Daily Dirt: Let’s welcome Sandra, Wynonna and Keanu to the ’60’ club

Daily Dirt for Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024

Roger Daltrey is turning 80 and still singing about “My g-g-g-g-generation” … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 875 of The Daily Dirt.

1. It’s day two of three for our Daily Dirt weekend extravaganza honoring some of our favorite celebrities reaching milestone birthdays.

Today’s honorees are those turning 60 at some point this year:

• Eddie Vedder: Pearl Jam lead singer’s work on “Last Kiss” was/is/will always be legendary.
• Sandra Bullock: Only pre-cosmetic surgery Meg Ryan ranked higher than Sandra on my list of female movie favorites in the early and mid-1990s.
• Nicolas Cage: Always a bit eccentric, the actor has used his fortune to buy such things as two islands in the Bahamas, a dinosaur skull, a pet octopus and 15 homes around the world. 
• Mariska Hargitay: I’ve been married to The Little Woman since 1998. Hargitay has been the star of “Law and Order: SVU” since 1999. Coincidence?
• Laura Linney: Her best role ever? When she played Sarah in “Love Actually.”
• Courtney Cox: She was 30 when “Friends” debuted in 1994.
• Wynonna Judd: Best Wynonna song? That’s easy: “I Saw The Light.”
• Keanu Reeves: He has never smiled. Really, he has NEVER smiled.

2. Keeping with today’s celebrity theme, here’s our weekly toast to celebs celebrating birthdays:

• Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. is 47 today. Many still regard him as the best pound-for-pound boxer ever.
• Singer Mitch Ryder turns 79 on Monday. He was best known for “Devil Blue With A Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly” when he was the front man for the Detroit Wheels.
• Singer Chili of TLC turns 53, also on Tuesday. Wonder if she’s still chasin’ waterfalls?
• Remember Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs? Well, Sam will be 87 on Wednesday.
• Singer Roger Daltrey of The Who celebrates No. 80 on Friday. There are no reports that he and Pete Townshend are considering retirement anytime soon. Rock on! 

3. These are the top former MLB players who will be first-time eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2025:

• Ichiro Suzuki
• C.C. Sabathia
• Curtis Granderson
• Felix Hernandez
• Ian Kinsler
• Dustin Pedroia
• Hanley Ramirez
• Troy Tulowitzki
• Ben Zobrist
• Melky Cabrera
• Adam Jones
• Russell Martin

Who gets the call from the Hall? I’d say Ichiro is a certified lock and Sabathia has an outstanding chance. None of the others will get through the doors of Cooperstown unless they pay an admission.

Steve Thought O’ The Day
The first song by The Who I remember hearing on the radio was “Happy Jack” in 1966. Daltrey would have been 22 years old.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. Next to him is a smiling Keanu Reaves. Amazing how similar they look.