1974 Play-by-Play

January 2nd, scoring opened with a four-point Tex Ritter duet sung by T. Novick and Peters. Together, they held the lead until...

March 5th, Peters soloed on actor Billy de Wolfe for four points and took sole possession of the lead at eight. Same day, cultured rookie E. Schumann scored a two-point solo on ballet impresario Sol Hurok... Mar. 20th, rookies L. & B. Kittel soloed for four on TV news anchor Chet Huntley.

April 2nd, two famous departures and the Game's first Daily Double for three lucky gamesters: J. Basal, Binky Brown and Dr. Death each had France's Georges Pompidou for four and Manhattan attorney Frank S. Hogan (who made a name for himself prosecuting gangsters, quiz show scandal figures and militants) for three points, for seven points total. They were joined by eight others on Pompidou and by three others on Hogan, including D. McCarthy scoring his Wild Card. When the dust cleared, L. & B. Kittel had joined Peters in the lead at eight points, but T. Novick, J. Basal, Dr. Death and Binky Brown trailed by only one point at seven... Apr. 24th, Bud Abbott fed J. Basal a Wild Card straight line and moved him into the lead at 12 points! J.C. Hoffmeier also tallied his Wild Card, while three more picked up three points... Apr. 30th, 71-year-old rookie D. Perriman Sr. soloed on actress Agnes Moorehead for four points, the first of 18 solos he would hit over the next 20 years.

May 24th, nine gamesters led by Binky Brown got on board the A Train with three points on composer, pianist and band leader Duke Ellington... May 26th, seven tallied four on columnist Steward Alsop and one of them was Binky Brown who choo-chooed into the lead at 14 points.

July 1st, Argentina's Juan Peron waved to a crowd of 15 gamesters. In the front row, Binky Brown scoring three and holding the lead at 17 points. The hit was his fifth, winning him the Silver Bobcat. Surging forward was D. Perriman Jr. also going Wild and moving to 16 points... July 9th, former California Governor and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren was impeached by B. Hamilton (whose main contribution to the Game was sponsoring his sister, the soon-to-be-legendary M. Hamilton) and Peters for two points... July 17th, rookie R. Terracotta reared back and soloed for four on hurler Dizzy Dean... July 22nd, J. Corrigan and D. Perriman Sr. passed a joint resolution on Oregon Sen. Wayne Morse for three each... And on July 29th, T. Novick and rookie K. Tyner dueted for a stylish sudden seven on rock songstress Mama Cass Elliot dying of a heart attack in a London hotel suite (the same suite where Keith Moon would die four years later).

August 26th, plucky, lucky Charles Lindbergh made a three-point landing on the far side of the Great Divide. Waving white hankies were J. C. Hoffmeier and J. Taylor.

September 6th, rookie J. Loftus became the second gamester in history to hit a Wild Card Solo, this one on matinee idol Otto Kruger... Sept. 21st, eight scored two on actor Walter Brennan, including D. Perriman Jr. who took the lead at 18 points!... Sept. 23rd, there would be no more letters from Mount Idy as 14 scored four points on Cliff "Charlie Weaver" Arquette. D. Perriman Sr. rang in with his Wild Card and D. Perriman Jr. held on to his slim lead by moving to 22 points, just one ahead of J. Basal and Binky Brown.

October 4th, e. mcgrath scored a six-point suicide solo on poet Anne Sexton... Oct. 13th, TV's Ed Sullivan invited eight gamesters to a really big three-point show. Moving to the front row and tying D. Perriman Jr. was G. Conway at 22 points!

November 14th, W. Krug scored another of his trademark solos, this one on cowboy actor Johnny Mack Brown for three points.

Then the inevitable, the distant rumble, the approaching storm... Nov. 25th, three scored four on UN leader U Thant, rookies R. Terracotta and K. Tyner, and yes, Dr. Death moving to 22 points tying G. Conway and D. Perriman Jr.!... Nov. 27th, BOOM, Dr. Death solos for six on longest surviving heart transplant patient Louis Russell, moving to 28 points and undisputed sole possession of first place!... Nov. 29th, a Wild Card for Mr. Clete, the Game's crafty canine, on H.L. Hunt. Was it a Wild Card Solo? NO! The prescient pooch was Sweenied by J. Corrigan who tallied the financier for two points. Then on December 14th, three scored two on columnist Walter Lippmann -- B. McArdle was there; G. Conway attempted to return to the top by moving to 24, Binky Brown rose to 23, but BAM, Dr. Death slammed the door with his Wild Card, moved to 33 points and completed his crushing comeback, cruising to victory for the fourth straight year and retiring from the Game undefeated.

But there was more. Dec. 26th, eight with great timing scored two on Jack Benny, whose prospects vs. George Burns' started the argument that led to the Game's beginning in 1970... Dec. 28th, e. mcgrath closed out the year in style by completing a remarkable double, her second suicide solo of the year (!!), this one on etiquette expert Amy Vanderbilt who leapt from a second story window for four points and a wild ending to 1974.

And so it came to a close, with a dramatic come-from-behind victory for Dr. Death. How well we remember a long-distance call to a devastated G. Conway who lamented her fate and said scornfully of Dr. Death, "Oh, he's happy. He's on top of the world!"

Let's look at the Top Ten for 1974.

Take me on to 1975.

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