1984 Play-by-Play

January

January 13th, the latest opening day since 1973, found Game great L. Smith and a spunky young rookie named Melba Moorebid going Wild on Brooks Atkinson, whose curtain rang down after a long career as one of the most influential drama critics on earth. Scoring two points and rounding out the theater party was OPEC... Next day, two hits: Five scored six on Lebanese militiaman Major Saad Hadaad and five others tallied two points on MacDonald's founder Ray Kroc. Emerging from the dust and grease was L. Smith in the lead at seven points... Jan. 20th, 26 gamesters broke into a lusty jungle cry to herald the passing of Johnny Weismuller, Olympic swimming star in '24 and '28 and Tarzan in 18 movies that followed. Pairing Hadaad and Tarzan were the Ithaca Psychics, Pontius and D. Trageser, all sporting loin clothes and taking the lead at nine points... Next day, D. Trageser made the lead his own with six points on "Mr. Excitement," Jackie Wilson. Seven made the call, but Trageser (whose 1984 list was actually his 1983 list with no new names) took the lead at 15, trailed closely by L. Smith at 13... Jan. 29th, Dupont Fluvius soloed for one point on screenwriter Frances Goodrich ("It's a Wonderful Life")... Jan. 31st, Pontius soloed for two on cafe singer Ada "Bricktop" Smith.

February '84

February 9th, 52 gamesters filled Red Square to hold mirrors under the nose of Yuri Andropov who followed the KGB career path to the pinnacle of leadership in the Soviet Union. Going Wild were D. Beach, the Last Roundup and Mr. Dit. Settling for four points and the lead was L. Smith, moving to 17. For Pontius, it was hit #4 as he closed in on the Silver Bobcat. And for an unheralded rookie team, The Sick Puppies, it was the first hit of their career... Feb. 13th, Reformation-minded e. mcgrath soloed for two on Roland Bainton ("Here I Stand") an authority on Martin Luther... Feb. 14th, Loren "Bee Bee" Babe capped a 40-year career in baseball and three scored five points: OPEC, picking up hit #4, plus Captain Cadaver and Slick, Slim & Amy...

Feb. 15th, OPEC and Pontius led 18 gamesters in a stirring chorus of "There's No Business Like Show Business" as they scored their fifth hit of the year, on Broadway belter Ethel Merman, and held aloft the Silver Bobcat. For Pontius, it meant the lead at 18 points.

Feb. 22nd, Pontius and the Mortucrats tallied nine (!) points each on David the Bubble Boy, a Houston, Texas, lad with no immune system, raised in a bubble, who first felt human touch on February 7th. (A hit such as this would no longer be eligible due to our Medical Marvel rule, but in this era of loopholes it qualified.) Pontius took the lead at 27 huge points.

March '84

March 1st, W. Dockum soloed on child star Jackie Coogan for four points... Mar. 5th, eight gamesters led by Pontius, moving to 28, scored one on dapper actor William Powell of "Thin Man" and "Mr. Roberts" fame... Mar. 18th, Pontius led nine in taking batting practice with Charley Lau for five points each. Ponty moved to 33... Mar. 20th, the Morbo Chucks and the Sick Puppies scored one each on Hall of Fame pitcher Stan Coveleski who won three World Series games for Cleveland in 1920... Mar. 24th, Nonomis Morair and OPEC scored one each on actor Sam Jaffee... Mar. 26th, the National Health soloed for four on the president of Guinea, Ahmed Sekou Toure... Mar. 30th, e. mcgrath soloed for two on theologian Karl Rahner, father of Liberation Theology.

April '84

April 15th, W. Dockum soloed for one point on Arthur Reed, the oldest man in the U.S., who worked until he was 116 and noted at the age of 122, "They made me out of good dirt."... Apr. 17th, Dupont Fluvius and Minerva scored two stars on Gen. Mark Clark, famed WWII commander... Apr. 19th, the Ithaca Psychics soloed for six on psychologist J. M. Carlsmith... Apr. 22nd, the Morbo Chucks and Twinkie Defense said "Cheese" for Ansel Adams and accepted two points with red dots swimming in their eyes... Apr. 25th, Montressor soloed for eight big points on David Kennedy, troubled son of Robert Kennedy, dead of a drug overdose... Apr. 26th, Count Basie went out on the downbeat as 11 gamesters led by L. Smith swung and swayed.

May '84

May 4th, Britain's blonde bombshell, Diana Dors, gathered OPEC, Pontius and the Morbo Chucks in a busty five-point embrace. A blushing Ponty rose to 38 points... May 5th, Deathbed scored a solo three on auto racing's J.C. Agajanian... May 16th, Danse Macabre, the Last Roundup and the Mortucrats scored seven on non-smoking comic Andy Kaufman, dying of lung cancer... May 19th, the Ithaca Psychics, Minerva and the National Health scored three on England's poet laureate, Sir John Betjeman... May 28th, the National Health soloed for five on comedian Eric Morecambe who suffered a heart attack during a curtain call.

June '84

June 20th, Pontius increased his leading score to 39 with an ace on actress Estelle Winwood. Also taking one were The Portland Sisters (a team including today's Merry Little Breezes) and Melba Moorebid (the eventual leader of today's Moorebids)... June 24th, D. Beach soloed for three on NHL president Clarence Campbell... June 27th, Dr. Doornail (then playing as Surf's Up) soloed for two on bridge ace Oswald Jacoby... June 30th, six gamesters scored three on playwright Lillian Hellman.

July '84

July 11th, Pontius wore shades to the funeral of Raymond Patriarca, boss of New England organized crime, and led six fidgety mourners in scoring three points. The boost lifted Ponty to 42... July 25th, Deathbed, e. mcgrath, Razor and D. Trageser scored five on blues great Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton of "Hound Dog" and "Ball & Chain" fame... July 27th, Captain Cadaver and Deathbed scored two each on actor James Mason... July 29th, P. Grise and M. Hamilton scored a dizzy two-point duet on Fred Waring, famous as a band leader, choral leader (The Pennsylvanians, to whom he said before each concert, "Be on your toes tonight or I'll be on yours tomorrow.") and as the inventor of the Waring Blender. What a guy; what a hit.

August '84

August 5th, seven gamesters, including Deus ex Machina, G. Reaper, Mortis the Cat and Mr. Dit, scored five sonorous points each on actor Richard Burton, who did nothing halfway... Aug. 7th, Razor soloed on blues belter Esther Philips for six big points... Aug. 11th, esteemed publisher Alfred A. Knopf cut his last royalty check for one point to Minerva and the great, great Morbo Chucks... Aug. 15th, G. Reaper soloed on AIDS activist Bobbi Campbell for seven points... Aug. 25th, author and bon vivant Truman Capote passed out 15 five-point party favors and emptied Club Nula... Aug. 29th, Freydis took out a Lebanese leader via natural causes (!) and tallied a three-point solo on Pierre Gemayel.

September '84

September 6th, Deathwatch soloed for three on Ernest Tubb, whose 250 recorded songs sold more than 250 million records... Sept. 7th, Winstam soloed for three on Joe Cronin, Red Sox shortstop, Hall of Famer and League President... Sept. 9th, The Sick Puppies soloed for four on Robert Fluor, CEO of the Fluor Corporation, a builder of energy complexes... Sept. 14th, Deathbed, Deus ex Machina, Mr. Dit and Vega Ring scored three on actress Janet Gaynor, who died from injuries suffered in a car crash in Mary Martin's auto two years earlier... Sept. 20th, four gamesters including T. & J. James, Mr. Goodvibes and Melba Moorebid sang, "Good morning, America. How are ya?" as they tallied seven each on singer Steve Goodman... Sept. 25th, six gamesters scored two each on actor Walter Pidgeon.

October '84

October 1st, Dodger manager Walter Alston made his last trip to the mound and waved in eight gamesters in relief, for three runs each; Pontius moved to 45... Oct. 14th, The Sick Puppies soloed for two on Priscilla Hiss, wife of Alger... Oct. 17th, W. Dockum, the Morbo Chucks, the National Health and Slick, Slim & Amy scored two each on jazz/blues singer Alberta Hunter who retired from singing at age 60, worked 23 years as a scrub nurse in complete anonymity, was forced into retirement again, and out of boredom began singing once more, to be rediscovered by an entirely new generation of fans... Oct. 20th, the Mortucrats soloed for two on Paul Dirac, physicist and 1933 Nobel Prize winner... Oct. 26th, Pontius led the way on Dr. David Rabin, male contraceptive researcher, and raised his score to 50; also scoring five were Deathwatch and P. Grise... Oct. 30th, Pontius really put it away with a WILD CARD SOLO on Harry Chaloner, 110, America's oldest living veteran (Spanish American War); the points raised Ponty to 55... Oct. 31st, 12 gamesters scored four as they read the tea leaves on India's Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, ventilated by two of her Sikh bodyguards while walking to her office.

November '84

November 6th, The Artful Dodger was credited with five points for Palestinian terrorist Abu Nidal. However, in 1985, Abu resurfaced, alive and talking, and the points were removed from the Dodger's career record... Nov. 19th, Minerva soloed for one on Sen. George Aiken.

December '84

December 7th, D. Trageser soloed for six on stock car legend Lee Roy Yarbrough, dying after a seizure in an asylum... Dec. 14th, D. Beach soloed for two on Spanish poet and Nobel Prize winner (1975) Vincente Aleixandre... Dec. 24th, D. Perriman Jr. and Slick, Slim & Amy scored four each on actor Peter Lawford... Dec. 28th, Skul scored a slow-motion solo on "Wild Bunch" director Sam Peckinpah for five points... Same day, the Ithaca Psychics scored a three-point solo on ace New York Times reporter Peter Kihss, whose coverage of the Great Blackout of 1965 endeared him to someone.

And so it went, with Pontius winning the Gran Prix (55 points) and the Perriman Pennant (14 hits), Razor the Reaper Ribbon for High QPA (5.20), The Morbo Chucks Clete's Cup (2.54), Melba Moorebid Rookie of the Year, and D. Trageser Doc's Diploma for Class List with the same "Let It Ride" list that won the honor in 1983!

Let's look at the Top Ten for 1984.

Take me on to 1985.

Take me back to Play-by-Play.