The Daily Dose/July 28, 2025
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™
Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience.
TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME: This past weekend Nick Kurtz of the Athletics became the 20th major league player – and first rookie – to hit four home runs in a game. Kurtz also had a double and a single, the 19 total bases tying Shawn Greene’s record, scored six runs – tying the modern major league record – and drove in eight runs.
Ladies And Gentlemen Of The Jury?: Was it the greatest offensive performance in major league history, though? It is certainly the greatest in the modern era, which is 1901 and later.
Gaylon, Shawn Greene On Line Two: For the purposes of this discussion, Greene’s performance is disregarded because he only had seven RBIs.
Dry, Technical, Matter: Regular readers of this crap are familiar with the name Guy Hecker. On August 15, 1886, playing in the second game of a doubleheader for Louisville of the then-major American Association, Hecker went 6-for-7, with three home runs, seven runs scored, and 15 total bases. The three home runs tied the then-single-game record and remains a record for a pitcher, the seven runs scored established a record that still stands, his six hits tied the existing mark, and the 15 total bases set a new record.
Oh Yeah: Hecker was also the winning pitcher, throwing a 4-hitter. Hecker had versatility Shohei Otani might envy, leading the American Association in wins, ERA, and strikeouts in 1884 and in batting average in 1886, the only player to win pitching and batting titles.
Fly In The Ointment: Nobody knows how many RBIs Hecker had, because those weren’t counted in 1886.
You Make The Call: So, which player had the greater offensive performance? You can make a case either way. Kurtz’s numbers were better: he had more home runs and total bases. On the other hand, Hecker broke three records – one of which still stands – and tied two others. Kurtz tied one.
The Bottom Line: One of the great things about baseball is arguing about stuff, though that is slipping by the wayside as the game and its fans more and more disdain its history. We used to be able to argue about the Hall of Fame, but it’s become the Hall of the Very Good this century, so let’s argue about this: we’ll take Hecker’s performance, mostly because he set or tied five records, while Kurtz only tied one. Unless Mr Kurtz comes to beat us up. Then we’ll say his was the greatest performance.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow screws up. Today’s Diary.
…while we weren’t overbooked in terms of having rented too many rooms, on some nites some room types were overbooked, because ol’ Sparrow just hit the “Override” button whenever the dastardly system tried to remind us of this fact, something we’ve been joyously doing since Day 1 here.
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On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it.
In 1945 – A US Army B-125 airplane crashes into the Empire State Building, killing 14 and injuring approximately two dozen. The crash occurred at 9:40 am, after landings at LaGaurdia and Newark airports because of dense fog and after it had narrowly missed the Chrysler Building eight blocks away. The crash occurred between the 78th and 80th floors.
In 1928 – The Summer Olympics begin in Amsterdam. Johnny Weissmuller of the US, who would later play Tarzan in the movies, won two swimming gold medals, Finland’s Paavo Nurmi won his then-record 9th gold medal, Mikio Oda of Japan won the triple jump, the first Asian to win an Olympic gold medal. It was the first Olympics scheduled for 16 days, with previous Games spread over several months and the US won the most gold (22) and overall medals (56).
In 1990 – Garth Brooks is at #1 on Billboard’s country chart – then known as the Hot Country Singles chart – for the third and final consecutive week with The Dance. It was the fourth country hit for Brooks, his fourth of 38 Top 10 country songs, and his second of 18 #1s. The song also went #1 country in Canada and peaked at #36 on Great Britain’s pop chart. The song was written by Tony Arata, who earned a Grammy nomination for Best Country Song.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
It is remarkable how little concern men seem to have for logic, statistics and, even, indeed, survival: we live by emotion, prejudice, and pride.
Dwight Eisenhower
Answer To The Last Trivia Questions
Knowledge is power.
Bing Crosby had nine #1 songs on the Billboard pop chart in the 1940s, the most of any act.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
Which countries won one bronze medal at the 1928 Summer Olympics? – Answer next time!
