Golf Quiz: So we come to the 2011 British Open with the last five winners of the majors being Graeme McDowell (2010 U.S. Open), Louis Oosthuizen (2010 British Open), Martin Kaymer (2010 PGA), Charl Schwartzel (2011 Masters) and Rory McIlroy (2011 U.S. Open). Nary an American in the group. And in the first two majors this year, just twelve Americans made the cut in both the Masters and U.S. Open, and only two have been in the top 15 in both. Name the two. Answer below.
The All-Star Game
Everyone has written the same opening and I can’t say anything more original than “The talk at this year’s All-Star Game is more about those who are absent than those actually playing.”
However, major kudos to the Mets’ Jose Reyes, who is on the disabled list with a hamstring injury but showed up anyway because he knew it was important to do the right thing. After all, the fans voted him on…he had to be there. Philadelphia’s Shane Victorino withdrew because of injury, but he, too, showed up anyway because he was the final player chosen for the N.L. team out of five in an online fan vote.
But then there is Derek Jeter. Last Bar Chat, I duly praised Jeter for his achievement, getting hit No. 3,000 as part of a five-for-five performance on Saturday. I knew then that he wasn’t planning on attending the game, even though he was voted on by the fans despite his sub-par, .270 season thus far. But I opted not to say anything because I have my “24-hour rule” and I thought, Derek’s a smart guy, especially when it comes to PR. He might just decide at the last minute to show. He didn’t.
Philadelphia Phillies chairman Bill Giles, the honorary N.L. president, said at a news conference on Monday, “I think it’s too bad that Jeter in particular is not here, because of what he accomplished over the weekend, and I think it is a bit of a problem and baseball should study it.”
Boston’s David Ortiz said people should cut Jeter some slack.
“He always said yes to the All-Star game. I think he has the right to, whenever he needs a break you know, to pull himself together, especially coming off an injury. I think people need to respect that.”
Mariano Rivera also skipped the game because of an injury, this despite the fact that he saved Jeter’s heroic effort on Saturday!
Back to Reyes, three of the four times he’s been selected he’s been hurt, but Jose said, “Every time I’ve had the opportunity to come here I’m going to come, no matter what happens.”
And, back to Jeter, according to sources, Jeter’s main excuse for not going to Arizona is “emotional and physical exhaustion” from his pursuit of 3,000 hits.
Jeter did say on Saturday: “I’ve been lying to you guys for a long time saying I wasn’t nervous. I wasn’t nervous and there is no pressure. There was a lot of pressure to do it here (at home).”
One major-league official told the New York Daily News, “Derek Jeter has done everything right during his whole career. He was wrong on this one.”
Lance Berkman, a Yankee teammate last year, said, “I don’t think it’s my place to speak for others, but for me, personally, if you get selected to be here you have an obligation. You gotta be here.”
Carlos Beltran said, “I do believe, as a ballplayer, if you have no injuries, you should be here. The fans are the ones that vote for you and want to see you here.”
But Commissioner Bud Selig said: “There isn’t a player I’m more proud of in the last 15 years than Derek Jeter. He has played the game the way it should be played, and he’s been a better human being off the field.
“I know why Derek Jeter is not here. I respect that and I must tell you that I think I would have made the same decision.
“Any suggestion that I or anybody else around here is unhappy with him not being here is just false.”
Jason Gay of the Wall Street Journal said that the likes of no-shows (without excuses), Jeter, Mariano Rivera and CC Sabathia, should have to call Willie Mays, he of 24 All-Star Game appearances, to tell him why they want to opt out.
PLAYER A: Hello Mr. Mays, I am just calling to say I won’t be able to play in the All-Star Game. I have this aching leg that needs some rest.
WILLIE MAYS: Didn’t you play baseball games this weekend?
PLAYER A: Well, yes. But it’s really important that I recover and get rested up for the regular season. That’s the most important thing, right?
PLAYER B: Mr. Mays, how are you? I am sorry to say I can’t pitch in Tuesday’s All-Star Game because I already pitched this weekend.
PLAYER B: Well, it’s a bit more complicated than that. Tuesday is a rest day for me, and I might toss a bit, but throwing hard might put too much stress on my arm, even if it’s just for one hitter. You know what I mean?
FAN: Hey, Mr. Mays, I can’t take the All-Star Game anymore. It’s meaningless and boring. I’m going to skip it this year.
FAN: Well, yes – of course I do. But I was thinking of going to see “Zookeeper” instead.
FAN: Did I say I wasn’t watching the All-Star Game? I’m buying a keg and having a barbecue! I’ll save a spot for you on the couch, Mr. Mays!
One special player, though, wanted to be at the big game but because his manager, or someone from the team, didn’t let N.L. All-Star manager Bruce Bochy know that he was available, was missing. Albert Pujols. That was stupid…Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa. Pujols, despite having an off-season by his standards, should have been there but Bochy wasn’t told Albert had come back early from an injury.
John Harper / New York Daily News…on the other elephant in the room.
“Is it really so prestigious to be an All-Star when there are 84 of them, as there are this year? And it’s all because of that tie game in Milwaukee nine years ago.
“It has gotten to the point where even the players are shaking their heads a bit.
“ ‘I think they need to cut it back, to be honest,’ Lance Berkman was saying Monday. ‘I mean, you can make a case for every player who was selected, but the danger is the broader you make the selections, the less of an honor it is.’
“ ‘I know they’re worried about having to play extra innings, but I say if it’s tied at the end of nine, go to a home-run derby to decide it. Have each team line up five guys and the most home runs wins.
“ ‘The fans would absolutely eat it up and no one would have to worry about having enough pitchers for an 18-inning All-Star Game.’
“Hey, if penalty kicks can decide the World Cup, why not?”
As for the actual All-Star rosters, I’m a solid fan but I have no idea who some of the guys who were on the field for the intros are.
So Darren Everson of the Wall Street Journal took a look at some of the worst All-Star Game selections of the past 30 years.
Like Mark Redman, 2006, Kansas City Royals, the lone pick from the team even though he had a 5.59 ERA. Or 2004, when the Royals’ Ken Harvey was selected after Carlos Beltran was traded to Houston three weeks before the game. Harvey was hitting .328 at the time, but then went into a horrific slump and was out of the game a year later. Harvey is actually just one of four All-Stars in baseball history to get fewer than 1,000 career at-bats.
And back to the Journal’s Jason Gay and the Jeter discussion, he said it proves one thing: “Some people sure like telling other people they need to show up to stuff.”
So Gay adds that “the Jeter ruckus does raise an interesting question: when is attendance truly mandatory?”
Things in life you MUST show up for (un-blow-off-able)
Your birth.
Your wedding.
Your fantasy draft.
The fourth quarter.
Your best friend’s 21st birthday.
Your best friend’s late night stomach-pumping at an area hospital.
Dance recitals.
Thanksgiving.
Open-heart surgery.
Your trial.
The verdict.
Peter Luger.
The cover shoot with Annie.
The cable guy. Still. And it’s 2011.
The Masters.
The dentist.
Ice cream trucks.
Jury duty.
Poker at jury duty.
Springsteen.
Things in life you don’t have to show up for (totally blow-off-able)
Your funeral.
Your fifth, sixth and seventh weddings.
Nobel Prizes.
Mime camp.
The Rapture.
Vancouver Game 7s.
Cat shows.
Jazz brunch.
Your Comedy Central roast.
Calculus.
Karaoke!
The after-dinner drink.
The ESPYs.
Your interview with Steve Kroft.
The FBI raid.
The Grammys.
Fox hunts.
Friday.
Monday.
Ball Bits
–As for the All-Star Game itself, the N.L. won 5-1. I watched the first seven innings but honestly couldn’t have cared less, especially seeing as my Mets aren’t going to the World Series this year and thus can’t take advantage of the home field edge gained by the N.L. win. I did like Jose Bautista’s catch in foul territory, though. And I’m a big fan of Justin Timberlake, so it was good to see him there, drinking a beer, even if the interview by Mark Grace was pathetic.
–At the opening of Roger Clemens’ perjury trial, Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Durham said Clemens lied to Congress about using steroids to protect his chances of election to the Hall of Fame.
“For a witness to go before Congress, take that oath and to say things they know not to be true, these are very serious federal crimes,” Durham told the federal jurors. “There are 15 statements we alleged to be false and misleading. We must prove at least one of them. We intend to prove them all.” [Bloomberg]
The jury is comprised of 10 women and two men and is expected to last four to six weeks, with the government having already said it will call about 45 witnesses.
–The New York Mets were able to unload reliever Francisco Rodriguez and his albatross of a contract (a $17.5 million vesting option if he finished 55 games) onto the Milwaukee Brewers for two players to be named, with the Brewers also receiving $5 million (to pay for the rest of K-Rod’s 2011 salary). He was on pace to finish 60. [The Brewers now pick up the option terms but they already have a closer and so K-Rod won’t be “finishing” that many games for Milwaukee. What it brings them is further strength for the pen as the Brewers go ‘all in’ to win it this year, it being Prince Fielder’s last one undoubtedly in a Milwaukee uniform.]
Mets fans now await the trade of Carlos Beltran. As Joel Sherman of the New York Post wrote, the Mets brought in GM Sandy Alderson to be the adult in the room and that is exactly what Alderson was with the K-Rod move, and should be in moving Beltran for hopefully a solid prospect or two.
–Good lord…the Mets television ratings are down 29% from last year. Only the Houston Astros and Tampa Bay Rays have seen steeper declines in local viewership, according to SportsBusiness Journal.
—Christian Lopez, who caught Derek Jeter’s home run for hit 3,000, will owe the IRS thousands, tax experts say; anywhere from $5,000 to $13,000 because of the luxury seats the Yankees gave him.
Now Lopez said he’ll pay but he’d gladly take some help, but we all know this is absurd. President Obama (forgetting your politics…just look at him as our president) should step in and tell the IRS to “Lay off! Don’t even think about it.”
Lopez, who we’ve learned is ever the cool dude, said, “The IRS has a job to do, so I’m not going to hold it against them, but it would be cool if they helped me out a little on this.”
—Hiroki Kuroda of the Dodgers is 6-10 with a 3.06 ERA. Doug Fister of the Mariners is 3-10 with a 3.09 ERA. It ain’t fair, I tell ya. [Jared Diamond of the Journal notes no one has lost 18 in a season with an ERA under 3.00 since Phil Niekro in 1978, who went 19-18, 2.88.]
–So I’m reading a piece by Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times on “Local trades: A look at the smash hits and flops,” and it’s pretty amazing when you think that Southland teams have dealt for Nolan Ryan, Wayne Gretzky, Kareem, Wilt Chamberlain, and Kobe…but then let Pedro Martinez and Mike Piazza get away.
“The young right-hander was prone to wildness and couldn’t crack the rotation of the pitching-rich New York Mets, who were seeking a steady third baseman after trying 45 players at the hot corner in 10 seasons. The Angels, though wary of the pitcher’s control problems, liked his arm and were willing to trade their six-time All-Star shortstop to get him.
“And so on Dec. 10, 1971, the Angels made perhaps the best trade in their history by acquiring Nolan Ryan for Jim Fregosi.
“ ‘As for Ryan, I really can’t say I quit on him,’ Bob Scheffing, then the Mets’ general manager, told the New York Times. ‘But we’ve had him three full years and, although he’s a hell of a prospect, he hasn’t done it for us. How long can you wait? I can’t rate him in the same category with Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman or Gary Gentry.’ [Ed. Gentry was washed up after ’72…arm problems.]
“Fregosi broke his thumb at spring training in 1972 and batted .232 before he was traded to Texas. Ryan pitched four no-hitters in an Angels uniform, racking up 2,416 strikeouts in 2,181 innings and recording 156 complete games over eight seasons.
“The Angels let him leave as a free agent in 1979 after a dispute over incentive clauses and an insurance policy. General Manager Buzzie Bavasi, asked how he’d replace Ryan after a 16-14 season, uttered the immortal line, ‘You mean, where can I find two 8-7 pitchers?’”
Chamberlain, by the way, was acquired by the Lakers from the 76ers for Jerry Chambers, Archie Clark and Darrall Imhoff. Advantage, L.A.
—Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak, 1941, continued…
Game 54…July 14…Chicago…1 for 3
Game 55…July 15…Chicago…2 for 4…2 RBI
Game 56…July 16…Cleveland…3 for 4
–As I go to post Wednesday p.m., the U.S. women have just defeated France, 3-1, in the World Cup semis and now advance to play the winner of Japan-Sweden on Sunday.
–Perky So Yeon Ryu of South Korea, just 21, ended up winning the weather-delayed U.S. Women’s Open in Colorado Springs at the Broadmoor. Ryu defeated countrywoman Hee Kyung Seo by three shots in a three-hole playoff. She became the fourth South Korean in seven years to win the U.S. Open. Of course the casual fan might say this is part of what’s wrong with U.S. women’s golf. They’d be right.
–Legal sources say Tiger Woods did not receive performance-enhancing drugs from Dr. Anthony Galea.
—Colin Montgomerie failed to qualify for the British Open for the first time since 1989. It’s really remarkable that this 8-time player of the year on the European Tour has never won a major event. Last week, he needed a fifth place finish to qualify for the Open, had the lead on the 6th hole of the final round of the Scottish Open, and still managed to choke and not finish in the top five.
–Golf Digest had a list of what certain people make who are employed by the PGA Tour.
Such as…Commissioner Tim Finchem… $5,130,504… reasonable.
Ed Moorhouse and Charles Zink, co-COOs, earn $1,500,000 apiece. Eh. I’d cut their pay.
Slugger White…the omnipresent PGA Tour chief rules official…$435,000…he should earn $995,000! You da man, Slugger!
–Golfer Darren Clarke is one of the more likeable players in the world so after winning a recent European PGA Tour event in Spain, Clarke flew commercial and insisted on buying a round for fellow passengers. As he told the Belfast Telegraph: “I didn’t feel like having a drink on my own, so I decided to buy everyone on the plane a drink. And all the passengers said, ‘Thank you very much.’” Now that is one flight I would have loved to have been on…unless Octomom was there with her brood.
–The other day I saw NASCAR held a Sprint Cup Series race in Sparta, Kentucky, and I thought, I didn’t know they raced there. That would be kind of cool. I’ve always wanted to go to the summer event at Bristol but haven’t because the hotels nearby are booked up forever, or so I’m assuming.
Anyway, I didn’t know until a day after that the Sparta event was the first time ever it was held there, but on Monday the talk was of how it was a nightmare for fans due to the traffic. According to the AP:
“Fans were stuck in traffic for hours as they tried to get into Saturday night’s race…Many fans said once they did get to the gate, they were turned away by police because the track had no more parking spaces. The track announced a week before that it had sold out all of its 107,000 seats for a Cup race it had been hoping to host for over a decade.”
Speedway Motorsports Inc. spent millions on capital improvements and updating the infrastructure to the track, which was acquired in 2008, but they apparently did a terrible job with shuttles running from remote lots, like shopping malls and hotels. One thing I was impressed by when I went to Daytona for the 500 about 8 years ago was how good the logistics were for someone like me staying at a hotel that wasn’t too close to the track. But then Daytona has had lots of practice.
SMI admits they just didn’t get what all would be needed and have offered to try and make things right in at least offering a ticket exchange for the 2012 race or any other SMI-sponsored event this year to those who missed Saturday’s race.
But other track operators recognized that last weekend’s nightmare could create perception problem for all of them. [Such as yours truly would definitely think twice about ever attending Bristol.] Roger Curtis of Michigan International Speedway said, “As a track promoter, I am saddened and embarrassed about what happened this weekend…that speedway, having been open for racing since 2000, should have known the challenges it would face when it tripled in size. It appears the mentality at some other racetracks today is to see how much money they can make off a fan. Their line of thinking is to ban coolers, have fire sales on last-minute tickets, build, build, build without thinking, thinking, thinking, and blame others for their mistakes.”
–The great Norman Chad, from his Washington Post perch, said he was in a 7-Eleven the other day when “a complete stranger tapped me on the shoulder and asked if things ever would be the way they once were.”
So Mr. Chad begins to muse…and the following are but a few of his thoughts.
“Like when Moses parted the Red Sea, effectively creating the first HOV lane?
“Like when Oscar Robertson averaged a triple-double – 30.8 points, 11.4 assists and 12.5 rebounds a game – for an entire NBA season?
“Like when Bobby Jones retired from golf at age 28 after winning the Grand Slam?
“Like when the Good Humor man would give you change out of that little contraption attached to his belt?
“Like when Roger Maris hit 61 homers one year in short sleeves and steroid-free?
“Like when the sublime Johnny Carson – rather than the subpar Jay Leno – was hosting ‘The Tonight Show?’
“Like when Kramer promised the boy in the hospital that the Yankees’ Paul O’Neil would hit two homers in a game?
“Like when Don Rickles could kid and cajole every ethnic group in the audience without incident?
“Like when flight attendants were called stewardesses and stewardesses at least pretended they cared if you had a pleasant flight?
“Like when John Riggins drunkenly told Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O’Connor to ‘loosen up, Sandy baby’?
“Like when my mother and father wed – not even speaking the same language – and, 61 years later – still not speaking the same language – are still married?
“Like when you’d ride up to a 7-Eleven on your bike and just leave it out front unlocked?
“ ‘Things weren’t necessarily better then,’ I told her. ‘They were just different – maybe simpler.’”
Q: How do you account for the fact that Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield, at age 44, is still fooling hitters some of the time with absolute junk? (William R. Mitchell; Indianapolis)
A: Knuckleballs are like third marriages; you never know where they’re going.
—Sherwood Schwartz, the creator of both “Gilligan’s Island” and “The Brady Bunch,” died at the age of 94. Both shows were panned by critics (one reviewer of “Gilligan…” in the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, “It is difficult for me to believe that (this) was written, directed and filmed by adults”) but went on to become cultural icons and live on in syndication for decades.
“Give or take a month or so, the original network run of ‘The Brady Bunch’ coincided with two major upheavals in American society. The show, about a squeaky-clean blended family in California, began in 1969, shortly after Woodstock, and ended in 1974, soon after President Richard M. Nixon’s resignation following the Watergate scandal.”
As for “Gilligan’s Island” (1964-67), the story of seven very different castaways stranded on a desert island, Schwartz himself said in a 1996 interview that he had always planned the series as a social statement, the message being, “it’s one world, and we all have to learn to live with each other.”
Schwartz says he described the idea of “Gilligan’s Island” to William S. Paley, then chairman of CBS, as a microcosm. Paley wasn’t impressed. “Oh, God, I thought it was a comedy show,” to which Schwartz responded, “But it’s a funny microcosm!”
Here’s something I didn’t really think of before. I knew that Schwartz was responsible for both programs, but there was a reason why he was involved in the theme songs for each, because he wanted to spell out the premises in detail. Schwartz wrote “The Ballad of Gilligan’s Island” with George Wyle. He then wrote the “Brady Bunch” theme himself. Of course when it comes to “Gilligan’s Island,” whether you say you liked the show or not (I wasn’t a big fan…though I was a major fan of Mary Ann), I know I use the phrase a “three-hour tour” at least a few times a year.
Sherwood Schwartz was born in Passaic, N.J. He grew up in Brooklyn and was a premed student at New York University. He moved to Los Angeles after graduation and was attending graduate school at USC, but in 1938, while waiting for acceptance to medical school, one thing led to another and he joined his brother in writing jokes for Bob Hope’s radio show.
After World War II, Sherwood Schwartz became a writer for “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet,” which was then on the radio. He then transitioned to television, becoming head writer for “The Red Skelton Show.” And then it was on to “Gilligan.”
–A University of Calgary study of fatal black bear attacks in the United States and Canada said it wasn’t the protective mother that was the killer in most of the cases, rather “Most incidents could be blamed on hungry males.” Almost all attacks were on people traveling alone (“Zippity-do-daaa….Aghhhhhhh!!!! chomp chomp). [Smithsonian]
–Newsweek had an article on different kinds of ice cream that can be found around the country and I’m salivating. Like “Lobster” ice cream, which can be devoured at Ben & Bill’s Chocolate Emporium, Bar Harbor, Maine. Or “Tequila Margarita,” from Kelley Country Creamery, Fond du Lac, Wis. Or “Brown Ale with Bacon” from Salt & Straw, Portland, Ore.
But the place I have to get back to is Morelli’s, in Atlanta. They have “Ricky Ricotta Cheese” and “Feta Cheese & Basil” ice cream.
[Or maybe it’s because I just finished fasting in preparation for some blood work.]
–Finally, Rob Grill, the longtime lead singer of the Grass Roots, died of complications from a head injury he suffered a month ago. He was 67.
“The Grass Roots began life as a phantom. In the mid-1960s, two Los Angeles Songwriters, Steve Barri and P.F. Sloan, were asked by their label, Dunhill Records, for songs that would capitalize on the growing appetite for folk-rock.”
The duo recorded a demo as the Grass Roots, and when the song “Where Were You When I Needed You” met with some success (#28 Billboard), they put together a band under that name.
First they found a San Francisco group named the Bedouins, who recorded the first Grass Roots album.
But in 1967, the Bedouins “decamped,” (great turn of phrase by Ms. Fox) and Barri and Sloan recruited the 13th Floor, a Los Angeles band featuring Creed Bratton, Rick Coonce, Warren Entner and Kenny Fukomoto. [Bratton later worked as an actor…the name Creed Bratton…on “The Office.”]
Just as the 13th Floor was getting started as the Grass Roots, though, Fukomoto was drafted and Rob Grill was brought in to replace him. Grill would perform with them into the 2000s (through various reincarnations).
The Grass Roots were so tame, Grill once asked the guys at VH1’s “Behind the Music” why they weren’t on. Grill told the Huntsville (Ala.) Times in 2005. “And he said, ‘Were you guys ever into heroin?’ and I said, ‘No.’ He said we just weren’t compelling enough.”
Top 20 hits for the Grass Roots:
#8…Let’s Live For Today…1967
#5…Midnight Confessions…1968
#15…I’d Wait A Million Years…1969
#15…Temptation Eyes…1971
#9…Sooner Or Later…1971
#16…Two Divided By Love…1971
Top 3 songs for the week 7/12/69: #1 “In The Year 2525” (Zager & Evans…just shoot me, please) #2 “Spinning Wheel” (Blood, Sweat & Tears…body of work looks better and better over the years) #3 “Good Morning Starshine” (Oliver…no relation to former Pirates, Rangers, and Expos star Al Oliver…one of the more underrated ballplayers of his era…2,743 hits, 1,326 RBI, .303 career batting average)…and…#4 “Love Theme From Romeo & Juliet” ((Henry Mancini) #5 “One” (Three Dog Night…one of their best) #6 “Crystal Blue Persuasion” (Tommy James & The Shondells…one of your editor’s top three songs all time…can still sing it after two domestics…voice chords need the lubrication, you see) #7 “Bad Moon Rising” (Creedence Clearwater Revival) #8 “The Ballad Of John And Yoko” (The Beatles…don’t stay with her, John!!!) #9 “Color Him Father” (The Winstons…great tune) #10 “What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)” (Jr. Walker & The All Stars…and this is in my all time top ten as well…finally found a radio station, WMTR 1250 AM…where the DJ’s don’t talk over the intro to this one, which is simply the single best opening for a rock ‘n’ roll tune, ever…sooooo ….this was one helluva week, sports fans, as the New York Mets were creating excitement of their own at Shea Stadium…the 1969 Miracle Mets)
Golf Quiz Answer: In this year’s Masters and U.S. Open, only two Americans have been in the top 15 in both…Brandt Snedeker (T-15, T-11) and Bo Van Pelt (T-8, T-14). [Source: Golf World] Some are actually picking Van Pelt to be the surprise winner this week at Royal St. George’s.
