Sport Slices

Last Sunday, Major League Baseball teams recognized the hundredth anniversary of Negro League baseball. Each player wore a special centennial crest, with the dates of 1920 to 2020 embroidered on the crest. All teams celebrated the event in a variety of ways.

The league that was established in 1920 was the first structured Negro League that lasted for an extended period. The event served as a great opportunity to inform the public about the Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City. Of the thousands of players who took the diamond to play professional baseball in the negro leagues, forty-nine are still living.

Satchel Paige played in the negro leagues for many years before making his major league debut in 1948, when he was 42 years old. That was a year after Jackie Robinson “broke the colour barrier” in 1947. There was a wonderful movie released a few years ago about Robinson's struggle to become a major leaguer. The brilliant documentary by Ken Burns, simply called “Baseball” also sheds light on the integration of the game, and the obstacles faced by the players.

Born in 1906 in Mobile, Alabama, Paige played his last Major League game for the Kansas City Athletics in 1965, when he was 59 years old. No matter where he went, or wherever he played, Satchel Paige attracted a crowd. One of those occasions took place in the 1950's in Belleville, at the Fair Grounds. He was accompanied by a team of African Americans. Quite often in those games, Paige would walk the bases full, on purpose, then ask his infielders to sit down on the field. He would then strike out the side! It was an unforgettable occasion for this wide-eyed kid!!

Seventeen days before his 12^th birthday, he was involved in a rock-throwing incident with a group of white boys from Oakdale School. Following his conviction, he was sentenced to six years at the Alabama Reform School. One of the directors at the school, Reverend Moses Davis, taught him how to pitch. Paige later commented: “I traded five years of freedom to learn how to pitch. They were not wasted years at all. It made a real man out of me.” I assume they released him in his last year there.

Paige began his professional career in 1924, pitching for the Chattanooga Black Lookouts of the Southern Negro League. He pitched his last professional game for the Peninsula Grays of the Carolina League. Early in his career, he was known for his blazing speed. By the time he retired, he had a repertoire of pitches to fool most batters.

Baseball took Paige virtually everywhere the game was played. In 1929, he signed with Santa Clara, in Cuba for $ 100 a game. He had some difficulty learning Spanish, and moved on from there when he could not adequately explain his relationship with a young Cuban lady. Following the Great Depression, he barnstormed the United States, often playing with the legendary Dizzy Dean.

His travels took him to the Dominican Republic in 1937, Mexico in 1938, Puerto Rico and Kansas City in 1939. He pitched in the Negro League World Series in 1942.

Much of the history of Black American baseball has been preserved in the Negro Leagues' Baseball Museum in Kansas City. The greats of the game are featured there: Cool Papa Bell, Larry Doby, Buck O'Neil, Monte Irvin, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Jackie Robinson, Josh Gibson, Double Duty Radcliffe, to name a few. Of course, several great players from the Negro Leagues had outstanding careers in the Major Leagues. Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins from Chatham, Ontario, did not play in the Negro Leagues. Nonetheless, he is recognized as one of the greatest hurlers in the game.

Paige was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in 1971. He was 75 when he passed away in 1981.

James Hurst

August 18, 2020.

There was plenty of action in the sporting world to keep us occupied, over the past few days. Mind you, it did not require a trip to a rink, nor to a baseball field, nor to a basketball court to catch the action. We are still in the holding pattern dictated by Covid 19, and that is simply the way it is.

Dustin Johnson made the best shots last weekend to dominate the Professional Golfers' Association tournament. He was 11 strokes ahead of the rest of the field, a phenomenal accomplishment. Four Canadians participated. Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin missed the cut, but Corey Connors tied for 28^th, and Mackenzie Hughes tied for 13^th.

They raced the cars around the oval at the Indiannapolis 500. NASCAR held its event. I heard someone say that there were 250 000 empty seats at the 500. Very strange.

The Raptors stormed out of the gate, and decimated the Brooklyn Nets in four straight games. They were able to use their bench players much of the time, which should bode well in their next series against the Boston Celtics. The Bostonians trimmed the Philadelphia 76ers, also in four straight. It was the first time that the Toronto squad had ever swept a playoff series. The Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Clippers are tied at two games each. Coach “Doc” Rivers was not too happy with his Clippers. “I though we were very emotionally weak tonight. If I knew why, I would be Sigmund Freud”.

Vancouver remains the last Canadian team in this year's Stanley Cup playoffs. They were overpowered by the Vegas Golden Knights 5-0 in the first playoff game on Sunday. Robin Lehner earned the shutout. Dallas trimmed Colorado 5-3, with Alexander Radulov chipping in two goals. In the East, at Toronto, The Boston Bruins hung on to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2, to open their best of seven series.As a bit of a surprise, the New York Islanders continue to impress, topping the Flyers 4-0 in their first game.

The Tampa Bay Rays moved into first place in the East in the baseball world, just ahead of the New York Yankees. For some reason, the Rays simply have the Blue Jays' number. They completed their series on Monday night, two games apiece. When you watch the Rays, you must wait until the conclusion of the game. They have come from behind so many times this year, to steal victories. The Jays are now one game over .500, and the season is at the half way point. If you happen to run into Buck Martinez, would you please ask him to stop managing from the broadcast booth? As a former manager and catcher, he is constantly predicting the best pitch for the Jays' pitcher to throw.

The hockey world lost a really good guy last week. Dale Hawerchuk, a memember of the Hockey Hall of Fame, passed away. He went from a brilliant junior career to a selection as the first overall draft choice by the Winnipeg Jets. A well-respected coach for several years in the junior ranks.

Despite all of that, it has been the most wonderful summer, weather-wise. Lake Ontario continues to draw folks from around the country, and Prince Edward County has benefited from its charm. Enjoy the rest of the summer. The score I would like to see posted is: Science 1 COVID 0. End of match. Always an optimist.

James Hurst

August 24, 2020

The hockey world lost one of its greatest characters recently with the passing of Eddie Shack. He was 83 years old.

Born in Sudbury, Ontario, Shack gravitated toward Southern Ontario. He struggled in school, primarily due to illness in the primary grades, and was illiterate. But when it came to business, or to a fiery brand of hockey, no one could compare with Shack.

He began his Ontario Hockey League career with the Guelph Biltmores when he was 15 years old, and spent five years with the team. In his final year, he scored 47 goals and added 57 assists in 52 games. He spent the next year with the Providence Reds in the American Hockey League, contributing 34 points in 35 games.

Eddie was not a prolific scorer, but he could put the puck in the net, when necessary. He scored 20 goals on five different occasions in the NHL, for five different teams! A real rarity!

He began his career with the New York Rangers, but was moved to the Leafs after 3 seasons in New York. He was with the Leafs for 9 seasons, when they won 4 Stanley Cups. His best year was when he played on a line with Ron Ellis and Bob Pulford in the 1965-66 season when he scored 26 goals.

Following his years with the Leafs, he moved on to play for the Bruins, the LosAngeles Kings, the Buffalo Sabres, and the Penguins, before finishing his NHL career back in Toronto. He played more than 1 000 games in the NHL, collecting 465 points. Shack was never shy when it came to physical hockey. He had 1 439 penalty minutes in his career.

At the height of his career, Eddie was immortalized in the song, “Clear the track, here comes Shack”. I cannot begin to explain the reason for this, but the song topped the “Hit Parade” charts for two weeks. If you can find the song on “You Tube”, and listen to it, you will understand my opinion. It is really bad.

Shack was able to use his charisma outside the rink as well. He earned fortunes from television commercials for a variety of products: garbage bags, tires, golf courses, and other products. He was especially well known for his “Pop Shoppe” endorsements.

He sold Christmas trees for many years, following his hockey career. Many Torontonians would visit Eddie each winter to purchase a tree, kibbitzing and laughing with “The Entertainer”, haggling over the price. Eddie donated the proceeds of his sales to charity. It was yet another way for him to stay connected to his fans.

In his fine book about hockey called Players, Andrew Podnieks referred to the night when Shack was introduced to Leaf fans, long after he had retired. “The ovation he received the night Maple Leaf Gardens hosted its final NHL game was among the loudest (for any player).”

One of the great characters of the game.

James Hurst

                                                                         Daniel Bard

Daniel Bard is 35 years old. He has been a baseball player most of his life. He was a premier pitcher for the Boston Red Sox from 2009-2013. He established records as a reliever with the Sox.

But in 2013, he hit the wall. In many areas, it is called “the yips”. It is that mysterious moment in one's life when one simply cannot perform a relatively simple task: throwing a baseball accurately, putting a golf ball in the cup, typing a letter.

It has plagued athletes from the beginning of time, particularly ball players and golfers. Often, it ends careers. Most devastating. Occasionally, players overcome the situation, and move on. Such is the case with Daniel Bard.

Some notable golfers have been plagued by this concept: Sam Snead, Johnny Miller, Bernhard Langer, Tom Watson, and David Duval. Baseball players tagged in this regard include: Rick Ankiel, Steve Sax, Mark Prior and Chuck Knoblauch. Ankiel has detailed his struggles in a biography. When he no longer could find home plate as a pitcher, he re-invented himself as an outfilder, quite successfully.

Move along from his last season to the present, for Mr. Bard, some seven years later. “I could not throw a baseball for seven years”, he stated recently. What changed for him? First of all, he developed a perspective away from the game as a father. Secondly, he gained a deep increasingly scientific understanding of his own mental process.

He backed away from the game because of injuries, bad mechanical adjustments, and performance anxiety. In 2017, he signed a minor league contract with the Mets. It was the fifth team trying to help him return to the form that made him a star reliever from 2009 to 2012. He tried virtually everything, trying to learn how to throw “submarine style”, not exactly sidearm, scraping his knuckles on the mound in his pitching motion. To no avail.

He stayed in the game, working as a player mentor. But Daniel Bard is a truly extraordinary baseball player, in a very strange season. “I didn't think I was going to get an invite to a big league camp. Everything has kind of surpassed my expectations.”

The Major League season is to open this coming Thursday. Bard has earned a spot on the 30 man roster of the Colorado Rockies. Still chasing the dream.

The Blue Jays will not be playing in Toronto this year. At this point in time, where they will host their home games in anybody's guess. There are several options swirling around in cyber space.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's a whole new ball game.

James Hurst

July 20, 2020.

We oldtimers recognize that expression from 'The Jackie Gleason Show”. It now applies to the main professional sports organizations in North America. At least I think it does.

Trevor Bauer plays for the Cincinnati Reds, and he always has interesting things to say about Major League Baseball, which is slated to get underway in a couple of weeks. “This season is going to be very much like September baseball, but every game will be about two and a half times more valuable than a regular season game usually is.”

Each team will play 60 games before heading into the playoffs, as opposed to the 162 games they usually play. Teams are now preparing for the abbreviated season in their home parks. The Jays are in Toronto, and are waiting for clarification as to where they will play their home games. As it stands, any teams traveling to Toronto must quarantine themselves for 14 days. That just won't work. They may play their games in Buffalo. The Bills tried to play games in Toronto, without much success.

Baseball players have the right to withdraw their services during this time of the Corona virus. More than a dozen players have chosen this option, including several stars: Ryan Zimmerman from the Nationals, David Price from the Dodgers, Buster Posey from the Giants, and Felix Hernandez from the Braves. Expect that list to lengthen as we get closer to the first game.

There are now 58 baseball players who have tested positive for the virus. All players testing positive must give their consent before their names are released.

Basketball players from the NBA are sequestered in a “Bubble” in Orlando, at the Disney complex. The Raptors worked out in Fort Myers at the home of the Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles. I have attended many games at that venue, during the winter months.

Russell Westbrook, from the Rockets, will not be attending camp just yet in Orlando, as he tested positive yesterday. Another young player with the Houston Rockets broke the quarantine yesterday, and is now required to stay off-site for 8 days.

The National Hockey League is going right to a playoff format. The Penguins have announced that 9 players will not be at camp right away, as they had “possible secondary exposure to Corona Virus”. Playoff games will take place in Edmonton and Toronto, with several games expected to take place on the same day.

The Maple Leafs skated yesterday with a full contingent. These players are in tremendous shape, as they work out constantly, in the off-season.

The expectation at this time is that there will be no fans at the games. Revenue will come primarily from television. There is a nasty rumour that we will be required to pay for the games, as in the “pay per view” format. The suggestion was $ 19.95 perday. I don't think so.

It is a horrible, wretched disease, and has taken hundreds of thousands of lives, world-wide. Fortunately, not one professional athlete from any major sports league in North America has died because of the disease. If that were to happen, I believe things will change.

James Hurst

July 14, 2020.