I was ready for a long weekend.
The Kentucky New Era isn't publishing July 4, 1970, so they gave us a fantastic, expanded TV grid in the Friday, July 3, paper.
Congratulations to the Reeds.
That Saturday-afternoon tennis program on NBC is a wrap-up of the Wimbledon finals, but I'm going to be watching the Firecracker 400 on ABC's Wide World of Sports.
Did you see that Morgana, the Kissing Bandit, is from Louisville?
Happy Independence Day, all.
Friday night's Brady Bunch rerun on ABC, per the AP's "Televiewer" description: "Cindy's favorite doll is missing, and she accuses Bobby of taking it."
ReplyDeleteMy favorite thing about the Brady Bunch is that whatever is going on in the Brady house is the most important thing in the world to the Brady household.
ReplyDeleteI wish product placement had been a bigger deal on the Brady Bunch. I would've loved to see a bunch more brand toys and groceries in the background of scenes. That's why the one where Peter saves the little girl from a falling shelf in the toy store is one of my favorite episodes--you can see actual toys in that thing that showed up in the Sears catalog and stuff.
ReplyDeleteI love that episode, and I need to do a post in tribute to that episode alone some time.
ReplyDeleteMike delivers an on-point, Independence Day-weekend reminder after he and Carol note that the five other kids have turned on Bobby as the search for Cindy's doll continues to drag on without success: "You see, in this country, we are very proud to have a process known as the law. And, under the law, a man is presumed innocent until he is proven guilty ..."
ReplyDeleteBrady Bunch is a terrific program.
ReplyDeleteThe Bradys have an automatic percolator, and I used one of those that I got from my wife's grandfather for a little while--I would rate the coffee as not as good as (but more convenient than) a stove-top percolator and not as convenient as (but better than) a drip maker. That stage of technology innovation gets clobbered a good bit in product-marketing circles, and I understand why. But there are a lot of us sluggish users out here who get accustomed to our automatic percolators, Wiis, DVD players, email, CD players, etc. just fine and don't want to change, and we are God's children, too.
ReplyDeleteUndoubtedly, this has been written about at length in many places around the Internet, but I just noticed in this episode that the girls' cat gets a lot less play than the boys' dog over the course of the series.
ReplyDeleteYou get a sense that Joe Friday spent a good number of days off eagerly doing public-relations events where he'd meet with 20 citizens in a church fellowship hall or whatever to talk about signs to look for if you think your teen-agers using drugs or encouraging adults into Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and you get a sense that Mike Brady dutifully turned out at every single one of those events he could get himself to.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I've got a neighbor a couple of doors down whose one of the local Madisonville fire captains, and you know what one of his primary hobbies is? Writing grant requests for equipment for smaller-town fire departments.
ReplyDeleteAnd, by the way, if you want to fire up the automatic percolator and put out a sleeve of generic sandwich cookies and some folding chairs and get together a bunch of middle-aged taxpayers to talk about the need for a better library or litter prevention or whatever, you need to come knock on our door. We're easy gets.
ReplyDeleteWell, that was a fine Brady Bunch. It has never been one of my favorite episodes, but I enjoyed it more this time than I ever had. I love the HP.
ReplyDeleteLove! Love! Love!
ReplyDeleteLove, American style ...
truer than the red, white and blue ...
love, American style,
that's me and you.
And on a star-spangled night, my love (my love come to me),
you can rest you head on my shoulder.
Out by the dawn's early light, my love,
I will defend your right to try.
Love, American style,
that's me and you.
OH, MY WORD! It turns out this weekend 1970 was the first airing of American Top 40, and somebody has posted an edited version of the original July 3 broadcast on YouTube:
ReplyDeleteAmerican Top 40 began on the Independence Day weekend in 1970, on seven radio stations, the very first being KDEO in El Cajon, California (now KECR), which broadcast the inaugural show the evening of July 3, 1970. The chart data broadcast actually included the top 40 songs from the week ending July 11, 1970. ... To avoid copyright issues, I have edited out the songs. Here is the countdown list, along with the AT40 "extras" in the show ...
That's amazing. Go Heath should really be on the mike for this.
Brady Bunch, ABC's Wide World of Sports, American Top 40, NFL Films, Peanuts ... what a world we were born into! And now we get the Internet! Thank God for life! Life! More Life!
ReplyDeleteI saw Without Limits when it came out in 1998, and, in a lot of ways, being in that theater that evening was the first installment of this HP #freakinweekend series.
ReplyDeleteGreat moment in a Steve Prefontaine feature from Pat Putnam in SI a couple of 1970 weeks ago: "Our young man," he says, "is blessed with a cardiovascular system that is so superior to the average human that it is almost unbelievable."
Well, that episode of Love, American Style, set back the Left a good bit.
ReplyDeleteOK, Jim McKay is our host in Daytona for the NASCAR race.
ReplyDeleteJim dopes the field:
ReplyDelete-- No. 40 Pete Hamilton of Newton, Massachusetts, is the season's leading money winner. He is also the only driver this season to win two races at "super speedways" of more than a mile, such as the Daytona track.
-- Second-leading money winner is No. 22 Bobby Allison of Miami. He's also third in the NASCAR Grand National points standings, and he won one super-speedway race earlier this season.
-- Third-leading money winner is Hamilton's teammate, No. 43 Richard Petty of Level Cross, North Carolina. He was the fastest car on the second day of qualifying for this race.
-- No. 71 Bobby Isaac of Catawba, North Carolina, leads the Grand National points race.
-- Second place is No. 48 James Hylton of Roanoke, Virginia. McKay points out that the Grand National leaders are often different than the money winners because racers like Isaac and Hylton might rack up points for competing in all of the races--but not necessarily win a bunch of money. (I wonder if this made the NASCAR suits love Bobby Allison.)
-- No. 21 Cale Yarborough of Timmonsville, South Carolina, also won a super-speedway race this season, and he's today's pole sitter.
-- The other four winners at super speedways this year have been No. 27 Donnie Allison of Miami and No. 17 David Pearson of Spartanburg, South Carolina (the 1969 Grand National season champion).
Pete Hamilton jumps into the first lead.
ReplyDeleteMcKay points out that Cale Yarborough and Lee Roy Yarbrough are not related, which he adds is not news "for those of you who have been watching NASCAR races with us for years." I haven't, so I appreciate the reminder.
ReplyDeleteIt's hot in Daytona this Independence Day--nearly 100 degrees--and hotter still inside the cars, now that they've taken out the windows, says Chris Economaki, because heat from the engine is pulled inside.
ReplyDeleteWhat a career for Chris Economaki of Brooklyn!
ReplyDeleteNot to be outdone by Ed Sabol and Hank Stram, Roone Arledge has miked No. 36 Dr. Don Tarr, so, for the first time, we're getting to hear from a driver during a race on TV.
ReplyDeleteEarly leaders Hamilton and Yarborough all took extended early pits--maybe the heat?--and, as we start Part 2 of the YouTube video series of this ABC's Wide World of Sports broadcast, here are our leaders:
ReplyDelete1. No. 98 Lee Roy Yarbrough of Jacksonville, Florida
2. Pearson
3. Petty
4. Isaac
5. No. 6 Buddy Baker of Florence, South Carolina
I forgot that I spent this weekend last year with Lee Roy Yarbrough. McKay says Lee Roy "looks for all the world like a modern-day Rhett Butler."
ReplyDeleteThe Nashville affiliate does not appear to be carrying it, but McKay says ABC Sports will have the final round of the U.S. Women's Open on Sunday afternoon.
ReplyDeleteNo ABC's Wide World of Sports next week, McKay says; instead, the network will be live with the British Open.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Stram, when the Super Bowl-champion Chiefs opened training camp last month, the quarterback in the early practices was Stram himself. He hadn't taken a snap since 1946 back at Purdue University, but Stram put himself into the job because only rookies were at training camp (negotiations between club owners and the players union were ongoing) and no quarterback was among the Chiefs' rookies.
ReplyDeleteThe Kansas City veterans had appealed to start practicing to get ready for the Chicago Charities College All-Star Game on July 31 but were denied. So, instead, they chilled at Overland Park's swank Glenwood Manor, waiting out negotiations while the rookies practiced with Stram.
ReplyDeleteWell, my main man Lee Roy is out. He told Economaki that he thought he and Pete Hamilton might run away from the field early, but then a yellow flag gummed up everyone. And then both drivers ended up leaving the race early as they tried to zoom away again.
ReplyDeleteLeaders as Part 3 of the YouTube series stars:
1. Pearson
2. Baker
3. D. Allison
4. B. Allison
Dunkiny and Robert Arthur Allison were born in Miami in 1939 and '37, respectively but moved to Hueytown, Alabama, in the 1950s.
Everyone will have to pit one more time, and Baker is the first to head in. "Here's a case where a pit crew could either win or lose a race," Economaki comments.
ReplyDeleteAfter I get done with this commentary, I think I'll go into a long, detailed opinion on gun-law proposals. I feel about as conversant and knowledgeable in that area.
ReplyDeleteOK, here comes Pearson into the pits. ABC has superimposed a stopwatch on the screen. McKay reminds that Baker's recent pit took 21.07 seconds. Baker's ...?
ReplyDelete"A TREMENDOUS PITSTOP! TWENTY POINT SIX-FIVE!"
ReplyDeleteJim McKay is so freaking great.
ReplyDelete"One of the fastest accelerations out of the pit I've ever seen, and it looks like he's going to stay in front of Buddy Baker!"
ReplyDeleteSo. Freaking. Great.
Fifteen laps to go?
ReplyDeleteDid the Hueytown Allisons pit?
Apparently so. The leader is Pearson, now back out 3.5 seconds ahead of Baker, following by Donnie and Bobby.
ReplyDeleteAnd now Donnie Allison overtakes Buddy Baker for second. Pearson's flying.
ReplyDeleteOnly 17 drivers are left on the track.
ReplyDeleteAfter Saint Andrews next weekend, ABC heads to Santa Clara, California, to fire back up McKay and Wide World for the International Invitational Swimming & Diving Championships.
ReplyDeletePearson's lead is more than 10 seconds on Donnie Allison with six laps to go.
ReplyDeleteEconomaki helpfully points out that, on most of the world's racing circuits, a racer's number is determined by his finish in the previous season's points race. If you win the points race one year, you're Car No. 1 the following year. Not so, of course, in NASCAR.
ReplyDeleteWait! PEARSON JUST HIT THE WALL! Nobody was around him, and Pearson just hit the wall!
ReplyDeleteMcKay: "THE LEADER! THE LEADER IS IN TROUBLE!"
ReplyDeleteIt appears that Pearson's right front tire blew, and then he scraped against the wall. His front right fender is all munched up, and smoke's pouring out, and now he's slowing down a good bit ...
ReplyDeleteEconomaki: "This certainly will cost him the race."
ReplyDeleteYep, there go the faster cars, zipping by Pearson.
ReplyDeleteWow ... that stinks.
OK, so now it's Donnie Allison in the lead.
ReplyDeleteWow.
McKay's says Allison's lead on Buddy Baker and brother Bobby is significant.
"The way things have been developing this afternoon ... stay with us."
ReplyDeleteMcKay's doing the Jim Nantz thing where he starts going through the biography of the person he's decided is going to win some event.
ReplyDeleteThat's it. Donnie Allison wins.
ReplyDelete2. Baker
3. B. Allison
4. Charlie Glotzbach of Edwardsville, Indiana
Donnie Allison is all class in victory, as is David Pearson, in defeat.
ReplyDeleteAnd Jim McKay of Philadelphia tells us that Donna Caponi of Detroit is the leader through three rounds of the U.S. Women's Open golf tournament.
That was a fantastic television program.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I watched the NASCAR race. The Wimbledon final doesn't appear to have been that great.
ReplyDeleteI'm getting excited about NFL70. The Dolphins ditched George Wilson and pilfered Don Shula from the Baltimore Colts. Wilson was 15-39-2 in Miami's first four seasons, including 3-10-1 last year. In Cooper Rollow's "Sports Patter" column in the Chicago Sun-Times this spring, Wilson was quoted as saying he thinks the Dolphins are "on the verge of becoming big winners." Wilson expects no credit: "Scooter McLean started building Green Bay the year before Vince Lombardi took over. It was McLean who made a halfback of Paul Horning, built the offensive line and made most of the moves Lombardi got credit for."
ReplyDeleteA couple of things about the Chiefs: Len Dawson got so many product-endorsement opportunities after Super Bowl IV that he incorporated, and running back Mike Garrett says he's retiring after the 1971 season to go back to playing baseball. (And the Los Angeles Dodgers this spring drafted the former University of Southern California outfielder.)
ReplyDeleteI was a big Buddy Baker fan
ReplyDeleteI don't know what happened to him after Pearson took that lead near the end. It seemed like what happened was Pete Hamilton and Lee Roy Yarbrough had the fastest cars, but the heat did them in. Then Buddy Baker and David Pearson had the second-fastest cars; maybe heat did in Buddy Baker's, and David Pearson just got unlucky (he said at the end that he must've run over something, blowing the tire). And then Donnie Allison won by attrition. I don't know, though. It sure is fun watching these old races on YouTube, though.
ReplyDeleteI'm also getting excited about the upcoming 1970-71 TV season. Andy Griffith and Mary Tyler Moore both have new shows this fall, and then James Garner is on tap for a new show in 1971-72.
ReplyDeleteIn the American League East, the Yankees (44-33) are 4.0 games back of the Orioles, the defending American League champs, going into Sunday, July 5, games. The Senators are 35-43, 13.5 games back and only one game ahead of the Indians for last in the division. New York hosts Washington in a doubleheader today, and here’s the Yankee radio network broadcast of the opening game.
ReplyDeleteHere's the batting order for Washington:
ReplyDelete1. Ed Stroud, center
2. Eddie Brinkman, short
3. Frank Howard, first
4. Rick Reichardt, left
5. Aurelio Rodriguez, third
6. Paul Casanova, catcher
7. Tom Grieve, right
8. Tim Cullen, second
9. Dick Bosman, pitcher (7-7)
And for New York:
1. Horace Clarke, second
2. Jerry Kenney, third
3. Bobby Murcer, center
4. Roy White, right
5. Danny Cater, first
6. Curt Blefary, right
7. Jake Gibbs, catcher
8. Gene Michael, short
9. Fritz Peterson, pitcher
Oh, cool. Oakland's Jim "Catfish" Hunter last night became the first American League pitcher to 13 wins.
ReplyDeletePhil Rizzuto and Frank Messer tell us that Baltimore hosts Detroit this afternoon but that first pitch isn't until late. The Orioles play summer home day games in the late afternoon because of Baltimore's intense heat and the openness of the Orioles' stadium, they say.
ReplyDeleteThat makes sense. I wonder if the Senators did that.
DeleteHere's a Dunkin' Donuts commercial. "Fresh every four hours," folks chant over the jingle, and then some guy notes that orange and grape drinks are on special for 10 cents a cup.
ReplyDeleteFritz Peterson retires the Senators in order in the top of the first, and now the Yankees get across the game's first run. Leadoff hitter Horace Clarke beats out an infield hit, advances to second on a Dick Bosman wild pitch and scores on Jerry Kenney's single to center.
ReplyDeleteOn July 4, June 19 and July 2, Clarke broke up no-hitters in the ninth inning of each game. Per Wikipedia, he and Bobby Murcer are the only hitters to break up as many as no-hitters in the ninth inning, and Murcer is coming up for New York now with Kenney on and no out ...
Rizzuto says, if Bosman hadn't been falling off the mound toward first at the end of his pitch, Kenney's hit would've been a routine groundout to the pitcher. Instead, the weak hit slipped through the infield.
ReplyDeleteMurcer and White are retired, and the Yankees lead, 1-0, after one inning.
Nellie Fox is one of the "baseball examiners" working this game for MLB, Messer says.
ReplyDeleteGo, Senators!
ReplyDeleteTop of the third, and Washington has its first baserunners with two out ... Cullen walks, and Bosman singles into left ... first and second ...
ReplyDeleteNo, Nellie Fox is the first-base coach on the Ted Williams staff for the Senators. He apparently was just examining the baseball, as opposed to being an MLB Baseball Examiner.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering about that.
DeletePer Tim Cullen's 1968 Topps card, the 28-year-old from San Francisco one hit two grand slams in one inning in a semi-pro game in Saskatchewan! "Tim's talent and hustling nature assures him a long career," Topps surmised.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, Tim Cullen's career spanned 1966-72, closing strong with 72 games at second base for the World Series-champion A's! #GREENCOLLAR!
Check that ... there was only one out. Eddie Brinkman reaches on Gene Michael's error, and now we have bases loaded with two down for Frank Howard.
ReplyDelete"Hondo consistently awes players and fans with mammoth home runs," says Howard's 3-D card that was likely distributed in cereal boxes.
ReplyDeleteNot so awesome but effective ... 3-D Hondo singles Fritz Peterson's first pitch, and Cullen and Bosman score. It's 2-1, Senators, in the top of the second.
People in Washington talk about Frank Howard's home runs to this day. I have heard Phil Wood and his callers devote hours to this exact topic.
DeleteNow here again is Reichardt, who has always intrigued me. "In case you're wondering where the next super star is coming from, cast your eye at the California Angels' Rick Reichardt," Topps gushed on his 1967 card. "The handsome outfielder was sought after by virtually every major league club before he signed a bonus contract of over $100,000."
ReplyDeleteThe Senators picked up Reichardt and Rodriguez from the Angels on April 27, 1970, in exchange for third baseman Ken McMullen.
ReplyDeleteReichardt had a very solid career--.261 hitter with 116 home runs over 11 seasons, 1964-74. He got votes in 1966 MVP balloting, even though he got sick and missed the second half of the season.
ReplyDeleteBut, of course, Reichardt did not turn out to be a superstar. He came up for Hall of Fame balloting in 1980 and received no votes.
Reichardt's out, leaving two on, and the Senators lead, 2-1, going into the bottom of the second.
ReplyDeleteThree up, three down, still 2-1 through three. And now Rizzuto moves in to the play-by-play seat.
ReplyDeleteRizzuto, of course, is the play-by-play announcer in Meat Loaf's "Paradise by the Dashboard Light."
DeleteToday is the big-league debut of Tom Grieve, the Senators' top draft choice of 1966. Back at Pittsfield (Massachusetts) High School, Grieve hit .460 and .500 in his last two seasons. He was hitting .281 with 13 home runs through 51 games after last night's Class AA Denver Bears game, and then the Senators put him on the red-eye flight to New York to take the roster spot of injured outfielder Wayne Comer. He has grounded out twice in this game, but Rizzuto raved over his hustle and speed up the first-base line on both outs.
ReplyDeleteMy newest favorite Senator, Tim Cullen, singles to open the fifth and advances to second on Bosman's sacrifice ... still 2-1, Washington ...
ReplyDeleteNope ... Cullen is stranded ... through four and a half.
ReplyDeleteSomeone from the Westfield, Massachusetts, affiliate on the Yankee radio network is on the line with Rizzuto, and he says the station is running a contest in which entrants pick who they think will win the World Series. The radio guy says the Yankees are getting nine of every 10 entries.
ReplyDeleteHappy 27th birthday on July 5, 1970, to Yankee outfielder Curt Blefary.
ReplyDeleteIn 1961, with Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris across their world-champion outfield, the Yankees signed Roy White out of Centennial High School in Compton, California. The next year, they signed Curt Blefary out of Wagner College in Staten Island, New York. And then in 1964, they picked up Bobby Murcer out of the University of Oklahoma. Those guys are playing left, right and center, respectively, today.
But in the interim, Blefary did some moving around. He moved to the Orioles' organization while he was still in the minors and then earned American League rookie of the year with Baltimore in 1965. Then, in 1966, he was the starting left fielder for the Orioles' World Series champions.
ReplyDeleteIn 1968, he went to the Astros in a trade that made Mike Cuellar an Oriole, and, after one season in Houston, came back to the Yankees in exchange for Joe Peptone.
The only one of these three Yankees outfielders who are going to be around by the time New York wins another pennant in 1976 is Roy White. Blefary's going to bounce to the A's, Padres and Braves, without the transactions yielding much of a long-term note for the Yankees. Murcer is going to eventually be traded for Bobby Bonds, and then Bonds is going to be traded for Mickey Rivers and Ed Figueroa, both significant contributors to the late '70s Yankees.
ReplyDelete2-1, Senators, through five innings.
ReplyDeleteFrank Messer went and got himself a cup of coffee at the last half-inning break, and Phil Rizzuto is hacked he didn't bring him a cup.
ReplyDeleteRizzuto comes back to the bottom of the sixth (still 2-1, Washington) with a Pepsi.
ReplyDeleteThe Yanks get Horace Clarke on base to lead off the sixth, but Paul Casanova throws out the speedy runner in an attempt to steal. It's the second runner that Casanova has caught stealing second in this game. Jerry Kenney follows with a walk, and then Murcer singles. But then Bosman retires White and Danny Cater, and the score remains 2-1, Senators.
ReplyDeleteGene "Stick" Michael, the old Kent State University hoops star, knocks a two-out, solo home run in the bottom of the seventh, and then pitcher Fritz Peterson nearly does same. But Grieve fields this one at the warning track, and we go to the eighth tied at 2.
ReplyDeleteThat was Michael's second home run of the season, matching his career high of two in 1969. In 1968, he hit one home run--the first in three major-league seasons.
ReplyDeleteBrinkman, a Senator regular since he was 20 years old in 1962, doubles to left with two out, and now here's giant Frank Howard.
ReplyDelete6-foot-7 Frank was a $108,000 Dodger bonus boy back in 1958 out of Ohio State University.
ReplyDeleteHis baseball card says lists Howard's hobby as "sports."
ReplyDeletePer Howard's Society for American Baseball Research bio:
ReplyDeleteAfter the Senators’ 10th-place finish, new owner Bob Short took over in January 1969 and decided to replace manager Jim Lemon after his single season. To replace Lemon, Short lured Ted Williams out of his eight-year retirement, surprising everyone around the game. For Howard, this would be another turning point, perhaps the most important one. Williams believed he knew how to make Howard a better hitter. “He called me into his office one day in the spring of ’69,” Howard recalled. “He said, ‘Bush! Come on in here.’ I’d only been in camp a couple of days, and I’m thinking, ‘Gee, I’m not in his doghouse already, am I?’”
“Can you tell me how a guy who hit 44 home runs only got 48 walks?” asked Williams. After Howard offered some explanation, his manager got to the point. “Well, let me ask you. Can you take a strike? I’m talking about if it’s a tough fastball in a tough zone, first pitch. Or if it’s a breaking ball, you’re sitting on a fastball … Can you take a strike? You know, try to get yourself a little better count to hit in?” Howard said he could. “Well try it for me.”21
In the event, Howard increased his walk total from 54 to 102, while his strikeouts fell from 141 to 96. He took advantage of more hitter’s counts, and ended up hitting .296 with 48 home runs and 111 RBIs. He led the league with 330 total bases, and finished among the leaders in on-base-percentage (.402) and slugging percentage (.574). He hit a home run off Steve Carlton in the All-Star Game, held at his home park of RFK Stadium.
I would really like to know why the Dodgers' organization couldn't figure this out.
DeleteIntentional walk for Howard. Two out, first and second ... here's Reichardt ...
ReplyDeleteReichardt singles to left! ... Brinkman scores ... Howard to third ... 3-2, Washington ...
ReplyDeleteReichardt's hurt, and Del Unser is on to pinch run. And now Ralph Houk is taking out Fritz Peterson.
ReplyDeleteOn comes right-hander Jack "Chief" Aker, the 1966 Sporting News American League "Fireman of the Year" while he was with the Kansas City A's!
ReplyDeleteWikipedia: "As of 2008. Aker was living in Arizona with his wife, former sportswriter and broadcaster Jane Charnin-Aker. In 2001, Charnin-Aker won $250,000 on the original nighttime version of 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire.' Their son, Joshua Charnin-Aker, appeared at age 12 on 'Jeopardy!' Kids Week in 2002, competed in the 2008 and 2012 U.S. Swimming Olympic Trials, and was an All-American swimmer for Stanford University. An older son, Matthew Aker, played baseball at Ole Miss and was the head baseball coach at Greensboro College in North Carolina. The family's youngest son, Adam Charnin-Aker, played for the 2011 and 2012 Arizona State Champion Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, Arizona, and is a pitcher for Dartmouth College as a member of the class of 2016."
GREENCOLLAR!
Sports and trivia -- that's very impressive.
DeleteI thought so, too.
DeleteMy main man Jack Aker retires Aurelio Lopez, leaving two on, and the Senators' lead remains 3-2.
ReplyDeleteIn the break before the bottom of the eighth, the Schenectady radio station is advertising the July 7, 1970, Albany-Saratoga 250. Buddy Baker is scheduled to race.
ReplyDeleteOn for the Senators is Darold Knowles. The 28-year-old left-hander is just 1-6 on the season, but he has 16 saves and a 1.38 earned-run average.
ReplyDeleteKnowles pitched in all seven games of the 1973 World Series for the champion A's. #GREENCOLLAR!
With one out, Ron Hansen pinch hits a single, and then Murcer reaches on a fielder's choice. That brings up Roy White ...
ReplyDeleteBut the YouTube video skips ahead to the top of the ninth ...
ReplyDeleteAnd now Cullen is up with Casanova at third and pinch-hitter Lee Maye at second, and now a popup drops among Michael, White and Murcer--Casanova is safe at home. No out ... Maybe at third, Cullen at first ... now 4-2, Senators ... Yankees expecting a bunt from Knowles ... indeed, he bunts Cullen to second ... intentional walk to Ed Stroud ... OK, two out, bases full ...
ReplyDeleteBrinkman ...
ReplyDeleteYankees playing in ... Brinkman stabs the ball deep toward short ... Michael gets to the ball, but Maye scores ... 5-2 ... now Frank Howard ...
ReplyDeleteLine drive to center for Howard ... Cullen scores ... Stroud scores ... 7-2 ... that'll do it for Aker ...
ReplyDeleteSteve Hamilton comes on to finish off the Senators in the top of the ninth, and now New York will try to fight back from 7-2 down.
ReplyDeleteA 23-year-old pinch hitter, Thurman Lee Munson, opens the ninth with a ground-rule double. Maybe Ralph Houk should play that guy more frequently.
ReplyDeleteJohn Ellis pinch hits a double, and Munson scores ... 7-3 ...
ReplyDeleteBut that's as far as the rally goes. Senators win!
ReplyDeleteThat was great. Thanks so much YouTube user "ernie kyger" for posting it.
ReplyDeleteGo, Senators!
ReplyDeleteBefore the Cubs and the Red Sox stole our crown, Washington was the original hapless baseball team.
As of today, Washington's all-time record in regular season MLB games (going back to 1901) is 5,872 wins / 6,858 losses, for a winning percentage of .461.
ReplyDeleteOf the 16 franchises that were playing in 1901, the Phillies have the worst winning percentage -- .472, well ahead of Washington.
Of the other 14 franchises, the worst winning percentage is a Tampa Bay -- .462 -- still better than Washington.
The Red Sox have the fifth-best winning percentage of any MLB franchise, while the Cubs have the sixth-best winning percentage. So my heart doesn't exactly bleed for them.
ReplyDeleteNo. 40 in the first-ever American Top 40 with Casey Kasem is Marvin Gaye's "The End of Our Road."
ReplyDeleteMarvin Gaye's music is about to start sounding a good bit different, and I'm going to really, really like the change. But I also like this previous-generation product. What a singer Marvin Gaye was!
Mark Lindsay's "Silver Bird" is No. 39. Of all the music styles that turn up in the 1970 charts, this Partridge Family-ish pop might be in least evidence anywhere on the radio today.
ReplyDeleteI think I would've gone nuts for No. 38, Eric Burdon & War's "Spill The Wine," had I seen it performed live.
ReplyDeleteI had a week a couple of months ago where I went crazy for No. 37, Crabby Appleton's "Go Back," and seeing this American Bandstand clip again might start me on another of those jags.
ReplyDeleteCasey tells us that Crabby Appleton was formerly known as "Stonehenge." I wonder how things would've gone had they kept that name.
ReplyDelete"I Just Can't Help Believing" by B.J. Thomas is No. 36.
ReplyDeleteVince Gill is such a pro.
I had zero idea that Vince Gill was the lead singer of Pure Prairie League.
DeleteNow listening to a bunch of Pure Prairie League songs. Will get back to this AT40 a little later.
Delete35. Aretha Franklin, "Spirit in the Dark"
ReplyDelete34. John Phillips, "Mississippi" (come to like this a good bit this year)
33. Flaming Ember, "Westbound Number 9" (love this song)
Casey tell us that No. 32, "It's All in the Game," has charted four times over the last 15 years or so--this time, by the Four Tops. I didn't recognize the song title off hand, but I recognized the song from the first few words of the lyrics.
ReplyDeleteNo. 31 is the Fifth Dimension's version of Laura Nyro's "Save the Country," and No. 30 is "Ohio" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Both are fantastic.
ReplyDelete#BlackIsBeautiful or #EverythingIsBeautiful?
ReplyDeleteNo. 29 by Ray Stevens.
The Impressions' "Check Out Your Mind" (No. 28) is not nearly one of my favorite Curtis Mayfield songs, but it's interesting.
ReplyDeleteNow here's a lyric for you, boy: No. 27, Moody Blues' "Question.
ReplyDeleteAnd here's a good enough reason for TV to have been invented.
ReplyDeleteThe families who had these little cup dispensers next to their kitchen or bathroom sinks seemed to me like the richest, most sophisticated people in all of Paducah.
ReplyDeleteAndy Griffith has been turning up on the variety shows more frequently, getting us all warmed up for his new show in fall 1970.
ReplyDeleteIt takes forever for the Olympics to finally come around again.
ReplyDeleteThe Fosbury Flop isn't talked about nearly enough.
ReplyDeleteAlan Alda was a game-show stud, but he didn't get Elaine Stritch on What's My Line? in 1970. Of course, that's better than me. I didn't even know who Elaine Stritch was.
ReplyDeleteI have this record cover--but not the record! I hope to run across the record at a Salvation Army or yard sale or something some day.
ReplyDeleteI would really like a complete set of those Goodyear Great Songs of Christmas. And then I would also like a complete set of the Firestone Your Christmas Favorites.
DeleteYes, that would be terrific.
DeleteBaseball cards are so fantastic.
ReplyDeleteI'll tell you what--I could spend a lot of my life just sitting around watching people open old packages of baseball cards ...
ReplyDeleteJim Bunning!
Oh, just rip it open, dude!
Royals team card ... waste. Ron Swoboda. (Did he just call him, "Schwoobda"?) Julian Javier (father of future-A Stan!). Larry Brown (himself a future A!). Checklist ... waste. Walt Williams. Cubs rookie stars (thumb was in the way--couldn't see who was on those). Willie Davis (I once met Willie Davis!) Johnny Callison (growing up, I always thought Johnny Callison must've been a giant star--his name sounds like the name of a big baseball star). Scratch-off Willie Stargell.
Oh, cool. He's doing two packs here.
That's Bobby Bonds. Ron Taylor. Astros team card (waste). Tom Tischinski (I think I still need a Tom Tischinski from some year). Yankees team card. Checklist. Walt Hriniak (I appreciate this guy showing off his pack opening, but he's not that huge of a baseball fan). Pete Rose All-Star card (I always consider a player's All-Star or highlight card to be of less value than his regular-issue card). Jack DiLaura (OK, I've never even heard of this Astro). Lee Stange. Scratch-off Mel Stottlemyre.
I love listening to the radio. I love the music, and I love the commercials, and I love the talking, and I love the lack of choice.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a very insightful comment.
DeleteSometimes I feel like I must be the only person in America who genuinely prefers the Diana Ross version of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough."
ReplyDeleteThat may very well be the case.
DeleteHere's Johnny Carson on The Phil Donahue Show, and I'm not at all confident that he's committed to The Tonight Show for any too long.
ReplyDeleteWelcome (back) to Philly(, Richie Allen)!
ReplyDelete