1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,000 This is Retro Sports Radio. Visit RetroSeasons.com for more sports history. 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:10,000 Listen to Leo DeRosier. 3 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:20,000 Chimney Sweep, America's number one soot destroyer, presents the famous fiery manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Leo DeRosier, in a sparkling new 15 minute program, your sports question box. 4 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:24,000 You send in the questions, any question on any sport or game, and Leo answers it. 5 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:29,000 For every question used, Chimney Sweep soot destroyer pays the sender $5. 6 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:33,000 And the question considered by Leo, the most interesting, nets the sender $50. 7 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:40,000 Compliments of Chimney Sweep. Send in your question tonight. All questions become the property of Chimney Sweep. 8 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:45,000 And here's the masterminding manager of those dashing slam bang Brooklyn Dodgers, Leo DeRosier. 9 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:47,000 Greetings and salutations, one and all. 10 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:49,000 Feeling expansive, eh, Leo? 11 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:51,000 Nothing expensive about being friendly, Frank. 12 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:53,000 I said expansive, not expansively. 13 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:57,000 Oh, I thought it was one of those corny dialect routines you were trying out on us during rehearsal. 14 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:02,000 In any case, leave us not argue about it. The customers are waiting for the answers to their questions. 15 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:04,000 Just can't wait to exhibit the ham in them, Frank. 16 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:10,000 A little less baloney from you, Ken, will make the show a lot more enjoyable to the listeners and to the star. 17 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:11,000 Get him! 18 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:18,000 Here we go, Leo, with a question from Herb Meadows of Kansas who asks, what is the game known as Tables? 19 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:19,000 Pool or billiards? 20 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:21,000 Neither, Leo, the game known as Tables. 21 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:23,000 What? Tables? What do I know about Tables? 22 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:28,000 Tables, Mr. Meadow, is merely another name for backgammon. Five dollars to you. 23 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:29,000 Next. 24 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:34,000 Ruth Corbett of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, would like to know where the game of baseball really originated. 25 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:35,000 So would a lot of other people. 26 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:37,000 Meaning what, that you don't know either? 27 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:40,000 Nobody knows for certain. They've been trying to answer that one for years. 28 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:47,000 Well, Abner Doubleday is registered in baseball's Hall of Fame as having originated the game in Cooperstown, New York in 1839. 29 00:01:47,000 --> 00:02:00,000 So they tell me. But if Doubleday thought up the game, how do you account for the fact that the first Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes claimed baseball was one of the sports of his Harvard College days and Dr. Holmes graduated in 1829? 30 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:04,000 Why, that's a full ten years before Doubleday has given credit for thinking up the game. 31 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:08,000 Right, Frank, and claims of playing the game go back even further than that. 32 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:15,000 There was one man, Alexander Cartwright, who said he invented baseball in New York City in 1845. Now that was six years after Doubleday. 33 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:26,000 Cartwright never said he invented baseball, Frank. He improved and revised the game and is pretty generally credited with laying out the first regular baseball diamond, just about as it is today. 34 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:29,000 Cartwright also helped to draw up the game's first official rule. 35 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:32,000 Well, to get back to the question, Leo, you say there is no answer to it? 36 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:37,000 No accurate answer, Ken, that I ever heard of. Meanwhile, five dollars to Miss Corbett. 37 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:39,000 And now I'd like to take the mic for a few seconds. 38 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:42,000 Now go ahead, Ken. I'll spend the time massaging my tongue. 39 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:48,000 Ladies, don't let soot double your housework this winter by dirtying up drapes, curtains, slipcovers, and walls. 40 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:55,000 Get rid of soot right now, right in your furnace, with quick, simple, almost miraculous Chimney Sweep Soot Destroyer. 41 00:02:55,000 --> 00:03:01,000 Yes, Chimney Sweep is the easy, work-saving way to clean out soot from furnaces, flues, fireplaces, and chimneys. 42 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:09,000 Soot that dirties drapes and furnishings, steals valuable heat, and exposes your family to chimney fire and cold gas explosion dangers. 43 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:13,000 Chimney Sweep is safe, perfectly safe, so easy to use, too. 44 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:17,000 Just sprinkle a cupful of Chimney Sweep on the fire every week as directed. 45 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:24,000 No fuss, no muss. Use Chimney Sweep in coal and oil furnaces, coal and wood fireplaces, stoves. 46 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:26,000 Get Chimney Sweep Soot Destroyer tomorrow. 47 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:31,000 Only one dollar big three pound can. Only a dollar eighty-nine giant six pound can. 48 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:36,000 All hardware, department, and chain stores. Refuse an imitation or substitute. 49 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:41,000 Insist on genuine Chimney Sweep. America's number one Soot Destroyer. 50 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:46,000 And for a much cleaner, much warmer home, just sprinkle Chimney Sweep on the fire every week. 51 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:51,000 And now back to Leo DeRosha and Frank Chase and your questions on sports. 52 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:57,000 To Springtown, Pennsylvania this time, Leo, where Mr. Jay Kirkland is waiting to learn what sporting rights are. 53 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:00,000 And here's the information you want, Mr. Kirkland. It's like this. 54 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:03,000 Say I'm coaching at first. Pete Reesor is at bat. 55 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:06,000 The guy pitching for the other side throws Pete a fast one on the inside. 56 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:07,000 This is going to be good. 57 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:11,000 You're telling me. Anyway, Pete steps up and hits a line drive to deep short. 58 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:15,000 The shortstop knocks it down, finally finds the handle and fires the first base. 59 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:18,000 In my opinion, Reesor is safe a full step. 60 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:23,000 But the umpire, a guy who's studying Braille in his off time, calls Pete out. 61 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:25,000 Why the cement head? 62 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:26,000 Oh, Reesor of the umpire. 63 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:31,000 Are you kidding? So okay. Now comes the things known as sporting rights. 64 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:36,000 I walk up to this blind umpire and start telling him how Reesor looks safe to me. 65 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:38,000 You see, that's the first of my sporting rights. 66 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:40,000 Uh-huh. Then what happens? 67 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:43,000 Why, that no good bum's never heard of sporting rights. 68 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:45,000 And he still says, Pete is out. 69 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:46,000 And then? 70 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:49,000 Then I fall back on sporting right number two. 71 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:54,000 That gives me the privilege, or right, of reminding the umpire of his background and ancestry. 72 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:56,000 Yeah, but Reesor is still out. 73 00:04:56,000 --> 00:05:00,000 Not only that, but I'm generally out too, right out of the park. 74 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:02,000 Wonderful thing, those sporting rights. 75 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:05,000 Only thing is, nobody's ever told the umpire about them. 76 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:10,000 And that, Leo, was as beautiful a bit of malarkey as ever I've heard. 77 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:14,000 Ken, if you'll be so kind, please tell Mr. Kirkland what sporting rights are. 78 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:19,000 Sporting rights, Mr. Kirkland, and you might get a load of this too, Leo. 79 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:23,000 Sporting rights are the rights of fouling, shooting, taking or killing game or rabbits, 80 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:27,000 and of fishing on or over a given area or within certain boundaries. 81 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:30,000 Those are sporting rights, Mr. DeRosier. 82 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:32,000 Yeah? Well, what do you know? 83 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:35,000 Am I going to be smart when this program is over? 84 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:37,000 And here's our next question, Leo. 85 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:41,000 James Vogel of Cape Cod up New England Way seeks some information on diving. 86 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:45,000 Well, that's a setup used by punk promoters of boxing or wrestling bouts 87 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:48,000 in which one contestant throws the match. 88 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:52,000 It's known as taking a dive and as one of the lousiest. 89 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:56,000 Whoa, whoa, Mr. Vogel's query has to do with diving in water, Leo. 90 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:59,000 Start from scratch, and please listen to the whole question. 91 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:02,000 What are the standard points in diving contests? 92 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:07,000 Well, for goodness sake, by chance I have the facts right at my fingertips. 93 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:11,000 The table from which a diving judge makes his decisions are six. 94 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:13,000 Completely fail, no points. 95 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:15,000 Unsatisfactory, one or two points. 96 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:17,000 Deficient, three or four points. 97 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:19,000 Satisfactory, five or six points. 98 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:22,000 Good, seven, seven and a half, eight or eight and a half points. 99 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:25,000 Very good, nine, nine and a half or ten points. 100 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:28,000 Yeah, but how many points for the girl's figure? 101 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:31,000 The rules don't say, Leo, but it's five dollars for Mr. Vogel. 102 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:32,000 Next. 103 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:35,000 Corinne Adams of Montana gets her five dollars for this one. 104 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:39,000 She says she was bowling a game or two last week and saw a sign in the bowling alley 105 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:42,000 on which was printed the Bowler's Prayer. 106 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:45,000 She says it starts, Lord, give me the grace to make a score. 107 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:47,000 What do you mean, the Bowler's Prayer? 108 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:50,000 I'm merely repeating Miss Adams' information. 109 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:52,000 That's the fisherman's prayer. 110 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:56,000 Lord, give me the grace to catch a fish, to make a score yet. 111 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:57,000 Wait a minute, Leo. 112 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:00,000 Is this to be another of your famous recitatives? 113 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:05,000 Call it anything you want, but don't call the fisherman's prayer any bowler's prayer. 114 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:07,000 A little mood music, please, Kenneth. 115 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:15,000 Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye, the one and only, redoubtable, inimical, Mr. Leo DeRosha, 116 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:18,000 manager of the Brooklyn National League Baseball Club, 117 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:21,000 will now set Miss Adams and the rest of the bowling world straight 118 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:24,000 on a touchy but beautiful poetic point. 119 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:28,000 Listen, one and all, while the lip breaks his heart 120 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:31,000 with his rendition of the fisherman's prayer. 121 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:35,000 Lord, give me the grace to catch a fish so big that even I, 122 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:39,000 in telling of it afterwards, will find no cause to lie. 123 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:43,000 Beautiful, Leo, even more stirring than Casey at the bat, don't you think, Ken? 124 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:45,000 I got a lump in me throat. 125 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:48,000 Come on, you eggheads, we got a show to finish. 126 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:52,000 Okay, Leo, now comes at the surprise, the question you ain't heard of. 127 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:54,000 Oh, another one of those, eh? 128 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:56,000 All right, just try and stick me today. 129 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:58,000 That's what we intend doing, Leo. 130 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:02,000 Each week, listeners, we dig up one question which the lip is unfamiliar with 131 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:04,000 before we bring it on. This week is a turkey. 132 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:06,000 I suppose you'll get to it eventually. 133 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:09,000 Here it is, Leo. What is a turkey? 134 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:10,000 It's a bird. 135 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:11,000 No. 136 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:12,000 Is it a plane? 137 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:13,000 No. 138 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:14,000 It's Superman. 139 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:16,000 No, a turkey is three strikes in a row in bowling. 140 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:20,000 Well, when a guy on my ball club takes three strikes, he's out. 141 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:22,000 And I don't call him any turkey. 142 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:24,000 I can imagine. 143 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:27,000 Now, back to the customers, Leo, with one from right around the corner. 144 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:28,000 You mean from Brooklyn? 145 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:29,000 That's right. 146 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:33,000 Edward Drummond of that famous borough wants you to tell him the correct length for a lasso. 147 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:35,000 You say this guy's from Brooklyn? 148 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:37,000 That's the address he gives in his letter. 149 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:39,000 And he wants to know about the length of lassoes? 150 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:41,000 What's his job? Roping ticket scalpers? 151 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:42,000 Maybe so. 152 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:47,000 How do you like that? A good citizen of Brooklyn, and he's only interested in lassoes. 153 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:53,000 Oh, well, it just goes to prove that there are some people in Brooklyn who haven't got the dodges on their minds all the time. 154 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:57,000 Mr. Drummond, there is no correct or standard length for a lasso. 155 00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:02,000 In rodeos, most of the cowboys use a rope of between 40 and 50 feet in length, 156 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:06,000 but the ropes can be either short or long, depending on the roper's preference. 157 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:08,000 You tied that one up good, Leo. 158 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:14,000 Yeah, sure, but it's still a disappointing question to get from a fellow who's practically your next door neighbor. 159 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:20,000 Why, supposing everybody in Flatbush started to get interested in roping and the length of lassoes. 160 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:24,000 What would happen to our attendance record? It's a dangerous trend, Frank. 161 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:27,000 Hey, look, Leo, maybe this Mr. Drummond just moved to Brooklyn. 162 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:32,000 Well, that's an idea. I hope you're right. Lassoes, yeah. Trouble, trouble, trouble. 163 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:37,000 And now we come to our choice of the most interesting question of the week. 164 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:42,000 What is the oldest known sport in which only two contestants took part? 165 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:47,000 Hold it, boys. Before you give the answer to that one, Leo, I've got a question for every homemaker. 166 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:53,000 Ladies and gentlemen, what is one of the best and best known soot destroyers in America? 167 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:56,000 The answer is chimney sweep. 168 00:09:56,000 --> 00:10:02,000 Don't blame the coal man if you're burning more fuel than ever, yet getting less heat than ever in your home. 169 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:06,000 Maybe it's soot in your furnace, stealing heat, wasting fuel. 170 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:09,000 Right now, use chimney sweep soot destroyer. 171 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:16,000 Chimney sweep is the quick, easy, almost miraculous way to clean out soot from furnaces, flues, fireplaces, and chimneys. 172 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:26,000 Soot that steals valuable heat, dirties, drapes, and furnishings, and exposes your family to chimney fire and coal gas explosion dangers. 173 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:30,000 Chimney sweep is safe, perfectly safe, so easy to use. 174 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:34,000 Just sprinkle a cupful of chimney sweep on the fire every week as directed. 175 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:41,000 No fuss, no muss. Use chimney sweep in coal and oil furnaces, coal and wood fireplaces, stoves. 176 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:44,000 Get chimney sweep soot destroyer tomorrow, sure. 177 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:49,000 Only one dollar or a dollar eighty-nine. All hardware, department, and chain stores. 178 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:52,000 Chimney sweep is on sale in Canada, too. 179 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:58,000 Don't take an imitation. Insist on chimney sweep. Genuine chimney sweep soot destroyer. 180 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:05,000 And for a much warmer, much cleaner home, sprinkle chimney sweep on the fire every week. 181 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:09,000 And now for the most interesting question of this week. Take it, Frank. 182 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:12,000 Its sender is Jack Lacey of Ogden, Utah. 183 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:18,000 He wants us to tell him the oldest known sport in which only two contestants took part. 184 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:22,000 Well, that's not me and the umpires because there's generally three or four of them beeping at me at once. 185 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:26,000 In fact, it has nothing to do with baseball at all, Leo, 186 00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:29,000 because eighteen contestants take part in that game. 187 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:32,000 Well, that's using the old noodle, Frank. They can't fool you, can they? 188 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:34,000 No, sir, really, Leo. Not as long as I can count. 189 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:41,000 Well, to get back to the question, a lot of people probably think that boxing or wrestling is the oldest two-contestant sport. 190 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:42,000 And that's wrong? 191 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:45,000 Yup. The very first two-contestant sport was cockfighting. 192 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:46,000 Is that so? 193 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:51,000 Yeah, and that's so. Oh, excuse me, but you sounded just like an umpire I know. 194 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:52,000 Is that so? 195 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:54,000 In fact, you sound like all umpires I know. 196 00:11:54,000 --> 00:12:03,000 Yeah? Well, did you also know, Leo, that in cockfighting the umpire or referee was a one-man complete law-making body unto himself? 197 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:04,000 Is that so? 198 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:07,000 Yup. He had the complete say about everything. 199 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:13,000 His decisions had to be accepted by officials and spectators, and there was absolutely no appeal from his rulings. 200 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:18,000 Well, brother, now I know where those National League umpires must have gotten their early training. 201 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:20,000 But congratulations to you, Mr. Lacey. 202 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:25,000 That was a fine question, and your check for $50 will be in the mail tonight. 203 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:27,000 Time's about up for today, gentlemen. 204 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:32,000 We've just got a minute or two left for me to tell the good folk in our audience how to join in the festivities with us. 205 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:35,000 You know, folks, this is your Sports Question Box. 206 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:39,000 You send in the questions, any question, on any sport or any card game. 207 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:44,000 For every question used on any program, we'll mail the sender $5. 208 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:46,000 But that's not all. 209 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:51,000 If your question is judged most interesting of the week, we'll mail you a check for $50. 210 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:56,000 Just write your question on a plain piece of paper, and be sure to include your name and address. 211 00:12:56,000 --> 00:13:02,000 Mail to Leo DeRosier, American Broadcasting Company, New York 20, New York. 212 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:12,000 This is Leo DeRosier saying, see you next Sunday, same time, same station, when I'll be back for Chimney Suite with more answers to your Sports Question Box. 213 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:18,000 Meantime, remember, even an umpire knows there are two sides to every question. 214 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:22,000 Friends, don't let soot in your heating plant start a chimney fire. 215 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:28,000 Don't let soot clog your furnace flues and perhaps cause a dangerous coal gas explosion. 216 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:32,000 Don't let soot steal heat, too, and dirty up your home. 217 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:39,000 Get Chimney Suite Soot Destroyer tomorrow from any hardware department or chain store, and start using it right away. 218 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:46,000 If your dealer happens to be out of Chimney Suite, just mail $1 along with your name and address to Chimney Suite Orange, New Jersey. 219 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:54,000 That's Chimney Suite Orange, New Jersey, and we'll see that you receive your Chimney Suite Soot Destroyer promptly and post-paid. 220 00:13:54,000 --> 00:14:09,000 Your Sports Question Box is the original production of Frank Chase.