October 30, 1941, 80 years ago: Robert Primrose Wilson is born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. He was the youngest of 6 children, including 2 brothers who were killed fighting the Nazis in World War II. He attended Loughborough University in Leicestershire, after his father, Chesterfield's Borough Engineer and Surveyor, refused to let him sign for Manchester United, thinking sport not a proper job. So he started at Loughborough College of Further Education, to train as a teacher, and was eventually certified as such.
But Wolverhampton Wanderers, near Birmingham, signed him to play as an amateur, something his father couldn't stop. In July 1963, having turned 21, he could sign professional papers, and did so after North London team Arsenal purchased his rights.
He made his debut on October 26, 1963, at home at the Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury, a 4-2 win over Nottingham Forest. But Jim Furnell was the starting goalkeeper, and Bob had to wait his chance. It finally came in 1968, when a mistake that knocked Arsenal out of the FA Cup led manager Bertie Mee to take Furnell out and put Bob in.
Bob remained the starter until retiring in 1974. In between, showing what Frank McLintock, defender, Captain and fellow Scotsman, called "the heart of a lion," he helped Arsenal win the 1970 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, and "the Double" of the Football League Division One and the FA Cup in 1971.
Although born in England, his parents were from Scotland, and he has always identified as Scottish. Yet he was only selected to play for Scotland twice. It wasn't all his fault: It was only in 1970 that the rules changed and allowed players to play for their parents' countries of origin, not just their birthplaces. A previous Arsenal star, Joe Baker, was the son of Scots and always had a Scottish accent. But he was born in Liverpool, and became the 1st man who had never played for an English team to play for the England national team. His brother Geoff was born in New Rochelle, New York, and had to play for the U.S. team despite living most of his life off the North American continent.
So Bob Wilson refused to play for England, and didn't get to play his 1st international match until October 13, 1971, when he was approaching his 30th birthday. Scotland beat Portugal 2-1 at Hampden Park in Glasgow. He also played against the Netherlands on December 1, a 2-1 loss at the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam.
Scotland manager Tommy Docherty, himself a former Arsenal player, then dropped Bob in favor of Bobby Clark of Scottish team Aberdeen. Despite all their talent from England and from Scotland, Arsenal players saw precious few international "caps" in that era.
Bob later became Arsenal's goalkeeping coach, with Pat Rice as defensive coach, under manager George Graham, the 3 members of the 1971 Double team taking them to the 1989 and 1991 League titles. Arsène Wenger kept Bob and Pat on, and they remained with the team through the 1998 and 2002 Doubles. Bob then retired, although Pat remained as assistant coach through 2012.
He and his wife Megs have been married for 57 years. They had 3 children, including daughter Anna, who died from cancer, leading Bob to found the Willow Foundation (the name taken from a nickname of his). In 2011, at age 70, he made a charity bicycle ride to all 20 of England's Premier League (successor to the old Division One) stadiums, and on to Hampden Park, Scotland's national stadium in Glasgow. He has since survived cancer himself, and is doing well.
He and his wife Megs have been married for 57 years. They had 3 children, including daughter Anna, who died from cancer, leading Bob to found the Willow Foundation (the name taken from a nickname of his). In 2011, at age 70, he made a charity bicycle ride to all 20 of England's Premier League (successor to the old Division One) stadiums, and on to Hampden Park, Scotland's national stadium in Glasgow. He has since survived cancer himself, and is doing well.
Today, on his 80th birthday, Arsenal defeated Leicester City, 2-0 in Leicester. Arsenal's new goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale had little to do in the 1st half, but made some sensational saves in the 2nd half. A nice tribute to the man who, perhaps even more than later stars Pat Jennings, David Seaman and Jens Lehmann, may still be Arsenal's greatest goalkeeper.
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October 30, 1735: John Adams (no middle name) is born in a part of Braintree, Massachusetts that has since been separated and renamed Quincy. His son, John Quincy Adams, would be born in a house next-door in 1767.
"The Atlas of Independence" would have been one of the most important figures in early American history even if he hadn't been the 2nd President of the United States, from 1797 to 1801. And he probably would have been a lot happier.
Although he lived his entire life -- like his friend and rival, Thomas Jefferson, he died on the 50th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1826 -- before the rise of sports as big business, he would have understood sports in Boston. He was pompous and fatalistic at the same time, yet an intellectual like the pre-1999 image of the typical Red Sox fan. And he was as fat as David Ortiz. But he never would have cheated.
October 30, 1748: Martha Wayles is born in Charles City, Virginia. She was a widow who had inherited her husband's slaves when she married Thomas Jefferson in 1772. She had 7 children, 6 with Thomas, but only 2 of the 7 (both daughters) lived to adulthood, and she died in 1782, probably from diabetes, at age 33, having been the First Lady of Virginia, as Thomas had served as Governor, but not the First Lady of the United States.
She made Thomas promise that he would never remarry, and he never did. But one of the slaves that Martha inherited was Betty Hemings, who had a daughter named Sally, who may have been Martha's half-sister. By the time she grew up, Jefferson may have noticed a resemblance between Sally and his wife. Although the science hasn't made it definitive, it has become socio-historically accepted that Sally's 6 children were all fathered by Thomas Jefferson.
October 30, 1812: Despite the War of 1812 being on, the American Presidential election is held as scheduled. President James Madison is re-elected, defeating the Federalist Party nominee, DeWitt Clinton, a former Mayor of New York and U.S. Senator, who would later be elected Governor and build the Erie Canal.
Not all of the 18 States then in the Union posted their popular votes. Based on the information we have, the election was close, with Madison scraping a bare majority. It's Electoral Votes that count, and Madison, though the war wasn't going well and he wasn't especially popular, won 128, to Clinton's 89.
DeWitt Clinton would never get close to the Presidency again. His uncle, George Clinton was the outgoing Vice President. Madison replaced him with an ally, Congressional leader Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, in the hopes of breaking the Federalist stranglehold on New England. (It didn't work: Of the 6 States in that region, Madison-Gerry won only Vermont.) Gerry then went on to become the 1st Vice President to die in office.
The war would continue to go badly, with the British burning Washington, including the White House, on August 24, 1814. Madison and his wife Dolley escaped. Oddly, this greatest humiliation in American history made the people rally around Madison, and, with the war 2 years over and pride restored with the Battles of Fort McHenry (Baltimore) and New Orleans, he left the Presidency beloved.
"The Atlas of Independence" would have been one of the most important figures in early American history even if he hadn't been the 2nd President of the United States, from 1797 to 1801. And he probably would have been a lot happier.
Although he lived his entire life -- like his friend and rival, Thomas Jefferson, he died on the 50th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1826 -- before the rise of sports as big business, he would have understood sports in Boston. He was pompous and fatalistic at the same time, yet an intellectual like the pre-1999 image of the typical Red Sox fan. And he was as fat as David Ortiz. But he never would have cheated.
October 30, 1748: Martha Wayles is born in Charles City, Virginia. She was a widow who had inherited her husband's slaves when she married Thomas Jefferson in 1772. She had 7 children, 6 with Thomas, but only 2 of the 7 (both daughters) lived to adulthood, and she died in 1782, probably from diabetes, at age 33, having been the First Lady of Virginia, as Thomas had served as Governor, but not the First Lady of the United States.
She made Thomas promise that he would never remarry, and he never did. But one of the slaves that Martha inherited was Betty Hemings, who had a daughter named Sally, who may have been Martha's half-sister. By the time she grew up, Jefferson may have noticed a resemblance between Sally and his wife. Although the science hasn't made it definitive, it has become socio-historically accepted that Sally's 6 children were all fathered by Thomas Jefferson.
October 30, 1812: Despite the War of 1812 being on, the American Presidential election is held as scheduled. President James Madison is re-elected, defeating the Federalist Party nominee, DeWitt Clinton, a former Mayor of New York and U.S. Senator, who would later be elected Governor and build the Erie Canal.
Not all of the 18 States then in the Union posted their popular votes. Based on the information we have, the election was close, with Madison scraping a bare majority. It's Electoral Votes that count, and Madison, though the war wasn't going well and he wasn't especially popular, won 128, to Clinton's 89.
DeWitt Clinton would never get close to the Presidency again. His uncle, George Clinton was the outgoing Vice President. Madison replaced him with an ally, Congressional leader Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, in the hopes of breaking the Federalist stranglehold on New England. (It didn't work: Of the 6 States in that region, Madison-Gerry won only Vermont.) Gerry then went on to become the 1st Vice President to die in office.
The war would continue to go badly, with the British burning Washington, including the White House, on August 24, 1814. Madison and his wife Dolley escaped. Oddly, this greatest humiliation in American history made the people rally around Madison, and, with the war 2 years over and pride restored with the Battles of Fort McHenry (Baltimore) and New Orleans, he left the Presidency beloved.
October 30, 1840: William Henry Harrison is elected the 9th President of the United States, defeating the incumbent, Martin Van Buren. Harrison won 234 Electoral Votes to Van Buren's 60, and 53 percent of the popular vote to Van Buren's 47.
It has been called the 1st modern Presidential campaign, with newspapers affiliated with the Whig Party making Harrison the 1st mass media candidate, printing editorials and songs in his favor. It was said that Harrison was "sung into the White House." Songs told of his heroism at the Battle of Tippecanoe in Indiana Territory in 1811.
His running mate was John Tyler, and they became known in song as "Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too." This started the tradition of rhyming campaign slogans, which worked better with some tickets than others. Thomas Hendricks may have been a good politician, but, in 1884, he probably didn't like being called Grover Cleveland's "appendix."
The songs compared Van Buren's great wealth to Harrison's homespun image, leading to the term "the Log Cabin and Hard Cider Campaign," as opposed to Van Buren's mansion and champagne.
It was pure baloney: Van Buren was a self-made rich man, and Harrison was born on the Virginia plantation of a fabulously wealthy signer of the Declaration of Independence, and had mansions in both Ohio and Indiana. But, as with Donald Trump 180 years later, people didn't want to know the truth.
On March 4, 1841, Harrison gave an Inaugural Address that lasted an hour and 45 minutes, in a freezing rain, without a coat, a hat, or gloves. On April 4, 1841, just 31 days later, he died. It's not clear if the longest Inaugural Address caused the shortest Presidency, but it's generally accepted that it did.
October 30, 1867: Edward James Delahanty is born in Cleveland. Ed Delahanty was 1 of a record 5 brothers to play Major League Baseball. Tom got 16 career hits. Joe had 222. Frank had 223. Jim had 1,159. Between them, they had 1,620. But Big Ed had 2,596 all by himself. A left fielder for most of his career, Ed batted .346 lifetime, peaking at .410 in 1899, and put together an astonishing 152 OPS+. He had 7 100+ RBI seasons, which was stunning for the time. On July 3, 1896, he hit 4 home runs in a game, only the 2nd player to do it.
He played most of his career with the Philadelphia Phillies. In 1902, he jumped to the American League, playing for the Washington Senators. He won the batting title, to go with the one he won in the National League in 1899. He remains the only player to win them in both Leagues.
He died while still an active player, on July 2, 1903, only 35 years old. The incident is shrouded in mystery: He jumped the Senators while they were in Detroit to play the Tigers, and boarded a train for New York, a train that cut across Ontario before crossing back into the U.S. at Buffalo. He got drunk on the train, and the conductor kicked him off. He tried to walk across the International Railway Bridge between Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, got into a fight with the bridge's night watchman, and went over the bridge into the Niagara River. His body was found at the bottom of Niagara Falls a month later.
Did he jump? Did he fall? Was he pushed? We will never know. The watchman was not charged. Delahanty was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945, his career legendary, but incomplete due to his own misbehavior -- and, perhaps, someone else's.
October 30, 1871, 150 years ago: The final championship match of the season takes place on the Union Grounds in Brooklyn, between the Philadelphia Athletics and the Chicago White Stockings. Note that the former went out of business a few years later, and has no connection besides name to the team now known as the Oakland Athletics; while the latter would evolve into the Chicago Cubs, having no connection to the Chicago White Sox besides the name.
The Championship Committee decrees that today's game will decide the winner of the pennant. Chicago‚ having played all of its games on the road since the Great Chicago Fire on October 8‚ appears in an assorted array of uniforms. Their originals were all lost during the fire.
The 4-1 victory by the Athletics gives them the championship for 1871. It will be 41 years before another Philadelphia team wins a major league Pennant. The last survivor of this team was Alfred J. Reach, later (like his Chicago competitor, Albert G. Spalding) a sporting-goods magnate. He lived until 1928.
Also on this day, John Frank Freeman is born in Catasauqua, in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley. The right fielder, better known as Buck Freeman, was the 1st man to lead both Leagues in home runs: The National in 1899 with 25 for the Washington Nationals (who were about to be contracted out of the NL and are not to be confused with the current team with the name), and the American in 1903 with 13 for the Boston Americans, forerunners of the Red Sox. That season, he and the Americans won the 1st World Series.
He was in the Dead Ball Era, so his career home run total, while impressive for the time, was just 82. He batted .293 lifetime, with a 132 OPS+. He was a very good player in his time, but he wasn't great for long enough. So, he doesn't quite belong in the Baseball Hall of Fame. But he is in the Red Sox' team Hall of Fame. He died in 1949, age 77.
October 30, 1875: The Boston Red Stockings beat the visiting Blue Stockings of Hartford‚ 7-4‚ to finish the season without a home defeat. Boston finishes the year at 48-7, to win their 4th straight National Association Pennant.
Only 7 NA teams finish the season, with a total of 185 games played between them. The success of the Red Stockings has led to several forfeits, and this domination and erratic scheduling is one of the reasons the NA is abandoned and the National League established for 1876. The Red Stockings will join, eventually becoming the Beaneaters, the Rustlers, the Doves and finally the Braves, before moving to Milwaukee and later Atlanta.
The last survivor of the 1875 Red Stockings, and the last survivor of the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, the 1st openly professional team, was shortstop George Wright, who lived on until 1937.
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October 30, 1896, 125 years ago: Ruth Gordon Jones is born in Quincy, Massachusetts, outside Boston. (Founding Father John Adams was also born in Quincy on an October 30, in 1735.) Dropping her last name, she starred on Broadway and in silent films before becoming a major star in the "talkies" of the 1930s. She also collaborated on screenplays with her husband, Garson Kanin.
But she's best known for her role in the 1968 film Rosemary's Baby. At age 72, she got an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and said, "I can't tell you how encouraging a thing like this is." She was still acting up to the end of her life in 1985.
What does she have to do with sports? Well, in 1993, on an episode of Mad About You, Paul Reiser's character, a documentary filmmaker named Paul Buchman, told his wife Jamie, played by Helen Hunt, that he was making a movie about Yankee Stadium, using the common nickname "The House That Ruth Built." Jamie: "Ruth who?" Paul, sarcastically: "Gordon, honey. Ruth Gordon built Yankee Stadium."
*Also on this day, John Frank Freeman is born in Catasauqua, in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley. The right fielder, better known as Buck Freeman, was the 1st man to lead both Leagues in home runs: The National in 1899 with 25 for the Washington Nationals (who were about to be contracted out of the NL and are not to be confused with the current team with the name), and the American in 1903 with 13 for the Boston Americans, forerunners of the Red Sox. That season, he and the Americans won the 1st World Series.
He was in the Dead Ball Era, so his career home run total, while impressive for the time, was just 82. He batted .293 lifetime, with a 132 OPS+. He was a very good player in his time, but he wasn't great for long enough. So, he doesn't quite belong in the Baseball Hall of Fame. But he is in the Red Sox' team Hall of Fame. He died in 1949, age 77.
October 30, 1875: The Boston Red Stockings beat the visiting Blue Stockings of Hartford‚ 7-4‚ to finish the season without a home defeat. Boston finishes the year at 48-7, to win their 4th straight National Association Pennant.
Only 7 NA teams finish the season, with a total of 185 games played between them. The success of the Red Stockings has led to several forfeits, and this domination and erratic scheduling is one of the reasons the NA is abandoned and the National League established for 1876. The Red Stockings will join, eventually becoming the Beaneaters, the Rustlers, the Doves and finally the Braves, before moving to Milwaukee and later Atlanta.
The last survivor of the 1875 Red Stockings, and the last survivor of the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, the 1st openly professional team, was shortstop George Wright, who lived on until 1937.
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October 30, 1896, 125 years ago: Ruth Gordon Jones is born in Quincy, Massachusetts, outside Boston. (Founding Father John Adams was also born in Quincy on an October 30, in 1735.) Dropping her last name, she starred on Broadway and in silent films before becoming a major star in the "talkies" of the 1930s. She also collaborated on screenplays with her husband, Garson Kanin.
But she's best known for her role in the 1968 film Rosemary's Baby. At age 72, she got an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and said, "I can't tell you how encouraging a thing like this is." She was still acting up to the end of her life in 1985.
What does she have to do with sports? Well, in 1993, on an episode of Mad About You, Paul Reiser's character, a documentary filmmaker named Paul Buchman, told his wife Jamie, played by Helen Hunt, that he was making a movie about Yankee Stadium, using the common nickname "The House That Ruth Built." Jamie: "Ruth who?" Paul, sarcastically: "Gordon, honey. Ruth Gordon built Yankee Stadium."
October 30, 1911, 110 years ago: James A. Coleman (I can find no record of what the A stands for) is born in Winnipeg. Syndicated across Canada for Southam Newspapers (now CanWest News Service), he was awarded the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award, the Hockey Hall of Fame's award that is tantamount to election for sportswriters. He died in 2001.
Also on this day, Eileen Whelan is born in Highbury, North London. She played test cricket from 1937 to 1949, and is arguably the greatest female bowler in the history of the sport. She also worked for MI6 during and after World War II.
In 2011, under her married name of Eileen Ash, she became the 1st female former test cricketer to live to be 100 years old. In July 2017, she rang the bell at Lord's Cricket Ground, "the home of cricket," to signal the start of play at the Women's World Cup Final, which England won. She also passed a renewal of her driver's test. On her 106th birthday, she was taken for a flight in a de Havilland Tiger Moth biplane, as she had done before over 80 years earlier.
At 110, she is believed to be the world's oldest living former cricketer of either gender, and one of the oldest living former performers in any sport.
October 30, 1926: The University of Illinois debuts its mascot, Chief Illiniwek, whose name means "Chief of Men." (In other words, like "Los Angeles Angels," it's redundant.) Ray Dvorak, then assistant director of the band, dresses in Native American garb, and dances during the halftime show. Since the opponent was the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League school, this story went back East, was reported in the Eastern papers, and made the Chief famous. The Fighting Illini beat Penn 3-0.
Fans would see the portrayer at games and other events, and chant, "Chief! Chief! Chief!" As the years went by, various tribes were split on whether the mascot was appropriate, although the costume was reportedly made by actual Natives. Finally, in 2007, the University decided not to use the Chief anymore. There were 82 separate portrayers. Only 1 was a woman, Idelle Brooks, who served as "Princess Illiniwek" in 1943, due to the World War II manpower shortage.
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October 30, 1936, 85 years ago: Richard Albert Vermeil is born in Calistoga, California, in the Napa Valley. It's hard to imagine Dick Vermeil as a quarterback, but he played the position at San Jose State University. He coached in high school and junior college, and in 1975 he led UCLA to the championship of the league then known as the Pacific-8. On New Year's Day 1976, he led them to beat then-Number 1-ranked Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.
That got the attention of Leonard Tose, the trucking magnate who owned the Philadelphia Eagles. It took 3 seasons, but Vermeil got the Eagles into the Playoffs in 1978, in part because of a stunning last-minute comeback against the New York Giants known as "The Miracle of the Meadowlands." In 1979, he got them to the NFC East title. In both seasons, he was named NFL Coach of the Year.
Before he set the Eagles on a mission of winning the Super Bowl, he set them on the mission of knocking the Cowboys off their NFC Eastern Division perch. Every time they would be the Eagles' next opponent, he would begin practice by asking, "What's it going to take to beat the Dallas Cowboys?" On November 11, 1979, the day before his 8th try, before a Monday night game, he gathered his players in their hotel, and asked the question again. Before they could answer it, he did: "24 more hours." They roared their approval, and proved him right.
The next season, on January 11, 1981, he got them to beat the Cowboys at Veterans Stadium to win the NFC Championship, which remains the Eagles' most celebrated victory since their 1960 NFL Championship.
But the Eagles lost the subsequent Super Bowl XV, and Vermeil became more obsessed than ever, spending pretty much all day at the Eagles' training facility, including sleeping there, sometimes falling asleep while watching film. After the 1982 season, he resigned, saying he was "burned out." Frequently seen crying tears of joy in the locker room after wins, his tearful farewell is as well-remembered in Philadelphia as that of Mike Schmidt when he retired from playing baseball.
Dick went into broadcasting, gaining a lot of respect as a color commentator on CBS' college football broadcasts, teaming with Brent Musburger. When Musburger's contract ran out in 1986, and he moved to ABC, he convinced them to take Vermeil with him.
In 1997, he felt ready to return to coaching, and was hired by the St. Louis Rams. As with the Eagles, it took 3 seasons, but he got them to the Playoffs. This time, he got them all the way to the Super Bowl in Year 3, and, with well-wishes from just about all of his old Eagles players, the Rams beat the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV. He was named NFL Coach of the Year again.
And then he resigned. It looked like he was satisfied, having finally gotten his ring. But he was quickly snapped up by the team across Missouri, the Kansas City Chiefs. Again, it took 3 years, but he turned a losing team into a Playoff team, winning the AFC West in 2003. He resigned after a difficult 2005 season, and hasn't coached since.
He has a farm outside Philadelphia, and a winery in his native Napa Valley. He has been elected to both the Eagles' and the Rams' team halls of fame, but not yet to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In 2006, he was played by Greg Kinnear in the film Invincible, about Eagles walk-on Vince Papale. In a league where enemies are easily made, pretty much everybody likes Dick Vermeil.
October 30, 1938: The CBS radio show The Mercury Theater of the Air airs an adaptation of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds. Wells' story first appeared in London-based Pearson's Magazine in 1897. That same year, in America, Cosmopolitan serialized it. (It was a literary magazine until 1965, when Helen Gurley Brown was named editor, and turned it into a women's magazine.) It appeared in hardcover in 1898.
To make a long story short, with a spoiler: Creatures from the planet Mars invade Earth by attacking the greatest city of the age, late-Victorian London, and terrorize humanity, but soon die due to having no immunity to Earth germs.
It's been filmed in 1953 by George Pal, starring Gene Barry and moving the location to Southern California -- in other words, Hollywood itself -- and in 2005 by Steven Spielberg, starring Tom Cruise and set in New York. In each case, the film was set in what was then the present day.
The 1938 radio version was also set in its present. Howard E. Koch adapted the story for the broadcast, and lead actor Orson Welles (not related to H.G. Wells, note the different spelling), just 23 years old, tells of creatures from Mars landing in Grover's Mill, in the Township of West Windsor, Mercer County, New Jersey. The site is about a mile east of where the Princeton Junction train station now stands.
The story is told as if it were a live news broadcast. While it ends with the Martians dying and the world saved by its own smallest and simplest lifeforms, it is too late: New York is in ruins, and "Martian cylinders" have also been reported in other major cities. (I have listened to the broadcast on YouTube. It clocks in at a little under an hour.)
Legend has it that people heard that the alien invaders were killing people and advancing toward New York, panicked, grabbed their shotguns and pitchforks, and evacuated. However, Welles said at the end of every commercial break that it was just a show, not actually happening, and repeated this at the end.
Furthermore, it would have been very easy for people to turn to another radio station -- say, their local NBC affiliate -- and hear regularly-scheduled programming, and not any "special report" of an invasion and attack, and know that everything was as it was before. Welles publicly apologized the next day -- Halloween. But it made him a legend.
In 1941, Welles co-wrote, produced, directed, and starred in Citizen Kane, one of the greatest movies ever made. But because Charles Foster Kane was, despite all denials, an obvious sendup of newspaper baron William Randolph Hearst, the thin-skinned Hearst told his media empire, now including film newsreels and radio stations, to blast the film.
Welles never fully recovered from this, despite making some more good films (The Magnificent Ambersons, The Third Man, Touch of Evil), reduced to a punchline due to his fall from grace, his "slumming" with things like commercials for Paul Masson wine, his wasted genius, and his, uh, geniused waist. He died in 1985, having been mostly irrelevant from ages 26 to 70.
I find it interesting that, in picking a location close enough to New York to be a threat, but far enough away to build momentum, Welles picked a location in Central Jersey, about halfway between Midtown Manhattan and Center City Philadelphia, and 17 miles from where I grew up.
And you'll notice that, while many sports teams, professional and collegiate alike, have given themselves nicknames of various kinds of warriors, none has ever named itself "The Martians" or "The Aliens." Although the Pacific Coast League's Las Vegas team, now the Las Vegas Aviators, called themselves Las Vegas 51s from 2001 to 2018, named for the nearby U.S. Air Force base nicknamed "Area 51," and used "the Roswell Alien" as their logo.
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October 30, 1941, 80 years ago: James Ray Hart is born in Hookerton, North Carolina. Known as Jim Ray Hart, he was a 3rd baseman and left fielder for the San Francisco Giants, making the 1966 All-Star Game. The Giants named him to their Wall of Fame. He finished his career with the Yankees in 1973 and '74, and died in 2016.
Also on this day, Otis Miles Jr. is born in Texarkana, Texas, and grows up in Detroit as Otis Williams. In 1959, he and a friend named Melvin Franklin formed a doo-wop group called The Distants. In 1961, Otis and Melvin left The Distants to form a new group with former members of The Primes, Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams, calling themselves The Temptations. David Ruffin joined in 1964, and the rest is history.
Complicated history. Ruffin's ego and drug use led to his firing in 1968, and he was replaced with Dennis Edwards, leading to a shift in the group's sound, from light soul to what became known as "psychedelic soul." With the death of Melvin in 1995, Otis was, and still is, the last remaining original member of the group.
Complicated history. Ruffin's ego and drug use led to his firing in 1968, and he was replaced with Dennis Edwards, leading to a shift in the group's sound, from light soul to what became known as "psychedelic soul." With the death of Melvin in 1995, Otis was, and still is, the last remaining original member of the group.
October 30, 1945: Henry Franklin Winkler is born in Manhattan. Ayyyyyyyy! He's had many fine roles since Happy Days went off the air, but he will always be that show's Arthur Fonzarelli. And that is so cool. Cooler than any typecasting could ever be. You don't think that's cool? As the Fonz would say, "Sit on it!"
When Robin Williams debuted his Mork from Ork character on an episode of Happy Days, he told Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard) that he wanted to take an Earth person back to Ork. He meant Richie, and the Fonz had to fight him for Richie. Before Richie realized what Mork meant, he asked Mork if he meant Milwaukee Braves star Hank Aaron. Mork said, "No, we'd have to trade the whole planet for him!"
Although Henry wouldn't seem to have much to do with sports, he recently joined legendary quarterback Terry Bradshaw, former Heavyweight Champion George Foreman, and Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner, on Better Late Than Never, a 4-hour NBC reality miniseries in which these men -- 69, 67, 66 and 84, respectively, at the time -- took a tour of Asia, visiting Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand, and experienced cultures that they found very, very foreign. I had no idea that the 4 of them even knew each other, much less that they were such good friends.
They did a 2nd season, going to Europe, including Berlin, where they learned the fate of Henry's uncle, who died in the Holocaust. It was an incredibly emotional moment for Henry. Shatner is also Jewish, and they found his roots in Lithuania.
Although Henry wouldn't seem to have much to do with sports, he recently joined legendary quarterback Terry Bradshaw, former Heavyweight Champion George Foreman, and Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner, on Better Late Than Never, a 4-hour NBC reality miniseries in which these men -- 69, 67, 66 and 84, respectively, at the time -- took a tour of Asia, visiting Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand, and experienced cultures that they found very, very foreign. I had no idea that the 4 of them even knew each other, much less that they were such good friends.
They did a 2nd season, going to Europe, including Berlin, where they learned the fate of Henry's uncle, who died in the Holocaust. It was an incredibly emotional moment for Henry. Shatner is also Jewish, and they found his roots in Lithuania.
October 30, 1946, 75 years ago: Glen Courtney Combs is born in Hazard Kentucky. A guard, he became known as the Kentucky Rifle for his long-range shooting at Virginia Tech. He was elected to their sports Hall of Fame. He never played in the NBA, but he made 3 ABA All-Star Games, and helped the Utah Stars win the 1971 ABA Championship. He is still alive.
Also on this day, Andrea Mitchell (no middle name) is born in New Rochelle, Westchester County, New York. In 1981, she became White House correspondent for NBC News. She was moved to being their Congressional correspondent in 1988. She went back to the White House as NBC's chief correspondent in 1993, and has been their foreign affairs correspondent since 1994. Since 2008, she has hosted Andrea Mitchell Reports on MSNBC.
She is known for her antipathy to all things Clinton, showing that not all MSNBC hosts and correspondents are liberal. Since 1997, she has been married to Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board from 1987 to 2006. She married him for his money. He married her so that, for the first time in his life, he could be in a relationship where he was considered "the interesting one."
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October 30, 1951, 70 years ago: Thomas Arthur Poquette is born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. An outfielder, Tom Poquette was a reserve on the Kansas City Royals teams that won the American League Western Division in 1976, '77 and '78, but lost the AL Championship Series to the Yankees each time. By the time they finally beat the Yankees in the 1980 ALCS, he was in the Boston Red Sox' minor-league system. He later managed in the Royals' system, and is still alive.
She is known for her antipathy to all things Clinton, showing that not all MSNBC hosts and correspondents are liberal. Since 1997, she has been married to Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board from 1987 to 2006. She married him for his money. He married her so that, for the first time in his life, he could be in a relationship where he was considered "the interesting one."
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October 30, 1951, 70 years ago: Thomas Arthur Poquette is born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. An outfielder, Tom Poquette was a reserve on the Kansas City Royals teams that won the American League Western Division in 1976, '77 and '78, but lost the AL Championship Series to the Yankees each time. By the time they finally beat the Yankees in the 1980 ALCS, he was in the Boston Red Sox' minor-league system. He later managed in the Royals' system, and is still alive.
Also on this day, Kathleen Rollo is born in Warroad, Minnesota, but grows up across the border, 10 miles away, in Middlebro, Manitoba. A diver, she competed for Canada in the 1972 Olympics in Munich. She is still alive, and a member of he Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame.
Also on this day, Frank Joseph Pallone Jr. is born in Long Branch, Monmouth County, New Jersey. In 1983, he was elected to the State Senate. In 1988, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from what is now the 6th District.
Every 2 years, the Republicans target him for defeat, because he is the environment's best friend in Congress. But in spite of Monmouth and Ocean Counties trending Republican the last few years, they haven't come close since 1990: Only once since 1998 has a Republican nominee even gotten 40 percent against him.
Also on this day, Harry Robinson Hamlin is born in the Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena, California. He played Perseus in the original 1981 version of Clash of the Titans, and attorney Michael "Mickey" Kuzak on L.A. Law.
Ursula Andress played the goddess Aphrodite in Clash of the Titans, and she and Harry had a long-term relationship that resulted in the birth of a son, Dmitri Hamlin. Harry has been married 3 times, each time to a an actress specializing in soap operas: Laura Johnson, Nicollette Sheridan, and, since 1997, Lisa Rinna. He and Lisa have 2 daughters, Delilah and Amelia.
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October 30, 1961, 60 years ago: Scott William Garrelts is born in Urbana, Illinois. The All-Star pitcher led the National League in ERA in 1989 and helped lead the San Francisco Giants to the Pennant. The following year, he took a no-hitter into the 9th inning against the Cincinnati Reds, but it was broken up with one out to go by future Yankee Legend Paul O’Neill. His career record was 69-53, and the Giants have named him to their Wall of Fame.
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October 30, 1961, 60 years ago: Scott William Garrelts is born in Urbana, Illinois. The All-Star pitcher led the National League in ERA in 1989 and helped lead the San Francisco Giants to the Pennant. The following year, he took a no-hitter into the 9th inning against the Cincinnati Reds, but it was broken up with one out to go by future Yankee Legend Paul O’Neill. His career record was 69-53, and the Giants have named him to their Wall of Fame.
Also on this day, the Soviet Union detonates a hydrogen bomb they call Vanya (the Russian version of "Johnny"), on Severny Island in the Arctic Ocean. At 50 megatons (50 million tons), it is the largest explosion in human history. For comparison's sake: The largest nuclear bomb America ever tested was 15 megatons, and the 1st one, dropped on Hiroshima, Japan at the end of World War II, was 15 kilotons (15,000 tons).
The Soviets thought they could keep it a secret for as long as they wanted to. They were wrong: An American spy-plane detected it, and it was reported in the media, with the West calling it "Tsar Bomba" (Czar Bomb). The Cuban Missile Crisis, a year later, led to the following year's Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and there have been no new Tsar Bombas since.
The Soviets thought they could keep it a secret for as long as they wanted to. They were wrong: An American spy-plane detected it, and it was reported in the media, with the West calling it "Tsar Bomba" (Czar Bomb). The Cuban Missile Crisis, a year later, led to the following year's Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and there have been no new Tsar Bombas since.
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October 30, 1971, 50 years ago: East Brunswick High School, later to be my high school, goes up to Elizabeth in Union County, New Jersey, and defeats Thomas Jefferson High School 22-18. This is considered a tremendous upset. The following year, Jefferson comes to East Brunswick in Middlesex County, and E.B. wins again.
In 1977, the all-boys Jefferson High (opened 1927) and Battin High School (1889 and coed until 1927), then the only all-girls public high school in New Jersey, were merged into a single Elizabeth High School. With a peak of 5,279 students, it was the largest high school in the entire country, until the school board decided it was too much for any single school.
In 2010, the school was split up into "houses," each concentrating on a different specialized curriculum. The Main Complex includes the administration building, and much of the 1977 version of the high school. It serves as the school's hub, and includes the Dunn Sports Center. (More about that shortly.)
The old Thomas Jefferson High School building was converted into the Thomas Jefferson House, and houses the visual and performing arts and creative writing sections -- which Jefferson himself would have appreciated. The old Thomas A. Edison High School (1935-77) became the Thomas A. Edison Academy for Career & Technical Education, which Edison would have appreciated.
The J. Christian Bollwage Academy of Finance, named for the man who's been the City's Mayor since 1992, handles math. The Frank J. Cicarell Academy, named for a former EHS principal, hosts advanced placement-level courses. The Alexander Hamilton Preparatory Academy is designed for the city's most at-risk children, and requires school uniforms and at least a 2.0 grade point average.
In 1981, Elizabeth High opened the Thomas G. Dunn Sports Center, named for Bollwage's predecessor as Mayor. It is a 3,000-seat gym that hosts the Union County basketball tournament Finals, and some State Group Finals. In 1999, East Brunswick's girls basketball team won its 1st State Group IV Championship there.
In 2010, the school was split up into "houses," each concentrating on a different specialized curriculum. The Main Complex includes the administration building, and much of the 1977 version of the high school. It serves as the school's hub, and includes the Dunn Sports Center. (More about that shortly.)
The old Thomas Jefferson High School building was converted into the Thomas Jefferson House, and houses the visual and performing arts and creative writing sections -- which Jefferson himself would have appreciated. The old Thomas A. Edison High School (1935-77) became the Thomas A. Edison Academy for Career & Technical Education, which Edison would have appreciated.
The J. Christian Bollwage Academy of Finance, named for the man who's been the City's Mayor since 1992, handles math. The Frank J. Cicarell Academy, named for a former EHS principal, hosts advanced placement-level courses. The Alexander Hamilton Preparatory Academy is designed for the city's most at-risk children, and requires school uniforms and at least a 2.0 grade point average.
In 1981, Elizabeth High opened the Thomas G. Dunn Sports Center, named for Bollwage's predecessor as Mayor. It is a 3,000-seat gym that hosts the Union County basketball tournament Finals, and some State Group Finals. In 1999, East Brunswick's girls basketball team won its 1st State Group IV Championship there.
October 30, 1974: Former Heavyweight Champion of the World Muhammad Ali defeats the undefeated current Champion, George Foreman, in "The Rumble in the Jungle" in Kinshasa, in the former colony of Belgian Congo, at this point called Zaire, and since 1997 called the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Foreman was heavily favored to defeat Ali. Ali was talking his usual trash, but most people thought Ali would lose. Indeed, there were some who feared that Ali would be killed in the ring.
Ali fooled them all. Even after his death, he's still fooling them: There are people who say he just leaned against the ropes in his "rope-a-dope" strategy, and let Foreman tire himself out with punches. I've seen the tape of the fight: Ali got in a lot of punches, enough to win every round except for the 2nd and the 6th. Foreman would later say that, at the end of the 6th, Ali yelled at him, "Is that all you got, George?" Years later, Foreman told an interviewer he had to admit, "Yup, that's about it."
Through a months-long psychological campaign, including managing to get practically the entire black population of the continent of Africa in his favor and against the equally black Foreman – he had done something similar to Joe Frazier, who was puzzled by it: "I'm darker than he is!" – Ali had gotten into Foreman's head, just as he had done to Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson, and just about everybody else he'd ever fought.
In the 8th round, backed up against the ropes, Ali managed to turn an exhausted Foreman around, toss a few jabs, and knock him on his can. Foreman tried to get up, but he ran out of time, and Ali was the winner by a knockout.
When David Frost went to interview him for the BBC after the fight, he pointed at the camera and said, "Is this thing on? I told you all that I was the greatest of all time when I beat Sonny Liston! I am still the greatest of all time! Never again doubt me! Never again make me an underdog until I'm about 50 years old!"
He was off a bit, as he probably should have quit at 36, after losing the title to Leon Spinks and then regaining it from him. Or maybe even at 33, when he beat Frazier in their 3rd fight, "The Thrilla In Manila." But, by far more than his boxing prowess, but also by the force of his personality, and by the example he set as a man of (at least, in America) a minority race and a minority religion, making him, in a phrase that sounds contradictory, the champion of the underdog, he proved that he really was The Greatest... Of All Tiiiiiiiime! Though he died in 2016 at age 74, he still is.
October 30, 1975: The New York Daily News, responding to President Gerald Ford's statement that he wouldn't allow the federal government to bail out New York City's desperate finances, prints the most famous newspaper headline ever.
A year later, with the City's finances still not fully straightened out, and crime seemingly out of control, the City's voters told Beame to "drop dead," and elected Congressman Ed Koch as its Mayor.
The City's finances made a lot of people angry that it was spending so much money on renovating the old Yankee Stadium. But within a year of the headline, which came at a dark time for sports, as well as most other things, in The City, the Yankees had started a new dynasty, and the Rangers had begun to build a team that would reach the Stanley Cup Finals. It would take some time for other teams to rebuild, including the football teams that ended up leaving The City.
October 30, 2016: Game 5 of the World Series. Kris Bryant hits a home run to highlight a 3-run 4th inning, to give the Chicago Cubs a 3-2 win over the Cleveland Indians.
It is the Cubbies' 1st World Series game victory at home since October 8, 1945. The Series goes back to Cleveland, with the Indians leading 3 games to 2, and needing only 1 home win to take the title.
October 30, 2018: After 81 years as a tiny station that served as a major bottleneck, the new Harrison station opens on the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) system in Hudson County, New Jersey. It's too late to be used by fans of Major League Soccer's New York Red Bulls in their current season, but it has helped tremendously since.
Foreman was heavily favored to defeat Ali. Ali was talking his usual trash, but most people thought Ali would lose. Indeed, there were some who feared that Ali would be killed in the ring.
Ali fooled them all. Even after his death, he's still fooling them: There are people who say he just leaned against the ropes in his "rope-a-dope" strategy, and let Foreman tire himself out with punches. I've seen the tape of the fight: Ali got in a lot of punches, enough to win every round except for the 2nd and the 6th. Foreman would later say that, at the end of the 6th, Ali yelled at him, "Is that all you got, George?" Years later, Foreman told an interviewer he had to admit, "Yup, that's about it."
Through a months-long psychological campaign, including managing to get practically the entire black population of the continent of Africa in his favor and against the equally black Foreman – he had done something similar to Joe Frazier, who was puzzled by it: "I'm darker than he is!" – Ali had gotten into Foreman's head, just as he had done to Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson, and just about everybody else he'd ever fought.
In the 8th round, backed up against the ropes, Ali managed to turn an exhausted Foreman around, toss a few jabs, and knock him on his can. Foreman tried to get up, but he ran out of time, and Ali was the winner by a knockout.
When David Frost went to interview him for the BBC after the fight, he pointed at the camera and said, "Is this thing on? I told you all that I was the greatest of all time when I beat Sonny Liston! I am still the greatest of all time! Never again doubt me! Never again make me an underdog until I'm about 50 years old!"
He was off a bit, as he probably should have quit at 36, after losing the title to Leon Spinks and then regaining it from him. Or maybe even at 33, when he beat Frazier in their 3rd fight, "The Thrilla In Manila." But, by far more than his boxing prowess, but also by the force of his personality, and by the example he set as a man of (at least, in America) a minority race and a minority religion, making him, in a phrase that sounds contradictory, the champion of the underdog, he proved that he really was The Greatest... Of All Tiiiiiiiime! Though he died in 2016 at age 74, he still is.
October 30, 1975: The New York Daily News, responding to President Gerald Ford's statement that he wouldn't allow the federal government to bail out New York City's desperate finances, prints the most famous newspaper headline ever.
Ford didn't actually say that, but that was the message he sent, intentionally or otherwise. With this bad publicity dogging him immediately and harshly, Ford knew a compromise had to be found. It was, as the City did a few more things to try to get its financial house in order, and this satisfied Ford to the point where he changed his mind and signed a bailout bill.
But Ford was damned when he did, and damned when he didn't. The bailout he actually did sign infuriated many conservatives, who already had a few problems with the mildly conservative Ford, and they voted for former Governor Ronald Reagan of California in the Republican primaries, and Reagan very nearly won the GOP nomination. When Ford won the nomination anyway, many of those conservatives stayed home on Election Day, November 2, 1976.
This may have made the difference in throwing some States, including New York, to the Democratic nominee, former Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia. White conservatives in Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Long Island and Westchester abandoned him. Not that they voted for Carter (Southern or not, conservative by Democratic standards or not, they still stupidly viewed all Democrats as "socialists"). Rather, like "leftists" screwing the Democrats over in 1968, 2000 and 2016, they didn't vote at all, or wasted their votes on 3rd-party candidates.
It also upset undecided voters and disaffected Democrats. A lot of people remembered only the headline, and forgot that Ford changed his mind about the bailout, and held it against him, and a lot of people in the City who might not have been comfortable with Carter either voted for Carter or stayed home, enough to throw the State of New York to Carter. It may have made, literally, all the difference in the world. Had Ford simply won the State, he would have won a full term.
True, the Nixon pardon, lingering feelings over Watergate, the shaky economy, his debate gaffe about Eastern Europe, and conservatives issues with him over things like foreign policy and federal spending also hurt him.
But the day after the '76 election, a little more than a year after the headline, Mayor Abe Beame posed in front of City Hall with the headline, as if to say, "City to Ford: You told us to drop dead. Instead, we just made your Presidency drop dead."
But Ford was damned when he did, and damned when he didn't. The bailout he actually did sign infuriated many conservatives, who already had a few problems with the mildly conservative Ford, and they voted for former Governor Ronald Reagan of California in the Republican primaries, and Reagan very nearly won the GOP nomination. When Ford won the nomination anyway, many of those conservatives stayed home on Election Day, November 2, 1976.
This may have made the difference in throwing some States, including New York, to the Democratic nominee, former Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia. White conservatives in Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Long Island and Westchester abandoned him. Not that they voted for Carter (Southern or not, conservative by Democratic standards or not, they still stupidly viewed all Democrats as "socialists"). Rather, like "leftists" screwing the Democrats over in 1968, 2000 and 2016, they didn't vote at all, or wasted their votes on 3rd-party candidates.
It also upset undecided voters and disaffected Democrats. A lot of people remembered only the headline, and forgot that Ford changed his mind about the bailout, and held it against him, and a lot of people in the City who might not have been comfortable with Carter either voted for Carter or stayed home, enough to throw the State of New York to Carter. It may have made, literally, all the difference in the world. Had Ford simply won the State, he would have won a full term.
True, the Nixon pardon, lingering feelings over Watergate, the shaky economy, his debate gaffe about Eastern Europe, and conservatives issues with him over things like foreign policy and federal spending also hurt him.
But the day after the '76 election, a little more than a year after the headline, Mayor Abe Beame posed in front of City Hall with the headline, as if to say, "City to Ford: You told us to drop dead. Instead, we just made your Presidency drop dead."
Beame outside Gracie Mansion on November 3,
a year and 4 days after the headline,
and the day after the election.
A year later, with the City's finances still not fully straightened out, and crime seemingly out of control, the City's voters told Beame to "drop dead," and elected Congressman Ed Koch as its Mayor.
The City's finances made a lot of people angry that it was spending so much money on renovating the old Yankee Stadium. But within a year of the headline, which came at a dark time for sports, as well as most other things, in The City, the Yankees had started a new dynasty, and the Rangers had begun to build a team that would reach the Stanley Cup Finals. It would take some time for other teams to rebuild, including the football teams that ended up leaving The City.
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October 30, 1981, 40 years ago: The Detroit Pistons beat the Milwaukee Bucks 118-113 at the Pontiac Silverdome. It is the NBA debut for Kelly Tripucka, from my original hometown of Bloomfield, New Jersey. The son of NFL quarterback Frank Tripucka, also a Notre Dame graduate, he plays 25 minutes and scores 15 points.
He played 5 seasons for the Pistons, 2 for the Utah Jazz, and 3 for the Charlotte Hornets, including in their inaugural 1988-89 season, retiring after playing the 1991-92 season in France, with a career average of 17.2 points per game in NBA play. He was named to the NBA All-Star Game in 1982 and 1984. He later broadcast for the Pistons, the New Jersey Nets and the New York Knicks. He has been named to the National Polish-American Hall of Fame (as has his father), and he was named to the 50th Anniversary 50 Greatest Pistons.
His brother Todd Tripucka played basketball at Lafayette College, but never made the NBA. His son Travis starred in football and lacrosse at Mountain Lakes High School in Morris County, New Jersey, and played football at the University of Massachusetts, before washing out of training camp with the St. Louis Rams in 2012 and the New York Jets in 2013.
Also on this day, Ivanka Marie Trump is born in Manhattan, the daughter of Donald and his 1st wife, the former Czech model Ivana Zelníčková. She is executive vice president of The Trump Organization, and may be the smartest one in the family. Then again, that's not setting the bar very high.
She was 4 years old when her father, then the owner of the New Jersey Generals, killed the United States Football League. I suspect she could run a team, a casino, a Presidential campaign, a White House staff, or anything better than her father.
He played 5 seasons for the Pistons, 2 for the Utah Jazz, and 3 for the Charlotte Hornets, including in their inaugural 1988-89 season, retiring after playing the 1991-92 season in France, with a career average of 17.2 points per game in NBA play. He was named to the NBA All-Star Game in 1982 and 1984. He later broadcast for the Pistons, the New Jersey Nets and the New York Knicks. He has been named to the National Polish-American Hall of Fame (as has his father), and he was named to the 50th Anniversary 50 Greatest Pistons.
His brother Todd Tripucka played basketball at Lafayette College, but never made the NBA. His son Travis starred in football and lacrosse at Mountain Lakes High School in Morris County, New Jersey, and played football at the University of Massachusetts, before washing out of training camp with the St. Louis Rams in 2012 and the New York Jets in 2013.
Also on this day, Ivanka Marie Trump is born in Manhattan, the daughter of Donald and his 1st wife, the former Czech model Ivana Zelníčková. She is executive vice president of The Trump Organization, and may be the smartest one in the family. Then again, that's not setting the bar very high.
She was 4 years old when her father, then the owner of the New Jersey Generals, killed the United States Football League. I suspect she could run a team, a casino, a Presidential campaign, a White House staff, or anything better than her father.
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October 30, 1991, 30 years ago: Artemi Sergeyevich Panarin is born in Korkino, Russia. The left wing won the Calder Memorial Trophy as NHL Rookie of the Year in 2017. Despite this, the Chicago Blackhawks then traded him to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a package that included Anton Forsberg. I guess they thought they needed a new goalie.
On December 8, 2017, he tied a record with 5 assists to help the Jackets beat the Devils 5-3, on his way to breaking the Jackets' single-season points record. He now plays for the New York Rangers, which means he sucks.
Also on this day, Seinfeld airs the episode "The Parking Garage." This is often cited as the episode that started the Seinfeld phenomenon. The last scene is something of an-lib: The car was expected to start, but didn't, and the castmembers can be seen laughing inside.
This episode would last 5 minutes today, since Jerry Seinfeld could have put the parking spot's location into the notepad of his smartphone. Also, most North Jersey malls have bus service, some of them back to New York. I would've said, "Let's take the bus back. Kramer screwed us, so screw him." Then again, it could have been, as George would put it, "This, just talking" for 20 minutes on the ride back to the City.
October 30, 1991, 30 years ago: Artemi Sergeyevich Panarin is born in Korkino, Russia. The left wing won the Calder Memorial Trophy as NHL Rookie of the Year in 2017. Despite this, the Chicago Blackhawks then traded him to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a package that included Anton Forsberg. I guess they thought they needed a new goalie.
On December 8, 2017, he tied a record with 5 assists to help the Jackets beat the Devils 5-3, on his way to breaking the Jackets' single-season points record. He now plays for the New York Rangers, which means he sucks.
Also on this day, Seinfeld airs the episode "The Parking Garage." This is often cited as the episode that started the Seinfeld phenomenon. The last scene is something of an-lib: The car was expected to start, but didn't, and the castmembers can be seen laughing inside.
This episode would last 5 minutes today, since Jerry Seinfeld could have put the parking spot's location into the notepad of his smartphone. Also, most North Jersey malls have bus service, some of them back to New York. I would've said, "Let's take the bus back. Kramer screwed us, so screw him." Then again, it could have been, as George would put it, "This, just talking" for 20 minutes on the ride back to the City.
October 30, 1994: Had the baseball season been allowed to reach a conclusion, and had the World Series gotten this far with no postponements, this would have been the day that Game 7 was played, in the home park of the National League Champions.
October 30, 1995: The Quebec sovereignty referendum fails by a razor-thin margin, with 50.58 percent voting "Non" and 49.42 percent voting "Oui." The number of "spoiled ballots," unusable for whatever reason, is said to be greater than the margin of victory.
Despite the anger of the separatists, angry over their perception of victimization at the hands of the federal government in Ottawa and the English-speaking establishment – an absolutely ridiculous notion, since the Provincial government has been dominated by the ethnic and linguistic French for most of the last 100 years – the Province will remain a part of Canada, but there is still bitterness on both sides.
The Parti Québécois, dedicated to the Province's independence, held the Provincial government from 1976 to 1985, and lost a referendum in 1980, 60 percent to 40. They held the government again from 1994 to 2003, launching the nearly successful 2nd referendum. They held a minority government from 2012 to 2014, and knew they couldn't get a 3rd referendum to pass, so they didn't launch one.
Splits in the party, including defections to new parties on both the left and the right, have dropped the PQ, or "Péquistes," to a mere 9 seats in the 125-seat National Assembly. The current government is led by the conservative Coalition Avenir Québec, and its Leader, Premier François Legault, has said that there will never be a sovereignty referendum launched by his party.
It's just as well: Would you be the one who has to tell the Montreal Canadiens, the greatest cultural institution in Quebec, that they had to change their name?
October 30, 1996, 25 years ago: Devin Armani Booker is born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A guard, he got the University of Kentucky into the Final Four in 2015, and has played for the Phoenix Suns ever since. He made his 1st NBA All-Star Game in 2020, and went on a torrid run that helped the Suns win the Western Conference Championship in 2021, although they lost to the Milwaukee Bucks.
October 30, 1998: The Chicago Fire complete the greatest debut season in the history of North American major league sports. Just 5 days after winning the MLS Cup, they defeat the Columbus Crew, 2-1 at Soldier Field. They have "done the Double."
Polish striker Jerzy Podbrożny converts a penalty just before the half. Columbus' wonderfully-named Trinidadian midfielder Stern John equalizes in the 53rd. As with the MLS Cup, the U.S. Open Cup -- America's answer to England's FA Cup -- has a "golden goal" rule, meaning whoever scores 1st in the extra period wins the game. Frank Klopas, a Greek-born, Chicago-raised midfielder, wins the game in the 99th minute.
Also on this day, Clyde "Bulldog" Turner dies of cancer at his ranch in Gatesville, Texas. He was 79. A center and linebacker, he was an 8-tie All-Pro, and a member of the Chicago Bears' 1940, 1941, 1943 and 1946 NFL Champions. The Bears retired his Number 66, and he was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the NFL's 1940s All-Decade Team.
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October 30, 2001, 20 years ago: Game 3 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium. The flag found at the World Trade Center on September 11, with some of the stripes having come apart, is flown at the flagpole in Monument Park. This is an honor.
Also on this day, Clyde "Bulldog" Turner dies of cancer at his ranch in Gatesville, Texas. He was 79. A center and linebacker, he was an 8-tie All-Pro, and a member of the Chicago Bears' 1940, 1941, 1943 and 1946 NFL Champions. The Bears retired his Number 66, and he was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the NFL's 1940s All-Decade Team.
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October 30, 2001, 20 years ago: Game 3 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium. The flag found at the World Trade Center on September 11, with some of the stripes having come apart, is flown at the flagpole in Monument Park. This is an honor.
George W. Bush throws out the ceremonial first ball. This is not an honor, it is a desecration: By ignoring the August 6 national-security briefing that told of Osama bin Laden's plan to hijack American airliners, Bush allowed New York City to be attacked. Stand on the mound to throw out the first pitch? He shouldn't have even been allowed inside the hallowed House That Ruth Built, no matter how much he was willing to pay for a ticket. (Not that the son of a bitch would have been willing to pay. Has he ever done anything in his life, without somebody doing it for him?)
Roger Clemens -- also calling himself a Texan even though he was born somewhere else, but somewhat more honest and less egotistical than Bush -- does some of his best postseason work, and the Yankees ride a Jorge Posada homer and a Scott Brosius single to take a 2-1 win over the Arizona Diamondback, and close to within 2 games to 1.
October 30, 2002: New York Jets coach Herman Edwards holds his usual midweek press conference after a 2-5 start. Judy Battista of The New York Times asks him, "Do you have to talk to your team about not giving up on the season?"
Herm's answer became legend. He says, "This is what's great about sports. This is what the greatest thing about sports is." And he leans into the microphone, and says, "You play to win the game!" He pulls himself upright, pauses, waves his hands, and says, "Hello? You play to win the game! You don't play it just to play it! That's the great thing about sports: You play to win! And I don't care if you don't have any wins. You go play to win. When you start telling me it doesn't matter, then retire. Get out! 'Cause it matters!"
At this point, he seems to be on the verge of tears. And if the season had continued the way it had been going, with a final total that is frequently familiar to Jet fans, then Herm, once a very good cornerback who helped the Philadelphia Eagles reach Super Bowl XV, and whose fumble recovery beat the Giants in a 1978 game that became known as "The Miracle of the Meadowlands," would have gone down in history as a coach who melted down and couldn't handle the pressure of New York.
But a funny thing happened on the way to a nervous breakdown: Herm's rant worked. In their next game, the Jets clobbered the San Diego Chargers, starting a 4-game winning streak, and allowing them to finish 9-7. Then they beat the Indianapolis Colts in the Wild Card round of the Playoffs, before going to Oakland and losing to the Raiders.
So instead of being a guy who couldn't handle coaching in New York, Herm became known as a coaching genius and a master motivator. It didn't last long, but he'll always be remembered for this success, not for his failures. He later served as head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs and an NFL studio pundit, and is now the head coach at Arizona State.
Also on this day, the New Orleans Hornets make their debut, after 14 seasons as the original Charlotte Hornets. Ironically, it's against the last team to represent New Orleans in the NBA, the Utah Jazz, who left in 1979.
The Hornets win, 100-75 at the New Orleans Arena (now named the Smoothie King Center). Karl Malone scores 20 points for the visitors, and John Stockton 14. But Baron Davis of the Hornets leads all scorers with 21 points, while Courtney Alexander scores 19 off the bench.
Also on this day, Jason Mizell, a.k.. Jam Master Jay of Run-D.M.C., is murdered, shot at his recording studio in Jamaica, Queens. He is 37 years old. Although suspects have been questioned, the case remains unsolved.
Also on this day, The West Wing airs the episode "Game On." President Josiah Bartlet (Martin Sheen), a Democrat running for re-election, debates the Republican nominee, Governor Robert Ritchie of Florida (James Brolin, like Sheen a liberal in real life), and keeps a promise he made to Ritchie in the previous season's finale: "I decided to kick your ass." Hal Holbrook, who's played Presidents, and Mark Twain, makes his 2nd and last appearance as quirky old foreign policy hand Albie Duncan. John Aniston, father of Jennifer, plays the debate's moderator, Alexander Thompson.
Meanwhile, unable to attend the debate, White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry (John Spencer) has to get Ali Nassir (Tony Amendola), the Ambassador to the United Nations from the fictional nation of Qumar, to get his government to stop accusing Israel of having the nation's Minister of Defense, the brother of the ruling Sultan, assassinated. Leo knows Israel didn't do it, because he was the one who told Bartlet to have his own people do it.
Leo gives a line that would come back to haunt 3 Presidents, 5 counting Bartlet himself and, a year later, his temporary successor under Article 3 of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, Glen Walken (John Goodman): "You think if the President admitted complicity in Shareef's death, he would lose votes? To sweep all 50 States, the President would have to do 2 things: Blow the Sultan's brains out in Times Square, and then walk across the street to Nathan's and buy a hot dog!" The implication being that he wouldn't actually have to buy the hot dog.
Well, George W. Bush failed to find and kill Osama bin Laden, and so he went into Iraq 5 months after this, which got him re-elected, but made his 2nd term such a failure that the under-experienced Barack Obama was elected in 2008 over war hero John McCain. Obama got us out of Iraq, and, having made finding and killing bin Laden a priority, was able to get it done in his 1st term, but didn't come close to sweeping all 50 States, although he did win solidly.
Later still, Donald Trump said, "I could shoot somebody in the middle of 5th Avenue, and I wouldn't lose votes." He may have been right about that: On January 6, 2021, he launched an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, to prevent the counting and certifying of the Electoral Votes that would have made his 2020 election defeat official, and a Capitol Police officer -- Brian Sicknick, a New Jerseyan who had made his support of Trump known -- died. The votes were counted and certified, anyway.
October 30, 2003: The Toyota Center opens in Houston. The Houston Rockets beat the Denver Nuggets 102-85.
October 30, 2007: The Yankees sign Joe Girardi to a 3-year deal worth a reported $7.5 million to replace popular manager Joe Torre, who left earlier in the month, rejecting a 29 percent pay cut after guiding his club to their 12th postseason appearance in 12 years.
The 43-year old former catcher and broadcaster, the NL manager of the year with the 2006 Marlins, beat out coaches Don Mattingly and Tony Pena to become the team's 32nd skipper.
*
October 30, 2010: For the 1st time, a team based in Texas wins a World Series game. The Texas Rangers, hosting a Series game for the 1st time in their 39 years in the Dallas area, beat the San Francisco Giants, 4-2, at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington (now named Globe Life Park), and close the gap to 2 games to 1. Previously, the Rangers (in this Series) and the Houston Astros (in their only appearance, in 2005) had been 0-6.
Roger Clemens -- also calling himself a Texan even though he was born somewhere else, but somewhat more honest and less egotistical than Bush -- does some of his best postseason work, and the Yankees ride a Jorge Posada homer and a Scott Brosius single to take a 2-1 win over the Arizona Diamondback, and close to within 2 games to 1.
October 30, 2002: New York Jets coach Herman Edwards holds his usual midweek press conference after a 2-5 start. Judy Battista of The New York Times asks him, "Do you have to talk to your team about not giving up on the season?"
Herm's answer became legend. He says, "This is what's great about sports. This is what the greatest thing about sports is." And he leans into the microphone, and says, "You play to win the game!" He pulls himself upright, pauses, waves his hands, and says, "Hello? You play to win the game! You don't play it just to play it! That's the great thing about sports: You play to win! And I don't care if you don't have any wins. You go play to win. When you start telling me it doesn't matter, then retire. Get out! 'Cause it matters!"
At this point, he seems to be on the verge of tears. And if the season had continued the way it had been going, with a final total that is frequently familiar to Jet fans, then Herm, once a very good cornerback who helped the Philadelphia Eagles reach Super Bowl XV, and whose fumble recovery beat the Giants in a 1978 game that became known as "The Miracle of the Meadowlands," would have gone down in history as a coach who melted down and couldn't handle the pressure of New York.
But a funny thing happened on the way to a nervous breakdown: Herm's rant worked. In their next game, the Jets clobbered the San Diego Chargers, starting a 4-game winning streak, and allowing them to finish 9-7. Then they beat the Indianapolis Colts in the Wild Card round of the Playoffs, before going to Oakland and losing to the Raiders.
So instead of being a guy who couldn't handle coaching in New York, Herm became known as a coaching genius and a master motivator. It didn't last long, but he'll always be remembered for this success, not for his failures. He later served as head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs and an NFL studio pundit, and is now the head coach at Arizona State.
Also on this day, the New Orleans Hornets make their debut, after 14 seasons as the original Charlotte Hornets. Ironically, it's against the last team to represent New Orleans in the NBA, the Utah Jazz, who left in 1979.
The Hornets win, 100-75 at the New Orleans Arena (now named the Smoothie King Center). Karl Malone scores 20 points for the visitors, and John Stockton 14. But Baron Davis of the Hornets leads all scorers with 21 points, while Courtney Alexander scores 19 off the bench.
Also on this day, Jason Mizell, a.k.. Jam Master Jay of Run-D.M.C., is murdered, shot at his recording studio in Jamaica, Queens. He is 37 years old. Although suspects have been questioned, the case remains unsolved.
Also on this day, The West Wing airs the episode "Game On." President Josiah Bartlet (Martin Sheen), a Democrat running for re-election, debates the Republican nominee, Governor Robert Ritchie of Florida (James Brolin, like Sheen a liberal in real life), and keeps a promise he made to Ritchie in the previous season's finale: "I decided to kick your ass." Hal Holbrook, who's played Presidents, and Mark Twain, makes his 2nd and last appearance as quirky old foreign policy hand Albie Duncan. John Aniston, father of Jennifer, plays the debate's moderator, Alexander Thompson.
Meanwhile, unable to attend the debate, White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry (John Spencer) has to get Ali Nassir (Tony Amendola), the Ambassador to the United Nations from the fictional nation of Qumar, to get his government to stop accusing Israel of having the nation's Minister of Defense, the brother of the ruling Sultan, assassinated. Leo knows Israel didn't do it, because he was the one who told Bartlet to have his own people do it.
Leo gives a line that would come back to haunt 3 Presidents, 5 counting Bartlet himself and, a year later, his temporary successor under Article 3 of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, Glen Walken (John Goodman): "You think if the President admitted complicity in Shareef's death, he would lose votes? To sweep all 50 States, the President would have to do 2 things: Blow the Sultan's brains out in Times Square, and then walk across the street to Nathan's and buy a hot dog!" The implication being that he wouldn't actually have to buy the hot dog.
Well, George W. Bush failed to find and kill Osama bin Laden, and so he went into Iraq 5 months after this, which got him re-elected, but made his 2nd term such a failure that the under-experienced Barack Obama was elected in 2008 over war hero John McCain. Obama got us out of Iraq, and, having made finding and killing bin Laden a priority, was able to get it done in his 1st term, but didn't come close to sweeping all 50 States, although he did win solidly.
Later still, Donald Trump said, "I could shoot somebody in the middle of 5th Avenue, and I wouldn't lose votes." He may have been right about that: On January 6, 2021, he launched an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, to prevent the counting and certifying of the Electoral Votes that would have made his 2020 election defeat official, and a Capitol Police officer -- Brian Sicknick, a New Jerseyan who had made his support of Trump known -- died. The votes were counted and certified, anyway.
October 30, 2003: The Toyota Center opens in Houston. The Houston Rockets beat the Denver Nuggets 102-85.
October 30, 2007: The Yankees sign Joe Girardi to a 3-year deal worth a reported $7.5 million to replace popular manager Joe Torre, who left earlier in the month, rejecting a 29 percent pay cut after guiding his club to their 12th postseason appearance in 12 years.
The 43-year old former catcher and broadcaster, the NL manager of the year with the 2006 Marlins, beat out coaches Don Mattingly and Tony Pena to become the team's 32nd skipper.
*
October 30, 2010: For the 1st time, a team based in Texas wins a World Series game. The Texas Rangers, hosting a Series game for the 1st time in their 39 years in the Dallas area, beat the San Francisco Giants, 4-2, at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington (now named Globe Life Park), and close the gap to 2 games to 1. Previously, the Rangers (in this Series) and the Houston Astros (in their only appearance, in 2005) had been 0-6.
October 30, 2013: The Boston Red Sox beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-1, to take Game 6 of the World Series, and capture a World Championship at Fenway Park for the 1st time since 1918. After not winning a Series for 86 years, they have now won 3 in 10 seasons.
Of course, the Most Valuable Player of the World Series was given to David Ortiz, the only man on all 3 title teams. Which means that all 3 titles are bogus, and the Red Sox still didn't win the World Series honestly from 1918 to 2018.
Also on this day, 11 years to the day after their 1st game in their new city, the former New Orleans Hornets debut under their new name, the name of the Crescent City's long-ago minor-league baseball team: The New Orleans Pelicans.
They aren't so lucky this time, losing to the Indiana Pacers, 95-90. Paul George scores 32 points for the Hoosier State club, while Eric Gordon leads the Pels with 25.
To make matters worse, their new mascot, Pierre the Pelican, ends up scaring several children. The costume is redesigned.
October 30, 2015: Game 3 of the World Series, the 1st World Series game ever played at Citi Field, the new home of the Mets. It includes one of the great oddities in baseball history. In the top of the 5th inning, Raúl A. Mondesí, a 20-year-old 2nd baseman, pinch-hits for Danny Duffy. He was the 1st player to make his major league debut in the World Series: Although he had not played in the major leagues during the regular season, the NLDS or the NLCS, Royals manager Ned Yost included him on the World Series roster. That's very odd, but it is legal. Noah Syndergaard strikes him out.
Now calling himself Adalberto Mondesí, to avoid confusion, he is the son of Raúl R. Mondesí, a former All-Star outfielder, who was elected to a 6-year term as the Mayor of San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic, in 2010; and is now serving an 8-year term in prison, for corruption while in office. Adalberto's career has been plagued by injuries, but he is still with the Royals.
The Royals score a run in the top of the 1st. David Wright hits his 1st World Series home run in the bottom of the 1st, but the Royals take a 3-2 lead in the top of the 2nd -- meaning the Mets have now blown leads in all 3 games of the Series so far, and in their last 4 Series games (dating to 2000).
But the Mets take the lead back in the 3rd, as Curtis Granderson hits a home run. They add a run in the 4th, and 4 more in the 6th, and win 9-3. The Mets close the Series gap to 2-1 -- just like they did in 2000. But, just as they did in 2000, they will lose in 5.
Syndergaard is the winning pitcher. Since the Mets won by 6 runs, there was no save. Here is every winning pitcher for the Mets in World Series games:
* Jerry Koosman, 1969, Games 2 and 5; 1973 Game 5
* Gary Gentry, 1969 Game 3
* Tom Seaver, 1969 Game 4
* Tug McGraw, 1973 Game 2
* Jon Matlack, 1973 Game 4
* Bob Ojeda, 1986 Game 3
* Ron Darling, 1986 Game 4
* Rick Aguilera, 1986 Game 6 (despite nearly being the goat)
* Roger McDowell, 1986 Game 7
* John Franco, 2000 Game 3
* Noah Syndergaard, 2015 Game 3
There have been fewer saves, since the Mets have won some of these games by more than 3 runs: Ron Taylor saved 1969 Game 2, Nolan Ryan 1969 Game 3, George Stone 1973 Game 2, Ray Sadecki 1973 Game 4, McGraw 1973 Game 5, Jesse Orosco 1986 Games 4 and 7, and Armando Benitez 2000 Game 3.
Of course, the Most Valuable Player of the World Series was given to David Ortiz, the only man on all 3 title teams. Which means that all 3 titles are bogus, and the Red Sox still didn't win the World Series honestly from 1918 to 2018.
Also on this day, 11 years to the day after their 1st game in their new city, the former New Orleans Hornets debut under their new name, the name of the Crescent City's long-ago minor-league baseball team: The New Orleans Pelicans.
They aren't so lucky this time, losing to the Indiana Pacers, 95-90. Paul George scores 32 points for the Hoosier State club, while Eric Gordon leads the Pels with 25.
To make matters worse, their new mascot, Pierre the Pelican, ends up scaring several children. The costume is redesigned.
October 30, 2015: Game 3 of the World Series, the 1st World Series game ever played at Citi Field, the new home of the Mets. It includes one of the great oddities in baseball history. In the top of the 5th inning, Raúl A. Mondesí, a 20-year-old 2nd baseman, pinch-hits for Danny Duffy. He was the 1st player to make his major league debut in the World Series: Although he had not played in the major leagues during the regular season, the NLDS or the NLCS, Royals manager Ned Yost included him on the World Series roster. That's very odd, but it is legal. Noah Syndergaard strikes him out.
Now calling himself Adalberto Mondesí, to avoid confusion, he is the son of Raúl R. Mondesí, a former All-Star outfielder, who was elected to a 6-year term as the Mayor of San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic, in 2010; and is now serving an 8-year term in prison, for corruption while in office. Adalberto's career has been plagued by injuries, but he is still with the Royals.
The Royals score a run in the top of the 1st. David Wright hits his 1st World Series home run in the bottom of the 1st, but the Royals take a 3-2 lead in the top of the 2nd -- meaning the Mets have now blown leads in all 3 games of the Series so far, and in their last 4 Series games (dating to 2000).
But the Mets take the lead back in the 3rd, as Curtis Granderson hits a home run. They add a run in the 4th, and 4 more in the 6th, and win 9-3. The Mets close the Series gap to 2-1 -- just like they did in 2000. But, just as they did in 2000, they will lose in 5.
Syndergaard is the winning pitcher. Since the Mets won by 6 runs, there was no save. Here is every winning pitcher for the Mets in World Series games:
* Jerry Koosman, 1969, Games 2 and 5; 1973 Game 5
* Gary Gentry, 1969 Game 3
* Tom Seaver, 1969 Game 4
* Tug McGraw, 1973 Game 2
* Jon Matlack, 1973 Game 4
* Bob Ojeda, 1986 Game 3
* Ron Darling, 1986 Game 4
* Rick Aguilera, 1986 Game 6 (despite nearly being the goat)
* Roger McDowell, 1986 Game 7
* John Franco, 2000 Game 3
* Noah Syndergaard, 2015 Game 3
There have been fewer saves, since the Mets have won some of these games by more than 3 runs: Ron Taylor saved 1969 Game 2, Nolan Ryan 1969 Game 3, George Stone 1973 Game 2, Ray Sadecki 1973 Game 4, McGraw 1973 Game 5, Jesse Orosco 1986 Games 4 and 7, and Armando Benitez 2000 Game 3.
So McGraw is the only pitcher ever to win and save a game in a Mets uniform. Yankees who have done it: Herb Pennock did both in 1923; Wilcy Moore had a save in 1927 and a win in 1932; Johnny Murphy had 2 wins and 4 saves between 1936 and 1943, and became the general manager of the Mets' 1969 title; Spud Chandler had a save in 1942 and 2 wins in 1943; Joe Page did both in 1947; Allie Reynolds did both 4 times, in 1949, 1950, 1952 and 1953; Bob Turley did both in 1958; Goose Gossage had a win but not a save in 1978, but had 2 saves in 1981; and Rivera did both in 1999, and again in 2001.
October 30, 2016: Game 5 of the World Series. Kris Bryant hits a home run to highlight a 3-run 4th inning, to give the Chicago Cubs a 3-2 win over the Cleveland Indians.
It is the Cubbies' 1st World Series game victory at home since October 8, 1945. The Series goes back to Cleveland, with the Indians leading 3 games to 2, and needing only 1 home win to take the title.
October 30, 2018: After 81 years as a tiny station that served as a major bottleneck, the new Harrison station opens on the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) system in Hudson County, New Jersey. It's too late to be used by fans of Major League Soccer's New York Red Bulls in their current season, but it has helped tremendously since.
October 30, 2019: Minute Maid Park in Houston is the site of the 1st Game 7 of the World Series in which both starting pitchers had previously won the Cy Young Award: Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals and Zack Greinke of the Houston Astros.
Yuli Gurriel's home run in the bottom of the 2nd and Carlos Correa's single in the bottom of the 5th gave the Astros a 2-0 lead. Greinke cruised into the 7th, but then gave up a home run to Anthony Rendon. He then walked Juan Soto, and was replaced by Will Harris, who gave up a home run to Howie Kendrick.
The Nationals ended up winning 6-2, marking the 1st World Championship for the franchise that had once been the Montreal Expos, in 51 seasons; the 1st World Series win for a Washington baseball team in 95 years, since the 1924 Senators; the 6th straight year that the World Series was clinched by the visiting team, including 4 Game 7s (2014, '16, '17 and '19); and the 1st time in the history of major league sports that the visiting team won all 7 games of a postseason series.
Stephen Strasburg, the injury-prone pitcher whom the Nationals infamously benched for the 2012 postseason to save his arm, resulting in an embarrassing NLDS loss, was named the Series' MVP.
The Nats' win got more amazing when it was revealed that the Astros were cheating, especially at home, and yet the Nats won all 4 games in Houston. They will always have my thanks for that. Their fans will always have my respect for booing Donald Trump in Game 5 at Nationals Park.
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