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06/27/2019

Brodie and Mickey

[Posted Wed. a.m.]

Baseball Quiz: Nine different players have struck out 200 times in a season, all since 2008.  Name the only three to do it multiple times.  Answer below.

MLB

--I apologize the following is very parochial, but even the national press is now writing about what has transpired with the Mets since Sunday.  New York was 37-40, having won its last two in Chicago and on the verge of taking 3 of 4 against the Cubs, which would have been the first winning road series since the first week in April!  The Mets would have had real momentum then heading into Philadelphia for four with the struggling Phillies.

Jacob deGrom was on the mound for New York, but inexplicably, two of the Mets’ three best hitters, Jeff McNeil and Michael Conforto, weren’t in the lineup, this despite the fact McNeil had had five consecutive multiple-hit games.

That said, deGrom exited after six, Mets up 3-2, and they turn to their best reliever, Seth Lugo.  Any Mets fan knows, however, that Lugo, he of the fragile elbow, is best after two days’ rest, not one, Seth having thrown two scoreless on Friday night.

It was also readily apparent that Lugo didn’t have his best stuff, even as he got through the bottom of the seventh, as Mets’ broadcasters Gary Cohen and Ron Darling also observed.

But Lugo comes out for the eighth, laboring mightily, and on his 42nd pitch, yields a three-run homer to Javy Baez, the Cubs going on to win 5-3.

Why wasn’t closer Edwin Diaz brought into the game in the eighth?  Just a few weeks ago, manager Mickey Callaway told us he’d consider Diaz for two innings.  Clearly, Diaz should have been in there in the eighth.  But he wasn’t even warming up!  And you should have seen the camera shot of him after the Baez homer, totally disgusted.

Now understand I watched the entire game, a Mets fan as invested in his team as much as anyone for well over 50 years.  I thus had to watch the postgame...to see how Mickey explain himself.

That’s when the s--- began to hit the fan, and yours truly was livid.  We then learned later that evening that after the postgame presser, it got far worse.

Again, in the postgame, Callaway was questioned for leaving Lugo in the game in the eighth at 40-plus pitches and his reluctance to bring in Diaz as Lugo labored.  Callaway said Diaz might have been available for four outs, but not five.

So Mickey was asked what was the difference between using Diaz for four outs and five?

“Lugo was good to face Baez either way and [Robert] Gsellman was going to step up if we got Baez, but we didn’t get Baez out,” Callaway said.

Again, Callaway was asked why he didn’t consider using Diaz as the inning developed.

“Because we are not going to use him for five outs,” Callaway said.

The manager was asked if that plan should be adaptable.

“Just because you think so?” Callaway said to a Yahoo reporter.  “Absolutely not. We have a very good plan, we know what we are doing and we’re going to stick to it.”

This “very good plan” has the Mets’ bullpen ERA at 5.41 thru Tuesday, 28 of 30 in MLB (7.44 in June, an MLB worst).... and six games under .500.

Don’t play us for chumps, Mickey.  What a tool.

But the big incident, about 15 minutes after Callaway’s postgame press conference, began with Callaway imploring a public relations official to “get this motherf---er out of  the clubhouse...We don’t need that bullshit” after telling Tim Healey moments earlier “don’t be a smart-ass” when all Healey had said in passing was that he would see Callaway tomorrow, leaving Healey kind of stupefied.

Jason Vargas, whose locker was directly across from where Healey was standing, said the reporter was staring at him as Vargas stared him down.

“I’ll knock you the f—k out bro” Vargas said, rushing across the room.

Thankfully, Noah Syndergaard and Carlos Gomes intervened.  Healey left the clubhouse and has been silent since (letting others at the paper talk for him).

Mike Vaccaro / New York Post

“Before we get to the crazy, surreal and borderline pre-pubescent portion of the day, we should focus on the match that lit the fuse, which fed the dynamite, which fueled the inferno.  That is also the 800-pound neon elephant that stalks the Mets from city to city, from game to game.

“I asked the question to Brodie Van Wagenen this way, a few hours before the Mets would prove to be a splendid tonic for the reeling Phillies at Citizens Bank Park in serving as 13-7 patsies, a few minutes after he feigned ignorance at a subtler version of the inquiry.

“ ‘Do you tell Mickey what to do?’

“It is one of the narratives that nourishes Mets fans constantly as they try to figure out if their baseball team is a contender or a pretender, dueling roles they seem to inhabit on an inning-by-inning basis sometimes.  Mickey Callaway is a manager on a hot seat for a reason, because his team loses more than it wins and because, often as not, he makes decisions that are unconventional at best, inexplicable at worst.

“But are they his decisions?

“Or is he simply following the corporate blueprint, authored by his boss: on bullpen use; on using Edwin Diaz for no more than four outs; on sitting scorching-hot Jeff McNeil (plus Michael Conforto) on a day when they could’ve won a series from the Cubs; on sticking with Robinson Cano, whose season-long extended middle finger at both baseball convention and Mets fans continued Sunday when he opted against running to first base after a dropped third strike and then went 0-for-5 (dropping his batting average to .223).

“Mets fans have little love and less loyalty to Callaway, but the fair-minded ones plead to know:  Does every Mickey misstep go solely on his ledger, or can the general manager – who assembled the roster he must choose from – have a say in things?  It was, after all, a sharp question regarding the Mets’ ‘very good plan’ – Callaway’s words – that seemed to be the Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow that started all this in Mrs. O’Leary’s old hometown

“So I asked. And this is what Van Wagenen said: ‘This organization is about teamwork and collaboration and the ability to trust the manager on an everyday basis.’

“As you will read in a story by Post colleague Mike Puma*, that has become an open secret.  A few weeks ago, Callaway was vilified for seemingly going against Jacob deGrom’s wishes and removing him from a game in Phoenix, where it seemed he’d hurt his hip.  Only it turns out, the genesis from doing that was a text from Van Wagenen, reportedly sent through someone at the ballpark that ordered: ‘Get him out of there.’

“Monday, confronted with that story, Van Wagenen hedged, and said it is common for all GMs to be in regular contact with training staffs during games.  Asked again if he tells Callaway what to do he did offer a flat ‘No,’ but by this time it was – and is – harder and harder to trust anything he says.

“This is no way to run a baseball team, even if in 2019 it feels like this is how 28 of the bosses who run teams – those who don’t employ Joe Maddon and Terry Francona – want to run their teams.   So maybe it’s best to get that out of the way before we try to find some crawl space inside Mickey Callaway’s brain Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field....

“(Monday), Callaway was asked several times if he wanted to apologize for his outburst Sunday.  He demurred. Because I specialize in ‘press conference questions for dummies,’ I asked him: ‘Are you sorry?’  He talked about heat of the moment, and about how he ‘can’t control the actions of others.’....

“Then Jason Vargas was kind enough to stop by for a few seconds.  He called what happened ‘an unfortunate distraction’ and was gone.

“Back home, according to organizational sources, those non-apology apologies were greeted in the corporate offices the way Citi Field lately reacts when the bullpen door swings open and Jeurys Familia appears.  So perhaps it wasn’t surprising that, just past 6 p.m., the media was re-summoned to Callaway’s office.

“He apologized.  And you couldn’t even see the Mets’ army of PR folks move their lips as he did it.  Callaway actually seemed relieved.  Maybe it was a relief, not having to think about his relievers for a change.

“Or, more likely: Who in his bullpen he would be told to use later on Monday night.”

*Mike Puma / New York Post

“As general manager Brodie Van Wagenen continues to insist his manager has full autonomy on game decisions for the Mets, a specific example has surfaced that indicates otherwise.

“According to an industry source, it was the rookie GM who instructed Mickey Callaway to remove Jacob deGrom from a game in Arizona earlier this month in which the Mets ace sustained a hip cramp.  After deGrom was removed from the game in the seventh inning, the bullpen imploded in a loss that added to the frustration of a 2-5 road trip.

“The source said Van Wagenen, who was watching the game at home on TV, communicated with a member of the Mets support staff with an order to remove deGrom from the game.  Callaway complied with the order, and deGrom was visibly upset as he departed the field, certain he could continue pitching.  The manager was grilled for the move, but at the time  insisted the decision was his.

“ ‘Hell, yeah, it’s unusual: Sending word to the dugout, telling the manager what to do?’ the source said.  ‘I have never heard of that before.’

“MLB rules stipulate that players and coaches cannot use cell phones anywhere during a game.”

David Lennon / Newsday

“The Mets have been apologizing for most of their 58-season existence.

“You’d think they’d be good at it by now.

“But no.

“Apparently, in their minds, cursing out Newsday’s Tim Healey, wanting him forcibly removed from the clubhouse and threatening to punch him unconscious – unprovoked, mind you – means never having to say you’re sorry.

“Or at least on the first try.  Until somebody tells you do it again. Like everyone supposedly practiced.

“What do I mean by that?  Mickey Callaway so royally botched what was set up to be his public apology that he needed a do-over – another hastily called presser roughly an hour before first pitch – to get anywhere close to something that fit definition.

“I’ve seen plenty as someone who’s chronicled the Mets for the past two decades, and yet Monday’s double-shot of ineptitude left me stunned.  I couldn’t believe it was actually happening.

“While Callaway did have a private conversation to clear the air, the Mets needed him to basically stand up, say he was sorry for public consumption, and move on.  It’s not hard.  We’ve all done it, in some form or another, since grade school.

“You don’t get to spit a series of expletives at a reporter, and then make a show of trying to bounce him from the clubhouse without apologizing later.

“Expressing remorse for bullying conduct is how a professional workplace operates, and that’s what a major-league clubhouse is, for everyone in there.

“Chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon recognized that immediately in calling Healey to apologize within hours of Sunday’s altercation between the reporter and Callaway and Jason Vargas. The Mets also issued a statement later that night, and Brodie Van Wagenen, first to step to the conciliatory plate Monday, was smart enough to follow the script.

“The GM, however, did not see Callaway’s jarring inability to stay in control, after heavy grilling by reporters, as a reason for concern going forward.

“ ‘My confidence remains the same in Mickey’s ability to do his job,’ Van Wagenen said.

“But is this really the way the GM wants the job to be done?  As if Sunday’s postgame profanity-fest wasn’t enough, Callaway came off as defiant during the clean-up effort, saying that such outbursts are ‘part of the game.’....

“When asked the simple question ‘Was he sorry?’ the manager refused to budge.

“ ‘I can control my reactions better, absolutely,’ Callaway said....

“As for what he might have done differently?

“ ‘Not walk to the food room to eat,’ Callaway said.  ‘I would have eaten at the hotel.’

“It was during that sandwich run that Healey offered up the ‘See you tomorrow, Mickey,’ thinking the manager, in street clothes, was headed for the exit.  The pleasantry then set Callaway off on the regrettable expletive-paved course he had to answer for – twice – on Monday.

“Based on the whole insincere production, you could tell Callaway didn’t feel his actions were entirely unjustified.  And here’s the problem: When the presumptive leader of a team acts like a thug, in front of his players, that green-lights Vargas to shoot his shot, as he did in threatening to ‘knock out’ Healey before being restrained by Noah Syndergaard and Carlos Gomez.

“Is that the example Van Wagenen wants in the manager’s chair?  Vargas further showed what that lack of accountability leads to when he stood in front of reporters Monday for a total of 34 seconds, then dashed away without taking a question.

“ ‘I think it’s unfortunate for all parties,’ Vargas said.  ‘An unfortunate distraction.’

“Where was the distraction for him?  People spend more time brushing their teeth than Vargas did answering for his inexcusable behavior....

“Monday should have been so simple for the Mets... But rather than devote their focus to preparing for Monday’s game against the Phillies, they were frantically double-booking Callaway for a response suitable for a manager wearing the Mets’ uniform.

“This was the second try.  It took 36 seconds.

“ ‘Just real quick,’ Callaway said.  ‘I understand that I got some feedback, and I wanted you guys to know that in my meeting with Tim I apologized for my reaction. I shouldn’t have done that.

“ ‘I’m not proud of what I did to Tim. And for that I’m definitely sorry.’

“And this time he meant it? We’re sorry, too.  For anybody still putting their faith in this manager.”

Needless to say, the Mets are distracted, and they lost the first two to the Phils 13-7 and 7-5.  In the first one, starter Steven Matz yielded 7 runs in 4 1/3, meaning he had given up a staggering 15 earned in 4 1/3 in two starts in Philadelphia this year [0-4, 8.18, for his six career starts in Philly.]

And then with the 7-5 loss last night to fall to 37-43, 10 games back of first-place Atlanta, 47-33.  The Mets are also 7-17 in their last 24 on the road.  Just shoot me.

--Monday night, the Yankees homered for a major league record-tying 27th consecutive game (the A-Rod, 2002 juiced Texas Rangers the other), New York defeating the Blue Jays 10-8 in a game that was 10-2 until reliever Jonathan Holder earned a ticket back to Triple-A by allowing five runs without retiring a batter.  CC Sabathia pitched six strong, two runs, 9 strikeouts, to move to 5-4, 4.04, as well as picking up career win No. 251.  Giancarlo Stanton hit his first homer of the season, a three-run shot, giving him 7 RBIs in the last two games he has played, which should help hold down the boo birds for a day or two.

And then on Tuesday, DJ LeMahieu led off with a home run for New York, making it a record 28 straight games, the Yankees hitting four solo homers in a 4-3 win over the Blue Jays.  But Stanton hurt his knee sliding into third...status unknown early Wednesday.

--Max Scherzer did it again, winning his fifth in a row, 6-1 over the Marlins, Scherzer going eight, striking out 10, as he improved to 7-5, 2.52.  He also went 2-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored.

--Manny Machado returned to Baltimore and homered, two hits, two RBIs, as the Padres (39-40) beat the Orioles (22-57) 8-3.  So at basically the halfway point, Machado has 17 homers and 49 RBIs, projecting to 34-100, which isn’t bad.

--If you believe the rumors, the Giants’ Madison Bumgarner is on the trade block, though he’s had a poor year thus far.  But last night, Bumgarner allowed two runs in six innings, striking out 11, as San Francisco beat Colorado 4-2.

--Going back to Monday, Cy Young Award winners Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke squared off though neither figured in the decision, both going six innings, allowing four earned, the Diamondbacks eventually winning 8-5. 

But Greinke homered off Kershaw (his third of the season, ninth career) marking the seventh time in history that a former Cy Young winner hit a home run against a fellow Cy Young winner, according to Elias.  And Greinke joined former Dodgers great Don Drysdale as the only former Cy Young winners to hit multiple career home runs against other former Cy Young winners, the other for Greinke coming off the Phillies’ Cliff Lee in 2012. Drysdale hit his two off Warren Spahn, both in 1965. [He had seven home runs overall that year, 29 for his career.]

--Vanderbilt beat Michigan 4-2 in Game 2 of the best-of-three national championship series last night to force a winner-take-all title game tonight at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Freshman Kumar Rocker was again the star for the Commodores.  The last time Vandy faced elimination, Rocker threw a no-hitter against Duke.  Last night he struck out 11 in 6 1/3, and he’s now 4-0, 0.96 ERA in the NCAA Tournament.

NBA

24-year-old Giannis Antetokounmpo was named MVP, beating out James Harden and Paul George, the league making the announcement at its annual awards show.  The “Greek Freak” averaged 27.7 points, 12.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game – all career highs – while leading Milwaukee to a league-best 60 regular season wins.

Antetokounmpo was the 15th pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, a raw talent who had been playing in Greece, and he played as a reserve his rookie season.  But he would become a full-time starter by the end of his second year, the league’s most improved player in 2016-17 and a clear-cut franchise player by 2017-18.

Then this season, his first under Coach Mike Budenholzer (who was named Coach of the Year), Antetokounmpo led the Eastern Conference in all-star votes, guided the Bucks to their most regular season victories since 1980-81 and delivered the franchise’s first playoff series win since 2001.

The quiet superstar now has eyes set on leading the Bucks to the NBA title.

Rudy Gobert, Utah, was Defensive Player of the Year

Lou Williams, LA Clippers, Sixth Man of the Year

Pascal Siakam, Toronto, Most Improved

Luka Doncic, Dallas, Rookie of the Year

On to free agency....what will the Warriors do with Durant?  What does KD want to do?  

More importantly in terms of next season, seeing as Durant will be shelved, does Kawhi stay in Toronto or go home to L.A. and the Clippers? 

Santa Anita

John Cherwa / Los Angeles Times

“The power of the California Horse Racing Board grew on Monday when the legislature unanimously approved a bill that would grant the regulatory body the authority to suspend or move racing days without a 10-day public notice period.

“If this bill (SB 469) had passed a few weeks ago, the CHRB would have had the ability to shut down the last two weeks of racing at Santa Anita.  After a 28th horse died at Santa Anita, Chuck Winner, CHRB chairman, and Madeline Auerbach, vice-chairman, in a late Saturday night call asked Santa Anita to suspend racing for the remaining six days of the season.  The track refused and, with a 10-day waiting period, the CHRB had no recourse.  Now they do.

“On the Sunday after the request, a 29th horse died of a heart attack.  This past Saturday a 30th horse died during training and the Stronach Group banished Jerry Hollendorfer, a Hall of Fame trainer, from all its tracks.  Horses in Hollendorfer’s care accounted for four of 30 deaths.  Hollendorfer also had two deaths at Golden Gate Fields.

“The bill has to be signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has said he supports it.”

Stuff

--The U.S. Women’s soccer team won its first knockout round match 2-1 over Spain on Monday, co-captain Megan Rapinoe scoring both U.S. goals on penalty kicks.  To be fair, it was a very iffy penalty call in the 71st minute that led to the second U.S. goal.

The U.S. next faces host France in the quarterfinals in Paris on Friday, a meeting that has been anticipated since the tournament draw in December; France attempting to become the first nation to simultaneously hold both the men’s and women’s World Cup titles, the French men winning in Russia last year.

I’m not commenting on Rapinoe’s behavior.

--The International Olympic Committee heard presentations from the final two countries hoping to be named host of the 2026 Winter Olympics on Monday and chose to award the Games to Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo.

The decision came down to Stockholm-Are and the northern Italian area.  Italy last hosted the Olympics in Turin in 2006, while Cortina hosted the Winter Games in 1956.

Now with the second highest debt load in Europe, Italy should hardly be staging an Olympics, but government authorities say the Milan-Cortina region is among the richest in Europe and has the capacity to have the finances in order to support the event.

The 2022 Winter Games are being held in Beijing, while Tokyo hosts the next Summer Olympics, 2020, with Paris the site of the 2024 Summer Games and Los Angeles in 2028.

--At Sunday’s PGA Champions Tour event, the American Family Insurance Championship in Madison, Wis., hometown Jerry Kelly won in a three-man playoff with Steve Stricker, the tournament host, and Retief Goosen.  Now that’s a decent senior finale.

Kelly had finished second twice in the Greater Milwaukee Open in his PGA Tour days and never closed the deal but did this time...his fourth senior win.

My college classmate, Gary Hallberg, had a nice week, T-26. 

--Tiger Woods was dismissed from a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the parents of a deceased 24-year-old bartender who worked at his restaurant in Jupiter, Fla.

But, an amended complaint still lists Woods’ girlfriend Erica Herman, and The Woods Jupiter Inc., as defendants.

The lawsuit originally filed in Palm Beach County in May alleged victim Nicholas Immesberger was overserved for about three hours after his shift at The Woods concluded, whereupon he crashed his car heading home, Immesbeger found to have an estimated blood alcohol level of 0.256 – more than three times the legal limit in Florida.

--Joe Namath took nearly two years to complete his new book, “All the Way: My Life in Four Quarters,” because, as he puts it, “it was tough.”

“Trying to say some things that you might think are private,” said Namath, was the biggest challenge.

Namath touches on his childhood and growing up the son of a Hungarian immigrant.  His father “took me to the steel mill at 11 years old and I knew I didn’t want to end up there,” said Namath.

Joe Willie also writes of his struggles with addiction.

And how long before he was playing for the Jets, how he had to decide between playing professional baseball or going to college.  His mother forced him to go to school and play football.

So he goes from Alabama to the AFL and New York, where he gets the nickname “Broadway Joe.”  Namath had an eye for the ladies, to say the least.

But in the book he refuses to tell the story of his night before the Super Bowl.

“I have never told anyone that.  It was wonderful. I had to go according to the basic game plan that had been good the night before.  She was a good friend.  We haven’t seen one another for 50 years,” said Namath.

--I forgot to wish Fox broadcaster and Hall of Fame racer Darrell Waltrip well in his retirement, Waltrip calling his last race on Sunday after 19 years.  He was good.

Top 3 songs for the week 6/23/62:  #1 “I Can’t Stop Loving You” (Ray Charles)  #2 “The Stripper” (David Rose)  #3 “Palisades Park” (Freddy Cannon)...and...#4 “It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin’” (Johnny Tillotson)  #5 “Stranger On The Shore” ( Mr. Acker Bilk)  #6 “(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance” (Gene Pitney)  #7 “Playboy” (The Marvelettes)  #8 “Cindy’s Birthday” (Johnny Crawford)  #9 “That’s Old Fashioned (That’s The Way Love Should Be)” (The Everly Brothers)  #10 “Second Hand Love” (Connie Francis....little do we know what is coming in about a year-and-a-half...)

Baseball Quiz Answer: Three with multiple times of 200 or more strikeouts...Mark Reynolds* 3 (2009, 2010, 2013), Chris Davis 2 (2015, 2016), and Chris Carter 2 (2013, 2016).  Reynolds holds the single-season mark with 223 in ’09.

1969 Mets, cont’d....

Philadelphia comes into Shea for four, including a Tuesday twi-nighter.

June 24: Tom Seaver goes all the way for the win in the opener, 9 strikeouts, the Mets besting Woody Fryman 2-1, Seaver now 11-3, 2.53.

June 24: And the Mets win the nightcap, 5-0, behind Jim McAndrew’s eight scoreless.

June 25: A bad one for the Metsies, as they blow a 5-0 lead and lose 6-5 in 10; Nolan Ryan going 6 1/3, 3 earned, 10 strikeouts, but Cal Koonce and Ron Taylor blow it in relief.

June 26: The Mets lose another, 2-0, as Grant Jackson goes all the way on a 4-hitter for the Phils, Don Cardwell the hard-luck loser after 7 1/3 of 2-run ball; Cardwell falling to 2-8 despite a solid 3.23 ERA.

Bazooka Joe says: “Don would later own a car dealership in Winston-Salem, North Carolina!”

Actually, Bazooka Joe didn’t look into the future like this, he being a rather simple schlub.  It was Jeane Dixon who ghostwrote the preceding, she being known for her predictions back in the day.

So last week when the Mets were at Philadelphia, I noted that Dick Allen had hit his 18th home run of the season in one of the games and I was thinking, huh, I don’t remember him having a monster season that year, it being just the 57th game for the Phils.

Well, upon looking it up, at first I thought he was later injured, because he ended up with 32 homers and 89 RBIs, .288 batting average in just 118 games.

But I then went to my trusty “The Biographical Encyclopedia of Baseball,” from the Editors of Total Baseball, and learned otherwise.  Granted parts of the following I knew, I just didn’t know how much of it was this particular season.

“Even in the turbulent 1960s Dick Allen was a league-leader in controversy, feuding with writers, fans, managers, and teammates; earning suspensions, and behaving and fielding erratically.  However, he certainly could hit, and, when he wanted to, Dick Allen could carry a team.”

Allen once remarked, “I’ll play first, third, left.  I’ll play anywhere – except Philadelphia.”

“In June 1969 Allen earned a 26-day suspension after showing up late for a doubleheader at Shea Stadium.  [Ed. the above noted twi-nighter on June 24]  He had been at Monmouth Race Track in New Jersey, and, as he tried to get to the game, he was stopped by police for cutting across lanes in the Lincoln Tunnel.  The incident culminated a long series of controversies, including fines for missing planes and batting practices, drunkenness, a fight with a barroom owner, and an overall lack of hustle.  ‘I’d been hearing I was a bum for so long that I began to think that’s just what I was,’ he admitted.  ‘I began to hit the sauce pretty good, and I didn’t care who knew it.’

“Then came the great name-change controversy.  As a boy, Allen had been known as either ‘Dick’ or ‘Sleepy.’  When he came to the majors he was known as ‘Richie.’  Now he demanded that he be called Dick.  ‘Richie is a little boy’s name,’ he explained, but few fans understood, and to most it was another sign of his lack of normality.”

Growing up I was a big Allen fan, and when he went to the White Sox*, I actually bought a White Sox cap (never abandoning the Mets in the process, of course).  He was sure one of a kind...just an awesome hitter when his attitude was right.

*In 1972, Allen was A.L. MVP, leading the league in home runs with 37, and RBIs, 113, while batting .308.  The ChiSox finished second in the A.L. West, 87-67 (there being a work stoppage that season, MLB’s first), but talk about carrying a team.  The second-most productive hitter in the Chicago lineup was Carlos May with 12 homers and 68 ribbies.

It just hit me that my two favorite players, outside of Tom Seaver and Mickey Mantle, were probably Allen and Dave Kingman, the latter two among the surliest characters in baseball history.

Next Bar Chat, Monday.



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-06/27/2019-      
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Bar Chat

06/27/2019

Brodie and Mickey

[Posted Wed. a.m.]

Baseball Quiz: Nine different players have struck out 200 times in a season, all since 2008.  Name the only three to do it multiple times.  Answer below.

MLB

--I apologize the following is very parochial, but even the national press is now writing about what has transpired with the Mets since Sunday.  New York was 37-40, having won its last two in Chicago and on the verge of taking 3 of 4 against the Cubs, which would have been the first winning road series since the first week in April!  The Mets would have had real momentum then heading into Philadelphia for four with the struggling Phillies.

Jacob deGrom was on the mound for New York, but inexplicably, two of the Mets’ three best hitters, Jeff McNeil and Michael Conforto, weren’t in the lineup, this despite the fact McNeil had had five consecutive multiple-hit games.

That said, deGrom exited after six, Mets up 3-2, and they turn to their best reliever, Seth Lugo.  Any Mets fan knows, however, that Lugo, he of the fragile elbow, is best after two days’ rest, not one, Seth having thrown two scoreless on Friday night.

It was also readily apparent that Lugo didn’t have his best stuff, even as he got through the bottom of the seventh, as Mets’ broadcasters Gary Cohen and Ron Darling also observed.

But Lugo comes out for the eighth, laboring mightily, and on his 42nd pitch, yields a three-run homer to Javy Baez, the Cubs going on to win 5-3.

Why wasn’t closer Edwin Diaz brought into the game in the eighth?  Just a few weeks ago, manager Mickey Callaway told us he’d consider Diaz for two innings.  Clearly, Diaz should have been in there in the eighth.  But he wasn’t even warming up!  And you should have seen the camera shot of him after the Baez homer, totally disgusted.

Now understand I watched the entire game, a Mets fan as invested in his team as much as anyone for well over 50 years.  I thus had to watch the postgame...to see how Mickey explain himself.

That’s when the s--- began to hit the fan, and yours truly was livid.  We then learned later that evening that after the postgame presser, it got far worse.

Again, in the postgame, Callaway was questioned for leaving Lugo in the game in the eighth at 40-plus pitches and his reluctance to bring in Diaz as Lugo labored.  Callaway said Diaz might have been available for four outs, but not five.

So Mickey was asked what was the difference between using Diaz for four outs and five?

“Lugo was good to face Baez either way and [Robert] Gsellman was going to step up if we got Baez, but we didn’t get Baez out,” Callaway said.

Again, Callaway was asked why he didn’t consider using Diaz as the inning developed.

“Because we are not going to use him for five outs,” Callaway said.

The manager was asked if that plan should be adaptable.

“Just because you think so?” Callaway said to a Yahoo reporter.  “Absolutely not. We have a very good plan, we know what we are doing and we’re going to stick to it.”

This “very good plan” has the Mets’ bullpen ERA at 5.41 thru Tuesday, 28 of 30 in MLB (7.44 in June, an MLB worst).... and six games under .500.

Don’t play us for chumps, Mickey.  What a tool.

But the big incident, about 15 minutes after Callaway’s postgame press conference, began with Callaway imploring a public relations official to “get this motherf---er out of  the clubhouse...We don’t need that bullshit” after telling Tim Healey moments earlier “don’t be a smart-ass” when all Healey had said in passing was that he would see Callaway tomorrow, leaving Healey kind of stupefied.

Jason Vargas, whose locker was directly across from where Healey was standing, said the reporter was staring at him as Vargas stared him down.

“I’ll knock you the f—k out bro” Vargas said, rushing across the room.

Thankfully, Noah Syndergaard and Carlos Gomes intervened.  Healey left the clubhouse and has been silent since (letting others at the paper talk for him).

Mike Vaccaro / New York Post

“Before we get to the crazy, surreal and borderline pre-pubescent portion of the day, we should focus on the match that lit the fuse, which fed the dynamite, which fueled the inferno.  That is also the 800-pound neon elephant that stalks the Mets from city to city, from game to game.

“I asked the question to Brodie Van Wagenen this way, a few hours before the Mets would prove to be a splendid tonic for the reeling Phillies at Citizens Bank Park in serving as 13-7 patsies, a few minutes after he feigned ignorance at a subtler version of the inquiry.

“ ‘Do you tell Mickey what to do?’

“It is one of the narratives that nourishes Mets fans constantly as they try to figure out if their baseball team is a contender or a pretender, dueling roles they seem to inhabit on an inning-by-inning basis sometimes.  Mickey Callaway is a manager on a hot seat for a reason, because his team loses more than it wins and because, often as not, he makes decisions that are unconventional at best, inexplicable at worst.

“But are they his decisions?

“Or is he simply following the corporate blueprint, authored by his boss: on bullpen use; on using Edwin Diaz for no more than four outs; on sitting scorching-hot Jeff McNeil (plus Michael Conforto) on a day when they could’ve won a series from the Cubs; on sticking with Robinson Cano, whose season-long extended middle finger at both baseball convention and Mets fans continued Sunday when he opted against running to first base after a dropped third strike and then went 0-for-5 (dropping his batting average to .223).

“Mets fans have little love and less loyalty to Callaway, but the fair-minded ones plead to know:  Does every Mickey misstep go solely on his ledger, or can the general manager – who assembled the roster he must choose from – have a say in things?  It was, after all, a sharp question regarding the Mets’ ‘very good plan’ – Callaway’s words – that seemed to be the Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow that started all this in Mrs. O’Leary’s old hometown

“So I asked. And this is what Van Wagenen said: ‘This organization is about teamwork and collaboration and the ability to trust the manager on an everyday basis.’

“As you will read in a story by Post colleague Mike Puma*, that has become an open secret.  A few weeks ago, Callaway was vilified for seemingly going against Jacob deGrom’s wishes and removing him from a game in Phoenix, where it seemed he’d hurt his hip.  Only it turns out, the genesis from doing that was a text from Van Wagenen, reportedly sent through someone at the ballpark that ordered: ‘Get him out of there.’

“Monday, confronted with that story, Van Wagenen hedged, and said it is common for all GMs to be in regular contact with training staffs during games.  Asked again if he tells Callaway what to do he did offer a flat ‘No,’ but by this time it was – and is – harder and harder to trust anything he says.

“This is no way to run a baseball team, even if in 2019 it feels like this is how 28 of the bosses who run teams – those who don’t employ Joe Maddon and Terry Francona – want to run their teams.   So maybe it’s best to get that out of the way before we try to find some crawl space inside Mickey Callaway’s brain Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field....

“(Monday), Callaway was asked several times if he wanted to apologize for his outburst Sunday.  He demurred. Because I specialize in ‘press conference questions for dummies,’ I asked him: ‘Are you sorry?’  He talked about heat of the moment, and about how he ‘can’t control the actions of others.’....

“Then Jason Vargas was kind enough to stop by for a few seconds.  He called what happened ‘an unfortunate distraction’ and was gone.

“Back home, according to organizational sources, those non-apology apologies were greeted in the corporate offices the way Citi Field lately reacts when the bullpen door swings open and Jeurys Familia appears.  So perhaps it wasn’t surprising that, just past 6 p.m., the media was re-summoned to Callaway’s office.

“He apologized.  And you couldn’t even see the Mets’ army of PR folks move their lips as he did it.  Callaway actually seemed relieved.  Maybe it was a relief, not having to think about his relievers for a change.

“Or, more likely: Who in his bullpen he would be told to use later on Monday night.”

*Mike Puma / New York Post

“As general manager Brodie Van Wagenen continues to insist his manager has full autonomy on game decisions for the Mets, a specific example has surfaced that indicates otherwise.

“According to an industry source, it was the rookie GM who instructed Mickey Callaway to remove Jacob deGrom from a game in Arizona earlier this month in which the Mets ace sustained a hip cramp.  After deGrom was removed from the game in the seventh inning, the bullpen imploded in a loss that added to the frustration of a 2-5 road trip.

“The source said Van Wagenen, who was watching the game at home on TV, communicated with a member of the Mets support staff with an order to remove deGrom from the game.  Callaway complied with the order, and deGrom was visibly upset as he departed the field, certain he could continue pitching.  The manager was grilled for the move, but at the time  insisted the decision was his.

“ ‘Hell, yeah, it’s unusual: Sending word to the dugout, telling the manager what to do?’ the source said.  ‘I have never heard of that before.’

“MLB rules stipulate that players and coaches cannot use cell phones anywhere during a game.”

David Lennon / Newsday

“The Mets have been apologizing for most of their 58-season existence.

“You’d think they’d be good at it by now.

“But no.

“Apparently, in their minds, cursing out Newsday’s Tim Healey, wanting him forcibly removed from the clubhouse and threatening to punch him unconscious – unprovoked, mind you – means never having to say you’re sorry.

“Or at least on the first try.  Until somebody tells you do it again. Like everyone supposedly practiced.

“What do I mean by that?  Mickey Callaway so royally botched what was set up to be his public apology that he needed a do-over – another hastily called presser roughly an hour before first pitch – to get anywhere close to something that fit definition.

“I’ve seen plenty as someone who’s chronicled the Mets for the past two decades, and yet Monday’s double-shot of ineptitude left me stunned.  I couldn’t believe it was actually happening.

“While Callaway did have a private conversation to clear the air, the Mets needed him to basically stand up, say he was sorry for public consumption, and move on.  It’s not hard.  We’ve all done it, in some form or another, since grade school.

“You don’t get to spit a series of expletives at a reporter, and then make a show of trying to bounce him from the clubhouse without apologizing later.

“Expressing remorse for bullying conduct is how a professional workplace operates, and that’s what a major-league clubhouse is, for everyone in there.

“Chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon recognized that immediately in calling Healey to apologize within hours of Sunday’s altercation between the reporter and Callaway and Jason Vargas. The Mets also issued a statement later that night, and Brodie Van Wagenen, first to step to the conciliatory plate Monday, was smart enough to follow the script.

“The GM, however, did not see Callaway’s jarring inability to stay in control, after heavy grilling by reporters, as a reason for concern going forward.

“ ‘My confidence remains the same in Mickey’s ability to do his job,’ Van Wagenen said.

“But is this really the way the GM wants the job to be done?  As if Sunday’s postgame profanity-fest wasn’t enough, Callaway came off as defiant during the clean-up effort, saying that such outbursts are ‘part of the game.’....

“When asked the simple question ‘Was he sorry?’ the manager refused to budge.

“ ‘I can control my reactions better, absolutely,’ Callaway said....

“As for what he might have done differently?

“ ‘Not walk to the food room to eat,’ Callaway said.  ‘I would have eaten at the hotel.’

“It was during that sandwich run that Healey offered up the ‘See you tomorrow, Mickey,’ thinking the manager, in street clothes, was headed for the exit.  The pleasantry then set Callaway off on the regrettable expletive-paved course he had to answer for – twice – on Monday.

“Based on the whole insincere production, you could tell Callaway didn’t feel his actions were entirely unjustified.  And here’s the problem: When the presumptive leader of a team acts like a thug, in front of his players, that green-lights Vargas to shoot his shot, as he did in threatening to ‘knock out’ Healey before being restrained by Noah Syndergaard and Carlos Gomez.

“Is that the example Van Wagenen wants in the manager’s chair?  Vargas further showed what that lack of accountability leads to when he stood in front of reporters Monday for a total of 34 seconds, then dashed away without taking a question.

“ ‘I think it’s unfortunate for all parties,’ Vargas said.  ‘An unfortunate distraction.’

“Where was the distraction for him?  People spend more time brushing their teeth than Vargas did answering for his inexcusable behavior....

“Monday should have been so simple for the Mets... But rather than devote their focus to preparing for Monday’s game against the Phillies, they were frantically double-booking Callaway for a response suitable for a manager wearing the Mets’ uniform.

“This was the second try.  It took 36 seconds.

“ ‘Just real quick,’ Callaway said.  ‘I understand that I got some feedback, and I wanted you guys to know that in my meeting with Tim I apologized for my reaction. I shouldn’t have done that.

“ ‘I’m not proud of what I did to Tim. And for that I’m definitely sorry.’

“And this time he meant it? We’re sorry, too.  For anybody still putting their faith in this manager.”

Needless to say, the Mets are distracted, and they lost the first two to the Phils 13-7 and 7-5.  In the first one, starter Steven Matz yielded 7 runs in 4 1/3, meaning he had given up a staggering 15 earned in 4 1/3 in two starts in Philadelphia this year [0-4, 8.18, for his six career starts in Philly.]

And then with the 7-5 loss last night to fall to 37-43, 10 games back of first-place Atlanta, 47-33.  The Mets are also 7-17 in their last 24 on the road.  Just shoot me.

--Monday night, the Yankees homered for a major league record-tying 27th consecutive game (the A-Rod, 2002 juiced Texas Rangers the other), New York defeating the Blue Jays 10-8 in a game that was 10-2 until reliever Jonathan Holder earned a ticket back to Triple-A by allowing five runs without retiring a batter.  CC Sabathia pitched six strong, two runs, 9 strikeouts, to move to 5-4, 4.04, as well as picking up career win No. 251.  Giancarlo Stanton hit his first homer of the season, a three-run shot, giving him 7 RBIs in the last two games he has played, which should help hold down the boo birds for a day or two.

And then on Tuesday, DJ LeMahieu led off with a home run for New York, making it a record 28 straight games, the Yankees hitting four solo homers in a 4-3 win over the Blue Jays.  But Stanton hurt his knee sliding into third...status unknown early Wednesday.

--Max Scherzer did it again, winning his fifth in a row, 6-1 over the Marlins, Scherzer going eight, striking out 10, as he improved to 7-5, 2.52.  He also went 2-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored.

--Manny Machado returned to Baltimore and homered, two hits, two RBIs, as the Padres (39-40) beat the Orioles (22-57) 8-3.  So at basically the halfway point, Machado has 17 homers and 49 RBIs, projecting to 34-100, which isn’t bad.

--If you believe the rumors, the Giants’ Madison Bumgarner is on the trade block, though he’s had a poor year thus far.  But last night, Bumgarner allowed two runs in six innings, striking out 11, as San Francisco beat Colorado 4-2.

--Going back to Monday, Cy Young Award winners Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke squared off though neither figured in the decision, both going six innings, allowing four earned, the Diamondbacks eventually winning 8-5. 

But Greinke homered off Kershaw (his third of the season, ninth career) marking the seventh time in history that a former Cy Young winner hit a home run against a fellow Cy Young winner, according to Elias.  And Greinke joined former Dodgers great Don Drysdale as the only former Cy Young winners to hit multiple career home runs against other former Cy Young winners, the other for Greinke coming off the Phillies’ Cliff Lee in 2012. Drysdale hit his two off Warren Spahn, both in 1965. [He had seven home runs overall that year, 29 for his career.]

--Vanderbilt beat Michigan 4-2 in Game 2 of the best-of-three national championship series last night to force a winner-take-all title game tonight at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Freshman Kumar Rocker was again the star for the Commodores.  The last time Vandy faced elimination, Rocker threw a no-hitter against Duke.  Last night he struck out 11 in 6 1/3, and he’s now 4-0, 0.96 ERA in the NCAA Tournament.

NBA

24-year-old Giannis Antetokounmpo was named MVP, beating out James Harden and Paul George, the league making the announcement at its annual awards show.  The “Greek Freak” averaged 27.7 points, 12.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game – all career highs – while leading Milwaukee to a league-best 60 regular season wins.

Antetokounmpo was the 15th pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, a raw talent who had been playing in Greece, and he played as a reserve his rookie season.  But he would become a full-time starter by the end of his second year, the league’s most improved player in 2016-17 and a clear-cut franchise player by 2017-18.

Then this season, his first under Coach Mike Budenholzer (who was named Coach of the Year), Antetokounmpo led the Eastern Conference in all-star votes, guided the Bucks to their most regular season victories since 1980-81 and delivered the franchise’s first playoff series win since 2001.

The quiet superstar now has eyes set on leading the Bucks to the NBA title.

Rudy Gobert, Utah, was Defensive Player of the Year

Lou Williams, LA Clippers, Sixth Man of the Year

Pascal Siakam, Toronto, Most Improved

Luka Doncic, Dallas, Rookie of the Year

On to free agency....what will the Warriors do with Durant?  What does KD want to do?  

More importantly in terms of next season, seeing as Durant will be shelved, does Kawhi stay in Toronto or go home to L.A. and the Clippers? 

Santa Anita

John Cherwa / Los Angeles Times

“The power of the California Horse Racing Board grew on Monday when the legislature unanimously approved a bill that would grant the regulatory body the authority to suspend or move racing days without a 10-day public notice period.

“If this bill (SB 469) had passed a few weeks ago, the CHRB would have had the ability to shut down the last two weeks of racing at Santa Anita.  After a 28th horse died at Santa Anita, Chuck Winner, CHRB chairman, and Madeline Auerbach, vice-chairman, in a late Saturday night call asked Santa Anita to suspend racing for the remaining six days of the season.  The track refused and, with a 10-day waiting period, the CHRB had no recourse.  Now they do.

“On the Sunday after the request, a 29th horse died of a heart attack.  This past Saturday a 30th horse died during training and the Stronach Group banished Jerry Hollendorfer, a Hall of Fame trainer, from all its tracks.  Horses in Hollendorfer’s care accounted for four of 30 deaths.  Hollendorfer also had two deaths at Golden Gate Fields.

“The bill has to be signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has said he supports it.”

Stuff

--The U.S. Women’s soccer team won its first knockout round match 2-1 over Spain on Monday, co-captain Megan Rapinoe scoring both U.S. goals on penalty kicks.  To be fair, it was a very iffy penalty call in the 71st minute that led to the second U.S. goal.

The U.S. next faces host France in the quarterfinals in Paris on Friday, a meeting that has been anticipated since the tournament draw in December; France attempting to become the first nation to simultaneously hold both the men’s and women’s World Cup titles, the French men winning in Russia last year.

I’m not commenting on Rapinoe’s behavior.

--The International Olympic Committee heard presentations from the final two countries hoping to be named host of the 2026 Winter Olympics on Monday and chose to award the Games to Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo.

The decision came down to Stockholm-Are and the northern Italian area.  Italy last hosted the Olympics in Turin in 2006, while Cortina hosted the Winter Games in 1956.

Now with the second highest debt load in Europe, Italy should hardly be staging an Olympics, but government authorities say the Milan-Cortina region is among the richest in Europe and has the capacity to have the finances in order to support the event.

The 2022 Winter Games are being held in Beijing, while Tokyo hosts the next Summer Olympics, 2020, with Paris the site of the 2024 Summer Games and Los Angeles in 2028.

--At Sunday’s PGA Champions Tour event, the American Family Insurance Championship in Madison, Wis., hometown Jerry Kelly won in a three-man playoff with Steve Stricker, the tournament host, and Retief Goosen.  Now that’s a decent senior finale.

Kelly had finished second twice in the Greater Milwaukee Open in his PGA Tour days and never closed the deal but did this time...his fourth senior win.

My college classmate, Gary Hallberg, had a nice week, T-26. 

--Tiger Woods was dismissed from a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the parents of a deceased 24-year-old bartender who worked at his restaurant in Jupiter, Fla.

But, an amended complaint still lists Woods’ girlfriend Erica Herman, and The Woods Jupiter Inc., as defendants.

The lawsuit originally filed in Palm Beach County in May alleged victim Nicholas Immesberger was overserved for about three hours after his shift at The Woods concluded, whereupon he crashed his car heading home, Immesbeger found to have an estimated blood alcohol level of 0.256 – more than three times the legal limit in Florida.

--Joe Namath took nearly two years to complete his new book, “All the Way: My Life in Four Quarters,” because, as he puts it, “it was tough.”

“Trying to say some things that you might think are private,” said Namath, was the biggest challenge.

Namath touches on his childhood and growing up the son of a Hungarian immigrant.  His father “took me to the steel mill at 11 years old and I knew I didn’t want to end up there,” said Namath.

Joe Willie also writes of his struggles with addiction.

And how long before he was playing for the Jets, how he had to decide between playing professional baseball or going to college.  His mother forced him to go to school and play football.

So he goes from Alabama to the AFL and New York, where he gets the nickname “Broadway Joe.”  Namath had an eye for the ladies, to say the least.

But in the book he refuses to tell the story of his night before the Super Bowl.

“I have never told anyone that.  It was wonderful. I had to go according to the basic game plan that had been good the night before.  She was a good friend.  We haven’t seen one another for 50 years,” said Namath.

--I forgot to wish Fox broadcaster and Hall of Fame racer Darrell Waltrip well in his retirement, Waltrip calling his last race on Sunday after 19 years.  He was good.

Top 3 songs for the week 6/23/62:  #1 “I Can’t Stop Loving You” (Ray Charles)  #2 “The Stripper” (David Rose)  #3 “Palisades Park” (Freddy Cannon)...and...#4 “It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin’” (Johnny Tillotson)  #5 “Stranger On The Shore” ( Mr. Acker Bilk)  #6 “(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance” (Gene Pitney)  #7 “Playboy” (The Marvelettes)  #8 “Cindy’s Birthday” (Johnny Crawford)  #9 “That’s Old Fashioned (That’s The Way Love Should Be)” (The Everly Brothers)  #10 “Second Hand Love” (Connie Francis....little do we know what is coming in about a year-and-a-half...)

Baseball Quiz Answer: Three with multiple times of 200 or more strikeouts...Mark Reynolds* 3 (2009, 2010, 2013), Chris Davis 2 (2015, 2016), and Chris Carter 2 (2013, 2016).  Reynolds holds the single-season mark with 223 in ’09.

1969 Mets, cont’d....

Philadelphia comes into Shea for four, including a Tuesday twi-nighter.

June 24: Tom Seaver goes all the way for the win in the opener, 9 strikeouts, the Mets besting Woody Fryman 2-1, Seaver now 11-3, 2.53.

June 24: And the Mets win the nightcap, 5-0, behind Jim McAndrew’s eight scoreless.

June 25: A bad one for the Metsies, as they blow a 5-0 lead and lose 6-5 in 10; Nolan Ryan going 6 1/3, 3 earned, 10 strikeouts, but Cal Koonce and Ron Taylor blow it in relief.

June 26: The Mets lose another, 2-0, as Grant Jackson goes all the way on a 4-hitter for the Phils, Don Cardwell the hard-luck loser after 7 1/3 of 2-run ball; Cardwell falling to 2-8 despite a solid 3.23 ERA.

Bazooka Joe says: “Don would later own a car dealership in Winston-Salem, North Carolina!”

Actually, Bazooka Joe didn’t look into the future like this, he being a rather simple schlub.  It was Jeane Dixon who ghostwrote the preceding, she being known for her predictions back in the day.

So last week when the Mets were at Philadelphia, I noted that Dick Allen had hit his 18th home run of the season in one of the games and I was thinking, huh, I don’t remember him having a monster season that year, it being just the 57th game for the Phils.

Well, upon looking it up, at first I thought he was later injured, because he ended up with 32 homers and 89 RBIs, .288 batting average in just 118 games.

But I then went to my trusty “The Biographical Encyclopedia of Baseball,” from the Editors of Total Baseball, and learned otherwise.  Granted parts of the following I knew, I just didn’t know how much of it was this particular season.

“Even in the turbulent 1960s Dick Allen was a league-leader in controversy, feuding with writers, fans, managers, and teammates; earning suspensions, and behaving and fielding erratically.  However, he certainly could hit, and, when he wanted to, Dick Allen could carry a team.”

Allen once remarked, “I’ll play first, third, left.  I’ll play anywhere – except Philadelphia.”

“In June 1969 Allen earned a 26-day suspension after showing up late for a doubleheader at Shea Stadium.  [Ed. the above noted twi-nighter on June 24]  He had been at Monmouth Race Track in New Jersey, and, as he tried to get to the game, he was stopped by police for cutting across lanes in the Lincoln Tunnel.  The incident culminated a long series of controversies, including fines for missing planes and batting practices, drunkenness, a fight with a barroom owner, and an overall lack of hustle.  ‘I’d been hearing I was a bum for so long that I began to think that’s just what I was,’ he admitted.  ‘I began to hit the sauce pretty good, and I didn’t care who knew it.’

“Then came the great name-change controversy.  As a boy, Allen had been known as either ‘Dick’ or ‘Sleepy.’  When he came to the majors he was known as ‘Richie.’  Now he demanded that he be called Dick.  ‘Richie is a little boy’s name,’ he explained, but few fans understood, and to most it was another sign of his lack of normality.”

Growing up I was a big Allen fan, and when he went to the White Sox*, I actually bought a White Sox cap (never abandoning the Mets in the process, of course).  He was sure one of a kind...just an awesome hitter when his attitude was right.

*In 1972, Allen was A.L. MVP, leading the league in home runs with 37, and RBIs, 113, while batting .308.  The ChiSox finished second in the A.L. West, 87-67 (there being a work stoppage that season, MLB’s first), but talk about carrying a team.  The second-most productive hitter in the Chicago lineup was Carlos May with 12 homers and 68 ribbies.

It just hit me that my two favorite players, outside of Tom Seaver and Mickey Mantle, were probably Allen and Dave Kingman, the latter two among the surliest characters in baseball history.

Next Bar Chat, Monday.