Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 6/13/2007

6/13/1984:
In perhaps the most significant mid-season trade in baseball history, the Chicago Cubs obtain right-hander Rick Sutcliffe from the Cleveland Indians in a seven-player deal. Sutcliffe becomes unbeatable with Chicago, going 16-1 with a 2.69 ERA and winning the Cy Young Award unanimously despite pitching in only 20 games for Chicago. He'll hurl a two-hitter against Pittsburgh late in September to clinch the first postseason birth for the Cubs since 1945. Although they'll falter in the NLCS against San Diego, Sutcliffe's magical summer will always occupy a special place in Cubs lore.

Birthdays:
Paavo Nurmi b. 1897
Red Grange b. 1903
Don Budge b. 1915
Mel Parnell b. 1922
Valeri Bure b. 1974


“A tour de force.”—The Washington Post

“Exotic...enthralling...provocative....”—Harper’s Magazine

“The wildest ride in modern crime novel exoticum.”—James Ellroy

They don’t come more thrilling or original than Bangkok 8. Burdett’s first novel wowed critics and readers, and flew up bestseller lists. Jade mines, drug deals, sleazy sex traders, fatal snakebites, and an ambivalent Buddhist detective combine in a potent, addictive read.

BANGKOK 8, by John Burdett (Vintage, 2004)