Pitcher John Hiller never flinched after health crisis

It has been said of big league athletes that they have "no fear of failure." Ironic, certainly, because every contest ends in a loser that is on most public display. Maybe it's the very fishbowl nature of their endeavors that makes the athletes shut out fear. Maybe it's a necessity because it would drive you nuts otherwise.
Or, is there simply an aspect to their minds that embraces supreme confidence? Is that how they got to the highest level? I wouldn't know - I'm a mere fan. In my own life, neither successes nor failures bring ballyhoo. We all fail more than we care to admit. More of us leave jobs in an "involuntary" way than we realize. Our shroud of privacy gives us cover. Even the people who dismiss workers don't wish to have their acts be public knowledge.
The anonymous crowd has the luxury of sifting through the lives of their sports heroes. As if it's everybody's business. So in the case of John Hiller, noted Detroit Tigers pitcher, his unfortunate heart emergency of 1971 became public news. At first it seemed nothing but depressing. It was a serious heart attack, actually a series of heart attacks. What began as a sad story gradually grew ever more inspiring. Was it partly due to the intangible of the innate confidence of big league athletes? How they fail to acknowledge the possibility of failure?
Whatever the explanation, Mr. Hiller survived to live long-term - right up to now! - and revived his baseball career in an unexpected way.
 
His resume includes No. 1
Pre-heart attack, Hiller was part of the cast of the 1968 world champion Detroit Tigers. You'll recall the names of Denny McLain and Mickey Lolich on the pitching staff. McLain had his issues with his personal behavior and decisions over the years. A non-athlete could have dealt with such things in such a low-profile way. McLain has had to explain his missteps. Fortunately he appears to be on a steady course now, and does a great job as part of the triumvirate that does the "No Filter Sports" podcast. Listen to this a few times and you'll realize he's not on the show just for his name. He's good.
He explains some of his problems as stemming from his daughter getting killed by a drunk driver. The thing is, he has had to give explanations. The ace pitcher on an MLB champion squad will have to answer to the public forever.
McLain, you might recall, won an incredible 31 games with manager Mayo Smith's 1968 Tigers. I've emailed the "No Filter" show wondering if the possibility of a movie had been discussed, a movie called "31" like the movie "61" about Roger Maris. (The "61" title included an asterisk.)
Thanks guys for reciting my thoughts on your show! I recall the great Denny saying the possibility of a movie "had been discussed." I would be surprised if it hadn't. His 31 pitching wins was the equivalent of what Maris did with the bat.
Also, although I didn't mention this, the severe up-and-down nature of Denny's life would give fodder. He's a very intelligent guy and we wish him the best.
Mickey Lolich? In addition to having a great pitching career, he picked up an image of an overweight guy. That was his image from an age when our standards for judging "overweight" were less forgiving than today. Today I seriously doubt that his physical profile would call for any comment. A blessing.
 
Staying power on mound
Now, on to John Hiller whose career story suggests he ought to be better remembered. Let's salute Mr. Hiller for staying with the same ballclub over his whole extended career! A Tiger to the core. He was the last of the '68 Tigers to retire in 1980. He was signed by the organization in 1962. By '67 he was known to all of the big club's fans. He was a reliever and on-demand starter.
In the stellar 1968 season he actually made his biggest impression in his starting opportunities. He was handed the ball 12 times to start. Early in August he struck out the first six Cleveland batters! Later that month, he tossed a one-hit shutout against the White Sox. He was so-so in the World Series but his team did win. His name is ensconced on the title roster. As time passed, Hiller was fashioned into more of a reliever. Detroit had such well-established starters. McLain and Lolich were complemented by Earl Wilson. Wilson had helped break the color barrier earlier in his career with Boston, the last team in MLB to properly integrate. Shame. (Pumpsie Green was Boston's breakthrough player.)
Mayo Smith came to appreciate Hiller because of flexibility, as the hurler could start games capably and also be a "fireman." Hiller was slightly upstaged in the relief department by Don McMahon, Pat Dobson and Tom Timmerman. I remember Timmerman with his glasses! (The term "nerd" is just too dated, n'est-ce pas?) I remember when the Orioles picked up Dobson to become their fourth 20-game winner in the same season! Actually I think that was an overdose of pitching, but it sure was memorable. It was 1971.
 
Heart attack at age 27
Hiller had the pivotal moment in his life in January of 1971. He drained a cup of coffee and lit up a cigarette. He experienced a massive heart attack. His age was just 27. His health had seemed sound. But the specter of his cigarette habit loomed, not as well appreciated then as now. My, Hiller had picked up the habit when only 13. He recalled never hearing the proper warnings through the early years.
A compounding factor might have been weight gain since 1968. The factors were behind two blockages in his heart valve. He recovered and then followed preventative measures. He heeded a recommendation for intestinal bypass surgery. The procedure was experimental at the time. It helped, as the southpaw hurler dropped down to 148 pounds from 220!
He quit smoking and reduced alcohol consumption. And it seemed he never lost resolve to show command on the pitching mound again. Yes, no fear of failure. What is failure?
Detroit was skeptical of comeback chances. They made him a minor league pitching instructor. Hiller doggedly worked out. He showed command throwing batting practice. When the Tigers had their pitching thinned in July of '72, they were aware of what Hiller might offer. On came Hiller to the 25-player big league roster. The manager was the volatile Billy Martin. Martin truly belongs in "another age," doesn't he?

Hiller was so savvy mixing his pitches. Martin had savvy with baseball judgment despite his peccadilloes. So Martin gave Hiller three starts. But it was back in relief where Hiller made an impression in the playoffs vs. the A's. He excelled in two appearances which might have gained greater notice had the Tigers not bowed to the A's in five.
Hard throwing was not Hiller's forte. He had the big league asset of shrewdness as he applied his slider and changeup. His best season was 1973, my first summer after high school, and Martin still had the reins. Hiller struck out 124 batters in 125 innings! His ERA was a microscopic 1.44.
Relief pitching hadn't taken the form of what we see today. Closers weren't reserved for the ninth inning alone, they might work two or three innings as Hiller often did.
The pitcher became philosophical. He said the "tight" situations like with runners on base, hardly seemed like anything to get worked up over. Consider what happened to him in 1971.
Hiller found 1973 to be his peak but he continued on a high level. Today we remember the likes of Willie Hernandez and Mike Henneman as supreme Tiger closers. Or maybe Todd Jones. Here's a vote cast for John Hiller as No. 1, conquerer of the pitching mound as well as life itself. Fear of failure? It doesn't exist.
 
More thoughts on my podcast!
I invite you all, Detroit Tiger fans or not, to call up my "Morris Mojo" podcast episode which sheds light on the 1968 "year of the pitcher" and the Tigers' triumph:
https://anchor.fm/brian-williams596/episodes/1968-and-the-Detroit-Tigers-ehdesn
 
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

No joy to bat against this guy

All hail 1970 Baltimore Orioles, MLB champs

Long before "Moneyball" there was "The Oriole Way." Seems quaint now to think of an organization establishing a mold and prodding players to conform. The player empowerment of years later would force MLB organizations to cater to the narrowest demands and interests of individual stars.
So I'm thinking back to 1970. I was 15 years old, a time in the life of a boy when baseball could mesmerize. "The Oriole Way" was a system of player development in an age before money became (nearly) everything. It was a scheme drawn up by Jim McLaughlin and Paul Richards. Richards had a background with the Chicago White Sox, where he and Frank Lane worked to upgrade competitiveness.
And this makes me smile as Lane can come across as rather a "heavy" if you read certain baseball literature. Lane could break hearts with his trading moves. It seemed he almost wanted to rock the boat for its own sake sometimes. If you read the new bio of Rocky Colavito, you'll see Lane and Joe Adcock in such a negative light, which if nothing else has to be an over-simplification. These guys had credentials and must have had something to offer. Or else, how did they hang around so long at the top of their profession?
And in saying this I'm taking nothing away from Rocky Colavito. Colavito probably deserved more "faith" as the popular slugger with Cleveland, rather than being shipped off in one of those whimsical-seeming trades. Baseball operated in a world so different from today. Players were beholden to the wishes of ownership. General managers were just operatives of ownership - no need to be harsh assessing them.
Anyway, "The Oriole Way" seemed progressive for its time, as it was a constructive organized philosophy. I say this with special appreciation because I grew up as a fan of the Calvin Griffith-owned Minnesota Twins. You know, the man who had his statue recently removed from our stadium grounds because of some words that are not palatable to repeat here. How could we live with Griffith's background for so long? To understand history, you have to realize sometimes "that's just the way it was."
 
Backstory with the Twins
Only in the last few years did I discover an essay on SABR that helps us understand what held the Twins back. Our team was antithetical to having any sort of organized philosophy. It lacked basic courtesy toward its players. Griffith was once quoted saying the only motivation needed for a player was to "wear a big league uniform." And when done playing, these grateful souls should just find another line of work.
It seems almost like observing cavemen paintings to read accounts like in Jim Bouton's "Ball Four" about the salary amounts that players and owners argued over. Minuscule of course. Yes, things were cheaper then but I'm sure they weren't that much cheaper.
Richards prepared a manual for instruction in the Orioles' system. It set out how fundamentals of the game were to be instilled.
We in Minnesota hailed Griffith as an outright hero when he came here with his Senators in 1961. We thumped our chest as the early signs were good: second place to the Yankees in 1962. Then, after a two-year drop-off in fortunes, the pennant in 1965. The top of Mount Everest? Seemed like it. Surely our nucleus of players with just a little luck or infusion of new talent could parlay into more/better success. No, the shine came off even though the Twins remained capable of exciting baseball.
The SABR essay had a dark and depressing analysis of how Griffith's organization, far from being cohesive and uplifting, was devoid of a positive philosophy. In fact, the Twins of the late 1960s were the type of organization marked by cliques and conflict - so sad to hear about any organization going down that road. Perhaps you have worked in a business like this? I have. But my favorite team?
Meanwhile the Orioles blossomed over an extended time. They were super in 1966 with new acquisition Frank Robinson performing in an other-worldly way. The pennant eluded the club for the next two years. Then in 1969 in the first year with East/West divisions in the A.L., the Orioles got on track to impress again. Unfortunately they were cast as "heavies" for the World Series. Normally, a New York City team would not be cast as a Cinderella. Heavens! But the Mets who had been born in 1962, and went through excruciating growing pains, became a true national darling for the '69 post-season.
How could anyone not smile seeing the Mets be like Pinocchio and "turning into a real boy." It was just as endearing as seeing our first men walk on the moon that year. So the Orioles fell to the Mets in five games in the World Series. No one remembers the American League playoff series in which the Orioles brutally crushed the hopes of Twins fans: a three-game sweep. Ugh.
And would you believe, the 1970 story was the same? A humiliating loss in three games by our vaunted Twins to the Orioles. We had the talent but I guess lacked the chemistry or organizational drive. Oh, to have someone like Billy Beane in charge.
 

Arguing as . . .art form?
We came to cuss the image of Earl Weaver. Now with 1970 having faded so much into the mists of time, my emotions are disengaged totally and I think of the Orioles skipper with his feisty demeanor in a warm context. Here's the deal: Rhubarbs between managers and umpires tend to blur together in our memories - they all seem the same. "Here we go again," we might react to such histrionics.
With Weaver I find it's different, because I saw his combativeness as rather an art form, the equivalent of ballet in a way, as he went through demonstrative gestures. Had I been an Oriole fan, I would have found it entrancing, defining for the organization. Yes, a reflection of "The Oriole Way."
Let's move from '69 to '70 in our thoughts and give credit to what the Orioles did in another apex year of their run of the time. They were no "heavy" for 1970. They ran away with the A.L. East title and met the N.L. representative Cincinnati who similarly had cleaned up in the N.L. Two true juggernauts, the Orioles having won 108 in the regular season, the Reds (with Pete Rose) 102. The Orioles cleaned up with a 4-1 Series triumph.
 
What happened to the grass?
In '69 the novelty was the first-ever divisional playoff series, and '70 had its own: the first World Series to have games played on artificial turf. The first two games were in Cincinnati's new Riverfront Stadium with the carpet instead of grass. It was considered the cat's pajamas at the time. Amazing how attitudes sway in baseball, like in Minnesota where first we were lectured on how a roof was essential, so we got the Metrodome, next we were scolded on not allowing baseball to be played outside "where it belonged."
So we have Target Field. But no more Calvin Griffith statue. I'm writing this in 2020 when there is no normal baseball season.
Frank Robinson continued as a stalwart with the Orioles through '69 and '70. My goodness, Weaver led his Orioles to eleven straight wins to end the 1970 regular season, then topped that off with the 3-0 sweep of our beleaguered Twins. Rad Carew, Harmon Killebrew and Tony Oliva could not stop the Orioles. Notably the '70 Cincinnati team was the first of the "Big Red Machine" era. Sparky Anderson was Weaver's managerial rival.
Weaver had three 20-game winners to throw at the Reds: Mike Cuellar, Dave McNally and Jim Palmer. Frank Robinson was fantastic at bat but the league MVP was fondly-remembered Boog Powell. Remember the later Lite Beer commercials that Powell did with the retired umpire whose eyesight was hopeless? Heh heh.
We cannot fail to mention the wizard with the glove at third: Brooks Robinson.
The 1970 Orioles were in the middle of a three-year stretch of World Series appearances, by "The Oriole Way" franchise. You may have forgotten this, but the '70 world championship by the Orioles was Weaver's only title among his four World Series clubs. His Orioles failed for the '69, '71 and '79 fall classics. Still my image of him is as a total winner with his "ballet"-like flourish in questioning the umps! I remember some of my fellow Minnesota fans really acting annoyed with him when he made one of his trademark charges onto the field. I wasn't so perturbed. The man had passion and commitment.
If only our Calvin Griffith had a fraction of real organizational thinking, optimism and the like. Many men who were young in the Great Depression were like Griffith with a seeming fatalistic element in their consciousness. I worked for one such boss, tight with money etc. Waves of optimism eventually spill over such people and leave them behind. Ironic how a philosophy that can seem detached from money can actually accent it.
"The Oriole Way" had quite the track record from 1964 through 1983. The team produced at least 90 wins 16 times with only a single losing season. It was the best record in the major leagues. You might say it was the "Moneyball" of their time.
 
Podcast bonus: Please click on permalink below for episode from my "Morris Mojo" podcast, in which I share further about the 1970 Orioles. I recite some paragraphs from the Roger Angell book "The Summer Game."
https://anchor.fm/brian-williams596/episodes/1970-Baltimore-Orioles-eh6mq9
 
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

The 1970 American League MVP

April Fool's Day headed toward dustbin?

Famous prankster in baseball: Moe Drabowsky

Remember terms like "Decoration Day" and "Armistice Day?" They ring a faint bell for most of us, but have faded. As a child I always expected the media to recognize April Fool's Day. It was a staple on the calendar. Amused program hosts on TV would share stories about pranks pulled. Pranks can obviously be benign and funny. But you know full well that a line can be crossed with this stuff.
Some of the meaner stuff might have been well-intentioned. It can misfire and cause pain. Pranks can definitely fall into the category of mean-spirited. The perpetrators might claim that their intent was benign. But we all know how complicated personal relationships can be. Well, I do. Many relationships can have a love/hate quality or be tainted by professional jealousy, paranoia and self-interest. I never again would have anything to do with a workplace that engenders the qualities just cited.
I remember coming back to the Sun Tribune office one night and finding my bicycle was up on top of a cabinet. This was after Jim Morrison had left, a new regime had taken over and I wasn't certain of the motives. After feeling out certain people, I became convinced, really, that it was benign. Newspaper offices of "the old days" could bring out quite a coarse relationship among people. It wasn't always bad but it was far from being good most of the time.
I'm sure this environment has become more tame and relaxed, partly because the quantity of product has been so greatly reduced. And my goodness, the digital age has created efficiencies and shortcuts and reduced the amount of tedious work required. The preponderance of tedious work can bring out the worst aspects in interpersonal relationships.
I can remember some obviously benign pranks going back to many years before the bicycle episode. We had a printer with the initials R.K. who was fond of prank humor. Overall I had a good relationship with him but still had to watch my back sometimes - most of you know what I'm talking about. An example of R.K.'s humor: arranging for a couple of vehicles to park on opposite sides of the "victim's" vehicle, so close that the victim wouldn't be able to enter her vehicle. (I'm thinking of the victim being someone with the initials J.R.)

(Farmers Almanac image)

Ha ha. We had a custodian who knew I scared easily, so during off hours when I might be the only one there, he'd do his thing to get a jolt in some way. Ha ha. We had a good friend who worked in the engineering/custodial department at the hospital. One night this gentleman hid in the bushes just outside the front entrance/exit at the paper, then yelled and leaped out as I exited. He was hurt badly enough that he needed a little medical attention - a shame.
 
Room for a little nostalgia?
I have no doubt that people at all newspaper offices today are 100 percent squeaky clean and professional, not a hair out of place as it were. We might greet this new reality with relief. We all want people to behave, right? But I think a part of us, especially those up in years, miss the less-structured times a wee bit, times when we might laugh in a raucous way over untoward stuff, perhaps as we consumed alcoholic drinks in a bar.
I would sometimes meet our bookkeeper at 5 p.m. Friday at the Eagles. We talked in an irreverent way about lots of stuff. There was plenty of backbiting in the old days at our hallowed Morris Sun and Tribune. Say what you want about us, we produced a nice big thick product twice a week for years and years. I delivered the bundles around town after our custodian retired.
 
Some rough edges, maybe
I think I projected sort of a "cowboy" image, unrestrained and with a bias or two known among the public. Well, I had certain biases and I felt they were so well-grounded, so based in logic, they should not have been considered biases. In my mind the opposition came not from logic-inspired people but people with a purely political wellspring - they associated with certain other people or "friends" in the same way I met for a drink at the Eagles.
My opinions were based on what I thought was right, not on who my friends were, or how I might score points with a politically powerful local group. The biggest bone of contention was our public school. I get the impression today that everything is tidied up with our school. The proper parameters of authority are recognized and policies/decisions are based on the right motivations, not politics, certainly not teachers union politics.
The newspaper is no longer known as the Sun Tribune. I fail to see why a change was necessary. It's called "Stevens County Times" but it's inconsistent with how it bestows attention, as it seems to bend over backwards for Hancock. A friend tells me this has not changed of late - I personally haven't seen the Morris paper since the pandemic circumstances set in.
For the record, I think I could perform a few duties for the paper today because I'm perceptive enough to know how the workplace and society in general have changed. #MeToo has imposed a total prohibition on even the most harmless-seeming comment on a woman's "looks." One's love life must be kept entirely outside of work boundaries. It's an adjustment for older men like me who grew up in a culture where "objectification" of women was considered totally normal! We probably knew it was tacky but we were given a pass. No pass today.
 
Nothing escapes music!
I wrote a song some time ago that conjures up "the old days," not only in terms of a lecherous approach to women, but also the bar scene. The milieu of my song would have been considered pretty mainstream once, just like the "Shriners conventions" that actually inspired a Ray Stevens comedy album. The Shriners have always done admirable things. Today I suspect they have erased a lot of the extracurricular foolishness.
We no longer laugh about people stumbling along "drunk." I'll remind you young-uns we once did. So, I'm fully aware of the new reality.
In theory I could function within the new reality, albeit with a sense of "withdrawal" sometimes. Suppress irreverent and cynical thoughts! Keep them locked up in your head. I loosen the lock as I write this blog post today.
I cannot conclude here without sharing my song "Laid-back Lady." Some background: this song originated in my head as a melody only. It was with the kind of sound characteristic of Herb Alpert in his 1980s phase. What a master of commercially successful music: Herb Alpert! Does it get any better than "This Guy's In Love With You?" He sang on that one. His trademark was his understated trumpet, the opposite of Maynard Ferguson. As I get older, I appreciate more the understated stuff.
So, I composed the main melody for "Laid-Back Lady" imagining a relaxed trumpet. Quite some time later, I came up with lyrics and eventually wrote a bridge. I emphasize that this is a dated song with P.C. challenges, to say the least. However, anyone who watched the old "Dean Martin Variety Hour" would think there was no problem with this! The vocal range is a little wide but the right singer could handle it.
 
"Laid-back Lady"
by Brian Willliams
 
I could fall in love
When that laid-back lady smiles
She is what it's all about
Laughter on her lips
And a sparkle in her eye
How can there be any doubt?
 
CHORUS:
When I see that laid-back lady smile
I could fall in love
I could swear I was dreamin'
When I'm near that laid-back lady's style
It's a cut above
Anything I have known

  
Faceless in a bar
I just watch the world go by
I'm just like a grain of sand
Then I see her face
Feel her gentle countenance
Now I'm so much more a man
  
(repeat chorus)
 
BRIDGE:
Get it together
You know you can
Make it forever
She needs a man
Take it one drink at a time
Make it a double
I do not care
Seein' her leavin'
I could not bear
I could take whiskey or wine
 
I could blow a kiss
And undress her in my mind
She just makes me salivate
I just make her smile
And enjoy that reverie
Could I make her take the bait?
 
(repeat chorus)
 
Addendum: Moe Drabowsky might have been the greatest old-fashioned "prankster" in baseball history. Read his bio and you'll get a feel for the antiquated charm w/ this stuff. He was also a great pitcher, achieving his "15 minutes of fame" in the 1966 World Series for the Baltimore Orioles. He had a lengthy skein of strikeouts. Changes in culture do not entirely explain the antiquated nature of the pranks. Hey, it's our litigious society! Hurting someone with a prank could have regrettable consequences.
 
My podcast message for today, July 18
The Sundays go by and we must continue to adjust to the pandemic circumstances. Shall I try the drive-in option? I invite you to click on the permalink below for my "Morris Mojo" podcast for 7/18, pondering this and some other things.
https://anchor.fm/brian-williams596/episodes/Whither-church-on-Sunday-egu1f1
 
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Rush to promote fairness advances like flash flood

This man's name on chopping block? Martin Luther

This cleansing of our society now, the purging of all kinds of irrational prejudices, is a pretty good thing. The swiftness and decisiveness of it rather surprises me. The banner is carried by BLM and #MeToo among others.
As someone who follows the news, even I was surprised when seeing the headline one night about the Calvin Griffith statue being removed in Minneapolis. My generation which once fancied itself as so hip and enlightened, always knew that Griffith was an anachronism. But we did not tend to view him as insidious. No, instead we viewed him in the same light as Archie Bunker. Do the young people of today know what the name Archie Bunker connotes, conjures up? My, we were largely amused by the TV character, found him to actually be endearing in some ways.
Part of the reason was that so many of us saw our own parents, to a degree anyway, in this curmudgeonly and coarse soul. He was the centerpiece of a comedy, remember. It sold itself as a comedy, was its raisin d'etre, even though Norman Lear put it forward with some social commentary. Pure social commentary was not going to cut it in the Nielsen ratings.
So, my generation basically cut slack for a lot of the older folks. Because we knew "their kind" was on the retreat anyway? That the inexorable forces of history would overcome them? That they literally would pass from the scene? No, maybe we were just wise enough to realize that a balance had to be struck, that we'd have to countenance some regressive forces a while longer. We saw the Archie Bunkers as hopefully a benign relic, so we'd even laugh some. Maybe too, we saw the perfect as the enemy of the good.
The boomers continually age and so by necessity we must retire to the sidelines some. So we are the ones fading now just as our less-enlightened elders did. We are hesitant by nature to point fingers a whole lot at our elders, the ones who vanquished the Axis in the mid-20th Century. We might defend them by saying they had bigger fish to fry than to press for perfection in all social attitudes.

Chris Matthews

We are seeing now the noose tightening - now there's a timely reference based on the Bubba Wallace matter - on the whole realm of prejudice and sexism. So, 20-year veteran of MSNBC Chris Matthews was unceremoniously forced from the air because of behavior that arguably wasn't even sexual harassment. It was flirting. Which is a problematic thing to consider. How? Well, our laws and standards must be enforced uniformly if they are to be considered fair at all.
Can't all of us recall being in a workplace where romances developed? Flowered, even. Consummated in marriage. Well, I have personally been around that in my work background. And I found that to be profoundly odious. A relationship like that begins with "flirting." And so, we're now appreciating this behavior as unacceptable and noxious. Oh, it does seem rather a no-brainer, right? But wait! Many instances of flirting result in receptiveness by the target.
So, it's the target that gets to decide if the overture is acceptable, wanted, or career-destroying as with Matthews? That's terrible. The law demands consistency. If flirting in the workplace is now prima facie to be condemned, this judgment must be made consistently regardless of how the "target" views it. In my case, my best guess is that it was the female who made the first overture to the male. This is just based on being familiar with the principals. We can't assume the males only do this. Assumptions are no-go with the law. The law means nothing if not applied with consistency, that is unless you're an old crony of Trump and you need a break for being spared prison.
It is hard cutting slack for the likes of Calvin Griffith. The argument in favor of his memory is that he was responsible for bringing major league baseball to Minnesota, incredibly significant. By acknowledging him with a simple statue, we are not affirming his beliefs, are we? Erasing history is a troublesome thing.
And based on all the values being applied now, "how are you gonna keep 'em down on the farm" when they learn about Martin Luther? Hoo boy. I repeat: Hoo boy! Is there anything in recorded human history more offensive than what Luther said, at length in fact about the Jews? You can look all this up so easily nowadays, thanks of course to the Internet. Luther's language was so sharp, so far-reaching, it fed into the actions of the Nazis in the mid-20th Century. If we are going to exorcise the memory of Archie Bunker clone Calvin Griffith, and to have Chris Matthews forced abruptly off the air for boorishness or whatever, how in tarnation can any of us continue to call ourselves "Lutheran?"
I personally am becoming self-conscious about this. I have exchanged emails with the presiding bishop of the ELCA re. this. She is sensitive to the problem. The ELCA has done all it can to try to make clear it distances itself from Luther's poisonous language. The current trends indicate this is not enough. I advised Bishop Eaton, in the way of a warning, that all it would take now is for a major public figure or celebrity to put attention on Luther's anti-Semitism, and there goes the ballgame. It would happen quickly.
The term "Lutheran" covers a wide spectrum in the faith. The ELCA is highly progressive but there's another synod quite different, that has as an official position that the Pope is the anti-Christ. And while on the subject of Catholics, that body of the faith simply must get rid of celibacy for priests. Amazing it hasn't happened up to now. The clergy sex abuse scandal has alienated many from the whole Christian faith. Young people are also deterred, according to widespread reports, by the growing perception that people who call themselves Christian are right wingers politically, likely to have great deference to fat ignorant slob President Donald Trump.
Yes, Christianity has significant issues. If there's controversy over a statue of John Wayne at the Orange County CA airport, my goodness! What defense does the Lutheran denomination of Christianity have? Not even a fig leaf.

I invite you to listen to my podcast entry for today, July 12, which starts out with a reminder about the "old" Prairie Pioneer Days of Morris. This would be the weekend, I assume. I mention Luther's Eatery of that longstanding celebration, then it's time to ruminate about the Martin Luther name itself. It's troubling, unfortunately. Here is the permalink:
https://anchor.fm/brian-williams596/episodes/Normally-itd-be-PPD-weekend-egl5ss
 
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

We need gentler, measured voices in our time of duress

Maybe the USA president should speak here: Crazy Horse Memorial

So many of us have felt social isolation over the recent past. People can get dragged down into discouragement. What depresses us can take precedence over what would normally uplift us.
We'd feel uplifted by mere contact with other people. Normally we'd circulate and take such an environment for granted.
The thing about extreme adversity is, once we've experienced it we no longer take the little things for granted.
We are not long into our current travail, the isolation, so it's hard to know how we all will come out of it. The Great Depression era was quite the precedent. Once people got thrown into the throes of it, they had no idea how they'd come out on the other side. There's a belief that WWII pulled us out of it. That's macabre to weigh. If only the war could have been fought with rubber bullets.
The WWII generation was able to create the great middle class in the years following. My goodness, they never took the little things for granted again! Sadly, they raised their own children without instilling the real feeling of thankfulness. Did they even try hard enough? That's a good question. Maybe their efforts were just going to be futile. Or maybe they were so relieved the Depression was fully behind them, they just didn't care much about how their kids behaved. Ironically, prosperity did not boost positive values among the kids - the reverse seemed true largely.
Remember the movie "That's Entertainment" where Frank Sinatra narrates at the start? The purpose of the movie was heavy nostalgia for a type of movie or entertainment that seemed to exude real class. You might say the older movies were more "conservative," but that term has a nebulous understanding. Libertarians are supposedly conservative but they often depart from the bulk of that ideology.
Our president behaves like a dominant national leader as he gets in our face with pronouncements (or whatever they are) daily, and I mean on Sunday too. Libertarians along with many more standard conservatives are not supposed to like strong central authority emanating from the capital. Wouldn't you think Alex Jones' website would want to take aim at such power? Isn't the authoritarian model anathema to what Jones and his ilk stand for? But then the culture wars aspect enters in, with racism less and less disguised as time goes on. And then, so many people who call themselves "conservative" respond to the symbols and rhetoric and behave in a way remindful of the crowds in Nuremberg in the 1930s. This is not a stretch.
Trump's speech for July 4, in an appearance billed as a White House event and not campaign rally, was combative, I wouldn't even say ideological. Ideology requires some mental rigors and discipline. He stepped right past the dog whistle.
A proper president, Republican or Democrat, would be striving to tamp down the current stresses in our society. Could you imagine Barack Obama in a White House-sanctioned event simply throwing darts at the Republicans as if the GOP was a hulking menace? Can you imagine all the hair-on-fire people on Fox News?
How will history remember Fox News 50 years from now? It has departed so far from its original purpose of being a respectable professional news outlet with a perspective somewhat to the right of center. As one of the four major cable outlets, it could not present itself on the extreme end of the political spectrum. So, am I suggesting that this is where it has drifted to now? Again, a truly ideological stance would require some intellectual rigor and discipline. So much easier to dispense a simple "attitude." Fox unabashedly does this now, so what does this say about America?
And whatever happened to basic courtesy and respect, civil traits that "conservatives" have always propped up? My late uncle Howard of Glenwood thought George W. Bush was getting too hard-edged in some things. Howard was once proud to show us his Goldwater cigars. He started talking down the younger Bush. He is deceased so he does not have to digest where the Republican Party has gone since the Bushes. "Proper" people like him - remember the importance of simple propriety? - might have to take medications to digest the news about Trump.
The Access Hollywood tape? Hush money to a porn star? Talking about "s--thole countries?" Family separation and kids in cages? Diverting defense money to a futile border wall, now at risk for falling into the Rio Grande River? Refusal to spend money when a substantial number of people are at risk through no fault of their own? This is what government is for. How about stockpiling PPE? How about taking charge instead of "taunting" governors who are put in a fishbowl and must fight the virus with limited resources? It so happens that Democratic governors are more in the crosshairs. Wonder how that happened.
Voter suppression. Want to know what one-party government looks like? We may find out. The "Trump base" in the electorate remains strong to a disturbing degree. Trump is pulling strings with an exceedingly cynical campaign, insulting Joe Biden instead of countering Democratic Party ideas. It's a dirty secret that "negative campaigning" often works. I guess Roger Ailes understood that.
We could hope for Trump and his people, as a matter of principle, to just be a little more classy. But Trump probably feels like he has to pull out all stops, lest he be prosecuted when out of office. He will pull strings to try to avoid an economic downturn, never mind that capitalism has as a defining feature the periodic downturns. Desperation to avoid such a thing could have disastrous consequences down the road.
Trump tries talking up the economy right now, as if optimism ought to reign. With things picking up, if they really are, wouldn't we be expecting an uptick in interest rates? But now, Trump uses all of his power to berate the Federal Reserve and keep the supposedly independent agency on his leash. It's done through that Mnuchin fellow. A non-independent central bank? Do you knaves realize how incredibly risky this is?
Obama let the influential people around him keep their turf, like the attorney general. Trump has William Barr as an unabashed ally now.
I can shout from the rooftop over and over, as I have in my online writing, and obviously my reach is almost negligible. But we need to see voices raised.
Will we even make it to the November election? And will the election simply fall apart because of "suspicions" of the Trump crowd? Oh, and lawsuits. Lawsuit after lawsuit after lawsuit. Heaven help us all. Our best hope is for an Obama-like president again who might choose to speak at the Crazy Horse Memorial. Almost makes me misty.
 
It is Sunday so let's acknowledge the spiritual realm. In that spirit I'll invite you to visit my podcast where I speak on such things. Here's the permalink and thanks:
https://anchor.fm/brian-williams596/episodes/Drive-in-church-not-fulfilling-egbdd0
 
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

1966 Baltimore Orioles: everything came together

The Baltimore Orioles had an extraordinary season in 1966 without any suspense. Their acquisition of Frank Robinson from Cincinnati was an overwhelming building block for them. If Cincinnati was so eager to shed Robinson, maybe my Minnesota Twins could have made a comparable offer. Comparable to the deal offered by Baltimore: pitcher Milt Pappas as the key guy.
Pappas probably got a bad rap after that. He continued performing at basically the same level as before. But Robinson's heroics vaulted his new team into the stratosphere, indeed. The Cincinnati braintrust was left with egg on their faces. They had judged Robinson to be an "old" 30. They judged his personality to be difficult - well, sports is full of such challenges, often with the most talented guys. Robinson had a background of pulling a pistol during a dispute at a Cincinnati restaurant. Reminds me of Johnny Paycheck.
Robinson had won the National League MVP in 1961 when his Reds won the pennant. They were stopped by the Yankees in the Fall Classic when the Yanks were at the peak of that era of dynasty.
 
Like in the movies
Robinson showed in spring training of '66 that big things were likely lying ahead for the Orioles. He hit home runs in a way remindful of the Roy Hobbs character, when the fictional guy (Robert Redford on the screen) stepped into the batting cage for the first time. Remember the reaction? A story told about the Orioles' '66 spring has Boog Powell watching and reacting with the same awe as Hobbs' teammates.
Pitcher Jim Palmer was there and was wowed by "F. Robby's" ability to hit any type of pitch delivered anywhere near the strike zone. I played the APBA simulation baseball game (with dice) that had "F. Robby" as the nickname, while teammate Brooks Robinson had the "B. Robby" moniker. I don't recall broadcasters going by those. Let's further note that APBA had Mike Cuellar nicknamed "Crazy Horse," perhaps politically incorrect by today's standards, and I never heard that over the air.
Palmer was along for the whole ride as the '66 Orioles were a precursor for other big things to come for Baltimore. Their pitching ended up as a defining element. Palmer was sort of a Robert Redford lookalike. Cuellar found his best stuff after a low-profile apprenticeship in Houston. Dave McNally was a boffo lefty, although I'm prompted to remember some post-baseball notoriety he got for being a sufferer of prolonged hiccups.
Most certainly the Orioles of their dynastic period did not endear themselves to me. I was a Twins fan. My team won the pennant in '65 and we felt certain a string of like success would develop. We were hardly bad in '66 but we finished in second, which in America I guess is an underwhelming thing. Remember that in those days, only the No. 1 team in each league advanced into post-season. There was the World Series and that was all.
Divisions were created in '69 and my Twins fell to the Orioles in a humiliating sweep. And my goodness, exactly the same scenario in 1970. Our terrific young pitcher Dave Boswell was desperately trying to win a hard-fought playoff game in '69: he went too long, bore down to strike out "F. Robby" with a slider, and the price he paid was a damaged arm. In an instant. He said his arm changed color. He would never be the same. And man, we lost the game anyway.
In '66 we finished second but rather out of the running: no suspense, nine games out. It's easy to blame the "steal" trade that Baltimore executed. The N.L.'s loss was clearly the A.L.'s gain. "F. Robby" excelled in every phase of the game, even with breaking up the double play. His triple crown offensive numbers were a .316 average, 49 homers and 122 RBIs. Naturally he got MVP and he capped it off with two home runs in the World Series.
 
Yes Alex, it was "bereft"
The World Series too lacked suspense and perhaps worse than that, it was rather bereft of offense. (I remember when Alex Karras had trouble understanding what "bereft" meant.)
The offense-challenged nature of the '66 Fall Classic was a sign of things to come for America's great game. A trend built that would climax in '68 with "the year of the pitcher." MLB took action after that with some tweaks, perhaps belatedly. You look over Tony Oliva's career stats and you figure '68 was a down year for the Cuban superstar. Not at all, as his .289 average was good for third in the league. Carl Yastrzemski was the only .300 hitter.
A remedy was needed. It was applied for '69 when expansion was also employed.
Palmer was a mere 20 years old in '66. McNally was still developing at 23. Wally Bunker and Steve Barber had become erratic because of arm problems, although Bunker reached back to throw a shutout in the World Series. It doesn't get any better than that. I seem to recall reading once that Bunker was insatiable for getting pitching innings when very young in youth ball. He may have enjoyed that greatly, but probably was unaware of the long-term consequences.
Steve Barber? How can we forget what we read about Barber in Jim Bouton's "Ball Four?" Barber may have had some shining moments in his career - let's give him his due - but sadly he succumbed to the sore arm malady, as we read about almost ad nauseam in "Ball Four." We learned the term "diathermy machine" in connection to Barber. Perhaps Bouton's emphasis was too strong - Barber was just a guy trying to hang on.
The crux of Bouton's book was that there was an underbelly to America's pastime: guys succumbing to their human, physical frailties. Writers traditionally gravitated to the glory. Bouton brought it all down to earth, a gesture that was probably healthy overall.
The bullpen did much to lift the '66 Orioles: Stu Miller with his celebrated changeup, Ed Fisher with - what else? - his mysterious knuckleball, big Gene Brabender and his sinker, and unforgettable prank artist Moe Drabowsky who got his "15 minutes of fame" in the Series with an incredible string of strikeouts. Wow! A whole baseball card was devoted to that, I recall.
I remember seeing Moe's last name with both "i" and "y" at the end. I learned years later that "i" was technically correct but the "y" caught on after an error in spelling. Such things happen as with the celebrated Alou brothers whose last name should have been "Rojas." A scout mishandled the name at one point. The rest is history.

Gene Brabender had a presence in "Ball Four" and came off as a physically intimidating person - most likely an exaggeration with artistic license. One story had him erupting in a scary way when teammates began reciting the Lord's Prayer or some such thing during severe airline turbulence. Bouton's Seattle Pilots were a typical ragtag crew for expansion purposes: players on the way up, the way down, struggling for a comeback or specialty guys trying to stretch things. They were endearing despite Bouton's purpose of "humanizing" them. Should not have been a revelation for anyone. It was "the good book" for my generation of boys, the height of the boomers. Nothing like us before or since!
And we loved baseball as an escape, like from the Vietnam war and other distressing "macro" things, loved it despite pitching taking over so much.
Baltimore '66 manager Hank Bauer used the bullpen stalwarts so much, the staff recorded only 23 complete games. In the World Series the team would face Sandy Koufax whose personal total of complete games was 27! Koufax had killed my Minnesota Twins' chances for the world championship in the '65 fall, that is, when he was available - couldn't pitch on Jewish holidays. In '66 he was mortal for the Series, and Baltimore with "F. Robby" exploited.
The '66 Orioles had five everyday starting pitchers under age 25. The unforgettable Luis Aparicio played shortstop, later to be succeeded by Mark Belanger. The Orioles clinched the pennant on September 22 in Kansas City, Palmer on the hill and outfielder Russ Snyder making a fantastic diving catch. Let's note that the team got a little carried away in the post-game celebration. You have to be careful with these things. The Twins lost Denny Hocking for the playoffs in 2002 - an unforgivable lapse in judgment.

Sprinkling of fans, surprising
Baltimore fans collectively yawned in the final drama-less weeks of the regular season in '66 - tiny crowds came to Memorial stadium, shocking to see the numbers. The Baltimore Colts of the NFL seemed more big-time then - they had Johnny Unitas. The Orioles disposed of the Dodgers in a quick 4-0 succession to enhance their distinction as a team not intimidated by the likes of Koufax/Drysdale. A tired but determined Bunker pitched a 1-0 shutout in Game 3 for a career highlight. Frank Robinson finished a storied career years later with 586 home runs (pre-PEDs) and became the first African-American manager. Belated, yes.
 
I have a podcast bonus for this post, in which I recite from Roger Angell's fine book "The Summer Game." This is from the chapter that focuses on the 1966 World Series. Just hearing the various names of the players should warm your hearts! The permalink is below. My podcast is "Morris Mojo."
https://anchor.fm/brian-williams596/episodes/The-1966-Baltimore-Orioles-eg7uhp
 
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

The key guy