2021 Books

 

4 3 2 1                                                                  Auster, Paul

All the Beautiful People We Once Knew      Carlson, Edward

American Heiress                                              Toobin, Jeffrey

American Marriage, An                                   Jones, Tayari

Anxious People                                                  Backman, Fredrik

Baltimore Book of the Dead, The                  Winik, Marion

Bar Harbor Retirement Home For Famous Writers (and Their Muses), The

                                                                              DeFino, Terri-Lynne

Beast                                                                    Kingsnorth, Paul

Better Sister, The                                              Burke, Alafair

Bohemians, The                                                Darsnik, Jasmin

Bride Test, The                                                  Hoang, Helen

Christmas Promise, The                                  Evans, Richard Paul

Death Need Not Be Fatal                                McCourt, Malachy

Deck the Hounds                                              Rosenfelt, David

Girl In Exile, A: Requiem For Linda B.        Kadare, Ismail               

Glow of Death                                                    Cleland, Jane K.

Gods of Wood and Stone                                 DiIonno, Mark

Good Son, The                                                   Jeong, You-Jeong

Grist Mill Road                                                  Yates, Christopher

Kingdom of the Blind                                       Penny, Louise

Lost Country, The                                             Gay, William

Mexican Gothic                                                 Moreno-Garcia, Silvia

Mystery of Mrs. Christie, The                         Benedict, Marie

Neither Snow Nor Rain                                    Leonard, Devin

Night of Miracles                                               Berg, Elizabeth

November Road                                                 Berney, Lou

Saboteur, The                                                     Gross, Andrew

Something Wonderful                                      Purdum, Todd S.

Southernmost                                                     House, Silas

Spoils of the Dead                                              Stabenow, Dana

Sweet Little Lies                                                 Frear, Caz

Tangerine                                                             Mangan, Christine

Vineyard, The                                                      Duenas, Maria

Wife, The                                                              Burke, Alafair

Baseball Trivia - 46

Q: This second baseman may have been the first, and hopefully last, terrorist/player.  In 1973, after his career was over, he attempted to extort $250,000 from a steamship company by threatening to place a bomb aboard one of its vessels.  He was arrested by the FBI, convicted, and served nine months in prison.

From 1938 to 1940 he played in the minors alongside a shortstop named Phil Rizzuto.  They then graduated to the Yankees and continued to team up in 1941 and 1942.  In 1941 they won World Series rings.  He was traded to the Senators in 1943 and then entered the war.

He often fought with his managers and ended up with a less than spectacular career with four different teams.

The one plus for him was that he met an 11 year old Maury Wills in 1943 in Washington while playing for the Senators.  Maury later said that meeting this second baseman was an inspiration for him to become a major league player. 

Who was he?

   

A: Jerry Priddy

Baseball Trivia - 45

Q: This player was an outstanding defensive shortstop but struck out at a higher than average rate.  In a 1941 game while playing for the Cincinnati Reds, he fielded 19 balls recording 9 putouts and 10 assists.  In 1949, he was part of a Philadelphia Athletics infield that set the record (217) for most double plays in one season.  His final year with the A's in 1954 was as the player-manager thus becoming the third and final manager in the Philadelphia A's 54 year history. 

Who was he?

   

A: Eddie Joost

Baseball Trivia - 44

   

   

Q: This Hall of Fame pitcher appeared in four World Series and won one ring.  He spent 19 years in the majors with 7 teams, 2 of them more than once.  He won 270 games with his best year in 1928 when he went 25-14.  He was the last pitcher who was officially permitted to throw a spitter.  And he had more HoF teammates (36) than any other member of the Hall. 

Who was he?

   

A: Burleigh Grimes

Baseball Trivia - 43

Q: This right handed pitcher spent just one season in the majors.  In 1952, with the Pittsburgh Pirates, he went 1-6 with an ERA of 7.08.  But his claim to fame came in a minor league game.  Before being called up to the parent club, he was pitching for the Bristol Twins which was the Bucs Class-D farm team.  On May 13 he threw a no-hitter against the Welch Miners.  AND he struck out 27 batters.  Four men reached base: a walk, a HBP, an error, and a passed ball after a strikeout.  Only two men put the ball in play: the error and a ground out. 

Who was he?

   

A: Ron Necciai

Baseball Trivia - 42

Q: This Hall of Fame first baseman played 16 years in the big leagues and won a NL MVP Award and two World Series rings.  In 1924, he set the all-time record for RBI in a single game with 12 (later tied by Mark Whiten in 1993).  He was involved in the closest batting race in MLB history when he came in third with an average of .3482 behind Chick Hafey's .3489 and Bill Terry's .3486.  He also owns the single season record for the most unassisted double plays by a first baseman with eight.  And he was also sued for hitting a home run when a fan was hit by the ball when he was not looking.

Who was he?

   

A: Jim Bottomley

Baseball Trivia - 41

Q: This left handed pitcher won a World Series ring in 1906 with the "Hitless Wonders", the Chicago White Sox.  He recorded the first World Series save.  He also had the record for most consecutive shutout innings pitched (45) until Don Drysdale broke it in 1968.  He was also a musical composer who published at least four songs with his co-writer Ring Lardner.

Who was he?

   

A: Guy Harris "Doc" White

Baseball Trivia - 40

Q: This Hall of Fame pitcher spent 17 years in the majors with the Detroit Tigers and the Cleveland Indians.  He is the only pitcher to have won two consecutive MVP Awards.  He won a World Series ring in 1945 and his uniform #16 is retired by the Tigers.  After retiring he served as a scout for several teams.  While with the Houston Astros, he quit when the team decided not to draft a player he discovered named Derek Jeter.

Who was he?

   

A: Hal Newhouser

The 2021 Garden - Phase 27

Final harvest of the "summer".  And now it's time for a winter nap.

A Year To The Day

The heat was turned on today after a night of 40 degrees.  I thought it was a bit later this year, but it was exactly 1 year ago that last year's warmth was requested (10/18/20 Post).  The dependable 60 year old furnace continues to amaze!

Baseball Trivia - 39

Q: This catcher appeared in only 486 games over all or parts of ten years with the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers.  His career diminished after suffering an eye injury in a hunting accident.  But his post playing career is what he is noted for.  As a special assignment scout for Branch Rickey, he contacted Jackie Robinson while playing for the Kansas City Monarchs.  Then in 1947, while Leo Durocher was serving a one year suspension, he was the opening day manager for Brooklyn when Robinson played his first game.  In 1951, he was the bullpen coach on October 3rd who sent in Ralph Branca instead of Carl Erskine.  And finally, re-united with Rickey in Pittsburgh, he scouted Roberto Clemente whom the Pirates eventually signed.

Who was he?

   

A: Clyde Sukeforth

Voting

Voting by mail.  Greatest thing since sliced bread.  If the Founding Fathers were so great, how come they didn't think of this? 😏

Very odd that I haven't received election brochures in the mail nor candidates' knocks on my door.  So far.

Baseball Trivia - 38

Q: This shortstop was on teams that won three championships.  He also had a 42 game hitting streak which is the fourth longest in baseball history and the longest by a right-handed NL hitter.  After going 0-6 in a 10 inning game, he then went on a 28 game streak ending up with hitting in 70 of 71 games.

Who was he?

   

A: Bill Dahlen

The 2021 Garden - Phase 26

 October 7.  Peppers still ready for harvesting.  Must be global warming.

    

Baseball Trivia - 37

Q: This catcher spent thirteen seasons with the New York Giants, Boston Braves (twice), and the Washington Senators.  He was part of a vaudeville act, telling jokes and singing parodies with Andy Cohen (Baseball Trivia #36), a teammate from the Giants.  After the 1928 season they started performing on the Loew Circuit with their first appearance on stage at the Loew's Commodore Theatre in Manhattan.  The duo earned $1,800 a week, billed as "Cohen and Xxxxx", except in Boston, when the billings were reversed.  In a 1960 interview, Cohen reminisced that "if we didn't kill vaudeville, we sure helped."  

Who was he?

   

A: James "Shanty" Hogan

Baseball Trivia - 36

Q: This player spent three seasons with the New York Giants in the 1920s.  John McGraw, the New York manager, signed this Jewish player to compete with Babe Ruth and the New York Yankees across the Harlem River.  After retirement he managed in the minors and eventually managed 1 game with the Phillies in 1960.  He was the interim until Gene Mauch arrived to take over the reigns.  The manager won his only game 5-4 over the Milwaukee Braves.

Who was he?

   

A: Andy Cohen

Hey. Delete This!

Yesterday I missed an important job-related announcement because it was sent not to my two common e-mail accounts, but rather to the g-mail account that I seldom if ever use.  It also happens to be the one set up with this blog for contact.  Well, today I went to the inbox to look for the announcement.  Sure enough there it was along with two other old ones from the summer.  But then I noticed something from May.  During the month of May four of my posts on the blog were flagged, then deleted, and then re-instated!  One baseball trivia, one garden related, one automotive, and one political.  Very strange.  So whoever is monitoring my blog...

FLAG THIS!!!

Baseball Trivia - 35

Q: This outfielder is on the Phillies Wall of Fame.  He was a batting champion in 1910 and in 1911 struck an umpire after a disputed called third strike knocking him unconscious.  He won a World Series ring with the Cincinnati Reds in 1919 and is the only non-Hall of Famer to lead the league in RBI four times.  After retirement he umpired one year in the minors and another in the National League.  He passed away at the young age of 44

Who was he?

   

A: Sherry Magee

Baseball Trivia - 34

Q: This Hall of Famer won two World Series rings with the New York Giants.  In 1921 he became the first player to record two hits in the same inning in a World Series game.  He died during his career in 1927 from Bright's disease.

Who was he?

   

A: Ross Youngs

Baseball Trivia - 33

Q: Trivia # 15 was about the pitcher Bert Shepard who pitched in one game with an amputated leg.  The game was played on August 4, 1945.  The pitcher that he came in to relieve also was making his only appearance in the major leagues.  That pitcher gave up seven runs on five hits and three walks in one third of an inning.  This gave him the highest lifetime ERA, 189.00, of any pitcher in Major League Baseball to have recorded at least one out.  His one out was a strikeout of the opposing pitcher.

He was also the last native of Ireland to appear in a game until P. J. Conlon of the New York Mets debuted in 2018. 

Who was he?

   

A: Joe Cleary

The 2021 Garden - Phase 25

The coming of September always means the removal of some plants and the harvest of the last decent veggies.

Baseball Trivia - 32

Q: This player was the son of one of baseball's greatest hitters.  He won two World Series rings with the St. Louis Cardinals; one as a player in 1946 and another as a coach in 1967.  And he managed the Cincinnati Reds for two years (1964 & 1965).  But his claim to fame was for hitting a pennant-clinching home run in 1950 as a Left Fielder for the Philadelphia Whiz Kids.  The place was Ebbets Field, the opponent was the Brooklyn Dodgers, and Philadelphia had a slim one game lead in the standings.  If Brooklyn won, a three game playoff would be necessary.  On the last day of the season, he came to bat in the top of the 10th with the scored tied at 1.    With two men on, he hit a home run that led the Phillies to their first National League pennant in 35 years.  The home run was so famous that he was immortalized in Ernest Hemingway's novel The Old Man and the Sea.   

Who was he?

   

A: Dick Sisler

Baseball Trivia - 31

Q: In 1910, this pitcher had a 20-4 record and helped the Chicago Cubs win the National League pennant.  He also pitched a seven inning no-hitter that year against the St. Louis Cardinals.  It was the second game of a double header and both teams had agreed to end the game at 5 PM so they could catch their trains.  Unfortunately in 1991 MLB changed the definition of a no-hitter and his was not recognized.  He finished his career with the New York Yankees and gave up Babe Ruth's first hit (double).  He was the first of three Yankees (Munson and Lidle) who died during their careers when he passed away from lung cancer in 1916.   

Who was he?

   

A: Leonard "King" Cole

Baseball Trivia - 30

Q: This American League outfielder won a World Series Ring with the Detroit Tigers in 1935, was known as "The Madman From Mississippi", and was the only player to hit for the cycle on Opening Day (an unnatural one).   

Who was he?

   

A: Gee Walker

Two More Years

Sailed thru inspection today in what had to be the shortest visit to the DMV in my life.  Don't think I was there more than ten minutes.  And the old (16?) gal continues to chug along.  She may outlive me after all.  

Baseball Trivia - 29

Q: This Cub outfielder was the NL MVP in 1952.  He and Johnny Bench are the only players in major league history to hit three home runs against the same pitcher in two separate games (Curt Simmons of Philadelphia).  He was popular with Cub fans and earned the nickname "The Mayor of Wrigley Field".

Who was he?

   

A: Hank Sauer

The 2021 Garden - Phase 24

   

   

A Long Red Line.

   

Sweet Sixteen Today

 

The 2021 Garden - Phase 23

The first cukes of the year.

Baseball Trivia - 28

Q: This Hall of Fame first baseman won two World Series rings with the Philadelphia Athletics.  In 1932 he hit 58 home runs falling short of Babe Ruth's record by two.  He actually did hit 60 but two were in games that were rained out.  After retirement, he managed the Fort Wayne Daisies of the AAGPBL for one year.  The Tom Hanks character in A League of Their Own is loosely based on him.

Who was he?

   

A: Jimmie Foxx

Baseball Trivia - 27

Q: This Hall of Fame pitcher from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was the first left hander to win 200 and then 300 games.  He ranks third in all time wins among left handers.  He won three World Series rings during a 15 year career with the Philadelphia Athletics.

Who was he?

   

A: Eddie Plank

The 2021 Garden - Phase 22

 The first five.

The 2021 Garden - Phase 21

After returning home after a week of house/dog sitting (above), I found my garden in pretty good shape.  Weeds weren't out of control and Mother Nature had kept it watered.

     

There are about 4 tomatoes that are ready to be picked any day now.

    

The Thunderbolts and Big Daddys are long and green but still have to change color before picking.

   

Three California Wonders were the first vegatables picked this year.  Not sure what I will do with them.  I still have a freezer half full of 2020 peppers.  And it's too early to give them away.

    

And then there's the cukes.  Easy to grow.  But hard to see the actual fruits through all that growth.  I did spot two small ones.

Baseball Trivia - 26

Q: This catcher played 17 years in the major leagues and won two World Series rings with two different teams.  He was the first player to ever sign with the Los Angeles Angels and later served one year as their manager.  He also played four years in the NBL with the Rochester Royals.

Who was he?

   

A: Del Rice

Baseball Trivia - 25

Q: This Hall-of-Famer won 5 World Series rings.  He is one of 14 players to hit a "natural" cycle (single, double, triple, and home run in that order) and the only one to complete a "natural" with a grand slam.  He holds the American League record for most RBI (11) in a game.  He was also the first player to hit two grand slams in one game.  He died at the young age of 42 after a fall in his California home.

Who was he?

   

A: Tony Lazzeri

Baseball Trivia - 24

Q: This pitcher was a teammate of Walter Johnson from 1909-12.  He had a brother who was an outfielder for the St. Louis Browns.  He also had two sons each of whom won a batting championship.  One son later became a manager for three different clubs.  The other played for the Brooklyn Dodgers, had the same nickname as his father, and opposed Jackie Robinson entering the majors.

Who was he?

   

A: Ewart "Dixie" Walker

Baseball Trivia - 23

Q: This second baseman won a batting title and three World Series rings while with the Yankees.  Six years after retirement, he was killed when his commuter train drove straight through signals and flew off the open Newark Bay lift bridge and into the bay.

Who was he?

   

A: Snuffy Stirnweiss

The 2021 Garden - Phase 20

An update on the garden is long over due.

An aerial view of the garden.

Cucumber Alley.

The tomato front runner (R5P3).

The first double pepper plant (R1P7).

Alcohol

My first beer in about 16 months.  Went down smoothly!

Baseball Trivia - 22

Q: In 1977 Lyman Bostock of the Twins recorded 12 putouts in the outfield in a nine inning game.  Thirty two years later Jacoby Ellsbury of the Red Sox equaled the record.  However, the first player to accomplish this feat was an outfielder for the Boston Braves in 1929.  

Who was he?

   

A: Earl Clark

Baseball Trivia - 21

Q: Baseball Trivia # 10 was about Eddie Waitkus who was shot by a crazed fan in Chicago.  Seventeen years earlier this shortstop was also shot in a Chicago hotel by a jilted girlfriend.  He recovered and ended up playing 17 years in the majors.  He went to the World Series three times but came up short each time with the Chicago Cubs.  He also had a brief managerial career with the Boston Red Sox.

Who was he?

   

A: Billy Jurges

The 2021 Garden - Phase 19

Twenty-five days to go.

Baseball Trivia - 20

Q: This second baseman won a World Series ring with the Cleveland Indians.  After his playing career was over he was a manager for the Fort Wayne Daisies and the Muskegon Lassies of the AAGPBL.  And he was the subject of a scene in the film Teacher's Pet between Gig Young and Clark Gable.  But his true claim to fame was that he was the first major league player to execute an unassisted triple play in a World Series.  In 1920, he caught a line drive while playing second base.  He stepped on second and then tagged a runner coming from first.

Who was he?

   

A: Bill Wambsganss