Labor

RIP Hall of Famer Lou Brock, 81, who played 19 seasons in MLB. He began his career with the Cubs, who made a major blunder in trading him to the Cardinals for pitcher Ernie Broglio, one of the most one-sided deals in baseball history, as Broglio was soon gone from the game. Brock had 3023 hits and batted .293. A six-time All-Star, he hit over .300 eight times. His biggest impact came on the base paths. He stole 938 bases, the all-time record until Rickey Henderson broke it. He led the NL in steals a record eight times and also had a record 12 consecutive seasons with 50 or more. Brock’s .391 World Series batting average is the highest for anyone who played over 20 games. His 14 stolen bases in World Series play are also a record. His 13 hits in the 1968 World Series tied the single-series record accomplished by Bobby Richardson in 1964 against Brock’s Cardinals, who defeated the mighty Yankees. He was the recipient of the Babe Ruth Award as the outstanding player in the 1967 World Series. He won The Sporting News Player of the Year Award in 1974, and in 1975 was the winner of the Roberto Clemente Award, which considers accomplishments on and off the field. In 1977 he was awarded the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award as the player who best exemplified the Iron Horse’s ability and character. In 1979 he was named the NL’s Comeback Player of the Year. His number, 20, was retired by the Cardinals. In 1999 he was ranked Number 58 on The Sporting News’ list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players. After retirement, he prospered as a businessman, and worked briefly as a TV analyst. He and his wife were ordained ministers. Awesome, sir. (Facts from Wiki)

Last night Movies!, channel 5–2 on over the air antennas in NYC, ran another film I’d never seen: Party Girl (1958), directed by Nicholas Ray, starring Robert Taylor as a mob lawyer, Cyd Charisse as a night club performer, and Lee J. Cobb as the crime boss. It was okay, too tidy and simplistic in the end. I was most interested in Corey Allen, who played a psychopath/gangster. He had quite a career in front of and behind the camera. His most notable on screen role came in Rebel Without a Cause (1954), also directed by Ray. He was Buzz, killed in the Chicken Run, comb falling from between his lips as his car went over the cliff. There are 57 titles under his name as Actor, two as Writer, and 79 as Director. He helmed at least two episodes of 29 TV series, including Star Trek: The Next Generation, Dallas and Police Woman. He passed away at 75 in 2010. Here’s an awesome still of his character confronting Dean’s, one that includes Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo and Nick Adams. I apologize for not being able to pin down the identity of the men to the far left and right.

Here’s a fun headline from foxnews.com: “Protesters gather at SF home of Nancy Pelosi, hang up hair curlers.”

Complete contrast from the past two days of operating the floating book shop. My thanks to the woman who bought a book in Russian as I was packing up, the only sale on this gorgeous late summer day on which we celebrate labor.

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