The Daily Dose/July 17, 2024
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™

 Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience.

THIS IS GOING TO BE REALLY DULL, ISN’T IT?: Longtime readers of this crap know few enjoy baseball history as much as we do. They also know few enjoy research as much as we do. Our glee when we combine the two is almost boundless. 

Oh, Jesus H: It happened today when we were researching the answer to yesterday’s trivia question: what is the record for the most errors in a game by a major league outfielder? 

If Dry, Technical Matter Is Inevitable…: The answer is five. That was easy enough to find out. We have two major league record books and they agreed. 

Can We Pick This Up A Little Bit?: Our initial research into the matter – the Elias Sports Bureau’s major league record book – showed it had happened nine times, all in the 19th century. Content with that, we used that as the answer. It also noted the modern major league record was four, done twice, including once by Kip Selbach of the Baltimore Orioles in 1902. 

Fly In The Ointment: Just for funsies, however, we checked our Sporting News record book, and they differed. The Sporting News had ten instances of an outfielder committing five errors in a game, including Selbach’s masterpiece.  

Joy To The World: Well, for a baseball history buff, this is like manna from heaven: an instance where two major league record books differ! We had to get to the heart of the matter. Some general searching concluded that Selbach committed five errors in the game, but what the hell does a website know? We consulted two box scores of the game, and while both had Selbach committing five errors, this really doesn’t settle the matter because sometimes erroneous things are copied and pasted. 

Extra, Extra, Read All About It…: We’ve learned over the years the very best way to confirm crap like this is through newspaper accounts. So we reactivated our newspapers.com account (free for a week, subsequently canceled), and newspapers in both Baltimore and St Louis – they played the Browns – confirmed, in separate accounts, that Selbach had five errors in the game. 

The Bottom Line: That’ll do it. Independent newspaper accounts meet our standards for accuracy. And we have even more drivel for you. One, in 1904 Selbach would tie the major league record for most errors in an inning with three. Two, the Orioles made eight errors in the game and lost to the St Louis Browns 11-4. Three: The Orioles are now the New York Yankees, and the Browns are now the Baltimore Orioles. Four, we hope you enjoyed this half as much we did. 

Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually. 

The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow tackles a problem head-on. Today’s Diary. 

Fortunately, the Front Desk Gods (FDG) – sometimes persnickety sorts – were in good humor and looked upon humble ol’ Sparrow with favor…

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It’s easy reading on any device. 

———

On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it. 

In 1850 – Two American astronomers at the Harvard Observatory photograph a star outside the solar system for the first time. William Bond and John Adams Whipple took a daguerreotype of Vega and, earlier, they were the first to take pictures of the moon. Daguerreotypes were the first form of commercial imaging, were saved on copper plates, and were one-of-a-kind works that could not be duplicated or enlarged. The Harvard College Observatory was founded in 1839, and its first telescope was installed in 1847. 

In 1979 – Sebastian Coe of Great Britain sets a new world record in the mile at the Bislett Games in Oslo, Norway. Coe won in 3 minutes, 49 seconds to beat the record established by John Walker of New Zealand by four-tenths of a second. The mark stood until July 1980 when Steve Ovett of Great Britain ran it in 3:48.8 and Coe would set the world record two more times. The current record was set in 1999 by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco (3:43.13). 

In 1993 – Tag Team is at #1 on Billboard’s soul chart – then known as the Hot R&B Singles chart – for the only week with Whoomp! (There It Is). The song also went #4 pop in Great Britain, spent seven non-consecutive weeks at #2 on the Hot 100, and was Billboard’s second-biggest pop song of the year. It was the duo’s first chart single and remains their only Top 40 soul and pop hit. 

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.

Order is the mother civilization and liberty; chaos the midwife of dictatorship.
Will Durant
The Story of Civilization, Vol VI: The Reformation

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

The major league record for most errors in a game by an outfielder is five, done ten times, most recently by Kip Selbach in 1902. 

Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.

How many Olympic gold medals did Sebastian Coe win? – Answer next time!

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The Daily Dose/July 16, 2024
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™

 Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience.
 

Leading Off will return.

Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually. 

The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow anticipates seeing a girl at the gym. Today’s Diary. 

Hell, we did everything but put on cologne and a blazer…

———

Would you like 4Ever & Ever access to Gaylon’s crap?
Of course you would.
Click here. It’s only $24.99.

Click here for complimentary chapters of all of Gaylon’s books.
It’s easy reading on any device. 

———

On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it. 

In 1935 – The first parking meter goes live in Oklahoma City. The meter was known as the Park-O-Meter and was located at the southeast corner 1st Street and Robinson Avenue, with parking costing five cents – about a dollar in today’s money – for one hour. In the 1920s, Charles Babson filed various patents for the parking meter, though he was not involved in its development, with History generally crediting that to Oklahoma lawyer and newspaper publisher Carl Magee. 

In 1993 – Darren Lewis of the San Francisco Giants establishes a new major league record for most consecutive errorless games by an outfielder in a 4-2 win over the New York Mets. Lewis played in his 267th consecutive errorless game to break the record of 266 established by Don Demeter from 1961-62. Lewis would play in 369 consecutive errorless games until June 30, 1994, and the record is now 398 by Nick Markakis from 2012-15, 

In 1977 – Shaun Cassidy is at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the only week with Da Doo Ron Ron. The song also went to #1 in Canada, was Billboard’s 45th-biggest song of the year, was the second of three Top 10 hits for Cassidy, and remains his only #1 song. In 1963 a version by the Crystals went to #3 on the Hot 100 and peaked at #5 on Billboard’s soul chart.

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.

Ask what you need to be happy. Then ask yourself how you can easily achieve some small part of your happiness. Repeat that every day and after a year, you’ll pile up a considerable amount.
Deng Ming-Dao 

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

Billboard’s #1 country song of 1972 was My Hang-Up Is You by Freddie Hart, which spent six weeks at #1. 

Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.

Who hold the major league record for most errors in a game by an outfielder? – Answer next time!

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The Daily Dose/July 15, 2024
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™

 Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience.

GET YOUR OFFICIAL DAILY DOSE POLICY RIGHT HERE: We hope you deplore the attempted assassination of Donald Trump as much as we do. The situations where one human needs to shoot another human seldom arise, and this was not one of them. 

USA! USA!: We Americans are no longer able to take anything at face value anymore, so it’s hardly the Upset of the Year the usual conspiracy theories are making the rounds. Our favorite is this is part of the same government plot that made Trump a convicted felon and cost him the 2020 election. 

Yes, You In The Back: We do have a couple of questions that we have not found satisfactorily addressed yet.  

For More On The Story, Let’s Go To Lee Harvey Oswald: First, how in the hell did anyone, much less a gunman, get access to a roof that offered a clear shot to a former president of the United States? 

Dry, Technical Matter: Few people on the planet are as protected as presidents, former presidents, and presidential candidates. Even the most casual reading into how the Secret Service goes about their work would lead you to believe they would have taken care of this as a matter of course. For goodness’ sake, they seal manhole covers on motorcade routes. Usually, an entire area is locked down: no one would be able to access a rooftop any more than they’d be allowed to carry a weapon up there. 

Please Pass The Dry, Technical Matter: Also, the shot came from Trump’s right, at almost a 90-degree angle from where he was facing, and you don’t have to be Smith or Wesson to wonder exactly how in the hell a shot from that angle hits Trump’s ear and misses his head. 

FunFact: It was the first known assassination attempt on a president or former president since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981.  

The Bottom Line: It is probable these two questions have logical answers. It is possible they don’t. We are far rom conspiracy theorists or nut cases here – despite our annual production of The Bottom Ten – but inquiring minds like ours are entitled to satisfactory, cogent answers to these two questions.

Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually. 

The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow speaks canine. Today’s Diary. 

The big news is we actually barked tonite…We are not making that up…

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Would you like 4Ever & Ever access to Gaylon’s crap?
Of course you would.
Click here. It’s only $24.99.

Click here for complimentary chapters of all of Gaylon’s books.
It’s easy reading on any device. 

———

On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it. 

In 1799 – The Rosetta Stone – a rock with inscriptions from the 2nd century BC is discovered by French troops in what is now Rashid, Egypt. The stone measures 3 feet 8 inches high, 2 feet 5.8 inches wide, and is 11 inches deep and is inscribed with what is more or less a valentine from Egyptian priests to their pharaoh. It dates from 196 BC and is written in both Egyptian and Greek. The French turned it over to the British in 1801 after losing a war, and it is now displayed in the British Museum. Egyptian requests to return the stone are routinely denied. 

In 1912 – Jim Thorpe wins the decathlon gold medal at the Stockholm Summer Olympics. Thorpe won the shot put, high jump, 110-meter hurdles, and 1,500 meters and placed in the top four in the other events to win, finishing with an Olympic record 8,412 points. Thorpe also won the gold medal in the pentathlon, and his gold medals were later stripped by the IOC for accepting expense money for playing semi-professional baseball. They were reinstated in 1983. Thorpe later played major league baseball and in the NFL. 

In 1972 – Buck Owens is at #1 on Billboard’s country chart – then known as the Hot country Singles chart – for the only week with Made in Japan. It was the 39th of 42 Top 10 country hits for Owens and his 21st and final #1 in a singles chart career that lasted from 1959-89. The song also went #1 country in Canada and #17 pop in Australia. 

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.

To give several hundred million people a group identity and power over the group’s destiny is to give them the consciousness over their own power and the desire to increase it and make use of it.
Alain Peyrefitte
The Chinese

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

I’ll Be Loving You (Forever) was the biggest song on Billboard’s soul chart for the New Kids on the Block. It peaked at #12 in 1989. 

Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.

What was Billboard’s #1 country song of 1972? – Answer next time!

Share Gaylon! Go!

The Daily Dose/July 14, 2024
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™

The Sunday Bottom 5
A ranking of some things.

1. Trump Assassination Attempt – Trump has a lot to answer for but, for Pete’s sake, nobody deserves this…Shooting at Trump rally provides early insight into chaos that is likely to take over country no matter who wins in November…SB5 pollsters “pretty sure” they have some zero clue whether or not US will survive it. 

2. Donald Trump – Bumped down from top spot following shooting…Still a liar…Still an admitted sexual predator…Still ignorant…Still a convicted felon…Still a candidate for president…Vegas sportsbooks soon to start offering hot over/under action on how many impeachments there will be in second Trump Administration. 

3. USA! USA! – The 3-hole staple…A hundred years from  all new people – perhaps Americans, if there are any left – will look back at this era and wonder why we tolerated the two worst presidential candidates the US has ever had…We deserve better than this but America – now in the 7th decade of TV being the focal point of American life – cannot be bothered to demand better right now.  

4. Joe Biden – Boy, Mr. President, if our dad was showing the same signs of advanced aging that you are, we wouldn’t let him go to work anymore…You’ve earned an honorable retirement, and now would be a good time to take it. 

5. Kamala Harris – SB5 pollsters “strongly suspect” Democrats only chance is for President Biden to retire right now, presenting classic Yay/Boo situation…Yay for giving Ms Harris the power of incumbency…Boo for fact Ms Harris – selected solely because she is a Black female – has yet to show any leadership brilliance as vice president. 

Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually. 

The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow attempts to get a TV to work. Today’s Diary. 

We really don’t know what in the hell we are doing…I mean, we don’t keep a TV at home, so a common remote might as well be a spacecraft control panel for all the skill we have with it…

———

Would you like 4Ever & Ever access to Gaylon’s crap?
Of course you would.
Click here. It’s only $24.99.

Click here for complimentary chapters of all of Gaylon’s books.
It’s easy reading on any device. 

———

On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it. 

In 2005 – Man reaches Pluto for the first time when the US spacecraft New Horizons executes the only fly-by of the planet. New Horizons’ closest point of approach to Pluto was  7,750 miles, the first data was transmitted the following day and took over 15 months to completely send to Earth. New Horizons was launched in 2006 and remains in service, with sufficient power to carry on operations into the 2030s. 

In 1973 – Tom Weiskopf wins the British Open, shooting a final-round 70 to defeat Neil Coles of England and Johnny Miller by three strokes at Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland. It was the first British Open title for Weiskopf and remains his only major title. His 72-hole total of 276 tied Arnold Palmer for the lowest final score in the British Open, a mark now held by Henrik Stenson (264, 2016). 

In 1990 – The New Kids on the Block are at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the third and final consecutive week with Step by Step. It was the eighth chart single for the group, their eighth of nine Top 10 hits, and their third and final #1 song. The song also went to #1 in Spain and Canada, peaked at #2 in Great Britain, at #48 on Billboard’s soul chart, and was their 33rd-biggest song of the year. 

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.

Mao took up the challenge. Or rather -and this is the heart of the revolution –  Mao made the people take it up for themselves.
Alain Peyrefitte
The Chinese

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

Five nations have hosted two men’s World Cups: Mexico, France, Germany/West Germany, and Brazil. 

Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.

What was the New Kids on the Block’s biggest hit on Billboard’s soul chart? – Answer next time!

Share Gaylon! Go!

The Daily Dose/July 13, 2024
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™

 Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience.

Leading Off will return. 

Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually. 

The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow tries something different. Today’s Diary. 

The big news is we did switch up our at-home morning coffee routine (AHMCR)…

———

Would you like 4Ever & Ever access to Gaylon’s crap?
Of course you would.
Click here. It’s only $24.99.

Click here for complimentary chapters of all of Gaylon’s books.
It’s easy reading on any device. 

———

On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it. 

In 1863 – Riots in New York City protesting a draft for the Civil War begin. The rioters were primarily Irish-American males who didn’t want to fight and who resented the fact others could pay $300 – about $7,400 in today’s money – for a substitute. It later turned into a race riot, with the Irish attacking free Blacks who made more money than they did and didn’t have to worry about getting drafted. The exact death toll is unknown, there were over 2,000 injuries, and hundreds of buildings were destroyed in three days of rioting. 

In 2014 – Germany wins the soccer World Cup, defeating Argentina 1-0 in extra time in Rio de Janeiro. It was the fourth and most recent title for Germany and the third and most recent runner-up finish for Argentina, to go along with three titles. The go-ahead goal was scored 23 minutes into the extra period, which is 30 minutes in length and is not sudden death. Earlier, the Netherlands had defeated Brazil for third place. 

In 1963 – Barbara Lewis is at #1 on Billboard’s soul chart  – then known as the Hot R&B Singles chart – for the second and final consecutive week with Hello Stranger. It was the first of nine soul hits for Lewis – a figure that includes hits on the Cash Box soul chart when Billboard was not publishing one – and remains her only appearance at #1. The song also peaked at #3 on the Hot 100, and in 1977 a version by Yvonne Elliman went #15 pop and #57 soul.

Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.

I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all
Ecclesiastes 9:11

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.

Five chief justices of the United States had previously served as associate justices: John Rutledge, Edward Douglass White, Charles Evans Hughes, Harlan Fiske Stone, and William Rehnquist

Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.

How many countries have hosted two men’s World Cups? – Answer next time!

Share Gaylon! Go!