patton.”
But it was Lt. Mike Stone in the 1970s television show “The Streets of San Francisco” where some say he gained his greatest fame, the series also having Michael Douglas as Malden’s partner.
Born Mladen Sekulovich in Chicago on March 22, 1912, to Serb and Czech parents, Malden, to others, will forever be known as the pitchman for American Express… specifically American Express travelers checks… “Don’t leave home without them.”
–Former boxing champion Alexis Arguello, who won titles in three weight divisions and is generally regarded as one of the best ever, committed suicide in Managua, Nicaragua, where he had been elected mayor last year as a member of the Sandinista party. Arguello was best known for bouts against the likes of Aaron Pryor, Ray Mancini and Bobby Chacon. In 1982, he and Pryor waged an epic battle at the Orange Bowl in Miami, with Pryor knocking Arguello out in the 14th round.
I bring this last bit up because it was after this bout that one Saturday morning I headed to the Larry Holmes Commodore Inn in Philipsburg, N.J., for a baseball card show. This was a motel so the rooms opened outside into the parking lot. I pulled into a vacant spot and as I get out of the car, the door across from me opens up and standing there is a guy in boxing trunks and nothing else, just wiping the cobwebs out of his eyes. Because I was a fan of the sport back then I knew immediately who it was…Aaron Pryor. “Good morning, Mr. Pryor,” I said. “ ‘Mornin,” he said. Yeah, you had to be there but it was pretty funny at the time.
–Mike Schneider / AP…Orlando: “A 12-foot pet Burmese python broke out of a tank and strangled a 2-year-old girl, Shaunia Hare, in her bedroom yesterday.
“ ‘The baby’s dead!’ a sobbing caller from the house screamed to a 911 dispatcher in a recording. ‘Our stupid snake got out in the middle of the night and strangled the baby.’
“Charles Jason Darnell, the snake’s owner and the boyfriend of Shaunia’s mother, Jaren Hare, 23, discovered the snake missing and went to the girl’s room. To his horror, he discovered it on the child and found bite marks on her head.
“Darnell, 32, stabbed the snake until he was able to pry the child away.”
By the way, the snake survived and will be placed with someone who has a permit, Darnell not having one. The Humane Society said, including this recent tragedy, at least 12 have been killed by pet pythons nationwide since 1980.
Burmese pythons, which have taken hold in the Everglades as pet owners dump them, can grow to 26 feet in length. People are freakin’ idiots.
–But not this New Jersey man. Henry Rouwendal, 51, was in his Vernon driveway last week, putting some bags in the trunk of his car, when a 400-lb. bear knocked him to the ground and grabbed an Italian sub sandwich Henry had placed on the car.
It was 10:30 p.m. when he was loading the car for a business trip and was hit from behind, suffering a large cut on his temple and deep bruises from the fall.
“When he rolled over, the bear was standing over him and then grabbed the sandwich.
“ ‘I kicked him three times in the snout and one time in the throat. I think the one in the throat got him.
“Rouwendal said he lay on the ground for about an hour before he made it back inside his house,” where his wife, a nurse, tended to his injuries. [Star-Ledger]
Between Jan. 1 and May 20, there were 693 calls about bears in New Jersey, compared to 591 for the same period last year. Seven aggressive bears have been killed.
–Speaking of New Jersey, Billy Mays’ last ‘pitch,’ for OxiClean, was filmed in Woodland Park, Passaic County, days before he died. I imagine it will become a shrine.
–One of the great beers in America, and the world, for that matter, Shiner Bock, is celebrating 100 years…or rather the Spoetzl Brewery, maker of Shiner, is. Spoetzl is located in Shiner, Texas, which consists of one stoplight, the brewery, a wire works plant and a few streets of well-kept historic homes. Some day I have to make a pilgrimage there. Whenever I’m in the Texas-Oklahoma area, there is only one beer I drink and that’s Shiner…..Shine on, my friends. Shine on.
–Ironically, Sarah Palin is featured in the August issue of Runner’s World.
“I feel so crappy if I go more than a few days without running. No matter how rotten I feel before or during a run, it’s always worth it to me afterward.”
That’s actually about the most coherent statement she’s made since bursting on the national scene.
–How lucky is this girl, Danielle Deleasa, who just got engaged to Kevin Jonas? The 22-year-old with the great name was living with her parents, cutting hair in a New Jersey salon, when she met Jonas two years ago while their families were vacationing in the Bahamas. Jonas bumps into her, is smitten, and she had no clue who he was. But he pursued her (good for him). Kevin then showed up at the Deleasa house the other day and proposed to Danielle. A nice story in these generally lousy times, you have to admit.
–When it comes to Michael Jackson’s estate, the key issue is his most valuable asset, his 50% stake in Sony/ATV Music Publishing, which among 750,000 copyrights includes 251 songs written by Lennon and McCartney for the Beatles. Jackson, much to the dismay of McCartney, picked up the stake in 1986 for $47.5 million. Jackson’s share alone is now estimated at over $1 billion. Among other writers in the catalogue are Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, Willie Nelson and Wyclef Jean.
–And, as I was surmising the other day, Jackson is indeed at the top of the Billboard charts, holding the first three positions…starting with ‘Number Ones’ (108,000 copies), ‘The Essential Michael Jackson’ (102,000) and ‘Thriller’ (101,000). The Black Eyed Peas’ ‘The E.N.D.’ is fourth with 88,000. However, the way the chart is set up will preclude the Jacksons’ from formally being listed because the titles are too old. ‘Sup with dat? Meanwhile, he is breaking all digital download records as well.
–Producer Quincy Jones on Michael Jackson’s idiosyncracies “Everybody does his own thing. I’ve met every freak in this business.”
Christine McConville / Boston Herald
“Even New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has a fondness for Michael Jackson. According to a 2005 Forbes magazine article, one of Kraft’s prized possessions is a poster from the King of Pop’s Victory Tour.
“Kraft acquired his poster and his team after a very unfortunate business decision by a member of the Sullivan family, the Patriots’ original owners.
“As Forbes tells it, back in 1984, family scion Charles Sullivan underwrote the Jackson Brothers’ Victory Tour, and used the Patriots’ Foxboro stadium as collateral.
“Though successful, the tour wasn’t the smash the Sullivans hoped it would be, and eventually, the ensuing debt resulted in bankruptcy.
“That bankruptcy, and the resulting sale of Sullivan family assets, helped Kraft acquire the stadium and paved the way for his purchase of the team.
“In 1985, Kraft had purchased an option on 300 acres of land that surrounds the stadium, and in 1988, he and a partner paid $25 million for the stadium and its affiliated operating covenant.
“By 1994, Kraft had purchased the team for $172 million. And with that, Kraft and his Patriots embarked on a victory tour of their own.”
For his part, Chuck Sullivan says he has only fond memories of Michael and the Jackson family. “Michael is truly the Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart of the 20th century,” said Chuck the other day.
–The New York Post has a list of the top summer song for 1955-2008, beginning with Bill Haley’s “Rock Around The Clock,” though there is no doubt what the best era was, 1965-69.
’65: California Girls…Beach Boys
’66: Summer In The City…The Lovin’ Spoonful
’67: Groovin’…The Rascals
’68: Jumpin’ Jack Flash…The Rolling Stones
’69: Hot Fun In The Summertime…Sly and the Family Stone
–Finally, I’m headed to the Calgary Stampede, where I’ll catch the rodeo and chuck-wagon races, among other events. I’m fired up about the latter. I just saw in Sports Illustrated that 36 drivers are vying for $1.15 million in prize money. Pretty darn serious. I’ve also been listening to a lot of Kenny Chesney because I’m going to see him there as well next Friday night.
Top 3 songs for the week 7/10/76: #1 “Afternoon Delight” (Starland Vocal Band…shocked this was #1) #2 “Kiss And Say Goodbye” (Manhattans) #3 “I’ll Be Good To You” (The Brothers Johnson…super tune)…and…#4 “Shop Around” (Captain & Tennille) #5 “More, More, More” (Andrea True Connection…for a disco tune, not bad…not bad at all) #6 “Silly Love Songs” (Wings…one of McCartney’s truly awful efforts) #7 “Misty Blue” (Dorothy Moore) #8 “Love Is Alive” (Gary Wright…alright) #9 “Sara Smile” (Daryl Hall & John Oates…one of my 2 favorites of theirs, the other being “She’s Gone”) #10 “Got To Get You Into My Life” (The Beatles)
Baseball Quiz Answer: Four active with 2600 hits start of the season.
Next Bar Chat…Monday, July 13, from Calgary. I’ll be accumulating lots of material in the interim. [It also takes a full day to get there from Newark.]
