# 103 -- Checklist

Checklist

There's just not much for me to say about a checklist. At least nothing to say about a checklist that doesn't have a picture of Juan Marichal or Bob Gibson on it like they did in the late 60's. I'll go by the teaching of the Bible that if you can't find something nice to say, say something nice (Ephesians 4:29):

This checklist is very yellow.

There. Post complete.

1972 Feature
June 2, 1972 was a Friday night. There was an early season matchup of the 1971 ALCS with Baltimore beating the A's 5-1. It might have been a great pitching matchup of Jim Palmer against Vida Blue, except Blue was still getting himself in shape after he held out until May 24. The 1971 NLCS teams also had a matchup in San Francisco with Juan Marichal raising his record to 2-8 (ouch) with a win over the Pirates.

Raul Ibanez was born on June 2, 1972. A guy that needs a little recognition, however, is Tim Plodinec. Who the heck is that? He was a Cardinal pitcher who played his only game on this date. He pitched 1/3 of an inning in Dodger Stadium, coming in with runners at 2nd and 3rd and 2 outs facing Manny Mota (RBI single), Steve Garvey (RBI single after wild pitch let another in), Duke Sims (single) and Bill Russell (lineout). Unfortunately, he turned a 5-1 game into an 8-1 game, was pinch-hit for and never seen in the big leagues again.

However, my Game of the Day would be between the East leading Tigers (22-17) getting past the surprising Twins (23-14) in 11 innings by a 5-4 score. Mickey Lolich was dominating the Twins until weak-hitting Danny Thompson hit a 2-run dinger in the 8th and the Twins pushed another across in the 9th. Gates Brown got an RBI double in the 11th to end it.

Raul Ibanez was born on June 2, 1972. A guy that needs a little recognition, however, is Tim Plodinec. Who the heck is that? He was a Cardinal pitcher who played his only game on this date. He pitched 1/3 of an inning in Dodger Stadium, coming in with runners on 2nd and 3rd and 2 outs of a game the Dodgers led 5-1. He faced Manny Mota (RBI single), Steve Garvey (RBI single after a wild pitch let another in), Duke Sims (single) and Bill Russell (lineout). Unfortunately, he turned a 5-1 game into an 8-1 game, was pinch-hit for and never seen in the big leagues again.

#4 - First Series Checklist

A stinking checklist. Not much more can be said about these guys. I like it now that the stinking checklist isn’t considered a part of the base set. That means I don’t have to collect them. As I’m putting together older sets (1970 and before) I hate having to find checklists and pay decent money for them. I’d rather buy an Enzo Hernandez card than a stinking checklist.

1972 Feature

One of the biggest honors of the year is the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize. Nobel Prizes are cash awards given in many fields of the human endeavor (medicine, economics, literature) and are given by an endowment of the man who invented dynamite, Arthur Nobel. Originally the purpose was to use the cash award to encourage great people to do great things for mankind. However, the Peace Prize seems to stick out as the most important.

It's been won by many great people for pursuing an end to hosilities. It's been won multiple times for trying to end the centuries old conflict between Israel and the Arab world. Lech Walesa was a winner for putting his life on the line to try to bring freedom to Poland. Dr. Henry Kissinger is a winner. Mother Teresa won. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bishop Desmond Tutu were honored for their work to bring basic rights to people of color. Secretary of State George Marshall won for his humanitarian plan to rebuild and restore post-war Eurpoe. One of the first winners was President Theodore Roosevelt for leading talks to end the Russo-Japanese War.

Who won in 1972? Trick question. Same person that won the 1994 World Series MVP. The official listing says the prize "was allocated to the main fund." What that means is that they didn't think anyone was deserving and the prize wasn't awarded in 1972. At that time, I think the monetary value of the prize was significant, but it isn't anymore. 1972 was the last time the Nobel Peace Prize was not awarded. Short of another world war, I don't think we'll see another when the prize isn't awarded because now it often seems to be used to bring a particular cause to the public light. But in 1972, the Nobel Peace Prize was about like a stinking checklist.