40 years ago: Reflections on a no-hitter

I hate these reminders of how old I really am, especially when I'm still trying to convince myself I'm still 22.

But some random Internet surfing reminded me that July 3 was the 40th anniversary of the greatest baseball game I've ever seen, when Angels pitcher Clyde Wright threw a no-hitter at the Oakland A's.

I was 12 then, and I grew up in a family of incurable Angels fans. We went to a few games every year, and we were at Anaheim Stadium, third base side in the terrace level on that July evening. My family accounted for four of the 12,131 butts in the seats that night.

OK, as I get older my memory tends to fire more at random, but it seems we were at the ballpark a lot when historic things happened. My grandmother (who was even more incurable than the rest of us) took my brother and me to an afternoon doubleheader the previous year (again the Angels were playing the A's), and when the announcement came that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin safely landed on the Moon, play stopped on the field and we got all misty. But I digress.

The left-handed Wright came off a miserable 1969 (one win, eight losses. But he was pitching like a monster in 1970. Won 22 games that year; only Nolan Ryan was able to match him four years later. Made the All-Star team, during the time the American League was always getting slaughtered -- Wright was the losing pitcher in that midsummer game.

And that no-no. It was right around the sixth inning when I noticed those zeroes on the board. And of course, there's this old superstition that no one on the bench talks about a no-hitter when it's in progress. Out of respect, neither did we.

After his great season, Wright wasn't quite the same. It turned out he had some problems, something about a well-fought bottle. It was years later when I saw a film clip of him finishing his no-hitter, and it was used as a lead-in to a commercial for an alcohol-and-drug rehab hospital. But after his career in the bigs was over, he spent some time in Japan. From Baseball Reference:

In the sixth inning of a 1-1 game early in his first season in Japan, Wright was removed after the first two batters reached. Manager Shigeo Nagashima yanked Wright, who refused to give over the baseball, then charged off the mound and fired the ball into the dugout. After leaving the field, Wright tore off his uniform and threw it into the bathtub and kicked over a garbage can. Wright was nicknamed "Crazy Righto", a name that stuck throughout his time in Japan. Fans and sportswriters called for Wright's release but Nagashima stood by his pitcher ...

1970 was a strange year for no-hitters. Less than a month before Wright's, Dock Ellis of the Pittsburgh Pirates threw one at the San Diego Padres. His control was way off; he walked eight batters that day. He later said he was in mid-LSD trip during that game (which probably explains why his fastball had a tail).

Wright's boy, Jaret, was a pitching phenom for the Cleveland Indians in 1997, coming out of nowhere to win a bunch of games for them. He started Game 7 of the World Series that year, as a 21-year-old rookie. Arm trouble, though, curtailed his career.

The Angels' leadoff hitter in Clyde's no-hitter was Sandy Alomar, who himself had two sons in the bigs (Sandy Jr. and Roberto). The Angels had some real characters in the lineup that day: Alex Johnson, who had a good bat and serious issues. Jim Fregosi, who later managed the Angels. And noted prankster Jay Johnstone, the man our household referred to as "Ol' DM" for "dirty-mouth." Seems one of us noticed Johnstone had trouble getting through a sentence without uttering a profanity. Being earthy folks, we thought it was funny.

I might as well forget about claiming I had a deprived childhood. How many kids got to see a no-hitter?

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Links:

The box score, from retrosheet.org

What's Wright doing now?

John Wooden Hospitalized, In 'Grave' Condition: Report

Greatest coach of 'em all, and his life and teachings transcend college basketball.

This is according to the Huffington Post:

John Wooden Hospitalized, In 'Grave' Condition: Report: "

LOS ANGELES — Former UCLA basketball coach and Hall of Famer John Wooden was reportedly hospitalized in Los Angeles on Thursday night ... Los Angeles television station KCAL and the Los Angeles Times reported that the 99-year-old Wooden was in 'grave' condition at UCLA Medical Center.The Times cited an anonymous school source who said Wooden's health has been an issue in recent weeks and that he was briefly hospitalized about a month ago. UCLA spokesman Marc Dellins told The Associated Press that he spoke to a Wooden family member Thursday evening and that the family asked that no other information about Wooden be released ... UCLA Medical Center spokeswoman Roxanne Moster said she couldn't confirm whether Wooden was there or not because it would be a 'violation of medical privacy laws' ... family members couldn't be reached for comment Thursday by the AP.

Some background:

Wooden led the Bruins to 10 NCAA championships – at one time winning seven in a row – during a 27-year run that ended with his team cutting down the nets one last time in 1975 ... the Bruins won 88 consecutive games from 1971-74 and 38 consecutive NCAA tournament games from 1964-74, both records ... NBA commissioner David Stern was asked about Wooden's contributions to the sport of basketball before Game 1 of the NBA finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics on Thursday night ... "We decided that we would not declare his obituary now, other than to say that he's the winningest coach in our history, four 30-0 seasons, and the ultimate aficionado of our game,' Stern said. 'We hope he's in peace right now, and we'll wait on events." Former UCLA great Bill Walton was at the finals and said he visited Wooden on Tuesday, but that he would "let his family do the talking."

How amazing is Wooden?

He coached a pair of troublesome young stars back in UCLA. One, an angry and isolated young black, known then as Lew Alcindor, who was incredibly gifted and incredibly tall. Later, Wooden coached a young white guy who was getting into political comment and late 1960s-early 1970s counterculture. But Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton both had fine basketball careers, and both grew up under Wooden's eye.

And his definition of success:

(Success) is a peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did the best to become the best that you are capable of becoming."

So straightforward. It doesn't get much better than that, and that's something the great minds have been wrestling with for centuries.

Here's Wooden's philosophy in an easy-to-follow graphic:

If it's unreadable here, go to this site for a blown-up version. Or check out the John R. Wooden Course.

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Bricklayer Dudley gets GOP nomination for Oregon Governor

Now this is kind of interesting. Chris Dudley played 16 seasons in pro basketball, a backup center who could hold his position against the big guys, block shots, and grab rebounds like crazy. 

Only thing that kept him out of the starting lineup was that he couldn't score in an empty gym. Made Shaquille O'Neal look like an accurate free-throw shooter. He still holds the record for 13 consecutive misfires from the line in 1990, and once went 1-for-18 in a game.

But a solid guy nonetheless, recognized as a class act during his playing time, and intelligent -- one of the few Yale grads to hit the NBA.

And now, he's the GOP nominee for Governor of Oregon.

This is from the Huffington Post:

Chris Dudley Wins Oregon Governor Nomination From GOP: "

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Former NBA player Chris Dudley has won his rookie political contest, grabbing the Republican nomination for governor of Oregon ... Dudley defeated Allen Alley with 40 percent of the vote, with 70 percent of the expected vote counted. Alley had 32 percent.

Note: 40 percent? That's pretty close to his free-throw shooting record. Here's a comment from an ESPN reader:

"By far the ugliest, most awkward looking guy you ever want to see on the free throw line. 45% career FT....and for a center 41% career from the field. He was the definition of a stiff."

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