Sports Fact and Book Rec of the Day 8/4/2007

8/4/1932:
Lefty O'Doul is a one-man wrecking crew for the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field as they sweep Pittsburgh, 7-4 and 6-5 in 10 innings. O'Doul goes four-for-eight with six RBIs during the twin bill with a double and a homer in the opener and two more home runs in the nightcap. His first homer of the day drives in three runs to clinch the opener, while his last two dingers are solo shots that serve to tie the second game in the 8th inning and win it in the 10th. Often nattily attired in green sports jackets, the gregarious Irishman O'Doul is the toast of Brooklyn after his timely batting heroics.

Birthdays:
Maurice "Rocket" Richard b. 1921
Mary Decker Slaney b. 1958
Roger Clemens b. 1962
Jeff Gordon b. 1971
Eric Milton b. 1975

NAVAL GAZING

Hunger, thirst, dating goats—life on a deserted isle is no picnic. That’s what the real-life Robinson Crusoe, Scotsman Alexander Selkirk, discovered when he was marooned after a quarrel with the captain of a pirate ship. Selkirk had longed for adventure, and he got it in spades for four long years until another ship captained by the same pirate returned to pick him up. Souhami’s account of Selkirk’s incredible adventures won her the prestigious Whitbread Book Award for Biography. The Christian Science Monitor calls it “vastly entertaining.”

SELKIRK’S ISLAND, by Diana Souhami (Harvest Books, 2002)