This is not shaping up as the most exciting weekend in the world for Hoptown 1969 me. The women of my real house in 2015 are out of town at camp; I'm going to pretend Hoptown 1969 me is in the same lonely, dry-season predicament. So, for example, while I might get out to the Holiday Inn on Sunday afternoon for some chicken and White House potatoes, I'm probably not going to whoop it up with Ross Sisk and Band at the VFW tonight.
None of the movies in town particularly interest me.
I really like the No. 1 country song right now, Jack Greene's "Statue of a Fool." I mentioned the other day that I've decided that Hoptown 1969 me is rich; maybe I'll just go out and buy that record and listen to it all weekend.
He already had another No. 1 hit earlier in the year, and that was from a whole other album. Jack Greene, born 1930 in Maryville, Tennessee, is having a very big 1969.
I don't know. I'll probably end up watching a lot of TV.
My dad was in the Philippines with the Navy in 1944 and 1945. Hoptown 1969 me would've been 22 in 1944, so maybe I'm supposed to think Hoptown 1969 me was in the Philippines during World War II. In that case, I probably would've at least noted when The Extraordinary Seaman came to town, which I find pretty surprising, given that it apparently didn't show anywhere any too long. But the deal is that I don't think I'm prepared to much confidently imagine how Philippines 1944 me would've turned into Hoptown 1969 me and what he would've thought about stuff like football, TV and Christmas. I've thought a lot about how Philippines 1944 Bobby turned into Evansville 1971 Dad and, then, say, 1981 Paducah Dad, and it's a load to get a grasp on.
ReplyDeleteGirl In Gold Boots turned into a Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode that appears to be fairly legendary among MST3K Nation.
ReplyDeleteAt 12:30 Central Saturday on ABC, Happening was a music show created by Dick Clark and hosted by Paul Revere & the Raiders, and it is the program that is responsible for this terrific performance by the Bob Seger System. Happening immediately followed American Bandstand.
ReplyDeleteToday's American Bandstand artists were Jerry Butler and the Impressions, who have been two of my favorite acts of 1969 so far. Here's Jerry Butler on a 1967 episode, and here's what is probably my favorite song of the year so far. And here's the Impressions' really fantastic "My Deceiving Heart" from 1969.
DeleteI know that there is a strong segment of HP support for checking out the Jonny Quest on Channel 5 at 1. And who knows? Maybe we've got a bunch of Australian HP readers who are hoping this turns into a big celebration of Skippy.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm probably going to look at the baseball on NBC instead.
ReplyDeletethe holiday inn had great food in 1969. i knew the manager and he very good at running the inn. the inn was so busy at this time, they would not book a single.
ReplyDeleteYeah! That is some excellent insight. Thank you, Anonymous.
ReplyDeleteOK, very cool ... Curt Gowdy and Tony Kubek are doing the A's-Twins game at Minnesota on today 1969's NBC Game of the Week.
ReplyDeleteCassette recordings of this game are for sale on eBay: "You like tremendous baseball nostalgia? Well this one's a treat. There are pre-game interviews with the young blooming Reggie Jackson of the A's followed by his mentor, Joe DiMaggio. On 2 standard 90 min. audio cassettes with very good clarity, here are Curt Gowdy & Tony Kubek calling the TV audio of the game of 7/5/69 between the A's (Chuck Dobson) at Twins (Jim Perry)."
ReplyDeleteThe East divisions of both leagues have broken wide open. Both Wests are close. The A's and Twins, indeed, are separated by a few thoundandths of winning percentage in the American League West. Here are the standings entering the full slate of games today, July 5, 1969 ...
ReplyDeleteA.L. West
ReplyDeleteA's 42-32
Twins 44-34, 0 games back
Pilots 35-43, 9
Royals 34-45, 10.5
White Sox 33-34, 10.5
Angels 28-49, 15.5
A.L. East
ReplyDeleteOrioles 55-24
Tigers 43-32, 10 games back
Red Sox 44-35, 11
Senators 42-41, 15
Yankees 39-43, 17.5
Indians 31-48, 24
Ted Williams is doing an amazing job in D.C. With him managing the Senators, and Vince Lombardi taking over the Redskins, D.C. sports fans are set for years to come.
DeleteN.L. West
ReplyDeleteBraves 47-32
Dodgers 45-32, 1 game back
Reds 40-34, 4.5
Giants 43-37, 5
Astros 41-40, 7
Padres 27-58, 21.5
N.L. East
ReplyDeleteCubs 52-28
Mets 44-34, 7 games back
Pirates 38-42, 14
Phillies 35-41, 15
Cardinals 37-44, 15.5
Expos 24-54, 27
The Twins beat the A's on July 4, 10-4, as Leo Cardenas, Rod Carew and Harmon Killebrew each homered.
ReplyDeleteToday's starters are, for the A's, 25-year-old right-hander Chuck Dobson of Kansas City (9-6) and, for the Twins, 32-year-old right-hander Jim Perry of Williamston, N.C. (6-4).
ReplyDeleteBatting order for the A's ...
ReplyDelete6-Ted Kubiak
4-Dick Green
9-Reggie Jackson
5-Sal Bando
3-Danny Cater
8-Rick Monday
7-Joe Rudi
2-Phil Roof of Paducah Saint Mary's!
1-Chuck Dobson
For the Twins ...
ReplyDelete8-Ted Uhlaender
4-Rod Carew
9-Tony Oliva
5-Harmon Killebrew
3-Rich Reese
2-John Roseboro
6-Leo Cardenas
7-Cesar Tovar
1-Jim Perry
I'm disappointed that the A's are on TV, and my favorite A, shortstop Bert Campaneris, has the day off. I'm uncertain whether he's hurt or just resting. Anyway, it feels like a very bad sign when his Campy's replacement, Kubiak, grounds out to second to lead off the game.
ReplyDeleteBut then, with two out, Jackson homers, and everything is right with the world. That's 34 home runs so far this season for the 23-year-old, who was our top draft choice in 1966, and that's six more home runs than any other player in baseball.
ReplyDeleteFrom Wikipedia: "Jackson hit 47 home runs in 1969, and was briefly ahead of the pace that Roger Maris set when he broke the single-season record for home runs with 61 in 1961, and that of Babe Ruth when he set the previous record of 60 in 1927. Jackson later said that the sportswriters were claiming he was "dating a lady named 'Ruth Maris.'" That off-season, Jackson sought an increase in salary, and Athletics owner Charlie O. Finley threatened to send Jackson to the minors. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn successfully intervened in their dispute, but Jackson's numbers in 1970 dropped sharply, as he hit just 23 home runs while batting .237.
ReplyDeleteI mentioned that Hoptown 1969 me is doing OK. I pick up The Sporting News pretty frequently, even though it bumped up to 50 cents a copy earlier this year.
ReplyDeleteDuring the commercial break at the half inning, I read Ron Bergman's A's report in the July 5 Sporting News, "Kubiak Content to Play Spear Carrier With A's," and he wrote that it was a surprise that the backup infielder remained with Oakland through the trading deadline:
ReplyDelete"Now why would 11 American League clubs--not to mention several National League teams--want a utility infielder who's started in only three of the A's first 59 games with 21 at-bats?
"Because baseball people know that at this time, Kubiak would be the starting shortstop on eight A.L. clubs or the starting second baseman on the three others. He is considered capable of batting around .260, but his glove would keep him in any other lineup at .240."
Also, The Sporting News reprinted a June 16 letter from President Nixon to Reggie Jackson after Jackson talked about how honored he was to play in front of the president after a two-homer performance against the Senators: "Dear Reggie: I want to thank you for your generous comments with regard to hitting a homer in the presence of the President of the United States. Although I always root for the home team, I have nothing but the highest admiration for your performance on the night I saw you. My daughter Julie, and her husband David Eisenhower, have seen you play twice, once in Boston and once in Washington. On both occasions you hit two home runs. You had better subsidize them to attend all your games!"
ReplyDeleteI used to watch games at RFK. It was basically impossible to hit home runs there. Reggie Jackson was amazing.
DeleteBut this turned out to be the last happy moment of the afternoon for this A fan, for here's what happened next ... Dobson hits Uhlaender with a pitch … Carew triples, and Uhlaender scored … Oliva singles home Carew … Killebrew homers … 4-1, Twins through one complete … Killebrew homers again in the bottom of the second … 7-1 … Cardenas singles with one out in the bottom of the third … Jim Roland, who relieved Dobson in the second, hits Tovar … Perry singles, and Bando’s error brings home two … Uhlaender singles Perry to third … Carew grounds out, scoring Perry … 10-1!
ReplyDeleteMinnesota went on to a 13-1 victory and first place alone in the A.L. West.
And then the Twins beat the A's on Sunday 1969. Minnesota now leads the American League West by two games.
DeleteAnd after today 1969, the A's are going to be 3.5 back in the division.
DeleteAt least our boy Phil Roof had a couple of hits in three at-bats to raise his average to .240. That's a big deal for the 28-year-old. Roof has never finished at better than .209 in any of his previous eight big-league season.
ReplyDeleteNBC bookended the baseball game with the Wimbledon singles finals. Defending champ Rod Laver of beat John Newcombe in the all-Australia men's final, and England's Ann Jones ended the three-year winning streak of Billie Jean King of Long Beach, California, in the women's final.
ReplyDeleteABC's Wide World of Sports features the Firecracker 400. Lee Roy Yarbrough of Jacksonville, Florida, escaped this giant wreck and went on to win. Like Jack Greene of Maryville, Tennessee, Lee Roy Yarbrough of Jacksonville, Florida, is having a very great 1969.
ReplyDeleteFlat Out!
DeleteA comment on James Browns' "I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing" on YouTube: "I watched him do this at Madison Square Garden July 4th, 1969..he engaged the 25,000 people to sing along! unforgettable!"
ReplyDeleteCynthia Lowery of the Associated Press is totally right. The music parts of this new Johnny Cash Show on ABC are excellent.
ReplyDeleteHere's Doug McClure on Saturday night 1969's Johnny Cash Show.
DeleteDoug McClure is said to be half of the inspiration for The Simpsons' "Troy McClure."
From the same episode, here's Johnny Cash and the Cowsills doing "Children, Go Where I Send Thee."
DeleteRich 1969 Hoptown me is a video-recording early adopter. Some people are turned off by the tracking problems, but I'm rolling with my Sony CV-2000.
I've got nothing but love for The Lawrence Welk Show. I hated it as a kid, because I was a kid and my parents watched it every Saturday night. But I was just being a jerk, and I like it fine now. The music's pretty, and it's always great to see people dancing and being happy. I don't want to listen to it all of the time, but it's fine.
ReplyDeleteEric, what was the "NFL Action" taking place on Sunday at 3 P.M.?
DeleteSo I found a Chicago Tribune description from earlier in 1969, and it sounds like it was probably just a different NFL Films episode each week.
DeleteI'm pretending this weekend's episode was this program on the 1968 Chicago Bears.
Breaking into the new Cash Box Top 100 at No. 95 this week, here's Bob Dylan with "Lay, Lady, Lady."
ReplyDeleteWell-put, by YouTube user "Kenya Nkhrumah": "I love Norman Whitfield's work. This is a truly underrated classic-the energy, the musicianship, the array of voices/assigning just the right phrase for each vocalist/the interplay of guitar riffs/the incessant drums/percussion/the horns/the harmony/the message/so many memories attached this era-There were Giants in those days!!!"
ReplyDelete