Historically, October 19 has been a bad day for New York baseball. For the Yankees, in 1976, 2004, 2010 and 2019. For the Mets, in 1986 (though it ultimately didn't matter) and 2006.
And and it is again. Today, the New York Yankees announced if he's announced a new 3-year contract for field manager Aaron Boone, extending through the end of the 2024 season. This extends beyond that of general manager Brian Cashman, which runs for one more year.
It means that team owner Hal Steinbrenner is committed to both men for the foreseeable future. This in spite of the fact that Boone lets Cashman make key decisions for him, like about pitch limits, and who to bring in, which players get called up from the miners, and so forth.
At the risk of sounding like Vic DiBitetto, a Yankee Fan who is probably as ticked off about today's Yankee decision as I am:
Hal Steinbrenner is the kind of guy who would spend big on a new Ferrari, and then the snow comes, and the flashy sports car is useless, and he realizes he forgot to get the bread and milk!
The Yankees haven't won the American League Pennant in 12 years, and have won just the 1 in 18 years. They have won 1 World Series in 21 years.
This is no longer on Cashman, and it was never truly on Boone. This is now on Hal.
And Hal, as sports team owners go, is a young guy -- he is 51, exactly 15 days older than I am -- and if he lives as long as his father, until just past his 80th birthday, will own the team through the 2049 season.
And he will never sell the team. Who could possibly buy it, other than dictators with blood money? We've seen what happens in English soccer, when Russians and Arabs who make their money through the mob or slavery buy sports teams.
They cheat, and it is ugly.
The Yankees as we once knew them are getting further and further away. They will not be catching up to the Boston Red Sox, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Houston Astros any time soon. And they are likely to be surpassed soon by the Toronto Blue Jays and the Chicago White Sox. Maybe even by somebody else. And that's just in the AL.
Winter is not coming. It is here. And it's going to be a long tis the long, cold, lonely Winter.
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October 19, 1781, 240 years ago: It took a combined U.S.-French all-star team, but the British are beaten at Yorktown, Virginia. Representatives of British commander Charles, Lord Cornwallis, hand over his sword, and formally surrender in person to George Washington and Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, Comte de Rochambeau.
The War of the American Revolution is not over, but this is the battle that ends what would, today, be called "major combat operations." The British had the best navy in the world, and along with France 1 of the 2 best armies. But they fought this war as if their commander-in-chief was Harry Redknapp, having some notable successes, but also some major blunders, and running out of money, men and excuses.
Cornwallis himself, later 1st Marquess Cornwallis, got a bum rap because he lost the climactic battle. He shouldn't have: Before the war, he argued against the Stamp Act in the House of Lords; during it, he won battles at Bound Brook, New Jersey and Brandywine and Germantown (now part of Philadelphia), Pennsylvania. After the war, he served as Governor-General of India, and as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland argued for Catholic emancipation there. So he was actually a pretty good general, and not at all a bad guy.
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October 19, 1873: Yale, Princeton, Columbia and Rutgers draft the 1st code of American football rules. At the time, however, "American football" still looked a lot more like soccer than the derivation of rugby it would soon become.
October 19, 1896, 125 years ago: Robert Arthur O'Farrell is born in Waukegan, Illinois. A fine defensive catcher, Bob O'Farrell won the 1926 World Series with the Cardinals, catching Babe Ruth stealing on the final play. (No, the last play was not Grover Cleveland Alexander striking out Tony Lazzeri. That happened in the 7th inning.) He managed them the next year, and also the Reds in 1934, and ran a bowling alley in Waukegan until he died in 1988.
Also on this day, Nat Holman -- I don't have a full name for him -- is born in Manhattan. One of the earliest great pro basketball players, he starred at New York University and then with the New York-based "Original Celtics." But it's as a coach that he's best remembered, at NYU's arch-rivals, City College of New York.
He coached at CCNY from 1919 to 1959, including through his playing career, which ended in 1930. He got the Beavers into the NCAA Final Four in 1947, and then, in 1950, they won both the NCAA Tournament and the National Invitational Tournament, a pivotal event in establishing the NCAA as the preeminent postseason tournament.
Unfortunately, the next year, the point-shaving scandal hit, and CCNY was implicated, and New York college basketball has never been the same, partly because the NIT, then conducted entirely at Madison Square Garden, was considered tainted, and that's the other reason the NCAA overtook it. As a result, the NCAA passed a rule saying that teams could no longer play in both. Ever since, the NIT has been the secondary tournament.
Nat Holman wrote the book on basketball. Literally: In 1922, while still one of the best players in the game, he wrote a book titled Scientific Basketball. With the center jump after every basket eliminated, never mind shot clocks and 3-pointers and 7-footers playing, it became obsolete quickly.
He was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1964, and died in 1995, age 98.
Also on this day, Edisonia Hall opens in Buffalo, New York. It is the 1st building constructed specifically for showing motion pictures.
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October 19, 1900: Roy Worters (no middle name) is born in Toronto. A star with the New York Americans, he was probably the best goaltender the New York Tri-State Area ever saw, at least until Billy Smith. Yes, that includes Ranger Hall-of-Famers Chuck Rayner, Gump Worsley and Eddie Giacomin.
He won the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP in 1929 – but not the Vezina Trophy as best goalie. That went to George Hainsworth of Montreal. Worters did win the Vezina in 1931. Known as "Shrimp:” because he was just 5-foot-3, he came up big many times for the Amerks.
He is in the Hockey Hall of Fame, along with teammates Red Dutton, Lionel Conacher, Billy Burch, Sweeney Schriner and Bullet Joe Simpson – quite a haul of honors for a franchise that only existed for 17 seasons, and made the Playoffs 5 times and never reached the Stanley Cup Finals. They did reach the Semifinals in 1936, and again in '38 after a hernia had ended Worters’ career. He died of throat cancer in 1957.
Also on this day, William Harold Ponsford is born in the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy North, Victoria, Australia. Playing cricket from 1916 to 1939, Bill Ponsford would form a strong partnership for Australia with with Bill Woodfull, and later with the young Don Bradman. He lived until 1991.
October 19, 1901, 120 years ago: Alberto Santos-Dumont, a 28-year-old Brazilian engineer, flies an airship around the Eiffel Tower in Paris. However, he never successfully flew a heavier-than-air vehicle until 1906, a little less than 3 years after the Wright Brothers had done so. So any claim that he "invented the airplane" is wrong. He lived until 1932.
October 19, 1905: Virgil Earp, Deputy Sheriff of Esmerelda County, Nevada, dies of pneumonia in Goldfield. He was 62, and this leaves his brother Wyatt as the last survivor of the Gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona, 24 years minus 7 days earlier.
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October 19, 1921, 100 years ago: Nils Gunnar Nordahl is born in Hörnefors, Sweden. A striker who dropped his first name, Gunnar Nordahl starred for IFK Norrköping, winning the Swedish league, the Allsvenskan, 4 straight times, 1945 to 1948, including also winning the Swedish Cup -- what the English call "doing The Double" -- in 1945. (Because Sweden was neutral during World War II, the Nazis did not invade, and their league was able to continue.) With his brothers Bertil and Knut, and also Gunnar Gren and Nils Liedholm, he helped Sweden win the Gold Medal at the 1948 Olympics in London.
Italian giants A.C. Milan, bought Gunnar Nordahl, Gren and Liedholm. The 3 Swedes become known as the Gre-No-Li trio, and helped the Rossoneri win Italy's Serie A in 1951 and 1955, plus 4 Coppa Italia, and the Latin Cup -- the closest thing Europe had to the European Cup before 1955 -- in 1951 and 1956. Nordahl was not, however, a member of the Sweden team that reached the Final of the 1958 World Cup on home soil.
He was top scorer in Sweden's league 4 times and in Italy's 5 times. He later managed Italian club AS Roma and several Swedish clubs, and died in 1995, at the age of 73.
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October 19, 1921, 100 years ago: Nils Gunnar Nordahl is born in Hörnefors, Sweden. A striker who dropped his first name, Gunnar Nordahl starred for IFK Norrköping, winning the Swedish league, the Allsvenskan, 4 straight times, 1945 to 1948, including also winning the Swedish Cup -- what the English call "doing The Double" -- in 1945. (Because Sweden was neutral during World War II, the Nazis did not invade, and their league was able to continue.) With his brothers Bertil and Knut, and also Gunnar Gren and Nils Liedholm, he helped Sweden win the Gold Medal at the 1948 Olympics in London.
Italian giants A.C. Milan, bought Gunnar Nordahl, Gren and Liedholm. The 3 Swedes become known as the Gre-No-Li trio, and helped the Rossoneri win Italy's Serie A in 1951 and 1955, plus 4 Coppa Italia, and the Latin Cup -- the closest thing Europe had to the European Cup before 1955 -- in 1951 and 1956. Nordahl was not, however, a member of the Sweden team that reached the Final of the 1958 World Cup on home soil.
He was top scorer in Sweden's league 4 times and in Italy's 5 times. He later managed Italian club AS Roma and several Swedish clubs, and died in 1995, at the age of 73.
October 19, 1931, 90 years ago: Donald George Leppert is born in Indianapolis. A catcher, he debuted in the major leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 18, 1961, and hit a home run off Curt Simmons of the Philadelphia Phillies on the very 1st pitch he ever faced. Playing for the Washington Senators on April 11, 1963, he hit 3 home runs, and would be named an All-Star that season. He only hit 11 other home runs, and never played in the majors again after 1964.
Don Leppert later served as a coach for the Pirates, the Toronto Blue Jays (including on their original staff in 1977), and the Houston Astros (including their 1980 National League Western Division title season). He is still alive.
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October 19, 1941, 80 years ago: South America's greatest sports rivalry takes place in Buenos Aires, Argentina. River Plate, at home at the stadium known as El Monumental, defeats Boca Juniors 5-1, dethroning the defending League Champions and all but wrapping up the title for themselves. It is considered the beginning of a team known as La Máquina, "the Machine."
They are led by a 5-man forward line of Juan Carlos Muñoz, José Manuel Moreno, Adolfo Pedernera,
Ángel Amadeo Labruna and Félix Loustau. They would win the title in 1941, 1942, 1945 and 1947.
Muñoz was the last survivor of La Máquina, living until 2009.
Also on this day, Hector Cowan dies at age 78, on his farm near Stamford, New York, in the Catskill Mountains. "Hec" Cowan played offensive and defensive tackle at Princeton University, and was named to the 1st College Football All-America Team in 1889. He also served as head coach at North Carolina and Kansas, was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame, and became an ordained minister.
October 19, 1943: Streptomycin, the first antibiotic remedy for tuberculosis, is isolated by researchers at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey. Rutgers has had a lot of victories in the laboratory. On athletic fields, uh, let me get back to you.
October 19, 1944: William P. Melchionni -- I can find no reference to what the P stands for -- is born in Philadelphia, and grows up across the Delaware River in Pennsauken, Camden County, New Jersey. He attended Bishop Eustace Prep School in his hometown, and played guard at nearby Villanova University.
In his rookie season, 1966-67, he won an NBA Championship with his hometown team, the Philadelphia 76ers. He was never an All-Star in the NBA, but was one 3 times in the ABA, where he helped the New York Nets win the 1974 and 1976 league Championships. He did not make it back into the NBA when the Nets were admitted after the 1976 title. But the Nets, later in New Jersey and now in Brooklyn, retired his Number 25. So did Villanova.
He is still alive. His brother Gary Melchionni captained Duke University. Gary's son Lee Melchionni also played at Duke.
October 19, 1946, 75 years ago: Princeton beats Rutgers 14-7 at Rutgers Stadium. An attempt to steal the cannon proves even more embarrassing for RU.
Rutgers University is in New Brunswick, in Middlesex County, New Jersey. (The stadium is across the Raritan River, in Piscataway.) Princeton University is in the town of the same name, in Mercer County. They are separated by 17 miles of State Route 27. In 1869, Rutgers beat Princeton in "the first college football game," in New Brunswick, hence Rutgers calls itself "the Birthplace of College Football."
Two cannons were left on the Princeton campus after the War of the American Revolution, although neither of them were used in the Battle of Princeton of January 3, 1777, as is often claimed. "Big Cannon" is located behind Nassau Hall in the center of the quadrangle there, called "Cannon Green," and "Little Cannon" is situated between Whig and Clio Halls.
For the War of 1812, Big Cannon was transported to New Brunswick to help defend the city against potential attack by the British, remaining on the Rutgers campus, where it was used for training during and after the American Civil War of 1861-65 by Rutgers cadets, until it was taken back to Princeton in 1875 by the "Princeton Blues," a local militia.
On the night of April 25, 1875, 10 members of the Rutgers Class of 1877 set out to take Big Cannon from Princeton. However, they were unable to move it, so instead they returned to New Brunswick with Little Cannon. Princeton responded with a raid on Rutgers, stealing some muskets, and the presidents of the colleges exchanged polite but demanding correspondence. Eventually, a joint committee settled the matter, and Little Cannon was returned to Princeton, escorted by the New Brunswick Police Chief. In other words, Rutgers was forced to cave.
On October 19, 1946, a contingent of Rutgers men slipped onto the Princeton campus, and again tried to steal the famed Big Cannon. This attempt was even more disastrous than the first. They attached one end of a heavy chain to the cannon and the other to their car, a Ford. Surprised by Princeton students and the police, they gunned the engine of the car so hard that the car was torn in half. The Rutgers students managed to escape, but with neither the car nor the cannon.
On the eve of the annual Rutgers-Princeton game of 1971, Big Cannon was apparently "stolen" again. A 5-foot-deep hole was found where the cannon sat. Campus police were baffled that the cannon had been taken, given its extreme weight. After crime photos were taken, it appears that a hole had simply been dug next to Big Cannon and the dirt from the hole used to bury it. Reports appeared in the Rutgers newspaper, the Daily Targum, as well as nearby papers such as the New Brunswick-based Daily Home News, the Princeton Packet and The Times of Trenton.
Big Cannon at Princeton is routinely painted red by Rutgers students, particularly in the week leading to Rutgers commencement, as well as on other notable Rutgers dates. In November 2011, a group of Rutgers students who went to paint the cannon in Princeton brought a video camera with them and made a documentary about the tradition.
The footage became part of a larger project about the history of the Cannon War and its perception in the minds of current students today. The film, Knights, Tigers, and Cannons. Oh My!, by Zack Morrison, premiered at the New Jersey Film Festival in September 2012, and won the award for Best Student Film.
But he's not the most notable player in this game. That would be Albert Sigurður Guðmundsson. Although this is the 1st of only 2 League matches he plays for Arsenal, it makes him the 1st native of Iceland ever to play professional soccer. He later served his country as Minister of Finance.
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October 19, 1951, 70 years ago: Angels in the Outfield premieres. Janet Leigh plays a reporter covering the hapless Pittsburgh Pirates, who begin to get help from above. It would be remade in 1994, with the California Angels as the team in question, but the focus moves from a young lady reporter to a boy stuck in the foster care system.
Also on this day, Floyd Vivino (no middle name) is born in Paterson, Passaic County, New Jersey, and grows up in nearby Glen Rock, Bergen County. From 1974 to 1998, on the now-defunct New Jersey Network (a series of UHF stations), he hosted The Uncle Floyd Show, a kids' show, but also a parody thereof. He became a New Jersey institution, and is still alive.
October 19, 1957: Maurice Richard scores the 500th goal of his career. "The Rocket" had held the NHL's all-time record since surpassing Nels Stewart at 324. The Montreal Canadiens beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-1 at the Montreal Forum.
Also on this day, Brian Stein (no middle name) is born in Cape Town, South Africa, and grows up in North London. He and his brother Mark Stein were forwards who helped Bedfordshire club Luton Town win the 1988 League Cup. Their brother Ed Stein played for North London club Barnet.
This is also the birthdate of Michael Myers, the antagonist of the Halloween horror film franchise, in Haddonfield, Illinois. He was played by Will Sandin as a boy and Nick Castle as an adult in the 1978 debut Halloween, Dick Warlock in Halloween II (1981), George P. Wilbur in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988), and Donald L. Shanks in Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989) and Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995).
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998, Chris Durand), and Halloween: Resurrection (2002, Brad Loree) retcon everything after the 1st movie. Halloween (2018) retcons those films, too, as Jamie Lee Curtis' Laurie Strode, her daughter and her granddaughter finally triumph over Laurie's evil brother.
In the Rob Zombie-directed reboots, Myers is played by Daeg Faerch as a boy and and Tyler Mane as an adult in Halloween (2007), and Mane again in Halloween II (2009).
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October 19, 1960: Two of the biggest stars in college basketball play their professional debuts, against each other, at the Cincinnati Gardens, launching 2 of the greatest careers in NBA history. Oddly, both are outshone by established teammates.
Jerry West of Cabin Creek, West Virginia and West Virginia University scores 20 points, but his teammate Elgin Baylor leads all players with 35. Oscar Robertson of Indianapolis and the University of Cincinnati scores 21 points, but Jack Twyman scores 30. Robertson's Cincinnati Royals defeat West's Los Angeles Lakers, 140-123.
This is also the Lakers' 1st game representing Los Angeles, after spending 13 seasons in Minneapolis, where they won 5 NBA Championships. They will make their home debut 5 nights later.
October 19, 1963: After 14 seasons as the Syracuse Nationals, the Philadelphia 76ers make their home debut, taking the place of the Warriors, who moved to San Francisco the year before. It doesn't go so well: Despite 31 points from Lee Shaffer and 24 from Chet "the Jet" Walker, they lose to the Detroit Pistons, 124-121 at the Convention Hall of the Philadelphia Civic Center.
Also on this day, James Matthew Dombrowski is born in the Buffalo suburb of Williamsville, New York. An offensive tackle, he starred at the University of Virginia, who retired his Number 73. He later starred for the New Orleans Saints, and was named to their all-time team. He is in the College Football, Great Buffalo Sports, and National Polish-American Sports Halls of Fame. He has remained in the New Orleans area, and works as a financial planner.
October 19, 1966: Bobby Orr makes his NHL debut. He wears Number 27 and a crew cut, before receiving his iconic Number 4 the next season and letting his hair grow out into the more familiar hairstyle. He collects an assist, and the Boston Bruins beat the Detroit Red Wings, 6-2 at the Boston Garden.
October 19, 1967: Four years to the day after Philadelphia's current basketball team made its home debut, its hockey team does the same. There are notable differences: With the 76ers, it was at the classic Civic Center, and they lost; with the Flyers, it was at the brand-new Spectrum, and despite being an expansion team, they won.
At 2:59 into the 3rd period, Bill Sutherland puts the puck past Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Les Binkley, and the Flyers have a 1-0 win over their fellow "Second Six" Pennsylvanians, in the 1st regular-season game between them. When they won their 1st Stanley Cup, on May 19, 1974, it would also be at The Spectrum, and it would also be 1-0, over the Boston Bruins.
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October 19, 1971, 50 years ago: Matthew Alan Jackson is born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. A right back, Matt Jackson helped Merseyside club Everton win the 1995 FA Cup, and Manchester-area club Wigan Athletic reach the 2006 League Cup Final. He later served as Wigan's head of football operations.
October 19, 1967: Four years to the day after Philadelphia's current basketball team made its home debut, its hockey team does the same. There are notable differences: With the 76ers, it was at the classic Civic Center, and they lost; with the Flyers, it was at the brand-new Spectrum, and despite being an expansion team, they won.
At 2:59 into the 3rd period, Bill Sutherland puts the puck past Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Les Binkley, and the Flyers have a 1-0 win over their fellow "Second Six" Pennsylvanians, in the 1st regular-season game between them. When they won their 1st Stanley Cup, on May 19, 1974, it would also be at The Spectrum, and it would also be 1-0, over the Boston Bruins.
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October 19, 1971, 50 years ago: Matthew Alan Jackson is born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. A right back, Matt Jackson helped Merseyside club Everton win the 1995 FA Cup, and Manchester-area club Wigan Athletic reach the 2006 League Cup Final. He later served as Wigan's head of football operations.
October 19, 1976: For the 1st time, a World Series game is played at the renovated version of the original Yankee Stadium, the 1st in The Stadium since October 12, 1964. However, as was the case in the Stadium's 1st World Series in 1923, and would be at the new Stadium's 1st Series game in 2009, the premiere is a loss.
Jim Mason hits a home run, the only one the Yankees will hit in the Series. But the Cincinnati Reds tag Dock Ellis for 3 runs in the 2nd inning. Dan Driessen -- officially, the 1st designated hitter in National League history, since this was the 1st time the DH was used in the Series -- hits a home run in the 4th, and the Reds win 6-2, to take a 3 games to 0 lead.
The Reds were well-rested following their National League Championship Series win over the Philadelphia Phillies. The Yankees were physically and emotionally exhausted after their American League Championship Series against the Kansas City Royals, which went to the last inning of the last game before Chris Chambliss hit the winning home run. The Yankees weren't beaten embarrassingly in any individual game, but they were simply not ready for this Series.
The Reds wrapped up their back-to-back titles the next day, and, for only the 2nd (and so far last) time in their history, the Yankees were swept in a World Series. That has never happened to the Mets. Small consolation for them.
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October 19, 1981, 40 years ago: Game 5 of the NLCS. Rick Monday hits a solo home run with 2 out in the top of the 9th against Montreal's Steve Rogers, to give Los Angeles a 2-1 victory and a trip to the World Series.
The loss becomes known as Blue Monday, due to having been played in bitterly cold conditions in Montreal (the roof hadn't been finished yet), the Dodgers' uniforms being blue, and the day being a very sad (a.k.a. "blue") one for baseball fans in Quebec.
The Expos were within 1 run of reaching the World Series. They would never find that run. In fact, they would never play another postseason game before being moved out of town after the 2004 season. The story of that team is one of dashed hopes and awful losses, including, ultimately, the loss to the fans of the team itself.
In 2019, the Expos franchise beat the Dodgers to win the NL Division Series, and went on to appear in the World Series for the 1st time, and win it. But by this point, they were the Washington Nationals, so it did Montreal no good.
October 19, 1986: The Red Sox pound Dwight Gooden and 4 Met relievers in a 9-3 win. The Sox have now won the 1st 2 games of the World Series, both at Shea Stadium.
The next 3 – that's if a Game 5 is even necessary – will be at cozy Fenway Park. Suddenly, it looks like the Mets do not, as their arrogant fans believed pretty much since the end of the '85 regular season, have, as their new fight song says, "the teamwork to make the dream work." The dream is dying, and the little green pinball machine in the Back Bay is not a fitting emergency room in which to save its life.
Shocked at the defeat of the "inevitable" World Champion-to-be Mets, the Daily News puts out a next day’s headline of surprise and anger, referencing a food familiar to Bostonians: "BEANS!"
Of course, we know how that story ends. Don't we, Sox fans? Don't we????
On the same day, George Pipgras dies in Gainesville, Florida at age 86. "The Danish Viking" went 102-73 in a major league pitching career stretching from 1923 to 1935. He won the World Series with the Yankees in 1923, 1927, 1928 and 1932, leading the American League with 24 wins in 1928.
He later became an AL umpire, and, as the 1927 Yankees, Lou Gehrig's 1st World Championship team, were invited back for Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day on July 4, 1939, he was assigned as the home plate umpire. He also umpired in the 1940 All-Star Game and the 1944 World Series.
October 19, 1987: Black Monday. After the Dow Jones Industrial Average had the biggest drop, points-wise, in its history the preceding Friday, 108 points, and investors had all weekend long to worry, the Dow now has its biggest drop ever in terms of points, 508, 2,246.74 to 1,734 (a record long since broken), and its biggest drop ever in terms of percentage of total value, 22.6 percent (a record that still stands).
People began to wonder if this stock market crash would do what the one in 1929 did, and start a new depression. A cartoonist, remembering President Ronald Reagan's previous career as an actor, drew him "in his last and greatest role: The Herbert Hoover Story."
Ironically, the great conservative was saved by the heavy hand of the federal government: The Federal Reserve Board, chaired by Paul Volcker, appointed by Reagan's much-maligned predecessor, Jimmy Carter, stepped in, supplying banks with liquidity, and convincing them to lend to securities firms. As a result, the next day, the Dow had its largest one-day point gain ever, 102 points. Two days after that, the record was broken again, with the Dow rising 186 points. When 1987 ended, the Dow was still up 0.6 percent for the year.
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October 19, 1990: The Oakland Athletics were predicted to sweep the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series. Now, it looks like it will be the other way around. The Reds take Game 3 in Oakland, 8-3, thanks to 2 home runs by Chris Sabo and the pitching of Tom Browning.
Also on this day, East Brunswick High School defeats West Windsor-Plainsboro -- now known as West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South -- in football, 35-7. It was EBHS' homecoming, and, as a recent graduate, I attended.
We had never played West Windsor, and they didn't have a reputation for rough fans (and they still don't), so a fight in the stands would not have been expected. But it happened -- and it wasn't even fans of either of the opposing schools involved!
By this point, nearly every high school in Middlesex County, New Jersey had lights. One that didn't, and still doesn't, is South River, which took East Brunswick students from its opening in 1891 until EB's opening in 1958, and was EB's main sports rival from then until their declining enrollment forced conference realignment in 1976.
October 19, 1990: The Oakland Athletics were predicted to sweep the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series. Now, it looks like it will be the other way around. The Reds take Game 3 in Oakland, 8-3, thanks to 2 home runs by Chris Sabo and the pitching of Tom Browning.
Also on this day, East Brunswick High School defeats West Windsor-Plainsboro -- now known as West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South -- in football, 35-7. It was EBHS' homecoming, and, as a recent graduate, I attended.
We had never played West Windsor, and they didn't have a reputation for rough fans (and they still don't), so a fight in the stands would not have been expected. But it happened -- and it wasn't even fans of either of the opposing schools involved!
By this point, nearly every high school in Middlesex County, New Jersey had lights. One that didn't, and still doesn't, is South River, which took East Brunswick students from its opening in 1891 until EB's opening in 1958, and was EB's main sports rival from then until their declining enrollment forced conference realignment in 1976.
Madison Central, another neighbor and EB's main geographic/athletic rival, now known as Old Bridge, had the week off. So athletes from both schools, not playing on that Friday night, came to watch a game that could be a Playoff preview. (EB ended up making the Central Jersey Group IV Playoffs, WWP didn't.)
South River and Madison had no rivalry. The 2 towns don't border each other. The most that they have in common is that they both go to East Brunswick's Brunswick Square Mall to shop. But something started a fight. I was one of the people who tried to get closer, to get a better look, and I was hit in the head -- by a raw egg.
I was wearing an EB baseball cap, so I didn't even feel the impact. But I sure felt the raw egg dripping down from my cap into my left ear, and that was disgusting. And for 30 years, I've wondered: Who brings raw eggs to a football game -- when your team isn't even playing in it?
October 19, 1991, 20 years ago: Game 1 of the World Series. On July 7, umpire Steve Palermo had been shot, and, while he recovered, his umpiring career was over. He was invited to throw out the ceremonial first ball for this game. Despite still being on crutches, he was able to do it.
The Minnesota Twins do not lose postseason games at the Metrodome. (At least, not until they start playing the Yankees there.) Greg Gagne and Kent Hrbek hit home runs to back Jack Morris, and the Twins beat the Atlanta Braves 5-2.
South River and Madison had no rivalry. The 2 towns don't border each other. The most that they have in common is that they both go to East Brunswick's Brunswick Square Mall to shop. But something started a fight. I was one of the people who tried to get closer, to get a better look, and I was hit in the head -- by a raw egg.
I was wearing an EB baseball cap, so I didn't even feel the impact. But I sure felt the raw egg dripping down from my cap into my left ear, and that was disgusting. And for 30 years, I've wondered: Who brings raw eggs to a football game -- when your team isn't even playing in it?
October 19, 1991, 20 years ago: Game 1 of the World Series. On July 7, umpire Steve Palermo had been shot, and, while he recovered, his umpiring career was over. He was invited to throw out the ceremonial first ball for this game. Despite still being on crutches, he was able to do it.
The Minnesota Twins do not lose postseason games at the Metrodome. (At least, not until they start playing the Yankees there.) Greg Gagne and Kent Hrbek hit home runs to back Jack Morris, and the Twins beat the Atlanta Braves 5-2.
October 19, 1999: A wild NLCS, just 2 days after Robin Ventura's "Grand Slam Single" won Game 5 at Shea Stadium, moves on to an even wilder Game 6 at Turner Field in Atlanta. The Braves blow Al Leiter off the mound with 5 runs in the 1st inning, and later lead the Mets 7-3. But the Mets storm back, with Mike Piazza tying the game with a home run. The Braves take an 8-7 lead late, but the Mets tie it. The Mets take a 9-8 lead in the 10th, but the Braves tie it.
In the bottom of the 11th, the Braves load the bases, and Met manager Bobby Valentine, instead of bringing in righthanded reliever Octavio Dotel to pitch to righthanded hitter Andruw Jones, brings in lefthander Kenny Rogers. Rogers has been one of the top pitchers in baseball in regular-season play the last few years, but his postseason experience has been limited to some terrible outings for the Yankees in 1996 and '97. For whatever reason, Valentine brings him in to face the Braves'
kinderwonder from the Netherlands Antilles.
I watched this game on TV with my father, who was a nominal Met fan (the only sports team he really cared about was Rutgers football), and it was this series, with all its twists and turns, that led him to finally understand what lunatics like me see in the game of baseball. And I remember telling him, late in the game, that this game and this series deserved to end with a hero, and that it would be a shame if it ended with a goat.
Did it end with a hero or a goat? It involved the Mets, so take a wild guess. With a 3-2 count on Jones, Rogers threw a pitch low and outside. Ball 4. 10-9 Braves. Winning run forced home. Pennant dream over.
If Jones had gotten a hit, to drive home the Pennant-winning run, he would have been a hero, and you couldn't really criticize anyone on the Mets. They had fought gallantly, at moments even brilliantly, from a 3-games-to-none deficit.
Of course, no one had ever come back from such a deficit to win a postseason series. Not in baseball, anyway. None had even forced a Game 7. None had even forced a Game 6 until the Braves themselves did it the year before against the San Diego Padres in the NLCS.
Back from 3-0 to win the series? That was never going to happen in baseball. Everybody who had ever watched baseball was thinking that in October 1999. If only it had stayed that way for 5 more years, plus a couple more days.
Was the goat Rogers, for pitching poorly when his team needed him to get one more out and get out of the 11th-inning jam? Or was the goat Valentine, for yet another dimwitted bullpen move? (Paging Mel Rojas, and that was in a game with far less significance.)
Did this move convince him to leave Leiter in to face Luis Sojo in Game 5 of the next year’s World Series after 141 pitches? Who knows. Bobby V himself probably doesn’t know.
What is known is that the Mets had taken their fans on a thrilling ride, their first October ride in 11 years, and provided them with treasured moments on the ride... and then they crashed. What a way for the Mets and their fans to end the 20th Century.
*
October 19, 2001, 20 years ago: Woody Dumart dies in Boston at age 84. A left wing, he, center Milt Schmidt, and right wing Bobby Bauer were all from Kitchener, Ontario, a city that had a lot of German immigrants, and was originally named Berlin. During World War I, the name was changed in memory of the Earl Kitchener, Britain's Secretary of State for War, who died on a ship sunk by a mine in 1916.
Dumart, Schmidt and Bauer were on a forward line together starting in 1937, and, because of their ancestry, were nicknamed the Kraut Line. After the U.S. got into World War II, and Germany was once again an enemy, they began to be called the Kitchener Line. After helping the Bruins win the 1939 and 1941 Stanley Cups, all 3 enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force at the conclusion of the 1941-42 season.
All 3 returned from The War in 1945, and all 3 would play in the 1st official NHL All-Star Game in 1947. Bauer played just 2 more years with the Bruins, before making a 1-game comeback in 1952. Dumart remained with the Bruins through 1954, Schmidt through 1955. Dumart scored 211 goals in his career, a pretty good total considering that a regular season was 50 games for most of his career.
All 3 would be elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Bauer was the 1st to die, in 1964; Schmidt lived on until 2017.
October 19, 2003: The Yankees bounce back behind Andy Pettitte to tie the World Series at 1 game apiece, with a 6-1 triumph over the Florida Marlins in Game 2. Hideki Matsui's 3-run homer in the 1st inning is all Pettitte needs. Alfonso Soriano also homers. Mark Redman takes the loss for the Marlins.
Nobody knows it at the time, and it would seem truly shocking to those fans still on a high after the Aaron Boone homer 3 days earlier, but this is the last World Series game the Yankees would ever win at the House That Ruth Built.
*
October 19, 2004: Game 6 of the ALCS. The Yankees had been 3 outs away from a sweep and the Pennant in Game 4. But the Sox had come from behind in both that game and Game 5 to make it a 3-2 series.
No matter, the series had come back to Yankee Stadium, home of Mystique and Aura and 39 American League Pennants and 26 World Championships. All the Yanks had to do was win tonight, and all those brand-new Sox memories would have been as wasted as Carlton Fisk's home run that won Game 6 of the 1975 World Series.
Except Curt Schilling was pitching for the Sox. So badly hurt that he couldn't pitch well in Game 1, he'd had a special surgery on his ankle that allowed him to pitch tonight.
And the Yankees refused to test that ankle by bunting on him. John McGraw would have done it. Casey Stengel would have done it. Earl Weaver (not a New York manager but a crafty one) would have done it. You can be damn sure that Billy Martin would have done it. Joe Torre didn't do it. What good is "class" if you lose? Especially to The Scum?
Schilling pitched 7 solid innings, and Mark Bellhorn (cough-steroids-cough) hit a home run. It was a reverse of the Jeffrey Maier play in 1996: The ball hit a front-row fan in the chest and bounced back onto the field. It was an obvious home run, but the umpires ruled it went off the wall. Sox manager Terry Francona appealed, and the ruling was (sadly, but correctly) changed to a homer.
The Sox still led 4-2 in the bottom of the 8th, but the Yankees got Derek Jeter on 1st. With 1 out, Alex Rodriguez came to the plate. While he hadn't gotten a key hit that could have won Game 4 or Game 5, he does not yet have the reputation as a player who can't handle the postseason or other clutch situations. And the pitcher is Bronson Arroyo, Captain Cornrows (cough-steroids-cough), whose purpose pitch to A-Rod's back at Fenway back in July led to a nasty brawl.
Alex hits a weak grounder back to the mound. If he'd just gotten the ball over the infield for a hit, what happened next would have been avoided.
As Arroyo tries to make the tag just before 1st base, he (or so it first appears) drops the ball. It's been 18 years (minus 6 days) since the Bill Buckner Game. Now, at another New York ballpark in October, a ball rolls away from 1st base down the right-field line, and a run scores against the Red Sox! It's 4-3 Boston, and A-Rod is on 2nd with the tying run! The Stadium is going bananas! Red Sox fans are in full "Oh, noooo, not again! It can't be happening again!" mode.
Except this call is reversed as well. It's The Slap Play. A-Rod slapped the ball out of Arroyo's glove. It met baseball's legal definition of interference, and he was called out.
What's more, Jeter was sent back to 1st. That's the part that bothers me, ruling-wise: Jeter had nothing to do with the interference, and he would have had 2nd legitimately even if A-Rod had done nothing out of the ordinary, and Arroyo had been allowed to properly tag him out. It wasn't Jeter's fault: 2nd base was rightfully his, interference or no, even if 3rd and home were not.
This killed the rally, but, as mad as I was at the umpires, A-Rod was rightfully the real target of Yankee Fans' wrath, including my own. This was the beginning of A-Rod's image as "a player who screws the Yankees over in the clutch," and he did not shake it until October 2009. Though he did his damnedest to restore it in the next 3 Octobers, and again in 2015. (So how many bad Octobers does one good October excuse? Apparently, at least 8.)
The Sox held on to win by that same 4-2 score, and the series was tied, the 1st time a Major League Baseball team had ever come back from 3-games-to-none down to force a Game 7.
For the first time since I became aware of the Curse of the Bambino, I believed it was not going to work. As the man who popularized the Curse, Boston Globe sports columnist Dan Shaughnessy, pointed out, the kinds of things that usually went against the Red Sox and/or in the Yankees' favor were now working the other way around.
As bad as the next night was, Game 6 was really the day that any curse, jinx, hex, hoodoo, hammer, whammy, whommy, whatever you want to call it, that the Yankees had over the Red Sox came to an end.
And those of us who are old enough to remember could feel it coming. I had no confidence at all that the Yankees would win Game 7, not even at home, especially with their starting pitching options so messed-up. As the aforementioned Doris Kearns Goodwin,a Brooklyn Dodger fan as a kid but a Red Sox fan since going to Harvard, likes to say, "There's always these omens in baseball." This was an omen to rival Damien Thorn.
Had the Yankees won Game 6, there would have been no Game 7. David Ortiz's "heroics" of Game 4 and Game 5 would have been meaningless, as they were the year before. They would have been no more consequential than Fisk's homer in '75, or Jim Leyritz's Playoff homer against the Seattle Mariners in the 1995 AL Division Series was for us, or Robin Ventura's "Grand Slam Single" for the Mets against the Braves in the 1999 NLCS: Thrilling, but not preventing the ultimate loss of the series. The Yankees would have prepared for the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, and probably won it.
If that had happened, you can be damn sure that the outcry from Red Sox fans (and fans of other teams that hate the Yankees) that, due to the steroid use of A-Rod, Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield, "The Yankees cheated" and should be stripped of their Pennant and title. And their willing accomplices in the media would have gone along with it. There would have been a cloud over the Yankees, the way there never has been over the Red Sox, who, through Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, were far more reliant on performance-enhancing drugs, and, from 2003 to 2016, the Big Papi Years, probably wouldn't even have made the Playoffs, much less won 3 World Series.
The Yankees wouldn't have gotten away with it, as the Red Sox always have.
Still, having that cloud over us -- which we essentially had put over us anyway -- would have been preferable to the insufferable unearned arrogance of the Boston fans of the last 15 years, especially the bandwagoners.
And I still want the blood on Schilling's sock tested! I think he was using steroids, too! And somebody else must think so. It can't be only his rotten personality, his politics, and his post-retirement business shenanigans that's keeping him out of the Hall of Fame. If anything, those things, as bad as they are, should be irrelevant as to whether he belongs in Cooperstown.
*
October 19, 2005: The Houston Astros clinch the 1st Pennant in their 44-season history, as they defeat the St. Louis Cardinals‚ 5-1‚ to win the NLCS 4-games-to-2. Roy Oswalt gets the victory for Houston, while Jason Lane hits a home run. Oswalt is named the series MVP for his 2 victories.
As bad as the next night was, Game 6 was really the day that any curse, jinx, hex, hoodoo, hammer, whammy, whommy, whatever you want to call it, that the Yankees had over the Red Sox came to an end.
And those of us who are old enough to remember could feel it coming. I had no confidence at all that the Yankees would win Game 7, not even at home, especially with their starting pitching options so messed-up. As the aforementioned Doris Kearns Goodwin,a Brooklyn Dodger fan as a kid but a Red Sox fan since going to Harvard, likes to say, "There's always these omens in baseball." This was an omen to rival Damien Thorn.
Had the Yankees won Game 6, there would have been no Game 7. David Ortiz's "heroics" of Game 4 and Game 5 would have been meaningless, as they were the year before. They would have been no more consequential than Fisk's homer in '75, or Jim Leyritz's Playoff homer against the Seattle Mariners in the 1995 AL Division Series was for us, or Robin Ventura's "Grand Slam Single" for the Mets against the Braves in the 1999 NLCS: Thrilling, but not preventing the ultimate loss of the series. The Yankees would have prepared for the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, and probably won it.
If that had happened, you can be damn sure that the outcry from Red Sox fans (and fans of other teams that hate the Yankees) that, due to the steroid use of A-Rod, Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield, "The Yankees cheated" and should be stripped of their Pennant and title. And their willing accomplices in the media would have gone along with it. There would have been a cloud over the Yankees, the way there never has been over the Red Sox, who, through Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, were far more reliant on performance-enhancing drugs, and, from 2003 to 2016, the Big Papi Years, probably wouldn't even have made the Playoffs, much less won 3 World Series.
The Yankees wouldn't have gotten away with it, as the Red Sox always have.
Still, having that cloud over us -- which we essentially had put over us anyway -- would have been preferable to the insufferable unearned arrogance of the Boston fans of the last 15 years, especially the bandwagoners.
And I still want the blood on Schilling's sock tested! I think he was using steroids, too! And somebody else must think so. It can't be only his rotten personality, his politics, and his post-retirement business shenanigans that's keeping him out of the Hall of Fame. If anything, those things, as bad as they are, should be irrelevant as to whether he belongs in Cooperstown.
*
October 19, 2005: The Houston Astros clinch the 1st Pennant in their 44-season history, as they defeat the St. Louis Cardinals‚ 5-1‚ to win the NLCS 4-games-to-2. Roy Oswalt gets the victory for Houston, while Jason Lane hits a home run. Oswalt is named the series MVP for his 2 victories.
This was the 1st major league Pennant ever won by a Texas-based team. Texas League Pennants had been won by the Houston Buffaloes 17 times between 1889 and 1957, 11 by teams from Dallas and 12 by teams from Fort Worth. But this was the 1st at the major league level.
It was also the last sporting event ever held at Busch Memorial Stadium in its 40 seasons of operation.
It had hosted the baseball Cardinals since 1966, the football Cardinals from 1966 to 1987, the Rams for 3 games before their dome opened in 1995, and a few short-lived pro soccer teams.
October 19, 2006: Game 7 of the NLCS at Shea Stadium. Mets and Cardinals for the Pennant. In the top of the 6th, Met starter Oliver Perez has held the Cards to a 1-1 tie, but Scott Rolen blasts a drive to deep left field. It looks like a 2-run home run, the kind of big-game shot that fans of the losing team will lament for the rest of their lives.
Except Endy Chavez jumps up, reaches over the top of the wall, and snares it. He then fires back to the infield to double Jim Edmonds off 1st and end the threat. Shea erupts in fan noise.
It seemed like one of "these omens in baseball," that historian Doris Kearns Goodwin likes to talk about. It is the greatest catch made by a Met since Tommie Agee and Ron Swoboda in the 1969 World Series. It is, potentially, the most important defensive play made by a Met since the "Ball Off the Wall Play" against the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 20, 1973, by Cleon Jones, Wayne Garrett and Ron Hodges.
This was a sign. This was it. This was the Mets' year. And the Yankees had already been eliminated. They're taking New York back. They're taking New York back tonight!
In the top of the 9th, the score still 1-1, the Cards had a man on, and catcher Yadier Molina stepped up against Met reliever Aaron Heilman. If Heilman could just get out of this inning, the Mets would have the meat of their order coming up in the bottom of the 9th. And while Molina is one of the best defensive catchers of our time, he was not, then, regarded as much of a hitter.
In the bottom of the 9th, Jose Valentin and Chavez lead off with singles off rookie closer Adam Wainwright. The tying runs are on base, and the Pennant-winning run at the plate, with nobody out. And Shea is buzzing again, as if the Molina homer hadn't happened.
But Wainwright strikes Cliff Floyd out looking, and gets Jose Reyes to fly out. Wainwright walks Paul Lo Duca to bring up Carlos Beltrán with the bases loaded, with the Pennant-winning run on 1st, and 2 men out.
Wainwright throws a curve on the outside corner. Just like Floyd, Beltrán never even takes the bat off his shoulder. Strike 3. Ballgame over. Pennant dream over. Mets lose. Theeeeeeee Mets lose.
For the 2nd time, the Cardinals have a Pennant-winning top of the 9th home run. The 1st time was Jack Clark against the Dodgers in Game 6 of the 1985 NLCS.
This was an absolutely crushing defeat. How could the Mets blow it? After all, they were the best team in baseball, right? Certainly, the 97-win Mets were better than the 83-win Cards, right? Beyond any doubt, the Mets were now the best team in New York, better than the Yankees, right? How could this happen?
It could happen because the Mets choked. Again. Game 7 of the '06 NLCS was the last postseason game played at Shea Stadium. Then came the near-misses of the next 2 years, and a dreary down period. Then came a thrilling run to the 2015 Pennant, and blowing all 5 games of the World Series, including the one they ended up winning, followed by a Wild Card berth in 2016, and then this year's collapse. The Curse of Kevin Mitchell lives.
Ironically, the temporary hero Chavez and the permanent goat Heilman would end up being traded away together, the Mets sending them to the Mariners after the 2008 season. And, in October 2013, Carlos Beltrán played in the World Series... for the Cardinals.
*
October 19, 2008: Behind the solid performance of starter Matt Garza and the stellar relief work of rookie David Price to finish the game, which included striking out J.D. Drew with the bases loaded to end the 8th, the Tampa Bay Rays beat the defending World Champion * Red Sox, 3-1, in the decisive Game 7 of the ALCS, to win their 1st Pennant.
Except Endy Chavez jumps up, reaches over the top of the wall, and snares it. He then fires back to the infield to double Jim Edmonds off 1st and end the threat. Shea erupts in fan noise.
It seemed like one of "these omens in baseball," that historian Doris Kearns Goodwin likes to talk about. It is the greatest catch made by a Met since Tommie Agee and Ron Swoboda in the 1969 World Series. It is, potentially, the most important defensive play made by a Met since the "Ball Off the Wall Play" against the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 20, 1973, by Cleon Jones, Wayne Garrett and Ron Hodges.
This was a sign. This was it. This was the Mets' year. And the Yankees had already been eliminated. They're taking New York back. They're taking New York back tonight!
In the top of the 9th, the score still 1-1, the Cards had a man on, and catcher Yadier Molina stepped up against Met reliever Aaron Heilman. If Heilman could just get out of this inning, the Mets would have the meat of their order coming up in the bottom of the 9th. And while Molina is one of the best defensive catchers of our time, he was not, then, regarded as much of a hitter.
But he hits a drive to left, and Chavez can't reach this one. No one can. Home run. Cards 3, Mets 1, and the Mets are down to their last 3 outs.
In the bottom of the 9th, Jose Valentin and Chavez lead off with singles off rookie closer Adam Wainwright. The tying runs are on base, and the Pennant-winning run at the plate, with nobody out. And Shea is buzzing again, as if the Molina homer hadn't happened.
But Wainwright strikes Cliff Floyd out looking, and gets Jose Reyes to fly out. Wainwright walks Paul Lo Duca to bring up Carlos Beltrán with the bases loaded, with the Pennant-winning run on 1st, and 2 men out.
Wainwright throws a curve on the outside corner. Just like Floyd, Beltrán never even takes the bat off his shoulder. Strike 3. Ballgame over. Pennant dream over. Mets lose. Theeeeeeee Mets lose.
For the 2nd time, the Cardinals have a Pennant-winning top of the 9th home run. The 1st time was Jack Clark against the Dodgers in Game 6 of the 1985 NLCS.
This was an absolutely crushing defeat. How could the Mets blow it? After all, they were the best team in baseball, right? Certainly, the 97-win Mets were better than the 83-win Cards, right? Beyond any doubt, the Mets were now the best team in New York, better than the Yankees, right? How could this happen?
It could happen because the Mets choked. Again. Game 7 of the '06 NLCS was the last postseason game played at Shea Stadium. Then came the near-misses of the next 2 years, and a dreary down period. Then came a thrilling run to the 2015 Pennant, and blowing all 5 games of the World Series, including the one they ended up winning, followed by a Wild Card berth in 2016, and then this year's collapse. The Curse of Kevin Mitchell lives.
Ironically, the temporary hero Chavez and the permanent goat Heilman would end up being traded away together, the Mets sending them to the Mariners after the 2008 season. And, in October 2013, Carlos Beltrán played in the World Series... for the Cardinals.
*
October 19, 2008: Behind the solid performance of starter Matt Garza and the stellar relief work of rookie David Price to finish the game, which included striking out J.D. Drew with the bases loaded to end the 8th, the Tampa Bay Rays beat the defending World Champion * Red Sox, 3-1, in the decisive Game 7 of the ALCS, to win their 1st Pennant.
After posting the worst record in baseball in the preceding season, the Rays advance to the World Series, and will host the Phillies in Game 1 of the Fall Classic at Tropicana Field.
This was the 1st major league Pennant won by a baseball team in the Tampa Bay region. Florida State League Pennants had been won by teams from Tampa 5 times and St. Petersburg 7 times.
October 19, 2009: Game 3 of the ALCS at Angel Stadium. The Yankees hit 4 home runs against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: Derek Jeter to lead off the game, Alex Rodriguez to continue his postseason hot streak, Johnny Damon and Jorge Posada. The problem is, they're all solo home runs.
Howie Kendrick hits a solo homer off Andy Pettitte in the 5th inning, and Vladimir Guerrero hits a 2-run shot in the 6th. Posada's homer ties it in the 8th. The Angels load the bases with 1 out in the 10th, but Mariano Rivera gets out of it.
In the 11th, David Robertson gets the 1st 2 outs. Then Joe Girardi looks into his binder, and decides to remove Robertson for Alfredo Aceves. Aceves had been one of the Yankees' bullpen heroes that season. Not this time: He gives up a single to Kendrick and an RBI double to Jeff Mathis. Angels 5, Yankees 4.
Aceves had also given up a go-ahead run in the 11th inning of Game 2, which had been erased by an A-Rod homer. This time, he doesn't get away with it. The winning pitcher is the aforementioned Ervin Santana.
The other Los Angeles team also blows a postseason lead on this day. In Game 4 of the NLCS at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, the Dodgers lead the Phillies 4-3 going to the bottom of the 9th. Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you. Jonathan Broxton walks Matt Stairs, and hits Carlos Ruiz with a pitch. He gets the 2nd out, but Jimmy Rollins doubles into the gap in right-center, and the Phillies win 5-4.
It was later reported that Manny Ramirez, then with the Dodgers, left the dugout and started taking a shower before the game was over. Not the most bizarre episode of "Manny Being Manny," but a very disrespectful one.
*
October 19, 2010: The Yankees pay tribute to Freddy Schuman, a fan favorite at the ballpark since 1988 due to his signs and the rhythmic banging of a spoon against a skillet, by putting some of his memorabilia inside Gate 4 at the Stadium, and with a moment of silence prior to Game 4 of the ALCS.
The fans also show their appreciation of 85-year old iconic "Freddy Sez" when they photograph friends banging his displayed pan, and with their chanting of "Fred-dy! Fred-dy!" during the contest against the Rangers.
The Yankees blow a 3-2 lead, and lose 10-3. The Rangers have now blown the Yankees out 3 games in a row, and are 1 win away from the 1st Pennant in their 39-season history.
October 19, 2019: Game 6 of the ALCS at Minute Maid Park. The Yankees need to beat the Houston Astros to force a Game 7. Both teams are doing the "bullpen game" or "opener" thing. Brian Cashman picks Chad Green to start, and Aaron Boone follows orders. Green allows 3 runs in the 1st inning.
Brad Peacock starts for the Astros, and the Yankees score 1 run on him in the 2nd. Gio Urshela hits a home run in the 4th to make it 3-2 Houston. J.A. Happ pitches a scoreless 2nd and 3rd. Cashman selects Luis Cessa to pitch the 4th and the 5th, making every Yankee Fan cringe, but he gets the job done. Tommy Kahnle pitches the 6th, and allows a run, and this turns out to be critical.
Cashman selects Adam Ottavino to pitch the 7th, making every Yankee Fan cringe, but he gets the job done. Zack Britton pitches a scoreless 8th, but it's still 4-2 Houston.
In the top of the 9th, with the Yankees down to their last out of the season, DJ LeMahieu ties it with a 2-run homer. Aroldis Chapman gets the 1st 2 outs in the 9th, but the bullpen is depleted, and we don't know wh o would pitch in extra innings.
It doesn't get that far. Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you. Chapman walks George Springer. And then he serves an absolute meatball up to José Altuve, and he crushes it for a Pennant-winning home run, 6-4.
When he approaches his celebrating teammates at home plate, Altuve tells his teammates not to rip his jersey open. Was it because there was a hidden device to let him know what pitches were coming?
In the off-season, the Astros' cheating was revealed. The team's punishment was minimal -- really, only slightly more than the absolute nothing the Red Sox have gotten for their 4 stolen World Series in this Century. Altuve himself was not punished at all.
There will always be a cloud over the Astros' achievements from 2015 onward. But that cloud is insufficient. If MLB did things the way the NCAA does, the Red Sox and Astros would have been stripped of their titles, banned from postseason play for a year or two, and even banned from appearing on national television for a time. Indeed, in relation to the Astros, that very punishment was given to the University of Houston football program in 1989.
And yet, it would have mattered considerably less had Cashman acquired the starting pitching that would have won the Pennant. He didn't. It also might have mattered less had Cashman allowed Boone to manage his own games. He didn't. He still doesn't. And the Yankees are still looking for their 1st Pennant since 2009.
October 19, 2032: According to "One Small Step," an episode of Star Trek: Voyager, this was the date on which Ares IV became the 1st manned mission intended to land on the planet Mars. It goes wrong when a graviton ellipse sucks in the command module, including the commanding officer, Lieutenant John Kelly (played by Phil Morris), leaving the other 2 astronauts on the Martian surface. They end up having to be rescued.
Kelly lives for another 10 days before his life support runs out, and records a log entry in which he laments that, as a Yankee Fan, he's going to die without finding out who wins the World Series.
The crew of the USS Voyager find the command module, including Kelly's body, and give him a proper funeral. Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), having looked up the result of the 2032 World Series, stands over Kelly's coffin, says, "The Yankees, in 6 games." She does not mention who their opponents were.
A novelization of the episode states that the opponents were the London Kings. Despite the Yankees' real-life regular-season games with the Boston Red Sox in 2019, and a previous Deep Space Nine episode having the Kings be in existence since at least 2015, winning the World Series that year, instead of the Kansas City Royals as in real life, I doubt that there will be a MLB team in London, or anywhere else off the North American continent, by 2032.
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