Thank you, GoHeath, for the tip to the YouTube link for what is purported to be the first-ever episode of This Week In Baseball.
I’ve been excited about the debut of this show since there was a report on it in the March 13, 1977, edition of the Paducah Sun-Democrat “Channel Selector” pullout. Here’s Dan Lewis writing for the United Feature Syndicate:
At the recent National Association of Television Program Executives convention in Miami Beach, Ernie Banks, the Chicago Cubs great immortalized this year as the newest elected member to Baseball’s Hall of Fame, was on prominent display, letting people know about “This Week in Baseball.”
At the hotel pool, in major league baseball’s suite and at banquets, Banks moved around easily, letting the local program executives know that the commissioner’s office, the owners, an assortment of production companies, a distributor and an ad agency were partners in the TV venture …
Banks, who has remained wit the Chicago Cubs—the only team he ever played for during his major league career—in sales promotion, did his job well. The programmers were anxious to meet him and, in return, listened to his pitch on behalf of baseball.
Mel Allen, the one-time New York Yankees’ play-by-play announcer (for 23 years), will host the series, which will run for 26 weeks, starting April 16—the second of the season.
Pro football highlights are aired weekly by both NBC and CBS during the season on their respective Sunday sports specials that precede games on these networks. But although NBC carries a Saturday game and ABC the Monday night game in baseball, neither offers these highlights.
So the league is packaging its own show. These highlights, culled from the 100 to 150 games each week, will be edited by high-speed equipment and will be ready for airing by Friday. In many areas, it is expected they will be shown on the weekend, probably preceding local major league telecasts. In major league cities, channels that air the local teams will have first option.
It appears there were production delays, because Howard Smith of the Associated Press reports in a syndicated column turning up in papers June 23 and around then that the series is in its fourth week:
... and the reception has been great. In Boston, baseball writers can’t see it Saturday afternoons as a rule because they’re at the Red Sox game so they have requested a special showing. Club officials also are planning to show it on the scoreboard at Fenway Park prior to Saturday games.
The idea of a highlight show is not new. The National Football League has been doing it for years with success. But the NFL only has 14 games every weekend to deal with. There approximately are 70 baseball games every week and, until this year, it has not been economically feasible to produce a highlights show.
This year baseball has purchased a video cassette recorder for each ballpark. Of the 70 games played in a week, generally about 52 of them are televised somewhere. Baseball records the telecasts on the cassettes, ships the film to New York and the highlights are put together for the show. It sounds much easier than it is.
I think it sounds hard. And I'm excited to watch—right before I listen to tonight's A's game, at Detroit.
The new program opens with promises of delivering baseball's "personalities," "action" and "excitement." For the personalities, they show images of Mark Fidrych, Tommy LaSorda, Charlie Finley, Tug McGraw and Mickey Rivers. Over each of the three categories of the clips, Pete Rose is the most featured, with three appearances--once sliding headfirst into third, once arguing a called strike and once congratulating teammates at the steps of the Reds' dugout.
ReplyDeleteAnd then we have a few words from Mr. Carlson from WKRP and Duke Slater from Gomer Pyle for Mobil 1 and from Mickey Mantle and beautiful women for Brylcreem.
We come back from commercial with four minutes on games that the Red Sox and Yankees have played against one another this season.
ReplyDeleteNext we have a segment on a three-game series in Baltimore between the A.L. West-leading Twins and A.L. East-leading Orioles. The Os win two of three; it might've been a sweep for Baltimore, but Earl Weaver ...
ReplyDelete-- signaled for an intentional walk,
-- called time to back out of the plan when he realized he had gotten confused that the batter was Dan Ford and not Larry Hisle, and, then,
-- watched as Ford still walked and Hisle knocked in Minnesota's ultimately winning run with a liner off the pitcher's ankle.
Most of Mel Allen's love for Baltimore was heaped on Mark Belanger, who had an inside-the-park home run and some dazzling defensive plays in the series. It's interesting that there was nary a mention of Rod Carew, whose .375 batting average led the American League field by 23 points through games of May 30.
And now a few words from Officer Jon Baker of CHiPs for KIT automobile polish (with voice over from Mr. Kincaid from The Partridge Family).
ReplyDeleteAfter the commercial and approaching the 30-minute program's midpoint, Mel Allen turns our attention to the National League with a tribute to Wrigley Field, the Wrigley family and Ernie Banks. Cubs owner P.K. Wrigley, who inherited the team (and the chewing-gum company) from his dad in 1932, had died April 12, 1977.
ReplyDelete"It's a shame he couldn't live to see his Cubs right now," Mel Allen says. "He may not have believed it, and some still can't believe it--the Cubs are soaring."
Chicago beat the visiting Pirates in a series at Wrigley last weekend to overtake Pittsburgh atop the National League East. The Cubs getting the most praise from Mel Allen are Ivan DeJesus and Manny Trillo, the young shortstop and second baseman acquired from the Dodgers and A's, respectively, and relief-ace Bruce Sutter.
ReplyDeleteAnd speaking of Los Angeles, now Mel Allen turns to baseball's best team. There are nine minutes to go in the show, and I wonder if This Week in Baseball is going to give all of them to the Dodgers, who have been spectacular so far in MLB77.
ReplyDeleteThe Dodgers hosted the Reds for a three-game series last weekend. After an 8-1 win Friday night, Los Angeles led the National League West by 13 1/2 games over second-place Cincinnati, and Mel Allen said that drew record crowds to Dodger Stadium for the Saturday and Sunday games.
ReplyDeleteAlas, they went home disappointed, as the Reds took the second and third games in the series. This was part of a seven-day run for George Foster in which he hit seven home runs and earned N.L. player of the week.
The episode wraps with happy news of Mark Fidrych's return to action for the Tigers after his spring-training knee injury, a compilation of kooky plays from around the league and finally, this week's This Week in Baseball play of the week, which was Dennis Eckersley's strikeout to finish his 1-0, no-hitter victory over the Angels on May 30 (making it amazing if true that this program was produced on May 31 as the YouTube header indicates).
ReplyDeleteAnd that’s it. What a terrific television program This Week in Baseball is going to be. It’s fun to see all of the different teams in their different uniforms; it’s going to be like seeing a 30-minute All-Star Game every week.
ReplyDeleteSo now we move on to radio coverage from WJR 760 AM in Detroit of the A's at the Tigers on Tuesday, May 31 ...
ReplyDeleteIt's bittersweet to think about how the first episodes of This Week in Baseball would've had a lot of '77 A's love had the program commenced with the second week of the season as reportedly planned. As previously reported, Oakland spent a lot of time at or near the top of the A.L. West, so I assume the A's would've gotten at least as much Mel Allen attention as did the Twins in that first episode.
ReplyDeleteBy the end of May, however, the A's are struggling to stay in the A.L. West race, and Manager Jack McKeon has been doing all sorts of experimenting with his lineup. Or, in some cases, McKeon has been carrying out various Charlie Finley experiments ...
For example, in road games of late, McKeon's lineup card has listed the leadoff hitter, Matt Alexander, as the team's shortstop. Alexander, who today still holds the major-league record for appearances by a pinch-runner, takes his at-bat and does what he can to get on and around the bases. Then, for the bottom half of the first, McKeon yanks Alexander in place of slick-fielding/light-hitting shortstop Rob Picciolo. It was Finley's idea, Tom Weir reported in the May 30 Oakland Tribune:
ReplyDeleteIn five leadoff trips Alexander has singled twice, walked once, lined out crisply twice and stolen four bases, raising his thefts total to 10 in 13 tries, sixth best int he league, despite never playing a complete game.
“A lot of people are still down on Finley, but he comes up with a lot of ideas that other people don’t even try to use,” Alexander said. “He’s trying to get the maximum out of the runners from the beginning of the game.”
Alexander was less complimentary of McKeon. In the same article, he takes a big shot at his manager for apparently having said a couple of weeks ago that Alexander and the other reserve Oakland fielders gave him very few options for improving the offense of the slumping A's. Alexander is actually leading the A's in batting on the season, at .375, but that's only on eight at-bats. McKeon had said his only real hitting threat among the reserves was Rich McKinney, and that apparently hurt everyone's feelings.
ReplyDeleteIt has been a hard couple of weeks for the A's.
ReplyDeleteMitchell Page is actually on the cover of the June 4 Sporting News, which would be either on or about to reach newsstands now in 1977. "A's Flip Their Lids Over Gilt-Edged Page" is the headline on the lead story teased on the cover. It, too, is written by Weir.
ReplyDeleteBut, in fact, after spending the season’s first month among A.L. leaders in hits, runs, doubles, total bases, home runs, runs batted in and batting average (he hit .450 through the first dozen games), Page has cooled. Through a seven-for-42 run in the last couple of weeks, McKeon has been steadily dropping Page in the batting order.
For this Tuesday night game at Tiger Stadium, Page has dropped all the way out of McKeon's order:
ReplyDelete1. Matt Alexander, “shortstop”
2. Manny Sanguillen, right fielder
3. Wayne Gross, third baseman
4. Dick Allen, first baseman
5. Earl Williams, catcher
6. Rich McKinney, designated hitter
7. Tony Armas, center fielder
8. Marty Perez, second baseman
9. Jim Tyrone, left fielder
And as for Ralph Houk’s Tigers, ...
ReplyDelete1. Ron LeFlore, center fielder
2. Tito Fuentes, second baseman
3. Ben Ogilvie, right fielder
4. Steve Kemp, left fielder
5. Mickey Stanley, first baseman
6. Jock Wockenfuss, designated hitter
7. Milt May, catcher
8. Phil Mańkowski, third baseman
9. Tom Veryzer, shortstop
Again, our pitchers are John Hiller (1-5) ...
ReplyDeleteJohn Frederick Hiller (born April 8, 1943, in Toronto) ... grew up in Scarborough, the son of an auto body repairman. He was a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs while growing up and played ice hockey as a goaltender. He attended David-Mary Thomson Public School and West Hill Collegiate Institute, but dropped out after the 11th grade. He competed as a sprinter in the 220- and 440-yard dashes while in high school. He excelled in baseball as a pitcher, and reportedly once struck out 22 batters in a seven-inning game, including one batter who got on base due to a wild pitch (an uncaught third strike).
... and Vida Blue (3-5).
ReplyDeleteVida Rochelle Blue Jr. (July 28, 1949 – May 6, 2023) ... was born and raised in Mansfield in DeSoto Parish, Louisiana. He was the oldest of six children born to Vida Blue, Sr, a laborer in a Mansfield iron foundry and his wife Sallie.
Blue attended DeSoto High School in Mansfield. He pitched for the baseball team and quarterbacked the football team. In his senior year of football, he threw for 3,400 yards and completed 35 touchdown passes while rushing for 1,600 yards. In his senior year of baseball, Blue threw a no-hitter with 21 strikeouts in just seven innings pitched.
Matt Alexander leads off with a liner single into left field, steals second and advances to third on Manny Sanguillen‘s long fly out. Charlie Finley is a genius!
ReplyDeleteAlexander scores on a wild pitch by Hiller. It’s 1-0, A’s.
ReplyDeleteBack in 2024, the current A’s are now 23-36, and they are nine games out of first place in the American League West. They just took a
ReplyDelete10-9 lead against the Atlanta Braves, and I hope Mark Kotsay is checking the HP between innings so that he learns about this brilliant designated-leadoff-hitter strategy.
Final: A’s 11, Braves 9. #greencollar!
DeleteMeanwhile, in 1977, it’s 1-1 in Detroit through three innings. And now Labatt’s beer has a trivia question for us: Which major leaguer hit safely in a record 17 consecutive World Series games, but compiled a lifetime batting average of only .245?
ReplyDeleteI got the trivia question wrong.
ReplyDeleteOh, good for the A's: After giving up a double to Steve Kemp and a single to Mickey Stanley to open the fourth, Blue strikes out a Tiger and double plays the next one. Still 1--1 ...
ReplyDeleteOh, good again: Sanguillen, a catcher most of his career in Pittsburgh and now Oakland, makes running stabs of long flys to right field by both the first and third Tiger batters in the fifth. Still 1-1 ...
ReplyDeleteWhat was the answer to the trivia question?
ReplyDeleteHank Bauer! Before he played for and managed the A's, of course.
DeleteBauer played in nine World Series with the Yankees from 1949 through ’58. Over the first four of those, 1949-52, he hit seven for 57, an average of .121. Then in 1953, he had six hits in 23 at-bats (.261). Over the last four World Series in which he played, 1955-58, Bauer was 33 for 108, for a .305 average. And in the last of those appearances, he hit .323 (10 of 31) with four home runs and eight runs batted in.
The Yankees won seven of Bauer’s nine career World Series.
It's still 1-1 between the Tigers and A's through six innings (and a 42-minute rain delay) ...
ReplyDeleteWell, things go haywire for Blue in the bottom of the seventh. He allows two singles, and then another Tiger reaches on a fielder's choice--with the lead runner safe at third. Blue goes to a full count on Phil Mankowski, who singles into left field, and now it's 2-1, Detroit. Jack McKeon is subbing out Blue for Bob Lacey.
ReplyDeleteBlue, who reportedly has been unhappy in an A's uniform for at least a couple of seasons, is just getting started on a long, hard season with Oakland. Turning 28 years old next month, he's going to go 14-19 with a 3.83 earned-run average in 273 2/3 innings in 1977 (relatively not terrible given the A's are going to go 63-98 and 4.04 overall).
Before the start of next season, Oakland is going to trade Blue to San Francisco, and he's going to have a pretty successful run with the Giants. I remember seeing him start the 1978 All-Star Game for the National League and just being fascinated (even more than sad) seeing him in a uniform other than Oakland's. Little-boy me absolutely saw Vida Blue and Reggie Jackson as the best pitcher and hitter in baseball, respectively, and I was, on balance, happy to see them thriving after leaving the A's.
According to Baseball Reference, here are the most valuable members of the 1977 Oakland Athletics:
ReplyDelete1. Mitchell Page (6.1 wins above replacement)
2. Vida Blue (3.6)
3. Pablo Torrealba (2.8)
4. Bob Lacey (2.6)
5. Joe Coleman (2.6)
Here were Vida Blue's best years with the A's (in terms of wins above replacement):
ReplyDelete1971: 9.0
1976: 7.6
1975: 4.6
1977: 3.6
In nine seasons with the A's, he went 124-86 with an ERA of 2.95. He had 105 complete games and 28 shutouts. He finished with 29.0 wins above replacement for the A's, just behind Barry Zito (30.3), Catfish Hunter (31.0), and Tim Hudson (31.0).
In terms of Wins Above Replacement, the most valuable of the 1970's A's were: Sal Bando (52.1), Bert Campaneris (48.9), and Reggie Jackson (48.1). Please note: all figures refer only to WAR generated for the A's.
ReplyDelete#Breaking: On the afternoon on Sunday, June 5, 1977, the Portland Trail Blazers have opened a 67-55 lead after one half of Game 6 of the NBA Finals. Portland leads the series, three games to two, so we appear to be headed toward seeing Oregon's first-ever major-sports championship ...
ReplyDeleteAnd if that doesn't float your boat, sports fans, just wait until the basketball game is over, because Brent Musburger keeps telling us that CBS is going to take us to Potomac, Maryland, later this afternoon for the final round of the Kemper Open.
ReplyDeleteThe new Chevrolet Concours looks sharp!
ReplyDeleteOh, excuse me. The golf tournament’s in Charlotte; I thought Brent said Potomac. Anyway, here’s Vin Scully with a halftime update from Quail Hollow:
ReplyDelete1. George Burns -11 (through nine holes today)
T2. Bill Rogers -10 (8)
T2. Doug Tewell -10 (8)
T2. Tom Weiskopf -10 (8)
5. Craig Stadler -9 (9)
T6. Charles Coody -8 (11)
T6. Juan "Chi-Chi" Rodriguez -8 (8)
T6. Lou Graham -8 (8)
Now back to Portland, where Larry McNeill and Darnell Hillman will wrap up halftime activities with the championship of what is billed onscreen as the "CBS Slam Dunk Competition."
ReplyDeleteWikipedia: "NBA held its first Slam Dunk Contest as a one-off, season-long event similar to NBA Horse event held the following season. During halftime at each game, there was a one-on-one slam dunk competition. There were 22 competitors at multiple venues throughout the event—one for each team at the league—including future Hall of Famers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Alex English, Julius Erving, George Gervin, Elvin Hayes, Moses Malone, and David Thompson."
The first half of Game 6 featured one of Dr. J's more famous dunks, in transition over Portland's Bobby Gross. "There's the man I'd pick in the Slam Dunk Contest, I'll tell you that, Brent," comments Rick Barry.
ReplyDeleteBut, no, sir, Rick Barry, we had some sort of fair-and-square bracket of competitions, and our finalists are Larry McNeill, a 6-foot-8 26-year-old from Hoke County, North Carolina, who played collegiately at Marquette …
ReplyDeleteMcNeill was drafted in the second round of the 1973 NBA draft, by the Kansas City–Omaha Kings, and would play with the franchise until 1976. That year, he was traded to the New York Nets, for a third-round draft pick. In 1977, he signed as a free agent with the Golden State Warriors. The following two years, he signed as a free agent with the Buffalo Braves and Detroit Pistons. McNeil also suited up for several teams in the Philippine Basketball Association, once scoring a then record 88 points, in one local game, in 1983. He also spent several seasons in the Continental Basketball Association with the Wilkes-Barre Barons, Utica Olympics, and Rochester Zeniths. McNeill continues to hold the NBA record for the most field goals in a playoff game without a miss, going 12 for 12 in a playoff game in 1975, with the Kings.
… and 27-year-old Darnell "Dr. Dunk” Hillman of Sacramento, California.
ReplyDeleteThe 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) forward played college basketball at San Jose State University. Hillman was selected in the first round of the 1971 NBA draft (the 8th pick overall) by the Golden State Warriors, but opted instead to play for the Indiana Pacers of the American Basketball Association. … Hillman played six seasons for the Pacers, who joined the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the ABA–NBA merger in June 1976. Hillman earned a reputation for his stylish slam dunks and oversized afro hairstyle. … Hillman later played with the New Jersey Nets, Denver Nuggets, Kansas City Kings, and Golden State Warriors in the NBA, and he ended his career in 1980 with combined NBA/ABA totals of 6,666 points and 5,187 rebounds during the regular season, and 7,339 points and 5,809 rebounds including the post-season. ...
Hillman was once asked by a reporter if it was true he could jump high enough to grab a quarter off the top of the backboard. Hillman responded, "Put a $100 bill up there and see." The reporter, who had heard the stories of Hillman picking quarters off the top of backboards, turned down the offer.
We have Don Criqui on the mike for the championship.
ReplyDeleteEach player gets five dunks, he explains, and he scores two points for each of the shots he makes. A three-judge panel awards up to 30 style points per competitor, so it's a 40-point max.
ReplyDeleteCriqui says we'll meet the three judges shortly, but first he introduces McNeill and Hillman, neither of whom crack a smile.
ReplyDeleteMore super Wikipedia: "At the time of the final, Hillman's rights had been traded to the New York Nets, but he had not yet signed a contract. Since he was not officially a member of any NBA team, instead of wearing a jersey, he competed in a plain white tank top. Then for the post-competition interview, Hillman donned a shirt with the words "Bottle Shoppe"--the name of an Indianapolis liquor store, which is still in existence, and was the sponsor of a city parks softball league team for which Hillman played left field (and the only team he was a member of at the time)."
ReplyDeleteTo be clear, Hillman is wearing his Bottle Shoppe shirt during Criqui's doping of the final, so apparently he's going to peel out of it and down to the tank top before getting down to business.
ReplyDeleteThe judges are Mendy Rudolph (and the Portland fans boo the former NBA official), Sam Jones (they cheer the former Boston Celtics great) and Larry Bortstein (they boo the sports writer from Denver).
ReplyDeleteHillman has won a coin toss, and he has elected to compete second. So here comes McNeill with his five dunk attempts for the $15,000 first prize ...
ReplyDeleteMcNeill's first three perfunctory dunks are all successful, which is not bad strategy, indicates Criqui, as previous rounds have turned on early makes or misses. For his fourth dunk, though, McNeill turns on the style, slamming the ball off the court, catching it in mid-air and then throwing down a hard, two-handed dunk. That's eight points, at least, in the bank, and Criqui suggests the judges will look kindly at that fourth try.
ReplyDeleteMcNeill goes back to safe on Dunk 5. It's good, so he has locked up his 10 points. And now here are the judges ... 8.5s across. That's a total of 35.5 points.
ReplyDeleteHillman counters with an opening reverse, one-handed dunk in which he starts his leap from under the backboard. That should do it right there.
ReplyDeleteOK, the only way he's going to lose this thing is if he misses his last two. All three of Hillman's dunks so far have been spectacular.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, Portland fans at courtside are waving madly every time they see a CBS camera pointed toward them. My guess is they hadn't yet pricing those seats so that only rich and/or famous people sit in them. All of the spectators are acting like it's their big chance to get discovered by some Hollywood talent scout and become the next It Girl.
Dr. Dunk doesn't disappoint! All five dunks are successful. I thought he might get a perfect score. Baylor gives Hillman a 9.5; Rudolph, a 9.0, and Bortstein, another 8.5 just like he gave McNeill(!). Boo! Were you even watching, Bortstein? See, this is why people hate the media. Boooooooooooooo!
ReplyDeleteHillman pulls back on his Bobble Shoppe jersey and receives warm congratulations from Criqui.
ReplyDelete“Thank you, Don. I’d just like to say thank you to my family for standing behind me and helping me get through this little ordeal. I had a little work to do, and I went out and did it. I’m happy about it.”
Good for you, Dr. Dunk!
Criqui assures Hillman he has the $15,000 coming in the mail, and, indeed, Wikipedia reports, Hillman received his check--but no trophy.
ReplyDeleteThe Indiana Pacers fixed that in 2017. Check out this supercool video of the moment.
By the way, Hoke County--the southcentral North Carolina county where McNeill was from--had somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 people in 1977 but two natives in the NBA. Jim McMillan was from Raeford, the county seat, and was a former No. 1 Lakers draft choice playing for the Knicks.
ReplyDeleteAmong the other 11 "Notable people" whom Wikipedia lists as hailing from Raeford and Hoke County are both George Floyd and Diamond and Silk. What a strange time and place we live in.
And now for the second half of Game 6 of the NBA Finals, ...
ReplyDeletePortland's lead is 12 points with about eight minutes to play in the third quarter, and Brent is growing more certain that the Trail Blazers are going to win. He's doing the thing where the announcer slips things in over the course of ongoing action that will build the legend of the emerging champion. So, for example, a little bit ago, he was comparing Portland in 1977 to Green Bay, Wisconsin, in 1961, talking about the 4,500 people who stayed at the airport until past 4:30 a.m. when the Blazers' team flight was delayed coming home from one of the games in Philadelphia.
ReplyDeleteThis had to be a meaningful afternoon of CBS Sports viewing for just-turned-18 James William Nantz III, 1977 graduate, basketball and golf star and "funniest laugh" of all of Marlboro High School in Marlboro Township, Maryland.
Through three quarters: Portland 91, Philadelphia 82.
ReplyDeleteMusburger: “Kemper Open final round is next!"
The 76ers gave Erving a little extra rest after the third quarter, and now he's entering the game with his team down, 91-84, after a couple of Lloyd Free free throws. Erving has 30 points in the game.
ReplyDeleteThis is where I would really blow up as an NBA coach. Instead of holding out my stars for another minute or so after quarter breaks like everyone else does, I'd get them out there from the gun and do all sorts of pressing on defense and designed plays to get the stars the ball on offense. "He finds five to 10 points a game where the rest of us don't even know to look," I had some coach tell me about another coach for a story one time, and I thought to myself at that moment, "That would be so fantastic if somebody said that about me some day!"
This game was about as good of a basketball game as you're ever going to see play for about its first third--totally back and forth the whole time. At one point, one team was shooting in the 70 percents from the field, but the other was shooting in the 80 percents--and they both seemed to be playing real aggressive defense.
ReplyDeleteThe 76ers, especially Erving and Free, were just flying around everywhere, and Gene Shue had them all rotating among each other to get Caldwell Jones, his 6-foot-11 center, matched up against a smaller guy. Jones, it turns out, is really great at ball-handling and creating his own shot.
But the Blazers rode out the initial storm and kept Philadelphia from getting more than three or four points ahead. Then there was back-to-back trips for the 76ers where Bill Walton blocked Erving's shot on a flying drive where he looked for all the world like a comic-book hero, and then Free was called for charging when he posted up Blazers guard Johnny Davis. Portland scored quickly on both ensuing possessions, and the home crowd just went crazy.
At that point, I thought most of the 76ers appeared to lose their zeal and wind. Erving seemed to decide he was going to have to score 50 for Philadelphia to survive, and he might yet still do so.
The 76ers close to 91-86. McGinnis misses. Erving misses a follow. Erving misses another follow. Free outruns Davis to a ball bounding loose into the Portland end and then comes back to miss himself. McGinnis draws Maurice Lucas's fifth personal foul, and then Erving, finally, hits a high-flying jumpshot over Walton. Huge possession!
ReplyDeleteJumpshot over Bobby Gross, not Walton--sorry.
DeleteAfter traded buckets, the 76ers have the ball with about eight minutes to play and a chance to cut to three. Musburger mentions that a Game 7 would take place Wednesday night in Philadelphia.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that made the famous "tastes great"/"less filling" Miller Lite commercials so great is that they very often maintained integrity to the sportspeople who were featured. So, for example, in this game, there was a Nick Buoniconti commercial where he talked about how the "No-Name Defense" was predicated on speed (that's true!) and so he likes Miller Lite because it's less filling, and then a guy walks up and can't remember Buoniconti's name. And now we've had one with K.C. and Sam Jones, where they talk about how K.C. directed the defenses of the great Boston teams and Sam, the offenses. That's very interesting.
ReplyDeleteBoth teams look exhausted now. Barry notes that the gym is unusually hot and humid.
ReplyDeleteThe offenses are lethargic, and both teams are settling for jumpshots that would be from just inside the three-point arc today.
ReplyDeleteLionel Hollins misses for Portland.
Doug Collins misses for Philadelphia.
Hollins makes.
Joe Bryant (Kobe's dad) misses for Philadelphia.
Hollins misses, but Bobby Gross, who looks like the athlete with the most energy, follows.
Lloyd Free goes to the basket, misses but is fouled by Walton and hits both free throws.
Gross drives, misses but is tapped in by Walton.
99-90, Trail Blazers ... 6:59 ... Gene Shue timeout ...
Barry: "Bobby Gross certainly has been the surprise of this series."
Robert Edwin Gross (born August 3, 1953) is an American retired professional basketball player. A 6'6" (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) forward, he attended Seattle University and California State University, Long Beach, and was selected in the 1975 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers. He was also selected in the 1975 ABA Draft by the San Diego Sails. Gross was the starting small forward for the Blazers during their only championship season (1976–77). He left the NBA in 1983 with career averages of 8.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.12 steals a game.
ReplyDeleteCurrently living in the Portland area, Gross' number 30 jersey was retired on December 18, 2008, during the Trail Blazers' home game against the Phoenix Suns. Since his retirement from basketball, he has been in the construction business.
The commercial break closes with the "Hey, Hey, Dr. J, Where'd You Get Those Moves?" Converse ad. It's bittersweet for 76ers fan, as CBS comes back to a picture of the Memorial Coliseum scoreboard, vibrating as the home crowd roars.
ReplyDeleteMusburger: "There isn't anything in sports quite like a city on the brink of its first world championship."
Collins--Philadelphia's fourth-year, two-time-All-Star shooting guard--averaged 18.3 points per game during the regular season, and he averaged 23.7 and 23.5 points in the 76ers' first two playoffs series. But he has scored only six points on three-of-nine shooting in this game, and he just exited after being whistled for a charging call. This trip eschewing the jumpshot, the 6-foot-6 Collins instead tries to back his defender, 6-3 Hollins, to the goal. There's a collision, and both players end up on the floor. Seeing that he was the one called for the foul on getting up, Collins windmills the ball to the floor in frustration.
ReplyDeleteThe Blazers go to Walton on the left post. With back to the basket, he hands off to Gross, who also runs his defender into Walton. Gross jumpshot is good.
ReplyDeleteThe mostly stagnant 76ers get the ball to Erving at the free-throw line. He shakes his defender, rises high and sinks his own jumper. He has 34 points.
102-92.
Caldwell Jones fouls out. For some reason, Shue isn't bringing Darryl Dawkins back into the game--instead sending Kobe's dad back out. Something about that move seems to spark desperate heroics from the 76ers. They pester the ball away from Walton. They tap and tap misses on their own end until Henry Bibby finally banks in a follow amid traffic. McGinnis goes flying for a rebound at the Portland end and, in one continuous movement, flails a pass ahead to Free, who passes back to charging Erving for a dunk.
ReplyDelete102-96 ... 4:25 ...
AND NOW MCGINNIS STEALS FROM WALTON, RACES TO THE OTHER END, MAKES THE LAYUP AND IS FOULED BY GROSS!
But McGinnis, only about a 50-percent free-throw shooter in the series, misses off the front of the rim. Walton catches and fires out to two breaking Trail Blazers. They both beat one gassed 76er to the goal, and it's an easy layup to make it 104-98!
ReplyDeleteBarry: "Boy, that really hurt!"
ReplyDeleteMusburger: "Final round of the Kemper Open is coming up right after this game, and, before this game is over, we'll go back to Charlotte to get an update."
ReplyDeleteIndeed, there’s a stoppage in play in Portland as Maurice Lucas is slow to get up after being fouled on a drive, so here’s Vin Scully with the 411 from Quail Run:
ReplyDelete1. T. Weiskopf -12 (11)
T2. B. Rogers -10 (13)
T2. G. Burns -10 (11)
T2. D. Tewell -10 (11)
5. L. Graham -9 (13)
6. George Archer -8 (13)
Scully: "Stay right where you are. We're going to have a great finish here!"
Back to basketball in Portland, the 76ers get a rebound at the Blazer end, and Free breaks open and lifts off for the goal. Johnny Davis also lifts off, and there's a collision in mid-air. The ball goes flying off the back of the rim, and Free will have two free thows coming. He is crumpled to one side. Free sustained a fractured rib in the 76ers' Eastern Conference finals series with the Houston Rockets (and, Musburger says, both refused painkillers and missed no action).
ReplyDeleteGood.
Good.
Free is eight for eight on free throws in this game.
105-100 ... 3 minutes to play ...
Of the 10 players on the court, three are All-Star forwards who came out of the ABA: Erving, McGinnis and Lucas.
ReplyDeleteLucas makes his fourth of his six free-throw attempts in the last 90 seconds. It's now 108-100 with 2:30 to go, CBS flips again to Vin in Charlotte:
1. T. Weiskopf -12 (12)
2. G. Burns -11 (12)
3. B. Rogers -10 (13)
T4. L. Graham -9 (13)
T4. D. Tewell -9 (12)
6. G. Archer -8 (13)
With all due respect to the retiring Pat Sajak, Wheel of Fortune lost me when they got rid of the shopping for prizes.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I hope Chuck Woolery of Ashland and George Clooney of Lexington and Augusta go on Finding Your Roots some day because I bet those two share ancestors.
Agree on the prizes that was my favorite part of the show.
ReplyDeleteFree gets back to the line. He has three shots to make two, misses for the first time today, misses for the second time today and makes the third shot: 108-101 with 2:10 to play.
ReplyDeleteCollins draws a Walton charge, and then Erving makes from the corner of the free-throw line … 108-103 … Walton misses … Free misses from outside … 1 minute! ...
ReplyDeleteLucas misses as the shot clock is about to expire, and Gross fouls Erving with 51 seconds to play. He'll go to the line at the other end ...
ReplyDeleteMake and make ... 108-105 ...
DeleteErving has 40 points.
DeletePortland runs the clock again, with Twardzik finally shooting ... miss ... McGinnis has inside position on the weak side of the goal, but the ball ricochets high off the rim ... Lucas leaps spreads his arms and pulls in the rebound ... he's fouled! ... Barry: "That's the rebound of the game" ... 27 seconds to play ... Lucas gets one free throw ... timeout ... 109-105 ...
ReplyDeleteWalton has 20 points and 22 rebounds.
ReplyDeleteAnd now Walton blocks Bryant's shot, but McGinnis recovers and makes from outside! It's 109-107. Another timeout! Eighteen seconds to go.
ReplyDeleteBarry: "They're right there, Brent!"
Musburger: "Philadelphia has been a joy to watch with their individual talent."
ReplyDeleteWalton will inbound from the halfcourt line, and Barry recalls the Havlicek Steals the Ball! Celtics win. At that, Walton bounce passes into Gross, and McGinnis immediately ties him up for a jump ball with 16 seconds to go!
ReplyDeleteMusburger: "GEORGE MCGINNIS, MIRED IN A SLUMP, HAS GIVEN THE 76ERS ONE LAST SHOT WITH 16 SECONDS LEFT! And a reminder: The Kemper Open is next. Don't go away from this."
ReplyDeleteMcGinnis wins the tip. The 76ers get the ball to Erving. He misses a jumper. Free rebounds. Gross might've blocked it. It's a miss. Free's on the floor. The ball goes out of bounds. Free will be inbounding from under the goal with five seconds to play ...
ReplyDeleteMcGinnis gets free for a jumpshot from about the free-throw line .. it's a miss ... that's it! ...
ReplyDeleteMUSBURGER: "THE BASKETS ARE DOWN! WALTON HAS HAD HIS JERSEY RIPPED OFF FROM HIM! ..."
Wow. That was quite a game.
ReplyDeleteThe $20,000 Pyramid is exciting!
ReplyDeleteMom loved that show
DeleteShe was right -- it's great.
DeleteMeanwhile, we sports fans had an interesting moment on one of last week 1977’s Price Is Rights. Delores, one of the first four contestants of the June 13 episode, advanced to the stage about midway through the program, and her pricing game was “Danger Price."
ReplyDeleteDelores was given the opportunity to win two sets of season tickets for the Los Angeles Rams, Lakers, Kings and Dodgers. She had to guess which three of the sets did not have a retail price of $581. We’ll let Delores get the ball rolling, and then I’ll hold on continuing the comment to see if anyone else wants to play.
Delores’s first guess? The Dodgers!
How’d she do, Bob Barker? “Six hundred and ninety dollars—very good!”
OK, now it’s your turn to play Danger Price if you care to ...
I'm guessing the Kings. I can't imagine they cost that much.
ReplyDeleteI also guessed the Kings' season tickets did not cost $581.
DeleteI'm guessing the Rams. That's a lot of money for only seven regular season games.
ReplyDeleteI guessed that the Rams' season tickets did cost $581.
DeleteDelores's second guess was the Dodgers. And she was right--Bob Barker says the retail price for Dodgers' season tickets was $690.
ReplyDeleteDelores's third guess was the Lakers. Right again! Actual retail price, per Bob Barker: $735.
So that left our Kings and our Rams. (I cannot explain to you how thankful I am that you both played Danger Price with Delores and me, because this is so much more fun.)
ReplyDeleteDelores guessed the Rams, and I felt certain she (and GoHeath) had blown it.
ReplyDeleteBut no! Retail price for Rams season tickets was $240, and Delores won two sets of season tickets for each of the four teams.
Congratulations, Delores, and congratulations, GoHeath!
$240 in 1977 is $1,242 in 2024. For seven regular season games, and two tickets for each game, that's 14 tickets, or $88/ticket in our money.
ReplyDeleteIf you go to the Rams' web page, you will see that Season Tickets today start at $87 per game. So once you adjust for inflation, they cost almost exactly what they did back in 1977.
ReplyDeleteThat is remarkable, and I'm glad you remarked it.
DeleteMel Allen today in 1977: "What a week in baseball! A coach protects a player from his own manager … And an umpire changes his mind on a play at the plate … The man the Mets called 'The Franchise' puts on a Cincinnati uniform … A team hits 16 home runs in just three games … And a grown man argues with a baseball—but to no avail. These are just some of the highlights as Major League Baseball presents This Week in Baseball."
ReplyDeleteI don't know what the deal was with the umpire changing his mind; I don't remember ever seeing that clip. The team hitting all of the home runs was the Red Sox, and the grown man arguing with the ball was Pete Rose, watching a bunt roll to a stop and stay fair. None of those highlights turned out to be iconic.
ReplyDeleteBut the other two ...
Here are the standings the morning of Tuesday, June 21.
ReplyDeleteA.L. East
Red Sox 38-25
Orioles 35-29, 3.5 games back
Yankees 36-30, 3.5
Indians 29-31, 7.5
Brewers 31-35, 8.5
Tigers 28-35, 10
Blue Jays 24-38, 13.5
A.L. West
White Sox 35-28
Twins 36-29
Angels 31-30, 3
Rangers 31-30, 3
Royals 31-32, 4
A’s 29-34, 6
Mariners 31-39, 7.5
N.L. East
Cubs 40-22
Phillies 35-28, 5.5
Pirates 33-29, 7
Cardinals 34-30, 7
Mets 28-36, 13
Expos 27-35, 13
N.L. West
Dodgers 44-22
Reds 34-29, 8.5
Giants 31-36, 13.5
Padres 31-39, 15
Astros 28-39, 16.5
Braves 23-43, 21
Mel Allen's clip of a coach protecting a player from his manager was the famous Billy Martin/Reggie Jackson dugout fight. This was a bigger deal than I recall. Because I know how this is all going to come out, with the Yankees winning a couple of World Series and everybody happily drinking Miller Lite together, I had misremembered how much of a mess this moment was for the Yankees. The lead sports headline in the June 21 Sun-Democrat is, "Martin escapes axe as Yank manager," and here's George Steinbrenner being interviewed live by Howard Cosell about the whole deal during last night 1977's Monday Night Baseball (Tigers 2, Yankees 1).
ReplyDeleteIt was a huge deal. I think it was probably the single biggest player/coach controversy of the 1970's, and it led directly to Martin's firing the next year.
DeleteThings are not going great for the defending A.L. champs.
ReplyDeletePeople are having a lot of fun with the fact that the Yankees with all of their high-priced acquisitions are still muddled behind the Red Sox and Orioles in the A.L. East. Those two teams, though, might well regret standing pat at this past week's trade deadline (while the Yankees made a sneaky-great deal with the Astros to acquire power-hitting catcher Cliff Johnson for a minor-leaguer).
ReplyDeleteThings are not going exactly great for the defending N.L. and World Series champs, either.
ReplyDeleteCincinnati has been playing a lot better the last month or so, but the Reds are still 8.5 games back of the phenomenal Dodgers. Cincinnati made the biggest play of the trade deadline, landing Tom Seaver from the Mets in one of a series of deals that rewired the Big Red Machine. After June 20 transactions with the Mets, Cardinals and Rangers, now on Cincinnati’s major-league roster were Seaver, shortstop Rick Auerbach and pitchers Doug Capilla and Joe Hoerner, and gone were infielder Doug Flynn and pitchers Mike Caldwell, Rawly Eastwick, Gary Nolan and Pat Zachry.
ReplyDeleteThat Seaver deal, of course, was the biggest change for the Mets, but there were two other seismic shifts--Dave Kingman to San Diego for a couple of journeymen and Joe Torre off the playing roster and into the manager's seat, in place of fired Joe Frazier. It has felt like there was somebody (often Seaver and Kingman) upset about something every day with the Mets so far in 1977, with Dick Young in the New York Daily News deep in all of it.
ReplyDeleteThe N.L. East was, otherwise, pretty quiet at the trade deadline, though I am interested to see how Philadelphia's acquisition of speedy outfielder Bake McBride from St. Louis plays out.
ReplyDeleteEdwin Pope of The Miami Herald is now all in on the Cubs as N.L. East champion:
ReplyDeleteRemember Sutter’s Gold, the discovery on the property of John Augustus Sutter that started the California Gold Rush of 1849?
Bruce Sutter’s forkball is the gold that started the Cubs on their 1977 rush.
Purists insist Sutter doesn’t throw a real forkball. They say it goes too fast to be a forkball. They agree it drops about a foot at the plate, like a billiard-ball plummeting off a game table.
To be fair, Sutter doesn’t say his signature pitch is a forkball. He calls it a, “split-fingered fastball.” Sutter has a 0.71 earned-run average and 18 saves. He’s “better than Hoyt Wilhelm ever ways,” Pope quotes Cubs manager Herman Franks as saying.
As of Sunday morning, June 26, 1977, the Cubs are 42-22. That is now baseball’s best record, just barely over the Dodgers (46-24). Chicago leads the N.L. East by seven games over second-place Pittsburgh, eight over third-place St. Louis and eight and a half over fourth-place Philadelphia. The Mets and Expos are both 16 back.
ReplyDeletePope closes:
The Cubs have been in Chicago 102 years. Among other things they were called the Orphan before a headline-writer pressed for space nicknamed them Cubs. The name stuck. But they’ve been orphans for a long time. Thirty-two years. This is the year they get sprung from the orphanage.
Meanwhile, Dick Young in the New York Daily News today in 1977 is still on the Seaver divorce from the Mets:
ReplyDeletePicking up Loose Ends on l’Affaire Seaver: Here are demands made by him in last-minute offer to “extend” his contract: On Jan. 1, 1979, at conclusion of existing Mets’ contract, he would be paid a $250,000 bonus to sign for the next three years. Salary terms: 300G for 1979 (at age 34), 325 for 1980 (age 35), 350 for 1981 (age 36) … In addition, delete from contract the dependency clauses which gave ballclub some protection against bad performance by cutting his salary if he won, say, 14 games … In addition, Seaver demanded the club sign Dave Kingman—act of conscience for his having used Kingman, encouraging Dave’s self-destruction … Seaver may call that “extension.” I call it renegotiation. Wonder if Reds did it? Bob Howsam isn’t saying.
Night Joe Torre was made manager, Mets’ players wives at game came over to congratulate Dani Torre. All except one …
He's alluding to Seaver’s wife. This has been an unusually emotional and personal saga engaging a team, its beloved-but-unhappy star and his wife and the local sports media. The most controversial stuff that Young has been writing is inside dope that Seaver’s wife, especially, is hacked that the Nolan Ryans now make more dough than Seavers.
ReplyDeleteYoung’s son-in-law works for the Mets, and there’s been talk the team has been funneling false information through the son-in-law to make Seaver look bad in Young’s candy-delicious “Clubhouse Confidential” notes column. And then there’s been stuff in other newspapers that appears to be being fed directly by Seaver and/or his agent. Young has been calling those writers out by name (and vice versa), and his last item in today’s column isn’t going to make anything any chummier around the Shea Stadium press box:
On Mets’ charter flight to Chi, newsman Maury Allen took along daughter as guest of club. Question: Does writer accepting favors from Mets take unfair shots at ownership to convince himself he is not being bought. It’s interesting question for Joyce Brothers.
Maury Allen works for the New York Post. Joe Durso of The New York Times is another whom Young has teed up. Howard Cosell, too. But that feud predates the Seaver drama.
ReplyDeleteWikipedia's Dick Young page is unsurprisingly great--especially so on the "Tom Seaver feud."
ReplyDeleteAs for my A's and the A.L. West, well ... not good.
ReplyDeleteCharlie Finley fired the manager on June 10. The A's had slipped to a game below .500. They've gone 3-11 since, losing nine of their last 10 games as of June 26. Bobby Winkles is the new manager.
ReplyDeleteA couple of weeks ago, Dick Allen removed himself from a game. Finley reportedly came into the locker room to see what was going on, and he discovered Allen already showering with several innings still to play. Finley suspended Allen on the spot without ever talking to him. That's it for Dick Allen--his 117 at-bats with the A's this spring were the last of his 15-season career.
The A's made two deals at the trade deadline. They sold Dock Ellis, whom they acquired from the Yankees earlier this season, to Texas, and they traded for Willie Crawford. His 136 at-bats the rest of this season will be the last of Crawford's 14-season career. The guy Oakland traded to Houston for Crawford, Denny Walling, has only 2,926 more at-bats over 16 more seasons with the Astros, Cardinals and Rangers left to go in his career.
I am, however, pleased to report that the A's won the American League pennant in this made-for-ABC movie, Murder at the World Series, which aired March 20, 1977. Now the Channel 3 A's have rallied from a three-games-to-none disadvantage to force a Game 7 with the Astros, and I like Oakland's chances. The A's have pulled within 7-6 with two out in the ninth inning, and now they've got Bert Campaneris coming to the plate after Houston brought in a relief pitcher whom they just called up from the minors. Dick Enberg is on the call ...
ReplyDeleteDrats. Campaneris flies out to Cesar Cedeño in center field, and the Astrodome home crowd is overjoyed.
ReplyDeleteBut wait! Bruce Boxleitner has a gun in the stands!
Oh, of course, he shoots a reporter. But wait! The bullet failed to penetrate through the tape recorder she's wearing on a strap around her waist!
ReplyDeleteThe police apprehend Boxleitner. And, despite the attempted murder which played out on the first row of Astrodome seats behind the home dugout, nobody seems inclined to leave the stadium. Steady Dick Enberg also keeps to the business at hand: "Well, there you have it, fans—the baseball season comes to an end. For all of the fans of the Houston Astros, it’s been a great season! And we congratulate the American League-champion Oakland A’s on a valiant try themselves. They went down fighting!"
With the debut of This Week in Baseball and Murder at the World Series in 1977, it's clear that MLB has just about had enough of Pete Rozelle and all of the TV darlings over at the NFL.
ReplyDeleteLet me tell you something. Nobody--and I mean nobody--has been better than Harry Chapin at writing stories about desperate people making the play call to finally drop back and heave the ol' Hail Mary for salvation.
ReplyDeleteFull-time consideration
Deleteof another endeavor
might be in order.
She said, "Harry, keep the change."
ReplyDeleteWell, another man might've been angry
Another man might've been hurt
But another man never would've let her go
I stashed the bill in my shirt
Let me be the first to spark Oscar buzz for A visit to Sears with Mom in 1977.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know anything about Devo's history and connection with the Kent State massacre. But this footage--from today in 1977--falls pretty much right between the band's founding and "Whip It," and it's almost like you can see and hear Devo's evolution/de-evolution/whatever from 1960s every-garage garage band to 1980 uniquely weird over the course of the performance.
ReplyDelete