It is Labor Day, less than 4 weeks remain in the baseball regular season and there is one truly surprising division leader.
That team/division leader is Atlanta (Braves), which has a 4 game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies in the N.L. East.
Elsewhere top heavy favorites, Cleveland (Indians) and Houston (Astros) join the also favorites, Cubs with nice leads.
Top heavy “fave” L.A. (Dodgers) has a half game lead in the N.L. West.
Meanwhile second choice Boston (Red Sox) are seven plus games ahead of the favorite New York Yankees for both the A.L. East and baseball’s best record.
As cited in a few posts, the 1968 World Series was a classic.
One great thing is that Al Kaline a long time Tigers standout got into, played great and was a World Series winning member.
Al contributed mightily, especially with a big hit in game 5.
The 1924 World Series which manifested in the lone Washington (D.C. or Seattle) baseball crown was one of the most dramatic ever contested.
Washington’s Senators won it in 7 games vs the New York Giants. The final game went 12 innings, the longest decisive game in World Series annals.
Only I, to my knowledge anyway, note this was the only World Series in which the winning team trailed (1-0), (2-1) and (3-2) but won the last two to take the title.
In a season 2 episode of “Gunsmoke” that originally aired in 1956, a “good guy” on “The Rifleman,” which began two years later, played a villain/bad guy.”
Paul Fix was that actor and he had a distinguished career.
“The Rifleman’s” star, Chuck Connors was also a “bad guy” on “Gunsmoke.”
Bad guys and good ones were easily defined in the old West, not so today.
Connors played a good man named McCain.
A rare, real life, clearly good man also from the west, died this week, his name was also McCain, John McCain.
Both “Gunsmoke” and “The Rifleman” air each day on MeTV.
My tribute/recollection of the prolific and great playwright, Neil Simon, who died this week at age 91, begins with the words of another icon, Carl Reiner.
“What can you call a man who wrote 32 Broadway plays, 26 screenplays, 8 made for TV movies, and had four hit plays running on Broadway at the same time? The only thing that comes to mind is “Pure Genius!”
As the incredible work of Mr. Simon tumbles around in my mind, a door opens, yielding a really small sample.
In “The Odd Couple,” pesky “Felix” (Jack Lemmon) calls “Oscar” (Walter Matthau) at Shea Stadium, asking what he wants for dinner, causing him to miss a triple play. (The batter was Bill Mazeroski).
One other with a sprinkle of baseball, from Mr. Simon’s “Chapter Two.”
In a great introductory telephone conversation, between what amounts to Neil Simon played by James Caan and Marcia Mason, essentially playing herself, Caan suddenly says “damn it.”
Mason wonders why and is informed, “The Yankees left a runner on third.” Her reply is “now I really won’t sleep.”
In my favorite Simon work among the so many great ones, “The Sunshine Boys,” I believe it was Matthau’s “Willy Clark” regarding George Burns’ “Al Lewis,” who although the two had gone many years not speaking, offers great praise about his ability.
Certainly that applies to Neil Simon, a prolific, talented writer who made us laugh hard, perhaps cry at times and surely put out ideas and concepts that made us better, if we adhered.
Neil Simon, pictured above, which he surely was/is and where he just might be now.
The incredible Bob Gibson with wins in his two W.S. starts in 1968 had retired the first two Tigers’ batters in the top of the 7th, when Detroit struck for 3 runs on 4 consecutive hits that essentially gave them their first title since 1945.
Norm Cash, Willie Horton, Jim Northrup and Bill Freehan all delivered hits vs Mr. Gibson, whose 1.12 ERA that season is one of baseball’s great feats.
Lolich won three games in that World Series, while Dennis McLain a 31 game winner in ’68, twice beaten vs Gibson, had the other Tigers’ pitching victory.
The Tigers won 3 straight road games at St. Louis in that World Series.
Manu Ginobili, a tremendous player with great impact, has retired.
He played on four title winning teams with the San Antonio Spurs, time after time, contributing mightily, with big baskets.
Certainly a big one was in game 3 of the 2003 NBA final series late in a win vs the New Jersey Nets.
I long for those Spurs’ teams, not “ratings darlings,” but classy, to be in the NBA final series again.
Mr. Ginobili was a big part of a great era of Spurs’ basketball.
The most certain baseball playoffs qualifier at the moment is Cleveland (Indians).
The team has a 13 game lead and almost certainly will win a third straight “one eighth” division title and their tenth such first place finish, in this the 24th possibility.
In the other two A.L. divisions, Houston with a one and a half game lead, hosts second place Oakland tonight in the first of a three game series.
With a “wild card safety net in place for both teams, 40 years later, the Yankees have again gained significant ground on the Boston Red Sox, in one weekend.
Boston with baseball’s best record lead the Yankees, with baseball’s second best mark, by 6 games, 5 in the loss column.
Today another great episode of What’s My Line.
This episode, from the new “What’s My Line” hosted by Larry Blyden aired on September 9, 1974 and featured a long segment with the great and recently departed, Aretha Franklin as the mystery guest. Need I say more!
I will, only to say, Soupy Sales, Dana Valery, Jerry Orbach and Arlene Francis comprised the panel.
What’s My Line? (taped 9/9/1974) Mystery Guest Aretha Franklin
The best of five WNBA semi-final series open tomorrow.
Seattle (Storm) the top ranked team will meet the Phoenix Mercury in one series while second ranked Atlanta (Dream) face the Washington Mystics in the other series.
Seattle and Atlanta have the home advantage as games 1 and 2 and a potential decisive 5th are scheduled in their home arena.
Andy B Sports 