The Baseball Digest Archives 6/77

Jun 02, 2025

June 1977

There is not much of interest to discuss with this month’s issue; I find little this month that hasn’t been found in any of the previous issues that I have reread. The cover blurb which states that home runs turn Dave Kingman on? TMI. The cover shot of Steve Carlton stuck out. I have little memory of Carlton ever sporting a ‘stache. The 70’s, man. The issue contains no article specifically on Carlton, instead there was a piece making the keen observation that it’s a necessity to have at least one left handed starter in the rotation.

Will this be THE year for Bobby Bonds? History has not been kind to Bonds. Because he was so talented the consensus was that he should have been better; a talking point that frequently recurs for almost any exceptionally skilled player to this day. (I clearly remember that no matter how good of a season Darryl Strawberry would have, it was never good enough to the eyes of WFAN callers or of grouchy sportswriters.) Bonds had nothing to apologize for, at the time of this issue he had 3 different 30/30 seasons with 2 more to come. His reputation suffered from the fact that he declined rapidly and that he paled in comparison to the accomplishments of his son, but he had a hell of a career. The timing of this article is a result of his suffering through an injury marred 1976 season, but he rebounded nicely in ‘77. It still blows my mind that people were still waiting for a “big” season from Bobby Bonds. Look at the back of his baseball card, man.

What are some of the most unusual pitching feats? Some of them don’t seem so unusual today. For example, manager Preston Gomez TWICE removed pitchers while they were throwing no-hitters. That’s not unheard of today, but it was then. For the record both times he had made that move it was to pinch hit for his pitcher in the 8th inning as his teams were trailing despite the no-hitters in progress. Gomez managed the expansion era Padres and the mid-70’s Astros so it’s not a huge surprise that his teams were so bad that they were losing those games.

A lot of the feats described are ones that I am well familiar with, so the ones I found myself most interested in are the ones that I either did not know about or had forgotten about. At this time 14 men had struck out 4 batters in an inning; the article isolated one instance in which the extra out cost a game. In 1961 the famously wild Ryne Duren threw a wild pitch for strike three on one of his strikeouts. The batter who reached base under those circumstances came around to score for the go ahead run, which turned out to become the winning run. Ouch.

Here was a great example of how a team can be bad enough that they can’t even win a game if you try to hand it to them. In 1974 the Rangers walked 17 times in a game against the Tigers. How many of those scored? Yep, zero. In an unrelated note, the Rangers lost that game.

Finally, what about that Dave Kingman article? Written by the notorious Dick Young, I have to wonder what was on his mind when he was sitting in front of his typewriter. “It’s just that I never heard Dave Kingman, bachelor, talk about a girl with the feeling, the excitement, the affection that he describes a swing in which he ‘gets it all.’” “That is the insides of Dave Kingman. He is a gurgling 6-foot-6 boy when he talks about it.” OK, then.

Most Memorable Moment - Kansas City Royals

MLB’s Original 1976 Choice: Steve Busby’s first no-hitter in 1973

My Updated Selection: George Brett takes Goose Gossage deep (not THAT time)

This is a good example of why it’s necessary to revisit MLB’s initial choices for the top moment from each franchise. The Royals barely had a history in 1976, having only completed 7 full seasons at the time. It stands to reason that the league would have chosen an accomplishment from their first big star, Steve Busby, whose career was unfortunately cut short by a rotator cuff injury. (In the 1970’s the phrase “rotator cuff surgery” was as dreaded as the acronym “UCL” is today. Also, don’t look at Busby’s innings pitched totals before his breakdown.)

Busby’s early career was quite impressive, but the Royals were about to go on a great run that would place memories of that career into the back of the closet. They became the model for an expansion franchise of how to build sustainable success. With a combination of homegrown stars and a couple of trades that paid off well, they would win 3 consecutive AL Central titles from 1976-78 but were unable to clear the final hurdle, losing to the Yankees in the ALCS each time.

They finally defeated the white whale in 1980, and fittingly enough the signature moment came from the greatest player in franchise history. The Royals took the first 2 games of the ALCS in what was then still a best of 5 series. The Yankees were leading 2-1 in the 7th inning when Goose Gossage was brought in to protect the lead. George Brett came up to the plate with 2 runners on & did this.

Dan Quisenberry got the last 11 outs (!) as the Royals completed the sweep. They lost the 1980 World Series to the Phillies, but I think the circumstances were enough to merit this as the top Royals moment. They would finally win their first WS in 1985, but I’m not sure if any one moment in that Series surpasses the Brett home run. Perhaps Dane Iorg’s game winning hit in Game 6 which capitalized on one of the most egregious blown umpire calls the sport has ever seen.

As painful as it was for me, Eric Hosmer’s dash home in Game 5 of the 2015 World Series comes close. No list of memorable Royals moments could be complete without mentioning the pine tar home run, if only for Brett’s response to the incident. Gossage again, man Brett had his number. I will stick with the 1980 home run. It was a breakthrough moment for the franchise.

The TNT Era Draws To a Close

For all of the hosannas that have been thrown nearing the conclusion of the Eastern Conference finals and therefore the end of Inside the NBA on TNT, it’s easy to forget that the show has not ended, it is simply moving to a different network. The 4 hosts will still be seen on ESPN along with most of the production team. Theoretically it will be the same show, different home.

That’s not to suggest that the NBA’s departure from TNT isn’t a big deal, because it is. TNT, and before that TBS, has been the cable home of the NBA for more than 3 decades. It feels a lot like when CBS had temporarily lost their portion of the NFL contract to the then fledgling Fox network. Initially it is going to be difficult to imagine TNT without the NBA and vice versa. The network ended their final telecast in a classy way, with Kevin Harlan narrating a photo montage of the many broadcasters who have sat in the booth and stood on the sidelines over the years. They gave the proper respect to arguably the greatest basketball play by play man, Marv Albert, and arguably the greatest sideline reporter, the late Craig Sager.

That left it up to the Inside the NBA crew to turn out the lights. Shaq & Kenny both dropped “f” bombs, much to Ernie’s discomfort. As I said, we’ll still have Inside the NBA, but one tradition is now gone forever. No longer will NBA fans turn on their TV’s the morning after a late night playoff game to find a Charmed rerun on screen. There are thousands of NBA fans who have watched about 5 minutes of every Charmed episode that has ever aired. Beyond that, this particular tradition wound up ending a week early. This was the first year since TNT has taken over the French Open contract. That means that for the last week people did not wake up to see Holly Marie Combs on their screens, instead they have woken up to Coco Gauff or Carlos Alcaraz. This might be too traumatic of a change for the world to handle. Can we start a petition to have ESPN start airing old Charmed episodes on weekday mornings? We need that continuity.

Major Houlihan

It can be jarring to watch early episodes of a long-running sitcom. The tone and interplay among the characters has usually changed vastly over time. M*A*S*H was a great example. The Trapper John/Henry Blake years had the same anarchic feel that the movie did, but realistically it would not have been possible to maintain that level of nihilism for 11 seasons. The show matured, as did the characters, none more so than Margaret Houlihan. The character as conceived in the movie and in the early seasons of the TV show was meant to serve as a stick in the mud antagonist to Hawkeye and Trapper. In time, particularly after the show stopped routinely using the degrading Hot Lips nickname, she had been transformed into a respected colleague and leader.

That was due to the portrayal by Loretta Swit, who passed away last week at the age of 87. She fought hard behind the scenes to add dimension to the character, and in the long run she and Hawkeye were the only two characters who lasted from series pilot all the way to Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen. She received 10 Emmy nominations and 2 wins for her work on the show.

Margaret Houlihan was not Loretta Swit’s only contribution to TV history. She originated the role of Chris Cagney in the Cagney & Lacey made for TV movie which served as the show’s pilot. She obviously had other commitments when CBS ordered C&L to series. Swit did relatively little TV work after M*A*S*H ended its run. She did a lot of theater work, but not much on film. Similar to Dennis Franz after the end of NYPD Blue, she likely figured that she would never find another role that rich, why settle for weaker material? She kept busy as a committed activist for animal rights causes.

It was depressingly rare to see a prominent female character on television with such depth. Swit deserves so much credit for making Major Houlihan what she was.

Composer Alf Clausen also died late last week. He wrote many of the songs that were used in the musical episodes of Moonlighting, but his greatest claim to fame came from the many years he spent on The Simpsons. He did not write the theme song, that was Danny Elfman, but Clausen composed or adapted the bulk of the songs & scores throughout the show’s entire golden era, until an acrimonious departure in 2017. Where to start? The Stonecutters’ Song. See My Vest. Dr. Zaius. Who Needs the Kwik-E Mart? Canyonero. Ode To Branson. And so many more. Clausen was 84.

Has society ever agreed on the consensus term for the female equivalent of a That Guy? That Gal sounds too archaic, perhaps That Lady? I’ll stick with that and call Valerie Mahaffey, who also passed away late last week, as an ideal That Lady. She specialized in portraying eccentric characters, winning an Emmy for her recurring role as Adam Arkin’s wife Eve on Northern Exposure. Like many actresses in her age range, she also had a guest role on Seinfeld. She was the tax attorney whom George broke up with because he found her too pretentious. Mahaffey was 71.

The Oscar Mulligan - 2011

Best Picture - The Artist

Other Nominees - The Descendants, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, The Help, Hugo, Midnight In Paris, Moneyball, The Tree Of Life, War Horse

This is one of the trickier groups of movies to choose from, as my favorite of the 9 nominated movies hasn’t left as large of a cultural footprint as the others have. How much does my personal preference take precedence in this experiment? (Note that when the Academy increased the number of nominated movies the new policy was originally set so that as many as 10 movies could score a nod, 10 was not necessarily a guarantee. The rule has since been changed so that will always be 10 contenders each year.)

Wings won the very first Best Picture prize in 1928, but beginning with the 2nd ceremony the Academy had given the award to a talkie every year since. That is, until The Artist won more than 80 years later, becoming the second and likely final silent movie to win Best Picture. In one sense the victory wasn’t a huge shock, as it contains 2 elements that Hollywood loves to celebrate. Movies about movies have a built in advantage, and when you add a cute dog to the mix, you’ve got a clear clubhouse leader. But let’s be honest, from the moment it won the belief was that The Artist would prove to be soon forgotten. The movie is charming, it’s entertaining, I had a warm smile the whole time I was watching it, but it’s no classic.

Among the nominees were a trio of movies directed by legendary filmmakers: Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, Terrence Malick’s The Tree Of Life, & Steven Spielberg’s War Horse. All 3 had their strengths - the scene in War Horse in which the horse returned from battle sans rider was a gut punch - but I would not call any of them Best Picture worthy. Moneyball is probably the movie from this group that has made the most lasting cultural impact, but once again I don’t think it quite reaches that upper level. One might think that it’s not that hard to create an Oscar winning movie, tell ‘em Wash, but it’s incredibly hard. Midnight In Paris might have been a contender under different circumstances, but by this time I could no longer separate the artist from the art when it comes to Woody Allen. The Help was too much of an example of making white characters overly heroic in a movie which is not really their story. And the reviews from Extremely Loud were so abysmal that its nomination baffles me.

Therefore I will reward my fake Oscar to The Descendants. It already seems to be slipping from public consciousness, but it is a wonderful movie. Directed by and co-written by Alexander Payne, it shares characteristics with most of Payne’s other movies. It feels genuine and the characters all feel like real people. I also admire that many of the actors moved outside of their comfort zones. George Clooney was a cuckold and a bit of a schlub, and normally comedic actors such as Rob Heubel got a chance to exercise their dramatic muscles. It was one of Shailene Woodley’s earliest roles and even at that young age she was showing clear talent. The always magnificent Judy Greer gave what was arguably her greatest performance. And the Hawaii setting was predictably gorgeous.

There have been many years in which there were multiple nominees better than The Descendants. That’s not the point, the point is how well it compares to the movies from its own year. The Desecendants is our 2011 winner.

Tending The Herd

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