“DAZZY DAZZLES” and “MCPATRIOT”
#817/#816
817. BROOKLYN ROBINS VS PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
SEPTEMBER 13, 1925
EBBETS FIELD
QUALITY OF PLAY—7.76
DRAMA—8.12
STAR POWER—5.60
CONTEMPORARY IMPORT—7.32
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE—6.25
LOCAL IMPACT—8.55
TOTAL: 43.60
“DAZZY DAZZLES”
1925 was a dismal season for the Brooklyn National League entry, normally known as the Dodgers but in the moment called the Robins for their lovable, portly manager, Wilbert Robinson. The Robins had been strong in 1924 but crashed to earth the following year, dropping to fourth in the National League, well back of Pittsburgh.
About the only bright spot was their right-handed ace, Arthur “Dazzy” Vance. A late-bloomer, Vance didn’t blossom until he was 31, when his explosive fastball made him a strong starter on the 1922 staff. In ’24 Vance won 28 games, led the majors with a 2.16 ERA, and won the league MVP Award. Called by the Brooklyn Eagle the “master of the cyclonic delivery and deceptive curvist,” Vance was excellent in ’25 as well, with 21 wins and over 200 strikeouts on the otherwise flightless Robins. His secret weapon was thought to be his tattered, disgusting sweatshirt that he habitually wore under his jersey. Some, including John McGraw, accused Vance of using a razor blade to slice the sleeve, meaning hitters had to find the ball amid the waving strips of flannel, a tough ask for even major-leaguers.
Remarkably, the Phillies were even worse than Brooklyn, headed for the Senior Circuit basement in 1925. So when they came to Ebbets Field for a late-season encounter, there wasn’t a ton of interest outside of Flatbush—and, to be fair, not a ton within the Borough of Churches. They played two on Sunday afternoon, September 13, 1925, and Vance pitched in the opener, which may have boosted the crowd that turned the stiles to 22,000, for the matchup didn’t really justify even that many onlookers.
The jug-eared, bulbous-nosed Vance had shut down the Phils five days before, throwing a one-hit, 1-0 shutout, giving up just a soft single in the second inning (he also threw a 2-hitter at Chicago on August 23). Clearly confident, Vance walked the leadoff hitter, Heinie Sand, but punched out the last two batters of the first frame. Philly started a journeyman spitball artist, Clarence Mitchell, who apparently emerged from the dugout dry as a bone. The Robins belted him for a four-spot in the first, and the competitive portion of the game was effectively over.
In the second inning the Phils scored on a dropped fly ball by Jimmy Johnston, a passed ball, and a sacrifice fly, highlighting the nature of Brooklyn’s overall incompetence surrounding Vance. But they didn’t get a hit, and would not through the next seven innings, either. The Robins scored four more in the fourth and finished with a 10-1 victory. Vance was untouchable the rest of the way.
He took the mound in the ninth “encased in tattered and sweat begrimed shirtsleeves,” according to Thomas W. Meany in the Brooklyn Times-Union, and watched as a dropped foul popup gave Lew Fonseca another crack to lead off the inning. But Dazzy whiffed Fonseca anyway, blew away Wally Kimmick on three straight fastballs, and got Freddy Leach on a liner that—this time—Johnston caught. Dazzy had done it! A no-hitter
But for the dropped fly by Johnston, Vance would have had a perfect game. Johnston only started because Robins star Zach Wheat was out with a stomach ache. Legendary Times writer Richards Vidmar thought Wheat “would have stuck [the fly ball] in his back pocket,” but that’s baseball. Counting the previous outing Vance had now gone 16 straight hitless innings against the Phils, and allowed just one single over the two games. He struck out nine and didn’t walk anyone after the opening pass to Heinie Sand. It was overall an incredibly dominant performance, with a Game Score of 93.
And from a historical perspective, it was the fourth no-no in Brooklyn history, but the first ever at Ebbets Field.
AFTERMATH:
Vance got the first two hitters in his next start but then gave up a hit, ending his hitless streak at 18 innings. He remained an outstanding starter for Brooklyn as they reverted to being the Dodgers, winning 12 games in 1932 as a 41-year old. He retired with 197 wins (plus 133 during his long minor-league career), all but 7 with Brooklyn. Only Don Sutton, Clayton Kershaw and Don Drysdale won more games for the franchise than Dazzy. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1955.
WHAT THEY SAID:
“A deep sigh of relief went up after every inning as Vance turned the foe back hitless one after another, and when he reached his goal at the end of the ninth by whipping over eight straight strikes in order.”
—Jack Farrell, New York Daily News
FURTHER READING:
The Brooklyn Dodgers: An Informal History by Frank Graham
VIDEO:
816. JOHN MCENROE VS IVAN LENDL
DAVIS CUP QUARTERFINALS
JULY 10, 1981
U.S. NATIONAL TENNIS CENTER
QUALITY OF PLAY—7.38
DRAMA—6.97
STAR POWER—8.78
CONTEMPORARY IMPORT—6.05
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE—7.09
LOCAL IMPACT—7.34
TOTAL: 43.61
“MCPATRIOT”
As mentioned earlier on the list, 1981 was an angry season on the streets of NYC. For the tempestuous but brilliant John McEnroe, the pride of Little Neck and the Port Washington Tennis Academy, 1981 was the quintessential blend of his dual personae. He took Wimbledon by storm that summer, winning his first title in SW19 by ending Bjorn Borg’s consecutive match streak at 41. But that was also the fortnight of “You cannot be serious!” and his labeling of an umpire as ‘the pits of the world,” his near ejection from the tournament and the lack of a post-tournament invitation to join the All-England Club, a perk traditionally offered to the men’s singles champion. The local UK press dubbed him “Superbrat,” Sports Illustrated put him on the cover with the screaming headline “So Bad, So Good,” and in general the controversy surrounding the 22-year old threatened to subsume his exquisite serve-and-volley game. Even a young Charley Steiner got into a brawl with a fellow scribe after a McEnroe press conference at Wimbledon after voicing his opinion about a question asked of Mac’s brattiness.
Just three weeks later, however, McEnroe was back in New York, and there he got to display another side of his tennis character that was frequently overlooked—his love for and dedication to his country, in the form of participation in the Davis Cup. Now mostly ignored, for many a moon the Cup was a highly respected and carefully watched international competition, one that allowed the jingoistic displays that made World Cup soccer and the Olympics so compelling but were generally frowned upon in the uptight world of tennis.
In 1981 the Cup was expanded to a 16-team (country) format, and the matches stretched over most of the year. In March McEnroe traveled to Carlsbad, California and rescued the USA team in its opening round confrontation with Mexico, winning the decisive fifth match in straight sets (in Davis Cup two singles players from each country square off on Friday, there is a doubles match on Saturday, and the singles players from Friday swap opponents on Sunday). The tight win put the USA into the quarterfinals against the eastern bloc nation then called Czechoslovakia. On a sizzling Friday evening, July 10, 1981, on the hard courts in Flushing, at the US Tennis Center, home of the annual U.S. Open, McEnroe took the court against a tall, lean, impassive player even younger than himself—Ivan Lendl.
Already ranked fourth in the world, Lendl was clearly on the brink of greatness, though his breakthrough at the majors would not come for a few more years. But his Davis Cup bona fides were unquestioned—he had led the Czechs to the 1980 title. Lendl’s fitness and athletic ability would prove an effective counter over the years to McEnroe’s touch and sharp angle game—Mac simply couldn’t find the spots on the court that the rangy Czech could not reach.
The reverberations from McEnroe’s operatic Wimbledon were still being felt. Team captain Arthur Ashe, for whom the main stadium at the USTC site would one day be named, predicted trouble for Mac, noting Lendl’s athleticism and the fact ''It's been a very difficult three weeks for John.’'
Lendl had been shockingly bounced in the opening round of Wimbledon, but didn’t dwell on the defeat, instead heading to Florida for several weeks of intense training in the swampy heat. The result was that while McEnroe was run down and brittle from his trip to Blighty, Lendl was fresh and fit and raring to make up for his UK disaster. The difference showed in the first set, with Mac netting more than half of his first serves and missing easy volleys in a 6-4 loss.
The second set was a crucible. It would last 105 minutes and an incredible 26 games while the searing heat beat down on the players. With no tiebreaker, the two players held serve at 6-6 and zoomed right to 12-12 without either gaining a clear advantage at any point. It was scintillating tennis, with Lendl keeping McEnroe pinned deep and getting to repeated drops and lobs, while the American master matched the robotic Czech groundstroke for groundstroke. McEnroe may even have been too tired to erupt at the linesmen. At 8-7 and with a chance for McEnroe to seize the set, a close Lendl shot was ruled in. Johnny Mac took the ball, placed it where he thought it had landed, and silently walked away.
At 12-12, Lendl crushed a crosscourt forehand that was called good. Cramping badly, Lendl called for the trainer, and while he was being massaged the officials huddled and overturned the call in McEnroe’s favor. Lendl, too, was too far gone to argue, and broke his opponent a few moments later regardless. “I was almost glad in a way that he broke me,” McEnroe said. “He'd actually won it 3 points earlier. I don't like to get bad calls, and I don't like other people getting the shaft either.”
Maybe the key to a mature McEnroe was an exhausting match played in broiling heat?
Lendl served out the 14-12 set, and held off a determined third set rally to win 7-5 and and the match in straight sets. It had been an epic test of wills, and the younger, fitter player had won, despite McEnroe reining in his baser instincts.
“I wanted to do well,” McEnroe said. ‘"I tried. It's hard to explain. In retrospect, I wish we didn't have to play this particular week. I think I should have played him a lot better but the mental thing of the last couple of weeks wore me out.”
Fortunately for the US, the night wasn’t a total loss. Another player who would become a New York favorite, Jimmy Connors, demolished Tomas Smid in about 45 minutes, evening the USA-Czech tie at 1-1.
AFTERMATH:
The U.S. team rebounded to sweep the last three matches of the tie, including McEnroe’s demolition of Smid on Sunday, the first in what would become 19 straight Davis Cup victories for Mac. In a brilliant performance, McEnroe virtually defeated Australia by himself in the Davis Cup semis, winning both his singles matches and was part of the victorious doubles team with longtime partner Peter Fleming. In the finals against Argentina, played before a raucous crowd at the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, Johnny Mac was fantastic again, demolishing Guillermo Vilas in the opening match, teaming with Fleming again to win an extraordinary doubles match over Vilas and Jose Luis Clerc, 11-9 in the fifth set, then came back on Day 3 to outlast Clerc in a tough five-setter to capture the Cup for the US. True to form, McEnroe was not only outstanding but volatile during the competition, raging at the rowdy fans, the officials, the organizers, the Argentines, and even his unassuming captain, Ashe, with whom he seemed about to punch out right on the court during a dressing down Ashe gave him.
In all, it was Johnny Mac in full—and it was glorious.
McEnroe would be part of five Davis Cup winning teams, and he amassed a 59-10 record in the competition. His 41 singles wins and 49 matches played still stand as American records.
WHAT THEY SAID:
“I can only do the best I can on Sunday. I've never lost to Smid, and I shouldn't now. On paper, we shouldn't lose any more matches.”
—John McEnroe, prophet
FURTHER READING:
You Cannot Be Serious by John McEnroe and James Kaplan
VIDEO: