Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 10/19-20/2009

10/19/2006:
Light-hitting catcher Yadier Molilna hits a ninth inning two-run homer to give the St. Louis Cardinals a 3-1 victory over the New York Mets, clinching the NLCS before a stunned audience at Shea Stadium. NLCS MVP Jeff Suppan keeps the Cardinals close with seven strong innings of work, and rookie closer Adam Wainwright wriggles out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth inning by freezing Carlos Beltran on a two-strike curveball for the final out. A homer-saving circus catch by Mets left fielder Endy Chavez off Scott Rolen in the sixth inning will not be soon forgotten, but even he can't corral Molina's pennant-winning blast.

Birthdays:
Lionel Hollins b. 1953
Tim Belcher b. 1961
Evander Holyfield b. 1962
Brad Daugherty b. 1965
Keith Foulke b. 1972

Packers Fact:
In 12 seasons with the Browns (1958-59) and the Packers (1960-69), Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end Willie Davis never missed a game.

CAUGHT IN THE HEADLIGHTS

Journalist Susan Seligson, “a person who happens to be stacked,” has a mission: to figure out and document every possible attitude toward breasts and people who have them (not all women, as she points out by evenhandedly interviewing cross-dressers). The history of the brassiere, implant mania, the search for Maxi Mounds, analysis of past and current slang terms . . . It’s all here, in bright, witty, intelligent social commentary, which the author has made both intimate and universal. Publishers Weekly starred review.

STACKED: A 32DDD REPORTS FROM THE FRONT, by Susan Seligson (Bloomsbury USA, 2007)

10/20/1928:
Coached by Bob Neyland in his third of an eventual 21 stellar seasons at Knoxville, the Tennessee Volunteers join the pantheon of big-time college football by upsetting Alabama, 15-13, at Tuscaloosa. Sophomore Gene McEVer runs the opening kickoff back 98 yards for a Tennessee touchdown and the Vols use that impetus to spring a huge surprise on Wallace Wade's highly regarded Crimson Tide, which had already won two national titles in the last four years (1925, '26).

Birthdays:
Mickey Mantle b. 1931
Juan Marichal b. 1937
Keith Hernandez b. 1953
Lee Roy Selmon b. 1954
Aaron Pryor b. 1955

Packers Fact:
The Packers upset the Bears in Vince Lombardi's first game as head coach in 1959. Green Bay won 9-6.

A CRITIC

“What allows genius to flower is not neurosis but its opposite . . . ordinary Sunday-school virtues such as tenacity and above all the ability to survive disappointment,” Joan Acocella wrote in this exemplary book of criticism. We hope the quote may begin to show you the directness and quality of mind of a woman who has become one of our essential cultural critics. Especially when it comes to writing and dance, Ms. Acocella is the first person we turn to. Most of these essays previously appeared in The New Yorker.

TWENTY-EIGHT ARTISTS AND TWO SAINTS: ESSAYS, by Joan Acocella (Pantheon, 2007)