Of the guys in front of him, Rickey Henderson, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Joe Morgan, Carl Yastrzemski, Mickey Mantle and Mel Ott are in the Hall of Fame; Jim Thome and Frank Thomas almost certainly will be; and the all-time leader is Barry Bonds.
Edward Frederick
Yost was born October 13, 1926 in Brooklyn, and graduated from John Adams High
School in Queens -- which means he could have known my Grandma, although she
never mentioned him, except maybe while he was a coach with the Mets when I was
a kid. He managed the "new Washington Senators" for one game in
1963. He died last week, on October 16, 2012, at the age of 86.
UPDATE: Eddie Yost was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery -- not the one in The Bronx, in his hometown, but in the Boston suburb of Wellesley, Massachusetts.
*
October
24, 1857: Sheffield
Football Club, the world's first football club, is founded in Sheffield, South
Yorkshire, England. Today, they are in the Northern Premier League Division One
South, which is the 8th level of English soccer, 7 levels below the Premier
League. Sheffield Wednesday is in “The Championship,” the 2nd division;
Sheffield United, in League One, the 3rd division. In a weird quirk,
Sheffield FC wears red jerseys at home and blue on the road; United wears red
and white stripes as its basic uniform, while Wednesday wear blue and white
stripes.
Also on this day,
Edward Nagle Williamson is born in Philadelphia. Ned Williamson was a 3rd
baseman for the Chicago White Stockings, forerunners of the Cubs. In 1884, he
set a major league record with 27 home runs – mainly because the White
Stockings’ home ground, Lakeshore Park, had the shortest right-field fence in
the history of the game: 184 feet. The White Stockings had long led the
National League in doubles, because any drive over that short fence was ruled a
double instead of a home run.
But in 1884, the
rule was changed and it was a home run. Williamson hit 25 homers at home, only
2 on the road. Apparently, somebody had enough, because the City of Chicago
took over the ground, and the White Stockings had to move. In 1885 they built
West Side Park, built another with that name nearby in 1893, and moved to
what’s now called Wrigley Field in 1916.
A knee injury
hampered Williamson’s career in 1889, and he died of tuberculosis in 1894, aged
only 36. His single-season home run record lasted until 1919, when Babe Ruth
hit 29.
October 24, 1875: Boston Red Stockings pitcher Al Spalding and Chicago White Stockings owner William Hulbert meet in Chicago. Hulbert stresses to Spalding that his roots are in Illinois, and that he should play for the Chicago club. He also stresses to Spalding that the current National Association is going to result in all teams going broke without tighter control, that teams must stick to their schedules and not leave opponents in the lurch, and that gambling must be driven out of the game. Spalding agrees, and signs with the White Stockings for the 1876 season.
On the same day, also in Chicago, the Chicago Tribune calls for the formation of an organization of major professional teams: Chicago‚ Cincinnati‚ Louisville‚ Philadelphia‚ New York‚ Boston‚ and Hartford. "Unless the present Professional Association leadership adopts rules to limit the number of teams allowed to participate in the Championship season‚ all clubs will go broke."
While a New York meeting on February 2, 1876 is, essentially, the birthdate of the National League, October 24, 1875 is its conception. Whether that makes Spalding or Hulbert "the mother," I don't know.
October 24, 1875: Boston Red Stockings pitcher Al Spalding and Chicago White Stockings owner William Hulbert meet in Chicago. Hulbert stresses to Spalding that his roots are in Illinois, and that he should play for the Chicago club. He also stresses to Spalding that the current National Association is going to result in all teams going broke without tighter control, that teams must stick to their schedules and not leave opponents in the lurch, and that gambling must be driven out of the game. Spalding agrees, and signs with the White Stockings for the 1876 season.
On the same day, also in Chicago, the Chicago Tribune calls for the formation of an organization of major professional teams: Chicago‚ Cincinnati‚ Louisville‚ Philadelphia‚ New York‚ Boston‚ and Hartford. "Unless the present Professional Association leadership adopts rules to limit the number of teams allowed to participate in the Championship season‚ all clubs will go broke."
While a New York meeting on February 2, 1876 is, essentially, the birthdate of the National League, October 24, 1875 is its conception. Whether that makes Spalding or Hulbert "the mother," I don't know.
October 24,
1884: The Mets lose
the World Series. Well, not exactly. The Providence Grays, Champions of the
National League, defeat the New York Metropolitans -- and, yes, this early
franchise was called the Mets for short -- 3-1, behind the pitching of future
Hall-of-Famer Charlie "Old Hoss" Radbourne, at the Polo Grounds in
New York. This gives the Grays the first-ever postseason series between
champions of two major professional baseball leagues, a series that was
officially called the "World's Series."
A Game 3 was
played, for charity, and the Grays won that, too. The Grays had won the NL
Pennant in 1879, too, but would go out of business after the 1885 season. Aside
from teams known as the the Providence Steam Rollers in the NFL (1920-1931,
1928 Champions) and the NBA (only the inaugural 1946-47 season), the State of
Rhode Island has never had another major league sports team -- the New England
Patriots, who play 25 miles from downtown Providence in Foxboro, Massachusetts,
don't count.
October
24, 1885: The
St. Louis Browns, Champions of the American Association, defeat the Chicago
White Stockings, Champions of the National League,13-4 in the 7th and last game
in their series. The Browns claim the Game 2 forfeit didn't count, and
therefore claim the championship. Each club receives $500. The two teams would
meet again the next season, forging the NL rivalry that still exists between
the teams, by 1901 known as the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs.
October
24, 1892, 120 years ago: Goodison
Park, the world's first stadium built specifically for association football, is
opened in Liverpool. Home to Everton Football Club, it is across Stanley Park
from Anfield, home ground of Liverpool Football Club, which was built in 1884
as Everton's home before they moved across the park, and Liverpool FC was
founded to take their place at Anfield.
This
makes the two Merseyside teams in the Premiership the closest major rivals
of any major sport on the planet. Imagine that, instead of being in their
actual locations, the Yankees' home field was where the Metropolitan Museum of
Art is, at 82nd Street and 5th Avenue on one side of Central Park, and the Mets
played where the American Museum of Natural History is, on the other side of
the Park at 79th Street and Central Park West. Now imagine that the
Yankees and the Mets play each other as often as the Yankees and the Red Sox
(or the Mets and the Phillies) do, and you'd have an idea.
Goodison Park
hosted some of the 1966 World Cup matches, and even hosted a post-World War I
tour by two U.S. baseball teams, the New York Giants and Chicago White Sox.
Everton would like to expand the stadium, but there’s no room, so, like
Liverpool, they are looking to build a new stadium; but, also like their Red
rivals, the Blues haven’t gotten it past the planning stage.
October 24,
1908: "Take Me
Out to the Ballgame" is sung publicly for the first time, by a singer
named Billy Murray. No relation to the comic legend of the 1970s onward, this
Billy Murray (1877-1954) was a vaudeville legend whose style did not survive
the switch to electronic recording in the 1920s.
"Take Me Out
to the Ballgame" was not his first hit recording with a baseball
connection: In 1903, he had a hit with "Tessie," which became the
theme song of the Boston Red Sox' fan club, the Royal Rooters.
October
24, 1926: Yelberton
Abraham Tittle is born in Marshall, Texas. Y.A. Tittle was a sensational
quarterback at Louisiana State University, where one of his receivers was
future big-league baseball player and manager Alvin Dark.
He starred for the
San Francisco 49ers, joining with running backs Hugh McElhenny, Joe “the Jet”
Perry and John Henry Johnson to form “the Million Dollar Backfield” in 1954 –
the only season in which one team had an entire backfield that went on to reach
the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Tittle has joked about the nickname, though:
“They should have called us the Hundred Dollar Backfield, because that’s about
what they paid us.”
Despite all that
talent, which also included Hall-of-Famers Bob St. Clair at offensive tackle
and defensive end Leo Nomellini, the 49ers only reached the Playoffs once
during Tittle’s tenure, tying with the Detroit Lions for the 1957 Western
Division title, and losing a Playoff for the right to face the Cleveland Browns
for the NFL Championship. (The Lions won that one, too – and haven’t won an NFL
Championship since.)
In 1961, the New
York Giants traded for Tittle, despite his being 35 years old. He helped them
win 3 straight Eastern Division titles, but they lost all 3 NFL Championship
Games, all in miserably cold weather: 1961 to the Green Bay Packers on a snowy
New Year’s Eve at Lambeau Field, 1962 to the Packers on a frozen field at
Yankee Stadium, and 1963 to the Chicago Bears on an equally-rock-hard gridiron
at Wrigley Field, with the Bears winning 14-10 with the clock winding down, but
an already-injured Tittle leading the Giants on a desperate drive that ended
with an interception.
In 1964, hit hard
in a game in Pittsburgh, his helmet knocked off, his bald head dripping blood
as he knelt on the field, a photograph of this scene won a Pulitzer Prize.
Tittle retired after the season. Despite never winning a title, he is a member
of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and the Giants have retired his Number 14.
October
24, 1929: The
New York Stock Exchange is hit with "Black Thursday," a crash that
will last until the following “Black Tuesday.” Calendars aside, Black Thursday
is the effective end of the Roaring Twenties; Black Tuesday is the beginning of
the Great Depression and the Dirty Thirties. It will be 25 years, until 1954,
before the Dow Jones Industrial Average tops its September 3, 1929 peak.
October
24, 1950: Rawlins
Jackson Eastwick is born in Camden, New Jersey. “Rawly” was a relief pitcher
who helped the Cincinnati Reds win the 1975 and 1976 World Series, but after
being acquired by the Yankees in 1978, he was injured and hardly played again
after that.
October
24, 1962, 50 years ago: Jay
McKinley Novacek is born in Martin, South Dakota. The All-Pro tight end from
the University of Wyoming (whose teams are also called the Cowboys) helped the
Dallas Cowboys win 3 Super Bowls. He was elected to the College Football Hall
of Fame last year, but as yet has not been elected to the Pro Football Hall.
October
24, 1966: Roman
Arkadyevich Abramovich is born in Saratov, Russia. He turned an investment into
the Russian black market into oil and aluminum empires, and developed a close
relationship with then-President Boris Yeltsin, and has worked with Yeltsin’s
successors, Vladimir Putin and Dmitri Medvedev. He has been indicted on
numerous corruption charges, but has never been convicted. It’s good to have
friends in high places. His fortune has gone up and down, but is now believed
by Forbes magazine to be over $13 billion. Two divorce
settlements and his sports investments have not helped in this regard, as
you’ll see below.
In 2003, he bought
Chelsea Football Club of West London, leading to its new nickname of “Chelski”
(or “Chavski,” as the club’s popularity with London’s tracksuit-wearing,
baggy-pantsed, jewelry-flashing, cap-turned-backwards, foul-mouthed juvenile
delinquents (we don't really have a single name for such in the U.S.) has led
to them being called “The Chavs”).
In 2004, he hired
manager Jose Mourinho away from the Portugese club F.C. Porto, and together
they built a team that won the Premier League title in 2005 and again in 2006 –
this after winning just 1 title in the team’s first 99 seasons, in 1955 (and
that with a former Arsenal player as their manager, Ted Drake). Mourinho has
since left for Internazionale in Milan, Italy, and that for Real Madrid in
Spain.
Despite winning
the FA Cup in 2007 and 2009, both the Premier League and the FA Cup (a.k.a.
"winning The Double") in 2010, and the Champions League this past
year, Chelsea is believed to be heavily in debt under his ownership, due to the
high sums paid in wages, transfer fees, and upkeep of the aging home ground,
Stamford Bridge. He is believed to have sunk nearly 1 billion pounds – about
$1.6 billion – into the club in his 8 years of ownership.
In 1999, he was
elected to the Russian Parliament, the Duma, from the Chukotka Autonomous
Okrug, the oil-rich easternmost “state” of Russia, and from 2000 to 2008 served
as its Governor, making him a “neighbor” of 2007-09 Governor Sarah Palin of
Alaska, as this is the part of Russia that she claimed could be seen from her
home State. (But she never actually said, “I can see Russia from my house” –
that was Tina Fey doing the impersonation.)
Twice divorced,
the 45-year-old “Mad Russian” is the domestic partner of Daria “Dasha” Zhukova,
a 30-year-old fashion designer known on ESPN’s Pardon the
Interruption as “Marat Safin’s Girlfriend” – while she was dating the
Russian tennis star, the show’s co-host Tony Kornheiser slobbered over her so
much it made my feelings for Catherine Zeta-Jones look mature by comparison.
They are parents of a son, Alexander, Zhukova’s first child, Abramovich’s
sixth.
October
24, 1972, 40 years ago: Jackie
Robinson dies. The first black player in modern baseball had been suffering
from diabetes, which had robbed him of most his eyesight, caused such poor
circulation in his legs that amputation was being considered, and damaged his
heart to the point where it killed him at age 53.
Just 10 days
earlier, he had flown from his home in Stamford, Connecticut (his wife Rachel,
now 90, now lives near their old house), and was a special guest at Game
2 of the World Series between the A’s and Reds in Cincinnati. It had been 25
years since the great experiment that he and Brooklyn Dodger president Branch
Rickey (who died in 1965) had reached its successful conclusion with the
Dodgers winning the Pennant and Jackie making it through the season, not just
surviving but excelling. His former teammate, Pee Wee Reese, was on hand, and
former Dodger broadcaster Red Barber introduced him. Jackie said, “I’m
extremely pleased to be here, but I must confess, I’m going to be even more
pleased when I see a black face managing in baseball.”
Jackie’s eulogy
was delivered by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and his funeral was attended by most
of his surviving teammates. Roy Campanella was there in his wheelchair. Among
his pallbearers were former Dodger pitcher Don Newcombe and basketball legend
Bill Russell.
Earlier in the
year, in Los Angeles, Jackie’s hometown (if not the team’s), the Dodgers
retired uniform numbers for the first time, packing away Jackie’s Number 42,
Campy’s Number 39 and Sandy Koufax’s Number 32. Jackie was the first black
player in the Hall of Fame, Campy the second, and Koufax had been newly elected
at the time of the ceremony.
It would be two
more years, on October 3, 1974, before Frank Robinson, no relation, was hired
as Major League Baseball’s first black manager, with the Cleveland Indians, the
team that had been the first in the American League to add black players with
Larry Doby and Satchel Paige.
Ironically, while
black Hispanics are now the leading presence in the game, very few black
Americans are in the major leagues. Jackie would probably be disturbed by that,
but not puzzled, as he would surely factor in the rise of pro football and
basketball as sports preferred by African-Americans. Of the 30 current MLB
franchises, only 8 have never had an African-American or Hispanic manager --
and one of those, the Seattle Mariners, have had an Asian-American manager.
Ironically, one of the teams that has never had a nonwhite manager is the
Dodgers. The Oakland Athletics, so notable for the racial mix of their players
even in their Kansas City days, are another. The others are all teams that,
historically, have been criticized for their racial policies: The Yankees,
Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals and Minnesota Twins.
Currently, the
only nonwhite are Ron Washington of the Texas Rangers, Dusty Baker of the
Cincinnati Reds, Bo Porter of the Houston Astros, and Fredi Gonzalez of the
Atlanta Braves. That means only 4 out of 29 teams -- the Toronto Blue Jays' job
currently being vacant -- have a nonwhite manager. Jackie would not be pleased
about that.
In 1997, on the
50th Anniversary of Jackie’s arrival, Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig announced
that Jackie’s Number 42 would be retired for all of baseball, as yet a unique
honor. All players then wearing it would be allowed to continue to do so for
the remainder of their careers, but no new players could wear it, and no
current players could switch to it. The last remaining Number 42 in baseball is
Mariano Rivera of the Yankees; the Yankees appeared to have been waiting for
Mariano to retire before retiring the number for both him and Jackie, but in
2007, on the 60th Anniversary of Jackie’s arrival, they retired it for Jackie,
and presumably will do so again for Mariano when he hangs ‘em up, just as they
retired Number 8 for both Bill Dickey and Yogi Berra.
October
24, 1973: Jackie
McNamara is born in Glasgow, Scotland. He won 4 Scottish Premier League titles
and 3 Scottish Cups with Glasgow’s Celtic Football Club, serving as their Captain
in 2005. He now manages a much smaller Glasgow club, but with no less
passionate a fan base, Patrick Thistle.
October
24, 1974: Corey
James Dillon is born in Seattle. He set single-season rushing yardage records
for the University of Washington, the Cincinnati Bengals and the New England
Patriots. On October 23, 2000, he rushed for 278 yards against the Denver
Broncos, breaking Walter Payton’s 1977 record of 275. Dillon’s record has been
surpassed by Jamal Lewis and Adrian Peterson. In the 2004 season, he was a
member of the Patriot team that won Super Bowl XXXIX. (By cheating?)
Also on this day,
Wilton Alvaro Guerrero is born in Don Gregorio, Dominican Republic. The older
brother and former Montreal Expo teammate of Vladimir Guerrero, he is best known
for a 1997 incident with the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he was found to have a
corked bat. He is now a scout with the Dodgers.
Also on this day,
Jamal David Mayers is born. One of 26 black players currently in the NHL, the
right wing was an Alternate Captain for his hometown team, the Toronto Maple
Leafs. A dream come true... or, considering the Leafs’ ineptitude the last few
years, a nightmare? He's now with the Chicago Blackhawks.
October
24, 1975: Juan
Pablo Angel is born in Medellin, Colombia. He now plays for the Los
Angeles club Chivas USA, after starring for the New York Red Bulls. He
previously played for River Plante in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Aston Villa
in Birmingham, England.
October
24, 1981: The
Dodgers tie the World Series up at 2 games apiece, 8-7, thanks to some poor
Yankee fielding.
October
24, 1985: Wayne
Mark Rooney is born in Liverpool. Perhaps the most celebrated active soccer
player in England, he grew up as an Everton fan – even sharing his birthday
with the club’s home ground, Goodison Park. After reaching Everton’s first team
when not yet 17 (and the England national team at 19), he publicly said he was
“Everton ‘til I die,” but, citing the club’s inability to qualify for European
competition, demanded a transfer (soccertalk for “trade”), and Manchester
United paid 25.6 million pounds for him (about $42 million). If there’s one
thing Liverpool and Everton fans agree on, it’s that they hate Manchester
United with a flaming red (or blue) passion.
He has become the
face of Man United – unfortunately, since his squinty eyes, uneven teeth,
sticky-out ears, oddly-shaped head and heavier-than-recommended weight have
gotten him nicknamed “Shrek.” He is also frequently called a “chav” due to his,
shall we say, lack of refinement; this is not aided by a tattoo on his arm,
with the words “Just Enough Education To Perform.”
One of his first
acts for Man U, in October 2004, was a dive that was not called, leading to a
penalty shot that ended Arsenal’s English-record 49-game unbeaten streak. (His
first League goal, for Everton in 2002, ended a 30-game unbeaten streak for
Arsenal, but this time he cheated, and he and every ManUre fan on the planet
know he did.)
He dives so often
he's been named an honorary Spaniard. But he gets away with this shit, because
he plays for Manchester United and because he plays for England. He did not,
however, get away with his actions in the 2006 World Cup quarterfinal with
Portugal, in which he stomped on the foot of Ricardo Carvalho (whose club team
is Chelsea) and was sent off, rendering him ineligible for the penalty kicks that
the game went to, won by Portugal. And when England got embarrassed at the 2010
World Cup, he cursed into the camera at the England fans. He has never scored
at a World Cup,, seeing as how he is not protected at that tournament by
remiership referees, intimidated as they are by Man U manager Sir Alex Ferguson
and the mystique of Man U’s historic stadium, Old Trafford, a.k.a. the Theatre
of Dreams.
Rooney was
lampooned as one of the puppets on the program I’m On Setanta Sports,
later renamed Special 1 TV, with his teeth, ears, head and Scouse
accent all greatly exaggerated (or, as the puppet would say, “ggrrayyyytly
eckkkk-zajerrrratiduh!”), and his portrayal being that of an idiot savant.
Rooney and his
wife, TV presenter and magazine columnist Colleen Rooney, have a son named Kai,
nearly 2 years old. Sadly, the boy looks like him.
October
24, 1990: The
Boston Red Sox announce they will not renew the contract of former All-Star
Dwight Evans, a.k.a. Dewey. Evans signs a one-year contract with the Baltimore
Orioles, plays the 1991 season for them, and retires with 385 home runs and a
reputation as one of the best-fielding right fielders ever.
In that 1991
season, I visited Boston for the first time, and watched the Red Sox without
Evans beat the Orioles with him at Fenway Park. Coming out of South Station,
one of the city’s two major rail terminals, I saw that the street area around
it was called Dewey Square. Not yet knowing about Admiral George Dewey, naval hero
of the Spanish-American War, I thought, “Wow, this city is so crazy about its
Red Sox, they named a square after Dwight Evans!”
October
24, 1992, 20 years ago: For the first time, a World Series is won by a team from
outside the United States of America. The Toronto Blue Jays clinch their 1st
World Championship with a 4-3 win over the Atlanta Braves in Game 6. Dave
Winfield's 2-out‚ 2-run double in the top of the 11th gives Toronto a 4-2 lead.
The Braves score 1 run in the bottom half of the inning and have the tying run
on 3rd when the final out is made. Jimmy Key wins the game in relief‚ and Candy
Maldonado homers for the Blue Jays.
Toronto catcher
Pat Borders‚ with a .450 BA‚ is named Series MVP. Winfield, derided as “Mister
May” by Yankee owner George Steinbrenner for his poor performances in the 1981
World Series and subsequent Pennant races, finally has his ring, in his 20th
season in the majors.
October
24, 1996: Game
5 of the World Series. Andy Pettitte, in just his second season in the majors,
opposes seasoned World Series veteran John Smoltz. The Yankees take a 1-0 lead
in the bottom of the 4th, thanks to an error by Marquis Grissom and a double by
Cecil Fielder.
In the bottom of
the 6th, the Braves put two runners on with nobody out. A bunt is attempted by
Mark Lemke, but Pettitte snares it, and throws lefthanded to Scott Brosius at
third base, nailing the lead runner. The next batter, Chipper Jones, hits a
comebacker to Pettitte, who throws to Derek Jeter covering second for one, over
to Fielder on first, inning-ending double play. That’s the Braves’ last threat
until the last out, when John Wetteland comes on to face once and future Yankee
Luis Polonia, who lines a shot into the gap, which an injured Paul O’Neill
somehow catches, to save the 5-hit shutout.
The Yankees have
taken all 3 games in Atlanta, and take a 3 games to 2 lead back to Yankee
Stadium, just as former Brave, now Yankee, manager Joe Torre predicted to owner
George Steinbrenner. This is the last game ever played at Atlanta-Fulton County
Stadium, as the Braves move into Turner Field for the next season.
October
24, 1999: The
Yankees beat the Braves, 7-2 at Turner Field in Atlanta, behind the pitching of
David Cone and 3 hits from Bernie Williams, and take a 2 games to 0 lead in the
World Series. Before the game, the winners in the fan balloting for the Major
League Baseball All-Century Team are introduced. All the winners then living
were in attendance:
Pitchers: Cy
Young, Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson, Lefty Grove, Warren Spahn, Sandy
Koufax, Bob Gibson, Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens. (Spahn, the former Milwaukee
Braves pitcher who threw out the first ball before Game 1 of this Series, has
since died; Koufax, Gibson, Ryan and Clemens are still alive. Clemens was still
active, and was scheduled to start Game 4 of this Series, however, steroid
allegations have put his worthiness for this honor into question.)
Catchers: Yogi
Berra and Johnny Bench. (Both still alive.)
First Basemen: Lou
Gehrig and Mark McGwire. (McGwire is still alive, although his presence on this
team is tainted by his confession of steroid use.)
Second Basemen:
Rogers Hornsby and Jackie Robinson. (Both dead; Joe Morgan, one of the
finalists, was part of the NBC broadcasting crew for this Series, and said that
if he were one of the second basemen chosen, and Robinson was not, he would
forfeit his place to Robinson. Morgan finished 3rd in the 2B voting, so it
wasn’t necessary.)
Shortstops: Honus
Wagner, Ernie Banks and Cal Ripken. (Banks and Ripken are still alive, and
Ripken was then still active.)
Third Basemen:
Brooks Robinson and Mike Schmidt. (Both still alive.)
Outfielders: Ty
Cobb, Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Mickey Mantle, Willie
Mays, Hank Aaron, Pete Rose, Ken Griffey Jr. (DiMaggio had died earlier in the
year. Williams was already ill, but attended, and it turned out to be his last
appearance in a big-league ballpark, following his emotional appearance at that
season’s All-Star Game at Fenway Park in Boston, his former home field. As he
did on that occasion, he tipped his cap to the fans. Musial, Mays, Aaron, Rose
and Griffey were still alive, and Griffey was still active and just 29 years
old, making his election, at that point in his career, the result of popularity
more than achievement. Aaron, who starred for the Braves in both Milwaukee and
Atlanta, threw out the ceremonial first ball. Rose’s election to the team was
controversial, as he had been banned from baseball for betting on the game.)
With the steroid
accusations against Clemens and McGwire, the ban on Rose, and the “kid vote”
for Griffey in mind, the next-highest vote getters at the positions in question
were Greg Maddux for Clemens’ spot, Jimmie Foxx for McGwire’s, and Roberto
Clemente and Shoeless Joe Jackson for Griffey’s and, ironically Rose’s; so if
Jackson, also banned permanently for gambling-related offenses, is also
removed, the next-highest outfielder was Reggie Jackson.
October
24, 2000: Game
3 of the World Series at Shea Stadium. The Mets defeat the Yankees‚ 4-2‚ behind
the pitching of Rick Reed and their bullpen. Benny Agbayani's 8th inning double
is the key hit for the Mets as they cut the Yankees Series lead to 2-games-to-1.
Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez strikes out 12, a Series record for a
Yankee pitcher, but loses a postseason game for the first time after 8 wins.
The loss ends the
Yankees record streak of 14 consecutive wins in World Series action. This
remains the only World Series game the Mets have won in the last 25 years.
October
24, 2004: The
Boston Red Sox take a 2-games-to-0 lead in the World Series with a 6-2 win over
the St. Louis Cardinals at Fenway Park. Curt Schilling, again wearing the
Bloody Sock, gets the win. Orlando Cabrera‚ Mark Bellhorn‚ and Jason Varitek
each drive in a pair of runs.
October
24, 2012: Babe Ruth, Babe Ruth again, Reggie Jackson, Albert Pujols… Pablo
Sandoval? Also of note was Gerry Davis becoming the umpire with the most
postseason games worked: He would finish the Series with 115.
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