This is a great day for alumni of Lafayette High School. Tonight in pre-game ceremonies at Citi Field, one of our own, John Franco, will be inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame. Johnny Boy spent 21 years in the big leagues, 14 with the Amazin's. He recorded 424 saves, the most ever by a lefty, 276 as a Met, the most by any pitcher wearing the orange and blue. He also had 90 wins. I do not know John well, although I coached several of his contemporaries at our alma mater, but I knew his reputation. Johnny could very well have excelled on the gridiron, but he wisely chose to focus on baseball. There was a neat symmetry between the Redmen football and baseball teams in 1977. Dave, our QB, was the centerfielder, Roger, our FB, was the catcher, and Danny, a DE/TE was the first baseman. It was a great group. We all hope that John will one day join our most famous alum, Sandy Koufax, in the MLB Hall of Fame. Way to go, Johnny Boy. You make us proud.
Last night I watched Cause for Alarm (1951), courtesy of Netflix. There were two notable aspects. Loretta Young was outstanding as the panic-stricken spouse of a mentally ill husband. Young is under-rated, rarely mentioned among her great contemporaries, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Barbara Stanwyck, and Katherine Hepburn. The film was directed by Tay Garnett, who did a lot of good work, particularly The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), starring John Garfield and the bodacious Lana Turner. While researching the cast of Cause for Alarm at IMDb, I noted that Irving Bacon played the garrulous, complaining postman. One of my great joys working at the Exchange was discussing old movies with my friend and co-worker, Dougie. I remember him mentioning Bacon, and I, for once, was clueless. Bacon was a true chameleon, racking up an astonishing 523 film and TV appearances in a career that spanned from 1923-1965. He supplants George Chandler, who had a paltry 446, as the credits champion. Unbelievable. I wonder who else I've overlooked.
I thank the customers who purchased books today on 24th Avenue & 86th Street, outside the Dolphin Gym, which is owned by another kid I coached, Andrew, who also graduated in the same class as John Franco and earned a football scholarship to Rutgers. Love those guys.
Visit Vic’s sites:
Vic’s Third Novel (Print or Kindle): http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic’s Website: http://membershttp://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic’s Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic’s 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic’s 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic’s Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f