The Joe Chair is a one of a kind item that not many people have. In 1971, Italian industrial design released the “Joe” chair, shaped like a gigantic baseball glove. From what I know, there is one in the Museum of Modern Art and one in George Steinbrenner’s office. I’ve heard that many other Major League Baseball team owners and executives have them sitting in their private corporate offices as well

There are many models and different copies of the chair that are available, but the original ones can go for thousands upon thousands of dollars. It got its name ”Joe” from the legendary New York Yankees center fielder Joe DiMaggio, after a client made a remark that a chair “should fit like a glove.”

During a period of fascination with American mass culture, the Italian designers Gionatan De Pas, Danato D’Urbino and Paolo Lomazzi took their inspiration from the American artist Claes Oldenburg, and created this giant, leather, baseball glove chair. It’s still produced from the original molds and is  made from 100% Genuine Leather. It has a metal frame that is padded with preformed expanded polyurethane foam and circles the bases on 4 rolling casters. The chair can seat 2 adults or 3 children, measuring approximately 69″ wide x 43″ deep x 35″ high.

This chair is now considered a classic, and is highly sought after as collectors’ items. This has got to be the ultimate luxury sports chair, and for you baseball aficionados out there..this has got to be something you would want in your home or office. I know I want one.

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WORD

sang-froid [Fr. sahN-fRwA] n.  coolness of mind; calmness; composure: They committed the robbery with complete sang-froid

BIRTHDAY

Andrew Carnegie (1835), Eddie Shore (1902), Joe DiMaggio (1914), Percy Sledge (1941), Ben Stein (1944), John Larroquette (1947), Amy Grant (1960), John F. Kennedy Jr. (1960), Mark Lanegan (1964), Christina Applegate (1971), Donovan McNabb (1976), Dolla (1987)

STANDPOINT

One of my greatest friends is Joe. I’ve mentioned him before. He’s someone special.

And he’s also kind of this blog’s watchdog. When I miss a day (or three), or post something subpar, Joe’s the first one to let me know, whether through a scathing comment on a particular post, a verbal tirade on GMail chat, or an obscenity-laden phone call. Most of these responses center on his annoyance with the fact I call this the daily euneJeune, and I’m not exactly stringent about the whole “daily” thing.

I love it. Because it comes from Joe and he’s one of the few people out there in the world who knows me very well, and wants to be my friend anyway.

Also, Joe and I have two things in common: (a) We’re able to drink more alcohol than any two people at any bar anywhere, and (b) We’re most likely the funniest people you’ll ever meet. And, no, the alcohol has nothing to do with why we think we’re a goddam riot. Although it doesn’t hurt.

In any case, Joe and I have this routine of exchanging late night texts, mainly because each of us know the other is most likely awake and not sober. 99% of the texts’ subject material has to do with movie quotes. And of that 99%, probably 98% deal directly with the obscure black comedy, Clifford, starring Charles Grodin and Martin Short.

As a tribute to my friend Joe, I offer the following video clip.

QUOTATION

I think we dream so we don’t have to be apart so long.  If we’re in each other’s dreams, we can play together all night. → Bill Watterson

TUNE

I’ve always loved the lyrics and music of Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale.” It came on yesterday at the perfect time. And, so, I now share it with you.

GALLIMAUFRY

→ As we all knew it would, Antarctica has declared war on New Zealand. Tired of living in the shadow of its more “tourist-friendly” neighbor, the frozen wasteland has launched hundreds of icebergs in a desperate attempt to get some headlines. Some experts are saying it’s not an attack at all and probably has something to do with global warming. Other experts are saying there’s too much ice in Antarctica and it’s natural to jettison some of the dead weight. The same experts also suggested people get off global warming’s back. However, all the experts agree the iceberg assault will have little effect on New Zealand, prompting a disheartened Antarctica to go back to the drawing board.

→ Finally, MTV makes a show I would actually watch  – about a squad of young Italian summertime renters at the Jersey shore – cleverly titled “Jersey Shore,” and wouldn’t you know it? There’s a group of Italian-Americans that wants to block it. Of course.

→ No new posts until Monday. What with the holiday and all. Also, be careful out there tonight. It’s the biggest bar night of the year. And drunk idiots make it suck pretty hard. Just take the following advice: Make sure to drive fast and take chances. OK. It’s not really advice.

On November 25:

1491 The siege of Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, began.

1343 A tsunami, caused by the earthquake in the Tyrrhenian Sea, devastated Naples  and the Maritime Republic of Amalfi, among other places.

1703 The Great Storm of 1703, the greatest windstorm ever recorded in the southern part of Great Britain, reached its peak intensity which it maintained through November 27. Winds gusted up to 120 mph, and 9,000 people died.

1759 An earthquake hit the Mediterranean, Beirut and Damascus were completely destroyed, 30,000-40,000 people died.

1833 A  massive undersea earthquake, estimated magnitude between 8.7-9.2 rocked Sumatra, producing a massive tsunami all along the Indonesian coasts.

1839  A cyclone hit India with high winds and a 40 foot storm surge, destroying the port city of Coringa. The storm wave swept inland, taking with it 20,000 ships and thousands of people. An estimated 300,000 deaths resulted.

1835 Andrew Carnegie, British-born industrialist and philanthropist, was born.

1844  Karl Benz, German engineer and inventor, was born.

1867  Alfred Nobel patented dynamite.

1880 John Flynn (minister), Founder of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, was born.

1880  Elsie J. Oxenham, British children’s author, was born.

1890 Isaac Rosenberg, English war poet and artist, was born.

1903  Timaru boxer Bob Fitzsimmons became the first man ever to be world champion in three different weight divisions.

1909  P.D. Eastman, American children’s author and screenwriter, was born.

1914  Joe DiMaggio, American baseball player, was born.

1915 Augusto Pinochet, Chilean Dictator, was born.

1926 The deadliest November tornado outbreak in U.S. history struck. 27 twisters of great strength were reported in the Midwest, including the strongest November tornado, an estimated F4, that devastated Heber Springs, Arkansas. There were 51 deaths in Arkansas alone, 76 deaths and  400 injuries in all.

1940 First flight of the deHavilland Mosquito and Martin B-26 Marauder.

1947  New Zealand ratified the Statute of Westminster and thus becomes independent of legislative control by the United Kingdom.

1950  Alexis Wright, Australian author, was born.

1950 The “Storm of the Century“, a violent snowstorm, paralyzed the northeastern United States and the Appalachians, bringing winds up to 100 mph and sub-zero temperatures. Pickens, West Virginia, recorded 57 inches of snow. 323 people died as a result of the storm.

Surface Analysis showing cyclone near time of maximum intensity on November 26, 1950.

1952 Agatha Christie’s murder-mystery play The Mousetrap opensedat the Ambassadors Theatre in London and eventually became the longest continuously-running play in history.

1975  Suriname gained independence from the Netherlands.

1984  36 top musicians gathered in a Notting Hill studio torecord Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas in order to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia.

Cover art for the original release (artist Peter Blake)

1986 The King Fahd Causeway was officially opened in the Persian Gulf.

1987 Super Typhoon Nina pummeled the Philippines with category 5 winds of 165 mph and a surge that swallows entire villages. At least 1,036 deaths were attributed to the storm.

1996  An ice storm strikes the central U.S. killing 26 people. A powerful windstorm affects Florida and winds gust over 90 mph, toppling trees and flipping trailers.

2000  2000 Baku earthquake.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.

http://josephsreviews.wordpress.com/2009/11/17/the-boxer/

This week, we salute our troops who are protecting and protected our freedom and country. I interviewed two Iraq veterans last week for a story that ran in the Kentucky Kernel.

After each interview was over, I thanked them for their service, sacrifice and bravery they showed when fighting for millions of people they’ve never met.

I was shocked at their responses. Both were thankful for my support, but they said, “Oh yeah, no problem, sir,” and moved on with the conversation.

Hopefully they’ve been thanked numerous times, and this conversation has just become routine. However, I like to focus on how selfless and humble these veterans really were. They shrugged off the attention and praise they deserve as soon as the words “thank you” entered their ear.

To sacrifice yourself for so many people takes a large amount of courage. To deflect the attention on to something else besides yourself, is what makes them heros.

People label many different people as heros. Relatives, soldiers, doctors, teachers and other role models like actors, singers and athletes. Many people in today’s society are labeled a “hero” far too soon.

As much as I love sports, music and movies, I have a hard time giving performers such status. However, this wasn’t the case at the time of World War II and the Korean War. There was a huge group of athletes who dropped their bats, sneakers and gloves and picked up a gun.

Putting your career and dreams on hold to defend your country? Now there’s a hero.

It’d be impossible to list all athletes that were in the military, so we’ll stick to some that you’ve heard of.

Yogi Berra is known not only for baseball and his amusing quotes, but his sacrifice to our country. He was in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Berra was a Gunner’s Mate in the D-Day invasion. After his military career, Berra was a part of 13 World Series titles and 15 All-Star games. He was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1972.

Joe DiMaggio enlisted in 1943 in the United States Army Air Forces. This was in the middle of his career. Prior to his enlistment, he had been an All-Star seven straight years from 1936-42. After being discharged in the fall of 1945, he continued success in the 1946 season. DiMaggio started his career again with six straight All-Star appearances from 1946-51.

Overall, DiMaggio was a part of nine World Series wins. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1955.

Ted Williams is one of the biggest heros of them all. Not only is he the last player to bat above .400 during a season, but he also fought in two wars.  His career was put on hold twice by military service. During World War II and the Korean War, Williams served as a Marine Corps pilot. Williams served from 1942-46 and 1952-53.

Words cannot describe how much I love a fly over at a sporting event.

Despite missing numerous years in the majors, he ended his career with 2,654 hits. That’s good for 69th all-time. Scary to think how many hits he could have accumulated had he not made the ultimate sacrifice. Williams was elected in the Hall of Fame in 1966 after 17 All-Star appearances and two AL MVP awards.

Stan Musial is a three-time World Series champion, with 24 All-Star selections and three NL MVP’s. He also served in World War II in 1945, just one year after he won his third World Series. Musial ended his career with 3,630 hits, which is fourth all-time. He was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1969.

Jackie Robinson not only broke the color barrier in the MLB, he also served his country. Robinson was drafted in 1942 and honorably discharged in 1944. He never saw combat because of issues that arose because of racial tension, hence the honorable discharge. Robinson ended his baseball career in 1956 with 1,518 hits and was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1962. His number 42 jersey was retired in 1997 by all MLB teams.

Other sports figures like Yankee owner George Steinbrenner, boxer Rocky Marciano and golfer Tony Lema also served.

Some UK players who served include Alex Groza, Ralph Beard, Cliff Hagan and Frank Ramsey. All of these players’ jerseys are hanging in the rafters in Rupp Arena.

Former player and Athletic Director, C.M. Newton also served.

Pat Tillman is probably the most recent veteran who put his sports career on hold to protect his country. Tillman played for the Arizona Cardinals, where he denied a three-year contract extension worth $3.6 million, and enlisted in the Army in 2002. This was the season following the Sept. 11th attacks.

Tillman was eventually killed by friendly fire while fighting in Afghanistan. He was awarded both the Silver Star and Purple Heart, both are one of the highest awards you can receive.

I could go on and on and name hundreds of sports figures that were part of the military, and I wish I could.

In a time filled with selfish athletes who self-promote and bench themselves in order to get more money, it’s hard for me to name most of them heros. I’m not saying that you have to join the military to become a hero, but doesn’t it seem unfair to so many true heros to put these selfish athletes in the same category?

This week, we salute those who are truly heros. We salute all the men and women who have sacrificed so much more than you can imagine.

But why just thank them just this week? Does it have to be marked on your calendar for you to thank a veteran? Please, support our troops both past and present whenever possible.

Support and thank them, for they, are truly heros.

Everybody seems to know someone who has served. Heck, you, the reader might have served at some point in time. Whatever the circumstances were, we here at Zells Pinstripe Blog tip our hat to you in recognition of your service. Whether you know it or not, there have been a few Yankees that have served as well. While this may not be a comprehensive list, it highlights how even people of their stature value service to their nation.

George Steinbrenner – The Boss enlisted in the Air Force and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in 1952 after graduating from Williams College. During his time he was stationed at Lockbourne Air Force Base in Columbus, Ohio until he was honorably discharged in 1954.

Yogi Berra - Before becoming arguably one of the best Catcher’s of all time, Yogi served in the Navy as a Gunner’s Mate during World War II and more specifically, he was involved with the D-Day Invasion.

Joe DiMaggio - DiMaggio enlisted into the Army in 1942 after seven All-Star seasons. During his time, he rose to the rank of Sergeant. DiMaggio was discharged in September 1945.

Hank Bauer – One month after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Bauer enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. In 32 months of combat, Bauer earned 11 campaign ribbons, two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts. He also was involved in the Battle of Okinawa, where he commanded a platoon of 64 men, a battle which only 6 people survived the siege. What Bauer might be best known for is being traded to the Kansas City Athletics in 1959 for Roger Maris.

Recently, the New York Daily News published their list of the All-World Series Yankees team. Looking over it, there is not much much debate at who should be on it, with the exception of one or two spots (Brosius vs Nettles, Larsen vs. Pettitte). Are you happy with this list? To see the full article click here.

Manager – Casey Stengel

C – Yogi Berra
1B – Lou Gehrig
2B – Billy Martin
SS – Derek Jeter
3B – Graig Nettles
OF – Mickey Mantle
OF – Babe Ruth
OF – Joe DiMaggio
DH – Reggie Jackson

SP – Whitey Ford
SP – Red Ruffing
SP – Allie Reynolds
SP – Walte Hoyt
SP – Don Larsen
CP – Mariano Rivera

The World Series ended last night with a bang as an aging Hideki Matsui (AKA Godzilla) single-handedly slugged his New York Yankees over the Philadelphia Phillies.  He drove in 6 runs with 3 hits including a soaring home run off longtime Yankee nemesis Pedro Martinez on the way to a 7-3 victory.  It was the 27th championship in the storied history of the team.

It was a really good Series between arguably the two best teams in baseball.  The Phillies, last year’s reigning champs, were a formidable opponent and a very likable group that played the game with full effort.  They could have easily won any of these games.  However, the  Yankees were just a step ahead this year.

To a baseball fan, the game becomes part of your daily ritual.  It’s a long season that spans all four  seasons, running from  spring training that starts in the last weeks of winter to the Fall Classic, as the Series is called.  The Yankees played 177 regular season games not to mention all the spring training games.  It is, as they say, a marathon sport based on finding the rhythm of a team and trying to maintain it through the ups, downs and grind of this long year.  It very much mimics day to day life.

So, you follow your team and suffer through the lows and relish the highs.  Being a Yankee fan has had a lot of highs, certainly.  But the heightened expectations create deep lows when your team fails to follow through on the promise of their potential.  And this year’s team was promising a lot.  It was a team that was very easy to like in many ways.  I’ve heard fans of other teams say that it tore them up because this team was so hard to dislike.  They played hard all the time, played with joy and never seemed to be just putting in the time when they were on the field which means a lot to the day to day fans.  When you’re committed as a fan you want to know that your players are as invested emotionally as you in the season.

That’s why it’s been a pleasure following these Yankees over the last 15 years or so.  I remember reading about Joe Dimaggio saying that he played hard every day out of respect for the fans, that he knew what a big deal it was for many of them to make the trip, many from long distances, just to see the game on that particular day.  It might be the only time they’ll ever see you in person and they deserved to see you try to do your best.  I’ve watched Derek Jeter day in and day out for since 1996 and he has never made me feel as though his full attention was anywhere other than where he was at that moment on the field.  Full effort all the time.  Oh, he’s failed.  Much more than he’s succeeded.  That’s the nature of baseball.  But his effort has never lagged.

And that’s what carries the fans through the lows.  That feeling that though they couldn’t go all the way, they gave it all they had.  It’s a good life lesson.

And when they give all and win, it’s even sweeter.

Now I have a baseball void for the next few months.  Can’t wait for spring training…

When I was a young man, I swore I would not visit the Baseball Hall of Fame until Roger Maris was properly enshrined.

I retreated on the vow after making another vow. My oldest son, Mike, was a Johnny Bench fan. When Bench retired in 1983, Mike asked if he would make it to the Hall of Fame. I assured him that Bench would be voted in on the first ballot. Mike asked what year that would be. I said 1989. Mike asked if we could go to the induction ceremonies. I said sure. What kid remembers a promise like that five-plus years later?

Mike did. And we spent a marvelous weekend in Cooperstown watching Bench, Carl Yastrzemski, Red Schoendienst and Harry Caray inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The museum was fabulous, even crowded with induction-weekend fans. I didn’t spend much time in the hall itself. Maris wasn’t there and his absence cheapens the honor for those who are. If the selection process and the electors are obviously biased and skewed, how much can it mean to get in?

If that museum in Cooperstown were the Hall of Longevity or the Hall of High Batting Averages, then fine, leave Maris out. Those are the only two legitimate knocks against him. But it’s the Hall of Fame. And Maris is more famous than most of the players there.

First Maris broke the most famous record in baseball. Then he held it for 37 years, losing it only to players who clearly used performance-enhancing drugs. During that 37 years, you never had to explain what record Maris held. Whoever hit a lot of homers in April was on pace to pass Roger Maris and every baseball fan knew what that meant because Maris and his record were that famous. His record was so famous that when Billy Crystal made an HBO movie about that season, all he needed was the number and the unjust asterisk: 61*. Everyone knew who the movie was about. And for 37 years, all those guys who were on pace to pass Maris didn’t make it and his fame grew.

Maris set the record in 1961, an expansion year for baseball. So the Maris haters who wanted to diminish his record said he broke the record only because of watered-down pitching. But baseball expanded again in 1962 and ‘69 and ‘77 and no one came close to 61*. They even juiced the ball in 1987 and no one came close. Finally people started coming close in the ’90s when baseball expanded again. But of course, expansion had nothing to do with all the homers hit in the 1990s.

Roger Maris is not in the Hall of Fame because he didn’t suck up to baseball writers during his chase of Babe Ruth. Period. Commissioner Ford Frick hated him for breaking Ruth’s record and baseball writers hated him for not being their buddy and not being Mickey Mantle or Babe Ruth. Every other excuse anyone gives for him not being in the Hall of Fame is fiction.

He was not a one-hit wonder. Maris was a Most Valuable Player the year before he broke Ruth’s record. He was a winner, playing in five World Series for the Yankees and two more for the Cardinals, winning three championships altogether. Injuries (and negligence by Yankee doctors trying to keep him in the lineup) cut short his career, so he didn’t rack up big career numbers. He was a Gold Glove outfielder. His batting average, .260, was low, but not too low for the Hall of Fame (four points higher than Harmon Killebrew, two points higher than Rabbit Maranville, two lower than Luis Aparacio, Gary Carter and Ozzie Smith, seven lower than Bench and Mike Schmidt.) 

Maris’ 275 career homers were not too few for a Hall of Fame slugger. Hack Wilson, who holds the single-season RBI record, hit only 244. And he’s in the Hall of Fame.

But statistics aren’t the reason Maris has to be in the Hall of Fame. It’s quite simply because it’s the Hall of Fame and Maris was one of baseball’s most famous players ever. Let’s go back to 1998, back when most fans were pretending that the surge in homers was genuine. Remember what a great year that was — Big Mac and Sammy chasing Roger Maris. The Hall of Fame gets hung up on lots of arbitrary magic lines — 300 wins, 3,000 hits, 500 homers. Cross those lines (pre-steroid era, at least) and you’re in the Hall of Fame. Maris didn’t cross any of those magic lines that dozens of players have crossed.

But here’s a line that only a few have crossed: If your ghost and your record dominate a magical baseball summer decades after you retired and years after you died, you are not one of a few dozen baseball immortals. You are one of a few. Only Ruth and Lou Gehrig did that. And Maris. DiMaggio will do it if anyone ever comes close. No other record or player is so special.

Without such players, the Hall of Fame lacks credibility.

Here’s my all-time Yankees World Series team (based solely on World Series performance for the Yankees):

Catcher: Yogi Berra, all-time World Series leader in at-bats (259), hits (71) and doubles (10, tied with Frankie Frisch), third in homers with 12, second in RBI with 39. Won nine World Series, played in 14, managed in terrific seven-game series lost to Bob Gibson, Lou Brock and a great Cardinals team. His great numbers weren’t just from longevity. He had great Series performances, most notably three homers and 10 RBI and catching Don Larson’s perfect game in 1956. I have two balls with Berra’s signature, one as Yogi and one, when he was younger, as “Larry Berra.”

I’m picking a 25-man roster here, so we’ll carry three catchers. The first backup will be Thurman Munson, with a .373 batting average and 12 RBI, 11 runs scored and 25 hits in 16 games. He never hit less than .320 in a World Series. Bill Dickey played in more World Series, twice hitting .400 or better. He had five homers and 24 RBI. I have his autograph, too.

First base. Lou Gehrig was .361 with 10 homers and 35 RBI in seven World Series. And he was Lou Gehrig. So we don’t need a backup here (with apologies to Tino Martinez, Moose Skowron and Chris Chambliss). Don Mattingly, sadly, can’t be considered here, since he never played in a World Series.

Second base. Bobby Richardson is the easy call here. He had three terrific World Series, setting records that still stand for RBI (12 in 1960) and hits (13 in 1964, nine in a five-game series in 1961) and runs (eight in 1960). He didn’t hit as well in 1962, but his memorable catch of Willie McCovey’s line drive, with Matty Alou and Willie Mays in scoring position with the tying and winning runs, ended the 1-0 deciding seventh game against the San Francisco Giants. He and Mickey Mantle were my favorite Yankees when I was a kid. When he came to a baseball camp in Stanton, Iowa, in the 1970s, I got him to autograph is autobiography.

Backup would be Billy Martin, who hit .333 in five World Series, with five homers and 19 RBI. His .500 batting average, 12 hits and two triples in 1953 are all still tied for records in six games. I also have a Billy Martin autograph.

Shortstop. Derek Jeter gets lots of attention for his post-season records for hits and homers, inflated when compared with earlier Yankees who couldn’t play up to 19 games in a single post-season. But he’s been great in the World Series alone, .302 with 39 hits, 27 runs, three homers and eight RBI. Not to mention four championships and a walk-off homer in extra innings one year when his Yankees didn’t win.

Backup is Bucky Dent, best known for his homer that won the 1978 one-game playoff with the Red Sox. But he also was the World Series MVP that year, with 10 hits and seven RBI. He had a .349 average in two World Series. Other shortstops, such as Tony Kubek and Phil Rizzuto, played in more series, but not as well as Dent. No Bucky Dent autograph, but I do have two Bucky Dent bobblehead dolls.

Third base. Scott Brosius, with a .314 average and four homers in four World Series, stands out among Yankee third basemen. Graig Nettles hit poorly in the World Series, but his stellar defense, particularly in 1978, wins him a backup slot.

Outfield. Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson are easy picks as the starting lineup. Mantle broke Ruth’s record of 15 homers, finishing with 18. Jackson his half of his 10 World Series homers for the A’s, but his five homers in the 1977 World Series, three of them in Game 6, seal his spot on the team. It’s kind of hard to say Joe DiMaggio wouldn’t start, but he wasn’t as great in the World Series, just hitting .271. But his eight homers and 30 RBI will get him a spot on the roster (and if we’re playing with the DH, Reggie would DH and DiMaggio would play centerfield). I have two baseballs autographed by Mantle and a card autographed by DiMaggio. Roger Maris is the backup, with five homers, 10 RBI and 18 runs scored. Hank Bauer beat those numbers, but he played a dozen more games. And Roger Maris was Roger Maris.

Starting pitchers. Whitey Ford is the easiest pick here. As with Yogi, his all-time record of 10 wins wasn’t just because of longevity. Yes, he also lost eight games. But he had a 2.71 ERA in 22 World Series games. Whitey was the Yankees’ ace for a lot of championship years. And his stretch of cruising through the 1960 and ‘61 World Series without giving up a run in four games was incredible (he also was 2-0 in 1955, giving up a whopping four earned runs that Series). I have three Whitey Ford autographs on baseballs, one of them as “Ed. Ford.”

Allie Reynolds is not only one of the best starting pitchers in World Series history, with a 7-2 record, 2.76 ERA and two shutouts, but he also has four World Series saves. He won a game in each of the six World Series he pitched in. In 1952, he lost the opener, 4-2, but came back with a 2-0 shutout in game four. Then he came on in the 8th inning of game six to save a 3-2 win for Vic Raschi. And in the seventh game, Reynolds pitched three innings of one-run relief for the clinching victory. He struck out 18 Dodgers in that Series. Reynolds also hit .308 in World Series play, with eight hits and two RBI. I also have his autograph. No way this guy shouldn’t be in the Hall of Fame.

Lefty Gomez was undefeated in World Series play, 6-0 with a 2.86 ERA in just seven games. He also had two hits and three RBI in the 1936 Series. He pitched complete games in 1937 for the opener and the game-five clincher.

Red Ruffing, like Reynolds, was 7-2 in World Series play. He finished eight of his 10 starts in the World Series, with a 2.63 ERA. He pitched complete games for the opener and the game-four clincher in 1938, giving up only four runs.

OK, those are four pitchers from well before the era of the five-man rotation, so we don’t need a fifth starter. But, for all that the Bronx Bombers are known for their offense, their dynasty is based on great pitching in October. It’s not that hard to find Yankee greats who had outstanding offensive careers but were mediocre or even bad (think Dave Winfield, but he’s not the only one) when they played in pinstripes in the World Series. But that four-man rotation leaves out three our four rotations of Yankees who pitched outstanding in the World Series.

It seems odd not to have any of the more recent Yankees in this rotation. You’d be glad to go to battle in the World Series with a rotation of Andy Pettitte, only 4-4 World Series play but the winningest post-season pitcher; Orlando Hernandez, 2-1 in World Series play; David Cone, 2-0; and Roger Clemens, 3-0.

Ron Guidry was 3-1 (the loss being a pitcher’s duel), with a 1.69 ERA. Vic Raschi was 5-3 with a 2.24 ERA and clinching wins in 1949 and ‘51. Ed Lopat was 4-1 with a 2.60 ERA. Waite Hoyt was 6-3 for the Yankees and his 1.83 World Series ERA was actually inflated by a loss playing for the A’s in 1931. Herb Pennock was 5-0 with a 1.95 ERA. Bob Turley was 4-3. Ralph Terry won two games in 1962, including that 1-0 complete-game clincher (though he also was on the mound two years earlier for Bill Mazeroski’s homer). The Yankees’ pitching excellence clearly was as much, if not more, responsible for their decades of domination as the bombing from their batters.

But I’m not going to pick any of those pitchers for the fifth-starter slot (unnecessary, since the four pitchers all worked their whole careers on three days’ rest, or less). I have to go with Don Larsen. That’s not based just on his perfect game, though I’d be OK with that. I place great importance on the good players who rise to the occasion. He was 3-2 in World Series play for the Yankees. He also beat the Yankees in 1962, pitching for the Giants, for a fourth win. He pitched seven shutout innings in game three of the 1958 Series, turning around a series that started with two Milwaukee wins and ended with a Yankees’ celebration. And there was that perfect game.

Relief pitchers. The four top starters in this staff pitched 24 complete World Series games, so you don’t need a lot of relief help. But you still need a bullpen. Mariano Rivera is the no-doubt closer. He is the best relief pitcher in major-league history, post-season history and World Series history. His numbers: 2-1, with 10 saves and a 1.09 ERA in 33 innings. Johnny Murphy was a relief specialist before it was a specialty, with a Rivera-ish 1.10 ERA in six World Series, with a 2-0 record and four saves. Goose Gossage didn’t pitch as much as Rivera or Murphy in the World Series, but pitched 11 scoreless innings for the Yankees in 1978 and 1981, getting a win and two saves.  That’s a dominant bullpen, but you want a lefthanders, so I’ll add Sparky Lyle, who gave up only one run in 7.1 innings of relief in two World Series for the Yankees and won the first game of the 1977 World Series. (He actually won three games in a row that post-season, beating the Royals in relief two games in a row. I saw the first of those, when Billy Martin surprised the whole stadium by going to Sparky in the fourth inning. He gave up two hits and no walks the rest of the way and still had enough left for four outs and just one hit the next day.) My other lefthander, Herb Pennock, was a pretty good starter, going 5-0 with a 1.95 ERA in World Series play, but he also saved three Series games. 

Manager. I like Joe Torre a lot, but Casey Stengel’s five championships in a row and seven overall makes him the manager (I have his authograph, too). Torre would be a great bench coach. Joe McCarthy and Miller Huggins would coach the bases. Lou Piniella would be the hitting coach, Bob Lemon the pitching coach and Ralph Houk the bullpen coach.

I’d love to watch this group in the World Series. Well, except that so many of them are old or dead.

That was one hell of a game. Pedro was all you could ask for and more and he was still not the best starter on the night as AJ Burnett was lights out. If you would have told me that Pedro would have 8Ks and only fall victim to 2 solo shots through 6 innings, I would have almost guaranteed a Phillies win with how they are putting runs on the board, but it didn’t work out like that. AJ Burnett threw 7 masterful innings and the only run he allowed could have been called an error on A-Rod for not even knocking a ball, which was right at him, down. Aside from the actual events of the game, the Phillies have to be feeling alright about their chances having split the games at Yankee Stadium and already forced the Yankees into one pressure game.I know that is technically unrelated, I just enjoy watching.

The Pressure Theory, a creation of my own I would like to think, states that there is a finite amount of pressure innings any team can take before it breaks. Now what is perceived as a pressure situation (Phillies needing to win Game 1), and what really is a pressure situation (Yankees having to respond with Game 2) are different. It only counts as a pressure game if the team looks at it like it is, and the Yankees undoubtedly felt the pressure in Game 2. However, the Phillies are facing a pressure game in Game 3 with the shaky Cole Hamels taking the mound. If he struggles, the pressure is immediately on the Phillies as they were already nervous about him. The only thing worse than nerves is the confirmation that your fears are indeed worthy ones. This game is not quite as important for the Yankees as Game 2, but if they win this game, they can afford a really pressure-filled game for a few days. The Yankees are not under pressure to win this game as much as they realize that a win can put all the pressure in the world on the Phillies. The Yankees are not as much under pressure tomorrow as much as they are granted an opportunity. Please comment if this does not make sense to you.

I think that the Yankees have got to be favored to win this game with veteran Andy Pettitte on the mound against a shaky Cole Hamels. For every bit good Hamels was last year, he has been bad this year. He could make Dom DiMaggio look like his brother Joe right now and that is bad news for the Phillies. It is hard to bet against Pettitte in any game, let alone one against a struggling young ace, so I won’t. Yankees 7, Phillies 4.

In America in 1950, the last time the Yankees and Phillies met in the World Series, the average cost of a new car was $1,510 and filling it with gas cost 18 cents a gallon. Harry S. Truman was President. With World War II just five years removed, the Korean War began when North Korean Communist forces invaded South Korea. “All About Eve” won the Academy Award for Best Picture. My folks got married.

On the diamond, the Philadelphia “Whiz Kids” defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers on the final day of the season to win the National League pennant.. Meanwhile the Yankees outlasted the Detroit Tigers by three games  to win the American League flag.

The Yanks entered the World Series as heavy favorites, coming off a World Series win against the Dodgers in 1949. The Phillies were playing in their first Series in 35 years.

New York wound up sweeping Philadelphia in four games, although all four were tight, pitching duels.

Game One: Yankee right-hander Vic Raschi pitches a two-hit shutout to beat the Phillies and surprise starter Jim Konstanty, 1-0. Konstanty was making his first and only start of the season.

Game Two: Joe DiMaggio’s 10th inning home run into the left-field upper deck at Philadelphia’s old Shibe Park gives Allie Reynolds and he Yankees a 2-1 win over Robin Roberts.

Game Three: Shortstop Granny Hamner’s error in the eighth inning allows the tying run to score and the Yanks win 3-2 in the ninth on a two-out single by Jerry Coleman.

Game Four: Fueled by a Yogi Berra home run, rookie left-hander Whitey Ford, shown above, holds the Phils scoreless until an error in the ninth inning, and the Yankees prevail, 5-2.

The Yankees pitching rotation allowed only three earned runs and finished the Fall Classic with a combined 0.73 ERA. Only four other teams finished with an ERA of less than 1.00 — the 1905 New York Giants (0.00), the 1966 Baltimore Orioles (0.50),  the 1907 Chicago Cubs (0.75) and the 1920 Cleveland Indians (0.89).

The Phillies also became the last National League team to fail to hit a single home run during the World Series. The last two NL teams without a homer before than were the 1939 Cincinnati Reds and the 1927 Pittsburgh Pirates. All three clubs were swept by the Yankees.

Coleman, the Yankees acrobatic second baseman who knocked in the winning run in both the first and third games and batted .286 in four games, was named the World Series MVP. Outfielder Gene Woodling led the Yankees with a .433 average and DiMaggio hit .308.  Hamner hit .429 for the Phils, and first baseman Eddie Waitkus (whose godson is a Red Sox fan) batted. 267.

Konstanty would win the NL MVP Award that year, while Yankee shortstop and future Hall of Famer Phil Rizzuto won AL honors. And the Yankees would go on to win three more World Series and five straight overall, the longest run in baseball history.

Just not a dinky.

The Joe Mauer

We are fortunate as mere mortals that The Joe Mauer has graced this plane of existence with his glowing presence. His swing is flawless, his morals are sound, and his bone structure is immaculate. He dates beauty queens, he wins batting titles. The Joe Mauer is ideal. The Joe Mauer is America.

Notable Joe Mauers include:

• Joe Mauer
• Joe Dimaggio

I started out at the bottom of the baseball world – I was a fan. I became a baseball writer, covered several World Series and wrote a couple of books as well as countless articles on America’s national pastime before I moved on to television and business reporting. At one stage I was a columnist for the award-winning shareholder rights website eRaider.com. Occasionally I found lessons for investors from baseball history and legend. Here’s a column I wrote in December 2000 that I’d like to share on the eve of what promises to be an exciting 2009 World Series. (A note on the headline: a couple of years ago, for no apparent reason, my alma mater Yale awarded an honorary doctorate to Willie Mays, baseball’s greatest living player.)

Tommie Agee, centerfielder and leadoff hitter for the 1969 world champion New York Mets, died of a heart attack Monday at age 58, too young. I last saw Agee about 15 years ago, in the offices of New York’s Queens Borough President, where he was trying to find funding for a program for the underprivileged. A native of Mobile, Alabama, Agee embraced the city that embraced him, and as an alumnus of baseball before free agency, he needed to earn a living after his playing days and opted for a town where he remained a famous name.

Agee was the offensive leader on a team that won an unlikely championship with pitching and defense. After Agee sparked a victory over the Chicago Cubs, the team that looked to be running away with the National League’s Eastern Division in the summer of 1969, Chicago’s pitcher threw at Agee’s head in his first at bat the next day. Agee dove headlong into the dirt to avoid the bean ball, dusted himself off, and tripled, a symbolic moment that showed the Mets would not go away.

In Game Three of the 1969 World Series, Agee had what might have been the greatest day in Series history. (And as a 13 year old cutting school for a seat in the upper deck at the first fall classic game ever at Shea Stadium, it was certainly my greatest day in World Series history.) Agee homered leading off against the Baltimore Orioles’ Hall of Fame pitcher and underwear model Jim Palmer, then singlehandedly made that run stand up. In the fourth inning, Agee sprinted, back to home plate, to catch a slicing drive high above his head, backhanded, that saved two runs. In the seventh inning, his diving catch on the warning track with the bases loaded saved at least three runs. The Mets won 5-0, for a 2-1 Series lead, and put the Orioles away within 48 hours to win a most improbable championship.

But this Commentary is not about Tommie Agee or the indomitability of the human spirit that made the 1969 Mets the flesh and blood version of the little engine that could. Agee’s grabs drew immediately comparisons with the greatest in World Series history: Sandy Amoros’ mad dash in 1955 through a vacant leftfield in Yankee Stadium to pull in Yogi Berra’s bid for an opposite field home run; Brooklyn’s Al “Gionfrioddo goes back, back, back and makes a one-handed catch against the bullpen; oooh, doctor,” as Red Barber called it, to pluck Joe DiMaggio’s drive in 1947 (in a rare display of emotion on the field, DiMaggio kicked the dirt as he rounded second base, his sure home run transformed into out number three); and what is generally regarded as the greatest robbery ever, Willie Mays—whose 1972 acquisition by the Mets ran Agee out of town temporarily—on Vic Wertz in the 1954 classic.

Tie game, eighth inning, two men on. Indians slugger Wertz already has three hits off Giants’ starter Sal Maglie, so New York manager Leo Durocher calls for a relief pitcher, lefthander Don Liddle. Wertz says he never hit a ball harder, into the vast expanse of the Polo Grounds’ centerfield, where the fence was nearly 500 feet from home plate and the steps up to the clubhouse were in play. Mays chased down the drive like a wide receiver, made the catch with his back to the infield about 460 feet from the launch point, then threw a strike that kept the runner on second from scoring. Many witnesses (including Mickey Mantle worshipper Bob Costas) place Mays’ play in the realm of the impossible; there is no way a ball hit that hard and far could be caught.

The lesson for investors doesn’t come from Mays or Wertz, but from the pitcher, Liddle. After the catch, the Giants manager Leo Durocher went to the mound to remove Liddle, since he’d given up a blast that would have been a home run in any other park, including Yellowstone. As was the custom in those days, Liddle waited on the mound until his replacement arrived from the bullpen. When the next pitcher reached he mound, Liddle offered these words of encouragement: “I got my guy.”

Sometimes the bottom line doesn’t quite get to the bottom of things.

Totally globalized native New Yorker and former broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about television news, love, betrayal, financial crisis, and cheap lingerie.

 Marilyn Monroe is possibly still one of the most famous women in the world and seems that she will never go out of style or be forgotten. From acting to modelling. She was married three times, to James Dougherty then Joe DiMaggio and then to Arthur Miller. Alledged affairs with the Kennedys, including President John F. Kennedy whom it was rumoured that she was in love with. But also rumoured that she had affairs with Robert and Jack Kennedy. She was a very young 36 years old when she died, and her death was never really concluded. A few different options were given and suicide was one of them.

I have to admit that I have not yet seen many of her movies, but I really do plan on trying to watch as many of them as possible. So far I have only seen two movies all the way through those are “All About Eve” and “There’s No Business Like Show Business”, I have seen bits and parts of some of her other movies but I am not counting that I have seen them as have not watched from start of finish. (Yes I know its shocking that I have no watched “Some Like It Hot” or “The Seven Year Itch” all the way through). But that is one of my goals to get to see her movies.

Marilyn really does have some fantastic quotes which she said over the years and I love so many of them, mainly because I can relate and feel the same way about a lot of the things she has said. In some of the quotes she really does sound like she had to defend herself so much and really fight against everyone to show that she was a good actress. But I just think she really was something else, one of a kind and know one has ever come close to what she achieved in such a short time really in Hollywood terms from a young age.

“It’s all make believe, isn’t it?”

“If I’d observed all the rules, I’d never have got anywhere.”

“I don’t mind living in a man’s world as long as I can be a woman in it.”

“I love to do the things the censors won’t pass.”

“A career is wonderful thing, but you can’t snuggle up to it on a cold night.”

“It’s better to be unhappy alone than unhappy with someone.”

“Hollywood is a place where they’ll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul.”

“It’s not true I had nothing on, I had the radio on.”

“Sex is part of nature. I go along with nature.”

“If I play a stupid girl and ask a stupid question I’ve got to follow it through. What am I supposed to do – look intelligent?”

“It’s woman’s spirit and mood a man has to stimulate in order to make sex interesting. The real lover is the man who can thrill you by touching your head or smiling into your eyes or just staring into space.”

“Men who think that a woman’s past love affairs lessen her love for them are usually stupid and weak. A woman can bring a new love to each man she loves, providing there are not too many.”

“I restore myself when I’m alone.”

“If you can make a girl laugh – you can make her do anything…”

“No one ever told me I was pretty when I was a little girl. All little girls should be told they’re pretty, even if they aren’t.”

I saved my most favorite quote to post last, I really just think it is the best and think it describes myself.

“I’m selfish, impatient and a little insecure, I make mistakes, i’m out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best.”

Adam, Arthur, Marilyn And Me

by

R.E. Prindle

http://www.tabletmag.com/arts-and-culture/books/17673/disconcerting-wipeout/

     In his essay above Mr. Kirsch argues that Marilyn Monroe somehow destroyed Arthur Miller’s genius.  This presupposes that Miller ever had genius which I deny.  In my previous essay, Adam Kirsch Talks About Arthur Miller, I posited that Miller was inspired by a movie, The Testament Of Dr. Mabuse, and a play, The Ice Man Cometh.  The influence of Ice Man was expended with Death Of A Salesman while Miller learned a subversive technique from Dr. Mabuse.

     At the heart of Miller’s infatuation with Monroe was a key story from Timebends that Kirsch relates.  In 1915 William Fox (the Fox at the end of 20th Century-Fox) was looking for financing and approached Miller’s father for a 50,000 loan.  Big money for those days, I might add.  The loan was refused; Fox went on to briefly have the most successful of the movie studios.  He was out foxed by the NYC Jewish financiers who robbed him of his company transferring control of the industry to MGM.  As Miller notes, if his father had made the loan he would have grown up in total opulence in Hollywood with a starlet on each knee.  I believe this is the real Arthur Miller.

     In the meantime he became a major success on Broadway while Marilyn Monroe in actual fact became the most desirable shiksa in the the entire world.   If Miller didn’t grow up with starlets on his knees he could now obtain the most desirable movie star in the world.  In her day Marilyn was probably more reported than Presley and the Beatles combined.

     That Miller wanted her as a wife shows how deluded he was.  In the Hollywood tradition of considering all women whores she had been awarded to various celebrities for use over the years.  She was also coming from a divorce with Joe Dimaggio.  By 1956 Frank Sinatra was on his way to dominating the Hollywood scene.  He was able, in fact, to call women from their husbands beds in the middle of the night to go to him to give him blow jobs.  It isn’t necessary to point out his shameful treatment of Monroe over the years.  I consider him responsible for Monroe’s suicide.

     Sinatra gave Miller fits which he mentions but doesn’t go into detail.

     He may not have been aware that Elia Kazan screwed Monroe in the back seat of a car with a driver in front but Kazan relished telling the story in his own autobiography that Miller probably read.  Up yours, 30 years after.

     So, really, one would have to question the sanity of anyone wanting to marry this woman because of her history let alone that she was on every front page.  Nude photographs, you know, the works.  When she married Di Maggio Bob Hope cracked the joke:  Did you hear Marily Monroe got married?  All the men in America are flying their shorts at half mast.  So who would want to walk a mile in DiMaggio’s shoes.  Well, maybe a mile would be OK.

     Here was a woman then requiring careful attention and treatment.  You’d have to be a master psychologist was well as a man among men.  The divorce occurred when Monroe absented herself for a few days and Miller thought he was deserted.  When Monroe returned to the empty house she couldn’t understand why Miller left.

     What kind of genius is this guy supposed to have?

     During the marriage he read Albert Camus’ novel; The Fall.  This trivial piece of crap had a profound effect on Miller.  He became a judge-penitent in his own mind turning out trivial holocaust junk like Incident At Vichy as well as a whine about his marriage appropriately titled: After The Fall.  His work remained subversive following the lessons of The Testament Of Dr. Mabuse.

     Miller’s ‘genius’ was shot after Death Of A Salesman.  there was nothing of significance left.  Marilyn Monroe had nothing to do with it.