Yankees Close to Clinching

The Yankees were facing a tough task if they didn't win last night. With the last 3 games being at home, but against the already-clinched American League Eastern Division Champion Tampa Bay Rays, they probably would have had to win 2 out of 3 just to clinch either of the AL Wild Card berths.

So a win in the road series finale against the Toronto Blue Jays last night would have been a huge help.

Corey Kluber was the starting pitcher. Since his return from injury, he had made 5 starts, and in only 1 of them had he pitched at least 5 innings and avoided a bad inning. This time, again, he didn't make it through 5. But if seemed more a precaution than anything else, as he'd only allowed 2 runs, and had just allowed the 2nd, to put the Yankees behind, 2-1.

The rest of the way, the bullpen got the job done. Michael King finished the 5th inning and the 6th, allowing a hit and a walk. Luis Severino was fine in the 7th. In spite of a hit, Chad Green struck out the side in the 8th.

But the Yankees needed runs. Aaron Judge hit a home run in the 1st inning. In the 6th, the Yankees broke out with 3 straight homers: Anthony Rizzo, Judge again, and Gleyber Torres. Brett Gardner added another in the 9th. And Aroldis Chapman closed it down. Yankees 7, Blue Jays 2. King was named the winning pitcher.

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So, 3 games, 1 weekend, left. Here's how things stand:

* The Yankees currently hold the 1st Wild Card slot. Meaning that, if the current standings hold, they will host the AL Wild Card Game on Tuesday night.

* The Boston Red Sox are 2 games behind.

* So are the Seattle Mariners.

* The Blue Jays are a game behind the BoSox and the M's. Their loss last night didn't eliminate them, but it did make it incredibly unlikely that they will make it.

So it will almost certainly be the Yankees against either the Red Sox or the Mariners, but whether at Yankee Stadium II, Fenway Park or T-Mobile Park (formerly Safeco Field), remains to be seen.

If the Yankees win at least 2 out of 3 against the Rays, they're in as the hosts, no matter what the Sox or M's do.

If they win 1 out of 3, they'll host unless the Red Sox sweep the Washington Nationals, or the Mariners sweep the Los Angeles Angels.

If the Yankees get swept, there is still a chance they won't make it. So they have to avoid that.

The schedule:

* Tonight, 7:05: Nestor Cortes vs. Shane McClanahan.

* Tomorrow afternoon, 1:05: Jordan Montgomery vs. Shane Baz.

* Sunday afternoon, 3:05: Undecided vs. Michael Wacha. It would be Jameson Taillon's turn in the rotation. He is day-to-day with an ankle injury. If the Yankees clinch tonight or tomorrow, then this starting assignment becomes considerably less important. Which shows how important last night's win was.

* Monday: No game, unless there is a tie for the 2nd Wild Card slot. The likeliest scenario is a Playoff to get into the Playoffs, between the Red Sox and the Mariners.

* Tuesday night, 8:00 broadcast start: The AL Wild Card Game. If the Yankees are in it, regardless of whether it's home or away, their starting pitcher will be Gerrit Cole.

* Wednesday night: The National League Wild Card Game, between the St. Louis Cardinals and whoever doesn't win the wild NL Western Division race between the old rivals, the San Francisco Giants and the defending World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

* Thursday, not yet known if day or night: Game 1 of the AL Division Series, away to the Tampa Bay Rays. If the Yankees win the Wild Card Game, they will be in this one. Either Kluber (who would be on 6 days' rest) or Cortes (on 5) would start.

* Friday, October 8, time TBA: Game 2, away to Tampa Bay. The turn would be Cortes' (if Kluber starts Game 1) or Montgomery's.

* Sunday, October 10, time TBA: Game 3, home to Tampa Bay. The turn would be Montgomery's or Taillon's. Cole would be on 4 days' rest, so he would also be a possibility.

* If necessary, Game 4 would be on Monday, October 11, in The Bronx, and Game 5 would be on Wednesday, October 13, in St. Petersburg.

All good to know, but we're getting ahead of ourselves. We still have a Playoff berth to clinch. The Rays will be motivated as well, simply because they hate us nearly as much as the Red Sox do. They would love to knock us out, of the Playoffs entirely or at least out of the home-field advantage, just for spite.

So let's get this done. Come on you Pinstripes!

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October 1, 1746, 275 years ago: John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg is born outside Philadelphia in Trappe, Pennsylvania. Under the name Peter Muhlenberg, he was ordained as a priest of the Anglican Church, and was personally asked by Washington to command a regiment. He served with Washington at the Battles of Brandywine, Germantown, Valley Forge, Monmouth and Yorktown, and retired with the rank of Major General.

He was later elected by Pennsylvania to the House of Representatives, and served as the House's 1st Speaker. He later served in the Senate, and died in 1807, on his 61st birthday.

October 1, 1841, 170 years ago: Two friars from St. Augustine's Church in Philadelphia buy the 200-acre Belle Air estate in Radnor, Pennsylvania, 11 miles northwest of Philadelphia. A year later, on the farm, they open "the Augustinian College of Vilanova."

In 1844, the Philadelphia Nativist Riots burned St. Augustine's, and with the church's financial backing required for its own rebuilding, the college was closed. It reopened, and graduated its 1st class in 1847. It closed again as a result of the Panic of 1857, and was unable to reopen until after the Civil War, in September 1865.

Villanova University, as it is now known, became one of basketball's "Philadelphia Big Five," along with the University of Pennsylvania, La Salle University, Temple University and St. Joseph's University. although it is not in Philadelphia proper.

This was emphasized during a game a few years ago, when, about to beat St. Joe's and go undefeated against the other Big 5 schools, 'Nova fans started to chant, "We own Philly!" and the St. Joe's fans answered, "You ain't Philly!" They were on shaky ground, as the SJU campus straddles the City Line.

Villanova won college basketball's National Championship in 1985, 2016 and 2018. Those are the only titles won by a Philadelphia school since La Salle did it in 1954. Villanova's basketball legends include Paul Arizin, Wally (later Wali) Jones, Bill Melchionni, Chris Ford, Rory Sparrow, Ed Pinckney, Kerry Kittles and Tim Thomas.

They also have a legendary track & field program, led in the 1950s and '60s by head coach James "Jumbo" Elliott, who coached 5 Olympic Gold Medalists: Ron Delany (1956 1500 meters), Charles Jenkins (1956 400 meters), Don Bragg (1960 pole vault), Paul Drayton (1964 4x100 meter relay) and Larry James (1968 4x400 meter relay). The program has also produced Marty Liquori, Eamonn Coghlan,

While Villanova suspended its football program from 1981 to 1984, and now competes in the NCAA's FCS (formerly Division I-AA), it has produced Jets Super Bowl winner Al Aktinson, Miami Dolphins Super Bowl winner Kevin Reilly, Philadelphia Eagles GM Jim Murray and running back Brian Westbrook and Raiders Hall-of-Famer Howie Long.

Other notable Villanova graduates include actors Victor Buono, Maria Bello and Bradley Cooper; singer Jim Croce; the late New York archbishop, John Cardinal O'Connor; former Philadelphia Mayor and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and his wife, federal Judge Marjorie Rendell; disgraced former Connecticut Governor John Rowland; former Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire; and former Second Lady Jill Biden.

October 1, 1891, 130 years ago: James Karl Luck is born in Johnson City, Tennessee. A football star at the University of Tennessee, he coached football and basketball at East Tennessee State University in the 1920s. He died in 1971, and was named to the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.

Also on this day, the 1st classes are held at Leland Stanford Junior University in Palo Alto, California. Among the 1st students are a future President and First Lady, Herbert Hoover and his future wife, Lou Henry.

The Stanford football team, long known as the Indians but later the Cardinals and now just the Cardinal (for the color), has won 15 titles in the league now known as the Pacific-12. It has produced early NFL star Ernie Nevers, and later a long line of fine quarterbacks including Frankie Albert, John Brodie, Jim Plunkett, John Elway, and current NFL stars Alex Smith and Andrew Luck. Star cornerback Richard Sherman is also a Stanford man.

However, its most famous games have been defeats: Losing 49-0 to Fielding Yost's "Point-a-Minute" Michigan in the 1st Rose Bowl in 1902; losing to Notre Dame's "Four Horsemen" backfield in the 1925 Rose Bowl; and the 1982 edition of their annual "Big Game" with their cross-Bay rivals, the University of California, which ended on a lateral-filled touchdown that became known as "The Play."

While its basketball team hasn't been as successful, it did win the National Championship in 1941, reached the Final Four again in 1998, and usually makes the NCAA Tournament. Golfer Tiger Woods is also a Stanford graduate. So was Bob Mathias, the 1st man to win the Olympic decathlon twice, and later a Republican Congressman from California.

Current Stanford professors include Internet pioneers Vint Cerf and Norman Abramson. Graduates include (in alphabetical order within each category):

* From show business: Richard Boone, Andre Braugher, Jennifer Connelly, Roger Corman, Ted Danson, Edith Head, Jack Palance, Fred and Ben Savage, Sigourney Weaver, Adam West and Reese Witherspoon.

* Journalism: Ted Koppel, Rachel Maddow and Daniel Pearl.

* Literature: Ram Dass, Allen Drury, George V. Higgins, Ken Kesey, Richard Rodriguez, Joel Stein and Scott Turow.

* Astronauts, as it's a major science and engineering school: Eileen Collins, Mae Jemison, Bruce McCandless and Sally Ride.

* Business, with Stanford's location between San Francisco and the Silicon Valley jumpstarting the computer revolution: Sergey Brin and Larry Page of Google, Ray Dolby of Dolby Labs, David Filo, Marissa Mayer and Jerry Yang of Yahoo!; stock trader and adventurer Steve Fossett, Andrew Grove of Intel, William Hewlett and David Packard of Hewlett-Packard, Phil Knight of Nike, Robert Mondavi of the winery that bears his name, Charles Schwab of the brokerage system that bears his name, and Peter Thiel of PayPal.

* U.S. Cabinet officials: Secretary of State Warren Christopher, Secretary of Defense William Perry, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro, Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice.

* U.S. Supreme Court Justices William Rehnquist, Sandra Day O'Connor, Anthony Kennedy and Stephen Breyer -- meaning that, from 1994 to 2005, the Court nearly had a Stanford majority.

* U.S. Senators: Thomas Storke, Alan Cranston and Dianne Feinstein of California; Carl Hayden, Ernest McFarland and Paul Fannin of Arizona; Charles McNary, Mark Hatfield, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley of Oregon; Henry "Scoop" Jackson of Washington, Frank Church of Idaho, Lee Metcalf and Max Baucus of Montana, Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, Kent Conrad of North Dakota, and Cory Booker of New Jersey.

* U.S. Representatives: Pete McCloskey, Don Edwards, Xavier Becerra and Zoe Lofgren of California; Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin; Joaquin Castro of Texas (Julian's brother); and Joe Kennedy III of Masschusetts, RFK's grandson and JFK's grandnephew. Also a Stanford graduate: JFK & RFK's sister, the founder of the Special Olympics, Eunice Kennedy Shriver.

* Governors: Goodwin Knight and Gray Davis of California (but not Pete Wilson), Dixy Lee Ray of Washington and Mitt Romney of Massachusetts.

* Chelsea Clinton, and Hillary Clinton advisers Cheryl Mills and Ann O'Leary.

* National leaders (besides President Hoover): Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak of Israel, King Philippe of Belgium, Prime Ministers Taro Aso and Yukio Hatoyama of Japan; and people who have served as Presidents of Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Maldives and Peru.

Also on October 1, 1891, David Alexander Ritchie is born in Montreal. A defenseman, he played professional hockey from 1914 to 1926. On December 19, 1917, in the 1st National Hockey League game, he scored the 1st goal in NHL history, for the Montreal Wanderers, against the Toronto Arenas, at the Montreal Arena. It made the difference, as the Wanderers won 10-9.

Alas, within days, the Montreal Arena burned down, and the Wanderers, with 4 Stanley Cups to their credit, were forced to go out of business. The Arenas went on to win the 1st NHL Championship, and then the Stanley Cup. They became the Toronto St. Patricks in 1919, and the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1927. Ritchie lived on until 1973.

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October 1, 1901, 120 years ago: James Herman Solomon is born in Manhattan, but grows up in Los Angeles, moving from New York City to L.A. long before the Brooklyn Dodgers did. Knowing of the anti-Semitism that existed in baseball at the time, he gave himself a more English-sounding name: Jimmie Reese.

He first worked in baseball in 1919, as a batboy for the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League. A 2nd baseman, he helped the Oakland Oaks win the 1924 PCL Pennant. He played for the Yankees in 1930 and '31, rooming with Babe Ruth -- or, as pretty much any roommate of Ruth actually did, roomed with Ruth's suitcases.

He spent the 1932 season with the St. Louis Cardinals, and returned to the PCL Angels in 1933. In 1937, he played for the PCL's San Diego Padres, where he was a teammate of Ted Williams, and helped them win the Governor's Cup.

After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, he was a scout for the Boston Braves, and a coach for the Padres from 1948 to 1962, briefly managing the team in 1961. "I'm best suited as a liaison man, as a coach," he said. "I just am not suited to give a guy hell." He continued to coach in the PCL, and then scouted for the Montreal Expos.

In 1972, with the American League having granted a team to Los Angeles, and the team having taken the old Angels name, but having since modified it to the California Angels, became a coach with them, and remained one until his death in 1994. At 93, he was believed to be the oldest uniformed employee of any MLB team ever, a record later broken by Red Schoendienst.

He was so admired in this role that Nolan Ryan named one of his sons Reese, and he was selected to throw out the ceremonial first ball at the 1989 All-Star Game, which the Angels hosted. After his death, the team retired his Number 50, and elected him to their team Hall of Fame.

October 1, 1903: The 1st World Series game is played, at the Huntington Avenue Grounds in Boston. Deacon Phillippe of the Pittsburgh Pirates outpitches Cy Young of the Boston Pilgrims. Jimmy Sebring of the proto-Red Sox hits the 1st World Series home run, but the Pirates win, 7-3.

Northeastern University's Cabot Gym is now on the site, and a statue of Young stands at the approximate location of the pitcher’s mound.

Also on this day, the Pennsylvania Railroad opens its new station at New Brunswick, New Jersey, replacing a former station on the site. Following a major renovation in time for its 100th Anniversary, the station is still in operation, a major one on New Jersey Transit's Northeast Corridor Line between New York City and Trenton, and also carries Amtrak traffic, although Amtrak no longer uses it as a stop on their own Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington.

October 1, 1911, 110 years ago: William Calvin Lam is born in Glenrock, Wyoming. A halfback, "Kayo" Lam led the nation in rushing for the University of Colorado in 1934 and 1935. He later worked for the University's athletic department, was named to the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame, and died in 1993.

Also on this day, Herman Michael Hickman is born in Johnson City, Tennessee. A guard, he starred at the University of Tennessee from 1929 to 1931. His coach, Bob Neyland, for whom the University's stadium would later be named, said, "Herman Hickman is the greatest guard football has ever known."

He didn't exactly prove that in the NFL, playing 3 seasons for the football version of the Brooklyn Dodgers, although he was named an All-Pro in 1933. He went into coaching, on the staffs of Wake Forest, North Carolina State, and the National Championship teams at West Point, before serving as head coach at Yale from 1948 to 1951.

He was also a professional wrestler, known as The Tennessee Terror. But he was a Renaissance man, a writer who became known as "The Poet Laureate of the Little Smokies," and was on the original staff of Sports Illustrated from its founding in 1954 until his untimely death in 1958. He was posthumously elected to the College Football and Tennessee Sports Halls of Fame.

October 1, 1919: Game 1 of the World Series, at Redland Field (renamed Crosley Field in 1933) in Cincinnati. The Cincinnati Reds, Champions of the National League, are hosting the Chicago White Sox, Champions of the American League.

"Everybody" said that the White Sox were the superior team. Actually, while the ChiSox were more experienced – they had won the Series 2 years earlier, beating the New York Giants – they had won 88 games in the 1919 season, but the Reds had won more, 95. And the Reds had Hall-of-Famer Edd Roush, and a few players who would have been All-Stars at least once in their careers, had there been an All-Star Game at the time.

Still, everybody seemed to think the Sox were better. And yet, just before the Series began, the betting shifted to make the Reds the favorites. What had happened?

The Game 1 starter for the White Sox is knuckleballer Eddie Cicotte. The 1st batter for the Reds is 2nd baseman Morrie Rath. Cicotte, not known as a dirty pitcher, but who had taken $10,000 (about $150,000 in today's money) from gamblers the night before, throws a strike with his 1st pitch, but hits Rath with his 2nd. This is the signal to the gamblers that the fix to which they'd agreed is still on. (Ironically, Rath was a former White Sock.)

In the bottom of the 4th, the game is tied 1-1. So far, nothing has happened to suggest to the unaware spectator that anything is amiss. But then Cicotte melts down, and allows 5 runs. The Reds win, 9-1, and the "upset" is on, as is what became known as the Black Sox Scandal.

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October 1, 1921, 100 years ago: Ray Schalk, one of the White Sox players who had no role in the Scandal, does something no catcher had ever done before, nor has since: He makes a putout at every base at least once in a game. The White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 8-5 at Comiskey Park.

This White Sox victory, or rather this Indians loss, is significant, because it allows the Yankees to clinch their 1st Pennant, if they can beat the Philadelphia Athletics in either of the games of today's doubleheader, at the Polo Grounds in Upper Manhattan. They win the opener, 5-3, and, for the 1st time in their 19-season history, are American League Champions.

Hail the Champions, in their batting order: Elmer Miller, center field; Roger Peckinpaugh, shortstop; Babe Ruth, right field; Bob Meusel, left field; Wally Pipp, 1st base; Aaron Ward, 2nd base; Mike McNally, 3rd base; Wally Schang, catcher; and Carl Mays, pitcher. Meusel, who lived until 1977, was the last survivor, outliving Peckinpaugh by 11 days.

A triple by Miller made the difference. The Yankees would also win the 2nd game, 7-6 in 11 innings. But they would lose their 1st appearance in the World Series to their Polo Grounds landlords, the New York Giants. They would also lose to the Giants in the 1922 Series. But in 1923, in their 1st Series in the original Yankee Stadium, they would beat the Giants.

Also on this day, James Allen Whitmore Jr. is born in White Plains, Westchester County, New York, and grows up outside Buffalo in Snyder, New York. A fine actor with a strong resemblance to Spencer Tracy, he was a Marine Lieutenant in World War II. He married twice, the 2nd time to Audra Lindley, while she was playing Helen Roper on Three's Company.

My generation knows him for his commercials for Miracle-Gro plant food. He died in 2009. His son James III, as "James Whitmore Jr.," has directed many episodes of NCIS.

What does he have to do with sports? Well, in 1963, he appeared in "On Thursday We Leave for Home," an episode of The Twilight Zone. He played the Captain of a space colony ship that was lost in 1963, and rescued 30 years later. (Of course, such a ship isn't possible now, let alone in 1963.) It had been only 6 years since the Dodgers moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, and one of the stranded people asked one of the rescuers, "Where do the Dodgers play now?" The prediction came true: "Los Angeles."

October 1, 1924: James Earle Carter Jr. is born in Plains, Georgia. As Governor of his home State in 1974, he watched Henry Louis Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hit his 715th career home run, breaking Babe Ruth's record, and presented him with a personalized Georgia license plate: HLA 715.

In 1976, Carter was elected President. He didn't seem to like baseball, attending only 1 major league game during his Administration. It was a big one, though: Game 7 of the 1979 World Series in Baltimore, then the closest major league city to Washington. While Richard Nixon began the tradition of Presidents calling from the White House to congratulate winners of sports' World Championships, Carter remains the only one to do so in person, complimenting the Pittsburgh Pirates on their "Family."

After leaving the White House, and continuing the work that eventually earned him a Nobel Peace Prize, Carter rediscovered baseball, attending Braves games at Fulton County Stadium and now Turner Field, with his wife Rosalynn, as guests of then-owner Ted Turner and his then-wife Jane Fonda. In 2014, Jimmy and Rosalynn were shown on the ballpark's "kiss cam," and they obliged.

Despite a cancer diagnosis, he has been in good health for most of his life. At 97, he is now the oldest former President, and has had the longest ex-Presidency ever, nearly 41 years.

October 1, 1931, 90 years ago: The George Washington Bridge opens, connecting Upper Manhattan with Fort Lee, New Jersey. It is a major entrance and exit in New York City for fans going to Yankee games. Many is the time that Yankee broadcaster Phil Rizzuto wanted to leave a game early, saying, "I gotta get over that bridge!"

Of course, these days, it's best known for the scandal that sank the 2016 Presidential campaign of New Jersey's current Governor, Chris Christie, and may yet lead to a criminal investigation and an early end to his Governorship.

Also on this day, Fred Leo Kipp is born in Piqua, Kansas. A pitcher, he debuted with the Dodgers in their last season in Brooklyn, 1957, and was still with them in Los Angeles in their World Championship season of 1959, although he did not appear in the World Series, and did not get a World Series ring. He was with the Yankees in 1960, but that was it. His career record was 6-7. He founded a successful construction company in the suburbs of Kansas City, and is still alive, at 89.

October 1, 1932: Did he or didn't he? Surely, Babe Ruth did not point to center field in Game 3 of the World Series against the Chicago Cubs and say, "I’m gonna hit the ball there." But a home movie discovered in 1992 certainly shows him pointing at pitcher Charlie Root. It looks like he's sending some sort of message. On the next pitch, boom. Message received. So, by my definition, yeah, Babe Ruth "called his shot."

The last living player from either team was Charlie Devens, Yankee pitcher 1932-34, died August 13, 2003, at age 93. The last to have actually played in the game was Frank Crosetti, Yankee shortstop 1932-48, and coach 1949-68, died February 11, 2002, at age 91.

October 1, 1941, 80 years ago: Game 1 of the World Series. Brooklyn Dodger manager Leo Durocher surprises everyone by starting Curt Davis, and later admits he messed up the Dodgers' rotation for the Series, one of the few times Leo the Lip admits a mistake, rather than blaming someone else.

In hindsight, while the rotation was all out of whack, Davis pitched fairly well. But a home run by Joe Gordon and the pitching of Red Ruffing gave the Yankees a 3-2 win.

October 1, 1944: The St. Louis Browns clinch the American League Pennant. It is their 1st. They are the last of Major League Baseball's "Original 16" teams (a term not used back then) to do so. They will not win another until 1966, by which point they are the Baltimore Orioles.

There will not be another team winning their 1st Pennant until September 23, 1957, when the Milwaukee Braves do it -- or, if you don't count moved teams, until October 6, 1969, when the Mets pull off their "Miracle."

The last survivor of the 1944 St. Louis Browns was 2nd baseman Don Gutteridge -- who, ironically, started his career with the Cardinals. He lived until 2008, age 96.

October 1, 1946, 75 years ago: For the 1st time in major league history, a playoff series to determine a League's Pennant is played, between the St. Louis Cardinals and Brooklyn Dodgers. The Cardinals take the 1st game, 4-2, at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, as Howie Pollet holds the Dodgers to 2 hits, a homer and an RBI-single by Howie Schultz.

Also on this day, Mensa International is founded at Oxford University by Dr. Lancelot Ware, a British scientist and lawyer; and Roland Berrill, an Australian lawyer. The minimum IQ required for membership is 132.

The word "mensa" is Latin for "table," as is symbolized in the organization's logo, and was chosen to demonstrate the round-table nature of the organization, the coming together of equals.

Also on this day, Jonathan Edgar Warden is born in Columbus, Ohio. A pitcher, Jon Warden made 28 appearances in the major leagues, all with the 1968 Detroit Tigers, winning the World Series. His career record was 4-1. He is 1 of 13 surviving players from that iconic team.

Also on this day, Clifford Eugene Koroll is born in Conora, Saskatchewan. A right wing, he played 11 seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks, helping them reach the Stanley Cup Finals in 1971 and 1973. He is the current president of the Chicago Blakckhawks Alumni Association, and a member of the Chicago Sports and Saskatchewan Sports Halls of Fame.

October 1, 1949: Joe DiMaggio Day is held at Yankee Stadium. The Yankee Clipper wasn't retiring, but he'd had an inspirational season, and, with Joe's family in the stands because the Red Sox were in town, including Joe's brother, Boston center fielder Dominic, they chose this day to honor him. "I'd like to thank the Good Lord for making me a Yankee," Joe says.

The Yankees need to win this game to make the next day, the last game of the season, the title decider. The Red Sox take a 4-0 lead, but the Yankees come back, and Johnny Lindell hits a home run in the 8th inning, to give the Yankees the 5-4 win.

Also on this day, the People's Republic of China is proclaimed by Mao Zedong whose name would usually be written in English as "Mao Tse-tung" until the late 1970s. His Communists had overthrown the government of "Nationalist China" after a long civil war, which was put on hold while they joined forces against invading Japan. Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist government flees to the island of Formosa, which becomes Taiwan.

China's rise to sports prominence would take a bit longer, as Mao was not one of those dictators who used sports as propaganda for his government and his country. Indeed, he seems not to have cared about it. He died in 1976, apparently of several ailments. One theory is that he may have been in the early, but noticeable, stages of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a.k.a. Lou Gehrig's disease.

The People's Republic, a.k.a. the PRC or "Red China," began competing in the Olympics in 1984, and the International Olympics Committee began refusing to allow Taiwan to compete under that name, or under the name "Nationalist China," or even to compete under the old flag of Nationalist China. Instead, they must compete under a special, Olympic-themed flag, and under the name of "Chinese Taipei." China hosted the Olympics in Beijing in 2008, and have become particularly successful in swimming and diving, gymnastics, and weightlifting.

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October 1, 1951, 70 years ago: Game 1 of the National League Playoff at Ebbets Field. Jim Hearn outpitches Ralph Branca, who gives up a home run to Bobby Thomson in the 4th inning, a foreshadowing. Monte Irvin also homers for the Giants, who win, 3-1.

Also on this day, Peter McWilliam dies at age 72. A left back, he played for Scottish soccer team Inverness Caledonian Thistle, and for English team Newcastle United, before managing Middlesex's (now North London's) Tottenham Hotspur and North Yorkshire's Middlesbrough.

October 1, 1970: Twenty years to the day after the greatest day in Phillies history thus far (and it would remain such for another 10 years), perhaps the darkest day in Phillies history takes place -- and this was in a win.

The Phils play the final game at Connie Mack Stadium, formerly Shibe Park, and the irony of playing the Montreal Expos, a team that only began in 1969, at a stadium that opened in 1909 is felt. The game goes to 10 innings, and Oscar Gamble singles home Tim McCarver with the winning run, as the Phils win, 2-1.

Before McCarver can cross the plate, fans are already storming the field, and they tear the stadium apart. The grass is torn up. The scoreboard and the advertising signs are ripped out. Seats are unscrewed. According to a story I read, a man described as "one muscular miscreant" went into the men's room, ripped out a toilet bowl, carried it out of the park, and toted it down Lehigh Avenue and into the Broad Street subway.

The next year, Veterans Stadium opened, and a fire gutted what remained of the old park. In 1976, knowing that the place was a danger to area residents, Mayor Frank Rizzo gave the order: "Tear the fucking thing down!"

When I first visited the site in 1987, it was an empty lot, and the only evidence that baseball had been played there for 62 seasons was a strip mall across 21st Street with a store called The Phillies Pharmacy. In 1991, a church was built on the site. A historical marker now stands on Lehigh Avenue, telling of the glory days of the A's and the Phils.

This is also the day on which the events of the film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory take place. It was filmed at the Munich Gasworks in Germany from August 31 to November 19, 1970, and was released on June 30, 1971. It could also be that the film takes place in 1964, since that's when the Road Dahl novel on which it was based, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, was published.

Peter Ostrum, the 13-year-old who played Charlie Bucket, never appeared in another movie, and became a veterinarian. Gene Wilder played Wonka. A fan theory suggests that Wonka is the final incarnation of The Doctor from Doctor Who, looking for a successor to whom he can pass on all his abilities and fortune. This theory gained some merit when it was revealed that Jon Pertwee, then playing The Doctor, had been considered for the role.

The film was remade in 2005, as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, with Johnny Depp as Wonka and Freddie Highmore as Charlie.  

October 1, 1971, 50 years ago: Walt Disney World opens at Lake Buena Vista, southwest of Orlando, Florida. It is almost solely responsible for the development of tourism in Central Florida, having led to the building of Sea World, Universal Studios Orlando, and the venues that have become home to the NBA's Orlando Magic, professional soccer teams Orlando City (men's) and the Orlando Pride (women's), and, during the 2020 COVID-19 epidemic, the NBA's "Playoff Bubble."

In 1997, Disney World became home to Cracker Jack Stadium, now Champion Stadium, the Spring Training home of the Atlanta Braves. And in 2020, Disney World opened its ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex as "the NBA Bubble," a controlled site to keep COVID out of the NBA Playoffs, and the entire Playoffs was held there, in front of paying crowds of exactly zero.

Also on this day, Gillette introduces the Trac II razor, which became the best-selling shaving razor in history.

October 1, 1973: Only 1,913 fans come out to Wrigley Field, under threat of rain, with the Cubs far out of the race, to see a doubleheader that had to be made up due to an earlier rainout. The Mets beat the Cubs in the opener, 6-4, and win the National League East, their 2nd 1st-place finish.

The Division Title that no one seemed to want to win has been won with an 82-79 record, which is still the worst 1st place finish ever in a season of at least 115 games. When the rain comes after the opener, the umpires call off the now completely meaningless 2nd game. The Mets were 52-63 on August 14, but won 30 out of 44 down the stretch, including 18 of their last 22.

Back in New York, the day after the last game at the pre-renovation original Yankee Stadium -- an 8-5 loss to the Detroit Tigers, with Yankee manager Ralph Houk resigning -- the renovation of The Stadium begins, when Mayor John Lindsay, who had brokered the deal to get it done and keep the Yankees in The City, gets into a bulldozer, and ceremonially scoops out a piece of right field.

Claire Ruth was given home plate. Eleanor Gehrig was given 1st base. Some time later, Joe DiMaggio, in town to film commercials for the Bowery Savings Bank, would pose for a few pictures amid the renovation work. They should have given him a small section of center field sod. Mickey Mantle? They should have given him the whirlpool, since his injuries caused him to spend so much time in it.

October 1, 1975: Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali fights former Heavyweight Champion Joe Frazier for the 3rd time, at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, the capital of the Philippines. Quezon City is the national capital, and the arena is located about 5 miles east of the country's largest city, Manila.

When they met for "The Fight of the Century" at Madison Square Garden in 1971, it was the 1st time 2 undefeated Heavyweight Champions had ever met in the ring. It was a hard, even fight until the 15th and final round, when a classic Philly left hook floored the Louisvillian, and Ali received his first-ever knockdown, from which he got up to finish the fight, and his first-ever professional loss.

Ali got revenge in 1974, also at The Garden although neither man was champion at the time. Frazier had lost the title in 1973 to Foreman, whom Ali subsequently beat to regain the title in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), the fight known as "The Rumble In the Jungle."

Ali mocked Frazier for his fighting ability and his looks, saying, "It'll be a thrilla and a chilla and a killa, when I get the Gorilla in Manila!" So it became known as "The Thrilla In Manila." Frazier clobbered Ali in the 9th round, leading him to go back to his corner and tell his trainer, Angelo Dundee, "Man, this is the closest I've ever been to dying."

But Ali had landed so many punches that Frazier's face was swelling, and he was having trouble seeing. Early in the 13th round, Ali hit Frazier in the jaw with a thunderous right hook, sending Frazier's mouthpiece flying out of his mouth and out of the ring. Ali dominated the 14th as well, because Frazier was too tired and having too much difficulty seeing. Ali was hitting Frazier with the same kind of punches that knocked out Foreman a year earlier.

But Frazier had more courage and endurance than sense, and refused to go down, and refused to quit. As the 15th and final round approached, Frazier wanted to continue. His trainer, Eddie Futch, told him that he was going to stop the fight. Frazier said no: "I want him, boss." He was unable to talk Futch out of it: "The fight's over, Joe. No one will forget what you did here today." And he told the referee, Carlos Padilla, to stop the fight. Padilla did so.

Ali retained the crown, the belt, the title, whatever you want to call it. He got up off his stool, raised his right arm in victory... and collapsed. He had nothing left to give. If Futch had let Frazier fight the 15th round, he would have knocked Ali out.

It's been called the greatest prizefight in history. Today, 45 years after the fight, most people know the name Manila for 3 things: The brown office folders that bear its name, its role in the Pacific Theater of World War II, and Ali-Frazier III.

Howard Cosell, who covered the fight for ABC Wide World of Sports, later said, "A big piece of Ali remained in that ring." Indeed, at age 33, with nothing left to prove, Ali probably should have retired right there. Instead, he kept fighting for 6 more years. So did Frazier. Both men would have their moments, but neither was ever so good again.

"The Greatest of All Time" developed Parkinson's disease as a result of his taking so many blows to the head. The big mouth that got him the early nickname "The Louisville Lip" became mostly silent. 

"Smokin' Joe" would continue to alternately feud with Ali and reconcile with him, restart the feud, and reconcile again. Joe died of liver cancer in 2011, at age 67, after 30 years of training fighters at his gym in North Philadelphia. Ali died in 2016, a result of multiple illnesses, at 74.

Opened in 1960, the Araneta Coliseum is still used for sporting events and concerts. A shopping center 2 blocks away is named Ali Mall.

October 1, 1977: Edson Arantes do Nascimento, a.k.a. Pelé, the greatest soccer player who ever lived, plays his last game at a sold-out Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. It is his testimonial, and he plays the 1st half for the New York Cosmos, with whom he recently won the North American Soccer League Championship, and scores a goal; and the 2nd half for Santos, for whom he starred so long in Brazil's São Paulo State. The Cosmos win, 2-1.

When it's over, he stands at midfield with a microphone, and asks the crowd, "Please, say with me, three times: Love! Love! Love!" They do.

President Jimmy Carter attended. So did Muhammad Ali, the Heavyweight Champion of the World, who frequently called himself "the Greatest of All Time." This time, he says, "Now, I understand: He is greater than me."

The rain that fell on Pelé's testimonial at the Meadowlands comes down much harder on The Bronx, as the Yankees sit through a 2-hour, 42-minute rain delay in a game against the Detroit Tigers. But the Baltimore Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox, and that gives the Yankees the American League Eastern Division title for the 2nd straight season. When their game is finally finished, the Yankees lose, 10-7.

October 1, 1991, 30 years ago: ABC airs the sitcom Coach. In the episode "The Kick-Off and the Kiss-Off," Sports Illustrated has put Minnesota State University head coach Hayden Fox (Craig T. Nelson) on its cover, calling him "The Best Coach You've Never Heard Of." His Screaming Eagles are predicted to have a great season.

But his defensive coordinator, Luther Van Dam (Jerry Van Dyke), believes in "The Dreaded SI Cover Jinx," and is sure that something horrible is going to happen, either to Hayden or to the team. The Cover Jinx is a myth, but it has happened often enough to get noticed. Usually, it just means defeat for the cover subject. But athletes have gotten exposed in scandal, or badly injured, and in a few cases killed right after appearing on the cover.

Hayden dismisses all this, as he doesn't believe in supernatural stuff. Seemingly backing him up, Minnesota State wins its opening game, with no trouble. But afterward, Hayden's daughter, Kelly (Clare Carey), is dumped by her husband, Stuart Rosebrock (Kris Kamm), an actor who's having an affair with a woman who gets him a job on a Los Angeles TV show. Hayden wasn't jinxed, but the Fox family was.

October 1, 1996, 25 years ago: The Texas Rangers play the 1st postseason game in their 25-year history – a 36-year history, if you count their previous incarnation as the "new" Washington Senators. They are not intimidated by the power of the current Yankee team, or by the legacy of Yankee Stadium. A 5-run 4th inning includes home runs by Juan Gonzalez and Dean Palmer off David Cone, and the Rangers win, 6-2.

Suddenly, what had been a magical season for the Yankees is in serious jeopardy. The Rangers look like they're in control, especially after they take a 4-1 lead in he 3rd inning of Game 2 -- with Games 3 and, if necessary, 4 and 5 in Arlington. They will not win another postseason game for 14 years.

Also on this day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average sets a new record of 5,904.90. That also means that it has finally surpassed, in inflation-adjusted dollars, its pre-Crash peak of September 3, 1929, of 381.17. It had previously taken until November 23, 1954 to get past that. So it was 25 years in straight dollars, and 67 years in inflation-adjusted dollars.

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October 1, 2000: The Pittsburgh Pirates play their last game at Three Rivers Stadium. They lose to the Chicago Cubs 10-9. Adrian Brown and John Wehner hit the last 2 home runs at Three Rivers, but it's not enough, as Scott Sauerbeck melts down and allows 3 runs in the 8th inning. Turnabout is fair play: The Pirates had swept a doubleheader from the Cubs on the last day at Forbes Field, June 28, 1970.

Hall-of-Famer Willie Stargell, the greatest living Pirate since the death of Roberto Clemente, throws out a ceremonial last ball at the closing ceremony. He would receive a statue to be dedicated outside PNC Park on Opening Day 2001, along with those of Clemente and Honus Wagner, which were moved there. He was also invited to throw out the first ball at the new park, but he was already ill, and died that very morning.

The Steelers will play out the 2000 season at Three Rivers, which will be demolished on February 11, 2001, and then move into Heinz Field.

Also on this day, Shane Halter, normally an infielder for the Detroit Tigers, becomes the 4th player to play all 9 positions in a single game. The Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins, 12-11 at the Metrodome.

Also on this day, Arsenal beat Manchester United 1-0 at home at Highbury in North London. Thierry Henry scores one of the most amazing goals you will ever see. And he does it against United's goalie Fabien Barthez, his teammate on the France squad that won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000.

October 1, 2004: Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners grounds a single up the middle, and collects his 258th hit of the season. This breaks the record that had belonged to George Sisler of the St. Louis Browns since 1920 -- 84 years. Ichiro would raise the record to 262.

If there was anyone left who still doubted whether Ichiro was a bona fide Hall-of-Famer in the making (and I was a doubter), they now believe it.

October 1, 2005:  Needing to win only 1 of the last 3 games of the season, against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, to win the AL East, and having lost the night before, the Yankees get the job done, beating the Sox 8-4. Gary Sheffield, Hideki Matsui and Alex Rodriguez all send Tim Wakefield knuckleballs out of the yard, making a winning pitcher out of Randy Johnson.

The Sox turned the tables the next day, to clinch the Wild Card. Everyone was looking forward to a 3rd straight ALCS between them, but both teams lost their ALDS. They have still not faced each other in the postseason since 2004.

October 1, 2015: The Yankees defeat the Boston Red Sox, 4-1 at Yankee Stadium II, thanks to home runs by veteran Carlos Beltran and rookies Greg Bird and Rob Refsnyder, and the fine pitching of CC Sabathia, Adam Warren and Dellin Betances.

The Yankees, who led the AL East by 7 games on July 28, thus finally, with 3 games to spare, clinch a berth in the AL Wild Card play-in game. It is the 52nd time in franchise history, going back to 1903, that they have reached the postseason. It is also the 10,000th win in franchise history. And the cherry on the sundae is that it comes against the Auld Enemy, a.k.a. The Scum.

October 1, 2017: The Route 91 Harvest Music Festival on the Las Vegas Strip became the scene of the biggest mass shooting in American history. Stephen Paddock went to a room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel & casino, took out several weapons including an AR-15 assault rifle, and shot over 900 people, 58 of whom died. That was nearly as many as the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in Colorado and the 2016 Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando combined: 49 + 13 = 62.

Paddock finally shot and killed himself, proving that the death penalty is no deterrent to a man who is planning on becoming his own final victim anyway. What would have stopped him from getting his guns? A background check.

Five days later, the Vegas Golden Knights played their 1st game, at home at the T-Mobile Arena, just a mile north of the shooting site. They paid tribute to the victims, wore a jersey patch honoring them all season long, beat the Dallas Stars 2-1, and got all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals.