When Aaron Judge dropped a routine fly ball in the fifth inning of the last game of the World Series, it reminded me of another famous World Series dropped fly from back in 1966. The Dodgers were involved again, but this time on the losing end against Baltimore. A classic pitching duel pitted Koufax against Jim Palmer in Game 2, and it was scoreless in the fifth inning.
Willie Davis was in center field for LA and there were few glovemen better. He won the Gold Glove award in 1971, 72, and 73. And here’s some trivia: Davis was the first NL outfielder who threw left-handed to win it, and only the second in MLB history, the first being Vic Davalillo.
Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, so in the Oriole fifth, Boog Powell led off with a single and Paul Blair lifted a fly to Davis in deep center. He circled under it, but lost it in the sun and it dropped. Merv Rettenmund was up next and lifted another fly to Davis, this time in shallow center. He seemed to have a bead on it. He then either signaled for it or indicated he lost it. It hit his glove and dropped. He then overthrew the third baseman and was charged with another error — a total of three in the inning. He disputed the rulings on the two drops, asking how he could catch something he couldn’t see.
The O’s swept the series in four games, with LA never once having the lead. In fact, they were shut out in Games 2, 3, and 4 (1-0 in Games 3 and 4). Ouch!
God bless the cheerleaders. At Jets games, they are really the only thing worth watching: They catch your eye and that’s pretty much the only thing that gets caught the whole game. They are called the flight crew. Here’s a pretty crew member.
Anyway, it was on this date in 1898 that cheerleading made its debut. It has a NJ heritage. Pep clubs had been around and were especially popular at Princeton where they led the crowd in “unified chanting” to motivate the football team. In 1884, Princeton alum Thomas Peebles moved to Minny and introduced the pep club to the U of Minny, where a “team yell” was even devised. But all of this cheering came from the stands.
Then, in 1898, things grew desperate. The team had lost three in a row and were playing their final game of the season. With the crowd cheering the team on from the stands, one of the “yell leaders,” Johnny Campbell, took the radical step of running out to the playing field with a megaphone. He faced the crowd, whipped them to a frenzy, and got much of the credit for Minny’s victory. Yay!
Absurdly, cheerleading was male-only until 1923, when the first female cheerleaders took the field. And the ladies only took over in the 1940s, when the male student body was depleted by World War II. Our photographer Phil sent in an inordinate number of shots for this assignment. He tells us he plans to marry this young woman as soon as the restraining order lapses. Good luck Philly! Jewish wedding, we hope? Does she know about the drinking and blackouts?
In the puzzle today at 37D, the clue was “Hanes brand once sold in ovoid packaging.” (5 letters) Got it? L’EGGS. Remember those?
Introduced in 1969, they were an immediate success. The egg packaging, the convenience, the celebrity endorsements all combined to make them the largest pantyhose brand in the US through the 1980s. Copycats arose. The Bic company entered the market with Fannyhose (not kidding), but it failed after a few years, costing Bic millions. For one thing, women complained they got ink all over their legs. [No they didn’t.]
But then everything changed. In the 1990s, office workers adopted casual dress styles, and stopped wearing pantyhose, especially the women. Sales declined steadily. The heyday of Leggs is well in the past now, though they remain big enough for an occasional appearance in the NYTXW, apparently.
Today’s award for best clue for a boring word goes to “Certain Thanksgiving dish.” (Four letters.) BOAT (Think gravy boat.) Here’s one that would make a great gift for someone you can do without.
A weird word: DERATS. At 55A “Cleans up like the Pied Piper” was DERATS. Remember this tune from 1966 kids? Crispian St. Peters?
The grid was lovely, with its clean symmetry and a minimal number of black squares. The latter was accomplished in part by having six answers that spanned the grid (15 letters): FEARLESS LEADERS, CLASSROOM ROSTER, INTIMATE DETAILS, ROTATE CLOCKWISE, CLASSICAL GUITAR, and my favorite: SLOTTED SPATULAS.
Commenter Lewis reminded us that this constructor, Blake Slonecker, takes great pains to structure his grids with care and finesse. Here’s a previous one of his in the NYT from 3/24/2023. I noticed he had ELABORATE DETAIL in that older one, foreshadowing today’s INTIMATE DETAILS.
If you wonder what he looks like, wonder no more. (Love the mug, BS.) Blake is a history prof at Heritage U in Washington (the state).
Martin Wreford-Bush of the Dull Men’s Club (UK) posted: I understand that Double Diamond beer is being re introduced. Why anyone would want to drink such a disgusting tasting brew again when there is a plethora of real ales, craft beers and international lagers available now, I’ve no idea. Do they expect us to drink from dimpled mugs as well?
Andy Spragg: Whaddya mean “as well?” All beer tastes better out of a proper dimpled glass.
Michael Beazley: When I was old enough to be accepted as a customer in my local, most of the locals had a pewter mug hanging behind the bar. I considered myself to be accepted when I was asked to provide my mug and given a hook to hang it on!
Steve Cook: A dimpled, handled mug is one of the best things to drink beer from, not least because the thick glass and handle keeps it at the right temperature – probably more important for craft beer than real ale. I wish they’d make a comeback, and I’ll use one for cans at home.
Jonathan Page: Those mugs… like drinking out of a flower pot.
Adrian Don: There’s only one reason to use them. Potential self defence. No-one gets up again after being cracked by one.
Alastair Warwick: A trendy pub round here (£6+ per pint trendy) serves every beer in dimpled handle glasses. Lager should be in a straight glass imo, while bitters and real ales can be in the mugs, but maybe that’s just me.
Andy Spragg: It isn’t.
Martin Wreford-Bush: let’s face it. There’s only one way to drink from a dimple mug. It has to be held by the handle at upper chest height, with other hand on your hip and your foot up on the bar rail or a stool. You should also be wearing a fine knit polo neck, and check slacks.
Rob Parritt: I hate those glasses, awkward to hold and easy to clang your teeth when you had a few.
Frank Thomas: First pint I ever had, at 16, was a pint of Double D. And while admittedly, it didn’t live up to its slogan of “Working Wonders,” at that age, it was like a prize-winning brew
Andrew Marshfield: As a teenager I loved asking the buxom barmaid if I could sample the DDs
Nicholas Kleemann: If I remember correctly DD does work wonders, but only if you’re constipated.
Andy Spragg: No, I think that was Bass, as in: Is the bottom falling out of your world? Drink Bass, and the world will fall out of your bottom.
Let’s leave it right there mate. [Burp!] See you tomorrow Chatterheads!
The Wellington Files 