SZ657
MARCH
27, 2017
BY
JIM DAWSON
PUT
ME IN COACH, I’M READY TO PLAY
To
the sounds of John Fogarty’s Centerfield, Red Sox fans await
next Monday’s season opener vs. Pittsburgh. Baseball lovers delight
in the games, the plays, the special moments that define a game. And
there are 162 of those games.
Attempts
are being made to speed up baseball (fewer commercials?). FootJoy and
I were talking about this, and we both felt that baseball is a
special sport with no fixed time and we like it that way. We don’t
mind the length of games. Each game is different. FootJoy and I do
agree that there are areas where the game could be sped up to the
betterment of the fan. Fewer catcher visits to the mound. Only 1
infielder allowed in mound visits, and replays that take no more than
30-45 seconds with an announcement to the crowd about the nature of
the challenge and the conclusion (those are all FootJoy’s).
Now
we get to enjoy this BoSox season. This team has the potential to be
very special with its superior starting pitching and young emerging
stars. There should be a full year of Andrew Benintendi (baseball
gods – please, no injuries).
The
defense should be better with Benintendi in LF and Moreland at 1B.
Could this year be one of redemption for Pablo Sandoval? His
pre-season play has been good both defensively and with the bat.
Yesterday
I saw Christian Vazquez pick off a runner at 2nd and then
throw out a guy trying to steal 3rd. Oh and he hit a 3-run
HR to put the Sox ahead. The extra time to recover from the Tommy
John surgery is evidencing itself in Vazquez’s play. Sandy Leon
will also catch with Blake Swihart at Pawtucket, honing his catching
skills. The future is the tandem of Vazquez and the switch-hitting,
faster than you think, Swihart.
Things
in Pawtucket should be interesting as Marco Hernandez, Sam Travis,
Rusney Castillo, Alan Craig, Steve Selsky and Swihart should add some
pop to the every day lineup. The starting pitching will be its
Achilles’ Heel until Brian Johnson, Henry Owens and the injured
Roenis Elias start figuring out how to pitch effectively. The PawSox
will
have
the benefit of ex-Phillie Kyle Kendrick, who based on pre-season
could be the #1 starter for Pawtucket. The PawSox home opener is a
week from next Monday (4/10) vs. Syracuse. As a season ticket
holder, I’m ready. Put me in, coach. I’m ready to play.
BULLETS
• Well
my brackets are busted, but I did have NC and Gonzaga in the
Final Four.
• BU
lost to Minnesota-Duluth in OT 3-2 and missed the Frozen Four. In
their 1st
game, BU beat ND in OT with D Charlie McAvoy scoring the winner.
McAvoy can’t sign with
Boston until he finishes final exams
this week. Given the
Bruins D, McAvoy could
help.
• Per
Bill Chuck (Cafardo/Globe – 3/26) BoSox AL games in ’16 were the
longest (3:14)
• Raise
your hand if you know the US won its
1st WBC beating
Puerto
Rico
8-0. Marcus Stroman had
a no hitter into the
7th.
Stroman originally said
he’d play for Puerto Rico.
• Look
at what Oregon has done (Final Four). Look at what URI did to the
Ducks for most of their game before falling at the end. With no help
from Hassan Martin.
EMAIL
Answer
to Last Issue’s Quiz:
Chuck
Berry, very timely.
Matt
Dawson
Right
you are, Matt.
It's Charles 'Chuck' Berry who left us on March 18 at age 90. Chuck
Berry left us with some of the greatest rock n' roll songs ever
written. - Z
Must
be Chuck
David
Annese
You
are right, David. It's Chuck Berry. RIP Chuck, who left us recently
at age 90 but left us with many of his great songs. - Z
Re. Ed Cooley: Okay, you convinced me. I'll give Coach Cooley another year. Re. The Quiz: Gotta be Chuck Berry. An excellent piece floating around about Geo Wein's ambivalence about adding Berry to one of the early Newport Jazz Fest lineups (1958?). I'll try to find it. BShea
An
excellent piece - including the video. Subject:
Remembering Chuck Berry's Scandalous Stand at the 1958 Newport Jazz
Festival http://www.tinyurl.com/k7jrw6w
BShea
Thanks
Bill, this is quite a treat. Chuck
Berry’s place in RI
history. Readers, enjoy. - Z
On
URI’s NCAA Tournament win over Creighton and then fall to Oregon:
Jim
Both huge
and amazing in URI's game #1
was 28 of 29 from the free throw line for the five starters, with
Dowtin & Matthews both 10 for 10! Overall the Rams were 28
of 31, and controlled the pace and the boards, unlike what happened
in game #2.
Go Rhody in 2017-2018 - the future is bright!!
Rick
Nadeau
Thanks, Jim! Great issue. Sorry that the Rams couldn't keep it going for one more round, but still an impressive performance against a formidable opponent.
Quiz
Answer: Chuck
Berry
Richard
Flinn
Yes
Richard, it's
Chuck Berry. A true original. A founder of rock n' roll.
- Z
On
Bleacher Report showing a photo of Heidi Watney instead of Jessica
Moran:
RE:
proofreading and Heidi Watney- must be the same proofreader that
ProJo uses.
Roger
Boudreau
Rog,
when
I've complained to the Pro
Jo
(usually sports dept), they tell me the paper is put together in
Texas so they have little control. The ProJo probably fired the proof
reader as too expensive and a luxury.
- Z
Hi
Jim -
Don't
know the quiz answer, but my all-time "movie with a big affect"
has to be Easy
Rider,
the ending scene with the shotgun from the pickup truck. I couldn't
move from my seat for many minutes after seeing that slaughter! Must
be the old hippie in me... Great 'zine, as always!
Buffalo
Steve
Ah
yes,
Easy Rider. Great soundtrack. Tough ending. The Bear and I once saw
it in a German cinema in German so Hopper’s campfire line was “Ah,
das ist gut!”.
Some
other
scenes you won’t soon forget-
Alien
– the chest bursting scene. Texas Chain Saw Massacre – when
Leatherface opens the
metal door. Pulp Fiction – the shot of adrenalin. The
Deer Hunter – the Russian
Roulette
scene. The
cop
trussed up in a warehouse, tormented by Michael Madsen in Reservoir
Dogs. Readers
yours?
-
Z
On
the thief who stole Tom Brady’s jersies:
a
short clip of who & how he got the jersey.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2699249-photos-of-tom-bradys-previously-missing-super-bowl-51-jersey-revealed?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial
Paul
Beaudette
Thanks
Paul. Something else to share with Zine readers. - Z
Sportzine
is available at jimdawsonsports.com thanks to Buffalo Steve Lenz
THE
HOT CLUB
Beau
saw me taking notes for the Hot Club section and said, “Pull up
your britches and hide your cats. No one’s safe”.
Told
Charlie Clancy that I was reading Seth Mnookin’s book Feed the
Monster. In it, I learned that Larry Lucchino was the back up
point guard on the Princeton team that went to the Final Four. His
roommate was Bill Bradley.
In
the same book, it’s revealed that Sox co-owner Tom Werner was
almost on the Boston flight (Flt 11) that crashed on 9/11. After
meeting with John Harrington and bidding to buy the Red Sox, he
decided to meet Katie Couric in NY for a dinner date. So he left on a
flight that night instead of leaving on his scheduled Boston flight
the next day.
We
were talking about the current state of affairs in America. My mind
went to the lyrics of an old rock n’ roll song: “Oh God, Pride of
Man, broken in the dust again.” Any of you recall what group sang
that?
LAST
ISSUE’S QUIZ ANSWER
So
who was it that sued the Beach Boys and Beatles over songwriting
credit and won settlements as well as having 6 Top 10 hits from
1955-1964? Why Chuck Berry, of course. A bunch of you got it – Matt
Dawson, David Annese, Richard Flinn, and Bill Shea. Chuck Berry sued
the Beach Boys over Surfin’
USA
(1963) which used the melody of Sweet
Little Sixteen
and won a song writing credit. He also sued the Beatles’ John
Lennon over Come
Together
which
used a near line from Berry’s You
Can’t Catch Me.
Lennon settled out of court. Chuck even had to sue over the song
writing of his first #1 hit (on R&B charts) Maybellene
(1955)
when DJ Alan Freed and Russ Fratto
were listed as co-writers. It
took Chuck until 1986 to win sole song writing credit.
The
pioneer of rock n’ roll was heavily influenced by country music.
His only #1 pop hit was My
Ding-a-Ling (1979). His
song Johnny B.
Goode
is on gold records aboard the Voyager I and II spacecraft. He did
Live at the
Fillmore Auditorium
(1967) backed by the Steve Miller Band. (Sources:
Wikipedia, Rolling Stone, and
NPR)
THIS
ISSUE’S QUIZ
This
Texas troubadour passed this mortal coil way too early, but left a
number of great songs behind including one that’s been covered by
multiple artists (a duo hit #1). He influenced Dylan, John Prine,
Neil Young, and Emmylou Harris among others. His songs have been used
in many films and TV programs. Who is this artist?
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