August 1, 1977 - Angels 4, Yankees 1
- Sal Maiorana
- Aug 1, 2017
- 3 min read
ANAHEIM – One step up, and then a step or two back. That pattern had defined Catfish Hunter’s season to this point and it was in evidence again as the Yankees began the Disneyland portion of their West Coast trip with a loss to the Angels across the street from Mickey Mouse’s pad.
Hunter wasn’t terrible, just not good enough to outduel former Yankee Ken Brett, George Brett’s lesser-known brother, who checked New York on six hits and a single run.
“I ain’t up to 100 percent,” Hunter said after he allowed three earned runs on six hits and two walks. “I don’t know what I’m up to, but I’ve been pitching like horseshit and my arm is the reason why. It isn’t bothering me the way it used to, but it’s still there. I can’t get up on top (in the delivery), I can’t throw strikes and I can’t hit the corners.”
Give Cat credit, when he was pitching like horseshit, he always owned it, which is why he was one of the most beloved members of the Yankees, and before that, the A’s.
The game was tied 1-1 in the fifth when Chris Chambliss bobbled a routine grounder that allowed Rance Mulliniks to reach, and Danny Goodwin ripped a triple off the center-field wall that chased home what proved to be the winning run. Goodwin scored an insurance run on a sacrifice fly by Terry Humphrey.
Hunter, who had long made it clear that he was retiring to his farm in Hertford, N.C. when his Yankee contract expired after 1979, described the reality he was facing as his best days were getting further in the rearview mirror, and pretty soon he’d be going back to where he came from.
“I started out that way and I’ll end up that way,” he said of the peaceful simplicity he derived from milking his cows. “Like they say, be nice to people on your way up because you’re going to see the same people on your way down. They might not be the same cows, but they’ll be there.”
In other farming news, state police in Kentucky discovered 882 marijuana plants growing on Don Gullett’s farm, though he denied knowing anything about their existence. “Holy mackerel,” Gullett said when he was informed of the situation. “It’s a shock to me. I don’t know anything about it. I have no idea how it got there; I don’t even know what the stuff looks like.”
Gullett was quickly exonerated in the matter, which did not surprise George Steinbrenner. “In 25 years of dealing with athletes as a coach and an owner, I have never met a finer young man than Don Gullett. If there is a modern-day Jack Armstrong, Gullett is it.”
Jack Armstrong? OK, I had no clue, so I looked it up and I found this explanation on YouTube.
Jack Armstrong, All-American Boy was a radio adventure series which maintained its popularity from 1933 to 1951. The program originated at WBBM in Chicago on July 31, 1933, and was later carried on CBS, then NBC and finally ABC. The storylines centered around the globe-trotting adventures of Armstrong, a popular athlete at Hudson High School, his friends Billy Fairfield and Billy's sister Betty, and their Uncle Jim, James Fairfield, an industrialist.
Frequently, Uncle Jim Fairfield would have to visit an exotic part of the world in connection with his business, and he would take Jack Armstrong and the Fairfield siblings along with him. Many of the adventures provided listeners with the equivalent of a travelogue, providing facts about the lands they were visiting.
The show was created by writer Robert Hardy Andrews. Sponsored throughout its long run by Wheaties, the program was renamed Armstrong of the SBI when Jack graduated from high school and became a government agent in the final season, when it shifted from a 15-minute serial to a half-hour complete story format. Throughout its broadcast span, the program offered radio premiums that usually related to the adventures in which Jack and his friends were involved.
So, there you have it. A piece of long-ago Americana.
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