Pop Culture Heroes Memorial Day - August 16

Several years ago, I designated August 16 as Pop Culture Heroes Memorial Day. Why August 16? One reason is that it is the middle day in a month that doesn't have any holidays. But the main reason is that it is the anniversary of the deaths of both Babe Ruth (died in 1948) and Elvis Presley (died in 1977). This year, I am adding a third important person who died on August 16, Aretha Franklin (2018), to the list of the major pop culture heroes who died on this date. Black and female lives matter! Another white male pop culture hero who died on August 16 quite recently is Peter Fonda (2019).

But I have set up Pop Culture Heroes Memorial Day to honor everyone who achieved fame in various popular culture fields and has since died, no matter what date. Yes, I know that it may be seen as a slap in the face to military and law enforcement heroes, and this year to heroes in the fields of medicine and education. But we have the opportunity to enjoy various forms of popular culture because the military defended our right to do so, law enforcement officers gave us a fairly safe environment in which to enjoy it (most of the time), medical professionals made sure we were healthy enough to appreciate it, and teachers gave us an educational foundation to understand it.

(Except that sometimes when I was in high school in the late 1960s, I surreptitiously had the earphone of my transistor radio attached to my ear, tuning out the teacher while Aretha sang "Think", Elvis sang "Suspicious Minds", or some other favorite song or artist played. Or maybe earlier in the 1960s, one of my classmates had the same setup to listen to the Yankees, now more than 25 years removed from The Babe's playing days, facing the National League champion in the World Series. Any teacher who put up with this was a hero of a special kind.)

Other major league baseball players who died on August 16 include Bobby Thomson (2010), who hit the pennant-winning home run for the New York Giants in 1951; John Roseboro (2002), a long-time catcher with the Dodgers (starting with their last year in Brooklyn) who caught two of Sandy Koufax' no-hitters); and Earl Averill (1983), a Hall of Famer who spent most of his career with Cleveland and had a son named Earl Jr. who also played in the majors. Averill and Ruth both wore #3.

For those of you who do want to observe a military achievement, August 16 is National Airborne Day, which honors the airborne forces of the United States Armed Forces. The first official Army parachute jump was on August 16, 1940.

Entertainers born on August 16 include Madonna, Eydie Gorme, Fess Parker, and both Kathie Lee and Frank Gifford (who was also a Hall of Fame NFL player). Baseball players born on August 16 include Mike Jorgensen (whose claim to fame was often that he was born on the day that Babe Ruth died), Willie "Puddin' Head" Jones (a 1950 Phillies Whiz Kid), and Yu Darvish.

"Think" by Aretha Franklin:

"Suspicious Minds" by Elvis Presley:

Peter Fonda scenes from "Easy Rider":

Bobby Thomson's famous home run - "The shot heard 'round the world:

Most of the YouTube videos about John Roseboro focus on the time an opposing pitcher, who was batting, attacked him on the head with a baseball bat. Here's a funny one featuring several Dodgers. Roseboro is the catcher. Sandy Koufax is the pitcher.

Here is Babe Ruth supposedly calling his shot - a World Series home run:

I Haven't Forgotten This Blog, and Happy Birthday, Anne Murray!

No, I didn't get sick and die from you-know-what! I was waiting for baseball to get underway to have a new Opening Day for this blog. But it hasn't happened and may not happen this year. So I will try to write again starting now. Plus, I'm spending a lot of the time I would have been spending on this blog doing some household projects. I've thrown away a lot of stuff lately. Some days there was so much that the trash can I was using began to split apart. A big package came from Wal Mart today. Someone surprised me with a new trash can! I can't wait to get started on tonight's project in about 45 minutes so I can put it to good use!

I missed so many singer birthdays. Paul Davis on April 21 (and I had salvaged something from my only other attempt at writing a blog to post about him), Glen Campbell (I watched his documentary "I'll Be Me" that day to celebrate), Barbra Streisand on April 24, Tommy James on April 29, Tommy Roe on May 9, songwriter Burt Bacharach on May 12, Stevie Wonder and Ritchie Valens on May 13, Bob Dylan on May 24 (he may not be as interesting to me as Tommy James, but he is certainly worth writing about), John Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival) on May 28, and Paul McCartney on June 18. And there may have been others that have slipped my mind for now. I will try to catch up with them in the following weeks with belated birthday posts.

Today, June 20, is Anne Murray's 75th birthday. She has been retired from performing for more than a decade, and I'm not sure she's still recording. She lives in her native Canada, in Toronto. I've thought about doing a post with pictures of street signs that make me think of songs, performers, and sports figures or events. Here's one to honor today's special occasion:

The first song I ever heard by her was "Snowbird", which is still one of my favorite songs by her. I think that the first time I ever heard it was on the morning of Monday, July 27, 1970 (an important date in my life because that night, I saw Neil Diamond in concert for the first time), played by Harv Moore, the morning disc jockey on WPGC in Washington, DC. Here it is:

Over the next few years, she had hits with two songs originally recorded by Loggins and Messina:

"Danny's Song":

And "A Love Song":

She remade a Beatles song, "You Won't See Me", which I read somewhere John Lennon thought was one of the best versions of one of the group's song he had ever heard:

And she remade a Monkees song, "Daydream Believer" (too bad she didn't think to also record their other "Believer" song, because she never did a song written by Neil Diamond):

I could go on posting more of my favorites, but this should be enough for now.

Interesting Baseball Birthdays for April 14

Several interesting baseball players were born on April 14. They include (with some overlapping):

• Three members of the 1990s Atlanta Braves dynasty, including two born in the same year.
• Two players who were born in Cincinnati, won the National League Rookie of the Year Award, and whose last names can be found in the phrase Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird. (She served in office in California from 1977 until 1987, having lost a reconfirmation vote in November 1986.)
• Two Jewish catchers born in consecutive years, one of them on Easter Sunday.

Here is more information on them:

The 1990s Atlanta Braves:

Outfielder David Justice was born in Cincinnati on April 14, 1966. He debuted with the Braves in 1989 but did not play enough games or accumulate enough plate appearances to lose his rookie status. In 1990, still a rookie, he hit .282 with 28 home runs and 78 RBIs, enough to receive the NL Rookie of the Year award. He continued to star with the Braves through 1996, making the NL All Star team in 1993 and 1994. He was then traded to the Cleveland Indians before the 1997 and made the American League All Star team that year. He stayed with Cleveland until the middle of the 2000 season, when he was traded to the New York Yankees. After the 2001 season, he was traded across town to the New York Mets, but a week later, he was traded to the Oakland A's. The 2002 season in Oakland was his last in the major leagues.

Lefthander Steve Avery, born on April 14, 1970, joined the Braves at the age of 20 in 1990. In his first game, he lasted only 2 1/3 innings against the Cincinnati Reds, giving up 8 earned runs. 1990 was the last year the Braves were a bad team that often finished last in the NL West. In 1991, the Braves improved to finish first, and Avery was a major reason. He finished 18-8 with a 3.38 ERA and 137 strikeouts. It looked like Avery, Tom Glavine, and John Smolz would form a "Big Three" starting rotation for years to come in Atlanta. But after an All Star season in 1993, his career went downhill, partly due to injuries. He left the Braves as a free agent after the 1996 season and signed with the Boston Red Sox. After two seasons in Boston, he signed with the Cincinnati Reds, where he spent one season. He did not play in the major or minor leagues in either 2001 or 2002, but he made a brief comeback with the Detroit Tigers in 2003. He posted a 2-0 record for a team that lost 119 games that year, but that was his last big league season.

Righthander Greg Maddux, also born on April 14, 1966, began his major league career with the Chicago Cubs. From 1986 through 1992, he made two All Star teams and showed other signs of becoming a star pitcher. After the 1992 season, he became a free agent and signed with the Braves. Briefly, he formed a "Big Four" with Avery, Glavine, and Smolz, but after Avery's decline, his presence still gave the team a "Big Three". He led the league in ERA his first three seasons in Atlanta and led the league in several other categories during his years in Atlanta, which stretched from 1993-2003. He was an All Star every year from 1994-1998 and in 2000. After becoming a free agent following the 2003 season, he returned to the Cubs. In the middle of the 2006 season, the Cubs traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers. After the 2006 season, he became a free agent again and signed with the San Diego Padres, He returned to the Dodgers late in the 2008 season, after which he retired.

Maddux is the only player born on April 14 in the Baseball Hall of Fame. I strongly feel that he should not be, which brings us to the next category.

Cincinnati natives who won the NL Rookie of the Year Award and whose last names can be found in Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird:

I've already mentioned David Justice.

Pete Rose is baseball's all-time hit leader with 4,256. He also leads in games played with 3,562, plate appearances with 15, 890, and official at-bats with 14,053. He began his career with his hometown Reds in 1963 and finished with the Reds in 1986, having served as player-manager for the last two. He managed the Reds for three more years. He played for the Reds from 1963-1978, the Philadelphia Philles from 1979-1983, the Montreal Expos in 1984, and the Reds again in 1985-1986. He was an All Star 17 times. As someone who is not big on punishments, lifetime bans, tough love, and disqualifications, I strongly feel that Pete Rose must go into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Jewish catchers born in consecutive years:

Jesse Levis was born in Philadelphia on April 14, 1968 (Easter Sunday). He was drafted by his hometown Phillies after high school but decided to play college baseball at the University of North Carolina instead. Three years later, he was drafted by the Cleveland Indians and signed with them. He made his debut in 1992 and shuttled between the Tribe and AAA between then and 1995. Cleveland had Sandy Alomar, Jr., as its first string catcher then, and it was difficult for other catchers to get playing time for the team. Levis was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers (then still in the AL) before the 1996 season. He held down the first-string catcher spot until he was injured in May 1998. He had brief re-appearances with the Indians in 1999 and the Brewers in 2001 before his major league career ended, although he was still playing in the minors in 2003.

(The name Jesse Levis contains the name of one of twin sons born to Mrs. Gladys Presley on January 8, 1935, and an anagram of the name of the other twin son.)

Brad Ausmus, born on April 14, 1969, had a much more substantial career as a predominantly first-string catcher. He played for the San Diego Padres from 1993-mid-1996, then the Detroit Tigers for the remainder of 1996 and 1999-2000, the Houston Astros from 1997-1998 and 2001-2008, and the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2009-2010. He was an All Star in 1999. In 12 of his 18 seasons, he caught in 100 or more games. After his playing career was done, he managed the Tigers from 2014-2017 and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in 2019.

Happy birthday to all of the players who are celebrating today!

Happy Birthday, Diana Ross!

Diana Ross, who first became prominent as the lead singer of the Motown girl group the Supremes, was born in Detroit on March 26, 1944. As a teenager, she sang with other girls who also lived in the housing project where she lived. They formed a group, the Primettes, which later evolved into the Supremes. Originally, group member Florence "Flo" Ballard sang lead, while Diana Ross and Mary Wilson sang backup. But after they signed with Motown, label head Berry Gordy, Jr., decided that Diana would sing lead.

After a few minor hits, the group scored its first #1 record, "Where Did Our Love Go".

Starting with "Where Did Our Love Go", 10 out of 13 singles released by the group reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and 12 of them reached the Top 10. Two of my favorite came in the second half of 1966. Collectively, I call them the "Yuke" songs: "You Can't Hurry Love"

and "You Keep Me Hangin' On".

Suddenly, I am 14 years old again, a tough time in my life, but these two songs were bright spots for me. Both have been hits by other artists since then. The most notable remake of "You Can't Hurry Love" was a hit by Phil Collins that reached the Billboard Top 10 in 1983. Other hit remakes of "You Keep Me Hangin' On" include a Top 10 hit by Vanilla Fudge in 1967 and a Number 1 hit by Kim Wilde in 1986.

Flo Ballard left the Supremes and was replaced by Cindy Birdsong in 1967. At that point the group name became Diana Ross and the Supremes. The group's records began to peak at lower positions. In 1969, it was announced that Diana Ross would be leaving the group at the end of the year to pursue a solo career. Her last single with the group, "Someday We'll be Together", was only their second Billboard #1 since her name was made part of the group's. I have read that Mary and Cindy didn't even sing on this record. Instead, Diana was backed by a Motown studio girl group, the Andantes. Here's the song:

After Diana Ross left the Supremes, she continued to be a successful recording and performing artist for many years. She also pursued a career as a film star, appearing in such movies as Lady Sings the Blues (for which she received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress), Mahogany, and The Wiz. Her first hit single as a solo artist was "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)":

Her first #1 solo hit was "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", which is not one of my favorite hits of hers. (I much prefer the version by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell.) But I do love her second #1, "Touch Me in the Morning". Yes, another song about touching! Here it is:

In addition to her solo hits, Diana Ross has had duet hits with Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Julio Iglesias, Al B. Sure!, and Rod Stewart.

Instead of "The Most Splendid Time in Sport", Let's Play The Birthday Game!

In the May 11, 1981, issue of Time, the following lines appeared in the article "Happy Playing Billyball", written by staff sportswriter B.J. Phillips:

In the beginning, there was no baseball. But ever since, there have been few beginnings as good as the start of a new baseball season. It is the most splendid time in sport, in part because baseball is about the only sport left—now that football players report to training camp before the Fourth of July, and hockey players start skating in Indian summer—that still has a time and is true to it.

While we're waiting for "the most splendid time" to get underway, whenever that will be, I want to share a research project I did last year on the 25-man Opening Day rosters for each team. I used a mathematical principle that states:

In a room of just 23 people, there’s a 50-50 chance of at least two people having the same birthday.

This is not a math blog, so I won't get into the details right now. You can read more about it on sites such as Better Explained and Wikipedia. But I figured that with 25 men on each roster, the odds were good that at least 15 of the 30 teams would have at least two players with the same birthday. In fact, 17 teams had such pairs, and some even had multiple pairs. One team even had three players with the same birthday!

Here are the teams and the players involved. Some of the players are no longer with the teams with whom they're listed here.

National League East:

Philadelphia Phillies - Rhys Hoskins and Jean Segura, March 17

Washington Nationals - Patrick Corbin and Yan Gomes, June 30

National League Central:

St. Louis Cardinals - Andrew Miller and Matt Wieters, May 21

Cincinnati Reds - Raisel Iglesias and Michael Lorenzen, January 4; Kyle Farmer and Jesse Winker, August 17; Eugenio Suarez and Derek Dietrich, July 18

National League West:

Colorado Rockies - Daniel Murphy and David Dahl, April 1

Los Angeles Dodgers - Ross Stripling and Justin Turner, November 23

San Diego Padres - Phil Maton and Kirby Yates, March 25

American League East:

Boston Red Sox - Ryan Brasier and David Price, August 26; Christian Vazquez and J.D. Martinez, August 21

New York Yankees - Adam Ottavino and Austin Romine, November 22

American League Central:

Cleveland Indians - Adam Cimber and Oliver Perez, August 15; Roberto Perez and Hanley Ramirez, December 23

Minnesota Twins - Ryne Harper and Jake Odorizzi, March 27

Chicago White Sox - Alex Colome and Kelvin Herrera, December 31

Kansas City Royals - Tim Hill, Jorge Lopez, and Alex Gordon, February 10; Brad Keller and Adalberto Mondesi, July 27 (both in 1995)

American League West:

Houston Astros - Chris Devenski and Wade Miley, November 13; Alex Bregman and Jake Marisnick, March 30

Los Angeles Angels - Ty Buttrey and Peter Bourjos, March 31

Seattle Mariners - Chasen Bradford and Domingo Santana, August 5

Texas Rangers - Kyle Dowdy and Rougned Odor, February 3; Shawn Kelley and Nomar Mazara, April 26

The Atlanta Braves, Miami Marlins, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants, Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers, and Oakland Athletics had none.

I did this exercise in 2017, and exactly half of the 30 teams had matches. One highlight from that one: the Blue Jays had two players born on 19 October and two exactly a week later on 26 October.

2019 American League Rookie of the Year Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros did not debut until June 9, 2019, but even if he had started the season with the Astros or any other team, he would not have had a matching birthday on the team. No players born on his birthday of June 27 were on any 25-man Opening Day rosters in 2019. Stefan Crichton, who appeared with the Diamondbacks but was not on the team's 25-man Opening Day roster, was the only major leaguer born on February 29 to appear in the majors in 2019, so he wouldn't have had a match, either.

Happy Birthday, Elton and Aretha!

Ah! Here are two all-time greats for whom I just need to give a first name, and immediately, those who are familiar with the field know to whom I am referring. Elton John and Aretha Franklin share the same birthday, March 25. (Another person born on March 25 who has had a major effect on my life is writer and activist Gloria Steinem.)

Elton John was born with the name Reginald Kenneth Dwight on March 25, 1947, in Pinner, Middlesex, England. At a young age, he formed a group called Bluesology, for which he played piano. He took his stage name from the names of two members of the group, saxophonist Elton Dean and vocalist Long John Baldry. The 2019 movie about him, Rocketman, incorrectly implies that John came from John Lennon of the Beatles. He also adopted the middle name Hercules.

Aretha Franklin was born in Memphis on March 25, 1942, but lived much of her life in Detroit, where she died on August 16, 2018. (August 16! I didn't even realize until I typed it just now that Aretha died on the same day of the year as Elvis and The Babe, who most people who follow rock music and baseball, respectively, would know just by those names. In case you don't know, I mean Elvis Presley and baseball great Babe Ruth. And as for people who became famous only by one name, it is also Madonna's birthday.) One thing I love about Aretha is that for almost every song I've ever heard her sing that I also know by another artist, I think that her version is better.

Let's put this to the test. Here's Elton singing "Border Song", which he wrote with his long-time singing partner, Bernie Taupin:

And here is Aretha's version:

Personally, I think that both are great, and I love them both about equally. But I love the organ instrumental break in Aretha's, which puts it over the top for her.

And to conclude this birthday celebration for the two of them, here is a live duet of this song by Elton and Aretha:

What If Elvis Presley Hadn't Died Until Today, March 24, 2020?

What if Elvis Presley had lived until today? What would he have done with the rest of his career, and how would his death today have affected people?

The first thing I want to explain is why I picked March 24, 2020, as the date for Elvis to die after living a good, long life to the age of 85. I could have gone with his 100th birthday, January 8, 2035, or the date in the year in which he would have turned 100 that was the same one on which he died, August 16, 2035.

Here's why. There were 15,561 days between the day on which Elvis was born, January 8, 1935, and the day on which he died, August 16, 1977. And there were 15,561 days between August 16, 1977, and today, March 24, 2020. Since all of these dates were Tuesdays, the weeks between them don't include fractions: 2,223 weeks.

Enough of the math stuff. Let's speculate what Elvis would have continued to do.

Elvis would have continued making records for a very long time, maybe even up to the present time. Maybe he had a new album ready to go that would have been even more anticipated because it was now going to be his last one. At some point, his contract with RCA would have been up. Even if his sales had been in decline, he'd still likely have attracted a decent contract with a label, either RCA or another one.

He would have also continued his live performances on tours and in places like Las Vegas for a few more decades. Maybe at some point in the 2000s, an Elvis Farewell Tour would have drawn fans eager to see him one last time, as well as some first timers who wanted the chance to say that they had seen Elvis Presley perform live. Even after this tour, he may have taken up residence in Las Vegas, Branson, or some other entertainment hotspot and just done shows there.

Elvis hadn't made a movie for eight years at the time of his death. His movies were often done quickly, with thin plots. In the case of It Happened at the World's Fair, for example, what sane parent would trust their young child with a complete stranger (played by Elvis) these days? But some of his best-known hit songs came from his movies, including "Love Me Tender", "Jailhouse Rock", and "Can't Help Falling In Love". That said, it wouldn't have surprised me to have seen Elvis get back into movies with the proper but solid plot and some great songs. One person who may have made a great costar with Elvis is Dolly Parton. Dolly's own film career didn't take off until about three years after Elvis died. Her new cinematic star power may have boosted Elvis' reborn one and vice versa.

Elvis did not perform duets with other singers, unless you count his backup group the Jordanaires. Within a couple of years after his death, duets of singers who didn't normally sing together became an "in" thing. And one of the first singers to be involved in such a recording was the man sometimes called "The Jewish Elvis", Neil Diamond, when he sang "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" with Barbra Streisand, which went all the way to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Streisand continued in this vein with hit duets with artists like Donna Summer and Barry Gibb (of the BeeGees) and eventually released an album of duets. Frank Sinatra, who was as big an artist in his day as Elvis was in his, did two albums of duets in his later years. Elton John, who also is as big an artist in his day as Elvis (early birthday greetings Elton!), has done one. And Kenny Rogers, who really did die in the past week at the age of 81, had duet hits with at least four other artists, including Dolly Parton, and probably more, since I stopped following the hits of the day after around 1988. With Elvis actively recording during those years, I'm sure there would have been many artists, male and female, young and old, who would have loved to have done one or more with Elvis. Elvis duets albums, especially one of love songs or rock and roll hits, would not have been inconceivable.

In fact, some posthumous duets involving dubbing have been made, both officially and unofficially. I remember hearing a version of Linda Ronstadt and Elvis performing "Love Me Tender" on the radio not long after he died. An album of Christmas duets was released in 2008.

Elvis' late 1960s comeback started with a television special aired in November 1968. Elvis would have continued to use TV and videos to keep his career going. While he would probably not have been in regular rotation on MTV or even VH1, he would have had periodic specials, perhaps at Christmas, and direct-to-consumer releases (first on VHS, then on DVD/Blu-Ray, and finally on streaming sources).

The industry that grew up around Elvis after his death would not have happened like it did, at least not in such a large-scale manner. Graceland would still be his home, so it would not have been the tourist attraction that it is today. Sun Studios, where Elvis recorded his early hits, is also a tourist attraction in Memphis. In fact, when I was in Memphis when I should have been home watching the start of the 2008 World Series, I toured Sun Studios but not Graceland. Since it had not been in use for a long time, and it is also famous for early recording sessions by singers such as Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Roy Orbison, this would have still been a tourist stop in Memphis even with Elvis still alive and living there.

There would still be Elvis imitators and tribute acts. You only have to look as far to see that Neil Diamond, who is still alive and was performing live as recently as 2017, who has spawned a good number of such acts through the past 25 or 30 years. Elvis would have done the same.

I don't want to speculate on Elvis' personal life. At the time of his death, his girlfriend was Ginger Alden. Maybe they eventually married, maybe they didn't, and if they did, were they still together? I don't think he would have been too happy when his daughter Lisa Marie married Michael Jackson and would have been relieved when they split.

As for cause of death, I'm going to say that it was not that thing that's going around. He would have likely been reclusive at the end and would not have been exposed to it. More likely, the cause would have been a longer term illness or medical condition, such as dementia, cancer, or heart disease. Because of that thing going around, he would have had a quiet burial at Graceland next to both of his parents, with fan gatherings happening later.