Pat Putnam Was a Small Part of My Baseball Childhood

Former MLB first baseman Pat Putnam passed away on August 25th of natural causes, but his death was not made public until yesterday. He was 72.

Born and raised in Vermont, Putnam's family moved to Florida when he was 8 years old. Putnam would attend Miami Dade College on a baseball scholarship and would be selected by the New York Mets in the 12th round of the 1974 MLB Draft. However, Putnam opted to transfer to the University of South Alabama where he played under former MLB player and manager Eddie Stanky.

In 1975, Putnam was drafted once more this time by the Texas Rangers and in the first round and the 22nd overall pick in the nation. Putnam quickly became a man on the move. In 1976, while playing for the Single-A Asheville Tourists in the Western Carolina League, Putnam batted .361 with 24 HR and 142 RBI winning the league's Triple Crown and MVP honors. On the strength of this performance, he was promoted to the Triple-AAA Tucson Toros of the Pacific Coast League batting .301 with 15 HR and 102 RBI.

This would earn Putnam a September call up to the Rangers. When he made his big league debut, Putnam was batting cleanup collecting his first big league hit off future Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins who was pitching with the Boston Red Sox at the time. A year later, Jenkins would rejoin the Rangers and become Putnam's teammate.

In 1979, Putnam would become the Rangers' everyday first baseman. That season, Putnam hit .277 with 18 HR and 64 RBI. Those numbers were good enough for him to finish in a three-way tie for fourth place in AL Rookie of the Year balloting with Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Ross Baumgarten and New York Yankees reliever Ron Davis. That year, AL Rookie of the Year honors were shared by infielders Alfredo Griffin and John Castino of the Toronto Blue Jays and the Minnesota Twins, respectively.

Unfortunately, Putnam's offense would decline in both the 1980 and 1981 seasons. By 1982, Putnam had lost the starting first base job to up-and-comer Dave Hostetler who had been acquired from the Montreal Expos along with third baseman Larry Parrish in exchange for Al Oliver. Putnam spent much of the 1982 season in Triple-AAA which by this time was in Denver. 

Following the 1982 season, the Rangers would trade Putnam to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for pitcher Ron Musselman. Putnam responded positively to the trade by hitting a career best 19 HR and 67 RBI along with 126 hits and 23 doubles in 1983 and was voted the team's MVP by his teammates.

However, the Mariners brass was not fully confident in Putnam. In 1984, Putnam would lose the first base job to Ken Phelps in spring training. However, when Phelps went down with an injury, the Mariners chose to go with Alvin Davis who ended up winning AL Rookie of the Year honors. 

Putnam hit .200 in limited action with the Mariners but did catch a break when he was traded to the Minnesota Twins late in the season. Alas, Putnam did not acquit himself well as he went 3 for 38 (.079) in 14 games with the Twins. 

Prior to the 1985 season, Putnam would sign with the Kansas City Royals who would win that year's World Series. But with Steve Balboni ensconced at first base, Putnam would spend the entire season in Triple-AAA with the Omaha Royals of the American Association. 

In 1986 and 1987, Putnam would play in Japan with the Nippon Ham Fighters. He would return to baseball once more in the short-lived Senior Professional Baseball Association in 1989 and 1990 where he played in his adopted Fort Myers with the Sun Sox. In parts of 8 MLB seasons, Putnam played in 677 games collecting 508 hits for a lifetime batting average of .255 with 63 HR and 255 RBI.  

For me, Pat Putnam is one of those guys who I remember from baseball cards, NBC's Game of the Week and Zander Hollander's 1980 Complete Handbook of Baseball. It sounds cliche, but Putnam was a small part of my childhood which is getting smaller each and every day. R.I.P.

Aroldis Chapman Records 400th Career Save

Yesterday, Boston Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman recorded his 400th career save in a 3-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

Chapman, 38, becomes the 9th pitcher to record 400 or more saves. Among active pitchers, Chapman ranks 3rd in saves behind only Craig Kimbrel of the Kansas City Royals (441) and Kenley Jansen of the Detroit Tigers (493). 

It might be quite a while before another reliever records 400th save. Among active relievers after Chapman, Atlanta Braves closer Raisel Iglesias has 284 saves followed by Edwin Diaz of the Los Angeles Dodgers with 260 and Josh Hader of the Houston Astros with 250. No other active reliever has more than 200 saves.

Since joining the Red Sox last year, the Cuban born southpaw has enjoyed a remarkable renaissance. In 67 appearances in 2025, Chapman recorded 32 saves with a 1.17 ERA striking out 85 batters in 61.1 innings pitched. Those numbers were enough to earn him some votes for the AL Cy Young. In 2026, Chapman has recorded 33 saves with a 2.03 ERA with 65 strikeouts over 48.2 innings pitched in 50 appearances. 

With 17 games left on the schedule, Chapman has an outside chance of recording a career high in saves. In 2012 and 2013, while with the Cincinnati Reds, Chapman earned 38 saves. It would be remarkable if Chapman could eclipse that total and perhaps even have a 40 save season for the first time in his 17-year MLB career.

Of course, I'm sure Chapman would prefer a third World Series ring having earned one with the Chicago Cubs in 2016 and one with the Texas Rangers in 2023 as trade deadline addition in both cases. I'm sure earning a World Series ring with a club he has been with the entire season would take on a whole different meaning. 

There is a mutual option between Chapman and the Red Sox for the 2027 season. That is assuming there is a 2027 season.

Whatever the future holds, Chapman has a very good case for Cooperstown.

AfD's Triumph in Saxony-Anhalt Should Surprise No One & Appall Everyone

I am appalled though not surprised about AfD's electoral victory in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt last night.

After all, last year they became Germany's official opposition. At the time, I asked, "How long will it be before they come to power?"

While it is true they do not have a majority, there is a very good chance they will play a significant, if not a leading role in governing the state. No doubt this is something that will please the Trump Administration particularly JD Vance even if it means the AfD must partner with the far left BSW. It would only prove there is truly no difference between the Far Right and the Far Left.

Although Saxony-Anhalt will most likely become an anti-immigrant breeding ground and a beachhead for Moscow, I mainly worry about its anti-Semitism in view of its opposition to circumcision and preparation of kosher meat and its longstanding tolerance of Holocaust deniers. 

Like Trumpism, AfD looks for easy answers to complicated problems. Easy answers are the wrong answers. 

Unfortunately, the people of Saxony-Anhalt will find this out the hard way.

I Was Visiting Israel When I Learned Joe Morgan Was Managing The Red Sox

Former Boston Red Sox manager Joe Morgan passed away yesterday at the age of 95.

Not to be confused with the Hall of Fame second baseman who himself passed away in 2020, Morgan made a name for himself when he was named interim manager for the Red Sox during the 1988 All-Star Break after John McNamara, who had taken Boston to the AL pennant two years earlier was abruptly dismissed. 

At the time, Morgan was the team's third base coach. The plan was to have Morgan manage a few games before a permanent replacement could be found. Perhaps Joe Torre. 

But then the Red Sox started winning starting with a 12-game winning streak and then 19 out of 20 games. Morgan was a familiar face to most Red Sox players like Wade Boggs, Jim Rice, Mike Greenwell, Ellis Burks, Rogers Clemens and Bruce Hurst as he had managed the Triple-AAA Pawtucket Red Sox for nine seasons. 

Needless to say, it wasn't long before Morgan was named the team's full-time manager as he would lead the Red Sox to the AL East crown before being swept in the ALCS by the Oakland A's. 

Morgan certainly paid his dues. A native of Walpole, Massachusetts, Morgan was a baseball and hockey standout at both Walpole High School and Boston College. In 1952, Morgan signed as a free agent with the Boston Braves as an infielder.

Morgan would miss two seasons due to military service. When he rejoined the Braves organization in 1955, the big-league club had moved from Boston to Milwaukee. It was not until 1959 when Morgan made his MLB debut with the Braves although he would be sold to the Kansas City A's before the end of the season.

In 1960, the A's sold Morgan back to the Braves. By mid-season, the Braves would trade Morgan once more this time to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for future MLB manager Alvin Dark. Less than two months later, the Phillies would sell Morgan to the Cleveland Indians. While with the Tribe, Morgan hit his only 2 big-league homeruns.

Early in the 1961 season, the Indians traded Morgan to the St. Louis Cardinals for veteran outfielder Bob Nieman. Morgan would play three games with the 1964 Cardinals team that would win that year's World Series. This would be his last time playing at the big-league level. In 88 games over parts of four seasons with five teams, Morgan collected 36 hits for a lifetime batting average of .193 with 2 HR and 10 RBI.

In 1966, Morgan would transition into managing while with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. He was the player-manager for the Single-A Raleigh Pirates. After this season, Morgan concentrated on managing full time. Morgan played 13 seasons of minor league baseball collecting 1353 hits in 1440 games for a lifetime batting average of .278 with 117 HR and 632 RBI.

After one more season in Raleigh, Morgan would manage the Double-AA York White Roses in 1968 and 1969. In 1970, the Pirates promoted Morgan to their Triple-AAA affiliate with the Columbus Jets. The following year the Jets moved to Charleston, West Virginia where they became known as the Charleston Charlies.

In 1972, Morgan would join the Pirates big league coaching staff under manager Bill Virdon who succeeded Danny Murtaugh who guided the team to a World Series title the previous season. The Bucs would win the NL East for a third straight season but would fall to the Cincinnati Reds in the NLCS. In 1973, the Bucs trimmed the coaching staff and sent Morgan back to manage Charleston for one more season before he joined the Red Sox organization in 1974. 

After 9 seasons as the PawSox manager, Morgan became a scout for Red Sox for two seasons before he was assigned to John McNamara's coaching staff in 1985 as the team's bullpen coach, a position he held when the Red Sox won the AL pennant in 1986.

Being a baseball lifer did not pay well. In the off-season, Morgan worked a variety of jobs up to and including plowing snow on the Massachusetts Turnpike earning him the nickname "Turnpike Joe". Morgan was also affectionately known as "Walpole Joe".

Morgan would guide the Red Sox to a second AL East pennant in 1990 but were once again swept in the ALCS by the Oakland A's. The Red Sox would contend in 1991 finishing tied for second in the AL East with the Detroit Tigers, seven games back of the Toronto Blue Jays. 

Although Morgan had a year remaining on his contract, the Red Sox cut him loose in favor of former Red Sox third baseman Butch Hobson who had been managing the PawSox. The Red Sox would finish in last place in the AL East under Hobson in 1992 and would never enjoy a winning season during his three-year tenure as manager.

As for Morgan, he would never get another chance to manage in MLB. In part of four seasons as Red Sox manager, Morgan had a record of 301-262 with two AL East pennants under his belt.

On a personal note, I will forever associate Joe Morgan with Israel. During the summer of 1988, I made my lone visit to Israel. I was there for six weeks. During the first half of the trip, we were traveling around the country in remote areas. Needless to say, this was pre-internet. Media was scarce. We were lucky if we could get Jordanian TV much less a newspaper.

During the second half of the trip in August, we were spending most of our time in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. One afternoon, someone found a copy of the Jerusalem Post. We were shocked to learn that the Red Sox had won 19 out of 20 games and were doing it with Joe Morgan as their manager. Of course, I thought of Joe Morgan of the Big Red Machine. But the paper made a point of stating, "No, not that Joe Morgan." This is how I remember Morgan Magic.

I consider this a precious memory both because of the moment and because how such a moment is unlikely to replicate itself in the current state of our connected world. R.I.P.

The Real Third Man in The Third Man Was The Music

 

On Saturday evening, I went to the Harvard Film Archive to attend a screening of The Third Man starring Joseph Cotten, Valli, Trevor Howard and, of course, Orson Welles.

The screening is part of a retrospective of Graham Greene's novels and novellas adapted for the big screen.

Prior to the screening there was a lengthy introduction to the film by one of the staff members whose name I cannot recall. For the most part, I find these introductions to be largely unnecessary. You may recall that I was rather perturbed with Foster Hirsch's soliloquys during the film noir series which took place at the Brattle Theatre back in June. 

However, I will give Hirsch his due in this respect. His remarks were off the cuff. Tonight's introduction was read which made the proceedings that much more tedious. 

Although the one notable part of those remarks was that a point was made of stating that Orson Welles had no role in directing The Third Man which was entirely Carol Reed's baby. It was explained that Welles had other projects going on at the time and was not on the set long enough to have done anything beyond improvising a line or two of dialogue. Yet it has remained an urban legend for decades.

A synopsis of the film is in order. Author Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) comes to post-WWII Vienna to visit his friend Harry Lime only to discover that his friend was killed in a traffic accident. At Line's funeral, Martins encounters Anna Schmidt (Valli) who was Lime's lover as well as Major Calloway (Trevor Howard) and it becomes clear to Martins that Lime's death was not an accident. 

Martins learns of a third man who helped carry his friend's body across the street. Yet more than two-thirds through the film we learn in spectacular fashion that the third man is none other than Harry Lime himself (Orson Welles). Nothing is ever as it seems.

The one constant in The Third Man and perhaps the true third man is the music composed by Austrian zither player Anton Karas and now I can't get the "Harry Lime Theme" out of my head. What is most astonishing is that Reed discovered Karas by chance while visiting a wine bar and asked him to compose the music for the film on the spot. One can only imagine how different the film would have been had Reed not ventured into that wine bar.

Indeed, the first image you see on the screen in the background behind the words are the strings to a zither. I would be remiss if I did not mention that we had a zither much the like pictured below.

Perhaps it is fitting that a zither was prominently used in The Third Man because the audience is certainly being strung along.

Even after the film, we were treated to an original trailer of the film zither and all.

The Rise and Fall of British Columbia's Conservative Party

When it comes to Canada, there is an understandable focus on tensions with the United States on trade amid the desires of the Trump Administration to annex its neighbor to the north.

There is also considerable attention to the forthcoming provincial election in Quebec as well as the Alberta referendum to determine if there will be a referendum on separation.

While these events loom large, I am fascinated by what is happening to the Conservative Party of British Columbia.

Less than two years ago, the B.C. Conservatives went from being a non-entity to coming within striking distance of forming a provincial government and ousting the NDP from power.

Yet success came too fast too soon. Just over a year after nearly becoming Premier, John Rustad was ousted as Conservative Party leader following a series of expulsions and defections from the party caucus.

Just over three months ago, B.C. Conservatives chose former Conservative MP Kerry-Lynne Findlay as their new leader.

But in less than 100 days as party leader, Findlay has seen 9 Conservative MLAs defect from her caucus. 

Much of this stems from Findlay's autocratic and dogmatic behavior. Among other things, Findlay assailed the Aboriginal ancestry of the wife of leadership rival Peter Milobar who was the first MLA to defect during her leadership. 

Then there were Findlay's attempt to offer financial inducements to MLAs to resign so she could run for the legislature in a by-election. Reann Gasper did resign her seat so Findlay could run and now Findlay has rewarded her by appointing her chief of staff. The problem here is that this is illegal and the RCMP is now looking into the matter. 

To make matter worse, Findlay has also surrounded herself with a staff full of Alberta separatists. 

Five of the nine ex-Tory MLAs have formed a new, yet to be named party under the joint leadership of Milobar and Ian Paton.

In exactly three weeks, Findlay faces voters in a by-election. Whether she wins or loses, I suspect there will be more defections to this new opposition party. 

With a divided opposition, speculation has grown as to whether B.C. Premier David Eby will call a snap election only two years into his mandate. While this strategy might favor the NDP with a weakened opposition, calling an election for the sake of calling an election could also backfire and voters could give this unknown party a chance to govern even if it doesn't have a clear platform. An early election could be the final straw for voters with the NDP after nearly a decade in power.

At this point, it might be best for Eby not to interrupt the Conservatives while they make mistakes left, center and right.

Carney Dismisses Lutnick's Knowledge of Canadian Politics in Thunder Bay

(Leith Dunick, Thunder Bay Newswatch) 

On Thursday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney made a visit to my hometown of Thunder Bay, Ontario to announce $4.7 billion (roughly $3.4 billion in U.S. dollars) in funding for Alstom to build and maintain 300 plus rail cars for VIA Rail, Canada's national passenger rail system.

Following the press conference, Carney was asked about Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick's comments that Canada walked away from the deal for domestic political reasons. 

Indeed, Lutnick has made this claim on more than one occasion. Last month, Lutnick asserted that Carney's claim concerning the use of French language on labeling was intended to affect the ability of the Parti Quebecois to win provincial election in Quebec next month.

Then on Wednesday, Lutnick claimed that Canada started "adding crazy ideas to the mix" at the last minute and that he asked "one of the ministers" if he was trying to blow up the deal. Lutnick alleged that minister told him he wasn't permitted to say so. The only minister present at the negotiations at the time was Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc who has not commented on the matter.

For his part, Carney replied in part, "I don't think, with all respect, appointed, unelected cabinet members in the United States are experts on Canadian politics."

Indeed, I doubt that Lutnick could find Thunder Bay on a map much less name all 10 Canadian provinces and our three territories.

I also doubt that LeBlanc or anyone in the Canadian delegation made a non-denial denial to Lutnick about trying to blow up trade negotiations. Given Lutnick's dishonesty about his association with Jeffrey Epstein (not to mention his association with a pathological liar like Trump), I am not inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt.

While Trump, Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent decry Canada, Carney is moving forward in helping to bring more manufacturing to my home and native land. 

My work colleagues are staggered to hear a world leader speak with an even tone in complete sentences (in two different languages) who actually tries to work for the betterment of the people he was elected to lead.