Unlikely Preppies

I was out biking the other day and rode through the town of Groton, MA (my wife and I just bought a house in NH). I subsequently learned that it was home to Groton School, one of the toniest prep schools in the country. And I had always assumed that was in Connecticut!
Researching the school a little, I was very impressed by their list of alumni. I was also, however, struck by one or two who just didn’t seem to belong. 

Same goes for some of the other top prep schools out there. Did you have any idea that Humphrey Bogart went to Andover? Mark Zuckerberg went to Exeter? Glenn Close went to Choate Rosemary Hall?

Obsessive-compulsive that I am, I then had to research the heck out of it, put everything in a list, & write a blog article about it.  So, here they are, the black sheep that just don’t seem to have “preppy” written across their foreheads.


Hotchkiss
Famous alumni:  Vanderbilts, Bushes, Fords, Loebs, Pillsburys
Unlikely alumni:  Scott Powell

You’re probably not familiar with Scott, but you may have heard of his group, Sha-Na-Na.  And if you’re not a boomer … Sha-Na-Na was a parody doo-wop group that formed in the late ‘60s. Hard to believe, but they actually played at Woodstock, had their own TV show & are still around today. 

Scott was one of the founders (while he was at Columbia), did vocals (Elvis Presley impersonations were his specialty), and went by the stage names Toni Santini and Captain Outrageous. More interestingly, he left the group in 1980 to go to medical school. He is now an orthopedic surgeon, on the faculty at USC & the team doctor for the US Olympics soccer team.

Andover
Famous alumni:  Bushes, Kennedys, Lowells, Welds
Unlikely alumni:  Bill Belichick

Coach Hoody?  The guy who has worn a garbage bag on the sidelines while coaching the New England Patriots? The one who also sports sweatshirts with the sleeves cut off The control freak who’s famous for his hostile press conferences & for cheating?

Belichick actually attended Andover after he graduated from high school (Annapolis High School, a public school). The idea was to do some prep to get him into a decent college (he got into Wesleyan). Belichick played center for the Andover football team, with the team just so happening to go undefeated. His real sport there, though, was lacrosse. Except for a loss to a freshman college team, they too went undefeated.

Groton
Famous alumni:  Roosevelts, Duponts, Biddles, Harrimans, Whitneys
Unlikely alumni:  Fred Gwynne

Yup, Herman Munster himself. As well as a star in Car 54, Where Are You? and a role player in My Cousin Vinny, Fatal Attraction & Pet Sematary.

Gwynne came from a fairly patrician background. His father was a partner in a family-owned securities firm, Gwynne Brothers, and his mother was a well-known illustrator. 

After Groton, Fred would go on to Harvard, where he would be a member of the Fly Club, act for the Hasty Pudding Club & serve as president of the Harvard Lampoon. Fresh out of college, he married NY socialite Jean “Foxxy” Reynard.

Though Gwynne has done Shakespeare & Tennessee Williams, he will always be known as the bumbling, slow-witted paterfamilias of the Munster family.

St. Paul’s
Famous alumni:  Astors, Vanderbilts, Duponts, Hearsts, Kennedys, Morgans, Biddles, Dukes, Tafts, British lords, John Kerry
Unlikely alumni:  Annie Duke, Howard Lederer

First of all, these two are siblings. Both are children of author & humorist Richard Lederer, a long-time teacher at St Paul’s. 

Second, their claim to fame is poker! In addition to all his other accomplishments, their father just so happened to be a real card sharp, and seems to passed that on to his children.

Annie would follow up her stint at St. Paul’s by attending Columbia and then getting a PhD at Penn. She gave that all up, though, for Texas Hold ‘Em. Subsequent accomplishments include being the one-time leading money winner among women in World Series of Poker history and winning the 2004 WSOP Tournament of Champions. She’s also the author of several books applying her academic psychology background to the game. And, yes, she’s married to a real Duke.

Howard, her older brother, owns two World Series of Poker bracelets (whatever those are) and holds two World Poker Tour titles. He’s known as “the Professor.”

St. Mark’s
Famous alumni:  Roosevelts, Vanderbilts, Forbes, Pulitzers, Robert Lowell
Unlikely alumni:  Storm Large

Personally, I never heard of her, but the Interwebs are telling me she’s a singer / songwriter / actress.  I have at least her of her band, Pink Martini (genre: loungecore). Storm has also performed with Storm and the Balls, Storm and Her Dirty Mouth, Storm Inc. & Storm and Friends (I’m detecting a theme here). She has appeared on the reality performance shows America’s Got Talent & Rock Star: Supernova.

Storm’s real first name is Susan (Storm is her middle name). Her dad was a history teacher and the football coach at St. Mark’s. After St. Mark’s, Susan would later attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, in New York. 

Choate
Famous alumni:  JFK, Adlai Stevenson, Hearsts, Mellons
Unlikely alumni:  Ian Underwood

Not familiar with Ian? Guess you’re not a Frank Zappa fan then, huh?

Yup, Ian played keyboard & wind instruments for the Mothers of Invention, from 1969 through 1973. While there, he also snagged percussionist Ruth Komanoff (they would later break up after 17 years of marriage). 

Since leaving, Ian has mostly worked as a session musician. In fact, he’s got 570 credits on discogs.com, including a ton of film scores. He’s done work for artists as varied as Quincy Jones, Barbra Streisand, Jean-Luc Ponty, Dolly Parton, Jefferson Airplane, and Barry Manilow.

Between Choate and the Mothers, Ian got degrees in music composition from Yale and Berkley. He was also a concert pianist, specializing in Mozart.

St. Albans
Famous alumni:  Bushes, Kennedys, Rockefellers, Roosevelts, Lodges, John Kerry, Gore Vidal, Al Gore
Unlikely alumni:  Odell Beckham, Jr.

Whuh? Sure enough, Beckham went there for part of 7th grade, after Hurricane Katrina destroyed his family’s home in New Orleans. The complete story behind this, though, may have to remain a mystery – just couldn’t find much on it.

Beckham’s undoubtedly more famous for some crazy catches, as well as some pretty crazy behavior on & off the field. I’m talking fights (incl. with coaches), suspensions, drug rumors, obscene touchdown dances, giving cash to college players, uniform violations, crazy hair & some particularly weird behavior with kicking nets.

Exeter
Famous alumni:  Rockefellers, Daniel Webster, Franklin Pierce, George Plimpton, Gore Vidal (again) 
Unlikely alumni:  H.H. Holmes

Not familiar with this guy? Well, you would be if you read a little true crime.

Holmes was a serial killer active in the late 19th Century. He’s most famous for building a “murder castle,” a hotel in Chicago specially designed for killing and disposing of people coming to the World’s Fair. He was convicted of 1 murder, but probably was responsible for 9 others and possibly over 200. He was hanged in 1896.

A smart guy, Holmes graduated from Exeter at age 16, then got an MD from the University of Michigan med school. He spent most of his life, though, as a con man.

Ted Williams Was Robbed!

The Splendid Splinter, the Kid, Teddy Ballgame, Thumper … Ted Williams was always a favorite of mine.

What’s interesting is that my admiration did not come from being a Sox fan (that would come later). Instead, it came about through the rather roundabout way of the lowly Washington Senators.  My family lived in Northern Virginia at the time, and Williams tried his first and only managerial gig with the awful Nats at the same time. In his first year, he managed to get those losers over .500 for the first time … and I was hooked.  I followed that up by reading his book, The Science of Hitting, which had just come out.  Oh, I also absolutely loved that 1971 Topps card of his:

One thing I knew about him then was that he didn’t always get along with the press.  I figured that played a role in his being the only Triple Crown winner who didn’t get an MVP award.  And I’m sure that wasn’t the only MVP that didn’t come his way probably for the same reason.

One thing I didn’t realize at the time had to do with something I really admired about the guy. In addition to being one of the greatest hitters who ever lived, the guy was also a fighter pilot!  For the Marines!  In two wars!  What I didn’t realize was how much that took out of his career – six prime years, to be exact.  

I always wondered how much better his numbers might have been if he’d actually played those years.  So, 50-some years later, I decided to take a look.

Methodology

1. For his 1st gap in playing time (WWII), get the numbers for the regular years before and after (’42 and ’46)
2. Get averages for those 2 years
3. Multiple those averages times the 3 years he was out
4. Add those numbers to his existing totals
5. Repeat the same process for the 2nd gap (Korean War), for the years 1952 and ‘53

Results

I looked at the numbers for 8 counting stats where Williams had an impact (so, no steals or bunt hits or anything like that).  I’m ranking ‘em here by how close he subsequently came to the top of the heap.  I’m also including the actual numbers, as well as how many places he jumped up, who he displaced, and any interesting tidbits I could throw in there.

Games
Old:  2292 (#118)
New:  3007 (#9)
Diff:  715 (109)
Displaced:  Willie Mays

Interesting tidbit:  One of a handful of players whose careers spanned 4 decades

Plate Appearances
Old:  9792 (#100)
New:  13,008 (#6)
Diff:  3016 (94)
Displaced:  Albert Pujols  

Interesting tidbit:  As of this writing, Pujols only needs 67 more to get back 6th place

Hits
Old:  2654 (#77)
New:  3499 (#6)
Diff:  845 (69)
Displaced:  Derek Jeter

Interesting tidbit:  Had major philosophical disagreements about hitting with Ty Cobb

HRs
Old:  521 (#20)
New:  691 (#6)
Diff:  170 (14)
Displaced:  Willie Mays

Interesting tidbit:  Homered in his last at bat

Doubles
Old:  525 (#46)
New:  683 (#5)
Diff:  158 (41)
Displaced:  Craig Biggio

Interesting tidbit:  Actually tied with Pujols at the time I wrote this.  Something tells me that one won’t stand.

Walks
Old:  2021 (#4)
New:  2753 (#1)
Diff:  732 (3)
Displaced:  Barry Bonds

Interesting tidbit:  He had a great eye, but also never had anybody good hitting behind him.  Can you imagine what he would have done if he had ?  

RBIs
Old:  1839 (#16)
New:  2444 (#1)
Diff:  605 (15)
Displaced:  Hank Aaron

Interesting tidbit:  He was the first rookie to lead his league in RBIs (1939)

Runs
Old:  1798 (#20)
New:  2425 (#1)
Diff:  427 (19)
Displaced:  Rickey Henderson

Interesting tidbit:  Led the league 6 times

“There goes the greatest hitter that ever lived”