Deaths in May 2022-- Part 6: Mineta, Gilley, Lanier, Akleh and Liotta

NORMAN MINETA, 90

**  He broke racial barriers for Asian Americans serving in high profile government posts who ordered commercial flights grounded after the 9/11 terror attacks as the Federal Transportation Secretary.  Died May 3.

MICKEY GILLEY, 86

**  Country singer whose namesake Texas honky-tonk inspired the 1980 film "Urban Cowboy" and a nationwide wave of Western-themed night spots.  Died May 7.  No Bull!!

What great music.  But, I never got on one of those mechanical bulls.  My back is still okay.

BOB LANIER, 73

**  The left-habded big man who muscled up beside the likes of Kareen Abdul-Jabbar as one of the NBA's top players of the seventies.  Died May 10.

SHIREEN ABU AKLEH, 51

**  A correspondent who became a household name synonymous with with Al Jazeera's coverage of life under occupation during her more than two decades reporting in the Palestinian territories.  Died May 11.

RAY LIOTTA, 67

**  Actor best-known for playing mobster Henry Hill in "Goodfellas" and baseball player "Shoeless " Joe Jackson in "Field of Dreams."  Died May 26.

"Do I Amuse You?"  

But, Back to Mark Buehrle Got Us Drenched-- Part 3: We Get All Wet

I had to stop for a day on the drenched chroncicles to write about Mark Buehrle's next pitching outing which got exciting as well.  Imagine pitching back-to-back perfect games.  Well, it didn't happen, but wow, wouldn't that have been something!

To set the story, we had remained at Chopper's (bar and grill) up on Channel Lake in Antioch, Illinois, to see if Burehrle would get the perfect game despite knowing that a nasty storm was blowing in.  (We were in our boat, School's Out... Forever!)  Had we left in the 8th inning, we might have made it home, but we stayed.  Hey, how often do you get the chance to see a perfect game?

It hadn't started raining yet, but there was plenty of lightning and thunder off in the distance and getting closer.

We, (Kevin, Kelly, Liz and myself) decided to make a run for it.  We left and walked rapidly to the boat, cast off and started on our way.  It started  drizzling about half way to the Illinois Route 173 bridge and got steadily harder until a downpour.  (At this time we decided we probably should have just stayed at Chopper's.  But, too late.)  

The wind also picked up as well.  We ended up taking cover under the bridge until the worst had passed over about fifteen minutes later.  The rain let up some, but was still coming down enough to soak us pretty well on the rest of our way home.

So, as you can see, it was all Mark Buehrle's fault we got drenched.

And, he never apologized.

Thanks A Lot, Mark.  --RoadWet

Today in White Sox History: Buehrle Almost Has Another Perfect Game!!

From the July 28, 2022, SB Nation site.

Mark Buehrle  was perfect through 5 2/3 innings against the Minnesota Twins.  This was his next start after pitching a perfect game his last time on the mound.  I have written a lot about that outing in the previous posts.

In so doing, he set a MLB record for most consecutibe batters retired at 45.

That streak had started when he got the last out in his July 18th win over Baltimore and added substantially on his July 23 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers which was a perfect game on July 23.

In so doing this, he broke the previous record mark of 41 set by  Jim Barr in 1971 and tied by Buehrle's teammate Bobby Jenks in 2007.

However, the Sox lost the game that Buehrle broke the record to the Twins 5-3.

Doggone Twinkies.  --Cooter

Mark Buehrle Got Us Drenched-- Part 2: But, the Perfect Game Was Worth It

We had some discussion about staying or leaving and it was decided to chance the storm and stay.  Here was a chance to see only the 18th ever perfect game in Major League Baseball.  And, of course, for me, it was the Chicago White Sox, making it even better.

Eighth inning and Buehrle still had the perfect game.  By now, we could hear the thunder and see the lightning and it was going to be a really bad storm for sure.  Come on Mark, either get this over with or give up a hit so we can get out of there.

We wanted the Sox to go down fast in their part of the eighth.  They did.  Three up, three down.

Now, we have the 9th.  Will he do it or not?  Huge clap of thunder really close by as Tampa came up to bat.  The TVs flickered and went off.  Oh, NO!!!  Not now.  No rain yet, but, oh, no.  Thankfully the TVs came back on with one out.  

What we didn't know was that when the TVs went off, Tampa player Gabe Kapler had hit what would have been a home run ball, but was caught by DeWayne Wise, who had been put in the game that inning for his defensive ability.  He lived up to that name and leaped high to catch the ball as it cleared the outfield stands.  One out.  And, I should mention that the collision with the wall knocked the ball out of his glove and he juggled it once or twice on the way down to the ground before he caught it.  WHOA!!!

Buehrle got the next two out easily and we had our perfect game.

And, We Haven't Even Gotten Wet Yet.  --Cooter

Mark Buehrle Got Us All Drenched-- Part 1

I remember July 23, 2009,very well.  We were out with our friends Kevin and Kelly in our boat that day and cruising the Chain O' Lakes here in northeastern Illinois.  And, it was a perfect day in the morning and part way through the afternoon, but we had warnings of a major storm hitting the area around mid-afternoon.

We were all the way up in the upper lakes and we decided to stop at one more place called Chopper's on Channel Lake in Antioch before heading home before the storm hit.  We were going to have just a drink and be on our way.  

The White Sox game was on and I was kind of watching it until I saw a stat that here in the 7th inning, the Sox pitcher, Mark Buehrle,  had not given up a hit.  Even better than that, no Tampa Bay batter had reached base.  In other words, A PERFECT GAME!!  

Well, a perfect game is just something I had to see, especially since the one I was at back in 1983 where the Tiger pitcher, Milt Wilcox,  had a perfect game until Jerry Hairston pinch hit a single with two outs in the 9th to blow my chance of being in attendance at a perfect game.  (To see their pictures and read about this game, go to my Down Da Road I Go blog.  By the way, even though I am a Sox fan, I was pulling all the way for Wilcox.)

Well, we would just have to stay and watch.   Storm or no storm.

Tomorrow.  --Cooter

By the way, congratulations to Mr. White Sox, Minnie Minoso, who was indcted into baseball's Hall of Fame today.  It's about time.

Another White Sox Pitching Gem: Mark Buehrle's Perfect Game

JULY 23, 2009

It  had only happened 17 times before (and I was there back in 1983 when Milt Wilcox of the Detroit Tigers almost threw one against the White Sox.  You can read about that game in my Down Da Road I Go blog.).

On this date, Mark Buehrle became the 18th pitcher in MLB history to throw a perfect game when he shut out the Tampa Bay Rays 5-0.

Buehrle was helped by  Dewayne Wise in the top of the 9th inning when he made the catch of his career, leaping above the wall in left-center to snare a ball hit by Gabe Kapler.  On the way down, he started to lose the ball, then snatched it out of the air with his other hand as he tumbled to the ground.  That ball would have been a home run.

Wise had been inserted in the ninth inning as a defensive replacement, so this play-- among the  best in White Sox and baseball history -- was his first action of the game.

Buehrle completed his perfect game in just two hours and three minutes -- the exact same amount of time it took for his no-hitter in 2007.  He became only the fourth pitcher in MLB to ever throw a perfect game and a no-hitter (April 18, 2007), joining Cy Young, Sandy Koufax and Randy Johnson in that category.

Afterwards, Buehrle got a call from President Barack Obama, a big White Sox  fan.

And, I had a personal experience with Buehrle's perfect game that I will write about in the next post.

--CootFect

This Date White Sox History: Hoyt Wilhelm

Even as I am fed up with the futility of this year's White Sox team, they stink, I am still a Sox fan and on July 23 two major pitching gems occurred in Sox history.

Both of them I remember very well.

JULY 23, 1968

White Sox relief pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm appeared at both ends of a double header against the Red Sox at Comiskey Park (it is still Comiskey Park to me).  The future Hall of Famer set the record for most appearances by a pitcher and broke Cy Young's record of 905 games.  "Old Tilt" would appear in a staggering 1,070 games before he retired.

Chicago split the two games with Boston.

In Wilhelm's six years with the Sox, he won 41 games and saved 98 others, while producing  some astonishing low ERAs considering he threw the knuckleball, a very slow-moving baseball.  His highest ERA between 1963 and 968 was  2.64.  Every other season he was below 2.00!!

Clearly, he was the top relief pitcher of the 1960s.

I remember he taught Sox pitcher Wilbur Wood how to throw the knuckleball and Woods went on to be impressive as well.

That Hoyt!  What a Pitcher.  --CootKnuck

Disco Demolition at Old Comiskey Park on This Date in 1979

July 12, 1979

On this night, between games of a double header with the Detroit Tigers, the infamous "Disco Demolition" was staged.  Fans rioted after deejay Steve Dahl blew up a load of disco records.  It was a real "Disco Sucks" event.

The second game was forfeited to the Tigers because of unplayable field conditions.

The idea for the event came from Mike Veeck, son of Bill Veeck, who worked for the Sox at the time and thought this would help get fans out to the park.  But, no one expected the turnout to be so high and the security at the park proved unable to handle it.

There were problems at the ticket booths outside and most of the security they did have was called to that.  Fans noticed that the field wasn't secure and stormed out onto it.

White Sox players and coaches were locked and barricaded in their locker room after the situation got completely out of control.

Among those in the stands that night were future White Sox relief pitcher Don Pall and future movie actor Michael Clarke Duncan ("The Green Mile"), who grew up to narrate the  2005 White Sox World Championship  highlight film.

By the Way, It's Still Comiskey Park to Me.  --CootDisco

Separating Harry Caray Facts from Legend-- Part 1: How Old Was He?

From the May 5, 2019, Chicago Tribune by Phil Thompson.

Will the real Harry Caray please stand up.  Lots is known about the man, lots is possibly known about the man.  Everybody has their memories.

I sure enjoyed him but WOULD like to point out to Cub fans that he was the White Sox announcer for eleven years.  So we have our claim on him as well.

Author Don Zminda has written the new book "The Legendary Harry Caray:  Baseball's Greatest Salesman.

He also includes lots of anecdotes and stuff about his life that some Harry Caray fans might not know.

1.  WHEN IS HARRY'S BIRTHDAY?

It is difficult to know.  His birthdate has taken place at several different times according to him and according to whatever audience e was speaking to at the time.

Caray died February 18, 1998, and at that time, the Tribune cited "Who's Who in America" saying that he was born in 1919, making him 78.  But Cubs media has the year as 1920  Several other newspapers said he was born in 1919 and 1914.

Zminda wrote that it is fairly certain that he was born March 1, 1914, and that is the date listed according to St. Louis health records.

Always Loved Those Giant Glasses.  --DaCoot

Ten Coincidences That Helped Shape U.S. History

From the June 28, 2018, ListVerse by Christopher Dale.

I'm just listing them.  You can get the facts and a picture at the site.

10.  The fortuitous fog  that saved Washington's Army during the Revolution.  (I  wrote about this in this blog May 17 and 18.)

9.  Sacagawea with Lewis & Clark Expedition.

8.  Making it 90 feet between bases in baseball.

7.  The "Lost Company" at the Battle of Gettysburg.  (I wrote about this in my Saw the Elephant: Civil War blog on May 16.)

6.  Our three aircraft carriers weren't home at Pearl Harbor during the attack.  

5.  The accidental invention of the microwave.

4.  Lee Harvey Oswald had tried to kill  Major General Edwin Walker seven months later, but failed.

3.  The confusing ballot that skewed the 2000 election.

2.  The ill-timed financial  crisis that hurt McCain's presidential run in 2008.

1.  The inglorious return of Carlos Danger.

--Cooter

Woke Goes After the Atlanta Braves and Kansas City Chiefs

ATLANTA BRAVES

Braves officials in July announced they are not going to change the team's name.

However, the team said it would discuss the tomahawk symbol on the jerseys and then tomahawk chop fans do at games.

Some have called upon the team to rebrand as the Hammers, especially after the death of Hank Aaron.  ("Hammerin' Hank")

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KANSAS CITY CHIEFS 

The Chiefs said they won't change their name, but they banned fans from wearing headdresses and Native American inspired face paint.

That hasn't stopped Indigenous people from expressing their frustration with the name and tomahawk chops.  Protesters went to Super Bowl LV in Tampa, Florida, and requested the team change its name.

--Dacoot

'Woke' Hits Major League Baseball, Cleveland Indians

Following in the footsteps of the Washington Football Team (very generic if you ask me), Cleveland has also opted to change the team name after internal discussions with the organization and talking with local Native American groups.

Fir decades, the team used the Chief Wahoo caricature on jerseys and hats before moving away from it in recent years.  But the organization said there was no timetable for when the name would be changed.

Now, I can definitely see how Indians may not like the Chief Wahoo caricature (especially when compared to the U of I or Chicago Blackhawks logos).  But, I am not sure why there would be dislike for the name Indians.  How is that disrespectful?

And, in all these cases with name and logo changes, how come these people suddenly got "Woke?"  These have been in place for a long time.

What Gives?  --Cooter

Pandemic Won't Slow Down Uecker

From the July 24, 2020, Chicago Tribune by Steve Megargee, AP.

Last season was Bob Uecker's 50th in the Brewer's broadcast booth.

And, he was facing his biggest challenge during that time, the pandemic.  He broadcast the 2020 season's games at Miller Field, home of the Brewers and that included the road games which he watched on a monitor.

The 86-year-old announcer came back for his 50th season and 65th in baseball overall, including a six-year playing career with the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies from 1962 to 1967.  (Totals:   Batting average:  .200, 14 home runs, 74 RBI.  Not exactly what you'd call amazing.)

But, he made fun of this.  And, then there were those great commercials.  Ever since April 2014, there has been a statue of Bob Uecker in the back row of Miller Field's nosebleed seats  in homage to his 1980s Lite Beer  commercial where he arrived at the park and says, "I must be in the front row."

Of course, I always enjoy it when he is at Wrigley Field and they have him do the 7th inning stretch "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" and he always, I mean always yells "And it's root, root, root for the Brewers."  Looks like the Cub front office would be aware of that bit of sacrilege.

--CootUeck

Negro Leagues Become Major League Baseball League and 'Hammerin' ' Hank's Death

One thing I am glad to see is that the old Negro Leagues have finally been given their due as Major League Baseball, something long overdue.  These players were as good as the white players, but were not allowed to compete with them because of the color of their skin.

Also, I was sad to see the recent death of Hank Aaron on January 22 of this year.  He was excitement.  But, I never knew the amount of hate mail and death threats he received as he neared the home run record of Babe Ruth.

Maybe we are not all the way we should be when it comes to race relations, but things are much better for Blacks than they were in the first half of the 20th century.

Black History: Jack Roosevelt Robinson... You Might Know Him Better As...

But you probably know him better as Jackie Robinsson.

JACK ROOSEVELT "JACKIE" ROBINSON (1919-1972)

The first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era when he made his 1947 debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers and ended some sixty years of baseball segregation.

Robinson went on to have an extraordinary baseball career and in 1962 was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

He not only battled racism in sports, but also he was an officer in the highly segregated U.S. Army during World War II.  I'll write about his WW II career in my Tattooed on Your Soul:  World War II blog.

Some More 2020 Deaths, October-December: Gibson, Morgan, Dinkins, Maradona, Prowse, and Johnson

DEATHS IN OCTOBER

BOB GIBSON, 84

Baseball Hall of Famer and dominating St. Louis Cardinals pitcher.  Died October 2.

JOE MORGAN, 77

Hall of Fame second baseman became the sparkplug of the dominant Cincinnati teams of the mid-1970s.  Died October 11.

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DEATHS IN NOVEMBER

DAVID DINKINS, 93

Broke barriers as New York City's first black mayor.  Died November 23.

DIEGO MARADONA, 60

Argentine soccer great who scored the "Hand of God" goal in 1986 and led his country to that year's World Cup title.  Died November 25.

DAVE PROWSE, 85

British weight lifter-turned-actor who was the body of arch-villain Darth Vader in the original "Star Wars" trilogy.  Died November 28.

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DECEMBER

RAFER JOHNSON, 86

Won the decathlon at the 1960 Rome Olympics and helped subdue Robert F. Kennedy's assassin in 1968.  Died December 2.

World Champion Cincinnati Reds to Play DeKalb (Illinois) Baseball Team in 1920

From the May 27, 2020, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1920, 100 Years Ago.

"The Champions of DeKalb are going to play the champions of the world.  Arrangements have been made whereby the Cincinnati Reds, the champions of the world by virtue of licking the Chicago White Sox last fall, will play  in this city in a match game with the local nine on August 18."

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"DANCING -- At Electric Park, Saturday night , May 29th."

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Imagine a major league baseball team visiting a small town in Illinois for a game these days.  Plus, we know there was a problem with the 1919 World Series.  I couldn't find out anything about the game, but the Reds played at the Chicago Cubs on August 17 and won 3-2.  On August 19 they beat the Brooklyn Robins 3-2 in 13 innings in Cincinnati.

Plus, there was this thing called the Spanish flu still going around in 1920.

Electric Park was a big amusement spot just south of Sycamore on the DeKalb-Sycamore Road (now Illinois Highway 23).  Click on the Electric Park Sycamore Ill. label to find out more about the park.

--Cooter

(N)opening Day-- Part 7: Japan and a World Series Year

MARCH 29, 2000

In the first Major League game played outside of North America, the Cubs rode Jon Lieber's arm and Shane Andrews' bat to a 5-3 victory over the Mets in front of 55,000 fans at the Tokyo Dome in Japan.

Lieber allowed one run on five hits  in seven innings and Andrews belted a two run homer in the seventh and Mark Grace had a solo shot in the eighth to give Don Baylor the victory in his managerial debut.

2016

Jake Arrieta, coming off his Cy Young Award-winning season, pitched seven innings of two-hit baseball in 1 9-0 victory over the Angels  in Anaheim.  He held Albert Pujols and Mike Trout to a combined 0-6 with three strikeouts.

This was the first of the 103 regular season wins the Cubs had  that year on their way to winning their first NL Central title since 2008.

Then as you know, they went on to win their first World Series since 1908.

That Sure Was Some Fun Year.  --Cooter

(N)opening Day-- Part 6: From Cactus Worst to NL East Best and Then the Maddux Comes Back

1984--   They had a Cactus League worst 7-20 record and had released franchise legend Fergie Jenkins, so things didn't look promising, but come opening day, Dick Ruthven pitched 7 1/3 innings of two-run ball and then Keith Moreland hit a tie-breaking home run in the sixth inning as the Cubs won 5-3 over the Giants at Candlestick Park

The Cubs went on to finish the year 96-65 for their first National League East title  and first playoff appearance since 1945.  Then they lost to Steve Garvey and the Padres 3 games to 2 in the best-of-five NL Championship Series.

***************************************

APRIL 5, 1993--  In his first game with the Braves, former Cub Greg Maddux beat his former team 1-0 on a cold, blustery day at Wrigley.

From 1986 to 1992, he had won 95 games, including his Cy Young Award-winning 1992 when he won 20.

He won the Cy Young again in 1993, plus in the next two seasons.  During his 11 seasons with the Braves, they won ten division titles.

The Cubs Trading Better Is Like the Bears Trading or Drafting a Good Quarterback.  Ain't Gonna Happen.  --RoadDog

Al Spalding-- Part 1: Mighty Big Name in Early MLB

On March 30, I wrote about the Chicago White Stockings (now the Cubs) winning their season opener in 1876 behind the pitching of their manager-pitcher Al Spalding.  Well, this name sounded familiar in sporting goods so I did some further research and what a baseball player this guy was.

From Wikipedia.

ALBERT GOODWILL SPALDING  (September 2, 1850-September9, 1915)

Baseball pitcher, player, manager and executive and co-founder of A.G. Spalding sporting goods company.  Born and raised in Byron, Illinois, and graduated high school in Rockford, Illinois.    Played Major League Baseball from 1871 to 1878.  He started a trend when he started wearing a baseball glove.

After his retirement as a player, he became active as an executive and owner of the Chicago White Stockings (who are today's Chicago Cubs).With William Hulburt, he organized the National League and later called for a commission which determined that baseball had been invented by Abner Doubleday (second in command at Fort Sumter when it surrendered to the Confederates and later Union general).  He also wrote the first set of baseball rules.

--CootBall