Sports Fact and Book Rec of the Day 9/18/2007

9/18/1956:
About to complete the greatest season of his career and a rare triple crown (.353, 52, 130), Mickey Mantle hits his 50th homer of the year in the 11th inning to clinch the pennant for the Yankees as they beat the second-place Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park. It's the eighth pennant in 10 years for the Bronx Bombers, who will go on to beat Brooklyn in the World Series next month.

Birthdays:
Darryl Sittler b. 1950
Rick Pitino b. 1952
Peter Stastny b. 1956
Toni Kukoc b. 1968
Lance Armstrong b. 1971

Choosing your favorite book in the acclaimed Brother Cadfael mystery series is like choosing your favorite Frank Sinatra recording. They are all so wonderful, what’s the point? But if pressed, we would pick The Rose Rent. A rich widow has leased the abbey her townhouse for the cost of one white rose. When the rose bush is attacked and a monk murdered, neither the rent nor justice may be delivered.

THE ROSE RENT, by Ellis Peters (1986; Mysterious Press, 1997)

The Rose Rent is the 13th of the 21 Brother Cadfael books.