Never happy to see anybody die, but when it’s a Swedish supermodel who merits an obit in the Times, we at least get to sift through beautiful photos. Rest in peace, Tatjana Patitz. She was only 56. A very successful modeling career brought her some small film roles, most notably in Rising Sun, with Sean Connery in 1993. But in the role she was a nude murder victim, and she said “Oh my God, I don’t want my parents to see it.”
Tatjana was in a few funny commercials. In one, she is working the counter in a dingy Western diner on a blistering hot day, and a hunky young man walks in wearing an unbuttoned shirt, boxers, and no pants. There is a moment of “sexual chemistry” (as the Times puts it), but what he is really after are his Levi jeans which are in the refrigerator behind her. Check it out — it’s funny, and she’s gorgeous (he is too).
Here’s a nice shot of her that won’t get any of us in trouble.
Alfred T. Goodwin, a federal judge from 1969 until his death, also has an obit today. He passed away last Dec. 27 in Bend, Oregon, at age 99.
He wrote the majority opinion in the 2-1 decision striking down the pledge of allegiance because the words “under God” are a state endorsement of religious belief. The Ninth Circuit upheld the decision in a 15-9 vote. I remember the case, and I remember the Supremes went against it, 5-3, restoring the pledge. But I only learned today that the Supreme Court decision was procedural. It held the plaintiff lacked standing to bring the case. He was an atheist who had a daughter in the public school system. The Supreme Court never ruled on the constitutional issue.
Rest in peace, Your Honor.
Did you know that an EMU has calf muscles, according to today’s puzzle? They don’t fly but can run as fast as 30 MPH.
Yesterday’s puzzle included Warren SPAHN, boringly clued with “Warren in the Baseball Hall of Fame.” Spahn made a brief appearance in the majors in 1942 when he was 20, but enlisted in the army when the season ended. He saw action at the Battle of the Bulge and was awarded a Purple Heart and Bronze Star. Amusingly, when Spahn was with the Braves in 1942, he had a bit of a tiff with Casey Stengel who was their manager. Stengel ordered Spahn to hit a batter with a pitch and Spahn refused. (The batter was Pee Wee Reese of the Dodgers and it was an exhibition game.) Stengel accused Spahn of having no guts and sent him back down to the minors.
Stengel later said that it was the worst managing mistake he ever made: I said “no guts” to a kid who went on to become a war hero and one of the greatest lefthanded pitchers you ever saw. You can’t say I don’t miss ’em when I miss ’em.
Spahn holds the MLB record for most wins by a lefty with 363. He won 20 games or more 13 times and won the Cy Young Award in 1957. He was an All Star 17 times and pitched two no-hitters. Get this — he had 2,583 strikeouts, but for several decades his HOF plaque said he had 2,853. In fact, the autographed postcard plaque from my collection, below, has the wrong amount.
On July 2, 1963 he was locked in a pitcher’s duel with Juan Marichal that lasted 16 innings. Willie Mays won it by hitting a homer off Spahn on Spahn’s 201st pitch. Marichal threw 227. Amazingly, Spahn went 23-7 that year, as a 42-year-old, with a 2.60 ERA. It was his last winning season, however.
Let’s close with the poem Kooser wrote on January 16th, my birthday, in Winter Morning Walks:
A flock of several hundred small brown birds,
all of one mind, crazily chases its tail
across a muddy field and into a grove of trees.
They are full of joy, like a wheel that breaks loose
from a truck and bounds down the road
ahead of the driver, then eventually slows
and falls behind, wobbling onto a spot
on the shoulder, rocking around on its rim,
then settling with a ringing cry.
The Wellington Files 