It's July 11-13, 1969, and it's revival season in Christian County ...
Of course, in every 1969 Saturday edition of the Kentucky News Era, there's this nearly full-page invitation ...
Indeed, there might end up being a lot more to do around Hoptown and the rest of Kentucky on Sundays pretty soon ...
As reported earlier, Romeo & Juliet is getting some rave local reviews (even the theme is getting a lot of play on WKOA), but the other movies don't look any too promising ...
As ever, ... TV ...
Hoptown 1969 me definitely plans to take a look again at NBC's Game of the Week ...
I'm hopeful that the golf tournament on ABC on Saturday afternoon is the final round of the British Open. People have been saying that Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer are through, but Nicklaus, at least, is tied for sixth and just five strokes off the lead through Friday's third round.
"Carpet Man" is an underrated Fifth Dimension song, and here they are performing it on The John Davidson Show.
ReplyDeleteIt's the bottom of the second inning on Saturday, July 12, and the Cubs are at the plate, trailing the Phillies, 2-0.
ReplyDeleteTony Kubek: “I think that a young boy getting out of high school or college, and if he has some athletic ability, and if a father wanted to channel him into baseball, he couldn’t do anything wrong by doing that because the pension plan is so good. And, of course, you’ve got traveling all over the country. It’s just a wonderful life.
Curt Gowdy: “Ball 1 … You know, they always say traveling is an education. Over the years, broadcasting the major leagues, I’ve always been amazed to see the young fellas come out of little towns or farms—wherever they are—and how two or three years of travel in the big leagues really polishes them up.”
Philadelphia won at Chicago, 7-5, in the series opener July 11. Here were the National League East Division standings entering today 1969's games:
ReplyDeleteCubs 53-34
Mets 47-36, 4 games back
Cardinals 44-45, 10
Pirates 42-44, 10.5
Phillies 38-46, 13.5
Expos 27-59, 25.5
The Phillies lost the World Series in 1915. And then they lost the World Series in 1950. In 1964, Philadelphia nearly made it back but lost 10 of its last 12 and finished third in the National League. Those are the highlights for a team that has been around since 1883, back when they were still known as the Philadelphia "Quakers."
ReplyDeletePhiladelphia finished second, not third, in 1964, I should've said.
DeleteThrough most of the 1960s, the Phils' best players have been Richie Allen, Johnny Callison and Jim Bunning. And their manager throughout most of the decade was Gene Mauch.
ReplyDeleteWell, Allen's suspended; Callison's hurt, and Bunning was traded to Pittsburgh before the 1969 season started. And last year, Philadelphia fired Mauch.
The Phils went eighth, seventh, fourth and second in the National League in Mauch's first four years with the team. In the next three years after the '64 collapse, Philadelphia piddled along to sixth, fourth and fifth. In 1968, the Phillies were 27-27 when they fired Mauch while he was away from the team visiting his sick wife. A feud with Allen was reportedly a big part of the reason.
Philadelphia went 49-59 the rest of the way last year under Manager Bob Skinner, and now it's 38-46 with a roster featuring 10 rookies and only 23 total players (two fewer than allowed, Curt Gowdy pointed out, because of injuries and service commitments).
ReplyDeleteThe Cubs strike back to tie Philadelphia at 2 runs with a two-run rally in the bottom of the second that started with two out and nobody on. Ferguson Jenkins, the Chicago starter who was hitting .084 coming into the game, singled in the first Cub run.
ReplyDeleteNow it's the bottom of the third. Philadelphia's defense has withered in the Chicago heat, and now the Cubs are blasting Rick Wise. A Billy Williams triple and a Willie Smith home run highlight a four-run frame for the home team.
ReplyDeleteNow here's a public-service announcement about road signs and driving in Germany, which was apparently intended for U.S. service personnel. Per Wikipedia, "A black and white kinescope (saved by Armed Forces Television) of a July 12, 1969 between the Philadelphia Philles and Chicago Cubs is believed to be the oldest surviving complete telecast of the Saturday afternoon Game of the Week."
ReplyDeleteThese Phillies had a backup catcher from Owensboro! But Philadelphia is playing its regular catcher, Mike Ryan, in this game, and I don't think we're going to get to see Dave Watkins, our man from Daviess County.
ReplyDeleteNow the Phillies' shortstop, Don Money, throws to the wrong base with two out, and then Billy Williams comes up and drives home the spared runner. Chicago is up, 7-3,
ReplyDeleteKubek: "Curt, the Cubs don't look like they're collapsing to me. It looks like they're getting ready for the Mets, who come in here next week."
The Cubs beat the Phillies, 7-4. And then on Sunday, July 13, 1969, the Cubs sweep a doubleheader with the Phillies, 6-0 and 6-4. But the Mets sweep their own doubleheader, against the Expos. And, so, that teed up this week 1969's Cubs-Mets series in Chicago with the N.L. East standings as follow:
ReplyDeleteCubs 56-34
Mets 49-36, 4.5 games back
Cardinals 46-46, 11
Pirates 43-46, 12.5
Phillies 38-49, 16.5
Expos 27-61, 28
I enjoyed thinking about Phillies and Cubs this fake 1969 weekend. I got out the baseball cards I have of those two rosters, and I really, really enjoyed that!
ReplyDeleteLarry Hisle was twice an all-Ohio football player in high school ... Don Money ended up being the shortstop on the Topps 1969 all-rookie team ... John Briggs, an avid bowler, improved his batting average by 46 points from 1965 to 1966 in roughly the same amount of at-bats for the Phillies (229 and 255) ... On May 5, 1965, Ron Stone both threw out from right field what would've been the go-ahead run for Springfield in he 26th inning and then bunt singled in Elvira's winning half of the 27th ... For the 1965 Reds, Deron Johnson had 32 home runs and a National League-leading 130 runs batted in ... Don Lock had seasons of 12, 27, 28, 16 and 16 in part-time work as an outfield with Washington in the early 1960s and ended up being a highly sought-after trade target; Philadelphia got him in exchange for reliever Darold Knowles on Nov. 30, 1966 ("Darold" is sure a name you never hear anymore) ... Woodie Fryman of Ewing, Kentucky, came to Philadelphia as part of a trade that sent to the Pirates Jim Bunning of Southgate, Kentucky ... "Teamed up with Johnny Callison, Richie (Allen) and his teammate give Philadelphia perhaps the best one-two punch in baseball," per Allen's 1966 card ... And--I love this writing on Rick Wise's 1967 card; it gets me so fired up for Rick Wise!--"Rick hasn't hurled a perfect game yet, but with his fastball or 'smoker' as his teammates call it, he is certainly capable of doing it. Rick is a strongly built young man and is learning his trade rapidly. He is constantly working on his curve and slider to complement his blazing fastball."
ReplyDeleteAlso, I remember almost all of my baseball cards, but I didn't remember my 1969 Adolfo Phillips at all. In fact, I don't even remember ever hearing of this guy. The details on the back of his card took me aback:
DeleteIn 1962, Adolfo proved to be a real speed demon as he swiped 46 bases to lead the Pioneer League. Four years later he threw out 14 would-be base thieves to lead the National League. In 1967, Adolfo smashed three homers in a game vs. the Mets.
OK, look, Topps can go over it from time to time (see Rick Wise and his smoker in the previous comment). But it's not like those made up those numbers. What was the deal with this guy, Adolfo Phillips?
Here's what the deal turned out to be with this guy.
It is so hard to be great. So, so hard.
DeleteHere are the rest of the major-league standings after the weekend:
ReplyDeleteN.L. West
Dodgers 50-37
Braves 51-39, 0.5 games back
Giants 50-40, 1.5
Reds 45-38, 3
Astros 46-45, 6
Padres 31-61, 21.5
A.L. East
Orioles 62-27
Tigers 47-38, 13 games back
Red Sox 49-41, 13.5
Senators 48-45, 16
Mets 42-49, 21
Indians 36-53, 26
A.L. West
Twins 53-35
A’s 47-38, 4.5 games back
Royals 39-50, 14.5
White Sox 38-50, 15
Pilots 38-50, 15
Angels 32-55, 20.5
OK, British Open ...
ReplyDelete"That's how it looks at the end of the day ..."
ReplyDeleteBob Charles, "a sporting hero in New Zealand," led with a five-under-par 66. Tony Jacklin and Hedley Muscroft, both of England, were two strokes back, and then France's Jean Garaïalde, Northern Ireland's Hugh Jackson and Miller Barber of Shreveport, Louisiana, were T4 at 2-under.
Bob Charles, of course, is a great hero and inspiration to all left-handed golfers.
DeleteRoyal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham St Annes, England, plays in such a way that "the further you hit it off line, the more trouble you get into," says Bob Charles. "That's the way golf should be, I think."
ReplyDelete"King Charles! He certainly is king of the greens ... it really is difficult to imagine a finer putter than Bob Charles."
ReplyDeleteThrough two rounds:
1. Bob Charles, New Zealnd, 7-under
2. Christy O'Connor Sr., Ireland, -6
T3. Alex Caygill, England, -4
T3. Tony Jacklin, England, -4
5. Billy Casper, San Diego, California, -2
Round 3 ...
ReplyDelete-- Jack Nicklaus of Upper Arlington, Ohio, is even, T6, after a 68 in Friday's third round. "You can't afford these misses, Jack ... level par for the championship. After three rounds, he would like to be a little better than that."
-- Casper, "the most underrated star in golf history," fades to T10 with a 75.
-- Charles also comes in at 75. O'Connor goes 74. That leaves them both -3 for the tournament and tied at second.
-- Steady Jacklin cards a 70. That's 68-70-70, 5-under and the lead after three rounds. "They're beginning to sense that Jacklin just might do it, and, after 18 lean, long years, a British name might go on to the old trophy."
"That is the picture as they go into the final day ..."
ReplyDelete1. Tony Jacklin, England, -5
T2. Bob Charles, New Zealand, -3
T2. Christy O'Connor Sr., Ireland, -3
T4. Roberto De Vicenzo, Argentina, -2
T4. Peter Thomson, Australia, -2
T6. Brian Hugget, Wales, E
T6. Jack Nicklaus, Upper Arlington, Ohio, E
Jacklin did, of course, win the 1969 British Open -- and the 1970 U.S. Open. For the first time since before the war, the Brits had a world-class champion who could beat the Americans. Golf has not been the same since.
ReplyDeleteBoth Tony Jacklin and Bob Charles wore purple V-neck sweaters for the final round!
ReplyDeleteOh, man, there's Vivien. So sad.
ReplyDelete1. Tony Jacklin, England, -4
ReplyDelete2. Bob Charles, New Zealand, -2
T3. Robert De Vicenzo, Argentina, -1
T3. Peter Thomson, Australia, -1
5. Christy O’Connor Sr., Ireland, E
T6. Davis Love Jr., Saint Simons Island, Georgia, +1
T6. Jack Nicklaus, Upper Arlington, Ohio, +1