Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 10/10/2009

10/10/1925:
Washington Senators outfielder Sam Rice will play 20 years in the majors (19 with the Sens), amass 2,987 base hits (over 200 in a season six times) and complete a .322 lifetime average, but he'll be largely remembered for a catch he makes in today's third game of the 1925 World Series against the Pirates. With Washington leading 4-3 and two outs in the eighth inning, Rice makes a leaping catch of Earl Smith's deep drive and tumbles into some temporary bleachers. The Pirates insist he doesn't cleanly catch the ball but instead gets it back from a friendly fan, but umpire Cy Rigler calls Smith out and the Senators win the game, 4-3. Even when Pittsburgh eventually wins the Series in seven games, the controversy won't die down. Rice will leave a letter, to be opened upon his death in 1974, attesting it was a clean catch.

Birthdays:
Gus Williams b. 1953
Norm Nixon b. 1955
Brett Favre b. 1969
Pat Burrell b. 1976
Troy Tulowitzki b. 1984

Packers Fact:
Curly Lambeau made the decisive extra point late in the fourth quarter of a 7-6 victory over the Minneapolis Marines in the Packers' first official NFL game in 1921. He was the club's founder, coach, tailback - and kicker!

A PAKISTANI POINT OF VIEW

Changez, a young Pakistani graduate of Princeton, tells his story to an American stranger across a café table in Lahore. Working for an important financial company, romantically involved with a beautiful girl, and with the world seemingly at his feet, 9/11 happens and his attitude toward America starts to shift; the personal and political mingle in problematic ways. A compelling if disquieting novel.

THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST, by Mohsin Hamid (Harcourt Trade, 2007)