Tommy, Phil, Warren & Albert
RIP MLB legend Tommy Lasorda, 93. In his 21 years bleeding Dodgers blue, he won four NL pennants and two World Series. He was one of baseball’s greatest ambassadors. A longtime minor leaguer, he finally made it to big leagues in 1954, pitching in four games for Brooklyn, another four the following season, and in 18 for the Kansas City A’s in 1956. He pitched more than 2100 innings in the minors. After three years as thirdbase coach, he became L.A.’s manager in 1976. He won 1599 games and had a winning percentage of .526. My chief memories of him are from the 1988 playoffs, maddening for Mets fans who witnessed superior talent defeated by spunk. In one instance, the Amazin’s had runners at first and third and Darryl Strawberry at bat. A simple sac fly would have won the game. Reliever Jesse Orosco, pitching timidly, fell behind in the count. Lasorda jogged to the mound and challenged the hurler. I read his lips as if he were speaking to me directly: “What’s the matter, Jesse?” It was the kick in the pants Orosco needed. He got the Straw Man to pop up and was soon out of the inning, giving his team the chance to win. It also seemed that every time Lasorda sent the runner from first in the series, he avoided the doubleplay. How I hated him, something that seems so foolish in retrospect. After retiring as a manager, he became a VP. He came out of retirement in 2000 to manage the USA Olympic team and became the first ever to win a World Series and gold medal. He was named Manager of the Year five times. He entered the Hall of Fame in 1997. His #2 was retired by the organization he loved. He made appearances in film and TV. Here’s a quote attributed to him: “The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.” Awesome, sir.
Snippet from NY Post sports media critic Phil Mushnick’s column: “The best thing about not being rich is that you’ll never have to write million dollar checks to pay undeserving players on the team you own.” Second best thing in my mind: not having to put up with the kneeling of millionaires protesting injustice. I wonder if my hatred of that practice will seem foolish in retrospect. Then again, who knows if I will have the time to get to that point?
Last night the Heroes & Icons channel, 9–4 on ota’s in NYC, ran The Pillbox, season two, episode 17 of Combat!, first aired in January 1964. Hanley and a wounded comrade take shelter from pouring rain and are soon in the company of three German soldiers, whom the Lieutenant disarms rather than kills, an error that will probably haunt him the rest of his life. Warren Oates, one of Hollywood’s all-time great character actors, guest starred as the wounded man. Also appearing was Albert Paulsen, the third of his four appearances on the show, all as an enemy soldier. He did the same in two episodes of Twelve O’Clock High and two of The Rat Patrol. Hey, it was a living. He won an Emmy for Outstanding Performance in a Supporting Role by an Actor, Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre (1963), for One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, based on the novel by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. There are 89 titles under his name at IMDb. He was a TV mainstay, making at least five appearances on several series. He passed away at 78 in 2004. Oates, a heavy drinker and chain smoker, was taken by a heart attack at 53 in 1982. In his short life span he made more than 125 appearances on the big and small screen, ten alone on Gunsmoke. He was a supporting player in all but four of his works. His most notable star turn was in San Peckinpah’s Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974). Here are the two Hollywood stalwarts:
It’s day one sans Twitter. So far I’m not missing it.
The floating book shop experienced its first goose egg in a long time. At least it was a great day to be outdoors.
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