The Daily Dose/August 15, 2019
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience…
STAND BY FOR DRY, TECHNICAL MATTER: As anyone from long-time readers to newcomers can tell, we enjoy history here at The Daily Dose. On a philosophical level, knowing history is important because only by knowing the past can we avoid blowing it again, but mainly because tidbits and factoids like this have always thrilled us no end.
FunFact: So a couple of entries in today’s On This Date segment should surprise no one at all.
Here’s The Pitch…Dry Technical Matter: The first entry of note is the middle one, Guy Hecker of the Louisville Colonels going 6-for-7 with seven runs scored, three home runs and 15 total bases in an 1886 game, numbers which either set or tied assorted records.
More Dry, Technical Matter: We came across these records the old fashioned way, while scouring our major league record book years ago. We started noticing Hecker’s name, notable because we hadn’t heard of him, and then we noted his records happened on the same date and that he was a pitcher. We did further research – this was in the day before Mr Internet could tell you anything you want to know in a few seconds – and we have always found Hecker’s performance fascinating. For our money, in terms of records set it’s the single greatest day any major league batter has had. A similar day today would require a player, probably not a pitcher, to have seven hits, four of them home runs, score eight runs and have 20 total bases.
THIS IS CASEY, COUNTING DOWN THE DRY, TECHNICAL MATTER: Today’s usual music entry yielded our latest piece of useless information: there is a new record holder for most weeks at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100, the Record of Records, by some definitions – but not all – the Biggest Song of All-Time: Old Town Road, by Lil Nas X, who spent one week at #1 as the only credited artist, while a remix with Billy Ray Cyrus is finishing up it’s 17th week at #1, giving it 18 total weeks – all consecutive – at #1.
Oh Jesus H.: Some, including us here at The Daily Dose, use a different measure, ranking Chubby Checker’s The Twist the biggest song of the Rock Era because it is the only song to go to #1 in separate chart runs. This is a (boring) debate for another time.
Can We Get Back To Our Dry, Technical Matter?: We came across the new record while doing some research on today’s entry, Endless Love by Lionel Ritchie and Diana Ross, which began it’s nine week run at #1 38 years ago today, which doesn’t make us feel old, we don’t know about you.
Please Pass The Dry, Technical Matter: Some research showed this song broke the record for most weeks at #1 by a duet, which had been four weeks by The Everly Brothers’ Wake Up Little Susie in 1957. We were curious as to whether or not this was still the record so we did some more research. It’s not. The record had actually been broken several times but the exciting news was the current record holder for biggest duet is Old Town Road.
God, We Love Our Dry, Technical Matter: 18 weeks – the new Hot 100 comes out on the 17th – is a long time, though it should be noted downloads and streaming has significantly changed how songs are ranked: of the 37 songs in Hot 100 history that have spent at least ten weeks at #1, 24 hit #1 this century while another spent time at the top in both 1999 and 2000.
If Dry Technical Matter Is Inevitable…: We haven’t completed our research on the matter, but so far as the most weeks ever spent at #1 on any Billboard chart we’ve been able to find out is 108 weeks. It was on Billboard’s Classical Albums chart, by the album Switched On Bach by Wendy Carlos, then known as Walter Carlos.
Today At The Site
The Diary of a Nobody: Sparrow gives Q some advice. Today’s Diary.
I was obliged to emphasize to Q one of the basic lessons of working hotels: do not date guests.
Ever…Under any circumstances…Nothing good will come of it.
This was an issue tonight because Q’s labors had him running late and he wanted to get to the bar because a female guest wanted to buy him a drink and some pizza…Q reported she had flirted with him when she checked in…I was firm:
Do not date guests…Ever.
Q asked if I’d had problems with this and I said no because I’ve never dated guests…Not that the opportunity never presented itself…It has and does…Especially to the pretty girls that work front desks…In fact, earlier this week when I relieved Devani a guy was at the desk talking her up…This never happens when I relieve Mark, tho.
It’s Sparrow, an average man passing an average life.
More drivel! Click on the button to read all of The Diary of a Nobody.
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On This Date
In 1977 – A radio telescope in Ohio picks up an unexplained radio signal, now known to History as the Wow! Signal, after notes made on the printout of the reading. A complete examination of the technical details of the signal is, thankfully, beyond the scope of this column, but it had what us humans expected an alien signal to sound like and came from the general area of the constellation Sagittarius. While a variety of theories about the signal’s origin have been advanced – including it being an alien transmission or an Earth transmission that got bounced off some space debris – the exact source has not been determined and all attempts to find it again have failed.
In 1886 – Guy Hecker, a pitcher for the Louisville Colonels of the then-major American Association establishes or ties several major league batting records in a 22-5 win over the St Louis Browns in the second game of a doubleheader. Hecker established new major league records with seven runs scored and 15 total bases, and tied existing major league marks with three home runs, and six hits. The severn runs scored still stands and all remain records for pitchers. Hecker was the winning pitcher, too, going the distance and giving up four hits. Hecker would win the AA batting title that year with a .341 mark and remains the only pitcher to win a major league batting title and the only player to win both a batting title and an ERA title.
In 1981 – Lionel Ritchie and Diana Ross are at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first of nine consecutive weeks with Endless Love. It was Ritchie’s first of five #1s as a solo act and Ross’ sixth and final #1 as a solo act. The following week the song would begin a seven week run at #1 on Billboard’s soul chart, was Billboard’ second biggest song of the year and ranked 18th on Billboard’s 60th anniversary chart in 2018. At the time, it was the biggest duet on a Billboard pop chart, eclipsing the four week record of Wake Up Little Susie by the Everly Brothers in 1957. That record was broken earlier this year when Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus spent their tenth week at #1 with Old Town Road, a mark that is now in its 18th week making Old Town Road the song with the most weeks at #1 ever on the Billboard Hot 100.
Quotebook
One must wait until the evening to see how splendid the day has been.
Sophocles
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
The other act besides Hank Snow to spend at least 20 weeks at #1 on a Billboard singles chart with two songs is Florida Georgia Line, who spent 24 weeks at #1 on the country chart with Cruise and 50 weeks at #1, also on the country chart and along with Bebe Rexha, with Meant to Be.
Today’s Stumper
Who is the only other major league pitcher to hit three home runs in a game? – Answer next time!
