Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/13-9/14/2008

Not wishing to entertain a litany of excuses such as injuries, bad bounces or unkind fate, straight-shooting NFL head coach Bill Parcells maintains: "You are what your record says you are."

Birthdays:
Emile Francis b. 1926
Rick Wise b. 1945
Denny Neagle b. 1968
Bernie Williams b. 1968
Goran Ivanisevic b. 1971

1968:
The Detroit Tigers ace Denny McLain outdueled Chuck Dobson of the Oakland Athletics, 5-4, and became the first pitcher since Dizzy Dean to win 30 games in a season.

"It happened before a nonsellout crowd of 44,087 at Tiger Stadium and a national audience watching on NBC. 'It was a blur,' McLain says of the season. 'There are very few games I recall. The only reason I remember the 30th win is because Chuck Dobson was wearing a sign taped to his back that said GOING FOR WIN NUMBER 12.'" -Steve Rushin, July 19, 1993

Packers Fact:
In 1952, end Billy Howton caught more touchdown passes than any other rookie in Packers' history. He caught 13 scoring grabs that season.

9/14/1913:
The Chicago Cubs shut out the New York Giants, 7-0, behind Larry Cheney, who "scatters" 14 hits. The Giants set a major league record for base hits while being shut out. Several of their base runners are thrown out trying to steal or take an extra base, including Fred Snodgrass, who takes exception to rookie umpire Lord Byron's out call and is ejected from the game. Only two Giants reach third base despite having at least one base runner in every inning. Chief Meyers has three hits and Laughing Larry Doyle, Art Fletcher and Tillie Shafer have two each, but the Giants fail to dent the scoreboard all day.

Birthdays:
Harry Sinden b. 1932
Larry Brown b. 1940
Orest Kindrachuk b. 1950
Tim Wallach b. 1957
Hicham el Guerrouj b. 1974



Four eccentric Washington misfits get together every week to chew over conspiracy theories and enjoy themselves. On one of their clubby nights on Roosevelt Island in the middle of the Potomac, they happen to witness the murder of a Secret Service agent. Suddenly, conspiracy is no longer merely theoretical. Will the four be murdered, too? Baldacci provides lots of entertaining characters, clever subplots, high-tech spy stuff, historical facts, ripping suspense, and a wow of a finish.

THE CAMEL CLUB, by David Baldacci (Warner Books, 2005)

MEMOIR

Satrapi, the great-granddaughter of the last shah of Iran, was 10 years old in 1979. This extraordinary graphic memoir covers her youth from 10 to 14 as she witnesses many of her friends and family being persecuted and imprisoned, and the world as she knows it being irrevocably changed by the Iranian revolution. A strong sense of self, a loving family, an indestructible sense of humor, and her artistic fire come through the heat of the crucible as a dazzling, multifaceted gem of personal history. The black-and-white drawings are simple and deceptively childlike.

PERSEPOLIS: THE STORY OF A CHILDHOOD, by Marjane Satrapi (Pantheon, 2003)