Round #’s, multiples of 5, Mr. Santayana regarding history repeating and 100 as more significant than 40, “bridge jumping”/a reference from the seminal, prescient film, “Network” await you readers from tangential, but informative, few similar, (one stating it was the fictional John “Boy” Walton in Richard Thomas’ last regular “The Waltons” “app” and perhaps the real life, great writer, Earl Hamner Jr. as The Waltons are autobiographical for him) me.
100 years ago, the Twins franchise, then known as the Washington Senators won it all, 7 ing the N.Y. Giants in the World Series, winning (4-3) in #7, with Walter Johnson pitching great and I can still hear my dad lamenting the fact balls hit by player manager, Bucky Harris and then Earl Mc Neely took bad hops, the former hitting a pebble, a fact well etched into his excellent memory, (mine I hate or love to say is ridiculous, great and oh just watch “Kane” and what Mr. Cotten’s character says regard) and going over the great player, Fred Lindstrom’s head in the 8th and then the 12th and final inning.
So 100 and not 40, and who even gave any thought to the Detroit Tigers, who 40 years ago won 35 of their first FORTY games and eventually the ’84 crown, under George Anderson (no “Sparky” for me as I asked the hotel operator for George Anderson that year, which amused the excellent researcher, Bob Yanofsky).
Yet, barring what would be among the most epic of collapses, the collapse will be Minnesota’s and not either of the ’84 ALCS opponents, Detroit (Tigers) or Kansas City (Royals), the latter “flirting” with such, but K.C. , the team that lost 106 last year, won all 3 at Wash, and now as with “Det,” only need 1 of 6 decisions involving them and the Twins to go their way, to qualify for the 12 team tournament, that starts Tuesday, (Hurricane Helene or not).
Excessive gambling, which due to the bombardment of “come bet” ads (James, another example of you being a disgrace, you really need the money to in any way, “justify” doing these come ons), will skyrocket, so perhaps I, who does cite it here, (however, please know, do what I do, which is take significant money out of the equation or better yet do not bet– and certainly if you have not, do NOT start!!) can help even one of you, with this example.
There is a bettor who did what is called “bridge-jumping,” i.e. putting up “mucho dinero to win un poco,” in this case, 50 thousand dollars to win 500, (that is beyond sick and stupid, but again gambling is a disease, sadly a progressive one at that,!!) on the Tigers to miss the ‘offs, (what I call the 12 team tournament.)
Hopefully, and likely he can afford the financial loss, but he or she (women bet also!!) can financially afford the loss, but the person in ? clearly needs help, which I suppose all of us do.
Now this great scene, “Bridge Jumping” a part, from the seminal, prescient film “Network.” Enjoy it!! William Holden tells the story to Peter Finch, who won a posthumous Academy Award for his performance in the Sidney Lumet directed, (screenplay by Paddy Chayefsky) treasure.
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Certainly it has, but maybe had been a good publicity year for the WNBA as the presence of Caitlin Clark led a surge of interest.
Now Clark and her Indiana Fever team are out as all 4 best of 3 WNBA “quarters” resulted in 2 game sweeps for the higher ranked, pretty heavy favorites.
Those teams the top ranked New York Liberty, two time champion Las Vegas Aces, who clash next in the semis in a redux of last year’s final round taken by L.V. 3 games to 1, Minnesota Lynx and Connecticut Sun now comprise a formidable quartet of “semis” entrants.
It is too bad that due to the Olympics (was it really necessary for the women of the WNBA to aid another crown/gold medal, one by the way, not all that impressively won in the final game?) these semis begin on Sunday September 29th, in what turns out to likely be regular season baseball’s penultimate day (Hurricane Helene has forced a very likely meaningful 1 or 2 games Mets at Braves on Monday, more on this for sure in next few days posts) and the 4th week of NFL play.
Of course ESPN, sans football on Sunday will air WNBA, not so Monday night when it has pro, for a second straight week with partner ABC, there are 2 tilts.
Larry Csonka and Jim Kiick one “Butch Cassidy,” the other “The Sundance Kid” were an incredible running backs duo for the great Miami Dolphins but it was when they added Eugene “Mercury” Morris, who died days back at age 76, that the trio became not so arguably the greatest among NFL running backs trios.
Oh to watch “Merc” run, with move, speed and so important as it is a team game after all, behind one of the greatest offensive lines in NFL history!
I think Dallas, after all their near misses would have still won but the great coach Don Shula admitted his mistake in not playing Morris in the 6th Supe after the ’71 season.
The next 2 seasons with the great trio of runners and much else Miami went unbeaten and then I still say and the late Jim Kiick essentially agreed when I asked him at a place called Rascal’s in 1992, that the ‘Phins weere even better, despite 2 losses, one in a meaningless tilt, i believe.
Those crowns were with Morris, who Giants’ fans recall becoming one of their biggest rooters as they were to play the undefeated Patriots in the Supe.
So one less ’72 Dolphin to celebrate when the last undefeated team loses this season and he Mercury Morris will be sorely missed.
Eugene “Mercury” Morris, pictured above.
One way to quantify and perhaps put in perspective (I know as Mr. Barnum did long before and famously “Bartletted,” that one such is born every minute) the incredible plethora of outright upsets is to cite the number of contestants (at 1,000 an entry with Barnum clearly having no need to say I told you so) already out of the so called Circa (Resort and Hotel Casino, non compensated “plug”) Survivor Contest. It is, no surprise located in L.Vegas, Nevada).
There were 14,000 plus entries and only just over 600 contest entries remain “alive.” That means roughly 95 percent of the entries have gone “bye-bye.”
Now the more conventional look with some notes after 3 weeks of NFL play.
There are five (3-0) teams, the Steelers under Mike Tomlin, who deserves credit as does his wife, for all the work he did in the mostly Jewish community, after the shooting there took lives some years back, 2 time champion Chiefs, and Bills in the A.F.C. while the Seahawks and Vikings are NFC (3-0) teams. (The baseball counterparts of the Seattle Seahawks (Mariners), Minnesota Vikings (Twins), and K.C. Chiefs (Royals) are three of the four teams (Detroit Tigers the other), battling, in this the last week of the “reg,” for 2 remaining wild card spots.
The flip side shows three (0-3) teams, all AFC’ers, the Tennessee Titans, Cincinnati Bengals and Jacksonville Jaguars.
Two this post. Playing off the title, click above greats Glen Campbell and Jimmy Webb, respectively sang/sing and wrote it to view Mr. Campbell perform “By The Time I Get To Phoenix.”
The applicable “kept on/keep on” Jimmy Webb lyric, shown below.
“But She’ll just hear that phone keep on ringing.”
Some notes and updates, as baseball 2024 winds into its 12 team tournament which commences on Tuesday October 1st.
Essentially all but the N.L. West one eighth “div” winners are known as they will be the Phillies, Brewers, Yankees, Guardians and Astros.
In that N.L. West, the Dodgers sans the tiebreaker that would decide things if the teams end with identical records after 162 games, lead “S.D.” by three games (read it 2 plus in the “loss”) with 3 upcoming, at now 62 years old (started in ’62 where the great pennant race ended in heartbreaking fashion for L.A. as the Giants rallied incredibly, both in the season and the last game to win the pennant) still beautiful Dodger Stadium.
The wild card race with 4 of the 6 such teams unknown (Baltimore and “S.D.” (at least) will qualify and likely, very likely be “4” seeds and thus host all of the maximum 3 games of the best of three (12 to 8) series) is very much up in the air.
In the less complicated N.L. the Mets and Arizona (Diamondbacks) are tied for spots 5 and 6 (the Mets have the two team tiebreaker vs “Az,” as I looked up after one site had both Arizona and the Mets (4-3) vs the other), 2 games ahead of the Braves, who do have the 2 team tiebreaker vs Az and would have it with at least 2 wins in the upcoming at Atlanta 3 game set vs the Mets.
Detroit under A.J. Hinch (maybe Hinch and Det vs his ex team, Houston, also since they are in opposite A.L. brackets, a battle of brothers in law managers (Balti under Brandon Hyde and Houston under Joe Espada) in the ALCS, is possible between the ‘Stros and O’s, however, would require wins by each team as the higher seed/”Fave” followed by lower seeded, but likely slight “fave,” Houston vs Cleve and the toughest, but far from a big longshot, entailing the O’s, overtaken in “el div,” by the Yankees, but then “best of 5 ing” them in the “div” series/”Qtrs”) and sans the tiebreaker vs either Minne or K.C. has 74 losses, Minne has 75 but the tiebreaker vs either Det or K.C. while Sea, which dissipated a (4-0) lead at Texas in the 2024 champion Rangers’ last 2024 home tilt, has 76 losses.
Finally way out on the esoteric spectrum, again as in ’67, the Twins had a terrible late season Sunday at Fenway Park. Then it doomed their 1 of 2 pennant chances while yesterday’s 2 losses in a split admission “double dip” after Saturday’s rain caused game postponement, leaves the Twins “on the outside looking in,” but still with a good chance (details above) to make the 12 team tournament.
In yesterday’s second game loss as in ’67’s season final the Twins tallied 3 runs, while (“holy esoteric Batman and others) the last out was made by a Twins’ player with an alliterative name, Byron Buxton yesterday and Rich Rollins (they also had a Rich Reese, who played in that final tilt) in ’67.
Current Detroit “Mgr,” (they have won 11 of 14, to actually lead in the w/cd race) A.J. Hinch, pictured above as a Houston manager, guided the Astros to the 2017 title.
Another time I will detail about all-time value teams, both the S.F. Giants (2010,2012 and 2014) and New York Giants under Tom Coughlin, (he who sets his watch i believe it is 15 minutes ahead, a practice also in the Al Brown repertoire of great organization), in 2007 and 2011 and also from ’64 on, when going (5-0) in NFC title tilts/NFL “semis” and (4-1) in the subsequent Super Bowls, they have managed to win a so impressive 4 Super Bowl crowns, without in any of the 55, likely to be 56 other seasons, win as much as a “slots”/div round game.
The Bruce Bochy “value” is unreal and frankly disconcerting, as for example his so many bad seasons especially in and around his so impressive 4 titles, certainly leave him short of two other 4 titles winners, Walter Alston and Joe Torre, not to mention 5 time winner, Mr. Mack and a pair of 7 time title winners, all with the Yankees, and they had notable failures and in Marse Joe’s case near misses, “Marse” Joe McCarthy and Casey Stengel.
Texas (Rangers) officially eliminated this week and managed by Bochy, won the title last season going (90-72), were a wild card entrant, that to their credit, noted and praised by me–you can check my archives, went (13-4) in the ‘offs, 3 of the losses vs Houston and all 4 at home, to win the crown.
This year, however, marks a 7th losing season in the last 8.
Finally back to “Hack,” (the football Giants, still an all-time important and in many ways great franchise now in their 100th season), in ’73 they went (6-0) in “exhibition” play (sorry Alvin “Pete” Rozelle, who was a good commissioner, certainly relative, to the exponentially “owners friendly,” Goodell of Bronxville, N.Y.) and were (1-0-1) when they sojourned to Cleveland, as they do today to face what are to me, the “phony” Browns, as the Graham, Jim Brown, and still alive 99 years old, “Dub” Jones Browns moved to Baltimore (Jones’ son, Bert was a fine Baltimore Colts quarterback).
In that ’73 tilt, as I watched at home, awaiting my ride back to S.U.N.Y. Albany, Don Cockroft booted 4 field goals as Cleveland won (12-10). The Giants finished that season with a (2-11-1) record.
Maybe today, (I say the Giants plus 6 plus, at least “cover,” I said Cincy last week and they nearly outrighted K.C. , who sooner or later will fall), the Giants, at least in another game 3 at Cleveland, reverse ’73.
Cockroft was very good, however there is only one Lou “The Toe,” Groza, pictured above.
He was a great kicker and also played the line and he of course with many other great past, “real” Browns ought to have been cited along with “Automatic” Otto Graham, Jim Brown and Dub Jones.
My great memory is that on the sad Monday on which “The Toe” began kicking elsewhere, (maybe and hopefully a better place), I called Jim Brown and he expressed to me his great respect and warm feelings for as he called Mr. Groza, “The Toe.”
There is so much less drama and importance in the current Minnesota (Twins) at Boston ed Sox) (one good thing is that it is still Fenway Park as the venue, these 57 and for that matter 112 years later, though the latter number coincides with the awful event involving a ship called “The Titanic”), penultimate weekend series, but with some degree of qualification for the 12 team baseball tournament at stake, memories are evoked from the incredibly dramatic Minnesota at Boston last weekend (just 2 games Saturday and Sunday, each “beamed” nationally by NBC with Curt Gowdy), as the “1 of 2” to the World Series, great ’67 A.L. Pennant race played out.
More details: 9 days and 8 games remain for the now 4 teams truly involved in a race for the 5 and 6 seeds in the A.L. playoffs. Currently the Twins, after an extra inning win (how can this ever be truly good if you put a runner on second to start each extra frame?!!), are in the 6 seed position (not to be confused with anything in the kamasutra, but alas reduced to thoughts only, I digress), trailing current “5” Kansas City (5’s again as K.C. has lost 5 straight games), by one game, but have the two team tiebreaker.
Now, truly evoke ’67 as now, as then, while Minne is at Boston (very likely Boston, 2 under .500 and trailing 4 teams and 5 down in the loss column is out of contention, obviously an exponential difference from 1967), the Detroit Tigers are in contention, currently one and a fraction games behind the Twins (Minne has the two team tiebreaker, which would be decisive in any season ending ties in the standings, as there are no playoff games to decide even playoffs qualification, the reason being with 12 teams in, “THEY” want it (the tournament), started immediately i.e. October 1,2 and 3 with 4 (12 to 8 round) tilts the first two days and zero to four as possible quantities for (“4”) decisive 3rd games on Thursday October 3rd, the 73rd anniversary date of the most dramatic pennant story of all).
Back to glorious ’67, Minnesota came to Boston for games on Saturday September 30 and Sunday October 1, leading Boston by 1 game, making it the opposite of 1949, when the Red Sox at the Yankees, needed 1 of 2 to win the pennant.
However, unlike ’49, another team Detroit (again involved this year, hence this post so you can “thank/blame” that/them), was very much involved, as they were even in the loss column with the Twins and hence one ahead of Boston, in “the as Beano Cook often reminded, but did not invent,” “the all important loss column.”
Yet, the loss column was not quite the whole story as “Det” had the disadvantage of having to play doubleheaders both Saturday and Sunday, vs the California Angels, who played the spoiler role very well, winning each nightcap game, the Sunday tilt following Boston’s second straight win vs Minne, clinching the pennant for the 100 to 1/”Impossible Dream” Red Sox.
Carl Yastrzemski was brilliant, all-time type brilliant, down the stretch for Boston, as they won the pennant in ’67. Click above to see his 44th home run, I believe off Jim Merritt, called by the great broadcaster, Ken Coleman, on the ’67 season’s penultimate day.
Two current “race” notes, Seattle, currently 2 behind Minne for qualification but sans the 2 team tie tiebreaker,is still in contention and more interesting, Carl Yastrzemski’s grandson Mike, playing for the N.L. and out of contention, S.F. Giants, singled and scored the run that put S.F. ahead to stay vs K.C. in a (2-1) win last night.
The New York Yankees, a la the result in the 2000 ALCS, have won the first two of three games in Seattle vs the very likely out of contention, Mariners, and having been on the positive end in 6, of what is now 8 straight days of “gains” in the Yankees/Orioles battle for the one eighth “div,” have a 5 game lead over the O’s–veritable zeroes of late, having lost 8 of 10 games, however, be warned, things often change quickly in the ‘offs, witness last season when the O’s went into the ‘offs as the A.L. one seed and after a first round bye, were swept out in 3 games by the eventual champion, Texas Rangers.
5 is operative, as I cite it, not because I think the O’s have much of a shot to win that one eighth “div,” but to recall a 3 game series, 50 years ago, earlier in September (Tues 9/17-Thurs 9/19) of “same calendar” 1974, when “Balti” came to New York (Shea Stadium not “Yankee,” as it was being refurbished) and swept the Yankees in all 3 tilts.
Balti and the Yankees have split their 10 contests, thus far, and the tiebreaker/season series, but I seriously doubt any real drama, will be decided in the upcoming O’s at Yankees, Sept. 24-26th. (5-5 and 5 game lead, the Yankees won games 3 and 4 at “Sea” in the 2000 ALCS, lost #5 there, then won the pennant, clinching it at home in #6, in the last “LCS or later,” game, with Bob Costas as the lead TV broadcaster).
That win made official that an intra New York/Subway (World) Series would take place between the Yankees and Mets. It was the first such series in 44 years (Yankees 7’d Brooklyn (Dodgers), reversing the 1955 result, in ’56) and the Yankees took their 26th crown and 4th in 5 seasons, doing so in 5 games.
Speaking of the Mets, they currently are tied with Arizona, the team that denied the Yankees a 4th straight title, rallying in the bottom of the 9th inning of game 7/2001 World Series, for the second of three wild card spots, each team 2 games ahead of the Atlanta Braves, (a franchise, the Yankees, managed by ex Braves player, Joe Torre, defeated in 8 straight W.S. tilts to cop the ’96 and ’99 crowns, after losing at home in the first two W.S. tilts in ’96), for ‘offs/tournament qualification.
Oh will I have numbers(#’s) here as the baseball season heads into its tournament.
Surely, at least some will involve the Yankees and their largely great history/success.
Today’s ‘offs possibilities/meaningless A’s at Cubs game in venerable Wrigley Field, in the “as it ought to be,” light of day, comes 3 weeks shy of 95 years after the same two teams met in games 1 and (exactly) #2, of the same calendar as 2024/ 1929 World Series.
Then on Tuesday October 8th, the ’29 post-season which consisted of the 5 game Philadelphia A’s triumph (Howard Ehmke, famously “surprise starting” #1 and fanning a World Series record 13, a record that stood 24 years until Carl Erskine broke it with 14 in 1953) began. (The far too many 12 teams/2024, what amounts to a 12 team tournament commences in less than 2 weeks on Tuesday October 1st with four 12 to 8 round tilts. Despite that this year is exciting and I will have updates and try to watch).
I have cited here before how great the Philadelphia A’s from (1929-1931) (think about it they beat out the great New York Yankees, who had Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, among other greats, to win 3 straight A.L. “flags” and World Series titles in ’29 and ’30) were and the 5 game ’29 series ended with Philadelphia (“Philly was said as I thought of typing it instead of Philadelphia) scoring 3 runs/B9 to (3-2) the Cubs in #5 with Mule Haas hitting a tying 2RHR and Bing Miller tuning in the World Series winning run.
Connie Mack, the record time A’s manager, through thick, thin and thick and long thin again, pictured above in 1927.
