Sports Fact and Book Rec of the Day 10/10/2007

10/10/1961:
In Cincinnati, the first-ever National League expansion teams, the New York Mets and the Houston Colt .45s, stock their rosters with veterans in a special dispersal draft from the original eight NL franchises. The Mets' selections include Hobie Landrith, Gus Bell, Gil Hodges, Don Zimmer, and Elio Chacon. Houston takes Eddie Bressoud, Bob Aspromonte, Ken Johnson, Turk Farrell and Bobby Shantz. The clubs obtain 22 players each but will not enjoy any success until they start building their teams from within, using young prospects and a productive farm system.

Birthdays:
Bruce Devlin b. 1937
Gus Williams b. 1953
Norm Nixon b. 1955
Brett Favre b. 1969
Pat Burrell b. 1976


“I lost my job in January....I’ve been raised to believe that losing your job is a bad thing, but I am more relieved than disappointed. I’ve been working seventy hours a week for the better part of a decade....”

Rodney Rothman was burned out at 28 years old. Comedy writing for shows like Letterman had taken a toll, and he needed a break—a long one. Where do people go when they need long breaks after working? To retirement communities in Boca, of course. Rothman’s account of his time living in a retirement community is a charming, silly, funny, and sometimes even insightful look at the American way of old age.

EARLY BIRD: A MEMOIR OF PREMATURE RETIREMENT, by Rodney Rothman (Simon & Schuster, 2006)