Frankie Frisch: Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 1947

Born: September 9, 1898

1916: Entered Fordham; left for NY Giants

Debut: June 17, 1919 (Giants)

1921: Named team captain

1921: Giants won World Series

1922: Giants won World Series

1923: Moved to 2b full time

1923: Giants won Pennant (Lost World Series to Yankees)

1924: Giants won Pennant (Lost World Series to Senators)

1926: Traded to Cardinals

1928: Cardinals won Pennant (Lost World Series to Yankees)

1930: Cardinals won Pennant (Lost World Series to A’s)

1931: NL MVP

1931: Cardinals won World Series

1933: Became Cardinals Player/Manager (458-354 record,.564, 1 World Championship)

1934: Cardinals won World Series

1937: Retired as a player

1938: Final year as Cardinal manager

1940-1946: Managed Pirates (539-528 record)

1947: Elected to Hall of Fame

1949-1951: Managed Cubs (141-196)

1950s: Worked radio

1956: Suffered heart attack

1950s-60s: Joined HOF Veteran’s Committee

Died: March 12, 1973 from injuries in a car crash

1999: Nominated for All Century Team

Accomplishments:
4x World Champion

3x All Star

1931 NL MVP

.316 average

105 home runs

1244 RBI

1532 runs

2880 hits

466 doubles

138 triples

419 stolen bases

728 walks-272 strikeouts

100+ Runs: 7x

Led league in runs (121): 1924

200+ hits: 3x

Led league in hits (223): 1923

30+ doubles: 8x

40+ doubles: 2x

10+ triples: 7x

100+ RBI: 3x

Led league in steals: 3x

20+ steals: 11x

30+ steals: 4x

Hit .300: 13x

.407 OBP: 1930

.520 slugging: 1930

300 TB: 2x

Led league in TB (311): 1923

Postseason: .294, 0 HR, 10 RBI, .711 OPS, 9 SB (8 World Series)

Managerial Record: 1138-1078 (.514): 1 Pennant and World Championship

Carl Hubbell: Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 1947

Born: June 22, 1903

1926: Signed by Detroit Tigers and released

1928: Discovered by a Giants scout after the Tigers rebuffed him again

Debut: July 26, 1928 (New York Giants)

1929: No Hit the Pirates

1933-1937: Won 20 or more games each season

1933: Pitched 18 inning shutout

1933: Giants win World Series

1933: NL MVP

1934: Struck out five Hall of Famers in succession in All Star Game

1936-37: Won 24 consecutive games (ML Record)

1936: Giants win pennant (Lose WS to Yankees)

1936: NL MVP

1937: Giants win pennant (Lose WS to Yankees)

1943: Retired

1944: Giants retire his #11

1947: Elected to Hall of Fame

1988: Died (Auto accident)

1999: Finalist for All Century Team

Accomplishments:
243-154 Record

1933 World Champion

2x MVP

9x All Star

Struck out 5 straight HOFers in 1934 ASG

No hitter (1929)

24 consecutive wins (ML Record)

18 inning shutout

2.98 ERA

36 shutouts

3590.1 IP

1.166 WHIP

15+ wins: 8x

20+ wins: 5x

Led league in wins: 3x

Led league in win %: 2x

Sub 3 ERA: 6x

Sub 2.50 ERA: 3x

1.66 ERA (1933)

3x ERA Champ

10+ CG: 14x

15+ CG: 9x

20+ CG: 6x

Led league in CG (25): 1934

Led league in SHO (10): 1934

200+ IP: 10x

250+ IP: 7x

300+ IP: 4x

Led league in IP: 1933 (308.2)

1677 strikeouts

Led league in strikeouts (159): 1937

Led league in WHIP: 6x

1.000 WHIP or less: 1933 (0.982)

Postseason: 4-2, 1.79 ERA, 6 starts (3 World Series)

The 200 Greatest Albums of All Time: "S" Artists part II

Stand!: Sly and the Family Stone (1969)
Sly is one of music’s most talented individuals. Unfortunately, no one remembers him. Stand! represented Sly and the Family Stones’ breakthrough. The album represents not only the band’s peak, but also one of the most creative albums ever recorded.

Key Tracks:
Everyday People
Stand!
I Want to Take You Higher

There’s a Riot Going On: Sly and the Family Stone (1971)
Sly abandoned the formula, which made Stand! a success. With Riot, he took the band in a darker, funkier direction. At first, people were not sure what to make of the album. Over time, critics and fans have embraced it as a classic.

Key Tracks:
Family Affair
Runnin’ Away
Thank You For Takin’ Me to Africa

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness: Smashing Pumpkins (1995)
Billy Corgan hoped to make his generation’s The Wall. The result was a platinum album nine times over. Supposedly, the album’s two sides represent day and night. However, Corgan later claimed Mellon Collie was not a concept record and tied together loosely.

Key Tracks:
Tonight, Tonight
Bullet with Butterfly Wings
1979

Horses: Patti Smith (1975)
Smith emerged from the New York punk scene that produced Blondie, The Ramones, and others. Horses pulls together personal experiences and some cover songs to complete its package. Smith’s album later influenced a number of artists ranging from Michael Stipe to Siouxsie and the Banshees to Morrissey to Sammy Hagar.

Key Tracks:
Gloria
Land
Redondo Beach

Superunknown: Soundgarden (1994)
Soundgarden changed their sound for 1994’s Superunknown. They culled a number of inspirations together to create an album and sound critics compared to The Beatles.

Key Tracks:
Fell on Black Days
Black Hole Sun
Spoonman
The Day I Tried to Live

Sci Fi History: King Kong (1933)

King Kong first appeared in the 1933 film of the same name. The film pioneered stop motion photography, animatronics, and other special effects. King Kong is iconic for more than special effects. Skull Island, giant animals, the climb to the top of the Empire State Building, and the shockingly cruel death connected with audiences. The film led to sequels and remakes in 1976 and 2005. During World War I, the U.S. used Kong’s image to represent the Germans. Perhaps the most interesting take came from the Japanese whom matched Kong with Godzilla in a mega fauna death match. In the Japanese release, Godzilla wins. In America, Kong is the victor.

The finale:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grMo5-2Y5oc

Top 200 Albums of All Time: S Artists part 1

Never Mind the Bullocks: The Sex Pistols (1977)
The Sex Pistols took punk confrontation to its logical conclusion in 1977. The combat boot wearing spike haired band defined the movement socially, musically, and cosmetically. The band professed anarchy and dissed the queen scaring some record companies and fans. The punk music as a whole confused most people. After all, why would fans want to be spit on?

Key Tracks:
God Save the Queen
Anarchy in the U.K.
Pretty Vacant

Graceland: Paul Simon (1986)
Hard to believe Graceland is 25 years old. The album includes South African influences essentially merging Simon’s personal beliefs, humor, and South African culture. It also provided the classic “You Can Call Me Al.”

Key Tracks:
Graceland
You Can Call Me Al
All Around the World of the Myth of Fingerprints

Bridge Over Troubled Water: Simon and Garfunkel (1970)
Simon and Garfunkel released one of the last albums to close the sixties and open the seventies. They captured a time and place on vinyl, which is why it connected. Like the next entry does for 1992, Bridge Over Troubled Water provides a time capsule to 1970.

Key Tracks:
Bridge Over Troubled Water
El Condor Pasa (If I Could)
Cecilia
The Boxer

Singles: Soundtrack (1992)
If you want to understand 1992, then listen to the Singles soundtrack. The album is loaded with so-called grunge artists as well as classic rockers like Hendrix and Heart. Singles explains disillusionment, youth, and hope that permeated the period and Bill Clinton tapped.

Key Tracks:
Would? (Alice in Chains)
Breath (Pearl Jam)
Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns (Mother Love Bone)
State of Love and Trust (Pearl Jam)
Waiting for Somebody (Paul Westerberg)
Nearly Lost You (Screaming Trees)

Reign in Blood: Slayer (1986)
In 1986, Slayer released the Trash Metal classic Reign in Blood. The album lasts about a half an hour, but fills the listener with Slayer’s brutality. This is the album to listen to if one wants to understand thrash and compare it to classic metal or hair metal.

Key Tracks:
Angel of Death
Raining Blood

History Shorts: The Bible is written

The Bible is a collection of religious stories compiled into one text. It includes the Hebrew Bible, which represents the Old Testament and the Christian texts that make up the New Testament. The New Testament was written by a number of authors between 50 and 150 A.D. Later, the church decided which books to include and exclude. Since the Bible’s conception, it has served to govern nations, inspire believers, and inform church doctrine. It’s also a masterpiece of literature.

The following clips deal with the Bible and pop culture’s take on the book.

Who Wrote the Bible:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suseKsLEWKo

Mel Brooks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TAtRCJIqnk

Charlton Heston:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7dFrzrjSRg

Noah’s Ark:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M6VKgyz8eI

The Sermon on the Mount:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDCbJ4vnMNg

Jesus Christ Superstar:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvVr2uks0C8

Superman as a Christ figure:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3keuiWzY-Q



　

Sci Fi History: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)

The film version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde debuted prior to the adoption of modern movie production codes. It included strong sexual content and needed editing before its re-release. This version heavily influenced the look of Mr. Hyde in subsequent examinations. The producers wanted Hyde to embody evil and gave him canine teeth and a more ape-like appearance to make him “less evolved.”

The main themes of Jekyll and Hyde involve the dichotomy between good and evil. It also explores civilization vs. barbarism and evolution. The characters later inspired The Incredible Hulk, Batman’s nemesis, Two-Face, and The Who‘s Quadrophenia.