Pirates right fielder Roberto Clemente was named the National League MVP on November 16, 1966. During the season, Clemente hit .317 with 29 home runs and drove in 119 runs. He narrowly beat Sandy Koufax for the award, who had finished the season 27-9 with a 1.73 ERA and 317 strikeouts.
I like the upbeat tempo and rhythm of this song. The lyrics make it seem like more of an angsty, crushing-after-a-girl theme meets bad baseball metaphor tune, but if you ignore that, it’s a catchy way to wake up this morning.
Show me a guy who’s afraid to look bad, and I’ll show you a guy you can beat every time.
~Lou Brock
I read this joke once when I was in high school, I believe in a book I had checked out from the library, but had since forgotten about it until I came across it this morning. It’s just a tad morbid, but pretty amusing all the same.
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Is There Baseball In Heaven?
Two old men had been best friends for years, and they both live to their early 90’s, when one of them suddenly falls deathly ill. His friend comes to visit him on his deathbed, and they’re reminiscing about their long friendship, when the dying man’s friend asks, “Listen, when you die, do me a favor. I want to know if there’s baseball in heaven.”
The dying man said, “We’ve been friends for years, this I’ll do for you.” And then he dies.
A couple days later, his surviving friend is sleeping when he hears his friend’s voice. The voice says, “I’ve got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that there’s baseball in heaven.”
“What’s the bad news?”
“You’re pitching on Wednesday.”
This one is definitely a groan-worthy joke, but nevertheless still good for a chuckle. The fact that we call it “home plate” never fails to leave the possibilities open.
Congrats to these players, and congrats to the Giants on having three winners!
Wives of ballplayers, when they teach their children their prayers, should instruct them how to say: “God bless Mommy, God bless Daddy, God bless Babe Ruth. Babe Ruth has upped Daddy’s paycheck by fifteen to forty percent.”
~Waite Hoyt
On November 7, 1972, Johnny Bench won the National League Most Valuable Player award for the second time in three years. This makes him only the fourth backstop up to this time to win the award multiple times. He joins Mickey Cochrane (1928 A’s, 1934 Tigers), Yogi Berra (1951, ’54 Yankees), and Roy Campanella (1951, ’53, ’55 Dodgers) in this achievement.
Congratulations to the Chicago Cubs on their World Series victory! 108 years is a long time to wait for a championship.
And congrats to Ben Zobrist on being named Series MVP. I would have liked to have kept him in Kansas City, but I can’t help but be happy for him, all the same.
Every year the World Series should go seven games for the dramatics of it.
~Dan Quisenberry
