| | Home
The Daily Dose/June 25, 2011
By Gaylon Kent
The Writer's Shack
Notes From Around The Human Experience...
POLLING THE PEANUT GALLERY: Hey, we were noticing how the American League continues to dominate the National League in almost exciting interleague action, and we wondering if we are the only ones on board with the National League adopting the Designated Hitter (DH) rule?
Of the dozens of professional leagues in the world, only the National League, one of the Japanese leagues, and a whack-job independent league trying to make a name for itself do not have the DH.
Get Out Your History Books: The American League, rather forward looking, if you ask us, decided it was silly to make pitchers bat and in 1973 allowed the use of a player to be inserted in the lineup for the specific purpose of batting for the pitcher.
Since then, Mr, Sun continues to rise in the east every morning, boils haven't infested our youth and we've managed to keep the goddamned Communists from invading our shores and having their way with our women. Life has continued apace.
But you know what? Pitchers can't hit and, by and large, they never could, so why make them bat?
Quit Your Weeping: Purists like to blab about how all the strategy has been taken out of the game.
Look, you want strategy, go play chess. Personally, I don't like seeing a pitcher come out of a ballgame he's winning 2-1 simply because his turn in the lineup is coming up in the late innings. And there's enough strategy in a well-played baseball game to keep real fans happy anyway, and the casual fans, honestly, couldn't care less.
Fly In The Ointment: The National League has always been stubborn about it, too. For years they refused to let the DH be used in the All-Star Game, which meant you had pitchers getting their first major league at-bat in the All-Star Game, which was silly. Starting in 1989 it was used in American League stadiums, and now, finally, it is used in all All-Star games.
The Long And Winding Road: The designated hitter was not a new concept in 1973. Connie Mack, owner and manager of the Philadelphia Athletics, first suggested it in 1906 and the National League came really close to adopting it in the 1920's and it was used a couple of times in spring training in 1969.
GREAT MOMENTS IN WARFARE: The Battle of Little Big Horn, part of the Great Sioux War of 1876, starts in Montana on this date in 1876. In would conclude the following day in a decisive victory for the Indians, commanded by Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and Chief Gall, over the Seventh Calvary Regiment of the US Army, commanded by General George Custer.
FunFact: The Indians referred to the battle as the Battle of Greasy Grass.
Tough Day At The Office: Not only was General Custer killed, but so were two of his brothers, a nephew and his brother-in-law.
Intramural Affair: The Korean War begins on this date in 1950 when soldiers from North Korea cross the 38th parallel and invade South Korea, although North Korea insists they were merely acting to repel a planned South Korean attack, which nobody ever believed.
Dry, Technical Matter: The war, technically (!), is still going on. A formal peace treaty was never signed, though the cease fire signed in 1953 is still in effect.
Great Moments In Fielding: The New York Mets become just the second team in major league history to play nine innings in the field without recording an assist in a 5-1 victory over Philadelphia on this date in 1989.
Hey Batter, Batter…Fly Out: The Phillies struck out 13 times, popped out and flied out seven times each and grounded out to the first baseman, who tagged the bag himself, twice.
Dry, Technical Matter: The first time this was done was by the Cleveland Indians in 1945. Since the Mets did it, it's also been done by the New York Yankees (1995) and the Cincinnati Reds (1997), and several teams have done it in game where they only had to field eight innings.
Going…Going…Gone: Bobby Bonds becomes the second player to hit a grand slam in his first major league game on this date in 1968. It came in the sixth inning and also scored Willie McCovey, Willie Mays and Jim Lee Hart and helped the Giants defeat the hated Los Angeles Dodgers 9-1. Despite the talent, the Giants still finished behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League that year.
Oh Yeah: The first player to hit a grand slam home run in his big league debut was pitcher Bill Duggleby of the Philadelphia Phillies, who not only did it in his first game, but in his first at-bat in 1898. It's been done on four other occasions since Bonds did it, including once this year, by Brandon Crawford of San Francisco this past May.
Give Us This Day…: The US Supreme Court rules it is unconstitutional for a state to establish a prayer and require its recitation in public schools on this date in 1962.
The case was Engle vs. Vitale and stemmed from some families in Hyde Park, New York getting their shorts in a knot when the local public school started requiring students to recite a prayer at the start of each day. The court ruled that prescribing a religious activity for students violated the First Amendment's prohibition against government establishment of a religion.
Really Dry, Technical Matter: Some of you keeping score at home might be saying "hey" because the First Amendment really only prohibits Congress from establishing a religion. It says nothing about any one of the several states doing so.
FunFact: The due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment makes it applicable to other jurisdictions as well.
Vote Early, Vote Often: The vote was 6-1. Justice Felix Frankfurter didn't vote because he was on the disabled list following a stroke and newly appointed Byron White took office after the case had been argued.
Get Your Official Writer's Shack Policy Right Here: You know, we certainly respect your religious views. We spent four years in the Navy defending them. But not everybody believes in the same thing, and if someone doesn't believe what you believe, leave them alone. Prayer does not belong in a government-run school.
Thought For The Day: Let everyone mind his own business, and endeavor to be what he was made. - Henry David Thoreau, Walden
Answer To The Last Trivia Question: We took the day off last time. There wasn't a trivia question.
Today's Stumper: Who was the dissenting justice in Engle vs. Vitale? - Answer next time!
Comments? Recipes? Complaints? Email the Writer's Shack here!
Home |
| |
