1988 Play-by-Play
By early 1988, the Ad Hoc Committee to Save the Game had made some headway and gained custody of the lists from the mysterious Dupont Fluvius. Our thanks go to Dr. Doornail who curated the individual 1988 lists, to Amy Moorebid who published Gazettes, to Sal Monella who rallied to the cause, and to the King of Pain who afterwards created a 1988 Master List, making this reconstruction easier.
January
January 2nd, the Sick Puppies picked up where they left off, scoring a four-point solo on Jessie Gray, a New York State Assemblyman who led a rent strike in Harlem in the 1960's... Jan. 7th, Dr. Doux put down his shake and fries and entered the fray with a tasteful three-point solo on actor Trevor Howard... Jan. 8th, the Sick Puppies and Pontius scored six each on AIDS activist Dan Bradley. The Pups moved to 10 & 2... Jan. 11th, L. Smith scored his first ever solo, a three-point landing on WWII air hero Pappy Boyington... Jan. 16th, Fire Ants and Pontius scored two on Croation Nazi bad guy Andrija Artikovic. G. Reaper went Wild for five... Jan. 20th, the Sick Puppies were credited with a three-point solo on Brendon Sexton, former head of the United Auto Workers' Department of Education. This lifted them to 13 & 3... Jan. 25th, Scorpio elevated the proceedings by scoring a two-point solo on film star, dollhouse creator, author and businesswoman Colleen Moore... Jan. 28th, M. Hamilton soloed for three on German sci-guy Klaus Fuchs who gave British N-secrets to the Russians... Same day, Pontius hit his second WILD CARD SOLO, this one on Dick Pope, the man who started the Florida tourism boom that continues to this day; Ponty tied with the Pups at 13 points.
February '88
February 2nd, Pontius took the lead at 15 points with a solo two on Soviet big cheese Georgi Malenkov... Feb. 6th, the high-sticking Sick Puppies scored six on former NHL star Barclay Plager, rising to the lead at 19 points; the Morbo Chucks also scored... Feb. 14th, Dupont Fluvius, Morpheus and Scorpio tallied two on Broadway's Frederick "Lerner and" Loewe... Feb. 19th, Dupont Fluvius soloed for two on artist Isabel Bishop... Feb. 28th, Pontius battled back with five points on perennial All-Star and Detroit Tigers' great Harvey Kuenn, moving into the lead at 20 points; OPEC also scored five.
March '88
March 1st, the Sick Puppies passed Pontius again, moving to 21 and the lead with a slapstick deuce on Joe Besser of the Three Stooges; W. Dockum and Miss Rona Predicts scored as well... Mar. 15th, the Fire Ants soloed for one on America's oldest forest ranger, Frederick Sisneros... Mar. 17th, the Fire Ants soloed for one on actress Olive Carey. Same day, Captain Cadaver, Binky Brown, Legion of Doom, the Moorebids and OPEC scored six on actor John Holmes, best known for his portrayal of detective Johnny Wadd and his sinister endowment... Mar. 21st, the Morbo Chucks hit a sizzling single off baseball's Edd Roush, the last surviving player from the 1919 "Black Sox" Scandal-plagued World Series; this Cincinnati Red's great and Hall of Famer carried the heaviest bat in Major League history at 48 ounces and was one of the game's great hitters... Mar. 25th, Blunt Instrument soloed for five on ballet's Robert Joffrey... Mar. 28th, Morpheus soloed for four on producer Lee Guber... Mar. 29th, Pontius swung again, connecting on a four-point solo, baseball's Ted Kluszewski, and retook the lead at 24 points.
April '88
April 1st, Fire Ants, Dupont Fluvius and the Morbo Chucks tallied one each on radio's "Fibber McGee," Jim Jordan. Same day, the Sick Puppies took that lead right back with a seven-point swat on ballet dancer Arnie Zane, rising to 28 points in tights. The Ithaca Psychics and Blunt Instrument also scored seven... Apr. 12th, Dupont Fluvius soloed for two on author Alan Paton... Apr. 14th, the Sick Puppies led the way with a four-point hit on the Mayor of Omaha, Bernie Simon. They rose to 32 points. Also scoring, the Ithaca Psychics, Blunt Instrument, and D. Perriman Jr... Apr. 15th, the National Health soloed for four on actor Kenneth Williams, who appeared in 25 of the "Carry On" films... Apr. 17th, Cassandra Bob, Dupont Fluvius, Deus ex Machina and M. Hamilton scored two on artist Louise Nevelson... Apr. 22nd, Scorpio soloed for two on Rep. Melvin Price, serving his 22nd term in the House, and D. Perriman Sr. soloed for one on actress Irene Rich.
May '88
May 5th, D. Trageser and Sal Monella tallied two each on mobster Paul Vario... May 6th, Pittsburgh Mayor Richard Caliguri handed out five points to 13 gamesters, including the Sick Puppies moving to 37 points... May 8th, water brothers Mr. Dit and Dorian Gray scored two each on sci-fi author Robert Heinlein... May 18th, the Sick Puppies really put it to Pontius with a four-point solo on David Guyer, former president of Save the Children, and rose to 41... May 20th, the Sick Puppies and the Morbo Chucks tallied seven on newspaper columnist Bill Cox; the Pups rose to 48. Same day, the Fire Ants and Portland Sisters tallied one on the eldest Mormon elder Marion G. Romney... May 29th, a game Pontius soloed for two on African statesman Siaka Stevens.
June '88
June 10th, Taste of Death slapped leather and soloed for two on Western author Louis Lamour... June 19th, the Sick Puppies soloed for three on Rep. Gladys Spellman; their total rose to 51... June 22nd, G. Reaper led 10 in a tapping trey on Dennis Day... June 23rd, G. Reaper and the Sick Puppies tallied six on Leonard Matlovich, who stepped out of the closet in an Air Force uniform and drew heavy press; the Pups rose to 57. Same day, Silver Tapps showed some style with a WILD CARD SOLO on famed psychologist Henry Murray.
July '88
July 7th, the National Health soloed for four on British comic and radio personality James Edwards... July 9th, Teamster Jackie Presser's heart called a work stoppage and thus pinned buttons on 13 gamesters led by the Sick Puppies, who used their four points to rise to 61... July 12th, T. & J. James, the Moorebids and Pontius scored three on playwright Josh Logan... July 20th, Fire Ants soloed for one on sportsman and financier John Galbreath.
August '88
August 1st, D. Perriman Sr. soloed for two on actress Florence Eldridge... Aug. 5th, Minerva soloed for two on WWII hero J.P.S. Devereux... Aug. 13th, Dr. Doux soloed for two on Rep. Otto Passman. Same day, L. Smith and Taste of Death scored four on attorney and Orioles owner Edward Bennett Williams. Same day, the Sick Puppies led nine in scoring six on Elmo Zumwalt, Jr., who died of an illness caused by his exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam; the spraying program was authorized by his father, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt. The Pups rose to 67... Aug. 14th, style made a comeback as three scored on Enzo Ferrari; Penguin scored one and C. Stanley and Sweeney Todd went Wild for five... Aug. 15th, Pontius scored a two-point solo on newspaper owner Barry Bingham... Aug. 17th, look, up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane, it's luggage. El Chileno, Montressor and Silver Tapps scored a sudden fiery four-pointer on Pakistani despot Gen. Zia ul Haq blown out of the blue... Aug. 18th, Minerva soloed again, this time for two on choreographer Frederick Ashton... Aug. 25th, NFL Hall of Famer and Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney scored a safety on the lists of W. Dockum and Friable Asbestos.
September '88
September 12th, Dr. Doux, who was bringing a real air of class to 1988, soloed for two on Gen. Lauris Norstad, US Commander-in-Chief, Europe, and first commander of NATO... Sept. 16th, the Sick Puppies and OPEC scored three on Henry Wallich of the Federal Reserve Board; the Pups rose to 70... Sept. 25th, the Sick Puppies led 41 in scoring five on Billy Carter, presidential sibling and beer namesake; the Pups rose to 75.
October '88
October 1st, Dupont Fluvius soloed for one on Sir Sachereverall Sitwell, the last of the eccentric Sitwells... Oct. 2nd, Harris Tweed and Sweeney Todd squeezed inside a Morris Minor and scored two on Sir Alec Issigonis, creator of the Morris Minor and Mini... Oct. 11th, C. Stanley threw his voice into a six-point solo on ventriloquist Wayland Flowers... Oct. 12th, D. Perriman Jr. soloed for two on actor and home movie buff Ken Murray.
November '88
November 1st, 11 gamesters earned two points on actor John Houseman... Nov. 12th, Gen. Lyman Lemnitzer (who succeeded Lauris Norstad as USCIC, Europe) saluted the Portland Sisters with a two-point solo... Nov. 17th, Minerva soloed yet again, for two points, this time on Sheila Graham who won fame as an author and columnist after her stint as love interest to F. Scott Fitzgerald... Nov. 19th, Ghostwriter read the tea leaves correctly on the terminally unhappy Christina Onassis and scored a solo seven when she died of a heart attack... Nov. 21, Bambi soloed for two on NY Giant's Hall of Fame pitcher Carl Hubbell, a.k.a. "The Meal Ticket," who at the 1934 All-Star Game fanned five future Hall of Famers in a row... Nov. 27th, eight gamesters scored two on actor John Carradine.
December '88
December 12th, e. mcgrath soloed for three on Anthony "Tony Pro" Provenzano, organized crime figure and Teamster bigwig in northern N.J., dying while serving 20 years in the cooler... Dec. 14th, Dupont Fluvius, M. Hamilton and Silver Tapps scored two on Sen. Stuart Symington, who was also the first Secretary of the Air Force... Dec. 20th, 13 gamesters scored six on TV newscaster Max Robinson who had been hospitalized for undisclosed reasons, i.e. AIDS... Dec. 28th, OPEC rounded out the year with a trey on Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) director Lewis Swyer.
And so it ended, with The Sick Puppies winning the Gran Prix for the fourth year in a row (75 points) and the Perriman Pennant (16 hits), Captain Cadaver, Ithaca Psychics and the Legion of Doom the Reaper Ribbon for High QPA (5.20), Fire Ants Clete's Cup (1.16, a new record), Blunt Instrument Rookie of the Year, and e. mcgrath Doc's Diploma for Class List.
In the muddle of the year, people claimed points on other hits. But when we returned to the scene to record these, there was no trace of the necessary obits in standard sources like Facts on File, The New York Times Index, the World Almanac, national publications, etc., and hence no points are awarded in this record. The Sick Puppies were said to have scored five on football's Rollie Dotsch in March. Dr. Doornail, Pontius and Sal Monella were said to have scored four each on a Mafia figure named Joseph Paterno on March 18th. The Moorebids claimed six points on Ron Kershaw, news director at WBBM-TV in Chicago. The Fire Ants were said to have scored solo aces on Colorado poet laureate Thomas Hornsby Ferrill and newsman Burt Garnett. Likewise for Silver Tapps on Gestalt theorist and father of attribution theory Fritz Heider. When valid obits appear, we will award career credit.
Let's look at the Top Ten for 1988.
Take me on to 1989.
Take me back to Play-by-Play.