Word: garr
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Perhaps the most striking character in Harlem in the Evening is Garr, a disenchanted young man played by Lester Payne. Garr is less obvious in the production compared to the flashy prostitutes, Roscoe, or Madam Alberta K. Johnson. But he is the strongest representative of the underlying tension of blacks in a culture dominated by whites, the tension that never surfaces in many of Hughes's characters. Garr asks the question that lies dormant in all of them, a question that appears only in the worst moments of despair for a people used to despair: "What happens to the dream...
...there in flourishing array. It is Cincinnati Catcher Johnny Bench loosing one of his rocket-like throws to second. It is Montreal Rightfielder Rusty Staub making a sliding, onehanded catch. It is Yankee Centerfielder Bobby Murcer bowling over the catcher at home plate. It is Atlanta Leftfielder Ralph Garr running out from under his hat as he steals yet another base. It is New York Mets Shortstop Bud Harrelson pirouetting over second base to begin a double play. It is Pittsburgh Leftfielder Willie Stargell pounding a thunderous drive. It is Kansas City Royals Centerfielder Amos Otis cutting down a runner...
...Garr's sell sounds a little hard, it's only understandable. After leading the league with a .400-plus batting average for the first third of the season, he has lately slipped into the .320s. But that's just temporary, he says. "The way I figure, with the speed I got and the fact that I don't strike out much, and all the good things God gave me, if anybody hits .400 this year, it will...
Pitching Underhand. If he does, maybe then Braves General Manager Paul Richards will do something about the one figure that really bothers Garr: his $14,000-a-year salary, which is a scant $1,500 above the major league minimum. Richards, however, does not impress easily. In 1967, when Garr hit .568 for Grambling College, the scouts, he says, "must have thought they were pitching underhand." When Garr's lawyer called the Braves and said he had this $200,000 player he would "let go for $100,000," Richards dispatched a scout who signed Garr...
...figures are indeed super. In 1969, Garr led the International League in hitting with a .329 average and in stolen bases with 63, then duplicated the feat the following year with marks of .386 and 39. Thanks to his blazing speed -home to first in three seconds flat -Garr is already established as one of the best "leg hitters" in the majors. Although not yet an accomplished big-league base stealer (he has been thrown out seven times in 18 attempts), he is enough of a threat that whenever he comes to the plate or reaches base, Atlanta fans...