Today in Music History – 10/10

1902 – Kalamazoo, Michigan, mandolin maker Orville Gibson founds the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co, Ltd. In 1936 it would create the first commercially successful electric guitar. This was a big thing! They’d of course go on to become the most respected name in electric guitars and lots of other stringed instruments. I’ve only owned one Gibson, a cheap lap steel that sounded great that I bought at Buzzo’s in Geneseo some time in the early 80s, along with a Harmony archtop I still have that’s seen some things. I’d never buy a brand name guitar now, not the big names anyway… Lots of smaller companies in the US still make fine guitars, some at reasonable prices, so handing money to Fender shareholders , aka mobsters, would be bad and very dumb too. Chinese guitars are incredible values, end even just as guitars now they’re better than most! The world is easier to grasp when you see things as they are. So mobsters!!! And Chinese copies of our once proud American guitar brands!

1917 – Jazz pianist/composer Thelonious Monk is born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Composed many jazz standards, including “Round Midnight,” “Ruby, My Dear” and “Well, You Needn’t,” to name a few. If you don’t know who this is, find out. It’s worth it! One of the weirdest jazz piano players ever, and he played with everyone so hugely influential too! Monk’s influence transcends music though…

1946 – Singer-songwriter John Prine is born in Maywood, Illinois, near Chicago. I loved his first album, the one with “Illegal Smile” and other great ones with a little subversiveness to ’em. Hard to believe a song about weed was so controversial, but it was!

1948 – Cyril Neville (percussionist/vocalist for The Neville Brothers) is born in New Orleans, Louisiana. A GREAT singer! One of the Neville Brothers of course, so I may have talked to him briefly as a fan boy. Love his vocals on the Meters’ later albums on Warner. Makes up for the dead drum sound… 70s production standards were not always great...

1959 – Singer Kirsty MacColl, known for her vocals on the Pogues song “Fairytale Of New York,” is born in Croydon, Surrey, England. Her dad is the folk singer Ewan MacColl. If you know this song you know why I pasted this one into my temp file for eventual pasting here. It’s one of the better Christmas songs ever! I came to it by way of other folks’ versions, specifically the one by KT Tunstall I think… There are tons of great holiday tunes if you know what to look for! Martin Newell’s “Christmas in Suburbia” is another one no family should be without come advertising season!

1963 – Elvis Presley records “Once Is Enough,” “Catchin’ On Fast,” “Anyone,” “Smokey Mountain Boy,” “There’s Gold In The Mountains,” “One Boy, Two Little Girls,” “Kissin’ Cousins,” “Barefoot Ballad,” and “Tender Feeling.” He may not have been fat yet but his mind was gone, man. He had kung fu guys AND chimps! A 100% accurate indicator for future toilet death! Prove me wrong!

1970 – The head of the FCC issues a statement in rebuttal to Vice President Spiro Agnew’s complaint that radio stations were playing too many songs about drugs. The statement reads: “If we really want to do something about drugs, let’s do something about life… The song writers are trying to help us understand our plight and deal with it. It’s about the only leadership we’re getting. They’re not really urging you to adopt a heroin distribution program, Mr. Vice President.” Spiro! He was from my terrible soon to be former state! An early harbinger of what we have now… Hilarious name though!

1975 – The only Deep Purple studio album to feature guitarist Tommy Bolin, Come Taste the Band, is released. The album also features a pre-Whitesnake David Coverdale on vocals. I grabbed this one because Bolin had previously been in the James Gang, a legitimately great band until Joe Walsh left. I felt real cool finding the Bolin James Gang albums, because me and Mike were huge fans! I even sent a fan letter one time that the drummer replied to, on Holiday Inn stationary! Wish I’d kept that! The Bolin Gang albums sucked though… I liked ’em then, don’t now, though the guitar is nice. It’s the singer what ruined it. Roy goddamn Kenner! A Canadian!!!

1997 – Jimmy Osmond, who is the youngest of the singing Osmond family, welcomes his second child, Zachary, who is the 50th grandchild of George and Olive Osmond, the parents of the nine Osmond siblings. Any chance to talk about the Osmonds I’m there! They were everywhere in the 70s! Direct and credible competition to the Jackson 5! It’s true! Both acts were often on the same variety show as guests so they could duke it out “musically”! It was fucking amazing! Donny was dreamy as shit! I secretly loved Marie for decades! One too many infomercials soured things…

2010 – R&B/soul singer Solomon Burke dies on an airplane at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. Though the cause of death was not known, the singer had long struggled with his weight and his health, and his doctor suspected he had a pulmonary embolism. Burke was a groundbreaking artist, no doubt, You could argue he was the very first soul singer! But a lot of it’s hard to listen to now, for me anyway, bordering on country music a bit too much. Lots of slow tunes, but the up tempo stuff was often great!

See y’all tomorrow, same cat time, same cat channel! Don’t step on the hot dogs!. I gotta get that donate button going! Send cash now! If you can afford to! I accept all forms of compensation! Even money from mobsters! They have other words for them now, like State Senator or Dog Catcher’s Assistant, but it’s the same. Where’s our modern day Robin Hood? Or Pretty Boy Floyd? I’d settle for Ma goddamn Barker! Elderly yet wise, and expendable as hell!

Today in Baseball History – 10/10

1906 – In an all-Chicago World Series, Ed Reulbach’s no-hit bid is broken by Jiggs Donahue’s single in the 7th inning, but the Cubs beat the White Sox, 7 – 1. The next World Series one-hitter will come in 1945, by another Cubs pitcher, Claude Passeau. Jiggs! Claude!!! Of course I picked this one!

1920 – The Cleveland Indians beat the Brooklyn Robins, 8 – 1, in Game 5 of the World Series. For Cleveland, Elmer Smith hits the first Series grand slam and Jim Bagby, the winner, hits the first Series home run by a pitcher. Way to go Elmer! That team adopted their name due to the current fad for all things native American, which is I think why we had the buffalo nickel! Cool, right? No? Shutting up now…

1920 – Indians’ Bill Wambsganss becomes the only player in World Series history to complete an unassisted triple play as he makes a leaping catch, steps on second base and then tags the runner arriving from first base. A great feat, by a guy who probably had trouble pronouncing his own weird name!

1923 – It’s an all-New York World Series for the third straight year. In Game 1, a 4 – 4 tie is broken in the top of the 9th inning by the Giants as they defeat the Yankees, 5 – 4. Pitcher Rosy Ryan takes the win and Joe Bush is the loser. Casey Stengel’s inside-the-park home run is the first Series home run hit at Yankee Stadium. It is the first World Series to be broadcast on a nationwide radio network. Anything that makes the Yankees look bad is OK by me! And Casey Stengel! The Jimmy Durante of baseball! Rosy barely registers amidst all that!

1924 – The Washington Senators win their only World Series championship by defeating the New York Giants, 4 – 3, in 12 innings. The winning run scores when a ball hit by Earl McNeely hits a pebble and bounces over third baseman Fred Lindstrom’s head. I knew they’d won at least one. They had Walter Johnson, the best pitcher, maybe ever! The pebble’s just bonus weirdness!

1926 – One day after picking up his second complete-game victory of the Series, 39-year-old Grover Alexander saves Game 7 and the World Series for the St. Louis Cardinals, fanning Tony Lazzeri with the bases loaded in the 7th inning, then proceeding to no-hit New York the rest of the way. The Series conclude with a runner being thrown out trying to steal, Babe Ruth. With two outs in the top of the 9th, Alexander misses on a 3-2 pitch and Ruth is walked for the third time, having homered in his only official at-bat. With New York trailing by one, Ruth reasons that, with nobody having hit the ball out of the infield against the aging Cardinal ace, the Yankees’ best bet is to at least get a runner into scoring position in case one of their ground balls finally finds a hole. However, he fails in his bold attempt, ending the game and the Series. I love this one for many of the same reasons listed above, just with a different maybe the best ever pitcher! Babe making the last out in that stupid a way is icing on the hotdog!

1945 – The Detroit Tigers score five runs in the 1st inning of Game 7 of the World Series, and rout the Cubs, 9 – 3, behind Hal Newhouser, who strikes out 10 to win the World Championship. The Cubs will not play another World Series game in the 20th century. Pretty boring, but I learned to hate the Cubs and their fans right after they finally won it all. Almost as bad as Cardinals fans, who were a special brand of entitled/annoying! White people…

1957 – With a 5-0 victory over the defending World Champions in Game 7 at Yankee Stadium, Milwaukee wins its first World Series championship since the ‘Miracle Braves’ won the title in 1914 representing Boston. The Most Valuable Player of the Fall Classic is right-hander Lew Burdette, who hurled three complete game victories, including today’s shutout. Wow! I knew none of this! I knew the Braves had been a bad team for a long time, but not that long! I wonder how Hank Aaron did in that Series? I bet he got robbed of the MVP by racism… I once almost shook Aaron’ hand at one of the statue games in 2012. I’m still kicking myself for lacking the nerve that day!

1968 – Mickey Lolich wins the World Series for the Detroit Tigers by defeating Bob Gibson and the St. Louis Cardinals, 4 – 1, in Game 7. It is Lolich’s third win and comes after the Tigers had lost three of the first four games. Now we’re getting to the era I’m familiar with! I remember this Series, watching Gibson battle Lolich at least once! The other guy that made a big impression was Boston’s Luis Tiante! He threw a screwball or something that made it look like his arm was gonna twist right off his tubby body! Loved watching him pitch! Marichal was my favorite, but Luis was close!

1970 – In the first World Series game to be played on artificial turf, Boog Powell, Ellie Hendricks and Brooks Robinson homer to power the Orioles past the Reds, 4-3. Baltimore’s offensive output in Game 1 of the Fall Classic overcomes Cincinnati’s 3-0 early lead at Riverfront Stadium. Boog! I got to know Boog a little while working for the O’s, and he was just a great guy in every way! Loved every fan he met, would take photos with everyone, and the lines were always long! He had this BBQ place that started small but quickly became the one thing you HAD to eat if you came to our park. I probably ate hundreds of Boog’s roast beef or turkey sandwiches, which came with these amazing potato chips and whatever you wanted on the side, from the nasty stuff like potato or macaroni salad to the stuff you might eat but probably not like baked beans. I couldn’t get those for free either, only got ’em when we were given our “bird bucks”, little rewards everyone got but I got even more because I was good at my “job”. I often told folks I was chatting with during the game to tell my boss how great I was so I’d get more bird bucks! Loved that job so much!!! I miss ya Boog!!!

1979 – In the World Series, Baltimore scores five runs off Bruce Kison in the 1st inning of Game 1, then hangs on to defeat the Pirates, 5 – 4. I don’t think I saw this Series at all! I was too deep into learning guitar and other things, school etc… Nobody I knew was into baseball, though Mike would be eventually. He’s related to Trevor, an All Star that paid his dues for too many years in Rochester for the Red Wings! I probably watched him play!

1980 – George Brett hits an upper-deck three-run home run off relief ace Goose Gossage to give the Kansas City Royals a 4 – 2 victory and a three-game sweep of the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series. This woulda been the Series with the pine tar incident too, one of the all time great humiliating moments for the poor Yankees! Boo motherfucking hoo, assholes!

1990 – The Oakland Athletics sweep the Boston Red Sox for the American League pennant and their third straight trip to the World Series with a 3 – 1 victory. MVP Dave Stewart wins for the eighth straight time in head-to-head match-ups with Roger Clemens, who is ejected in the 2nd inning for arguing balls and strikes with umpire Terry Cooney. The A’s were always my AL team, until the O’s replaced them in the 2000s. I loved the little dynasty they had in the 70s! And this was cool too! That terrible stadium was great for making the announcers seem even more ridiculous! I remember sometimes watching Expos games and man was that rough! Their park was so empty there’d be echoes like crazy. One fan could sound like 200!

1996 – The Baltimore Orioles’ 5 – 3 win over the New York Yankees in Game 2 evens the ALCS at one game apiece. Rafael Palmeiro’s 7th-inning home run is the key blow. Palmeiro famously spit in an ump’s face in a nationally televised game, so that was it for him and this little bubble of O’s relevance. Then there was Albert Belle and it got even sadder, until I started working there! You’re welcome O’s fans!!!

2011 – Ranger left fielder Nelson Cruz hits the first walk-off grand slam in major league playoff history when his 11th inning round-tripper beats Detroit, 7-3, in Game Two of the ALCS. The victory in Arlington gives Texas a 2-0 advantage in the seven-game series. Nelson was one of our guys in 2014 I think, and he was great, just not in the outfield. His routes to pop flies were circuitous to say the least!

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All Today in Baseball History items are courtesy of either Baseball Reference or nationalpastime.com.

“I know parts of our marriage are based on lies, but so are a lot of things. Religion, American history…”

Today is National Angel Food Cake Day. Great deep fried and dipped in chocolate. As is true for anything made of atoms.

See y’all tomorrow, same cat time, same cat place! Be there! Maybe even say something! It’s only a misdemeanor now!