1994 Play-by-Play
January
January 1st, actor Cesar Romero took 14 blushing gamesters for a two-point twirl across the dance floor. Rookies Deathsprit, Mac and Worm Meat had to be saying, "How tough can this be? One day and I scored!"... Next day, the King of Pain soloed for three on Dixie Lee Ray, former governor of Washington and AEC chairwoman, and stepped into sole possession of the lead for the first time in his long and distinguished career... Jan. 3rd, the Dada Sisters soloed for one on fugitive, physician and author Paul Berczeller... Jan. 5th, the King's brief, benevolent reign came to an end as Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill favored 33 gamesters with two points in patronage and sent three into the lead: Harris Tweed, T. & J. James and Nanny's Dream Team. Same day, the National Health soloed on Brian Johnston, the voice of cricket. It was two points and career solo #31 for the Health, and put him in the solo lead over Pontius... Jan. 8th, three scored three on Pat Buttram, Gene Autry's sidekick. High in the saddle were Snakeyes, C. Stanley and Vega Ring... Jan. 14th, stage door Johnnies Flatliners and D. Perriman Sr. got on the boards with a one-point duet on actress Vera Ralston, "the American Venus."... Jan. 15th, five scored five on singer Harry Nilsson. Moving into the lead in concert at 5 & 1 were Death Warmed Over, Frank Merriwell, Moss, Ms. O'Ree and L. Smith. But their day at the top was brief. Jan. 16th, P. & E. Hepner and the Sick Puppies went to the vet to score six on Dr. Stephen Kritsick, genial pet care commentator on "Romper Room" and "Good Morning America." Having already tallied two on Tip, the Hepners vaulted into sole possession of the top spot at 8 & 2... Jan. 20th, the National Health soloed for two on Oginga Odinga, leader in Kenyan politics, his second solo of the month and career #32... Jan. 22nd, three scored three on actor Telly Savalas: Cujo, Rosebud and E. C. Spirituo... Jan. 25th, the Flatliners returned with a solo ace on the last of the St. Louis Cardinals' Gashouse Gang, infielder Pat Crawford... Jan. 27th, eight scored four on actor Claude Akins. Still in the lead, P. & E. Hepner at 12 & 3 with the Sick Puppies close behind at 10 & 2... Jan. 28th, Mac soloed for three on actor Hal Smith, who played Otis on "Andy Griffith."
February '94
February 6th, 16 led by Harris Tweed paid a two-point tribute to actor Joseph Cotten. Same day, four tallied three on Jack Kirby, creator of "Captain America" and "The Incredible Hulk." Leading the way with a Cotten/Kirby Daily Double was The Great Beyond. Also in the Kirby panels were Helena Handbasket, Mac and 9-Jack-9... Feb. 8th, Cassandra Bob and Syd Lexic tuned up with a tasteful two on Raymond Scott, jazz musician of the 1930's whose six-man quintet made music for Warner Bros. cartoons and, as a crowning touch, the soundtrack of "The Ren and Stimpy Show". Same day, Boneyard Dog took a solo snap on a three-count from coach Bud Wilkinson whose Oklahoma football teams won 47 straight games and three national titles... Feb. 11th, 12 gamesters weighed in with three on actor William Conrad. Moving to four hits and one away from the Silver Bobcat were the Great Beyond and T. & J. James. Same day, Uncle Milton hit a booming seven-point solo on Dominic "Mad Dog" McGlinchey, leader of an IRA splinter group, hit by three gunmen... Valentine's Day, Pietro Belluschi, architect of the Pan Am Building in NYC and the Bank of America in San Francisco raised an elegant point for the Gamesters of Triskelion and Gomez... Feb. 17th, 24 scored six on journalist Randy Shilts and the Sick Puppies took the lead at 16 & 3... Feb. 18th, coach Jake Gaither patted an eager Pontius on the derrière and sent him out onto the field for the big Point After. Jake was 203-36-4 at Florida A&M, sent 42 players to the NFL and Pontius to 31 career solos... Feb. 19th, eight scored five on British film maker Derek Jarman. Leading the way were the Sick Puppies at 21 & 4... Feb. 22nd, Tim Ormortis stepped out of Club Nula with a three-note solo glissando on violinist Papa John Creach... Feb. 24th, six led by Hanuman donned chiffon for a hit in the classic mode, a three-pointer on Dinah Shore. Same day, Cassandra Bob took a drag on his cigarette, let the smoke trickle over his pencil-thin moustache, clasped the mike and sang an emotional two-point solo on troubadour Jean Sablon, the Bing Crosby of France... Next day, the Silver Bobcat race quickened as D. Perriman Sr. and C. Stanley each logged hit #4 to join T. & J. James, the Sick Puppies and the Great Beyond at the forefront. The pick: former heavyweight champ Jersey Joe Walcott. Also taking the two-count, D. Perriman Jr., W. Dockum and OPEC. (Caught gazing at the babe in the third row was the Game's scholar of pugilism, Pine Boxer).
March '94
March 4th, Canada Dry Bones, I. Mafiosi and O. Zilch bade farewell to actor John Candy for six... Mar. 9th, a panel of six grilled "Meet the Press" founder Lawrence Spivak for a well-made point. Putting in their bid for the Silver Bobcat with hit #4 were the Flatliners. Same day, six gamesters showed up for shots and beers with Charles Bukowski, poet laureate of the low life who astonished his fans by living this long. Scoring her first hit ever was rookie Iron Maiden... Mar. 20th, 14 scored six on humorist Lewis Grizzard. Latching onto the Silver Bobcat with hit #5 were the Flatliners, the Gamesters of Triskelion and T. & J. James... Mar. 21st, T. & J. James led 11 with a timely deuce on actor and soap star McDonald Carey who daily intoned, "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives." Indeed. But wait, same day, 37 scored five on actor Dack Rambo, the third hit, 13 monster points, for T. & J. James, moving them to 24 & 7, just two behind the leading Sick Puppies at 26 & 5. Joining the James Gang in the Carey/Rambo Daily Double were Daisy Pusher, Dr. Tom(b), Nanny's Dream Team, Perry Mason, Pine Boxer and Worm Feast (who also tallied three hits in two days). But the day wasn't over. For 20 years, one gamester had chased Dr. Death's career solo total of 11. For 24 years, he'd dreamed of a Daily Double. And on this day, actress Lili Damita made all his dreams come true: It was career solo #11 and a Dack Rambo/Lili Damita Daily Double for Ghostwriter, as well as two points on the beauty once married to Errol Flynn... Mar. 22nd, 14 aced Walter Lantz, creator of Woody Woodpecker... Mar. 24th, the sixth hit of the week, four tallied three on Archbishop John L. May. Moving up in mitres were Rosebud, DDT, G. Reaper and Plug Pullers... Mar. 28th, four bald sopranos trod the boards with a deuce on Eugene Ionesco. Entering at stage left: Deus ex Machina, Cribdeath, Lady Die and Syd Lexic.
April '94
April 2nd, Betty Furness opened the Westinghouse refrigerator to reveal the Sick Puppies and J. Eby, scoring three apiece, moving the Pups to a five-point lead at 29 as they noted, "Progress is our most important product."... Apr. 5th, three rolled seven on award-winning filmmaker Marlon Riggs. Lifting the lead to 36 were the Sick Puppies, followed by G. Reaper moving into second place and further back, Boneyard Dog. Same day, the Kurt Cobain roller coaster rumbled into the station for 10 exhausted but thrilled riders. In the front car, Doom Patrol followed by a Who's Who of the Game in Rock including OPEC, Mr. Dit, Mr. Goodvibes and Skul, all scoring eight points on the suicide, or as yet unsolved murder, of the grunge rocker... Apr. 15th, Olympic Gold Medalist skater John Curry took his last leap and scored a unanimous 6.0 across a panel of 44 judges, including the Bulgarian. Leading the way, the Sick Puppies moving to 42 points... Apr. 16th, G. Reaper led five gamesters with six on actor Ron Vawter, moving to 40 points, just two away from the Pups. Same day, Lady Die added a style note with a solo two on author Ralph Ellison... Apr. 17th, Silver Tapps scored a WILD CARD SOLO on Nobel winner Roger Sperry... On Apr. 22nd, 62 gamesters gathered on the White House lawn to see Richard Nixon take off for the hereafter. Springing from Club Nula was Of Corpse, scoring their first points since entering the Game in 1992, snapping a streak of 842 scoreless days. Of Corpse passed J. Buffalo's mark of 755 on January 25th, but could not reach e. mcgrath's amazing 978, which looked better than ever.
April 29th, the Game paused to mourn the passing of one of its own, G. Reaper, dying after a long illness. He was, in his own words, a great six-pointer. And because he had been discussing his picks on his hospital bed the week before he died, we were sure he wanted his list to stay in the running. And so it did.
May '94
May 1st, sparks flew as Harris "Va Va Voom" Tweed changed from a heather blazer into black racing leathers and put the pedal to the metal for a seven-point solo on Formula One racer and three-time world champ Ayrton Senna going into a wall at 186 mph at the San Marino Gran Prix... May 6th, the leading Sick Puppies mushed to 47 with five on Tenneco CEO Michael Walsh. Eight others made the power call... May 8th, the Tobacco Institute offered a two-fer: actor George Peppard and New Orleans Saints GM Jim Finks, for four each. Taking the Daily Double were Demented Debutante, Dr. Tom(b), the Merry Little Breezes and Perry Mason. Scoring his fifth career Wild Card and taking the extra point after was Danse Macabre... May 9th, SLY, the Queen of Arts, soloed for one on textile artist Anni Albers who beat the Gestapo and lymphoma in the course of her career as a weaver and printmaker. Next day, SLY was back in a duet with e. mcgrath on literary critic Cleanth Brooks for two stylish points... May 12th, seven scored one on psychologist Erik Erikson and wondered what it was in their childhood that led them to this strange point in life. Same day, the Great Beyond slipped past six gamesters with a two-point solo on the inventor of Teflon, Roy J. Plunkett... May 15th, three lean, dashing lists bade farewell to character actor Gilbert Roland. Lighting up the screen with two points and charisma were The Last Roundup, Scorpio and Wilde & Shaw... May 19th, the Tobacco Institute wafted up yet another selection, delightful wit Henry Morgan, three points of Dr. Tom(b) and Helena Handbasket. Same day, The Poker Club tallied an inspired hit, a solo for four on Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis... May 26th, Binky Brown and Lady Die combined for a two-point duet on lawyer, banker, author, official and advisor George Ball... May 28th, D. Perriman Jr. tallied a one-point solo on Rep. Daniel Flood, congressman with a great amount of influence and a petite Snidely Whiplash moustache... May 29th, D. Perriman Jr. joined 74 other gamesters in going over the Wall with Erich Honecker. Seven went Wild, including Frank Merriwell scaling into third place. The Sick Puppies and the late G. Reaper's list each scored two and moved ahead at the top... May 30th, D. Perriman Jr. became the first gamester to ever score three days in a row as he joined 25 others in collecting one on Ezra Taft Benson. At the top, the Sick Puppies Wild Carded ET to move to 54 points and stretch their lead to 11 over G. Reaper. Same day, Tim Ormortis soloed for two on novelist and poet Juan Carlos Onetti.
June '94
June 11th, the Necromancers soloed for two on Herbert Anderson, the TV dad of Dennis the Menace... June 12th, 11 tapped Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, head of the Lubavitch Hasidim. Going Wild were Fade to Black and Sal Monella. Same day, P. & E. Hepner and Razor scored five on collegiate baseball coach Jim Brock... June 14th, Helena Handbasket crossed Moon River in style with a three-point solo on Henry Mancini. What a huckleberry gamester!
July '94
July 4th, Dr. Doornail soloed for five on health pioneer David Axelrod... July 8th, 13 gamesters led by Moss scored two on North Korea's Kim Il Sung who paved the way for a famine. Same day, Dick Sargent, who replaced Dick York on TV's "Bewitched," joined him. Nine gamesters led by Nanny's Dream Team scored four... July 13th, Frozen Stiff and Pontius each scored one on baseball's Jimmie Reese who roomed with Babe Ruth and spent 78 years in the game as player and coach... July 16th, Tim Ormortis tallied solo #3 for three points on Julian Schwinger who won a 1965 Nobel Prize in quantum electrodynamics... July 21st, Canada Dry Bones joined the Hit Parade with a lilting four-point solo on Canadian-born singer Dorothy Collins, a Lucky Strike indeed... July 23rd, student of the silver screen Dead Ernest soloed for one on Hans Salter, composer of more than 150 film scores including several for Frankenstein and Dracula movies.
August '94
August 11th, Capitol Punishment and Scorpio scored a two-point duet on Hammer Films stalwart Peter Cushing. It was hit #11 for Scorpio, tying her in the Perriman Pennant race... Aug. 13th, 9-Jack-9 and La Petite Morte scored five as they lowered the flag for NATO head Manfred Wörner. Same day, e. mcgrath scored career solo #21 on the Rev. Jacob Preus whose insistence on the historical truth of the Bible led to a schism in the Lutheran Church's Missouri Synod... Aug. 17th, former champ Jack Sharkey took his final cruise to the canvas and there at ringside with a heavyweight solo ace were Lives in Jeopardy. Caught trying to read his EVERLAST label upside down was fight fan Pine Boxer. Same day, in the Club Nula garage, Sweeney Todd finally got his list to fire with a solo ace on Luigi Chinetti, Sr., a winning racer for Alfa who once won at LeMans by plugging his leaking gas tank with chewing gum... Aug. 19th, 30 scored on Linus Pauling and the late G. Reaper led the way with his Wild Card, moving up to 48, just six points behind the stalled Sick Puppies! Also on the run, Scorpio with hit #12, taking the lead in the Perriman Pennant battle... Aug. 25th, the Sick Puppies roused themselves to lead ten in scoring three on Hugh Culverhouse, owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, rising to 57 and opening their lead to nine points over G. Reaper, and tying Scorpio at 12 hits.
September '94
September 007th, rookie Mac soloed for three on Terence Young, director of the early James Bond films... Sept. 11th, 46 in scored two points on actress Jessica Tandy and the late G. Reaper used his points to pull to within seven of the Sick Puppies at 50 points, a new Personal Best, and Scorpio lifted the Perriman Pennant bar to 13 hits... Sept. 12th, six scored two on actor Tom Ewell... Sept. 17th, Truck Savage soloed for one on Sir Karl "Open Society" Popper, his third hit in six days!... Sept. 18th, rookie Club Dead grabbed the spotlight by gliding down the runway with Franco Moschino, the "enfant terrible" of Italian fashion. The stylish solo was worth six to the L. Smith protégé... Sept. 20th, 10 hummed "The Party's Over" and scored two on composer Jule Styne. Leading the way like a thoroughbred without a jockey was the list of G. Reaper, still driving, still striving, pulling to within five of the Sick Puppies in a last ride for glory. Plus, it was hit #14 for Scorpio, just three of Pontius' record of 17... Sept. 22nd, it was SLY soloing for one on sculptor Dorothy Dehner... Sept. 28th, Mac struck up the 007 theme again with his second James Bond solo of the month, a trey on producer Harry Saltzman!... Sept. 30th, the Bluebirds of Paradise chirped for a solo ace on pro-IRA firebrand Michael Flannery, a Grand Marshal of New York's St. Patrick's Day parade.
Also in September, the Game noted the passing of its senior statesman, D. Perriman, Sr., dying just four days before his 91st birthday. He was a gift to us all.
October '94
October 2nd, five led by Blunt Instrument scored two on TV's Harriet Nelson, a presence as soothing as milk and cookies... Oct. 9th, 21 gamesters thundered across the finish line with Fred Lebow, founder of the NYC Marathon. The four points lifted the Sick Puppies to 61, but G. Reaper followed, still just five points back. And Scorpio logged hit #15, a new Personal Best... Oct. 10th, Pontius soloed for one on Anna Hauptmann, who crusaded unsuccessfully to have her husband declared innocent of the 1932 Lindbergh baby kidnapping; it was career solo #32 for Ponty, tying him with the National Health once again... Oct. 11th, four took to the hardwood and sank two on basketball's Frank McGuire... Oct. 19th, Martha Raye entertained 65 troops with three points, except for Women with Spurs who went Wild with five. At the top, the Sick Puppies rose to 64, G. Reaper held on to stay within five, and Scorpio tallied hit #16... Oct. 21st, 50 scored two on Burt Lancaster. Leading the way was G. Reaper, closing to within three points of the Sick Puppies, and Scorpio scoring hit #17 to tie the all-time record... Oct. 22nd, El Chileno and Cribdeath realized their duet potential with two points on psychologist Rollo May... Oct. 25th, Wilde & Shaw showed real style with a solo on character actress Mildred Natwick... Oct. 30th, e. mcgrath tallied career solo #22, a deuce on economist Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen.
November '94
November 6th, the Morbo Chucks went Wild on philanthropist Milton Petrie, while the Great Beyond and Necrophiliac Pimp scored one each... Nov. 10th, the gavel fell for attorney Louis Nizer and there for a one-point court award were Alibi, Lives in Jeopardy, and SLY... Nov. 18th, the Morbo Chucks led 37 in scoring on Cab Calloway, but Scorpio hit the hi-de-ho notes as she tallied hit #18 and set a new all-time hits record!... Nov. 20th, Mr. Goodvibes donned the robes of academe to solo for three on author and chancellor Melvin Eggers, and SLY, the Queen of Arts, soloed for one on illustrator and painter Charles Baskerville. But more weighty scoring was afoot. The New York Times revealed that Mafia capo and FBI mole Gregory Scarpa had died in prison. Known as the "Grim Reaper" in underworld circles, Scarpa handed four points wrapped in newspaper to five gamesters led by, yes indeed, G. Reaper who took the lead at 65 points, with 41 days to go in 1994. Also soaring, Scorpio with her hit #19!... Nov. 30th, the list of D. Perriman Sr. uncorked a final solo, a deuce on character actor Lionel Stander. It was career solo #18 and career hit #150 for the amazing Silver Warrior.
December '94
G. Reaper 65, Sick Puppies 64... December 9th, archy and mehitabel soloed for two on painter, sculptor and architect Max Bill... Dec. 14th, the Flatliners and D. Perriman Sr. dueted for two on Arkansas' Orval Faubus... Dec. 15th, word arrived that the National Health had scored career solo #33, a four-pointer on comedian and dancer Roy Castle, moving him one ahead of Pontius in the career solo race... Dec. 19th, Cujo soloed for two on the inventor of the shopping mall, Edward DeBartolo Sr. ... Dec. 20th, 13 gamesters led by Dr. Tom(b) had Dean Rusk for two. The Pups, becalmed for a month now, would have loved this one, but no. And the clock ticked... Dec. 23rd, the Great Beyond scored a three-point solo on Doug Wildey, the creator of Jonny Quest and the inspiration for Peevy in Dave Steven's "Rocketeer"... (Dec. 31st, Women with Spurs soloed for two on actor Woody Strode, but it wasn't reported until Jan. 4, 1995, after the 1994 Standings had closed. Ouch, what timing! Hence, career credit only.)... And that was it for 1994! The list of the late G. Reaper held on to a one-point lead for 41 days for the most thrilling and emotional finish in Game history.
And so it ended, with the late G. Reaper winning the Gran Prix (65 points), Scorpio the Perriman Pennant (19 hits), Frank Merriwell the Reaper Ribbon for High QPA (4.75), Gomez Clete's Cup (1.57), Mac Rookie of the Year, and Tim Ormortis Doc's Diploma for Class List.
Let's look at the Top Ten for 1994.
Take me on to 1995.
Take me back to Play-by-Play.