Number 41

[Daffy]

According to their bios...Walt Frasier's nick was "Clyde"...Clyde Drexler(POR/HOU) was "the glide".

the dUck

[johnsteed]

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Daffy

I identified with DeBusschere's commando style...loved watching those Knicks.

I think that the Knicks (in the early '70s) may have been one of the deepest teams in the history of the NBA. Specifically the '73 line-up that they rolled-out. Wow, loaded. The starting 5 and the 6th-man, are the best I've yet to see. Check it out:

- Earl Monroe
- Walt Frazier
- Dave Debusschere
- Bill Bradley
- Willis Reed
- Jerry Lucas



Ouch!!! And that '73 team needed to be loaded, because that '73 Lakers squad was excellent as well (and defeated them the year before in the '72 Finals).

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Spearmaster

OMG... Mr. Underhand Free Throw... didn't know where he'd gone off to. Also a great player...

Yes, the underhanded free throw. He wanted to teach Shaq how to do it, but Shaq had refused because he thought/thinks it'll make him look silly (i.e. losing that "street-cred"). Geez, I thought hovering around 50% at the charity stripe makes him look silly enough.

Rick Barry is very colorful, egotistical, but even he acknowledges it. Great player, and like how Seaver willed the Miracle Mets team, Barry did the same for that long forgotten about Golden State Warriors team ('74-75) that won it all, beating a damn-good Bullets team. If you ever get a chance, check out his interviews at KNBR680 (radio) under "Instant Replay", where he has tons of memorable interviews with all the legends. Trust me, great stuff. Almost on par with the Casinomeisters webcasts.


Spearmaster

It's been 5-years now. I miss real TV!!!


You're telling me... I last lived in the US in 1988... thank goodness for CNN and ESPN...

Wow, I'm jealous. I don't get ESPN, I only get MBC Sports from Korea, but I do get Star Sports that comes from China (I think maybe you'll know what I'm talking about on that one). I used to get CNN here, back from '01-02, and they changed it to the BBC. Which is fine, but when they did have CNN, I could always look forward to "This Week In The NBA". Now (cough-cough)... nada.



Steed


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[spearmaster]

According to their bios...Walt Frasier's nick was "Clyde"...Clyde Drexler(POR/HOU) was "the glide".

Actually, that's right. Clyde the Glide was Drexler. Walt was "Clyde" but I was sure he was often referred to as "Clyde the Glide" as well... anyhow, believe the bios, after 30 years I'm getting a bit rusty too

[Daffy]

That's okay...lol...I thought about "the glide" most of the day until I was forced to research it.

You also stirred my interest with that Billy Buckner trivia...

They did an ESPN special (sorry JS) last year on famous "goats"...ESPN felt the bullpen caused the 86' debacle...

Here's the Baseball Almanac write-up of Game 6 and Game 7...



Like his struggling counterpart, Clemens was also looking for his first win and left Game 6 with a 3-2 lead. However his teammates were unable to finish the job, leaving fourteen men on base and committing one of the most devastating errors in World Series history. After Henderson led off the top of the tenth with a home run against Rick Aguilera breaking the 3-3 tie, Boston increased its lead to 5-3 as Wade Boggs doubled and Marty Barrett singled him home. Sox reliever Calvin Schiraldi (who yielded the tying run in the eighth) retired the Mets' first two batters in the tenth (Wally Backman and Keith Hernandez), moving Boston to within one out of the World Series title. Carter prolonged the anxious fans tension with a clutch single and Kevin Mitchell followed with another base hit. Schiraldi regained his composure and managed a no-ball, two-strike count on New York's Ray Knight, but the third baseman made contact on his next offering, scoring Carter and moving Mitchell to third. Anticipating a disaster, Bob Stanley was called in and matched Mookie Wilson in a ten-pitch duel that left fans on both sides hanging on the edge of their seats. Wilson fouled off a 2-1 pitch, then sent two more out of bounds. As the pressure continued to build, Stanley's seventh pitch went wild, and Mitchell raced home with the game-tying run with Knight advancing to second. With a full count of 3-2, Wilson finally connected fair on the tenth toss sending a short grounder along the baseline toward first baseman Bill Buckner. A collective sigh of relief fell over the Boston crowd in anticipation of a textbook out and a chance at redemption in the eleventh-inning. However their jubilation quickly turned to shock and disbelief as the ball somehow slipped under Buckner's glove and continued to roll. As Knight bolted home for the 6-5 victory, the home crowd at Shea Stadium erupted in celebration. The Mets were still alive with or without, a little help from "The Babe". For Buckner, the costly error became a defining moment and ultimately overshadowed the rest of his career.

While the Sox had found themselves in this predicament before (one strike away from elimination in the American League Series), many fans had already abandoned the team and Buckner was crucified in the papers for making the critical mistake. Luckily they would have twenty-four hours to regain their senses as Game 7 was postponed a day due to rain. Three time winner Bruce Hurst returned for the final outing and looked to make it right again with a little help from his friends. Dwight Evans and Rich Gedman both belted back-to-back homers and Boggs delivered an RBI single for a 3-0 lead going into the sixth. New York tied the game on Hernandez's bases-loaded single that scored Lee Mazzilli and Wilson while Carter's tee-shot to right brought Wally Backman home.

Schiraldi was sent in as relief in the seventh, but Knight tagged him again (as he had in Game 6) with a tie-breaking homer. Before it was over, Rafael Santana nailed a RBI single and Hernandez added a sac-fly for the 6-3 lead. Sid Fernandez had shut out Boston through the middle innings, but Roger McDowell replaced him and surrendered a two run double off Evans in the eighth. Jesse Orosco entered as the third reliever and managed to coax Gedman to line out, Henderson to strike out and Don Baylor to bounce out. As the Mets took their turn in the bottom of the eighth, Darryl Strawberry sent one into the seats for the 8-5 advantage and it was all over from there. Orosco returned in the ninth to finish the job and struck out the side (1-2-3) crowning the National League reps as World Champions. The heartbreaking loss in Game 6 still remains as the second darkest day in Beantown sports history. The first of course was a "certain trade" that haunted the Boston faithful for over eight decades.

the dUck

[johnsteed]

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Hey dUck, c'mon...


Me

Unfairly put on him though. Why?

a) He shouldn't have been in the game, he was injured at the time.

b) Others were making critical mistakes, as well.

I thought he may be considered a "loser", but that's not really fair. Bucker was a very talented football player as well, and a very good 1st sacker for quite a number of years.

I think that over the past 20 years or so, the two most overrated plays (in baseball history) are that one, and most definitely the Bonds late throw to get Sid Bream out at home-plate in '92 (versus the Braves). His arm may not be as talented as his other tools, but his arm is very accurate. They don't seem to mention that the infield made a couple errors leading-up to the Sid Bream play. It'll be 100 years from now, and people will still remember those plays.


Steed

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[Daffy]

The "sorry JS" was for the ESPN reference...cause you can't get it in Korea...not the content.

the dUck

[johnsteed]

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Daffy

The "sorry JS" was for the ESPN reference...cause you can't get it in Korea...not the content.

(lol) Whoops.

Funny thing, the last time I saw ESPN was in '02. I was staying at "Circus-Circus" and I went on an awful run at the tables, my first night there. Since I was travelling with some friends (taking some time off work out here in Korea), I thought after getting hammered, to just kick-back and relax in front of the set. I must have watched 12-hours straight (I think it was ESPN II) of bios on MLB stars. Great stuff.

Funny about that week there. I had the best time catching-up on TV, and going with some friends to play BJ all night at the $1 min. tables (free drinks and all). Great stuff. Off of $20, I took it up to a couple hundred without betting over $4.


Hey, dUck, since this thread has turned into a sports hang-out, why Duke Snyder? And since I got you here, what's your "All-Time" MLB team? And if you have time Spearmaster, I'd love to hear yours as well? I imagine you two will be up to the task.


Steed

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[johnsteed]

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Hello fellow forum members,


While I found that my list of most helpful/knowledgeable members is sound, there was a huge oversight on my part by not including BingoT. So, it's not complete...

Okay, so I never play BINGO (other than with my students), therefore I never go into that section of the forum. But after taking a look at all of BingoT's efforts, I'm kicking myself for not mentioning him.

What I do know, is that he's from Hartford, Conneticut. He's in nursing and helps sick children, and he runs bus trips to the casinos. He also does many fundraisers for sick children (information taken from his profile). And he does tons of work in the Bingo section here at Casinomeister. So, never mind all the work he puts forth here, he sounds like a super-individual. My hats off to you for all the work you do.


Thank you.


Sidenote: (I was once a Whalers fan... Blaine Stoughton, Mike Liut, and of course, Ron Francis ).



Now back to baseball...


Steed


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[BingoT]

Hi John I want to Thank You for that compliment.
I do my best to bring joy in many kids and adults in this World and I know and like I say in my life I would love to be like a Jerry Lewis What a great guy he is. I love him for what he does.
This year I have done some much my Goal was to help 75 kids well I helped 153 Thanks to all.
People today don't know what people that have disabilities feel and do in today's life.and like I say I guess I was put here to do a good deed I guess in my past life I was a bad person lol so that's why I do this stuff.
I say take all the normal kids and bring them for a day to a Children's Hospital and let them see what the real life is all about. When my kids are off from school they come to work with me. My 16 year old is starting to feel it in his heart. & they love every minute of the time they spend reading or playing with the kids I take care of.
John again I want to Thank You you made me feel special today
Your friend
Tom
Ps and a Big Thank You to all here at (Bryan's) Casinomeister's Forum
And please if I get out of hand please tell me off

And John The Whalers may come back to Hartford too Big talks going on with this

[spearmaster]

All time MLB team? I bet you two will have a much better go of it than I will, since I haven't been able to follow baseball regularly for over 20 years I honestly would not be able to compare any player since then to those before the 80s... so rather than embarrass myself I'm going to beg off on this one

Buckner was a convenient goat - even I was watching that moment live on TV and I can tell you that disbelief stretched way beyond the stadium... my jaw just dropped...

Yes, the bullpen deserves a lot of flak too. But honestly, in the heat of the situation, I can understand a wild pitch - but a weak grounder getting by Buckner - even worse, between his legs?

Buckner didn't deserve that - nor did the Red Sox. But ultimately it was a ball that any player of any stature should have at least blocked, let alone a Golden Glove. This single mistake was easy to focus on because it was practically unforgiveable.

Yes, he was getting old. Yes, he was injured and really didn't belong on the field. But it should still never have come down to letting the ball roll between your legs.