Terrific
RIP Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver, 75. He played for the New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, Chicago White Sox, and Boston Red Sox from 1967 to 1986, compiling a record of 311–205, an era of 2.86, and had 3640 K’s. In five post seasons, he was 3–3, 2.77 ERA. He was the NL Rookie of the Year in 1967 for the Amazin’s. A 12-time All-Star, he won the Cy Young Award three times, led the NL in wins and ERA three times each, and strikeouts five times. He pitched a no-hitter for the Reds in 1978. Of course, he was the major cog in the miracle run of the 1969 Mets, posting a record of 25–7, nicknamed The Franchise and Tom Terrific. He was a fierce competitor, even a tough out at-bat. I remember sitting in the stands behind home plate at Shea Stadium, courtesy of Jimmy Bags, and how angry Seaver got after he grooved a 3–0 pitch to the Cubs’ Jim Hickman, whom he assumed would be taking, and who hammered the grooved fastball over the left field wall. Seaver kicked the rosin bag in disgust. I don’t know if he lacked run support anymore than other greats, but it often seemed so. My friends and I believed his record would have been even better had he not been handicapped by the Mets’ anemic offense. After retiring from playing, he moved to the broadcast booth. He also ran a California vineyard. Awesome, sir. Thank you.
Here’s a nypost.com headline that may be surprising to many but not me: “Numbers show lockdowns didn’t help contain COVID-19 — opening up didn’t boost it.” And here’s an interesting one from foxnews.com: “Coronavirus deaths significantly reduced by steroids.” The men below won’t have any worries regarding Covid.
From an NYP article, edited by yours truly: Syracuse University has put a chemistry professor on administrative leave for including the terms “Wuhan Flu” and “Chinese Communist Party Virus” on his course syllabus.
My thanks to the young mom who set the floating book shop in the right direction today by buying Miss Nelson Is Missing by Harry G. Allard Jr. and James Marshall; and to Michael, who purchased Studs Lonigan by James T. Farrell and cowboy non-fiction; and to the young men who selected a book on Pope Francis and two books in Russian; and to the gentleman who chose Moscow Rules by Robert Moss and Shadow on the Sun by Richard Matheson; and to the woman who jumped on The Art of War by Sun Tzu, written in the 5th century; and to Shelley, who went home with two Nora Roberts romances. It will all be even better if Barbara follows up her inquiry about the Kindle availability of my own books, eleven of which sell for a dollar. I didn’t tell her she makes a brief appearance in Class of ’67, as does Shelley.
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