Casual Diehard

An episode of Willets Pod was wrapping up last night when Edwin Díaz got hurt, so stay tuned to your inbox or podcast feed for the ruination of what was a delightful episode. And, as the NCAA Tournament starts today, in earnest, for the men, let’s take a look back in history to see who won the 1986 title… Louisville, which went 4-28 this year.

In 1969, though, it was the middle of UCLA’s dynasty, the third of the Bruins’ seven straight titles, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then known as Lew Alcindor, of course) was Most Outstanding Player.

As for the women, there was no NCAA Tournament in 1969, and the AIAW Tournament, March Madness’ forerunner for women, didn’t start until 1972. In 1986? Texas cut down the nets at Rupp Arena in Lexington, led by Clarissa Davis, who then went that summer to the world championships and won with Team USA, scoring nine points in the gold medal game against the Soviet Union, in Moscow.

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Great Britain – hey, The Beatles are from there – gave the United States a tougher time than expected, stunned Colombia, and ended its World Baseball Classic run in the wee hours of this morning by giving Mexico one hell of a scare before ultimately falling, 2-1, in Phoenix, where it was still late last night. (These are East Coast-written show notes, today in an insomniac fit at 3 a.m., if you’re curious, as opposed to the usual break-into-the-day-between-coffee-and-work sweet spot for little Sports-Reference rabbit holes. Further updates to the writing schedule may or may not be given.)

Trayce Thompson (who has a birthday today, but that’s coincidental – these show notes will not be a birthday repository, but they will be mentioned and played up when the mood strikes) played for Great Britain, which was kind of weird because, you know, his brother Klay has kind of won an Olympic gold medal playing basketball for the United States. And Trayce was born in Los Angeles, because his and Klay’s dad, Mychal Thompson, played for the Showtime Lakers. Mychal was born in The Bahamas, which… qualifies players for Great Britain, because Commonwealth or something?

Sports citizenship is weird like that. Imagine if Trayce Thompson was a soccer player. The United States, his home country, has a team. The Bahamas, his father’s birth country (Mychal moved to Miami for high school in the 1970s), has a team. Great Britain, the current athletic home country for Trayce, does not have a soccer team. Except in the Olympics. But Trayce Thompson is not under 23, and therefore wouldn’t be part of an Olympic men’s soccer team.

If Great Britain did have to break up its baseball operations, because obviously they’re getting too powerful, history says that Scotland would be the team to watch, what with the Glasgow roots of the best pitcher and hitter (by WAR) to come from the UK (Harry Wright is in the Hall of Fame, but as a pioneer — dude’s roots were in cricket, including dropping out of school at 14 to play for a pro cricket team called the Harlem Dragonslayers — yes, the Harlem in New York — with his father). Jim McCormick, the Cleveland Blues pitcher who was either the first or second 40-game loser in major league history, because we don’t have the day-by-days for the 1879 National League.

That’s a rude way to introduce McCormick, who was the 1880 National League wins leader with 45 — with a league-high 72 complete games and 657.2 innings pitched — and the 1883 ERA champion at 1.84, but he and George Bradley, that year with the Troy Trojans, tied for the nascent National League’s lead in defeats, a mark that’s only been surpassed three times – all in the subsequent five seasons, with John Coleman setting the record (also the hits allowed record, with 772… nobody else has been above 700) by going 12-48 for the Philadelphia Quakers, who won only five other games in their inaugural season… but now are the defending champions of the league, 140 years later under a different name (“Phillies?”), so guess it worked out alright for them, and for Coleman, who became an outfielder for the rest of the 1880s.

The best British hitter and McCormick’s fellow Glaswegian? Also a Thompson. Wait, no, not a Thompson. Bobby Thomson.

Liverpool? They’ve only given us Tom Brown and Ned Crompton, and you’ve never heard of them before, and you won’t now, because this bonus space is where we shout out Danny Cox, the pride and joy of Northampton, England, and Chattahoochee Valley Community College in Alabama. Not just because he’s the only good British-born player, ever, who has highlights in color, but because he taught me a change-up grip in the elevator of my building as my dad and I came in from a catch in 1989, when it seemed like his career was over before a really nice comeback that included getting a World Series ring with the 1993 Blue Jays (and got off the hook for the loss in Game 6 — the Blue Jays had a 5-1 lead at the start of the seventh inning, Dave Stewart gave up a three-run homer to Lenny Dykstra; Cox came in and only retired one of the five batters he faced; Pete Incaviglia hit a sacrifice fly off Al Leiter to give the Phillies the lead; yes, that was just an excuse to mention Dykstra and Incaviglia — thanks to Joe Carter’s homer).

Okay, that wasn’t really a highlight for Cox, even if the ring’s the thing. So, here are a couple, as promised, in full color.

And despite being a pitcher, Cox has as many career postseason runs batted in as Mike Trout.

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On this episode of Willets Pod, following up our last one…

…Addy is watching Ken Burns’ Baseball. Chrystal’s puppy has an attitude, and Britt is back in non-writing form as we launch the Arizona Iced Tea (not a sponsor) Performance Energy Formula 1 race team… and discuss what’s written in the stars for our favorite drivers in the chase for auto racing’s world championship.

Get in the pool! Our college basketball pools are free to enter — we’re using ESPN, here’s the men’s and women’s brackets, and you can win free stuff from our shop, like the new SENGA GHOST FORK shirt that dropped this week. There’s also a short-sleeve version, and a tank. If you win, you’ll get to pick your prize for your fandom and style, or have us make a custom design just for you! And if you just can’t wait, remember discount code ARIZONA (again, we are not sponsored by delicious and refreshing Arizona Iced Tea) for 10% off in the shop.

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Get in the pool! Our college basketball pools are free to enter — we’re using ESPN, here’s the men’s and women’s brackets, and you can win free stuff from our shop, like the new SENGA GHOST FORK shirt that dropped last night. There’s also a short-sleeve version, and a tank. If you win, you’ll get to pick your prize for your fandom and style, or have us make a custom design just for you! And if you just can’t wait, remember discount code WCPIO for 10% off in the shop.

Former NHL goaltender Darcy Wakaluk turns 57 today, formerly the king of this NHL birthday by a longshot after he too the crown from Hall of Famer Václav Nedomanský, a Czech (then Czechoslovakian) winger who came over in the 1970s and played for the Toronto Toros and Birmingham Bulls in the WHA, winning the 1976 Paul Deneau Trophy, that league’s version of the Lady Byng, and scoring 56 goals taht year. Nedomanský, who turns 79 today, then played in the NHL for the Red Wings, Blues, and finally the 1983 Rangers after being traded from St. Louis with Glen Hanlon, in exchange for Andre Dore.

By Hockey Reference’s Point Shares, Nedomanský and Wakaluk both have been passed in recent years by J.T. Miller (30 today) and Erik Gustafsson (31 today), with Frank Vatrano (29 today) now between Wakaluk and Nedomanský on the list, and Tyson Jost (28 today) making his way up the list and Mattias Samuelsson (23 today, born in freakin’ 2000, as was Samuel Fagemo) just getting started.

Where are all the March 14 babies? The late Kirby Puckett was the only baseball Hall of Famer born on this date, although Kevin Brown is ahead of him on the WAR list, and the Mets have only ever had one player with this birthday, 2006 37th-round draft pick and 2011 cameo reliever John Stinson.

The answer? Kids today play basketball. It’s the late Wes Unseld’s birthday, as well as Larry Johnson, but also… Steph Curry. Good timing there, avoiding that thing where Mike Trout has to share his birthday with Sidney Crosby.

And lest we forget football, exactly one first team All-Pro selection, ever, has celebrated a March 14 birthday: Ed Weir, star left tackle of the 1927 Frankford Yellow Jackets, who was born 120 years ago today, and also made four field goals in his professional career, somehow.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit willetspen.substack.com

Our college basketball pools are free to enter — we’re using ESPN, here’s the men’s and women’s brackets, and you can win free stuff from our shop, like the new SENGA GHOST FORK shirt that dropped last night. There’s also a short-sleeve version, and a tank. If you win, you’ll get to pick your prize for your fandom and style, or have us make a custom design just for you! And if you just can’t wait, remember discount code WCPIO for 10% off in the shop.

Mexico’s clobbering of Team USA at the World Baseball Classic last night surfaces an interesting question: Vinny Castilla is the all-time leader among Mexican-born players with 320 homers, followed by Jorge Orta (130 from 1972-87) and Aurelio Rodriguez (124 from 1967-83). Erubiel Durazo is fourth on the list at 94.

How quickly could the list of Mexican players with 100 career major league homers double from three to six? Here’s where active players stand on the list.

Luis Urías: 45 (7th)

Ramón Urías: 24 (t-11th)

Alejandro Kirk: 23 (t-13th)

Isaac Paredes: 22 (15th)

Joey Meneses: 13 (20th)

There’s a decent chance that Kirk or Paredes, and not Luis Urías, a lighter hitter, reaches the century mark first. Either way, Fernando Valenzuela, with 10 career dingers, has dropped from 11th to 25th on the list since his retirement in 1997. Thanks in part to Fernandomania (and old Mets friend Armando Reynoso, among others), Mexico has long been a country with a better reputation for pitching than hitting. After last night, it’s time to show some respect to the Mexican bats.

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You Won’t See Me? eh? … is it because you can’t see him?

There’s never been a Cena in the major leagues, but Don Cena led the 1948 Waco Pirates, Pittsburgh’s affiliate in the Big State League (Class B) with 23 home runs. One player from that team, Danny Lynch, wound up making the majors… in fact, that very 1948 season, seven games with the Cubs.

Lynch’s debut came on September 14 in Boston, with the Cubs already down 10-0 in the fourth inning. Second baseman Emil Verban had singled and been out on a force play in the third, so perhaps he was hurt on that play, but not so badly as to remain out of the lineup the next day… even though Lynch homered off Johnny Sain (and this was the peak year of Spahn and Sain and Pray for Rain) in the ninth inning.

Lynch never got to start a game in the majors, and he only played in one Cubs win, at the Polo Grounds on September 21, the second game of a doubleheader. With Chicago down 1-0 to Red Webb and the Giants, Lynch pinch-hit for Johnny Schmitz and led off with a single. Lynch came around to score on Andy Pafko’s three-run homer, and despite Whitey Lockman homering to lead off the bottom of the ninth, and the Giants getting the tying run on with a Sid Gordon walk, Johnny Mize hit into a double play, and Lynch experienced victory as a major leaguer.

That has as much to do with Don Cena as Don Cena had to do with John Cena, but uh… look at these cool birds.

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The subject for today’s fun fact couldn’t have presented itself more easily.

John Anderson is, by a long shot over Arndt Jorgens and Jimmy Wiggs, the best major league player born in Norway, with wood that powered 50 home runs and a .290/.329/.405 line from 1894-1908 with the Brooklyn Bridegrooms, Washington Senators (National League — on what seems like a most-of-the-season kind of loan in 1898), Milwaukee Brewers (original American League), St. Louis Browns, New York Highlanders, Washington Senators (first American League version), and Chicago White Sox. Anderson led the National League in triples with 22 in 1898 (he was really good for Washington!) and the American League with 39 stolen bases in 1906.

Lest the speedy Norwegian become some kind of trope, Anderson is responsible for 338 of the 341 all-time stolen bases by Norwegian players. Jorgens swiped three bags in 307 games from 1929-39 with the Yankees. All with the Yankees. Jorgens was part of five World Series winners and did not play a single inning of postseason baseball, because he was the backup catcher all those years for Hall of Famer Bill Dickey. 

Wiggs didn’t steal any bases in his major league career, with the 1903 Reds and 1905-06 Tigers. In 56.2 career innings, Wiggs only gave up one home run, on May 16, 1906, to Socks Seybold of the A’s, part of a Philadelphia lineup that day that included Harry Armbruster, Bris Lord, Monte Cross, and Ossee Schrecongost. It was a different time. That bird has flown.

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New Mets outfielder Tommy Pham turns 35 today. Among players born on March 8, he’s fourth all-time in wins above replacement, behind Dick Allen, Jim Rice, and Carl Furillo. (He’s tied on Baseball-Reference’s list with Harry Lord, a pre-World War I outfielder for the Red Sox and Tigers, and let’s nicely project Pham as better than replacement level this year.)

When Pham makes his first Mets appearance, he’ll be only the second member of the team with a March 8 birthday, ever. The only other one was lefty pitcher Willard Hunter, who went 4-9 with a 5.06 ERA over 68 appearances for New York from 1962-64. Hunter debuted with the Dodgers on April 16 of that first year of Mets baseball… and immediately showed himself to be 1962 Mets material by coming into a game that Los Angeles trailed by eight runs in the sixth inning, and immediately issuing a walk to Harvey Kuennn and giving up a single to Chuck Hiller before serving up a three-run ding dong to Willie Mays.

Hunter got to face Mays again in his debut, and walked him as part of a seven-run inning that included Orlando Cepeda stealing home.

That was it for Hunter as a Dodger (one appearance, 40.50 ERA) and they sent him to the Mets on May 25 as the player to be named later in the Charlie Neal-Lee Walls trade from the previous December.

On July 4, 1962, Hunter returned with the Mets to the scene of his disastrous major league debut, Candlestick Park, this time with a clean slate as the starting pitcher in the back end of the holiday doubleheader. The Mets had lost the first game when Jay Hook couldn’t get out of the first inning, Mays tripled, and Willie McCovey hit a pair of homers. But for the nightcap, they had Hunter, familiar with the scene and with a score to settle against the Giants for spoiling his first game as a big leaguer.

Frank Thomas (not that one) started the bottom of the first inning — after Neal had bounced in to a 4-6-3 DP to end the top of the first, tremendous 1962 Metsing — with an error on a Kuenn grounder. After Jim Davenport walked, Hunter got his rematch with Mays, who promptly blasted a three-run homer. But, hey, since the Mets had used so much bullpen, and Hunter didn’t give up anything else in the first, he stayed in there… and gave up a two-run homer to Mays in the third inning. The Mets lost, 10-3.

Mays also singled against Hunter at the Polo Grounds on July 15. Overall, they faced each other for nine plate appearances: Mays was 5-for-8 with three homers, eight RBI, a walk, and on June 3, 1962, in the ninth inning of a 6-1 Giants cruise, one beautiful strikeout that Hunter could remember for the rest of his life. He died two years ago, at the age of 85, having recorded strikeouts in his major league career of Mays, Lou Brock, Eddie Mathews, Ron Santo, Mays, Cepeda, and Roberto Clemente. And the only guys who touched him up for more than one homer? Two of the greatest to ever swing a bat — three each for Mays and Henry Aaron.

Hunter’s final career appearance was a rough inning in St. Louis in the last game of the 1964 season. After giving up a two-run homer to future Yankees broadcaster Bill White, the last batter Hunter faced was future Mets broadcaster Tim McCarver, who hit a two-run double to drive in Ken Boyer and Dick Groat, but himself was thrown out at third on the play.

That’s not exactly how Mets-Padres in San Diego ended in 1986 with McCarver at the mic, but we’d be remiss not to remember that, and to continue celebrating the late McCarver’s legacy as a Mets voice.

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After yesterday’s realization that RJ Barrett was one point away from giving the Knicks three players with 30-plus on Sunday night in Boston, there’s an obvious question… have the Knicks ever done that? We know they haven’t done it against the Celtics, but… let’s fire up Stathead.

Turns out, the answer is yes. On March 24, 1979, the Knicks had a double-overtime home loss to the Bulls, 148-143, in which Earl Monroe and Ray Williams each scored 34 points and Toby Knight added 30. Chicago got 41 from Artis Gilmore and 33 from Mickey Johnson at the Garden.

There’s one other time it happened: March 2, 1962. If that date is familiar… well, we just discussed that one, too, because it was Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game. The Knicks got 39 points in that one from Richie Guerin, 33 from Cleveland Buckner, and another 31 from Willie Naulls, but obviously Chamberlain in triple figures and four other Philadelphia Warriors (Paul Arizin, Al Attles, Tom Meschery, and Guy Rodgers) in double figures was enough for a 169-147 final.

So, the Knicks are 0-2 all time when they have a trifecta of 30-point scorers. Good thing that Barrett didn’t get that extra free throw to fall and join Immanuel Quickley and Julius Randle in the 30 club, right?

Since that Knicks-Bulls game in 1979, there have been 29 times that an NBA team had three guys go for 30 or more points… and the Knicks have been responsible defensively for three of them.

December 27, 1988: Hawks 128, Knicks 126 (at Atlanta) — Reggie Theus (32), Moses Malone (30), Dominique Wilkins (30)

January 18, 1989: Warriors 133, Knicks 119 (at Oakland) — Winston Garland (31), Mitch Richmond (31), Chris Mullin (30)

January 5, 2020: Clippers 135, Knicks 132 (at Los Angeles) — Montrezl Harrell (34), Lou Williams (32), Paul George (32)

The Knicks are 0-7 all time when there are three 30-point scorers in a game, because the Hawks also did this to them in 1971 in Atlanta (Walt Bellamy 33, Pete Maravich 31, Lou Hudson 30) and in 1960 in St. Louis (Clyde Lovellette 39, Cliff Hagan 32, Bob Pettit 32).

The most recent such game anywhere in the NBA? December 28 of this season, when the Kings had Malik Monk score 33 points off then bench, plus 31 apiece from De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis in a 127-126 home win over the Nuggets.

Use code WCPIO for 10% off in the Willets Pen shop!

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Mick and Danny Won the Breakup

The F1 season got underway on Sunday and while I could talk about Ferrari and their lovely new collection of rakes to step on, I love myself and all of you more than that. Instead, let’s talk about the important part. Who won last year’s messiest F1 breakups.

Mick’s Side Piece Glow Up

If you haven’t been paying attention to the drama at the bottom of grid, after a mostly disappointing and very costly 2022 (despite scoring his first points in F1), the notoriously cash strapped Haas moved on from Mick Schumacher in favor of someone a little less ballsy in the form of Nico Hulkenberg.  

Our nepo baby angel is clearly thriving under the watchful eye of Noted Cubic Austere Austrian Toto Wolff, and Mercedes admin clearly understands what the people want, making better use of Mick’s Germanic retriever puppy charm in one offseason than Haas did in ever. Combine this with getting some screen time during the race at Toto’s side and Mick’s gotten more positive media coverage since Christmas than he did in the entirety of his Haas career. Meanwhile, Kevin Magnussen and Hulkenberg were non-entities in the race, finishing P13 and P15 in a race that only 17 cars finished and in which Lando Norris pitted approximately six dozen times while nursing what appeared to be an issue with his pneumatic system. But hey, at least K-Mag and Hulk saved Gene Haas some money.

Elsewhere, former Haas driver Romain Grosjean started the IndyCar season opener on pole for would-be F1 brand Andretti, ahead of Pato O’Ward in the McLaren. There are levels to this stuff! Which leads us to…

Maybe Danny Wasn’t Your Most Pressing Concern, Zak Brown

A little further up the paddock, McLaren traded in one Australian for a younger (and less aggressively media friendly) model in the form of Oscar Piastri. Piastri came to McLaren, you may remember, in one of the weirdest contract dramas in recent memory, which resulted in Otmar Sfaznauer and Alpine threatening to sue Piastri after they announced Piastri would be driving for them seemingly without informing him and he informed them in turn that he’d be heading to McLaren thank you very much.

McLaren had an open seat in the first place because they decided to part ways with erstwhile star Daniel Ricciardo, who has since gone on to Win The Breakup. Much like Mercedes swooping in to make Mick Schumacher the most popular reserve driver in the sport, Red Bull realized they could augment their uber-talented but not exactly media friendly star with the most entertaining guy to grace the grid in years. It’s the perfect solution for Red Bull, who can leave Max Verstappen to his serial killeresque efficiency on the track and his minimally required media duties and let Danny Ric make the late night TV appearances. For his part Danny has sparkled as usual, reminding everyone that, racing success aside, he’s still the best interview anywhere in the vicinity of the paddock.

Ricciardo has also had a Win The Break Up worthy offseason social media presence, including hanging out with Josh Allen, riding dirt bikes, keeping up with his car karaoke, and the social media launch of a lovely new girlfriend, reminding everyone that he is Living His Best Life and best not doubt it.

Meanwhile, well. McLaren had an uneven pre-season testing and in the first race of the year came out with a DNF and P17, both thanks to more of the reliability issues that haunted the team last year. I’m not saying Danny had a great 2022, but maybe spend more time building a car you can keep on the track and less time causing public drama, Zak.

Honorable Mentions

While they don’t qualify for the official Winning The Break Up titles as the initiators of the break up, I would be remiss not to mention Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasly. A podium for Alonso and Aston Martin, a points finish for Gasly and the Frenchiest team on the grid, and a win all the way around for the petty and the haters amongst us

.

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