A to Z On the Diamond

 A: Hank Aaron -  MLB's all-time home run king*.  

B:  Ernie Banks -  Let's play two.

C:  Steve Carlton - Phillies legend.

D:  Andre Dawson -  Eight Gold Gloves, four Silver Sluggers, and one of the more memorable SI covers of the era. 

E:  Dennis Eckersley -  Closed for Oakland when they were my #2 team.

F:  Mark Fidrych -  The Bird flew high, but the landing was rough.

G:  Tony Gwynn -  San Diego State basketball's all-time assists leader.

H:  Trevor Hoffman -  Cue AC/DC. 

I:  Monte Irvin -  Negro League star and World War II veteran.

J:  Derek Jeter -  Bo Jackson didn't last long enough.  

K:  Al Kaline -  I love the smell of Gold Gloves in the morning.

L:  Kenny Lofton -  622 steals and four Gold Gloves.  

M:  Tug McGraw -  Phillies legend.  Got his autograph. 

N:  Phil Niekro -  Hall of Famer who pitched 24 seasons in the bigs. 

O:  Amos Otis -  341 steals and three Gold Gloves.  

P:  Chris Pritchett -  Went to the same h.s. though he had graduated by the time I started.  Saw him contribute to a playoff win by sending the game into OT with a half-court buzzer beater.      

Q:  Dan Quisenberry -  Good pitcher / weak letter.

R:  Jackie Robinson -  The man.  

S:  Mike Schmidt -  The legendest Phillies legend of them all. 

T:  Jim Thorpe -  American bad ass.

U:  Chase Utley -  Phillies legend.

V:  Justin Verlander -  Two Cy Young Awards and three no-hitters.

W:  Devon White -  346 steals and seven Gold Gloves. Plus, we share a birthday.

X:  Joe Jackson -  As Kevin pointed out, there has not been a major leaguer with a surname starting with X.  So I'm going with an extremely talented and controversial illiterate player.  

Y:  Robin Yount -  MVP as a shortstop.  MVP as a center fielder.

Z:  Don Zimmer - 65 years in professional baseball.   

Anyway, I have to go remove Fuji from my will for picking Suzuki over Schmidt.  

Credit to Kevin for getting this topic started.  

The Diamond King

Film Friday: Elliptical 100 (15)

 

Earlier we looked at misfits.  Today, we break out the whiskey and cigars for manly men.      

Based on A Very Private Gentleman, by Martin Booth.

Directed by Anton Corbijn.

Released in 2010.

-  Segments of dialogue were taken from The Honorary Consul, by Graham Greene.

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

Released in 1979.

-  Appearances from Harrison Ford (as Colonel G. Lucas), concert promoter Bill Graham, and Coppola. 

Based on characters created by Bob Kane.

Directed by Christopher Nolan.

Released in 2005.

-  Christian Bale trained in Wing Chun to prepare for his role.  

Based on Nothing Lasts Forever, by Roderick Thorp.

Directed by John McTiernan.

Released in 1988.

-  Nakatomi Plaza is actually Fox Plaza.  It also appears in Fight Club and President Reagan had an office on the 34th floor for several years.  

Written and directed by Oliver Stone.

Released in 1986.

-  Includes characters Stone created for an unmade film called Break.  Its script was among Jim Morrison's possessions in Paris when he died, as Stone had sent it to him hoping he would play the lead role.   

Directed by Steven Spielberg.

Released in 1981.

-  Conceived by George Lucas in 1973, with revisions to the story made by Lucas and Phillip Kaufman in '75.  Lucas then set it aside to make Star Wars.  When Kaufman wasn't available to direct, Spielberg was chosen, and he brought in Lawrence Kasdan to write the screenplay.

Directed by Tony Scott.

Released in 1986.

-  Charlie is based on Christine Fox, who worked at Miramar and was later Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense.

If I could save only one:  Raiders of the Lost Ark

Last week's answer:  Die Hard

This week's question:  Next week is foreign language films.  Which nation placed two on the list?  

Leaderboard

Brett Alan - 7

Jon - 4

Fuji - 2 1/2

Note:  I decided to break up the last two categories.  So 17 will be the last round.  The following week will be a recap and instructions for the winners to claim their prizes.