There Gone Be Some Malice in Dat Palace!

If you have never seen a mixed martial arts cage fighting event like this, you are missing out. Sure, it’s violent! But, no more than trying to walk in San Francisco and not getting hit by a taxi cab or a pizza delivery car! Malice at the Palace is taking place on Saturday night, September 9th at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, and will feature some of the top fighters in the sport, including Urijah Faber, Nam Phan, Jake Shields, Spence, Gunderson, Ebersole Murphy, Metcalf, Sims, Guillena, Coronel, Marks, Wray, Solis, Baca, Dietz, Cordosa, Humphries, McMillian, Crispim and Werneck. There will also be a special appearance by super cage fighter Chuck Liddell, although he's not fighting. (I only put the last names of the lesser-known fighters in here, but I made sure to put all of them in there to avoid one fighter getting pissed and kicking my ass!) Tickets range in price from $45 for working stiffs like you and I, all the way up to $250 for high-rollin' play-ahs!

This type of fighting only became legal in California earlier this year, with the first mixed martial arts cage fight in the state having taken place in San Jose’s HP Pavilion. To view the TV commercial for the Malice at the Palace, visit: http://youtube.com/watch?v=UeV08606MeQ. This is no-holds-barred mano vs. mano fighting – the real s—t! Not like some boxing matches where guys waltz around the ring like ballroom dancers and hug each other for 12 rounds. This is like the old Roman days in the Coliseum, except that the losers don’t get fed to the lions. (That’s not legal yet, but just wait!) Hope to see you there!

My Interview with Jesse Gonder

JESSE GONDER

Jesse Gonder died on November 14, 2004 in Oakland, California at the age of 68. Although his role in MLB was basically that of a journeyman catcher, Gonder found relative success in 1963 and ‘64 as the starting backstop for that hapless new gang of lovable dolts known as the New York Mets. After having started the ’63 season with the Cincinnati Reds, Gonder was shipped off to the Mets, where he hit .302. In 1964, he batted .270 in 131 games. Having begun his career with the New York Yankees in 1960, Gonder became one of the first players to play for both the Yankees and the Mets during his major league career. More notably, Gonder built a reputation over the years for being outspoken at a time when most African-American athletes were reluctant to do so.After he retired from the game, Gonder became a bus driver for Golden Gate Transit in the Bay Area, remaining in that position for over 20 years before retiring in the mid-1990s.

A great baseball high school: “I graduated from McClymonds in 1955. That team went undefeated the last three years I was there. We had a group of guys here in Oakland that could play ball. Frank Robinson, Vada Pinson, Curtis Flood….myself. I went to school with all of them. A guy named Curt Roberts was there before us, as was Charlie Beamon. We were all good athletes. And Frank was the first one to sign and he went to the big leagues. And after he signed professional, we all figured we had a pretty good chance of going. We had one guy, a scout, named Bob Madic. He ended up being the General Manager for the Toronto Blue Jays. He signed us all into the Reds’ organization. He cleaned up financially, too. We saw small bonuses, but from what I heard, he made quite a bit for signing us.”

Racism: “Back in those days, being black, if you couldn’t accept being humiliated, or insulted, I should say -- if you couldn’t accept being called ‘nigger’ or ‘watermelon eater’, ‘Amos ‘n Andy”, any racial insult that they could possibly throw at you – then you couldn’t make it.”
“I had some good times, but with what I had to go through in baseball, it really wasn’t that much fun. Once I got into the game and I found out how political it was, I realized what was gonna hold me back. It ceased being fun, it really did. There was really nothing fun about it.”
“In Cincinnati, we were the first team to integrate spring training. We stayed at the same motel with the white players in 1962.”

“Only the guys with the thick skin made it. Maybe we weren’t the best athletes, but we had thicker skin. We knew what we had to do to survive. There was really nothing fun about it. Everywhere you ran into racism. Everywhere. In a lot of the places we couldn’t even go in and eat with the white players. We had to sit out on the bus, while they brought us hamburgers and things like that, you know, after they had eaten.”

“Jerry Jacobs, a white player from McClymonds High, signed with the Reds a year before I did. Jerry signed a year before me, and then the next year when I signed, we all left here together from the 6th Street railroad station to go to Douglas, Georgia – that’s where Cincinnati had their spring training. We all grew up together; we all went to school together in West Oakland. And everything was fine until we got to Chicago. And once we got to Chicago and headed South, Jerry Jacobs and I got on the train. I saw all the black people sitting in one place, so I just went and sat with them. It never occurred to me what was going on; I just went and sat with the black people. Jerry came and sat with us too. And the porter came back there and told him, “You can’t sit here. You have to go and sit with the whites. And that was our first taste of racism like that.”

The Great Yankees: “They told me, “Casey wants you.” And I said, “What? “ And they said, “You’re going to New York.” And I said, “No, I’m not. I don’t belong to the Yankees.” And they said, “You do now. They just bought you.” That night, I’m in Yankee Stadium, google-eyed. I guess that was the biggest thrill I got out of baseball at the time, you know? I’m there with Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle. Then, we go on a road trip, we go to Boston. They had already clinched the pennant.”

Mickey Mantle: “Mickey drank a lot. We were talking in Atlantic City at a memorabilia show one day (in the 80’s.) And he told me, “If I had known I was going to live this long, I wouldn’t have drank so much.” And I told him, “Mickey, the liquor is probably what’s kept you alive.” And he thought that was funny.”

Casey Stengel: “ESPN wanted to interview me, Johnny Blanchard and Clete Boyer for SportsCentury about Casey a few years back. Clete declined to be interviewed. He said, “I don’t have anything to say about the so-and-so.” ‘Cause Casey was not a good players’ manager, period. He was a media man. He was an ambassador. Blanchard told the guy from ESPN. “Casey did this to me. He told me when I first came up that I could really hit. And I said, “Yeah, skip – I can hit pretty good.” So, Casey asked me, “Can you catch?” And I said, “Yeah, Casey, I can catch pretty good, too.” So, Casey said, “Well, if you can really catch, then, catch that 12 o’ clock plane to Denver. Blanchard had been optioned to Denver.”

One of My Favorite Restaurants in SF is L'Osteria del Forno

L’Osteria del Forno

There is an Italian restaurant in North Beach (what other kind are there?) that is really wonderful, and I am inspired enough by the great food, atmosphere and service to write a review about the place. Its name is L’Osteria del Forno, located on Columbus Street right in the heart of North Beach’s Little Italy section. I have been to many restaurants in North Beach, and while some are average and a few are quite poor, this place is outstanding. I would send any of my friends there without hesitation, because every time I have eaten there, it has been a spectacular experience. The restaurant is tiny, with maybe a dozen tables inside and a couple outside. It has an open kitchen that looks cramped and crowded, but that doesn’t stop the chefs there from putting out some of the tastiest authentic Italian cuisine I’ve ever eaten. They have a brick-lined oven at L’Osteria del Forno where they bake the kind of pizzas and focaccia bread that causes a foodie like myself to drool like Pavlov’s dogs. The pizza crust is not thick or doughy. It is almost cracker-like in its consistency with a texture that can only be described as indescribable. I hate chewy pizza and this is anything but. At $10 to $19 apiece, these magnificent discs of delectability come with toppings that complement them perfectly. They are simple and not stacked to the ceiling with a bunch of stuff that shouldn’t go on pizzas, like Canadian bacon, pineapple, pine nuts, and hamburger meat (Gag!) The other day I told somebody on the street, obviously an out-of-towner, about the place and how good their pizza was and he asked me, "Is it as good as Round Table?" I just walked away! Try the Tre Formaggi with imported gorgonzola, ricotta and mozzarella cheeses. Or the Porcini topped with sautéed imported porcini mushrooms, ricotta, mozzarella and olive oil. You can also add extra toppings for two dollars each, but why would you want to? Leave the pizza making to the experts. You don’t get under the sink and help your plumber when he comes over to fix the pipes, do you? Let these professionals do their job and order these wondrous creations of love the way they were designed to be eaten. If you aren’t in the mood for a pizza, try the focaccine at L’Osteria del Forno. They bake the bread for these classic Italian sandwiches themselves, and they are simply divine. For six or seven dollars each, these masterpieces blow away burgers and deli sandwiches in a major way. I always order the Arrosto, which features the restaurant’s thinly sliced roast of the day (usually ham, beef or chicken) with tomatoes and lettuce, and that’s it. If I see another bean sprout, cucumber slice or green bell pepper on a sandwich, I think I’m going to lose it. Or maybe try the Boscaiolo focaccine sandwich with smoked prosciutto, porcini mushrooms, fresh mozzarella and lettuce. These aren’t just sandwiches, they’re statements! If pizza and sandwiches aren’t on your wish list, the pastas and specials at L’Osteria del Forno are superb as well. I’ve had the Ravioli di Zucca, which is a pumpkin-filled ravioli served with clarified butter and sage, and the Gnocchi di Patate, potato dumplings served with organic tomatoes, butter and basil. These dishes don’t come drowning in red sauce like you’ll find in many supposedly authentic Italian restaurants. Entrees and specials range in price from nine to 20 dollars, and they’re worth every penny. There are a lot of tourist trap restaurants in North Beach that claim to be the real thing. Don’t get sucked in by their checkered table cloths and chronically rude waiters. Real food made with love the way it’s made in Italy itself is what’s important – and L’Osteria del Forno is the real thing!

L’Osteria del Forno
519 Columbus Avenue (Between Green & Union Streets in North Beach)
(415) 982-1124
Reservations not accepted
Open for lunch and dinner every day but Tuesday
Credit cards not accepted

I give this place 4.75 burps (out of five)
To find out more about L'Osteria del Forno and check out their menu, visit their Web site at: www.losteriadelforno.com.

My Interview with Charlie Silvera

(Photo: This is a picture of Charlie Silvera (far right) with his three childhood friends from San Francisco who all signed with and played for the Yankees in the 40's and 50's. They are (from left) Jerry Coleman, Boobby Brown and Frank Crosetti.)

CHARLIE SILVERA

Charlie Silvera was born in San Francisco in 1924, grew up in the Mission District, and attended St. Ignatius High School before signing with the Yankees for a $2,500 bonus in 1942. He would go on to languish for eight full seasons as a backup to Yogi Berra. Although he received six World Series championship rings along the way, Silvera must always wonder what he could have done had Berra not been the starter for all those great Yankee teams of the 40’s and 50’s. Silvera went on to coach and scout for a variety of MLB clubs and currently resides in the beautiful hills of Millbrae in Northern California and works as a scout for the Cubs.

Relationship with Berra: “In 1948, I was called up late in the season because Nairhas got hurt. Yogi had been playing the outfield that season, so they brought him in, made him the number one catcher, and I became his backup. Yogi had natural talent, and Bill Dickey refined him. In 1950, I didn’t get to bat until June 17th. We were the best of friends. We ran around together, we got along great.”

Yogi-isms: “A lot of them were obviously made up, mostly by reporters, but a lot of them he said on his own. A few of them happened when I was in his company and they never got recorded. One time, we were going to go, on an off-day, to a dinner to speak. The Yankee PR guy came by and asked Yogi, do you want to go to this affair, you know, you have an off day. Charlie’s gonna go. So Yogi said – what are they gonna give us? And I told him, well, I think they’re gonna give us a .20 Gauge Remington. And, Yogi, said, Great! I’ve always wanted a camera!”

Billy Martin and Carousing: “They got rid of Billy because they thought he was a bad influence on Mantle – all Mantle did was win the Triple Crown. They also blamed Billy for the incident at the Copa. I’d have been there, but we left early. I had left. Mantle and Billy, they roomed together, they had their fun. But, the older guys kind of policed the younger guys, you know, I was considered a veteran by then. I roomed with Collins, and we would police the younger kids, if they got out of line, we told them – you’re messing with our money, and you don’t do that. If they persisted, we’d tell them, you better get rid of this guy, because he’s not a Yankee.”

“We made a pact. One day, late in both our careers, Billy and I were sitting on the Yankee bench, neither of us were playing, and Billy told me that if he ever got a job managing the Oakland Oaks, you’ll be my coach. And I told him, “If I ever manage the Seals, you’ll be my coach.” And by God, when he got the job managing with Minnesota, he called us. Billy was a blue collar fan’s type of guy. The fans loved him because he fought millionaires, but that was the worst thing to do. You don’t fight millionaires. You don’t fight owners. But, he would get a little upset at times. When I could see he was going to get into something, I’d say, listen, I can’t run and I can’t fight, so be careful tonight. And we’d go somewhere, and someone would get in front of him and he’d want to fight ‘em. He never backed down from anybody. Everybody knew he wasn’t afraid of anybody.”

DiMaggio: “Joe alienated a lot of people because he wouldn’t kiss their ass, especially people from the old neighborhood. But, that was Joe.”

Big Little Leaguer or Little Big Leaguer?

I don't know what to say about this kid. Check his birth certificate every day, because if he's 13 years old, I'm Barry Bonds! He's 6'8" and weighs 265!! His name is Aaron Durley and he's playing for Saudi Arabia in the Little League World Series. What do they feed their children out there.....oil!?! I saw him on TV the other day and he towers over the other kids to the point where it's hilarious. He has such a huge strike zone, it reminds me of when Michael Jordan played minor league baseball. All the opposing pitchers have to do is throw it up there. It shouldn't be too hard to hit that strike zone. The only way to stop this kid from beating you is by tying him down, kind of like the Lilliputians did to Gulliver in Gulliver's Travels. He walked twice the other day, which astounds me. The opposing pitcher must have been intimidated by his size. If this "kid" gets ahold of one, someone could get killed out there. I've heard people use the term, "a man among boys" before, but it has never been more fitting than it is with Aaron Durley! I love the Little League World Series, because it's as pure as the game gets, without the mega-salaries, egos and prima donnas.

I saw this on www.MSN.com:

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. - Aaron Durley towers over the competition at the Little League
The 13-year-old first baseman for Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, stands an imposing 6-foot-8 and weighs 256 pounds.
"I was standing next to him and I was up to his elbows," Scott Kingery, a 12-year-old, 4-foot-9 Phoenix shortstop, said after meeting Durley.
At the secluded dorms where teams stay during the tournament, Durley has become as much of an attraction as the pool, the pingpong table and the video arcade.
The soft-spoken Durley doesn't mind the attention. He even lets opponents snap pictures with him during down time.
But Durley, who played at the series last year, too — when he was a mere 6-foot-4 — is crystal-clear about his top priority in South Williamsport.
"I'm more confident this year, ready to do what I need to do," Durley said after a practice. "Hit the ball out."
Fittingly, his favorite major leaguer is David "Big Papi" Ortiz, the Boston Red Sox slugger.
Durley, batting fifth, didn't hit a homer, but he walked twice, singled and scored a run Sunday when his Arabian American squad from Dhahran defeated Saipan, 9-1. Saudi Arabia (2-0) stands a good chance of advancing out of pool play after failing to win a game last year.

My Interview with Gus Triandos

I have had a very interesting relationship with Gus Triandos. Ever see that movie "Cobb?" That's really the closest thing I can compare it to. Gus and I have gotten together at least half a dozen times in the past few years so that I could interview him for SABR (www.SABR.org) and also for the baseball Web site I created with my talented partner Eric Gouldsberry (www.thisgreatgame.com). Gus and I usually meet at an Olive Garden restaurant in San Jose and start drinking the vino around 11:30 am. (any earlier than that and you're an alcoholic, in my book). By 1 pm both of us are well on our way toward being sloshed. And that's when the interviews always get better! Gus has told me a lot of things that I have never revealed to anyone. He said I can publish them after he's gone, but for now they stay with me. Overall, Gus Triandos is just a really sweet guy with a big heart. He is, however, a little bitter when he looks back on his career in baseball.

GUS TRIANDOS

Gus Triandos was a very decent catcher during the 50’s and 60’s. He hit 167 career homers, and although he was not fleet of foot (he stole one base and holds the record for most consecutive games played without being thrown out: 1,206), Triandos had a great arm and was known as one of the top-fielding backstops in the league throughout his years with five major league teams. He now lives in San Jose, California and runs a postal company. He was wearing a neck brace the morning I met him, the result of a recent car accident. Gus was a part of a lot of baseball history. A 2-time all-star, he caught Jim Bunning’s perfect game in 1964, used the big oversized mitt to catch knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm during his no-hitter in 1958 and was the opposing catcher when Ted Williams hit a home run in his final plate appearance in 1960.

A long shot to make the bigs: “Sad fact was, I had a tough time getting signed. I wasn’t that sought after. Hell, I wouldn’t even be signed today. No way I’d be signed now. They had D, C B, A, AA, AAA teams – they had a jillion ballplayers out there and I think that it, I don’t know. They just wanted to sign bodies back then. But, even when I was playing minor league ball, every scout that ever came through town and the local sportswriters would ask him and they’d say I didn’t have a chance. But, it never pissed me off, because I thought I didn’t have a chance. My feet were so bad I knew I wouldn’t last. The best thing that happened to me was going into the Army. Those military issue boots straightened my feet out. Don’t ask me how, but they did.”

High school: “My senior year, we had 11 guys sign professional contracts. Mission High was the baseball school, Polytechnic was the football school and Lowell was the basketball school in San Francisco at that time. The only one who really made it for any time in the majors was me.”

All-star appearances: “I played in two all-star games. I hit a 2-run double in one of them, off Elroy Face, in 1958. I probably would have been the MVP had we won.”

The 1957 all-star game: “That prick Stengel didn’t even put me in that game. Was that in St. Louis? Yeah. Didn’t even put me in. That Stengel really hated my guts.
And then the next year it was in Baltimore. That’s when they let the players pick the all-stars for the first time. And I got in because I was elected by the players. And Casey still didn’t want to play me, but he had no choice.”

Players he liked/disliked: “I never got to where I disliked a guy. There were a couple I ended up disliking, but shit, life’s too short. I stayed away from them. You see them now, and you never get a chance to talk. Maybe for a minute at some dinner or event or something. But, there were very few people -- players and managers -- that after it was all over, I disliked…Stengel was one of them. I wasn’t his type of ball player. You know, I couldn’t run. I couldn’t hit to the opposite field. And for some reason he just didn’t like me and it was patently obvious. The greatest thing that ever happened to me was him disliking me. He also made the right pick. He decided that he liked Elston Howard better than me. And that was a helluva pick.”

The baseball life: “Gave me a helluva life for 12 years. I really enjoyed myself. It was kind of a psychological thing, you know. Like you have a little bit of a low opinion of yourself. And then you get to where you can do something well and get a little recognition. It was good. I wouldn’t have a chance to do it now. In this day and age, I don’t think I could get signed. When those 11 guys from my high school got drafted, I never thought I’d be the one to make it to the majors. I wouldn’t trade what I did in baseball for anything, but there was a lot of stuff that was irritating too. But, overall – most of it was on the plus side.”

“I had a lot of liabilities. I couldn’t run. I was a good catcher and all that other happy horseshit. The one thing I could do well for at least the first half of my career in the majors was I could throw. It was one of the few things I had. Most good base stealers stole off the pitchers. But, offensively, I could be pitched to. I’m just thankful I was able to do what I did. I don’t look at the game now the same way I did then. I can’t watch it anymore. I haven’t been to a MLB game in more than 15 years.”

Umpires: “You almost have to be an asshole to be an umpire. You have to take so much shit. You start the season out real good friends with them by the end of the season guys were salivating, hell, saying they hated each other’s guts. The only reason the umps liked me is I didn’t show ‘em up, and I never argued with them. Stayed off them so that the fans wouldn’t get on them.”

Appearing on the TV show, “Home Run Derby”: “That was one of the most embarrassing things. I got bounced out the first time. Dick Stuart and I embarrassed the whole f-ing thing. They did it the middle of winter, when guys hadn’t been to Spring Training, we were both so out of shape.”

Steroids: “What, do they think people are stupid? When this guy goes from 175-180 to 210 and nobody says anything? Of course, I always thought they had ‘em, but I didn’t give a shit. I still don’t.”

Players today: “The way things are now, the kind of money these guys are making, it’s messed everything up. In our era, there was more integrity and more love for the game. Look at these fucking guys, they buy 2-3 million dollar homes; some of them have six or seven kids with five different women? It’s crazy.”

Playing in the Astrodome: “The Astrodome was a theater, it was an architectural wonder at the time. Then, they figured out they couldn’t grow grass in there.”

HOFer’s: “Any Hall of Famer who thinks he’s so wonderful because he did all these great things in baseball is full of crap. He was able to do it because he was blessed by God with natural ability. He didn’t necessarily have to work that hard to be a star. I’ve seen .220 hitters work a lot harder than a lot of Hall of Famers. There were some good ones, but there are also a lot of bad guys who are Hall of Famers. That’s why I never really idolized Hall of Famers, because I thought they were blessed.”

My Interview with Ernie Fazio

ERNIE FAZIO

Ernie Fazio was one of major league baseball’s very first bonus babies. He played two seasons for the fledgling Houston Colt .45’s, whom he signed with in 1962. He was the very first player signed by the team, just minutes before Rusty Staub. In 1963, he played semi-regularly for Houston, appearing in 102 games at second base, but batted only .184. In 1965, Fazio was traded to Charlie Finley and the Kansas City A’s, as the player to be named later in a trade that sent Jim Gentile to the Houston Astros for Jesse Hickman. Finley took Ernie under his wing, mainly because he liked his style of play, but 1966 would be Fazio’s last year in the major leagues, due to a life-threatening virus he suffered during spring training. Later he would work for Finley in the Oakland A’s front office for several years in the early 70’s. I met Ernie, now 62, in Hayward, where he works as a manager for a major sanitation company. He is a fun guy to be around, and loves to talk baseball. He is currently very involved in a lawsuit vs. MLB – an attempt to get pension money retroactively for the over 1,000 retired players who played in the big leagues for less than four years and received nothing. Baseball Pension.com says that “the pension and benefit program for retirees would not exist if not for the efforts of Ernie Fazio.” Ernie has a daughter who is a senior at UCLA and a star on the women’s soccer team.

“I signed out of Santa Clara University in 1962 with the Houston Colt .45’s for $100,000. My parents got ten grand. The people in Houston told me they would help me meet a girl down there, so that I could get married and save on income taxes. That was part of their pitch to me. They would set me up.”

“I really had a great time in Houston. I got to meet some of the astronauts, including John Glenn. I still have my original Colt .45 uniform. Collectors call me up all the time and want to buy it.”

“I hurt my arm that first year and they sent me down to Oklahoma City in the Pacific Coast League. I still have the record in that league for home runs by a second baseman (25). We won the PCL title, and I was healthy and all ready to go back up to the big club. I told them, I’m ready to play now. They said, “You’re not going up, you’re going home.” They had decided to go with Joe Morgan. We’re still good friends, Joe and I.”

“My problem was that when I got to Houston they tried to change my batting style.
They wanted me to become a slap hitter, to punch the ball, like Nellie Fox.”

“Then I went to the Kansas City A’s in 1966 to play for Charlie Finley. I loved that man. He always took care of his players – invested money for them; put down payments on houses for them, that type of stuff. I used to ride the mule for him all the time. I didn’t mind. I said to myself, “They’re worse things to do.”

“I got to hang out quite a bit with Joe DiMaggio during his time with the A’s. I asked him how he stayed in such great shape, because you know he smoked cigarettes, and he said, “I run.” He ran all the time to keep those legs in shape. He didn’t like the public. When we would play in these charity golf functions, he’d always skip the dinners afterwards. He just didn’t want to be bothered by people always coming up to him.”

“That stadium the Colt .45’s played in was so damn hot and humid and there were so many mosquitoes out there every day, they were like hordes of locusts. Johnny Temple used to eat lots of honey to keep the bugs away. It seemed to work, I don’t know.”

“After I left the A’s, I played in the minors in Hawaii. My roommate was Bo Belinsky. We had a great time, two single guys in Honolulu. Bo was a great guy to hang out with. He had his choice of any woman he wanted. And that’s all I can really say about that.”

“Bo introduced me to Jim Acho, an attorney, who got me involved in the pension case against major league baseball. The issue is that, in the old days, players who played for less than four years didn’t qualify for the pension. Back then, those were the rules. Now, if you play one day, you get medical benefits for life. If you are with a ball club for more than 45 days, you qualify for some pension money. There are over a thousand players out there who didn’t get a dime because they played less than four years.”

“My all-time team? I thought Sandy Koufax was incredible, even though I batted .333 against him. He would be my left-handed pitcher. Bob Gibson or Juan Marichal would be my right-hander, and Dennis Eckersley would be in the pen. The rest of my team – C: Bench; 3B: Colavito; SS: Banks; 2B: Mazeroski; 1B: Stan Musial. OF: Mays, DiMaggio and Clemente.”

My interview with Gus Zernial

For my web site: www.thisgreatgame.com, and also as a member of the Oral History Committee for the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) at: www.sabr.org, I have interviewed over 40 retired baseball players. Here's a very interesting interview I did a while back with Gus Zernial, who is one of the greatest baseball players nobody's ever heard of:

GUS ZERNIAL

Gus Zernial’s greatest achievement in major league baseball was probably when he led the American League in home runs in 1951. He was a power-hitting outfielder who never played for a first division team, but he hit 237 career homers and batted .265. His nickname was Ozark Ike, based on a popular comic strip at the time. From 1951 to 1957, only Mickey Mantle hit more round trippers in the AL. In 1951, Zernial hit 33 home runs, and in 1953, he had his best power year with 42. He played for the A’s in Philadelphia and Kansas City; then with the White Sox and Detroit. Although he was a great hitter, his fielding was far from spectacular. Twice during his career he broke his collarbone chasing down fly balls.

Norma Jean and Ozark Ike: While with the White Sox in 1949, a young starlet by the name of Marilyn Monroe came to the ballpark to do a pictorial for a National Enquire-type magazine. Gus remembered that she was “such a nice girl.” “She asked a bunch of questions about baseball…she was really interested in the game.” Zernial said that he was perplexed later when they made her look less than wholesome in many of her films. When DiMaggio started dating Monroe years later, they asked Joltin’ Joe about Marilyn and Gus, and the Yankee Clipper made a disparaging remark about Zernial, something to the effect that “Marilyn would never date a bush leaguer like Zernial”. For some reason known to only Joe, DiMag held a grudge against Zernial until the day he died.

Hit 33 HR’s in 1951, but didn’t even get in the all-star game that year:
“There was a guy around at that time named Ted Williams, and although I always finished second, he pretty much beat me out in the all-star voting every time. Casey Stengel was the manager of the all-stars every year, because the Yankees won the American League every year, but he never chose me. Casey never selected me for the all-star team, and I was always up in the voting. But, he had people he wanted to put in there, and I can understand that. Casey had his own players that he liked to select. For instance, Jackie Jensen was someone he liked to pick, even though he didn’t do real well in the voting that year. And he chose Jackie. And in 1953, when Ted had to go back in the service for awhile, of course, I won the voting that year. I started the all-star game, and Casey was still there. I think he would have prevented me from playing in the all-star game that year if he could have. He was so anxious to get Minnie Minoso in there that he barely let me get two at bats. But, I singled in that game – it was the first base hit of the game. But, that’s Casey. Managers will always have their favorites and they still do.”

Striking out a lot: “Today they strike out 110 times only halfway through the season. I averaged about 70 strikeouts a year. In 1951, we didn’t have a good team. We had good players, but we didn’t have a good ball club. And I think in some of those games I was just trying to hit a home run late in the game when we were trailing. That’s no excuse for the strikeouts, but we’d be behind and I’d go up and try to hit it out, you know?”

Association with Appling: “Luke Appling took me by the hand, showed me around the league, took me to into a few bars, showed me the ropes, so to speak. No, he was a great, great guy. Luke and I become good friends, he did it all with me. I’m really happy to say I played with some really great players. Played with Appling, Kaline – guys like that.
I had some HOF years, but I certainly didn’t have a HOF career. In 1954 when I got hurt, that was the end for me. Hurt my shoulder in 1954.”

Booed by the Philadelphia A’s fans when he hurt his shoulder:
“Yeah – Philadelphia, they’ll boo ya. There are certainly some boo birds there.
Announcer told fans I’d broken my shoulder. Took me down this tunnel and I could hear them booing me all the way down to the clubhouse.”

Racism in the game: “I think when Jackie Robinson first came up, I think some of the players resented it, and some didn’t. But, I never had any trouble with it, at all. Told my brothers, “Hey, the black players are just the same as us.” They resented that situation. I said, “Hey, that’s part of the game.”

All the stadiums are history now: “Every home ball park I played in is now gone. There’s nothing left. Chicago. Chicago’s stadium is gone. Same with Philadelphia, Detroit and Kansas City. All those stadiums are gone. Tiger Stadium is actually still there, but they don’t play there anymore. Detroit used to have a nice downtown, but it’s not as nice now.”

He's a Brainiac: Perfect Scores on the SAT & ACT!

I only took the SAT and I remember I thought I was doing well with an 1100. This kid is a real rarity, because most students are really good at either math or reading, not both. I wonder now that he’s a celebrity – are the bullies at school still picking on him or do they let him slide? If he goes to a school like MIT, he can be the bully and beat the crap out of the other smart kids! The nerd babes are going to be all over this stud! He’ll probably make the centerfold of Super Brainiac Magazine. He should really piss his parents off and tell them he wants to go to a local junior college so that he can continue to hang out with his chess buddies who only got 1,300’s!

This was on MSN.com yesterday:

WICHITA, Kan. (Aug. 18) - A teenager has achieved a rare feat: perfect scores on both the American College Testing exam and the SAT.
Jakub Voboril, 17, a senior at Bishop Carroll High School, learned last month that he had scored a 36 on his ACT, which he took in June. His perfect score, one of only two in Kansas on the June test, came after he scored 32 and 34 on his first two tries.
"Part of me said, 'That's good enough. You can stop there,"' he said. "But I decided to take it one more time to see what happened."
He took the SAT the same week. Those results - a perfect 2400 - came in shortly after he got his ACT scores.
Voboril comes from good genes: his two older sisters were high school valedictorians. He hasn't settled on a college or major, but has considered math, philosophy and law, possibly at the University of Notre Dame or Princeton.
He said he didn't have an answer for how he scored so well.
"It's weird, because before I took it, I checked out a couple books from the library. I expected there to be this big secret that all the smart all had to read, but there wasn’t.
Obviously, you have to pay attention in classes, take classes that are going to teach you what you need to know - that sort of thing."
No statistics are available on how many students have aced both tests, but it's a safe bet Voboril doesn't have a lot of company.
"Suffice it to say, it's a very, very small number," said Brian O'Reilly, a spokesman for the College Board, which administers the SAT.

Is Owen Wilson a Marriage Crasher?

Please Note: You'll start to see a lot of celebrity-bashing articles on this blog from time to time, because I'm writing for a Web site that has hired me to do them.

I get so tired of hearing about stars and starlets hooking up on movie sets. If I was married to a hot-looking actress, there is absolutely no way I would let my wife alone for a second with some of the lecherous lead actors who have no respect for marriage and will steal your wife in the blink of an eye. Julia Roberts made a career of it; Meg Ryan pretty much ruined her career with all the bad publicity she got for hooking up with Russell Crowe on the set of some movie no one even remembers anymore. And now Owen Wilson has swept Kate Hudson off her feet. Wilson & Hudson (sounds like a law firm) have been working together on the set of the new movie, “Me and Dupree,” with Matt Dillon, and I guess when they went off to do publicity for the film, Owen and Kate started sharing hotel rooms together and obviously the sparks started to fly. As soon as Hudson got home she informed her hubby of 5.5 years, Black Crowes lead singer Chris Robinson, that it was over. If I were Robinson, I would be livid and looking for Wilson with a Louisville Slugger in hand. I remember hearing Hudson and Robinson on some radio show a few months back talking about how they’re able to make their marriage work with commitment and trust. Ha! What a crock! Hudson better watch herself. Meg Ryan’s career evaporated when fans stopped seeing her as “America’s Cutey/Girl Next Door” and started looking at her as “Tawdry Home wrecker.” We’ll have to see how this plays out, but from what I’ve heard and read so far, all I can say is shame on you, Owen. Aren’t there enough single women out there for you to prey on?