2002 Play-by-Play
January January 2nd, Isadora soloed for two on Bob Stevens, sportswriter for the San Francisco Chronicle who covered baseball for nearly 50 years and who was inducted into the sportswriters' wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999, where he joined such journalists as Red Smith and Ring Lardner. The two-bagger gave Isadora the lead in 2002... Jan. 3rd, five scored one on Antonio Todde, the oldest man in the world. Same day, Dark Carnival, Helena Handbasket, Motel Styx and Our American Cousin scored two on Juan Garcia Esquivel, legendary pianist, composer, band leader and icon of Space Age Bachelor Pad Music. And for Our American Cousin, it was a Todde/Esquivel Daily Double, and the lead at 3 & 2!... Jan. 4th, Dinner with Jack Klugman and El Duce's Revenge donned waders and funny hats to hook five points on Gary LaFontaine, author and publisher whose books on flyfishing are standards in the field. The five points gave Dinner with Jack the lead at 6 & 2 for four days that they didn't know about because LaFontaine's obit didn't appear for five days... Jan. 6th, Frank Merriwell soloed for three on NCAA Hall of Basketball coach Fred Taylor, who took Ohio State to the national championship in 1960 with a team that included John Havlicek, Jerry Lucas and a seldom-played reserve named Bobby Knight. .. Jan. 8th, Frank Merriwell led four in scoring four on Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy's. The hit lifted Merriwell into the lead at 7 & 2, with Freddy's Fallen Heroes, Lincoln's Brain and the Merry Little Breezes moving into a three-way tie for fourth place... Jan. 13th, M. Hamilton and Greyfriars Bobby lifted a glass of rum to the memory of Gregorio Fuentes, the Cuban fisherman who was the inspiration for Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" and the captain of his boat, Pilar. The hit was worth one point to well-read gamester... Jan. 14th, KABOOM. Palestinian Tanzim militia leader Raed al-Karmi ("The Promise") was killed by a bomb set next to the wall of a cemetery close to his house. Pontius, who invested heavily in flashpoint futures in 2002, used the eight-point solo to blast into first place. It was Pontius' 38th career solo and the Game's 11th called bombing... Jan. 16th, Dead On soloed for six on actor Ron Taylor of Broadway's "Ain't Nothing but the Blues" and the voice on "Bleeding Gums" Murphy on "The Simpsons." It was the first solo of Dead On's career... Jan. 17th, El Chileno soloed for two on author Camilo Jose Cela, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature and one of the Hispanic literary world's best-known figures. It was career solo #14 for the prolific El Chileno... Jan. 20th, Dinner with Jack Klugman powered into first place at 13 & 3 as they led 11 in scoring seven on actress, writer and musician Carrie Hamilton whose accomplishments in film, television and the stage made her very much her own person... Jan. 21st, the Merry Little Breezes moved into a tie for the lead as she led 38 in scoring two on singer and composer Peggy Lee. One step behind her, Our American Cousin with hit #4! We all recall how on January 27th, 1996, a flying Dr. Doux broke D. Perriman Sr.'s fastest Silver Bobcat record, which had held for 15 years. And suddenly Our American Cousin, who last year tied Pontius for the Bobcat, has five days to set a new mark, six days to tie the old. Can we stand the suspense?... Jan. 22nd, the ACME Undertakers soloed one on Jack Shea, the oldest living U.S. gold medalist in the winter Olympics and the patriarch of a three-generation Olympic family, killed in a car crash. Same day, eight led by the Great Beyond, Iron Maiden and Nanny's Dream Team (all scoring their second hit in as many days) tallied one point on Stanley Marcus, whose name has been synonymous with high-dollar retailing and extravagant gifts for nearly a century... Jan. 24th, former Lebanese Christian militia leader Elie Hobeika and his three bodyguards decided to go to the beach. As Hobeika's sport utility vehicle passed a parked Mercedes, it blew up, killing Hobeika, his bodyguards and a bystander. Dr. Doornail soloed for six points. It was his tenth called assassination and the Game's second bombing score in two weeks... Jan. 28th, Fade to Black vaulted into the Top Ten at 8 & 2 with an ace on Astrid Lindgren, author of the Pippi Longstocking series. Her books sold 100 million copies in 80 languages and were made into 40 films and a TV series. Also scoring, and emerging from Club Nula, were Cassandra Bob and Gashlycrumb Tinies... Jan. 29th, Terminally Inconvenienced hit the first solo of his career, a three-pointer on cornerback and NFL Hall of Famer Dick "Night Train" Lane whose 14 interceptions as a rookie is a mark that has held for 50 years. Same day, Necropolis Keepers and Teen Angel scored two on Harold Russell, who received two Academy Awards for his sensitive portrayal of Harold Parrish, a wounded veteran in The Best Years of Our Lives, which won a total of seven Academy Awards, including best picture, best director for William Wyler and best actor for Fredric March. Extraordinary film, touching performance, and a very stylish hit. Same day, DDT soloed for three on Bishop John McGann, their first-ever solo and perhaps the first pick ever to have an award-winning dahlia named after him. Same day, Tim Ormortis soloed for two on philosopher R.M. Hare who sought to answer moral questions rationally. It was Silver Solo #25 for Tim Ormortis... Jan. 31st, Breathless and Tim Ormortis paid tribute to the USA's highest ranking WWII air ace Francis Gabreski, who downed 28 German aircraft over Europe. The hit was worth two points.
February '02 February 7th, Dinner with Jack Klugman soloed into the lead at 14 & 4 with a one-pointer on Clarry the Koala. San Francisco Zoo officials said that according to the International Koala Stud Book kept in Melbourne, Australia, Clarry had lived longer than any other male koala... Feb. 8th, Deadbolts and Deadnecks scored four on Ong Teng Cheong, the first elected president of Singapore. Same day, The Great Beyond soloed for two on William Dillard, the founder of the Dillard's retail chain... Feb. 9th, D. Perriman Jr. led 12 in scoring three on Princess Margaret of England and moved smoothly into third place at 12 & 3... Feb. 10th, the Moorebids led four in scoring four on folksinger Dave Van Ronk; the hit moved them into second place at 13 & 3... Feb. 11th, Mac soloed for two on corporate raider Victor Posner, who once owned Arby's and Royal Crown Cola as a part of his $4 billion empire. It was career solo #9 for Mac. Same day, Isadora and Legion of Doom scored one on legendary N.Y. Yankee shortstop Frank Crosetti who was a member of eight World Series Championship teams, playing with Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio... Feb. 13th, Dinner with Jack Klugman, El Duce's Revenge and D. Beach sang in three-part harmony with a four-point hit on country giant Waylon Jennings. For Dinner with Jack Klugman, it was a huge hit, stretching their first place lead to five points and marking their fifth hit to win them the 2002 Silver Bobcat. Later that same day, Our American Cousin scored their hit #5 but missed the Bobcat by just hours (ouch!) with a hit on fashion designer Pauline Trigere. Joining Our American Cousin on the runway for the neatly tailored one-point hit was M. Hamilton. Same day, L. Epstein and Lives in Jeopardy scored one on painter Theresa Bernstein... Feb. 15th, The Great Beyond led nine in scoring two on Howard K. Smith who reported on everything from Hitler's Berlin to Nixon's Whitehouse. And what an entrance for Saturday Night Massacre, the rookie with an all-Nixon, all-Watergate list who tallied the legendary newsman as his Wild Card. Sha-boom!... Feb. 16th, Uncle Milton soloed for two on John W. Gardner, the founder of Common Cause, an advocate of volunteerism and the father of campaign finance reform. What a guy! It was career solo #4 for Uncle Milton... Feb. 21st, Passing Fancy led four sleuths, including the 7th Street Irregulars, in scoring four points on actor John Thaw who portrayed Inspector Morse on "Mystery." The hit moved her into a tie for second place at 13 & 3... Feb. 22nd, Fade to Black, working with a new partner in 2002 and inspired by multiple Canadian Gold in the Olympics, led 18 in scoring two on Oscar-winning animator and author Chuck Jones, the creator of Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. Same day, Fade to Black led four in scoring four on Jonas Savimbi, UNITA rebel chief who made live miserable for everyone in Angola for 30 years, dying in a hail of bullets when the army finally caught up with him. It was a Daily Double for Fade to Black, who shared the hit with Boneyard Dog, Daisy Pusher and Tomb Essence. Same day, L. Epstein and Women with Spurs scored one on social anthropologist Sir Raymond Firth who put the innovative analyses of the founders of the discipline on a firmer empirical base and developed a distinct approach to the study of humanity... Feb. 24th, Humorbid went wild for five on pianist and composer Leo Ornstein. Picking up one note were L. Epstein, Greyfriars Bobby and Truck Savage... Feb. 25th, Motel Styx soloed on the vibraphone with a three-point tribute to Arthur Lyman, a legend in Exotic Music whose "Yellow Bird" (complete with bird calls) and performance on Martin Denny's "Quiet Village" album made him a Tiki Lounge favorite... Feb. 27th, Clean Underwear moved into the Top Ten at 9 & 2 as he led seven in scoring two on comic and author Spike Milligan, the last surviving member of "The Goon Show" and a writer of novels, poetry and children's books.
March '02 March 1st, L. Epstein soloed for one on the Right Rev Roger Wilson, Bishop of Chichester... Mar. 3rd, Boneyard Dog soloed for three on Country Music Hall of Famer Harlan Howard, who wrote "Pick Me Up on Your Way Down" and "I Fall to Pieces." It was solo #7 for last year's Gran Prix winner and moved him to within two points of the Top Ten in 2002... Mar. 4th, Razor soloed for seven on banjo player Mark Vann of Leftover Salmon... Mar. 10th, DNA tests confirmed the shooting death of drug lord Ramon Arellano Felix on February 10th. Scoring seven points in spectacular fashion were 2 Dead Crew, Ghostwriter and Pocketful of Posies... Mar. 12th, the Moorebids took the lead at 19 & 4 with a six-point solo on Ed Stancik, New York City's special commissioner of investigation for the schools, a national legend in the educational community, whose decade-long search for sleezebags led to more than 200 arrests... Mar. 13th, Yule Iggy went Wild on Hans-Georg Gadamer, German philosopher who explored hermeneutics, the shifting nature of human understanding. Gadamer's "Truth and Method" was a standard read for generations of college students. It was career WC #4 for the Yulester. Scoring one were Deadbolts and L. Epstein... Mar. 15th, Dead Ernest and Penguin led six in scoring one on Sylvester "Pat" Weaver, who created NBC's "Today" and "Tonight" shows, and shaped the way Americans watched the infant medium... Mar. 17th, Johnny B. Dead soloed for one on legendary golfer Paul Runyan, winner of 29 PGA events, a small man known as Little Poison for his devastating short game... Mar. 18th, Dinner with Jack Klugman returned to the lead, sharing it at 19 with the Moorebids, with an ace on Maud Farris-Luse, the world's oldest person. Also scoring one were Our American Cousin, Lives in Jeopardy and Willie's Will. Same day, Helena Handbasket soloed for two on sci-fi writer R. A. Lafferty who wrote 21 novels and 200 short stories. It was the seventh solo of her career... Mar. 21st, Gratefully Dead and Necrophiliac Pimp accepted two points in pork barrel from former Georgia Governor and Senator Herman Talmadge.... Mar. 23rd, Breathless soloed for one on experimental psychologist Neil Miller... Mar. 25th, The National Health scored career solo #49, for two points, on soccer announcer Kenne Wolstenholme... Mar. 27th, 96 scored four on Dudley Moore, 85 scored one on Milton Berle, and 49 scored one on Billy Wilder. 55 scored the Berle/Moore Daily Double; 32 scored the Berle/Wilder Daily Double; 26 scored the Moore/Wilder Daily Double and 20 had the Hat Trick with three hits and six points, and all three Daily Doubles, in one day. The biggest gain went to Fade to Black moving into second place, followed closely by Our American Cousin rising to 20 & 9, taking the lead in the Perriman Pennant race... Mar. 30th, 85 scored on the Queen Mother, 72 for one and 13 going Wild for five... Mar. 31st, Yo! Rick! soloed into a tie for fourth place with a trey on Barry Took, comedian, scriptwriter, radio and TV presenter and the man who brought Monty Python to the BBC.
April '02 April 3rd, Karl Swanson, Major League Baseball's oldest surviving player, who played with the White Sox in 1928 and '29, scored the first solo ever for Muerta Life, an ace... Apr. 7th, D. Perriman Jr. and Necromancers scored two on actor John Agar, who made his mark in westerns, war movies, and later in such tarnished gems as "The Mole People." The hit lifted Perriman into a tie for fourth at 21 & 8, just four points away from the lead... Apr. 11th, L. Epstein soloed for one on mathematician Leopold Vietoris... Apr. 15th, rookie Habeus Corpse, sports maven Isadora and the supremely talented Shovellin' Off scored two on Byron "Whizzer" White, University of Colorado football All-American, the NFL's leading rusher in his first two seasons, and Supreme Court Justice. Same day, Motel Styx soloed for two on NASCAR legend Buck Baker; it was the sixth solo of her career and her second in 2002... Apr. 16th, DDT led 22 in scoring five on actor Robert Urich. The hit shot DDT into the lucky #7 spot at 17 & 4. Joining DDT in the Top Ten were Dead On and Frank Merriwell, raising the ante to 16 points... Apr. 18th, Dark Carnival led 16 in scoring two on Nowegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl, author of Kon-Tiki, a log of his amazing 1947, 4,900 mile, Peru to Polynesia voyage across the Pacific on a balsa log raft, all the more amazing because to make the voyage, Heyerdahl had to overcome a deathly fear of water. The deuce carried Dark Carnival into the Top Tent at 16 & 8. Same day, Pontius, the Sick Puppies and the Bury Pranksters scored four on pro wrestling legend Wahoo McDaniel. The hit lifted Pontius into the Top Ten at 18 & 5, shook the Pups out of a spring snooze, but most importantly created a Heyerdahl/McDaniel Daily Double for the Bury Pranksters... Apr. 19th, Layne Staley, lead singer and guitarist of Alice in Chains, was found dead of a heroin overdose. Going Wild for five to make a statement was Of Corpse. Taking the seven points with less style were Boneyard Dog, Death Warmed Over, El Duce's Revenge and Mr. Bastard - all of whom suddenly appeared in the Top Ten... Apr. 21, Dr. Doornail soloed for six on painter Frank Moore; it was his second six-point solo of the year and the 16th solo of his career... Apr. 22nd, Chapter E soloed for one on Ogden Phipps, thoroughbred owner for 70 years and U.S. Court Tennis champion in the mid-1930s and 1940s. The solo gave Chapter E a career six-pack. Same day, the Moorebids soloed for five on "Deep Throat" star and anti-porn crusader Linda (Lovelace) Boreman, dying from injuries after a car crash, and took the lead at 28 & 5... Apr. 23rd, Stenchman soloed for two on PGA golfer Ted Kroll, who led the money list in 1956 and won eight tour events. It was career solo #4 for Stenchman... Apr. 25th, Isadora honored the passing of Indra Devi, "The First Lady of Yoga," author, teacher, savior to countless stressed-out urbanites who followed her own advice and lived to be 102. In addition to showing taste and style, the hit was a WILD CARD SOLO, the Game's supreme predictive achievement. All hats are off to Isadora... Apr. 27th, the Merry Little Breezes, archy and mehitabel and Rolland Craps scored two on Ruth Handler, a founder of Mattel Toys and the inventor of the Barbie Doll... Apr. 28th, El Chileno paid tribute to Robert Mills Gagne, author and experimental psychologist who was an authority on the psychology of learning and instruction. It was the 15th solo, 5th Wild Card and 3rd WILD CARD SOLO of El Chileno's remarkable career, and the second Wild Card Solo tribute in four days. Whoa... Apr. 29th, the March 19th death of Chechen warlord Omar Ibn al Khattab was confirmed, a seven-point solo for Pontius, moving him into second place at 25 points. It was the Game's first-ever death by poisoned letter, the 39th career solo for Pontius and his second death by violence in 2002... Apr. 30th, L. Epstein soloed for one on economist Sir Leslie Melville.
May '02 May 3rd, the National Health scored his 50th career solo, this one an ace on Barbara Castle, former legislator, Cabinet minister, pioneer for women in British politics, and a heroine of the Labor movement... May 5th, Dinner with Jack Klugman and Pontius led 28 in scoring three on Bolivia's Hugo Banzer. The three points put them in a rollicking three-way tie - with the Moorebids - for first place at 28 points. Same day, Styx & Stones scored five with their WILD CARD SOLO on audio pioneer Paul Klipsch. It was the first WCS of their career, their fifth solo and second Wild Card, and the third WCS in less than two weeks... May 7th, De-Composers hit the first solo of their career, an ace on Seattle Slew, the last surviving Triple Crown winner whose move in the Preakness still sends chills up and down your editor's spine... May 9th, Teen Angel soloed for three on Dan Devine, football coach who took Notre Dame to the national championship. It was career solo #6 for Teen Angel... May 10th, Willie's Will soloed for one on David Reisman, sociologist and author of "The Lonely Crowd," hailed as one of the most influential sociological studies of the twentieth century... May 11th, nine made gamesters led by The Great Beyond scored one point on businessman, facilitator, administrator, networker, industrial designer, venture capitalist, civic benefactor, and, in the words of the British Broadcasting Corporation, "notorious Mafia gangster" Joseph Bonanno, aka "Joe Bananas," who, like Supreme Court Justice Byron "Whizzer" White, hated his nickname. Among those scoring was Alibi, and what a perfect confluence of Game name and pick... May 14th, Lillies Down Under soloed for three on Australia's first lady of film, theater and TV, Ruth Cracknell. It was our Aussie entrant's first solo... May 16th, Greyfriars Bobby and Humorbid scored one on Alec Campbell, the last surviving combatant from the World War I Gallipoli campaign... May 17th, Binky Brown hit the thirteen solo of his career, a trey on Joe Black, the Broolyn Dodger pitcher who was the first black pitcher to win a World Series game (in 1952). It was career solo #13 for the Game's co-founder. Same day, Humorbid and Sweeney Todd scored three on Norman Vaughan, TV comedian who hosted Sunday Night at the London Palladium, and coined "Swingin' Sixties" and "dodgy."... May 20th, Flatliners soloed for four on scientist and author Stephen Jay Gould; it was career solo #3 for these well-read gamesters... May 21st, the ACME Undertakers soloed for one on physician and author Richard D. Mudd, who toured the nation in an effort to clear the name of his grandfather, Dr. Samuel Mudd, who set John Wilkes Booth's broken leg after Lincoln's assassination. It was career solo #3 for the Pride of Our Nation's Capital. Same day, Dead On soloed for two on actor Joe Cobb who played "Joe" in the "Our Gang" comedies... May 22nd, Frozen Stiff soloed for three on Faye Dancer, one of the top players in the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. It was career solo #10 for Mr. Frostie... May 23rd, Boneyard Dog led 18 golfing gamesters in scoring two on Slammin' Sammy Snead. The hit propelled him to 24 points and a three-way tie for fourth place with Fade to Black and Yo! Rick!... May 28th, 11 led by Our American Cousin paid tribute to one of the most extraordinary writers of our time, Mildred Wirt Benson, who brought a young sleuth named Nancy Drew to life as the original author of the mystery series. Benson wrote 23 of the 30 original Nancy Drew stories under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene. She was bound by an agreement with the publisher not to reveal her identity as the series author, but it became known in 1980 when she testified in a court case involving Nancy Drew's publisher. Until that time, Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, the daughter of the founder of the chain and long-time publisher, had taken credit for the authorship. One gamester, The Merry Little Breezes, bookended the hit, tallying Adams in 1982 and Benson in 2002.
June '02 June 3rd, Chapter E and Dead Ernest scored two on the last of the Hollywood moguls, Lew Wasserman. Same day, L. Epstein soloed for one on Wilson Baker, co-founder of Oxfam, the first man to lecture publicly on penicillin, and the oldest Fellow of the Royal Society... June 4th, El Chileno soloed for two on two-time Peruvian president Fernando Belaunde; it was El Chileno's third solo this year, and #16 of his career... June 5th, Humorbid hit career solo #14 with an ace on philanthropist Phyllis Wattis, who gained national fame by making contributions to the arts of more than $150 million... June 6th, the Merry Little Breezes and Ghostwriter scored six on guitarist Robbin Crosby, one of the original members of Ratt. The hit wafted the Breezes into fourth place at 25 & 7... June 10th, Boneyard Dog and Our American Cousin omitted to tally four on John Gotti and it cost them dearly, as 60, including nine of the new Top Ten, made the call... June 12, four scored three on fashion designer Bill Blass. Taking sole possession of the lead at 35 & 8 were the Moorebids, looking sassy on the runway, joined by Burke & Hare, Mme Morte and Mullen's Revenge... June 13th, Sweeney Todd hit career solo #19, for two points, on John Hope, The Weather Channel's hurricane and tropical storm expert. Same day, Tim Ormortis soloed for two on R.W.B. Lewis, literary critic and Pulitzer Prize winner. It was career solo #26 for Tim, and his third solo on someone who went by the initial "R."... June 17th, Mme Morte and Schrodinger's Cat scored a cultured four on J. Carter Brown, head of the National Gallery and of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts where he oversaw the development of many monuments and architectural attractions, including the Vietnam Memorial, in our nation's capital... June 18th, Yo! Rick! led 19 in scoring three on sports broadcaster Jack Buck. The hit lifted Yo! Rick! into fourth place. Mme Morte and Schrodinger's Cat just missed the Daily Double; it was the third hit in seven days for Mme Morte and the three points lifted Schrodinger's Cat to within a whisker of the Top Ten at 23... June 19th, Career credit is being given to The Beverlys, D. Perriman Jr. and Passing Fancy. Each had picked Nancy Addison-Altman. However, since the hit was not reported until May 16, 2003, they will have 5 points and one hit added to their career stats but the final standings of 2002 will remain as is. Addison-Altman was a soap opera star with on and off roles on Ryan's Hope, All My Children and Guiding Light and several guest spots on Law & Order... June 20th, Deadnecks soloed for one on Erwin Chargaff, whose research into the chemical composition of DNA helped lay the groundwork for James Watson and Francis Crick's discovery of its double-helix structure... June 22nd, the King of Pain led three in scoring two on Ann Landers, advice columnist. The hit lifted the King, who is enjoying one of his best seasons ever, to a robust 14 & 7. Close behind and using the hit to qualify for a QPA were The Deadline Club and Demento Morte... June 24th, Necrophiliac Pimp soloed for one on I.W. "Tubby" Burnham, investor and founder of the Burnham Financial Group... June 26th, Legion of Doom soloed for six on Daniel Case, whose banking firm financed 600 start-ups, including Adobe, Netscape and Genentech. Case was subsequently honored by Business Week and Time as one of the nation's top power brokers and innovators. Same day, Boneyard Dog led six in doffing their leather helmets for College Football Hall of Famer Jay Berwanger, the first to win the Heisman Trophy and the first to be drafted by the NFL. Same day, June 26th, Tim Ormortis hit 2002 solo #3 and career solo #27 on Philip Whalen, an original member of San Francisco's Beat poets who ignited the poetry renaissance of the 1950s... June 29th, D. Perriman Jr. led seven in paying tribute to singer Rosemary Clooney.
July '02 July 4th, five led by Breathless scored one on Winnifred Van Tongerloo, oldest surviver of the Titanic... July 5th, the Moorebids led 75 in rising to their feet for Ted Williams, one of baseball's greatest hitters. The two-point hit lifted the leading Moorebids to 37 & 9. Going Wild for five, death.com and Dust to Dust... July 6th, rookie Final Curtain debuted with his first hit ever, a six-point solo on the assassinated Vice President of Afghanistan, Haji Qadir... July 8th, Mac hit career solo #10 with a lovely two-point tribute on legendary Disney animator and Oscar-winner Ward Kimball... July 9th, Necrophiliac Pimp scored a three-point Front Page Solo on actor Rod Steiger... July 11th, Danse Macabre scored a stylish six-point solo on snake-handling novelist Tim McLaurin, who had an avid cult following for Keeper of the Moon, Cured by Fire and Woodrow's Trumpet.... July 13th, Fade to Black, Second Line, Cassandra Bob and Canada Dry Bones scored one on portrait photographer Yousuf Karsh... July 14th, five led by Lives in Jeopardy, drawing to within two points of the Top Ten, scored one on Joaquin Balaguer who ruled the Dominican Republic for 22 years... July 19th, Bury Pranksters, Schrodinger's Cat and Tim Ormortis paid homage to celebrated musicologist Alan Lomax who helped to preserve the world's musical heritage by recording hundreds of folk, blues and jazz artists. The two points moved the Cat Man into the Top Ten at 27 & 10... July 23th, Necromancers soloed for two on actor Leo McKern, best known as "Rumpole of the Bailey." It was career solo #3 for Necromancers... July 27th, Mortis the Cat soloed for two points on Frank Inn, who trained some of Hollywood's biggest stars - Benji the dog, Arnold the pig from "Green Acres," Tramp the dog from "My Three Sons," and Minerva the cat who appeared in "Our Miss Brooks" and Breakfast at Tiffany's... July 31st, Frank Merriwell and Perry Mason scored five on former Golden State Warriors star Phil Smith.
August '02 August 5th, Flatliners, Freddy's Fallen Heroes, Gang Green, Mr. Goodvibes and Stenchman scored two on Chick Hearn, who as the L.A. Lakers' announcer coined "air ball," "slam dunk" and "no harm, no foul"... Aug. 7th, Schrodinger's Cat soloed for four on Matt Robinson, actor and writer who played the first Gordon on "Sesame Street"... Aug. 8th, L. Epstein soloed for one on Lord Oranmore and Browne, youngest page at the coronation of King George V and longest serving member of the House of Lords... Aug. 10th, Fade to Black soloed for two on Robert Borkenstein, inventor of the Breathalyzer. The hit, the team's fourth career solo, moved Fade to Black into a tie with Schrodinger's Cat... Aug. 12th, Dinner with Jack Klugman led seven in scoring two on Baseball Hall of Famer Enos "Country" Slaughter. The hit lifted the Dinner Set to within one point of first place... Aug. 16th, Binky Brown hit the 14th solo of his career, a four-pointer on Dodger catcher and All-Star John Roseboro. Same day, terrorist Abu Nidal died again. Leaping into a tie for the lead was Yo! Rick! at 37 & 12. Also scoring four were Death Wish Two, Gratefully Dead, Tomb Essence and Worm Feast... Aug. 23rd, Isadora hit her third solo of 2002, a three-pointer on Baseball Hall of Famer Hoyt Wilhelm... Aug. 31st, Dinner with Jack Klugman led 54 in scoring one on jazz great Lionel Hampton. The ace moved the Dinner Set into a three-way tie for first with the Moorebids and Yo! Rick! Also gaining ground in the Top Ten: Pontius, the Merry Little Breezes and Frank Merriwell.
September '02 September 3rd, Deadbolts led six in scoring one on philanthropist W. Clement Stone... Sept. 4th, Sir Stiff soloed for one on artist Quita Brodhead... Sept. 8th, Deadnecks soloed for three on Cardinal Lucas Moreira Neves of Brazil. It was their tenth career solo. Same day, the Moorebids, D. Perriman Jr., The Beverlys and the Sick Puppies scored five on Cyrinda Foxe, legendary New York music scenester and groupie who appeared in Andy Warhol's Bad, inspired and danced in one of the earliest rock videos, David Bowie's "Jean Genie," and wrote a tell-all, Dream On, about her ex-husband Steven Tyler. The hit launched the Moorebids into first at 42 points... Sept. 11th, Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas found Shovellin' Off all alone in the End Zone and connected with a stylish four-point Front Page Solo... Sept. 14th, El Duce's Revenge led six in scoring two on actress LaWanda Page... Sept. 16th, D. Perriman Jr. led seven in scoring one on actor James Gregory who played Inspector Lugar on "Barney Miller" and Sen. John Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate. The hit brought the venerable Perriman within one point of the second place duo of Dinner with Jack Klugman and Yo! Rick!... Sept. 18th, Dinner with Jack Klugman tied for the lead with five points on sprinter and NFL star Bob Hayes, the only man to win an Olympic gold medal and a Super Bowl ring, and 40 more gamesters in track shoes thundered up as well, including Pontius rising to third place, and El Duce's Revenge, Frank Merriwell, Boneyard Dog and the Sick Puppies, all back in the Top Ten... Sept. 19th, ratta tat tat, Tomb Essence soloed for four on second-time coupster Gen. Robert Guei of the Ivory Coast, shot down when he failed to stop at a checkpoint in Abidjan during an uprising. It was Tomb Essence's fourth called shooting, but his first-ever solo!... Sept. 20th, Yule Iggy served up a glazed solo with style sprinkles for two points on Bill Rosenberg, the founder of Dunkin' Donuts... Sept. 22nd, Pontius led five in scoring one on Joseph Nathan Kane, author of Kane's First Facts, a reference library staple. With the hit, Ponty inched upwards to within three points of the leaders, and Humorbid raised the Top Twenty ante to 27 points... Sept. 23rd, Isadora and Sweeney Todd buckled up to score two on Nils Bohlin, the Volvo engineer who in 1958 invented the three-point seat belt, credited with saving more than a million lives since its introduction... Sept. 25th, Muerta Life soloed for one on Ray Hayworth, catcher for the Detroit Tigers, teammate of Ty Cobb, World Series player in 1934 and '35, and holder of the AL record for most consecutive chances by a catcher without an error, 439. It was solo #2 for Muerta Life in 2002.
October '02 October 1st, Chapter E led 20 in scoring one on publisher Walter Annenberg who built his fortune on the Daily Racing Form and parlayed it into TV Guide, Seventeen magazine and overnights with the President... Oct. 2nd, the Moorebids, Lives in Jeopardy and Terminally Inconvenienced scored five on producer and director Bruce Paltrow. The hit put the Moorebids back into sole possession of the lead at 47 & 11... Oct. 12th, Cassandra Bob, Die-uretic and Mullen's Revenge scored two on trombonist, band leader and arranger Ray Conniff... Oct. 13th, Burke & Hare, Freddy's Fallen Heroes and Moss scored four on historian Stephen Ambrose... Oct. 16th, Schrodinger's Cat soloed for one on the Grand Ole Opry's Bashful Brother Oswald, and moved up into sole possession of the #10 spot in a game of inches... Oct. 17th, Toe Tag led five in scoring one on Aileen Riggin Soule, who in 1920, at the age of 14, won Olympic gold in springboard diving... Oct. 18th, De-Composers, Mac and Manolete scored two on actor Kam Fong, best known for his role as Chin Ho Kelly on "Hawaii Five-O."... Oct. 19th, Deadnecks, Humorbid and Our American Cousin scored one on Mexican photographer Manuel Alvarez Bravo... Oct. 20th, Coffin Counter and Manolete scored one on Cleveland Indians pitching great Mel Harder... Oct. 22nd, m. i. blue soloed for two on Richard Helms, former head of the CIA... Oct. 23rd, L. Epstein soloed for one on historian Elizabeth Longford. Same day, rookie phenom Gang Green hit the first solo of his career, for four on Cleveland Browns owner Al Lerner. Same day, Iron Maiden led five in scoring two on lyricist and Tony Award-winner Adolph Green... Oct. 25th, Blunt Instrument, Dead On, Demento Morte and Silk Shroud scored three on actor Richard Harris, who packed This Sporting Life, Albus Dumbledore, King Arthur and "MacArthur Park" into one robust career... Oct. 28th, Our American Cousin and Truck Savage scored one on Oscar-winning film editor Margaret Booth, who cut films for seven decades, from Camille to Mutiny on the Bounty to The Goodbye Girl... Oct. 29th, Dinner with Jack Klugman, Frank Merriwell and Razor scored four on Chang-Lin Tien, former Chancellor of UC Berkeley, the first Asian-American to lead a major university and a nationally-known advocate for diversity. The hit brought the Dinner Set to within one point of first place... Oct. 31st, Deadbolts, Our American Cousin and Truck Savage scored one on Michalis Stasinopoulos, former president of Greece.
November '02 November 3rd, Manolete led five in scoring two on actor Jonathan Harris, who played villain Zachary Smith in TV's "Lost in Space"... Nov. 7th, Chapter E and Toe Tag scored two on retired accountant-turned-actress Peg Phillips who played Ruth-Anne on "Northern Exposure." The hit moved Chapter E to within one point of the Top Ten at 31 & 11... Nov. 13th, Tomb Essence soloed for five as Jewish Defense League leader Irv Rubin died in the hospital following a Nov. 4th suicide attempt in jail where he was being held in connection with a bombing plot. This was the second sudden-death solo for Tomb Essence in 2002, following his called Ivory Coast check-point shooting of Gen. Robert Guei earlier in the year... Nov. 14th, Mouldering Playmate and Women with Spurs scored two on film and stage comic actor Eddie Bracken... Nov. 15th, the ACME Undertakers, Clean Underwear and the Virtual Sexton scored four on Moors murderer Myra Hindley, who together with her lover kidnapped, tortured and murdered children, and buried them on the moors, earning her the title of The Most Hated Woman in Britain. The hit lifted the ACME team into the Top 20... Nov. 18th, Flatliners, Iron Maiden and U 2 Brutus scored three on actor James Coburn, star of such favorites as In Like Flint, The President's Analyst and Hard Contract... Nov. 23rd, Tim Ormortis stroked solo #4 of 2002 and #28 of his career, an ace on Roberto Matta, Chilean master of surrealist painting and sculpture... Nov. 24th, Tim Ormortis soloed for two on philosopher John Rawls, hitting #5 of 2002 and #29 of his career. Same day, M. Hamilton soloed for one on author Harriet Doerr, who began her literary career at the age of 73 and won the National Book Award with her first novel, Stones for Ibarra. It was career solo #14 for the Game's Grande Dame... Nov. 27th, Deadbolts led five in scoring one on actress Billie Bird... Nov. 29th, the Dada Sisters soloed for one on health care advocate Florence Stephenson Mahoney.
December '02 December 1st, Leroy Estmort soloed for two on Edward "Ned" Beach, U.S. Navy captain whose 1960 record for circumnavigating the globe in a submarine still stands and who wrote the best-selling undersea thriller Run Silent, Run Deep. It was career solo #5 for the smooth cruising Estmort team. Same day, last year's Gran Prix winner Boneyard Dog, plus the Merry Little Breezes and Ghostwriter, homered for four on Baltimore Orioles pitching ace Dave McNally, the only pitcher in history to hit a Grand Slam in the World Series. When the dust cleared at the plate, all three were in the Top Ten... Dec. 3rd, L. Epstein soloed for one on Henry Chauncey, father of the SAT... Dec. 5th, Ebola and Humorbid scored one each on Ne Win, former dictator of Myanmar who successfully led his nation into 26 years of terror, poverty and ruin. Same day, Breathless, Deadbolts and Styx & Stones scored three each on broadcast pioneer Roone Arledge. Same day, William Randolph Hearse played a fine bass solo on Arvell Shaw, longtime bass player for Louis Armstrong. It was career solo #1 for WRH, and a stylish hit in every way... Dec. 12th, Tim Ormortis hit solo #6 in 2002, and #30 in his career, with a one-pointer on Dee Brown, historian and author of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee... Dec. 17th, Isadora soloed for two on Hank Luisetti, the three-time All-American forward from Stanford who revolutionized basketball by popularizing the running one-handed shot... Dec. 18th, The National Health soloed for two on Bert Millichip, longtime chairman of the Football Association. It was career solo #51 for the Health, the Game record... Dec. 20th, Lillies Down Under soloed for four on celebrity chef Bernard King, "the King of the Kitchen."... Dec. 27th, Stenchman soloed for two on Oscar-winning director George Roy Hill, who made "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," "The Sting" and "Slap Shot" in a long and successful career.
Let's look at the Top Ten for 2002.
Take me on to 2003.
Take me back to Play-by-Play.