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Bar Chat

11/02/2017

On to Game 7!

[Posted Wednesday a.m.]

World Series Quiz: Name the MVPs for the 2011 (St. Louis over Texas), 2015 (K.C. over Mets) and 2016 (Cubs over Indians).  Answer below.

World Series...Game 6...and a look back at Game 5....

Houston third baseman Alex Bregman said what was on a lot of our minds after Game 5.  “I thought Game 2 was probably the best baseball game I ever played in.  It was unbelievable, the huge homer and all the home runs that were hit. I didn’t think that would ever be topped; I thought that would be the best game I ever played in my career.

“Who knows where this one ranks, right up there with that game – back and forth, the two best teams in baseball fighting to the very end and going toe to toe with each other. Everybody was used on both teams, pretty much, every single player.  It was special for us to come out on top.”

It started out like it would be Clayton Kershaw’s and the Dodgers’ night, Los Angeles scoring three on Houston’s Dallas Keuchel in the first, Keuchel tossing 32 pitches.  The Dodgers added a run in the top of the fourth off him and it was 4-0, heading to the bottom of the fourth, Kershaw having breezed through the first three innings.

But Kershaw walked leadoff man George Springer, Bregman flied out, Jose Altuve singled and Carlos Correa doubled, bringing Springer home, and it was 4-1, runners on second and third, one out.  Up stepped Yuli Gurriel and he slammed a monster home run.  Tie game...4-4.  Kershaw had blown a four-run lead for the first time in like forever.  It was also the 10th consecutive start he had allowed a home run, far and away the longest streak of his career, and he had now allowed more postseason home runs, 8, than anyone in history.  [5 pitchers having given up 7.]

But in the top of the fifth, Dodger sensation Cody Bellinger blasted a three-run homer against Collin McHugh, 7-4 Dodgers.  Surely, Kershaw would hold this lead.

But after the future Hall of Famer got the first two batters out, he walked the next two and, pitch count already up to 94, he was replaced by Kenta Maeda, who then gave up a tying three-run homer to Altuve...7-7 after five.  It was the seventh postseason homer for Altuve. The guy hit seven all of the 2014 regular season!

Bellinger tripled in a run in the seventh (Springer misplaying the ball), 8-7 Dodgers, and then Springer tied it in the bottom of the seventh with a home run off Brandon Morrow.

Morrow, outstanding all season, was pitching for a third straight day and fifth time in the last six. He seemed to be running on fumes, as after the Springer home run, Bregman singled, Altuve doubled him home, and Correa launched a two –run homer.  Astros leading 11-8!

The two teams exchanged runs in the eighth, Brian McCann hitting a solo homer for Houston, and the Astros took a 12-9 lead into the ninth inning.

Closer Ken Giles was no longer an option after his horrible performance thus far, so A.J. Hinch went with Chris Devenski, who gave up a two-run homer to Yasiel Puig to cut it to 12-11, and then Christ Taylor singled home Austin Barnes with two outs, a dramatic comeback, helped in no small part by Barnes’ hustle double.

On to the 10th, and Houston’s new reliever, Joe Musgrove, set the Dodgers down, setting it up for Bregman, who singled in the winning run off a gassed Kenley Jansen, on for a second inning; and Jansen having now given up a run in three consecutive outings after a regular season with one blown save out of 42 attempts, and a 1.32 ERA.

I have to admit, I bailed at 7-4, but then watched a speeded up version Monday night (thanks, Ken P.) and saw every key moment after I had fallen prey to the Sandman.

Thomas Boswell / Washington Post

“When a fight like this breaks out in a bar, first they call the 300-pound bouncer to break it up, then they call the cops.  After that, the riot squad with the big shields and batons seems appropriate.  But, by the end, when the place is in flames and a bad Hollywood B-movie brawl has turned into an Academy Award nominee for Best Dystopian Epic, and nobody really knows what to do except bleed, you can finally call the fire department and hose ‘em all down.

“That might work with the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers, who seem intent on playing a World Series that is more intense and wonderful, more hyperbolic and ridiculous, more jammed with homers and pitchers headed to shock trauma, than almost any other ever, even those fire hoses might not be enough to pry these 50 men, 25 to a side, off each other....

“(This) game was far more than any score could capture.  No, this was five World Series games rolled into one.”

Back to Kershaw, the Dodgers had been 100-0 when he had 4+ runs of support.  [137-19 lifetime, including 19-0 this season.]  After such a sterling Game One effort, his postseason reputation is back in the toilet.  7-7, lifetime, with a 4.50 ERA.

As Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times wrote: “Fair or not, if the Dodgers fail to reverse their three-games-to-two deficit this World Series, his disastrous start in Game 5 could be what forever defines him....

“Kershaw has occupied a curious middle ground in the city’s sporting landscape, admiration for his regular-season achievements, professionalism and philanthropy tempered by disappointment over his failure to deliver a championship.

“There really were no excuses this time.  The depth of the rotation made it unnecessary for him to pitch on short rest this postseason.  The bullpen was performing well. The potency of the offense provided him with run support.”

--22 total home runs were hit in the first five games, a new World Series record.

--At five hours and 17 minutes, it was the second-longest game in WS history.

--The Astros became the first team in WS history to have five different players homer in a game.

--As for the baseballs being used and their role in the plethora of homers, all the pitchers on both sides agree the World Series ball “is slicker than the ones used in the regular season because of a difference in the grain of the leather.  The slicker World Series balls particularly make it hard to throw a good slider, they claim.”  [Tom Verducci / Sports Illustrated]

--Game 5 routed the NFL’s Sunday Night Football matchup, Steelers-Lions, which posted a 9.4 overnight rating, while Game 5 averaged 12.8 among U.S. households, the best mark of the Series.

Game 5 of the record-setting 2016 Fall Classic also beat the NFL last year with a 15.3 overnight rating and total viewership of 23.6 million fans.

This is hugely encouraging for baseball’s future, as I have long-argued they are gradually going to be gaining from picking up some of the super athletes who prior to all the CTE issues would have chosen football.

On to Game 6, both pitching staffs fried.

And we’re on to a Game 7!

Andy McCullough / Los Angeles Times

“The closer lumbered down the stairs away from the diamond, three outs down, three more to go. Dodger Stadium trembled in his wake, aware of the responsibility that hung across his broad shoulders. As Kenley Jansen entered the dugout midway through Tuesday’s’ eighth inning, he met the most concerned spectator inside a ballpark containing 54,128 fans in the sixth game of the World Series.

“ ‘You got this?’ manager Dave Roberts asked.

“Jansen stared at his manager. He had blown one save and lost one game to these Houston Astros.  He understood that the Dodgers resided on the brink of elimination because of it. His gaze was firm.  His answer was brief, biting and unequivocal.

“ ‘Yes,’ Jansen replied, and he walked away.  Roberts needed to hear no more.”

Jansen slammed the door in the ninth. Six up, six down for the closer.

“The baseball gods might not answer letters, but they do allow dreams to flourish.

“The Dodgers kept theirs alive Tuesday, 48 hours after an excruciating Game 5 defeat, by playing like the team that ran away with the National League West and bulldozed the other contenders for the pennant.  Humbled for five innings, the offense awakened in time. Chris Taylor helped conquer Astros ace Justin Verlander with a tying double in the sixth. Corey Seager gave the Dodgers the lead with a sacrifice fly.  Joc Pederson unleashed his third homer of the World Series in the seventh.”

Verlander certainly didn’t blow what could have been his legacy moment.  6 innings, 2 earned, 0 walks, 9 strikeouts.  His other outing in Game 2, a no-decision in the Astros’ classic 7-6 win, he went 6 innings, 3 earned.  Last night was the first time Verlander suffered a loss in an Astros uniform, now 9-1 (Houston 10-1 in games he has appeared in). 

But the real story, aside from Jansen being Jansen again, was Dave Roberts’ masterful manipulation of the bullpen.  Starter Rich Hill yielded a solo shot to George Springer in the third, but after just 58 pitches he was pulled with two outs, bases loaded in the fifth by Roberts.  I, like many of you, thought, leave the guy in one more batter.  The bullpen, after all, was a mess after the weekend and Sunday’s 13-12 slugfest.

But Roberts brought in Brandon Morrow, who induced a weak grounder from Alex Bregman to escape the jam.  Roberts said, “I just felt that with Verlander on the mound that was going to be the game.  So a guy that we’ve trusted all year long in that spot, I felt that you have to use that bullet in Brandon Morrow... And he came through in the biggest spot of the season.”

For Game 7 it’s Yu Darvish vs. Lance McCullers Jr., all hands on deck.  Clayton Kershaw said after Game 6, “I can give 27 innings. Whatever they need.”  He will have had two days’ rest.  Ditto Houston’s Dallas Keuchel. Expect him to go two or more.  I’m guessing Kershaw gets in for an inning.

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--Former major league outfielder Gabe Kapler is the new manager of the Philadelphia Phillies.  Kapler has served as director of player development for the Los Angeles Dodgers since 2014.   The 42-year-old Kapler replaces Pete Mackanin, who moved into a front-office position.

Kapler played 12 seasons with six teams between 1998-2010.  He had no previous ties to the Phillies.

The Phillies finished 66-96 last season under Mackanin, but were better in the second half and have some real talent, so Kapler is stepping into a good situation.

--Who will the Yankees tab now?  Former player Raul Ibanez is emerging as a popular potential pick.

College Football

We got the first CFP Rankings Tuesday and the main thing I see, with a ton more action to go, is that the top ten is the same in both the CFP and AP, just reshuffled.

So following is the CFP ranking...followed by the AP rank:

1. Georgia...2
2. Alabama...1
3. Notre Dame...5
4. Clemson...6
5. Oklahoma...8
6. Ohio State...3
7. Penn State...7
8. TCU...10
9. Wisconsin...4
10. Miami...9

I don’t have a problem with any of this.  If Notre Dame wins out, including wins over Miami and Stanford, yeah, I guess they should be in, but I maintain Saturday’s Virginia Tech at Miami game is huge in this regard.  Notre Dame needs Miami to win it.  A win over the Hurricanes then will count more.  [No, I don’t think my Wake Forest Demon Deacons have a shot at beating the Fighting Irish on Saturday, nor Navy a few weeks later.]

If Oklahoma beats Oklahoma State (11 in both polls), and then TCU, the Sooners should get in (if they also beat whoever they then play in the conference title game).  But if you assume both Georgia and Alabama deserve to be in, assuming there isn’t a blowout in the SEC title game, that still leaves out two schools...Clemson and Ohio State (or Wisconsin).

Yet these things have a way of rectifying themselves.

Like I’m telling you today, Ohio State will lose to Michigan on Nov. 25.  I really think the Wolverines now have the formula on offense with their running game and new QB.

As for Clemson, let’s see how they do against North Carolina State this weekend, the Wolfpack ranked 20 in both polls.

Aside from Clemson-N.C. State, and Oklahoma at Oklahoma State, 18 (AP...21 CFP) Stanford at 25 (in both) Washington State is important re the New Year’s Six.

Speaking of which, in terms of the Group of Five entrant to the New Year’s Six, the CFP ranks UCF 18 and Memphis 24.

Anyway, I’ll stick with both Alabama and Georgia making the semis, plus I now can’t argue against Notre Dame (whose only loss was by one point to Georgia).  Which would leave the Big Ten champ, ACC winner, and Big 12 fighting for the final spot.

Which of course means there are going to be at least three or four titanic games the rest of the way to mess this all up.

--When I posted last time, I hadn’t heard of the injury to Wake Forest’s star receiver Greg Dortch.  In rather bizarre fashion, it seems that Dortch, at one point in the Louisville game, appeared to have the wind knocked out of him, but he returned to tally two of his school-record four touchdown receptions after this occurred.

It was only 30 minutes after the game that doctors seemed to ascertain he needed emergency “abdominal surgery” and he’s out for the season.  I still haven’t seen exactly what kind of issue this is long term.

So this blows, though we do have a lot of experienced receivers to fall back on.  It’s just that this is an All-American caliber receiver, as I just happened to note the other day.

Personally, I see this as a moment for tight end Cam Serigne to shine. I’m convinced he is going to be very solid in the NFL.

NFL

--Harrison Butker kicked five field goals, Marcus Peters returned a fumble for a touchdown and the Kansas City Chiefs took advantage of five Denver turnovers to beat the Broncos 29-19 on Monday night.

Alex Smith was just 14/31, 202, 1-0, but seven of his passes were hauled in by tight end Travis Kelce for 133 of the yards and the score.  Kelce is off to another terrific start, 44 receptions, 556 yards and four touchdowns.

Meanwhile, Denver quarterback Trevor Siemian was picked off three times for the 3-4 Broncos. Time for a change at QB for them, Siemian with 9 TD passes and 10 interceptions, plus a putrid 76.8 passer rating.

--Sunday night, your Bar Chat “Pick to Click” Steelers improved to 6-2 with a 20-15 win over Detroit (3-4), Pittsburgh receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster scoring on a 97-yard touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger late in the third quarter, seven catches for 193 yards in all for the rookie out of USC.

--New England made a rather stunning move, in-season, by trading backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to San Francisco for a second-round pick Monday night.

Niners coach Kyle Shanahan gets a quarterback and GM John Lynch can continue his rebuilding efforts, the two secure with six-year contracts and determined to build the franchise back up the right way.  Earlier they had refused to overpay for Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins last offseason.

Diehard New England fan Pete M. says Bill Belichick may have outsmarted himself.  Or as fellow Pat fan David P. put it, everyone knows Tom Brady is one missed blocking assignment from the DL, and then what?

I’m just startled the Pats, if they wanted to deal Garoppolo so badly, didn’t hold out for a first-rounder from someone.  

But what do I know...I just believe Garoppolo, with three years under Belichick’s tutelage, even if he does have just 94 career passing attempts (though five TDs and zero interceptions), has to be more valuable in 2018 than just about anyone coming out in the draft next spring.  It’s a crapshoot who among this supposed super class of QBs might be ready, a la Deshaun Watson, to take over an NFL team from Week One, whereas Garoppolo is...or so a lot believe.

Looks to me like the Niners pulled off a real heist, while the likes of Kirk Cousins have just lost out on a potential offseason target as he will be mulling free agency (unless the Redskins “franchise tag” him yet again).

But Belichick addressed the issue Tuesday, saying, “We probably had, in my opinion, the best quarterback situation in the league for the last 2 ½ years, [but] it’s just not sustainable given the way things are set up.”

Belichick added, referring to the looming salary issue with Garoppolo, “I felt like we rode it out as long as we could.  Over a period of time, we explored every option possible to try to sustain it.”

Garoppolo can become an unrestricted free agent after the season and he couldn’t reach an agreement on a new deal with the Patriots.  But with New England having previously traded No. 3 quarterback Jacoby Brissett to the Colts, they have a hole to fill...and quick.  As I go to post, it’s expected the Pats will sign Brian Hoyer, released by the 49ers, Hoyer having previously played with New England.

--The Eagles acquired Pro Bowl running back Jay Ajayi from the Dolphins for a fourth-round pick, a bit of a shocker, though his production had fallen from that of his super 2016 campaign.

Miami was seemingly worried about Ajayi’s long-term health and his knees, plus his attitude reportedly sucked. But what a coup for the 7-1 Eagles.

--Also on the trade front, Houston sent Duane Brown to Seattle, providing the Seahawks with the left tackle they have long sought.

And Carolina traded solid receiver Kelvin Benjamin to the surprising 5-2 Bills for a third- and seventh-round pick in the 2018 NFL draft.

--The Browns were supposedly acquiring Cincinnati backup QB A.J. McCarron but didn’t get the details into the league office by the 4 p.m. deadline, or so the story goes, which would be typical of this franchise.

--Chicago Bears tight end Zach Miller underwent surgery Sunday night in New Orleans to literally save his leg, after he was injured in a gruesome fashion in the Bears-Saints contest, Miller not only dislocating his knee, but damaging a key artery.

Following the emergency surgery, we heard on Monday his left leg had been stabilized. Because of the artery issue, vascular surgeons were brought in to conduct a procedure that included grafting tissue from Miller’s right leg to repair the damaged artery.

Geezuz.  That’s just not fair.  Miller has been a solid performer since being drafted by the Jaguars in 2009, joining the Bears in 2015.

Tuesday, Coach John Fox said Miller was “progressing well.”

--Dallas’ (4-3) season clearly rides on the status of running back Ezekiel Elliott, who is once again on the suspended list following Judge Katherine Polk Failla’s ruling in federal court in Manhattan on Monday night, denying an injunction in Elliott’s appeal of a six-game suspension over domestic violence allegations.

This was Monday and Elliott and the NFL Players Association had 24 hours to appeal.

If the NFLPA, which has been representing Elliott, appeals up to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, legal experts have said they are unlikely to find success.

As it is, Elliott, who has managed to play in the Cowboys’ first seven games, including three consecutive 100 yards+ rushing efforts the last three, now faces a suspension for the games against K.C., Atlanta, Philadelphia, L.A. Chargers, Washington and New York.  He’d be eligible to return Dec. 17 against Oakland.

Where will the Cowboys be then?

--With the NFL season basically at the midway point, CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora was musing on the coaching situation with some of the teams and I think all would be in agreement on the following.

Hue Jackson, Browns: “This is a complete disaster in every department of the building. Watching rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer suffer again Sunday, falling apart in the second half, while other young quarterbacks soar, will doom every football person in that building. Because owners don’t fire themselves. It’s over for coaches and personnel....The Browns have one win since Jackson took over before the 2016 season and they have four wins since December 2014 (GM Sashi Brown, in differing roles, has been there for every single one of those losses).

“Cleveland is 4-41 in its last 45 games, an unfathomable degree of failure in a league of parity. They could easily go 1-15 again.  It’s over.”

Others in trouble....

Chuck Pagano, Colts, even though without Andrew Luck they are playing hard.  It’s just that they’re still 2-6.

Dirk Koetter, Bucs: “This was supposed to be their year to make a move in the NFC South and this was supposed to be Jameis Winston’s year to join the elite quarterbacks in the NFL and instead, it’s the ‘Hard Knocks’ curse all over again....Too much talent to be this inept and at 2-5, in last place in their division after four straight losses.  But it’s’ Winston’s struggles (pedestrian rating of 88.3) that will command ownership’s attention, above all else, after failing to do a full reboot when firing Lovie Smith after one season.”

Also, it’s time for Marvin Lewis, Bengals, to move on as his contract expires end of the season.

As for the Jets’ Todd Bowles, as I’ve seen firsthand, he has his players playing hard, and some of the younger guys on defense are getting better, which was his main task this season, knowing from the start they weren’t playoff bound.  He’ll get to stay.

But the Giants’ Ben McAdoo?  He needs to win some games from here on to save his job. The team is a mess, but I can’t see the Giants making a change after just two seasons, unless they end up like 2-14.

NBA

--What a difference a week makes.  If you aren’t from the area, you just can’t imagine the awful vibe surrounding the Knicks, three games into a new season, with expectations low but fans just hoping the young guys would develop and maybe next year they’d begin to turn it around.

They lost the first three in miserable fashion, and players were already sniping over the head coach and how they didn’t know the plays and had no idea what the offense was supposed to be.  They were also playing zero defense, just like prior years.

But then they played the Brooklyn Nets, who were coming off a surprising victory over the Cavs, and the Knicks won it.  Then the Knicks beat Cleveland themselves, and Monday night they beat Denver.  Suddenly 3-3. All is good.

A big reason for shipping Carmelo Anthony off to Oklahoma City was to clear the deck for budding superstar Kristaps Porzingis, in his third season but just having turned 22 in August, and all Porzingis has done is score 30 or more in five of his first six, the most prolific start to a season in Knicks history.  Monday, he had a career-high 38, and the Garden was rocking for him. 

Some of us just want something to watch now and then, especially when there isn’t a good college hoops game on as we head into winter.  Go Knicks!

--Since I last posted about Markelle Fultz, the No. 1 overall pick in the draft last spring who has shoulder soreness and the shooting yips, the 76ers have shut him down indefinitely, at least for three weeks, while they wait to see what happens with the shoulder.  This is embarrassing.

Golf Balls

--I have to admit.  I’m a little surprised Tiger Woods is returning so soon after being told by his doctors he could resume full golf activities.  Woods announced he’ll play in his Hero World Challenge (Nov. 30-Dec. 3) in the Bahamas, an elite 18-man field that benefits his foundation.

It’s the perfect testing ground for him.  If he passes it healthy, needless to say, that will be a great sign for 2018.

I don’t care what you think about Tiger, personally, but it would be awesome for the sport, and awesome television, if he could just compete in the final round of a major just once next year, which I imagine if he doesn’t have any success, and misses a bunch of cuts, he’d call his last.

-At a college golf tournament in Hawaii (Princeville), Georgia Southern junior Stephen Fisk, who was medalist in his last two starts, fired a school- and course-record 60 on Monday in the second round (of three).  [Fisk finished T-3 in the event.]

I was shocked to read this in Golfweek, but there has never been a 59 in men’s Division I golf.  13 have posted a 60 in a college round.

Stuff

--Hey, horse racing fans...don’t forget the Breeders Cup this weekend.  I’ve always gotta watch The Juvenile, to get a look at the Derby prospects for next May, and of course the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the races this year at Del Mar.

Jay Posner / L.A. Times

“Post positions were being drawn for the Breeders’ Cup Classic and only three spots remained. Two of the horse without an assignment were the two favorites, defending champion Arrogate and Gun Runner.

“Would one of them get the dreaded rail?

“Arrogate’s name was selected. ‘No. 1,’ was the call.

“A groan could be heard inside the pavilion at Del Mar’s Powerhouse Park, where post positions for all 13 Breeders’ Cup races this weekend were drawn Monday.

“But if jockey Mike Smith was concerned, he kept it to himself.

“ ‘If you go back and look,’ Smith said, ‘probably his best two races, the Travers [August 2016} and the Pegasus [January 2017], he was in the one-hole.  I learned a long time ago a real good horse makes a bad post a good one. We’ll see what happens.’

“One thing is certain: Smith won’t have to spend a lot of time thinking about strategy.

“ ‘I’ll be aggressive leaving there,’ he said.  ‘I’ve got to get position.  I’ll ride him hard, like I did in the Travers, and see where that puts me. If I can get right behind the first group [of pacesetters] I’ll be happy with that.’

“Gun Runner, the 9-5 morning-line favorite after winning three consecutive races by a total of 22 ½ lengths, figures to be one of those pacesetters out of the No. 5 post.  He’ll have company from Collected, like Arrogate a member of trainer Bob Baffert’s record quartet of starters in the race.  Collected, who is on the outside of the 11-horse field, won the Pacific Classic in August by racing gate to wire.

“ ‘I like being on the outside better, but I’ve got a lot of good horses on the outside,’ said Baffert, who also has Mubtaahij (No. 6) and West Coast (No. 8) in the field.”

Arrogate, who is being retired to stud after Saturday’s race, was the runner-up in the Pacific Classic, his second consecutive loss after defeating Gun Runner in the Dubai World Cup; the last of Arrogate’s seven consecutive victories, including 2016’s Travers, Breeders’ Cup Classic and Pegasus World Classic.

Last year he beat California Chrome in the Classic at Santa Anita.

“Shu” told me long ago he was going with Gun Runner.  I’m going with Collected. Johnny Mac, fresh out of surgery, is going with Arrogate.  Of course it’s always hard to bet against jockey Mike Smith, “Big Money Mike.”

[Bolt d’Oro is the favorite in The Juvenile.]

--Men’s Division I Soccer Rankings (Coaches Poll...as of Oct. 31)

1. Wake Forest (16) 15-1-1
2. Indiana (7) 13-0-4
3. North Caroilna (1) 14-2-1
4. Stanford 12-2-1
5. Western Michigan 14-2-1
11. Duke 12-3-2

RPI

1. North Carolina
2. Wake Forest
3. Duke...huh

--Champions League play continue this week, fourth leg of six in the round-robin group stage.

Tuesday, among Premier League teams, Manchester United beat Benfica 2-0, while Chelsea got blitzed by Roma 3-0.

Wednesday, Tottenham hosts Real Madrid, while Liverpool and Man City are also in action.

--I forgot to mention last time that Britain’s Lewis Hamilton clinched his fourth world driving championship, Formula One, at the Mexican Grand Prix, thus joining rival Sebastian Vettel and Frenchman Alain Prost on four world titles, behind only Michael Schumacher, the all-time record holder with seven, and Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio’s five.

Hamilton passed Sir Jackie Stewart as the most successful British driver.

The first title was handed out in 1950, and only two Americans have won it; Phil Hill (1961) and Mario Andretti (1978).

--The November issue of Golf Digest had a glowing portrait of Butch Harmon, and then at the end, a little piece titled “The 25 Best Teachers...of All Time.”

So no surprise they picked Harmon No. 1... “Between great jokes, he’ll make you a great golfer.”

But I loved some of the others.

2. Confucius...Pithy, yet effective.

3. Walter White...Held the highest standards on purity.

5. Vince Lombardi...In other words, second place is the first loser.

6. Socrates...That guy knew how to ask a question.

11. Miss Othmar...The “Peanuts” teacher never let her voice overpower others.

12. Anne Sullivan...Taught Hellen Keller.  Nicknamed the Miracle Worker. Nuff said.

17. Miss Crabtree...Turned those “Little Rascals” into little angels.

18. Professor Irwin Corey... “The World’s Foremost Authority.”

20. Edna Krabappel...Encouraged underachievers like Bart Simpson to have realistic expectations.

24. Albert Einstein...Forsook personal grooming to spend more time educating.

--Kevin Spacey goes into the December file as a “Dirtball of the Year” candidate, as he somehow decided that a decades-old sexual assault accusation from actor Anthony Rapp, then a 14-year-old child star, Spacey 26, was reason for him to reveal that he was gay, which I guess if you were part of the Hollywood scene you already knew, but the rest of us schmucks hadn’t a clue...not that it mattered.

But now it does with the accusations, which Spacey stupidly passed off as “inappropriate drunken behavior.”  More on this, including the impact on Netflix, in my upcoming “Week in Review” column...the one I sign.

--Brad K. continues to have bear trouble in western New Jersey.  “Bears in our town are attacking rabbit hutches up on the mountain (Schooley’s mountain). What they leave are bits and pieces.”  His family isn’t sleeping well.

Top 3 songs for the week 11/3/73:  #1 “Midnight Train To Georgia” (Gladys Knight & The Pips...not a fan...)  #2 “Angie” (The Rolling Stones)  #3 “Keep On Truckin’” (Eddie Kendricks)...and...#4 “Half-Breed” (Cher)  #5 “Paper Roses” (Marie Osmond)  #6 “Heartbeat – It’s A Lovebeat” (The DeFranco Family...beep beep...beep beep...)  #7 “Ramblin’ Man” (The Allman Brothers Band)  #8 “Let’s Get It On” (Marvin Gaye)  #9 “Space Race” (Billy Preston)  #10 “All I Know” (Garfunkel)

World Series Quiz Answer: MVPs: 2011, David Freese, St. Louis. 2015, Salvador Perez, K.C. 2016, Ben Zobrist, Cubs.

Next Bar Chat, Monday.

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