Lee Lowenfish

 

The hot streak of Shohei Ohtani, the Los Angeles Angels right-handed pitcher and DH, has been amazing to watch.  He is the first player in MLB history to be named to the AllStarGame roster as both pitcher and hitter.

 

The 27-year-old Japanese import already has 32 home runs, surpassing the record held by former Yankee Hideki Matsui. Hideki was very gracious praising Ohtani for breaking his record.

 

Thanks to our Japanese correspondent Jun Ogawa, I have learned that the former Red Sox hurler Daisuke Matsusaka recently announced his retirement effective at the end of the season.

 

Koji Uehara, former Oriole, Ranger, and Red Sox reliever, was effusive in his praise for Matsusaka who though a younger man was a role model when Koji came to America.  

 

When visiting the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, RI during my birthday weekend last week, I did find a good example of one American athlete's grace in retirement.  

 

Pete Sampras's 2007 induction speech into the tennis shrine was filled with humility and dignity.  Unlike Andy Roddick who was wearing a summer fedora with a Rolex brand on the brim, Sampras was dressed without adornment.

 

He admitted being nervous at the occasion and wished he were playing instead of talking. Fighting back tears throughout his brief speech, he concluded: "I'm a tennis player, nothing more, nothing less.  It's been more than enough for me."  

 

In an age where we ask far too much of our celebrity-athletes and too many cannot handle the exposure, Sampras's words should be remembered. 

 

The tennis Hall of Fame is housed in the Newport Casino. It was completed in the early 1880s, the first work of the famed architectural trio, McKim, Mead, and (Stanford) White.  It is definitely worth visiting. 

 

IN addition to videos of all the inductees, there are some memorable highlights from the careers of such forgotten greats as Maureen Connolly, "Little Mo," who won the Grand Slam of women's tennis while still a teenager.  

 

Also nicknamed "The Babe Ruthless," her career ended before she was 20 because of a horseback accident.  She became a good commentator and journalist, but so sadly died from ovarian cancer at the age of 35 in 1969. 

 

Speaking of athletes deserving remembrance, Jim "Mudcat" Grant died on June 12 at the age of 85. He was more than just an outstanding pitcher, 145-119, 3.63 career ERA. Except for Sandy Koufax's heroics, Grant was the most outstanding pitcher in the 1965 World Series won by the Dodgers in seven games over the Twins.  

 

Grant was also the author of a book on AfricanAmerican pitchers, "The Black Aces," an entertainer who performed nationally and internationally, and an effective spokesperson for racial equality.

 

I had a memorable encounter with him in December 2005. I had just finished taping an interview for the documentary about Larry Doby, "Pride Against Prejudice," based on Montclair State Professor Joseph Thomas Moore's book of the same name. 

 

I met Grant on his way into the studio.  I asked him who signed him for the Cleveland Indians back in the 1950s.  "You won't believe this," he told me. "Fred Merkle." 

 

Please check out the documentary, the last work produced by Bud Greenspan who became famous for his films about the Olympics.  Grant talks very movingly about how Doby was a mentor who led him before games to the bleachers to greet the Black fans who came to root for them.   

 

For those of a younger age, Fred Merkle was the young NY Giants first baseman who commited the famous "boner" late in the 1908 season - not touching second base from first on a supposed game-winning single to center field.  It led to the game being ruled a tie and the Cubs won a playoff and the World Series.

 

They wouldn't repeat that victory for the next 108 years. It was as much the curse of Fred Merkle as anything.  Because many games had been decided by a baserunner not touching second base to avoid hordes of fans invading the field. 

 

Here's hoping that no boners influence the rest of what looks like an exciting second half of the season.  Ohtani's Angels are now slightly over .500 and they've gotten hot with Mike Trout on the injury list.

 

He should be back after the AllStar game.  If the Angels get some consistent pitching and third baseman Anothony Rendon heals from his latest injury, they could at least make a run at the American League wild card. 

 

I am not the biggest fan of the Olympics, especially this year with covid rampant in Japan.  But I am a fan of Team israel, one of the six teams scheduled to play in late July as baseball and softball return as Olympic sports.

 

Second baseman Ian Kinsler is the biggest name on the scrappy Israeli team. They will be playing an exhibition at Maimonides Park (home of the Brooklyn Cyclones on Coney Island) on Sun July 11 at 4p.  Their opponent will be a team from the NY Fire Department. 

 

After playing against independent league teams in Rockland County, Hartford, Connecticut, and Aberdeen, Maryland, their last exhibition game will be on Tues July 20 at 630p against the NY Police Department team at the Long Island Ducks stadium in Central Islip, LI. 

 

Then on to Japan where they will face Team USA on July 29-30. The American team includes former Yankee reliever David Robertson, former Met third baseman Todd Frazier from the Jersey Shore, and the well-traveled pitcher Edwin Jackson.    

 

Before I close, here are some TCM tips for the upcoming weeks in July.

 

Every Friday in July is Neo-Noir night hosted by Eddie Muller and Ben Mankiewicz. Here are some of the highlights:

 

F July 9 8p "Get Carter" (1971) w/Michael Caine/Britt Eklund

10p "The Friends of Eddie Coyle" (1973) w. Mitchum/Peter Boyle

 

F July 16 630p "Baby Face" (1933) with Stanwyck using her looks to rise to the top - disappointed suitors include young John Wayne 

and Douglass Dumbrille who shortly will emerge as a wonderful bad guy in Marx Brothers and Frank Capra films.

 

8p "Pulp" (1972) w M. Caine as pulp writer trying to overcome that job - w. Mickey Rooney and Lionel Stander (back from blacklist)

 

945p "Body Heat" (1981) remake of "Double Indemnity" (1944) the film that many say started the original noir movement - w. Kathleen Turner/William Hurt

 

Sa July 23 

8p "Blood Simple" (1984) first Coen Brothers film

10p "Night Moves" (1975) Arthur Penn directs Gene Hackman/Susan Clark

12M "To Live and Die In LA" - Wm. Friedkin directs Willem Defoe/John Turturro

 

Here's the Noir Alley schedule.  N.B. Sat night screening now starts at 1230A not midnight, and often, not always repeated Su at 10AM 

 

Su July 11 "The Bribe" (1949) with Charles Laughton/Ava Gardner/Vincent Price/Robert Taylor

 

Su July 18 "Los Tallos Amargos" (1956) so rare that nothing about it on tcm.com/schedule  Never hurts though to re-check it

 

Su July 25 "Cause for Alarm" (1949)

 

Su August 1 "Hollow Triumph" (1948)  Paul Henried as a crook turned psychiatrist.  This one not repeated at 10AM

 

That's all for now - always remember:  Take it easy but take it.
 

 

 

I like to have fun with my birthdays.  I turn 79 on June 27 so I've called my residence this year 79 Wistful Vista in memory of Fibber McGee and Molly (Jordan)'s radio residence.

 

The year before I was spinning through the year at 78 rpm and prior to that I was riding on 77 Sunset Strip.  

 

The wonderful jazz bassist Ray Drummond once told me that when you are 59, you are In The Park, Central Park.  

 

That means, starting June 27, I will be at the center of the Museum of National History on Central Park West, where Teddy Roosevelt's statue with his Indian guide is shortly being removed.

 

(I think it is a wise choice as long as the statue is not destroyed or vandalized. We can't ignore dark sides of our history by simply deploring them and removing them from sight.) 

 

I've spent many of my signature birthdays watching the Orioles.

At 40 I saw Jim Palmer pitch seven strong innings in a rout of the Tigers.  Storm Davis, hailed as a successor to Palmer, mopped up the last two innings.  He never panned out as a solid starter.

 

At 50 I saw the KC Royals Kevin Appier beat Mike Mussina in a pitcher's battle.  At 60 Jason Giambi, now with Yankees, unloaded two homers on Scott Erickson in another losing game.

 

At least, these games were competitive.There is nothing except expletives to say about the 2021 Orioles and the so-called "rebuild" of the current regime. I knew this team would be bad but didn't think they'd be so unwatchable.

 

So I share the solace of watching former Oriole Manny Machado lead the Padres to a sweep over the Dodgers. It was worth staying up to the wee hours of the East Coast on June 24. 

 

Manny hit an early homer, hustled out an infield single to set up the winning run in the bottom of the eighth, and made three outstanding plays at third in the late innings to save the win.

 

The play he didn't quite pull off was the best one.  Playing short right field in the shift, he almost made a sensational running catch near the foul pole. A full-extension dive on the warning track came up just short. 

 

At times Machado's behavior is concerning, almost punk-like. But he is a great talent along with the young Fernando Tatis Jr. and the onetime Michigan Wolverine Jake Cronenworth who make a great double-play combo (when the shift allows for a double play).

 

One cautionary note about the Padres.  Closer Mark Melancon, leading MLB with 23 saves, is on the edge of being overworked. They better not burn him out too early.

 

As summer begins, there are some great races in MLB which is good news.  Giants-Padres-Dodgers in NL West, no one except Miami out of the NL East race and ditto the NL Central except for the Pirates.

 

In the AL East, the Yankees and perhaps Blue Jays might yet challenge Red Sox and Rays.  The Houston-Oakland race in AL West should remain a good one with Seattle possibly hanging around.  

 

Only the White Sox seem in firm control of AL Central, especially now that most of Cleveland's pitching staff is injured.  But never count out manager Terry Francona's teams and their good player development staff.  

 

In one of the interesting stories so far in 2021, Amed Rosario, almost a throw-in the Francisco Lindor trade, is actually hitting better than Lindor and flashing the form that never developed when he was a Met. 

 

That's all for now. Always remember - take it easy but take it.