Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 4/25-26/2011

4/25/1966:
Larry Jaster of the St. Louis Cardinals shuts out the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-0, setting in motion one of the strangest sequences in baseball history. Jaster will make five starts against the Dodgers in 1966 and pitch five shutouts. They're the first five shutouts of his career and the only shutouts he'll pitch this season. He becomes the only major league pitcher to register five consecutive shutouts against one team in a single season, and he does it facing the defending National League champions. He'll play in the majors until 1972 and pitch only two more shutouts.

Birthdays:
Meadowlark Lemon b. 1932
Vladislaw Tretiak b. 1952
Darren Woodson b. 1969
Jacque Jones b. 1975
Tim Duncan b. 1976

Packers Fact:
The Packers' Donald Driver and the Colts' Reggie Wayne were the only two NFL players to post more than 1,000 receiving yards each season from 2004 to 2008.

4/26/1931:
The New York Yankees lose to the Senators, 9-7, in Washington on an afternoon thath costs Lou Gehrig a home run title. With two out in the first inning and Lyn Lary on base, Gehrig hits a drive into the bleachers, where it bounces off the seats and back into the hands of Washington outfielder Harry Rice. Thinking it's an out instead of a homer, Lary runs into the dugout after crossing third base and Gehrig is declared out for passing him on the base path. The lost four-bagger means Gehrig will have to share the home run title with Babe Ruth, who matches his 46 homers at season's end.

Birthdays:
Hack Wilson b. 1900
Harry Gallatin b. 1927
Donna de Varona b. 1947
Mike Scott b. 1.955
Natrone Means b. 1972

Packers Fact:
Nose tackle B.J. Raji was the Packers' top pick in the 2009 draft. He was the ninth overall pick.

ON AND THIS IS AS CLEAR AS MUD

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It was as clear as night is day.

sportscaster Alan Green

ON FOOD, FANTASTICO!

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• Stewed Language

• Cooked knacks

• Meager with Tomato

menu items in Madrid, Spain

“We should never despair, our Situation before has been unpromising and has changed for the better, so I trust, it will again. If new difficulties arise, we must only put forth New Exertions and proportion our Efforts to the exigency of the times.”

—GEORGE WASHINGTON, U.S. president

“The world is disgracefully managed, one hardly knows to whom to complain.”

—RONALD FIRBANK, English novelist and playwright

DELISH DISH

Hollywood celeb divorcée Gigi Grazer knows what she’s talking about—fund-raisers, fake smiles, lots of money, acid tongues, and stabbed backs. In this quintessential beach or couch read, Cynthia Powers is feeling her age (but not looking it). The gorgeous ballerina has had it up to her swanlike neck with husband Jack’s philandering and yellow roses of penitence, which she loathes (and he thinks are her favorites). Serving up revenge both hot and cold, and thoroughly enjoying herself every step of the way, Cynthia eventually sweeps the board.

QUEEN TAKES KING, by Gigi Levangie Grazer (Simon & Schuster, 2009)

OIL!

The marvelous land in question in Booker Prize—winning Barry Unsworth’s new novel is Mesopotamia, part of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century. (Nowadays we call it Iraq.) The many well-drawn characters include archaeologist John Somerville and his bored wife, Edith, and the duplicitous oil prospector Alex Elliott, who are all involved in conflicts over archaeology and oil. And there is the railroad track being laid and heading straight for Somerville’s great career-making find. This is Unsworth’s 16th novel, and his ability to comment on the present by artfully telling a story of the past is one of contemporary literature’s great pleasures.

LAND OF MARVELS, by Barry Unsworth (Doubleday, 2009)