Picture Perfect Pie
October 1964, Pi Pizzeria, Michael McDonald, Julián Javier, Comfy Couch
Welcome to my weekly newsletter. This week’s issue features pie/pi, a successful St. Louis season, a pizza parlor in St. Louis and DC, a soulful singer from St. Louis, a St. Louis second sacker, and a (Bing) divine divan. I hope you enjoy the picks and pics.
Fave Five 45: Picture Perfect Pie. Champion Cardinals (October 1964), Pi Pizzeria, Michael McDonald, Julián Javier, and a Comfy Couch.
Fave Five Lists: Pie Perfection
My sister Ann texted me, “Suggest some week you include a Five Fave pies in your newsletter. I think you could have a lot to say! And it would be of wide interest I bet.” As a long-time pie lover, I am glad to accommodate her request.
Last week we had lunch with our friends Tim and Kathy Poor from St. Louis. Tomorrow our friends Steve and Kathy Israel will visit us from St. Louis to attend our house concert on Friday. Pi (π = 3.14) is the name of a St. Louis pizzeria because 314 is the area code there, so this issue also features the Gateway City where Barb and I are from.
Five Favorite Places for Pie
(The late) Jesperson’s (Petoskey, Michigan) - Coconut Cream
Sister Pie (Detroit, Michigan) - Salted Maple
A Slice of Pie (Rolla, Missouri) - Peanut Butter Lust
Napoleon Café (Jackson, Michigan) - Lemon Meringue
(The late) Robert’s Restaurant (Boyne City, Michigan) - Banana Cream
Five Favorite Pie Flavors
Rocky Road Cream (Garberville, California)
Buttermilk (the late Hominy Grill, Charleson, South Carolina)
Butterscotch (Ugalde’s Family Restaurant, Warren, Indiana)
Apple - with cheese on top (Crane’s Pie Pantry, Fennville, Michigan)
Peanut Butter (Café Noka, Topinabee, Michigan)
Book Best Bet
October 1964 by David Halberstam
I was given this book years ago because at different times I was a fan of both the New York Yankees and the St. Louis Cardinals. My family moved from St. Louis to the New York area in 1964, just after I had been a fan of the Cards in 1963 and before becoming a fan of the Yanks in 1968. I loved Mickey Mantle, Bob Gibson, and Lou Brock, so the book was a perfect gift.
I saw Bob Gibson pitch for his hometown Omaha Cardinals in 1959. I saw Mickey Mantle play in his final year in 1968, including watching him homer for one of the last times at Yankee Stadium. And I was at Busch Stadium for Lou Brock’s record-breaking 105th stolen base in 1974 and his 3,000th hit in 1979. Three of baseball’s all-time greatest players, they figure prominently in this story of the 1964 season.
Damned Yankees - review by James E. B. Breslin
David Halberstam recounts the end of the New York Yankee dynasty that began in 1949 — an era that included 14 pennants and nine world championships. After their loss in seven games to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1964, the Yankees would not return to the World Series until 1976. … (I) found Mr. Halberstam's narrative engaging, his anecdotes amusing, his insights into the game and its players often shrewd.
One of the pleasures of his book is its leisurely, pre-MTV pace. Deftly intercutting stories of the Cardinal and Yankee seasons, Mr. Halberstam slowly approaches the October confrontation. But, as in his well-known political histories, Mr. Halberstam is less interested in events or institutions than he is in personalities. In October 1964, he constantly expands his narrative to create sympathetic, sometimes moving portraits of an impressive range of figures, from Mickey Mantle, with his country-boy innocence and, later, stoic endurance, to Bob Gibson, with his intimidating, fiercely competitive style.
…
However, the real problem, in Mr. Halberstam's account, was the Yankees' racism; George Weiss, the team's general manager from 1947 until 1960, preferred his wage slaves, and his paying customers, to be white — further narrowing the team's pool of available talent.
On the other hand, the Cardinals' owner, Gussie Busch, as portrayed by Mr. Halberstam, might have been a hard-drinking, quick-tempered, skirt-chasing beer magnate who knew little about baseball, but he was no racist. "Hell, we sell beer to everyone," Mr. Halberstam quotes him as saying; capitalism provided this tycoon with his route to liberal politics.
So by 1964 St. Louis had shaped a team around a formidable core of black athletes — Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Curt Flood and Bill White. They were supported by older white players like Dick Groat, Curt Simmons and Ken Boyer as well as by the Cardinals' version of the new breed of white players, such as Tim McCarver and Ray Sadecki.
When Bob Gibson beat the Yankees in the final game of the 1964 Series, his manager, Johnny Keane, touchingly explained why he hadn't removed his clearly exhausted starter: "I had a commitment to his heart." And so a team representing white power and prejudice is finally brought down by a club led by a determined young black man. In this baseball tale, then, we find less social history than moral parable: we live, Mr. Halberstam assures us, in a just and even politically progressive cosmos.
Other Reviews
"October 1964 should be a hit with old-time baseball fans, who'll relish the opportunity to relive that year's to-die-for World Series, when the dynastic but aging New York Yankees squared off against the upstart St. Louis Cardinals. It should be a hit with younger students of the game, who'll eat up the vivid portrayals of legends like Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris of the Yankees and Bob Gibson and Lou Brock of the Cardinals. Most of all, however, David Halberstam's book should be a hit with anyone interested in understanding the important interplay between sports and society." — The Boston Globe
"Compelling...1964 is a chronicle of the end of a great dynasty and of a game, like the country, on the cusp of enormous change." — Newsweek
"Halberstam's latest gives us the feeling of actually being there—in another time, in the locker rooms and in the minds of baseball legends. His time and effort researching the book result in a fluency with his topic and a fluidity of writing that make the reading almost effortless....Absorbing." — San Francisco Chronicle
"Wonderful...Memorable...Halberstam describes the final game of the 1964 series accurately and so dramatically, I almost thought I had forgotten the ending." — The Washington Post Book World
"Superb reporting...Incisive analysis...You know from the start that Halberstam is going to focus on a large human canvas...One of the many joys of this book is the humanity with which Halberstam explores the characters as well as the talents of the players, coaches and managers. These are not demigods of summer but flawed, believable human beings who on occasion can rise to peaks of heroism."— Chicago Sun-Times
Restaurant Recommendation
Pi Pizzeria 400 N. Euclid, St. Louis, MO 63108 and 910 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20004
Barb and I have dined with our friends the Israels and the Poors at two former St. Louis locations and loved the pizza. My friend Sue Hanley and I hosted multiple professional community dinners at the Washington location. Both the thin and deep-dish offerings are great.
Awards and recognition for Pi Pizzeria
Best Pizza in DC - Trip Advisor
Best Thin Pizza - Riverfront Times
Best Deep Dish Pizza (multiple years) - Riverfront Times, others
From the restaurant: Home of irrationally delicious pizza and craft beers. We’re stoked to be in your neighborhood. Doing right by our neighbors is important to us, which means making the tastiest pizzas with the freshest ingredients around, taking care of our awesome team by paying a higher minimum wage, minimizing our carbon footprint with sustainable purchases and practices, and giving back to you guys — our neighbors.
Marvelous Musician
When "What a Fool Believes" by the Doobie Brothers (featuring Michael McDonald) came out in 1977 and rose to number 1, I loved it and became a huge fan of his. He graduated from McCluer High School in 1970, one year before Barb and I graduated from Clayton High School (CHS). Michael left for LA in 1970, just as my brother David later did after he graduated from CHS in 1974. Michael and David have recorded several songs together, including "Let's Stay Together" and "One Like You." When David was recording with Michael at a studio in Santa Barbara, he invited our daughter Tracy to meet him there. She did not recognize the man wearing a ball cap introduced to her as "Mike" until the engineer later told her it was Michael McDonald. Then she was very excited.
Michael, our fellow St. Louisan, is one of Barb’s and my favorite singers. His voice is immediately recognizable on his numerous collaborations and guest appearances. We have seen Michael perform four times:
July 4, 2003 at Fair Saint Louis under the Gateway Arch
August 21, 2013 at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan
February 18, 2018 at Barbara B Mann Performing Arts Hall in Fort Myers, Florida
August 15, 2018 at Sound Board in Detroit
From Wikipedia: Michael McDonald (born February 12, 1952 in Ferguson, Missouri) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, keyboardist, and record producer known for his distinctive, soulful voice and as a member of the bands The Doobie Brothers (1975-1982, 1987, 2019-present) and Steely Dan (1974). McDonald wrote and sang several hit singles with The Doobie Brothers, including "What a Fool Believes", "Minute By Minute", and "Takin' It to the Streets". McDonald has also performed as a prominent backing vocalist on numerous recordings by artists including Steely Dan, Christopher Cross, and Kenny Loggins. He is considered an influential figure in the development of the yacht rock genre.
McDonald's solo career consists of nine studio albums and a number of singles, including the 1982 hit "I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)". During his career, McDonald has collaborated with a number of other artists, including James Ingram, David Cassidy, Van Halen, Patti LaBelle, Lee Ritenour, the Winans, Aretha Franklin, the rock band Toto, Grizzly Bear, Joni Mitchell, and Thundercat. He has also recorded for television and film soundtracks. McDonald is the recipient of five Grammy Awards.
What A Fool Believes
I Gotta Try
Let's Stay Together
SCTV Sketch featuring Rick Moranis as Michael McDonald
My Playlist
Sports Star
Today is Hoolie’s 87th birthday. He was the second baseman for the Cardinals in the 1964 regular season that led to a World Series win over the New York Yankees, in the 1967 World Series win over the Boston Red Sox, and in the 1968 World Series loss to the Detroit Tigers. I became a fan in 1963 when I saw my first MLB games at the old Busch Stadium (originally Sportsman’s Park). I was impressed when he was added to the starting lineup of the 1963 All-Star Game along with three other teammates, forming an all-St. Louis infield.
From Wikipedia: Manuel Julián Javier Liranzo (born August 9, 1936 in San Francisco de Macorís, Dominican Republic), is a former professional baseball second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds. He was nicknamed "Hoolie" by his teammates, and "The Phantom" by teammate Tim McCarver for his ability to avoid baserunners sliding into second base. He is the father of former big-leaguer Stan Javier.
Javier led the Cardinals in stolen bases every year from 1960 to 1963. His finest season was 1962. Sharing lead-off duties with Curt Flood in manager Johnny Keane's batting order, Javier stole a career-high 26 bases and scored a career-high 97 runs. Javier led an inning off with a hit or walk 61 times for a .347 on-base percentage leading off innings.
When Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski was unable to start the 1963 All-Star game due to injury, Javier was added to the starting line-up. Along with Bill White at first base, Dick Groat at shortstop, and Ken Boyer at third, they formed an all-Cardinal starting infield for the National League All-Star team.
1967 World Series Game 7: Javier clubs a hits three-run homer
Picture Pun
I love seats like this - they are simply divan.
Note: the reference to “Bing” in the introduction to this issue is a nod to Bing Devine, who was the general manager of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1964. That year he traded Ernie Broglio to the Chicago Cubs for Lou Brock, in one of the most one-sided deals in history. Lou Brock was key to three subsequent National League pennants and two World Series Championships.
Note that Javier was injured for the 1964 World Series (he did appear as a pinch-runner in game 1), replaced by Dal Maxvill. Maxvill was there to catch the final out, with Dick Groat yelling "Don't let it hit you on the coconut, Maxie!"