Baseball Quiz: For my friends in Detroit, and old-time baseball fans everywhere, 12 position players had 200 at bats on the 1984 World Series Champion Detroit Tigers. How many can you name? Answer below.
Sing Along With Mitch
The great Mitch Miller died at the age of 99. Born on July 4, 1911, in Rochester, NY, Mitchell William Miller was the son of Russian Jewish immigrants. Mitch played the piano at an early age, but at 11 he turned to the oboe. Why? Because he joined the junior high school orchestra late and this was the only instrument left.
Ah, but Mitch became quite adept at the oboe, world class, in fact, and by 15 he was good enough to join the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra. He then attended the Eastman School, became a member of the Rochester Philharmonic, and eventually he was solo oboist for the CBS Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Bernard Hermann. Miller stayed there until 1947.
In ’47, though, Mercury Records signed Miller to oversee its classical records division and Miller’s first production won an award in France, after which he became the head of popular artists and repertoire, or A&R. Miller would go on to nurture the careers of singers Vic Damone, Patti Page and Frankie Lane.
But it was in 1950, heading up A&R for Columbia Records, that his career really took off and in the words of the Los Angeles Times’ Dennis McLellan, “Miller became a recording industry legend.”
Miller quickly produced hit after hit for Doris Day, Rosemary Clooney, Tony Bennett, Jo Stafford, Johnnie Ray, Jerry Vale, Johnny Mathis, the Four Lads, and countless others. Within two years, Columbia had moved from the 4th-place label to first in industry revenues. Miller was the man everyone wanted to have their material produced by.
Mitch Miller loved novelty songs, such as Clooney’s “Come On-a My House,” a quasi-Armenian folk song, plus he produced 12-year-old Jimmy Boyd’s “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,” but for all his success, he went too far with Frank Sinatra, who would blame Miller for his downward spiral at Columbia before he switched to Capitol in 1953.
In 1951, Miller convinced Sinatra to record “Mama Will Bark,” a duet with TV’s actress-comedian Dagmar, on which barking and growling noises are heard. The song reached No. 21 on the Billboard chart, but it’s often cited as the worst song Sinatra recorded and he never forgave Miller for this. Decades later, though, Miller insisted that when Sinatra “came to Columbia, he was already at the nadir of his career,” Mitch told the Chicago Tribune in 1987. “He had lost his television show, he had lost his movie contract, he was chasing after Ava [Gardner], he was behind in his income taxes. In short, his records would not sell, his voice was gone.”
Even Tony Bennett, who forever praised Miller, said he got tired of Mitch trying to push novelty songs on him. But others such as Leslie Uggams, whom Miller made famous, adored him. Uggams once commented:
“We’re talking about an era where most of the A&R men had been musicians themselves, so he had an incredible ear for the least note that was wrong: He could hear it. Mitch and I were always on the same page.”
Mitch Miller, though, hated the advent of rock ‘n’ roll and he reportedly turned down Elvis Presley in 1955, telling Presley’s manager, “Colonel” Tom Parker, that Elvis was asking for too much money. Miller also told Buddy Holly’s manager he wasn’t interested in Holly’s “That’ll Be The Day,” and you know what happened to that record. At least it was Mitch Miller who gave Bob Dylan his break, with Miller admitting he didn’t get it, but respected producer John Hammond, who had brought Dylan to Mitch.
Notice how we haven’t even touched what most people know Mitch Miller for, his sing along material, because the legend of Miller will end up being about his role as producer, but that aside, he sold 22 million “Sing Along with Mitch” albums, which believe it or not made him the best-selling album artist until the Beatles broke his record, though they didn’t accomplish this until 1974. From 1961 to 1966, his sing along variety show on NBC was highly successful as well. Miller said of this time:
“I think we struck a chord for a few reasons. The music was good, the sound was good, we didn’t use any canned applause, and, most important, we brought across the idea that you didn’t have to be beautiful to be talented.”
I have to admit I never gave the following a second thought, but Miller adds:
“I always made a point of hiring singers who were tall, short, bald, round, fat, whatever – everyday looking guys, so that the people at home could empathize with the people on the screen.
“Also, we did songs that were part of people’s everyday life, songs that had risen to the top over the years and stayed there.”
From what you read, Mitch Miller was complicated, stubborn, a master at nurturing talent, and, a genius.
–Jon Swartz of USA TODAY is the latest to weigh in on the sorry state of golf these days. Consider that in Myrtle Beach, S.C., a haven known as “Golftown, USA,” whereas in 2006 there were 125 golf courses, there are now around 100. [I remember going to Myrtle for a golf holiday in 1981 and there were only about 35 courses then.]
The number of golfers fell about 3% nationally in 2008 from 2007 (latest figures), while the number of “core” golfers – those who play eight or more rounds a year – fell 4.5%, according to the National Golf Foundation (NGF).
As many as 15% of the roughly 4,400 private clubs nationwide report serious financial challenges, with 500 scrambling to raise cash flow, according to an NGF study.
Private clubs lost an estimated 5% to 15% of their members last year, costing clubs on average $187,000 in annual dues.
But despite these problems, “Only the NFL topped the PGA Tour in advertising sold on network and cable TV last year, according to Nielsen.” And the aggregate television audience figures, thanks to more hourly coverage on ESPN and the Golf Channel, as well as the three networks, are just fine.
–Mark R. asked me to note the passing of a good friend of his, Milton L. “Mich” Michener, 89. Michener was awarded a Silver Star for his exploits in World War II. Mich grew up a farmer in West Grove, Pa., and then found his way to the University of Pennsylvania, graduating from the Wharton School in 1942.
Michener was a Quaker, but despite the fact his faith precluded him from carrying a weapon, he still felt compelled to join the Army, and it was as a Second Lieutenant during the Battle of the Bulge that he was in charge of sweeping the roads of mines in preparation for an advance. Already wounded, he still volunteered to clear a path to extract eight isolated, injured soldiers in a mine field. “Under machine gun and sniper fire and shelling by mortars and artillery, he ran and crawled through the snow and successfully removed 150-200 ‘schu mines,’ so medics could remove the wounded. He then slipped and fell on a mine that seriously wounded him.”
After multiple surgeries, Michener ended up losing a foot and some of the toes on the other, but ever after he kept up his good humor and Mark said Mich was one of the finest people he ever met.
–Michael O’Keefe of the New York Daily News wrote the other day that the target of the latest investigation into the memorabilia business is Mastro Auctions, which was once the largest auction house before folding in 2009.
“But this investigation appears to be far more extensive. Dealers and collectors say agents are focusing on shill bidding, counterfeit memorabilia and card doctoring. [Such as the T206 Honus Wagner card once owned by Wayne Gretzky, and previously owned by Bill Mastro, which “is widely believed to have been cut from a sheet decades after it left the printing press and trimmed after that, a cardinal sin in the card hobby. The card is now owned by Arizona Diamondbacks managing general partner E.G. ‘Ken’ Kendrick, who bought it for $2.8 million in a private sale in 2007.”]
The annual National Sports Collectors Convention kicked off in Baltimore on Wednesday and, just as was the case the past two years, agents from the FBI and U.S. Postal Service are expected to crash the gathering and interview dealers and authenticators.
–So my New York Mets are 54-53 heading into Wednesday’s contest with Atlanta, trailing the Braves by 6 ½ and barely hanging on, but there is truly so much to hate about this team. Like how ownership insists on keeping rapidly aging, and ineffective, second baseman Luis Castillo on the roster, and, even more distressingly, dreadful pitcher Oliver Perez, because both have contracts the Madoff-infected Wilpons don’t want to eat, even though these two are a freakin’ cancer on the team.
This is a club that with its enormous payroll was expected to contend. Maybe it will yet get back in the race, but it’s doubtful. I mean here’s a squad with the 7th best ERA in all of baseball, 3.80, but is hitting .216 with runners in scoring position and two outs, 4th worst in the game, and .215 with the bases loaded. In fact the Mets are the only team in baseball without a grand slam this year.
–The 2010 Official Pony of Bar Chat, Lookin at Lucky, came through at The Haskell on Sunday at Monmouth Park against a terrific field, including Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver (who finished fourth), with an impressive four-length victory. This horse had it all to be a Triple Crown winner, but it was the godawful ride in the Kentucky Derby (and equally poor one in the Santa Anita Derby earlier) that sank Lucky, with trainer Bob Baffert then switching jocks from Garrett Gomez to Martin Garcia, whereupon Garcia and Lookin won the Preakness. The horse has been taking it easy since then until Sunday, when it proved it’s probably the best 3-year-old in the land after all.
You know, I’m getting ticked off all over again. Here is veteran scribe Jerry Izenberg of the Star-Ledger. [I don’t think Mr. Izenberg would mind me saying he covered the Lincoln-Douglas debates.]
“For the longest time he wasn’t a race horse at all. He was Destiny’s equine step-child. They named him Lookin at Lucky, but for a while he only had two kinds of luck – horrible and none.
“As a 2-year-old last year in the Breeders’ Cup he drew post 13, which was not unlike starting in Flagstaff, Ariz., to run a race in Southern California. To compound that burden, he was checked early, angled wide and was bumped for good measure and still finished second.
“At the Santa Anita Derby, the same jockey, Garrett Gomez, tried to take him through a hole that wasn’t there. The only ground he covered was straight up. And then there was the Kentucky Derby, where he was slammed twice, had to run five wide and finished sixth.
“But all through it, Bob Baffert never doubted that this horse could run.”
Race fans up in Saratoga were hoping Lookin at Lucky’s next race would be at the Aug. 28 Travers Stakes, but Baffert had to pull the horse because it came down with the flu. [Thanks for the update, J. Mac] The Baffert team can’t buy a break with this one.
–This is too much. LeBron James took out a full-page ad in the Akron Beacon-Journal, thanking his hometown for its support, but it doesn’t mention Cleveland, the Cavaliers, or his time spent playing basketball in the city.
“Akron is my home, and the central focus of my life. It’s where I started, and it’s where I will always come back to. You can be sure that I will continue to do everything I can for this city, which is so important to my family and me. Thank you for your love and support. You mean everything to me.”
Meanwhile, as reported by Barry Rothbard of Bloomberg, James’ former Cavs and current Heat teammate, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who was born in Lithuania and played all 12 seasons in Cleveland, directly thanked the city.
“When I came to this country 14 years ago, I was a young man who barely spoke the language and had no idea what to expect of this great country. As I look back on those early days, I realize how lucky I was to have grown up in a place like Cleveland.”
–Remember sprinter Justin Gatlin, winner of the gold medal in the 100 at the 2004 Athens Games? Remember how he was banned from the sport for four years after being caught doping in 2006? Well he ran his first race since the ban was lifted on Tuesday in Estonia and won the 100 in 10.24. It’s kind of interesting. Gatlin is still just 28 and is aiming for the 2012 London Olympics, which means that with Tyson Gay and others, the U.S. Olympic Trials will be highly entertaining. Gotta go.
–The Jets are having trouble with All-World cornerback Darrelle Revis, 25, who is in the 4th year of a contract worth $36 million, though supposedly with $20 million guaranteed in years 5 and 6, and a salary of only $1 million this current one.
You see, Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis stupidly signed his corner, Nnamdi Asomugha, to a 3-year, $45.3 million deal, thus setting an impossible bar for all the other owners, and Revis wants a similar contract, so he’s holding out until he gets one. It’s all about the guarantee portion, and while everyone expects Revis to be on the field for the first game, Sept. 13, the Asomugha contract is holding the Jets’ hostage.
–Classic A-Rod. Yes, as I’m about to post, Jeff B. was the first to inform me that Alex became the youngest to hit 600 homers. Boooooo!!!!! But on Tuesday, A-Rod was the only Yankee to miss the team photo as he ‘forgot’ about it. He will be photoshopped in later. [Bar Chat is checking all of New York City’s video cam footage to see exactly where Rodriguez was at the appointed time.]
—Tiger Woods is no longer an automatic qualifier for the Ryder Cup squad, having dropped out of the top eight in the standings, meaning he has to count on Captain Corey Pavin making him one of the four captain’s picks. No doubt Woods will be selected, barring two missed cuts coming up at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational (which Woods owns) and the PGA, but it’s a pretty amazing turn of events.
1. Phil Mickelson…not playing well
2. Jim Furyk…not playing well
3. Steve Stricker…OK, solid member
4. Jeff Overton…Huh? Oh well
5. Anthony Kim…been hurt…no one is talking about his slot yet
6. Lucas Glover…eh
7. Matt Kuchar…like him
8. Dustin Johnson…despite Open travails, love him in Cup setting
9. Tiger
10. Hunter Mahan…probably a lock
11. Ricky Barnes…I’d pick him
12. Ben Crane
13. Stewart Cink…with two top 20s in next two events is a lock, if he isn’t already
14. Nick Whatney
15. Rickie Fowler…would love to see him on team, but he’ll need a super PGA
16. JB Holmes
17. Bubba Watson
So…if I’m Corey, I pick Tiger, Mahan, Barnes, and Cink, barring something special out of Fowler.
–I met Jill M. at Phil W.’s wedding last weekend and didn’t realize until I got a note from her after she read my last Bar Chat that she was the official scorer at the game in the Greensboro Coliseum where Dean Smith and Rick Barnes almost came to blows. Heck, Jill scored the ACC men’s tournament for 12 years and all Duke men’s games from ’93 to ’02, when she and the family moved to Orlando. Jill said she was directly behind Dean and “Slick Rick” with her mouth hanging open.
Welcome aboard, Jill. Watch out for the sharks, and jellyfish, off Sullivan’s Island. Pack vinegar in the beach bag. Plus a bazooka for the sharks.
–So I’m reading about Miss USA, Rima Fakih, the Lebanese born beauty, and she says she needed a talent for her first pageants and everyone was playing an instrument, so she went with belly dancing. “It was a big hit.” I’m sure it was, Rima…I’m sure it was.
–Yikes…average median age for the networks.
ABC…52
CBS…55
NBC…49
FOX…45
“(After serving in World War II), Yohai took over his father’s snack-food business at the Old London Melba toast factory in the Bronx. The business already made Cheese Waffles, caramel popcorn and other snacks but wanted something new…
“ ‘We were looking for another snack item,’ Yohai told Newsday in a 2005 interview. ‘We were fooling around and found out there was a machine that extruded cornmeal and it almost popped like popcorn.’
“Yohai said they decided to chop the cornmeal product into small pieces and coat it with cheese. ‘We wanted to make it as healthy as possible,’ he said, ‘so it was baked, not fried.’”
I love Cheez Doodles and always found it was best to eat them as fast as possible for the full flavor. Then I’d run immediately to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned, assuming a sander wasn’t handy.
–Update: The three grizzly cubs whose mother killed one and mauled two others, possibly with their help, were found to be malnourished, which may explain mom’s behavior. But the cubs will now have a happy life at ZooMontana in Billings. Next time I’m at nearby Little Bighorn, I’ll swing by and give them some Cheez Doodles.
“A dog who chewed off his owner’s infected toe while he was passed-out drunk has been hailed as a lifesaver.
“Jerry Douthett had been out drinking margaritas when his Jack Russell terrier Kiko bit off a large chunk of his big toe.
“His wife, Rosee, rushed him to hospital where tests showed the 48-year-old musician had dangerous high blood-sugar levels.
“Doctors diagnosed Mr. Douthett with Type 2 diabetes – and told him his toe would have had to have been amputated anyway.”
No word on where the hell Rosee was before she found her husband. As for Kiko, he did what he had to do to help his owner…end of story.
–Brad K. passed along this tale that will give you nightmares.
“The scratching on the ceiling started in June, and on Sunday morning the unthinkable happened.
“ ‘It broke through the ceiling and fell on the bed of my son,’ said Maria Gomez, explaining how a raccoon landed in bed with her 9-year-old son, Enrique.
“ ‘He kicked it and then woke up his brother. They were both screaming they were so scared,’ she said, referring to his younger brother, Jonathan, 5.
“ ‘My dad almost touched the raccoon,’ said Enrique, after he came into the room to see what all the screaming was about. After getting the two boys out they closed the door and called police, who called animal control.
“That was when the real destruction took place. Besides the one-foot-by-one-foot hole in the ceiling, the raccoon tried to get out the window and destroyed the window blinds and chewed almost all of the wood on the window frame trying to get out.”
Well, boys and girls, it gets too nasty from here to continue. I’m thinking it would have been easier calling in an airstrike.
“An ape and her baby made a bid for freedom today after they swung off their island in Dublin Zoo into the main complex.
“Around 200 visitors were forced indoors as staff attempted to capture the Siamang gibbons as they monkeyed about.”
The pair were returned to their habitat 30 minutes later. The gibbon, of course, is a perennial top ten on the All-Species List based on its supposedly being the most intelligent of the apes, while not being anywhere near as nasty as the freakin’ chimps, who won’t be cracking the top ten anytime soon, as long as I have something to do with it. Man, meanwhile, despite an intense lobbying effort on K Street, doesn’t stand a chance of even sniffing the top 50.
—Lady Gaga takes it off in the September issue of Vanity Fair and in the interview she says she keeps her mojo by avoiding sex.
“I have this weird thing that if I sleep with someone, they’re going to take my creativity from me through my vagina.”
And that’s your Lady Gaga moment. Kids, don’t ask your parents what the preceding meant. You may be forced to eat Melba toast the rest of your life.
–Par-tay! Top Ten Party Schools in the Princeton Review’s annual ranking, and we have a new winner, the first for this institution of higher learning since the list was created in 1992.
1. Univ. of Georgia!!!…very pretty girls there…very, very pretty
2. Ohio University
3. Penn State
4. West Virginia…almost Heaven, almost No. 1…still good by me, sports fans!
5. Univ. of Mississippi…oh, the girls
6. Univ. of Texas, Austin…did someone say girls?
7. Univ. of Florida…ditto…
8. Univ. of California-Santa Barbara…kind of wish I had gone there…and not for nothing, but I have this burning desire, for some reason, to go to Santa Monica…maybe before Christmas, because when you think Christmas, you think Santa Monica Pier.
9. Univ. of Iowa…ask Miguel Batista
10. DePauw (Greencastle, Indiana)…wow…might need to get me some DePauwwear!
–Lastly, Bobby Hebb, the singer/songwriter with the 1966 hit, “Sunny,” died at the age of 72. The other day I was listening to the terrific oldies station in New Jersey, WMTR, 1250 AM, when this one came on and I thought, boy, this has held up well. Just a classic. As noted in an obituary for the AP, “Hebb said in several interviews that he wrote ‘Sunny’ in response to the slaying of his brother Harold outside a Nashville nightclub and to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy a few days before.”
I looked back through my oldies chart books and ironically, my top 3 list below is one week from having “Sunny” on it. The song cracked the top ten the week of 8/13/66, peaking at No. 2 for two weeks. No. 1 then? “Summer In The City” by The Lovin’ Spoonful.
Hebb toured with the Beatles for a spell, and in 1971, Lou Rawls won a Grammy for “A Natural Man,” written by Hebb and Sandy Baron.
Hebb was born to blind parents in Nashville, where he became one of the first black musicians to perform on the Grand Ole Opry show in the 1950s. At one point he was a member of Roy Acuff’s band, the Smoky Mountain Boys.
So we quaff a Shiner Bock to Bobby Hebb and his tune that is timeless.
Sunny, yesterday my life was filled with rain.
Sunny, you smiled at me and really eased the pain.
The dark days are gone and the bright days are here.
My sunny one shines so sincere.
Sunny one so true, I love you.
Top 3 songs for the week 8/6/66: #1 “Wild Thing” (The Troggs) #2 “Lil’ Red Riding Hood” (Sam the Sham and The Pharaohs) #3 “Summer In The City” (The Lovin’ Spoonful…movin’ on up)…and…#4 “The Pied Piper” (Crispian St. Peters) #5 “They’re Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!” (Napoleon XIV…one of the worst songs ever…never understood how this suddenly soared to a peak of No. 3) #6 “I Saw Her Again” (The Mamas & The Papas) #7 “Hanky Panky” (Tommy James and The Shondells…Sept. 18, Morristown, NJ…be there with yours truly) #8 “Sweet Pea” (Tommy Roe) #9 “Mothers Little Helper” (The Rolling Stones) #10 “Somewhere, My Love” (Ray Coniff and The Singers…think “Dr. Zhivago”…take out #5 and yet another spectacular week)
Baseball Quiz Answer: 1984 Tigers…200 at bats. C Lance Parrish, 1B Dave Bergman, 2B Lou Whitaker, SS Alan Trammell, 3B Howard Johnson, LF Larry Herndon, CF Chet Lemon [loved how this guy played the game…solid career], RF Kirk Gibson, DH Darrell Evans, UT Barbaro Garbey (if you got this guy you’re good…totally forgot about him), IF Tom Brookens, OF Ruppert Jones.
Of course on the mound the Tigers had Jack Morris, 19-11; Dan Petry, 18-8; Milt Wilcox, 17-8 (yikes…forgot about him, too…killed that brain cell back in ’99…I think it was Warsaw); Juan Berenguer, 11-10; Dave Rozema, 7-6; and that great bullpen duo of Willie Hernandez, who was both MVP and Cy Young Award winner, and Aurelio Lopez.
Next Bar Chat, Monday…from Atlantic City…a report on the Black Eyed Peas concert, assuming they show.
