Doctoring

RIP MLB Hall of Fame pitcher Gaylord Perry, 84. Born to a farming family in North Carolina, he was a three-sport star in high school. He was an all-state offensive and defensive end as a sophomore and junior before giving up football, which must have made his coach weep. He averaged nearly 30 PPG and 20 rebounds in basketball and turned down dozens of scholarship offers. In baseball his record was 33–5 and he was a member of one state championship, sharing starts with his older brother Jim, who went on to a fine major league career himself, winning 215 games. In his 22-year pro career, Gaylord played for seven different teams: Giants, Indians, Rangers (twice), Yankees, Braves, Mariners and Royals. A five-time All-Star, he won the Cy Young Award twice, led MLB in wins three times and innings pitched twice. He threw a no-hitter against the Cardinals in 1968. His career ERA was 3.11 and he ranks eighth all-time in stikeouts, 3534. In 1999 he was ranked number 97 by The Sporting News on the list of Baseball’s Greatest Players. For years he was accused of doctoring the baseball, which he later admitted. He was ejected for the practice only once, in 1982, his next to last season. When his career ended he returned to farming, unsuccessfully, then was a sales manager, and then the first baseball coach at Limestone College of South Carolina, where his son Jack threw two no-hitters. Tragically, the young man was taken by Leukemia. Perry had three daughters as well. Well done, sir.

Sad news out of California, headline from foxnews.com: “‘LET ’EM GO’: Video shows Apple store being ransacked by thieves as staff warn customers not to stop them.” How will businesses survive?

Nice headline from nypost.com: “LI police officer delivers baby for fifth time on the job: ‘Might have to switch careers!’.”

The following cartoon from gocomics.com by Al Goodwyn can be applied as well to the NBA, NFL and certain American politicians:

A gorgeous day to do business curbside. My thanks to Wolf, who bought two books in Russian, An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris, and Blood River by Tim Butcher; and to the woman who purchased The Man from St. Petersburg by Ken Follett and Solitude Creek by Jeffrey Deaver; and to the gentleman who took home two James Lee Burke mysteries to his wife: The New Iberia Blues and The Tin Roof Blowdown.

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