Cleveland Indians Quiz: 1) Name the three 200-game winners in Cleveland history (all post-1920). 2) Name the career saves leader with just 139. 3) Who is the only 24-game winner post-1950? Answers below.
The Haskell Invitational
Note: The following was written Saturday, prior to Sunday’s race. I then pick up the action later.
American Pharoah arrived in New Jersey from his base in Del Mar, Calif., on Wednesday. Thursday morning, the colt made its first appearance on the rack for a lap around the one-mile oval. Thousands then showed up early Friday morning at Monmouth Park to catch a glimpse of Pharoah in his first real workout.
Monmouth Park is actually 145 years old and Darby Development LLC, which operates the venue, increased the Haskell purse to $1.75 million from $1 million, making it the richest purse ever offered in New Jersey. [And an act that immediately increased the field.]
Trainer Bob Baffert said in a conference call from California the other day: “It’s amazing what he’s been through [and] is still right there. That’s the whole key. He had to show me something before I put him on a plane to Jersey.”
Baffert, as everyone knows, has won the Haskell seven times, including last year with Bayern, and he has a routine for race day. He always goes to Max’s Hot Dogs in Long Branch before the big race.
But how have recent Triple Crown winners fared in their return to the races after winning the Belmont Stakes?
Affirmed (1978) won the Jim Dandy Stakes in Saratoga and went on to 8 wins, 3 places and a show in its 13 post-TC starts.
Seattle Slew (1977) finished fourth in its first post-Belmont effort at Hollywood Park and in 8 starts post-TC, won 5 and placed twice.
Secretariat (1973) won in the Arlington Invitational, and had just six post-TC starts total, winning four, with two place results.
Upstart, who finished 18th in the Kentucky Derby, but is the second choice in early wagering; Competitive Edge; Keen Ice (3rd in the Belmont); Mr. Jordan; Nonna’s Boy (then scratched); Top Clearance; and Don’tbetwithbruno.
Early odds as I go to post on Pharoah were 1-5 (a $2 win bet would pay $2.40).
By the way, the purse breakdown is the owner of the winner receives $1,100,000 of the $1.75 million purse. $330,000 to second, $150,000 to third, $90,000 to fourth, $50,000 to fifth and $15,000 to sixth through last. [No entry or starting fees.]
In the $100,000 purse races being run Sunday, $60,000 goes to the winner, $20,000 to second, $10,000 to third. [Those have total fees of $1,500 to enter.]
So we move to Sunday….and I left my home in Summit at 9:30, planning on hitting major traffic as I headed down the Garden State Parkway, but noooo! I flew down and was parked at my hotel in one hour. So I walked about 15 minutes to the track and, err, had a Coors Light. The temps weren’t bad, there was a nice breeze, and after hanging out at the track awhile, I listened to country music outside the main stands, with a couple good groups there. And I had another domestic…and, err….
Anyway, I bet on a few races along the way. I mean picture I was settled in by 11:00 a.m. and the Haskell wasn’t until 5:50…but the time passed quickly.
So I lost the first three races I bet on, but then on my fourth call (the ninth race overall), I picked a 9-1 shot to win and voila! $21.20 for the kid. [I wasn’t betting a lot, boys and girls.] I then lost on the tenth, didn’t bet the eleventh, and we all waited for Pharoah, who proceeded not to disappoint. I had great seats in the Grandstand Balcony, right on the finish line, and it was a cool experience.
Just a great time…well worth it…and staying at a hotel walking distance away is the way to do it. Driving back up north after, on a summer Sunday in these parts, would have sucked.
So where next for Pharoah? Everyone is pointing to the Travers at Saratoga on Aug. 29, but Saratoga is also known as “the graveyard of champions.” Secretariat lost to Onion in the Whitney in the summer of his 3-year-old campaign. Affirmed finished ahead of Alydar in the Travers but was disqualified to second after interfering with his great rival on the far turn.
Plus Baffert believes the Saratoga track surface is quirky and tiring. His horses have not fared well on it either. Just one of the five horses he has saddled in the Travers won, Point Given in 2001. The aforementioned Bayern finished dead last in 2014.
So some are guessing the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 19 could make sense as the safest place for Pharoah to stay undefeated, and for Zayat to rake in some cash. Similar to the Haskell, Parx has a bonus of $50,000 each for the winning owner and trainer of a Triple Crown race. So Zayat and Baffert would receive $150,000 each. This would also provide six weeks to recover from the Haskell and another six weeks to prepare for the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
[If Pharoah does run in the Travers, he could become the only horse to win the Triple Crown and the Travers since Whirlaway in 1941.]
—What an amazing stretch for the Mets…much of it dreadful. Wednesday, with the trade deadline fast approaching, in the midst of what would be a desultory 7-3 loss to San Diego at Citi Field, second baseman Wilmer Flores learned through the grapevine (his teammates) that he was being traded with pitcher Zack Wheeler to Milwaukee for All-Star outfielder Carlos Gomez.
Flores, just 23 but a Met since he was signed at the age of 16, was visibly shedding some tears while out in the field. Because of social media, of course everyone in the stands knew about the trade and to their super credit, the fans began cheering Flores’ every move, seeing that it was his last game in a Mets uniform.
That was one angle. The other angle was why the heck was manager Terry Collins leaving Flores in the game? I joined hundreds of thousands on Twitter and such, pleading ‘take the guy out!’ The vast majority of us fans and outside observers who caught on to this situation around the country expressed their sympathy for Wilmer.
It was only after the game (which bizarrely featured 3 solo homers by Lucas Duda for the Mets’ 3 runs…the second Met to hit three in a home game in their 54-year history…yet second in just a few weeks…) that we learned two things. The trade for Gomez was off and Terry Collins had no clue the trade was even going down! [Terry and GM Sandy Alderson clearly don’t communicate that well.]
Well, Thursday morning, Wilmer Flores was national news…a major league baseball player crying on the field, but for the right reason. He didn’t want to leave the Mets organization and yet within hours he learns he was still on the team.
At the same time, Mets fans were not only livid at Alderson et al for once again proving so dysfunctional, we doubted the reason we were given for the trade falling through, that team doctors weren’t satisfied with Gomez’ medical issues. There were stories that, instead, it was all about the Brewers not coughing up some cash the Mets need.
Thursday afternoon, the Mets played the Padres in a day game and took a 7-1 lead, only to blow it, 8-7, after two excruciating rain delays. The Mets were within one out of winning it in the top of the ninth when the rain was coming down so hard, the umpires had no choice but to stop play. When the game finally resumed (after 44 minutes), closer Jeurys Familia gave up two hits and a three-run homer to Justin Upton and, after another rain delay (2 hrs. 52 min!), the Mets went meekly to conclude an absolutely crushing loss. It was the first time in 45 years the Mets gave up a 6-run lead at home.
Flores didn’t play Thursday, his emotions being all over the place, but Friday night, as the first-place Washington Nationals came to town for a critical 3-game series, the Mets 3 games back of the Nats, he was in the lineup. Matt Harvey was superb, perfect through 5 1/3, but the only Mets run in a 1-0 game to that point was driven in by none other than Wilmer Flores.
You see, Flores started at second and Mets fans were immediately on their feet, giving him a standing ovation, as he made a spectacular play on a grounder in the first. The tone was set for the rest of the night.
Flores had a clutch single to drive the run home in the fourth, but the Nats tied in the top of the eighth against a tiring Harvey (7 2/3, 1 earned, 9 Ks) and the game went into extra innings.
In the bottom of the 12th, Flores comes up and proceeds to hit a walk-off home run, his first in something like 147 at bats to boot. That is a storybook finish as good as any the game has seen in years.
Well now Washington’s lead was back down to two games entering Saturday night and the debut of slugger Yoenis Cespedes (18 HR 61 RBI with Detroit), the big bat Mets fans have been clamoring for. The trade for the outfielder, where the Mets gave up two promising minor league pitchers, was the culmination of a stretch that saw Alderson also bring in set-up man Tyler Clippard, Jose Uribe and Kelly Johnson. We have zero to complain about…and all four cost us a total of five minor league hurlers, none of whom was a lock to ever make the big-league team.
And so Saturday night, the Mets overcame a 2-0 deficit as Jacob deGrom struggled early and labored through six (but still only the two earned), while Lucas Duda continued to work his magic…two more home runs and a tie-breaking double for the third run. Duda now has 8 HR in his last seven games.
Sunday, with the lead down to one game….the Mets rode three home runs in the fifth inning, including another by Duda (9 in 8 games) to a 5-2 win behind Noah Syndergaard, a sweep and the two are now tied for first. As Ronald Reagan would have said… “Not bad, not bad at all.”
Meanwhile, that other team in New York, the first place Yankees, have been carried by Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez for much of the season. Tex hit two homers in a losing effort against the Rangers on Thursday, and then in a 13-6 win over the White Sox, Tex had another two* and six RBIs to run his season totals to 28 and 73. Startling. Just as in the case of A-Rod, there wasn’t a soul around these parts expecting these two to have monsters seasons.
All A-Rod did Friday is go 2-2, 3 walks, an RBI, and 4 runs scored.
*Friday, Teixeira homered from both sides of the plate for a major league record 14th time.
By the way, in the Friday win, the Yanks’ Nate Eovaldi improved to 11-2 despite a 4.30 ERA! You think he is getting some run support? The Mets’ Matt Harvey, by contrast, is 9-7, 2.91 ERA.
Saturday the Yanks had a letdown, losing 8-2, but Sunday, the Yanks piled it on again, 12-3, with Teixeira hitting No. 29.
–As for the trade deadline, some thoughts from Bob Nightengale / USA TODAY:
“The New York Mets got lucky, the San Diego Padres got the jitters, the New York Yankees acted strangely, the Boston Red Sox went to sleep, and the best trades of the day amounted to nothing more than rumors.
“The non-waiver trade deadline went quietly Friday afternoon, but…the shape of the 2015 season is clear.
“Funny how a baseball season is six months, and 162 games long, but it’s two weeks that determines its course. It’s always the two weeks after the All-Star break.
“It determines who stands pat, who goes for it, who waves the white flag, and who is left screaming into the night.
“Who knew that the Detroit Tigers would become the biggest sellers in baseball, and the Toronto Blue Jays, Houston Astros and Kansas City Royals would be the biggest buyers?
“Who knew that the San Diego Padres would talk a big game, but when it came time to put up or shut up, they folded their cards?
“Who knew that the White Sox, who 10 days ago were ready to dump players, and sell Jeff Samardzjia to the highest bidder, would hang onto everyone and come within one phone call away from landing Yoenis Cespedes from the Tigers?
“Who knew that the Mets would do nothing all year, tease everyone by agreeing to acquire Carlos Gomez of the Milwaukee Brewers, pull out of the deal, and then come back and have Cespedes fall in their lap?” [Ed. I’m disappointed Nightengale, a major writer, didn’t note the Mets also picked up Uribe, Johnson and Clippard the last ten days as well.]
Meanwhile, the Brewers got a lot better package than Flores and Wheeler for Gomez, landing four of the Astros’ top 20 prospects, including prized outfielder Brett Phillips, while the Astros also got starter Mike Fiers, after picking up Scott Kazmir last week.
–So for the archives, where did some other big names go? Aramis Ramirez goes to Pittsburgh from Milwaukee. Shane Victorino to the Angels from Boston. Cole Hamels to the Rangers from Philadelphia. David Price to Toronto from Detroit. Mike Leake to San Francisco from Cincinnati Gerardo Parra to Baltimore from Milwaukee. Dan Haren to the Cubs from Miami. Virtually all of these guys were picked up for prospects, a ton of them in all.
–The Dodgers suffered a potentially big blow when they were forced to place Justin Turner and his .323 batting average on the 15-day DL because of a skin infection on his right thigh that required a trip to the emergency room Tuesday. While doctors are saying he’ll be able to resume baseball activities in about a week, these things can be unpredictable.
What isn’t unpredictable is the performance of Clayton Kershaw. A week after teammate Zack Greinke’s scoreless innings streak was stopped by the Mets at 45 2/3, fourth-longest in baseball history, Kershaw (9-6) extended his own to 37 with in a 3-1 win over the Angels Saturday, lowering his ERA to 2.37 in the process.
[Mike Trout was held in check on Saturday, going 0-for-3 against Kershaw in what was the first-ever matchup of MVPs, but he had returned from his wrist injury on Friday, going 3-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBIs in a 5-3 loss to the Dodgers.]
–In his Texas Rangers debut on Saturday, Cole Hamels gave up 5 earned in 7 2/3 as the Rangers lost to the Giants 9-7 in 11 innings.
–A few days ago, Mike Hessman hit his 15th home run of the season, 432nd of his career, tying Buzz Arlett’s nearly 80-year-old record for most home runs in the U.S. minor leagues.
Hector Espino holds the overall record for a minor leaguer with 484 home runs but because he played almost exclusively in the Mexican League, his record is considered unofficial. [Greg Hadley / Los Angeles Times]
Hessman, 37, last had a stint in the major leagues with the Mets in 2010 and has 14 career major league home runs in 233 at bats, but with a .188 average. He doubts he will be called up again.
–We note the passing of Chicago White Sox left-hander Billy Pierce. He was 88.
Pierce was a six-time All-Star and two-time 20-game winner for Chicago in the 1950s, going 186-152 for them, 211-169 overall, including a 16-6 campaign for San Francisco in 1962.
Talk about an underrated career, overall he made seven All-Star teams, leading the A.L. in ERA with a 1.97 mark in 1955 and also leading the league in strikeouts back in 1953.
The 1959 White Sox won the A.L. pennant, the first for the franchise since the infamous Black Sox of 1919. But he was hampered by a hip injury late in the season and was relegated to relief duty in the World Series that Chicago lost to the Dodgers in six. He then started twice in the 1962 Series that the Giants lost to the Yankees in seven.
The White Sox retired his No. 19 and erected a statue of him at their U.S. Cellular Field.
The NFL is Back
—Russell Wilson and Seattle reached agreement on a rather lucrative deal for the QB: 4 years, $87.6 million, $31 million signing bonus, $60 million guaranteed.
So Wilson joins Ben Roethlisberger, Colin Kaepernick and Cam Newton in the $60M guaranteed club.
–A few weeks ago I expressed my disgust with Jets star defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson when he was suspended four games for a drug offense (which meant he had been caught twice, under the league’s drug policy), because it was Richardson who criticized fans last season for their seeming lack of support (which was hardly the case…the team sucked…what did you want us to do?)
But what does Richardson do? He was arrested July 14 in suburban St. Louis for allegedly driving his Bentley at 143 miles per hour in a street racing incident, trying to evade police, with three family members on board, including a 12-year-old. When police tried to pull him over, he accelerated and pulled off I-64, turning off all of the vehicle’s lights and running a traffic light.
When he eventually turned into a driveway and the officers told him, at gunpoint, to exit the car because they saw him reach for something between his feet, Richardson complied, but that’s when police found a loaded semi-automatic handgun under the mat on the driver’s side.
Richardson was charged with resisting arrest, as well as five traffic violations.
To compound matters, he tried to hide it from the team, thinking he could handle the issue privately and no one would find out. Then, Thursday, the prosecutor spoke up as Richardson was at Jets training camp and he apologized a first time…but this was for his four-game suspension. Richardson actually said Thursday he told everyone in the Jets organization that “they don’t have to worry about my name being in the news again.” Richardson didn’t know the prosecutor was announcing the July 14 arrest at that time and that he faces criminal charges, though the handgun was legal, the prosecutor doesn’t believe Richardson was driving under the influence, and he wasn’t charged with child endangerment.
Friday, Richardson apologized again. “I just wasn’t smart, made a bad decision,” in trying to handle things himself.
New Jets Coach Todd Bowles said, “The biggest thing is working on him getting better as a person,” adding the team wasn’t planning on punishing Richardson themselves, though the NFL easily could under its personal-conduct policy. “Clearly, he needs some help,” said Bowles. “Right now, he’s going down a spiraling road.”
–July was a real barrel of monkeys for New York football fans, going back to the July 4 fireworks accident involving Jason Pierre-Paul. Friday, with the Giants holding their first training camp practice, there were no signs of JPP. The day before, owner John Mara told reporters, “I don’t know how many fingers he has. We know what we have read and what we have been told, but until we actually see the extent of the damage, it is hard to make any type of prediction as to what type of condition he is going to be in.”
Mara said he’s texted with Pierre-Paul, but Coach Tom Coughlin said it’s been nothing but silence.
The Giants have said they won’t do anything about his contract, including rescission of the franchise tag, until they see him.
–Buccaneers coach Lovie Smith announced on Friday that Jameis Winston, the first overall pick in this year’s draft, will be the starting quarterback.
“I would never put a guy in that position if he wasn’t ready for that….Jameis is ready to take the reins and go with it.”
–Finally, I went to post last time Wednesday morning, an hour before the New England Patriots held their first post-DeflateGate press conference, which opened with a statement by owner Robert Kraft, who apologized to Patriots fans for accepting the league’s punishment of the team, saying he believed he was expecting a quid-pro-quo situation with Tom Brady’s punishment.
“I was wrong to put my faith in the league,” Kraft said. “Given the facts, evidence and laws of science that underscored this entire situation, it is completely incomprehensible to me that the league continues to take steps to disparage one of its all-time great players for whom I have the upmost respect. This is personally very disappointing to me.”
“There are those in the league office who are more determined to prove they were right rather than admit any culpability,” Kraft said.
“I was willing to accept the harshest penalty in the history of the NFL for an alleged ball violation because I hoped it would help exonerate Tom.”
“The decision handed down by the league yesterday is unfathomable to me. It is routine for discipline in the NFL to be reduced upon appeal. In the vast majority of these cases there is tangible and hard evidence of the infraction for which discipline is being imposed. And still the initial penalty gets reduced.”
Yes, Kraft just assumed the four-game suspension would be reduced to two and all parties would move on.
But Kraft also said, “I continue to believe and unequivocally support Tom Brady,” adding that Brady is “a person of great integrity.”
“Great integrity? We have to stop right there.
“When people mention Tom Brady’s name today, ‘great integrity’ is not the first thing that comes to mind. What most of us visualize is a man stomping on his cell phone or throwing it into the Charles River, or handing it to someone else to stomp on or throw in the river.
“Two hours before Kraft spoke, Brady posted a statement on Facebook in which he tried to explain away the ‘destroyed cell phone’ storyline by saying he replaced his ‘broken Samsung phone with a new iPhone 6 AFTER my attorneys made it clear to the NFL that my actual phone device would not be subjected to investigation under ANY circumstances.’
“It just so happens that he got rid of the old phone and bought the new one at the exact same time investigators wanted to talk to him about the text messages on the old one. What a coincidence. (Also, he knows the NFL doesn’t have the power to subpoena his phone records, but federal courts sure do.)
“Brady also patted himself on the back for ‘fully’ cooperating with the investigation ‘after (he) was disciplined in May.’
“Problem is investigator Ted Wells wanted Brady to fully cooperate before he was disciplined. In fact, part of the reason Brady was suspended was because he didn’t cooperate when he should have….
“Brady’s story defies credulity and Kraft’s sounds as if he’s a politician playing to his base. He huffed and he puffed about accepting the $1 million fine, only to not have Brady magically return to the fold, but you’ll notice he never threatened to sue the league….
“Goodell, on the other hand, came down hard on an issue that plays right to his job description as commissioner – the integrity of the game – tossing Brady and then sticking with his decision Tuesday.
“The complaint last year was that Goodell was far too soft on domestic abusers. He’s now throwing the book at them, or at least trying to.
“He’s doing the same on a far different issue with Brady. That might not be playing very well in the executive offices in Foxborough, but it will be welcomed everywhere else.”
“With his smug defense of his DeflateGate cover-up, Brady has turned a fairy tale – from the 199th pick in the NFL draft to perhaps the greatest quarterback ever, with four Super Bowl rings, a supermodel wife and mansion ‘round the world – into trash.
“He stands exposed as a scoundrel – quick to cheat, cover up and still preen…..
“What’s next? Brady – backed by Patriots management and his union – is headed to court to contest the suspension.
“Maybe he’ll win. In the American court of public opinion, though, Tom Brady’s reputation stands permanently deflated.”
College Football
The first big poll is out…USA TODAY Coaches Poll
1. Ohio State
2. TCU
3. Alabama
4. Baylor
5. Oregon
6. Michigan State
7. Auburn
8. Florida State
9. Georgia
10. USC
11. Notre Dame…Mark R., I’ll take 35 points in the game against Wake Forest
Golf Balls
—Troy Merritt captured his first PGA Tour victory, defeating Rickie Fowler in the Quicken Loans National. Tiger Woods finished T-18, a nice improvement.
–The PGA Tour, as expected, stepped up and did the right thing, telling South Korean Sangmoon Bae that after his 21-month military obligation is over, he will be exempt on the Tour for a year when he returns. In the meantime Bae is playing until the season is over
The Presidents Cup (Oct. 8-11) is being held in South Korea and there is a movement to put Bae on the team, even if he’s not close in the standings currently, as a show of respect to the South Korean fans…it would certainly juice attendance.
However, there are many in South Korea who aren’t happy with Bae because he took the department of military to court. Some Koreans believe he may have been trying to dodge service in hiding behind lawyers.
Bae is 29, while countrymen K.J. Choi, who is revered there, took his service when he was 20-21.
–The sport of track and field is being rocked with another sweeping drug allegation, following claims in an explosive German documentary by broadcaster ARD, which alleges at least one in six of the distance runners to have medaled at World Championships and Olympic Games are drug cheats.
The network obtained what it claims to be a secret database created by the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF).
The documentary, “Doping – Top Secret: The Shadowy World of Athletics,” focused on a list of more than 12,000 blood tests from around 5,000 athletes. 800 athletes competing over distances between 800 meters and the marathon registered blood values deemed suspicious or even highly suspicious.
Ten of the medals at London 2012 were said to have been won by athletes who returned dubious test results.
The findings of this latest program were analyzed by two of the world’s leading experts in blood doping, Michael Ashenden and Robin Parisotto.
Ashenden told the program: “Often, two out of the three medalists had probably engaged in blood doping during their career.” Ashenden accused the IAAF of “a shameful betrayal of their primary duty to police their sport.”
Usain Bolt, incidentally, also recorded no abnormal tests.
–Paul P., I was sorry to see SMU and basketball coach Larry Brown would appear to be in a lot of trouble, as first reported by Yahoo Sports. Brown is facing a “lack of coach control” charge while the program itself is facing an academic misconduct charge. The school’s golf program is also reportedly facing charges.
As reported by the Washington Post’s Marissa Payne: “At the center of the basketball allegations is guard Keith Frazier…who was deemed ‘academically ineligible’ in January and missed the remainder of the 2015 season. Before that, however, the NCAA has reportedly alleged ex-SMU assistant coach Ulric Maligi and a basketball secretary assisted Frazier with his school work, allowing him to play for the Mustangs during the previous season and part of the 2014-15 campaign. It is unclear whether Frazier will continue to play for the Mustangs when the 2015-16 season starts. Maligi, meanwhile, took an indefinite leave of absence in January.
As for the alleged infraction surrounding Brown, it’s about whether or not he knew what was going on.
–Legendary wrestling champion “Rowdy” Roddy Piper died of a heart attack in his sleep in his Hollywood, Calif., home. He was just 61. This was one WWE Hall of Famer I really liked, going back to the 1980s.
–For the record, Walter Palmer, after killing Cecil the Lion, wanted to kill “a very large elephant” the next day, according to his hunting guide.
“I told him I would not be able to find one so big, so the client left the next day,” Theo Bronkhorst, founder of Bushman Safaris Zimbabwe, told The Telegraph.
Bronkhorst said Palmer shot Cecil with a crossbow when it appeared at the baited area they had set, but it was dark and they didn’t know if they had killed him, so they returned the next day and as Bronkhorst explained, “We found it and it was wounded, and the client then shot it, with his bow and arrow, and killed it.”
The hunting party was “devastated” to discover that Cecil was wearing a GPS collar, he insisted.
But instead of turning it into authorities, Bronkhorst said, he ‘panicked,’ taking the tracking device off and putting it in a tree.
Bronkhorst, charged with conducting an illegal hunt, was released on $1,000 bail. He insisted he had no idea Cecil was a protected lion.
–I’ve written of the black bear problem in my state, and how I fully support the hunts that have taken place. I don’t want to encounter one while jogging, for sure, and on Thursday, police shot and killed a bear that entered a West Milford, N.J., home through a window around 10 a.m. while someone was upstairs, according to police. The person fled the home after calling police.
“The bear exited the home though the same window as police arrived before one of the officers fatally shot the animal.
“Bears that enter homes are considered a threat and are euthanized to protect human lives, according to state guidelines.”
Remember, last year a black bear killed a Rutgers University student in a preserve in the northern part of the state.
–Brad K. passed along this one involving a wild turkey.
“A turkey living on the University of Michigan’s North Campus has captured the attention of students, staff and police for the past month. The bird has been spotted roaming the open campus’ wooded areas, chasing passers-by and even attempting to board buses.
“ ‘He hasn’t hurt anybody, but he’s a very aggressive bird,’ University of Michigan Police Department deputy chief Melissa Overton said.
“ ‘He’s also created a traffic hazard because apparently he likes to lay down in the middle of the road and not move. It can be very difficult for the buses to get around him.’”
–Yikes! A school district in Mercersburg, PA., has “closed one of its elementary schools due to an infestation of brown recluse spiders for the third time in a year.”
–You see the picture of that Burmese python caught in Everglades National Park the other day? As CBS Miami reported, “The python, found along a tram road at Shark Valley on July 9, measured a whopping 18 feet, 3 inches and was only five inches shy of the largest snake ever captured in Florida. An 18-foot, 8-inch Burmese Python was caught in Miami-Dade in 2013.”
Personally, I would have set up a steel-cage match with a mongoose. What sucks in Florida is that Burmese python “sightings have grown exponentially.”
–There was a piece in NJ.com the other day on deaths in the Delaware River, between New Jersey and Pennsylvania. 31 people have died in the last five years and not one of the victims was wearing a life jacket when they went under.
—Singer Lynn Anderson died after suffering a heart attack in Nashville on Thursday. She was 67. Dolly Parton said, “Lynn is blooming in God’s Rose Garden now. We will miss her and remember her fondly.”
Anderson was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota and raised in Sacramento, California, the daughter of two country songwriters.
In 1967, she began a two-year television engagement on The Lawrence Welk Show, which led to a contract with Colombia Records in Nashville.
Anderson said of Welk in an Associated Press interview, “He was absolutely wholesome. He felt country music was coming into its own and deserved to be on national TV.”
It was 1970 that Anderson had a big crossover hit, “(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden,” which was a No. 1 country single and climbed to No. 3 on the Billboard Pop Chart as well. Those of us of a certain age remember her performing this on every talk show and variety hour in existence. It won Anderson a Grammy and she was the Country Music Association’s female vocalist of the year in 1971.
She told the AP: “It was popular because it touched on emotions. It was perfectly timed. It was out just as we came out of the Vietnam years and a lot of people were trying to recover. This song stated that you can make something out of nothing. You take it and go ahead.”
My problem on Saturday was that when I went out on my long run of the week, I couldn’t get the song out of my head and it was there for five miles.
Top 3 songs for the week 8/2/69: #1 “In The Year 2525” (Zager & Evans) #2 “Crystal Blue Persuasion” (Tommy James & The Shondells…in my top three all time…) #3 “Spinning Wheel” (Blood, Sweat & Tears)…and…#4 “My Cherie Amour” (Stevie Wonder) #5 “What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)” (Jr. Walker & The All Stars…greatest opening of a song ever, next to Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2…) #6 “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town” (Kenny Rogers and The First Edition) #7 “Sweet Caroline” (Neil Diamond…Aargh Aargh Aarghhh….) #8 “Honky Tonk Women” (The Rolling Stones) #9 “Baby, I Love You” (Andy Kim) #10 “The Ballad of John and Yoko” (The Beatles)
Cleveland Indians Quiz Answers: 1) 200-game winners: Bob Feller, 266 (1936-56); Mel Harder, 223 (1928-47); Bob Lemon, 207 (1946-58…1943-45 military service). Lemon also hit 37 home runs, .232 batting average. 2) The career saves leader is Bob Wickman, 139 (2000-06). 3) The only 24-game winner post-1950 is Gaylord Perry, 24 (1972).
