E-mails, we get e-mails...

"BP" writes to remind me of another reason we all watched "All My Children" in college...

"I watched “All My Children” in the 80’s, too. Since every girl at U of I watched it, it was a great conversation starter. “I can’t believe what Tab did to Dixie ” and you’re off and running. I hadn’t seen the show in years until last summer when I took off Fridays from work. I happened to flip it on and found out that someone had killed Adam’s twin brother, Stuart. Today, my girlfriend watches another soap and Dr Cliff from AMC is on it. She laughs because I am usually in another room while she watches her show but I always yell “Dr. Cliff!” or “Where’s Nina?” where I hear his baritone voice from the TV set."

Did the Cubs throw the 1918 World Series?

Comcast Sportsnet opens this subject again, this time on their website, and of course, in the White Sox column by Chuck Garfien. (Photo: The 1918 Cubs rotation--Lefty Tyler, Hippo Vaughn, Shufflin' Phil Douglas, and Claude Hendrix)

An entire book has been written on the subject, an excellent one called "Original Curse" by Sean Deveney. I've read that book cover to cover, and Garfien's column hits the highlights.

In addition to the things in the CSN column, there are a few things to consider. One, the players didn't even know if baseball was going to return at all in 1919. World War I was still going on, and many players were scheduled to report for duty as soon as the season ended. Plus, with the war going on, fans had lost interest in baseball. Attendance was WAY down. In addition, the player shares were cut to a fraction of what they were the previous years, and at one point during the series, both teams even briefly went on strike. (JFK's grandpa, the mayor of Boston, ended the strike by threatening to unleash the crowd on the players). The motivation was definitely there to throw the series.

Then there's the fact that two of the pitchers pictured above actually were accused of gambling later in their careers by Judge Landis (Douglas and Hendrix). The investigation of Hendrix' alleged thrown game, in fact, led to the investigation of the 1919 Sox. And, Douglas wrote a letter offering to get injured in exchange for some cash, and was banned for life. (He was with the Giants by then)

But honestly, the quotes from Eddie Cicotte that are posted by CSN (and featured in the book), and the speculation by sportswriters and a White Sox employee, simply aren't evidence. Neither is the future behavior of those two Cubs pitchers. There is zero evidence they did anything in 1918. No one ever admitted it. No one suddenly started spending money he previously didn't have. No one was ever formally accused. It's just a guess.

I'm not saying it didn't happen. It might have. But until someone has some proof other than a few people speculating or "hearing things," it's not fair to the 1918 Cubs. They aren't around to defend themselves.

I know it's not fashionable to say so, but let me suggest it anyway. Maybe Babe Ruth and his Red Sox were just better.

Painted Toenails and Tea Sets

I just posted my weekly contribution to Kim Strickland's "A City Mom" blog at ChicagoNow. This week's is about the uproar caused by the J Crew ad featuring a little boy with toenail polish.

You can read it here.

Say it ain't so, Joe

I just want to say a few things before you watch this video.

I like Joe Biden. He seems like the kind of guy that would be fun to have a beer with (isn't that what they always said about George W?), and he really does know a lot about foreign affairs. Behind the scenes, he's probably invaluable. But I sometimes wonder why they ever let him in public.

CBS trained a camera on him during Obama's speech yesterday, and caught Joe taking a nap. That's right, a nap. I really liked the speech, but there's no getting around this--his own VP was falling asleep during it. And it's hilarious to watch. Very mean, CBS. But very funny.

Rock Me Amadeus

25 years ago today an Austrian Disco star had the #1 hit in America, singing a song about another Austrian composer that had been dead 200 years. I suspect this situation will never ever repeat itself...



Ironically, like the subject of his most famous song, Falco died at a very age. He was only 40 when he died in a car accident in the Dominican Republic. Like his idol he is buried in Vienna.

Doug Davis

There's only one problem I can see with the signing yesterday of veteran pitcher Doug Davis.

He can't pitch against the Cubs anymore. He used to kill us.

If there's one thing the Cubs have never been able to hit, it's a junkballing lefty. The rest of the league, unfortunately, doesn't have the same problem.

Dead Man's Curve

From Bob Dearborn's The Olde Disc Jockey's Almanac, this strange happening from 45 years ago today...

April 12, 1966…In an eerie real-life recreation of the duo's single from two years earlier, Jan Berry of Jan & Dean crashed his Corvette into a parked truck on Beverly Hills' Whittier Drive, near a stretch of road in Los Angeles known as "Dead Man's Curve." He required four years of rehabilitation to be able to talk, and it was a full decade before he could perform live again.

After you know this story, it's impossible not to think of it when you hear the song. Especially that spoken part in the middle of it...

Fans in Four Cities Miss Departed Broadcast Legends

This is a very nice piece in USA Today about baseball announcers (including Ron Santo) that have passed away in the last year or two.

I can't speak for those other three cities, but I think it captures the Ron Santo part of the story pretty well.

Dodger Fans

The recent story in the news about the Dodgers fans that severely beat up a Giants fan in the parking lot of Dodgers Stadium has been sounding familiar to me all week, and I couldn't place why until last night.

It hit me when I heard a Chicago song on the radio. I remembered that the same thing happened at Dodgers Stadium to Peter Cetera from the band Chicago. It happened in 1969, but it did happen at Dodgers Stadium. I found a quote from Cetera about that incident...

"Four marines didn't like a long-haired rock 'n' roller in a baseball park," Cetera recounts, "and of course I was a Cub fan, and I was in Dodger Stadium, and that didn't do so well. I got in a fight and got a broken jaw in three places, and I was in intensive care for a couple of days. The only funny thing I can think about the whole incident," he says, "is that, with my jaw wired together, I actually went on the road, and I was actually singing through my clenched jaw, which, to this day, is still the way I sing."

Andre Rodgers

50 years ago today Bahamian Andre Rodgers stepped in the batters box for his first time as a Cub. He had been acquired in an off-season trade for Moe Drabowsky.

It was opening day 1961 in Cincinnati, and the opposing pitcher was Jim O'Toole. The young infielder made his presence felt immediately. In his first at-bat as a Cub, Andre cracked a home run. (The Cubs lost 7-1)

The Cubs had high hopes for Andre, and eventually moved Ernie Banks to first base to open up a spot for Rodgers in the infield, but while his fielding was pretty impressive at times (he led the league in range, put-outs, and assists in 1963), that first at-bat homer was not exactly a sign of things to come.

He hit a total of 28 homers in his 4 plus seasons with the Cubs, and was traded to the Pirates after the 1964 season.

Eddie & Valerie

30 years ago today Eddie Van Halen married Valerie Bertinelli. They aren't married anymore, but their marriage did last for 26 years. Here's one of the first interviews after the marriage...



She was 21 years old at the time.

The JOBC contest

Starting this week we'll be doing a contest every week at Just One Bad Century for exciting prizes. This week's prize is a commemorative scorecard from Greg Maddux' 3000th strikeout, plus one of the t-shirts from the Just One Bad Century catalog.

The first person that e-mails me at rick@justonebadcentury.com will win the prize. Tell me what is wrong with the baseball card below...

UPDATE: Congrats to Dale Eggebrecht, he was the first person to e-mail me with the answer to this week's contest. The picture to the left is NOT Mike Fontenot, it's Ryan Theriot. For some reason the people at Topps pulled a major whoopsie-daisy on Mike Fontenot's card that year.

Dale wins the Greg Maddux scorecard and JOBC t-shirt. We'll have another contest every Monday during the Cubs season. Be sure to check back next Monday morning for your chance to win.

J-Mocking

I had never seen this clip before, but I stumbled onto it this morning. Jimmy Fallon & Ben Affleck on SNL doing a pretty accurate slam on the wacky morning J.

It's from several years ago, but it still stands up.

Father Knows Nothing

I just posted my latest "Father Knows Nothing" column at NWI Parent. This one is called "Loopholes" and it's about the sneaky tricks kids pull to get their parents to say a word they almost never say--"Yes".

You can read it here.

Chicago Radio Spotlight: Matt DuBiel

I just posted my latest Chicago Radio Spotlight interview. This week I talked to Matt DuBiel, the man behind the Save the Loop campaign.

You can read that interview here.

Coming this weekend

I'll be posting my latest Chicago Radio Spotlight interview on Saturday. This week I spotlight the man behind the "Save the Loop" campaign; Matt DuBiel.

Just One Bad Century will go back in time to 1908 and 1945 this weekend, as we do every weekend. Some weeks we need that time travel therapy more than others. Hopefully this weekend we won't need it as much.

Also, I'll post a brand new Father Knows Nothing column on Sunday. I'd love to tease that one for you, but I'll let you in on a little secret. I still have no idea what it will be about. We'll all be surprised together when I post it.

Have a great weekend. It's supposed to be beautiful in Chicago on Sunday.

Never tell a writer what to write

I just posted my weekly contribution to Kim Strickland's A City Mom blog at ChicagoNow. This week's is about my unsuccessful efforts at guiding the creativity of my children.

You can read it here.

Cubs road record

I just wanted to be able to write this once, and today may be my only chance to do it all year.

The Cubs haven't lost a single game on the road this year.

Carlos Pena

This is a real nice piece in the St. Petersburg Times about Carlos Pena and his wife, and the difficulties of moving to a new city.

It's obvious from the tone of the piece that they loved him in Tampa, and that the Penas miss the city. Sometimes we forget that these guys go through the same things we do, and think about how difficult it would be to uproot your family and move to a new city to start all over again.

The story of the man that was traded for himself

His name was Dickie Noles, and the Cubs once traded him to the Tigers for...Dickie Noles.

That's today's Tale from a Bad Century.