Boston Sox are Red
Pinstripes are Blue
I hate the Red Sox
and you should, too.
Tonight, the Yankees and their arch-rivals, the Boston Red Sox, will face each other in the American League Wild Card Game at Fenway Park in Boston, site of many games that have loomed large in baseball history:
* 1912: A World Series-clinching Game 8 that featured one of the infamous errors in baseball history, leading to the Sox capping the park's 1st season with a World Championship.
* 1941: The 1st All-Star Game to end with a home run, by one of the park's home players.
* 1948: A one-game Playoff for the AL Pennant, which the Sox lost.
* 1949: Joe DiMaggio's magnificent comeback from a terrible injury.
* 1960: Ted Williams, he of said All-Star Game home run and the .406 batting average in that earlier season, ending his career with a home run.
* 1967: A regular-season finale that clinched a Pennant known as "The Impossible Dream," and a Triple Crown for Carl Yastrzemski.
* 1975: A World Series where the Red Sox won an epic Game 6, only to lose an almost equally dramatic Game 7.
* 1978: A one-game Playoff for the AL Eastern Division title, in which the Yankees beat the Sox.
* 1986: Roger Clemens becoming the 1st pitcher to strike 20 batters out in a game, leading to a Boston Pennant, but a crushing World Series loss.
* 1999: An ALCS between the Yankees and the Red Sox that included a fan riot in Game 4, before the Yankees clinched there in Game 5.
* 2001: Mike Mussina beating the Red Sox for the Yankees, but losing a perfect game with 1 strike to go.
* 2003: An ALCS between the Yankees and the Red Sox that included the Sox starting a riot in Game 3, before the Yankees won at home in extra innings of Game 7.
* 2004: An ALCS between the Yankees and the Red Sox that included the Sox coming from behind to win Games 4 and 5, and then beating the Yankees at Yankee Stadium in Game 7, before winning their 1st World Series since 1918 -- all achievements that we later learned were dishonest.
* 2013: The Red Sox winning the World Series on their home field for the 1st time since 1918.
In that time, in that ballpark, the Red Sox have pitched to Napoleon Lajoie, Eddie Collins, Ty Cobb, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Hank Greenberg, Stan Musial, Al Kaline, Frank Robinson, Lou Brock, Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Rod Carew, George Brett, Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, Gary Carter, Rickey Henderson, Cal Ripken Jr., Ken Griffey Jr., Frank Thomas, Jim Thome, Albert Pujols, Todd Helton, Carlos Beltran, and Yankee Legends Lou Gehrig, Bill Dickey, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Reggie Jackson, Dave Winfield and Derek Jeter. And Tris Speaker, and Yankee Legends Babe Ruth and Wade Boggs, batted both for and against them.
The Red Sox have batted against Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson, Bob Feller, Whitey Ford, Bob Gibson, Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, Randy Johnson and Clayton Kershaw. And they have batted both for and against Lefty Grove and the aforementioned Clemens.
Tonight, they will bat against Gerrit Cole. Their own starting pitcher will be Nathan Eovaldi, who had once pitched superbly for the Yankees, but was let go due to injury, and won the clinching Game 4 of the 2018 ALDS against the Yankees at the new Yankee Stadium.
History will be made tonight. What form it will take, and which team it will favor, we do not yet know. What we do know is that we will talk about it for the rest of our lives.
So, let's make it good history. Come on you Bombers! Beat The Scum!
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October 5, 1829: Chester Alan Arthur is born in Fairfield, Vermont, but lives most of his life in the State of New York, either in or around the State capital of Albany or in Manhattan. He practiced law, and was a key figure in the New York Militia during the U.S. Civil War, rising to the rank of Brigadier General.
In 1871, President Ulysses S. Grant appointed him Collector of the Port of New York; unlike some other holders of that post in the late 19th Century, he did not take advantage of the massive opportunities for ill-gotten gains. This got the attention of the State Republican Party, and he was named Chairman in 1879.
In 1880, he was nominated for Vice President of the United States, to appease a faction of the party that was not happy with the nomination of Representative James Garfield of Ohio for President. They won a very close election. Garfield was shot on July 2, 1881, and died on September 19, 1881, making "Chet" Arthur the 21st President of the United States.
Perhaps no new President -- until Donald Trump -- ever came into the office with less impressive qualifications. After serving out Garfield's term, he left the office on March 4, 1885, and few Presidents have ever been so widely praised upon leaving. He made no truly damaging mistakes, and signed the civil service reform known as the Pendleton Act into law in 1883.
He was already suffering from Bright's disease, a kidney ailment treatable (though not curable) now, but not then. Earlier in 1884, it killed Alice Roosevelt, 1st wife of Theodore. It would kill First Lady Ellen Wilson in 1914, heavyweight contender Billy Miske in 1924, and Boston Red Sox owner Harry Frazee in 1929. Knowing he would not survive what would have amounted to a 2nd term, Arthur did not run in 1884, and died on November 18, 1886, just 57 years old. He is buried at Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands, New York.
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October 5, 1861, 160 years ago: John Weaver is born in Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire, England, and immigrated to Philadelphia in 1881, working in John Wanamaker's famed department store. He went to law school, was elected District Attorney, and was elected Mayor in 1903. His term included the 1905 American League Pennant won by the Philadelphia Athletics. He died in 1928.
October 5, 1888: James "Pud" Galvin of the Pittsburgh Pirates defeats the Washington Nationals (not the current team by that name), 5-1, at the Swampoodle Grounds in Washington. Union Station and the National Postal Museum would later be built on the site, just north of Capitol Hill, as the neighborhood known as Swampoodle is no more. (Philadelphia also had a neighborhood of that name.)
Galvin thus becomes the 1st pitcher to win 300 games in a career. His career win total eventually reached 364, including 2 no-hitters, although it should be pointed out that he retired after the 1892 season, a year before the pitching distance became standardized as 60 feet, 6 inches.
As for his retroactively raunchy nickname, it was said that Jim Galvin "made the hitters look like pudding."
Yet another "New York edges out Boston" in baseball story. Except this might be the 1st time it happened in sports, the League is the National, the New York team is the Giants, and the Boston team is the Beaneaters, who would later be renamed the Braves.
The manager is Jim Mutrie, who gave the former New York Gothams their name: Pleased about a victory in 1885, "Smilin' Jeems" called his players "my big boys, my giants."
Ironically, the man also known as "Truthful Jim" was a native of the Boston area: Chelsea, Massachusetts. Born in 1851 and raised playing cricket, he switched to baseball, played in the minors, made some smart business deals, founded the New York Metropolitans of the American Association (the "original New York Mets," if you prefer), and in 1883 bought the Troy Trojans, and moved them out of the Albany area to Manhattan.
Under the rules of the time, he was allowed to own both teams. He even built a complex of 2 baseball fields, facing each other, one for the Giants, the other for the Metropolitans, on a polo field owned by newspaper publisher James Gordon Bennett. It became known as the Polo Grounds, and stood between 110th and 112th Streets, and 5th and 6th Avenues. The Giants had to move because the City decided it had to extend 111th Street through it, leading to the construction of the more familiar Polo Grounds complex at 155th Street and 8th Avenue at the other end of Harlem.
He managed the Mets to the 1884 AA Pennant, then switched to managing the Giants. He won back-to-back Pennants in 1888 and 1889, got fed up with baseball after the 1890 Players League revolt, and opened a hotel in Elmira, New York, living until 1938.
With such a big legacy, why is Mutrie not in the Baseball Hall of Fame? His "big boys," his Giants, included 6 men who are in the Hall: Pitchers Tim Keefe and Mickey Welch, catcher Buck Ewing, 1st baseman Roger Connor (baseball's all-time home run leader before Babe Ruth), outfielder "Orator Jim" O'Rourke and all-purpose man (but mainly shortstop) John Montgomery "Monte" Ward. Ironically, they also included pitcher Hank O'Day, who would be elected to the Hall as an umpire -- but is best known as the ump who ruled Fred Merkle out at 2nd base to cost the Giants a key 1908 game and, eventually, the Pennant.
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October 5, 1902: Raymond Albert Kroc is born in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois. A milkshake machine salesman, he noticed that 8 of his machines had been mail-ordered by the brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald of San Bernardino, California. He visited their restaurant to find out why he was so successful with them, and discovered that their idea for a quick hamburger restaurant was a great idea. The McDonald's empire was born.
A big baseball fan, in 1974 he learned that the San Diego Padres were for sale. They had come very close to being moved to Washington, D.C. He bought the Padres, keeping them in San Diego.
On Opening Day, the Padres were about to lose 9-5 to the Houston Astros, and Kroc took the public address microphone at San Diego Stadium (now Qualcomm Stadium). He apologized to the crowd of 39,083 fans, saying, "I've never seen such stupid ballplaying in my life!" The crowd roared its approval.
He died in 1984, just before the season that would end with the Padres' 1st Pennant. His initials RAK would remain on the Padres' sleeves until 1990, when his widow Joan sold the team.
October 5, 1912: The New York Highlanders play their last game under that name before officially changing their name to the Yankees, which pretty much everybody is calling them by now anyway. It is also their last game at their original home, Hilltop Park, at 165th Street and Broadway in Washington Heights, Manhattan. (The Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center is on the site now.) Their 10-year lease has run out, and they will soon sign a 10-year lease as tenants of the Giants at the Polo Grounds.
The Yankees are playing the same team against whom they played their 1st game and their 1st home game, in 1903: The Washington Senators. The Yankees win, 8-6, breaking a 10-game losing streak. They still finish last: At 50-102, their .329 winning percentage remains the lowest in club history.
Hal Chase and Jack Lelivelt hit home runs. Homer Thompson, in his only major league appearance, is a defensive replacement as catcher (and, like Archie "Moonlight" Graham of the Giants 7 years earlier, doesn't get to bat). His brother Tommy Thompson is the last New York pitcher. This makes them the 1st battery of brothers in AL history.
Chet "Red" Hoff was the last surviving New York Highlander. He remains the longest-lived former MLB player ever, living until 1998, age 107.
October 5, 1918: Captain Edward Leslie Grant, U.S. Army, becomes the 1st Major League Baseball player ever to be killed in military combat. The former New York Giants 3rd baseman is hit by a shell while leading the 307th Infantry to rescue the Lost Battalion, the name given to a contingent of roughly 554 soldiers of the United States 77th Division isolated by the German forces after an American attack in the Argonne Forest of France in World War I.
October 5, 1918: Captain Edward Leslie Grant, U.S. Army, becomes the 1st Major League Baseball player ever to be killed in military combat. The former New York Giants 3rd baseman is hit by a shell while leading the 307th Infantry to rescue the Lost Battalion, the name given to a contingent of roughly 554 soldiers of the United States 77th Division isolated by the German forces after an American attack in the Argonne Forest of France in World War I.
Eddie was 35, and was buried in a military cemetery nearby in Lorraine. Although 197 men in the Lost Battalion were killed, and another 150 missing and never recovered, 194 were soon rescued.
On Memorial Day, May 29, 1921, representatives from the armed forces, baseball, and Grant's sisters unveiled a monument to him at the Polo Grounds -- on the field in center field. This was the 1st time something like this had been done in baseball, and preceded the Miller Huggins Monument, the beginning of what became the Yankees' Monument Park, by 11 years.
The monument would later be joined on the wall of the center field clubhouse by plaques in memory of Giants legends John McGraw, Christy Mathewson and Ross Youngs; football Giants Al Blozis and Jack Lummus, both of whom were killed in World War II; and Jimmy Walker, New York's raffish, corrupt 1920s Mayor who was a big sports fan and a Giants supporter.
After the baseball Giants' last game there in 1957, the plaque was pried from the monument. When the Mets debuted at the Polo Grounds in 1962, the marble slab was still in center field, but the plaque was long gone. Despite a claim by a former New York cop that he had it in his house in Ho-Ho-Kus, Bergen County, New Jersey, the real thing has never been found.
The Giants, who hadn't won a World Series since moving to San Francisco, dedicated a replacement plaque at AT&T Park in 2006. They have since won 3 World Series, thus ending what some called "The Curse of Captain Eddie." As for the whereabouts of the other 6 Polo Grounds plaques, your guess is as good as mine.
If you count the National Association of 1871 to 1875 as having been a "major league," then the 1st major league ballplayer to die in military service was Army Private William E. "Bill" Stearns, a pitcher for that league's team named the Washington Nationals. He died on December 30, 1898, at the age of 45, in his hometown of Washington. However, he died of an illness, not in combat, even though the Spanish-American War had been fought, and the Philippine Campaign was still going on. Why he was still only a Private at 45, I don't know.
The same day that Eddie Grant was killed, French pilot Roland Garros is shot down by the Germans over Vouziers, in the Ardennes. He would have turned 30 the next day. In 1913, he became the 1st man to fly across the Mediterranean Sea. He had also been an avid tennis player. In 1928, Stade Roland Garros opened as the new home of the French Open.
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October 5, 1921, 100 years ago: The Yankees play their 1st World Series game, in the 1st one-city Series since 1906 in Chicago. Babe Ruth drives in the 1st run, Mike McNally steals home plate, and Carl Mays pitches a 5-hit shutout (4 of the hits by Frankie Frisch), as the Yankees beat the Giants 3-0.
It is the 1st World Series game broadcast on radio -- oddly, by a Pittsburgh station, KDKA, the 1st true American radio station. And the announcer is a Southerner, Grantland Rice, beginning a tradition of Southern broadcasters in New York that would include, among others, Mel Allen of the Yankees, Red Barber of the Dodgers, and longtime WABC and WCBS-FM disc jockey Ron Lundy.
Also on this day, William Karnet Willis is born in Columbus, Ohio. A guard on Ohio State's National Championship football team in 1942, in 1946 Bill Willis became, along with his new teammate Marion Motley, and Kenny Washington and Woody Strode of the Los Angeles Rams, 1 of the 1st 4 black players in the NFL after the drawing of the color line in 1933. He helped the Cleveland Browns win the All-America Football Conference title in all 4 years of that league's existence: 1946, '47, '48 and '49. Then the Browns moved into the NFL, and they won the title there in 1950.
He later became the Chairman of the Ohio Youth Commission, and was named to the NFL's 1940s All-Decade Team (even though the Browns didn't enter the NFL until 1950), the Cleveland Browns Ring of Honor, and the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame. He lived until 2007.
October 5, 1922: Game 2 of the World Series. The game between the Yankees and Giants is tied 3-3 after 10 innings, when umpire George Hildebrand calls the game due to darkness. Both teams protest, saying they can see just fine. Sunset was not for another hour. A crowd of 36,514, about equally divided between the teams, is furious, and it takes a police escort to get Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis out of the park and away from the unruly mob.
That night, Judge Landis (not a nickname, he had actually been a federal Judge), in one of the few compromises he will ever make, bends over backwards to negate the public's opinion that the game might have been called to provide an extra day's gate, by donating the $120‚554 in receipts to charities -- about $1.86 million in today's money. Half will go to New York charities‚ and half to disabled soldiers from the recent World War.
Yankee center fielder Whitey Witt was the last surviving player from this game, living until 1988. Hall of Fame 1st baseman George "High Pockets" Kelly was the last surviving Giant, living until 1984.
Also on this day, John Stein is born in Burnbank, Scotland. No middle name, and that's pronounced "STEEN," not "STINE." Like many Scots, especially those named John, he was nicknamed "Jock." After years of playing centre half with Coatbridge side Albion Rovers, and an ill-fated season with Llanelli Town in Wales, in 1951 he signed with Celtic of Glasgow, and helped them win the Scottish Football League title in 1954.
He managed Dunfermline Athletic to the 1961 Scottish Cup, and spent some time at Hibernian of Edinburgh, before Celtic hired him as manager in 1965. He managed them to 9 consecutive titles, 1966 to 1974, and a 10th in 1977. He led them to 8 Scottish Cups from 1965 to 1977. He managed them to 6 Scottish League Cups from 1966 to 1975.
In 1967, he became the 1st manager of a British team, and the 1st British manager, to win the European Cup, as Celtic beat Internazionale Milano in the Final, at Portugal's National Stadium in Lisbon, earning them the nickname the Lisbon Lions. As Celtic also won all 3 domestic trophies, they became the 1st, and remain the only, side in European history to win such a Quadruple.
Like Brian Clough, he was a successful manager who nonetheless managed very briefly at Leeds United -- each man managing the Yorkshire club for just 44 days. He managed Scotland briefly in 1965, and was hired to manage the national side again in 1978. He got them into the 1982 World Cup. In 1985, managing a Home Nations match against Wales at Ninian Park in Cardiff, which ended in a 1-1 draw, he suffered a heart attack, and died in the dressing room. He was only 62.
A stand at Celtic Park was named in his memory, and a statue of him holding the European Cup stands outside. He was posthumously elected to the Scottish Football Hall of Fame.
October 5, 1927: Game 1 of the World Series. Legend has it that, seeing the Yankees smack the ball all over Forbes Field in batting practice, the host Pittsburgh Pirates were intimidated and never had a chance. All the Pirates who were later interviewed about the subject said that this was not the case.
A bases-loaded walk of Bob Meusel by Ray Kremer leads to a 3-run inning, giving the Yankees a 5-4 win. The Yankees end up sweeping the Series, but they didn't dominate that much.
Also on this day, John Stein is born in Burnbank, Scotland. No middle name, and that's pronounced "STEEN," not "STINE." Like many Scots, especially those named John, he was nicknamed "Jock." After years of playing centre half with Coatbridge side Albion Rovers, and an ill-fated season with Llanelli Town in Wales, in 1951 he signed with Celtic of Glasgow, and helped them win the Scottish Football League title in 1954.
He managed Dunfermline Athletic to the 1961 Scottish Cup, and spent some time at Hibernian of Edinburgh, before Celtic hired him as manager in 1965. He managed them to 9 consecutive titles, 1966 to 1974, and a 10th in 1977. He led them to 8 Scottish Cups from 1965 to 1977. He managed them to 6 Scottish League Cups from 1966 to 1975.
In 1967, he became the 1st manager of a British team, and the 1st British manager, to win the European Cup, as Celtic beat Internazionale Milano in the Final, at Portugal's National Stadium in Lisbon, earning them the nickname the Lisbon Lions. As Celtic also won all 3 domestic trophies, they became the 1st, and remain the only, side in European history to win such a Quadruple.
Like Brian Clough, he was a successful manager who nonetheless managed very briefly at Leeds United -- each man managing the Yorkshire club for just 44 days. He managed Scotland briefly in 1965, and was hired to manage the national side again in 1978. He got them into the 1982 World Cup. In 1985, managing a Home Nations match against Wales at Ninian Park in Cardiff, which ended in a 1-1 draw, he suffered a heart attack, and died in the dressing room. He was only 62.
A stand at Celtic Park was named in his memory, and a statue of him holding the European Cup stands outside. He was posthumously elected to the Scottish Football Hall of Fame.
October 5, 1927: Game 1 of the World Series. Legend has it that, seeing the Yankees smack the ball all over Forbes Field in batting practice, the host Pittsburgh Pirates were intimidated and never had a chance. All the Pirates who were later interviewed about the subject said that this was not the case.
A bases-loaded walk of Bob Meusel by Ray Kremer leads to a 3-run inning, giving the Yankees a 5-4 win. The Yankees end up sweeping the Series, but they didn't dominate that much.
Also on this day, Alfred Michael Heist is born in Brooklyn. An outfielder, Al Heist first played professional baseball in 1949, and got to the Pacific Coast League with the 1955 Sacramento Solons. As it turned out, he was what we would now call a "uadruple-A player": Too good for the minors, but not quite good enough for the majors.
He finally reached the majors with the Chicago Cubs in 1960, enduring the start of their ill-fated "College of Coaches" experiment in 1961. The good news is, he got out of that. The bad news is, it was by being made available for the expansion draft, and he was taken by the Houston Colt .45s, who were playing Colt Stadium, a makeshift stopgap facility that was open to the South Texas heat and humidity, and to mosquitos so big, Sandy Koufax called them "twin-engine jobs."
He spent the next 3 seasons with the proto-Astros' top farm team, the Oklahoma City 89ers, and then retired, having hit .255 in major league play. He later coached for the Astros, and scouted for them and some other teams, serving 1 last season in a major league uniform, as a coach for the San Diego Padres in 1980. He stayed in Oklahoma after his plaing career ended, and died there in 2006.
October 5, 1931, 90 years ago: Game 3 of the World Series. Burleigh Grimes of the Cardinals, the last remaining pitcher who was permitted to throw a spitball, has a no-hitter over the Philadelphia Athletics until the 8th inning, and ends up winning 5-2.
Also on this day, American aviators
Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon
Jr. complete the first nonstop across
the Pacific Ocean, from Misasa, Japan to
East Wenatchee, Washington, in 41½ hours.
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October 5, 1941, 80 years ago: On the same day as the Mickey Owen Game, Andrew John Kosco is born in Youngstown, Ohio. An outfielder, he won the Pennant as a rookie with the 1965 Minnesota Twins. He played for the Yankees in 1968, and reached the postseason again with the 1973 NL West Champion Cincinnati Reds. He is still alive.
He made his major league debut with the Twins on August 13, 1965. According to Baseball-Reference, this made him the 10,000th player in Major League Baseball history, counting from the founding of the National Association in 1871. Not everyone considers the NA a major league, and consider MLB to have started with the founding of the National league in 1876. Sometime in the 2021 season, MLB will see its 20,000th player.
According to B-R, the 1st player in MLB history was James Laurie "Deacon" White, the 1st batter in the 1st NA game, for the Cleveland Forest Citys against the Fort Wayne Kekiongas, on May 4, 1871. White, a 3rd baseman and catcher, batted .312 lifetime, won 6 Pennants, played from 1868 to 1890, died in 1939, and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2013.
But he shouldn't be counted as the 1st player. That should be the pitcher who began the 1st game by pitching to the 1st batter. That would be Fort Wayne's Bobby Mathews, who made his professional debut that day, pitched a shutout and won 2-0, pitched until 1887, won 1 Pennant each in the NL and the American Association, and won 297 games, but is not in the Hall of Fame. He died in 1898.
Also on this day, Lawrence David Glueck is born in the Philadelphia suburb of Norristown, Pennsylvania. A defensive back, Larry Glueck is 1 of 10 surviving members of the 1963 NFL Champion Chicago Bears. He also coached Fordham University to Liberty Conference titles in 1987 and 1988.
Also on this day, Louis Brandeis dies of a heart attack in Washington, D.C. He was 84. He was the 1st Jewish Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, serving from 1916 to 1939, and is considered the father of the right to privacy. A university with a largely Jewish student body, outside Boston, and the University of Louisville's School of Law are named for him. Louisville was his hometown, and he and his wife are buried at the School.
Also on this day, the Nazis kill 38,000 Jews in Berdychiv, Lithuania, liquidating the ghetto there.
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October 5, 1942: Game 5 of the World Series. The Cardinals win the Series, as 3rd baseman Whitey Kurowski hits a tiebreaking home run off Red Ruffing in the 9th inning, 4-2. The Cards had taken the last 3 games at Yankee Stadium after splitting the 1st 2 in St. Louis.
This is the only World Series the Yankees will lose between 1926 and 1955. It beings a 5-season stretch in which the Cards win 4 Pennants and 3 World Championships. The year they will miss the World Series will be 1945 -- the first full season since his arrival that Stan Musial was not in Cardinal red. (He was in Navy blue instead.)
Musial would turn out to be the last survivor of the '42 Cards, living until 2013.
October 5, 1946, 75 years ago: Jean Perron (no middle name -- odd for a French Catholic of that period) is born in Saint-Isidore-d'Auckland, Québec. He never played in the NHL, but in 1986, as a rookie head coach, led the Montréal Canadiens to the Stanley Cup.
He later coached their Provincial rivals, the Québec Nordiques, and now coaches the Israeli national team. Yes, they play hockey in Israel. He was also an analyst for hockey broadcasts, including for the Francophone Québec network TQS (now named simply "V"). But he's one of these sportscasters noted for fractured syntax, even when he speaks his native French, and a book titled Les Perronismes
collected his goofs and gaffes.
October 5, 1947: Game 6 of the World Series. The Yankees trail the Dodgers 8-5 in the bottom of the 6th, but have 2 men on. DiMaggio rips the ball deep to left-center field, but, in Yankee Stadium, that's "Death Valley." Al Gionfriddo makes a leaping catch near the bullpen gate. The Yankees can close to within 8-6, but that was it. Game 7 is tomorrow.
Gionfriddo becomes a hero, but, like Game 4 heroes Bill Bevens and Cookie Lavagetto, he never plays another major league game after the next day's Game 7. He played in the minors until 1953, managed in the minors until 1959, and died in 2003.
October 5, 1947: Game 6 of the World Series. The Yankees trail the Dodgers 8-5 in the bottom of the 6th, but have 2 men on. DiMaggio rips the ball deep to left-center field, but, in Yankee Stadium, that's "Death Valley." Al Gionfriddo makes a leaping catch near the bullpen gate. The Yankees can close to within 8-6, but that was it. Game 7 is tomorrow.
Gionfriddo becomes a hero, but, like Game 4 heroes Bill Bevens and Cookie Lavagetto, he never plays another major league game after the next day's Game 7. He played in the minors until 1953, managed in the minors until 1959, and died in 2003.
Also on this day, President Harry S Truman becomes the 1st President to deliver a speech from the White House that is broadcast on television. With World War II only a little over 2 years in the past, there are still food shortages, and the Marshall Plan, devised by his Secretary of State, former General George C. Marshall, is trying to do something about this. So Truman asks the American people to voluntarily observe meatless Tuesday and poultryless Thursdays. Most do.
Also on this day, Brian Francis Johnson is born in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, across the River Tyne from Newcastle in the North-East of England. Natives of Tyneside are called "Geordies," and in the 1970s, Brian Johnson led a rock band named Geordie.
In 1980, he was invited to replace the late Bon Scott as lead singer of the Scottish-Australian hard rock band AC/DC. Singing lead on such hits as "You Shook Me All Night Long," "Hells' Bells" (the entry song for the NHL's New Jersey Devils) and "Thunderstruck" (the entry song for minor league baseball's Trenton Thunder), he was once said to have "the voice most likely to annoy the parents of a 14-year-old boy."
Although still alive, he left the band in 2016, because he was losing his hearing. Given how loud the band has been, that's not surprising.
October 5, 1948: Francis Joseph Dunphy is born outside Philadelphia in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. Not many men were stars at more than 1 of Philadelphia's "Big 5" basketball schools, but he's been a star at 3. He played at La Salle from 1967 to 1970, and was an assistant coach there from 1985 to 1988.
He then became an assistant coach at the University of Pennsylvania in 1988, and their head coach in 1989. In 2006, he succeeded John Chaney as head coach at Temple. He stepped down earlier this year.
He won 10 Ivy League titles with Penn, 2 Atlantic 10 titles and 1 AAC title at Temple. His record as a head coach is 580-325, including 516 in the Big 5, leading to the nickname "Mr. Big 5." He recently returned to Temple as interim athletic director. He shows no inclination to "complete the circuit" by coaching at St. Joseph's and Villanova.
October 5, 1948: Francis Joseph Dunphy is born outside Philadelphia in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. Not many men were stars at more than 1 of Philadelphia's "Big 5" basketball schools, but he's been a star at 3. He played at La Salle from 1967 to 1970, and was an assistant coach there from 1985 to 1988.
He then became an assistant coach at the University of Pennsylvania in 1988, and their head coach in 1989. In 2006, he succeeded John Chaney as head coach at Temple. He stepped down earlier this year.
He won 10 Ivy League titles with Penn, 2 Atlantic 10 titles and 1 AAC title at Temple. His record as a head coach is 580-325, including 516 in the Big 5, leading to the nickname "Mr. Big 5." He recently returned to Temple as interim athletic director. He shows no inclination to "complete the circuit" by coaching at St. Joseph's and Villanova.
October 5, 1949: Game 1 of the World Series. Allie Reynolds of the New York Yankees and Don Newcombe of the Brooklyn Dodgers pitch a scoreless game, taking it to the bottom of the 9th.
With Newcombe's death in 2019, all the players who appeared in this game have died. Yogi Berra was the last surviving Yankee, living until 2015.
Tommy Henrich leads off that inning for the Yankees, and shows why Yankee broadcaster Mel Allen nicknamed him "Old Reliable." Or maybe he just liked hitting against the Dodgers. Or maybe he liked October 5 -- it was, after all, the 8th anniversary of his benefit of Mickey Owen's Muff. Henrich hits a home run into the right-field stands, and the Yankees win, 1-0.
That was pretty much the Series: Despite putting together one of the best teams in franchise history, the Dodgers couldn't beat the Yankees, winning only Game 2 on a shutout by Preacher Roe. Henrich's shot is the first game-ending home run in the history of postseason baseball, the 1st October "walkoff."With Newcombe's death in 2019, all the players who appeared in this game have died. Yogi Berra was the last surviving Yankee, living until 2015.
Also on this day, George William James is born in Holton, Kansas. He would later be known as the author of the Bill James Baseball Abstract, beginning the serious study of baseball statistics. Later still, he would join the front office of the Boston Red Sox, where he would become a cheater by association.
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October 5, 1951, 70 years ago: Game 2 of the World Series. The Yanks and Eddie Lopat even up the Series against the Giants by winning 3-1 over Larry Jansen. But the big story comes in the top of the 5th.
The Giants' big rookie, Willie Mays, hits a fly ball to right-center. The Yankees' big rookie, Mickey Mantle, already a big story and not yet 20 years old for another 15 days (Mays had turned 20 in May), sees DiMaggio calling for it, and stops short. But Mantle steps in a water sprinkler that had been mistakenly left open, catching his spikes and tearing his right knee.
With today's sports medicine, Mickey would have been operated on the next day, and would have been ready for Opening Day the next April. But they didn't know how to treat a torn-up knee in the Truman years, and the surgery he got is hardly good enough, and the knee never really heals right. This is why people say, "We never got to see Mickey Mantle on 2 good legs."
Also on this day, the DuMont network variety show Cavalcade of Stars, hosted by Jackie Gleason, includes a 6-minute sketch that became a recurring one, and eventually its own half-hour sitcom on CBS: The Honeymooners.
Also on this day, Karen Jane Allen is born outside St. Louis in Carrollton, Illinois. Her film debut was as Katy in Animal House in 1978, but she is better remembered as Dr. Marion Ravenwood, love interest of Indiana Jones, in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008). She recently played a sheriff in the horror film Things Heard and Seen.
Also on this day, Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof is born outside Dublin in Dún Laoghaire, Ireland. The lead singer of the Boomtown Rats, Bob Geldof was the guiding force behind the 1984 fundraising song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and the following year's Live Aid concerts.
October 5, 1953: Game 6 of the World Series. Billy Martin singles up the middle in the bottom of the 9th, his record-tying 12th hit of the Series, driving in Hank Bauer with the winning run. It is the Yankees' 16th World Championship, and their 5th in a row.
Since then, 3 in a row has been done, but not 4, and certainly not 5. The Montréal Canadiens would soon start a streak of 5 straight Stanley Cups, but they were unable to make it 6. The Boston Celtics would later win 8 straight NBA Titles, but basketball didn't exactly get the best athletes then.
This was the last game played by Hall-of-Famer Johnny Mize: The Big Cat pinch-hit for Joe Collins in the 8th, and grounded out to 1st. He was 40 years old and fat, so, despite also being a 1st baseman, did not take the position in the 9th, Casey Stengel instead sending Don Bollweg in to do so.
This was the last World Series, and the last Pennant in either League, won by an all-white team. The next season, the Yanks lost the Pennant to the well-integrated Indians, and the argument of, "Why integrate? We're winning with what we've got" was no longer valid. Elston Howard became the 1st black man to play for the Yankees the following April, and the team went on to win 9 Pennants and 4 World Series in the next 10 years.
Still alive from this game, 68 years later: No Yankees, and Carl Erskine and Bobby Morgan from the Dodgers. The last living member of the '53 Yanks is Art Schallock.
October 5, 1954: Arsenal become the 1st English club to play in the Soviet Union, in a friendly against Dinamo Moscow, at the Lenin Stadium (later renamed the Luzhniki Stadium). In front of 90,000 people, Arsenal lose 5-0 to the team that won the previous season's Soviet Top League title, and would again this season.
October 5, 1959: A new record crowd of 92,650 packs the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to see Game 4 of the World Series. The Los Angeles Dodgers score 4 runs in the 3rd inning, but the Chicago White Sox tie it with 4 runs in the 7th, thanks to a home run by Sherm Lollar. But in the bottom of the 8th, Gil Hodges shows he is a man for all seasons and a man for both coasts, hitting a home run off Gerry Staley to give the former Brooklyn Bums a 5-4 win. Larry Sherry, who had saved Game 1, is the winner in relief.
*
October 5, 1961, 60 years ago: Game 2 of the World Series: Despite a home run by Yogi Berra, the Cincinnati Reds beat the Yankees 6-2. Gordy Coleman homers for them, and Joey Jay, who'd won a ring with the Braves in 1957, is the winning pitcher. This turns out to be the only World Series game the Reds win in a 30-year stretch, from 1940 to 1970.
Also on this day, Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof is born outside Dublin in Dún Laoghaire, Ireland. The lead singer of the Boomtown Rats, Bob Geldof was the guiding force behind the 1984 fundraising song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and the following year's Live Aid concerts.
October 5, 1953: Game 6 of the World Series. Billy Martin singles up the middle in the bottom of the 9th, his record-tying 12th hit of the Series, driving in Hank Bauer with the winning run. It is the Yankees' 16th World Championship, and their 5th in a row.
Since then, 3 in a row has been done, but not 4, and certainly not 5. The Montréal Canadiens would soon start a streak of 5 straight Stanley Cups, but they were unable to make it 6. The Boston Celtics would later win 8 straight NBA Titles, but basketball didn't exactly get the best athletes then.
This was the last game played by Hall-of-Famer Johnny Mize: The Big Cat pinch-hit for Joe Collins in the 8th, and grounded out to 1st. He was 40 years old and fat, so, despite also being a 1st baseman, did not take the position in the 9th, Casey Stengel instead sending Don Bollweg in to do so.
This was the last World Series, and the last Pennant in either League, won by an all-white team. The next season, the Yanks lost the Pennant to the well-integrated Indians, and the argument of, "Why integrate? We're winning with what we've got" was no longer valid. Elston Howard became the 1st black man to play for the Yankees the following April, and the team went on to win 9 Pennants and 4 World Series in the next 10 years.
Still alive from this game, 68 years later: No Yankees, and Carl Erskine and Bobby Morgan from the Dodgers. The last living member of the '53 Yanks is Art Schallock.
October 5, 1954: Arsenal become the 1st English club to play in the Soviet Union, in a friendly against Dinamo Moscow, at the Lenin Stadium (later renamed the Luzhniki Stadium). In front of 90,000 people, Arsenal lose 5-0 to the team that won the previous season's Soviet Top League title, and would again this season.
October 5, 1959: A new record crowd of 92,650 packs the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to see Game 4 of the World Series. The Los Angeles Dodgers score 4 runs in the 3rd inning, but the Chicago White Sox tie it with 4 runs in the 7th, thanks to a home run by Sherm Lollar. But in the bottom of the 8th, Gil Hodges shows he is a man for all seasons and a man for both coasts, hitting a home run off Gerry Staley to give the former Brooklyn Bums a 5-4 win. Larry Sherry, who had saved Game 1, is the winner in relief.
*
October 5, 1961, 60 years ago: Game 2 of the World Series: Despite a home run by Yogi Berra, the Cincinnati Reds beat the Yankees 6-2. Gordy Coleman homers for them, and Joey Jay, who'd won a ring with the Braves in 1957, is the winning pitcher. This turns out to be the only World Series game the Reds win in a 30-year stretch, from 1940 to 1970.
Also on this day, the film Breakfast at Tiffany's premieres, starring Audrey Hepburn in her signature role as Holly Golightly, and introducing Henry Mancini's composition "Moon River," as sung by Andy Williams. Jerry Butler will have the biggest hit version of the song.
The film has been criticized for the character of I.Y. Yunioshi, Holly's landlord, shown as a stereotypical Japanese man, and played by Irish-American actor Mickey Rooney in very bad makeup. Both Rooney and director Blake Edwards later said that they regretted the role.
There are several differences from its base story, in the 1958 novella by Truman Capote. The Hays Code was still in effect, meaning that the protagonist of a film shown in America could not be depicted as smoking marijuana or having an illegitimate child.
Nor could Paul, the character played by George Peppard and clearly based on Capote himself, be shown as gay: He had to be the boyfriend who wins Holly's heart. In "The Couch," a 1994 episode of Seinfeld, this change would trip up George Costanza, who tried to cheat in his book club by seeing the movie instead of reading the book, which would have taken him a lot longer than the film's 1 hour and 54 minutes.
October 5, 1971, 50 years ago: Game 3 of the AL Championship Series. Reggie Jackson of the Oakland Athletics makes his 1st big postseason impact, but hardly his last. He hits 2 home runs, but it's not enough, as the Orioles beat the A's 5-3, and complete a sweep. It is Baltimore's 3rd straight Pennant, and their 4th in the last 6 seasons.
October 5, 1981, 40 years ago: The Kansas City Royals beat the Cleveland Indians, 9-0 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, and clinch the 2nd-half title in the AL West. George Brett goes 3-for-5 with a home run, a double and 3 RBIs. Paul Splitorff (5 innings), Jim Wright (3) and Atlee Hammaker (1) combine on a 3-hit shutout.
Also on this day, Joel Lindpere is born in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. He may be the greatest soccer player his country has ever produced. He led hometown club Flora Tallinn to the Estonian league title in 2002 and '03, CSKA Sofia to Bulgaria's league title in 2005, and the New York Red Bulls to win the MLS Eastern Conference in 2010. A 2-time MLS All-Star, he returned to Estonia, playing for Nõmme Kalju, and winning the Estonian Cup in 2016, before retiring.
October 5, 1982: The New Jersey Devils play their 1st game, a 3-3 tie against the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. As a favor to his friend, team owner John McMullen, John Amirante, usually the National Anthem singer for the New York Rangers, sings the Anthem. The 1st goal is scored by team Captain Don Lever. Three days later, the Devils will get their 1st win, against, appropriately enough, the Rangers.
October 5, 1983: The Devils open their 2nd season, and it is the NHL debut of right wing John MacLean. It doesn't go so well, as they lose 6-2 to their arch-rivals, the New York Rangers, at Madison Square Garden.
About 6 weeks later, on November 19, the Devils were clobbered 13-4 in Edmonton, and Oilers superstar Wayne Gretzky said, "They are putting a Mickey Mouse operation on the ice." Number 99 had a point, however inartfully it may have been expressed: This was the 10th season for the franchise formerly known as the Kansas City Scouts and the Colorado Rockies, and they'd only made the Playoffs once, as the Rockies, going 2 and out in the 1st round to the Philadelphia Flyers in 1978.
The Devils regrouped, and began to build, including around MacLean and 2 other rookies, defensemen Bruce Driver and Ken Daneyko. In 1988, MacLean would score the goal that clinched the team's 1st Playoff berth in New Jersey. In 1995, the Devils won their 1st Stanley Cup. Captain Scott Stevens, knowing the team's seniority, made MacLean the 1st player he handed the Cup to. MacLean handed it to Driver, who handed it to Daneyko.
Also on this day, Jesse Adam Eisenberg is born in Queens, New York City, and grows up there and in East Brunswick, New Jersey -- my hometown. He and his sister Hallie Eisenberg -- you might remember her as the little girl from the Pepsi commercials with the voices of Joe Pesci and Aretha Franklin -- both attended East Brunswick High School, my alma mater, before transferring to the performing-arts school in New York made famous by the film Fame. (Both are much younger than I am, and I've never met either.)
He played Lex Luthor in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and in Justice League, despite atrocious reviews (although that was due more to how the character was written than how Jesse played him). He has made 2 movies with Woody Allen: To Rome With Love and Café Society, and Zombieland and its sequel Zombieland: Double Tap.
Hallie, now 29, has mostly done Broadway the last few years. Jesse has become a much bigger star, nominated for an Oscar for playing Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network.
October 5, 1985: The Yankees went into a season-ending series at Exhibition Stadium against the Toronto Blue Jays, needing to sweep all 3 games to win the AL East. A win by the Jays in any of the 3, and the Jays would win it. But after Butch Wynegar's home run in the 9th inning tied the Friday night game and the Yankees went on to win it, it looked like the Yankees might be a team of destiny.
But it was not to be. Billy Martin, who had done one of his best managing jobs, started Joe Cowley in the Saturday afternoon game, and he didn't make it out of the 3rd inning, giving up home runs to Ernie Whitt, Willie Upshaw and Lloyd Moseby. Getting out of the 3rd required Cowley, Bob Shirley and Rich Bordi, while getting out of the 4th required Bordi and Dennis Rasmussen. Neil Allen pitched 4 1/3rd shutout innings after that, but it was too late.
The Yankees had let Doyle Alexander go twice: After the 1976 Pennant, when he signed as a free agent with the Texas Rangers; and in mid-season 1983, by releasing him. On both occasions, they got nothing back for him. The 1983 release allowed the Blue Jays to sign him, and in this game, at age 35, he went the distance, allowing a double to Ken Griffey Sr., and singles to Dave Winfield (RBI), Don Mattingly, Willie Randolph and Don Baylor.
That was it: The Yankees got 1 run on 5 hits and no walks, in their biggest regular-season game since the season-closer against the Red Sox in 1949. (Officially, MLB counts the '78 Playoff game with the Sox as a regular-season game, but I don't.) Winfield's RBI was his 100th of the season, making him the 1st Yankee to both score and drive in 100 runs in the same season since Joe DiMaggio in 1942. But it was the only Yankee run of the game.
The Jays won, 5-1, and clinched their 1st-ever 1st place finish. From 1985 to 1993, a 9-year stretch, they won the Division 5 times, and nearly made it 8 out of 9: Only in 1986 did they finish more than 2 games out of 1st place, and even then, they were only 5½ back. But from the night Joe Carter "touched 'em all" to clinch back-to-back World Championships in 1992-93, it took them until 2015 to make the Playoffs again.
The Yankees won the meaningless finale the next day, for their 97th win of the season, but, with the format then in place, missed miss the Playoffs. Aside from 1954, when 103 wasn't enough to overcome Cleveland's then-AL record of 111, it was their most wins in any season without making the Playoffs. The Yankees wouldn't reach the postseason again for another 10 years.
I was 15 going on 16, and I thought this was the year. It wasn't. This one hurt. This near-miss still bothers me. One more good starting pitcher, alongside Ron Guidry and 46-year-old knuckleball wizard Phil Niekro, and the history of baseball in New York could have been very different.
My consolation was that this was also a rough day for Met fans. The St. Louis Cardinals clinched the NL East by beating the Chicago Cubs, 7-1 at Busch Memorial Stadium. Not that it made a difference, but the Mets lost to the Montréal Expos, 8-3 at Shea. The Cards were now up by 3 with 1 game to play.
The best Met season in 12 years comes to an end tomorrow. They have failed. And yet, before the 1985 postseason has even gotten underway, their fans are already convinced they will win the 1986 World Series. (They did, of course, but it turned out to be a lot harder than they'd imagined.)
Also on this day, the California Angels beat the Texas Rangers 3-1 at Arlington Stadium. Reggie Jackson and Doug DeCinces hit home runs for the Halos. Rod Carew goes 0-for-2, in what turns out to be the future Hall-of-Famer's last major league appearance.
October 5, 1988: Game 2 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium. The New York Daily News has hired Mets pitcher David Cone to write a postseason diary. After the Mets' win last night in Game 1, he unfavorably compared Los Angeles closer Jay Howell with New York closer Randy Myers: "We saw Howell throwing curveball after curveball and we were thinking: This is the Dodgers' idea of a stopper? Our idea is Randy, a guy who can blow you away with his heat. Seeing Howell and his curveball reminded us of a high school pitcher."
That got the Dodgers mad, and they take it out on the Mets' Game 2 starter -- who happens to be Cone. They Dodgers score a run in the 1st and 4 in the 2nd, and win, 6-3. The series is tied.
Big mistake, Coney. It's worth mentioning that he was not yet with the Mets when they won the 1986 World Series. It's also worth mentioning that, from this day forward, the Mets have never won another World Series. Cone would go on to win 5 World Series, including 4 with the Yankees.
*
October 5, 1991, 30 years ago: The Atlanta Braves beat the Houston Astros, 5-2 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-0 at Dodger Stadium. This combination allows the Braves to clinch the National League Western Division title for the 1st time in 9 years. It is the 1st "worst-to-first" season in NL history. Ron Gant hits a home run, and John Smoltz is the winning pitcher.
Also on this day, the next-to-last Baltimore Orioles game is played at Memorial Stadium. Before the game, an all-time Orioles team is introduced, including Hall-of-Famers Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson and Jim Palmer; future Hall-of-Famer manager Earl Weaver; and the very-much still-active future Hall-of-Famer Cal Ripken Jr..
Boog Powell was chosen as the 1st baseman over future Hall-of-Famer Eddie Murray (not on hand, because he was playing for the Dodgers). Each member of the team attended, except for Jim Palmer (broadcasting elsewhere) and Rick Dempsey (playing for the Milwaukee Brewers). All 3 of those would be released from his commitment, so he could attend the next day's closing ceremony.
The National Anthem was performed, a cappella, by the crowd itself, including myself and my grandmother (I talked her into going, and she agreed with me that it was a good ballpark), given a cue by the public address announcer -- one of Grandma's old Brooklyn Dodger heroes, former pitcher Rex Barney.
Oh yes, there was a game. The Orioles beat the Detroit Tigers 7-3. Chito Martinez hit a home run to back the pitching of starter Dave Johnson (not to be confused with Met manager and former Oriole 2nd baseman Davey Johnson), winning pitcher Jim Poole, and saver Mark Williamson.
Also on this day, the New Jersey Devils begin their 10th season of play, and defenseman Scott Stevens makes his Devils debut. He'd starred as an enforcer for the Washington Capitals, but had played the previous season with the St. Louis Blues. The Blues had signed Devils left wing Brendan Shanahan as a free agent, but due to a bureaucratic mixup, the NHL ruled that the Devils could sign a Blues player, and they chose Stevens.
The way the schedule worked out, the Devils opened the season against the Blues, at home at the Brendan Byrne Arena. The Devils won 7-2, and Stevens teammates saw very quickly how he was making a difference. He would be named Captain the next season, and lead them to 3 Stanley Cups.
October 5, 1993: Bob Watson replaces Bill Wood as the general manager of the Astros, making the former Houston 1st baseman the 1st black GM in baseball history. Bill Lucas had performed many similar duties for the Braves in the late 1970s, but he never officially held the title.
Also on this day, the Dallas Stars play their 1st game, after 26 seasons as the Minnesota North Stars. To this day, I don't get why the move to Texas didn't convince them to rename themselves the Lone Stars. Neal Broten scores 2 goals, and the Stars beat the Detroit Red Wings 6-4 at Reunion Arena.
October 5, 1995: Pope John Paul II delivers Mass at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Despite a rainstorm, 82,948 people attend. This remained the largest crowd in Meadowlands history until September 24, 2009, shortly before the stadium closed, when 84,472 attended a U2 concert.
October 5, 1996, 25 years ago: Game 4 of the AL Division Series. After dropping Game 1 to the Texas Rangers, the Yankees have taken the last 3 straight. Bernie Williams of the Yankees and Juan Gonzalez of the Rangers each hit 5 home runs in the series, tying a postseason record. "Burn Baby Bern" hit 2 today, and "Juan Gone" 1, but the Yankees won, 6-4.
Also on this day, the Phoenix Coyotes make their debut, after 24 seasons as the original Winnipeg Jets. Oddly, they play their 1st game against another former NHL team, one that will play just one more season in their current location before moving: The Hartford Whalers. The Whalers win 1-0 at the Hartford Civic Center (now named the XL Center), as Alexander Godynyuk scores the only goal.
Only once, in 2012, has the team made the NHL Western Conference Finals. They changed their name to the Arizona Coyotes in 2014.
Also on this day, the Philadelphia Flyers play their 1st game at their new arena, losing 3-1 to the Florida Panthers. When first proposed, it was going to be named Spectrum II. Then CoreStates Bank bought the naming rights to both the old Spectrum and the new one, so the old one became the CoreStates Spectrum, and the new one the CoreStates Center.
One bank was bought out by another, and so the new arena became the First Union Center (Flyer fans liked calling it "The F.U. Center"), the Wachovia Center, and the Wells Fargo Center. So, in 20 years, the building has had 5 names. It has hosted the Flyers, the 76ers, some Villanova University basketball games, NCAA Tournament games, concerts, and SportsRadio WIP's annual "Wing Bowl" until it was canceled following the Eagles' win in Super Bowl LII in 2018. It hosted the Republican Convention in 2000, and the Democratic Convention in 2016.
One bank was bought out by another, and so the new arena became the First Union Center (Flyer fans liked calling it "The F.U. Center"), the Wachovia Center, and the Wells Fargo Center. So, in 20 years, the building has had 5 names. It has hosted the Flyers, the 76ers, some Villanova University basketball games, NCAA Tournament games, concerts, and SportsRadio WIP's annual "Wing Bowl" until it was canceled following the Eagles' win in Super Bowl LII in 2018. It hosted the Republican Convention in 2000, and the Democratic Convention in 2016.
October 5, 1997: Game 4 of the American League Division Series. The Yankees are 5 outs away from going up 2 games to 1 on the Indians, but Mariano Rivera gives up a home run to Sandy Alomar Jr., and the Indians win, 3-2. A deciding Game 5 will be played tomorrow.
For a lot of Yankee Fans, this one hurt. It didn't bother me much, though it might have if we hadn't won in 1996. But this was the spark that led to the historic 1998 season, which includes the Yankees beating the Indians in the AL Championship Series in 6 games.
But the Dodgers win the game, 11-10, and, to make matters worse, the Dodgers' win both clinches the NL West and eliminates the Giants, still their arch-rivals, from Playoff eligibility.
Bonds will raise his total to 73*. With teammate Rich Aurilia's 37 (as far as I know, his are legit), they set a (tainted) NL record for homers by teammates, 110. The major league record remains 115, by Mickey Mantle (54) and Roger Maris (still the legit record of 61) in 1961.
Also on this day, the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 6-2, for their 115th win of the season, setting a new AL record. At age 38, Jamie Moyer becomes the oldest 1st-time 20-game winner in history. (Mike Mussina will break that record in 2008.) As it turned out, at an age at which many players are done, Moyer was far from done.
The win gives the Anaheim club the 1st postseason series victory of their 42-season history‚ 3 games to 1. They had previously lost the ALCS in 1979, 1982 and 1986, and a Playoff for the AL West in 1995.
October 5, 2003: The Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins 8-1 in Game 4 at the Metrodome, and clinch the ALDS. Bring on the Red Sox.
October 5, 2004: Game 1 of the American League Division Series. The Minnesota Twins surprise the Yankees, winning 2-0 at Yankee Stadium. While the Twins have been a perennial postseason contender since, they would not win another postseason game from 2005 to 2019, going 0-16.
October 5, 2011, 10 years ago: Game 4 of the NLDS. During the 5th inning at Busch Stadium, the squirrel that appeared in the outfield the day before appears again, running across home plate just as Phillies pitcher Roy Oswalt begins to deliver a pitch to Skip Schumaker. Umpire Ángel Hernández calls the pitch a ball, much to the chagrin of the righthander, and of Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel, who believe that "no pitch" should be called due to the distraction caused by the grey rodent, immortalized by the Redbirds fans as the "rally squirrel."
Despite the rodential "interference" and the Phils' objections, no runs were scored in the inning. The Cardinals win anyway, 5-3.
October 5, 2012: The 1st-ever regularly scheduled Wild Card play-in games are played. The National League game is played 1st, at Turner Field in Atlanta. Kris Medlen starts for the Braves, and in 12 starts that season, he was 9-0 with a 0.97 ERA. But the Cardinals beat him 6-3, thanks to pitching from Kyle Lohse and a home run by Matt Holliday.
For a lot of Yankee Fans, this one hurt. It didn't bother me much, though it might have if we hadn't won in 1996. But this was the spark that led to the historic 1998 season, which includes the Yankees beating the Indians in the AL Championship Series in 6 games.
*
October 5, 2001, 20 years ago: At what was then known as Pacific Bell Park (now Oracle Park), Barry Bonds hits his 71st and 72nd home runs of the season, to set a new major league single-season record… which we now know is bogus. The 1st-inning homer, his 71st, is off Dodger pitcher Chan Ho Park.
October 5, 2001, 20 years ago: At what was then known as Pacific Bell Park (now Oracle Park), Barry Bonds hits his 71st and 72nd home runs of the season, to set a new major league single-season record… which we now know is bogus. The 1st-inning homer, his 71st, is off Dodger pitcher Chan Ho Park.
But the Dodgers win the game, 11-10, and, to make matters worse, the Dodgers' win both clinches the NL West and eliminates the Giants, still their arch-rivals, from Playoff eligibility.
Bonds will raise his total to 73*. With teammate Rich Aurilia's 37 (as far as I know, his are legit), they set a (tainted) NL record for homers by teammates, 110. The major league record remains 115, by Mickey Mantle (54) and Roger Maris (still the legit record of 61) in 1961.
Also on this day, the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 6-2, for their 115th win of the season, setting a new AL record. At age 38, Jamie Moyer becomes the oldest 1st-time 20-game winner in history. (Mike Mussina will break that record in 2008.) As it turned out, at an age at which many players are done, Moyer was far from done.
October 5, 2002: Game 4 of the AL Division Series. The Angels shock the Yankees with 8 runs in the 5th inning, knocking David Wells out of the box, and go on to a 9-5 victory. Shawn Wooten homers for the Halos, while Jorge Posada adds a round-tripper in vain for the Bronx Bombers. Jarrod Washburn gets the victory for the Angels.
The win gives the Anaheim club the 1st postseason series victory of their 42-season history‚ 3 games to 1. They had previously lost the ALCS in 1979, 1982 and 1986, and a Playoff for the AL West in 1995.
October 5, 2003: The Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins 8-1 in Game 4 at the Metrodome, and clinch the ALDS. Bring on the Red Sox.
October 5, 2004: Game 1 of the American League Division Series. The Minnesota Twins surprise the Yankees, winning 2-0 at Yankee Stadium. While the Twins have been a perennial postseason contender since, they would not win another postseason game from 2005 to 2019, going 0-16.
October 5, 2007: Game 2 of the American League Division Series. This was the Bug Game. The Yankees are leading 1-0 in the 8th inning, on a Melky Cabrera home run.
Suddenly, a swarm of insects, identified as "Lake Erie Midges," descends on the field, and starts crawling all over Yankee reliever Joba Chamberlain, the young superstar of the season. He never recovered as a major league pitcher. The umpires, led by Bruce Froemming, the worst ever, refused to suspend the game until the bugs left. Joe Torre went along with this. Casey Stengel would not have. Billy Martin certainly would not have.
The Indians tied the game in the inning, and won the game in the 11th inning, and won the series in 4 games. The Yankees could have protested to the MLB office, but what good would that have done?
*
October 5, 2011, 10 years ago: Game 4 of the NLDS. During the 5th inning at Busch Stadium, the squirrel that appeared in the outfield the day before appears again, running across home plate just as Phillies pitcher Roy Oswalt begins to deliver a pitch to Skip Schumaker. Umpire Ángel Hernández calls the pitch a ball, much to the chagrin of the righthander, and of Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel, who believe that "no pitch" should be called due to the distraction caused by the grey rodent, immortalized by the Redbirds fans as the "rally squirrel."
Despite the rodential "interference" and the Phils' objections, no runs were scored in the inning. The Cardinals win anyway, 5-3.
October 5, 2012: The 1st-ever regularly scheduled Wild Card play-in games are played. The National League game is played 1st, at Turner Field in Atlanta. Kris Medlen starts for the Braves, and in 12 starts that season, he was 9-0 with a 0.97 ERA. But the Cardinals beat him 6-3, thanks to pitching from Kyle Lohse and a home run by Matt Holliday.
This pleases Cardinal fans, although it denies them the chance to do a takeoff on the line from the Scooby-Doo cartoons: "And I would've gotten away with it, too, if it hadn't been for those Medlin kids!"
In the American League, Joe Saunders' pitching and an Adam Jones sacrifice fly make the difference, as the Baltimore Orioles beat the Texas Rangers, 5-1 at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas. This remains the only postseason round the O's have won since 1997.
October 5, 2016: The National League Wild Card Game is played. The Mets and the San Francisco Giants are tied 0-0 after 8 innings at Citi Field, a scorching pitching duel between Noah Syndergaard and Madison Bumgarner.
But Met manager Terry Collins brings Jeurys Familia in to pitch the top of the 9th, and he blows it, allowing a leadoff double to Brandon Crawford, striking out Angel Paga, walking Joe Panik, and giving up a home run to Conor Gillaspie. Giant manager Bruce Bochy trusts MadBum to finish the shutout, which he does with ease. Giants 3, Mets 0.
The Mets did not make the Playoffs in 2017, were terrible in 2018, got close enough to disappoint their fans in 2019 and 2020, and fell from being in 1st place by 5 games on July 31 to tied for 1st on August 13, to 11 1/2 games back at the end. So this may be the last postseason game they play for a long time.
In the American League, Joe Saunders' pitching and an Adam Jones sacrifice fly make the difference, as the Baltimore Orioles beat the Texas Rangers, 5-1 at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas. This remains the only postseason round the O's have won since 1997.
October 5, 2016: The National League Wild Card Game is played. The Mets and the San Francisco Giants are tied 0-0 after 8 innings at Citi Field, a scorching pitching duel between Noah Syndergaard and Madison Bumgarner.
But Met manager Terry Collins brings Jeurys Familia in to pitch the top of the 9th, and he blows it, allowing a leadoff double to Brandon Crawford, striking out Angel Paga, walking Joe Panik, and giving up a home run to Conor Gillaspie. Giant manager Bruce Bochy trusts MadBum to finish the shutout, which he does with ease. Giants 3, Mets 0.
The Mets did not make the Playoffs in 2017, were terrible in 2018, got close enough to disappoint their fans in 2019 and 2020, and fell from being in 1st place by 5 games on July 31 to tied for 1st on August 13, to 11 1/2 games back at the end. So this may be the last postseason game they play for a long time.
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