The defending state champs are Lynch East Main in Class A, Fort Thomas Highlands in 2A and Louisville Trinity in 3A. Here are the Kentucky High School Athletic Association alignments for 1969 and '70 ...
"Hoptown and Trigg County will be involved in situations that can only be labeled absolute musts," reports the Kentucky New Era in an Oct. 10, 1969, article with no byline (which was more the industry norm unless a story was clearly a feature or opinion piece until somewhere in the 1980s).
I'm going to have to see how the playoffs are set up (my guess is that Hoptown 1969 me was so busy getting rich until now that he didn't follow this stuff that closely until now), but I think we're going to have playoffs where district champions play each other for regional titles and then the four regional champions play two rounds of games to figure out state titles. In any event, Hopkinsville and Trigg County are 0-1 in Class 2A, Region I, District 1 and Class A, Region I, District 1, respectively. And both Mayfield (ranked No. 5 statewide in 2A) and Murray (ranked No. 4 in A) are very good, so it will take huge road upsets if either my Tigers or Wildcats stay in contention for district championships after tonight.
My plan is to leave early in the afternoon and drive north of the lakes, get something to eat and then go out to Mayfield for the Hoptown game. If things are out of hand by halftime or so, I'll bug out to Murray to see what's going on with Trigg. Then I'll drive home to Hoptown over the Eggner's Ferry Bridge. The games don't start until 8, so, unless they're huge, huge blowouts and I bail early on both, there's no way I will be home in time to watch tonight's 10:30 Touchdown Preview on Channel 4.
It didn't work out for my A's this year, but I still plan to watch the World Series. The Mets' season has been such a big deal that it even made Page 1 of the Kentucky New Era when New York clinched the National League East last month.
Saturday's Game 1 pits New York's Tom Seaver against the Orioles' Mike Cuellar, in Baltimore.
Then, of course, there's more football.
There's so much interesting sports going on, in fact, that I've barely had time for anything else on TV.
Hoptown 0 at Mayfield 58 … the worst loss in Coach Fleming Thornton’s career, he told Cecil Herndon for the Kentucky New Era.
ReplyDeleteWhile the obvious attempt by Mayfield to run up the score rankled some Hoptown fans, Thorton expressed no bitterness about that aspect of the game.
“We don’t feel a bit bitter about that,” he said. “He put his boys on the field to score and we let them do it. We don’t blame them, and if the situation were reversed, we wouldn’t be trying to repay the debt.”
Mayfield's tough. You've got to come to play against Mayfield.
DeleteTrigg County, however, excelled at Murray, 12-0.
ReplyDeleteThe Class A chase in District 1 is now very much a four-team race. Trigg, Ft. Campbell, Russellville, and Murray are still in the running. All have lost one game in league competition except Russellville, and the Panthers have yet to play Trigg and Murray.
The two Class AA powerhouses in District 1, Mayfield and Paducah, kept rolling toward their own season-ending showdown that should decide a spot in the playoffs. Tilghman mauled Bowling Green 70-0 while Mayfield was trampling Hopkinsville 58-0. Either Mayfield or Paducah should catch Madisonville or Daviess in the playoffs.
Other results among ranked teams Friday night ...
ReplyDeleteClass A
No. 1 Tompkinsville won, 56-7, over Cumberland County
No. 2 Russellville lost, 20-0, to Daviess County
No. 5 Bardstown won, 46-0, over Eminence
Class 2A
No. 2 Madisonville won, 39-24, over Henderson City
No. 3 Elizabethtown won, 41-14, over Owensboro Catholic
No. 4 Covington Catholic won, 35-18, over Louisville Shawnee
Class 3A
No. 1 Louisville Saint Xavier won, 12-6, over No. 2 Louisville Trinity
No. 4 Louisville Atherton won, 19-7, over No. 5 Louisville Manual
I wish they had kept Henderson City.
DeleteTompkinsville eventually was consolidated into Monroe County; Lynch, into Harlan County. And both of those schools have had pretty good football teams over the years, too.
ReplyDeleteOh, my gosh, Don Buford just homered off Tom Seaver to open the bottom of the first in Game 1 of the World Series. Sandy Koufax said in the paper today that he expected the Orioles to win.
ReplyDeleteKoufax lost the last start of his career to the Orioles in the 1966 World Series.
DeleteThis YouTube video is from Canada, so, at the latest commercial break, we had some loggers promoting an ale! It's 1-0, Orioles, going to the bottom of the second.
ReplyDeleteThe Orioles' seventh and eighth hitters, second-baseman Dave Johnson and shortstop Mark Belanger, hit .280 and .287 during the regular season, respectively. (Curt Gowdy says Johnson and Belanger are roommates and had a bet all season who would end up with more hits--Belanger won.) The Mets, meanwhile, have .207 and .212 hitters in their order.
ReplyDeleteMike Cuellar, the Orioles' starting pitcher, has gone once through the New York order, and he struck out four of the nine Mets ... still 1-0, Baltimore, now through two-and-a-half innings.
ReplyDeleteTony Kubek just had an interview with Ted Williams, who is in the commissioner's box for today's game. What NBC is doing for the World Series--Canada is relaying the NBC telecast--is pairing a broadcaster from the home team with Curt Gowdy in the booth, and then Kubek (Gowdy's regular Game of the Week partner) is doing stuff from the stands.
ReplyDeleteNow Seaver gives up run-scoring singles to Belanger and Cuellar, and then Buford doubles in another run. Five straight Orioles reach base with two outs, and the Baltimore lead is now 4-0 after four innings.
ReplyDeleteThrough five innings, the Orioles maintain their 4-0 lead.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how NBC did this broadcaster deal in Game 1 (here's Part 2 of the YouTube video). Instead of having the local announcer talk incessantly with Gowdy throughout the game, Bill O'Donnell simply took over play-by-play duties from Gowdy in the bottom of the fifth. He spoke at the beginning of the game with Gowdy, and he weighed in at some point during game action earlier. But, for the most part, Gowdy handled things solo with occasional inning-break interviews from Kubek. Now O'Donnell has taken over the point, and Gowdy is, presumably, having a hot dog and probably a look at the box score to this point in the game.
And now here's Tony Kubek interviewing Detroit manager Mayo Smith in the stands, and you can hear a pleasant Herb Alpert tune playing on the P.A. system.
ReplyDeleteThrough six, we're still at 4-0, Orioles. And, dating back to games in 1966, Baltimore has now gone 39 consecutive World Series innings without allowing a run.
ReplyDeleteDonn Clendenon leads off the seventh with a single. Cuellar has allowed three hits today, and two of them have been to Clendenon, who would make a heck of a movie. Says Wikipedia, "Six months after Clendenon was born in Neosho, Missouri, his father, Claude, died from leukemia. Claude Clendenon was a mathematics and psychology professor and chairman of the mathematics department at Langston University, an all-black school in Langston, Oklahoma. Clendenon's mother, Helen, demanded high academic achievement from her son. When he was only 6 years old, Clendenon's mother married former Negro Leagues baseball player Nish Williams.[1] In addition to academic excellence, Clendenon's new stepfather decided he was going to make his stepson into a baseball player. Williams served as a coach on virtually every baseball team that Clendenon played on, including his college team at Atlanta's Morehouse College, and his semi-pro career with the Atlanta Black Crackers. Along with Williams, Clendenon also received pointers from some of the players Williams knew from the Negro Leagues, including Jackie Robinson, Satchel Paige, Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe."
ReplyDeleteAnd:
ReplyDeleteClendenon graduated as a letterman in nine sports at Booker T. Washington High School in Atlanta, Georgia, and received a host of scholarship offers. He was prepared to attend UCLA on a scholarship until some coaches from Morehouse College in Atlanta visited his mother, and convinced her that he should attend a school closer to home.
Morehouse College was among the premier academic institutions for young African-American men. Just before Clendenon arrived in 1952, the freshman class were assigned "Big Brothers" to help the students acclimate themselves to Morehouse and college life. Although the policy had ended when he arrived, a Morehouse graduate volunteered to be Clendenon's big brother. His name was Martin Luther King, Jr.[2]
Clendenon became a twelve sport letterman in football, basketball and baseball at Morehouse, and had received contract offers from both the Cleveland Brownsand the Harlem Globetrotters. Clendenon, however, decided he wanted to teach, and began teaching fourth grade upon graduation. Williams convinced Clendenon to attend a Pittsburgh Pirates try-out camp in 1957, and he signed with the team as an amateur free agent shortly afterwards.
And:
ReplyDeleteAfter retiring, Clendenon earned a Juris Doctor degree from Duquesne University in 1978, and began practicing law in Dayton, Ohio. He recounted the 1969 New York Mets season in his book, Miracle In New York, in which he also talked about growing up in Atlanta, earning his law degree and battling drug addiction as he neared his 50th birthday.[11]
He eventually entered a drug rehabilitation facility in Ogden, Utah, and during a physical examination in connection with his treatment, learned he had leukemia. That prompted his move to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in 1987, where he worked with Carlsen, Carter, Hoy & Eirenberg before becoming general counsel to the Interstate Audit Corporation. He also worked for many years as a chemical dependency counselor and was devoted to helping others in their recovery. Clendenon died in Sioux Falls at age 70 after a long bout with leukemia.[12]
He was survived by his wife, Anne; his sons, Donn, Jr. and Val, his daughter, Donna Clendenon, and six grandsons. Shortly before his death, he was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of fame.[13]
Wikipedia is fantastic.
ReplyDeleteAnd now bases are loaded with no out in the seventh—or, as sparse and smooth Bill O’Donnell puts it, “the Mets with a lot of fat on the fire here ...”
O’Donnell has watched this team all year, and the tension is rising in his voice: “Cuellar, very noticeably here, pressing … against the tail end of the Mets’ order …”
Full count …
Weis flies out to Buford in left field, and Clendennon scampers home … 4-1 …
ReplyDeleteDon Cardwell relieved Seaver in the sixth, but now he’s done, with Rod Gaspar coming up as a pinch-hitter …
ReplyDeleteGrounder into infield grass … Brooks Robinson charges, bare-hands, whips the ball to first … out … 4-1, Baltimore, through seven innings.
The new Met pitcher is “a Canadian lad,” says O’Donnell, now relaxed again. Ron Taylor is the only Met with World Series experience before today—he pitched with St. Louis in 1964.
ReplyDeleteThe National Transportation & Safety Board estimates that 10,000 people died in automobile accidents in 1968 who would not have had they been wearing safety belts, O’Donnell tells us. “Why don’t you take six seconds and fasten your safety belt?”
ReplyDeleteThrough seven innings, it’s 4-1, Orioles.
You have to wonder how many folks in Baltimore went into this World Series thinking that back in January of 1969 -- only nine months ago -- the Colts were overwhelming favorites to beat the Jets in the Super Bowl. I certainly would have thought about that.
DeleteIt’s the top of the eighth, and Gowdy breaks in on O’Donnell to tell us that Sunday's World Series Game 2 will be on a half-hour later, at 1:30 Eastern. It’ll be Jerry Koosman for New York against Dave McNally for Baltimore. “And, right after that, we’ll go to football, AFL football. We’ll tell you more about that later.”
ReplyDeleteYEAH!
Gowdy and O'Donnell are discussing that Frank Robinson is "dead serious" about becoming a manager. He has been managing in the Puerto Rican league during the winter, and he intends to immediately pursue a managing job at the major-league level when he's finished playing.
ReplyDelete"He's a good baseball man," Gowdy says. "He should make a fine manager."
Game 1's winner is 39-26 in World Series history, says NBC.
ReplyDeleteStill 4-1, Orioles, through eight innings.
ReplyDeleteOK, two on and two out for the Mets in the ninth ... Orioles pitching coach George Bamberger out to visit Cuellar ... Gowdy: "This is when they want the honest answer, 'Are you tired?'" ...
ReplyDeleteGroundout ... Cuellar finishes off the Mets, 4-1. Baltimore looks fantastic. The American League president, Joe Cronin, was on with Kubek earlier in the game, comparing this Orioles team favorably with the early days of the recent Yankee dynasty.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, the O's are about to win three pennants in a row.
DeleteI love Tony Kubek. He so clearly loves baseball, and it makes for a very enjoyable broadcast.
ReplyDeleteOK, college football ... what we got here is some No. 2 Texas vs. No. 8 Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl.
ReplyDeleteHere's the full AP Top 20 going into this weekend 1969's games:
1. Ohio State
2. Texas
3. Arkansas
4. Southern California
5. Penn State
6. Georgia
7. Missouri
8. Oklahoma
9. Purdue
10. Tennessee
11. UCLA
12. Florida
13. Alabama
14. Louisiana State
15. Notre Dame
16. Stanford
17. West Virginia
18. Wyoming
19. Michigan State
T20. Auburn and Nebraska
Ohio State is the defending national champions. They are the overwhelming favorites to repeat -- just as they are in 2015.
DeleteBill Fleming on ABC's College Football Today pre-game show says the Cotton Bowl is considered the neutral field in this series, and each school is given exactly half of the 70,000 tickets each to sell.
ReplyDeleteI was just talking to a big Texas fan about this game. He said that Austin is only 10 miles closer to Dallas than Norman is. He also said that the UT and OU fans don't alternate from one year to the next, but always stay on one side of the Cotton Bowl or the other.
DeleteOhio State is averaging 51.5 points a game.
ReplyDeleteOklahoma's Steve Owens had more than 350 carries last season--more than twice as many as USC's O.J. Simpson.
ReplyDeleteOhio State is running more than 93 plays a game. The Raiders run more plays than anyone in pro football, at about 69 plays a game. College football instituted the clock stoppage after first downs last season.
ReplyDeleteNow Bud Wilkinson is breaking down the differences and advantages of Texas's and Oklahoma's different flavors of "the new triple-option offense."
ReplyDeleteTexas runs a "Wishbone Y," in which Wooster, the Longhorns' fullback, lines up about three-and-a-half yards behind the line of scrimmage and slightly in front of his two backfield mates. This allow Texas to run a quick fake to Wooster.
Oklahoma runs the "Diamond T," in which Owens lines up behind the other two backs and about six yards behind scrimmage. This gives Owens more space to pick out daylight and to work up a head of steam.
I remember when they used to do a lot of this sort of thing in football commentary, and I wish they would bring it back.
DeleteI would like to see someone explain what would happen if a team used run-blocking schemes on its pass plays.
DeleteMod Squad and Wake Me When The War Is Over (movie of the week starring Ken Berry and Eva Gabor) coming up on ABC Monday night!
ReplyDeleteThat Texas fullback is Steve Worster (not Wooster, though Bill Flemming pronounces it, "WOO-stur").
ReplyDeleteOklahoma takes a 7-0 lead as its quarterback, 19-year-old-as-of-yesterday Jack Mildren of Abilene, Texas, keeps it on the option and runs nine yards for a score. The Longhorns had the ball first but failed to get anything going and punted short, and then the Sooners ran the ball right down the field. No passes in this game so far ... 10:14 to go in the first quarter ...
ReplyDeleteTexas's coach, Darrell Royal, played for Bud Wilkinson at Oklahoma. Oklahoma's coach, Chuck Fairbanks, played for Duffy Daugherty at Michigan State.
ReplyDeleteHere's why you don't throw ... Texas is intercepted on a third-and-4 throw, and now Oklahoma has the ball inside Texas's 10 ...
ReplyDeleteOwens flies over the pileup at the line: 14-0, Oklahoma.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, over on the Wilburn Brothers show on Channel 4, here's Harlow Wilcox & the Oakies playing the No. 83 song in this week's Cash Box Top 100, "Groovy Grubworm."
ReplyDeleteEven Harlow Wilcox (of Norman, Oklahoma) was probably watching the Sooners and the Longhorns on ABC.
Now Steve Owens of Oklahoma has broken the Big 8 career-rushing record previously held by Gale Sayers of Kansas.
ReplyDeleteTexas strikes back with a long touchdown pass from Huston Street's dad to Cotton Spreyer, and then Happy Feller comes on for the PAT. Bud Wilkinson said before the game that he thought Spreyer, a fleet wide receiver, "might be the boy who makes the difference in today's game." I wish Bud Wilkinson would explain why wide receivers no longer line up in a three-point stance as Spreyer has been doing throughout this game.
ReplyDeleteIt's 14-7, Oklahoma, after one quarter on what Chris Schenkel describes as "a warm, humid afternoon" at the Cotton Bowl.
ReplyDeleteRest in peace, Mr. Pfaff, who wrote this fantastic Pan Am jingle that just aired as part of a commercial after a Texas punt. (Is this the first-ever Pinterest link at the HP?)
ReplyDeleteCheck that ... Oklahoma punt ... and now Street has thrown to Jim Bertlesen for a big gain into Sooner territory ...
ReplyDeleteAnd now Bertelsen runs in; Feller kicks again, and Texas has drawn even, at 14.
ReplyDeleteThere's a movie coming out that depicts James Street and Darrell Royal, among others.
ReplyDeleteHave you noticed that Texas has an all-white team?
DeleteNo. I did notice that Oklahoma does not.
DeleteStraight-on kicker Happy Feller boots through a 27-yard field goal early in the third quarter, and Texas is now ahead, 17-14.
ReplyDeleteBut Street's second interception leads to an Oklahoma field goal, and now we're tied again. The Sooners' kicker, Bruce Derr, had missed his only other attempt thus far in the season, and he and the holder exchanged giant hand slaps when this 22-yard try went through. Schenkel had warned about the "acute angle" that Derr would need to navigate. I read a thing the other day that Matthew sent around about Mark Moseley's MVP season in the NFL and how field-goal kicking has gotten so much more accurate at every level of football, and certainly everyone around this game seems more pleasantly surprised when a short field-goal try is successful than I would've guessed.
ReplyDeleteAnother big pass from Street to Speyer and then a couple of rugged gashes by Ted Koy ... TOUCHDOWN ... no! ... illegal procedure ...
ReplyDeleteSchenkel just noted that ABC cameras are at five other games today and that the highlights will be put together in one show that will be aired on Sunday, Oct. 12. "Check your local listings," he advises.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely watch that show.
DeleteYup, looks like Nashville's Channel 8 is going to have the highlights show at 11 Sunday morning.
ReplyDeleteNope, I'll be at church so I'll miss it.
DeleteSo will I. But you can come over and watch it later with me on my fancy videotaping machine.
DeleteHere's Happy Feller and another of Schenkel's acute angles ... GOOD! ... 20-17, Texas ... good game ... 24 seconds to go in the third quarter ...
ReplyDeleteI really hope you stick with this 1969 college football season. It was one of the best seasons college football ever had.
DeleteWait ... now ABC is telling me that Lana Turner and George Hamilton's big Survivors drama is on Monday night. I don't get it. There's no way you can fit a Mod Squad, a Survivors and a movie of the week all in one prime-time block ... what the heck is going on here?
ReplyDeleteAnd now here's Bruce Derr from Oklahoma for a FORTY-SIX YARD TRY ... wind at his back ... Schenkel: "It's long enough!" ... long pause as the official waves his arms wide left ... "Oh, the agony of being unsuccessful on a three-pointer" ...
ReplyDelete9:19 to go ... third-and-12 coming for Oklahoma, still trailing 20-17 ... Wilkinson: "This is the time you dig deep for the one long-yardage play you've been practicing all week" ... no ... sack ... 8:54 ... Sooners to punt ...
ReplyDeleteSpeyer fields a punt at the 16 and works hard to advance to the 20 ... really good punt catch and return ... looked like a punt that might've been downed inside the 10 ... Speyer has been great, just as Bud Wilkinson suspected.
ReplyDeleteThird-and-7 ... Texas runs a crazy flanker-reverse pitch to Speyer, which Oklahoma totally sniffs out ... Speyer still nearly picks up the first but does not ... punt coming ...
ReplyDeleteIt's fantastic how Texas put the 100-football emblem signifying the 100th anniversary of college football floating above the longhorn's horns on the sides of their helmets.
ReplyDeleteFUMBLE! Texas recovers!
ReplyDeleteTexas resumes possession at the Oklahoma 23 with a 20-17 lead and to go in the game ... not sure how much time is left ... six minutes? ...
ReplyDeleteYeah, about six minutes ...
ReplyDeleteSchenkel: "Looking ahead, we'll be televising the Texas-Arkansas game from Fayetteville Dec. 6, coast to coast."
ReplyDeleteThe story goes that before the season, the folks at ABC wanted to pick one game to be a national broadcast on December 6. It would be the only game of the day, and would give ABC the chance to build a huge audience in celebration of the 100th anniversary of college football. The story goes that Beano Cook was the guy who told them to pick the Arkansas/Texas game, which was usually played in October, for the last game of the year. It turned out to be a brilliant move.
DeleteFantastic ... so Texas has been running out of their Wishbone Y all game, and, as all of you Bud Wilkinson students know, that means there are three guys lined up in the backfield behind the quarterback, Street. Directly behind him is Worster, the fullback, about three-and-a-half yards behind the line of scrimmage. Then, on either side of and behind Worster, are halfbacks Bertelsen and Koy. OK, pretty much every Texas play in this game has started with a fake handoff to Worster, who then plows into the middle of the line to be beaten up by a bunch of giant Oklahoma guys ...
ReplyDeleteAfter picking up the muffed punt, Texas fakes to Worster and runs Bertelsen right for a couple of yards and an audible-over-70,000-people-in-the-Cotton Bowl pounding, and then it fakes to Worster and runs Bertelsen left for a couple of yards and an audible-over-70,000-people-in-the-Cotton Bowl pounding.
ReplyDeleteOK, third-and-5 ...
Honestly, I'll have to see, but I think, for the first time all game, Street this time gives the ball to Worster! He knifes through the line of scrimmage and drags a couple of Sooners for the first down.
ReplyDelete"I believe that's the last play Oklahoma was expecting," says Wilkinson, and it's hard to tell if he's more disappointed for his old team, Oklahoma, or more happy for his old player, Texas coach Royal.
Touchdown, Longhorns: 27-17.
ReplyDelete4:40 to go ...
ReplyDeleteTough day after his birthday for Jack Mildren ... interception ...
ReplyDeleteSchenkel says this is the first time ABC has televised this game. He has attended, but he's never broadcast the game live. He's all fired up about the whole experience. Texas finished off the 27-17 victory, and now the Longhorns' marching band is on the field playing "The Eyes of Texas" as ABC pans around to various teary-eyed majorettes, cheerleaders, children and college boys singing along. Schenkel: "I think you'll have to admit, if that doesn't grab you, not only do you not have much an ear for music, but you also don't have much emotion."
ReplyDeleteOf course, this game achieved national fame after that legendary Dan Jenkins article back in 1963.
DeleteExcellent broadcast.
ReplyDeleteThank you to the Longhorns, the Sooners, Chris Schenkel, Bud Wilkinson, ABC, YouTube, YouTube user "Stephen Barnett," Internet, computers, et al, for allowing me to watch it.
DeleteI'll probably close out Saturday TV with the new Andy Williams show and maybe some My Three Sons. But I need a break from TV--Game 2 of the World Series and AFL and NFL football are on tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteSept. 28/Week 2 results in the NFL:
Delete-- Cardinals 20 over Bears 17 in St. Louis
-- Browns 27 over Redskins 23 in Cleveland
-- Packers 14 over 49ers 7 in Green Bay
-- Eagles 41 over Steelers 27 in Philadelphia
-- Lions 24 over Giants 0 in Detroit
-- Vikings 52 over Colts 14 at Minnesota
-- Cowboys 21 over Saints 17 in New Orleans
-- Rams 17 over Falcons 7 in Los Angeles
Sept. 28/Week 3 results in the AFL:
Delete-- Benglas 24 over Chiefs 19 at Cincinnati
-- Raiders 38 over Patriots 23 at Boston
-- Chargers 34 over Jets 27 at San Diego
-- Oilers 22 over Dolphins 10 at Houston
-- Bills 41 over Broncos 28 at Buffalo
Oct. 4-5/Week 4 results in the AFL:
Delete-- Raiders 20 at Dolphins 20
-- Chargers 21 over Bengals 14 at San Diego
-- Jets 23 over Patriots 14 at New York
-- Oilers 28 over Bills 14 at Houston
-- Chiefs 26 over Broncos 13 at Kansas City
Oct. 5/Week 3 results in the NFL:
Delete-- Rams 36 over Saitns 17 at Los Angeles
-- Cardinals 27 over Steelers 14 at Pittsburgh
-- Redskins 17 at 49ers 17
-- Cowboys 38 over Eagles 7 at Philadelphia
-- Lions 28 over Browns 21 at Detroit
-- Vikings 19 over Packers 7 at Minnesota
-- Colts 21 over Falcons 14 at Atlanta
-- Giants 28 over Bears 24 at New York
My Three Sons Steve's got a new girlfriend.
ReplyDeleteEVERYTHING'S COMING UP ASTROS!
ReplyDeleteWait ... wrong post.
DeleteSunrise Semester is hilarious.
ReplyDeleteWe're tuning in just in time for first pitch of Game 2 of the World Series. The only changes in today's lineups that I've noted so far is that Andy Etchebarren is catching for Baltimore instead of Elrod Hendricks, the starting pitchers are Dave McNally and Jerry Koosman and Bill O'Donnell is taking the first half of play-by-play instead of Curt Gowdy.
ReplyDeleteNBC just showed the following sign in the Baltimore stands:
ReplyDeleteTOWSON ST.
BACKS
BIRDS
Top of the second ... 0-0 ... "BALTIMORE HAS NEVER LOST A WORLD SERIES GAME," NBC superimposes on a picture of Ron Swoboda walking to the plate with one on and no out ... nearly the same font used on the screen during the moon landing ...
ReplyDeleteFoul out to Boog Powell ... the Mets have made four outs so far in this game, and two have been foul outs to Boog Powell ...
ReplyDeleteWow, Tony Kubek just had an interview with Mrs. Babe Ruth!
ReplyDeleteAnd Bob Hope has a special on NBC tomorrow night.
Bill O'Donnell laying down the 411 that Dave McNally never played high-school baseball but instead concentrated on American Legion ball.
ReplyDeleteScoreless through three innings ...
And there you go ... my main man Donn Clendennon ... home run over right-fielder Frank Robinson's head to open the fourth ... Orioles' no-runs-allowed streak in World Series innings snapped at 45 ... 1-0, visiting Mets ...
ReplyDeleteAFL action coming up after today's World Series game: Jets at Cincinnati, Oilers at Kansas City and Raiders at Denver.
ReplyDeleteThe AFL standings heading into Week 5 action ...
DeleteEastern Division
1. Houston 3-1
2. New York 2-2
3. Buffalo 1-3
4. Miami 0-3-1
5. Boston 0-4
Western Division
1. Oakland 3-0-1
2. Kansas City 3-1
3. Cincinnati 3-1
4. Denver 2-2
5. San Diego 2-2
The NFL standings heading into Week 4 action ...
DeleteWestern Conference
Central Division
1. Green Bay 2-1
2. Detroit 2-1
3. Minnesota 2-1
4. Chicago 0-3
Coastal Division
1. Los Angeles 3-0
2. Atlanta 1-2
3. Baltimore 1-2
4. San Francisco 0-2-1
Eastern Conference
Capitol Division
1. Dallas 3-0
2. Washington 1-1-1
3. Philadelphia 1-2
4. New Orleans 0-3
Century Division
1. Cleveland 1-2
2. New York 2-1
3. St. Louis 2-1
4. Pittsburgh 1-2
Brooks Robinson is really, really good.
ReplyDeleteThrough four: Mets 1, Orioles 0.
ReplyDeleteHere's Tony Kubek with an interview with Mitzi Gaynor. I think she's on Bob Hope's special tomorrow night. About midway through the last inning, NBC cut to video of Kubek already sitting down next to Mitzi Gaynor, and Gowdy and O'Donnell had some fun talking about how Kubek got himself into position plenty early for the interview with "the very attractive Ms. Gaynor."
ReplyDeleteNow Tony has some time with Sandy Koufax in the stands. Koufax says he felt that both McNally and Koosman are pitching very well but that Koosman could not afford to merely pitch equally well as McNally "because Baltimore has the better club. And, so far ... you can't fault anything that Jerry has done."
ReplyDeleteWe're in the bottom of the fifth, so now Gowdy has taken over as play-by-play man.
ReplyDeleteGowdy says a delegation of 12 from Morris, Minnesota, including the New York pitcher's dad, are in the stands to watch their homeboy, Jerry Koosman. That's pretty impressive, given that only 5,366 people lived there, per the 1970 U.S. Census (now down nine folks, to 5,357, per the 2014 estimate).
ReplyDeleteWikipedia says Koosman is from Appelton, Minnesota, and I love Wikipedia, but I'm rolling with Curt Gowdy on this one.
ReplyDeleteWikipedia also says this about Jerry Koosman.
Koosman loses his no-hitter as Paul Blair singles into left to lead off the inning. "Now the big boys are coming up for the Orioles, Robinson and Powell," says Gowdy, and a roar from the Baltimore fans rises in anticipation.
ReplyDeleteGowdy: "The only man to hit a ball out of this ballpark--completely out of it--is at the plate right now, Frank Robinson, the '66 season."
ReplyDeleteLine drive to deep center ... out to Agee ...
ReplyDeleteNow here's menacing Boog Powell in his too-short sleeves showing off his mighty biceps. He looks like someone who might've won a boxing tournament on a Navy ship if he hadn't been busy playing baseball.
ReplyDeletePowell takes a giant swing, and the ball skittles off the bat into a high, high, high popup to Bud Harrelson. Powell slams his bat into the dirt. Two down ...
ReplyDeleteNow Brooks Robinson ...
ReplyDeleteThere goes Blair ... safe! ...
ReplyDeleteAnd next pitch, there goes Robinson, singling into center ... they won't get Blair, already turning for home as Agee awaits the dribbler ... tie game ... Baltimore is tough, baby ...
ReplyDeleteBut now Ed Charles, at third for New York, does his best Brooks Robinson, and makes a terrific diving stop of Dave Johnson's hard hit ... throws to second for the fourth ... tied at 1 going to the eighth ...
ReplyDeleteForce, not fourth, of course.
DeleteIt's cool to see the Orioles' catcher, Andy Etchebarren, running to back up the first baseman on Met ground balls with no one on base. I guess major-league catchers always do that, but it's just cool to see.
ReplyDeleteStill 1-1 through eight ... McNally nearly broke the tie, driving Cleon Jones to the warning track with a fly out to end the home half.
ReplyDeleteVery exciting stuff!
DeleteGame 3 in New York will be on NBC at 11:30 a.m. Central on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 1969.
ReplyDeleteOK, top of the ninth in Game 2 ... 1-1 ... here's Donn Clendenon to face McNally ... Ron Swoboda's on deck, and Ed Charles is in the hole ...
ReplyDeleteWith two down and an 0-2 count, former K.C. A Charles (#GREENCOLLAR!)--who hit .207 during the regular season--gets his second hit of the game, a single to left ... here's Jerry Grote ...
ReplyDeleteGrote singles, and Charles, running on the pitch, scoots to third ... here comes Orioles pitching coach George Bamberger to the mound ...
ReplyDeleteAND NOW AL WEIS SINGLES HOME EX-K.C. A CHARLES! With two out in the top of the ninth, the Nos. 6-7-8 hitters in the New York order produce the go-ahead run ... Koosman now ...
ReplyDeleteWeis, a .215 hitter with 23 runs batted in during the regular season, has driven in both of the Mets' runs in the World Series thus far.
ReplyDeleteBelanger to Boog for the third out ... headed to bottom of ninth ... Mets 2, Orioles 1 ...
ReplyDeleteMickey Mantle tells Kubek at the inning break that he's watched Brooks Robinson for a long time, "but he still amazes me every time I watch him."
ReplyDeleteTop of the order for the Os: Buford, Blair and F. Robinson ...
ReplyDeleteBaltimore was 63-21 at home this season.
ReplyDeleteJerry Koosman retires the first two, and the Mets are moving Al Weis from second base to the outfield for Frank Robinson's at-bat. It's Weis in left, Cleon Jones in left-center, Tommie Agee in right-center and Ron Swoboda in right. Curt Gowdy says New York manager Gil Hodges has played this special defense at other points against certain power hitters. Very interesting ...
ReplyDeleteFrank Robinson walks, and Merv Rettenmund enters as a pinch-runner ... here's Boog ... I would think that Hodges has pulled Weis back to the infield, but Gowdy hasn't yet said ...
ReplyDelete3-1 count to Powell ... Ed Charles comes over to chat with Koosman ... foul ... full count ... Rettenmund will be running on the pitch, says Gowdy ...
ReplyDelete"There goes Rettenmund! ... Ball four! ... And the batter will be Brooks Robinson! ..."
ReplyDeleteHodges and Grote now out to talk with Koosman ... "This is where the managers make their money," says Gowdy. "Leave him in, or take him out? He's going to take him out."
ReplyDeleteCanadian Ron Taylor is headed in from the bullpen ...
So here's Taylor, who pitched two innings of hitless/scoreless relief in Game 1, running the count to 3-1 on Brooks Robinson ... Gowdy: "Robinson swings at an outside pitch; that would've been Ball 4." ... full count ... Brooks bounces the ball up the third-base line ... Charles has it ... looks at the throw to second for the force ... throws to first ... Brooks Robinson is out ... "Charles made a quick mental recovery there," says Gowdy ... that's it ... Mets win ... series even!
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