Dipping Into The Archives Vol. 7

1977

A couple of quick notes before diving further into the season that was nightmare fuel for Mets fans. This is the only year I can think of for which the team printed a new cover for the revised edition of the yearbook. I don’t have a copy of the opening day edition, which focused on Jerry Koosman in celebration of his 20 win season in 1976. Instead the revised cover features Joe Torre filling out his first lineup card after replacing Joe Frazier (not that Joe Frazier) as manager in May. I’m sure you’re also wondering why Torre has a yellow jersey. For reasons that have been lost to history I went to town on the yearbook with a yellow marker. My suspicion is that I loved some of the bright uniform looks that several clubs went with mid-decade and I wanted to see what the Mets threads would look like with a little more flair.

It was a fairly quiet offseason, which was odd because it was the first full year of free agency. The Mets sat it out, not signing a single player. That sure changed in June. There’s no need to rehash the Tom Seaver trade; it was one of the darkest days in franchise history. Some of the players they received in return had their moments; but nothing was worth trading the greatest player in team history while he was still at his peak. Other moves happened on that same trade deadline day, with Dave Kingman also leaving town and Joel Youngblood joining the club in a lower profile deal.

Most images of Seaver were scrubbed in the revised edition, but this one remained of the last 5 players left from the 1969 team. By the end of the season it would be down to 3 as in addition to the loss of Seaver, Jerry Grote was traded to the Dodgers in August. The end of a glorious era was getting closer.

One final postscript to the 1976 season; it was the 100th anniversary of the founding of the National League, and NL teams wore old timey pillbox caps in celebration; the Pirates actually kept those caps in circulation for a few years afterwards. The 1976 All-Star squad sported the caps, and this photo also makes me wish that players would still wear their regular uniforms in the game. Instead of this wonderful mosaic we’re forced to watch boring monochrome uniforms. Allow me to shake my fist at a cloud.

I liked this photo from the Mets old spring training home in St. Petersburg. Multiple then-living Hall Of Fame players appeared at a rededication ceremony for Al Lang Field. Just take a look at some of those names.

There were 2 new additions in 1977 worth mentioning. First was Lenny Randle, who might have been their best regular third basemen during the Decade Of Doom. He was available in the first place because he punched out his Texas manager Frank Lucchesi after being informed he had lost his starting position. Many may remember that Randle was at bat when the lights went out in that summer’s blackout. The official story is that the blackout was caused by lightning striking a transformer but I choose to believe that God was tired of watching Mets games. 1977 was also Lee Mazzilli’s first full season in the majors. He had a lot of hype as a local product; he never quite fulfilled his promise but he did develop into an All-Star player and one of the few bright spots in this era.

‘77 was the final Mets season for 2 key members of the 1973 team. Felix Milan’s career ended with both a bang and a whimper, as he tried to start a fight with Pittsburgh catcher Ed Ott after the latter slid a little too hard into second base attempting to break up a double play. It didn’t have the Harrelson/Rose result, as Ott essentially picked him up and dropped him, with Millan suffering a season, and ultimately career ending injury. He will always be remembered for his batting stance. I don’t think I ever saw a hitter choke up that high on his bat.

It was also Jon Matlack’s final season at Shea. I had mentioned in the past that Cleon Jones was my favorite player as a kid. Matlack was my favorite pitcher. It’s irrational for an adult to feel the same connection with an athlete that a child does, so unless some future Mets player either marries into my family or donates a kidney to me, Jones and Matlack will always be my two favorite Mets. As sad as it was to see Matlack go, I did love watching one of the players who came to the team in that trade which we will discuss more about next time.

SNL Season 6 Recap

Charles Rocket was NOT the first man to say f*** on Saturday Night Live, that distinction belongs to Paul Shaffer of all people. In a takeoff of an infamous old audio clip in which The Troggs profanely scream at each other at a recording session, the premise of the earlier sketch focused on a band of medieval musicians arguing over one member’s inability to correctly play the “floggin’” piece. Except at one point Shaffer didn’t say “floggin’.” Because the characters were speaking in heavy Cockney accents no one might have even noticed had Shaffer not momentarily lost his composure when he realized what he had said. Rocket’s moment was just a tad more consequential.

Episode #11 was hosted by Charlene Tilton of Dallas fame. Her star has long since faded, but this was a big get at the time. At that moment Dallas was not only the most popular show on TV, but the most buzz worthy as well. And even though Tilton was only #5 or 6 on the call sheet, her youth fit in well with SNL demographics, and her frequent appearances on Battle Of the Network Stars helped build a strong fanbase with young men.

She was a bit over exuberant in the monologue, it appears that she relished the opportunity to expand beyond nighttime soap melodrama. Other than the obvious, there were other factors that made this episode among the more memorable of the season. One of the more reliable recurring bits premiered - Eddie Murphy introduced Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood. The debut was more mean spirited than it eventually became, but the character was already fully formed.

Once again it’s a shame that Peacock removes the musical performances. This week featured 2 musical acts. One was Todd Rundgren. The other? Prince! Would have liked to have watched that. For all of the justified criticism surrounding the Jean Doumanian era, she sure knew how to book outstanding musical guests.

There were two recurring bits in the episode. One was a premise that had been previewed in the previous 2 weeks; a championship boxing match involving finger puppets. Don King cameoed as the color commentator beside Joe Piscopo’s sportscaster. The piece ran way too long, but I’ll say that the puppetry was impressive.

The other bit satirized Who Shot JR? as throughout the episode various cast members stated their desire to destroy Charles Rocket “if it’s the last thing I do.” Peacock’s editing left a lot to be desired here, as one of the cut sketches was the one in which an unseen assailant shot Rocket in the middle of the sketch. Which meant that a viewer unaware of the episode’s history would have no idea why in the closing goodbyes Rocket was sitting in a wheelchair with a bandage on his head.

The rest is history. While stretching for time, Rocket said he had never been shot before and wants to know “who the f*** did it.” Everyone on stage gasped and the camera immediately cut to the house band. Keep in mind, this was 1981, years before YouTube or streaming. The reason the concept of the 12:50 sketch became a thing was because at that hour the only people still watching would be someone too stoned to change the channel. I seriously doubt there were very many viewers offended by a stray curse word.

The incident was the beginning of the end of Jean Doumanian’s tenure as producer. NBC began to put the wheels in motion to make changes. Next episode is hosted by Bill Murray as he attempts to save this incarnation of the show. Would it be a spoiler to say that he did not succeed?

Takin’ It To The Streets

NASCAR history was made in multiple ways this weekend as the circuit staged a street race in Chicago for the first time in history. For a while the fear was that it was going to turn into a farce as historic rainfall threatened the race. The hope was that the city skyline and Grant Park would serve as a perfect backdrop but as the race started the cloud cover was so low that it obscured the tops of the skyscrapers. Luckily the weather cleared soon after the race’s delayed start and the race provided plenty of excitement.

The winner turned out to be New Zealand sports car champion Shane van Gisbergen who drove on a one-race deal for this event. He became the first driver in 60 years to take the checkered flag in his NASCAR debut. One race, one victory. Seems like a pretty good winning percentage to me.

The course was set in the streets of Chicago, but before you ask they didn’t pull out all the stops to replicate the full city driving experience. No traffic lights, no jaywalkers, no double parked cars to maneuver around. From my vantage point it appears that once the weather improved the event succeeded beyond everyone’s wildest dreams. I’m curious to see how my Chicago readers felt. Was it disruptive? Was there enthusiasm, or was it looked at as a Lori Lightfoot pet project? Has it sparked new interest in racing?

Serpentine Shel, Serpentine

Wait Until Dark. Catch-22. The In-Laws. Glengarry Glen Ross. Little Miss Sunshine. Argo. Those are just a few selections cherry-picked from Alan Arkin’s filmography. That shows what a tremendous range the man had. What a wonderful artistic legacy to leave.

Looking at the entirety of his career makes his versatility even more pronounced. He began his career as a folk singer - his trio The Tarriers had a national hit with Banana Boat Song even earlier than Harry Belafonte did - before making his mark in Second City. He was also an accomplished theatrical director. All told, he earned the O & T portions of the EGOT. He continued to do great work until the end. I really liked The Kominsky Method; his decision not to return during the final season that was filmed during the COVID era weakened the show.

I’ll close this with one of my favorite scenes from one of my all time favorite comedies. Farewell to an all time great.

The Supremes

I’ll start on an upbeat tone. This session’s Supreme Court decisions weren’t all awful. For now, democracy has been preserved. But whether intentionally done or not, the gerrymandering decisions lulled us into a false sense of security. The final decisions released in this term were as horrible as many had feared.

No sense rehashing each case; people who observe the Court more closely than I do can offer stronger insight than I could. I’ll limit my observation to 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis. This one defines WTF. A web designer that has never designed a wedding website filed suit to prevent them from ever designed a hypothetical website for a same sex marriage. And the couple named in the suit never even made such a request. Such a baseless suit made its way all the way to the Supreme Court?

Just once I’d love to hear one of these companies that denies service to LGBTQ people also object to baking a cake for a previously divorced person on their third wedding. You know, for religious objections. Sure sounds like these religious objections are only selectively applied. I also hear strange silence from those on the right who scream “activist judge!” or “legislating from the bench!” when a decision comes out that they don’t like. This Court is the epitome of an activist judiciary. We are in for dark times indeed.

Anybody Have A Bluesky Invite Code To Share?

This might have been Elon Musk’s finest weekend when it comes to running Twitter into the ground. Rate limit exceeded? I really don’t understand how at this point there are still people that insist he’s a competent businessman, never mind the brilliant business mind that his defenders claim he is. High end advertisers abandoning the platform? Many of the most reliable and entertaining content creators heading for the hills? Good job, good effort.

It’s still an open question as to which site will turn out to be the Twitter replacement of choice. I’ve tried out a couple, the problem is that not enough people are using any of them to be worthwhile. It sure sounds like Bluesky is becoming the choice of the cool kids, the major drawback being that it’s still in Beta and invite codes are as valuable as cigarettes in prison.

July The 4th Be With You

You never need to worry about exceeding your rate limit here. Feel free to hit more than 600 views per day if that’s your thing. Thanks for reading, enjoy the holiday and for Pete’s sake, enjoy your food. No need to try to keep pace with Joey Chestnut. See you again on Wednesday.