After their 14 game winning streak and 2 losses, the Cleveland Indians have won the first two games of I guess, an important series vs the Detroit Tigers.
Cleveland goes for the series sweep this afternoon.
While I credit the rest of the A.L. Central save the Twins for staying reasonably close to the Indians, and I know this likely will change a bit, but it looks like the Indians in the A.L. Central, certainly until further notice.
In a Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson from 1984 (comedian Rich Hall, apparently not asked to sit down with Carson, talked of the Olympics coming to town, which they did to L.A. that year), Robert Blake’s candor stole the show.
It aired last night on Antenna T.V. as Mr. Blake, at one point talked of what he would tell a date in terms of who he is. “At least she would know” and he then talked of how important the roles of wife, mother, husband and father are not to be hidden in the glamour of being in front of the camera.
It was a truly enjoyable show. Mr. Carson thanked Mr. Blake, who stayed, and said “you are fun.”
Robert Blake, pictured above.
I like watching the western genre whether it is television shows or movies.
Tonight an epic western, “Stagecoach” directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and Claire Trevor among others airs on TCM.
Thomas Mitchell, Scarlett’s father in Gone With The Wind is also in the cast.
Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur as Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane respectively are in one now. Let me get back to watching TCM, these are good!
Among my future posts will be thoughts on the great 7th game of the 1960 World Series.
Two topics to be discussed are Bob Costas and that classic game and the fact Gino Cimoli started the fateful 5 run Pittsburgh Pirates’ 8th inning with a single.
There will be comments on Bill Mazeroski’s World Series winning home run of course but I have long advocated about the incredible importance of Hal Smith’s 2 out, 3 run, 8th inning home run.
Stay tuned for upcoming posts on only a bit arguably the best game in baseball history (certainly others are in the discussion).
Gino Cimoli, pictured above began the historic 5 run “Bucco” 8th in game 7, 1960 World Series
While the Chicago Cubs won yesterday, it was just their fifth win in 15 games, four coming vs the 24 games under .500, Cincinnati Reds.
Speaking of four, last year the New York Mets after being swept in a 4 game, meaningless regular season series at Chicago vs the Cubs, swept the Cubs in 4 straight in the NLCS.
This past weekend, again the Mets won all four vs the Cubs. Chicago had won 9 straight regular season games vs the Mets until last weekend’s 4 straight wins by the New York team.
Elie Wiesel, an incredible man, who dedicated his life to helping people move forward while never forgetting the horror of a Holocaust in Europe that killed 12 million people, half of them Jewish, including Mr.Wiesel’s family, died in the past week at age 87.
There are no words even remotely close to powerful enough to describe the atrocities of that event and of the courage and sheer will of Mr. Wiesel to carry on a productive, meaningful, life after enduring what he experienced as a young boy. Even the Nobel Prize given to him pales in significance as to what he did enduring and helping.
Yet he did so and in my opinion, God, as was often the case with “Lucy Ricardo,” on “I love Lucy” has some “splaining” to do when he greets Elie Wiesel, concerning how such terror could have happened and still does.
My words to Elie Wiesel are those of thanks for a lifetime of work and inspiration and I will try in my little way, to carry on a life devoid of prejudice and perhaps of some help to others.
Elie Wiesel, an extraordinary human being, pictured above.
Exactly 33 years ago today on Monday July 4, 1983 Dave Righetti pitched a no hit game for the New York Yankees vs the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.
Years later, Righetti a truly classy individual, who has been a part of 3 San Francisco Giants’ title teams as their long time pitching coach, recalled the game fondly as he and I chatted in the S.F. dugout before a game vs the New York Mets.
I recall seeing the end of the game on Sports Channel with the great Mel Allen calling the end of the game.
Righetti, never on a title team with the Yankees, struck out future Hall of Famer, Wade Boggs to end the game.
Boggs needed to go to the Yankees to claim a title in 1996, never having won one with the Red Sox. Righetti has prospered as stated before, winning 3 titles as S.F. pitching coach.
Dave Righetti, pictured above, after hurling the no hit game 33 years ago today.
Click above to view and hear the last out of Righetti’s no hit game. Frank Messer, a fine announcer is heard on the call followed by comments from another fine announcer, rare for an ex player, Bill White.
There have been two different time spans, each after the beginning of League Championship Series play and before the horrible extra, greedy round of playoffs which includes wild card team(s), in which both the Oakland A’s and Pittsburgh Pirates made the post-season together but did not meet in the World Series.
From (1970-1975), (if only it were then as I would trade having Barack Obama as President for Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, not for a great deal of much needed money but to be 40 plus years younger), the teams combined for an incredible 10 division titles in 12 possibilities, 9 in 10 possibilities from (1971-1975) when the A’s won 5 straight one quarter A.L. West crowns.
Yet they never met in the World Series. However as in (1909-1913), the teams won 4 World Series, again 3 by the A’s. By the way from (1925-1931), the teams won 3 of the 5 World Series they gained entry to, two by the then Philadelphia Athletics.
Finally from (1988-1992), a 5 year span which manifested in 4 division titles for the A’s, three for the Pirates, no World Series clashes between the teams nor Pirates’ appearances in the W.S.
Additionally supposedly great Oakland A’s teams under the fine but vastly over rated manager, Tony La Russa won but one of their 3 World Series appearances in that span.
Roberto Clemente, pictured above, led the Pittsburgh Pirates to the 1971 World Series crown.
One weekend baseball match up that is not a redux of a past World Series battle (the only post-season possibility as the teams involved were always in different leagues) is the Pirates and Athletics.
They have never met in a World Series despite each having entity winning teams together, within short spans of time, in two different spans in the same season more than once, in fact 4 times, the first two cited in this post, the other two tomorrow.
The earliest example is that from (1909-1914), a concentrated span of 6 seasons, the A’s then in Philadelphia, now in Oakland and in between in Kansas City where they never came close to winning a pennant, and Pittsburgh Pirates combined for 5 pennants but did not meet in the World Series.
In that span, the Athletics won 4 pennants, the Pirates only one.
A better example is (1925-1931) when the teams combined for 5 pennants, 3 by the A’s, but never clashed in the World Series.
This week’s puzzle on NPR (National Public Radio), presented by New York Times puzzle editor Will Shorts was relatively easy.
I am not good with puzzles and though 3800 plus people sent in the right answer, I would not have been one of them.
Anyway the clue from last week was name two cities, whose states postal code (first two letters) would be the same as the first two letters of the other city, in the different state.
In other words the first two letters of one city and the first two letters of the other city’s state will be the same. The first two letters of the state is also the postal code for that state. Answer in one of tomorrow’s posts.
Andy B Sports 