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The Daily Dose/September 1, 2010
By Gaylon Kent
The Writer's Shack
Notes from around the Human Experience....
SIGH OF RELIEF: All right, Daily Dose fan(s), you can start breathing again, we're back and for the foreseeable future you can count on the witless commentary and other mind numbing features you've become accustomed to here. Your long national nightmare is over!
Where The Hell You Been?: We were working on our latest book project. And we took a vacation. Don't start.
OUR HUMAN EXPERIENCE ISN'T TOO GOOD RIGHT NOW, THANKS FOR ASKING: A lot happened while we were gone. Our current fave story is the 33 men who remain trapped 2,300 feet below ground in a mine in Copiapo, Chile. They've been there since the mine collapsed on August 5 and they surprised everybody on August 22 by being found alive.
Dry, Technical Matter: Like war, here is another of mankind at its worst and at its best. By every account, the owners of the mine were negligent in maintaining it. Had they done their job it is not unreasonable to conclude this would not have happened, although you never really know in the mining racket. This is mankind at its worst. Screw the workers, let's maximize profits. We're big fans of the free market here at the Writer's Shack, but boy, when greed rears its ugly head, things like this happen.
OTOH: Meanwhile, 33 brave men are making the best of an impossible situation. By all accounts they have some room down there, but the conditions are warm and humid and while they were in as good of health as could be expected when they were found on the 22nd, the first reports of fungal infections and body sores are starting to surface.
We Hope They Have Writer's Shack Access Down There: We hope they all live, of course, but who knows? The drill being used to bore a hole to rescue them only makes about 50-60 feet of progress a day and even the most rosy scenarios say it will take at least a couple of months before anybody is rescued and more reasonable estimates are between three and four months, and that is a long time to expect people in that situation to stay healthy and - equally important - not go completely crackers.
WHILE YOU WERE OUT: Except for the treasured On This Date segment, we don't like to spend too much time dwelling on what happened a couple of months ago, but a couple of things happened while we were on hiatus we found interesting.
Advantage, History: The longest professional tennis match, indeed, what has to be the longest sporting event in history, took place in the opening round of Wimbledon this past summer when John Isner of the United States defeated Nicholas Mahut of France 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68!
We Are Not Making That Up: 70-68!!!! Had it not happened you would have thought it beyond comprehension. It's like one of those scenarios you dream up as kids playing at the park to make playtime more interesting:
"All right, dude, we're at Wimbledon! And, and it's the fifth set!"
"Yeah, and we're tied 60-60!"
"Dude, that will so never happen! 60-60 is, like, so impossible!"
Dry, Technical Matter: To review, Isner and Mahout played 183 games over 11 hours spread over parts of three days. The previous marks for professional tennis longevity were 122 games and six hours, 33 minutes. Hell, the fifth set, at 138 games and eight hours, eleven minutes, was itself the longest match in history.
Gee, Thanks, Guys: Despite losing Mahut set a record for most points won in a match, with 502.
Please Pass The Dry, Technical Matter: We spent more time thinking about this than we probably should have and determined that an equivalent major league baseball game would 40 innings. At least. Maybe 50 innings.
Perfect x 3…Almost: Speaking of major league baseball, for just the second time in its 134-year history two perfect games (by Dallas Braden and Roy Halladay) have been thrown in one season and baseball came within a blown call of adding Armando Gallaraga to that list.
Going Back, Away Back: The only other season where two perfect games were thrown was 1880 in the National League when the first two perfect games were thrown, by Lee Richmond and John Ward, on June 12 and June 17. Had umpire Jim Joyce called Cleveland's Jason Donald out like he should have, that record would've been broken, too, as Gallaraga's game came four days after Halladay's perfect game.
PLEASE HOLD: Emma Nutt, 18, becomes the first female telephone operator on this date in 1878 in Boston. She was hired by Alexander Graham Bell, who had been using boys as operators, however Bell grew weary of, get this, their immature behavior. Later that day Nutt's sister Stella became the second female operator.
Color Line: Bell was not exactly breaking new ground in diversity when he hired telephone operators. Like a lot of businesses, the telephone operator career path at that time was not open to blacks or Jews, although as yappy as they can get, would you really want a Jew as your telephone operator?
Brother Can You Spare A Token: The Boston subway, the continent's first underground rapid transit system, opens on this date in 1897. The original line, now known as the Tremont Street Subway, is still in service.
Weren't They Part Of The Dakotas Or Something?: Alberta and Saskatchewan join the Canadian Confederation on this date in 1905.
Before we left on hiatus, The Daily Dose was taking a tour through the major league record. In fact, we had bought a new record book specifically for the occasion! We continue our tour, with two records set on September 1:
On Your Mark: Bill O'Hara, an outfielder for the New York Giants, becomes the first major leaguer to steal two bases in one inning as a pinch runner. This is not the most significant record in the major league record book. It is more of a curiosity than anything, but what is significant - and almost interesting - is that O'Hara did this again the very next day. Now, this isn't earth shattering either, because there are several instances of a player in the record book twice for the same feat. In fact, Bert Campaneris accomplished this very feat four times, including twice in three days in 1978.
Now You Know: But O'Hara is the only instance of a player establishing an official big league record one day, and tying it the following day.
As Long As We're In The Area: The Philadelphia A's and the Boston Red Sox play what is then the longest game in major league history on this date in 1906. The A's won 4-1 in 24 innings. The record would stand until the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Braves played 26 innings in 1920. Their American League record would be tied by Detroit and Philadelphia in 1945 and broken by the Brewers and the White Sox, who played 25 innings in 1984.
Here We Go Again: The A's and Red Sox - who actually weren't known as the Red Sox until 1908 - broke the record of 20 innings they had set on July 4 the previous year. The A's won that one, too, 4-2.
Blitzkrieg On Three...Ready, Break: What will eventually become World War II begins on this date in 1939 when Nazi Germany, still annoyed at being forced to bend over and take it in the shorts at the end of World War I, invades Poland.
Thought For The Day: Perseverance must finish its work. - James 1:4
Answer To The Last Trivia Question: The Second Continental Congress, fleeing Philadelphia, met in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on September 27, 1777 for one day. It would later meet in York, Pennsylvania until June, 1778, and return to Philadelphia in July, 1778.
Today's Stumper: Alexander Graham Bell was not given his middle name at birth. When and why did he acquire his middle name? - Answer next time!
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