Richie Ashburn: A Baseball Life

Went to the Prince last night to see the Richie Ashburn movie, and it was simply tremendous. Emotions ran high right off the bat, as Harry the K came out to give a short intro. At the end of it, he said, “It’ll make you laugh, it’ll make you cry” and his eyes began to water. The film then began and Harry’s words rang true. There were numerous moments of hilarity, such as when person after person testified about how much Whitey hated pitchers, followed by Ashburn saying, “They cheat. They spit on the ball. They cut the ball. They’re not a group with very good character. Never trust a pitcher. I wouldn’t want my daughter to marry a pitcher.” It also showed him bemoaning woeful decisions made by the Phillies over the years, and talked about the tennis rivalry between he and Nails. The movie was an emotional roller coaster, and the footage of Ed Rendell’s incredible speech at his funeral almost had me lose it. But the film, which was narrated by Ashburn’s best friend, Harry, ended on a high note, and the movie was followed by a Q & A with the producer (Dan Stephensen) and with Phillies legend Robin Roberts (both of whom deservedly received standing ovations). Somebody in the crowd asked Robin, who was Whitey’s roommate, “If Richie hated pitchers so much, how did you two get along?”, to which Roberts replied dryly, “We didn’t.” All in all, a terrific film and a wonderful night. If you are at all a fan of baseball (and especially of the Phillies) then this movie, which will be out on DVD in a week, is an absolute must see.
RELATED: A short clip of the film.

Question of the Week

It was on this date in 1865 that Abe Lincoln died from the gunshot wound he received from John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln had actually seen Booth perform on stage in 1863 at Ford’s Theatre. What play did Lincoln watch Booth perform in?

Around the Horn, Brought to You By Trivia Arts Mouth (Like we’re not gonna beat this one into the ground.)

I assume you saw the Colbert Report last night, with Nutter and Ben Franklin. If not, check it out.
Speaking of Nut, here’s a pretty interesting article about him and his decision to support Hillary in the NY Times.
Traci Lords pitched a sitcom to award winning comedy writer Ken Levine. Here’s how it went down.
We met her at her manager’s office and to answer the obvious first question – she still looked pretty great. Not smoking hot but she made the transition into legal age very nicely. However, one thing was painfully apparent after two minutes – she was seriously unfunny.
Bill Cosby is coming out with a rap CD. The first single off the CD is a song called “Stop, Puddin’ Pop, and Lock It.”

Trivia Art Has an Explosion of Taste in His Mouth

Trivia Art made an appearance on Throwdown with Bobby Flay last night. Things went pretty smoothly until the 1:49 mark, when Art says of the sandwich, “It was an explosion of taste in my mouth.” Needless to say, he will not live that line down for the remainder of his natural life. It is, without question, my favorite TV moment since Bill Henley told Miss America that she had a nice box. Next time you see Art, be sure to tell him that seeing him on TV was like an explosion of taste in your mouth.