Cleveland Indians Quiz: [Better know your Chief Wahoo history for this one] 1) Who is the only Indian with 2,000 career hits? 2) Name the three Indians to hit 45 or more home runs in a season. 3) Who is the only Indian to accumulate 1,000 RBI in his career? Answers below.
So this is day nine of my giant loop originating in Charlotte and I’m kind of ready to get home. Not that I haven’t had a great time. Saturday, Johnny Mac and I did the sports thing here in Asheville, as us two Mets fans watched our team almost suffer a season-killing loss when centerfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis overran an easy pop that should have been out number three in the top of the ninth against the Giants, allowing San Fran to tie it. But the Mets thankfully pulled the game out in the bottom of the inning, 5-4. Next, it was on to the Asheville Tourists (Rockies) Class A game against the Rome Braves. Very quaint stadium. Good fun. Then back to Johnny’s new place (he and the Missus having just moved down from the Poconos) to watch a depressing Rangers-Senators playoff game. I was back into hockey this year, at least for the Stanley Cup chase, after the Rangers superb regular season where they were first in the East; only now they face elimination in Ottawa on Monday night. This, folks, will be unbelievably depressing for New York and its fans if the Rangers can’t pull it out.
And I can’t help but add, lots of good pulled pork barbecue, of course. There is a takeout place, Okie Dokie, down the road from Johnny’s home that supplied our meal for Saturday. Super good.
Sunday, I had to do some work (you know, like this) and then Johnny, Ellen and I went to a “mission” college basketball game at UNC-Asheville. As in ACC “All-Stars” vs. Crossfire, a mission team. Tyler Zeller and Miles Plumlee played, but the rest were basically scrubeenies. As for the “mission,” let’s just say the three of us left early and I don’t want to offend anyone. I will admit I was foaming at the mouth for some beer that wasn’t being offered at the game, let alone I wasn’t totally prepared for some of the stuff being presented.
So we went to a brew pub, Lab, that was awesome. Thank you, Johnny and Ellen.
Ball Bits
–As is well known among baseball aficionados, the Mets have never had a no-hitter in their now 51-year history, a remarkable stat. But before Saturday, six who left the Mets went on to hurl no-nos…Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, Mike Scott, Dwight Gooden, Hideo Nomo and David Cone.
Now add a seventh…Philip Humber of the Chicago White Sox, who ended up tossing the 21st perfect game in baseball history, 4-0 over Seattle.
Humber’s a great story. The Mets selected him 3rd overall in the 2004 draft (Justin Verlander taken right before him), but he immediately suffered arm issues, underwent Tommy John surgery, didn’t have the velocity when he came back, pitched a few games for the Mets in two cups of coffee, and then was part of the 2008 deal with the Twins for Johan Santana.
Humber didn’t win a major league game until 2010 and last year finally found a spot in the rotation with Chicago, where he went 9-9 with a solid 3.75 ERA. So Saturday was just the 29-year-old’s 30th career start. Congratulations, Philip. I hope you have a great year and are rewarded with a good contract.
–On Saturday, the Yankees were down 9-0 to the Red Sox up in Fenway and came back to win 15-9; tied for the largest comeback win in Yankee history. But at least A-Rod was 0-for-5! He’s just got 4 RBI in the first 15 games.
Needless to say, BoSox manager Bobby Valentine isn’t off to the best of starts in Beantown, 4-10, and he’s catching a ton of heat, in no small part because Bobby V. can’t keep his mouth shut and he’s already alienating his players. He’s still a solid manager, though, and I think the New York Daily News’ Mike Lupica summed up the situation perfectly.
“Bobby V. did this to the Red Sox? Seriously? Well, here is what Valentine didn’t do, whether the Yankees scored seven in the seventh and seven in the eighth off his team or not: He didn’t manage the Red Sox last September. Terry Francona did.
“Valentine isn’t the manager whose star players took advantage of him down the stretch while things were falling apart faster than the Secret Service falls apart now.”
And as Lupica goes on to write, it isn’t Valentine who’s responsible for the $140 million contract handed Carl Crawford, or the unseemly deal granted pitcher John Lackey.
Friday night, the Red Sox celebrated Fenway Park’s 100th anniversary…I was reading a story on some of Fenway’s greatest moments and three involving Ted Williams I particularly liked. The 1946 All-Star Game at Fenway when Williams went 4-for-4 (with a walk), had a home run, scored four runs and knocked in five. And his farewell on September 28, 1960, when he homered in his final at-bat, No. 521.
Of course you had the other great moment involving Williams. The 1999 All-Star Game when The Kid, age 80, threw out the first pitch at Fenway. As Scott Miller of CBSSports.com notes, “cradled inside that ballpark one last time, love washing over him as three generations’ worth of players lingered with him in the infield, three generations of fans hovered over him from the stands, cameras flashing, history beckoning, scrapbooks drooling.
“ ‘I remember walking back toward the dugout after that thinking, ‘We’ll never have a moment like this in baseball again,’ Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn said this week. ‘It was unbelievable.’”
–Cough cough…the brilliant Theo Epstein, who was of course part of the 7-20 September the Red Sox had last year, is now GM of the Cubs and he’s off to a sterling 4-12 start. But we’re told we must give him and his new staff time. And so we will…until Wednesday.
–You know who I’m on record as saying I kind of hope does well this season? Former Yankee pitcher A.J. Burnett. I can’t explain it…probably just because I’d like to see his new team, Pittsburgh, have its first winning season in 20! I mean Pittsburgh has great fans and a great stadium (as yours truly experienced last September), but you can’t expect them to come out in droves for a freakin’ loser. So it was good to see them win on Saturday, 2-0, over St. Louis behind Burnett’s 7 shutout innings (7 Ks) in his debut following a freak spring training injury.
–And how about Dodgers superstar Matt Kemp’s start? After 16 games, Kemp is hitting .450 with 9 homers and 22 RBI (while teammate Andre Ethier has knocked in 21). As former California Governor Ronald Reagan would have said, “Not bad…not bad at all.”
[By the way, the April record for home runs is 14, held by Albert Pujols, 2006, and A-Rod, 2007.]
–Speaking of Albert Pujols…in the Angels’ first 16 games he has 0 home runs and 4 RBI, while batting .246. He too, we’re told, deserves more time because Albert always hits.
–Saturday, Johnny Mac and I are discussing the Rangers’ Josh Hamilton and J. Mac thinks he could have been the best pure baseball player of all time. He has a point. I mean Hamilton didn’t have his first full season until he was 27 due to his myriad drug and alcohol issues. It’s amazing he’s still alive, let alone playing in the big leagues.
So on Sunday, Hamilton goes 3-for-3 and ups his average to .418 with 7 home runs and 17 RBI in the Rangers’ first 16 games. As I noted awhile back, his contract situation is going to be fascinating. I still like my idea of giving him two years guaranteed (not the five he thinks someone will give him) and then a rolling one-year guarantee if he meets minimum conduct standards. [He turns 31 on May 21.]
–The Cincinnati Reds franchise picked up win No. 10,000 the other day.
–Mark R., with my recent mention of former All-Star outfielder Rocky Colavito, reminded me of a time he was watching the “Game of the Week” with Dizzy Dean doing the announcing, when Colavito, then with Cleveland, went into right-center to track down a Yankee’s drive up the gap in Yankee Stadium. Colavito gets to the ball, wheels and attempts to throw the guy out who is attempting to stretch a double into a triple.
Well, the Yankee got to third safely as Rocky’s throw landed 8-10 rows into the stands, on the fly, and the ball seemed to be still rising. Said Dizzy Dean (paraphrasing):
‘If I was the manager, I’d move him to the mound just to scare the hitters.’
–An anonymous New Jersey man paid $1.2 million for the rare 1909 Honus Wagner card I’ve written about, in line with expectations. The quality of the card isn’t the best.
MJ’s Bobcats
Entering Sunday evening’s game, the Charlotte Bobcats were 7-55. Phil W. passed along a piece from FoxSports.com and I apologize I don’t see the author’s name. But the scribe wrote in part:
“The 66-game season might have been tough on players’ bodies, but for fans it’s been an unqualified, if unintended, success. Burgeoning rivalries were intensified. New ones were born. Except for a couple of nights for the San Antonio Spurs, each game mattered.
“What’s more, it was a merciful season. Gone was the malaise that typically infects the NBA between February and March. Finally, and perhaps most humane, the Charlotte Bobcats played 14 fewer games….
“Of course, no one would care about the Charlotte Bobcats if they weren’t owned by Michael Jordan…By now he should be identifiable to all as the worst owner in the game (an unofficial title I hereby take from Jim Dolan and bequeath Jordan). Worse still, it’s becoming clear that his two careers – one in uniform, the other in a suit with too many buttons – are inversely proportional. As great as he was as a player, well, that’s how bad he might turn out as an owner and front-office guy.
“It’s difficult to feel much sympathy for a kid who won an NCAA championship and stands to be the first pick after just a few months of college ball. But Kentucky’s Anthony Davis deserves better….
“I’ve seen some deplorable owners in my day. There’s the aforementioned Dolan, and one of my personal favorites, Leon Hess, the man who consigned the Jets to Giants Stadium. Jordan might not be as pernicious or out of touch. But he’s in a class by himself.”
Here’s the bottom line. Aside from his awful player personnel moves as both general manager and owner over the years, like drafting Kwame Brown with the first pick, his work ethic is abysmal.
But now Michael Jordan is just four games away “from being the worst of all time.”
More Stuff
–I just saw the vicious elbow the Lakers’ Metta World Peace (aka “Dirtball of the Year” candidate Ron Artest) threw on Oklahoma City’s James Harden. The a-hole should be suspended not only for the playoffs, but the first ten games of next season as well. He is just a bad person. Period. I detest the guy.
–It’s finally here…the NFL draft on Thursday (with rounds 2-3, Friday, and 4-7, Saturday). I’m kind of pumped to see who my Jets take, but all the teams are worried they’ll end up with a classic bust, like 2007 No. 1 overall pick Jamarcus Russell, or No. 2 overall from 1998 (behind Peyton Manning), Ryan Leaf. As a story in the AP had it…you can point to a slew of others…
Akili Smith, Charles Rogers, Courtney Brown, Joey Harrington, Brian Bosworth, Brady Quinn, Tony Mandarich.
—Robert Griffin III is being criticized by anonymous scouts. As CBSSports.com’s Mike Freeman writes:
“So here we go again. Another draft, another franchise quarterback who happens to be black, portrayed as fake and selfish. Your turn under the racial microscope, Robert Griffin III. Congratulations!
“There’s no weed, jail, hookers, meth, pick-pocketing, ho’ing, schmo’ing, Wonderlic-blowing, car jackin’, tantrum-throwing, grade fixing or middle finger raising that has been associated with Griffin. By almost every account, by almost any rational person in the NFL who has met him, the biggest two words you hear about Griffin are: class act.
“Now, everyone has their issues and secrets. None of this is to portray Griffin as Nelson Mandela. But he’s also not the person described by two scouts in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. One said this: ‘Everybody is just assuming because of the Heisman and the socks and all that B.S….they are ignoring a lot of bad tape that he’s had. I don’t think he has vision or pocket feel, which to me are the two most important components of quarterbacking. He’s just running around, winging it. He’s [Michael] Vick, but not as good a thrower.’…
“A second scout also questioned how Griffin treats others.” Additionally, the first guy compared RG3 to Cam Newton as well as Vick.
So Freeman wonders why Griffin is only compared to other black quarterbacks. “I’ve never felt compelled to compare Larry Bird only to Rick Barry.”
–Johnny Mac and I were debating the draft in terms of QBs and we came to one agreement. Russell Wilson is going to make someone very happy. The best compliment we can pay the guy is simply this… “He’s a quarterback.” He’s a leader. A guy you know will command the respect of his teammates.
–A Minnesota Senate committee narrowly approved a public subsidy for a new football stadium for the Vikings, so the project has new life. The team plays in the Metrodome this season, but then the lease expires and they’d play at the Univ. of Minnesota while a new stadium is built.
—Larry Brown back to coaching, at SMU? Really? Oh, what the hell.
–After 38 years leading the Tennessee women’s basketball program, Pat Summitt announced she would step aside, making way for longtime assistant Holly Warlick to take over the Lady Vols. A year ago Summitt announced she had early-stage dementia but she soldiered on.
Pat Summitt has won more college basketball games than any man or woman (1,098), along with 8 NCAA titles.
–After all his bitching this season, Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard underwent back surgery and is out for the season, including the upcoming Olympics. But while he’s expected to make a full recovery, has he played his last game in Orlando? One would think so.
–No doubt, the Stanley Cup Playoffs have been rough. Raffi Torres of the Phoenix Coyotes was handed a 25-game suspension for a hit on Chicago’s Marian Hossa in Game 3. Phoenix leads the series 3-2.
—Kenyans took the two top spots in the London Marathon. Can you imagine the decisions team officials have to make to select the three men and women for the Olympics? One guy who was a favorite for the gold pulled out midway through the London event and is now very questionable to make the squad. I mean you’ve got like 7 or 8 legitimate gold medal contenders for each race just from Kenya.
–Every now and then you need a week off from the PGA Tour, a good example being this weekend’s Valero Texas Open. The field was pathetic (no knock on the good people setting up the tourney…they were just a victim of the timing) and I had zero desire to check out a minute’s worth of action. Anyway, Ben Curtis won his fourth tour title and first since 2006.
–So on Saturday, I was driving from Johnson City, Tenn., to Asheville on beautiful Rt. 23 (I-26). As spectacular a drive as I’ve been on in the country (except the PCH in California), and I stopped in the Tennessee Welcome Center on the border with North Carolina. I mean to tell you, it was the prettiest rest stop I’ve seen…and told the folks there that. [Plus it has clean bathrooms, sports fans! New Jersey, hands down, has the worst.]
But one mile from the place, as I’m careening down the mountain, I see a dead black bear up against the median, which told me a few things. One, the poor bear didn’t reckon on not being able to vault the median in time, and, two, that there are really a lot of bears in the mountains. This being Appalachian Trail country, you couldn’t pay me a $1 million to walk even 25 miles of it alone. This is the area where over the years hikers have been killed by bears. Plus you have, err, Mountain Men to deal with. I mean it’s desolate in that part of Tennessee/North Carolina.
So about nine miles later I get to the North Carolina Welcome Center. Heck, it too was gorgeous. Spectacular views, a little trail to a lookout, bird houses so the sound of chirping was everywhere (in case you haven’t gathered over the years, I’ll put myself in the top ten in the country on the Bird Lover list). I told the girl at the desk about seeing the dead bear and she immediately got on the phone with Tennessee officials. Not sure whether next of kin were also notified.
As Director of Shark Attacks and Public Safety for Bar Chat, Bob S., noted, it’s safe to say the Spring Offensive has begun. There have been all sorts of Great White sightings around the world and the other day, a 20-year-old body boarder was killed by “a giant great white…some 5 meters long” in a Cape Town, South Africa bay popular for swimmers and surfers. [Another fellow was killed here in the past six months or so.]
As reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, the shark bit off the victim’s right leg, “a complete amputation, below the hip.” The guy never had a chance. The leg was never found.
Immediately after, six large sharks were spotted in the area.
–We note the passing of drummer and singer, Levon Helm, best known for his work with The Band, after a long bout with throat cancer. He was 71.
Born in 1940 in Elaine, Arkansas, he was raised on the family’s cotton farm in Turkey Scratch, Ark., and started playing guitar at 8. Back in 1970 he told Time magazine:
“You get out of school in May, and that’s when you’ve already started planting cotton. You work from there right through till September, and the only break is the Fourth of July. I found out at about the age of 12 that the way to get off that stinking tractor, out of that 105-degree heat was to get on that guitar.”
“During The Band’s heyday – from 1968 to 1976 – Mr. Helm sang many of its most enduring songs, including ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,’ ‘The Weight’ and ‘Up On Cripple Creek.’
“Director Martin Scorsese’s documentary, ‘The Last Waltz,’ filmed in 1976 and released in 1978, chronicled the final concert appearance by The Band’s original members: guitarist Robbie Robertson, organist Garth Hudson, bassist Rick Danko and pianist Richard Manuel.
“Many of their songs reflected a fascination with American history and culture, particularly the Deep South. ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down’ (1969), credited to Robertson, was from the perspective of a Confederate soldier who recounts his losses during the Civil War. Mr. Helm, the son of an Arkansas cotton farmer, was The Band’s only American. The other four members were Canadians.”
Helm would go on to solo success, receiving two Grammy Awards for his albums “Dirt Farmer” and the follow-up, “Electric Dirt” (2007, 2009). And he took a few spins as an actor, including playing Loretta Lynn’s father in “Coal Miner’s Daughter.” He also served as narrator for “The Right Stuff.”
–And a few notes on the passing of Dick Clark, 82, which I didn’t have a chance to do last time. The Washington Post’s Becky Krystal noted that during “American Bandstand’s” run, Washington Post TV critic Lawrence Laurent once “called him a bland mediocrity, adding that Mr. Clark ‘was final proof that one need not be handicapped by lack of performing talent to succeed in television.”
When Dick Clark presented the idea for “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” to ABC, he pitched it as a hipper alternative to Guy Lombardo. And what a lineup he had that first year, 1972: Three Dog Night, Helen Reddy, Al Green, and Blood, Sweat and Tears.
Clark was born in Bronxville, New York, and grew up nearby in Mount Vernon, where he was high school class president and voted “Most Likely to Sell the Brooklyn Bridge.” He majored in advertising at Syracuse University, where he also worked the campus radio station.
“(Clark) wound up emceeing the radio version of WFIL’s televised ‘Bandstand’ teen dance program. When Bob Horn, the host of the TV ‘Bandstand’, was arrested on drunken driving charges in 1956, Mr. Clark, who had long eyed Horn’s job, became the replacement. Mr. Clark’s youthful, clean-cut image had finally enhanced his appeal….
“Although various cities across the country had their own versions of a bandstand program, Mr. Clark persuaded ABC to pick up his Philadelphia-based show for national broadcast in 1957.”
Ah, the salesman. As he once told Rolling Stone magazine, “I’m not gonna sit here and tell you I did this solely to keep music alive. (My chief goal was to) perpetuate my own career, first and foremost, and secondly the music.”
In the late 1950s, Clark evaded charges in the payola scandal sweeping the music industry, as his testimony to Congress was described as “unflappable,” though ABC forced him to divest himself of all record-related businesses. Nonetheless, he was a millionaire by age 30, with an interest in 33 enterprises.
But when it came to his ear for music, Dick Clark wasn’t a total genius. As his obit in USA TODAY by Gary Levin notes:
“He basically ignored the British Invasion, figuring the Beatles would never be big, and gravitated to the tamest pop acts he could find. He was diehard mainstream – always keeping his eye on what would sell in America and therefore ensure his success.”
Among Clark’s many angles, I didn’t know he was responsible for introducing Ed McMahon to Johnny Carson.
Top 3 songs for the week 4/26/69: #1 “Aquarius / Let The Sunshine In” (The 5th Dimension) #2 “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy” (Blood, Sweat & Tears) #3 “It’s Your Thing” (The Isley Brothers)…and…#4 “Hair” (The Cowsills) #5 “Only The Strong Survive” (Jerry Butler) #6 “Twenty-Five Miles” (Edwin Starr) #7 “Galveston” (Glen Campbell) #8 “Time Is Tight” (Booker T. & The M.G.’s) #9 “Dizzy” (Tommy Roe) #10 “Sweet Cherry Wine” (Tommy James and The Shondells…huge car tune for your editor…best sung when slightly lubed…but below 0.08, kids…be a responsible car singer)
*The ’69 Mets were just 6-10 and six games back on April 26. But oh what a year they would go on to have.
Cleveland Indians Quiz Answers: 1) Napoleon Lajoie is the only Indian with 2,000 hits in a Cleveland uniform. Lajoie (1896-1916), had 2,046 of his career 3,242 hits with the Indians. Tris Speaker is next at 1,965 and Earl Averill third at 1,903. 2) 45 home runs: Jim Thome, 52 (2002); Albert Belle, 50 (1995); Thome 49 (2001); Belle, 48 (1996); Manny Ramirez, 45 (1998). 3) Earl Averill* is the only Indian with 1,000 RBI at 1,084.
*Averill is a Hall of Famer (Veterans Committee, 1975, after never receiving more than 5% of the vote in the first go ‘round) who didn’t get started in the major leagues until age 27. He would play 11 years of his career (1929-41) in Cleveland, and lifetime, the 5’9” 172 lb. Averill hit .318 with 238 homeruns, 2,019 hits, and 128 triples to go with his 1,164 career ribbies.
Amazing that for Cleveland’s long history, the franchise stats are so puny on the hitting end. Next time we take a look at their pitching.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday.
