The Good
The enthusiasm I had about Sen. George Mitchell's attempt to get the dope on baseball dope(r)s has been dampened somewhat by the announcement from MLB and the Players Association that teams will turn over medical histories of players but it's up to the player whether or not to cooperate. Any guesses as to whether the guilty will cooperate? So I toss that item out for consideration for the 'Good' award of the week. There are 2 worthy candidates however. 10 Red Sox players have pledged to use pink Louisville Sluggers on Mother's Day as part of MLB's donation to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation to benefit breast cancer research. Last year Major League Baseball raised $325,000 for the foundation in an auction of the autographed pink bats. The other candidate is the more than $1 million raised for diabetes research at the Barnstable Brown Foundation Gala, the annual party held in Louisville the weekend of the Kentucky Derby. Tons of celebrity actors, singers and athletes took part in that event. Both are worthy causes so I'll flip a coin on this one. Heads it's the pink bats, tails - the breast cancer function. Here we go: it landed on Montana, so since it's not George Washington (I used a quarter) it must be tails. The Good Award of the Week winner is the Barnstable Brown Foundation Gala...
The Bad
Well, we had 3 baseball players (2 minor leaguers plus Tampa Bay reliever Juan Salas) suspended for failing urine tests for illegal substances. Then there was former MLB player Ron LeFlore busted for owing $48,000 in child support, Jacksonville DB Ahmad Carroll arrested on suspicion of being involved in a disturbance with a weapon, Yankee fitness guru Marty Miller was George Steinbrenner's whipping boy for causing all those injuries that we know he must have caused and finally Golden State's Jason Richardson, fined for $35,000 by the NBA for improper interaction with a fan during a playoff game in Dallas. Wouldn't you love to know what that 'improper interaction' was? Me too. I'm gonna give the nod to Ron LeFlore because there's nothing worse than not supporting your own child. The Bad Award of the Week winner is loser Ron LeFlore...
The Ugly
This award comes down to just two candidates. Candidate #1 is Baseball Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda who was arrested last week after a California Highway Patrol officer pulled him over for speeding and discovering drugs in the car. The arrest was made after the officer found a 'usable' amount of what looked like meth or cocaine. Also found was marijuana and a syringe. For God's sake, this man (Cepeda) is 69 years old. What's he doing with this stuff? It can't be anything good. Charges are still pending awaiting a recommendation from the highway patrol. Candidate #2 is Seattle relief pitcher Julio Mateo, charged with 3rd degree assault after his wife was treated at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York. He missed a game at Yankee Stadium but later gave himself up to the NYPD. Seattle optioned him to Class AAA Tacoma after the assault. Two ugly events but I will give The Ugly Award of the Week to: Orlando Cepeda, this week's loser...
Here's a TGTBTU update: Attorneys for Adam "Pacman" Jones have pleaded for 'leniency' for APJ's one-year suspension. They claim that at least 283 NFL players have been arrested or charged with offenses but none has been suspended for a season. I'll bet Roger Goodell (NFL commish) loved seeing that number (283) used. The commissioner is meeting with Jones on Friday..The sad aftermath of Josh Hancock's death was that he was drunk when he rammed into that tow truck...Ron Artest pleaded no contest to his misdemeanor violence charge and has been sentenced to 100 hours of community service and a 10-day work project through the county (Placer, CA) sheriff's dept...Michael Vick is being linked to that dog-selling business in Virginia and now, only 2 Penn State players will stand trial for the campus fight in a not-so 'Happy Valley'...
10 Timeline Memories...
- 1785] This Bud's for you: Brewski lovers everywhere should build a shrine to Joseph Bramah for patenting the beer-pump handle. "Pump up the brewski...pump up the brewski"...
- 1926] North to the Pole: Americans Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett become the 1st men to make a flight over the North Pole. This has been disputed by some historians...
- 1958] Rock & Roll riot: Alan Freed is indicted for inciting unlawful destruction of property in Boston as fans riot at the Boston Arena. Many consider this event the beginning of the end for Freed. Here's a video clip of happier times for Freed, a trailer featuring Alan and Freddie Mitchell doing "Rock and Roll Boogie": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSHMyL9BHKw ...
- 1961] Slamming his way into history: Jim Gentile of the Orioles sets a major league record by hitting a grand slam home run in 2 consecutive innings against the Minnesota Twins. Gentile will finish the season with 46 home runs and 141 RBIs. The 'Gentle Giant' will never have as good a season as this again...
- 1961] Wasted days and nights: FCC chairman Newton N. Minow condemns TV as a 'vast wasteland' in a speech to the NAB. Minow recently commented on the I-mess to which the world replies in unison: "I didn't know he was still alive"...
- 1967] Welcome to the Twilight Zone: Cardinals outfielder Roger Maris (#9) hits his 1st National League home run on the 9th day of the month and the ball lands in seat 9 of section 9...
- 1971] Pow, right to the moon Alice: The last episode of "The Honeymooners" airs but the show will continue in syndication in perpetuity (wherever that is)...
- 1974] Nixon's the one: The House Judiciary Committee opens hearings on whether to recommend the impeachment of President Richard M. Nixon...
- 1980] Tragedy on Tampa Bay: A Liberian freighter rams the Sunshine Skyway Bridge (which I used to drive over when I was working at WFLA and WALT) killing 35 motorists and causing a 1,400 ft. section of the bridge to collapse...
- 1987] Wedding Bells: 1987] 27-year old couch jumper Tom Cruise and 33-year old Mimi Rogers hop down the aisle in wedded Scientological bliss. this marriage will last until 1990...
Music Memories...
Released on this date: 1964] "World Without Love" - Peter & Gordon...1970] "Ride Captain Ride" - Blues Image...The Future of Rock and Roll sighting: 1974] Music critic (Boston Phoenix, Real Paper, Rolling Stone) Jon Landau sees Bruce Springsteen perform at the Harvard Sq. Theater in Cambridge and says: "I saw rock and roll's future and its name is Bruce Springsteen". Landau will start a career in management with his first client...SNL musical guests: 1998] Puff Daddy and Jimmy Page (huh?)...Not for sale: 2001] Michael Jackson commenting of the Beatles catalogue which he owns...
"Happy Trails": 1978] The body of 61 year old Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro, abducted by the Red Brigade is found in the trunk of a car in the middle of Rome...2004] Comedian Alan King dies from lung cancer at 76. Here's King doing what he did best: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAzuBl34ltY&mode=related&search= ...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in each timeline]...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":
John ("Northern Exposure", "Sex and the City") Corbett (45), Tony Gwynn (who will be inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame with Cal Ripken Jr. on July 29th) (47), Billy Joel (58) here's the song that started it all for BJ: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ1_M_L_RSI , Candice Bergen (61), Tommy Roe (65), Sonny Curtis of the Crickets (70), Glenda Jackson (71), Albert Finney (71) and Mike Wallace (born in Brookline, MA) (89)...
Timeline Countdown: 19 days until Memorial Day...
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