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Bar Chat

01/07/2019

The Nick Foles Story, cont'd....

[Posted Sunday p.m., prior to conclusion of Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua.]

MLB Quiz: Satchel Paige was the oldest player to appear in a major league game.  How old was he?  Answer below.

NFL...Wild Card Weekend

--Saturday, the Indianapolis Colts traveled to Houston for their wild card contest and it was over midway through the second, 21-0, as Andrew Luck engineered three scoring drives, the Colts going on to win 21-7.  Luck finished 19/32, 222 (191 at the half), 2-1, 88.3, while Marlon Mack rushed for 148 on 24 carries and a score.

For Houston, Deshaun Watson was even worse than his stats, 29/49, 235, 1-1, 69.7, throwing one awful pass after another, while superstar receiver DeAndre Hopkins was held to 37 yards on five receptions.

You have to love the Colts and Luck, who started 1-5, and have now won 10 of 11.  I’m rooting for them.

--Dallas won a playoff game for only the fourth time in 23 years with a 24-22 victory over Seattle in Arlington. Quarterback Dak Prescott (22/33, 226, 1-1, 83.6) had the key play, a fourth-quarter run with the Cowboys down 14-10 that set up a one-yard touchdown run for Ezekiel Elliott, and then in the final minutes, facing a third-and-14 at the Seattle 17, Prescott ran it to the one, giving up his body and going airborne before crash-landing.  He then called his own number for the ensuing TD.  The guy who many question whether he is a true franchise quarterback, certainly took on the leadership role in a big way Saturday.

For his part, Elliott rushed for 137 yards on 26 carries, and caught four passes for another 32.

Seattle, with the best running game in the league, was held to just 73 yards on 24 carries.

--Then today....

With 9:08 left in the fourth quarter, Summit’s Michael Badgley kicked his fifth field goal of the game from 47 yards (a sixth attempt blocked) to make it 23-3 Chargers over the Ravens in Baltimore.  Game over.

Until it wasn’t.  Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, who everyone thought should be replaced for Joe Flacco, if not at the half, then the start of the fourth quarter, was given a vote of confidence by coach John Harbaugh and responded with two quick touchdown drives, 169 yards through the air in the fourth alone, to cut it to 23-17 with 1:59 to play in the game.

Baltimore elected to kick it deep, rather than attempt an onside kick, the Chargers had to give the ball back, but Jackson fumbled for a third time in the game, L.A. recovered, and it was over.

There are so many ‘what ifs’ Jim Nantz and Tony Romo didn’t get into regarding the scoring, but I was surprised the Chargers went for two when they scored to make it 18-3, beginning of the fourth.  They converted, however, making it a three-score game, but if they had missed on it....

And then Badgley’s last field goal proved to be super clutch, as the Ravens had to have a different mindset, taking the ball the last time needing a touchdown rather than a field goal to tie.

Those conditions today in Baltimore were not easy at all for the kickers, witness Justin Tucker’s first miss in his playoff career, but Badgley, the star of the game, along with the Chargers’ defense, came through.

--But what a nightcap...the “Nick Foles Story” continuing another week, and a second season, Philadelphia holding on to defeat the Bears at Soldier Field, 16-15, as Chicago kicker Cody Parkey missed a 43-yard field goal to win it, hitting the upright and then the crossbar.

Foles had connected with Golden Tate on a fourth down, 2-yard touchdown pass play with 56 seconds remaining for the lead, the Bears having gone ahead with 9 minutes to play on a Mitchell Trubisky-Allen Robinson 22-yard hookup.

We’ve run out of superlatives for Foles.  He’s perhaps the most likeable guy in his sport, a leader and a winner.  Can he keep it going?  Why not.

As for Trubisky, he more than acquitted himself well in his playoff debut...26/43, 303, 1-0.

So in next weekend’s AFC playoffs, it’s the Chargers at the Patriots on Sunday, Indianapolis at Kansas City Saturday.

Drat...early weather forecasts...partly cloudy and 47 in K.C., and 29 and partly cloudy in New England the following day.

We want 19 degrees and snow!!!

In the NFC...Philadelphia at New Orleans, Sun., and Dallas at the Rams, Sat., doesn’t warrant a weather look, though we’ll see how the storms line up on the West Coast for L.A. next weekend.

--Here in New York, all the talk is over the future of quarterback Eli Manning, with general manager Dave Gettleman making it clear the other day there would be no immediate resolution to Manning’s status for 2019.  Eli said after the two met that he really has no clue if the team will want him back.

Gettleman said he wants to review all the game film.

“My personal feeling is the biggest mistakes are made when you’re emotional, and when the season ends you’re emotional and you’re mentally cooked.”

Manning’s salary cap hit is $23.2 million in 2019, or the Giants could cut him for $17 million in savings with $6.2 in ‘dead money.’

There is a deadline of March 18, when Eli is due a guaranteed roster bonus of $5 million.

When the Giants got off to a 1-7 start, I was with the others thinking Manning wouldn’t be back, but all things considered, he clearly remains the best option for 2019, assuming the team also drafts a solid quarterback prospect.

Otherwise, the Giants would need to go the free agent route and someone like Nick Foles.

--The Steelers haven’t received a formal trade offer for disgruntled wide receiver Antonio Brown, at least as of today, but it seems clear to me he will be dealt.  The problem is Brown will be entering the third year of a five-year, $72.7 million extension that’s already been restructured once.

Brown has a salary cap hit of $22.1 million this year, but it’s far more complicated than that.  Basically, cutting him makes zero sense financially for Pittsburgh.  But there’s time to figure this all out.

--The NFL’s television ratings were up 5 percent this season compared with 2017, according to figures released by the league.

The uptick follows two years of sliding ratings, with the average game drawing 15.8 million viewers as compared with 14.9 million in 2017.  That number was 16.5 million for the 2016 season and 17.9 million in 2015.

It has helped this year that big-market teams such as Dallas, Chicago and the two in Los Angeles had successful seasons.

--Sports Illustrated, in its preseason football issue, had the Falcons over the Steelers in the Super Bowl.  I had Jacksonville winning it all.  Cough cough...hack....

College Football

--On to the national championship...the two deepest and most talented teams, led by two of the sport’s most successful coaches.  Nick Saban going for his seventh national title (one at LSU and six at Alabama) to surpass Paul “Bear” Bryant for the most in FBS history.  Dabo Swinney seeking to join Saban and Urban Meyer as the only active coaches with multiple national titles, if you consider Meyer still ‘active.’

And the history of Alabama vs. Clemson in the CFP is nothing short of sensational. An Alabama 45-40 victory  after the 2015 season when the clock simply ran out on Deshaun Watson’s late heroics as he threw for 405 yards.

Then Clemson coming back the following year for a 35-31 win on a Watson to Hunter Renfrow touchdown pass with 14 seconds left.

Last year in the semis, Alabama won 24-6.

Clemson will once again be playing Monday without defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence due to his failing a drug test, and there not being enough time to go thru the appeal process.

--North Dakota State did it again, winning its record-setting seventh FCS (Div. I-AA) title in eight seasons, 38-24 over Eastern Washington, the Bison finishing a perfect season at 15-0.

NDSU coach Chris Klieman is now 69-6, but he is moving to Kansas State next season.

--I posted last time prior to the Sugar Bowl, so for the record Texas beat Georgia 28-21 behind quarterback Sam Ehlinger’s three rushing touchdowns, 64 yards in all, to go along with 169 passing.

So No. 15 Texas, in gaining its first 10-win season (10-4) since 2009, officially shut up the Bulldog faithful, No. 5 Georgia whining how they belonged in the playoffs, despite losing by 20 at LSU, and then to ‘Bama in the SEC title game.

The Bulldogs also lost five-star quarterback Justin Fields, who is transferring to Ohio State following his freshman season.  Fields will be enrolling at OSU for the spring semester, allowing him to participate in spring practice.  Oklahoma, Florida State and UCLA were also being considered by him.

So this speaks volumes about the status of current Buckeyes starting QB Dwayne Haskins, who greatly elevated his NFL draft prospects with his play in the Rose Bowl; Haskins now expected to declare for the draft, after initially acting like he was going to stay at Ohio State for  a final season.

Fields was given the opportunity to be Georgia’s starting quarterback but lost out to incumbent Jake Fromm. He did get playing time, throwing 39 passes, completing 69 percent of them for 328 yards and four touchdowns, no interceptions, while rushing for 266 yards and four touchdowns on  42 carries.  But Fromm was returning for another season, so Fields decided to look elsewhere.

Meanwhile, with coach Urban Meyer stepping down, for now, following Ohio State’s Rose Bowl win, a final examination.

Bill Plaschke / Los Angeles Times

“Urban Meyer has been a great leader of football players, but he has not been a great leader of men.

“His football achievements are astounding, but his enabling and empowering of miscreant athletes has been embarrassing.

“Meyer is one of only two modern-era coaches to win national FBS titles at two schools, hoisting the trophy twice at Florida and once at Ohio State.  With a 187-32 record, he has won more games in his 17 years than any other FBS coach in a similar span in NCAA history. He went an astounding 83-9 in seven years at Ohio State and beat Michigan every season.

“But at what price?

“In his six years at Florida, he oversaw several sketchy teams whose players were arrested for all sorts of alleged crimes, including domestic abuse. In dealing with numerous off-the-field issues there, while protecting players instead of holding them accountable, Meyer twisted the truth so much that he became known as Urban Liar.  Those players included the late Aaron Hernandez, who later played for the New England Patriots before being convicted of murder and ultimately committing suicide in his cell.

“At Ohio State, his cover-up culture surfaced last fall when he was suspended for three games for continuing to employ receivers coach Zach Smith in the wake of multiple accusations of domestic violence by his former wife Courtney.  Throughout the university’s investigative process, which focused on Meyer’s refusal to fire Smith even though he knew of the allegations, Meyer lied and whined and essentially played the part of the victim instead of owning up to his mishandling of the situation.

“It wasn’t a pretty sight. He came across as arrogant and insensitive.  With every attempt to defend himself, he continued to bury himself....

“Here’s guessing he will work a couple of semesters and head back to the sidelines for the 2020 season.

“USC, don’t even think about it.”

--Marc Tracy / New York Times

“Last month, the Big Ten’s influential commissioner, Jim Delany, endorsed discussions to expand the College Football Playoff, just five seasons into the format’s 12-year contract.

“Expanding the four-team playoff to six or eight teams is likely to be a hot topic at the meetings many conferences will hold Monday, before that evening’s national championship game between Alabama and Clemson in Santa Clara, Calif.

“ ‘It’s probably a good idea, given all the discussions and noise around the issue, to have conversations with our colleagues,’ Delany told The Athletic.

“Delany might have ulterior motives – the Big Ten has now gone two seasons without getting a team into the playoff. But John Swofford, the Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner, echoed Delany last week in Arlington, Tex., before Clemson played in its fourth straight national semifinal.

“ ‘What I see is a willingness to evaluate, take a look and gauge what a bigger field would mean,’ Swofford said.  ‘What are the implications?  And are there ways to make something that I think is outstanding at the moment even better?’

“Then there are those who say there are only ways to make a good thing worse....

“The most popular proposed reform to the playoff is to expand it further, making the bracket bigger at the expense of traditions like a classic Rose Bowl.

“The Rose Bowl is at the center of the playoff debate because of its importance to the Big Ten and the Pac-12, and because it is the oldest and most famous bowl game. That has historically made it the biggest stumbling block to altering the postseason: first with the creation of the Bowl Championship Series for the 1998 season; then, later, with the larger playoff that began with the 2014 season.”

The Rose Bowl hosts a national semifinal game every three years.

I am totally against expanding the current four-team CFP format.

--Tyler Trent, the Purdue student who sparked hope amid tears from a nation that followed his journey with terminal cancer, died Tuesday.  He was 20.

--Finally, we note the passing of former Navy and Virginia coach George Welsh, 85.  Welsh was a sterling 189-132-4 in 28 seasons at the two, 1973-2000.

Welsh finished 32-15-1 his last four seasons at Navy before taking on the challenge of Virginia football, the Cavaliers with just two winning seasons in the 29 years prior to Welsh’s arrival.

Virginia then went 2-9 in his first season, but by his third year, the Cavaliers were 8-2-2 and playing in the Peach Bowl, the first bowl invitation ever.  By the time Welsh retired in 2000, Virginia had gone to 12 bowl games.

George Welsh was as respected as any coach who ever prowled the sidelines.

College Basketball

We had some big upsets Saturday....

5 Kansas lost to Iowa State (12-2) in Ames, 77-60, as the Cyclones’ Marial Shayok was 5-of-5 from three, 24 points in all.  The Jayhawks fell to 12-2.

And my “Pick to Click” 6 Nevada Wolfpack were blown out in the Pit, suffering their first loss of the season at the hands of New Mexico (8-6), 85-58. The Martin brothers, Cody and Caleb, were held to 4-of-21 shooting from the field, the Wolfpack falling to 14-1.

But No. 1 Duke had its way with Clemson (10-4) in Durham, 87-68, to improve to 12-1.  Zion Williamson had 25 points and 10 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks, in just 22 minutes.

3 Tennessee annihilated Georgia (8-5) 96-50, the Vols now 12-1.

4 Virginia blew out 9 Florida State (12-2) 65-52 in Charlottesville, the Cavaliers remaining undefeated at 13-0.  If you didn’t watch this one (and I assume everyone voting in the Associated Press poll did), you’d understand it was 65-36 with 2:19 left!  Then Virginia coach Tony Bennett emptied his bench and the Seminoles closed with a 16-0 flurry to make it seem much closer than it was actually was.

Virginia’s Kyle Guy was 4-of-4 from three, 18 points, in the first half as Virginia jumped out to a 42-23 lead; Guy finishing with 21.

Here’s hoping the Cavaliers shake off last year’s historic embarrassment in the NCAA tournament and reach the Final Four.

In other games, 8 Michigan State (13-2) won an early Big Ten showdown, defeating 14 Ohio State (12-2) in Columbus, 86-77.  Wake Forest grad transfer Keyshawn Woods was miserable for the Buckeyes, going 0-for-5 from the field, 2 points.

10 Virginia Tech will move up a notch after a 77-66 win over Boston College (9-4), the Hokies 13-1.

And in a highly-entertaining contest that harkened back to the glory days of the Big East in the 1980s, Chris Mullin’s Johnnies defeated Patrick Ewing’s Hoyas in D.C., 97-94 in overtime; St. John’s Shamorie Ponds with another spectacular effort, 37 points, 5 assists and 3 steals.  He is clearly one of the top five players in the country...at least one of the top five guards.

The Red Storm is now 14-1 and will finally crack the top 25 on Monday when the next poll is released, the Hoyas falling to 11-4.  It’s great for the New York area when St. John’s is playing well, and it’s been a long drought.

It was also sweet that the Red Storm won this big one on legendary coach Lou Carnesecca’s 94th birthday.

Lastly, Saturday, Wake Forest lost to Georgia Tech 92-79, in as meaningless a conference game as you’ll find, both teams destined to finish at the bottom of the ACC.

Wake will end up 0-18 in ACC play, but what is even more depressing was the flurry of stories this week that coach Danny Manning could be around for a while, and not fired, because of the complexity of his contract.

Phil W. passed on Dan Collins’ piece from the Winston-Salem Journal, Collins writing in part:

“The rank-and-file fans have been wise to the dumpster fire consuming their once proud program, but the problem is, any and all protestations are falling on deaf ears. Best anyone can tell, the man most responsible for the plight of all Wake athletics, Ron Wellman, simply no longer cares.

“Wake can finish 12th, 14th, 10th and 14th in the ACC under the same coach while players leave in droves and the program is relegated to irrelevance, and what does Wellman do?

“He extends Manning’s contract.

“There’s been a report floating around for some time from Jeff Goodman of ESPN that Manning’s contract will run through the 2024-25 season and that its fully guaranteed to the tune of $18 million.

“When asked, Wellman fell back on the usual dodge provided him by Wake’s status as a private institution.

“ ‘We do not comment on contract details,’ Wellman said.

“I ask you as fans of Wake basketball. Why do you care? What are you supposed to think when the current coach is losing game after game, and the man who hired him is not even commenting on reports that said coach is under contract through 2025?”

The Deacs play Duke on Tuesday on ESPN.  This could be farcical.

--In women’s hoops, last Thursday, No. 8 Baylor beat UConn 68-57 in Waco, handing the Lady Huskies their first regular-season loss in more than four years.

The last time Connecticut lost a regular-season game was in overtime at Stanford on Nov. 14, 2014, a span of 126 consecutive regular-season contests until Thursday.

NBA

--The sport of basketball is all about the ‘three’ and Golden State and Sacramento combined for an NBA-record 41 3-pointers during Saturday night’s 127-123 Warriors win in Sacramento.  It was also the first game in NBA history in which both teams made at least 20 3-pointers; the Warriors went 21-for-47, and the Kings went 20-for-36.

Steph Curry had 42 points, 10-of-20 from three.  Kings guard Buddy Hield was 8-of-13 from downtown.

--After a 108-86 loss to Minnesota today, the Lakers are 1-5 with LeBron James on the sidelines with his groin injury, James expected out another 3-4 games.

MLB

--The Yankees were active the past few days.  They lost reliever David Robertson to the Phillies, but they reached a deal with reliever Zach Britton to bring him back to The Bronx, on a contract that could be worth as much as $53 million over four years.  Britton can opt out after the 2020 season if the Yankees don’t exercise an option for 2022 by the end of the second season.

Britton provides insurance as a closer should Aroldis Chapman have another injury issue.

Earlier, the Yanks won the battle to sign shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, ‘Tulo’ having been released by Toronto, allowing any team to sign him for the major-league minimum, while Toronto pays off the remaining $38 million on his existing contract.

There was a time the five-time All-Star was regarded as the best shortstop in the game, but he’s had lots of injury issues and sat out 2018 after surgery on both heels.

At 34, though, the Yanks, and other teams, believed he is now healthy.  We’ll see come spring training, but if he is, it will have been a great move for New York, as the Yankees needed a stop-gap to fill in until Didi Gregorius returns from Tommy John surgery, sometime between June 1 and Aug. 1.

Back to David Robertson, Philadelphia signed the free agent to a two-year, $23 million contract.  The 33-year-old has averaged 11.97 strikeouts per nine innings in his 11-year career, the most of any pitcher with at least 650 innings pitched.

Philadelphia has been aggressively trying to spend its way back into relevance, signing outfielder Andrew McCutchen and acquiring All-Star shortstop Jean Segura in a trade with Seattle, but they haven’t made the really big move yet, as they said they would this offseason.  As in the following two....

--....Bryce Harper and Manny Machado.  The Yankees claim they are still in the hunt for the latter, with Machado receiving other interest only from the Chicago White Sox and Phillies. Chicago has supposedly made a serious offer, but closer to $200 million than the $300 million it was assumed both Machado, and Harper, would receive.  Both the White Sox and Phillies are also interested in Harper.

But here we are, less than six weeks from spring training, and it doesn’t appear as if either player is really close to signing.

Premier League

They held the big one on Thursday, Liverpool at Man City, City needing to win to get back in the Premier League title race, or, frankly, it was going to be over after the 21st match.

Instead, in what was truly a scintillating game at Etihad Stadium, City prevailed 2-1, Leroy Sane with the game-winner at the 72-minute mark.

Sergio Aguero had given City the lead at ’40, Liverpool’s Robert Firmino then tying it at ’64.

This game had it all...and represented the best of the sport; as good as any World Cup title match you could imagine.  [For those who watched, I did not think City’s Vincent Kompany deserved more than a yellow card for his lunge at Mohamed Salah.]

So now we have a race again, the PL off this weekend for FA Cup play.

Standings after 21 of 38 matches...W-D-L

1. Liverpool 17-3-1...54
2. Manchester City 16-2-3...50
3. Tottenham 16-0-5...48
4. Chelsea 13-5-3...44
5. Arsenal 12-5-4...41
6. Manchester United 11-5-5...38
7. Leicester City 9-4-8...31

In the relegation fight....

15. Newcastle 4-6-11...18
16. Burnley 5-3-13...18
17. Cardiff City 5-3-13...18
18. Southampton 3-7-11...16
19. Fulham 3-5-13...14
20. Huddersfield 2-4-15...10

--Chelsea made big news off the pitch, signing Christian Pulisic, the face of U.S. soccer, from Borussia Dortmund for $73 million, Chelsea then loaning him back to the Bundesliga club ahead of Pulisic moving to the Premier League in the summer.

This is big.  Pulisic, 20, had been linked to Manchester United, Liverpool and others, but Chelsea won out.  It’s terrific for U.S. soccer fans, as well as fans of the PL, for Pulisic to get such high-profile exposure.

But Chelsea fan Dr. W. is worried that the Blues now won’t keep star Eden Hazard; Pulisic needing time to learn from the master.

Stuff

--Mikaela Shiffrin did it again!  Shffrin dominated the first women’s World Cup slalom of 2019 to match her personal best winning streak in the discipline with seven straight victories.  I mean she had a lead of over one second after her opening run, which is huge in this sport, winning by 1.25 over Petra Vlhova of Slovakia in Zagreb, Croatia.

So Shiffrin has won 12 of the last 13 World Cup slalom races, 28 of the last 34.  With 37 career slalom wins, she is now just four behind Ingemar Stenmark’s 40.

--While ordinarily we wouldn’t care about the sport of bobsledding except come Olympics time, I thought it was interesting that today, Germany pushed its unbeaten streak in men’s competition to nine in the World Cup season...9-for-9.

So as you’re quaffing an ale at your neighborhood watering hole this winter, tell your friends, with an air of arrogance, “Oh yeah, Germany owns the sport of bobsledding.”

--Gene Okerlund died at the age of 76.  He was the great ringside interviewer and commentator who for decades served as a straight man to the outsized personalities of the WWE.

Nicknamed Mean Gene by the wrestler (and future governor) Jesse Ventura, Okerlund was a mild-mannered figure who often appeared on the air in elegant attire to conduct interviews with the likes of Macho Man Randy Savage, Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan.

Okerlund’s professionalism lent a certain gravitas to an enterprise hardly known for it.

--And veteran comedy writer and actor Bob Einstein died, also 76.

Einstein was most famous for the role of Marty Funkhouser in HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” which he played from 2004 to 2017

Einstein also appeared in the third season of Arrested Development, and Hollywood’s “Ocean’s Thirteen,” where he played Matt Damon’s con artist father.

And Einstein created death-defying stuntman Dave Osborne, playing the character on “Late Show with David Letterman,” and eventually in his own series from 1987.

Einstein also won an Emmy as a writer on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.

But it was on CYE that Einstein shined, and this is one fan who loved the character.

Larry David said in a statement: “Never have I seen an actor enjoy a role the way Bob did playing Marty Funkhouser on Curb....

“There was no one like him, as he told us again and again. We’re all in a state of shock.”

Because of his illness, Einstein was unable to complete episodes in Curb’s upcoming 10th season, which airs later this year.

--We note the passing of Daryl Dragon, the “Captain” of Captain & Tennille.  He too was 76 (yikes, if you are, err, also that age, look both ways before crossing the street).  His former wife and musical partner, Toni Tennille, was by his side.

“He was a brilliant musician with many friends who loved him greatly,” Tennille said in a statement.  “I was at my most creative in my life when I was with him.”

Dragon was a classically trained pianist, the son of Academy Award-winning composer and arranger Carmen Dragon.  He landed one of his first entertainment gigs as a backup musician for the Beach Boys in the mid-60s and was later hired by Tennille to work on a musical called “Mother Earth,” which she’d written.

The two later formed Captain & Tennille and married.  They divorced in 2014, but remained close.

From 1975-79, the duo had a string of top ten hits:

#1 Love Will Keep Us Together
#4 The Way I Want To Touch You ...my personal fave
#3 Lonely Night
#4 Shop Around
#4 Muskrat Love
#10 You Never Done It Like That
#1 Do That To Me One More Time

Top 3 songs for the week 1/7/67:  [skipped a year or else I’d be repeating a lot of the previous chat’s tunes...we’ll go back to ’66 next time]  #1 “I’m A Believer” (The Monkees)  #2 “Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron” (The Royal Guardsmen)  #3 “Tell It Like It Is” (Aaron Neville)...and...#4 “Winchester Cathedral” (The New Vaudeville Band)  #5 “Sugar Town” (Nancy Sinatra...not a bad tune...)  #6 “That’s Life” (Frank Sinatra)  #7 “Good Thing” (Paul Revere & The Raiders)  #8 “Words Of Love” (The Mamas & The Papas)  #9 Standing In The Shadows Of Love” (Four Tops)  #10 “Mellow Yellow” (Donovan)

MLB Quiz Answer: Kansas City Athletics owner Charley Finley brought Satchel Paige back, after a 12-year absence from the big leagues, on Sept. 25, 1965, Paige, then 59, starting and throwing three shutout innings of one-hit ball against the Red Sox.

Paige first pitched in the majors at the age of 41, 1948, with Cleveland, going 6-1, 2.48 ERA.  He finished his big league career 28-31, 3.29, with 33 saves, in 179 games.

Minnie Minoso was 54 when he had two plate appearances for Cleveland in 1980.

The second-oldest player to appear in a major league game was Charley O’Leary, who was 58 when he singled in his only plate appearance for the St. Louis Browns back in a 1934 season-ending game for the St. Louis Browns.

Next Bar Chat, Thursday.

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