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< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 214 OF 914 ·
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Oct-04-10
 | | Phony Benoni: I think we've all had our memories corrected on occasion by Retrosheet. And, quite possibly, Halberstam didn't have the resource available while researching the book; much of that box score information went up within the last year. But like chess anecdotes, the legends of baseball have become so pervasive that there seems no need to fact-check them. |
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| Oct-04-10 | | Russian Grandmasters: <Phony Benoni> Aha- thanks for being so prompt as usual.
Please don't correct the original entry on <Flamberg's> player page because it's correct- I was mistaken, as it turns out. I should note that <Donaldson/Minev> also do not specify that the tournament <Rubinstein/Rotlewi> won at Warsaw 1910 was for the city championship. But there was indeed a Warsaw City Championship played earlier in 1910 in which <Flamberg> finished ahead of <Rubinstein>- I found a cross table for this in fact-
Flamberg 9
Rubinstein 8.5
Langleben 7
Einbild 6.5
Kleczynski 5
Shuld 5
Gonsovski 4.5
Kerer 3.5
Dobronravov 3
Rosenman 2.5
Masonbaum .5
So the <Flamberg> biography might note that he was indeed <Warsaw City Champion> in 1901, 1902, and 1910. |
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| Oct-04-10 | | Russian Grandmasters: Just to be absolutely clear, the cross table I posted there is labeled <Warsaw City Championship>. |
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| Oct-04-10 | | Jim Bartle: I'm also finding a lot of stuff where Halberstam was right, which is fun to check on. Pesky thrown out at home from third on a single to right was one time, and also the time Ted Williams hit three home runs in a game against Bob Keegan of the White Sox in 1957 (May 8). In spring training he'd gotten Williams out on a slider and looked very satisfied with himself. All the Red Sox knew that Williams was going to hit that slider during the regular season. |
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Oct-04-10
| | Phony Benoni: Sounds like Halberstam is a Red Sox fan. |
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| Oct-04-10 | | Jim Bartle: Actually he really rips into both the Yankees and the Sox for not signing black players in the 50s. And he makes it sound as if the Sox went out of their way not to sign Willie Mays. I do think he overstates his case, though, saying the Yankees suffered greatly in the 60s by not signing blacks. I'd say the Yanks did pretty well through 1964, and starting in 1965 is pretty late to blame failure on not signing players in 1953. It's true, of course, that most of the black stars coming up in the 50s were in the NL: Mays, Aaron, Frank Robinson, Gibson, Banks, McCovey. |
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| Oct-04-10 | | Travis Bickle: Hey Phony what are you dressing up as for Halloween this year? I think I'll go as a Zombie!! ; P http://www.wtfcostumes.com/zombiela... |
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Oct-04-10
| | Phony Benoni: Nah, I think I'll go as something really scary:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl... |
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| Oct-04-10 | | eightbyeight: I've been looking through your collections, Phony, and everything I see there amazes me. Your collections are just what collections should be: witty or historic collections of chess games with Beaker's face gracing the top of the list. Well, maybe not that last part. But still, you've done a great job. |
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Oct-04-10
| | Phony Benoni: <eightbyeight> Thanks. I've always been more attracted to chess history than actually playing the game, and I'm glad to share that passion. |
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Oct-04-10
| | Phony Benoni: <Travis Bickle> Now, if you're really looking to be scared: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl... |
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| Oct-05-10 | | Travis Bickle: Hey Phony where did you find that picture of that handsome stud? The clarity is outstanding! ; P |
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| Oct-05-10 | | Travis Bickle: No really Dr Benoni just imagine passing candy out to the kiddies as you open your front door dressed like you've been dead for a couple of years. ; P |
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Oct-05-10
| | Phony Benoni: Heck, Travis, I don't need to dress up to look like that. |
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| Oct-05-10 | | Travis Bickle: LOL!! |
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| Oct-05-10 | | eightbyeight: Ever considered actually going as Beaker? |
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Oct-05-10
| | Phony Benoni: Wouldn't work; unfortunately, I'm shaped more like Rowlf. Beaker and I actually have nothing in common. To start with, he has a much deeper and more resonant voice. Just to show you the way my mind works, here's how I picked him as my avatar. When I signed up for premium membership, there were 34 pages of avatars available. I immediately went to page 34, and there he was. |
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| Oct-06-10 | | Jim Bartle: OK, more Halberstam, whether you want it or not:
On the third page, writing about 1948 and the Boudreau/Williams batting race: "While Boudreau was slightly ahead, the Red Sox played a doubleheader with Chicago late in the season....He (Williams) went seven for eight, with three hits to the opposite field. The last time up, with six hits already under his belt and his average having edged above Boudreau's, he yelled to Tebbetts, "This one's for Ted," and hit it out." As far as I can tell, these are the games:
http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/...
http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/... What did Halberstam appear to get wrong?
1. Not a doubleheader, but two consecutive day games.
2. Williams went 8 for 10 (!), not 7 for 8.
3. Williams did not hit a home run.
I checked the doubleheaders played late in the season (not vs. Chicago) and Williams did not have a big day in any of them. So it wasn't just the wrong team. Sounds to me as if Tebbetts told him a story, as many players did for the book. Halberstam just believed him and didn't check. He could have avoided this problem to some degree if he'd just quoted the players he interviewed. But he rarely does that; he paraphrases the comments and adds "Tebbetts thought" or "Henrich believed." Not nearly as good as actually quotes, in my opinion. A good book overall, though. Really makes you feel the drama and the times. Lots of good stories. One more? Discussing Vern Stephens' weakness as a shortstop: "Pesky had played shortstop before the trade [which brought Stephens], but McCarthy had moved him to third because he had better hands and was quicker." Better hands and was quicker, so he was moved from short to third? Either baseball has really changed, or Halberstam got that wrong. |
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| Oct-06-10 | | Jim Bartle: Is Larsen's the only no-hitter in postseason history? (Hint, hint) |
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Oct-06-10
| | Phony Benoni: Busy right now. I'll let you know in a half-hour or so. |
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| Oct-06-10 | | Jim Bartle: Answer might change in that time. |
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Oct-06-10
| | Phony Benoni: It did. You have to know how to wait in this prediction game. Lee vs. Halladay in the World Series might be interesting, but there's a lot of baseball left to play. |
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Oct-06-10
| | Phony Benoni: Just noticed something totally trivial. Don Larsen's perfect game came in 1956, which was the 53rd baseball postseason. (Well, the NL-AL rivalry.) This year marks the 53rd baseball postseason after Larsen. (Remember, there were no playoffs in 1994). |
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Oct-06-10
 | | WannaBe: So, what are you saying? Next no-hitter in the play-offs will occur in 2063? |
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| Oct-06-10 | | Jim Bartle: By 2063 there will probably be five rounds of playoffs, all best-of-seven, with half the 48 teams playing, a no-hitter would become much more likely. |
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