Bear Down Wildcats

RichardCranium wrote: He struck out 17 Tigers in the first game, and its a great record that won't be beaten anytime soon. But he also allowed 5 hits and he needed that superhuman performance to keep Detroit from scoring - Detroit was an offensive juggernaut and Gibson really shut them down that day.

What a performance! Look at the speed and movement on that ball, along with nailing the outside corner. It's amazing what you can do with a few days rest.

RIP Eddie Van Halen

Mickey Lolich was only 6 degrees of separation from George Washinton's great nephew (twice removed).

Whitey Ford, possibly the greatest pitcher in Yankees history, died today at 91.

Got to watch him pitch once in an Old Timers game at Yankee Stadium back in the early 90s. He threw high and tight to Reggie Jackson and the whole stadium gave him a standing ovation. It was fucking hysterical.

Rest In Peace old timer...

Chicat wrote:Whitey Ford, possibly the greatest pitcher in Yankees history, died today at 91.

Got to watch him pitch once in an Old Timers game at Yankee Stadium back in the early 90s. He threw high and tight to Reggie Jackson and the whole stadium gave him a standing ovation. It was fucking hysterical.

Rest In Peace old timer...

Wow. Didn't realize he was still around. He was a member of my grandfather's golf club (Winged Foot where they just had the U.S. Open), and we saw him around the club and on the course all the time back in the day when I was a kid.

Great memory Chi.

Chicat wrote:Whitey Ford, possibly the greatest pitcher in Yankees history, died today at 91.

Got to watch him pitch once in an Old Timers game at Yankee Stadium back in the early 90s. He threw high and tight to Reggie Jackson and the whole stadium gave him a standing ovation. It was fucking hysterical.

Rest In Peace old timer...

Yep, when you think of the old time Yankees naturally the hitters are brought up first but I agree he was the best Yankee pitcher of all time. Not overpowering stuff but pinpoint control and Kershaw-esque Win/Loss percentage. He won like 25 games and the Cy Young in 1961 but was overshadow by the Maris-Mantle HR race. I also heard a story that Stengel only pitched him against the top teams instead of every 4 days which makes his final numbers that much more incredible.

Class act. RIP "Chairman of the Board" from a Dodger fan.

Oh my, another tough baseball loss. So many great one’s have passed this year. Really liked Morgan both as a player and an analyst. I thought he would have made a good manager

azcat49 wrote:Oh my, another tough baseball loss. So many great one’s have passed this year. Really liked Morgan both as a player and an analyst. I thought he would have made a good manager

RIP to an all-time great player, but someone who was maybe not the world's greatest analyst. Had to hear him constantly during the Yankees 1998 run talk about how they weren't as good as the Big Red Machine teams he played on. Reminds me of John Smoltz today. Everything was better when they played.

I'll have to go back now and look at those Cincy teams. Maybe he was right...

They were pretty damn good. After losing the WS in '70 and '72, they beat the Red Sox in '75 then swept the Yankees in '76. Hall of Famers at multiple positions not including Rose.

Chicat wrote:

azcat49 wrote:Oh my, another tough baseball loss. So many great one’s have passed this year. Really liked Morgan both as a player and an analyst. I thought he would have made a good manager

RIP to an all-time great player, but someone who was maybe not the world's greatest analyst. Had to hear him constantly during the Yankees 1998 run talk about how they weren't as good as the Big Red Machine teams he played on. Reminds me of John Smoltz today. Everything was better when they played.

I'll have to go back now and look at those Cincy teams. Maybe he was right...

I think at some point the 75 reds were crowned best ever, although I don’t think they were. That infield though was amazing. Perez, Morgan, Johnny Bench, Concepcion and Rose at third was an almost complete HOF unit (I think only Conception is not in it but he is close). Decent staff of arms but not great and they had big George Foster dropping 50 bombs.

I think most athletes think their period was the best, especially ultra competitive guys like Joe. One thing I think Is overlooked is they all played on artificial turf and never got a bad bounce. The ball might have been a little quicker but I think those that play on grass with dirt infields tend to be better glovemen

I think the '84 Tiger's were one of the most dominate teams ever, but I don't think they had the straight up talent of those Cincy teams of the mid 70's.

But there was definitely something in common between them that made a huge difference.

azcat49 wrote:

Chicat wrote:

azcat49 wrote:Oh my, another tough baseball loss. So many great one’s have passed this year. Really liked Morgan both as a player and an analyst. I thought he would have made a good manager

RIP to an all-time great player, but someone who was maybe not the world's greatest analyst. Had to hear him constantly during the Yankees 1998 run talk about how they weren't as good as the Big Red Machine teams he played on. Reminds me of John Smoltz today. Everything was better when they played.

I'll have to go back now and look at those Cincy teams. Maybe he was right...

I think at some point the 75 reds were crowned best ever, although I don’t think they were. That infield though was amazing. Perez, Morgan, Johnny Bench, Concepcion and Rose at third was an almost complete HOF unit (I think only Conception is not in it but he is close). Decent staff of arms but not great and they had big George Foster dropping 50 bombs.

I think most athletes think their period was the best, especially ultra competitive guys like Joe. One thing I think Is overlooked is they all played on artificial turf and never got a bad bounce. The ball might have been a little quicker but I think those that play on grass with dirt infields tend to be better glovemen

I think by the mid-70s people had gotten tired of the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s Yankees being the only teams in consideration for best team or most dominant team, so when the Reds came along in the 70s it was cool to say they could have lined up with the best of any other year. But I honestly believe that the '27, '32, '41, and '61 Yankee teams are just as good or better than any team that came after them.

I watched the Big Red Machine beat up the Dodgers year after year so they might not be the best team of all time but they are certainly on the invitation list.

They really had no weaknesses although their starting pitching wasn't the best.

The run they had in the 70's reminded me of the late 90's Yankees run.

UAEebs86 wrote:

He was one of my heroes as a kid - I remembered him as a haalfback from Michigan State (I grew un a ND fan) and then a star for the Packers (My team from '59 forward....)

The Hall of Famer won eight rings as a player, two as a coach and spent over 30 years as Boston's TV commentator

Merkin wrote: Fri Nov 13, 2020 10:56 am

I remember him more from playing for the Packers

I moved to NY in ‘88 so the mayoral race the next year was my first taste of NYC politics. He beat Ed Koch and Rudy Giuliani that year. Unfortunately Rudy beat him four years later after the riots in Crown Heights stirred up the seedy underbelly of Queens & Staten Island white flight racism.

He was a truly good man. Reminded me of Jimmy Carter in that he inherited issues he couldn’t solve and missed out on the period of economic growth that followed his tenure.

RIP Mr. Mayor.

Jeez... “Maradona Dead” is quite the shitty headline.

What a long and amazing life he lived.

I didn't even know he was still alive, passed at 97. Amazing man.

Damn! Quite the WW2 record as well. 11.5 victories, including a ME-262 jet, ace in a day, and was shot down over France but managed to escape and get back to England to fly again. Flew 61 combat missions total.

RIP to Kevin Greene. LB for the Rams, Steelers, &Panthers, and one of my favorite players of all time.

58 is way too goddamn young.

Chicat wrote: Mon Dec 21, 2020 3:46 pm RIP to Kevin Greene. LB for the Rams, Steelers, &Panthers, and one of my favorite players of all time.

58 is way too goddamn young.

Yep, he was a helluva pass rusher especially for the Rams.

And yes, 58 is way too fucking early.

One of my favorite players as a kid growing up in the Phoenix area in the 70's.

Was a HS legend in SoCal as well.

Used to love playing at Aviation HS and looking up at all of his records displayed at their gym.

The Dodgers were the first baseball team I followed. Tommy was the manager way back then.

When he would come out to argue with an ump my dad would say, “Uh oh, don’t read his lips.”

RIP to an all time great.

I spent the day with Tommy - sat in a hotel room in Vegas with him 1;1 while he signed a hundred or so baseballs. Now here I am with my childhood team's manager so was in awe but when he opened his mouth I was a bit floored at how crude he was:

- Asked him "what did you say to Russell after Reggie blatantly interfered with that double play ball that led to the Yankees having a big inning?". He said he told Russell "next time make sure you hit that blankety-blank right between the eyes".

- As we departed the room to go to this event being held downstairs he stopped me at the door. Said "here hold this" which was his jacket and proceeded to walk into the bathroom to take a piss without closing the door and me 5 feet away. I was like wtf Tommy?

- He was also a big flirt with the ladies which I found amusing. While at dinner he turns to me "boy, would sure like to bang that waitress". He was like 70 at the time.

Needless to say my impression of Tommy changed that day. Lol.

But he was an all-time great and is in the pantheon of the greatest Dodgers ever.