STARTING FIVE

1. Never Can Say Goodbye

Jay Leno bids adieu to The Tonight Show for the second time. Meanwhile the real party was taking place at Jimmy Kimmel Live!, whose host came after his nemesis with a double-barreled barrage of stardom in the forms of George Clooney, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon and John Goodman. Okay, and Bob Balaban.

Kimmel and Damon enjoyed their usual prank-fest, as the former substituted the latter’s white Speedo makeout scene with Michael Douglas in “Liberace” when pretending to show a “Monuments Men” scene.

Bravo to Billy Crystal for being an inspired final guest for Leno, for this tune, and for mentioning that when he visited Leno’s stark apartment in the early ’70s there was a poster of comedian Robert Klein over the bed. Creepy.

2. “You’re Like a Hip Wicked Witch of the West”

Howard: “I’m your best interview.” You know what? He’s right.

King of all media Howard Stern appears on “Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee” –“I feel like this is the most  unimportant show in show business that I’m on right now” –in host Jerry Seinfeld’s best episode yet. Insightful, brutally honest, and funny, just a pair of sexagenarian hundred millionaire Jewish kids from Long Island. This is the most aggravated Seinfeld has been since he sat across a diner booth from Costanza (watch Jerry’s exasperation when Howard orders hot water), which is why it’s so enjoyable.

Howard: “I never gave a shit, you go on and say whatever the hell you want–”

Jerry: “You’re alone in the room.”

Howard: “Well, that’s true.”

Jerry: “Oh, you just noticed that?” 

Later, as Howard attempts to inveigle Jerry to diss an unnamed old colleague:

Jerry: “Let’s not get into character assassination.”

Howard: “Who are you, Jesus?”

What I love so much about this is Seinfeld has absolutely no need to be putting himself out here. This is purely a passion project for him. He’s chronicling the thoughts and idiosyncracies of the greatest comics of our generation, an endeavor that years from now we and future generations of pop culture fans will appreciate so much more.

As we fade out, Jerry gets in a final zinger on Howard’s mane. I won’t spoil it here. Watch until the end…

3. The Peter Pan of Hoops Turns 40

Hopefully, Nash will retire this season and head directly to Barclays Premier League

Los Angeles Laker guard Steve Nash, who may I remind you is a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Award winner, turns 40 today. As my friend Arash Markazi notes, Bob Cousy, Jason Kidd and John Stockton are the only other point guards ever to play in the league at this age.

Nash’s prowess has certainly diminished since he left the Suns, but let’s not forget that by season’s end, if he remains healthy, he will be No. 3 all-time in assists behind only Stockton and Kidd. Also, that he had FIVE 40-50-90 seasons (40% from beyond the arc, 50% from the field, 90% from the line) whereas only a handful of players have ever had one. Larry Bird had two.

4. Sochi Far, So Good

Queer Eye for the Skate Guy: Plushenko

The preamble to the Sochi Olympics took place last night, with NBC’s host, Bob Costas, sporting tortoise-shell glasses to hide what he tells us is an eye infection. My favorite moment occurred about half an hour in, as Costas, New Yorker managing editor David Remnick and an obligatory Russian named Vladimir discussed Russia’s homophobic culture –then we cut directly to Russian male figure skater Yevgeny Plushenko in a glittery onesie.

5. “S-F-A!”

They’re the Lumberjacks, and they’re better than okay.

There are nine schools remaining in college hoops with at least 20 wins but no more than two defeats: No. 1 Syracuse, No. 2 Arizona, No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Wichita State, No. 5 San Diego State, No. 6 Villanova, No. 7 Cincinnati, No. 13 St. Louis aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand………..

……………unranked Stephen F. Austin, the pride of Nacogdoches, Texas. The Lumberjacks (21-2) have no lost since the Saturday before Thanksgiving, and one of their two defeats came to Texas, currently No. 15. Last night they led Nicholls State, a school with a winning record, by 38 points at halftime.

Is SFA a Top 25 team? Maybe not, but if this were FBS they’d have received at least a single, solitary vote in the Associated Press poll, which this week they did not.

Reserves

This June a dude will launch himself from the summit of Mount Everest and fly via wingsuit. Remember Rule No. 1: Gravity always wins.

****

Bill Nye the Science Guy debates Ken Ham on evolution truth versus Creationism. As soon as Ken explains how Noah persuaded a male and female kangaroo to enter the ark –from Australia, I’m on board with his argument.

The Hall

Charter Inductees: Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner

1937:  Tris Speaker, CF; Cy Young, P.

1938: Grover Cleveland Alexander, P; Eddie Collins, 2B

1939:Nap Lajoie, 2B; Joe Jackson, LF

1940: Billy Hamilton, OF; Cap Anson, 1B

1941: Wee Willie Keeler, RF; George Sisler, 1B

1942: Rogers Hornsby, 2B; Pie Traynor, 3B

1943: Mickey Cochrane, C; Frankie Frisch, 2B

1944: Ed Walsh, P; Old Hoss Radbourn, P

1945: Lou Gehrig, 1B; Kid Nichols, P

1946: Ed Delahanty, LF; Lefty O’Doul

1947: Pud Galvin, P; John McGraw, INF

1948: Carl Hubbell, P; Addie Joss, P

1949: Harry Heilman, OF/1B; Monte Ward, P/SS

1950: Cool Papa Bell, CF; Jimmie Foxx, 1B

1951: Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown, P; Josh Gibson, C

1952: Paul Waner, RF; Charlie Gehringer, 2B

1953: Mel Ott, RF; Hank Greenberg, 1B

1954: Eddie Plank, P; Dan Brouthers, 1B

1955:

“Wahoo” Sam Crawford, OF; 1899-1917, Reds, Tigers

There’s no rarer base hit than a triple, and nobody hit more of them than Crawford, who alleyed 309. Crawford, who finished with a .309 career batting average and 2,961 base hits (before 3,000 became a magic number), also holds the career record for inside-the-park home runs, with 12 (and is second in that category for his career, with 51).

John Clarkson, P; 1882-1894, four teams, including Worcester Ruby Legs

Another 19th-century stud whose numbers defy credulity. In 1885 Clarkson went 53-16 with 68 complete games, 10 shutouts and 308 strikeouts. Only one pitcher, Old Hoss Radbourn, has ever won more games in one season. For his career the five-foot-ten junkball pitcher had a 328-178 record and six 30-win seasons.

 Remote Patrol

Opening Ceremony

NBC 7:30 p.m.

Norway’s Therese Johaug, the worlds’ No. 1 Nordic skier. My guess is NBC’s cameras will find her tonight.

It’s already happened as I write this, but then again they’ve already filmed every episode of True Detective and Walking Dead for the rest of the season, haven’t they? That’ll be a battle royale on Sunday night at 9 p.m., by the way.

 STARTING FIVE

An Irish-Russian Wolfhound puppy. He may be dead by now.

1. Don’t Be a Gay Dog in Sochi This Month

In the span of 12 hours I watched Keith Olbermann’s terrific essay on the tragedy and travesty of officials in Sochi killing stray dogs (locals may want to make sure that Fyodo –get it?– is on a leash at all times) and saw a local ad for a rat exterminator.

Clearly, we humans do not prize all animal life the same (he said in between bites of his burger).

And I’m not sure why anyone is surprised by this. Did we go into this believing that Vladimir Putin and his government had a solid human rights record? So why would you think their pet rights stance would be any more progressive?

The world — i.e., sports columnists — will fret about this for a fortnight (“Harrumph harrumph harrumph”) and then they’ll tweet us about the inconvenience of transitioning from covering curling to a conference basketball tournament. I’ll be poised to salute the first sports writer who, instead of simply covering the macabre events in Sochi, rolls up his/her sleeves and does something to assist these canines.

2. Jackson Cager

Jackson leads the NBADL in scoring average with 30.2 ppg.

Nobody noticed, but former Baylor guard Pierre Jackson scored an NBA D-League record 58 points the other night for the Idaho Stampede in a victory versus the ironically named Texas Legends. Jackson, whose rights are owned by the New Orleans Pelicans, was 24 of 33 from the field, including seven of 13 from beyond the arc, in the 136-122 win. The old record, shared by two players, was 53 points.

Jackson’s outstanding scoring effort –he also had eight assists and six rebounds in 45 minutes –was his seventh 40-plus point game of the season. It’s just too bad that not a single team in the NBA needs a shooting guard.

3. “Wait!”

Suddenly, I have an urge to augment my stuffed animal collection.

Of course I’m going to drag out the title of my favorite White Lion song to announce the birth of white lion triplets in a Polish zoo. We can only hope that any of these that are male will someday grow up to have as fecund a mane as lead singer Mike Tramp.

Tramp was also born in Europe (Copenhagen), but not in a zoo. I think.

4. From North Pole to South Texas

Wright will leave home later this week in hopes of arriving on campus by the start of camp in August.

Lance Wright is not the first high school football player from Alaska to play major college football. Indeed, Mark Schlereth grew up in Anchorage and went on to win three Super Bowl rings after a career at Idaho. And Daryn Colledge grew up in North Pole, Alaska, which is close to Fairbanks, which is a few hundred miles north of Anchorage, and attended Boise State. He now plays for the Arizona Cardinals.

Wright, a wide receiver, is not the first Alaskan to play major college football. He’s just the first scholarship football (not basketball; save the Trajan Langdon/Carlos Boozer note, but please do write something else) player I know of who will travel beyond Idaho to play. Yesterday Wright, who is also from North Pole–just two degrees south of the Arctic Circle — accepted a scholarship to play at Rice in Houston. That’s about 4,250 miles from home, or about the same distance as traveling from New York City to Rome.

5. Taking a Bird Bath

Dick Costolo, meet your new spokesman.

If you own stock in Twitter (raises hand), you took a 20% beating in the stock price overnight after the company announced that, although it exceeded earnings estimates, its pace of growth has slowed. It went from $65.97 at the close to $50.61 at the open.

It’s a big deal because no single stock is as oft-discussed on CNBC –which, true, is not the ONLY business/finance channel, but then again ESPN is not the only sports channel, either– as Twitter.

My two cents: the site itself is naturally constructed to sell ads. It’s just a series of banners, one after the other. Place an ad in every 50 tweets or so. The site’s free –who’s going to walk away?

Meanwhile, look at the top 10 most popular follows on Twitter. With the exception of our president, every follow is someone or some entity that is HIGHLY popular with teens, who are only the most desirable demographic group for advertisers.

I’m still bullish. Bought 100 more shares this morning at $50 per.

Oh, and Twitter CEO Dick Costolo: How about an ad with Larry Bird and Chris Andersen?

Reserves

Really enjoying Letterman this week. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Beatles playing in that very theater, Paul Shaffer and the band play Beatles tunes going into and coming out of every break. Also, last night Letterman’s guest was Matt Damon, who revealed that for “The Monuments Men”, director/star George Clooney places his dad in the film for the final shot and then, for the screening he did for his dad, added a black screen immediately after with the words, “In Memory of Nick Clooney.” That’s hilarious. Cold, but hilarious.

And here’s The Talented Mr. Ripley sharing another anecdote about Clooney’s even more recent prank.

****

That all-female band from Russia whose name shan’t be mentioned here (Not Safe For Phyllis) played the Barclays Center in Brooklyn last night. I cannot name a single PR song, but judging from who their friends are –the other performers last night — getting jailed in Russia is a fantastic career move. Something to think about if you’re covering the Winter Olympics in Sochi.

The Hall

Charter Inductees: Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner

1937:  Tris Speaker, CF; Cy Young, P.

1938: Grover Cleveland Alexander, P; Eddie Collins, 2B

1939:Nap Lajoie, 2B; Joe Jackson, LF

1940: Billy Hamilton, OF; Cap Anson, 1B

1941: Wee Willie Keeler, RF; George Sisler, 1B

1942: Rogers Hornsby, 2B; Pie Traynor, 3B

1943: Mickey Cochrane, C; Frankie Frisch, 2B

1944: Ed Walsh, P; Old Hoss Radbourn, P

1945: Lou Gehrig, 1B; Kid Nichols, P

1946: Ed Delahanty, LF; Lefty O’Doul

1947: Pud Galvin, P; John McGraw, INF

1948: Carl Hubbell, P; Addie Joss, P

1949: Harry Heilman, OF/1B; Monte Ward, P/SS

1950: Cool Papa Bell, CF; Jimmie Foxx, 1B

1951: Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown, P; Josh Gibson, C

1952: Paul Waner, RF; Charlie Gehringer, 2B

1953: Mel Ott, RF; Hank Greenberg, 1B

1954:

Eddie Plank, P; 1901-1917, Philadelphia A’s

Plank, who was far more effective when actually throwing off the mound.

The deadball-era’s Greg Maddux, Plank stood five-foot-ten but compiled 326 career wins and eight 20-win seasons. “Gettysburg Eddie” also has the most career shutouts (66) of any southpaw in Major League history.

 Dan Brouthers, 1B; 1879-1904, Ten teams, including the Brooklyn Grooms (!)

The six-foot-two slugger, huge for his era, retired after 19 seasons with the exact same batting average (.3421) as Babe Ruth, which is ninth-best all-time.

Remote Patrol

Sochi Olympics

NBC 8 p.m.

“I spot a poodle. How about you?”

So, yes, NBC’s Olympic coverage begins tonight, even though the Opening Ceremony does not air until tomorrow night. Events including figure skating, men’s slope style (we’ll miss you, Shaun), and canine biathlon. Something cool to get you through the dog days of February.

STARTING FIVE

Paramus, N.J., defensive back Jabrill Peppers is headed to Ann Arbor. He’s in everyone’s top three.

1. Fax or Fiction

Rivals.com’s Top Five Schools as far as today’s National Signing Day goes: Alabama, Ohio State, Florida State, Tennessee,  Texas A&M.

Scout.com’s Top Five: Alabama, Tennessee, Florida State, Ohio State, Notre Dame.

ESPNU: Alabama, Texas A&M, LSU, Florida State, Tennessee.

Rivals.com’s Top Three Players: Da’Shawn Hand, DE, Alabama; Myles Garrett, DE, Texas A&M; Jabrill Peppers, CB, Michigan.

Scout.com: Leonard Fournette, RB, LSU; Cameron Robinson, DE, Alabama; Jabrill Peppers, CB, Michigan.

ESPNU: Leonard Fournette, RB, LSU; Jabrill Peppers, CB, Michigan; Cameron Robinson, OT, Alabama.

2. Should Embiid Stay Embedded?

Embiid, like Wiggins, possesses an NBA physique, but not yet an NBA game.

About a month ago, once it was obvious that neither Julius Randle, Jabari Parker nor Andrew Wiggins was the next iteration of LeBron James, the cool kids started looking around for another savior. But it couldn’t be Doug McDermott, even if he does happen to be the best player in college basketball this season, since that sucka stayed at Creighton for four years.

No, they were looking for a Fab Frosh, a kid with tremendous upside, one who had yet to scratch his true potential.

They found Wiggins’ freshman teammate at Kansas, fluid seven-footer Joel Embiid of Cameroon.

Last night Embiid had five points (all of them in the final eight minutes with the Jayhawks comfortably ahead) and seven rebounds in KU’s win at Baylor. Will he be a fantastic NBA player? Probably. Next year? Definitely not.

Embiid said before the game that he is leaning on remaining in Lawrence for another season. His game could use the season. So, too, for that matter, could Wiggins’. ESPN analyst Jimmy Dykes said it best: “You make better decisions based on humility than you do based on pride, both in basketball and in life.”

3. Clooney vs. McConaughey

Hi, George. Clooney makes his first visit to the Ed Sullivan Theatre in 2 1/2 years.

David Letterman had George Clooney on last night (promoting “Monuments Men”), while Jay Leno had Matthew McConaughey, wearing his mom’s glasses (promoting “Dallas Buyers Club” and “True Detective” and yada yada yada). Must be sweeps week.

Clooney: “I was told that this was your last week, so…” Nice shot, George. Clooney also tosses out a nod to Radioman, a local legend here in NYC who shows up on sets all the time. Also, Clooney’s dad gets off two terrific lines.

Near the end, Letterman reminds Clooney that they don’t spend enough time together and that it would be wonderful if they did. “I’ve had this relationship conversation before, you know,” George says. “Bring it on. What do you got?”

So that’s 20 minutes of Clooney on Letterman. What else do you want for free?

Oh, and here’s Bill Murray appearing on Letterman last Friday clad as Peter Pan. Of course.

4. No Colonel Angus?

Norm MacDonald, as Burt Reynolds, auditioning for the role of Darth Vader. “So, what kind of car does this guy drive?”

Here’s Rolling Stone’s look at the 50 Best sketches in the history of SNL, in case you’re not going anywhere for an hour. You can probably think of at least a dozen that are not on this list that should be (“Smelt Night”, or how about “Land Shark”?) but it’s still a solid time suck.

5. Jimmy Traina Lands Jerry Seinfeld

I’ll admit, a low moment for me last year was waiting on Jimmy Traina, then of SI, at the steakateria. Never really been sure what his talent was other than posting pics of fabulous babes on a very high-profile web site. Jealous? Of his income, definitely.

Traina has taken his talents to Fox, where he now has a podcast called “The Buzz.” This week he landed Jerry Seinfeld, which is no small git. I’m still not entirely sure what Traina brings to the table (although I am sure I brought a ribeye to his table), but hey, if you can carve out a career in journalism these days, more power to you.

Reserves

Time-Warner, whose properties include Sports Illustrated, announces that it will lay off approximately 500 employees –for the second time in less than a year. Time-Warner plans to spin off its magazine division into a separate entity, which is exactly what it was a quarter century ago before (Time-Life) before it merged with Warner communications, and then was bought out by AOL. Leaving well enough alone is one of the Nevers of capitalism, alas.

The Sports Illustrated library will close, which is a sad day for anyone who’s worked there. The clip files alone belong in a museum. A total of 13 editorial jobs will be eliminated, according to the New York Post.

*****

Shaun White, the biggest Olympic name now that Lindsay Vonn has dropped out of the Sochi Games, announces that he is dropping out of one of the two planned events. All you “Slope-Style” fans will be shattered.

********

The Hall

Charter Inductees: Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner

1937:  Tris Speaker, CF; Cy Young, P.

1938: Grover Cleveland Alexander, P; Eddie Collins, 2B

1939:Nap Lajoie, 2B; Joe Jackson, LF

1940: Billy Hamilton, OF; Cap Anson, 1B

1941: Wee Willie Keeler, RF; George Sisler, 1B

1942: Rogers Hornsby, 2B; Pie Traynor, 3B

1943: Mickey Cochrane, C; Frankie Frisch, 2B

1944: Ed Walsh, P; Old Hoss Radbourn, P

1945: Lou Gehrig, 1B; Kid Nichols, P

1946: Ed Delahanty, LF; Lefty O’Doul

1947: Pud Galvin, P; John McGraw, INF

1948: Carl Hubbell, P; Addie Joss, P

1949: Harry Heilman, OF/1B; Monte Ward, P/SS

1950: Cool Papa Bell, CF; Jimmie Foxx, 1B

1951: Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown, P; Josh Gibson, C

1952: Paul Waner, RF; Charlie Gehringer, 2B

1953:

Mel Ott, RF; 1926-1947, New York Giants

The first great power hitter in the National League, the 12-time All-Star led the Senior Circuit in home runs six times and was the first to hit the 500 home run plateau (retiring with 511). A .304 hitter, Ott led the Giant in homers for 18 consecutive seasons. No other player in baseball history has led his team in a single Triple Crown category that many years in a row.

Hank Greenberg, 1B; 1930-1947, Tigers

Greenberg sends one out at Briggs Stadium.

“The Hebrew Hammer” was my dad’s favorite boyhood player –which, as a kid growing up in the Bronx in the 1940s, tells you something about him (and he wasn’t even Jewish). Greenberg, a career .313 hitter, clouted 58 home runs in 1932 and was a two-time American League MVP. He also served in World War II.

Remote Patrol

Heat at Clippers

ESPN 10:30 p.m.

The NBA’s best Jordan since Michael.

Blake Griffin is finally worthy of the hype. He’s 8th in the NBA in scoring (23.3 ppg) and might be higher than 13th in rebounding. The mayor of LOB City might be higher in the latter category if teammate DeAndre Jordan (14 per game) did not lead the NBA in rebounding. Should be a good game versus the NBA champs.

STARTING FIVE

Peyton: All My Glovin’

1. Meet the Zane Beadles!

So, 111.5 million people apparently tuned into Super Bowl XLVIII, making it the most-watched television program in history –even if the real NFL championship game took place two weeks ago in Seattle. Anyway, next Sunday will mark the 50th Anniversary of another TV event, that also took place on a Sunday night in the New York metropolitan area, that at the time was the most watched TV program in history, with 73 million viewers: the Beatles’ debut appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

“He’s right,” says John. “That is a really big shoe.”

There’s a nice write-up on the weeks leading up to the appearance, as well as the appearance itself, in Rolling Stone. It was the launch of Beatlemania and, in many ways, the Sixties. The Beatles played five songs that night (one was a cover), and here’s footage of some of them. My favorite: All My Loving.

One note that often gets lost: with the media, early in their careers, the Beatles were total charmers. They were witty and affable. Mick Jagger used to refer to them as “the four-headed monster.” The RS article points out that in the months before the Beatles arrived, when nobody here knew them, they were roundly dismissed. Time and Newsweek wrote withering articles about them. It was only one the media met them, and were so roundly won over, that the craze began.

You see, Lester Bangs was right: Friendship is the booze they serve you.

2. House of Cards

So this is what became of Verbal Kint.

Before Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright and Netflix came along,  my knowledge of TV shows and a house of cards was limited to a Brady Bunch episode –and, yes, it was Tiger who ruined it.

Well, Season 2 of House of Cards is on the way, and I am EXTREMELY proud to inform you that one of my favorite people from the steakateria, one of the best people I’ve ever met at any job, Jeremy Holm, is now a part of the cast. You can see him in this trailer, albeit briefly, in two scenes. He’ll be the guy near the end saying, “I’m agent Green.” He shows up earlier, too.

Season 2 will be released on Valentine’s Day, February 14. Watch your step, Vice-President Underwood.

3. And Yet the Band Yaz Never Played There

“She’s got a Fenway about her/I don’t know what it is…”

So, Billy Joel will be playing Fenway Park on June 26, which inspired my old SI on Campus colleague Matt Waxman to write and suggest a few abridged song titles. Which led to further pun-tificating from myself, Steve Rushin, Greg Auman and a tweep named Michael Atchison. Behold, our set list:

“Only The Good Cy Young”

“Just The Way Uehara”

“You May Be Rice”

“Mo Vaughn Out (Anthony’s Song)”

“An Innocent Manny”

“Allenwebster”

“All For Pena”

“Jonlester Alexa”

“It’s Still Rock and Roll, Bill Lee”

“The Lonborg Time”

4. The Triumph of Jamie Casino

Casino Royale! The action figures should be out soon.

You’re a Georgia-based personal injury lawyer and your local ad,  which appeared at halftime of the Super Bowl but not on a national basis, goes viral. Maybe because it was made without the input of fourteen layers of supervisors and three focus groups. As someone noted yesterday on TV, when a national ad costs $4 million per 30 seconds, very few companies have the courage to place it in the hands of one or a few people. And so what happens is you wind up with absolute crap like that Time Warner Cable ad with P. Diddy. The Jamie Casino ad, now that’s original.

5. Daria

Daria Werbowy, bringing 70’s chic back to the newsstands.

That’s Canadian model, by way of Ukraine, Daria Werbowy who is currently gracing the covers of both Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue. Werbowy is 30.

This is Werbowy’s fifth Vogue cover.

Reserves

New York Mess ace Matt Harvey and SI swimsuit model Anne V. have split up. So, if you’re keeping score, he’s gone from Tommy John Surgery to Leo DiCaprio Syndrome. “Not as easy as it looks, is it?” says Tom Brady.

***
My write-up on Philip Seymour Hoffman in Newsweek.

****

The Hall

Charter Inductees: Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner

1937:  Tris Speaker, CF; Cy Young, P.

1938: Grover Cleveland Alexander, P; Eddie Collins, 2B

1939:Nap Lajoie, 2B; Joe Jackson, LF

1940: Billy Hamilton, OF; Cap Anson, 1B

1941: Wee Willie Keeler, RF; George Sisler, 1B

1942: Rogers Hornsby, 2B; Pie Traynor, 3B

1943: Mickey Cochrane, C; Frankie Frisch, 2B

1944: Ed Walsh, P; Old Hoss Radbourn, P

1945: Lou Gehrig, 1B; Kid Nichols, P

1946: Ed Delahanty, LF; Lefty O’Doul

1947: Pud Galvin, P; John McGraw, INF

1948: Carl Hubbell, P; Addie Joss, P

1949: Harry Heilman, OF/1B; Monte Ward, P/SS

1950: Cool Papa Bell, CF; Jimmie Foxx, 1B

1951: Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown, P; Josh Gibson, C

1952:

Paul Waner, RF; 1926-1945, Five teams, mostly Pittsburgh Pirates

“Big Poison” (brother and teammate Lloyd Waner was known as “Little Poison”) collected 3,152 hits and finished his career with a lifetime batting average of .333. When people say, “If you fail two out of three times at the plate in baseball, they put you in the Hall of Fame”, that’s Paul. In 1927 he collected extra-base hits in a record-14 consecutive games, a mark that has only been equaled once (by Chipper Jones in 2006). Waner won three National League batting titles and he and Lloyd hold the Major League record for most hits by siblings, 5,611.

Charlie Gehringer, 2B; 1924-1942, Detroit Tigers

Can we get Detroit to have a retro night with these tiger-head jerseys next summer?

“The Mechanical Man” was as consistent as they come. Seven 200-hit seasons, two distinct 500-plus-consecutive-games-played streaks, and the second-highest number of career assists for a second baseman (7,068) in Major League history. The 1937 American League MVP, Gehringer played every inning of the first six All-Star Games.

Remote Patrol

The Tonight Show

NBC 11:34 p.m.

Leno is leaving. Again.

It’s Jay’s final week on the air — again…not that he’s happy about it…again — so catch tonight’s episode when he’ll have the hottest man in Hollywood, Matthew McConaughey, as a guest along with Charles Barkley. That’s a solid couch worth of luminaries.

STARTING FIVE

Opening play: Follow the non-bouncing ball.

1. True Defective

Peyton Manning’s team loses a Super Bowl game in which he tosses a pick-six and his team is embarrassed on the second-half kickoff? While his counterpart quarterback is a man who stands less than six-feet tall? Why, yes, Super Bowl XLVIII was played on Groundhog Day, why do you ask? “Mrs. Lancaster, do you ever have deja vu?” “I don’t know, I’ll have to check with the kitchen.”

43-8, and according to ESPN’s Nate Silver, the first such final score in NFL history. The Broncos just spent the least productive three-plus hours in New Jersey since three lanes of the George Washington Bridge toll booths were closed last September.

Honestly, I had to wait an extra week for the fourth episode of “True Detective” for this???

2 PSH, RIP

Hoffman leaves behind a number of memorable roles and, sadly, three young children.

“Good-looking people, they got no spine. Their art never lasts. They get the girls, but we’re smarter” –Philip Seymour Hoffman, as Lester Bangs in Almost Famous.

Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, 46, found dead in a West Village apartment, apparently of a drug overdose. Truly gifted. From his awkwardly brilliant supporting role as Scottty in Boogie Nights, where most of us first met him, to iconic roles as Lester Bangs in Almost Famous — “Hey, I met you. You are not cool” — and as the CIA operative in Charlie Wilson’s War, he was never less than captivating. Hoffman won a Best Actor Oscar for the title role in Capote, but that’s far from his most memorable role or film.

Two of his better scenes, the first from Almost Famous and the latter from Charlie Wilson’s War.

3. Seth Meyers’ SNL Goodbye

Meyers, the most well-adjusted male star in SNL history?

It’s incredible to think of it, but can you imagine a figure such as Seth Meyers, a handsome, affable, well-adjusted guy who could be elected class president, in the same role as John Belushi? And yet they played it: the heart of “Saturday Night Live”. That’s how former “Weekend Update” co-anchor Amy Poehler described the show’s head writer, on-air, during his final appearance, for the past 12 years.

Meyers has that rare ability to be presentable to the girlfriend’s parents and yet be totally comfortable, and just as funny, hanging with the freaks and geeks, who adore him just as much. He’s been the James Franco of “Saturday Night Live” for awhile now. My favorite moment of the sendoff (stick around for the final cameo here) was when Stephon hissed at Cecily Strong, “You barely know him!”

4. “…Has Joined The Meeting”

Naturally, the older dude is the one with no clue as to how to dial in his access code.

Excellent sketch, spot-on parody of the much-loathed conference call by a group called Leadercast.

5. Howard Turns 60

Beth rocks the perfect outfit for the final day of January in New York City.

King of All Media Howard Stern actually turned 60 on January 12, but he waited until the Friday night before the Super Bowl to throw a bash. It’s fests such as this for which the term “star-studded” was invented, as everyone from David Letterman to the Jimmys, Fallon and Kimmel, to Robert Downey, Jr., to Heidi Klum, to a from-beyond-the-mortal-coil Larry King, to well as Stern’s wife, abs-olutely beautiful Beth Ostrosky Stern, were there at the Hammerstein Ballroom.

All in all, last week was a great week to be a limo driver in New York City.

Reserves

With his lap dog, “Mr. Brady.” Ouch, babe.

Frank Caliendo’s “30 For 30” on Richard Sherman. Hilarious impersonations of Ron Jaworski, Bill Belichick and especially Chris Berman inside. This was all filmed from Caliendo’s Phoenix-area home, I’m assuming.

****

Hey, Guy, You’re Ray Guy

Guy sent more objects into space than NASA did in the Seventies.

Former Oakland Raider punter Ray Guy becomes the first player at that position to be voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and I’m down with that. There was no more interesting team than the mid-1970s Raiders, and Guy, an outstanding athlete who just happened to be a non pareil punter, was just one of the quirky characters in Silver & Black. Ray Guy is why the term “hang time” was invented. The best there ever was.

***

The 9/11 Truther who hijacked, albeit briefly, Super Bowl MVP Malcolm Smith’s post-game presser. Exactly how did he get that close and how did he not bark, “Ba-ba-booey?” By the way, now Malcolm Smith and his older brother, Steve, each have a Super Bowl ring. As opposed to Peyton Manning and his younger brother, Eli, now having two.

The Hall

Charter Inductees: Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner

1937:  Tris Speaker, CF; Cy Young, P.

1938: Grover Cleveland Alexander, P; Eddie Collins, 2B

1939:Nap Lajoie, 2B; Joe Jackson, LF

1940: Billy Hamilton, OF; Cap Anson, 1B

1941: Wee Willie Keeler, RF; George Sisler, 1B

1942: Rogers Hornsby, 2B; Pie Traynor, 3B

1943: Mickey Cochrane, C; Frankie Frisch, 2B

1944: Ed Walsh, P; Old Hoss Radbourn, P

1945: Lou Gehrig, 1B; Kid Nichols, P

1946: Ed Delahanty, LF; Lefty O’Doul

1947: Pud Galvin, P; John McGraw, INF

1948: Carl Hubbell, P; Addie Joss, P

1949: Harry Heilman, OF/1B; Monte Ward, P/SS

1950: Cool Papa Bell, CF; Jimmie Foxx, 1B

1951:

Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown, P; 1903-1916, Six teams, primarily Cubs

Brown’s nickname was no misnomer, as he lost parts of two fingers on his pitching hand due to a childhood farm machinery accident. One of a three-fingered handful of pitchers in baseball history to be in the all-time top ten in both ERA (2.057, 6th) and WHIP (1.0658, 9th). Had a career record of 239-130.

Josh Gibson, C; 1930-1946, Homestead Grays

Larry Doby, the first black to integrate the American League, would later say that Gibson was superior to Jackie Robinson.

“The black Babe Ruth” was considered by far the best power-hitter in the history of the Negro Leagues. Statistical verification is impossible, but it was said that he clouted in the neighborhood of 800 home runs. Gibson died of a stroke at the age of 35, just three months before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier.

Remote Patrol

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit: 50 Years of Beautiful

NBC 9 p.m.

Will great Dane Nina Agdal grace the cover of the 50th anniversary SI swimsuit issue?

The titillating story of how a monolithic magazine came up with a genius idea to sell copies during the doldrums of February and in one fell swoop bring in as much ad revenue as it would otherwise have in about six months. Years ago they used to have us reporters “escort” the models from their hotels to the site of the bash. Such random fix-ups over the years resulted in a grand total of zero marriages and 1,254 “Excuse me, I must go see about a thing.”