The King and His Corpse

(Don delivers again)

Or
Feigning Interration
(Don turns lexicographer)
Eddie Feigner, the Meadowlark Lemon of the diamond who spent 50 years amusing fans with a 4-man softball team known as The King and His Court, has died at the age of 81. With a bulging right arm and a trademark crew cut, the retired Marine pitched in more than 10,000 games, with 930 no-hitters and 238 perfect games while notching 141,517 strikeouts with a fast ball recorded at 104 mph. Among his career highlights were a nationally televised exhibition at Dodger Stadium where he struck out Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Maury Wills, Harmon Killebrew, Roberto Clemente and Brooks Robinson in order. His career came to an end after a stroke in 2000 that occurred a day after he threw out the first pitch before the women's softball competition in the Sydney Olympics. Ever the showman, Feigner pitched not only from the standard mound, but also from second base, behind his back, on his knees, between his legs, from center field and blindfolded. On The Tonight Show he pitched blindfolded to a tentative Johnny Carson, nailing the bat in Johnny's hands on the first pitch. The idea of the 4-man squad came in 1946 after Feigner had led a 9-man team to a rout of a team in Walla Walla, Washington and on a dare beat that same team the next day with only 4 men as Feigner pitched a perfect game. On King of the Hill, Feigner’s barnstormers were parodied as Hank’s team beat a similarly renowned 4-man team with a succession of bunts to the unmanned third base.

This one was right in Shawn’s wheelhouse, as he records a solo hit to move his Team One Older into a 10th place tie.

Bauer Outage
(Another cap tip to Don)
Hank Bauer, an ex-Marine with a face “like a clenched fist” who went on to star with the Yankee dynasty of the 1950s, has died of cancer at the age of 84. In 12 seasons with the Yankees, he won 9 AL pennants and 7 World Series championships while making 3 All-Star teams. He set the all-time postseason batting record by hitting in 17 consecutive World Series games. After retiring, he managed the Baltimore Orioles to their first World Series title. The pressure of the postseason pared in comparison to Bauer’s tours in the Pacific in World War II, where he saw action on Okinawa and Guadalcanal, earning two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts.

The Grey Poupon Passes
(More from Massachusetts’ own Don)

Or
Folding Like a House of Cards
(Further florals for Don)
Ian Richardson, a Scottish actor renowned for his work on film, television and stage, has died at the age of 72. Famed for his role as Francis Urquhart, the JR Ewing of Parliament, but with icy wit in place of oily twang, on the BBC series House of Cards, he was classically trained and was a founding member of the Royal Shakespearean Company player. In America, however, he’s remembered for his line in a famed commercial from the mid-1980s: “Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon?”