Good morning!
Suffolk Downs has ridden into the sunset. The East Boston oval was built in 1935 and its owners have included baseball Hall of Famer Bill Veeck, whose book “Thirty Tons a Day” referred to the amount horse manure that had to be hauled off the grounds each day.
Railbirds referred to it as Sufferin’ Downs. “I used to go every Sunday with Chris Hart, the son of playright Moss Hart, and Kitty Carlisle of ‘What’s My Line’ fame,” emailed Greenfield’s Bob Diamond. “We’d go to Union Oyster House for brunch and get to the clubhouse for the first post.
“Chris was a superb handicapper and always went with $100, while I’d take my life savings. One afternoon I was down to a sawbuck and put it on a gray mare that hadn’t won in 20 starts, ridden by a jockey who hadn’t won the entire meet.
“The mare went off at 50-to-1 and the favorite opened up by eight lengths, but the gray started to move past the also-rans. She kept coming and the leader was faltering and my jockey was up in the irons, whipping, waving, flogging, bouncing…
“It was going to be a photo and I started leaning back trying to get her home, leaning, leaning, leaning… and I lost my balance and fell backward into the next table. They weren’t happy, especially since I’d been screaming for the longshot to win.
“The gray won by a nostril and paid $212, so I got back $530 — a lot back then. I bought everyone champagne, etc., and we had a great night, and of course I lost it all the next time out.”
UMass hockey coach Greg Carvel updated the state of the team in a series of text messages from where he’s vacationing. “Solid class. Jones is a star,” said Carvel, referring to the nine incoming players and Rangers’ third round draft choice Zac Jones.
Sniper Eric Faith will be a hit on the scoresheet and in the minds of headline writers. He was named the Top Graduating Player of the Central Canada Hockey League after he scored 73 points in 64 games for the Brockville (Ont.) Braves.
The goaltending job is up for grabs between sophomore Filip Lindberg and junior Matt Murray. As last year wore on, Carvel gave Lindberg the nod, and the Finnish freshman wound up being drafted in the seventh round by the Minnesota Wild. But this year, who plays between the pipes “is completely up in the air, either kid can have the net.”
Meanwhile, third string goalie Brad Arvanitis has decided to pack his duffel bag. “Brad transferred to D3 so he can play more,” texted Carvel.
Another goalie, Alex Camarre of the Odessa Jackalopes, committed to UMass on May 25. “Known for his acrobatic saves and aggressive goaltending,” according to the Jackalopes’ publicity office. The last goalie of note to come out of the North American Hockey League was Connor Hellebuyck, who played at UMass-Lowell and is now with the Winnipeg Jets.
Carvel will have 27 skaters competing for 23 roster spots (not including goalies), 19 of whom will be allowed to suit up for the game. Asked what lines and defensive pairings he might devise for the RPI game on Oct. 11, Carvel replied, “No clue, and I’m the coach!”
Chris Russo Quote of the Week: “I watched ‘Real Sports’ last night, and God bless Don Nelson who just got in the NBA Hall of Fame, who played forever, coached forever and who right now is doing eight bong hits in Maui getting ready for his poker game with Willie Nelson. You had to see that to believe it, to see Don Nelson who did nothing but yell at officials for 30 years and was a helluva coach — right now Donnie is growing pot farms and smoking five joints a day in Hawaii.”
Hearing Bob McClure’s story from 1979 made me think that ballplayers had more fun before analytics and the search for the perfect launch angle.
McClure pitched 20 years in the big leagues and was out to avenge a prank that two of his Brewers teammates (whom he never named) pulled on him when they locked him in the clubhouse bathroom during a game.
On an off day in Kansas City, McClure went to a pig farm and bought a piglet covered in dung. He put it in a burlap bag and carried it up to his teammates’ hotel room. The maid let him in, and he left the pig on the bed. His tipsy teammates got back to their room at 3 a.m., and McClure watched through the peephole as they struggled to unlock the door.
After they finally opened it, the pig squealed and they jumped back into the hallway. Finally one of them got up the nerve to go inside and after a moment of silence he yelled, “There’s a pig in the room!”
“That was all I heard the rest of the night,” McClure told the interviewer. “The next morning I went to their room because we were going to have breakfast together. I walked in and one of them was still in bed with the covers up to his chest, and he was feeding the pig french fries.”
McClure said they brought the pig to the ballpark and gave it to pitcher Reggie Cleveland, who took it to his farm. “To this day I still don’t think they know it was me who did it,” said McClure.
SQUIBBERS: Interesting how Megan Rapinoe would curse the White House considering the U.S. women’s team has behaved downright Trumpian at the World Cup. … Rapinoe and Game of Thrones character Brienne of Tarth are dead ringers. Is that why she bows after her goals? … “The Red Sox second baseman of the future is Mookie Betts, especially if he keeps playing outfield like Troy O’Leary,” texted Greenfield native Doug Stotz, who added that Betts was a second baseman when he signed. … Think the Red Sox have it bad? The Arizona bullpen issued five straight walks in the ninth inning to blow the lead and lose 5-4 to the Dodgers on Tuesday. … Australian Nick Kyrgios sure did knock over the tea and crumpets on his way out of Wimbledon. … Blue Jays radio voice Dan Shulman paid homage to John Sterling’s consecutive game streak that ended this week at 5,060. “Let me see, my streak is currently at 58,” said Shulman. … No, it’s not been a good year for New York baseball broadcasters. Sterling is out 10 days to recuperate from exhaustion, TV voice Michael Kay will miss a month to have throat surgery, and the Mets’ Ron Darling is back on the air and recovering from treatment for thyroid cancer. … Shopping for local eggs and native strawberries at Foster’s this week gave me a good hometown feeling, I just wanted to say that. … The powers that be at Mohawk Trail Regional School will do what they think is right, but Wikipedia lists 19 colleges and universities that have the Warriors nickname, including Merrimack College in North Andover. … Alex Rodriguez on the cover of Sports Illustrated? Please cancel my subscription.
Chip Ainsworth is an award-winning columnist who has penned his observations about sports for four decades in the Pioneer Valley. He can be reached by email at sports@recorder.com.