Baseball Quiz: [Questions courtesy of George Will] 1) From 2000 through 2009, Roy Halladay pitched the most shutouts, 14. Who led the 1970s with 44? 2) What pitcher won World Series games in three decades? 3) Who won a batting title during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s? Answers below.
Tiger and Stevie
So news of Tiger Woods dumping Steve Williams as his caddie broke right as I was posting the last chat so here’s some outside opinion, knowing that I said in this space awhile ago that Tiger should make this move. Williams was with Woods for 13 years and 63 PGA Tour victories. Williams said he and Tiger had kept it a secret for a few weeks so as not to put undue attention on Williams’ partnership with Adam Scott at the U.S. and British Opens.
“(Tiger’s) parted ways with two remarkably successful swing coaches in Butch Harmon and Hank Haney. He’s divorced from his wife, Elin. He ditched a putter that helped him earn more than $100 million. He’s been unable to regain his health. And he’s lost the aura that made him the greatest golfer of his generation, perhaps of all time. But he still had Stevie.”
Williams is fuming. “You know, when I write my book, it’ll be the time I decide what I write. It’ll just be one of those interesting chapters in the book.”
Williams added: “You could say I’ve wasted the last two years of my life. I’ve stuck with Tiger and been incredibly loyal. I’m not disappointed I’ve been fired – that’s part of the job – but the timing is extraordinary.”
Golfweek reports that Tiger was ticked when the arrangement Williams had with Scott went beyond the U.S. Open. With his injury, Tiger had granted Stevie permission to handle Scott’s bag at Congressional, but when Williams showed up two weeks later with Scott, Woods ended the relationship.
“On Wednesday, Woods fired Steve Williams, the belligerent caddie who has been his buddy for the last dozen years and his tell-the-world-to-drop-dead alter ego.
“With hindsight, maybe Williams was always the tip-off to Woods. Only a man with issues, and plenty of them, hires a sidekick whose explicit job is to show everything his boss wishes he could show but can’t – especially anger.
“Tiger cussed the bad shots for himself. But for the rest, including hostility toward his oversaturated-celebrity life, as well as a hidden private life, part of Williams’ task was maintaining a barbed-wire wall if Woods preferred it. Smack down the cameras, tell off the fans, bulldoze a path, go get ‘em Stevie.”
Boswell then speaks of the relationship that Jack Nicklaus had with caddie Angelo Argea, and Tom Watson’s with Bruce Edwards.
“Argea and Edwards had relationships with their stars that showed the solid mental health and self-knowledge of the players as well as the best personal qualities in the caddie. Tiger and Stevie were the opposite.
“Woods had much to hide, including enormous anger – perhaps due in part to a life encased in an artificial child-prodigy bubble with driven parents sitting on each shoulder. Whatever the cause, Williams was assigned to act out how Tiger, with that yacht named ‘Privacy,’ really felt about all the invasions of celebrity that he resented. Woods loved the rewards of being the Greatest Athlete in the World. But he hated the job so much, he’s now destroyed it….
“On the PGA Tour, some have doubted the seriousness of Woods as a ‘new man.’ New swing and new injuries, yes, but was he a man constantly trying to change himself, as he claims? Isn’t Stevie still on his bag? If you are going to confront an addiction, aren’t you supposed to change as many symbols and memories of that past as possible?
“To Williams, who appears to carry little if any blame for anything, and plenty of credit for doing his part in 13 major championships, the firing has clearly been a bitter ending….
“Perhaps Woods, as his left knee and Achilles’ tendon recover, as he rebuilds his swing and as he truly looks forward to a completely fresh start, simply saw this as an appropriate time to break a tie that was overdue to be severed.
“In the best-case scenario, Woods fired Williams because he believes that he no longer needs a caddie who will help him keep a wall around his life and express some of the hostility he feels toward the outside world.
“When Woods comes back to golf with a new caddie, that will also be a fascinating decision. And one that may tell us more about the state of Woods himself than it does about the status of his game.”
“Wait, let me be more to the point: For Stevie Williams to get what he truly deserves, then Tiger Woods should rehire him next Monday, solely so he can fire him again next Tuesday. And maybe do it three or four more times. Maybe then say, publicly, ‘Hmmm…maybe I’ll hire Steve back…’ just so he can then say, publicly, ‘Nah.’
“I’ll put this as succinctly as I can: I have covered sports for a living for 25 years. For most of those years I’ve covered professional sports, which means I’ve endured some of the basest, most odiferous behavior patterns ever. I’ve encountered egos, and sociopathic narcissism, and the kind of corrosive, offensive diatribes that would make an HBO documentarian blush. I’ve met some boors in my day.
“None of them was as coarse, as ill-mannered, as arrogant, as lacking in basic grace and dignity as Williams, who didn’t just fancy himself as Tiger’s caddie, but as his Luca Brasi, too: a henchman/button man who tore into anything in their path. Forget the fact that he all but regularly put contracts out on photographers who would snap their cameras at times Williams deemed inappropriate – god forbid these great unwashed actually, you know, do their jobs.
“No. On three separate occasions, in close proximity to galleries, I saw Stevie Williams advise three different paying fans to do anatomically impossible gestures. This wasn’t preceded by, ‘Excuse me,’ or, ‘Sorry to bother you,’ or even ‘We’re trying to work here.’
“All three times, a fan made the mistake of yelping something to the tune of ‘We love you, Tiger, you’re the man!’ And Steve Williams’ retort was, ‘Get the bleep out of the way and go bleep yourself.’
“Charming guy. And it was nice of him to take the news so well, too, playing the victim now, talking about how he lectured Tiger after the scandal that he would have to earn his, Stevie’s, respect back. Which begs the question of course.
“Who wants a guttersnipe’s respect in the first place?….
“He goes away now. He wasn’t the first high-profile caddie to get pink-slipped by his boss. But he may be the first that has people wanting to send thank-you notes to the boss.
For the record I just have to note some of my own past comments.
“One thing Tiger must do is fire caddie Steve Williams.”
“But then there’s caddie Steve Williams who refuses to shut up, while whining every chance he has….
“Tiger needs a coach, though I was thinking about whether he should replace caddie Steve Williams, just to shake things up, but that’s probably best done at the end of the year.”
“Now, I think Tiger will definitely dump him. The last thing Tiger wants is a guy who can’t keep his mouth shut, see Fluff Cowan.”
Separately, 80-year-old BBC golf broadcaster Peter Alliss had the following thoughts on Tiger in Golf Magazine.
Q: Do you think he’ll surpass Jack Nicklaus, who has 18 major wins?
Allis: No. I never thought he would. I’ve always said that you have to take health and acts of God into account. Look at his knee. Look at the extramarital affairs. His confidence appears to have eroded in a sport where confidence is everything. It wouldn’t surprise me if he starts winning again, but the aura is gone. It’s possible he wins one or two [more majors], but I don’t think he catches Jack. I’ve watched Tiger since he was 15. He’s changed. He used to be nicer. By the time he got to 24, 25 years old, he was famous, famous, famous. Unprecedented publicity. The smile disappeared. He was in a bubble. He was being carried around on a wooden frame like he was Cleopatra. He became grumpy. He gave nothing to the public and hasn’t done anything to recapture their affection.
Barry Halper / Dirtball!
This was indeed shocking, the depth of it…a story in Sunday’s New York Post:
“Treasure trove is baseball’s history in the faking”
“Ruled foul: Shock as top collector is revealed as scammer-abilia king”
“In 1985, five New York Yankees gathered at the Stadium to pose with George Steinbrenner for The Sporting News, each wearing an old-time Hall of Famer’s vintage jersey and paste-on handlebar mustache.
“The gimmicky cover story would hail the renowned collection of memorabilia king Barry Halper, whose $40 million cache of cards, balls, bats and prized antiquities was on par with Cooperstown’s, according to top baseball experts.
“Halper, also a 2 percent owner of the Yankees, stood by in a tan overcoat, his hand resting on the shoulder of all-time steals leader Rickey Henderson, who had put on a rare Ty Cobb uniform. Manager Yogi Berra sported a 1905 New York Giants jersey of legendary skipper John McGraw. Two more players and a coach donned uniforms once worn by Cy Young, ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson and Pud Galvin.
“ ‘That picture is the Mount Rushmore of uniform fraud,’ said authenticator Dave Grob.
“Six years after his death – and on the day the Hall of Fame inducts Roberto Alomar, Bert Blyleven and Pat Gillick – Halper and his remarkable legacy as the country’s top collector are being hit as hard as a Babe Ruth moon shot.
“The vaunted dealer, with a wing named after him in Cooperstown, has been unmasked as a con artist who hawked replicas and forgeries as one-of-a-kind gems.”
Oh, this is huge…and depressing for any collector. You can look up the story yourself, it’s quite extensive, but Halper allegedly paid people off to keep his secrets, and “The FBI already has carted away photos and documents from Halper’s collection that were allegedly swiped from the Boston Public Library, but not before some of the artifacts were auctioned by Sotheby’s in 1999 as part of a $30 million sale.”
A lot of us remember that sale, by the way. It was big stuff. I know I wrote about it then but it’s too early for my formal archives.
But on 9/27/00, I wrote this during a visit to Cooperstown:
“Barry Halper is in the Hall, too. Halper is the super fan who, as a youth growing up in Newark, N.J., started asking ballplayers for their uniforms….by the time he was out of high school, Halper had 74, the start of the greatest personal collection of baseball memorabilia ever. He finally sold it off and the Hall has about 20% of it….
“There is the case of Halper contacting the great Shoeless Joe Jackson’s widow in Greenville, S.C. He asked for her husband’s jersey. Mrs. Jackson handed over one from 1919. Amazing.”
“The lineup of those he duped includes Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig and actor Billy Crystal, who plunked down $239,000 for a 1960 Mickey Mantle glove that experts say wasn’t made until 1964 at the earliest. Oddly enough, Halper even persuaded Mantle and Reggie Jackson to vouch for prized rookie jerseys that weren’t really theirs. (Jackson forgot that he wore No. 31 with the Kansas City A’s in 1967, not the No. 9 jersey Halper had him authenticate.)”
The Post notes my Shoeless Joe story. “Barry Halper sure could tell a story.” Halper said of his supposed visit to Greenville, “She brought out the pieces, and I bought them for $150,” he claimed.
He did have two legitimate Honus Wagner cards, and some Babe Ruth documents that “would together fetch about $2 million today.”
But at least the Hall of Fame investigated some of the jerseys Halper gave them and returned those it deemed not to be authentic.
In 2007, an expert alerted the Hall to concerns a Ty Cobb autographed diary wasn’t real. The FBI concluded in 2009, the diary was written by the biographer.
Halper also claimed to have played at the Univ. of Miami under Jimmie Foxx. Not true. He said he collected the autographs of Foxx, Ruth and Mel Ott on a single piece of paper, at the time they were the only three to have hit 500 home runs. “The signatures of Foxx and Ruth appear forged.”
Mantle’s 1951 rookie jersey was “quietly returned to Halper.” It just wasn’t real. “This despite Mantle having signed the jersey on camera and scrawling a note to Halper that read: ‘To Barry, This is my rookie uniform. I wore No. 6 for the first half of the season.”
“One of the most valuable pieces, Ruth’s rookie Red Sox jersey – by itself worth more than $1 million – was exposed as a fake, as the manufacturer was wrong.”
And last October, the Hall made a shocking announcement: Halper’s Shoeless Joe Jackson jersey was also a phony. Between the dye and the fibers, it couldn’t have been made before 1941, and more likely the 1950s.
Ex-Commissioner Fay Vincent said Halper’s name must be removed from the Hall.
Jason Halper, Barry’s son, says his father had a reputation for honesty and integrity that was ‘second to none.’
“Collector Chris Sullivan considers himself a Halper victim after he bought a purported 1907 jersey of Boston third baseman Jimmy Collins for $31,000 in 1999. He now knows it’s a fake – it’s not even the right color.
“Sullivan, a Red Sox fan fleeced by a Yankee owner, is considering suing Halper’s estate.
“ ‘It seems like Barry Halper was the Madoff of memorabilia,’ he said.”
Note: Peter Nash is at work on the upcoming “Hauls of Shame: The Cooperstown Conspiracy and the Madoff of Memorabilia.”
Stories like this hit home because I’ve told you on more than one occasion that I have a great collection of signed Rock albums, including a Stones’ one with Brian Jones, as well as the Dave Clark Five, Beach Boys, Rascals, Diana Ross and the Temps (together), and some others…all, except one I got from the Four Tops in person, from the same Florida company. I’m convinced they’re real as in one instance, the DC Five piece, the guy I was dealing with knew for years I was looking for something and could have easily put together a forgery in two months, before he finally found what I was looking for. [The matting and framing is also first class.]
But, yes, there will always be a shred of doubt, as is probably the case with all of you who have such collections. I know one thing…I would never, ever buy baseball memorabilia. Except when I’m in Iowa next month, when I’ll go back to the Bob Feller museum and if there is any signed stuff left there, Mr. Feller having passed from the scene, I’ll grab it because that is one place you can be assured it’s real. [Don’t worry, Brad K.! Brad’s collection, with the revelation about Halper’s, is now second to the Hall’s. I’ve seen it. I keep telling him to hide it all.]
Ball Bits
–My man Adam Dunn of the White Sox is still mired in his historic slump. He has half-ass talked of quitting but with an average of .160 (2 for 65 against lefties), he is threatening to replace Rob Deer as having the worst batting average in history for a regular. Deer hit .179 in 1991 for Detroit, though he had 25 home runs. [Dunn just started his four-year, $56 million contract with the ChiSox.]
–In wrapping up my bit on Joe DiMaggio’s hitting streak, I forgot to note the professional record is 69 straight, set by Joe Wilhoit with Wichita of the Western League in 1919, a span in which he hit .512. Wilhoit played sparingly in the big leagues from 1916-1919, batting .257. He died in 1930 at the age of 44. DiMaggio has the second-longest professional streak, 60 games with the Seals of the Pacific Coast League in 1933.
—Seattle was 43-43 about two weeks ago. Now it is 43-58, after a franchise worst 15-game losing streak. Remarkable.
–The average home attendance through July 21 is 31,022 in the National League vs. 28,594 in the A.L. The Yankees and Phillies lead their respective leagues. Of course this is deceiving in that it’s “paid” vs. actual attendance.
–Thank god the Pirates pulled out their game on Sunday because I was beginning to feel like I really jinxed them when I announced I had purchased some tickets for mid-September, after which they proceeded to lose three-in-a-row.
–Looks like the NFL lockout will finally end on Monday, but, training camps and free agency may not begin until next Saturday. The preseason schedule would be played beginning Aug. 11, with the Hall of Fame Game already canceled.
–After my bit on the Women’s World Cup and the U.S. defeat, I can’t help but add a comment from Real Sports’ Bryant Gumbel.
“Can we stop coddling women in sports? Are we now so fearful of being labeled sexist that we can’t objectively assess the efforts of female athletes?….Had a men’s team turned in a similar performance, papers and pundits nationwide would have had a field day assailing the players, criticizing the coach, and demanding widespread changes to a men’s national team that flat out choked. Yet the common reaction to this ladies’ loss were simply expressions of empathy for the defeat of the unfortunate darlings and pride in their oh-so-heroic effort.”
–I missed that Darren Clarke was at 170-1 at the beginning of the British Open in the betting parlors there.
–So I’m looking at all the statistics from the British Open, stuff such as Dustin Johnson being the driving distance leader that week at 334.9, with Bubba Watson second and Gary Woodland third. Certainly no surprises there. I was just surprised to see Bo Van Pelt fourth.
But get this, 61-year-old Tom Watson was 51st! 294.4 yards. Heck, Steve Stricker was 66th in driving distance, Adam Scott 62nd.
[Stricker was tied for first in putting (again, no surprise) with Raphael Jacquelin.]
–So I was reading an interview with Greg Norman by Jamie Diaz in Golf Digest and as much as you think you know about Norman’s ill-fated career, the following is still startling.
“Norman once held the last-round lead in five consecutive professional majors, something no other player has done. In all, he had the fourth-round lead or a share of that lead in 14 majors: the Masters in 1986, ’87, ’89, ’96 and ’99; the U.S. Open in 1984, ’86 and ’95; the British Open in 1986, ’89, ’93 and 2008; and the PGA in 1986 and ’93. The first 14 times Tiger Woods had the lead or a share in a major on Sunday, he won all 14. [Norman won two…the British Opens of 1986 and ’93.] In evaluations that judge the historical significance of players by their victories in majors, Norman suffers the most.
“But there’s no denying Norman simply didn’t close at a rate a player of his ability should have. At crunch time, he made bad decisions and hit shockingly poor shots, book-ended by a badly pushed 6-iron on the 72nd at Winged Foot in 1984 and a badly pulled 6-iron on the 70th at Augusta to end his hopes in 1996. There’s plenty of evidence that Norman’s worst golf at winning time was worse than any other great player. Of the most consistent contenders in the game’s history, he could be the most fragile. According to Peter Thomson, who won five British Opens, his fellow Australian revealed ‘a tragic weakness in crisis.’”
—Sean O’Hair won his fourth PGA Tour event in capturing this week’s Canadian Open.
–In the European PGA Tour event in Stockholm, get this. Sweden’s Alex Noren won by seven despite shooting a fourth-round 77. Yup, he had quite a lead heading into the last…something like 11 shots.
–The University of North Dakota is struggling to keep its “Fighting Sioux” name and logo. If it wasn’t so hot out I’d pull my own Fighting Siouxwear out of the drawer, but the t-shirt is a heavier fabric than atmospheric conditions allow. The NCAA intends to impose sanctions on the school if it doesn’t back off. I’ll at least put on some war paint.
–So I watched another HBO Saturday night fight, this one a super lightweight championship affair featuring Amir Khan and Zab Judah, with Khan destroying Judah. The network hasn’t had a lot of success recently in terms of entertaining boxing. But I must say I love listening to Michael Buffer. I mean is there anyone in the world who does their job better?! I’m talking about you’re given a job (bagging groceries, selling mutual funds, hitting for the Mets, whatever) and you do it to the best of your ability every time. No one does, except Michael Buffer. He never fails to give an ‘A’ effort. I’m not talking about his “Let’s Get Ready to Rummm-bllllle!!!” Everything leading up to it and after. The guy is the professionals’ professional.
In other words…what I’m saying is I could be easily entertained on a Saturday night, sitting around with friends, drinking some domestic and listening to Michael Buffer introduce everyone in the crowd. And that’s a memo.
–I just had to note that with the death of the three hikers at Vernal Falls in Yosemite, at least eight have now been killed at the park this year. It turns out that the three in question, two guys, one girl, were idiots and had crossed over the barrier. Witnesses saw the girl accidentally slip into the water, then one guy fell in, and then the other who was trying to save the first two…all whisked down over the falls’ ledge. I just can’t imagine the future nightmares faced by those who witnessed it.
1,500 trek up to the top of Vernal Falls each day. There is zero danger if you follow the rules and stay behind the freakin’ barrier! But there will always be jerks. I’ve seen this countless times at the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare, Ireland. Especially before they put up new barriers (that you can still climb over), my buddies and I saw some incredible scenes of people with half their body over the cliff…and death 600 feet below.
–Here’s another jerk…Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty. Talk about a campaign that is floundering. He’s lucky to get 2 or 3 percent in national polls, let alone critical Iowa.
So what does he do? In an ad running in Iowa, calling his ‘new’ campaign “The American Comeback,” he features clips of the 1980 U.S. hockey team’s triumph over the Soviet Union at Lake Placid.
ABC Sports, to say the least, was not amused as it owns the exclusive rights to the footage. For this move alone, Pawlenty should just drop out.
–Update on the leopard attack I wrote of last time. It turns out the big cat injured 11, not six, in the Indian village though no one was killed. But the leopard, a protected species in India, unfortunately died. And so here at Bar Chat, we pause to reflect on a life well-lived……thank you.
–The weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal had a front page story on the fruit bats that inhabit the Royal Botanic Gardens, which are next to the Sydney Opera House. I was there about eight years ago and you’re walking through this beautiful spot but when you first look up you can only muse, ‘Holy S—!’ Thousands of these massive creatures, just hanging out. [The fruit bat is the one that transforms into Dracula, especially if you’ve been doing a lot of drugs.]
Anyway, the bats used to only hang out at night and then in 1989, they suddenly set up shop during the day as well and the problem is they are destroying some rare trees.
–Sorry, couldn’t care less about the death of Amy Winehouse, 27, and I know you know the following but just have to get it down for the archives…the others who died at the same age:
Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison and Brian Jones (an original member of the Rolling Stones for you younger folks out there).
—Speaking of wine, “An Australian winemaker’s hopes of breaking into the American market this season came crashing down on Friday, along with a 12-ton container holding more than $1 million worth of premium shiraz that toppled from a forklift and shattered on a warehouse floor.
“ ‘When they opened up the container, they said it was like a murder scene,’ the winemaker, Sparky Marquis, told The Australian Associated Press. ‘There was red everywhere.’
“The container held 462 cases of 2010 Velvet Glove Shiraz made by Mollydooker Wines, which sells for about $200 a bottle. The cases, representing about a third of the vintner’s annual production, were bound for the United States, where the wine was to make its debut in September.
“Amid the sea of shiraz and broken glass, there was one tantalizing consolation.
–Actually, one death I do have to make note of is that of James T. Molloy, 75, the 34th and last doorkeeper of the House of Representatives, who heralded the opening of joint sessions of Congress by bellowing, “Mr. Speaker, the president of the United States!”
Molloy announced the presence of five presidents, from Gerald R. Ford to Bill Clinton. But, after the 1994 elections in which Republicans took control of the House, the position was eliminated and the duties given to the sergeant at arms.
Molloy actually oversaw a budget of $6.8 million and supervised things like the House document room, press galleries, and even the barber shop. Plus he had to act as gopher in getting extra tickets in the balcony, stuff like that. [Dennis Hevesi / New York Times]
Top 3 songs for the week 7/22/72: #1 “Lean On Me” (Bill Withers) #2 “Too Late To Turn Back Now” (Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose) #3 “Alone Again (Naturally)” (Gilbert O’Sullivan…perhaps the most depressing song of all time)…and…#4 “Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl)” (Looking Glass…big hit at Wake Forest in my days there) #5 “(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don’t Want To Be Right” (Luther Ingram) #6 “Daddy Don’t You Walk So Fast” (Wayne Newton…ah yes, the King of Vegas) #7 “Where Is The Love” (Roberta Flack / Donny Hathaway…this one will sound good a 100 years from now) #8 “How Do You Do?” (Mouth & MacNeal…huh, forgot this one…and just YouTubed it…great tune!) #9 “Rocket Man” (Elton John…not bad) #10 “School’s Out” (Alice Cooper…this one has aged surprisingly well)
Baseball Quiz Answers: 1) Jim Palmer led the decade of the 70s with 44 shutouts. 2) Jim Palmer also won World Series games in three decades…1966, 1970, 1971, 1983. 3) George Brett won a batting title during three decades…1976, 1980, 1990.
Speaking of Palmer, I needed to be reminded just what a fantastic career he had. 268-152 record from 1965-84, with a 2.86 ERA. Palmer also had eight 20-win seasons and in each one pitched at least 274 innings and had 17 or more complete games. Ah yes, when men were men.
