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Sochi Preview: Assessing the Newspaper Culture in Russia

Have you ever wondered what the newspaper culture is like in Russia compared with western countries, such as in the U.S. and the U.K.?

With approximately 13,000 journalists approved with press credentials for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games beginning on Friday in Sochi, a city located on the shore of the Black Sea, at the foot of the Western Caucasus mountain region, the environment should be ripe for a blistering amount of newspapers, tabloids, and broadsheets being absorbed by tourists and local inhabitants at restaurants, cafes, and the lobby’s of plush hotel rooms.

But when discussing the newspaper culture in Russia, you need to keep two things in mind: The first is that the vast majority of Russians rely on state-controlled television rather than print newspapers for their information. The other is that we’re well into the 21st century and living in the age of the Internet, smartphones, and other mobile devices; so print news publications, much like the U.S. and U.K., are becoming less relevant.

If you were to pop your head into a café or bakery in any major city in Russia, you’ll likely find most customers not flipping through a newspaper, but more likely combing the Internet on their ipads , smartphones, or parked in front of an Internet bank.

According to the global market and research firm TNS; the number of Internet users in Russia has leaped to 70 million, representing 50 percent of the population. In April, 2012, Russia’s largest browser Yandex, moreover, reported 19 million visitors a day, more than the popular state-controlled Channel One with an audience of nearly 18 million.

This is not to suggest that Russia is without worthwhile print news publications.

William Pomeranz, Deputy Director of the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies of the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., tells me, ``at the very top, there are some very strong quality newspapers that have strong economics and foreign affairs sections and discuss Russian politics and foreign affairs without getting to close to specifically discussing [Russian president] Vladimir Putin. ‘’

And though many of these newspapers have limited circulation, Pomeranz admits, ``they allow the engaged middle class to follow these debates in an informed manner. The quality newspapers have a lot of good information.’’

The problem of plummeting circulation, prevalent with so many metro dailies in the United States, Pomeranz informs me, isn’t much different in Russia; only that it’s much worse in the Russian regions, where there is markedly less money to support newspapers.

And many newspapers, some might be surprised to learn; don’t shy away from some of the more contentious issues gripping the Russian Federation. When the feminist protest band, Pussy Riot, were locked up for staging a blasphemous performance in Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior in February, 2012, a number of newspapers in Russia editorialized about the world wide outcry and were surprisingly highly critical of the jailing, not so much of the strong arm tactics of Putin specifically, but of the process and how the law was interpreted, according to Pomeranz. 

By and large, however, despite freedom of expression and of the press guaranteed in the Russian constitution, at least on paper, in practice, accessing information, whether through the judiciary or other government institutions is a mighty tall order, if not impossible, for a great many journalists. Russia's powerful and corrupt court system, many argue, are used to silence those journalists bold enough to report widespread governmental abuses.

More troublingly, according to Freedom House, an independent watchdog organization dedicated to the expansion of freedom around the world, ``journalists in 2012 faced the threat of intimidation or physical attack when covering sensitive topics such as the situation in the restive North Caucasus, government corruption, organized crime, police torture, electoral violations, and opposition activities and protests.''

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), two journalists were killed in Russia in 2013, Akhmednabi Akhmednabiyev, a deputy editor of the independent news outlet Novoye Delo who was gunned down outside his home; the other was Mikhail Beketov, former editor of the independent newspaper Khimkinskaya Pravda in the Moscow suburb of Khimki, who died in the hospital after a choking incident.

Buck Ryan, an associate professor of journalism at the University of Kentucky and director of the Citizen Kentucky Project of the Scripps Howard First Amendment Center, who in September 2013 spent 10 days in Moscow speaking with journalism faculty and students at Russia's premier journalism school at Lomonosov Moscow State University, says freedom of expression in Russia is a ``negotiated dance.’’

``I've done newspaper workshops on four continents’’, Ryan told me, `` but Russia was the only place where opening remarks were provided by the government official/news media handler for the district.’’

Despite the restrictive press freedom, Ryan emphasizes that the most open forms of expression in the country can be found online, most prominently through social media, either affiliated with the few independent newspapers or through the 42 million blogs, such as drugoi [photojournalistic online magazine]; or ibigdan [news aggregator].

Another way to better appreciate the dissemination of news in Russia is to understand that newspapers are not nearly as influential as The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal are in the United States. Rather, newspapers in Russia not only have much less circulation, but more importantly, they’re largely balkanized with different segments of the Russian population gravitating toward the publication consistent with their particular viewpoint. So, for example, Rossiskaya Gazeta, a Russian government daily newspaper of record, which publishes the official decrees, statements and documents of state bodies, is predominantly read by officials and bureaucrats and those wanting to understand the official viewpoint, while Kommersant a nationally distributed daily newspaper devoted to politics and business, is for the most part consumed by the business elite. 

Greg Simons, a senior researcher at the Department of Eurasian Studies at Uppsala University and a lecturer at the Department of Communication Science at Turiba University in Riga, Latvia, remarked that newspapers in Russia, periodically, are bought by business elites for a variety of reasons: to gain political capital by promoting the owner’s interest, damaging the reputation of a chief rival, or other times merely to advance their own agenda through unabashed self-promotion. Such scenarios, Simon says, ``was especially obvious during the so-called Information wars of the mid-1990s when there was an all out and very bitter and open struggle between rival businessmen.’’ ``Hard news’’ Simons argues, ``is becoming more problematic to work in due to it becoming very politicized.’’

An additional reason for the sinking newspaper circulation in Russia, Simons stresses, has to do with disposable income. The price for many news publications have increased (they were subsidized during the Soviet regime); and with money being so scare-most Russians opt for the free medium in acquiring news, which is television, even though most viewers know they may not be getting the full story of a particular issue, since the Kremlin, beginning in the 2000’s, secured control over the most popular channels.

So as we inch closer to the official start of the Winter Games in Sochi; let's hope the biggest stories splashed across a good number newspapers around the world involves the herculean efforts of the athletes from 88 countries valiantly competing for medals; and not about the repressive climate for information gatherers and that full media freedom will be extended to the estimated 13,000 journalists with press credentials.

-Bill Lucey
[email protected]
February 4, 2014

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Brief Historic Overview of Newspapers in Russia

• Vedomosti was the first printed newspaper in Russia, issued by the decree of Emperor Peter the Great on December 16, 1702.

• Russia's first privately daily newspaper was the Severnaya Pchela (Northern Bee) which started publishing daily in 1838, a publication chiefly charged with echoing the imperial prerogatives of Emperor Nicholas I.

• Nicholas I appointed a special committee to censor the press, forcing writers such as I.G. Golovin and Alexander Herzen to publish their journals and books in other major cities outside of Russia, such as Paris and London.

• In an effort to improve education and increase literacy, Russian Emperor Alexander II, beginning in 1855, encouraged the creation of privately owned newspapers through the relaxing of censorship restrictions, permitting street sales, and extending freedoms to commercial advertising.

• The first independent commercial newspaper was Golos (The Voice), a reformist daily founded by Andrei A. Kraevsky in Moscow in 1863.

• By 1870, there were 79 Russian-language newspapers in operation, nearly five times as many as a decade earlier.

• In 1881, Alexander II was assassinated by nihilists of "Will of the People" only to be succeeded by Alexander III, who enacted a series of anti-terrorism laws, restricting civil rights and freedom of the press.

• After the 1905 revolution, the press for a brief period, was freed from prepublication controls, resulting in increased newspaper circulation.

• Once Bolshevik publications such as Iskra and Pravda founded by V.I. Lenin in 1900 and 1910 respectively, increased their hostile attacks on the imperial regime, a fresh crackdown on independent newspapers ensued.

• When Lenin assumed power in 1917, he closed over 300 opposition papers and established a system of tight controls, including the banning of the conservative American press from Russia.

• During the Leninist period (1917-1925), an official newspaper for the Soviet state (Izvestia) was founded to go along with the Communist Party paper Pravda.

• A formal censorship office, referred to as Glavlit was established in 1922.

• A state information system run by the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS) was created in 1925.

• 1990: 28th Party Congress; Supreme Soviet passes a law to lift censorship from the press.

• 2006: Two Russian newspapers closed after publishing the Danish cartoons of the prophet Muhammad that ignited worldwide demonstrations with one of the editors being charged with inciting hatred.

• Most recent figures suggest that there are 8,978 newspapers in Russia, with a total annual circulation of 8.2 billion copies.

Source: ``A Historical Dictionary of Journalism’’ By Ross Eaman; ``The Media In Russia’’ By Arutunyan, Anna

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About Sochi

• Sochi is a southern Russian city located in the Krasnodar Region, stretching approximately 90 miles along the eastern coast of the Black Sea.

• Founded in 1837 as a military fortification.

• In 1898, the Special State Commission designated the region as an ideal setting for a health resort.

• In 1909, the first real estate complex, Caucasian Riviera, consisting of four hotels, a restaurant, a theatre, a hydropathic and an electric power station was introduced.

• Helped by generous state subsidies, the region experienced rapid growth beginning in the 1930's, transforming the city into a flourishing health-resort, receiving 4,000,000 tourists annually, including 200,000 from abroad.

• During World War II, given its large supply of hotels and sanatoria, one of the largest military hospitals was established in Sochi.

• In the early 1960's, the coastal strip encompassing several towns, some tens of villages, including the city of Sochi were incorporated into a new administrative unit-of Greater Sochi.

• Greater Sochi is some 93 miles long, making it the world's second-largest metropolis after Los Angeles.

• Most of Sochi's territory consists of mountains and foothills of the Western Caucasus, covered with forests.

• Sochi is reportedly the warmest place in Russia. The climate is subtropical and the city records about 200 sunny days a year. Temperatures average 24 ˚ C (75 F) during the day in the summer and 5 ˚ C (41 F) in the winter. Tourists typically take to the sea for swimming from April until October with skiing taking place from October through May.

• Sochi has a population of more than 400,000, comprised of more than 90 nationalities, including Russian, Armenia, Ukrainian, Georgian, and Greek.

• Over two million tourists visit Sochi annually with its spa facilities numbering over 250.

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Key Facts about the Winter Games

• 88 countries will participate in the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.

• 98 sets of medals will be awarded in 7 Olympic sports.

• 6,000 Olympic athletes and team members are expected in Sochi for the Olympic Winter Games.

• An estimated 3 billion television viewers throughout the world will be watching the Sochi 2014 Winter Games.

• There will be 17 days of competition.

• Seats at the opening ceremony on February 7 are priced at between $793 and $1,838.

• About 213,000 visitors are expected to come to Sochi, which borders Russia's tumultuous North Caucasus republics. Two suicide bombings killed 34 people in Volgograd on December 29, 2013, roughly 434 miles north of Sochi.

• The North Caucasus, approximately 62 miles east of Sochi, is considered the most dangerous place in Russia, ranking it among the top five most dangerous places in the world involving terrorism.

• The Washington Post recently reported that from January to September of 2013, 375 people were killed and 343 wounded in the North Caucasus region, including 68 civilians, 100 police officers and 200 terrorists. Between October and December, three suicide bombers-trained in Dagestan (300 miles east of Sochi)-killed more than 40 people.

• President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly indicated security will be guaranteed in Sochi, with about 40,000 personnel firmly entrenched in the area.

• According to The Wall Street Journal, the price tag of holding the Olympics in Sochi has reached $50 billion, making it the most expensive Olympic Games in history, more than the approximately $40 billion spent by China on the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, by contrast, cost more than $7 billion.

Source: The Embassy of the Russian Federation http://is.gd/6sqjOs ; Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee Press Service http://is.gd/IN1R3K

Most Viewed News Stories of 2013: Survey Results

Photo Credit: Associated Press

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Hard to believe another year has almost flown by.

So as the curtain is about to come crashing down on 2013, I checked in with some news organizations to find out which story drew the most web traffic.

It was, after all, a shocking year: with two bombs exploding at the Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts, which killed three and injured 264 others; disquieting revelations that the National Security Agency (NSA) has been conducting a mass surveillance program; and stunning news that Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected pope, becoming the first Jesuit pope, the first pope from the Americas, and the first pope from the Southern Hemisphere. He took the name Francis, becoming the 266th pope and the 265th successor to St. Peter.

What was most surprising from this survey, at least to me, are the formats of content that is most appealing to readers of online news sites. As will become abundantly clear from the list below, photo galleries and innovative visual presentations seems to be the flavor of the day.

Chris Quinn, Vice President of Content for the Northeast Ohio Media Group, the company that leads the digitally focused news operation at The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio, informs me that ``when we set out in August to transition more fully into the digital universe, one of our key goals was to make better use of digital tools.'' ``The top 5 pieces in traffic'' Quinn said, `` so far this year demonstrate that this community very much wants to experience stories in multiple formats.'' The top two items that drove the most traffic at the Plain Dealer's site (Cleveland.com) were photo galleries.

Similarly, Nancy Sullivan, Vice President of Communications at the Los Angeles Times, said 43% of their web traffic on Oscar night (the story of the year that drew the most web traffic) came from mobile devices; while 54% of traffic on Oscar Sunday was driven by photo galleries, such as their dazzling Red Carpet Arrivals gallery. 

What follows, then, are the top stories of 2013 (based on page views or most web traffic) that was provided to me by different news organizations and popular online sites.

Top Stories of 2013

• The Guardian: The identity of an American computer specialist, a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee, and former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor, who leaked up to 200,000 classified documents to the press, primarily involving a mass NSA surveillance program, is revealed for the first time by The Guardian. Edward Snowden told the British national daily newspaper in a taped interview posted on its website: ``I don't want to live in a society that does these sort of things.''

The Guardian EXCLUSIVE has generated nearly 3.6 million page views since June.

• Bloomberg News: Their EXCLUSIVE ``Boston Bomb Victim in Photo Helped Identify Suspects’’ generated the most page views of the year at Bloomberg.com. The story reports Jeff Bauman’s face-to-face confrontation with one of the Boston Marathon bombers may have turned up key clues in the FBI's manhunt of the perpetrators.

• The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio reported on one of the most sensational criminal cases in U.S. history, when it was learned in May that three local women: Amanda Berry, Georgina ``Gina'' DeJesus, and Michelle Knight were rescued in a house they were held captive in by Ariel Castro since their disappearance between 2002 and 2004. Castro was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole, but was later found dead in his jail cell (from an apparent suicide), on September 3rd of this year. The events that transpired on Seymour Avenue was captured in a Plain Dealer Photo Gallery, which generated 1.5 million page views, the most popular item at Cleveland.com for 2013.

The second most popular item on its website was another photo gallery, and another remarkable story drawing worldwide attention, surrounding Scott Nagy, a terminal cancer patient who with the help of the University Hospital medical staff (on October 12th) was able to give his daughter away on her wedding day, while lying on a hospital gurney and using a respirator.  Nagy died two weeks later.

The third most popular story was The Plain Dealer’s page one splash that Berry, DeJesus, and Knight were found alive , while the 4th most popular was an audio of the 9-1-1 call by Amanda Berry.

• CNN's Photo Gallery: ``People We Lost in 2013'' generated 90 million page views, according to a company spokesperson.

• The most popular story on The Wall Street Journal's website for 2013 dealt with a group of men in their 40's, despite having moved on—to college, careers, families and new cities, have been playing ``tag'' , the playground game for 23 years.

• At Time Magazine's website, the most popular item of the year was a creative interactive article, which invited readers to take a test in order to discover which of the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia best suits their personality trait. Did you know, for example, that West Virginia is the most neurotic state, Utah is the most agreeable and inhabitants of Wisconsin are the country's most extroverted?

• The most popular story at ESPN.com in 2013 was Wright Thompson’s ``Outside the Lines’’-branded story “Michael Jordan Has Not Left The Building” with 2.6 million page views. 

• The two top stories of 2013 at FoxNews.com dealt with the Boston Marathon Bombing. Their 3rd and 4th most popular items for the year were captured in photo galleries: the first about a fertilizer plant explosion in the town of West, Texas, which killed up to 15, injuring more than 160 ; and another about a 10-ton meteor that streaked at supersonic speed over Russia's Ural Mountains, setting off blasts that injured nearly 1,100 people. 

• The top story at New York Magazine's website for 2013 was an article written by Joe Jonas, the American pop singer, musician, actor, and dancer, reflecting about his life as a Jonas Brother.

The 2nd most popular article was an amusing feature by Maureen O’Connor, chronicling how thanks to social media, ex-boyfriends are harder than ever to avoid.  And the 3rd most popular story at NYMag.com was Joe Hagan's feature on Matt Lauer and the dysfunctional family atmosphere at NBC’s Today Show. 

• The Miami Herald: The most viewed story at MiamiHerald.com dealt with members of the Miami Gardens police who were caught on camera arresting the same suspects over and over again, at times arresting them for trespassing even though they have permission to be on the premises; officers conducting searches of places of business without proper search warrants; using excessive force on subjects who are not resisting arrest; and other cases of filing inaccurate police reports in connection with the arrests. 

• The Los Angeles Times:  LATimes.com's digital strategy for its Oscars coverage (February 24th) , which focused on a real second-screen experience, including on-location blogging, tweeting, live video broadcasts from the newsroom during the ceremony’s commercial breaks, social media-based balloting, photography, and other in-depth reporting, resulted in a two-day (Sun & Mon) overall traffic numbers of 34.6 million page views, eclipsing last year's 2-day Oscar record of 21.4 million.

• Dallas Morning News: The most popular item at DallasNews.com was a profile on retiring school teacher, Dale Irby, from Titche Elementary in the Pleasant Grove area of Dallas, who wore the same 1970s-era polyester shirt and coffee-colored sweater for the school picture for the last 40 years. The article is accompanied with a photo gallery of Irby, showing that while his face might have changed over the last four decades, his attire for the school picture remained the same.

• New York Daily News: The most viewed story at NYDailyNews.com was the uproar that erupted over the death of Minnesota Vikings star running back Adrian Peterson's two-year old son after he had been beaten two days earlier, allegedly by his mother's boyfriend. 

The second most viewed story at the Daily News’ website was Jets' coach Rex Ryan being spotted sun bathing, while sporting a tattoo that resembled his wife wearing Mark Sanchez’s no. 6 green jersey.

• Newsday: The top local story at Newsday.com came back in September when a vendor, Sang Ho Kim, 63, opened fire, killing one man and critically wounding another at an East Garden City company, terrorizing a busy shopping and business district as police hunted into the night for the killer.

• ProPublica, the independent non-profit investigative newsroom that produces journalism in the public interest, said its most viewed story of the year dealt with a feature about two ``cradle Democrats’’ and passionate supporters of President Obama who had their health insurance cancelled because it did not meet the requirements of the Affordable Care Act.

Their second most view story concerned an alarming investigation, which reported that more than 1,500 Americans died after accidentally taking too much of a drug renowned for its safety: acetaminophen, one of the nation’s most popular pain relievers. 

• FBI.Gov: The FBI's top story of the year was the item that offered a $5 million reward to anyone who can help them locate 13 items stolen from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, including rare paintings by Rembrandt, Degas, and Vermeer. The items were originally stolen on March 18, 1990, representing the largest property crime in U.S. history.

• Cook Political Report: The astute Amy Walter, National Editor of The Cook Political Report, wondered back in April, if the Affordable Care Act or ObamaCare, when open enrollment begins in October, will shift the simmering debate from immigration and gun reform to the perils of President Obama’s signature legislation as Americans begin to see their premiums rise. The potential ``sleeper issue of 2014'' was the most viewed column of the year at Cookpolitical.com.

• At The Smoking Gun, the most viewed story of the year concerned a hacker, using the online alias "Guccifer" breaking into the Bush family e-mail accounts, swiping private correspondence and personal photos, including sensitive emails about George H.W. Bush’s recent hospitalization.

• Weather Channel: At Weather.com, the most viewed article of the year was a fascinating presentation of rare photos of different styles of bathing suits at the beaches, particularly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, well before the introduction of the bikini in 1946.

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Internet Searches:

• Google: Top 100 Searches  of 2013: http://is.gd/y61fHY

• Yahoo: 2013 Year in Review-The top-searched news stories of 2013: Trials, bombings, Obamacare. http://is.gd/XQ8HJk

• Bing: Top Searches in 2013: http://is.gd/Bg63Qa

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Social Media

• Top Trends of 2013 on Facebook: http://is.gd/Y6LMuZ

• 2013 on Twitter: http://is.gd/B2iUp0

• Top 10 YouTube Videos of 2013: http://is.gd/X54uqj

 • Best of 2013 Flickr Photos : http://is.gd/d9NpHm

 

-Bill Lucey
[email protected]
December 16, 2013

 

Lyndon Johnson: Master of the Power Shift

``Power is where power goes.’’

Prescient words spoken by Lyndon Johnson from L.A.’s Biltmore Hotel in 1960, when he first learned Jack Kennedy was considering him as his running mate.

Some within LBJ’s inner-circle feared if he hitched his wagon to the Camelot candidate and they captured the White House-Johnson would be stripped of the power he had grown so accustomed to in the Senate and left with little influence in shaping public policy.

``Power is, where power goes’’ LBJ told Sam Rayburn, the gruff and abrasive fellow Texan, on the other end of the phone, who was urging his protégé not to, under any circumstances, accept a VP spot if it was offered, like the Speaker of the House feared.

What really transpired between Bobby Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson at the Democratic Convention in 1960 at the Biltmore Hotel, when John Kennedy’s younger brother and campaign manager made three trips (at least three trips) up and down the back stairs between Room 9333(Kennedy’s suite, on the 9^th floor) and Room 7333 (Johnson’s suite, on the 7^th floor) probably will never be fully known.

A number of convincing scenarios presented by Caro based on accounts of people who were there at the time, however, suggest RFK, who despised LBJ, (dating back to the first time their eyes locked like two wild animals in the Senate cafeteria in 1953), desperately tried to get Johnson to withdraw from the ticket even after John Kennedy personally offered it to him and convinced the Senate leader he wanted and needed him as his running mate.  At one point, Bobby Kennedy, in a frantic state with his light brown hair ruffled as it drooped down over his forehead in yet another attempt to get Johnson to withdraw, went eyeball-to-eyeball with the steely-eyed Sam Rayburn. ``Are you authorized to speak for Jack Kennedy’’? Bobby, clearly caught off guard, grudgingly said, ``no.’’ ``Then come back when you are!’’ Rayburn growled.

The explosive Biltmore Hotel clash was a case study in the stark contrast between Jack and Bobby Kennedy. Bobby, at least in 1960, was rough around the edges, governed largely by his intense passions and his volcanic grudges. Jack, on the other hand, was more cerebral and refined with an amazing ability to put animosity aside when it came to getting what he wanted. What he wanted was the White House and he knew he absolutely had to have Texas and by extension LBJ to win the White House. JFK’s instincts, again, were right on the money; JFK/LBJ took Texas and probably wouldn’t have won the election without the Lone Star State.  As Caro points out, in 1956, Eisenhower had taken 5 of the 11 confederate states in 1956, one of those was Texas.

This sets the stage for high drama and a mighty compelling narrative of Robert Caro’s brilliant fourth volume on LBJ: ``Passage of Power.’’ The years covered in this volume covers 1958 through 1964 or the 47 days after President Kennedy’s assassination.

A fifth and final volume is in the works and will cover LBJ’s landside victory over Barry Goldwater, the unveiling of his ``Great Society’’ programs, and the catastrophic Vietnam years, culminating in losing the confidence of the American people and his stunning decision not to seek a second term.

Interestingly, when Caro, a former Newsday investigative reporter, began researching ``Passage of Power’’ 10 years ago, he thought this would be his final volume.  It gradually became apparent that the Kennedy assassination and the first seven weeks of Johnson’s presidency needed more attention, much more attention, than the Pulitzer-Prize winning historian had anticipated.

I’m embarrassed to admit I just got around to Caro’s monumental work-even though it was released well over a year ago. If there are any keen observers of the U.S. presidency, especially involving the administrations of JFK and LBJ, who haven’t yet dipped into ``Passage of Power’’, I would recommend you push it to the very top of your Christmas list. It might very well be one of the best presents you’ve given yourself in quite some time.

Unlike others who have written about U.S. presidents, Caro had little interest in writing a biography of Lyndon Johnson, the man and what makes him tick.  Caro has devoted 35 years of his life researching LBJ, dating back to 1977.

Rather, he was more interested in writing about political power; specifically an examination of political power in a time of crisis. Long after many of us are dead and buried, there will be scores of college students, some future politicians, journalists, and historians, assigned to read Caro’s brilliant series and come away with a sharper understanding of how power truly worked in the nation’s capital in the 20^th century.

Given this country’s strong sense of Manifest Destiny and living the American Dream, it’s truly a compelling narrative when you take a closer look at the circumstances under which LBJ suddenly (and tragically) propelled to power on a warm, sunny Dallas day without a cloud in the sky before the 35^th president was fatally struck down by three bullets on November 22, 1963.

Lyndon Johnson, as Caro so dramatically describes, was a tragic figure really, who always lived in fear of failure and being humiliated, much like his father, who went bankrupt, losing their Texas ranch and sending his family to the depths of despair and poverty with Lyndon and his brother and younger sister forced to wear patches, mere rags substituting for clothing.  As Senate Majority Leader for six years, LBJ was arguably the second most powerful man in the country, second only to Dwight Eisenhower. A piece of legislation didn’t make it to the floor until Johnson said it would make it to the floor; and when he wanted a bill passed, something he felt strongly about, the bill usually passed as he whipped everyone into line like a herd of cattle on his Texas ranch.

Now a member of the Kennedy Administration and despite being promised a prominent role, Johnson soon realized just how powerless he had become.  For three years, JFK rarely shared sensitive overseas cables with him, he needed permission (usually from Bobby Kennedy) for travel trips, speeches, and the most mundane and trivial tasks. At times, he wasn’t invited to White House parties, other times when he vented his complaint to Kennedy in a White House memo about his lack of responsibility, the president simply ignored it.  And around the White House within JFK’s Ivy League inner-circle, Johnson was snickered at and made fun of. He was referred to as ``Rufus Cornpone’’ and when with Lady Bird Johnson, ``Uncle Cornpone and his little pork chop.’’  Face to face, he was rarely spoken to as Mr. Vice President, simply Lyndon. Despite the humiliation, Caro points out, there was a reason Johnson was kept on such a short leash. President Kennedy once confessed to a White House aide that LBJ’s hawkishness, which was in full bloom during the Cuban Missile Crisis meetings, scared the living daylights out of him.

For three long years, LBJ was largely put out to pasture as a VP. He looked gaunt, haggard, his eyes sunken, as if his best days were behind him. And it only got worse. As November, 1963 approached, there was a buzz filling the air that Kennedy wanted to drop LBJ from the 1964 ticket. The thinking was the vice president had become so marginalized, and his Texas star had dropped so precipitously that he was doing Kennedy little good. Besides, the Kennedy team had practically written off the South (as southern Democrats had grown more militant over civil rights) and were setting their sights westward, and thought about tapping Pat Brown, governor of California. Even if Texas was still in play, the consensus was John Connally, a wildly popular Texas governor, would be a better fit than LBJ.

So this was the backdrop, leading up to that star-crossed Dallas trip in November. Johnson, all too aware of the ``Dump LBJ’’ mantra, certainly must have felt the walls caving in around him as he stepped foot on Texas soil. No longer leader of the Senate, a weak link in the Kennedy administration; just weeks from fading into the sunset, out of sight and out of mind; before three loud bangs in rapid succession were heard in Dealey Plaza, the historic West end district of downtown Dallas, catapulted him in a blink of an eye to the most powerful political office in the world.

Caro is at his masterful best describing the transfer of power in perhaps the four most memorable days in U.S. history, from the time of Kennedy being pronounced dead up through the funeral-a full military procession, including the Marine Band as the slow moving cortege reached the front of the White House.

It’s fascinating to learn the immediate makeover of Lyndon Johnson. From the moment he left Parkland Hospital on his way to being sworn in on Air Force One as the 36^th president of the United States-his posture had completely been transformed: no longer with the haggard look, his posture was more erect, the swaying in his gait suspended; he now walked in a slower more measured step.

As tragic as November 22^nd, 1963 was, LBJ knew exactly what was expected of him and what to do the moment he learned the president was dead.

The eyes of the world were on him, especially from the Soviet Union; they wanted to know if there would be a smooth transfer of power and a sense of continuity.

For 47 days after Kennedy’s assassination, LBJ made sure continuity and stability were the order of the day. His tyrannical outbursts, verbal badgering of staffers, humiliating subordinates, would come later in his presidency. For these crucial seven weeks, LBJ assured the American people, the JFK dream would endure and he was merely carrying the torch. ``Let us carry forward the plans and programs of John Fitzgerald Kennedy—not because of our sorrow or sympathy, but because they are right’’ Johnson intoned during a thunderous State of the Union Speech on January 8, 1964.  ``In his memory today’’, Johnson went on to say, ``I especially ask all members of my own political faith, in this election year, to put your country ahead of your party, and to always debate principles; never debate personalities.’’

To put their country above personality was essentially the same line LBJ with  his folksy southern charm used to Kennedy’s inner-circle in order to make sure the  Dean Rusk’s, the Ted Sorenson's, the Robert McNamara's, the Pierre Salinger's, even making sure Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. Kennedy’s ``court historian'' didn’t abruptly submit their resignations so that ``continuity and stability’’ would be sustained.

Keeping the Kennedy staff together while working around the clock in back deals and wheeling and dealing with southern Senate Democrats to get Kennedy’s tax cut bill passed; and another key piece of civil rights legislation passed, set the table for LBJ’s landside victory.

LBJ was back in the saddle again; he was now setting the agenda, twisting and pulling Congressional members toward quick passage of his domestic agenda, particularly his ``War on Poverty’’, enunciated in his powerful State of the Union address.

When Johnson accepted Jack Kennedy’s offer to be his vice president at the Biltmore Hotel, many thought it was intended to dethrone the powerful Texan of his Senate Majority seat, where he otherwise would have been a major roadblock to many of Kennedy’s programs; and to keep him on a short leash as vice president, far away from the sinews of power.

At the time, John Kennedy, or the world for that matter, surely weren’t aware of an LBJ truism: ``Power is where power goes.’’

 

-Bill Lucey

[email protected]

December 4, 2013

 

Christmas Season Begins on a Dark and Violent Note

The Christmas season, so we are told, officially begins on Black Friday (now it seems Dark Thursday or Thanksgiving), the day ones inner savage is unleashed as herds of shoppers take to the stores like Bluto (depicted by John Belushi in the motion picture ``Animal House’’) takes to a college dining hall to howl ``Food Fight!’’

After viewing YouTube videos over the weekend of shoppers involved in scrapes with the law either through shootings, stabbings, fist fights, and other acts of gang warfare for something as trivial as a flat screen TV-I couldn’t help but think we might be missing the point of this festive holiday season-a time when we should be exhibiting signs of peace on earth and good will toward others.

 

Consequently, I thought I would highlight the origins of some Christmas traditions we used to treasure before Black Friday came rumbling into to town.

Here are some of my favorites:

• The original Saint Nicholas was a wealthy 4th century bishop of Myria in Asia Minor (now Demre, Turkey), known for his kindness and works of charity.

 

• St Francis of Assisi, Italy constructed the first Nativity scene in a cave near Greccio, Italy on Christmas Eve, 1223.

 

• In Scotland, The Kirk (The Church of Scotland, or the Presbyterian Church influenced by the Scottish Reformation) beginning in 1560 produced the First Book of Discipline (later adopted by an Act of Parliament) abolishing Feast Days, including Christmas, which  did not become an official holiday in Scotland until 1958.

 

• In 1647, under Oliver Cromwell, an Act of Parliament prohibited the observance of Christmas.  The holiday was restored by Charles II after the Restoration in 1660.

 

• The Puritan government in Massachusetts made it illegal to celebrate Christmas between 1659 and 1681.

 

• By the end of the 16th century, indoor Christmas trees were a common fixture in most German homes; by 1610, thin strips of silver, later to be known as tinsel, began to be used as decoration.

 

• J.S. Bach’s Christmas oratorio premiered in Leipzig, Germany in 1734.

 

• The world premiere of Silent Night was performed in the Nikolaus-Kirche (Church of St. Nicholas) in Oberndorf, Austria on Christmas Eve, 1818.

 

• Sir Henry Cole, an English civil servant and founding director of what is now the London’s Victoria & Albert Museum approached a painter in 1843 to devise a series of holiday cards which would read: ``A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You.’’ By 1860, Christmas cards became wildly fashionable in England.

 

• In 1847, Placide Cappeau, a wine merchant, amateur poet, and mayor of the village of Roquemaure in Rhone Valley wrote the lyrics to what would eventually be known as ``O Holy Night’’ a French carol, titled: ``Cantique de Noёl’’ or literally, ``Song of Christmas’’; the carol was set to music by Adolphe Adam and first performed at the Christmas Eve Midnight Mass of 1847 in Roquemaure with Madame Laurey performing the solo.

 

• Jingle Bells was first published by Oliver Ditson and Company in Boston in 1857 under the title: ``One Horse Open Sleigh’’, but was later reissued as ``Jingle Bells’’ or ``One Horse Open Sleigh’’ in 1859. Today, the song is simply known as ``Jingle Bells’’ written by James Lord Pierpont, a native of Meford, Massachusetts.

 

• ``O Little Town of Bethlehem’’ a sacred carol written by the Rev. Phillips Brooks, pastor of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Philadelphia , was first performed by children of the Holy Trinity Sunday School on December 27, 1868.

 

• Edward H. Sears, pastor of First Church Unitarian in Wayland, Massachusetts  wrote the lyrics to America’s first prominent carol ``It Came upon the Midnight Clear’’ , which was originally a five verse poem first published in the Christian Register on December 29, 1849. The poem was set to music by Richard Storrs Willis who later became a music critic for the New York Tribune.

 

• George Frideric Handel’s ``Messiah’’, a composition so firmly fixed to the Christmas season, was actually first presented as an Easter oratorio at Dublin’s New Music Hall in Fishamble Street on April 13, 1742.

 

• In Ethiopia, Christmas Day is celebrated on January 7th on a day called ``Ganna.’’ Worshipers are given a candle and walk around the tree three times before standing for the remainder of the three-hour service.

 

• Filipinos celebrate the Christmas season with nine pre-dawn masses known as Misa de Gallo or ``mass of the rooster.'' It begins on December 16 and ends on the midnight mass of December 24.

 

• The first image of the St Nicholas sliding down a chimney appeared in the New York Mirror on January 2, 1841.

• In 1836, Alabama became the first state to declare Christmas a legal holiday.

 

• The first department store to feature a Santa Claus was in Philadelphia on December 24, 1841 at the J.W. Parkinson's store. The next Santa Claus wouldn't be spotted again until 1890, this time accompanied with his own white beard at the Boston Store in Brockton, Mass.

 

• In a poem published in Harper’s Weekly on December 26, 1857, ``The Wonders of Santa Claus’’, the poem makes one of the first references to elves making toys.

 

• Thomas Nast, a German immigrant, age 22, published his first depiction of Santa Claus speaking to Union troops in the January 3, 1863 edition of Harper’s Weekly.

 

• Based largely from the German and French models, the first English gift book or literary annual, ``The Forget me Not: A Christmas and New Years Present for 1823. was published by R. Ackermann, a publisher of illustrated books.

 

• The first illustration of a Christmas tree was in an American book, published in 1836,  ``The Stranger's Gift. A Christmas and New Year's Present’’ written by a German immigrant, Herman Bokum.

 

• The London Illustrated News in 1848, published a woodcut print of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their children gathered around a Christmas tree.

 

• Charles Dickens first wrote about Christmas in ``Sketches by Boz’’ (1836). His last chapter, ``A Christmas Dinner’’ is undoubtedly a foreshadowing of Cratchits’ Christmas Dinner in a Christmas Carol.

 

• On June 26, 1870, Christmas was declared a federal holiday in the United States.

 

• In 1883, Sears, Roebuck & Company began offering the first artificial Christmas trees – 33 limbs for 50 cents and 55 limbs for $1.00.

 

• In 1897, an 8 year-old girl, Virginia O'Hanlon, who lived at 115 West Ninety-Fifth Street in New York City, wrote a letter to her local newspaper, The New York Sun, asking if there really was a Santa Claus after some of her friends told her there is no such thing as Santa Claus. The editor, Francis B. Church, responded to her letter, which was published on September 21, 1897, with the heading: ``Yes Virginia There is a Santa Claus.''

 

• Great Britain’s King George V delivered his first Christmas broadcast by the BBC radio in 1932 with the message reaching an estimated 20 million people; the first televised broadcast of a Christmas message was delivered by Queen Elizabeth II in 1957.

 

• John Adams was the first U.S. president to celebrate Christmas in the White House; while Calvin Coolidge was the first president to light the National Community Christmas Tree on the Ellipse in Washington D.C. on Christmas Eve, 1923.

 

• The First Radio City Music Hall Christmas Show was launched in 1933.

 

• In 1939, Chicago retailer Montgomery Ward introduced Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer.

 

• The radio broadcast of Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel was the first opera to be broadcast by radio from New York City’s Metropolitan Opera on Christmas Day in 1931.

 

• On December 7th, 1898 Canada issued the world's first Christmas stamp, showing a map of the world in 1569 by the Flemish cartographer Gerhardus Mercator inscribed with ``Xmas 1898.''

 

• Eggnog originated with the British from posset, a hot drink consisting of eggs and milk with nog (strong ale) or wine added.

 

• The motion picture ``A Christmas Carol’’ premiered as a silent film in 1914 starring Charles Rock as Scrooge; the first sound version was made in the United States (1938) starring British actor Reginald Owen as Scrooge.

 

• The televised broadcast of the Midnight Mass from St Peter’s Basilica in Rome has been an annual tradition since 1948.

 

• In January, 2003, President Hosni Mubarak issued a presidential decree authorizing the celebration of Christmas as a national holiday, making it the first time that the Egyptian government recognized a Christian holy day.

 

-Bill Lucey

[email protected]

December 1, 2013

 

Journalists Recall JFK Assassination 50 Years Later

 Photo Credit:  Walt Cisco/Dallas Morning News via Wikimedia Commons

 Photo Credit: Carl Mydans, Time Life Pictures/Getty Images

***

As we inch closer and closer to the 50 year anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the tributes, commemoration events, special documentaries, the resurrection of conspiracy theories, chilling photo galleries and video footage of that ill-fated day, will be coming thick and fast from newspapers, online news sites, blogs, and television networks in the days ahead.

It doesn’t really seem to matter how many books and articles you’ve read, the amount of documentaries and stacks of pictures you’ve sifted through-what took place in a blink of an eye at about 1:30 EST on November 22, 1963,  when the 35^th president of the United States was ruthlessly gunned down, presumably by a lone assassin, while his motorcade traveled through Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas-is best relived by the people who remember that painfully dark, tragic Friday afternoon and are still around to share their vivid recollections.

As a result, I reached out to some of my favorite journalists and asked if they could recall where they were and what they were doing when JFK was assassinated.

Here, then, are some shared memories.

 

``I was at the St. Louis Globe-Democrat that Friday putting the finishing touches on a major weekend feature piece on how Barry Goldwater could win in '64. When the news came in, I told the editor we had to kill the piece completely.  I saw the report on the ticker, and we headed for the TV room, just off the newsroom to watch it all.  Some of the women were crying.''

-Pat Buchanan, a senior advisor to three U.S. presidents, is an American conservative political commentator, author, syndicated columnist, broadcaster and author of 10 books, including: ``Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025?''

 

``I was working and covering the story for The Washington Star—I took David Broder’s dictation from Dallas (he was The Star’s political reporter at the time; I was a ‘dictation-clerk’—one step above copyboy, essentially an apprentice reporter), then and was sent to Capitol Hill, then outside the White House that Friday night,   and on through the events ending with JFK’s funeral and burial at Arlington.  (I’d gone to work for The Star as a copyboy when I was 16, during the Kennedy campaign in 1960, actually; I was 19 at the time of the assassination).''

-Carl Bernstein, American investigative journalist and author, who has recently agreed to write a memoir of his years as a cub reporter in Washington, titled:  “The Washington Star,” which is scheduled to be released in 2016.

 

``I was in New Haven, CT in my junior year in a class on French history.  The professor was lecturing on the Terror and the counter-revolution.  Someone went up and handed him a note.  It seemed very rude.  You never interrupted a lecture.  He looked at it and read, "The note I have been handed says that President Kennedy and Vice President Johnson have been shot in Dallas."  Pause.  "Class dismissed."  We all went to a television to watch Walter Cronkite announce that Kennedy had died.''  

-Bob Woodward, American investigative journalist and non-fiction author who has worked for The Washington Post since 1971, and now holds the position of associate editor.  Woodward's most recent book, ``The Price of Politics'' (a book chronicling the hostile turf battles between the executive and legislative branches in repairing the battered U.S. economy) was his 17th.

 

``I was a 14-year-old at Alice Deal Junior High in Washington, DC, decorating the gym with fellow student council members for a school dance that night. The school was largely deserted because it was a half day, due to a city wide public school teachers' meeting that had ended classes at noon. My friends and I heard the news from the school janitor who heard it on the radio. We found it hard to fathom -- maybe the story had been garbled? -- and had no access to television. So we decided to go home and find out what was going on. I will never forget walking on to Nebraska Avenue to catch a bus home and seeing how slowly the cars were moving -- not because of traffic but because clearly drivers were shocked by the news they were hearing on their car radios. I knew at that moment that the horrible bulletin we'd heard was true.''

-Frank Rich, American essayist, former New York Times op-ed columnist & writer, who is now an essayist and editor-at-large for New York magazine.

 

``I was in the third grade and my parents let me skip school that day, the family was driving from our home in Shreveport, La. to Fayetteville Ark.  to go to the University of Arkansas (my Father and both sisters alma mater) vs. Texas Tech football game.  We had the car radio on and as we drove through Texarkana we heard the first bulletin that shots had been fired at the President's motorcade and each of the subsequent ones (including one that reported that both the President and Vice President Johnson had been shot).  At one point, my Dad stopped the car and went into a bar to see if television had any more information (it didn't).  We were unsure whether to keep going to Fayetteville (would the game even be played?) or turn around and go home.  It was a major debate all over the country whether sporting events should be held or not.  The general conclusion was that the President would have wanted games to go on so I think a few were cancelled.  I don't remember who won the game.’’

-Charlie Cook, Editor and Publisher of the Cook Political Report and a political analyst for National Journal magazine, where he writes a twice weekly column.

 

 ``I was a student in political science and economics at McGill University in Montreal, and word reached the campus just as we were going into the first class of the afternoon -- on American history. We assumed the class would be cancelled, but the professor arrived on time, opened his notes, and said in a low, unstrained voice that he had changed the sequence of lectures, and would that day be speaking on a topic he had scheduled for the following term -- "Violence in the history of the American south". He made no mention of JFK or what had happened, and we sat there stunned, and silent. It was an unusual form of eulogy, but very powerful, and I can remember much of what he said that day today, 50 years on.''

-John F. Burns, British journalist, winner of two Pulitzer Prizes and Chief Foreign Correspondent of The New York Times based in London.

 

``I was discharged from the Army on Nov. 21, 1963, Fort Hood, Texas.  In the days leading up, I wrote to many papers. I had worked on a small paper before getting drafted two years earlier. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote back. They had a general assignment position open. The managing editor invited me for an interview.  We set it up for the day after I was discharged. I would stop in St. Louis on my way home to Cleveland. We scheduled the interview for 2 p.m. on Friday, November 22, 1963.

    I passed through Dallas Thursday evening. Went right through Dealey Plaza, right past the Texas School Book Depository. Got to St. Louis at 6 a.m. Friday.  I got a few hours of shut-eye at the Statler Hotel that morning. Still have the receipt-$6.50 for a serviceman in uniform. Got out of the shower at 12:30.  Had the black and white TV on for company. Noontime programming on KMOX-TV was a lady playing the piano. Suddenly, she stopped playing and an off-screen voice said the President had just been shot in Dallas.

    Selfishly, my first thought was about myself. All job interviews would be cancelled. I called the managing editor's office. I talked to his secretary. We agreed that I would fly home the next morning and I would call them in about a week to reschedule. I flew home to Cleveland Saturday.

    After the 12 o'clock Mass at St. Clement Church in Lakewood that Sunday, I  ran into an old family friend from the parish, J. Ralph Novak, who had once been a reporter for the Cleveland News. He was still in touch with his old newspaper friends. He told me that The Plain Dealer had an opening in sports. He said he would call sports editor Gordon Cobbledick and tell him I would be calling. I called Cobbledick Monday morning. He said come on down for an interview. I did and I got the job. They're still waiting for me to call them back in St. Louis. ‘’

-Dan Coughlin, who has covered the Cleveland sports scene for 45 years, is a former sportswriter for The Plain Dealer (1964–1982) and was additionally a broadcaster and commentator for WJW-TV 8 in Cleveland (1983–2009). Coughlin was inducted into the Press Club of Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame in 1996.

 

***

JFK Assassination Facts:

• The type of gun used to kill Kennedy was a 6.5 millimeter Mannlicher-Carcano Italian military rifle, Model 91/38, Serial No: C2766. It's currently stored at the National Archives in College Park, MD., along with his shirt, the original windshield of the limousine, and the wrapping used to support his back.

•  The presidential limousine (1961 Lincoln Continental 4-door convertible-SS 100X) JFK was riding in on the day of his assassination (license plate number: GG300, D.C.) is on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

•  There were 6 passengers in the limousine: The driver was Secret Service agent Bill Greer, age 44. Seated next to him was Roy Kellerman, 48, special agent in charge of the White House Detail; behind him was Texas Gov. John Connally and his wife Nellie; and in the back was President Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy. None of these passengers are living today.

• The shooting of JFK took approximately 4.6 seconds.

•  It took approximately 6 minutes to transport the president to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where he was assigned to Trauma Room No. 1. The first to examine him was Charles J. Carrico, a second year surgical student, According to the Warren Commission Report, Dr. Fouad Bashour, chief of cardiology, Dr. M.T. Jenkins, chief of anesthesiology, and Dr. A.H. Giesecke, Jr., all joined in the effort to revive the president. Kennedy was pronounced dead by Dr. William Clark at approximately 1:00 p.m. CST.

•  The first news of the president being shot came at 12:36 p.m. (CST), 1: 36 p.m. (EST), when Don Gardiner of the ABC Radio network interrupted Doris Day's recording of "Hooray for Hollywood’’ to make the stunning announcement. The CBS television network followed at 12:40, when Walter Cronkite broke into the soap opera: ``As the World Turns''; NBC didn’t go live until 12: 45, when they broke away from a fashion show.

•  The last rites to Kennedy were administered by Father Oscar Huber of Holy Trinity Church in Dallas, who recited the words: ``Si capax ego te absolvo a peccatis tuis, in nomine Patris, et Filii et Spiritus Sancti, Amen'' (``If it is possible, I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father and the son, and the Holy Ghost, Amen''). Fr Huber then dipped his thumb in holy oil, traced the sign of the cross on Kennedy's forehead and said; ``Through this holy anointing may God forgive you whatever sins you have committed. Amen.'' The First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy, softly voiced the following words:  ``And let perpetual light shine upon him''.  According to Fr. Huber, after the final blessing, the First Lady bent over and kissed the president.

        A Footnote: Father Huber died on January 21, 1975

• There were 2 Pulitzer Prizes awarded for the Kennedy Assassination. The recipients were: Merriman Smith of UPI, who was riding in the White House press pool car; and Robert H. Jackson of the Dallas Times-Herald for his historic photograph, capturing Jack Ruby plugging bullets into the chest of Lee Harvey Oswald.

•  According to Bowker's Books in Print Database, as of November, 2013, there have been 1,500 books published about John F. Kennedy, ranking him as the third most popular book subject among U.S. presidents, behind Abraham Lincoln (3,584) and George Washington (1,909). Specifically on the JFK assassination, Bowker lists 636 books in their database (all markets, print or ebook), which includes both adult and children’s titles and backlist as well as forthcoming titles.

•  On November 22, 1963, out of 552 employees in November 1963, there were 70 special agents and 8 clerks--or 14 percent of the total Secret Service work force--assigned to protect the President and vice President with 320 agents worldwide. Today, there are well over 3000 Secret Service agents worldwide.

•  President Kennedy had two caskets. The first, used in transit from Parkland Memorial Hospital to Bethesda Naval Hospital was an 800 pound Britannia model. Since this casket was damaged when it was removed from Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base on November 22, 1963, a second or burial casket was selected at Gawlor's Funeral Parlor in Washington, D.C.: Marcellus No. 710 of hand rubbed, 500 year old African mahogany upholstered in white rayon.

•  Jack Ruby, Lee Harvey Oswald’s assailant, died on January 3, 1967, in a Dallas hospital from lung cancer. He was 55.

•  The notorious Texas School Book Depository Company (now the Dallas County Administration Building) located on northwest corner of Elm and North Houston Streets, at the western end of downtown Dallas (411 Elm Street) moved out of the building in 1970 and relocated to North Dallas. Opened to the public in 1989, The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza (located on the 6^th floor of the Dallas County Administration Building) is today a thriving repository of approximately 45,,000 items, including photographs, film and video footage, documents and artifacts, related to the assassination and legacy of President John F. Kennedy.

 ****

Select minute-by-minute timeline of the assassination (Eastern Standard Time) as recorded in William Manchester's Book: ``The Death of a President''

• 1: 30 p.m.: Lee Harvey Oswald shoots JFK from the 6th floor of the Book Depository
• 1: 34 p.m. : First UPI flash
• 1: 38 p.m.: Parkland Memorial Hospital admits case ``24740'' described as a white male suffering from ``gunshot wound''.
• 1: 57 p.m. : Father Huber arrives at hospital
• 2:00 p.m. : JFK is pronounced dead
  • According to poll conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC), 75 million Americans knew of the assassination at this time.
  • Robert McNamara summons the Joint Chiefs
  • Washington phone system breaks down.
  • 2: 05 p.m.: Robert Kennedy learns his brother is dead.
  • 2: 32 p.m.: UPI quotes Father Huber: ``He's dead...''
  • 2: 33 p.m.: LBJ boards- Air Force One.
  • 2: 40 p.m.: Oswald enters a Texas movie theater: ``War is Hell'' is showing.
  • 2: 50 p.m.: Oswald is arrested.
  • 3:06 p.m.: LBJ phones lawyers in an attempt to locate the oath of office.
  • 3: 14 p.m.: The Associated Press erroneously reports a Secret Service Agent was killed.
  • 3: 38: LBJ is sworn in as the 36th President of the United States.
  • 4: 15 p.m.: Networks report Oswald has been arrested.
  • 8:00 p.m.: Autopsy on JFK commences.
  • 8: 50 p.m.: Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of John and Jacqueline, is informed of her father's death by Miss Shaw.

**

News Magazine Cover stories that never went to press due to the Kennedy Assassination

 • Life magazine originally planned a cover splash on Navy quarterback Roger Staubach, including 22 pages of text and pictures.

 • Time magazine discarded their cover feature on jazz musician Thelonious Monk

***

 John F. Kennedy Demographics

• Born: May 29, 1917 at home in the master bedroom on the second floor of 83 Beals Street, Brookline, Massachusetts.
• Social Security Number: 026-22-3747
• Confirmation Name: Francis
• Hair Color: Reddish brown
• Eye Color: greenish gray
• Blood Type: O RH positive
• Height: 6' 1"
• Shoe Size: 10C
• Weight: 172 1/2 pounds
• Waist: 32 inches
• Personal Car: 1959 Pontiac Convertible Coupe. Vehicle Identification/Engine #859F-1111.
• License#: 53332D
• License Plate: As Senator: MA-1995
• Favorite Poems: "Ulysses" by Tennyson; "I Have a Rendezvous with Death," by Alan Seeger
• Favorite Proverb: "Know Thyself" by Socrates and the Oracle of Delphi.
• Favorite Songs: ``The Wearin' o' the Green’’, ``Londonderry Air’’, `` Danny Boy’’, ``When Irish Eyes are Smiling.’’
• Smoking Habits: Kennedy smoked 4-5 cigars a day. His preference was for Upmanns or Monticellos.
• JFK's Favorite Newspapers: Those read daily, included the Baltimore Sun, Chicago Tribune, The Christian Science Monitor, New York Herald Tribune, New York News, New York Times, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and the Washington Star.

Source: JOHN F. KENNEDY PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

 ****

1963: Demographics

• Federal budget reaches nearly $100 billion

• National Debt: $315 billion

• Employed: 69.8 million as of October 31, 1963

• Unemployment Rate: 5.5 percent or 3.4 million as of October 31, 1963

• Per capita annual income: $2,500

• Gross National Product: $600 billion

• Defense Spending: $52 billion

• Two-thirds of the world’s automobiles are in the United States

• First class postage stamps increased to five cents an ounce.

• Cost of a Drive-in movie? $1.50 per car

• A pound of Maxwell House coffee cost 38 cents.

• A four bedroom house in North San Bernardino, Ca. was selling for $17,100

• A subway token was 15 cents.

• A Royalite typewriter, including a carrying case, standard keyboard pica or elite was selling for $49.95.

 

-Bill Lucey

[email protected]

November 14, 2013

 

One Sorry Week!

  







What a week its been for apologies; have you been keeping track?

Top 10 Apologies of the Week


1.    Toronto mayor, Rob Ford, apologizes for being hammered in public and smoking crack cocaine while in a drunken stupor.
 
2.   Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), apologized for plagiarizing or failing to properly attribute material he borrowed from Wikipedia, the Heritage Foundation, the libertarian Cato Institute and other sources in his speeches and his recently released book.
 
3.    President Obama apologizes for cancelled health plans.
 
4.    Lara Logan, CBS correspondent, apologizes for contradictory reports from one of her sources regarding the Benghazi attack.
 
5.    Sharon Osbourne apologized for telling the hosts of the View (save Barbara Walters) to `` go f--k themselves."
 
6.    Online auction site eBay has apologized for selling Holocaust memorabilia, including the clothes of concentration camp victims.

 7.    Home Depot Inc. on Thursday apologized for a tweet that showed a picture of two African-American drummers with a person in a gorilla mask in between them and asked: "Which drummer is not like the others?"

 8.)  New York Knicks point guard Raymond Felton apologized to fans for their slow start (1-3) and asked for their patience.
 
9.)  Eric Erickson of the The North Carolina Department of Transportation apologized after sending out a series of bizarre traffic alert messages, warning drivers to “Stay home because of women drivers, rain, and Obamacare.”

10.)  Late night TV host Jimmy Kimmel apologized to his television audience for suggesting that "killing everyone in China" could be a solution to America's debt problem.
 

-Bill Lucey
[email protected] 
November 8, 2013

Tim McCarver Preparing For One Last Hurrah!

 

Photo Credit:  Paige Calamari/Getty Images

***

In the midst of calling his 24^th World Series as a baseball analyst and having served as a baseball commentator at a number of networks for 33 years, Tim McCarver, who just turned 72 this month, will call it quits at the conclusion of the 109^th Fall Classic between the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox.

McCarver was a member of the Cardinals during the 1967 World Series, when they beat the Red Sox in the decisive 7^th game at Fenway Park, so it seems only fitting that this will be his last.

Though he may be shutting down his analysis for Fox Sports, the former Cardinal and Phillies catcher isn’t calling it a retirement. He hates the word. Rather, as he told Charlie Rose earlier in the year, ``it`s time to cut back and do some of the things that I`ve always thought about doing.’’ He also told reporters during a conference call in March, 2013, “I wanted to step down while I know I can still do the job and be proud of the job I’ve done.”

Whatever opinion there may be about McCarver’s distinctive broadcasting style, and there are many-to be sure-his sharp wit, folksy humor, and uncanny knowledge of the intricacies and nuances of the game will be missed and not easily replaced.

Two examples come immediately to mind. One time during a World Series game, Mariano Rivera fielded a sacrifice bunt and rifled the ball to 2^nd base, throwing too high for Derek Jeter to handle. McCarver, who knows pitchers better than anyone, immediately weighed in, saying: ``pitchers have a hard time throwing to bases because they can’t throw anything straight.’’ And just last season during a Fox broadcast, a Red Sox runner on 1<sup>st</sup> was doubled up, after a sharply hit ball to the shortstop. Again, McCarver presented viewers with another indispensible rule of thumb: A runner should never allow himself to be doubled-up on a ball hit to the left side of the infield. ``Why?’’, McCarver said as if he were at the blackboard in a college classroom drilling his students, ``because even if the ball gets through, the runner on 1st won’t make it any further than 2^nd base.’’

Even the most casual observer of McCarver over the last two decades knows that this Emmy-Award winning color commentator is blessed with a mystifying ability to size up a situation during the course of the game, and almost like a fortune-teller peering into his crystal ball, predict its outcome, particularly if he detects pitfalls in the strategy.

In Game 5 of the 1990 NLCS, with the Cincinnati Reds trailing the Pittsburgh Pirates by a run, for example, Reds manager Lou Piniella employed a double-switch  in the bottom of the 8^th inning (sending in reliever Scott Scudder and back-up catcher Jeff Reed), but the Reds’ manager failed to put the weak-hitting Reed in the pitcher’s spot. Calling the game with Jack Buck on CBS, McCarver immediately pointed out a major oversight.  By not ``flip-flopping the lineup’’ (putting the pitcher in the 7^th spot and his reserve catcher in the 9^th spot), McCarver emphasized, Piniella risked having one of his worst offensive players at the plate with the game on the line in the ninth.

And just like he predicted, the Reds 9^th rally crumbled when Reed (a left-handed batter forced to face a left-handed pitcher) was induced into a 9^th inning game ending double-play.

But McCarver was at his prognosticating best in the 7^th game of the 2001 World Series between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the New York Yankees.  With the score tied at 2 in the bottom of the 9^th, with only one out and the bases loaded, Luis Gonzalez of the D-Backs stepped to the plate.  With the winning run just 90 feet away, Yankee manager Joe Torre instructed the infield to come in. After Gonzalez fouled off Rivera’s first offering, McCarver voiced the following observation: `` The one problem,’’ McCarver told viewers, ``is Rivera throws inside to left-handers. Left-handers get a lot of broken bat hits into the shallow part of the outfield. That’s the danger of bringing the infield in with a guy like Rivera on the mound.’’

No sooner had those sage words of concern rolled off his tongue, than Gonzalez rapped a floater just over Jeter’s outstretched arm, landing softly on the edge of the outfield grass, just like McCarver cautioned. Game over! The Diamondbacks stunned the Yankees against the usually reliable, lights out Mariano Rivera.  It’s a tossup what was more memorable, Gonzalez’s Series winning bloop single or McCarver’s remarkable prescience.

Of course, even with all his amazing insight, McCarver has committed a few unforced errors during his distinguished broadcasting career, as a few of his detractors are all too eager to point out.  During the 2011 World Series, he said ``s-t-r-i-k-e is a five letter word.’’  In the in Game 5 of the ALCS between the Red Sox and Yankees after David Ortiz smashed a home run to right field, McCarver observed: ``Mount Everest erupts again.!’’ And occasionally McCarver states the obvious, like when he told his audience in 1993 that Darren Daulton of the Phillies uses his ``glove like a mitt.’’; or  the``one thing about ground balls, they don’t go out of the park.’’  Another McCarver pitch he probably wished he never delivered: ``Yankee pitchers have great success against [Miguel] Cabrera when they get him out.’’

And just like the best of them, McCarver has mangled a few names over the years as well. During the 1992 NLCS between the Pirates and Braves, he kept referring to Pirate rookie pitcher, Tim Wakefield, as ``Bill Wakefield.’’  An understandable miscue since McCarver was roommates with a Bill Wakefield during spring training in 1960. During the 2009 World Series, he referred to Derek Jeter as "Jerek Deter"; and once confused Albert Pujols with the retired Luis Pujols.

Clearly, the most stinging indictment against McCarver over the years is that he has a tendency to engage in philosophical rambling and has been much too critical, unnerving a number of players and managers.

Bob Ryan, retired Boston Globe columnist and still a Globe contributor, said of McCarver, ``All color men overdo it on occasion, but the criticisms of Tim McCarver are ludicrous. If he occasionally uses a word or historic reference some people don't understand, that would be their problem, not his. He will be missed.''

While covering the Mets during the 1980’s, McCarver criticized Darryl Strawberry for staying in the same place in the outfield, no matter who the hitter is, suggesting he would be able to handle more fly balls if he would only make some adjustments. Such a critique, seemingly benign, sparked the ire of Mets skipper Davey Johnson.  Never afraid to speak his mind, ended up costing McCarver his job with the Mets who fired him two months before the 1999 season. Rumors were rampant that his axing came at the urging of manager Bobby Valentine.

His confrontation with two-sport athlete Deion Sanders is infamous. During the 1992 NLCS, he called ``Prime Time’’ out for planning to play in the NFL and the NLCS on the same day.  ``How can he leave in the playoffs and go play in a football game?" McCarver intoned. "The way I look at it, that's just flat wrong and I guess could be construed as a breach of contract." McCarver’s biting comments resulted in him getting drenched with a bucket of ice water, three times in fact, by Deion in front of a national television audience when the Braves clinched the pennant.  Furious, McCarver shouted back: "You are a real man, Deion. I'll say that."

In 2008, just prior to the NLCS, McCarver called Manny Ramirez "despicable" criticizing him for his slothful, slipshod effort in Boston and how he suddenly, miraculously, turned it around in Los Angeles with the Dodgers.

But for all the criticisms heaped on McCarver over the years, his deep passion for the game and his predilection of never being afraid to tell the truth, when ``tough love’’ is needed, has earned him legions of fans and admirers along with mountains of respect among his contemporaries.

Dan Caesar, who covers sports media for the St Louis Post-Dispatch  says: ``McCarver is an icon, and the fact he sometimes has been a lightening rod on and off the air only enhances his aura''...``McCarver knew who he was working for — the person on the other end of the broadcast, not on the diamond or in the dugout. That is a key element that often gets lost on many former players who trek to the booth.''

George Vecsey (who now has a personal website at www.georgevecsey.com ) still a contributing sports columnist at The New York Times, even after his retirement, echoed similar thoughts. ``McCarver is professional and fearless. He never hesitated to criticize strategy, not in a personal way, but because he saw himself as a broadcaster, not a house man. He was a jock, but not enough to hinder him from making judgments on the spot’’ ``He can be overbearing with his puns and use of two-dollar words’’, Vecsey continues, ``but McCarver always loves and respects the game, and his craft.''

One of the most endearing attributes of McCarver is the way he remains firm in his ``old school’’ beliefs, even at the risk of seeming out of touch with American popular culture. Never is that more true than when it comes to social media, during an age when everyone these days seems to be twittering and plastering their smart phone pictures on Facebook.  ``There is nothing in my view more disturbing than social networking – nothing!’’ McCarver said just last year.

Of course, someone as cultured and tethered to refined literary expression as McCarver is, probably isn’t too concerned with being out of step with pop culture. From time to time, he likes to sprinkle his commentary with dashes of Shakespeare, like he did in 1997 when the Chicago Cubs were mired in a losing streak and he cited a line from  ``Love's Labour Lost.’’  ``Mirth cannot move a soul in agony'' McCarver expressed softly with his signature southern drawl.

When showering McCarver with accolades over his celebrated broadcasting career, there is a tendency to overlook the significant contributions he made on the field, other than he was a catcher to and a teammate of Hall of Famer Bob Gibson while with the Cardinals.

Beginning in 1959 at age 17, McCarver spent 10 seasons in St. Louis before joining the Phillies in 1970, where he remained until he was dealt to the Montreal Expos for catcher John Bateman on June 14, 1972. He finished the 1972 season in Montreal before being traded back to St. Louis during the offseason. 74 games into the 1974 season, the Boston Red Sox purchased his contract, but he was subsequently released on June 23, 1975. A little over a week later, he signed, once again, with the Phillies, playing in the outfield and at 1st. After only two games in 1980, he officially retired.

During his 21-year playing career, only one of 29 players to have appeared in four decades, McCarver distinguished himself as a two-time All-Star (1966 and 1967), played in three World Series (1964, 1967, 1968) caught two no-hitters (1971 and 1972) and smacked a dramatic three-run, 10th inning home run off New York's Pete Mikkelsen at Yankee Stadium in Game 5 of the 1964 World Series. McCarver was voted the Series MVP that year, batting .478 and leading his team to a spectacular seven game win over the New York Yankees. In the 1968 World Series in which St. Louis was pitted against the Detroit Tigers, (a Series the Cardinals lost in seven games) McCarver hit an impressive .333, with a home run and four RBIs.

McCarver would probably prefer not to be reminded about his Fourth of July blunder (July 4, 1976), when he belted a grand slam on the nation’s Bicentennial of all days at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh; only he got so excited he passed Phillies teammate Garry Maddox on the base paths, nullifying the slam. He was instead credited with a three-run single.

After his retirement in 1980, it didn’t take long for McCarver to jump into the broadcasting booth.  The Phillies hired him at WPHL-TV (Channel 17) from 1980 to 1982, to work alongside Harry Kalas, Rich Ashburn, Andy Musser and Chris Wheeler.  In 1980, he also worked as a backup ``Game of the Week’’ commentator for NBC.

In 1984, he was hired as a roving reporter for ABC Sports, talking with fans in the stands. When Howard Cosell got fired the following year (after his controversial autobiography was released) just days before the World Series, ABC paired McCarver with Al Michaels. He stayed with ABC through 1989. Beginning in 1990, he landed at CBS, working with Jack Buck in 1990 and 1991 and Sean McDonough in 1992 and 1993. In 1996, he was hired by Fox Sports, where he was paired with play-by-play announcer, Joe Buck.

Along the way, he had broadcasting stints with the New York Mets (1983-1998), their cross-town rivals New York Yankees (1999-2001), and the San Francisco Giants (2002). Taken together, spanning three decades, McCarver has worked at all four major networks: NBC, CBS, ABC and, currently, Fox.

Although ending his playing career with 1,501 hits, a .271 lifetime batting average, 97 dingers and 645 runs batted in, wasn't quite stellar enough to get him to Cooperstown as a player, he was the recipient of the 2012 Ford C. Frick award for broadcasting excellence and enshrined in the broadcasters' and sports writers' wing of the Hall of Fame, alongside his former colleague and friend, legendary Jack Buck, the father of his current Fox colleague, Joe Buck.

So for James Timothy "Tim" McCarver, the son of a police officer (fourth of five children), married to former Anne McDaniel since 1964 with two grown daughters, Kathy and Kelly, it has indeed been a road well traveled from his humble beginnings, coming as he did, from a working class Irish neighborhood in Memphis, Tennessee to major league baseball star to national treasure and Hall of Fame recipient for his broadcasting excellence.

When it comes to encapsulating McCarver's illustrious broadcasting career and how much he'll be missed, no one sums it up better than George Vecsey of The New York Times, when he tells me: `` I will miss Tim on the broadcasts -- partially because we came along together, so to speak. But more to the point, he is sui generis, a former player who transcended that label.'' ``Essentially'', Vecsey underscores, ``he is a true believer, a smart, warm, honest guy. I hope he stays in the public ear.''

 

-Bill Lucey

[email protected]

October 30, 2013

 

 

Cardinals vs. Red Sox Epic 7-Game Clashes: 1946 and 1967

The Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals will meet in the Fall Classic for the fourth time on Wednesday evening. They first met in 1946, then again in 1967, both times the Cardinals won the decisive 7^th game to win the World Series. Not until 2004, when both teams met for a third time, did the Red Sox beat the Redbirds in a four game sweep to claim their six World Series title.

In 2004, the phenomenal pitching of Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez silenced the Cardinals most potent hitter, Albert Pujols, who went without a home run or even an RBI over four games.  And with the gargantuan thunder of Manny Ramirez (the Series MVP) and David Ortiz (``Big Papi’’) the Cardinals found themselves outmuscled in practically every phase of the game. Terry Francona, moreover, became the third manager in four years to win a World Series in his first year as manager.

Most noteworthy about the Red Sox 2004 world championship was their success in finally, at long last, exorcising  the ``Curse of the Bambino’’, the mother of all curses, which was supposed to have been inflicted on the team when Babe Ruth was sold to the Yankees in 1919. The Bambino was a pitcher for the Red Sox in 1918, the last time they won a World Series prior to 2004.

The Sox struck gold again in 2007, again in a four game sweep, this time over the Colorado Rockies.

So while memories of the Sox latest clash with the Cardinals are still fresh in most people’s minds, memories are a little foggy of the epic battles between the Cardinals and Red Sox in 1946 and 1967.

So to refresh your memories, I put together individual game summaries of all seven games between the Cards and Sox from the 1946 and 1967 World Series’. My summaries are based on game stories and columns from the Boston Globe and The New York Times in those years. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to gain access to the St. Louis Dispatch archives.

 

Starting lineups for the St Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox on Game One of the 1946 World Series

Lineup for the Cardinals

Red Schoendienst-2b

Terry Moore, cf

Stan Musial, 1b

Enos Slaughter, rf

Whitey Kurowski, 3b

Joe Garagiola, c

Harry Walker, lf

Marty Marion, ss

 

Lineup for Red Sox

Tom McBride, rf

Johnny Pesky, ss

Dom Dimaggio, cf

Ted Williams, lf

Rudy York, 1b

Bobby Doerr, 2b

Pinky Higgins, 3b

Hal Wagner, c

 

Game One

October 6, 1946

Sportsman’s Park

Boston-3

St. Louis-2

Weatherman predicted it would rain all day, but it turned out to be a warm sunny day at Sportsman Park in St. Louis with 36,218 euphoric fans in attendance.

It took 28 years, but the Red Sox finally made to another World Series. In Game 1, Boston was held to four scattered hits in the first eight innings. In the 9th, they strung together three hits, including Tommy McBride's hit that tied the game. In the 10th, Rudy York deposited one in the last row of the bleachers to put the Sox up, 3-2.

In the bottom of the 10th, Earl Johnson, the 27-year-old war veteran, twice-decorated on the battlefield of Europe and cited for his valor in World War II, took to the mound to preserve the Red Sox lead.  Boston skipper Joe Cronin reportedly strolled to the mound to speak with his relief pitcher. He asked him, ``What was that battle you were in on the other side?”  ``The Battle of the Bulge’’ answered Johnson.  ``This isn’t that tough’’ Cronin assured his reliever as walked back to the dugout.

Thanks to a defensive blunder by shortstop Johnny Pesky on Red Schoendienst’s grounder; and a sacrifice by Moore, the Cards had a runner on second with only one out. But Johnson induced Stan Musial into a grounder to his second baseman, Bobby Doerr; and then Enos Slaughter lifted a fly ball to right center before Wally Moses pulled it down for the final out.

It was the first extra-inning World Series since 1924.

In the second inning, the Cardinals put in motion the celebrated ``Williams Shift’’, with third baseman Whitey Kurowski moving to normal second base position and second baseman Red Schoendienst shifting toward first. It worked like a charm. Ted Williams grounded to Red Schoendienst.

 

Game Two

October 7, 1946

Sportsman’s Park

St. Louis-3

Boston-0

The weather in Game 2 was an unseasonably warm 80 degrees with 35, 815 fans in attendance at St. Louis

The Cardinals took Game 2, 3-0, getting the best of Boston’s southpaw, Mickey Harris, to even the Series at a game apiece.

Ted Williams, ``Thumping Theodore’’ as the paper’s described him, went hitless in four trips to the plate. Boston manager Joe Cronin lost the services of his catcher Roy Partee with a bruised thumb.

Southpaw Harry Brecheen, from Broken Bow, Okla., a 15-game winner during the regular season was the hero of the day.  In Game 2, he tossed a four hit shutout, throwing the Sox a steady diet of screwballs they couldn’t handle.

According to newspaper reports, the game was finished inside of two hours.

Former Cardinals slugger Rogers Hornsby doing some analysis of the Series, reportedly said of Ted Williams: ``Williams is gonna be a great hitter, but he'll never be great until he learns to hit to every field.''

In the 3^rd, Brecheen slapped a single to right, scoring Rice to the put the Cards up 1-0. St Louis added two more runs in the 5th, when Terry Moore shot a ball in the hole that deflected off the second baseman's glove and rolled into right-center field. The second run of the inning was added with runners on corners and the Boston infield unable to turn a double play, allowing Brecheen to cross the plate from third.

 

Game Three

October 9, 1946

Fenway Park

Boston-4

St. Louis-0

Rudy York of the Red Sox smashed a three run home run in the 1^st off Murry Dickson, his second game winning dinger of the Series.  York, the 33-year old veteran was traded by the Tigers last winter on the assumption his playing days were all but over. The Sox added another run in the 8^th.  David Ferriss was superb on the mound in keeping the Cards off the scoreboard and limiting them to six hits with one walk as the Sox cruised to a 4-0 win to take a 2-1 lead in the Series. Ferriss’ gem was the 50^th shutout in World Series history. The last Boston pitcher to toss a shutout during a World Series was Babe Ruth, who blanked the Cubs in 1918. Boston was 61-16 at Fenway during the 46’ season. 34,500 fans were in attendance. In the third inning, Ted Williams unexpectedly laid down a bunt toward the vacant third base line once he saw, once again, the seismic shift to the right side of the infield.  Williams smiled as he easily made it to 1^st, knowing he had caught the Cardinals infield flat-footed.  Despite an unproductive day for ``The Kid’’, radio reporters still mobbed the slugger in the clubhouse after the game. Williams would only say, ``it’s not my day, it’s Ferriss’ and York’s; give them all the praise.’’

Newspapers reported that Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey's sister, Emma Ouerbacker, had a $2,500 diamond and emerald platinum ring, a $150 pair of diamond and gold earrings and $40 in cash stolen from her hotel room. Bleacher seats, which numbered about 8,500, didn’t go on sale until 9:00 a.m. that morning and sold out in about two hours. In attendance were Massachusetts Governor Maurice J. Tobin and Boston Mayor James M. Curley

 

Game Four

October 10, 1946

Fenway Park

St Louis-12

Boston-3

35,645 in attendance. After three remarkable pitching performances by both teams, Game 4 turned into a dud. Cardinals turned out 20 hits, squaring the Series at two games apiece. The Boston Globe wrote the Sox played ``like married men at a church picnic.’’ Three Cardinals had four hits a piece: Slaughter, third baseman Whitey Kurowski, right-fielder Wally Moses, and Joe Garagiola, the 20-year-old rookie catcher. Garagiola knocked in three runs, as did Cardinal shortstop Marty Marion. Every Cardinal had at least one hit, matching a feat accomplished by the Cardinals in the 1934 World Series, the Reds in 1919 against the White Sox and the Yankees in 1936. George Munger, the big read-head, who just a few months ago was serving with occupation forces in Germany was  on the hill for the Cards, limiting the Sox to 9 hits. In attendance were Leo Durocher, Joe DiMaggio, George Raft, Toots Shor, and Joe Louis. Enos Slaughter crushed a 400 foot home run in the second inning. Five Red Sox pitchers were summoned from the bullpen before the game was over.

The Boston Globe noted that Ted Williams failed to doff his cap to the fans at Fenway for the first time since 1941. The newspaper reported Williams agreed to tip his cap after having a private conversation with Bobo Newsom, the Washington Senators right-handed pitcher, an admirer of ``The Kid’’ as well as his favorite critic. Asked by the drubbing his team took, Ted Williams said, ``I’d rather lose that way than by 3-2 in 15 innings.

 

 

Game Five

October 11, 1946

Fenway Park

Boston-6

St. Louis-3

Behind the pitching of Joe Dobson (former relief pitcher for the Cleveland Indians), the 195 pounder from Durant, Okla., tossed a four-hitter as the Red Sox rebounded from a 12-3 drubbing in Game 4, beating the Cardinals 6-3 in front of 35, 982 fans without a cloud in the beautiful blue sky to take a 3-2 Series lead and needing just one more win for a World Series championship. If not for two errors by Sox shortstop Johnny Pesky (2^nd and 9^th inning) Dobson was in line for a shutout. Pesky did contribute three hits. The Boston Globe noted only three teams in World Series history, staked to a 3-2 lead, failed to win the final two games of the Fall Classic on the road: The Detroit Tigers in Cincinnati in 1940, the Washington Senators in Pittsburgh in 1925, and the New York Giants in Washington in 1924. The Globe additionally noted World Series winners will receive less money this year than in any series since 1918.  The Sox pounded Cardinals southpaw ace, Howie Pollet. A pair of doubles by Dom DiMaggio and Pinky Higgins inflicted the final blows to the Redbirds, as the Sox put three more on the board. Pollet, who had been so spectacular in his previous start, was knocked out in the 1^st after facing only four batters.  In the opening frame, Ted Williams aka ``Thumping Ted’’ stepped to the plate and drilled a liner to right, scoring Pesky, moving Dom DiMaggio to third and sending Pollet in for an early shower. Williams single was his fourth hit of the series and only his first RBI. The Cardinals had a scoring chance in the 4^th when Enos Slaughter stole second. Dobson, however, struck out Kurowski and Garagiola to end the threat. Al Brazle replaced Pollet. Leon Culberson smashed a curve ball against the left field screen, just over the scoreboard in the 6^th inning to put the Sox up, 3-1.

Arthur Daley of the New York Times notes Dobson’s four-hitter made him the hottest thing in town since the big Boston fire of 1872. Spotted in the stands in Game 5 were Lefty Grove, Carl Hubbell, Dizzy Dean, Mickey Cochrane, Jimmy Foxx, Bill Terry, Hank Greenberg, Rogers Hornsby, Frank Frisch, Al Simmons, Tris Speaker, and Harry Heilmann. Ted Williams moaned to reporters before the game, ``I got to get me some hits. This can’t go on forever.’’  The loss to the Red Sox must have seemed particularly painful for Cardinals manager Eddie Dyer who celebrated his 46^th birthday. After the game, the Cardinals announced they were officially shutting down their southpaw ace, Howard Pollet, due to a strained shoulder and side muscles that’s continuing to bother him.

 

Game Six

October 13, 1946

Sportsman’s Park

St Louis-4

Boston-1

35, 768 fans were in attendance. The Cardinals’ wiry left-hander Harry Brecheen from Broken Bow, Okla., frustrated Red Sox hitters all afternoon in a 4-1 win over the Boston to send the Series to a decisive Game 7 Tuesday at Sportsman Park in St. Louis. Boston was held to seven hits. Rudy York’s triple in the 7^th (and Doerr’s sac fly) accounted for the only Boston run. The Red Sox were highly favored to beat the Cardinals. Brecheen dazzled the home crowd in shutting out the Red Sox in Game 2 at Sportsman’s Park.

Boston Globe Headline: ``Williams an Enormous Flop in First Six Games-‘’ Harold Kaese of the Globe, writes: ``As matters stands, Williams is an enormous bust. In six games, he has made five singles and has batted in one run.’’ Kaese additionally questioned Boston manager Joe Cronin’s decision to have started Tex Hughson (20-11) in Game 1 instead of David Ferriss who posted a mighty impressive 25-6 record during the season. Kaese wrote, ``The Red Sox are in the curious position of having played six World Series games and having used their 25-game winner in only one contest-a shutout.’’

Grover Cleveland Alexander posed for photographers before the game. In his traditional post-game essay during the World Series for the Boston Globe, Ted Williams wrote: ``The Cat [aka Harry, the Cat, Brecheen] not only skinned us again, but this time he feasted on our flesh and scratched on our bones. Brecheen not only stuck the bats down our throats, but he broke them off inside us.’’

Arthur Daley in The New York Times notes, Ted Williams can't wait for this series to conclude so he can go hunting and fishing in South Dakota, ``far from the maddening crowd. `` Thus far in the series’’, Daley observes, ``the only fishing he's done has been fishing after third strikes and his hunting has consisted principally of hunting for base hits. Neither appeals to Temperamental Ted.’’ In Game 6, Williams slapped a single through the hole, his only hit of the game, bringing his Series batting average to a pedestrian .238.

Cardinal manager Eddie Dyer is one game away from winning the World Series in his freshman year as manager in the big leagues. A sac fly by Moore and some clutch hitting by Eddie Kurowski and Enos Slaughter enabled the Cards to put three runs on the board in the 3^rd inning. Walker doubled in the 8^th for the Cards fourth and final run of the game.

 

Game Seven

October 15, 1946

Sportsman’s Park

St. Lous-4

Boston-3

The Cardinals win their sixth world championship in nine trips to the World Series; only the New York Yankees with 10 had won more.

With the score tied at 3 in the bottom of the 8^th, Enos (Country) Slaughter of the Cardinals, slapped a single to center field. Cronin then brought in reliever Bob Klinger from the bullpen who retired the first two batters he faced. Harry Walker then stepped to the plate and laced a line drive double to left center, allowing Slaughter to peel around the bases and head for home. Johnny Pesky, after receiving the relay throw from the outfield, hesitated on his throw to the plate, which allowed Slaughter to slide home safely in a cloud of dust, to put the Cardinals up 4-3, a lead that was secured by a relief appearance by Harry Becheen in the top of the 9^th. After their win, the Cardinals lifted rookie manager Eddie Dyer on top of the shoulders and the celebration was in full bloom.

36, 143 fans were on hand. Johnny Pesky stood in the clubhouse after the crushing defeat to tell reporters, ``I’m the goat. It’s my fault. I’m to blame.’’ Pesky said, he never expected Slaughter would dash for home. ``I couldn’t hear anybody hollering at me above the noise of the crowd’’ the woeful Boston shortstop said. ``I gave Slaughter at least six strides with that delay.’’

But to hear the Cardinals tell it as echoed through Martin Marion: ``We won the World Series by stopping Williams.’’ During the series, Ted Williams managed only five singles, driving in one run, ending with a .200 batting average. It was Boston’s first World Series loss in 43 years. Harry Becheen came in for relief in Game 7 to secure his third win of the Series, becoming the first pitcher to win three World Series games since Stanley Covleski of the Cleveland Indians in 1920.

The Cards entered the World Series as a 7-20 long shot to beat the highly favored Boston Red Sox. Dom DiMaggio, the`` Little Professor’’ drove in all three of Boston’s runs.

It was announced that the winning share of each member of the St Louis Cardinals would amount to $3,757.04, while each Red Sox player would receive $2,052.03. The Cards ended up outscoring the Sox 28-20, outhitting them, 60-56, while committing only four errors to the Red Sox 10 miscues. The Boston Globe reported that Williams, looking almost on the verge of tears, sat in front of his locker staring mournfully at the floor for at least 30 minutes. Commissioner Happy Chandler stepped into the Sox clubhouse and patted Williams on the back, saying ``God love you Ted. ‘’ Williams replied: ``I never missed so many balls in all my life.’’

Stan Musial told reporters , ``Experience may have had a lot to do with it…These Red Sox are good...But we’ve been in this before…I want to say this for Boston, though- it was a great Series and they played wonderful ball, clean,  not any bickering, no dusters.’’

In the Cardinal clubhouse before the decisive Game 7, manager Eddie Dyer was chuckling over a letter he received from a woman from New York,  who charged the Redbirds were ``gangsters for having stopped Williams.’’

Before Game 7, Boston manager Joe Cronin presented Williams with a parting gift for the offseason, a book titled:  ``To Hell with Fishing.’’

 

 

1967 Starting Game One Lineups for the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox.

St Louis Starting Lineup

Lou Brock, LF

Curt Flood, CF

Roger Maris, RF

Orlando Cepeda, 1B

Tim McCarver, C

Mike Shannon, 3B

Julian Javier, 2B

Dal Maxvill, SS

 

Boston Starting Lineup

Jerry Adair, 2B

Dalton Jones, 3B

Carl Yastrzemski, LF

Ken Harrelson, RF

George Scott, 1B

Rico Petrocelli, SS

Reggie Smith, CF

Russ Gibson, C

 

1967 World Series

October 4, 1967

Game One

Fenway Park

St. Louis-2

Boston-1

``WE'LL WIN: ``I still say the Red Sox will win the World Series...we've been coming from behind most of the last few weeks and you'll see us come back again.''

-Carl Yastrzemski.

34,796 fans in attendance.  Cardinal’s ace Bob Gibson struck out five of the first eight batters he faced, finishing with 10 strikeouts, surrendering six hits before the afternoon was over. The Sox never were able to manage more than one hit in an inning off Gibson; his only walk came in the 9^th on a 3-2 pitch to George Scott. His only mistake pitch came in the third frame when he floated a slow hanging curve ball to pitcher Jose Santiago who proceeded to smack his second home run of the year. It marked the seventh home run hit by a pitcher in World Series history. Gibson threw 11 pitches to Rico Petrocelli, striking him out three times without Rico ever managing to put the bat on any of Gibby’s missles. Petrocelli was lifted for a pinch hitter in the 9^th. After Santiago’s blast, only two Red Sox runners reached second base. Gibson complained of a sore ankle after the game, but said he should be fine.  Gibson missed eight weeks during the regular season (returning in September) after breaking a bone from a liner on his right chin off the bat of the Pirates Roberto Clemente. Both of the Cardinal runs came from infield grounders off the bat of Roger Maris. Lou Brock slapped four singles in the game, while stealing bases in the third and seventh innings.

As reported by the Boston Globe, equal to the calamity of the Sox dropping Game 1 of the Series was that the stadium ran out of box lunches for members of the press; in addition, the hitting schedule of the teams got confused, preventing the Sox regulars from getting enough batting practice.  The Boston Globe columnist Harold Kaese was all over the team for playing Ken Harrelson in right who let a Roger Maris fly ball plop right in front of him.  ``Who thought Harrelson would get to the ball?, Kaese wondered?  ``Why should he, he can’t play the outfield.  Because Dick Williams is gambling that he will hit a long shot of importance, sooner or later, and that meanwhile, no tough flies will be hit in his direction.  ``The Red Sox are gambling’’ Kaese went on to write.  ``They’ve been gambling all season. Why should they stop now.’’

Spotted at Game 1 at Fenway, was former Ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy, ailing patriarch of the Kennedy clan, who was wheeled into the game by sons Teddy and Bobby Kennedy.  Former Cleveland Indians ace Bob Feller who pitched (and lost) a World Series game in Boston 19 years ago, was also spotted hopping all over the box seats, chatting it up with old friends. Awed by facing the stellar Gibson, Yastrzemski hitless in four trips to the plate, said that `the St. Louis ace was the best pitcher they faced all year.’’ Gibson, who is no stranger to the World Series, won two games in 1964 and set a Series record of 31 strikeouts.

Las Vegas odds makers listed the Cardinals as 3-1 favorites to win the World Series after winning the curtain-raiser.  Oddsmaker Jimmy (The Greek) Snyder, meanwhile, listed the second game as even money. ``You pick em.’’

After the game, Ken Harrelson, a late pick up during the season, joked with reporters that he was the only man in baseball to have a better year than Yastrzemski. ``I went from Charlie Finely in Kansas City to the Red Sox and the World Series.’’

Seats, at least some seats, at Game 1 in Fenway reportedly were selling for $8 and $12.

The lead paragraph of Bud Collins Boston Globe column went as follows: ``Wednesday afternoon’s matinee at Fenway was over-priced and under-active, but at least it was the most forgettable game of the season.’’

 

Game Two

October 5, 1967

Fenway Park

Boston-5

St. Louis-0

With 35,188 fans in attendance on a dark cloudy drizzly Boston afternoon, Red Sox pitcher and Stanford graduate Jim Lonborg; the six-foot five inch right-hander pitched a one-hitter in a 5-0 win, throwing only 93 pitches and didn’t surrender a hit for seven and two-thirds. It was only the fourth one-hitter in World Series history.  His no-hit bid was ruined in the 8^th when Julian Javier slashed a double to right with two men out.   Lonborg had retired 19 consecutive St Louis hitters, until surrendering a walk, his only walk of the game, to Curt Flood in the seventh inning.

Curt Flood upset that Red Sox pitcher Jim Lonborg delivered some chin music to two off his teammates: Lou Brock and Dal Maxvill, threatened his team would retaliate against Carl Yastrzemski, their power hitter. When questioned about Flood’s comments, Longborg, said, ``What do they think I’m going to do, give them home plate?” Brock, on the other hand, wasn’t as nearly as incensed as Flood was about the brush back pitches. ``It’s legal and has been around a lot longer than the players participating in this World Series.’’

Triple-crown winner Carl Yastrzemski crushed a home run to right in the 4^th to give the Sox a one-run lead, and smashed another one over the Red Sox bullpen with two runners on in the 7^th to extend the Sox lead to 5-0. Yaz became only the 16^th player in World Series history to smack multiple home runs in a single World Series game, and the first since Mickey Mantle slugged two in Pittsburgh in 1960. Upset at being hitless in Game One, Yaz took some extra batting practice after Boston’s 2-1 loss, almost unheard of. During the season, Yastrzemski was reportedly paid an annual salary of $60,000, just enough to plunk down money on some post-season expenses, namely, the $2,000 he spent on World Series tickets for family and friends, his wife’s wardrobe for the trip to St. Louis cost him another $1,000 with taxes taking another $3,000 from his pocket. `` Joking with reporters, Yaz said he would only break even with a loser’s share of the World Series, ``so I’ve got to get a winning share.’’

Asked about Lonborg’s one-hitter, Cardinal catcher Tim McCarver, said, ``He threw a lot of breaking stuff and kept the ball down. When you can pitch like that consistently, you should come out ahead.’’

Former Yankees pitcher Don Larsen, the only pitcher to have tossed a no-hitter in the World Series (1956 against the Dodgers) watched Lonborg’s gem from his San Diego home and observed: ``I’d liked to have seen him get it…He did a fine job and I imagine he’s quite happy.’’

The New York Times report Game 3 at Busch Stadium in S. Louis will be well stocked at the concession stands, including its plans to have six tons of hot dogs, 500 half-barrels of beer, 6,000 cases of bottled bear, 5,000 pounds of popcorn, and 5,000 pounds of hamburger patties.

 

Game Three

October 7, 1967

Busch Memorial Stadium

Boston-2

St. Louis-5

As promised after Game 2 by Curt Flood, the St. Louis Cardinals took retaliation against the Red Sox, this time Cardinal pitcher Nelson Briles drilled slugger Carl Yastrzemski in the 1^st inning, and the Cardinals right-hander quickly became public enemy No. 1 in the Boston clubhouse. ``All I can say is now is that if those bush league_ _ _want to play baseball that way, that’s alright with me’’, Red Sox pitcher Jose Santiago told reporters after the game. Briles argued he was gripping the ball too hard-and it just got away from him.  Yaz took the plunking in stride, saying he would have been more upset and would have expected his team to retaliate if the ball was aimed at his head. Instead, the ball hit him squarely on the back of his left leg in the middle of the calf.

Even before Briles took to the mound, he attracted the wrath of the Red Sox when he told reporters a day before the game that the Red Sox are a ``weaker hitting team’’ than any team they face in the National League-including the Dodgers.

Lou Brock opened the game with a triple to left center and later scored on Curt Flood’s hard single to center. The Cardinals added two more in the next frame when Tim McCarver singled and scored on Mike Shannon’s majestic two-run shot into the left field seats. The Red Sox weren’t able to get on the board until the 6^th inning, when Dalton Jones slapped a single to right, scoring Mike Andrews. Lou Brock’s speed again (who reached by way of a drag bunt) helped the Cards score their fourth run in the bottom of the 6^th, when Boston pitcher Lee Stange rifled a ball to first in attempt to pick off Brock; only the ball hit the speedster on the back with the ball rolling down the right field line, allowing Brock to scamper to third. He later scored on Roger Maris’s single to right, his third RBI of the Series. In the 7^th, Reggie Smith brought the Sox to within striking distance (4-2) with a solo shot in the right field stands, but Boston wouldn’t score again. The Cards added another run in the 8^th   to extend their lead to 5-2. Yastrzemski turned in an uneventful day. After being drilled with a pitch in the first, Briles induced the slugger into hitting three routine grounders to Julian Javier at second.

By the time it was over, 54,575 at Busch Stadium saw Briles limit the Sox to seven hits in a complete game performance to put the Cards up in the Series, 2-1.

Sox pitcher Gary Bell was touched up for three runs in the first two frames.  He was replaced after two innings.

Despite the loss, Boston manager Dick Williams was so impressed with Gary Waslewski’s three perfect innings of relief (3^rd-5^th)-that he penciled him in to start Game 6 of the Series.

Commenting on the Yastrzemski plunking in the 1^st inning, Boston Globe writer Harold Kaese, opened up his column with the following words: ``The World Series has gone to war. The ABC of the third game was Antagonism, Belligerency, and Combativeness.’’

In addition to winning Game Three, the Cards were further encouraged seeing two of their key hitters, Orlando Cepeda and Tim McCarver break out of their hitless slumps in this Series.

 

Game 4

October 8, 1967

Busch Memorial Stadium

St Louis-6

Boston-0

54,575 fans in attendance. The game was over before it really even started as the Cardinals jumped on Sox pitcher Jose Santiago for four runs, when his usually effective curve ball was nowhere to be found. Roger Maris continued his hitting barrage, knocking in two of the Cards four runs in the 1^st frame, after drilling a double to the left-field corner. It was Maris’s 5^th RBI of the Series. They added two more in the third with a sac fly by Tim McCarver; Julian Javier doubled in the Cards final run.

Bob Gibson, brilliant in Game One, painted the corners again in yet another masterpiece in Game 4, shutting out the Sox 6-0 on five hits to put the Cards up 3-1 and pushing Boston to the edge of the cliff.  It was a complete game for Gibson, just like Game one. He beat the Yankees twice during the 1964 World Series. The Cardinal ace pitching on only three days’ rest, admitted to reporters he was tired and had to rely more on breaking pitches than his signature fastball.

Only two teams in World Series history have fallen behind, 3-to-1, and have gone on to win the Series: The Pittsburgh Pirates against the Washington Senators in 1925 and the New York Yankees in 1958 against the Milwaukee Braves.

Refusing to be discouraged over the Sox being shutout, Ken Harrelson told reporters after the game, ``I’ll knock one out of here tomorrow, just wait and see.’’

Asked if the playing for the Cardinals in the World Series is as thrilling as when he was with the Yankees, Roger Maris responded, ``They’re  all a thrill.  I just don’t think about the Yankees. That’s the past and this is now.’’

 

Game 5

October 9, 1967

Busch Memorial Stadium

Boston-3

St. Louis-1

On the brink of elimination, pre-med major Jim Lonborg was back on the mound again for the Sox. And the team is happy to report, the operation was successful.  Lonborg, the 24 year-old Californian, came with his golden arm again by allowing only three hits, and his shutout was intact until the 9^th when Roger Maris deposited one of his pitches into the right field seats. The blast came with two out. The Cardinals countered with a slender southpaw: Steve Carlton.  Ken Harrelson put the Sox on the board first in the 3rd, shooting a sharp single through the hole between short and third, scoring Joe Foy. Harrelson, whose defense has been called into question by Boston writers, flashed some leather in the 1^st by snagging Lou Brock’s hard hit line drive in right center.

Despite flirting with a no-hitter in his previous Series start, Lonborg told reporters he had better stuff today. Cards cleanup hitter Orlando Cepeda was 0-4 at the plate, and is now 2-19 in the Series with only one run batted in for the entire Series. He batted a hefty .325 during the season.

With the bases loaded in the 9^th, Elston Howard drove in two runs, looping a fly ball behind first base down the right field line and thanks to an errant throw to the plate by Roger Maris, the Sox were up 3-0.

Cardinals’ catcher Tim McCarver groaned to reporters that when in Boston, he didn’t like some of things he heard, read, and saw on television and on radio. ``Our ball club has respect for them’’.  McCarver said, ``but they don’t respect us.’’  More from McCarver: ``We played in a Series against the Yankees in 1964 and there was mutual respect. That’s the way big league players should be.’’

 

Game 6

Fenway Park

October 11, 1967

Boston-8

St. Louis-4

Rookie manager Dick William’s instincts worked like a charm in starting Gary Waslewski who entered the Series as a ``Who’s Who in Baseball’’, having been kicked around the minors for eight years. Except for getting roughed up in the 2<sup>nd</sup> and 7<sup>th</sup> frames, the 26 year-old’s money pitch, his sinker, worked well, at least well enough to keep the Sox hopes alive to chase their Impossible Dream in a 8-4 win over the Redbirds.  Equal to Waslewski’s solid performance, was the Sox putting together an impressive power surge in the 7<sup>th</sup> with three home runs (a World Series record) off Dick Hughes. The long balls were deposited by Carl Yastrzemski, Reggie Smith, and Rico Petrocelli. Petrocelli also homered in the 2<sup>nd</sup>. ``I never hit fastballs out’’ Rico told reporters, ``and two in one day.’’

Yastrzemski joined Babe Ruth (1923) and Ted Kluszewski (1959) in blasting three home runs over six games. In addition to his three hits, Yaz chased down Tim McCarver’s laser that he snagged right up against the left-field wall.

Lou Brock provided most of the offense for the Cardinals. He knocked in a run in the 3^rd and smacked a two-run homer in the 7th

So this sets the stage for another start for Bob Gibson, the 31-year old pitcher from Omaha,  in the deciding Game 7 at Fenway against the ``Team of Destiny.’’  Asked about the challenge, Gibby said, ``I’m looking forward to it. I know when I tried to pitch in a World Series against the Yankees with only two days rest, I got awful tired, and wore out after the third inning.’’

Lonborg will be pitching on only two days rest; Gibson will have had three days to prepare for the deciding game. Gibson won the first and fourth games of the Series; while Lonborg took the second and fifth game, limiting the Cards to four hits and one run over 18 innings.

 During the year, Longborg pitched twice with only two days rest, winning one of those in a shutout against Kansas City, and getting knocked out in the 3rd in the last week of the season against the Cleveland Indians.

 The Boston Globe noted the Red Sox were 100-1 underdogs to win the pennant when the season began. Boston came in 9^th out of 10 American League teams the year before; and nearly half the baseball experts predicted the Sox would finish dead last in 1967.

The Cardinals are preparing for their sixth World Series Game 7 in franchise history. They have never lost a Game 7.

Cardinal Cushing, the Archbishop of Boston, watched the game from a box seat at Fenway and was reported to have given the Sox a pre-game blessing.

The New York Times reported that Gil Hodges, who just accepted a position to manage the New York Mets, was milling around the batting cages just prior to Game 6.

 

Game 7

October 12, 1967

Fenway Park

St. Louis-7

Boston-2

The Red Sox Cinderella season came to a screeching halt before 35,188 frustrated fans, as Bob Gibson and the St Louis Cardinals soundly defeated the Sox in their home park, 7-2.  Gibson won the third game of the Series, surrendering only three hits and striking out 10. In three starts, the Cardinal right handed fireballer fanned a total of 26 over three games. Gibson joined six other pitchers who were 3-0 in World Series competition. Jim Longborg, working only on two days rest, was knocked out after six innings, have given up 10 singles, including a solo shot by Gibson and another three run blast by Julian Javier. When he walked off the mound for the final time at Fenway, tears were seen streaming down Longborg’s face. The only real cheer for the local crowd came in the 9^th inning, a standing ovation, when Carl Yastrzemski stepped to the plate for his final at-bat in the 9^th. He blistered a sharp single off of Gibson, much to the delight of the Boston fans.

Boston’s first hit didn’t come until the 5^th inning, when George Scott slammed a triple off the center field wall, and scored on a wild pitch to third. They tacked on another harmless run in the 8^th, but by then all the damage had been done.

Lou Brock went into the record books, stealing three bases, giving him seven swipes for the Series, a World Series record. Cardinal manager Red Schoendienst called the speedster the ``most exciting player in the whole show.’’

While a cavalcade of sad, disheartened souls departed Fenway, in St. Louis it seemed like Mardi Gras. The Boston Globe reported that in downtown St. Louis ` avalanches of paper streamed out of office windows.  Clerks and salesgirls ran through the streets littered with paper.’’  And when Bob Gibson fanned George Scott for the final out in the Cardinals 7-2 victory, crowded bars in St. Louis erupted into thunderous cheers; others banged pots and pans, while the streets were tied up in bumper to bumper traffic with horns wailing throughout the city.

In the Red Sox clubhouse, Carl Yastrzemski’s six year-old son, Mike, was reportedly holding back tears, while his father, Carl told reporters, ``Someone has to win, someone has to lose. It’s all part of the great game.’’ When everyone reminded Carl’s son what a great Series it was, he strongly disagreed. ``No, it wasn’t’’, little Yaz said, ``because the Sox lost.’’

Headline of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner: ``Color the Red Sox Blue’’

Mayor John Collins of Boston received the following telegram from the mayor of St. Louis, Alfonso J. Cervantes: ``Sorry about that chief.’’

After Game 7 had concluded, the following message came over the Boston Police Teletype: ``To all Districts and Units-There is no joy in Mudville tonight.’’

While leaving Fenway, Mrs. Barbara Carens Clapp of Wellesley, told a reporter from the Boston Globe that the Sox losing reminded her of a quote from the late Adlai Stevenson after failing in his bid to win the presidency in 1956: ``It hurts too much to laugh, and I’m too old to cry.’’

Lead paragraph of Bud Collins’s Boston Globe column: ``God isn’t dead, as some theologians have suggested. It’s just that He’s moved to St. Louis.’’

Tim McCarver, questioned about the lack of production from the Cardinals cleanup hitter, said: ``I don’t want to hear any criticism of Orlando Cepeda. He got us here.’’

After Game 7,  Cardinal great Stan Musial walked into the clubhouse, wrapped his arms around Cardinal manager Red Schoendienst and said, ``Let’s have a drink. We’ve had a few, haven’t we?’’ Musial and Schoendienst were roommates for more than a decade as Cardinal teammates.

The Red Sox prepared for a long cold winter knowing they hadn’t tasted a world championship since 1918, when Babe Ruth was on their club as a pitcher.

 

-Bill Lucey

[email protected]

October 22, 2013

 

STATS and FACTS for Friday, October 18, 2013

Eye-Catchers of the Day

• Best zingers of the night from comedian Stephen Colbert at the Al Smith white-tie charity dinner, the annual gathering of New York’s Roman Catholic brass. 

The New York Times:

http://is.gd/NY8aAb

Addressing the populist bent of Pope Francis, saying that if the new pope had planned the event, “we wouldn’t be in white-tie at the Waldorf — we’d be in sweat pants at the corner booth of the IHOP.”

If Pope Francis had attended on Thursday, “His Humbleness would be out washing the feet of the coat-check guy or something,” Mr. Colbert said, adding, “We get it, you’re modest.”

 

• There are 29.8 million people living as slaves right now, according to new report  issued by the Australia-based Walk Free Foundation. http://is.gd/fTYbyZ

 

• Council on Foreign Relations: ``Student loan debt passed $1 trillion dollars in 2013—quadrupling since 2004—and was the only household debt that rose during the recent recession, surpassing auto loans and credit card debt. Only home mortgage debt was larger, at $8.5 trillion. Moreover, student loans have had the highest ninety-day delinquency rate among all loan types since mid-2012, according to the New York Federal Reserve.''

http://is.gd/XQo0Bv

 

STATS OF the DAY

• The Seattle Seahawks are 6-1 for the first time in franchise history.
• ESPN STATS: Since start of July, Boston Red Sox flame thrower Koji Uehara has a MLB-best 0.37 ERA and has walked 2 of 161 batters faced, including the postseason.
• 4 of the 5 ALCS games have been decided by one run.
• Youth unemployment in Spain (16 to 24 yr olds) has surged to 55.13%-BBC News
• Cook Political Report: ``House Democrats would need to win between 6 and 7 % more votes than House Republicans nationally in order to win the barest possible majority of 18 seats. ‘’
• NASA had spent $878,000 in the past two years on research into ways to deflect or neutralize asteroids that risk collision with Earth.
• AOL topped Google as the property with the most video ads watched last month, with 3.7 billion views compared to the YouTube parent's 3.2 billion.
• 40% Of YouTube traffic is mobile, up from 25% in 2012: Source: Tech Crunch: http://is.gd/NtkjIK
• The Social Security Administration paid benefits to about 61.9 million people in 2012.
• According to the Global Peace Index (GPI) from the Institute For Economics & Peace, the drug war in Mexico claimed twice as many lives as the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Over the last decade, employees' share of health care costs—including employee contributions and out-of-pocket costs—will have increased almost 150 percent from $2,011 in 2004 to $4,969 in 2014. Source: Aon plc, the leading global provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage. http://is.gd/hVchZ2

 

Surveys/Polls

• Poll: Pew Research Center for the People & the Press: The Tea Party is less popular than ever, with even many Republicans now viewing the movement negatively. Overall, nearly half of the public (49%) has an unfavorable opinion of the Tea Party, while 30% have a favorable opinion.

http://is.gd/qRYCdY

 

Top 25 Cities in the World

• Readers' Choice Awards as voted by CONDÉ NAST TRAVELER Readers

http://is.gd/MJJRJT

 

***

 

Today in History

October 18, 1954, Texas Instruments announced plans to sell the first transistor radio, which received AM stations for $49.95, the equivalent of more than $400 today. One year after the release of the transistor, sales approached the 100,000 mark. The radio receiver (technically known as n-p-n grown junction germanium triodes) measured 5 x 3 x 1 1/4 inches - the smallest set commercially available - with the semiconductor devices themselves occupying less than 1/10 of a cubic inch. The Regency TR-1 featured four germanium transistors operating on a 22.5-volt battery that provided over 20 hours of life

 

Word Origin

Politics

Politics comes from two Greek words: polis (city) and polites (citizen). Gradually the word came to be used to describe the art and science of government, as in ``political science’’ including the day to day professional management of political affairs both in local government as well as at the national level.

 

Looking For a Good Quote?

``If only God would give me a clear sign!  Like making a large deposit in my name at a Swiss bank.’’

-Woody Allen

 

-Bill Lucey

[email protected]

October 18, 2013

STATS and FACTS for Thursday, October 17, 2013

Eye Catchers of the Day

• Washington Post Video: Key moments from the last day before the financial default deadline, when the Senate and House came together to pass a deal to reopen the government.

http://is.gd/9U0Eyd

• U.S. Default by the Numbers: Who Owns the Debt? Bloomberg TV

http://is.gd/sdSxgc

• New York Times World: Free digital and mobile access this week, in honor of the launch of The International New York Times  http://is.gd/2pINjV

• Blogger, author, and strategist Jeff Bullas took a dip into the 800 page filing for the Twitter IPO and came up with some remarkable data about the online social networking and microblogging service, including reporting Twitter generates 135,000 registered accounts every day, 58 million tweets a day, with 2.1 billion searches conducted on Twitter every 24 hours. This and a boat load of other data and fast facts about Twitter can be found at Bullas’ fact filled statistically rich article ``60 Sensational Social Media Facts and Statistics on Twitter in 2013’’

http://is.gd/RTWZ3R

• NBC News: Ohio lawmakers have given initial approval to a bill that would provide Ariel Castro's three kidnapping victims up to $25,000 for each year they were held captive, plus other benefits. http://is.gd/Im174Z

 

• Russia Preparing Property Restrictions for Foreigners ¬ Paper

MOSCOW, October 16 (RIA Novosti) ¬ Russia is drafting changes to the law that will bar foreigners from owning or renting real estate in the country without official permission, a state-owned newspaper said Wednesday. The law could come into force by 2015, officials told the paper.

 

STATS OF THE DAY

1.)    Despite the ALCS tied at 2-2, the Boston Red Sox have held the lead for just 4 of 36 total innings played.

2.)    MLB Stat of the Day: Since the ALCS expanded to 7 games (1985), the winner of Game 4 in 2-2 series has gone on to win twice (Indians in 1995, Yankees in ‘98).

 

• The average literacy score for Americans ages 16 to 65 places the U.S. 18th out of 22 participating countries. In numeracy, the U.S. ranks 20th out of 22. In “problem-solving in technology-rich environments” -- a measure of the capacity to interact productively with computers -- the U.S. comes in 14th out of 19th, according to The Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development which evaluates the skills of adults in 24 countries. http://is.gd/bfQQhK  .
• Student loan debt now exceeds credit card debt in the U.S. which stands at about $798 billion.
• The S &P estimates the 16 day government shutdown took at least $24 billion out of the U.S. economy.
• Forbes Magazine lists American business magnate, investor and philanthropist, Mark Cuban net wealth at $2.5 billion.  Cuban was acquitted Wednesday of insider-trading charges when he sold his shares in an Internet company in 2004.
• According to a  GAO report, interest on the national debt plus entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare –– will absorb approximately 92 cents of every single dollar of federal revenue before the end of this decade.
• In the 2012 presidential election, 47% of Americans used the internet as a main campaign news source surpassing newspapers (27%), radio (20%) and magazines (3%), but still trailing television (67%); just one of 12 trends shaping digital news as compiled by the Pew Research Center. http://is.gd/pWpGGG
• Benchmark crude for November delivery gained $1.08, or 1.1 percent, to close at $102.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price of oil rose 1 percent Wednesday as the U.S. Senate announced a deal that avoided defaulting on its debt. The average price for a gallon of gasoline at the pumps rose 1 cent to $3.36, 16 cents cheaper than a month ago and 41 cents less than at this time last year.
• Russia is set to overtake Germany to become the largest car market in Europe by 2020 and the fifth largest market in the world by then, according to Boston Consulting Group.
• In 2013, 795,000 people in the United States will have a first or recurrent stroke; 1 in six people worldwide will have a stroke in their lifetime-American Heart Association/American Stroke Association

 

Polls/Surveys

• The Conservative Intelligence Briefing: New Jersey Poll: N. J. Gov Chris Christie (56% ) is more popular than Bruce Springsteen, ``The Boss’’ (46%) in the Garden State.

http://is.gd/EtsaIb

 

• ``Gimme Shelter'' is listed as the greatest Rolling Stones' song of all-time by Rolling Stone Magazine

http://is.gd/EeByJm

 

Today in History

October 17, 1931, Chicago gangster Al Capone is found guilty in federal court on five of the 23 charges brought against him. He was found guilty of three counts of federal tax evasion for the years, 1925, 1926, and 1927. ``Scarface’’ as he was known, was additionally found guilty of two misdemeanor counts of ``willing failure’’ to file a tax return for 1928 and 1929. A week later, on October 24th, he was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison. In addition to his prison term, he was slapped with a $50,000 fine and $30,000 in court cost fees. Capone first started serving his sentence in Cook County Jail. On May 4, 1932, he was transferred to Atlanta at one of the toughest penitentiaries in the country. Once authorities learned he was receiving the comforts of prison life denied to other prisoners, he was transferred again, this time to Alcatraz (located on an island in San Francisco Bay) on August 18, 1934, where he was assigned to cell 181 and was given the prison number 85. After his mental capacity increasingly deteriorated at Alcatraz, he was released in November, 1939, after serving six years and five months at which point he entered the Baltimore State Mental Institution.

 

Word Origin

Galvanize, meaning to spur to action, according to William Morris'`` Dictionary of Word and Phrases’’, comes from an 18th century Italian physiologist, Luigi Galvani, who discovered quite by accident that he could ``galvanize’’ frogs and other animals he was working with, by subjecting them to electric shock.

               

Looking For a Good Quote?

``Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.’’

-          Albert Einstein

 

-          Bill Lucey

[email protected]

October 17, 2013