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Now in our eighth calendar year! PCR #355. (Vol. 8, No. 2) This edition is for the week of January 8--14, 2007.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY And while I'm on the subject, birthday greetings this weekend to bassist extraordinaire Scott Van Sickle. And his flowing mane of hair! HALL OF FAME NEWS Closer to my heart, longtime Baltimore Oriole Cal Ripken, Jr joins Tony Gwynn in July to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Ripken received the highest total votes for a player EVER (537) and his 98.5% vote total is the third highest of all time. Missing the vote badly this year was Mark McGwire, whose "non-answers" at a March 2005 Congressional Hearing into steroid use in baseball may have doomed any chances of him entering Cooperstown. I was a big McGwire fan and was even fortunate, with my son, Phillip, and a couple of friends, to be at Busch Stadium in 1998 when he broke Roger Maris' single season home run record. Though the memory is still strong, it's tarnished by the image of Big Mac sitting silently, refusing to "talk about the past." What makes this year's induction special to me is that Cal Ripken, Jr. is the first player I cheered for whose career I followed almost from day one. Cal is one of the all time great ambassadors of the game and I have many incredible memories of his baseball career. My top three: September 5/6, 1995: Having played every game for almost 14 years straight, Cal Ripken, Jr. plays in his 2130th and 2131st consecutive game, breaking the record of New York Yankee great Lou Gehrig. On both nights Cal delivers home runs as the O's win both games. When game 2131 was made official, the crowd of 48,000 plus, which included my son (whose mother graciously allowed him to miss school so he could come to Baltimore and witness history) and I, gave Ripken a standing ovation as he slowly took a lap around Camden Yards, shaking hands with fans as he circled the field. July 26, 1995: My son is visiting Baltimore for his birthday and as we head to Camden Yards he remarks that, in all of the Oriole games he has seen, he's never seen Cal hit a home run. That night, Ripken hits two. We hang around the park after the game to get some autographs and then head home. As we head across the almost deserted parking lot, a truck comes up out of the underground garage. I instantly recognize it as Ripkens and we wave when he slows down. He stops and Phillip walks up to the drivers side and says hello. For the next five minutes Phillip, a future all league outfielder, and Cal talk baseball, even discussing what pitches Cal hit for his home runs. Surreal. September 1989: The Orioles are in a tough battle with the Toronto Blue Jays for first place in the American League East. As the season winds down, the two teams are virtually tied for first. Having watched the O's win that night at Memorial Stadium, I join other fans near the players parking area. Because the game was important, the Baltimore radio station has picked up the feed of the Blue Jays game. After Cal has signed some autographs he turns on his radio and rolls down his car windows. For the next 45 minutes, about 10 of us sit around Cal's car and listen to the rest of the game with him. I'm already working on plans to travel to Cooperstown at the end of July. I'm also hoping that in March the veteran's committee finally select former Cub Ron Santo for induction as well. Seeing two of my three all time favorite players (the third is Fred Lynn) enter the hall of fame on the same day would be sweet indeed. PASSING ON MOVIE NEWS
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO...? CHAPTER 2: BARRY MILLER WHERE YOU MIGHT KNOW HIM FROM: "Saturday Night Fever," "Fame." The son of long time television actors Sidney Miller and Dorothy Green, Barry Miller was the face of the troubled young man in the late 70s and early 80s. After appearing in a few episodic television shows, he was cast as Bobby C in "Saturday Night Fever." As the quiet, emotionally tormented (his girlfriend is pregnant and he doesn't know what to do) friend of John Travolta's Tony Manero, Miller gives the best performance among the supporting cast. Roles in films like "Voices" and "The Chosen" gave him added exposure. However, it's in the 1980 film "Fame" that Miller shines. As a would be comedian with a Freddie Prinze fixation named Ralph Garcey, Miller tries his best to hide his Latin heritage (his real name is Raul Garcia), often making himself the class clown when challenged by the faculty. Sadly, like Bobby C, Ralph/Raul has too many problems in his personal life and finally breaks down.
Miller continued to work in film and television (most notably as the class nerd who made good in "Peggy Sue Got Married" until 2001 when his last film, "The Devil and Daniel Webster," was released.
Next week I'll look at the career of the leader of the Cutters in "Breaking Away"...Dennis Christopher.
Well, that's all for now. Have a great week. See ya!
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