DCS: pete rose

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I remember watching baseball with my mom and dad, both pretty avid baseball fans. It was a Philadelphia Phillies game and they were playing the Cincinnati Reds, who, at the time, were the powerhouse known as “The Big Red Machine.” When Pete Rose stepped up to the plate for the Reds, my mom — never one to mince words — said, “I hate that arrogant son of a bitch. I wish he was on our team.”

There is no denying Pete Rose’s contribution and impact on baseball. He was a great player. If he drew a walk at an at-bat, he would run — run! — to first base. He wouldn’t let anything — or anyone — block his attempt to score a run. Oakland A’s catcher Ray Fosse could certainly attest to that. He holds the all-time career hits record with 4,256. That’s nearly two thousand more hits than Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman, who has the record among active players. Freeman has been playing in the majors for 15 years, so Pete’s record will, most likely, never be broken. In addition to his hit record, Pete also hold the record for games played, at-bats and singles. He was a 17-time All-Star, won three batting titles, three World Series championships, one Most Valuable Player Award, two Gold Glove Awards and was named Rookie of the Year in 1963.

But, Pete Rose was an asshole.

As manager of the Cincinnati Reds, investigations revealed that Pete had placed illegal bets on various sports, including baseball — specifically Cincinnati Reds games. On August 24, 1989, Pete voluntarily accepted a permanent place on baseball’s ineligible list. He accepted that there was a factual reason for the ban. In return, Major League Baseball agreed to make no formal finding with regard to the gambling allegations. Over the years, Pete has campaigned and tried to appeal for reinstatement, but Major League Baseball has stood firm on their decision.

While married to his first wife, Pete, the father of two children, fathered another child as the result of an extra-marital affair. In 2016, allegations of a mid-1970s relationship Pete had with a minor came to light. Pete, then in his 30s, was accused of statutory rape. An upcoming ceremony in Philadelphia, honoring his accomplishments during his time on the Phillies, was canceled in the aftermath. The case was settled out-of-court.

Pete’s agreed “ban from baseball” was given a slight reprieve when he was invited to Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park in 2022 to help commemorate the Phils’ 1980 World Series win. Pete — in true “Pete” fashion — made inappropriate comments to a female reporter and made several off-color remarks when he was invited into the Phillies’ broadcast booth.

Pete, as well a legions of fans, have been calling for Pete’s perceived “right of inclusion” in the Baseball Hall of Fame. He presented his pseudo-apologies to several Commissioners of Baseball over the years to no avail. When Pete passed away in September 2024, many believed this would put an end to his “lifetime” ban from baseball.

Many believe wrong. His ban is permanent.

And, even in death, Pete Rose remains as asshole.

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inktober 2024: series 1 week 2

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The second entry in JPic’s Inktober’s series of local TV horror movie hosts is Cleveland’s legendary Ghoulardi.

In 1963, announcer and disc jockey Ernie Anderson was tapped to host the late-night showings of horror movies on Cleveland’s WJW-TV. Dispensing with the usually “mad scientist” or “vampire” persona favored by other TV movie hosts, Eddie adopted a cool but wacky hipster dubbed “Ghoulardi.” Decked out in a crazy wig and identity-hiding facial hair, Eddie wanted to keep the character separate from his usual (and recognizable) duties at the station. He played novelty songs and made friendly fun of Cleveland’s suburbs.  He improvised all of his on-air dialogue and often mocked the film he showed. “If you want to watch a movie,” he say, “don’t watch this one. Go to bed instead.” The character and show format were wildly popular, attracting 70% of Cleveland’s late-night audiences. Ernie was receiving over a thousand pieces of fan mail per day. His cast of on-air supporting players included future sitcom star Tim Conway.

Ernie moved to Los Angeles where he enjoyed a long and successful career in voice-over work, specifically as the long-time announcer for the ABC Network. His iconic pronunciations of “Fall Guy” and “The Love Boat” in network promos were memorable. He passed away in 1997, having only reprised his popular “Ghoulardi” character a few more times.

Ernie and Ghoulardi were often referenced on The Drew Carey Show which took place in Cleveland. Ghoulardi had many other famous fans, including The Cramps, The Black Keys, Devo and Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders. Ernie was the father of director Paul Thomas Anderson, who named his production company “The Ghoulardi Film Company” in his father’s honor.

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inktober 2024: series 2 week 1

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Week 1 of series 2 – “Horror Actors of the 1940s.” – of JPiC’s “Inktober” starts with Colin Clive. A prominent stage actor in his native London, Colin Clive made his Hollywood debut in 1930’s Journey’s End, a drama about an alcoholic British Navy officer, a role that eerily mirrored his own life. The film was directed by James Whale, who tapped Colin to star in his big-screen adaptation of Mary Shelley‘s classic novel Frankenstein.  The film was well-received and Colin’s performance was applauded by critics and fans alike. Colin signed on for the sequel in 1935.

Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein were the only two horror movies he made in his short career. Colin was reportedly very difficult to work with, most likely a by-product of his alcoholism. Estranged from his wife and struggling with his own demons, Colin Clive died in 1937 at the age of 37.

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DCS: cathy smith

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You’ve heard of Cathy Smith…. right? Sure you have. Maybe just not her name.

Cathy sang backup for The Hawks, an up-and-coming Canadian band. Though just 16 years-old, she fell for Hawks’ 23 year-old drummer Levon Helm, but still was pretty close with all of the band members. They eventually changed their name to The Band and Cathy stuck around. She became pregnant by one of the band members, but it was unclear which one. Richard Manuel, The Band’s piano player offered to marry Cathy, but she turned him down. Cathy claimed that The Band’s 1968 hit “The Weight” was inspired by her.

In 1971, Cathy began a four-year, tumultuous, sometimes violent, affair with married singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot. The dark lyrics of his 1974 hit “Sundown” were a chronicle of their relationship.

Through a friend, Cathy took a job as a personal assistant to activist lawyer Edward L. Masry. (Masry was portrayed by Albert Finney in the award-winning film Erin Brockovich.)

She fell back into the music business as a back-up singer for country singer-songwriter Hoyt Axton. She also sold drugs to Keith Richards and Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones. Within her drug circles, she met comedian John Belushi when she sold him drugs on a recommendation from Richards. She rubbed elbows with famous folks like Leonard Cohen, Seymour Cassel, Robin Williams and Robert DeNiro, She confessed to administering the lethal dose of heroin and cocaine that killed Belushi in 1982.

Cathy served fifteen months in prison, during which she taught computer skills to some of her fellow inmates, including Manson Family members Patricia Krenwinkel and Susan Atkins. Upon her release, Cathy was deported to Canada. She worked as a volunteer, speaking to teen groups about the dangers of drugs… until she was arrested for heroin possession and sent back to prison.

When her sentence was served, she moved into a senior citizens facility after her previous apartment was destroyed by a fire, one in which she lost all of her possessions. Her health declined during the last years of her life and she passed away on August 18, 2020 at the age of 73.

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inktober 2024: series 1 week 1

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It’s October already. You know what that means. Cooler temperatures. Going to work in the dark. Pumpkin spice cornflakes and coffee for breakfast. And Inktober! That right, for the tenth consecutive year, I have been participating — on my own terms — in the autumn internet drawing challenge started by an artist named Jake Parker. Every October, he posts a list of 31 “prompts” or suggestions (one per each day of the month) and challenges artist across the globe to produce a daily drawing. While I have participated for a decade, I have never followed those rules. (Come to think of it, I rarely follow any rules.) Instead. I do weekly drawings based on a seasonal topic of my own selection. This year, I was feeling particularly ambitious. I selected two topics and I will posts drawings for each concurrently. The first series is “Regional TV Horror Movie Hosts.” These drawings will be posted on Tuesdays. The second series is “Horror Actors of the 1940s.” These drawings will be posted on Mondays.

Week 1 of JPiC’s “Inktober” starts with Chicago’s Svengoolie.

Every Saturday night — heeding the announcement to “Clear the airwaves! Clear all Airwaves — retro cable network MeTV unleashes Svengoolie to the delight of legions of fans. Emerging from a decorated coffin and armed with a battery of corny jokes and trademark rubber chickens, Sven presides over two-plus hours of campy horror films, humorous commentary, bits of trivia, in-studio guests and a series of groan-inducing comedy sketches. The character, originally created by Chicago DJ Jerry G. Bishop, Svengoolie is now played by jovial Rich Koz. Koz and his cohorts have been bringing their raucous antics to viewers for years, first just locally in Chicago, then nationally via MeTV. His comedy is simple and unsophisticated and harkens back to a time when local TV stations across the country showcased a similar host for horror films in the 50s, 60s and 70s.

Recently, Svengoolie has introduced more regular characters, thus passing the mantle to a new generation of an apparently timeless tradition.

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DCS: mary miles minter

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Entering show business as a child using a doctored birth certificate, Mary Miles Minter fit the mold of perceived innocence. With blonde curls and soulful eyes, she was groomed by studio heads to rival — and hopefully replace — Mary Pickford.

In spite of her youth, Mary had nearly 30 films to her credit when she was cast in the title role in director William Desmond Taylor’s take on Anne of Green Gables in 1919. The film was a success and Taylor began to heavily promote his new star. Seventeen-year-old Mary claimed that she began a romantic relationship with the director — despite their 30 year age difference. However, Taylor countered that such a relationship only existed in Mary’s imagination.

On February 1, 1922, William Desmond Taylor was found dead in his Los Angeles home. An unidentified doctor cited the cause of death to be a stomach hemorrhage and offered no further details. A subsequent forensic investigation, however, revealed that Taylor had been shot with a small-caliber pistol, although a weapon was never recovered or identified. Hollywood was faced with a new scandal, just a few months after reeling from the Labor Day incident involving disgraced actor Roscoe Arbuckle,

As the story unfolded in the press, it was reported that a number of love letters authored by Mary were found in Taylor’s home. Suddenly, Mary was attached to the mystery. Her “innocent” image was tainted in the eyes of the fickle Hollywood fans. With her reputation in question, her popularity began to plummet. She made only two more films after Taylor’s murder.

In 1925, she sued her mother for mishandling her income during the height of her film career. The case was settled out-of-court. In 1945, Mary was accused of stealing a dress from a shop on Wilshire Boulevard. Mary claimed that she had helped to finance the shop and was merely taking the dress in lieu of interest owned to her. Charges were dropped, as it was decided that there was no evidence of malicious intent.

Mary had invested in Los Angeles real estate later in her life and was content to live off of her acquired affluence. In 1981, a frail Mary was beaten and her Santa Monica home burglarized of antiques by a live-in companion and three accomplices. Police who were called to the scene were surprised to learn that Mary was once a famous movie star.

Three years later, Mary suffered a fatal stroke. She was 82. The bulk of her film catalog is considered lost.

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inktober52: chase

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Steve Carlton earned his place in Phillies team history by amassing 3031 strikeouts. Mike Schmidt will be remembered for his 548 home runs. Richie Ashburn made Phillies team history by hitting the same woman in the stands with a foul ball twice in a game in 1957 (the second time, she was on a stretcher!). Even Kyle Schwarber set a team record this season with 14 leadoff home runs.

On October 31, 2008, Phillies star second baseman spoke five words that cemented his place among his teammates from the past, present and future. During a celebration of the Phillies 2008 World Series win, Chase Utley addressed an adoring crowd at Citizens Bank Park and  said:

“World Champions. World Fucking Champions.:

His speech eclipsed those who preceded and followed him. Sixteen years later, as the Fightin’ Phils are on the hopeful verge of another trip to the World Series, the city is still talking about it.

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DCS: roy hamilton

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As a teen singing in a central New Jersey church choir, Roy Hamilton had aspirations of becoming a professional singer. In 1947, the seventeen-year-old won a talent contest held at the legendary Apollo Theater. However, as Roy lamented, he couldn’t get a break. “There were plenty of opportunities for blues singers,” he recalled, “but I didn’t know any blues songs.” While he developed his singing style, Roy worked as an electronics technician by day and a heavyweight boxer by night. He joined the Searchlight Gospel Singers, working with a vocal coach for over a year. When the group disbanded, Roy was ready to head into the world of pop music again — this time, with renewed confidence.

In 1953, 24 year-old Roy was singing at a Newark, New Jersey nightclub when he was approached by Bill Cook, the first African-American radio DJ on the East coast. Cook liked Roy’s singing and proposed becoming the young singer’s manager. Roy agreed and Cook sent a demo recording of Roy’s performance to Columbia Records. Executives at Columbia were impressed by what they heard and signed Roy to the Okeh label, their rhythm & blues subsidiary. Roy was brought into the studio, where he recorded “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from the musical Carousel!, one of the few secular songs that was included in Roy’s live act. Just before its release, Columbia switched Roy to their pop Epic label, a bold move on their part. Epic’s only other African-American singers on the label were Nat King Cole and Billy Eckstine. Columbia had faith that Roy would have the same appeal to white audiences. Their gamble paid off. “You’ll Never Walk Alone” topped the Billboard R&B charts for eight consecutive weeks and became a Top 30 hit on the national chart. His follow-up, “If I Loved You” (also from Carousel!), was not as successful nationally, but it did hit Number 4 on the R&B chart.

Riding the popularity wave, Roy was booked on the “Star Night” concert tour with headliners Perry Como, Nat King Cole and Sarah Vaughan. As a newcomer, Roy was allotted just six minutes of stage time, enough to barely sing two songs. Obviously, he decided on his hit “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and its B-side “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry (Over You). ” However, at afternoon rehearsals for the show, Como announced that he’d be closing his set with “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” Roy was crushed. Scrambling for a replacement song, he opted for “Ebb Tide,” a song that was a recent hit for Vic Damone. When Roy delivered “Ebb Tide” in his final three minutes on stage, he brought the entire crowd at Soldier Field — 82,000 people — to its feet, lavishing Roy with wild applause. Nat King Cole, Sarah Vaughan and band leader Ray Anthony joined in, as well. Four days later, Roy recorded “Ebb Tide” and it became an instant hit.

In 1954, Roy made his network television debut on the Dorsey Brothers hosted variety show Stage Show. Six months later, he appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, singing his signature “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” The performance was noted favorably in Variety, prompting Columbia to rush Roy into the studio to record, mix and release “Unchained Melody” in an unheard-of two weeks. It reached the Top 10 on Billboard’s national chart. As a result, Down Beat Magazine named Roy “1955 Vocalist of the Year.” Roy recorded a succession of show tunes to continued acclaim.

In 1956, Roy announced his retirement from show business, citing an unnamed “lung condition,” which may have been tuberculosis. A year later, he was ready to make a comeback. However, music tastes had changed and rock & roll was the popular trend. Although not keen on the idea, Roy was coaxed into recording “Don’t Let Go” for influential producer Otis Blackwell. The single was the first Top 40 hit recorded in stereo and it became Roy’s Top 15 hit of his career.

The 1960s saw Roy’s career decline. His recordings no longer charted and his health was failing. In July 1969, he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and remained in a coma for a week. The difficult decision to remove life support was made and Roy passed away on July 20, 1969 at the age of 40.

Roy was cited as an inspiration by Sam Cooke, who had submitted songs to Roy early in his career. The Righteous Brothers patterned their cover of “Unchained Melody” after Roy’s vocal style. Gerry Marsden also tried to capture Roy’s inflection in the Gerry & The Pacemakers’ take on “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

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