Mr. Hemphill turned a flair for sportswriting into a columnist’s job at the old Atlanta Journal in the 1960s, when the New Journalism began to take hold. Like Jimmy Breslin, a writer he was often compared to, he turned his roving eye to ordinary Southerners overlooked by most writers and mined the inexhaustible vein of human experience that he summed up, in his collection “Too Old to Cry” (1981), as “lost dreams and excess baggage and divorce, whiskey, suicide, killing and general unhappiness.” He also wrote blunt columns about race at a time when the topic was incendiary in the South.
“He was the kind of general newspaper columnist that hardly exists anymore,” Roy Blount Jr., who worked with Mr. Hemphill at The Journal, said by e-mail in June. “He’d go out and do things and talk to people and write 2,000 words, daily. He wasn’t a talking head; he was walking ears, or listening legs.”
I had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Hemphill over the phone once a few years ago. He was charming and gracious though he was already ill with throat cancer. We spoke about his debut novel, Long Gone, and the 1987 movie adaptaion for HBO (which sadly, is not available on DVD). He didn’t have much to do with the film but was pleased with how it turned out.
by Bruce Markusen |
July 15, 2009 11:43 am |
1 Comment
In many ways, Lindy McDaniel is one of the most overlooked Yankee of the last 40 years. On the few occasions that his name is remembered, it’s usually in reference to the fact that he was the player the Yankees traded to the Royals for Sweet Lou Piniella. McDaniel is one of the forgotten Yankee closers (or firemen, as they used to be called), along with Jack “The Chief” Aker, Steve “The Burglar” Farr, and John Wetteland.
This Saturday, McDaniel will be attending his first Old-Timers’ Day, albeit at the new Yankee Stadium. I’m not sure if it’s a case of McDaniel never being invited to the old-timers’ conclave, or that he has simply rejected prior invites, but it’s rather remarkable that he has never returned to the Yankees in any official way since last donning the pinstripes in 1973. For whatever the reason, the drought will end this Saturday. And for a quality and class Yankee, it’s about time.
Acquired for another old favorite in Bill Monbouquette, McDaniel served the Yankees superbly as a durable and effective reliever from 1968 to 1973. Except for his performance in 1971, when his ERA ballooned to 5.04 (the second-worst mark of his career), he consistently turned back opposition hitters in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings. The long, lean right-hander became a familiar site at the old Stadium, with his old-fashioned, baggy-uniformed look and an easy-going, over-the-top delivery. McDaniel did not overpower hitters, not in the manner of Sparky Lyle with his backbiting slider, Goose Gossage with his chest-high powerball, or Mariano Rivera with his chainsaw cutter. Employing a softer and more subtle forkball as his out-pitch, McDaniel complemented that offering with a pedestrian fastball, an effective slider, and pinpoint control.
Where McDaniel lacked power and dominance, he made up for those shortcomings with endurance and longevity. In 1970, he pitched 111 innings to the tune of a 2.01 ERA and a career-high 29 saves. In 1973, He once pitched 13 innings of relief in a marathon Yankee victory. (You can file that in the category of milestones that today’s relief pitchers will never achieve.) In his final season with the Yankees, McDaniel logged 160 innings at the not-so-tender age of 37. By the time that he retired after two encore seasons with the Royals, McDaniel had amassed 21 years in the major leagues—a rather remarkable total for a nearly fulltime relief pitcher who regularly pitched more than 100 innings a summer.
So why has McDaniel remained so underrated, both as a Yankee and otherwise? From the Yankee perspective, he conceded the fireman role to Lyle in 1972 and ’73, McDaniel’s final two seasons in New York. Then there is the issue of the postseason. Though he played for some competitive Cardinals and Giants teams, the two-time All-Star never sniffed the World Series in either the fifties or the sixties. With the Yankees, he was stuck with some mediocre-to-decent teams that never quite had enough to keep pace with Earl Weaver’s world class Orioles. So there were no Championship Series appearances for McDaniel, either.
Beyond the lack of team support, McDaniel never did much, on an individual level, to promote his own accomplishments. A gentlemanly and reserved man, McDaniel instead preferred promoting the word of God. As an ordained minister for the Church of Christ, McDaniel spent much of his off-the-field time teaching and interpreting the Bible. McDaniel did not preach within the clubhouse or the bullpen, but instead mailed each active major leaguer (at his own cost) a copy of his monthly religious newsletter, entitled “Pitching for the Master.” In looking through McDaniel’s file at the Hall of Fame Library, I could not find any examples of resentment from other players who did not appreciate the religious message. Given the recent backlash against Baseball Chapel, I wonder how Murray Chass would have reacted to McDaniel’s practice in today’s climate.
Nearly 35 years after he last threw a pitch, McDaniel continues to preach his religious beliefs. As with his pitching style, he does it without fanfare or fire-and-brimstone. Now 73, McDaniel-the-minister will wear the pinstripes for the first time in several decades come this Saturday. Though he never had the flare of Mo or Sparky, I hope at least a few Yankee fans remember just how good Lindy was during those five-and-a-half lean years in the Bronx.
Bruce Markusen writes “Cooperstown Confidential” for The Hardball Times.
I had the chance to talk to Stout about the book. Here is our conversation. Enjoy. Bronx Banter: I know you are comfortable writing about history, especially in the first part of the 20th century. What drew you to Ederle?
Glenn Stout: Her story is seminal, as central to the story of American sports in this century as that of Red Grange, Babe Ruth, Jack Johnson or Jackie Robinson, yet to most people Trudy, aka Gertrude Ederle, is unknown. I wanted to change that. In many ways she was both the first modern female athlete and one of America’s first celebrities. Had she not done what she had done, which is not only to become the first woman to swim the English Channel, but in the process to beat the existing men’s record by nearly two hours, the entire history of women’s sports would be radically different. You can, I think, break down the history of women’s sports in this country into “Before Trudy” and “After Trudy.” Before Trudy female athletes were anomalies, and their accomplishments, with just a few exceptions, primarily took place out of the public eye. Many early female athletes, like Eleanora Sears, and Annette Kellerman, were sometimes seen as publicity hounds who performed stunts, and not serious athletes. The question of whether or not women were either psychologically or physically capable of being athletes was still a topic of debate – at least by the men who ran sports. Although there would still be some who would stubbornly cling to that belief, by swimming the English Channel and shattering the existing men’s record, Trudy answered that question quite definitively.
She was the answer. One can argue that had it not been for her women would not have been allowed to compete in track and field and many other sports as early as they did – women competed in track events for the first time at the Olympics in 1928. It may have been another generation – until after World War II – before there was any acceptance of female athletes. I am old enough to remember when women could not play little league, or run marathons, and when school sports were pretty much limited to gymnastics and basketball. Now of course, women can and do play everything. Without Trudy that happens much later than it did.
Trudy also has a compelling personal story that I think resonates with any reader. She grew up in New York, the daughter of German immigrants and overcame anti-German prejudice in the wake of World War I to become arguably the most famous woman in the world. At the same time, she was partially deaf, and was able to overcome that challenge. Swimming the English Channel, while perceived to be somewhat commonplace today, is still extremely difficult – it was the first “extreme” sport. More people have climbed Mount Everest than have swum the Channel, and most of those who try to swim the Channel fail. In most years more people will succeed in climbing Everest than in swimming the Channel. When I first began to research the book, that really, really surprised me, and made Trudy’s story even more compelling.
BB: Why isn’t Ederle remembered like Grange, Thorpe, Ruth and the other greats of the first great era of sports? For someone who had such a profound impact, why has her legacy faded?
GS: Hopefully, my book will help rectify that, but there are several reasons. Trudy herself soon discovered she just wasn’t cut out for the spotlight. Within 48 hours of her return to the United States, where New York gave her an enormous ticker tape parade, she was in the fetal position in her bedroom, completely overwhelmed. She was both slow and reluctant to “cash in” on her achievement. Her attorney mis-managed her career, turning down easy money for a grueling vaudeville tour. By the time that got going a male swimmer had broken her record, and a second female swam the Channel, which stole some of her thunder – the public began to think that swimming the Channel was far easier than it is, something that holds true today. She also had increasing trouble with her hearing – she was partially deaf since a bout with the measles as a child, and that made her less comfortable in the public eye. And few years after the swim she fell and was virtually bed-ridden for a time. And let’s face it, swimming simply isn’t a big spectator sport like football or baseball.
BB: What is Ederle’s reputation in the world of women’s swimming? Is she properly recognized?
GS: Swimming historians certainly recognize her as one of the all-time greats, but in a sport like swimming, records have been broken so many times that it is difficult for any swimmer from her era to remain in the public eye. Her only contemporary recognized b y the public today is Johnny Weissmuller, and that’s because of the Tarzan films. But in the world of swimming, she has to rank as one of the top seven or eight swimmers of all-time. No one else combined her success at shorter distances with open water success, and in the world of open water swimming, I think she’s right at the top. Anyone who has ever swum the Channel, or thought about it, knows about her.
BB: How did Ederle manage to beat the existing time of swimming the channel by such a great margin? That seems almost inconceivable.
GS: There are a couple of reasons. For one, she used a stroke known then as the “American Crawl” essentially what most people recognize as the “freestyle” today. Her coach with the Women’s Swimming Association was one of the strokes pioneers and its greatest advocate. And although it had been used for about two decades, no one believed it could be used for long distance swimming – it was thought to be too demanding, physically. Long distance swimmers usually used the breast stroke at the time, with occasional use of the side-stroke and trudgeon. The crawl was much faster, and Handley recognized that women in general, and Trudy in particular, although not as strong as a man, had just as much stamina. She was the first swimmer to use the stroke in the Channel, and proved the superiority of the stroke. Secondly, her trainer for the Channel swim, William Burgess, was a real student of the Channel currents and tides, and he found a somewhat new route across that was something of a breakthrough. Also, before Trudy most of the people who tried to swim the Channel simply were not great swimmers. They had great stamina, and desire, but as swimmers were rather pedestrian. Trudy was world class at every distance from fifty yards on up. She was simply a far, far, far better swimmer than anyone else who had swam the Channel before. For a swimmer of her ability to take on the Channel would be the equivalent of Michael Phelps to do so today – if he had her stamina. And lastly, while Trudy was growing up she spent summers in Highlands, New Jersey, where she spent hours and hours swimming in the ocean. She developed a very special relationship with the water, once saying “To me, the sea is like a person – like a child that I’ve known a long time. It sounds crazy, I know, but when I swim in the sea I talk to it. I never feel alone when I’m out there.” When she was swimming, she was in her place, right where she wanted to be, and where others found only torture, she found joy, and when you love what you do, well, there are no limits.
Just a note letting you know that Marty Appel, a maven of all things Yankees in the Seventies, will be discussing his new book, Munson: The Life and Death of a Yankee Captain at the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center on Sunday, Aug. 2 – the exact 30th anniversary of Munson’s tragic death. Appel’s talk will begin at 3 p.m., and books are available at the Museum for him to sign afterward.
Call (973) 655-2378 for info and reservations. This should be a good one.
by Will Weiss |
July 14, 2009 9:04 am |
30 Comments
Tom Verducci’s “The Yankee Years” caused a tremendous stir in spring training, when the tabloids got hold of it and railed Joe Torre for allegedly violating the cardinal rule of keeping clubhouse events in the clubhouse. YES Network fired Verducci from “Yankees Hot Stove” for the way he portrayed the Yankees’ front office in the book, and he was put on the spot by numerous outlets, including our own Alex Belth in an SI.com Q&A.
I finally got around to reading the book, and I wholly disagree with the negative criticism heaped upon Torre, Verducci and the book earlier in the year. It’s not an “as told to” story, as Alex points out. It reads like a well-researched textbook on the Yankees from 1995 to 2007, with notes and observations by a reporter who had been there through all of it. The anecdotes from the Yankee manager of the time, as well as former players, coaches and staffers enrich the context of the story.
As a Yankee fan, I almost think you have to read this book to gain an understanding of the teams of the YES Network era and just how tough a job Joe Torre had, and how difficult it was to pull those 2005, ’06 and ’07 teams into the playoffs after what they went through those years.
Was there information I knew already? Certainly. The details of Bernie Williams’ near move to the Red Sox and Andy Pettitte’s near trade in 1998, the Roger Clemens trade in 1999 and the components of the dynasty breaking up following the Game 7 loss of the 2001 World Series have been recounted in numerous books this decade, most notably in Buster Olney’s “The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty.” Moreover, covering the team from 2002 through ’06, Torre would tell the local press corps some of the anecdotes Verducci recalled in the book, like the fan in Tampa during Spring Training of 2002 telling him, “Don’t worry Joe. We’ll get ’em this year,” and his fondness for Pettitte, given the way he stepped up in Game 5 of the ’96 World Series, out-dueling John Smoltz. I got to see the best and worst of David Wells’ second tour of duty, Jeff Weaver (Torre said the day of Weaver’s introductory press conference: “That kid will be leading the parade here some day.”), Gary Sheffield, Randy Johnson, Kevin Brown, and of course, Carl Pavano, and Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon and A-Rod’s brain cramps in the clutch and Chien-Ming Wang’s inability to handle being the ace of the staff.
For me, the most revealing quotes came from bullpen catcher Mike Borzello, who was the key source on the “A-Fraud” items, and Mike Mussina, who was great because he presented the point of view as an outsider to those championship Yankee teams. He acknowledged the greatness of Mariano Rivera but looked back on three games: Game 7 of ’01, and Games 4 and 5 in Boston in ’04, and wondered why and how he blows those three games? It sounded selfish at first, but if you were in the same spot, how would you have answered? I came away from this with a different level of respect for Moose. His insight helped shape the book.
The stories of the emotional toll dealing with Management took on Torre over the last three years of his tenure got me thinking about his current situation in Los Angeles. He has a similar makeup to what he had in 1996 and ’97. A good mix of veteran free agents like Manny Ramirez, Orlando Hudson and Rafael Furcal, and young players like Russell Martin, James Loney, Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier, and an even younger pitching staff figuring out how to win. But beyond that, the loyalty of the coaches he brought with him shifted as well. The way Verducci portrays Larry Bowa and Don Mattingly and their places in the coaching hierarchy during Torre’s last few years on the job, it’s easy to see why they followed him to L.A.
Why bring this up at this juncture of the season? The Yankees clawed back to sniff first place and had a chance to hold or share first place and had a chance to sweep the Angels in Anaheim. The makeup of the team, particularly Joba Chamberlain’s place on it, is under heavy scrutiny. It’s looking like a repeat of the last four years, only with a greater sense of impending doom because the Yankees’ run of 13 consecutive playoff appearances ended, while Torre’s didn’t.
If it happens again, Verducci might want to consider a similar book for Mr. Girardi.
Will you watch? Listening to Chris Berman for a couple of hours is too much for me to stomach. But I can always watch with the sound off. Cool that Mr. Pujols is participating this year.
It was in September 2005, just as I was starting research for a book about umpires, that the man who would become chief justice, John G. Roberts Jr., elevated my subjects to the central metaphorical role in American jurisprudence.
“Judges are like umpires,” Judge Roberts declared in the opening remarks to his own confirmation hearings. “Umpires don’t make the rules; they apply them. The role of an umpire and a judge is critical. They make sure everybody plays by the rules. But it is a limited role.”
Whadda ya think? Judges=Umps?
Oh, and if you haven’t read Weber’s book, it’s worth checking out. Here is an excerpt.
Remember the old gag from the Warner Bros cartoons when a plane or a car was racing at incredible speed and the speedometer read “Silly, Ain’t it?” That pretty much sums up another lost weekend for the Yankees in the City of Angels. The Yanks just can’t beat the Angels in California and on Sunday afternoon they found a new way to lose. The Angels survived some shoddy fielding and had lady luck on their side once again. John Lackey out-pitched CC Sabathia as the Angels held off several late rallies by New York to win 5-4.
Sabathia wasn’t horrible but he was tagged for four runs in the fourth inning putting the Yanks in a 4-1 hole. Cut to the seventh. The Yanks scored a run and loaded the bases against Lackey with nobody out. But Lackey showed chutzpah and struck out Mark Teixeira on a full count curve ball. The pitch would have been a strike regardless–Teixeira whiffed–and it was the third slow curve of the at-bat. Then Alex Rodriguez turned over a pitch and hit a grounder to third. Chone Figgins made a slick pick fielding a tough hop, touched third and then fired a ball in the dirt to first. But Kendry Morales–who had made an error earlier in the inning–picked the ball clean and the Angels were out of trouble.
After the Angels scored another run against Sabathia, the Yanks loaded the bases with nobody out in the eighth too. They scored a run and then Jorge Posada–who entered the game late as a pinch-hitter–hit a sacrifice fly scoring another, pushing the score to 5-4. Nick Swisher pinch-hit for Brett Gardner and smoked a line drive back through the box. Reliever Darren Oliver stuck his glove out and made the Look-What-I-Found catch. Then he turned and picked Melky Cabrera off first for the double play.
And that’s how it goes for the Yanks in L.A.
Rodriguez struck out to end the game in the ninth. He had a great hack at the second pitch–a fastball–but missed it, fouling the ball back. He whiffed on another fastball.
So the Yanks end the first half on a down note. They have played well. They have been fun to root for but they go into the break with a bad and all-too familiar taste in their mouths. The Yanks are now three games behind the Red Sox who won again against the Royals.
Well, that’s okay. Whadda ya gunna do? Gives ’em something to remember. We’ll see if they’ve got it in ’em to do something about it.
The Yanks have played well in the first half but have still not found a way to conquer their two rivals the Red Sox and the Angels. That is something they’ll need to fix in the second half, ain’t it?
In the meantime, the Bombers turn to their big ticket, CC Sabathia, to remedy the weekend blues in Cali.
Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering Rally Monkey; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee.
Nothing stops a Yankee winning streak like the heavenly hosts of Anaheim, and tonight they overcame a four-run deficit to beat the Yankees 10-6. This Joba Chamberlain start was, unlike the last one, not a complete disaster, but he once again threw too many pitches, worked too slowly, and didn’t get out of the fifth inning on a night when the bullpen very much needed a break. He had a 5-1 lead when he allowed a couple of singles, A-Rod made a throwing error, and Kendry Morales hit a three-run shot to tie the game; one double later, Joe Girardi pulled him.
The shorthanded Yankee bullpen, in the form of Melancon and Bruney, was no better – but about the only other arm available tonight was Brett Tomko’s, so I guess things could have been even worse. Meanwhile the Yankees hit Joe Saunders fairly hard – at one point Alex Rodriguez somehow launched a home run with an awkward swing at a calf-high changeup – but once he left, they scored just once off of five Angels relievers.
How to quantify fielding? That is the question. Statistics are often revealing when discussing hitting but fielding is harder to pin down. For instance, how can you accurately determine a fielder’s range when players are often positioned by their coaches? Well, in today’s New York Times, Alan Schwarz takes a look at the future of fielding metrics:
A new camera and software system in its final testing phases will record the exact speed and location of the ball and every player on the field, allowing the most digitized of sports to be overrun anew by hundreds of innovative statistics that will rate players more accurately, almost certainly affect their compensation and perhaps alter how the game itself is played.
Which shortstops reach the hard-hit grounders up the middle? Which base runners take the fastest path from first base to third? Which right fielders charge the ball quickest and then throw the ball hardest and most accurately? Although the game will continue to answer to forces like wind, glaring sun and the occasional gnat swarm, a good deal of time-honored guesswork will give way to more definite measurements — continuing the trend of baseball front offices trading some traditional game-watching scouts for video and statistical analysts.
It was a tight game tonight, and A.J. Burnett was a bit nervous-making. Wild pitches left and right (and then left again), seven hits in 6.1 innings, four walks and just two strikeouts. But Burnett was stubborn, too, and he controlled the damage: the Yankees won, 4-2. At a few points he was stalking around the mound and muttering to himself; “I got upset a couple times, but just tried to stay within myself and make the next pitch,” he said after the game. Ah, that’s a golden oldie, stay within himself. Joe Torre used that one all the time, and while I don’t think it actually means anything (staying within yourself is just what you do while you’re taking it one day at a time and giving 110 or even 120%), it invokes fond memories.
In the postgame scrum, a reporter asked Burnett how he settled himself during games. “Anything that can calm me down,” he said. “I’m joking out there with myself, I mean if y’all could read my mind out there y’all would crack up.” Am I the only one imagining Nuke LaLoosh’s inner monologue from Bull Durham right now? Anyway, as I’ve seen a number of Yankees fans say this season, Burnett’s been a lot more likable than I expected. He always used to annoy me. Partly it was his squinty, short-tempered demeanor on the mound – like with my old favorite Paul O’Neill and his temper tantrums, that stuff’s a lot less charming when the player in question isn’t on your team. Plus there were some very questionable hair choices over the years. But hey, so far this season, he’s been downright endearing.
Anyway, Burnett’s outing (dare I call it “gritty”?) and another pretty solid night for the Yankee bullpen – including a 1.1-inning save courtesy of Mo – were enough, barely, to back up the Yankees’ four runs. Anthony Swarzak started for Minnesota tonight, and the Yankees got to him early, scoring three runs in the second on a RBI groundout from Nick Swisher and a two-run Brett Gardner single. Swarzak, who sounds like a creature from Land of the Lost, made a good recovery but his pitch count puffed up fast. He was out of the game in the fifth, though not before giving up what turned out to be the game-winning run – which came when Alex Rodriguez knocked in Derek Jeter. (Ain’t that the way it’s supposed to be?).
I’ve always liked the Twins, and now that they have a player named Span, of course I have to pull for them even more. My guy Denard has a very fine .377 OBP, though admittedly he is not exactly slugging up a storm. And I think it will take a few more series before I stop doing a double-take every time Ken Singleton says “Span is smelling like a rose” (thanks Kenny!) or David Cone remarks that “Span’s just caught flat-footed”.
The Yanks have won 12 of their last 14. Excelsior.
