We remember Mr. Ed, the talking horse (1948-79)

The great talking horse Mr. Ed died in 1979 at age 31. We grew up watching Mr. Ed, although more have probably seen it on reruns.   It was a great show and the theme music was super:

“A horse is a horse, of course, of course, And no one can talk to a horse, of course That is, of course, unless the horse is the famous Mr. Ed Go right to the source and ask the horse, He’ll give you the answer that you’ll endorse He’s always on a steady course, talk to Mr. Ed. People yackety yak on the street and waste the time of day But Mr. Ed will never speak unless he has something to say. A horse is a horse, of course, of course, And no one can talk to a horse, of course That is of course unless the horse is the famous Mr. Ed.”

The shows bring back a ton of memories and watching my mother laugh at the idea of a talking horse. We expected a lot of surprises in the US but a talking horse was not one of them.

The shows are now available in DVD.

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We remember Brian Jones (1942-69)

Brian Jones, one of the original members of The Rolling Stones, was born on this day in 1942.  He died July 3, 1969.

Jones was a very talented musician.  He played sitar in "Paint it black" and the dulcimer in "Lady Jane".  He also played the second guitar behind Keith Richards.

In June 1969, Brian Jones decided to quit the group.  It was explained as differences over the group's musical direction.  It may have been "differences" but Jones had terrible addiction problems.  He was missing studio sessions and was completely unreliable.

A month later, or July 3, 1969, Jones was found dead in his swimming pool.   His addictions apparently caught up with him.

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1966: Remember when Koufax and Drysdale held out for spring training?

Once upon a time or 1966, Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax held out and refused to show up for spring training.   They were both looking for a better contract.

They held out for 32 days and signed eventually for $ 130,000 (Koufax) and $ 105,000 (Drysdale).

They Dodgers won 97 games and the NL pennant but lost to the Orioles in the World Series later that year.  

Koufax was great:  27-9 with a 1.73 ERA & 27 complete games.   On the other hand, Drysdale was a bit off form:  13-16 with a 3.42 ERA.   

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1936: 7-year old Shirley Temple signed a big contract

On this day in 1936, Shirley Temple got a new contract from 20th Century Fox.   She was guaranteed $50,000 per film for the next 7 years.

Later in her life, she had a diplomatic career.    Shirley Temple Black was named ambassador to Czechoslovakia by President Bush.

She died in 2014.

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We remember Juan Delis and the 1955 Washington Senators

We remember Juan Delis who was born in Santiago de Cuba on this day in 1928.  

In the 1950’s, Juan was one of many Cubans who played with The Washington Senators.    

In this photo, Juan (to the right) joined Carlos Paula, Pedro Ramos, Jose Valdivielso and Camilo Pascual in the 1955 team.   Of course, Ramos and Pascual became very successful major league pitchers.

I wrote years ago about Pascual and Ramos.

Delis was around one season as a utility infielder playing in 5 different positions.  He hit .189 in 54 games.    He played with Marianao in Cuba and in Mexico’s Pacific Coast League.

We don’t remember Juan as a star player but he was an inspiration to many others who played later.     Delis came along at a time when there were only 16 major league teams.   In other words, it was a lot more difficult to make a major league team before expansion.

Delis died in Cuba in 2003.

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We remember Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011)

We remember Elizabeth Taylor who was born in London to American parents on this day in 1932.   She eventually moved to Los Angeles with her family in 1939.     

Taylor’s movie career stretched from the 1940's to the 1980's, from "Little women" to "Cat on a hat tin roof" to "Cleopatra" to many others.  

She died in 2011.

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We remember Johnny Cash (1932-2003)

Like many of you, I learned a lot about Johnny Cash from that film "I walk the line".    It probably introduced a lot of young people to his career and songbook.

Cash was born on this day in 1932 and died in 2003.   

Cash was was one of the great male vocalists of the 20th century.   His style and voice were very unique.  Furthermore, he hung around with Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis in the early days of Sun Records and rock and roll.

Check out a Johnny Cash today song today.   There are many to pick from.

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We remember Fats Domino (1928-2017)

We remember  Antoine Domino, the great Fats Domino who was born in New Orleans on this day in 1928.   He died in 2017 at age 89.   

He was one of the early rockers and best entertainers ever.   Some of his hits were:   "Blue Monday", “Blueberry Hill” , “Ain’t that a shame” and "Walking to New Orleans".     

You have to check out one of his many hits.

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 Ron Santo (1940-2010)

We remember that Ron Santo was born on this day in 1940.   

He began his career with the Cubs in 1960 at age 20.   From that debut to his retirement in 1974, he put together some great numbers:   .277 career batting average, 342 HR, 2,254 hits & 1,331 RBI.

From 1963 to 1970, Santo averaged 29 HR and 106 RBI.   He also led the NL in walks 4 times and won 5 Gold Gloves for his defensive work at third base.

Sadly, he died in 2010 and did not live to see his induction into the Hall of Fame in 2012.

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We remember George Harrison (1943-2001)

George Harrison was born in Liverpool on this day in 1943 and died on November 29, 2001.   He had been battling cancer for a few years.

George was part of the group from the early days.  He added a few songs to the group's repertoire over the years but his biggest contribution was playing a great lead guitar and singing background vocals.

He did sing or write some tunes, such as "Something" and "Here comes the sun".

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The Beatles and February 1965

Again....do we love the Beatles or are we getting old?  YES and YES!

We are looking back at 1965, the second year of The Beatles in the US, and much of the world as well.

1965 began with a great 45.  Here are the digital versions of "I feel fine" & "She's a woman".   They showed up in “Beatles '65", a very good LP from the vinyl days!

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1965: The Beatles started working on "Help" this week

The Beatles made two movies in a year.    They started filming "Help" in the Bahamas this week in 1965.   

The first one ("A hard day's night") was basically the group on tour. 

The second one ("Help") was a bit of a spy story.   The story saw The Beatles on the beaches of the Caribbean and skying in the Alps.   There was a lot of music in between!

The Beatles' movies were great and I still enjoy them a lot.

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Remembering Luis Aguile (1936-2009)

We remember that Luis Aguile was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on this day in 1936. He died in 2009. His full name was Luis Maria Aguilera Picca.

Back in the 1960s, our family spent many cold winter nights in Wisconsin listening to “Cuando sali de Cuba“. It always put a tear in my parents’ eyes. As my father told me, Aguile was a pop music star circa 1960 and had no connection to Cuba. What inspired him to write this song? I don’t know but it became a favorite in “el exilio”

Thanks to the late Luis Aguile for that wonderful song!

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1861: President elect Lincoln arrived in Washington DC

The United States was an angry country when President-elect Lincoln took a train from Illinois to Washington DC to assume the presidency.   

There were threats of secession and war.   It was not a happy time.

On this day in 1861, President elect Lincoln arrived in Washington DC rather than Baltimore.    He was warned about an assassination attempt in Baltimore and reluctantly changed plans.

Two weeks later, he became the 16th president of the US.    

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We remember Joe Rosenthal (1911-2006)

Is there a better war photo than this?

Joe Rosenthal, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his immortal image of six World War II servicemen raising an American flag over battle-scarred Iwo Jima, died in 2006. He was 94.     

On February 23, 1945, Joe was 33 and took this famous photo of five battle-weary Marines and a Navy corpsman struggling to raise a flag atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima.

Iwo Jima was intense:  a 36-day battle that left 6,621 American dead and 19,217 wounded. 

Great photo!

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1945: The Marines at Mt Suribachi

Back in 1945 or many years ago, the battle of Iwo Jima was in full force.  

Taking the island of Iwo Jima was essential to the Pacific strategy.   

The island became an important post for future B-29 bombing missions against the Japanese mainland.

  

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Remembering what my late great-uncle used to say about George Washington

(My new American Thinker post)

George Washington was born on February 22 in 1732.  

No one is indispensable but Washington came pretty close, as Scott Johnson reminds us very year.  With all due respect to Scott Johnson, a real favorite of mine, but that post reminds me of my late great uncle every time that I read it. I feel that he could have written it!

My late great-uncle, or Tio Joaquin as we called him, was one of those men who got to live a lot of the history that we've read.

He was born in the 1890s or when Cuban was still a Spanish colony. The US and Spain got into a war in 1898 and Cuba finally achieved its independence in 1902. Unlike most of Latin America that became independent in the first 30 years of the 19th century, Cuba remained the last Spanish outpost in the New World until the end of the century. 

He remembers the day that Cuba became an independent country.  He lived through the Great Depression or when the price of sugar collapsed in the 1930s.  He saw the Machado dictatorship that followed the economic turmoil, the Batista uprising, the establishment of a republic in 1940 and communist takeover of 1959.

He saw it all and died in Cuba in the 1980s.  He chose not to leave because he didn't want to be a burden to his nephews (my father and two uncles) starting a new life in the US.  He used to say that the communist were not going to convert old folks like him and Aunt Clara.

He was a huge fan of US history, specially Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.

He told me something that I will never forget. Let me paraphrase it for you:

"The US was very lucky to have a man of Washington's character at every turn of the young nation's history.  He earned the respect of the rebels with his integrity.  He was the man trusted by those colonists embarking on a constitutional experiment.    And he knew when to leave when his two terms were up.  Did you ever hear of a man walk away from a position of power?  He could have been president for life but he left."

It was a history lesson that I did not quite understand as a kid in Cuba.

I understand it today as we celebrate the man's life on his birthday. 

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Discover Politics Internet Radio with Silvio Canto Jr on BlogTalkRadio

1980 Winter Games & the most enjoyable hockey game ever!

We celebrate today another anniversary of George Washington’s birthday in 1732.  

Back in 1980, many of us spent President Washington’s birthday watching an Olympic hockey game.  It passed into the history pages as the “Miracle on Ice”.

As you may remember, we were in the middle of various crises, abroad and at home.  

First, the USSR had just invaded Afghanistan and was pushing its weight around in Nicaragua and paying for Cuban troops in Africa.

Second, Iran had kidnapped U.S. diplomats and mocking President Carter every day.

It seemed like no one feared the U.S. and the bad buys certainly didn’t.  

Third, the U.S. economy was struggling, from long gas lines to inflation.

In the middle of all of this, a bunch of young Americans gave us the time of our lives. 

It was the first hockey game that I ever paid attention to!

The U.S. beat the old USSR in the Olympic semifinals to move on to the gold game.  It was a great game.  In fact, listening to Al Michaels of ABC call the last minute of that game was unbelievable.  

Here is the story of that day:

“In one of the most dramatic upsets in Olympic history, the underdog U.S. hockey team, made up of college players, defeats the four-time defending gold-medal winning Soviet team at the XIII Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid, New York. The Soviet squad, previously regarded as the finest in the world, fell to the youthful American team 4-3 before a frenzied crowd of 10,000 spectators. Two days later, the Americans defeated Finland 4-2 to clinch the hockey gold.”

It gave us the uplift that we all needed back then!   

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We remember President George Washington (1732-99)

We remember another of George Washington's birthdays.

He was so vital to the success of the new American nation.   Our friends at Power Line call him the indispensable man and they are right.  

Washington led an army of colonists and then held together the new constitution by serving as the first president.  He could have been "president for life" or reelected to a 3rd term.  However, he respected the constitution and set the example by walking away from power.

Washington was indeed the indispensable man to the new nation.  Where would we be today without the example of George Washington?

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A word about Sparky Anderson (1934-2010)

The great Sparky Anderson died in 2010.   He was born on this day in 1934 and inducted to The Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.

Sparky managed the Big Red Machine in the 1970's and then Detroit until the mid-90's.

Anderson led Cincinnati to 4 NL pennants and World Series victories in 1975 & 1976.   Later, he led the Tigers to a series win in 1984 & AL East title in 1987.  Overall, Anderson was one of the most successful managers ever: .545 winning pct!

After baseball, he became a wonderful baseball analyst in post season baseball working radio and TV.    I specifically remember his radio work in the 1983 World Series.

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We remember Senator Kennedy (1932-2009)

We remember that Senator Edward M. Kennedy was born on this day in 1932 and died in August 2009.

Politically speaking, I was always on the other side of Ted Kennedy. Nevertheless, we recognize his long work in the US Senate.

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1968: We won the Tet offensive on the ground but lost it on the front pages

During February 1968, thousands of North Vietname and Viet Cong troops crossed into South Vietnam.  It came to be known as "The Tet Offensive".  

Overall, US soldiers successfully beat back troops in the Vietnam War.

By any measurement, the offensive was a crushing military defeat for the communist invaders.   

Unfortunately, the media reported a smashing communist victory and lied about what happened on the ground.

Shame on the news media.

Indeed, we were caught by surprise but US troops fought back and stopped the offensive.

Sadly, President Johnson was so weak that he could not go over the news media and talk to the American voters.  He allowed the news media to tell us that Tet was a defeat when it really wasn’t.

In my opinion, the best book about Vietnam was written by President Nixon after he left office.

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Happy George Washington Day

We remember today George Washington's birthday.  

He was born on this day in Virginia in 1732.  His father was a colonial plantation owner,

No one is indispensable but George Washington is the closest thing to it.   The US was so lucky to have a man like Washington at every important turn in the early days of the nation.

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1968: The Tet Offensive and the Vietnam War

Back in January 1968, the presidential candidates lined up for the primaries and upcoming election.  Everyone was talking about the Vietnam War and then we heard about something called The Tet Offensive.    

Within days, The Viet Cong attacked South Vietnamese forces and US military installations.     In fact, the effort was a huge Viet Cong defeat.  The US forces fought back and defeated the incoming forces.  

On the ground, US troops won but the media coverage was totally negative and useless.   On the political front, the biggest loser was President Johnson who chose not to run for reelection in 1968.

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We remember Tommy Henrich (1913-2009)

We remember Tommy Henrich, who was born in Ohio this week in 1913 and died in 2009.  Heinrich played on some of the greatest Yankees teams of the 20th century.  His teammates were Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Joe Gordon, Bill Dickey, Phil Rizzuto, and Yogi Berra.  He wore #7 for a while but never played with Mickey Mantle, who broke in the lineup in 1951, after Henrich was gone.

Like so many other very good Yankees, Henrich was always in the background of the aforementioned superstars.  Nevertheless, he had a great career.  It was cut short by three seasons of military service, 1942–45.  Henrich retired with a .282 average, 183 HR and 795 RBI in 1,284 games.  Losing three years to World War II probably cost him joining the “250 HR & 1,000 RBI” club.

Tommy was in the middle of one of the greatest sports accomplishments of the 20th century.  He was a key player in Joe DiMaggio’s 56-hitting streak, as Rob Edelman wrote: 

In 1941 Henrich played a significant role in keeping alive Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak. On June 26, the 38th game of the streak, the Yankee Clipper was still hitless as the team came to bat in the last of the eighth inning holding the lead against the St. Louis Browns. 

DiMaggio was due up fourth in the inning, with Henrich scheduled right before him. With one out and Red Rolfe on first, McCarthy ordered Henrich to bunt to avoid a possible ground-ball double play — and not allowing his teammate a final at-bat. Henrich was thrown out, but Rolfe took second. 

DiMaggio slammed Elden Auker’s first pitch for a double, and the streak remained intact.

Yankees broadcaster Mel Allen began calling Henrich “Old Reliable” — the name of a train that ran from Ohio to Alabama and was celebrated for always being on time — because of his propensity for hitting in the clutch.

In other words, the streak could have ended at #38, and we would not be talking about it.  DiMaggio would have never reached #41 or #44, the two records ahead of him.

Back in 1941, it was his legs that kept the inning going.  DiMaggio then hit a double and the streak kept going.

After baseball, Tommy owned some beer distributorships and coached a bit.  He was active in The Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing.

I wonder if DiMaggio took him out to dinner after that game.

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We remember Sidney Poitier (1927-2022)

We say happy birthday to Sidney Poitier, a great actor of the 20th century.   He was born in Miami on this day in 1927 and died the first week of 2022 at age 94.

Portier was in some of the greatest movies of the last 50 years, as we see in this biography:   

By the end of 1949, he was having to choose between leading roles on stage and an offer to work for Darryl F. Zanuck in the film No Way Out (1950). 
Poitier's performance as a doctor treating a white bigot got him plenty of notice and led to more roles, each considerably more interesting and prominent than most African American actors of the time were getting. 
Nevertheless, the roles were still less interesting and prominent than those white actors routinely obtained. 
But seven years later, after turning down several projects he considered demeaning, Poitier got a number of roles that catapulted him into a category rarely if ever achieved by an African American man of that time, that of starring leading man. 
One of the films, The Defiant Ones (1958), gave Poitier his first Academy Award nomination as Best Actor. Five years later, he won the Oscar for Lilies of the Field (1963), the first African American to win for a leading role. Poitier maintained activity on stage, on screen, and in the burgeoning Civil Rights movement. 
His roles in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) and To Sir, with Love (1967) were for their time landmarks in the breaking down of social barriers between African Americans and whites, and Poitier's talent, conscience, integrity, and inherent likability placed him on equal footing with the white stars of the day. 
He took on directing and producing chores in the Seventies, achieving success in both arenas. Although he has reduced the frequency of his roles in recent years, he remains one of the most respected and beloved figures in American cinema of the twentieth century.

He was a great actor.

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Happy # 82 to Smokey Robinson

Smokey Robinson was born in Detroit back in 1940.

He recorded several hits with The Miracles and later as a solo artist.

He wrote The Temptations' "My girl" and The Beatles recorded "You really got a hold on me"!

Robinson was a vital force in "The Motown Sound" that dominated the pop charts for such a long time.

What's my favorite Smokey tune? It's gotta be "More love".

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Happy Presidents Day

It’s difficult to pick a favorite president because we tend to focus on the ones that we remember. In our case, it’s Cold War or recent presidencies. Nevertheless, I will try to look at past and recent history. My five picks for best presidents are:

1. George Washington-—the US was lucky to have this man at the very foundation of the republic. Most new countries go wrong from the very beginning. On the other hand, the US had the proper man at the right moment.
2. Abraham Lincoln—-who else? He kept this nation together. It’s sad because no one appreciated him during his presidency.
3. Franklin D. Roosevelt-—great leader. He made people feel better during The Great Depression that saw huge levels of unemployment. Also, FDR saw evil in Europe and confronted it.
4. Dwight Eisenhower-—as they say, he gets better with age. His steady leadership was exactly what the country needed after Korea and World War II.
5. Ronald Reagan-—the great communicator and the one who inspired so many to become conservatives.

Honorable mention to George W. Bush, who was brilliant after 9-11, Gerald Ford for taking over after the Nixon resignation, Harry Truman for enacting the policy of containing communism and Donald Trump for being realistic about the threat of an unaccountable bureaucracy.

Overall, the US has been very lucky with the integrity of its presidents.

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1953: Ted Williams' emergency landing in Korea

It was a very scary day for pilot Ted Williams on this day in 1953:

Flying with the 33rd Marine Air Group, Ted Williams was one of the 200 flyers in a huge air mission aimed at Kyomipo, fifteen miles south of the North Korea capital of Pyongyang. Coming in low over his target, a troop encampment, Ted lost site of the plane in front of him. He dropped down to regain visual contact, but went too low. North Korean soldiers in the encampment blasted him with small arms fire. He completed his run over the target and tried to pull up. Every warning light in the cockpit was lit and the plane was vibrating. The stick started to shake and he knew he’d sprung a leak in the hydraulic system. The landing gear came down and the plane was hard to control. Ted got the gear up and started climbing. He knew he was in trouble and got on the radio, but the radio went dead. Another pilot pulled close and tried to signal Ted to bail out, but he didn’t know his plane was on fire. He increased altitude and turned the jet toward the nearest American base. Nearly all his instruments were out. The airspeed indicator read zero. The wing flaps were frozen and Ted was unable to lower the landing gear. Every message given by the plane told him to eject. He continued to climb, still not knowing the plane was on fire, but took the precaution of climbing to higher elevation anyway. A companion aircraft, piloted by Lieutenant Larry Hawkins, led Ted back to the field and radioed ahead that he was in trouble. Ted again considered bailing out but resisted the idea. He was afraid if he

ejected his kneecaps would crash against the cockpit. With the field in site, Ted turned to land when an explosion rocked the craft. A wheel door had blown off. Smoke was pouring from the brake ports. Down below, the residents of a small Korean village on the outskirts of the field scattered. His plane was a mass of fire and smoke. Unable to check his air speed and almost powerless to do anything about it, Ted approached the ground at 225 miles per hour, almost twice the recommended speed. He dropped the emergency wheel latch and only one wheel dropped into position. He hit the strip level, but with no way to slow the plane. Soon the plane settled on its belly, sparks, fire, and smoke trailing after it, as Ted held on, hoping it would stop. The F-9 screamed down the field out of control for more than a mile, shedding strips of metal and on the verge on exploding. Twice the plane nearly barreled into fire trucks waiting for the inevitable blowup. Finally, at the very edge of the field, the plane groaned to a stop. Ted popped the canopy. With the exception of the cockpit, the entire plane was aflame. He dove headfirst to the tarmac, where he was grabbed by two Marine flight crewmen and hustled away. Angry, both at himself and the close call, Ted took off his helmet and threw it on the ground. When he returned to look at the plane, it was a blackened hulk, completely destroyed. He avoided death by the narrowest margin.

Ted Williams lost several seasons to military service.   He was in World War II and then later in the Korean War.    He probably lost 1,000 hits, 150 HR and 500 RBI.    He ended his career with 2,654 hits, 521 HR & 1,839 

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