Ramblin' with Roger

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I really like the name Roger. It’s not too common, but not too rare. According to the Social Security list it ranked No. 416 in 2004 among male names. Previously, it ranked 2003-394, 2002-389, 2001-371, 2000-373, 1999-358, 1998-347, 1997-329, 1996-285, 1995-278, 1994-264, 1993-253, 1992-214, 1991-231, and 1990-209. (Incidentally, Rodger, which is how my own grandfather -Pop -incorrectly spelled my name, doesn’t make the Top 1000 in any of the last 15 years.)

I like the fact that my father spent time making sure that my initials, ROG, matched the first three letters in my first name, a story told to me by his cousin Ruth only a few years ago. I’m told that he was madly scribbling on paper at her house shortly after I was born, looking for the right combination. It is NOT a family name.

I have a particular interest in the accomplishments of people named Roger in the public eye.
I thought it was great that the first person to break the 4-minute mile was Roger Bannister.
I was pleased to find out that the Byrds’ Jim McGuinn changed his name to a more interesting Roger. IMHO, naturally, all you Jims out there.
I was disappointed that Roger B. Taney was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in the dreadful Dred Scott decision.
About 20 neighbors testified against Albany slumlord named Roger Ploof last year at a city hearing, including me. I wanted to say, “I’m embarrased to be a Roger,” but I didn’t. The city ruled against him, and he was supposed to have modified his building from 26 units to 6, but at this writing, he has not done so.

FWIW, Roger does not appear in the Bible.

Here are some other persons/things named Roger of note:

Roger Bacon – 13th Century philosopher and mathematician
Roger Cedeno – former Mets, current St. Louis Cardinal outfielder
Roger Clemens – seven-time Cy Young winning pitcher now in an All-Star year with the Houston Astros
Roger Clinton-brother of the 42nd President
Roger Craig-former major league pitcher (1955-1966), mostly with the Brooklyn/LA Dodgers
Roger Craig-former running back (1983-1993), primarily for the San Francisco 49ers
Roger Daltrey-lead singer of the Who
Roger Dodger-2002 movie starring Campbell Scott
Roger Ebert-influential film critic, paired with Richard Roeper and previously with the late Gene Siskel
Roger Federer,-won three of the four Grand Slam tennis events in 2004, and won Wimbledon for the third time in a row in July 2005
Roger Fox-father in the FoxTrot comic strip
Roger Grimsby-WABC-TV (NYC) newsman, 1968-1986, d. 1995
Jolly Roger-the pirate skull and crossbones
Roger McDowell-major league pitcher (1985-1996), mostly with the Mets and Dodgers
Roger and Me– 1989 movie in which Michael Moore pursues GM chairman Roger Smith
Roger Maris-major league outfielder with the KC A’s, NYY, St. Louis Cards. Hit 61 HRs in ’61.
Roger Moore-The Saint and Beau Maverick on TV, James Bond in the movies
Roger Mudd-long-time CBS & NBC newsman, descendant of the doctor who treated John Wilkes Booth
Roger Over and Out-inexact CB talk
Roger Rabbit-framed husband of Jessica “I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way” Rabbit
Roger Ramjet-cartoon adventurer “fighting for our freedom”
Roger Smith-played Jeff Spencer on “77 Sunset Strip”; husband of Ann-Margaret
Roger Stern-comic book writer
Roger Whitaker-singer who appeared in a lot of commercials in my youth
Roger Williams-founder of Rhode Island

There are about 3000 more, according to the IMDB. If you want to suggest some more, please feel free.

You will see a brand-new list of Roger-related web pages in the links section of ze blog. For the most part, they are NOT the same as the ones listed above. These links will almost always be a page authorized by the Roger in question, or his descendents, or perhaps his fan club. Again, offer up some more and I MAY use ’em.

“Old Roger draft-dodger leavin’ by the basement door,
Everybody knows what he’s tippy-toeing down there for.”
–Punky’s Dilemma by Paul Simon

Let’s Get National

I was watching the New York Mets play the Washington Nationals in DC on the 4th of July on one of the ESPN channels. Ostensibly, I was rooting for the Metropolitans, the New York team, and all. Yet I developed a certain affection for the team from our nation’s capital because of its long history of adversity.

The city of Washington had a team, first named the Nationals, then the Senators, since the creation of the American League in 1901. The team won a World Series in 1924, and the league pennant in 1925 and 1933, but soon was dubbed as a loser: “First in war, first in peace, last in the American League.” The team in the musical “Damn Yankees” that was dealing with the devil in order to try to overtake the title team was the Washington Senators.

Then in 1961, the American League expanded from 8 to 10 teams, in Minnesota and Southern California, but of the two, only Los Angeles got a new team; the Twin Cities got the old Senators and were re-dubbed the Minnesota Twins. And wouldn’t you know it, this team, now in the Midwest, actually became competitive, winning the American League crown in 1965. Meanwhile, the expansion Senators were pretty bad, drew poorly, and moved to Arlington, TX to become the Texas Rangers in 1972, leaving DC with no team at all for over three decades.

Expos

Meanwhile, the Montreal Expos were formed in 1969. The team never won a pennant, but they looked to have a lock on the National League crown in 1994 when the baseball strike eliminated the remainder of the season. I went to one home Expos game back in 1992, and I found the stadium forbidding and cold.

Later, the Expos, along with the Twins, were slated for elimination. This does not happen, but the Expos ended up under the operational control of Major League Baseball, which created an awkward situation in that MLB, which regulates the other teams, also OWNS a team. Worse, because they were drawing so poorly in Montreal, they played nearly a third of their “home games” in San Juan, PR for the last couple seasons, which was very difficult for the players.
(Imagine that you have a 6-month job and could be home half the time. That’s much easier than being on the road two-thirds of the time.)
The attendance of 748,550 in 2004 was over 500,000 less than the next lowest team, Tampa Bay.

Then, the team was scheduled to move to DC, but a last-minute move by some members of the Washington city council over funding for a stadium nearly upended the deal.

So, these Washington Nats, 50-32, even after their 5-2 loss to the Mets on Independence Day, lead their division by about 5 games, after being a losing team (67-95) as the Expos last year.

Robby

One important factor in the Washington team’s success is manager Frank Robinson. He was a big star for the Cincinnati Reds in the 1950s and early 1960s, where he was Rookie of the Year in 1956 and Most Valuable Player in 1961. The Reds thought Robinson was worn out and traded him to the Baltimore Orioles after the 1965 season; apparently he wasn’t, for he won MVP honors for the season AND for the World Series in 1966. He is one of a handful of players to win the season MVP award in both leagues. Most people don’t realize that he is one of the top half dozen home run hitters of all time, at 586, behind only Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds, and Willie Mays. (Sammy Sosa may overtake him, as he’s at 583 as of July 4. Many folks thought that Mark McGuire would overtake Aaron, but actually he came up three shy of Frank Robinson’s total, also at 583.)

Robinson became the first black manager in Major League history in 1975 with the Cleveland Indians. (The Indians had the first black ballplayer in the American League, Larry Doby, in 1947, a few weeks after the Dodgers played another Robinson, Jackie, in the National League.) He also managed the Giants and the Orioles before eventually working in the Baseball Commissioner’s office. When MLB took over the Expos for the 2002 season, it asked Frank to manage the team.

So, if the Mets are unable to make up that 9-game deficit and pass every other team in their division, I’ll be rooting for the Washington Nationals, even though I barely know the players, and most of those I know from other teams they played for other than the Expos: Livan Hernandez, Carlos Baerga, Wil Cordero, Junior Spivey, Cristian Guzman, and Vinny Castilla. Better them than the tomahawk-choppin’, division-always-winnin’, “America’s-Team”-self-proclaimin’, Turner cable-advantaged Atlanta Braves.

Tunes in 7-4

I’ve been in a groove (or rut, depending on your perspective) of listing song titles this week, so I thought I would do it again today. I haven’t actually made this disc, and the songs wouldn’t necessarily be in this order, nor do I make any claim that this list is all inclusive:

Almost Independence Day-Van Morrison
4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)-Bruce Springsteen
4th of July-Pete Droge
4th of July-U2
Independence Day-Bruce Springsteen
Independence Day-David Byrne
Lake of Fire-Nirvana
On the 4th of July-James Taylor
Saturday in the Park-Chicago
Tears of Rage-The Band

4th of July-Dave Alvin
4th of July-X
Yankee Doodle Dandy-James Cagney

4th of July-Sweet
4th of July-Keel
4th of July-Soundgarden
4th of July-Mariah Carey
4th of July-Robert Earl Keen
4th of July-Aimee Mann
Independence Day-Martina McBride
Independence Day-Ani DiFranco
Independence Day-Eliot Smith
Independence Day-Imani Coppola
Independence Day-Too $hort w/ Keith Murray

The first batch I actually have on CD, the second on vinyl, and the third not at all. So, if I WERE making a mixed CD, I’d have to throw on America the Beautiful by Ray Charles, and the Star-Spangled Banner by Marvin Gaye or Whitney Houston, probably both.

Incidentally, many of those same-named songs are totally different songs, not covers of each other.

So, as you celebrate America’s 229th birthday today, remember that is music that’s as much a part of our national heritage as musket.

Oh, and a piece from the Independence Day sermon I heard yesterday led me here.

Shana & Luther

From the “I’m a week behind in everything” department:

I was disappointed that 60 Minutes failed to mention the death of pioneering journalist Shana Alexander last Sunday. Alexander, who had died the previous Thursday, was a Life magazine reporter and a Newsweek journalist before her most famous gig: being the “liberal ” voice on the regular 60 Minutes segment, “Point/Counterpoint” with James J. Kilpatrick, the “conservative”. This is the segment that inspired the Saturday Night Live spoof debate between Jane Curtin and Dan “Jane, you ignorant slut” Ackroyd, a piece which Alexander enjoyed, according to her niece. At least CBS Sunday Morning did a short report on her last week.

When Luther Vandross died, the line from the Paul Simon song “The Late Great Johnny Ace” came to mind. Paraphrased: “I wasn’t a really big Vandross fan, but I felt bad just the same.” The talented artist had over a dozen hit albums and two dozen hit singles, none of which I ever owned. I DID relate to his song “Dance with My Father,” which he recorded just before the stroke which he suffered a couple years ago. And that he died at 54, only a couple years older than I am, does bring one…pause.

Crash

If it’s true that “Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist”, as the Avenue Q song suggests, nothing lately has brought that home more for me than the movie Crash, the first flick Carol & I have seen in months. We both thought it was excellent, and we have been playing back scenes and bits of dialogue all week. In addition to race and ethnicity, it’s also about class, power and crime. I wasn’t at all bothered by the coincidences; I thought it was the conceit of the film. It was less violent than I feared, given its R rating, which was due largely to language, I’m guessing.

Coincidentally, I got an e-mail this week from the Tyler Perry fan club also touting the film. Don’t know Tyler Perry? How about the character Madea in Diary of a Mad Black Woman? He says that “CRASH is on a whole other level and will move you in ways which everyone should experience.” Â

The real cool thing is that Carol & I used a babysitter for the first time in I don’t know how long. Oh, we’ve had people over, but we’ve (or at least Carol has) been there at home with them. But Lydia took to Anna really well. When we left, Lydia didn’t cry; heck, she didn’t even seem to care that we were leaving. And when Anna left, she stood at the door, watching her leave like she does for her mother when I’m home with her. So, perhaps we’ll have more films in our near future.