Baseball Quiz: 1) Name the three Mets who finished in the top seven of the MVP voting in 1969. 2) Who was N.L. MVP in 1940, initials F.M.? 3) Who was N.L. MVP in 1952, initials H.S. Answers below.
Miss Lebanon, err, Miss USA…part deux
Call me a big fan of Rima Fakih…a biiiig fan. But some are upset over the revelation since she was crowned Miss USA that Rima had been a pole dancer. I’ve gotta tell ya…I have no problem with this.
So Rima is under fire…and it’s not fair! [Excuse me, I’m getting choked up.] Some say she is dividing the Muslim community in her hometown of Dearborn, Michigan. Not everyone believes that Rima has a right to parade her beauty. “I think the community in Michigan, in Dearborn, might be a little on the strict side,” she said.
Fakih reportedly won “jewelry, gift cards, adult toys and a stripper pole for home use” from a radio station holding a stripper contest, according to TMZ.com.
Bar Chat strongly supports Ms. Fakih…and also hereby places her in the Bar Chat Hall of Fame.
–In light of the Lakers’ 128-107 thrashing of Phoenix in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, I’m reminded of a quote Shu passed along the other day from Suns forward Grant Hill.
“The Lakers…there’s a sexiness there; there’s an excitement. People love the Lakers, and they’re the defending champions. You want to go against the best, and you’d like to beat the best.” [Pause] “Actually, I’d like to play New Jersey in the Western Conference finals, but you can’t play them.”
Meanwhile, the Celtics, after a lousy regular season, are up 2-0 over Orlando in the East.
And in the NHL playoffs, Philadelphia leads the Canadiens 2-0, while Chicago holds a 2-0 lead over San Jose, both Blackhawks wins coming in San Jose.
–Back to the NBA, Washington won the draft lottery for the number one pick, John Wall (or perhaps Evan Turner). Philadelphia got the second pick and New Jersey, which nearly had the worst record in NBA history, picks third.
—Usain Bolt ran a 9.86, 100 meters in South Korea on Wednesday in his season debut at that distance. His world record is 9.58. He is scheduled to race Sunday in Shanghai and then will be over here in June for the meet I’m attending.
—Michigan is going to self-impose penalties on its football program in response to NCAA allegations of major rules violations, with the school following the NCAA’s report on May 24.
This all goes back to when former and current players alleged that coach Rich Rodriguez had his players in team activities for far more hours than allowed by the NCAA. The NCAA said Rodriguez “failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance within the football program.” This guy has been a nightmare.
Look at Jason Bay, who we spent something like $64 million on for four years.
2004…26 HR
2005…32
2006…35
2007…21
2008…31
2009…36
2010…1 in first 40 games
David Wright…55 strikeouts!!! He is playing so poorly it’s beyond belief.
But look at Houston’s Kaz Matsui…71 at-bats, 1 extra base hit, 1 RBI. That’s strong, real strong. Houston is 13-26.
–While we’re at it, just a note on A-Rod. Yes, he’s had a few big homers the past week or so, but he still only has 5 thus far in a quarter of the season. The highest-salaried player, $33 million this year (an average $27.5 million over the life of his long-term contract), A-Rod now has 588 lifetime homers. He is talked of as being a lock to best Bonds (762) and Aaron (755).
Why? I say no! And here’s something you won’t see anywhere else.
2008…138 games…35 HR
2009…124…30
2010…38 (team 39)…5
This is a guy you used to pencil in for 150+ games, 40+ homers, automatically. Now he’s slowing down. He gets injured.
Did you ever think about the fact that both Tiger Woods and A-Rod are 34…both turning 35 this year (A-Rod in July…Tiger in December)?
Suddenly, there is legitimate talk that Tiger won’t best Jack Nicklaus’ 18 majors, Tiger having 14. Look how long it took one of the best players in the history of the game, Phil Mickelson, to get 4. Tiger needs another 5, with a ton of young guns ready to step up on the big stage and challenge him when his game is on.
And now I’m telling you the same should be said of A-Rod and the home run mark.
More importantly, if you’re Yankee management, let’s say A-Rod gets his power stroke back. What’s he going to finish the year with…28-30 homers? Granted, he may drive in 120, but is he the best player in the game? Of course not. But you’re paying him $27.5 million a year, guaranteed?! As Gen. Anthony McAuliffe replied when told of the stats, “Nuts!”
–Speaking of steroids, always in the forefront of any discussion involving A-Rod (and as rumored, and denied, Tiger as well), Anthony Galea, the Toronto doctor under investigation by Major League Baseball, provided unapproved drugs to N.F.L. players, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday in federal court in Buffalo. While the players haven’t been named, supposedly Galea and his assistant were headed to Washington to treat a Redskins player in September when the assistant was stopped at the U.S.-Canada border with HGH. Galea has ties to both A-Rod and Tiger.
–The New York Jets cannot screw up enough. Season ticketholder Pete M. (who’s actually a big Pats fan) and I were talking the other day about the PSL (personal seat license) situation and he informed me that what has his regular tailgating buddies even more pissed off is how the Jets are now going to assign parking depending on your ticket level. Ergo, if Pete has a PSL, but his other buddies opted out and have different seats, their cars can’t go to the same lot.
It’s absurd. So a few days after Pete and I have this conversation (over an adult beverage), Steve Politi of the Star-Ledger commented:
“It’s funny sometimes what will push a loyal fan over the edge. For Ben Gray, a human ATM for the Jets going on 20 years, it was the parking brochure he received in the mail last week.
“Gray paid $4,000 for his PSL, paid the always-climbing ticket prices that are now $125 a pop, paid for the exhibition games nobody watches and the ridiculous prices at the concession stand.
“He is even willing to pay for the parking, too. This is what got him: The Jets are now telling him that where he and his friends are allowed to park depends, once again, on how much they plunk down.
“He gets a spot near the new stadium. Many of his friends, the ones he has tailgated with in lot 13-B for more than two decades, did not buy PSLs and must park in the outer lots.
“Maybe this doesn’t sound like a big deal to you. Gray and his friends could park in separate lots and walk to a spot for their tailgate. At a time when fans are asked to subsidize a new stadium many did not want for billionaires, it isn’t near the top of the list of gripes.
“Still, it is another example of a growing rift between the Jets and their fans, one that prompted several to send angry e-mails to the newspaper. Few teams have done more to upgrade their on-field product recently, but fewer still have aggravated their customers as much, either.”
Well, as a Jets fan, I’ve always said we’re the worst fans in the nation. Certainly the ugliest, nastiest bunch going back to Shea Stadium days. But now Jets Nation is on the warpath. A new militia movement is forming. It’s not going to be pretty.
–UN experts fear that unless fishing fleets are slashed drastically and stocks allowed to recover, the oceans could be basically fishless by 2050. So get your fill of fish now before it’s too late!
As you know, Charlie Tuna has been leading an effort to push through a worldwide ban on bluefin tuna, which faces imminent extinction, but the Japanese and other tuna-consuming countries continue to defeat it.
A Green Economy report estimates there are 35 million people fishing around the world on 20 million boats. About 170 million jobs depend directly or indirectly on the sector; 520 million financially linked in one form or another.
According to the UN, 30% of the fish stocks have already collapsed, meaning they yield less than 10% of their former potential, while virtually all fisheries risk running out of commercially viable catches by 2050.
This is interesting. “The entire value of fish caught is only 85 billion dollars,” but governments provide $27 billion in subsidies. The director of the UN report thus says, fishing fleet capacity is “50 to 60 percent” higher than it should be.
–Ben Groundwater (yup, that’s his name) / Sydney Morning Herald
“Doris (which is almost certainly not her real name) had stormed on to our Jetstar flight from Osaka to the Gold Coast clutching a couple cans of Kirin beer and had just been advised by the nearest cabin crew that she wouldn’t be allowed to drink it on the journey.
“ ‘Why not?’ she snapped, still holding the Kirins protectively to her chest.
“The hostie forced a smile. ‘I’m sorry but you aren’t allowed to consume your own alcohol on the flight.’
“ ‘What, so I have to purchase yours, do I? Show me on my ticket where it says that I can’t drink my own beer.’
Doris got worse and started demanding that the hostie (flight attendant) tell her where she’s from. As Ben Groundwater writes, “Who’d be a hostie?”
“No week-long stopovers on Hawaiian islands. No triumphant strolls through airport lounges trailed by adoring admirers.
“Just arm doors, demonstrate safety, pour drinks, hand out food, disarm doors, smile and get ready to do it all again.
–Sports Illustrated’s Sign of the Apocalypse: “A 45-year-old basketball coach at Our Lady of Lourdes parish in Enola, Pa., has been accused of trying to bribe referees to fix church youth-league games.” [I was on the wrong side of these contests myself.]
–So I went out bought the Black Eyed Peas “The E.N.D.” and popped it into the car stereo. Geezuz, it sucks! At the same time Rolling Stone had them on the cover, “Black Eyed Peas Rule the World,” and inside the article there are quotes from the likes of Bono calling Will.i.am a “genius.” Of course Bono was just being nice.
Anyway, to their credit, Rolling Stone printed some critical letters to the editor the next issue.
“The Black Eyes Pease are the number-one reason to get excited about music? [As the RS story implied] Their lyrics are trite, and their ‘music’ sounds like it was made by R2-D2 and C-3PO on a laptop. Your article only served to show the sorry state of music and should’ve been titled ’40 Reasons to Get Excited About the Rerelease of Exile on Main Street.’” –RG
“I’m not upset that the Peas make music for commercials. I’m upset that you’re calling Will.i.am’s marketing the best thing to happen to the art form.” –DW
“If you can explain how a band in which no one can play an instrument is going to save rock, then I’ll drink the Kool-Aid.” –KC
But your editor, before he really listened to the whole CD, nor any of their previous work, purchased tickets to see the Peas in Atlantic City in August. Oh well, it will still be a blast (and a hoot looking at the crowd). I wonder if Rima wants to go?
Top 3 songs for the week 5/22/65: #1 “Ticket To Ride” (The Beatles) #2 “Mrs. Brown You’ve Got A Lovely Daughter” (Herman’s Hermits…and she’s Lebanese!…family changed name upon reaching Britain, you understand) #3 “Count Me In” (Gary Lewis and The Playboys)…and …#4 “Help Me, Rhonda” (The Beach Boys) #5 “I’ll Never Find Another You” (The Seekers) #6 “Back In My Arms Again” (The Supremes) #7 “Silhouettes” (Herman’s Hermits) #8 “Wooly Bully” (Sam The Sham and The Pharaohs) #9 “Just Once In My Life” (The Righteous Brothers…underrated tune) #10 “Crying In The Chapel” (Elvis Presley…now is that a top ten or what?!)
Baseball Quiz Answers: 10 1969 MVP vote…Willie McCovey, 265 votes; Tom Seaver, 243; Hank Aaron, 188; Pete Rose 127; Ron Santo, 124; Tommie Agee, 89; Cleon Jones, 82. 2) Cincinnati first-baseman Frank McCormick was MVP in 1940, hitting 19 homers and driving in 127, while batting .309. 3) In ’52, the Cubs’ Hank Sauer captured the MVP in a tight vote with Robin Roberts and Joe Black…226, 211, 208. Sauer led the league in both homers, 37, and RBI, 121.
Sauer was interesting in that his first full season wasn’t until 1948, due to World War II, and he was already 31, yet he still went on to hit 288 home runs in his career.
So way back in 2001, I did a little blurb on the man in this space after his passing.
I read an anecdote by Richard Goldstein of the New York Times. It seems that after the 1954 season, one in which Sauer had clubbed 41 homers and driven in 103, he received a stunning contract offer. As Sauer recalled the episode, “They sent me a contract with a $1,500 cut in salary. I said: ‘Are you sure you’re sending this to the right guy? I had a pretty good year.’ They said: ‘You had a pretty good year but we still ended up in seventh place. We could have ended up in seventh without you.’”
However, what the Times’ obituary failed to do is what we specialize in here at Bar Chat. Sauer, a late bloomer, was 38-years-old entering the ‘55 campaign and he hit a whopping .211 with 28 RBI. So Cubs management knew what it was doing. [He did manage 26 homers for the New York Giants in 1957, though, at age 40.]
But the whole (Sauer) episode really reminds me of the situation facing the despised Barry Bonds.
Speaking of Mr. Bonds, I meant to note this on Monday but if you haven’t already done so, find a copy of the current Sports Illustrated and the column written by Rick Reilly. To say Bonds is savaged (and correctly so) is an understatement. As Reilly writes, “Someday they’ll be able to hold Bonds’ funeral in a fitting room.” And to give you a sense of how his teammates really feel about him, after Bonds hit his 500th home run this past April, “only one person came out of the dugout to greet him at the plate: the Giants’ batgirl.”
And if you were watching Sunday Night Baseball this week, you saw a classic Bonds exhibition, standing at the plate admiring his triple (which if he was running hard out of the box might have been an inside-the-park job), and then nonchalantly catching a fly ball with runners on first and third and one out, when clearly he thought his catch retired the side. Bottom line, Bonds is 37 and a free agent. I just wish all of the GMs could legally get together and give him a Hank Sauer type offer.
The above was of course five years before “Game of Shadows.” Little did we know back in ’01 the true depths of Barry’s Dirtballdom.
