A word about Ernie Banks (1931-2015)

The great Ernie Banks was born in Dallas, Texas, on this day in 1931.     He died in 2014.

My guess is that most people don't know much about his younger days in Dallas, Texas.

Over the years, I've seen some great players in person and TV.  Sadly, I never got to see Ernie Banks in person but do recall hearing #500 on WGN radio.  

Banks was a great player. Better than that, he was a great human being.  

We will miss Ernie Banks for a long time.

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We remember Jackie Robinson (1919-72)

We remember Jackie Robinson, who was born in Cairo, Georgia, on this day in 1919.     He died October 24, 1972.

Robinson was one of the biggest sports stories of the 20th century, as we see in this biography from his Hall of Fame page:   

At the end of his first season, Robinson was named the Rookie of the Year. He was named the NL MVP just two years later in 1949, when he led the league in hitting with a .342 average and steals with 37, while also notching a career-high 124 RBI. The Dodgers won six pennants in Robinson’s 10 seasons, but his contributions clearly extended far beyond the field.

He retired with a .311 career batting average plus 137 HR & 734 RBI in 1,382 games.

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1865: The House passed the 13th Amendment

On this day in 1865, the US House passed the 13th Amendment.  It was sent to the states for ratification and approved in November.  

President Lincoln just gets better with age. He was the right man at the most critical moment in US history.    A few years ago, a great movie came out about his efforts to pass the 13th amendment that abolished slavery.   

It was a great movie!

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We remember Barbara Tuchman (1912-89)

Barbara Tuchman was born in New York City on this day in 1912.    She died in 1989.

She wrote several books such as "The march of folly" that I read in the 1980's.     However, it was ''The Guns of August,'' a book about World War I, that made her famous.   It was about the background and events that led the world to war in 1914.

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1933: The Lone Ranger debut on the radio

Like some of you, I grew up watching "The Lone Ranger" on TV.  In my case, it was the Spanish "dubbed" version of the show before we came to the US.  

As I learned, the show started on the radio many years ago.   In 2010,  I heard some of these old radio shows and they were great.   

Eventually, radio became TV and "The Lone Ranger" was seen by millions of kids like me.

 

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We remember Sandy Amoros (1930-1992)

Edmundo (Isasi) Amoros was born in La Habana on this day in 1930. He died in Miami in 1992.

He was an extra outfielder in those great Brooklyn teams who played the New York Yankees in 6 World Series between 1947 and 1956.   The Yankees and Dodgers were the two best teams in baseball during that period. 

We remember Sandy Amoros for the  the big catch that saved Johnny Podres’ shutout in game 7 of the 1955 World Series.

It was the only World Series victory for the legendary Brooklyn Dodgers.

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1861: Kansas entered the Union as the 28th state

Kansas became the 28th state on this day in 1861.   It was not easy because the nation was about to fight what we now call The Civil War.  The admittance into the Union increased tensions over slavery.  It turned out that Kansas suffered the highest rate of fatal casualties of any Union state. 

Today, Kansas is a prosperous state and reliably Republican vote.       It has a population of 3 million people and a strong economy.

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1962: Peter Paul & Mary signed their first contract

Did you love Peter, Paul & Mary's voices and their many wonderful songs?

We remember today that Peter Paul & Mary signed their first contract with Warner Bros.

Well....and the rest is musical history.   

I love the music of Peter, Paul & Mary.  I've collected their songs for years and a part of my personal soundtrack.  They remind me of so many moments in my life.

Mary Travers died in 2009.  We posted a couple of times about her death.  

Peter & Paul rarely perform anymore.  However, they left us a musical legacy of beautiful tunes. 

P.S. Their music is now available in a digital format.    And there is this wonderful songbook of guitar chords and lyrics!

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1958: Campanella and the accident that ended his career

On this day in 1958, Roy Campanella was involved in a career ending car accident.   And so ended Campy's career.   He never played again.

The injury happened a few months after the Dodgers had played their last game in Brooklyn.

Campy was selected to The Hall of Fame in 1969.   He died in 1993.  Campanella was the catcher & 3-time NL MVP on the 1955 Brooklyn team that won the World Series.

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We remember Thomas Paine

We remember  Thomas Paine who was born in the UK on this day in 1737.

In 1774, Paine arrived in Philadelphia and soon came to support American independence.  

"Common sense" should be required reading in high school.   Every American kid should be introduced to Paine's ideas.

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We remember General Douglas McArthur (1880-1964)

We remember General Douglas McArthur, who was born on this day in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1880.  

He graduated from West Point in 1903 and went on to serve in World War I.    In World War II, McArthur was the commander of Allied forces in the Pacific.    In 1951, President Truman dismissed him for differences over the Korean War.    The general died in 1964.

 

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).

1888: The National Geographic Society was founded

On this day in 1888, a group of geographers, explorers, teachers, lawyers, cartographers, military officers and financiers met in Washington DC.    They eventually founded The National Geographic Society.    

Nine months later, the Society started publishing the magazine that we grew up reading.

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1967: The tragedy of Apollo I

We remember another anniversary of the Apollo I tragedy on this day in 1967.  

The men killed that day were Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Edward H White and Roger B Chafee.   They died in capsule fire a few weeks before their launch date.

The tragedy was a great loss for NASA.

At the same time, the "bench" was so deep that other men stepped up and Apollo 11 landed on the moon in July 1969.

 

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We remember Paul Newman and the movie "Exodus"....

We remember Paul Newman, who was born on this day in 1925.   One of his great movies was "Exodus":

"Exodus".....Paul Newman (1925-2008)........... https://t.co/T9vq9zN2xJ via @amazon

— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) January 27, 2018

We remember Paul Newman (1925-2008)

We remember Paul Newman, who was born in Cleveland on this day in 1925.      

He became one of the top movie stars of the 20th century, from "Somebody Up There Likes Me" (1956) to "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' (1958) to "Exodus" (1960) to "The Hustler" (1961) to "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969) to "The sting" (1974).      

It was a long and successful career.   Newman died in 2008.

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We remember Cesar Gutierrez (1943-2005)

Cesar Gutierrez was born in Venezuela on this day in 1943.     He died in 2005.

He hit .235 over 223 games.   His best season was 1970 when he played in 135 games with Detroit.

We remember him for going 7-for-7 in a 12-inning game in 1970.      He had 128 career hits but 7 in the aforementioned game.   

His contract was purchased by the Expos but did not play in 1972.   

Cesar's big day earned him a place in baseball history books.

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).  

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We remember Etta James 1938-2012

Jamesetta Hawkins was born in Los Angeles on this day in 1938.   

We know her as Etta James, one of the most unique voices of pop music.     Her career started with gospel music and she eventually recorded in Chicago.     

She was the opening act with The Rolling Stones for a time in the 1980's and sang in the opening ceremonies of the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics.    

Etta won 2 Grammys for her work.

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page. 

We remember John Belushi (1949-1982)

We remember John Belushi, one of the original members of Saturday Night Live.   Belushi was born in Chicago on this day in 1949.    He died in 1982.

Wow!  Lots of memories of those shows!   

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We remember Sharon Tate (1943-69)

Sharon Tate was born in Dallas, Texas, on this day in 1943.   

Sharon was killed by Charles Manson in 1969.   It was an awful story because Sharon was pregnant and apparently alone in a ranch.

Sharon Tate was in various films, such as "Valley of the Dolls" in 1967.

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We remember Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

We remember Winston Churchill who passed away on this day in 1965.    He was 90.

Churchill was one of the great leaders of the 20th century and UK Prime Minister 1940-1945 and 1951-55.    

Churchill was also a great author and won The Nobel Prize in Literature for his six-volume books of World War II and for political speeches.

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A couple of songs about the girl in the window...

A few days ago, I heard "Silhouette" by Herman's Hermits. 

This song was originally recorded back in the late 1950'ss by The Rays, a "doo wop" group.

Herman's Hermits released it during the days of the so-called British Invasion of the US pop charts, or 1964-66.  

Herman's Hermits was very popular in our home.  In fact, my sister's pet canary was named Herman, a.k.a. Peter Noone!

My sister had Herman posters all over her room, along with Paul McCartney, Barry Gibb, Davy Jones and a few others! 

"Silhouette" is one of two songs that I can recall about watching "a girl" in the window.

The other is "From a window" recorded by Billy J Kramer in 1964, or in the middle of Beatlemania & The British Invasion mentioned above.  It was written by Lennon-McCartney but never released by The Beatles.

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How young Winston discovered Cuban cigars

We remember Winston Churchill who passed away on this day in 1965.  He was 90.

Churchill was one of the great leaders of the 20th century and UK Prime Minister 1940-1945 and 1951-55.  

Churchill was also a great author and won the Nobel Prize in Literature for his six-volume history of World War II and for political speeches.

Churchill apparently fell in love with Cuban cigars during a visit to the island circa 1895.  My late father once told me that the Cuban embassy in London would often deliver Mr. Churchill a complimentary box of cigars.  Eventually those long cigars that he smoked came to be known as "Churchill".

Cuba was still a Spanish colony at the time of young Winston’s visit or  three years before the Spanish American War that paved the way to Cuban independence in 1902.

According to H.P. Klepak, author of "Churchill Comes of Age, Cuba 1895", the young Churchill spent 18 days in Cuba.  

He was there on loan from the British army to observe colonial Spain’s defense against independence fighters, as Klepak said in an interview: 

History previously recorded that Churchill saw combat in Cuba and discovered the siesta, which would later help him keep long hours as British prime minister during World War Two.
But Klepak, a former Canadian military officer, argues previous works overlooked how influential the Cuban venture was, including the months of maneuvering Churchill needed to land his assignment.   
With his Cuba experience he became a war correspondent, political analyst, strategist and liaison with a foreign army, all for the first time. His writings start to show legendary humor. He discovers rum and Cuban cigars’ breadth and quality.
Inspired by observations from local historian Lourdes Mendez, Klepak believes he became the first to scrutinize and cross-check the Cuban, British and Spanish archives, discovering for example that Churchill was fired upon by no less than Antonio Maceo and Maximo Gomez, two of Cuba’s greatest independence leaders.
“Very quickly when I looked at it from a historical perspective it was pretty obvious that this was an amazing story which for some reason had never been told,” Klepak said.

Neat story.  This is also a book that you may want to pick up when you need a break from politics.  It is another chapter in the amazing life of one of the most important figures of the 20th century.

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).   This is the book:

January 1968: Remembering that time when North Korea committed an act of war against the USA

(My new American Thinker post)

 As we contemplate Putin's next move in Ukraine or China and Taiwan or Iran and the talks, we remember today another anniversary of the 1968 Pueblo incident.  Back then, North Korea seized the ship, the sailors were taken prisoner, and the Johnson administration was caught off guard, as David Welma wrote in 2018 on the 50th anniversary:

North Korea's brazen capture of the Pueblo caught Washington flat-footed.

"What's your speculation on what happened?" President Lyndon Johnson is recorded asking the next morning in a phone call to Defense Secretary Robert McNamara.

"Mr. President, I honestly don't know," McNamara replies. "I think we need a Cuban missile crisis approach to this, and goddamn it, we ought to get locked in a room and you ought to keep us there, insist we stay there, until we come up with answers to three questions: what was the Korean objective, why did they do it; secondly, what are they going to do now — blackmail us, let it go; and thirdly, what should we do now?"

Why did they do it?  North Korea saw a Johnson administration with too much on its plate, from the Tet Offensive to the deteriorating political situation over here.  It saw an opportunity and made their move.  The Johnson administration took the punch and did not punch back.

The crew of the USS Pueblo spent eleven months in North Korea.  Why didn't the U.S. respond to a clear act of war?  Again, weakness always sends the wrong message.  It invites more, not less!

History does not repeat itself exactly.  Nevertheless, the bad guys can see a weak U.S. president a mile away.  My guess is that they saw more of that weakness during the press conference last week.

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'I'm down" and other rare B-sides by The Beatles

In The Beatles' 45's collection, there are 3 very strange B-sides. 

They did not make it to an LP when originally released. 

In fact, they were hidden until the 2-volume CD released in the late 90s. ("Past Masters, volume 1 and 2")

The first one is "I'm down". It was the US B-side of the big hit "Help". The lyrics are repetitious but the song is catchy.

This song reminds rock fans of "Long Tall Sally", a Fats Domino song from a very early album.

The second choice is "The Inner Light", the US B-side of "Lady Madonna". 

On this one, George Harrison plays the sitar and sings. The lyrics are interesting, specially if you are into a lot of meditation and philosophy.

I am not sure what all of those profound lyrics mean but it does have a nice melody.

The last one is a classic. 

It really shows that The Beatles had a big sense of humor. "You know my name, look up my number" was the US B-side of "Let it be".   The songs' lyrics are the title over and over again.

The Beatles wrote and recorded many great songs. These are not among them.  Yet, they were fun to listen to now that they are available in a digital format!

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We remember Sam Mele (1922-2017)

We remember Sabath Anthony Mele who was born in Queens on this day in 1922.   We remember him as Sam Mele.     

As a player, he hit .267 over 1,046 games.   He led the AL with 36 doubles in 1951 and had 331 RBI over a 4-year period.

In 1965, Mele led the Minnesota Twins to the World Series. 

The Twins lost a tough 7-game series to the LA Dodgers.    Mele had some good seasons with the Twins, coming in second a couple of times before winning the AL pennant.    

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“The Black Scorpion” is not a bad movie at all

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On a scale of 1  to 10, I’d rank "The Black Scorpion" about a 3.    In other words, I  have seen a lot worst movies.   

The story is about a giant scorpion freed after volcanic activity in Mexico.   Everything gets interesting when the giant scorpion threatens the countryside and then heads to Mexico City.     The Mexican Army goes on offense and you see tanks and soldiers with machine guns shooting at the scorpion.

The lead actor was Richard Denning, who apparently made a bunch of these science fictions movies about monsters.   The leading lady was Mara Corday, a very pretty woman indeed.    

I love the trailer.

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1945: # 4 for FDR

On this day in 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated for the 4th time.    

A few months later, the president died and VP Truman took over.     The Constitution was subsequently amended limiting the presidency to two terms.

FDR's 4th election had a lot to do with World War II.   It was argued that it made no sense to change "horses in mid-stream".  In reality, President Roosevelt was exhausted and looked it.   

FDR did carry 36 states, 432 Electoral votes and 53% of the popular vote against Governor Dewey of New York.

FDR did not see the official end of the war.  He died weeks before VE Day and it was President Truman who had to make the tough calls of Hiroshima and Nagasaki later that summer.

 

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1966: Ted Williams elected to The Hall of Fame

The great Ted Williams was selected to the Hall of Fame on this day in 1966.   

He was probably the greatest hitter in history.  His numbers must take into consideration military service in World War II and Korea:  .344 career batting average, a .482 On Base Average, 2,654 hits, 2,021 walks, 521 HR and 1,839 RBI.   

Williams hit .406 in 1941, the last hitter to do so, and flirted again in 1957 with .388!

Williams was a bit temperamental with fans and the media.   However, there was not a better hitter once the game started.

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Winchester '73 is still a great movie

What's the test of a good movie?   In my opinion, a great movie is one that you can watch years later and still enjoy.   Or one where you pick up a few new things that you missed the first time.

"Winchester '73" is such a movie.  It stars Jimmy Stewart.   He is not "George Bailey" or the idealistic senator who goes to Washington.    He is a rough guy in this film.

It is the story of that famous rifle in the hands of several men.

Intense?  Very intense!  

You can get a copy here!

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column.

We remember Mike Fornieles (1932-1998)

 

We remember Mike Fornieles who was born Jose Miguel (Torres) Fornieles  in Havana on this day in 1932.   Mike, as he was known, broke into the majors in 1952 with the then Washington Senators now Minnesota Twins.  He played for Chicago, Baltimore and Boston.   He was an effective bullpen pitcher saving 40 games for Boston in 1959-61.  

Mike died in Tampa in 1998.  He was a closer before we called them that.

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We remember Curt Flood (1938-97)

We remember Curt Flood who was born on this day in 1938.  

Curt was a pretty good baseball player.  He was a career .293 hitter and an important piece of the St Louis power team that won 3 National League pennants in 1964, 1967 and 1968.   

Flood played on a team that included Lou Brock, Bob Gibson, Orlando Cepeda, Tim Mc Carver and quite a few others.

Back in 1970, Curt Flood filed a lawsuit against major league baseball.

However, he lost the case in 1972 when the Supreme Court favored baseball:

“On June 19, 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court rules against Curt Flood in Flood v. Kuhn, denying Flood free agency as a baseball player. Flood was trying to break the reserve clause that had tied baseball players to one franchise since the establishment of professional baseball.”

Eventually, the players’ union won the “free agency” fight in 1976 after 2 strikes and several court appeals.  The net result is that “Free agency” changed the game and blew up the owners’ monopoly.  

Flood never got to make the big bucks but he had a lot to do with the benefits that the players enjoy today.  He was the one who challenged the system and took a bullet for the union.

Flood died in 1997.

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We remember Don Zimmer (1931-2014)

We remember Don Zimmer who was born in Cincinnati on this day in 1931.   He was drafted by the Dodgers in 1949 as a shortstop.    As a player, he hit .235 over 1,095 games with 5 teams.   

Most of us remember him as a manager and Joe Torre's dugout coach with  the Yankees.       

As a manager, he won 885 and lost 858.   He led the 1989 Cubs to the NL East but lost to the Giants in the NLCS.    He did win several World Series titles under Joe Torre.

Great guy who spent 66 years in baseball.   He died in 2014.

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