Answers/Verifications/Corrections from some of our discussion topics
last night:
Indeed Jim Corsi only lives in Framingham, at least he
did in 1997-1999 when he pitched for the Red Sox. He was born in
Newton.
Juan Marichal was
25-8, 2.41 ERA, 248 SO, in 1963 (Sandy Koufax
unanimously won the Major League Cy Young, 25-5, 1.88 ERA, 306
SO, .064 BA -- as we stated, from 1956-1966, there was only one award
for the whole majors -- and a Dodger pitcher won five times in those 11
years; Marichal finished 11th in the NL MVP voting, won by Koufax, as
we said all four "major league" MVPs wore #32 that year),
25-6, 2.23 ERA, 222 SO, in 1966 (Koufax again unanimously won the Major
League Cy Young, 27-9, 1.73 ERA, 317 SO; Marichal finished 6th in
the NL MVP voting, won by Roberto Clemente who edged out Koufax despite
receiving less 1st place votes), and
26-9, 2.43 ERA, 218 SO, in 1968 (Bob Gibson unanimously won the NL
Cy Young, 22-9, 1.12 ERA, 268 SO -- this is the best ERA since 1906;
Marichal finished 5th in the NL MVP voting, won by Gibson; Koufax
retired after the 1966 season).
So, it actually happened to Marichal three times (won >= 25 games
and got zero votes for the Cy Young), but given the performances he was
up against those three years and the fact that voters could only vote
for one, I would say it was not such a slap in the face. However,
bashing my beloved and former Pueblo (Colorado) Dodger Johnny Roseboro
over the head with his bat (he accused Roseboro of throwing too close
to his head while returning the ball to Koufax, who was pitching) on
8/22/1965 might explain why 1971 was the only year he got any kind of a
vote at all -- one 3rd place vote. (Starting in 1970, instead of just
a single vote, the 24 voters could vote for up to three candidates,
using a 5-3-1 point system.)
In 1971, Vida Blue, won the MVP. As the DH was still a couple years
away, he got to bat for himself. However, he was a switch
hitter, so perhaps Sandy Koufax is the only right-handed hitting MVP
southpaw. Blue also won the 1971 AL Cy Young (24-8, 1.82 ERA, 301 SO
-- in no other year did he even strike out 200 -- .118 BA). As I said,
Jim Hoburg and I saw him in two memorable games that season. First on
5/28, he came into Fenway 10-1 to face Sonny Siebert who was 8-0. The
buildup for that game was great -- anybody else remember "When Sonny
gets Blue," Boston radio personality Jess Cain's creation especially
for this game? The Green Line and Fenway (35,714, the largest crowd of
the year) were both packed way beyond capacity. Sonny gave up solo
shots to Reggie "Dog" Jackson, Sal Bando and Dave Duncan, but Rick
Petrocelli took Blue over the Monster twice and the Sox prevailed, 4-3,
in a blistering 2hr 15min. It was the only game (of six) the A's would
lose at Fenway all year. Then on 8/7, near the end of our
cross-country bicycle trip, Jim, Joe Anthony, Steve Houk and myself saw
Blue win his 20th (and get his 19th complete game). Dick Green scored
on a Joe Horlen balk and the A's beat the White Sox 1-0 in 2hr 11min.
Remember, no DH yet! A paltry 17,751 came out to the Oakland-Alameda
Coliseum that Saturday afternoon as the A's already had a 15-game lead
in the AL West. Chris Chambliss won the 1971 AL Rookie of the Year
(Blue made 12 appearances in 1969 and six in 1970).
Don Drysdale batted .300 in 1965 (130 AB, 7HR, .508 SLG). Maury Wills
batted .286 (94 SB), the highest of any other of the World Series
Champion Dodgers with more than 13 AB. Warren Spahn batted .333 in
1958 (108 AB) also to lead his World Champion team (anybody over 14
AB). Wes Covington batted .330 but with 294 AB didn't qualify for the
batting leader board. Hank Aaron batted .326 and Frank Torre batted
.309. Richie Ashburn of the Phillies hit .350 and won the league title.
As I said, not only was Carroll Hardy the only one to pinch hit for
both Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski, he was the only one ever to
pinch hit for Ted Williams. Hardy and Frank Bernardi, c.f., "Hardy and
Bernardi," were star,
single-wing running backs for the University of Colorado from 1951-1954, both
making All-Big 8 in 1954. Both played in the NFL, Hardy being drafted by
the 49ers and Bernardi by the Cardinals. Hardy was drafted into the Army
in 1956; when he returned in 1958, he stuck to baseball. Hardy rushed for
1,999 career yards at CU and ran track as well. In 2002, he was inducted
into the University of Colorado Athletic Hall of Fame along with people like
Dick Anderson, Hale Irwin and Sox Walseth and ahead of people like Bill Toomey,
Eddie Crowder, Frank Potts, John Wooten and Cliff Meely. "Whizzer" White
was the lone inductee in 1998, just to give you an idea.
And you thought all we ever talk about is golf ;-) !
Best regards,
D
Carl Chan wrote:
Just
a reminder that we have a poker game this Fri.
Don, bring your poker chips.
For directions, I suggest you use Mapquest. Basically, either take Rt 9
to Edgell Rd and go north or take Rt 20 to Edgell Rd and go south.
See you in a couple of days.
Carl Chan
----- Original Message ----- From: Carl Chan
To: Darrell Reese;
Bob Belanger; Don Dudley;
John Clayton; Walter Earley;
John Clark; David Reese;
Jack Rothman; Peter Stanton
Sent: Thursday, June 09, 2005 5:27 PM
Subject: Re: poker anyone? for on Fri 6/24 ?
As Steve McQueen said to Yul Brynner, we're
up to 7. So it looks like the game is on.
I have a question. I'm certain you have noticed that Texas Hold'Em has
recently become a TV spectator sport. Should we consider adding a
mini-tournament as part of our evening agenda? If so, then does anyone
have poker chips they can bring?
I'll send out directions a few days before. Otherwise, you'll just lose
it. :-)
----- Original Message ----- From: Darrell Reese
To: Carl Chan; Bob Belanger; Don Dudley;
Wayne Williamson; John Clayton;
Walter Earley; John Clark;
David Reese; Jack Rothman;
Peter Stanton
Sent: Thursday, June 09, 2005 4:49 PM
Subject: Re: poker anyone? for on Fri 6/24 ?
I'm in. I may have to leave earlier than david
depending on how many shots I'm in the lead in at the
WCC club championship
darrell
--- Carl Chan <[email protected]> wrote:
It's been a long while since our last
game. I offer
my humble abode for our next gathering. We can
celebrate the Summer Solstice.
My email list is pretty old. It may have bad email
addresses. So please forward this email to anyone
who you know will not receive it.
I will send out directions once we have confirmed a
critical mass of players.
Carl Chan, Esq.