MEOW #15: Looking Up for Number One

[dudeski]

Well done. Cat out of the bag.

[oldjudge]

Great story, Al. Besides being an all time great ball player, Williams was a true American hero.

My father was a huge Joe Dimaggio fan, and of course 1941 was also the year of his 56-game hitting streak. Being a Willie Mays fan, I used to torture him with "Yeah, but that was wartime pitching"... completely forgetting that we didn't get into the war until three months after the season ended.

After DiMaggio's streak ended, he hit in 16 more straight games. He batted over .400 during the 56-game streak, but dropped to.357 by season's end. He beat out Williams for MVP. Now that had to be a tough call to make.

I think that DiMaggio was the greatest center fielder ever (almost as good a fielder as Mays and a better hitter) although Mike Trout, in a few years, may take the title. Having said that, not many agree with me(on the DiMaggio being better than Mays part).

[Laura M]

Cat's out of the bag (I'm pretty sure)! I enjoyed it a lot, partly because it's the first one of these I've gotten in a while :-)

[Abide]

Me-wow! It’s Miller time

[FrankH]

Waiting for confirmation that the cat is out of the bag.

UPDATE: confirmed soon after posting.

[Bird Lives]

My favorite Ted Williams story has to do with the last day of the 1941 season, when he hit .406. He entered the doubleheader just under .400, but it would have rounded up to .400, and his manager told him he could sit out the (meaningless) doubleheader and guarantee a .400 season. Instead, he played, and went 6-8, ending up at .406. Great account of the day here. backst

The most famous piece on Williams is Updike's New Yorker 6000-word article on his final game at Fenway. It's generally recognized as one of the best essays in sports writing or writing on any topic. It seems incredible now that the stands were 2/3 empty that day. The backstory is that Updike hadn't intended to be there either. He had come into Boston, leaving his wife at home in Ipswich, to see a girlfriend. But she wasn't home when he showed up, so he decided to check out the RedSox.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1960 ... -kid-adieu

[Cinny]

Solved with a little help from a fellow muggle.

[lbray53]

The cat is out of the bag, finally. I needed some help to figure out where to open it.

Great mechanism!

[madhatter5]

Nudge Saturday!

Pay particular attention to 1-A and 77-D

The title has two meanings. One of them is that you WILL need to Google some things. The other hints at what exactly you need to Google.

Try to find a connection between the theme players and the years in parentheses. (If you have trouble, see spoiler #1)

[BrennerTJ]

The cat has rounded the bases and headed for home.

[Bird Lives]

Harry Brecheen has escaped.

[ReB]

With a final little nudge to go one step further along the path I was on, I untied the cat.

[ReB]

My father was a huge Joe Dimaggio fan, and of course 1941 was also the year of his 56-game hitting streak. Being a Willie Mays fan, I used to torture him with "Yeah, but that was wartime pitching"... completely forgetting that we didn't get into the war until three months after the season ended.

After DiMaggio's streak ended, he hit in 16 more straight games. He batted over .400 during the 56-game streak, but dropped to.357 by season's end. He beat out Williams for MVP. Now that had to be a tough call to make.

I think that DiMaggio was the greatest center fielder ever (almost as good a fielder as Mays and a better hitter) although Mike Trout, in a few years, may take the title. Having said that, not many agree with me(on the DiMaggio being better than Mays part).

Without taking sides between the two, all I know is that a nation didn't turn its lonely eyes to Willie Mays...

[Al Sisti]

Without taking sides between the two, all I know is that a nation didn't turn its lonely eyes to Willie Mays...

No, but I sure did...

[boharr]

Without taking sides between the two, all I know is that a nation didn't turn its lonely eyes to Willie Mays...

No, but I sure did...

WillieMays.jpg

Hey, I didn't write that. ReB did.

[Al Sisti]

Without taking sides between the two, all I know is that a nation didn't turn its lonely eyes to Willie Mays...

No, but I sure did...

WillieMays.jpg

Hey, I didn't write that. ReB did.

Oops, you're right! Still getting the hang of these nested quote thingies. And isn't it "Say hey, I didn't write that..."?

[Bird Lives]

Without taking sides between the two, all I know is that a nation didn't turn its lonely eyes to Willie Mays...

Mays doesn't scan. More important, when Mays retired from the game, he was just an ex-ballplayer. But DiMaggio became a celeb, not just a sports hero, soon after leaving the game, when he married Marilyn Monroe. The break-up of that marriage, made him a person with a story, sort of a fallen hero (divorce was still a big deal in those days), hence the Paul Simon line. Race may also have something to do with it.

[Hector]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UduDrea ... sandrhythm

[oldjudge]

Paul Simon is an avid Yankee fan who grew up idolizing Mickey Mantle. He wanted to use Mickey Mantle in Mrs Robinson but the syllables didn’t work so he went with Joe D. Here is a comparison of two players career stats normalized to a 162 game season. Which one do you want?

Batting Avg. OBP. DOUBLES. TRIPLES. HRS. RBIS. SB

A. .302. .384. 28. 8. 36. 103. 18
B. .325. .398. 36. 12. 34. 143. 3

Hint, Mays isn’t B. Mays may have been a better fielder, but not by much. DiMaggio was the best CF of his time. And BTW, DiMaggio had a song solely about him written by Les Brown in 1941: “Joltin Joe DiMaggio”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q6odQuCxFU

[Abide]

And BTW, DiMaggio had a song solely about him written by Les Brown in 1941: “Joltin Joe DiMaggio”

They are still writing songs about him!

Caution: contains high levels of funk...