The year of 2020 is only in its ninth day, and Absent Friends have been, not to be indelicate, piling up like cord wood, so before I get completely behind in such matters, let me note the passing of five Absent Friends so far in this new year.
David Stern
1942-2020
When David Stern became Commissioner of the National Basketball Association in 1984, the league was far behind Major League Baseball and the National Football League in popularity as best exemplified by the fact the the NBA Finals were televised on tape delay on network television, a fact that is unimaginable today. When he retired thirty years later (the longest tenure of any North American sports league commissioner), the NBA was and is a global juggernaut. It was Stern who insisted that the Olympics allow professional players to participate in the Olympics, which led to the creation of perhaps the most famous basketball team ever, the 1992 "Dream Team", which further led to the development of basketball throughout the world, which led to the development of such NBA stars as Yao Ming, Dirk Novitski, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and current stars such as Kristaps Porzingis, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Luka Doncic.
With no NBA presence in Pittsburgh, we perhaps cannot appreciate all that Stern accomplished, but he has been called perhaps, with the exception of Pete Rozelle, the most effective and accomplished commissioner in the history of all professional sports leagues in North America.
Don Larsen
1929-2020
Last pitch of his most famous game
One of the great sports news leads of all time came from Joe Trimble of the New York Daily News who wrote in 1956 "The imperfect man pitched a perfect game yesterday" when he wrote of Yankees pitcher Don Larsen's perfect game against the Brooklyn Dodgers in Game Five of the 1956 World Series. It remains to this day perhaps the most famous game ever pitched.
Having been rocked by the Dodgers earlier in the Series, Larsen didn't expect to pitch again in the Series, but Casey Stengel nevertheless named him as the Game Five starter, and Larsen delivered as no pitcher, before or since, ever has in the Series. It was the highlight of what can be described as, at best, a very mediocre career. Over seventeen seasons, Larsen compiled a record of 81-91 with a 3.78 ERA, and in two of those seasons he had records of 3-21 and 1-10. (Although in his five years with the Yankees, he was 45-24.)
Larsen's accomplishment highlights the complete and utter randomness that is a Perfect Game. It has only been done twenty-three times in history. Seven Hall of Famers have pitched perfect games, but seven of them were also pitched by guys who, like Larsen, had career W-L records below .500.
It should also be noted that the time of game of Larsen's perfecto was mere 2 hours and 7 minutes. Talk about the "good ol' days"!
Sam Wyche
1945-2020
Former Cincinnati Bengals coach and Steelers nemesis Sam Wyche died at the age of 74 last week. The Wyche coached Bengals almost won a Super Bowl but left a little too much time on the clock for Joe Montana and the 49'ers in Super Bowl XXIII in 1989. In 1990, the Bengals made the playoffs and won a game, and that was the last time that the Cincy Bengals won a playoff game. Let that fact sink in on you.
George Perles
1934-2020
With two of his better known proteges
Whenever someone who was an integral part of the Steelers Super Bowl history leave us, it is worth noting, so we recognize former Steelers defensive line coach and defensive coordinator George Perles who died at age 85 earlier this week. Perles went on to a distinguished career as a head coach and athletic director at his alma mater, Michigan State, but he will be most remembered here for his contributions as an architect of the famed Steel Curtain defenses of the 1970's Steelers.
Buck Henry
1930-2020
Actor and writer Buck Henry died yesterday at the age of 90. Henry's writing credits are vast and include the television show "Get Smart", and movies such as "Catch-22" and "Grumpy Old Men", but in my mind he will be best remembered for writing the screenplay and appearing in the 1967 Mike Nichols classic "The Graduate".
With Dustin Hoffman in "The Graduate"
Ben Braddock deals with a suspicious desk clerk
It was Buck Henry who penned the immortal line from that film......"Plastics".
IMDB lists 62 acting credits (he was a host on Saturday Night Live ten times), 30 writing credits, and four directing credits for Henry. He was one very talented man.
RIP David Stern, Don Larsen, Sam Wyche, George Perles, and Buck Henry.
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