From 1869 to 2000, the football program at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey was one of missed opportunities and unmet expectations.
Enter head coach Greg Schiano. He gave RU the slogan "It's Time." He promoted "The State of Rutgers": He declared that New Jersey, and the rest of the metropolitan areas of New York City and Philadelphia, were now off-limits to Penn State, Notre Dame, and anybody else who thought they had an easy path to high school football stars from those places: The Scarlet Knights now had first dibs.
The 1st 2 years were horrible: 2-9 in 2001 and 1-11 in 2002. The next 2 were merely mediocre: 5-7 in 2003 and 4-7 in 2004. It was a little surprising that Schiano was given a Year 5.
But that's when he completed the turnaround: Rutgers went 7-4, and went to a real bowl game for the 1st time in their history, although they lost it. In 2006, they won their 1st 9 games, culminating in a thrilling 28-25 nationally-televised upset of then-Number 3 Louisville at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway (across the Raritan River from New Brunswick). They were now Number 7 in the country.
Then they lost 2 of their next 3, defeats away to the University of Cincinnati and West Virginia bracketing a win over Syracuse. They were invited to the Texas Bowl in Housotn, not a major (New Year's Day or otherwise) bowl game, and got their 1st-ever bowl win, 37-10 over Kansas State.
Over the next 3 seasons, RU went 8-5, 8-5 and 9-4, winning the International Bowl in Toronto, the PapaJohns.com Bowl in Birmingham, and the St. Petersburg Bowl, respectively. The 2010 season was a downer, just 4-8, but in 2011, they went 9-4 and won the Pinstripe Bowl at the new Yankee Stadium, beating Iowa State.
Rutgers was a consistently good major college football program for the 1st tie in its history. And it was all due to the recruiting and coaching skill of Greg Schiano. And we thought he was going to stay and finish the job. After all, he had already turned down offers from 3 of the true giants of college football: Penn State, Michigan, and the University of Miami.
January 26, 2012: For Rutgers fans, this is a date which lives in infamy. Schiano accepted the head coaching job with the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He left us. He became Rutgers' "Deadbeat Dad."
And for what? He went 11-21 in 2 seasons with the Bucs, and was fired. He went back to coaching in high school, and, in 2016, was hired by Ohio State as defensive coordinator to Urban Meyer. Despite various problems with the porgram, his reputation was restored.
He was out of football in the 2019 season, and then Rutgers brought him back.
Back to what? A program that had done the following since he left:
* 2012: Started out 9-1 under new coach Kyle Flood, clinching at least a tie for the Big East Conference Chamoinship, their 1st conference title ever. But they lost away to the University of Pittsburgh, and then had a ghastly 20-17 defeat at home to Louisville, effectively reversing the 2006 game. They went to a minor bowl, and lost.
* 2013: Went 6-6, but got invited to a bowl anyway, and lost it.
* 2014: Officially joined the Big Ten Conference. competitively speaking, this was a colossal blunder. They beat Michigan, but lost to arch-rival Penn State, and got hit with 56 points by Ohio State, 45 by ichigan State, 42 by Nebraska and 37 by Wisconsin. They still managed to go 8-5 overall, and won the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit.
* 2015: Went 4-8. Beat Indiana 55-52, but that was a warning of things to come. Gave up 49 against Ohio State, 49 against Michigan, 48 against Wisconsin and 46 against Maryland. Flood was fired, and replaced with Chris Ash.
* 2016: 2-10, losing the last 9. In the season opener against the Pac-12's Washington, they lost 48-13 In back-to-back games against Ohio State (then Number 2) and Michigan (Number 4), RU lost 58-0 and 78-0. They also lost 49-0 to Michigan State and 39-0 to Penn State.
* 2017: 4-8. This included 56-0 to Ohio State, and 41-0 to Indiana. Indiana. Lost to them in football, not basketball.
* 2018: 1-11. Won the opener, home to Texas State. Then dropped 11 straight. Allowed 55 points to Big 12 team Kansas, and 52 to Ohio State. Alowing 42 to Michigan is one thing, but they also allowed, 42 to the University of Buffalo of the Mid-American Conference.
* 2019: 2-10. The only wins were to FCS teams UMass and Liberty. (At least we beat the Jerry Falwell school.) Lost 52-0 to Michigan, 48-7 to Maryland, 35-0 to Indiana, 42-7 to Minnesota, 38-10 to Illinois, 56-21 to Ohio State, 27-0 to Michigan State and 27-6 to Penn State. Ash was fired.
And so, for the 2nd time, Rutgers begged Greg Schiano to come ansd save them from football misery and irrelevance. He was no longer a 34-year-old wonder boy. He was now a seasoned, and battered, veteran of 54. And, surely, he knew that there would be some Rutgers fans who were not ready to trust him again. Especially now that RU was in the Big Ten, where they'd had so little success.
Yesterday, in the opener of the COVID-19-forced abbreviated, Conference-games-only schedule, Rutgers went to East Lansing, Michigan to play Michigan State. I had no confidence at all.
RU forced 5 turnovers, clicked on all offensive cylinders, and won 38-24.
One and oh in Big Ten play.
Two questions:
1. Can Schiano keep this up?
2. Will he stay long enough to finish the job this time?
And by "Finish the job," I don't mean "Win the National Chamionship." But it would be nice to finally go to a New Year's Day bowl game, and to seriously challenge for the National Championship Playoff.
The next game is next Saturday afternoon, Halloween, home to Indiana. We shall see.
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October 25, 1147: The Siege of Lisbon finally ends after 4 months, and the Moors surrender the capital of Portugal. King Afonso I (not "Alfonso"), considered the founder of the modern nation of Portugal (O Fundador), ends up reigning for 46 years. He is also known as Afonso the Conqueror (O Conquistador) and Afonso the Great (O Grande).
October 25, 1154: Stephen of Blois dies of a stomach disorder in Dover at age 56. He had been King of England for 19 years, succeeding his uncle, King Henry I, usurping the throne from its rightful recipient, Henry's daughter, Matilda. (Some countries permitted female monarchs, but England had never had one, and wouldn't until Mary I, 400 years later.)
A civil war known as "The Anarchy" had resulted, and it was only settled when Stephen recognized his nephew, Matilda's son, as heir. That nephew became King Henry II, and while the throne of England was settled, the already-long disputes between England and France were not.
Henry ruled for 33 years, alienating almost every other royal in Europe, including his own family, which included his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and his sons, future Kings Richard I and John, as seen in the film The Lion In Winter.
October 25, 1415: The Battle of Agincourt is fought in what is now Azincourt, Pas-de-Calais, France, about 140 miles north of Paris. Outnumbered 2-1, King Henry V of England -- personally leading his troops -- leads English and Welsh longbowmen to a stunning victory over the French army on French soil.
The English lost 112 men, including the sitting Duke of York and the sitting Earl of Suffolk; the French, possibly 10,000, including the Dukes of Alençon, Brabant and Lorraine and the Counts of Dreux and Nevers. Say what you want about those noblemen, but they were noble enough to fight and risk death alongside the men they commanded.
This battle turns the tide for England, as King Charles VI of France, in order to mollify the Lancastrian invader, allows him to marry his daughter, Catherine of Valois. Together, they have a son. But when Henry V dies of illness in 1522, his son is just 9 months old, and King Henry VI -- first under his greedy, incompetent regents, then by his mentally ill self -- ends up losing all the gains of his father and his ancestors during the Hundred Years War.
What does this battle have to do with sports? Well, archery is a sport, and it made an archer the greatest thing to which most Englishmen and Welshmen could aspire. Legend has it that King Henry VIII, 100 or so years later, banned tennis from English and Welsh soil because it was distracting men from practicing archery.
It also led to a ridiculous urban legend. Supposedly, the French would cut the index fingers off English prisoners before releasing them. But when they got back to their own side, they could still use their middle fingers to pull back their bowstrings. And the bows were made from yew trees, so, when they captured French prisoners, they would show them their middle fingers, and say, "See? We can still pluck yew! Pluck yew!" Thus was born both the middle-finger gesture and the profane expression, "Fuck you."
Well, none of it is true: The middle-finger gesture has been traced as far back as ancient Greece, about 2,000 years before Agincourt, and it was rather popular in Roman times, where it was known as "El Dedo Medio": The Middle Digit. As for the other expression, that's probably as old as language itself.
October 25, 1754: Richard Howell is born in Newark, Delaware. A veteran of the Continental Army in the War of the American Revolution, from 1793 to 1801 he served as Governor of New Jersey. He was already ill when he left office, and died in 1802.
Howell Township in Monmouth County is named for him. Howell High School's teams are called the Rebels. This makes sense, given their namesake's Revolutionary background. But the mascot is usually shown as a Confederate soldier. This is a nod to the school's original name, Southern Freehold, even though it opened in 1964 and the town had been named Howell while Richard Howell was still Governor. The name of the school was changed in 1968.
October 25, 1760: King George II of Britain dies at Kensington Palace in London, at age 77, after 43 years on the throne.
He had outlived his son, Frederick, Prince of Wales. Had Frederick not died (apparently of a pulmonary embolism) in 1751, he would now have been King. Had he still been on the throne in 1776 -- he would have been 69, so it's hardly impossible -- the history of the world could have been incredibly different.
Instead, Frederick's son, King George's grandson, takes the throne, as King George III, at age 22. It's not clear what he would have done in the 1770s had porphyria not already begun to drive him mad. It's also worth wondering what would have happened had said madness led him to a fatal accident before the American Revolution got going -- say, before the Boston Tea Party of 1773 -- leaving his son, still a child, as King George IV, instead of waiting until 1811 to sub for his father as Prince Regent and 1820 to finally become King.
Either way, it's possible America would still favor cricket (which Frederick had helped to popularize) and football (soccer), rather than baseball and American football.
October 25, 1774: The Continental Congress in Philadelphia ratifies a "Petition to the King." It is a list of grievances to King George III, asking for a repeal of the measures that British America had come to call "the Intolerable Acts," including the canceling of the colonial government of Massachusetts, the closing of the Port of Boston, and the forcing the quartering of British soldiers in private homes (which would later inspire the 3rd Amendment to the Constitution of the United States).
Of note is the signatories' affirmation of their allegiance to the British Crown -- not the British Parliament. But they wanted to remain within the British Empire, not to declare independence. But this would change over the next 2 years.
John Dickinson, a Delegate from Pennsylvania, is credited with writing the Petition. The following year, he would try again, with the Olive Branch Petition. George III answered neither. Dickinson ended up refusing to sign the Declaration of Independence in 1776, but, the following year, he wrote the first draft of the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first governing charter. He later served as President of the State of Delaware, and then of the State of Pennsylvania (effectively, Governor of each), participated in the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and signed the Constitution of the United States.
Only 2 men signed the Petition to the King of 1774, the Declaration of Independence in 1776, and the Constitution of the United States in 1787: George Reed of Delaware, and Roger Sherman of Connecticut, who also signed the Continental Association in 1774 and the Articles of Confederation in 1781, and was part of the committee to draft the Declaration, along with Benjamin Franklin, Philip Livingston, John Adams, and the man who actually wrote it, Thomas Jefferson.
October 25, 1781: The Battle of Johnstown is fought in Johnstown, Fulton County, New York, outside Albany. It was an American victory, 6 days after the Battle of Yorktown in Virginia, although the news of that battle hadn't reached them yet.
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October 25, 1806: Henry Knox dies when he chokes to death during dinner in Thomaston, Massachusetts, now in Maine. The Boston native was 56. He had fought alongside George Washington during the American Revolution, succeeded him as the 1st Senior Officer of the U.S. Army, and was chosen by him to serve as the 1st U.S. Secretary of War.
Fort Knox in Kentucky, site of the famous gold reserve, and Knoxville, home of the University of Tennessee, are named for him.
October 25, 1812: The USS United States, commanded by Captain Stephen Decatur, defeats the HMS Macedonian, near the Madeira islands off the coast of Portugal during the War of 1812. The British ship lost 104 men, the American ship just 12. It remains one of the most lopsided victories in the history of the U.S. Navy.
The Macedonian was sailed alongside the United States back to New York, the 1st enemy ship ever taken back to America as a prize. Had there been ticker-tape parades in New York in those days, Decatur and his men surely would have gotten one.
The Macedonian was then sailed to the U.S. base at New London, Connecticut, repaired, rechristened USS Macedonian, and served until decommissioned and dismantled in 1828. The United States was at the base in Norfolk when the American Civil War began in 1861, and was taken and rechristened CSS United States (ironically), but was sunk to provide part of a blockade of the harbor against Union vessels a year later, an ignominious end to a ship that had served America so well since its launch in 1797.
October 25, 1854: The Battle of Balaclava is fought in the Crimean War, in what is now part of the city of Sevastopol, currently disputed by Russia and Ukraine. At the time, it was part of the Russian Empire, which was opposed by Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire (present-day Turkey and its Middle Eastern holdings). Both sides lost about 600 men, so the battle was inconclusive.
But that's not how it's remembered. Major General James Thomas Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, commanded the 4th and 13th Light Dragoons, the 17th Lancers, and the 8th and 11th Hussars. These units were "light cavalry," lightly armed and lightly armored troops on horseback, designed for speed, and thus for brief skirmishes and raids, but more for reconnaissance and communications -- not for major battles. Lord Cardigan sent this "light brigade" to recover guns left behind by the dead Turkish troops, a task for which they would have been well-suited.
But (ironically, given the nature of their work) a miscommunication by Captain Louis Nolan sent them on a frontal assault against Russian artillery, and they got clobbered. Nolan himself was one of the first to die -- meaning no one was willing to blame him, so the public blamed Lord Cardigan.
In response, Alfred Tennyson, then Britain's Poet Laureate, published a poem, "The Charge of the Light Brigade," designed to show that the men who fought, not the men who ordered them "but to do and die," should be the ones remembered. It worked: Not only did the British public rally around their Army, but it went on to win the war a year and a half later.
And today? No one remembers Nolan. If we remember Cardigan, it's as the namesake of a sweater. (Yes, it was named for him.) But while we may not remember any individuals in the Light Brigade, we remember the "noble six hundred."
October 25, 1863: William Joseph Shettsline is born in Philadelphia. Bill Shettsline was not a baseball player, but he was club secretary of the Philadelphia Phillies until 1898, when he was named manager. He served until 1902, and bought the team in 1905, selling it in 1909, and remaining as business manager (today, we would say "general manager") until he died in 1933. Only in 1915 did he win a National League Pennant.
October 25, 1864: John Francis Dodge is born in Niles, Michigan. With his brother Horace Elgin Dodge, 4 years younger, he founded the Dodge Brothers Company in 1900, supplying parts for Detroit-based automakers, especially Ford. In 1914, they began selling Dodge Brothers cars.
Both brothers died in 1920, having never recovered their health from the 1918-19 Spanish Flu epidemic, and Chrysler absorbed the company in 1928. Since 2014, Dodge cars and trucks have been sold by Fiat Chrysler America (FCA).
October 25, 1867: Local clubs the Uniques and the Monitors meet in a contest for the "championship of colored clubs" at the Satellite Grounds, at Broadway & Rutledge Street in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn -- where the NYPD's 90th Precinct house is today. The Monitors defeat the defending champion Uniques, and it isn't even close: 49-17.
October 25, 1868: Daniel L. Burke is born in Abington, Massachusetts. An outfielder, Dan Burke briefly played in the early 1890s, although he did win a Pennant with the 1892 Boston Beaneaters (forerunners of the Atlanta Braves).
In response, Alfred Tennyson, then Britain's Poet Laureate, published a poem, "The Charge of the Light Brigade," designed to show that the men who fought, not the men who ordered them "but to do and die," should be the ones remembered. It worked: Not only did the British public rally around their Army, but it went on to win the war a year and a half later.
And today? No one remembers Nolan. If we remember Cardigan, it's as the namesake of a sweater. (Yes, it was named for him.) But while we may not remember any individuals in the Light Brigade, we remember the "noble six hundred."
October 25, 1863: William Joseph Shettsline is born in Philadelphia. Bill Shettsline was not a baseball player, but he was club secretary of the Philadelphia Phillies until 1898, when he was named manager. He served until 1902, and bought the team in 1905, selling it in 1909, and remaining as business manager (today, we would say "general manager") until he died in 1933. Only in 1915 did he win a National League Pennant.
October 25, 1864: John Francis Dodge is born in Niles, Michigan. With his brother Horace Elgin Dodge, 4 years younger, he founded the Dodge Brothers Company in 1900, supplying parts for Detroit-based automakers, especially Ford. In 1914, they began selling Dodge Brothers cars.
Both brothers died in 1920, having never recovered their health from the 1918-19 Spanish Flu epidemic, and Chrysler absorbed the company in 1928. Since 2014, Dodge cars and trucks have been sold by Fiat Chrysler America (FCA).
October 25, 1867: Local clubs the Uniques and the Monitors meet in a contest for the "championship of colored clubs" at the Satellite Grounds, at Broadway & Rutledge Street in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn -- where the NYPD's 90th Precinct house is today. The Monitors defeat the defending champion Uniques, and it isn't even close: 49-17.
October 25, 1868: Daniel L. Burke is born in Abington, Massachusetts. An outfielder, Dan Burke briefly played in the early 1890s, although he did win a Pennant with the 1892 Boston Beaneaters (forerunners of the Atlanta Braves).
October 26, 1869: John Joseph Doyle is born in Killorgin, Ireland, and grows up in Holyoke, Maryland. A 1st baseman, "Dirty Jack" lived up to his nickname, including punching out an umpire in a 1900 game. But he was a good player, batting .299 lifetime and stealing 518 bases in a career that lasted from 1889 to 1905.
He helped the Baltimore Orioles win the National League Pennant in 1896. He was a player-manager with the 1895 New York Giants and the NL version of the Washington Senators in 1898. With some irony, he served as Police Commissioner for Holyoke in 1908 and '09, and later scouted for the Chicago Cubs. He lived untnil 1958, one of the last notable survivors of 19th Century baseball.
October 25, 1871: Martin Bergen (no middle name) is born in North Brookfield, Massachusetts. This town, outside Worcester, was also home to his brother Bill, catcher turned longtime manager Connie Mack, and legendary entertainer George M. Cohan.
A catcher, Marty Bergen played for the Boston Beaneaters, forerunners of the Atlanta Braves, helping them win the National League Pennant in 1897 and 1898. Unlike Bill, statistically the worst hitter in Major League Baseball history, Marty batted .265, but was much better known for his fielding, as he was regarded as having a great arm and good footwork.
But he was mentally ill. By 1899, only his 4th season in the major leagues, he was experiencing hallucinations, and had to be removed from a game due to his odd behavior. On a train trip, he slapped Hall of Fame pitcher Vic Willis. One of his sons died, and that worsened his condition. He began to see his pitchers' deliveries as knives coming toward him, and he would jump out of the way.
On January 19, 1900, at his home in North Brookfield, he took an axe, and killed his wife Hattie and their 2 remaining children. Then he took a straight razor, and cut his throat, killing himself. He was only 28 years old. This shocking crime, by a person already considerably more famous, was less than 8 years after the axe murders in nearby Fall River, Massachusetts, attributed to Lizzie Borden (who was acquitted).
Following the murder-suicide, Jesse Burkett, in the middle of a Hall of Fame career as an outfielder, said, "As a catcher, Martin Bergen was the best the world ever produced. No man acted with more natural grace as a ballplayer." He said this at a time when Buck Ewing had only been retired for 3 years and Mike "King" Kelly for 6. Alas, Kelly's career ended in 1894 with his death due to the effects of alcoholism, just short of turning 37; and Ewing died in 1906 from diabetes, at 47.
October 25, 1881: Pablo Picasso is born in Málaga, Andalusia, southern Spain. Or, as "Epic Lloyd" Ahlquist said, playing him opposite "Nice Peter" Shukoff as Bob Ross in a 2013 episode of Epic Rap Battles of History, "My name is Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso! Back to you, Bob!"
Bob Ross might not have believed in mistakes, but just try getting all that right in icing on a birthday cake!
Picasso lived to be 91, until 1973. In between, as Lloyd-as-Picasso said, "I am the greatest: The modern art Muhammad Ali!"
October 25, 1884: Charley "Old Hoss" Radbourn of the National League Champion Providence Grays wins his 3rd straight game over the American Association Champion New York Metropolitans – the 1st team to be known as the New York Mets, predating the Amazin's by 80 years – concluding the 3-game series and making the Grays the World Champions of baseball, which they had also become in 1879 by winning the NL Pennant.
Only 500 diehard fans show up in the cold‚ since Providence had already clinched by winning the 1st 2 games.
October 25? Cold weather? And they were still playing baseball at that time of year in the 1880s? Hey, Bud Selig's moronic scheduling was just trying to get baseball back to its roots!
On this same day, Lafayette College defeats Lehigh University in football, 56-0. The Lehigh Valley rivals, separated by 17 miles along U.S. Route 22 (the Lafayette Leopards in Easton, the Lehigh Engineers in Bethlehem), will go on to produce the most-played rivalry in college football.
In 2014, their meeting was their 150th, due to having played twice and even, during World War II with travel restrictions, 3 times in some seasons. That 150th "Double L Game" was the 1st one played outside Northeastern Pennsylania, at Yankee Stadium. Lafayette won it, 27-7. Lafayette won last year, but Lafayette leads the rivalry, 79-71-5. This year's game will be played at Lafayette's Fisher Stadium on November 21.
October 25, 1885: John M. Tobin -- I can find no reference as to what the M stands for -- is born in St. John's, Newfoundland, then still a British colony. Jack Tobin was an accomplished hockey player and yachtsman, and served 50 years as the secretary of the Newfoundland Hockey League.
He was also elected to the Newfoundland Assembly and the St. John's City Council. He lived long enough to see Newfoundland & Labrador become a Province of Canada in 1949, living until 1956. He was posthumously elected to the Newfoundland & Labrador Sports Hall of Fame.
October 25, 1888: The Giants clinch New York's 1st true World Championship in any professional sport, 6 games to 2, by trouncing the St. Louis Browns (forerunners of the Cardinals), 11-3. Tim Keefe gets his 4th win of the series.
Of course, this doesn't count amateur championships won from 1845 to 1870 by teams like the Knickerbockers, the New York Club, the Mutuals, and Brooklyn teams like the Atlantics, the Excelsiors and the Eckfords.
The last survivor of the 1888 Giants was Ledell "Cannonball" Titcomb, a pitcher from Maine, who pitched a no-hitter in 1890, and lived until 1950.
October 25, 1889: Howard Ellsworth Wood is born in Kansas City, and grows up in Ouray, Colorado. Because of his blazing fastball, his Boston Red Sox teammates nicknamed him Smoky Joe. In 1911, he pitched a no-hitter. In 1912, he went 34-5 for the Red Sox, including 16 straight wins. Since 1912, there have been 2 seasons of 31 wins, 1 of 30, 1 of 28 and 2 of 27, but 34 is not going to happen again unless rules or ballpark conditions are radically changed.
Shortly before a heavily hyped game against the Washington Senators on September 6, 1912, between Wood and the man generally agreed to be the best pitcher of the day, Walter Johnson, Johnson said, "Can I throw harder than Joe Wood? Listen, my friend: There's no man alive can throw harder than Smoky Joe Wood!"
Reminded of Johnson's assessment 60 years later, Wood said, "Oh, I don't think there was ever anybody faster than Walter." Wood and the Sox won, 1-0. He went on to help them win the World Series by coming in to relieve the clinching Game 8. Counting the Series, he was 37-6 on the year.
Unfortunately, Wood injured his thumb in spring training in 1913, and he was never the same pitcher. The Red Sox traded him to the Cleveland Indians, where he was reunited with his former Boston teammate Tris Speaker and converted into an outfielder. He still pitched well enough to go 15-5 and lead the AL in ERA with 1.49 in 1915, giving him a career record of 117-56 at age 25. But he never won another game as a pitcher.
Still, his hitting and fielding helped the Indians win the 1920 World Series, and he finished his career with a lifetime batting average of .283 and an OPS+ of 110. No other pitcher with at least 95 wins can top that. (Babe Ruth won 94.)
In 1965, Lawrence S. Ritter interviewed Wood for his book The Glory of Their Times. In 1981, Ritter and Donald Honig included him in their book The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time. They explained what they called "the Smoky Joe Wood Syndrome," where a player of truly exceptional talent but a career curtailed by injury should still, in spite of not having had career statistics that would quantitatively rank him with the all-time greats, be included on their list of the 100 greatest players.
In addition to Wood himself, the players they included in this category were Dizzy Dean, Pete Reiser (see the 1981 entry) and Herb Score. But not Tony Conigliaro. Nor Mark Fidrych. Nor Lyman Bostock. And, of course, they could not yet have known about Kirk Gibson, Dwight Gooden, Kerry Wood or Stephen Strasburg.
Wood later became the baseball coach at Yale University, and died in 1985, age 95, the last survivor of the 1912 World Series. His son, actually named Joe Wood, pitched 3 games for the Red Sox in 1944, due to wartime-stretched rosters, but never really made it even at the Triple-A level, and retired at age 31 in 1947. At least, like his dad, he lived to a ripe old age, making it to 86 in 2002. He was named to the Red Sox' team Hall of Fame and the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.
A catcher, Marty Bergen played for the Boston Beaneaters, forerunners of the Atlanta Braves, helping them win the National League Pennant in 1897 and 1898. Unlike Bill, statistically the worst hitter in Major League Baseball history, Marty batted .265, but was much better known for his fielding, as he was regarded as having a great arm and good footwork.
But he was mentally ill. By 1899, only his 4th season in the major leagues, he was experiencing hallucinations, and had to be removed from a game due to his odd behavior. On a train trip, he slapped Hall of Fame pitcher Vic Willis. One of his sons died, and that worsened his condition. He began to see his pitchers' deliveries as knives coming toward him, and he would jump out of the way.
On January 19, 1900, at his home in North Brookfield, he took an axe, and killed his wife Hattie and their 2 remaining children. Then he took a straight razor, and cut his throat, killing himself. He was only 28 years old. This shocking crime, by a person already considerably more famous, was less than 8 years after the axe murders in nearby Fall River, Massachusetts, attributed to Lizzie Borden (who was acquitted).
Following the murder-suicide, Jesse Burkett, in the middle of a Hall of Fame career as an outfielder, said, "As a catcher, Martin Bergen was the best the world ever produced. No man acted with more natural grace as a ballplayer." He said this at a time when Buck Ewing had only been retired for 3 years and Mike "King" Kelly for 6. Alas, Kelly's career ended in 1894 with his death due to the effects of alcoholism, just short of turning 37; and Ewing died in 1906 from diabetes, at 47.
October 25, 1881: Pablo Picasso is born in Málaga, Andalusia, southern Spain. Or, as "Epic Lloyd" Ahlquist said, playing him opposite "Nice Peter" Shukoff as Bob Ross in a 2013 episode of Epic Rap Battles of History, "My name is Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso! Back to you, Bob!"
Bob Ross might not have believed in mistakes, but just try getting all that right in icing on a birthday cake!
Picasso lived to be 91, until 1973. In between, as Lloyd-as-Picasso said, "I am the greatest: The modern art Muhammad Ali!"
October 25, 1884: Charley "Old Hoss" Radbourn of the National League Champion Providence Grays wins his 3rd straight game over the American Association Champion New York Metropolitans – the 1st team to be known as the New York Mets, predating the Amazin's by 80 years – concluding the 3-game series and making the Grays the World Champions of baseball, which they had also become in 1879 by winning the NL Pennant.
Only 500 diehard fans show up in the cold‚ since Providence had already clinched by winning the 1st 2 games.
October 25? Cold weather? And they were still playing baseball at that time of year in the 1880s? Hey, Bud Selig's moronic scheduling was just trying to get baseball back to its roots!
On this same day, Lafayette College defeats Lehigh University in football, 56-0. The Lehigh Valley rivals, separated by 17 miles along U.S. Route 22 (the Lafayette Leopards in Easton, the Lehigh Engineers in Bethlehem), will go on to produce the most-played rivalry in college football.
In 2014, their meeting was their 150th, due to having played twice and even, during World War II with travel restrictions, 3 times in some seasons. That 150th "Double L Game" was the 1st one played outside Northeastern Pennsylania, at Yankee Stadium. Lafayette won it, 27-7. Lafayette won last year, but Lafayette leads the rivalry, 79-71-5. This year's game will be played at Lafayette's Fisher Stadium on November 21.
October 25, 1885: John M. Tobin -- I can find no reference as to what the M stands for -- is born in St. John's, Newfoundland, then still a British colony. Jack Tobin was an accomplished hockey player and yachtsman, and served 50 years as the secretary of the Newfoundland Hockey League.
He was also elected to the Newfoundland Assembly and the St. John's City Council. He lived long enough to see Newfoundland & Labrador become a Province of Canada in 1949, living until 1956. He was posthumously elected to the Newfoundland & Labrador Sports Hall of Fame.
October 25, 1888: The Giants clinch New York's 1st true World Championship in any professional sport, 6 games to 2, by trouncing the St. Louis Browns (forerunners of the Cardinals), 11-3. Tim Keefe gets his 4th win of the series.
Of course, this doesn't count amateur championships won from 1845 to 1870 by teams like the Knickerbockers, the New York Club, the Mutuals, and Brooklyn teams like the Atlantics, the Excelsiors and the Eckfords.
The last survivor of the 1888 Giants was Ledell "Cannonball" Titcomb, a pitcher from Maine, who pitched a no-hitter in 1890, and lived until 1950.
October 25, 1889: Howard Ellsworth Wood is born in Kansas City, and grows up in Ouray, Colorado. Because of his blazing fastball, his Boston Red Sox teammates nicknamed him Smoky Joe. In 1911, he pitched a no-hitter. In 1912, he went 34-5 for the Red Sox, including 16 straight wins. Since 1912, there have been 2 seasons of 31 wins, 1 of 30, 1 of 28 and 2 of 27, but 34 is not going to happen again unless rules or ballpark conditions are radically changed.
Shortly before a heavily hyped game against the Washington Senators on September 6, 1912, between Wood and the man generally agreed to be the best pitcher of the day, Walter Johnson, Johnson said, "Can I throw harder than Joe Wood? Listen, my friend: There's no man alive can throw harder than Smoky Joe Wood!"
Reminded of Johnson's assessment 60 years later, Wood said, "Oh, I don't think there was ever anybody faster than Walter." Wood and the Sox won, 1-0. He went on to help them win the World Series by coming in to relieve the clinching Game 8. Counting the Series, he was 37-6 on the year.
Unfortunately, Wood injured his thumb in spring training in 1913, and he was never the same pitcher. The Red Sox traded him to the Cleveland Indians, where he was reunited with his former Boston teammate Tris Speaker and converted into an outfielder. He still pitched well enough to go 15-5 and lead the AL in ERA with 1.49 in 1915, giving him a career record of 117-56 at age 25. But he never won another game as a pitcher.
Still, his hitting and fielding helped the Indians win the 1920 World Series, and he finished his career with a lifetime batting average of .283 and an OPS+ of 110. No other pitcher with at least 95 wins can top that. (Babe Ruth won 94.)
In 1965, Lawrence S. Ritter interviewed Wood for his book The Glory of Their Times. In 1981, Ritter and Donald Honig included him in their book The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time. They explained what they called "the Smoky Joe Wood Syndrome," where a player of truly exceptional talent but a career curtailed by injury should still, in spite of not having had career statistics that would quantitatively rank him with the all-time greats, be included on their list of the 100 greatest players.
In addition to Wood himself, the players they included in this category were Dizzy Dean, Pete Reiser (see the 1981 entry) and Herb Score. But not Tony Conigliaro. Nor Mark Fidrych. Nor Lyman Bostock. And, of course, they could not yet have known about Kirk Gibson, Dwight Gooden, Kerry Wood or Stephen Strasburg.
Wood later became the baseball coach at Yale University, and died in 1985, age 95, the last survivor of the 1912 World Series. His son, actually named Joe Wood, pitched 3 games for the Red Sox in 1944, due to wartime-stretched rosters, but never really made it even at the Triple-A level, and retired at age 31 in 1947. At least, like his dad, he lived to a ripe old age, making it to 86 in 2002. He was named to the Red Sox' team Hall of Fame and the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.
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October 25, 1890, 130 years ago: Cumberland Willis Posey Jr. is born outside Pittsburgh in Homestead, Pennsylvania. Like 1880s pitcher Jim "Pud" Galvin, "Cum" Posey had a nickname that would now be considered raunchy. But he was one of the most important black sports figures of his time. After graduating with a pharmacy degree from Pittsburgh's Duquesne University, he founded the Monticello Athletic Association, and led them to 5 "Colored Basketball World Championships."
But it would be baseball that made him famous. As an outfielder, he played for the Homestead Grays, who split their "home games" between Pittsburgh and Washington, starting in 1911. In 1916, he became their manager; in 1920, their owner.
He led them to 10 Pennants, and to the Negro World Series title in 1943 and 1944. In the 1920s, they featured future Hall-of-Famers Martín Dihigo and Smokey Joe Williams; in the 1930s, Oscar Charleston, Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard; in the 1940s, by which point they were mostly playing in Washington, Gibson, Leonard, Ray Brown, Jud Wilson, and James "Cool Papa" Bell.
They won another Negro World Series in 1948. But Cum Posey would not be there to see it, as he died of cancer in 1946, only 55 years old. He is the only player elected to the Baseball and Basketball Halls of Fame. Along with the Grays' other Hall-of-Famers, he was inducted into the Washington Nationals Ring of Honor at Nationals Park.
October 25, 1891: Charles Edward Coughlin is born in Hamilton, Ontario, became a priest in Toronto, and settled in Detroit. In 1926, he began his career as "The Radio Priest" on WJR in Detroit, the station that would later become famous for broadcasting the Tigers' games.
At first, he seemed like a liberal. At the time, the Ku Klux Klan, at least in the North, was more interested in discriminating against Catholics than against black people. Father Coughlin took a stand against them. While denouncing Communism, as any good Catholic of the time would, he also denounced the predatory capitalists who had made Communism so attractive.
In 1932, he supported the Presidential campaign of Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1933, as FDR put his New Deal into place, he made a short film of one of his radio broadcasts, saying, "The New Deal is Christ's deal," and, "It is either Roosevelt or ruin." In January 1934, he testified before Congress saying, "If Congress fails to back up the President in his monetary program, I predict a revolution in this country which will make the French Revolution look silly!"
But he began to turn. Because they were opposed to Communism, he supported the Fascist governments of Adolf Hitler in Germany and Benito Mussolini in Italy. At the time, Communism was widely seen to be a Jewish movement, and his broadcasts became more anti-Semitic in nature. But he also believed that unregulated capitalism was a Jewish plot. And he came to believe that FDR's policies didn't regulate capitalism enough -- which would seem to fly in the face of his attacks on Communism. He began to call the President "Franklin Double-Crossing Roosevelt."
He was unable to help defeat Roosevelt in 1936. By 1938, he was frequently denying that he was anti-Semitic, because he was frequently being called that. By 1939, and the dawn of World War II in Europe, Coughlin was no longer being taken seriously. In 1942, the Archbishop of Detroit ordered Coughlin to stop making political statements. By the time he retired from active preaching in 1966, he was a relic. He died in 1979, at age 88.
October 25, 1892: Caroline Harrison, wife of President Benjamin Harrison, dies of tuberculosis at age 60. She, Letitia Tyler, and Ellen Wilson are the only First Ladies to die "in office." Most likely, the President would have lost the election anyway, and he does not get a sympathy vote.
Also on this day, Gerald Paul Nugent is born in Philadelphia. A leather goods and shoe merchant, in 1925 he married Mae Mallen, secretary to Phillies owner William Baker. Baker died in 1930, leaving control of the team to his widow and Nugent. When Mrs. Baker died in 1932, Gerry Nugent had full control.
But it was the Great Depression, and while he wanted to spend money to improve the team (something Baker wouldn't do), he didn't have it to spend. By 1943, he was forced to sell the team back to Major League Baseball, who eventually sold it to the very rich Carpenter family, which saved it. Nugent died in 1970, living long enough to see the team to be financially secure, win the 1950 Pennant, and get out of Shibe Park/Connie Mack Stadium, if not quite move into Veterans Stadium.
October 25, 1895, 125 years ago: William Travis Van de Graaff is born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. A 2-way tackle, "Bully" Van de Graaff was an All-American at the University of Alabama in 1915, and later served as the head coach at Colorado College (a separate school from the University of Colorado). He was elected to the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, and died in 1977.
His brothers Hargrove and Adrian also played football Alabama, but the most famous brother was Robert J. Van de Graaff, inventor of the Van de Graaff generator.
Also on this day, Levi Yitzhak Shkolnik is born in Orativ, Ukraine. We knew him as Levi Eshkol. One of the founding fathers of the State of Israel, he served as Minister of Finance for 11 years until being named Prime Minister on June 26, 1963.
His tenure included the country's finest hour, the Six-Day War of June 5-10, 1967. But he died in office, of a heart attack at age 73, on February 26, 1969.
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October 25, 1902: Alfred Eastlack Driscoll is born in Pittsburgh, and grows up in the Philadelphia suburb of Haddonfield, Camden County, New Jersey. In 1946, the Republican was elected Governor of New Jersey, and presided over the Constitutional Convention that wrote the current State Constitution in 1947, at the College Avenue Gym at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, home of Rutgers' basketball team from 1931 to 1977, and adjacent to the site of the 1st college football game in 1869.
Elected to the 1st 4-year term for Governor of the State in 1949, he had already gotten the New Jersey Turnpike approved, and would do the game for the Garden State Parkway in his 2nd term. He was, if not the greatest, then certainly the most consequential Governor in New Jersey's history, at least as far as the State is concerned. (Woodrow Wilson was a Governor of New Jersey who became President, but he only served 2 years in Trenton, and didn't exactly remake the State.)
The Parkway's bridge over the Raritan River, connecting Woodbridge and Sayreville in Middlesex County, was named for Driscoll in 1974, a year before his death. It opened in 1954, with a 2nd span opening in 1972, and the original span was replaced in 2006.
October 25, 1903: Edwin Roberts Kimball is born in Logan, Utah. An end, Eddie Kimball played football for Brigham Young University in 1923 and 1924, served as their football coach from 1937 to 1948, their basketball coach from 1935 to 1941, and their athletic director from 1937 to 1963. He died in 1990, and was elected to the Utah Sports Hall of Fame.
October 25, 1906: For the 1st time, a legal forward pass is thrown in a professional football game. George Watson "Peggy" Parratt, a 23-year-old quarterback who had graduated from the Cleveland school now known as Case Western Reserve University, throws it to Bullet Riley (a good name for a receiver), for the Massillon Tigers in an Ohio League game against the Bendwood-Moundsville team.
Ironically, it would be by intercepting 2 passes in the championship game, against the Canton Bulldogs, that Parratt would be best remembered in his own time. He would help Massillon win the Ohio League title in 1906, 1911, 1913 and 1914. He later served on the NFL Rules Committee, and lived until 1959.
October 25, 1909: Michael Joseph Hazlinsky is born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. An infielder, Mickey Haslin played shortstop for the Philadelphia Phillies on May 24, 1935, when they played the Cincinnati Reds in the 1st night game in Major League Baseball history, a 2-1 Reds win. He turned out to be the last living player from this game.
He played 27 games for the New York Giants in 1937, when they won the Pennant, but did not appear in the World Series. He was one of several Jewish players the Giants acquired over the years, hoping to appeal to New York's Jewish community with a player they could advertise as "the Rabbi of Swat." None ever really made it, unless you want to count Sid Gordon. Haslin died in 2002.
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October 25, 1911: Game 5 of the World Series at the Polo Grounds. Giants 2nd baseman Larry Doyle scores on a sacrifice fly to give the New York Giants a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Athletics. According to home plate umpire Bill Klem, commenting after the game, Doyle, in his jubilation about scoring the winning run, really never touched home plate. But the A's failed to notice the gaffe, and did not appeal.
Nobody seemed to remember this, even though it evoked the mistake Doyle's teammate, 1st baseman Fred Merkle, made 3 years earlier in a game that effectively cost the Giants the Pennant. But then, it wasn't caught on film or television, and it ended up not mattering, because the A's ended up winning the World Series the next day anyway.
October 25, 1912: Jack Kent Cooke is born in Hamilton, Ontario, and grows up in Toronto. A radio magnate, he bought the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League, the baseball team that gave its name to the city's hockey team.
He negotiated with St. Louis Browns owner Bill Veeck to make the Leafs a Browns farm team, and followed Veeck's lead in both integrating the team and instituting wacky promotions, keeping it going even after Veeck was no longer the owner and the team had become the Baltimore Orioles. In 1952, The Sporting News named him Minor League Executive of the Year. They won Pennants in 1954, 1956, 1957 and 1960. He sold the team in 1964.
Cooke moved to the U.S., to Los Angeles, and continued his communications empire, making KRLA a big Top 40 station, and built one of the first cable television empires, which he sold in the late 1970s for $646 million. He also bought the Los Angeles Daily News and New York's Chrysler Building.
In 1961, after a stroke left founding owner George Preston Marshall an invalid, his family began to sell off the team, and sold Cooke a 25 percent share. In 1965, he bought the Los Angeles Lakers, and built an arena for them adjacent to Hollywood Park racetrack in suburban Inglewood, The Forum. He was also responsible for turning the team's colors from blue & white to purple & gold.
Actually, the real reason he built The Forum was because he had outbid Los Angeles Rams owner Dan Reeves (no relation to the later football coach of the same name) for the right to get L.A.'s expansion team in the NHL, and Reeves used his influence over the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission, which also owned the Los Angeles Sports Arena, to ensure that Cooke's teams would no longer be able to use it. So they left the Sports Arena, and played at the Long Beach Sports Arena until "the Fabulous Forum" could open on December 30, 1967.
The Kings were the least successful of Cooke's teams. He was told that 300,000 former Canadians lived within a 3-hour drive of Los Angeles, but the Kings struggled at the box office, leading Cooke to say, "Now I know why they left Canada: They hate hockey!"
And he had balloons suspended from the Forum ceiling prior to Game 7 of the 1969 NBA Finals, but the Boston Celtics spoiled the party. Indeed, the Lakers lost the Finals to the Celtics in 1962, 1963, and, after Cooke bought them, 1965, 1966, 1968 and 1969, and to the Knicks in 1970. They finally won in 1972. He sold the Lakers to Jerry Buss in 1979 -- and then they won 5 of the next 9 NBA titles.
But it is as Redskins owner by which Cooke will be most remembered. By 1974, he and Washington-based "superlawyer" Edward Bennett Williams had become the sole owners, with Cooke as majority owner, as Williams bought the Baltimore Orioles, and NFL rules prohibit a majority owner from being a majority owner of a team in another sport.
In 1972, the Redskins won the NFC Championship, reaching Super Bowl VII, their 1st NFL Championship Game, under any name, since 1945. They lost to the Miami Dolphins. In 1983, they beat the Dolphins to win Super Bowl XVII, their 1st World Championship in 40 years. Later in the year, the Baltimore Orioles won the World Series, making Williams the only person ever to have ownership shares in the World Series and Super Bowl titleholders at the same time. He sold out in 1985, making Cooke sole Redskins owner. The Redskins won a 2nd Super Bowl in 1988 (XXII, over the Denver Broncos), and a 3rd in 1992 (XXVI, over the Buffalo Bills).
But Cooke was tired of having the smallest stadium in the NFL, the 56,692-seat Robert F. Kennedy Stadium. After failing to get funding for a new stadium from the District of Columbia government, he built his own in the suburb of Landover, Maryland, across the Beltway from the Capital Centre arena.
This stadium has been fraught with problems from day one. First, Cooke died at age 85 in 1997, a few months before it could be completed. Then, right before it opened, my local newspaper, the Home News Tribune, printed a picture of it, with the caption "Jack Kent Cookie Stadium." For crying out loud, the man just died! Then, with a capacity of 80,116, the Redskins went from having the smallest stadium but the best home-field advantage in the NFL to the largest stadium and the worst game-day atmosphere.
Cooke's heirs sold the team and the stadium to Daniel Snyder, and he sold naming rights to the stadium, and now it's FedEx Field. The Redskins have reached the Playoffs just 5 times in the stadium's 1st 23 seasons. Now, the temporarily rechristened Washington Football Team are negotiating to get a new stadium built on the site of RFK after its planned demolition in 2021.
Cooke has been called the best owner in sports history. Certainly, he made the Redskins a nationally iconic franchise, as opposed to the regionally iconic one they were under the racist Marshall. And he was definitely successful, winning 3 titles in the NFL and 1 in the NBA, and building 2 tremendous sports facilities. But his teams could have been so much more, and, in his declining years, his building of the stadium that no longer bears his name may have doomed the team to a generation of mediocrity. He has been honored with membership in the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame and the Redskins Ring of Fame.
Also on this day, Les McDowall (I can find no listing for his full name) is born in Gunga Pur, India, the son of a Scottish officer in the British Army. A wing-half, he played for Scottish team Glentyan Thistle before moving to Sunderland in the North-East of England. They won England's Football League in 1936, but he did not make enough appearances for a winner's medal.
He played for Manchester City from 1937 to 1949, and managed them from 1950 to 1963, winning the 1956 FA Cup. He died in 1991.
Also on this day, Abdalkader Ben Bouali is born in Sendjas, Algeria, then a colony of France. A defender, he was one of the earliest North Africans to play for the French national team, including being selected for the 1938 World Cup, although he did not play in the tournament.
Among the teams he played for were Montpellier, Olympique de Marseille, Racing Club Paris, and Toulouse. He lived until 1997.
Also on this day, Sarah Ophelia Colley is born in Centerville, Tennessee. Unlike a lot of girls in that place and time, she went to college, graduating from what's now Belmont University in Nashville. She became a community theater organizer, and in 1939 debuted her character of Minnie Pearl. In her act, which began with her yelling, "How-dee! I'm jest so proud to be here," Centerville became "Grinders Switch," and her relatives became laugh subjects.
She was a regular on the television shows Ozark Jubliee, The Ford Show Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford (named not for the country-singing host, but for its carmaking sponsor), Hee Haw and
Hollywood Squares. She played herself in the film about country singer Loretta Lynn, Coal Miner's Daughter.
She became such an icon in American culture that the Smithsonian Institution asked for her famous straw hat, with its $1.98 price tag. She agreed, and it joined Archie Bunker's chair from All In the Family, Fonzie's leather jacket from Happy Days, and the "Swamp" tent from M*A*S*H.
She died in 1996. After the renovation of the Ryman Auditorium, original home of The Grand Ole Opry, a statue of her sitting next to country legend Roy Acuff was placed in the lobby.
October 25, 1913: Philip Joseph Marchildon is born in Penetanguishene, Ontario. Phil "Babe" Marchildon pitched for the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1940s, and the Boston Red Sox in 1950, compiling a 68-75 record for mostly bad teams.
During World War II, he served in the Royal Canadian Air Force, and was captured by the Nazis, held as a prisoner of war at Stalag Luft III. He was not part of the escape attempt memorialized in the 1963 film The Great Escape, and remained there until the Soviet Union's Red Army arrived in 1945.
He was named to Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. He died in 1997.
Also on this day, Les McDowall (I can find no listing for his full name) is born in Gunga Pur, India, the son of a Scottish officer in the British Army. A wing-half, he played for Scottish team Glentyan Thistle before moving to Sunderland in the North-East of England. They won England's Football League in 1936, but he did not make enough appearances for a winner's medal.
He played for Manchester City from 1937 to 1949, and managed them from 1950 to 1963, winning the 1956 FA Cup. He died in 1991.
Also on this day, Abdalkader Ben Bouali is born in Sendjas, Algeria, then a colony of France. A defender, he was one of the earliest North Africans to play for the French national team, including being selected for the 1938 World Cup, although he did not play in the tournament.
Among the teams he played for were Montpellier, Olympique de Marseille, Racing Club Paris, and Toulouse. He lived until 1997.
Also on this day, Sarah Ophelia Colley is born in Centerville, Tennessee. Unlike a lot of girls in that place and time, she went to college, graduating from what's now Belmont University in Nashville. She became a community theater organizer, and in 1939 debuted her character of Minnie Pearl. In her act, which began with her yelling, "How-dee! I'm jest so proud to be here," Centerville became "Grinders Switch," and her relatives became laugh subjects.
She was a regular on the television shows Ozark Jubliee, The Ford Show Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford (named not for the country-singing host, but for its carmaking sponsor), Hee Haw and
Hollywood Squares. She played herself in the film about country singer Loretta Lynn, Coal Miner's Daughter.
She became such an icon in American culture that the Smithsonian Institution asked for her famous straw hat, with its $1.98 price tag. She agreed, and it joined Archie Bunker's chair from All In the Family, Fonzie's leather jacket from Happy Days, and the "Swamp" tent from M*A*S*H.
She died in 1996. After the renovation of the Ryman Auditorium, original home of The Grand Ole Opry, a statue of her sitting next to country legend Roy Acuff was placed in the lobby.
October 25, 1913: Philip Joseph Marchildon is born in Penetanguishene, Ontario. Phil "Babe" Marchildon pitched for the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1940s, and the Boston Red Sox in 1950, compiling a 68-75 record for mostly bad teams.
During World War II, he served in the Royal Canadian Air Force, and was captured by the Nazis, held as a prisoner of war at Stalag Luft III. He was not part of the escape attempt memorialized in the 1963 film The Great Escape, and remained there until the Soviet Union's Red Army arrived in 1945.
He was named to Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. He died in 1997.
October 25, 1914: Annis Paul Stukus is born in Toronto. The quarterback led the Toronto Argonauts to Grey Cup wins, in 1937 and 1938, in the latter season playing in the same backfield as his brothers Bill and Frank. He later served as head coach of the Edmonton Eskimos and the BC Lions.
He also worked in basketball for the Toronto Huskies, hockey for the Vancouver Canucks and Winnipeg Jets, and soccer for the Vancouver Whitecaps. He was elected to the Canadian Football, Canadian Sports and Manitoba Sports Halls of Fame. The CFL's Coach of the Year award is named for him. He spent his retirement in Canmore, Alberta, and died there in 2006, age 91.
October 25, 1916: Stanley Cullis (no middle name) is born in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England. A centreback, he was selected for the England team that was to play Germany at the Olympiastadion in Berlin on May 14, 1938.
But when Sir Neville Henderson, the British Ambassador to Germany, out of respect for their hosts and the betterment of international relations with one of the world's major powers at the time, demanded that all England players give the Nazi salute on the pitch before the game, and was backed up by the Football Association (the FA), Cullis refused. He was the only England player selected for this game to do so. England won the game, 6-3, thanks to 2 goals by... Jackie Robinson. No, not that Jackie Robinson: This one was a white forward for Sheffield Wednesday.
Contrary to popular belief, Cullis was not punished by the FA, but his England appearances were limited to 12 due to World War II interrupting international play.
He captained West Midlands club Wolverhampton Wanderers into the 1939 FA Cup Final, but they lost to Portsmouth. They also finished 2nd in the Football League -- "the Dubious Double," runners-up in both League and Cup. They finished 2nd in 1938 as well.
He would have more luck as manager of "Wolves." He got them to win the League in 1954, '58 and '59, and the Cup in 1949 and '60. In a weird twist, the 1954 title was won by edging Wolves' local "Black Country" arch-rivals, West Bromwich Albion, who featured a Wolverhampton boy that Cullis refused to sign, Don Howe, who would later be a star coach -- and West Brom then beat Wolves to win the FA Cup. Thus, each rival denied the other the Double.
In 1954, Cullis led Wolves to a win over Honved, the Budapest side that featured several of the Hungary players that had embarrassed England at Wembley and in Budapest the year before. This was one of the catalysts in the establishment of the European Cup, the tournament now known as the UEFA Champions League.
Stan Cullis died in 2001. A statue of him now stands outside Wolves' Molineux Stadium, one of whose stands is named for him. Legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly said of him, "All round, as a player, as a manager, and for general intelligence, it would be difficult to name anyone since the game began who could qualify to be in the same class as Stan Cullis."
October 25, 1917: Leland Stanford MacPhail Jr. is born in Nashville. The son of pioneering baseball executive Larry McPhail, Lee MacPhail was general manager of the Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles, and from 1974 to 1983 was President of the American League.
Unfortunately, Yankee Fans remember him best for overruling the correct ruling of the umpires in the Pine Tar Game of July 24, 1983, and giving George Brett a home run and the Kansas City Royals a win they did not deserve.
Larry and Lee are the only father-son combination in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Lee was the oldest living Hall-of-Famer when he died in 2012, at age 95. The Most Valuable Player award for the AL Championship Series is named for him.
His son Andy was general manager of the Minnesota Twins, and later president of the Chicago Cubs and the Baltimore Orioles, and is now President of the Philadelphia Phillies. Another son, Lee MacPhail III, was working in the Philadelphia Phillies' minor-league system when he was killed in a car crash in 1969. His son, Lee MacPhail IV, works in the front office of the Seattle Mariners.
He also worked in basketball for the Toronto Huskies, hockey for the Vancouver Canucks and Winnipeg Jets, and soccer for the Vancouver Whitecaps. He was elected to the Canadian Football, Canadian Sports and Manitoba Sports Halls of Fame. The CFL's Coach of the Year award is named for him. He spent his retirement in Canmore, Alberta, and died there in 2006, age 91.
October 25, 1916: Stanley Cullis (no middle name) is born in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England. A centreback, he was selected for the England team that was to play Germany at the Olympiastadion in Berlin on May 14, 1938.
But when Sir Neville Henderson, the British Ambassador to Germany, out of respect for their hosts and the betterment of international relations with one of the world's major powers at the time, demanded that all England players give the Nazi salute on the pitch before the game, and was backed up by the Football Association (the FA), Cullis refused. He was the only England player selected for this game to do so. England won the game, 6-3, thanks to 2 goals by... Jackie Robinson. No, not that Jackie Robinson: This one was a white forward for Sheffield Wednesday.
Contrary to popular belief, Cullis was not punished by the FA, but his England appearances were limited to 12 due to World War II interrupting international play.
He captained West Midlands club Wolverhampton Wanderers into the 1939 FA Cup Final, but they lost to Portsmouth. They also finished 2nd in the Football League -- "the Dubious Double," runners-up in both League and Cup. They finished 2nd in 1938 as well.
He would have more luck as manager of "Wolves." He got them to win the League in 1954, '58 and '59, and the Cup in 1949 and '60. In a weird twist, the 1954 title was won by edging Wolves' local "Black Country" arch-rivals, West Bromwich Albion, who featured a Wolverhampton boy that Cullis refused to sign, Don Howe, who would later be a star coach -- and West Brom then beat Wolves to win the FA Cup. Thus, each rival denied the other the Double.
In 1954, Cullis led Wolves to a win over Honved, the Budapest side that featured several of the Hungary players that had embarrassed England at Wembley and in Budapest the year before. This was one of the catalysts in the establishment of the European Cup, the tournament now known as the UEFA Champions League.
Stan Cullis died in 2001. A statue of him now stands outside Wolves' Molineux Stadium, one of whose stands is named for him. Legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly said of him, "All round, as a player, as a manager, and for general intelligence, it would be difficult to name anyone since the game began who could qualify to be in the same class as Stan Cullis."
October 25, 1917: Leland Stanford MacPhail Jr. is born in Nashville. The son of pioneering baseball executive Larry McPhail, Lee MacPhail was general manager of the Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles, and from 1974 to 1983 was President of the American League.
Unfortunately, Yankee Fans remember him best for overruling the correct ruling of the umpires in the Pine Tar Game of July 24, 1983, and giving George Brett a home run and the Kansas City Royals a win they did not deserve.
Larry and Lee are the only father-son combination in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Lee was the oldest living Hall-of-Famer when he died in 2012, at age 95. The Most Valuable Player award for the AL Championship Series is named for him.
His son Andy was general manager of the Minnesota Twins, and later president of the Chicago Cubs and the Baltimore Orioles, and is now President of the Philadelphia Phillies. Another son, Lee MacPhail III, was working in the Philadelphia Phillies' minor-league system when he was killed in a car crash in 1969. His son, Lee MacPhail IV, works in the front office of the Seattle Mariners.
Also on this day, Marshall Goldberg (no middle name) is born in Elkins, West Virginia. At Elkins High schoo, he was named All-State in football, basketball and track. He went to the University of Pittsburgh, forming the Dream Backfield along with Dick Cassiano, John "Chick" Chickerneo and Curly Stebbins.
They won the National Championship in 1936 (including the 1937 Rose Bowl) and 1937. In the latter season, they had a memorable showdown at the Polo Grounds in New York with Fordham and their line, the "Seven Blocks of Granite." It ended 0-0, and when the final poll came in, Pitt was ranked Number 1, Fordham Number 3.
Drafted by the Chicago Cardinals, he became a 4-time All-Pro, interrupting his career to serve as a Navy SEAL during World War II. He became part of another famous backfield, the 1st one to be known as the Million Dollar Backfield, with quarterback Paul Christman, fellow halfback Charlie Trippi and fulback Pat Harder. ($1 million in 1947 would be worth $11.7 million today.) The Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1947 NFL Championship Game, and lost to them in the 1948 Chamionship Game.
"Biggie" Goldberg later worked in the insurance industry and ran a machine arts industry. Excelling on both offense and defense, he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame, the West Virginia Sorts Hall of Fame, and the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, but not yet the Pro Football Hall. Pitt retired his Number 42, and the Cardinals (now in Arizona) retired his Number 99 and inducted him into their Ring of Honor. He died in 2006, and his family has said that he was one of many players whose later life was affected by football-induced head injuries.
October 25, 1918: The Canadian passenger liner SS Princess Sophia runs aground on Vanderbilt Reef outside Juneau, Alaska, and sinks, killing all 364 people on board. This being the waning days of World War I, sabotage was suspected, but never proven.
October 25, 1919: Antonio Alsúa Alonso is born in Irun, in the Basque Country of Spain. A midfielder, Antonio Alsúa helped Real Madrid win the Copa del Generalissimo (what the Copa del Rey was called in the Fascist era) in 1947 and 1947. He died in 1998.
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October 25, 1921: William Barclay Masterson dies of a heart attack at his desk, where he had just written a column for the New York Morning Telegraph. "Bat" Masterson was 67.
He was born Bartholomew Masterson in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, and "Bat" was short for "Bartholomew." (So why not "Bart"?) It had nothing to do with swinging a baseball bat. But he was a more effective crimefighter than Batman: He was said to be so quick on the draw, eventually men stopped being willing to face him.
He left the gunslinging life to become one of the 1st sportswriters, covering boxing and horse racing. He covered the April 5, 1915, heavyweight championship fight in Havana, Cuba, where Jack Johnson finally lost the title to Jess Willard.
Also on this day, Robert James Steuber is born in Wenonah, Gloucester County, New Jersey, and grows up in St. Louis. A running back, Bob Steuber starred at the University of Missouri, who retired his Number 37 and elected him to its Athletics Hall of Fame. He won Championships in the NFL with the 1943 Chicago Bears and the AAFC with the 1946 Cleveland Browns.
An injury cut his career short, so he went into sportscasting. He was elected to the College Football and Missouri Sorts Halls of Fame, and died in 1996.
Also on this day, the future King Michael I of Romania is born at Peleș Castle in Sinaia, Romania. With his father renouncing his claim as heir to the throne to flee the country with his mistress, Michael became King upon the death of his grandfather, King Ferdinand I, in 1927, not even 6 years old.
In 1940, the government of Romania allied with Nazi Germany. Michael did not support this, and in 1944, he led a coup that overthrew the pro-Nazi government. But the new pro-Soviet government was no better, and forced him to abdicate on December 30, 1947.
To the end of his life, in 2017, spent mostly in Switzerland, he insisted that his abdication had been forced and therefore illegal. But he lived long enough to see the Communist government fall in 1989. His daughter Margareta and his sons Karl and Paul have disputed being head of the family and therefore monarch-in-exile.
October 25, 1922: The Constitution of the Irish Free State is adopted. It was replaced by the current Constitution of Ireland in 1937.
October 25, 1923: Robert Brown Thomson is born in Glasgow, Scotland, and grows up in Staten Island, New York. If you don't know what Bobby Thomson is famous for, you either have a lot to learn, or you've never seen ESPN Classic.
He batted .270 lifetime, and hit 264 home runs, including the one on October 3, 1951 that meant, "The Giants win the Pennant!" So even if his home run was a fluke, he was still a pretty good player. He played in the majors from 1946 to 1960, and lived until 2010.
Also on this day, Russell Charles Meyer is born outside Chicago in Peru, Illinois. No relation to the Russ Meyer who made exploitation films in the 1960s and '70s, this Russ Meyer was a pitcher known as "The Mad Monk." He was with the Philadelphia Phillies when Thomson hit the home run, but was traded to the Dodgers in 1953, helping them win the Pennant that year (losing to the Yankees in the World Series) and 1955 (beating the Yankees in the Series).
He remained in the major leagues until 1959, finishing with a record of 94-73. He later became a pitching coach, including with the Yankees in 1992. He died in 1997.
October 25, 1924: Arsenal defeat their North London arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur 1-0. Jimmy
Brain makes his Arsenal first-team debut, and scores the only goal. He would score 125 goals in 7 seasons for Arsenal, helping them to win their 1st FA Cup in 1930, and their 1st Football League title in 1931.
Early in the 1931-32 season, Arsenal sold him -- to Tottenham, of all teams. But, at that point, he was 31 years old. Especially in those days, that was considered old for a forward. Brain played 3 seasons for Tottenham, and, amazingly -- or, perhaps not so amazingly, considering that the 1930s was the decade of the Great Depression -- kept playing until he was 40. He later managed a couple of clubs, and died in 1971, admired on both sides of the North London Derby.
Also on this day, Robert William Brown is born in Seattle, and grows up in San Francisco. A 3rd baseman, he was signed by the Yankees, and manager Casey Stengel said, "Brown looks like a feller who's been hitting for 12 years and fielding for 1." Nevertheless, he helped the Yankees win 4 World Series: 1947, 1949, 1950 and 1951. Then he was drafted into the Korean War, and by the time he returned in 1954, he'd lost his stuff.
That didn't matter, though, since he had another calling. He attended medical school during the off-season. On roadtrips, he roomed with Yogi Berra, a high school dropout, who, when asked how he liked school, said, "Closed." Legend has it that, one night, he finished his copy of Boyd's Pathology at the same time that Yogi finished one of the comic books he loved, and Yogi said, "Mine was good. How did yours turn out?"
It must have turned out well, because he moved to the Dallas area, and developed a cardiology practice. He gave it up in 1984, when he was elected President of the American League. He came to Old-Timers' Day at Yankee Stadium every year, but, since he was representing the entire AL, he always wore a suit, never a uniform. He served in the post until 1994, and, ever since, has worn a uniform with his old Number 6 on it for Old-Timers' Day, even though it's now been retired for Joe Torre.
At 96, he is not quite the oldest living Yankee -- 1954-56 1st baseman Eddie Robinson is, just short of turning 100, and 1951-55 pitcher Art Schallock is 6 months older than Brown -- but he is the last surviving member of the Yankees' 1947, 1949, 1950 and 1951 World Champions. Bobby is now the earliest surviving World Series winner.
Also on this day, Earl Cyril Palmer is born in New Orleans. The top drummer in that city in the 1950s, he played on Lloyd Price's "Lawdy Miss Clawdy," Smiley Lewis' "I Hear You Knockin'," Shirley & Lee's "Let the Good Times Roll," Fats Domino's "Blue Monday" and "I'm Walkin'," Thurston Harris' "Little Bitty Pretty One"; Larry Williams' "Slow Down," "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" (both later recorded by The Beatles) and "Bony Moronie"; and, perhaps most notably, Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally" and a few others -- but not, as I previously believed, his drum-leading "Keep A-Knockin'." (That was Charles Connor.)
His reputation preceding him, he was requested by others, and played on Sam Cooke's "You Send Me," Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues," Johnny Otis' "Willie and the Hand Jive," and both hits that Ritchie Valens lived to see: "Donna" and "La Bamba."
Along with Hal Blaine, he became 1 of the 2 big drummers in Los Angeles in the 1960s, playing on the instrumentals "Percolator Twist" by Billy Joe & The Checkmates and "The Lonely Bull" by Herb Alpert & His Tijuana Brass. He also played on Jan and Dean's "The Little Old Lady from Pasadena" and "Dead Man's Curve," The Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," Mel Carter's "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me," and Ike & Tina Turner's "River Deep -- Mountain High." The last of these is testament to the regard in which he was held: It was produced by Phil Spector, who usually used Blaine
Earl Palmer died in 2008, and, like Hal Blaine, had lived long enough to be elected to the sidemen's wing of the rock and roll Hall of Fame.
October 25, 1928: Marian Ross (no middle name) is born in the Minneapolis suburb of Watertown, Minnesota, but grows up in San Diego, where she graduated from Point Loma High School. A year later, Don Larsen would graduate from there, and go on to pitch a perfect game for the Yankees. So would another Point Loma graduate, David Wells.
She made a slight change to her name, thinking "Marion Ross" would look better on a theater marquee. Well, she did do some stage acting, but is best known for playing Marion Cunningham on Happy Days. She announced her retirement from acting in 2018, but is still alive.
She made a slight change to her name, thinking "Marion Ross" would look better on a theater marquee. Well, she did do some stage acting, but is best known for playing Marion Cunningham on Happy Days. She announced her retirement from acting in 2018, but is still alive.
October 25, 1929: For the 1st time, a person who had been a member of a President's Cabinet is convicted of a crime. Of course, he was a Republican. Albert Bacon Fall had been one of New Mexico's 1st 2 Senators when it gained Statehood in 1912. In 1920, visiting the ailing President Woodrow Wilson, he said, "I have been praying for you, Mr. President." And Wilson said, "Which way, Senator?"
That year, his fellow Senator, Warren Harding of Ohio, was elected President, and appointed Fall to be Secretary of the Interior. He got caught up in the Teapot Dome scandal, involving the U.S. Navy and oil drilling rights in Western States. He resigned his office in 1923, and was convicted 6 years later, serving 1 year in prison.
His Congressional testimony in the scandal inspired the "I drink your milkshake speech of Daniel Day-Lewis in the film There Will Be Blood. Day-Lewis' character, Daniel Plainview, was based on oil baron Edward Doheny, who had given Fall a bribe of $385,000 -- about $5.9 million in today's money. But Doheny was never convicted. He lived until 1935. Fall died in disgrace in 1944, at age 83.
That year, his fellow Senator, Warren Harding of Ohio, was elected President, and appointed Fall to be Secretary of the Interior. He got caught up in the Teapot Dome scandal, involving the U.S. Navy and oil drilling rights in Western States. He resigned his office in 1923, and was convicted 6 years later, serving 1 year in prison.
His Congressional testimony in the scandal inspired the "I drink your milkshake speech of Daniel Day-Lewis in the film There Will Be Blood. Day-Lewis' character, Daniel Plainview, was based on oil baron Edward Doheny, who had given Fall a bribe of $385,000 -- about $5.9 million in today's money. But Doheny was never convicted. He lived until 1935. Fall died in disgrace in 1944, at age 83.
Also on this day, LaDell Anderson (no middle name) is born in Malad City, Idaho. He played basketball at Utah State University from 1948 to 1951, was an assistant coach there from 1956 to 1961, and then was the head coach there until 1971, getting them to the NCAA Elite Eight in 1970.
He then coached the Utah Stars of the ABA, then returned to Utah State as athletic director from 1973 to 1983. He was then hired at Brigham Young University, and coached them until 1989, winning the Western Athletic Conference regular-season title in 1988.
He later scouted for the Utah Jazz, and talked them into drafting John Stockton. He was elected to the Utah Sports Hall of Fame, and died in 2019.
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October 25, 1931: James McIlroy (no middle name) is born in Lambeg, Northern Ireland. A forward, he starred for Lancashire soccer team Burnley, leading them to the 1960 Football League title (finishing just 1 point ahead of Stan Cullis' Wolves, denying them a 3rd straight title) and the 1962 FA Cup Final.
He also played for Northern Ireland in the 1958 World Cup. The East Stand at Burnley's stadium, Turf Moor, is named the Jimmy McIlroy Stand. He later managed Oldham Athletic and Bolton Wanderers, and died in 2018.
October 25, 1932: Robert Michael Mischak is born in Newark, and grows up in nearby Union, Union County, New Jersey. A guard, he played football at the U.S. Military Academy under Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik.
When Blaik's assistant coach, Vince Lombardi, became what we would now call the offensive coordinator for the New York Giants, he recommended Bob Mischak to head coach Jim Lee Howell. Mischak lasted only 1 season for his "hometown" team, but he played in the 1958 NFL Championship Game, "The Greatest Game Ever Played," which the Giants lost to the Baltimore Colts.
He wasn't quite good enough for the NFL, but that made him fodder for the AFL when it was founded in 1960, and he again signed with a "hometown team," the Titans, making him an original New York Jet. He lasted 3 seasons with them, and 3 more with the Oakland Raiders, and was named an AFL All-Star 3 times.
He went into coaching, initially back at West Point, and then with the Raiders, on the staff of all 3 of their Super Bowl-winning teams. He coached teams in NFL Europe in the 1990s, and died in 2014.
October 25, 1933: Thurmon Lavelle Collins Jr. is born in Laurel, Mississippi. Bobby Collins was a quarterback at Mississippi State, but never played in the pros. He is the worst coach in the history of college football.
I don't mean he lost the most games, or had the worst winning percentage. In that respect, his record was pretty good. From 1975 to 1981, he coached Southern Mississippi to a 48-30-2 record, including winning the 1980 Independence Bowl. From 1982 to 1986, he coached Southern Methodist University in Dallas. His 1st 3 seasons were 11-0-1, winning the Southwest Conference and the Cotton Bowl, and finishing Number 2 in the final polls (and arguably cheated out of the National Championship, as Number 1-finishing Penn State was 11-1); 10-2, finishing 2nd in the SWC; and 10-2, finishing in a tie for the SWC title and winning the Aloha Bowl.
But SMU was cheating like hell. How much of it was his doing remains a mystery. But they got caught, and got put on probation, and were told that if they got caught again during their probation, the program's next season would be canceled. They went 6-5 in 1985 and again in 1986, and then they got caught cheating again. The NCAA kept their word. SMU is the only school ever to get "the death penalty": Their 1987 season was canceled, and they decided not to play the 1988 season either, to make it easier to rebuild.
It's been 34 seasons, a third of a century. Collins is still alive, but has never coached again, in any capacity, at any level. When you're the only head coach who allowed his team to get the death penalty, you never get rehired. No professional team has hired him in any capacity, either: Not the NFL, not the CFL, not the Arena Football League, not the WLAF, not NFL Europe, not either version of the XFL, not the AAF.
October 25, 1935: John Stewart MacMillan is born in Lethbridge, Alberta. A right wing, he won National Championships with the University of Denver in 1958 and 1960. He is also 1 of 7 surviving members of both the 1962 and the 1963 Stanley Cup Champion Toronto Maple Leafs.
October 25, 1936: Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy sign a treaty of alliance. A week later, on November 1, Italy's Premier, Benito Mussolini, declared that all other European countries would, from then on, rotate on the Rome-Berlin axis, thus creating the term "Axis" for this alliance.
A month later, on November 25, Germany and the Empire of Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact, and anti-Communist treaty, which Italy would sign on to the following year. Thus did Japan join the Axis.
October 25, 1937: Charles Thomas Schilling is born in Brooklyn. This C. Schilling played for the Boston Red Sox, but in a down period for them. Chuck was a 2nd baseman, and played for them from 1961 to 1965. He is still alive. (UPDATE: He died on March 30, 2021.)
October 25, 1939: Peter James Mikkelsen is born in Staten Island. Like Mel Stottlemyre, he grew up in Mabton, Washington, outside Yakima, and debuted with the Yankees in 1964, helping them to win a Pennant.
Unlike Mel, that was his only good season for the Yankees, losing the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals. He remained in the major leagues as a reliever until 1972, including losing another World Series in 1968, ironically with the Cardinals, to the Detroit Tigers. He died in 2006.
Also on this day, Zelmo Beaty (no middle name) is born in Hillister, Texas. A forward, he was an All-Star twice in the NBA with the St. Louis Hawks, and 3 times in the ABA with the Utah Stars, winning the 1971 ABA Championship and reaching the 1974 ABA Finals with them. He later became a teacher, and died in 2013.
Also on this day, Reginald Howard Carolan is born outside San Francisco in San Rafael, California. A tight end, Reggie "Stretch" Carolan starred at the University of Idaho, and was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams, but never played a down in the NFL.
However, he was also drafted by the San Diego Chargers, and he was an AFL All-Star in 1962. He won 2 AFL Championships, with the 1963 Chargers and the 1966 Kansas City Chiefs. However, the Chargers didn't get to face the NFL Champion Chicago Bears, and the Chiefs lost Super Bowl I to the Green Bay Packers.
After retiring, he became a teacher. On New Year's Day, January 1, 1983, he was jogging around Phoenix Lake in Larkspur, California, when he had an epileptic seizure, fell into the lake, and never regained consciousness, drowning at age 43.
His son Brett Carolan was only 12, but went on to play tight end at Washington State. Although in different States, their alma maters -- or should that be "almas mater"? -- are just 8 miles apart, in the region of Southeastern Washington, Northern Idaho and Northeastern Oregon known as the Palouse. Unlike his father, he did play in the NFL, and was a member of the San Francisco 49ers team that won Super Bowl XXIX in 1995.
Also on this day, Shirley Marlin Nozinsky is born in Wilmington, Delaware. After her 1st marriage, she became known as Sara Lownds. In 1964, Bob Dylan began cheating on his girlfriend and fellow folksinger, Joan Baez, with her. On November 22, 1965, Bob and Sara got married. It would be 3 months before the public found out: New York Post columnist Nora Ephron revealed it.
They lived in Woodstock, New York -- which was probably the reason the 1969 festival organizers originally wanted to hold their big concert there, so Bob would show up. (Eventually, it had to be moved to Bethel, and Bob did not show up.) Bob and Sara had 4 children together: Sons Jesse, Samuel and Jakob (later to be the lead singer of the rock band The Wallflowers), and daughter Anna. Bob adopted Sara's daughter from her 1st marriage, Maria.
Being with Sarah inspired Bob's songs "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands," "She Belongs to Me," "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" and, uh, "Sara." But their breakup inspired Bob's 1975 album Blood On the Tracks, including "Tangled Up in Blue," "You're a Big Girl Now" and "Idiot Wind," among his nastiest works.
Their divorce was finalized in 1977, and their relationship, including their parenting, got better. Sara is still alive, has never remarried, still uses the name Sara Dylan, and has accepted her terms of the divorce agreement, including to never discuss Bob in public.
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October 25, 1940, 80 years ago: Robert Montgomery Knight is born in Massillon, Ohio. He always seemed to be listed as "Bobby Knight" until well into his Indiana tenure, but he seems to always be listed as "Bob Knight" now.
Also on this day, Zelmo Beaty (no middle name) is born in Hillister, Texas. A forward, he was an All-Star twice in the NBA with the St. Louis Hawks, and 3 times in the ABA with the Utah Stars, winning the 1971 ABA Championship and reaching the 1974 ABA Finals with them. He later became a teacher, and died in 2013.
Also on this day, Reginald Howard Carolan is born outside San Francisco in San Rafael, California. A tight end, Reggie "Stretch" Carolan starred at the University of Idaho, and was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams, but never played a down in the NFL.
However, he was also drafted by the San Diego Chargers, and he was an AFL All-Star in 1962. He won 2 AFL Championships, with the 1963 Chargers and the 1966 Kansas City Chiefs. However, the Chargers didn't get to face the NFL Champion Chicago Bears, and the Chiefs lost Super Bowl I to the Green Bay Packers.
After retiring, he became a teacher. On New Year's Day, January 1, 1983, he was jogging around Phoenix Lake in Larkspur, California, when he had an epileptic seizure, fell into the lake, and never regained consciousness, drowning at age 43.
His son Brett Carolan was only 12, but went on to play tight end at Washington State. Although in different States, their alma maters -- or should that be "almas mater"? -- are just 8 miles apart, in the region of Southeastern Washington, Northern Idaho and Northeastern Oregon known as the Palouse. Unlike his father, he did play in the NFL, and was a member of the San Francisco 49ers team that won Super Bowl XXIX in 1995.
Also on this day, Shirley Marlin Nozinsky is born in Wilmington, Delaware. After her 1st marriage, she became known as Sara Lownds. In 1964, Bob Dylan began cheating on his girlfriend and fellow folksinger, Joan Baez, with her. On November 22, 1965, Bob and Sara got married. It would be 3 months before the public found out: New York Post columnist Nora Ephron revealed it.
They lived in Woodstock, New York -- which was probably the reason the 1969 festival organizers originally wanted to hold their big concert there, so Bob would show up. (Eventually, it had to be moved to Bethel, and Bob did not show up.) Bob and Sara had 4 children together: Sons Jesse, Samuel and Jakob (later to be the lead singer of the rock band The Wallflowers), and daughter Anna. Bob adopted Sara's daughter from her 1st marriage, Maria.
Being with Sarah inspired Bob's songs "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands," "She Belongs to Me," "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" and, uh, "Sara." But their breakup inspired Bob's 1975 album Blood On the Tracks, including "Tangled Up in Blue," "You're a Big Girl Now" and "Idiot Wind," among his nastiest works.
Their divorce was finalized in 1977, and their relationship, including their parenting, got better. Sara is still alive, has never remarried, still uses the name Sara Dylan, and has accepted her terms of the divorce agreement, including to never discuss Bob in public.
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October 25, 1940, 80 years ago: Robert Montgomery Knight is born in Massillon, Ohio. He always seemed to be listed as "Bobby Knight" until well into his Indiana tenure, but he seems to always be listed as "Bob Knight" now.
He was the 6th man on the Ohio State basketball team that won the 1960 National Championship, led by Jerry Lucas and John Havlicek. Like Vince Lombardi and Bill Parcells, he was an assistant coach at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. Unlike them, Bob Knight became head coach at "Army."
He moved on to Indiana University, and led them to 11 Big Ten Conference Championships, 5 NCAA Final Fours, and 3 National Championships, in 1976 (still the last undefeated season in men's college basketball history), 1981 and 1987. Among his players were Kent Benson, Scott May, Quinn Buckner, Isiah Thomas and Steve Alford, who has been the head coach at Manchester University, Southwest Missouri State, Iowa, New Mexico, UCLA and now the University of Nevada.
He also coached the U.S. team to the Gold Medal at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. This may have been the best basketball team ever assembled to that point, including Alford, Patrick Ewing, Chris Mullin, and North Carolina stars Michael Jordan and Sam Perkins. (As I said: The best ever assembled to that point.)
But controversy followed him (including his current support of Donald Trump), ranging from assaulting a police officer at a preseason tournament in Puerto Rico, to sexist comments, to profanity-laden press conferences, to the infamous chair toss to protest the officiating in a 1985 loss to in-State arch-rival Purdue, to assaulting his own players, including his own son, Pat Knight. IU finally had no choice but to fire him in 2000, but he resurfaced at Texas Tech, and brought them more NCAA Tournament success than they'd ever had before.
With 902 wins, he became the winningest coach in men's college basketball history, although he has been surpassed by his former assistant at West Point, Duke University coach Mike Krzyzewski. And not once in 41 seasons of head coaching (1965-71 with Army, 1971-2000 with Indiana, 2001-08 with Texas Tech) was he ever accused of breaking NCAA or conference rules.
And his players graduated. And, like Joe Paterno, who left under a more horrible controversy than anything that's been thrown at Knight, Knight has been a heavy donor to his schools' libraries. Top that, Rick Pitino and John Calipari.
As the man in the red sweater himself -- adopting those after ditching his former plaid jackets -- said, "When my time on Earth is gone, and my activities here are passed, I want they bury me upside-down, so my critics can kiss my ass." As he's shown as a college basketball pundit on ESPN, he's not done yet.
October 25, 1944: Drannon Eugene Guinn is born outside St. Louis in St. Charles, Missouri, and grows up in Los Angeles. A pitcher, he made 3 appearances for the Atlanta Braves in 1968, 28 for the Houston Astros in 1969 (including his only career decisions, 1-2), and 4 for the Astros in 1971. He is still alive.
But controversy followed him (including his current support of Donald Trump), ranging from assaulting a police officer at a preseason tournament in Puerto Rico, to sexist comments, to profanity-laden press conferences, to the infamous chair toss to protest the officiating in a 1985 loss to in-State arch-rival Purdue, to assaulting his own players, including his own son, Pat Knight. IU finally had no choice but to fire him in 2000, but he resurfaced at Texas Tech, and brought them more NCAA Tournament success than they'd ever had before.
With 902 wins, he became the winningest coach in men's college basketball history, although he has been surpassed by his former assistant at West Point, Duke University coach Mike Krzyzewski. And not once in 41 seasons of head coaching (1965-71 with Army, 1971-2000 with Indiana, 2001-08 with Texas Tech) was he ever accused of breaking NCAA or conference rules.
And his players graduated. And, like Joe Paterno, who left under a more horrible controversy than anything that's been thrown at Knight, Knight has been a heavy donor to his schools' libraries. Top that, Rick Pitino and John Calipari.
As the man in the red sweater himself -- adopting those after ditching his former plaid jackets -- said, "When my time on Earth is gone, and my activities here are passed, I want they bury me upside-down, so my critics can kiss my ass." As he's shown as a college basketball pundit on ESPN, he's not done yet.
Also on this day, Gordon Garvie (no middle name) is born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. A wrestler, Gord Garvie competed for Canada in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, and coached for the Canadian wrestling team at the 1976 Olympics on home soil in Montreal. He was elected to the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame. He died in 1988, only 43 years old. (I can't find a cause.)
Also on this day, Chester James Carville Jr. is born in... Carville, Louisiana. The town was named for his grandfather, who'd been a postmaster nearby. A Marine veteran of the Vietnam War (he likes to call himself "Corporal Cueball" in reference to his baldness) and a political campaign genius, James Carville (never "Jim" or "Jimmy," and definitely not "Chester" or "Chet") played football at Louisiana State University, and remains a big fan of LSU and the New Orleans Saints.
Carville and Paul Begala managed Bill Clinton's 1992 Presidential campaign. Ironically, he married Mary Matalin, who worked on the other side, having been on the senior staff of the George H.W. Bush campaigns of 1988 and 1992. They have 2 daughters, and now live in New Orleans, where James teaches political science at Tulane University.
In one of his books, correctly titled We're Right, They're Wrong, Carville said, "There's only one thing a conservative hates more than fair taxation, and that's a fair fight."
October 25, 1945, 75 years ago: Donald Rogers (no middle name) is born in Paulton, Somerset, England. A left winger, Don Rogers scored 2 goals in extra time for Wiltshire team Swindon Town, to win them the 1969 League Cup, defeating Arsenal in one of the most stunning upsets in the history of English soccer.
Carville and Paul Begala managed Bill Clinton's 1992 Presidential campaign. Ironically, he married Mary Matalin, who worked on the other side, having been on the senior staff of the George H.W. Bush campaigns of 1988 and 1992. They have 2 daughters, and now live in New Orleans, where James teaches political science at Tulane University.
In one of his books, correctly titled We're Right, They're Wrong, Carville said, "There's only one thing a conservative hates more than fair taxation, and that's a fair fight."
October 25, 1945, 75 years ago: Donald Rogers (no middle name) is born in Paulton, Somerset, England. A left winger, Don Rogers scored 2 goals in extra time for Wiltshire team Swindon Town, to win them the 1969 League Cup, defeating Arsenal in one of the most stunning upsets in the history of English soccer.
He played professionally from 1961 to 1977, and is now retired from running a sporting goods store in Swindon. The South Stand at Swindon's County Ground has been renamed the Don Rogers Stand. He is still alive.
October 25, 1946: Donald Eugene Eddy is born in Mason City, Iowa. Mason City has 2 musical connections: It was the hometown of Meredith Willson, composer of the musical The Music Man, and known as "The River City," which Willson worked into the song "Ya Got Trouble"; and it was the location of the airport where Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper took off from following their concert at nearby Clear Lake, and subsequently crashed in 1959.
Don Eddy was not a musician, as far as I can tell. (Nor was he related to a legendary rock musician, guitarist Duane Eddy.) He pitched in 22 games for the Chicago White Sox in 1970 and 1971. On the last day of the 1971 season, he hit a double off Bill Parsons of the Milwaukee Brewers. It was his only major league at-bat. His career totals: 0-2, but with a 2.36 ERA, and a batting average of 1.000. He died in 2018.
Also on this day, Kōji Yamamoto is born in Hiroshima, Japan, just 14 months after the atomic bomb was dropped on the city. A center fielder, he played for his hometown Hiroshima Toyo Carp from 1969 to 1986, and managed them from 1989 to 1993, and again from 2001 to 2005.
Known as Mr. Red Helmet (for the Carp's distinctive headgear, equivalent to Ernie Banks being known as Mr. Cub), in 1975, he was Central League batting champion and Most Valuable Player. He was named MVP again in 1980.
He won 4 home run titles, 3 RBI titles, and 10 Gold Gloves. He led the Carp to Pennants in 1975, 1979, 1980, 1984 and 1986 as a player, and in 1991 as manager. (They also won the Central League Pennant this year, although he was not directly involved.) His 536 home runs are the 4th-most in Japanese history. They've retired his Number 8, and he is a member of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.
Also on this day, Elías Ricardo Figueroa Brander is born in Valparaíso, Chile. Known as Elías Figueroa, the centreback is often called Chile's greatest footballer ever. (Alexis Sanchez, you blew it.)
With Peñarol of Montevideo, he won Uruguay's league in 1967 and 1968. With Internacional of Porto Alegre, he won Brazil's league in 1975 and 1976. With Palestino of Santiago, he won Chile's national cup in 1977 and its league in 1978. He was later named "best foreign player of the century" in both Uruguay and Brazil.
He played for Chile in the 1966, 1974 and 1982 World Cups -- in World Cups 16 years apart, despite the team not qualifying in 1970 and 1978. He later managed Palestino, and is now a TV studio pundit in the sport.
October 25, 1947: Columbia University upsets the U.S. Military Academy, a.k.a. "Army," 21-20. It is Army's 1st defeat in 4 years, after winning the National Championship in 1944 and '45, and being denied another due to a tie with Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium in '46.
Although Columbia's home ground, Baker Field (since rebuilt, and now Robert Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium), is at 218th Street and Broadway, at the northern tip of Manhattan, in a neighborhood called Inwood, the game is nicknamed for Columbia's location, 100 blocks south: The Miracle of Morningside Heights. No Ivy League team, not even the undefeated Dartmouth squad of 1970, has had such a memorable victory since. ("Harvard Beats Yale 29-29" in 1968 doesn't count.)
Also on this day, Baseball Commissioner Happy Chandler suspends the Chicago White Sox from the American League, in a dust-up that started when the Sox inked 17-year-old star pitcher George Zoeterman, in violation of a ban on signing high school players.
Sox general manager Leslie O'Connor argued that Zoeterman was a private school student (at Chicago Christian High School, now defunct), and therefore not covered under the ban. This position earned O'Connor a $500 fine. O'Connor refused to pay, resulting in the suspension.
Ironically, O'Connor had been the chief assistant to the previous Commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, and was even Acting Commissioner between Landis' November 25, 1944 death and Chandler's April 24, 1945 election. On November 4‚ White Sox owner Lou Comiskey paid the fine, and the AL was once again comprised of 8 teams.
What would have happened if Comiskey had backed his GM up? It could have meant a lawsuit. Chances are, before that case could reach court, the owners would have fired Chandler, and replaced him with a Commissioner more amenable to the Pale Hose's case.
It's highly unlikely that the AL would have played the 1948 season with a different ownership group getting the rights to play in Chicago (they'd have had to share Wrigley Field with the Cubs, as the aggrieved Sox surely wouldn't have let them use Comiskey Park), very unlikely that a different team would have been invited to replace the White Sox (an early promotion to the AL for Baltimore or Kansas City, perhaps?), and even less likely that they would have gone with just 7 teams.
And what, you might ask, happened to the principals? O'Connor left the White Sox after the 1948 season, and later served 8 years as the president of the Pacific Coast League, including the difficult 1957-58 off-season in which the Dodgers and Giants came to California, and he had to replace the original Los Angeles Angels (with, as it turned out, the Spokane Indians), the Hollywood Stars (with the Salt Lake Bees) and the San Francisco Seals (with the Phoenix Giants). He died in 1966, at age 76.
Zoeterman? A year later, he was signed -- by the crosstown Cubs. But he never got past Triple-A ball, and was released after the 1951 season, washed-up at 21. He died in 2001, age 71, and I can find no record of what he did in the last 50 years of his life.
October 25, 1948: It is a good day for an NBA center to be born. David William Cowens is born in Newport, Kentucky. Despite having the universities of Kentucky and Louisville in his home State, he went to Florida State. He starred for the Boston Celtics, and led them to NBA Championships in 1974 and 1976.
Cowens was one of the best centers of the 1970s, competing against guys like Wilt Chamberlain, Willis Reed and Nate Thrumond at the start of the decade; and Bill Walton at the end, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar all the way through it. His Number 18 was retired, and he was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame and the NBA’s 50th Anniversary 50 Greatest Players.
But it did bother me that, after years of not exactly packing the Boston Garden when the title-winning center was the outspoken black man Bill Russell, when the white Cowens came in, suddenly, Bostonians started packing the place and putting his poster up on their walls. Well into the 1980s, there was a giant mural of Cowens on the side of a building near the Garden. It wasn't until recently that Russell finally got the statue he had long deserved.
Also on this day, Daniel Paul Issel is born in Batavia, Illinois. Unlike Kentucky native Cowens, he did play at the University of Kentucky. He led the Louisville-based Kentucky Colonels to the 1975 ABA Championship, and starred for the Denver Nuggets after the NBA-ABA merger in 1976. At his retirement, he was the NBA’s 4th-leading all-time point-scorer, trailing only Kareem, Wilt and Julius Erving.
UK and the Nugs both retired his Number 44 (surely, if the Colonels had been taken into the NBA, they would have done so as well), and he is a member of the Hall of Fame. He wasn't named to the 50 Greatest Players, but perhaps he should have been.
Also on this day, Danny Mack Gable is born in Waterloo, Iowa. He is the greatest wrestler in American history, and I ain't talking about that crap that C.M. Punk does. Through high school and college, at Iowa State University, he lost only 1 match, his last, at the 1972 NCAA Championships. He won a Gold Medal at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany, not allowing a single point against the best wrestlers in the world at his weight class (150 pounds).
And he was just getting warmed up. He began coaching Iowa State's biggest rival, the University of Iowa, in 1976, and from 1978 to 1986 they won 9 straight National Championships, eventually winning 15 National Championships and the Big 10 Championship all 21 years he was at Iowa, making him arguably, as hard as it would have been to believe in 1972, a greater success as a coach than as a performer in his sport.
As a player, he was his sport's Lew Alcindor/Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. As a coach, he was his sport's John Wooden. He coached the U.S. Olympic wrestling team in 1980 (not competing due to the Soviet boycott), 1984 and 2000. He is now retired from an active role at Iowa.
October 25, 1949: Réjean Houle (no middle name) is born in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec. a right wing, he won Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens in 1971, 1973, 1977, 1978 and 1979 -- but not 1976, as he was then playing with the Quebec Nordiques of the World Hockey Association.
But he's best-remembered as the Canadiens' general manager from 1995 to 2000, and by "best-remembered," I don't mean "most fondly remembered." It was Houle who traded Patrick Roy to the Colorado Avalanche, initiating "The Curse of Saint Patrick" that has kept the Habs from winning the Cup since (their last coming in 1993). Houle was also a notoriously poor drafter, which probably hurt the team more than the Roy trade. He is now a club ambassador.
*
October 25, 1950, 70 years ago: John Daniel Matuszak is born in Milwaukee, and grows up in nearby Oak Creek, Wisconsin. He got a scholarship to play tight end at the University of Missouri, but when Dan Devine left to take the Notre Dame job, the new coach, Al Onofrio, revoked it. He was allowed to transfer to the University of Tampa, a Division II school, without losing eligibility.
Known as Mr. Red Helmet (for the Carp's distinctive headgear, equivalent to Ernie Banks being known as Mr. Cub), in 1975, he was Central League batting champion and Most Valuable Player. He was named MVP again in 1980.
He won 4 home run titles, 3 RBI titles, and 10 Gold Gloves. He led the Carp to Pennants in 1975, 1979, 1980, 1984 and 1986 as a player, and in 1991 as manager. (They also won the Central League Pennant this year, although he was not directly involved.) His 536 home runs are the 4th-most in Japanese history. They've retired his Number 8, and he is a member of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.
Also on this day, Elías Ricardo Figueroa Brander is born in Valparaíso, Chile. Known as Elías Figueroa, the centreback is often called Chile's greatest footballer ever. (Alexis Sanchez, you blew it.)
With Peñarol of Montevideo, he won Uruguay's league in 1967 and 1968. With Internacional of Porto Alegre, he won Brazil's league in 1975 and 1976. With Palestino of Santiago, he won Chile's national cup in 1977 and its league in 1978. He was later named "best foreign player of the century" in both Uruguay and Brazil.
He played for Chile in the 1966, 1974 and 1982 World Cups -- in World Cups 16 years apart, despite the team not qualifying in 1970 and 1978. He later managed Palestino, and is now a TV studio pundit in the sport.
October 25, 1947: Columbia University upsets the U.S. Military Academy, a.k.a. "Army," 21-20. It is Army's 1st defeat in 4 years, after winning the National Championship in 1944 and '45, and being denied another due to a tie with Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium in '46.
Although Columbia's home ground, Baker Field (since rebuilt, and now Robert Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium), is at 218th Street and Broadway, at the northern tip of Manhattan, in a neighborhood called Inwood, the game is nicknamed for Columbia's location, 100 blocks south: The Miracle of Morningside Heights. No Ivy League team, not even the undefeated Dartmouth squad of 1970, has had such a memorable victory since. ("Harvard Beats Yale 29-29" in 1968 doesn't count.)
Also on this day, Baseball Commissioner Happy Chandler suspends the Chicago White Sox from the American League, in a dust-up that started when the Sox inked 17-year-old star pitcher George Zoeterman, in violation of a ban on signing high school players.
Sox general manager Leslie O'Connor argued that Zoeterman was a private school student (at Chicago Christian High School, now defunct), and therefore not covered under the ban. This position earned O'Connor a $500 fine. O'Connor refused to pay, resulting in the suspension.
Ironically, O'Connor had been the chief assistant to the previous Commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, and was even Acting Commissioner between Landis' November 25, 1944 death and Chandler's April 24, 1945 election. On November 4‚ White Sox owner Lou Comiskey paid the fine, and the AL was once again comprised of 8 teams.
What would have happened if Comiskey had backed his GM up? It could have meant a lawsuit. Chances are, before that case could reach court, the owners would have fired Chandler, and replaced him with a Commissioner more amenable to the Pale Hose's case.
It's highly unlikely that the AL would have played the 1948 season with a different ownership group getting the rights to play in Chicago (they'd have had to share Wrigley Field with the Cubs, as the aggrieved Sox surely wouldn't have let them use Comiskey Park), very unlikely that a different team would have been invited to replace the White Sox (an early promotion to the AL for Baltimore or Kansas City, perhaps?), and even less likely that they would have gone with just 7 teams.
And what, you might ask, happened to the principals? O'Connor left the White Sox after the 1948 season, and later served 8 years as the president of the Pacific Coast League, including the difficult 1957-58 off-season in which the Dodgers and Giants came to California, and he had to replace the original Los Angeles Angels (with, as it turned out, the Spokane Indians), the Hollywood Stars (with the Salt Lake Bees) and the San Francisco Seals (with the Phoenix Giants). He died in 1966, at age 76.
Zoeterman? A year later, he was signed -- by the crosstown Cubs. But he never got past Triple-A ball, and was released after the 1951 season, washed-up at 21. He died in 2001, age 71, and I can find no record of what he did in the last 50 years of his life.
October 25, 1948: It is a good day for an NBA center to be born. David William Cowens is born in Newport, Kentucky. Despite having the universities of Kentucky and Louisville in his home State, he went to Florida State. He starred for the Boston Celtics, and led them to NBA Championships in 1974 and 1976.
Cowens was one of the best centers of the 1970s, competing against guys like Wilt Chamberlain, Willis Reed and Nate Thrumond at the start of the decade; and Bill Walton at the end, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar all the way through it. His Number 18 was retired, and he was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame and the NBA’s 50th Anniversary 50 Greatest Players.
But it did bother me that, after years of not exactly packing the Boston Garden when the title-winning center was the outspoken black man Bill Russell, when the white Cowens came in, suddenly, Bostonians started packing the place and putting his poster up on their walls. Well into the 1980s, there was a giant mural of Cowens on the side of a building near the Garden. It wasn't until recently that Russell finally got the statue he had long deserved.
Also on this day, Daniel Paul Issel is born in Batavia, Illinois. Unlike Kentucky native Cowens, he did play at the University of Kentucky. He led the Louisville-based Kentucky Colonels to the 1975 ABA Championship, and starred for the Denver Nuggets after the NBA-ABA merger in 1976. At his retirement, he was the NBA’s 4th-leading all-time point-scorer, trailing only Kareem, Wilt and Julius Erving.
UK and the Nugs both retired his Number 44 (surely, if the Colonels had been taken into the NBA, they would have done so as well), and he is a member of the Hall of Fame. He wasn't named to the 50 Greatest Players, but perhaps he should have been.
Also on this day, Danny Mack Gable is born in Waterloo, Iowa. He is the greatest wrestler in American history, and I ain't talking about that crap that C.M. Punk does. Through high school and college, at Iowa State University, he lost only 1 match, his last, at the 1972 NCAA Championships. He won a Gold Medal at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany, not allowing a single point against the best wrestlers in the world at his weight class (150 pounds).
And he was just getting warmed up. He began coaching Iowa State's biggest rival, the University of Iowa, in 1976, and from 1978 to 1986 they won 9 straight National Championships, eventually winning 15 National Championships and the Big 10 Championship all 21 years he was at Iowa, making him arguably, as hard as it would have been to believe in 1972, a greater success as a coach than as a performer in his sport.
As a player, he was his sport's Lew Alcindor/Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. As a coach, he was his sport's John Wooden. He coached the U.S. Olympic wrestling team in 1980 (not competing due to the Soviet boycott), 1984 and 2000. He is now retired from an active role at Iowa.
October 25, 1949: Réjean Houle (no middle name) is born in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec. a right wing, he won Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens in 1971, 1973, 1977, 1978 and 1979 -- but not 1976, as he was then playing with the Quebec Nordiques of the World Hockey Association.
But he's best-remembered as the Canadiens' general manager from 1995 to 2000, and by "best-remembered," I don't mean "most fondly remembered." It was Houle who traded Patrick Roy to the Colorado Avalanche, initiating "The Curse of Saint Patrick" that has kept the Habs from winning the Cup since (their last coming in 1993). Houle was also a notoriously poor drafter, which probably hurt the team more than the Roy trade. He is now a club ambassador.
*
October 25, 1950, 70 years ago: John Daniel Matuszak is born in Milwaukee, and grows up in nearby Oak Creek, Wisconsin. He got a scholarship to play tight end at the University of Missouri, but when Dan Devine left to take the Notre Dame job, the new coach, Al Onofrio, revoked it. He was allowed to transfer to the University of Tampa, a Division II school, without losing eligibility.
His size (6-foot-8 and 280 pounds) and speed got him noticed, and the Houston Oilers made him the 1st pick in the 1973 NFL Draft. But legal issues between the NFL and the World Football League meant that he bounced around, until joining the Oakland Raiders, winning Super Bowls XI and XV with them.
He became an actor, playing O.W. Shaddock in the football-themed film North Dallas Forty, yelling at his coach, played by Charles Durning, "Every time I call it a game, you call it a business. And every time I call it a business, you call it a game!"
After that, he mainly played guys who were big on size but not on brains: A dissatisfied Corporal on
M*A*S*H, a caveman in Caveman, and the deformed but kind-hearted Sloth Fratelli in The Goonies.
But his years of prescription drug use caught up with him, and he died in 1989, only 38 years old. I suspect that he was the inspiration for 2 football players played by Donald Gibb: Frederick Aloysius Palowaski, a.k.a. "The Ogre," in the Revenge of the Nerds movies, and Leslie "Dr. Death" Krunchner on 1st & Ten.
Also on this day, Roger Davies is born in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. He had no middle name, and, like most people with the name in Britain, the E is silent: It's "DAY-viss," not "DAY-veez." A forward, he was a reserve at East Midlands club Derby County when they won the Football League in 1972, but a starter when they did it again in 1975.
He later played in the original North American Soccer League, for the Tulsa Roughnecks, the Seattle Sounders, and the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. He is now a radio broadcaster for Derby County matches.
October 25, 1951: Alfred Edward Cowens Jr. is born in Los Angeles. No relation to Dave Cowens -- Al Cowens was black, and Dave is white -- Al was the right fielder on the Kansas City Royals teams that won the American League Western Division in 1976, '77 and '78, but lost the AL Championship Series to the Yankees each time.
By the time the Royals finally beat the Yankees for the Pennant in 1980, he was with the Detroit Tigers. By the time they won the World Series in 1985, he was playing out the string with the Seattle Mariners. He won a Gold Glove in 1977, and finished his career with a .270 batting average. He became a scout for the Royals, but died of a heart attack in 2002. He was only 50.
But his years of prescription drug use caught up with him, and he died in 1989, only 38 years old. I suspect that he was the inspiration for 2 football players played by Donald Gibb: Frederick Aloysius Palowaski, a.k.a. "The Ogre," in the Revenge of the Nerds movies, and Leslie "Dr. Death" Krunchner on 1st & Ten.
Also on this day, Roger Davies is born in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. He had no middle name, and, like most people with the name in Britain, the E is silent: It's "DAY-viss," not "DAY-veez." A forward, he was a reserve at East Midlands club Derby County when they won the Football League in 1972, but a starter when they did it again in 1975.
He later played in the original North American Soccer League, for the Tulsa Roughnecks, the Seattle Sounders, and the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. He is now a radio broadcaster for Derby County matches.
October 25, 1951: Alfred Edward Cowens Jr. is born in Los Angeles. No relation to Dave Cowens -- Al Cowens was black, and Dave is white -- Al was the right fielder on the Kansas City Royals teams that won the American League Western Division in 1976, '77 and '78, but lost the AL Championship Series to the Yankees each time.
By the time the Royals finally beat the Yankees for the Pennant in 1980, he was with the Detroit Tigers. By the time they won the World Series in 1985, he was playing out the string with the Seattle Mariners. He won a Gold Glove in 1977, and finished his career with a .270 batting average. He became a scout for the Royals, but died of a heart attack in 2002. He was only 50.
October 25, 1952: Rowland Johnie Office (That's right: 1 N in "Johnie") is born in Sacramento. In 1974, he replaced Hank Aaron as the Atlanta Braves' starting left fielder. Moving to center field, he remained with the Braves through 1979. He reached the Playoffs with the Montreal Expos in 1981, and closed his career with the Yankees in 1983. He is still alive.
October 25, 1954: Michael Eruzione (no middle name) is born in Winthrop, Massachusetts, just outside Boston. He starred for the storied hockey team at Boston University, and was named Captain of the U.S. team at the 1980 Winter Olympics. It was his goal that gave the U.S. the 4-3 lead and ultimately the victory over the Soviet Union. Two days later, they beat Finland for the Gold Medal.
As the Captain, it was Mike Eruzione who stood on the medal stand to receive the flag-raising and the National Anthem. Afterward, he invited all his teammates onto the stand with him, and they all raised their fingers in the "We're Number 1 salute.
Despite offers, Eruzione decided not to play pro hockey, becoming a broadcaster. He now works for Boston University, and tours the nation as a motivational speaker. Wouldn't you be motivated by the guy who captained the team that beat the Russians?
At the 2002 Winter Olympics, Eruzione and his 1980 teammates were invited to be the torchbearers for the lighting of the Olympic Flame. Wearing their 1980 jerseys (or perhaps replicas of them), they recreated the We're Number 1 pose, 22 years later.
In the 1981 made-for-TV movie Miracle on Ice, Eruzione was portrayed by Andrew Stevens. In the 2004 Disney film Miracle, he was portrayed by Patrick O'Brien Demsey, who had also played collegiate hockey in Massachusetts, at Fitchburg State College. No "P" in "Demsey," and he is not to be confused with Patrick "Dr. McDreamy" Dempsey.
Also on this day, Stanley Gifford Nielsen is born in Provo, Utah, the seat of Brigham Young University. Dropping his first name, Gifford Nielsen was an All-American quarterback for them in 1976, starting BYU's quarterbacking tradition. He was elected to the College Football and Utah Sports Halls of Fame. His pro career, however, did not go as well, as he lasted 6 years with the Houston Oilers.
He is now in the official hierarchy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS, popularly known as the Mormons), which runs BYU (and much of Utah).
October 25, 1955: Daniel Wayne Darwin is born in Bonham, Texas, outside Dallas. He pitched for his "hometown" Texas Rangers, and later appeared in the postseason with the 1986 Houston Astros and the 1997 San Francisco Giants. His career record was 171-182, mostly for bad teams, with a 3.84 ERA and 1,942 career strikeouts. With the 1990 Astros, he led the National League in ERA. He is now the pitching coach for the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, the Class AA farm team of the Cincinnati Reds.
Also on this day, Dennis Winston (no middle name) is born in Forrest City, Arkansas. The linebacker nicknamed "Dirt" was a backup on the Pittsburgh Steelers' 1978 and 1979 NFL Champions, starting Super Bowl XIV in place of the injured Jack Ham. He has since gone into coaching.
October 25, 1957: Albert Anastasia, the founder of what became New York's Gambino crime family, is whacked. He entered the barbershop of the Park Sheraton Hotel (in whose ballroom Jackie Gleason staged and filmed The Honeymooners, and it's now the Park Central Hotel), on 56th Street & 7th Avenue in New York. His bodyguard parked the car in an underground garage and then, most conveniently, perhaps with a little financial incentive from one of Anastasia's enemies, decided to take a little stroll.
As Anastasia relaxed in the barber chair, 2 men – scarves covering their faces – rushed in, shoved the barber out of the way, and fired at Anastasia. After the 1st volley of bullets, Anastasia allegedly attempted to lunge at his killers. However, the stunned Anastasia had actually attacked the gunmen's reflections in the wall mirror of the barber shop. The gunmen resumed firing, and Anastasia finally fell to the floor, dead. He was 55 years old.
His murder remains officially unsolved, although it's easy to imagine that the NYPD wasn't exactly exerting itself to find the killers. It is widely believed that the contract was given to Joe Profaci, who passed it on to "Crazy Joe" Gallo from Brooklyn, who then performed the hit with one of his brothers. Gallo, himself later the victim of an infamously unsolved rubout, was the subject of Bob Dylan's song "Joey."
Anastasia was one of the most powerful mob bosses ever, known as Il Capo di Tutti Capi -- The Boss of All Bosses. But, today, he is best known for the way he died, which was fictionally portrayed near the end of the film The Godfather.
In an episode of M*A*S*H, temporarily blinded, a blindfolded Hawkeye Pierce feels around an empty chair by the door and jokingly says, "Ah, Albert Anastasia's bodyguard." But this is an anachronistic error, as the Korean War ended in 1953, 4 years before the Anastasia murder. (A moment later, finding an empty bed, Hawkeye cites the actor who starred in The Invisible Man: "Ah, Claude Rains." This is a different kind of mistake, as the Invisible Man could not be seen, but could be felt.)
In an episode of The West Wing, the question of when Anastasia was killed comes up, and White House Communications Director Toby Ziegler asks his visiting father, former Murder, Incorporated officer Julius (a.k.a. Julie), when it happened. Julie says, "October, 1957." He later tells Toby he should know things like that, and Toby tells him he does know, that he knows all about Julie's Mob activities back then. Julie's attempt to admonish is ironic, since he gave the year and the month, but not the day.
In an episode of The Sopranos, Uncle Junior says that he wishes the Mob were like they were in the Fifties, "when it was peaceful." Tony says he remembers seeing the picture of Anastasia in a pool of blood on the barbershop floor. I guess even nostalgia ain't what it used to be.
Also on this day, Donna Lauria is born in Queens. But she, too, will be murdered in New York City. On July 29, 1976, she becomes the 1st victim of the Son of Sam.
October 25, 1958: Estadio Cibao opens in Santiago, the Dominican Republic. Seating 18,077, making it the largest stadium in the country, it is home to Águilas Cibaeñas, the Cibao Eagles, of the Dominican Winter Baseball League. They have won 20 Pennants and 5 Caribbean Series, all but the 1st Pennant since Estadio Cibao opened.
Also on this day, Greg Page (apparently, his full name) is born in Louisville. Like another native of that city, Muhammad Ali, he became a heavyweight boxer, and, on December 1, 1984, despite being a black fighter fighting white fighter Gerrie Coetzee in a still-apartheid South Africa, achieved an 8th-round knockout, and won the WBA version of the Heavyweight Championship of the World.
October 25, 1955: Daniel Wayne Darwin is born in Bonham, Texas, outside Dallas. He pitched for his "hometown" Texas Rangers, and later appeared in the postseason with the 1986 Houston Astros and the 1997 San Francisco Giants. His career record was 171-182, mostly for bad teams, with a 3.84 ERA and 1,942 career strikeouts. With the 1990 Astros, he led the National League in ERA. He is now the pitching coach for the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, the Class AA farm team of the Cincinnati Reds.
Also on this day, Dennis Winston (no middle name) is born in Forrest City, Arkansas. The linebacker nicknamed "Dirt" was a backup on the Pittsburgh Steelers' 1978 and 1979 NFL Champions, starting Super Bowl XIV in place of the injured Jack Ham. He has since gone into coaching.
October 25, 1957: Albert Anastasia, the founder of what became New York's Gambino crime family, is whacked. He entered the barbershop of the Park Sheraton Hotel (in whose ballroom Jackie Gleason staged and filmed The Honeymooners, and it's now the Park Central Hotel), on 56th Street & 7th Avenue in New York. His bodyguard parked the car in an underground garage and then, most conveniently, perhaps with a little financial incentive from one of Anastasia's enemies, decided to take a little stroll.
As Anastasia relaxed in the barber chair, 2 men – scarves covering their faces – rushed in, shoved the barber out of the way, and fired at Anastasia. After the 1st volley of bullets, Anastasia allegedly attempted to lunge at his killers. However, the stunned Anastasia had actually attacked the gunmen's reflections in the wall mirror of the barber shop. The gunmen resumed firing, and Anastasia finally fell to the floor, dead. He was 55 years old.
His murder remains officially unsolved, although it's easy to imagine that the NYPD wasn't exactly exerting itself to find the killers. It is widely believed that the contract was given to Joe Profaci, who passed it on to "Crazy Joe" Gallo from Brooklyn, who then performed the hit with one of his brothers. Gallo, himself later the victim of an infamously unsolved rubout, was the subject of Bob Dylan's song "Joey."
Anastasia was one of the most powerful mob bosses ever, known as Il Capo di Tutti Capi -- The Boss of All Bosses. But, today, he is best known for the way he died, which was fictionally portrayed near the end of the film The Godfather.
In an episode of M*A*S*H, temporarily blinded, a blindfolded Hawkeye Pierce feels around an empty chair by the door and jokingly says, "Ah, Albert Anastasia's bodyguard." But this is an anachronistic error, as the Korean War ended in 1953, 4 years before the Anastasia murder. (A moment later, finding an empty bed, Hawkeye cites the actor who starred in The Invisible Man: "Ah, Claude Rains." This is a different kind of mistake, as the Invisible Man could not be seen, but could be felt.)
In an episode of The West Wing, the question of when Anastasia was killed comes up, and White House Communications Director Toby Ziegler asks his visiting father, former Murder, Incorporated officer Julius (a.k.a. Julie), when it happened. Julie says, "October, 1957." He later tells Toby he should know things like that, and Toby tells him he does know, that he knows all about Julie's Mob activities back then. Julie's attempt to admonish is ironic, since he gave the year and the month, but not the day.
In an episode of The Sopranos, Uncle Junior says that he wishes the Mob were like they were in the Fifties, "when it was peaceful." Tony says he remembers seeing the picture of Anastasia in a pool of blood on the barbershop floor. I guess even nostalgia ain't what it used to be.
Also on this day, Donna Lauria is born in Queens. But she, too, will be murdered in New York City. On July 29, 1976, she becomes the 1st victim of the Son of Sam.
October 25, 1958: Estadio Cibao opens in Santiago, the Dominican Republic. Seating 18,077, making it the largest stadium in the country, it is home to Águilas Cibaeñas, the Cibao Eagles, of the Dominican Winter Baseball League. They have won 20 Pennants and 5 Caribbean Series, all but the 1st Pennant since Estadio Cibao opened.
Also on this day, Greg Page (apparently, his full name) is born in Louisville. Like another native of that city, Muhammad Ali, he became a heavyweight boxer, and, on December 1, 1984, despite being a black fighter fighting white fighter Gerrie Coetzee in a still-apartheid South Africa, achieved an 8th-round knockout, and won the WBA version of the Heavyweight Championship of the World.
He only held the title for 5 months, losing to Tony Tubbs in Buffalo on a decision. He never got another shot at any piece of the title. He bet some good fighters, like Alfredo Evangelista, Jimmy Young, James "Quick" Tillis, Renaldo Snipes. But he also lost to Trevor Berbick, David Bey, James "Buster" Douglas, Joe Bugner, Razor Ruddock and Bruce Seldon, and split 2 fights with Tim Witherspoon.
Like too many boxers, he kept fighting because he needed the money. On March 9, 2001, at age 42, he climbed into the ring at Peel's Palace in the Cincinnati suburb of Erlanger, Kentucky, and was knocked out by Dale Crowe in the 10th round. There was no ambulance, no doctor, and no oxygen on the scene, and it took 22 minutes for an ambulance to arrive. He fell into a coma that lasted 2 weeks, and never recovered, dying on April 27, 2009.
Also on this day, Kornelia Ender is born in Plauen, Saxony, Germany. She won 4 Gold Medals in swimming for East Germany at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, all in world-record times. She had help, as did many of East Germany's Olympic athletes, and it rhymed with "spheroids."
October 25, 1959: The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Chicago Cardinals 28-24. Officially, this is a home game for the Cards, but it isn't played at Soldier Field, where they had intended to play their home games this season. Nor is it played at Comiskey Park, where they had played home games for most of their NFL tenure, as one of the League's founding teams of 1920.
Instead, it's played at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. On November 22, they will play another game at The Met, but lose that as well, 30-20 to the Giants. These games were designed to show that Minnesota was a good place for the NFL to place a moved or expansion team. It didn't help the Cards much: The games got 20,112 and 26,625 fans, respectively. That's about as well as they did in 3 previous Soldier Field games that season.
On November 29, 1959, they would play the crosstown Bears, then still using Wrigley Field as their home, at Soldier Field. A crowd of 48,687 came out to see the Bears win 31-7 -- and, indeed, most probably did come out to see the Bears, as the Cards hadn't been a contender for 10 years.
After 2 away games that finished a 2-10 season, the Cardinals moved to St. Louis for 1960. The Bears moved to Soldier Field in 1971, partly because Wrigley Field's capacity was too small for the modern NFL, and partly because it didn't yet have lights.
*
October 25, 1960, 60 years ago: Kelly Robert Downs is born in Ogden, Utah. He pitched in postseason play for both San Francisco Bay Area teams, the San Francisco Giants in 1987 and 1989, and for the Oakland Athletics in 1992. This included the 1989 "Bay Bridge" World Series, and the cover of Sports Illustrated showed him carrying his nephew off the field following the earthquake that postpone Game 3.
*
October 25, 1960, 60 years ago: Kelly Robert Downs is born in Ogden, Utah. He pitched in postseason play for both San Francisco Bay Area teams, the San Francisco Giants in 1987 and 1989, and for the Oakland Athletics in 1992. This included the 1989 "Bay Bridge" World Series, and the cover of Sports Illustrated showed him carrying his nephew off the field following the earthquake that postpone Game 3.
He finished with a career record of 57-53. His brother, Dave Downs, made 4 pitching appearances for the Philadelphia Phillies as a September callup in 1972. Both brothers are still alive.
Also on this day, Daniel Leroy Baldwin is born in Massapequa, Long Island, New York. Brother of Alec, William and Stephen, he is best remembered for playing Detective Beau Felton on Homicide: Life On the Street. He now hosts a radio show in Syracuse.
October 25, 1961: Brian Keith Kelly is born in the Boston suburb of Everett, Massachusetts, and grows up in nearby Chelsea. After playing football as a linebacker at NCAA Division II school Assumption College in Worcester, he served as one of their assistant coaches, before moving on to another Division II school, Grand Valley State in Michigan.
He became their head coach in 1991, and won Division II National Championships in 2002 and 2003. That got him hired at Central Michigan in 2004, winning the Mid-American Conference in 2006. That got him hired at the University of Cincinnati in 2007, winning the Big East Conference in 2008 and 2009.
That got him hired at Notre Dame in 2010. In 2012, it looked like he would follow the pattern set by Knute Rockne (1924), Frank Leahy (1943), Ara Parseghian (1966), Dan Devine (1977) and Lou Holtz (1988): Winning the National Championship in his 3rd season in South Bend. They beat Number 10 Michigan State, Number 18 Michigan, Number 17 Stanford and Number 8 Oklahoma, and finished the regular season 12-0. Then they went to the National Chamionship Game ranked Number 1, and got clobbered by Alabama.
They went 9-4 in 2013. Then they had to forfeit all their 2012 and 2013 wins due to academic violations. They sandwiched a 4-8 2016 season with 10-3 seasons in 2015 and 2017. They went 12-0 in the 2018 regular season, and played the Playoff Semifinal in the Cotton Bowl (game, not stadium), but got embarrassed by eventual National Champion Clemson. They went 11-2 in 2019, losing away to Georgia and Michigan, then ranked Numbers 3 and 19, respectively.
Notre Dame has started the 2020 season 5-0, and are ranked Number 3 following yesterday's win over the University of Pittsburgh. Kelly's record is 76-36 at Notre Dame, and 247-93-2 overall.
Also on this day, David Jeffrey Jones is born in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, where his father was stationed as a diplomat. A 6-foot-9 offensive lineman, in 1987 he played for both teams that ended up playing in Super Bowl XXII at the end of the season, first the Denver Broncos, then the Washington Redskins. Although he got a ring with the 'Skins, he never played another NFL game.
October 25, 1962: The Cuban Missile Crisis has everyone on edge. A guard at a U.S. air base sees a shadowy figure attempting to scale a fence. He thinks it might be a Soviet saboteur. He activates the intruder alarm. This results in other nearby bases becoming aware of the threat. But at Volk Field in Wisconsin, the wrong alarm goes off: One signaling that Soviet missiles are on their way.
Fortunately, things are settled quickly, when radar does not pick up any incoming missiles, and no planes take off to deliver bombs. And the intruder turns out to be a bear.
In less crazy matters on this date, John Michael Stollmeyer is born in Pittsburgh. A centreback, he helped Indiana University win the NCAA soccer championship in 1982 and 1983, and was a member of the U.S. team at the 1990 World Cup. He was already coaching by the time Major League Soccer began play in 1996. He is now an executive with. Raymond James in Indianapolis.
Also on this day, Stephen Brian Hodge is born in Nottingham, England. A midfielder, he starred with his hometown team, Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest, in the early 1980s, then was signed by North London club Tottenham Hotspur.
He was a member of the 1986-87 "Spurs" squad that looked set to complete a never-before-done domestic Treble: Winning the Football League, the FA Cup and the League Cup in the same season. Except they tailed off late in the season and finished 3rd in the League, lost a tumultuous League Cup Semifinal to North London arch-rivals Arsenal, and then lost the FA Cup Final to Coventry City on an own goal. (The feat was finally accomplished by Manchester City in 2019.)
He returned to Forest, and won the Full Members Cup with them in 1989, and the League Cup in 1989 and 1990. In 1991, he got to the FA Cup Final again, but again lost due to a teammate's own goal -- this time to Tottenham! Hodge moved on to Leeds United, and finally won the League, in 1992. (Neither Forest nor Spurs nor Leeds have won a major trophy since, unless you count Spurs' League Cup wins of 1999 and 2008 -- and you shouldn't.)
He played for England in the 1986 and 1990 World Cups. He is now the reserve manager for the other Nottingham team, Notts County, and briefly served as caretaker manager in 2013.
October 25, 1963: The Twilight Zone airs the episode "The Last Night of a Jockey." Series creator Rod Serling was only 5-foot-4 and sensitive about it, so he wrote an episode about Michael Grady, a disgraced jockey, who loses his job, in one of the few professions where it helps to be small.
So the jockey wishes to be "big." He gets his wish: He grows to be well over 6 feet tall. Then he gets a phone call: In a classic Serling twist, the jockey is told that he's been legally cleared, and can race again tomorrow. Except he can't, because now, he's too big.
Serling wrote it with the 5-foot-2 Mickey Rooney in mind, and Rooney shows that he's more than just a song-and-dance man.
Also on this day, Tracy Kristine Nelson is born in the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Monica, California. The daughter of singer-actor Ricky Nelson (and thus the granddaughter of Ozzie & Harriet) and actress Kristin Harmon (and thus a niece of Mark Harmon and grandniece of Heisman Trophy winner Tommy Harmon), she played Jennifer DiNuccio on Square Pegs, Sister Steve Oskowski on The Father Dowling Mysteries, Everlyn Gardner in the brief TV version of the baseball film A League of Their Own, and Meredith Parker on Melrose Place.
Also on this day, David Jeffrey Jones is born in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, where his father was stationed as a diplomat. A 6-foot-9 offensive lineman, in 1987 he played for both teams that ended up playing in Super Bowl XXII at the end of the season, first the Denver Broncos, then the Washington Redskins. Although he got a ring with the 'Skins, he never played another NFL game.
October 25, 1962: The Cuban Missile Crisis has everyone on edge. A guard at a U.S. air base sees a shadowy figure attempting to scale a fence. He thinks it might be a Soviet saboteur. He activates the intruder alarm. This results in other nearby bases becoming aware of the threat. But at Volk Field in Wisconsin, the wrong alarm goes off: One signaling that Soviet missiles are on their way.
Fortunately, things are settled quickly, when radar does not pick up any incoming missiles, and no planes take off to deliver bombs. And the intruder turns out to be a bear.
In less crazy matters on this date, John Michael Stollmeyer is born in Pittsburgh. A centreback, he helped Indiana University win the NCAA soccer championship in 1982 and 1983, and was a member of the U.S. team at the 1990 World Cup. He was already coaching by the time Major League Soccer began play in 1996. He is now an executive with. Raymond James in Indianapolis.
Also on this day, Stephen Brian Hodge is born in Nottingham, England. A midfielder, he starred with his hometown team, Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest, in the early 1980s, then was signed by North London club Tottenham Hotspur.
He was a member of the 1986-87 "Spurs" squad that looked set to complete a never-before-done domestic Treble: Winning the Football League, the FA Cup and the League Cup in the same season. Except they tailed off late in the season and finished 3rd in the League, lost a tumultuous League Cup Semifinal to North London arch-rivals Arsenal, and then lost the FA Cup Final to Coventry City on an own goal. (The feat was finally accomplished by Manchester City in 2019.)
He returned to Forest, and won the Full Members Cup with them in 1989, and the League Cup in 1989 and 1990. In 1991, he got to the FA Cup Final again, but again lost due to a teammate's own goal -- this time to Tottenham! Hodge moved on to Leeds United, and finally won the League, in 1992. (Neither Forest nor Spurs nor Leeds have won a major trophy since, unless you count Spurs' League Cup wins of 1999 and 2008 -- and you shouldn't.)
He played for England in the 1986 and 1990 World Cups. He is now the reserve manager for the other Nottingham team, Notts County, and briefly served as caretaker manager in 2013.
October 25, 1963: The Twilight Zone airs the episode "The Last Night of a Jockey." Series creator Rod Serling was only 5-foot-4 and sensitive about it, so he wrote an episode about Michael Grady, a disgraced jockey, who loses his job, in one of the few professions where it helps to be small.
So the jockey wishes to be "big." He gets his wish: He grows to be well over 6 feet tall. Then he gets a phone call: In a classic Serling twist, the jockey is told that he's been legally cleared, and can race again tomorrow. Except he can't, because now, he's too big.
Serling wrote it with the 5-foot-2 Mickey Rooney in mind, and Rooney shows that he's more than just a song-and-dance man.
Also on this day, Tracy Kristine Nelson is born in the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Monica, California. The daughter of singer-actor Ricky Nelson (and thus the granddaughter of Ozzie & Harriet) and actress Kristin Harmon (and thus a niece of Mark Harmon and grandniece of Heisman Trophy winner Tommy Harmon), she played Jennifer DiNuccio on Square Pegs, Sister Steve Oskowski on The Father Dowling Mysteries, Everlyn Gardner in the brief TV version of the baseball film A League of Their Own, and Meredith Parker on Melrose Place.
She was once married to actor William R. Moses, and now specializes in Lifetime network and Hallmark Channel movies.
October 25, 1964: Patrick Travis Swilling is born in Toccoa, Georgia. An All-American linebacker at Georgia Tech, He starred for the New Orleans Saints, the Detroit Lions and the Oakland Raiders. He made 5 straight Pro Bowls, including in 1991 when he led the NFL in sacks and was named Defensive Player of the Year.
He has the dubious distinction of playing in the most NFL Playoff games without a win: 0-6. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame. He still lives in New Orleans, and is a real estate developer.
October 25, 1965: The Cubs end their "It seemed like a good idea at the time" College of Coaches experiment with the hiring of Leo Durocher as full-time manager. Having coached with the Dodgers since their 1957-58 move to Los Angeles, and not having managed since the 1955 Giants, he signs a 3-year deal, and is given complete authority on the field.
Leo the Lip takes over a team that finished 8th in the 10-team NL, and says, "Chicago is not an eighth-place ballclub." He was right: In 1966, they finished 10th. But in 1967, he turned them around, leading them to a winning season, and did it again in 1968. In 1969, they were in 1st place in the newly-created NL Eastern Division in early September. And then...
He actually got them closer to winning the Division in 1970, but it wasn't as dramatic, and they lost out to Pittsburgh, not New York, so it wasn't covered as much. He was fired by the Cubs in 1972, and was quickly picked up by the Houston Astros, but was fired only a year later, ending a 48-year run as a player and a manager in the major leagues. He won 2,009 games as a manager, 2nd in NL play only to John McGraw. He died in 1991, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1994.
Also on this day, Amy Allman (no middle name) is born is born in Seattle, and grows up in the neighboring suburb of Federal Way, Washington. A goalkeeper, she played on the U.S. team that won the 1st Women's World Cup in 1991. She now uses her married name, Amy Griffin, and coaches at the University of Washington and for the U.S. Under-20 Women's team.
Also on this day, Mathieu Amalric is born outside Paris in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. He has won 3 César Awards, the French equivalent to the Oscars. In 2005, he appeared in the film Munich, with Daniel Craig, who was soon signed to be the new James Bond. Craig recommended Amalric, and in 2008, he played Dominic Greene, the villain in the Bond film Quantum of Solace.
October 25, 1966: Wendel Clark is born in Kelvington, Saskatchewan. The All-Star left wing played for several teams, but is best known for his three tenures with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He scored 330 goals in his 15-year career. He was a 2-time NHL All-Star, and was Captain of the Leafs as they reached the Conference Finals in 1993 and 1994.
In 2016, the Leafs retired his Number 17. He is now a club ambassador. He is not in the Hockey Hall of Fame, but he is in the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame. He is a cousin of former NHL player Joey Kocur and ESPN commentator and former NHL coach Barry Melrose.
October 25, 1967: The film version of the musical Camelot premieres, starring Richard Harris as King Arthur. Live imitates art: Vanessa Redgrave, who played Queen Guinevere, later married Franco Nero, who played Sir Lancelot.
Also on this day, Kelly Wayne Chase is born in Porcupine Plain, Saskatchewan. (Not to be confused with Thunder Bay, Ontario; Medicine Hat, Alberta; and Maple Ridge, British Columbia.) In spite of a dubious on-ice record which includes 2,017 penalty minutes as opposed to only 17 goals and 36 assists in 11 seasons, his charity work gained him the 1998 King Clancy Memorial Trophy for "leadership qualities" and "humanitarian contributions."
He spent most of his career with the St. Louis Blues, and is now a broadcaster for them. Like Clark, he is a member of the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame.
October 25, 1968: Star Trek airs the episode "Spectre of the Gun." Five USS Enterprise officers are captured by aliens, and forced to be on the losing side of the Gunfight at the OK Corral -- which occurred in Tombstone, Arizona exactly 87 years, minus 1 day, before the episode aired: October 26, 1881.
Ensign Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig) is killed by Morgan Earp. This provides Commander Spock (Leonard Nimoy, forced to play the part of Frank McLaury) with the key: Chekov's character, Billy Claiborne, survived the gunfight. Therefore, history can be changed.
So Spock performs a mind-meld on Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner, Ike Clanton), Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley, Tom McLaury), and Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott (James Doohan, Billy Clanton), to give them what they need to survive: The 100 percent assurance that the bullets fired by Wyatt, Morgan and Virgil Earp and John "Doc" Holliday are not real. At one point, he calls the bullets "spectres," hence the title of the episode.
When the crewmen survive the battle, and Kirk kicks Wyatt's ass in a real fight, and then refuses to kill him, the aliens are convinced that the Federation men are worthy of their diplomacy, and returns them to the ship, including restoring Chekov to life.
This was the 3rd time De Kelley had re-enacted the Gunfight at the OK Corral. In a 1955 episode of the historical re-enactment series You Are There, he played Ike Clanton. And in the 1957 film Gunfight at the OK Corral, he was on the other side, playing Morgan Earp.
The real Wyatt Earp was the last survivor of the gunfight, living in Los Angeles and advising writers and directors of Western films (silent at the time), until his death in 1929.
Of the Earp team in this episode: Sam Gilman (Doc Holliday) died in 1985, Charles Maxwell (Virgil) died in 1993, Ron Soble (Wyatt) died in 2002, and Rex Holman (Morgan) is still alive at age 84. It's ironic that he would be the last survivor, as, in real life, Morgan was the 1st to die, in a revenge killing in 1882.
Also on this day, David Burrows (no middle name) is born in the Birmingham suburb of Dudley, England. A left back, he won the Football league title in 1990 and the League Cup in 1992, both with Liverpool FC. Injuries forced him to retire in 2003.
October 25, 1969: Arsenal play to a 0-0 draw with Suffolk team Ipswich Town. It was the Arsenal first-team debut for Northern Irish left back Sammy Nelson. A reserve in the 1970-71 Double season, he was the starting left back on the 1979 FA Cup winners, a team with so many Irish players (Republic, Ulster, and English-born of Irish descent, including manager Terry Neill, like Nelson a Belfast native) that it was called the Irish Connection.
Near the end of his career, Nelson played for Sussex team Brighton & Hove Albion (about as far from Belfast as you can get and still be in the United Kingdom), and for Northern Ireland in the 1982 World Cup. He is now 71 and a retired insurance agent.
Also on this day, Corey Lamont Harris is born in Indianapolis. A safety, he was with the Baltimore Ravens when they won Super Bowl XXXV.
Also on this day, Josef Beránek is born in Litvínov, in what was then Czechoslovakia. A center, he spent most of his hockey career in his homeland. He was a member of the Czech Republic team that won the Gold Medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, the 1st time NHL players were allowed in the Olympics.
He played in the NHL, for the Edmonton Oilers in 1992 and again from 1998 to 2000, the Philadelphia Flyers from 1992 to 1994, the Vancouver Canucks from 1994 to 1996, and the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1997 and again in 2000 and '01. He then sent 9 seasons with Slavia Praha in his country's capital of Prague before retiring.
Also on this day, David Burrows (no middle name) is born in the Birmingham suburb of Dudley, England. A left back, he won the Football league title in 1990 and the League Cup in 1992, both with Liverpool FC. Injuries forced him to retire in 2003.
October 25, 1969: Arsenal play to a 0-0 draw with Suffolk team Ipswich Town. It was the Arsenal first-team debut for Northern Irish left back Sammy Nelson. A reserve in the 1970-71 Double season, he was the starting left back on the 1979 FA Cup winners, a team with so many Irish players (Republic, Ulster, and English-born of Irish descent, including manager Terry Neill, like Nelson a Belfast native) that it was called the Irish Connection.
Near the end of his career, Nelson played for Sussex team Brighton & Hove Albion (about as far from Belfast as you can get and still be in the United Kingdom), and for Northern Ireland in the 1982 World Cup. He is now 71 and a retired insurance agent.
Also on this day, Corey Lamont Harris is born in Indianapolis. A safety, he was with the Baltimore Ravens when they won Super Bowl XXXV.
Also on this day, Josef Beránek is born in Litvínov, in what was then Czechoslovakia. A center, he spent most of his hockey career in his homeland. He was a member of the Czech Republic team that won the Gold Medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, the 1st time NHL players were allowed in the Olympics.
He played in the NHL, for the Edmonton Oilers in 1992 and again from 1998 to 2000, the Philadelphia Flyers from 1992 to 1994, the Vancouver Canucks from 1994 to 1996, and the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1997 and again in 2000 and '01. He then sent 9 seasons with Slavia Praha in his country's capital of Prague before retiring.
October 25, 1970, 50 years ago: Joshua Ade Adande is born in Los Angeles. The ESPN commentator, whose former work writing sports columns for the Los Angeles Times got him a Pulitzer Prize, is a mainstay on ESPN's Around the Horn.
When he wins, and he's won 316 times in the show's 18 years, he takes viewers to "The J.A. Adande Lounge," where some celebrities, sports and otherwise, are present, and delivers his "30 seconds of face time." He's just as good funny as he is serious.
His favorite movie is Drumline, which aired on BET today. I wonder if they knew it was his birthday.
October 25, 1971: Pedro Martinez emerges from Emperor Palpatine's laboratory, deep within the Dominican Republic, ready to do the Emperor's bidding and cause great mayhem throughout the galaxy's baseball parks.
Also on this day, Basil O'Meara dies of a stroke in Montreal, at age 79. A columnist for the Montreal Star, he was elected into the media section of the Hockey and Canadian Football Halls of Fame.
Also on this day, The Electric Company premieres on PBS. Included in the original cast of this kids' show are 2 performers who were already legends, Rita Moreno and Bill Cosby. It will make a star out of Morgan Freeman.
By 1974, it will have debuted Danny Seagren as the 1st live-action version of the superhero Spider-Man. The show makes new episodes until 1977, and remains on the air in reruns until 1985. In 2009, PBS began airing a new show with the title, but, aside from the title and the use of Moreno's catchphrase, "Hey you guyyyyyyyys!" it bears no resemblance to the original. It lasted only 2 years.
October 25, 1971: Pedro Martinez emerges from Emperor Palpatine's laboratory, deep within the Dominican Republic, ready to do the Emperor's bidding and cause great mayhem throughout the galaxy's baseball parks.
Also on this day, Basil O'Meara dies of a stroke in Montreal, at age 79. A columnist for the Montreal Star, he was elected into the media section of the Hockey and Canadian Football Halls of Fame.
Also on this day, The Electric Company premieres on PBS. Included in the original cast of this kids' show are 2 performers who were already legends, Rita Moreno and Bill Cosby. It will make a star out of Morgan Freeman.
By 1974, it will have debuted Danny Seagren as the 1st live-action version of the superhero Spider-Man. The show makes new episodes until 1977, and remains on the air in reruns until 1985. In 2009, PBS began airing a new show with the title, but, aside from the title and the use of Moreno's catchphrase, "Hey you guyyyyyyyys!" it bears no resemblance to the original. It lasted only 2 years.
Also on this day, Midori Goto is born in Hirakata, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. A violinist like her mother, she gave her 1st public performance at age 6, and debuted with the New York Philharmonic at 11. With pop and rock being the dominant forms of music in the late 20th Century, classical music needed all the stars it could get, and embraced Midori, who goes by only her first name.
After that 1982 debut at Carnegie Hall, she moved to New York. Since 2004, she has lived in Los Angeles, and has taught at the University of Southern California.
October 25, 1972: Persia White is born in Miami. She played Lynn Searcy on Girlfriends, and worked her real-life activism for veganism and animal rights, and her unconventional spiritual and sexual beliefs, into the character. All by herself, she was the biggest difference between that show and the earlier sitcom Living Single.
She has released 2 albums, first with the industrial rock band XEO3 and now solo, and appeared as Abby Bennett on The Vampire Diaries. She married Joseph Morgan, her co-star on that show.
What does she have to do with sports? Well, her 1st film role was in the college basketball-themed movie Blue Chips. Bob Knight was also in that one. That, and a shared birthday, may be the only thing they have in common.
October 25, 1973: Abebe Bikila dies. The 1st black African to win a Gold Medal in the Olympics, the Ethiopian won the marathon in 1960 and 1964 – running the '60 marathon barefoot. But a car accident in 1969 left him a paraplegic, and he never recovered from his injuries. He was only 41 when he died.
Also on this day, the Chicago Cubs trade 6-time 20-game winner Ferguson Jenkins to the Texas Rangers for 3rd baseman Bill Madlock and utility man Vic Harris. Fergie has led the Cubs in wins in each of the past 7 seasons‚ the only pitcher ever to do so for a club and then be traded.
Although Madlock will win 2 batting titles with the Cubs, they will be out of contention while he is with them. By contrast, Jenkins will pitch the Rangers to a 2nd-place finish in 1974, their best-ever finishes until 1994. He would also pitch for the Red Sox, finishing 2nd with them as one of the "Buffalo Heads" in 1977. He will, however, return to the Cubs and help them win the 1984 Division Title.
Meanwhile‚ the San Francisco Giants trade 3-time home run champion Willie McCovey‚ a Giant since 1959‚ together with a minor leaguer named Bernie Williams (no relation to the Yankee Legend of the same name)‚ to the San Diego Padres for pitcher Mike Caldwell.
This was a bad trade, as Caldwell did nothing for the Giants, but developed one of the best curveballs in the game in helping the Milwaukee Brewers mature into a Pennant winner. As Jenkins did with the Cubs, McCovey later rejoined the Giants, a second act that would include winning NL Comeback Player of the Year in 1977, and his 500th career home run in 1978. He finished with 521 homers.
Also on this day, the Yom Kippur War is settled, thanks to the "shuttle diplomacy" of U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, but also due to the fact that, as in 1967, Israel had pretty much won the war in less than 3 weeks, and the Arabs didn't want to lose any further.
This shocked President Anwar el-Sadat of Egypt into making strides toward peace with Israel. Five years later, it was achieved.
October 25, 1974: Joseph George Nelson is born outside San Francisco in Alameda, California. A relief itcher, Joe Nelson appeared in 3 games for the Boston Red Sox in 2004, but was not on their postseason roster. In a major league career lasting from 2001 to 2010, he went 7-2 ith 9 saves. He is now a scout with the Chicago Cubs.
October 25, 1975: Elton John plays the 1st of 2 sold-out shows at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The gates open at 1:00 PM, and the warmup acts are Emmylou Harris, and the James Gang, featuring future Eagle Joe Walsh on guitar.
Elton takes the stage at 4:30, wearing a sequin-encrusted Dodger uniform designed by Bob Mackie, the costume designer for CBS, famed for his designs for The Carol Burnett Show and The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour. He starts with his 1st big hit, "Your Song." He usually closes with "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting," but, this time, with his role in the recent film version of The Who's Tommy in mind, he follows that with "Pinball Wizard."
Joining him on backing vocals was Billie Jean King. Elton was a big tennis fan, and, in Billie Jean, also then closeted despite being the biggest star in her field of endeavor, he found a kindred spirit.
Also on this day, The Mary Tyler Moore show airs the episode "Chuckles Bites the Dust." Chuckles the Clown, the never-seen kids-show host on WJM-Channel 12 in Minneapolis, meets a sad end. As his rival for attention, newscaster Ted Baxter (Ted Knight), says, "He died a broken man."
Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore) can't believe that nobody is sad about his death. Everybody is laughing. Finally, at his funeral, the minister recites Chuckles' "A Clown's Credo": "A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants." And Mary cracks up. And the minister tells her that this is exactly what Chuckles would have wanted, and encourages her to laugh some more. And she bursts into tears. It's often called the show's best episode.
Later that night, on Saturday Night Live, John Belushi debuts his uncanny impression of British soul singer Joe Cocker. In 1978, Cocker was the musical guest, and in the middle of singing "Feelin' Alright," Belushi sidled up to him and mimicked him perfectly. This ticked Cocker off, and he never appeared on the show again.
October 25, 1976: The Washington Redskins beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 20-10, in a torrential downpour on a horribly muddy field at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington on ABC's Monday Night Football.
On Halloween Night, 1994, MNF hosted another rainy, messy game, at Soldier Field in Chicago, in which the Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears. The broadcast team that night included Frank Gifford, who had broadcast that 1976 'Skins-Cards game; and Dan Dierdorf, who had played for the Cards in it.
The '76 RFK game was the only game Gifford could remember broadcasting where the rain was as bad as their '94 Halloween Bowl, although he had played in many cold games with the New York Giants, and had also roadcast the 1967 NFL Championship Gamein Green Bay, known as the Ice Bowl. Despite playing in Big Ten Country for the University of Michigan, Dierdorf couldn't remember playing in worse weather than that '76 game.
Also on this day, Brett Kirk (no middle name) is born in Albury, New South Wales, Australia. One of the top Australian Rules footballers of the 2000s, he is now an assistant coach for his former team, Sydney Swans. They won an Australian Football League (AFL) title in 2005.
One of the current Swans Co-Captains is Luke Parker, born October 25, 1992 in the Melbourne suburb of Langwarrin, Victoria.
October 25, 1977: Birgit Prinz (no middle name) is born in Frankfurt, Germany. One of the greatest players in women's soccer history, the striker starred for hometown clubs FSV Frankfurt and FFC Frankfurt, and in the U.S. for the Carolina Courage.
She played for Germany in the 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011 Women's World Cups, winning in 2003 and 2007. She is now the sport psychologist for Germany club TSG 1899 Hoffenheim -- both their men's and women's teams.
Also on this day, M*A*S*H airs the episode "The Light That Failed." A shortage of supplies, including light bulbs, leads to Charles (David Ogden Stiers) making a reading mistake on a bottle that nearly kills a patient.
In addition, B.J. (Mike Farrell) receives a book in the mail, The Rooster Crowed at Midnight by Abigail Porterfield, obviously meant as a parody of the murder mysteries of Agatha Christie. As he finishes each chapter, he tears it out of the book, and passes it to Hawkeye (Alan Alda), who then passes it around after he's done, and so on. But the last page is already torn out, and B.J.'s attempts to figure out whodunit are laughable: "I'll admit, a few of my deduces were wild."
Also on this day, Happy Days airs the episode "Fonsillectomy." Arthur Fonzarelli (Henry Winkler) has to have his tonsils out. And that is not cool.
October 25, 1978: Gaylord Perry of the San Diego Padres becomes the 1st pitcher to win the Cy Young Award in each league. Perry copped the NL honors with a 21-6 record and a 2.72 ERA. He also won it with the AL's Cleveland Indians in 1972. This also makes him, at 39, the oldest man to win the Award. This is the 13th straight season that Perry has won 15 or more games‚ second only to Cy Young's 15 straight 15+ seasons.
Perry's achievement of Cy Youngs in both Leagues has been matched by Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, Roy Halladay and Max Scherzer. But he remains the oldest winner, slightly outpacing Clemens' last award.
October 25, 1979: Anthony Dale Torcato is born outside Sacramento in Woodland, California. An outfielder, Tony Torcato was with the San Francisco Giants when they won the 2002 NL Pennant. He last played in the majors with the Giants in 2005.
*
October 25, 1980, 40 years ago: Pat Rice, like the aforementioned Sammy Nelson a native of Belfast, Northern Ireland, plays for Arsenal for the 397th and last time, in a 1-1 draw with North-East team Sunderland at Roker Park. The right back was the only man to start on both the 1971 League and Cup Double winners and the 1979 FA Cup winners, captaining the latter.
He was soon sold to Hertfordshire team Watford, and later served Arsenal as an assistant coach, including as caretaker manager in 1996 following the firing of Bruce Rioch, while they were waiting for Arsène Wenger's Japanese contract to run out.
During his tenure with Arsenal (1967-80 and 1984-2012), the team won 17 major trophies. It didn't win any trophies without him having a role between 1953 and 2014.
October 25, 1981: The Los Angeles Dodgers win Game 5 of the World Series, as back-to-back homers by Pedro Guerrero and Steve Yeager off Yankee ace Ron Guidry give the Dodgers their 3rd consecutive win, 2-1.
This turns out to be Reggie Jackson's last game as a Yankee. Reggie went 1-for-4 with a 2nd-inning double. But he had been battling an injury, and manager Bob Lemon -- acting on Yankee owner George Steinbrenner's orders, it has been alleged -- kept "Mr. October" out of Game 6, and the Dodgers won it to clinch the Series. George did not try to re-sign Reggie, which he later said was the biggest mistake he made as Yankee owner. Reggie signed with the Angels.
After this game, George says he'd scuffled with 2 Dodger fans in a hotel elevator, and emerges with a fat lip and a broken hand.
Also on this day, Pete Reiser (pronounced REEZ-er, not RIZE-er like actor Paul, no relation) dies at the age of 62. His relatively early death may have been hastened by the various injuries, including head injuries, he sustained as an outfielder for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Like Lenny Dykstra in the 1980s and '90s, he was a center fielder who frequently crashed into the outfield wall trying to make catches. Unlike Dykstra, he played in the 1940s, when outfield walls had no padding.
Branch Rickey, the general manager of the Cardinals, claimed he began scouting Reiser when he was just 12 years old, and while Reiser signed with the Dodgers instead, they were brought together when Rickey was hired as Dodger president in 1942. As a rookie in 1941, he won the NL batting title while the Dodgers took home the Pennant.
There was no Rookie of the Year award in those days; if there was, that year's awards would surely have gone to Reiser in the NL and Phil Rizzuto of the Yankees in the American League.
The following year, he was hitting .380 until he ran into a concrete outfield wall while running at full speed. That incident robbed him of any more effective play that year, and led to Brooklyn's painful drop in the NL standings. He led the NL in stolen bases in 1942 and '46, but a broken ankle in '47 robbed him of his great speed and hastened the end of his career. The Dodgers traded him after the '48 season, and he was done after '52, just 33 years old.
My Grandma used to tell the story of listening to the Dodgers on the radio in the Forties, and hearing that a player had crashed into the wall. She could never remember which player it was, but, considering his tendencies, it has to have been Reiser.
As Reiser was being carried off the field on a stretcher, the public-address announcer at Ebbets Field, Tex Rickards (nicknamed after Tex Rickard, the boxing promoter who built the old Madison Square Garden and the old Boston Garden), asked why Reiser was being taken out of the game. Some less-than-fully-educated Brooklyn guy must've told him, "He don't feel good."
And Grandma could hear the announcement over the radio: "Ladies and gentlemen, Reiser has to leave the game, because he don't feel good!" Grandma said she knew that Dodger broadcaster Red Barber, a Southerner but a cultured gentleman, would have a fit over this poor grammar from the PA announcer. Sure enough, he did.
Reiser's first big-league manager, Leo Durocher, always said that Willie Mays was the greatest player he ever saw, let alone managed, but thought nearly as highly of Reiser: "Willie Mays had everything. Pete Reiser had everything but luck." (An ironic statement, since he was born on March 17, 1919, St. Patrick’s Day – although he was of German descent, not Irish.)
Durocher later hired Reiser as one of his coaches, and he was named Minor League Manager of the Year by The Sporting News in 1959. But in 1965, while managing the Spokane Indians of the Pacific Coast League, he suffered a heart attack and resigned. His replacement there was the same man who had replaced him as center fielder in Brooklyn in 1947, Duke Snider, a considerably luckier man who made the Hall of Fame and lived until 2011.
Also on this day, Shaun Wright-Phillips is born in the Greenwich section of London. The midfielder is the adopted son of Arsenal legend and TV soccer pundit Ian Wright (and has often worn his father’s Number 8), and the half-brother of Bradley Wright-Phillips. They were teammates at Manchester City, and for a while, they were teammates with the New York Red Bulls.
Together, they won the 2015 MLS Supporters' Shield, for finishing 1st overall in the league's regular season. This year, they finished 1st in the Eastern Conference regular season, and are determined to help the Red Bulls finally win that elusive 1st MLS Cup. Previously, Shaun won 2 Premier League titles with West London club Chelsea. He last played in 2017, for Phoenix Rising FC in the United Soccer League.
October 25, 1983: U.S. Marines invade the Caribbean island nation of Grenada, in what is known as Operation Urgent Fury. The purpose is to overthrow the leftist government that had been endangering American citizens living there. In 1986, Clint Eastwood would direct and star in a film about it,
And Grandma could hear the announcement over the radio: "Ladies and gentlemen, Reiser has to leave the game, because he don't feel good!" Grandma said she knew that Dodger broadcaster Red Barber, a Southerner but a cultured gentleman, would have a fit over this poor grammar from the PA announcer. Sure enough, he did.
Reiser's first big-league manager, Leo Durocher, always said that Willie Mays was the greatest player he ever saw, let alone managed, but thought nearly as highly of Reiser: "Willie Mays had everything. Pete Reiser had everything but luck." (An ironic statement, since he was born on March 17, 1919, St. Patrick’s Day – although he was of German descent, not Irish.)
Durocher later hired Reiser as one of his coaches, and he was named Minor League Manager of the Year by The Sporting News in 1959. But in 1965, while managing the Spokane Indians of the Pacific Coast League, he suffered a heart attack and resigned. His replacement there was the same man who had replaced him as center fielder in Brooklyn in 1947, Duke Snider, a considerably luckier man who made the Hall of Fame and lived until 2011.
Also on this day, Shaun Wright-Phillips is born in the Greenwich section of London. The midfielder is the adopted son of Arsenal legend and TV soccer pundit Ian Wright (and has often worn his father’s Number 8), and the half-brother of Bradley Wright-Phillips. They were teammates at Manchester City, and for a while, they were teammates with the New York Red Bulls.
Together, they won the 2015 MLS Supporters' Shield, for finishing 1st overall in the league's regular season. This year, they finished 1st in the Eastern Conference regular season, and are determined to help the Red Bulls finally win that elusive 1st MLS Cup. Previously, Shaun won 2 Premier League titles with West London club Chelsea. He last played in 2017, for Phoenix Rising FC in the United Soccer League.
October 25, 1983: U.S. Marines invade the Caribbean island nation of Grenada, in what is known as Operation Urgent Fury. The purpose is to overthrow the leftist government that had been endangering American citizens living there. In 1986, Clint Eastwood would direct and star in a film about it,
Heartbreak Ridge.
In his memoir Man of the House, retired House Speaker Thomas "Tip" O'Neill of Massachusetts said he believed it was designed to obscure the Beirut bombing 2 days earlier, because Reagan would be running for re-election in a little over a year. I believed this for many years: At the very least, knowing what I knew about Reagan, it was plausible.
But in 2011, in the debate over President Barack Obama's alleged tendency toward taking vacations -- alleged by Donald Trump, who has since rendered himself the last person who should have suggested it -- I knew that Obama had approved the plan to kill Osama bin Laden while on vacation, that President Bill Clinton had approved a previous plan to attack bin Laden's forces on vacation in 1998, and that President Eisenhower had ordered the 101st Airborne to Little Rock while on vacation in 1957. I also knew that President George W. Bush had ignored a warning about bin Laden while on vacation in 2001; and that, presuming he was telling the truth, President Richard Nixon was first told about the Watergate break-in while on vacation in 1972.
So I sent an e-mail to the Reagan Library, asking if Reagan, whose tendency to go on vacation led Tonight Show host Johnny Carson to say, "Ronald Reagan spends more time in California than I do," had approved any major policy initiatives while at his ranch outside Santa Barbara, not including famously signing his 1981 tax cut there (which I already knew). I was told that he approved the Grenada invasion while he was there -- before the Beirut bombing, thus debunking Tip's theory.
Also on this day, Bay City Blues premieres on NBC, about a minor-league baseball team. Unfortunately, the TV season and the baseball season do not match up well, and this is one of many TV shows about a baseball team that failed. It is possible that news of the invasion helped distract people from the premiere, thus killing any of its momentum.
The series was created by Stephen Bochco, and featured many performers who had previously acted for him, and would again on shows like Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law and NYPD Blue: Dennis Franz, Ken Olin and Michele Greene. The one who would become the biggest star did not, however, do so through a Bochco vehicle: Sharon Stone. Michael Nouri played aging veteran Joe Rohner, and would later play Joe DiMaggio in Billy Crystal's film about the 1961 Yankees, 61*.
Also on this day, Happy Days airs the episode "Welcome Home." Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard) and Ralph Malph (Don Most) make their 1st appearances in 3 years, having been discharged from the U.S. Army.
Richie wants to move to California, to switch from journalism to screenwriting. His parents don't like it. In the 2nd half of the 2-parter, airing on November 1, he goes to Arnold's, and drinks too much. Up until now, most of us hadn't realized that Arnold's even served beer and booze.
In his memoir Man of the House, retired House Speaker Thomas "Tip" O'Neill of Massachusetts said he believed it was designed to obscure the Beirut bombing 2 days earlier, because Reagan would be running for re-election in a little over a year. I believed this for many years: At the very least, knowing what I knew about Reagan, it was plausible.
But in 2011, in the debate over President Barack Obama's alleged tendency toward taking vacations -- alleged by Donald Trump, who has since rendered himself the last person who should have suggested it -- I knew that Obama had approved the plan to kill Osama bin Laden while on vacation, that President Bill Clinton had approved a previous plan to attack bin Laden's forces on vacation in 1998, and that President Eisenhower had ordered the 101st Airborne to Little Rock while on vacation in 1957. I also knew that President George W. Bush had ignored a warning about bin Laden while on vacation in 2001; and that, presuming he was telling the truth, President Richard Nixon was first told about the Watergate break-in while on vacation in 1972.
So I sent an e-mail to the Reagan Library, asking if Reagan, whose tendency to go on vacation led Tonight Show host Johnny Carson to say, "Ronald Reagan spends more time in California than I do," had approved any major policy initiatives while at his ranch outside Santa Barbara, not including famously signing his 1981 tax cut there (which I already knew). I was told that he approved the Grenada invasion while he was there -- before the Beirut bombing, thus debunking Tip's theory.
Also on this day, Bay City Blues premieres on NBC, about a minor-league baseball team. Unfortunately, the TV season and the baseball season do not match up well, and this is one of many TV shows about a baseball team that failed. It is possible that news of the invasion helped distract people from the premiere, thus killing any of its momentum.
The series was created by Stephen Bochco, and featured many performers who had previously acted for him, and would again on shows like Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law and NYPD Blue: Dennis Franz, Ken Olin and Michele Greene. The one who would become the biggest star did not, however, do so through a Bochco vehicle: Sharon Stone. Michael Nouri played aging veteran Joe Rohner, and would later play Joe DiMaggio in Billy Crystal's film about the 1961 Yankees, 61*.
Also on this day, Happy Days airs the episode "Welcome Home." Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard) and Ralph Malph (Don Most) make their 1st appearances in 3 years, having been discharged from the U.S. Army.
Richie wants to move to California, to switch from journalism to screenwriting. His parents don't like it. In the 2nd half of the 2-parter, airing on November 1, he goes to Arnold's, and drinks too much. Up until now, most of us hadn't realized that Arnold's even served beer and booze.
When Fonzie tries to get Richie to come home, Richie decks him. A shocker, given their relationship thus far. But, given a little thought, it was not that surprising: The Fonz may have been street tough, but Richie was now a trained soldier.
They make up, and Richie writes a letter telling the Fonz how he feels about him, saying he writes better than he talks, and goes on about how he doesn't know how to tell Fonzie how he feels. Fonzie says, "I think you just did," and tells him that he loves him.
The series ends that season, on May 8, 1984, with the wedding of Richie's sister Joanie (Erin Moran) and Fonzie's cousin Charles "Chachi" Arcola (Scott Baio), uniting the families. Richie, of course, attends.
Also on this day, Adrian Awasom (no middle name) is born in Yaounde, Cameroon, and grows up in the Houston suburb of Stafford, Texas. A defensive end, he was with the Giants when they won Super Bowl XLII.
October 25, 1984: Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson is born in Santa Barbara, California. She wanted to sing, but couldn't use her real name, Katy Hudson, because people would confuse her with actress Kate Hudson. So she became Katy Perry. She performed the halftime show at Super Bowl XLIX in 2015.
October 25, 1985: Sayreville War Memorial High School in Central Jersey moves its scheduled football game with neighboring East Brunswick back a day, so it can be the 1st night game at the school.
The Bombers were talking a lot of trash, saying that they were going to beat EB -- something they'd previously done only once in 22 tries. They didn't. Da Bears came from 13-0 down to win, 14-13.
As late as 1990, EB would be 27-1 all-time vs. Sayreville. Then a new coach was hired, and it turned the tide. Since then, Sayreville has a 23-7 record against EB, for a total of EB 34, Sayreville 29.
Also on this day, Colt Anderson (no middle name) is born in Butte, Montana. The safety played at the University of Montana, and was All-Big Sky Conference 3 times, before playing 2 seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, 2 with (appropriately) the Indianapolis Colts, and 2 with the Buffalo Bills. He is now the special teams coach for the Cincinnati Bengals.
They make up, and Richie writes a letter telling the Fonz how he feels about him, saying he writes better than he talks, and goes on about how he doesn't know how to tell Fonzie how he feels. Fonzie says, "I think you just did," and tells him that he loves him.
The series ends that season, on May 8, 1984, with the wedding of Richie's sister Joanie (Erin Moran) and Fonzie's cousin Charles "Chachi" Arcola (Scott Baio), uniting the families. Richie, of course, attends.
Also on this day, Adrian Awasom (no middle name) is born in Yaounde, Cameroon, and grows up in the Houston suburb of Stafford, Texas. A defensive end, he was with the Giants when they won Super Bowl XLII.
October 25, 1984: Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson is born in Santa Barbara, California. She wanted to sing, but couldn't use her real name, Katy Hudson, because people would confuse her with actress Kate Hudson. So she became Katy Perry. She performed the halftime show at Super Bowl XLIX in 2015.
October 25, 1985: Sayreville War Memorial High School in Central Jersey moves its scheduled football game with neighboring East Brunswick back a day, so it can be the 1st night game at the school.
The Bombers were talking a lot of trash, saying that they were going to beat EB -- something they'd previously done only once in 22 tries. They didn't. Da Bears came from 13-0 down to win, 14-13.
As late as 1990, EB would be 27-1 all-time vs. Sayreville. Then a new coach was hired, and it turned the tide. Since then, Sayreville has a 23-7 record against EB, for a total of EB 34, Sayreville 29.
Also on this day, Colt Anderson (no middle name) is born in Butte, Montana. The safety played at the University of Montana, and was All-Big Sky Conference 3 times, before playing 2 seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, 2 with (appropriately) the Indianapolis Colts, and 2 with the Buffalo Bills. He is now the special teams coach for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Also on this day, Ciara Princess Harris is born in Austin, Texas. The R&B singer married Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson in 2016.
*
October 25, 1986: Dave Henderson steps to the plate at 11:59 PM, and hits a home run off Rick Aguilera, to give the Boston Red Sox a 4-3 lead over the New York Mets in the top of the 10th inning of Game 6 of the World Series.
By the time he crosses the plate, it's 12:00 midnight, October 26. The Red Sox will extend their lead to 5-3 before their half of the inning is over. All they need now is 3 more outs in the bottom of the 10th.
They get the 1st 2. You know the rest. But do you really remember? Red Sox pitcher Calvin Schiraldi, an ex-Met, allows a single to Gary Carter. Then he allows a single to Kevin Mitchell. Carter to 2nd. Then he allows a single to Ray Knight. Carter scores, Mitchell to 2nd, 5-4 Red Sox. Then Sox manager John McNamara pulls Schiraldi, and calls on Bob Stanley, once a very good reliever, but by this point in his career a lost cause.
Stanley faces William Hayward "Mookie" Wilson, and gets to 2 strikes. There were 13 separate pitches that could have ended this game in victory and a 1st World Championship in 68 years for the Red Sox. The 13th almost hit Mookie. He jumps out of the way, and it rolls to the backstop. Wild pitch. Mitchell scores, Knight to 2nd, 5-5 tie.
For the Mets and their fans, Christmas had come 2 months early: The Red Sox had given them the game. They had royally blown it. According Dan Shaughnessy, the Boston Globe columnist, in his book The Curse of the Bambino, somebody later calculated that the odds of the Red Sox blowing a 2-run, 2-out, 2-strike lead at that point were 320-1.
Three hundred and twenty to one. Think about that for a moment: A baseball regular season lasts 162 games. So if you had those conditions every single game -- 2 outs, 2 strikes on the batter, and you're up by 2 runs -- the odds are that you would win every single game in a season, and nearly every single game in a 2nd season, up to Game 158 of that 2nd season, before you would lose one.
Another source said that the Mets' chances of winning the World Series were:
* 5 percent when the bottom of the 10th began;
* 0.8 percent when they were down to their last strike
* 2 percent after Carter's single;
* 5 percent after Mitchell's single;
* 11 percent after Knight singled home Carter;
* and 35 percent after Stanley's wild pitch tied the game.
In other words, even after the lead was fully blown and the game tied, there was still a better than 2-to-1 chance that the Red Sox would win the World Series.
Well, some teams have meltdowns that last 2 months, like the 1978 Red Sox, the 1969 Cubs, and the 1995 California Angels. Some teams have meltdowns that last 1 month, like the 2011 Red Sox, the 2007 Mets and the 1951 Dodgers. Some teams have meltdowns that last 2 weeks, like the 1964 Philadelphia Phillies. Some teams have meltdowns that last 1 week, like the 1987 Toronto Blue Jays. Some teams have meltdowns that last less than a week, like the 2004 and 2012 Yankees. The 1986 Red Sox had a meltdown that lasted 10 minutes.
You'll notice that there's a name I haven't mentioned yet: That of Red Sox 1st baseman Bill Buckner. The Red Sox had already blown a lead that is the closest any team, in any of the 4 major league sports, had ever been to winning a World Championship without actually getting it. Even the 1999 Bayern Munich soccer team that allowed goals in the 91st minute to Teddy Sheringham and in the 93rd to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to blow the UEFA Champions League Final didn't come that close.
The Sox had blown what should have been an insurmountable lead, and Bill Buckner had absolutely nothing to do with it.
Then Stanley threw Mookie another pitch. It was, as Los Angeles Dodger broadcaster Vin Scully, leading the broadcast team for NBC, described, a "little roller up along first." It remains the most famous defensive miscue in the history of sports, over Fred Snodgrass' 1912 "$30,000 Muff," over Mickey Owen's 1941 passed ball, over any missed tackle in football, over any goalie's mistake in hockey or soccer, over any hockey or soccer player's own goal.
Buckner had injuries on both legs, and, as Yogi Berra might have said, even when he could run, he couldn't run. He was not going to beat Mookie to the bag, and Stanley hadn't run over to 1st to cover the base and take a throw. Mookie would have made it to 1st, and the bases would have been loaded. Granted, the next batter was light-hitting shortstop Rafael Santana, but, at that point, no one would have bet against the Mets. Scully was right: "If one picture is worth a thousand words, we have seen about a million words tonight!"
There will be time to tease the Mets about their 34 years of failure since October 1986. This is about how the Red Sox are cursed. So cursed they needed to cheat to interrupt the curse. And, as we now know, the curse still lives. It's been 102 years since they won a World Series fair and square.
In spite of how much many Yankee Fans already hated them, it would take the Nomar/Pedro/Papi Era, 1998 to the present, for the Red Sox to truly become The Scum. But, retroactively, they deserved The Buckner Game.
In 1975, the Red Sox won a World Series Game 6 that was a game for the ages. But for 34 years now, you can say the words "Game Six" in New England, or to a New Englander wherever he might be, and, instead of bringing a smile to his face, you would bring him to say, "Which one?" At least now, with his death earlier this year, Buckner will never have to face any more questions about it.
Also on the day of the Mets-Red Sox Game 6, the East Brunswick football team isn't so lucky. They lose 20-17 to Perth Amboy, in a game riddled with atrocious officiating, and this costs them a spot in the Central Jersey Group IV Playoffs. They will, however, win their last 3 games and take the Greater Middlesex Conference Red Division title.
Also on this day, Edward Gaven (no middle name) is born in Hamilton, Mercer County, New Jersey, outside Trenton. Eddie Gaven went to Steinert High School (sometimes listed as "Hamilton East"), and played the 2003, '04 and '05 with his home-State New York/New Jersey MetroStars, the last seasons before the rebranding as Red Bull New York.
From 2006 to 2013, the midfielder played for the Columbus Crew, winning the MLS Cup in 2008 (beating the Red Bulls in the Final) and the Supporters' Shield in 2008 and 2009. He now coaches the soccer team at Ave Maria University in South Florida.
*
October 25, 1987: The Minnesota Twins defeat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, in Game 7, and win the World Series. It is the 1st-ever World Championship for a Minnesota baseball team, the 1st for the franchise since they were the Washington Senators in 1924 (63 years), the 1st for any Minnesota sports team since the Lakers won the 1954 NBA Championship (33 years), and the 1st title for either an MLB team or an NFL team that plays its home games in a dome.
*
October 25, 1986: Dave Henderson steps to the plate at 11:59 PM, and hits a home run off Rick Aguilera, to give the Boston Red Sox a 4-3 lead over the New York Mets in the top of the 10th inning of Game 6 of the World Series.
By the time he crosses the plate, it's 12:00 midnight, October 26. The Red Sox will extend their lead to 5-3 before their half of the inning is over. All they need now is 3 more outs in the bottom of the 10th.
They get the 1st 2. You know the rest. But do you really remember? Red Sox pitcher Calvin Schiraldi, an ex-Met, allows a single to Gary Carter. Then he allows a single to Kevin Mitchell. Carter to 2nd. Then he allows a single to Ray Knight. Carter scores, Mitchell to 2nd, 5-4 Red Sox. Then Sox manager John McNamara pulls Schiraldi, and calls on Bob Stanley, once a very good reliever, but by this point in his career a lost cause.
Stanley faces William Hayward "Mookie" Wilson, and gets to 2 strikes. There were 13 separate pitches that could have ended this game in victory and a 1st World Championship in 68 years for the Red Sox. The 13th almost hit Mookie. He jumps out of the way, and it rolls to the backstop. Wild pitch. Mitchell scores, Knight to 2nd, 5-5 tie.
For the Mets and their fans, Christmas had come 2 months early: The Red Sox had given them the game. They had royally blown it. According Dan Shaughnessy, the Boston Globe columnist, in his book The Curse of the Bambino, somebody later calculated that the odds of the Red Sox blowing a 2-run, 2-out, 2-strike lead at that point were 320-1.
Three hundred and twenty to one. Think about that for a moment: A baseball regular season lasts 162 games. So if you had those conditions every single game -- 2 outs, 2 strikes on the batter, and you're up by 2 runs -- the odds are that you would win every single game in a season, and nearly every single game in a 2nd season, up to Game 158 of that 2nd season, before you would lose one.
Another source said that the Mets' chances of winning the World Series were:
* 5 percent when the bottom of the 10th began;
* 0.8 percent when they were down to their last strike
* 2 percent after Carter's single;
* 5 percent after Mitchell's single;
* 11 percent after Knight singled home Carter;
* and 35 percent after Stanley's wild pitch tied the game.
In other words, even after the lead was fully blown and the game tied, there was still a better than 2-to-1 chance that the Red Sox would win the World Series.
Well, some teams have meltdowns that last 2 months, like the 1978 Red Sox, the 1969 Cubs, and the 1995 California Angels. Some teams have meltdowns that last 1 month, like the 2011 Red Sox, the 2007 Mets and the 1951 Dodgers. Some teams have meltdowns that last 2 weeks, like the 1964 Philadelphia Phillies. Some teams have meltdowns that last 1 week, like the 1987 Toronto Blue Jays. Some teams have meltdowns that last less than a week, like the 2004 and 2012 Yankees. The 1986 Red Sox had a meltdown that lasted 10 minutes.
You'll notice that there's a name I haven't mentioned yet: That of Red Sox 1st baseman Bill Buckner. The Red Sox had already blown a lead that is the closest any team, in any of the 4 major league sports, had ever been to winning a World Championship without actually getting it. Even the 1999 Bayern Munich soccer team that allowed goals in the 91st minute to Teddy Sheringham and in the 93rd to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to blow the UEFA Champions League Final didn't come that close.
The Sox had blown what should have been an insurmountable lead, and Bill Buckner had absolutely nothing to do with it.
Then Stanley threw Mookie another pitch. It was, as Los Angeles Dodger broadcaster Vin Scully, leading the broadcast team for NBC, described, a "little roller up along first." It remains the most famous defensive miscue in the history of sports, over Fred Snodgrass' 1912 "$30,000 Muff," over Mickey Owen's 1941 passed ball, over any missed tackle in football, over any goalie's mistake in hockey or soccer, over any hockey or soccer player's own goal.
Buckner had injuries on both legs, and, as Yogi Berra might have said, even when he could run, he couldn't run. He was not going to beat Mookie to the bag, and Stanley hadn't run over to 1st to cover the base and take a throw. Mookie would have made it to 1st, and the bases would have been loaded. Granted, the next batter was light-hitting shortstop Rafael Santana, but, at that point, no one would have bet against the Mets. Scully was right: "If one picture is worth a thousand words, we have seen about a million words tonight!"
There will be time to tease the Mets about their 34 years of failure since October 1986. This is about how the Red Sox are cursed. So cursed they needed to cheat to interrupt the curse. And, as we now know, the curse still lives. It's been 102 years since they won a World Series fair and square.
In spite of how much many Yankee Fans already hated them, it would take the Nomar/Pedro/Papi Era, 1998 to the present, for the Red Sox to truly become The Scum. But, retroactively, they deserved The Buckner Game.
In 1975, the Red Sox won a World Series Game 6 that was a game for the ages. But for 34 years now, you can say the words "Game Six" in New England, or to a New Englander wherever he might be, and, instead of bringing a smile to his face, you would bring him to say, "Which one?" At least now, with his death earlier this year, Buckner will never have to face any more questions about it.
Also on the day of the Mets-Red Sox Game 6, the East Brunswick football team isn't so lucky. They lose 20-17 to Perth Amboy, in a game riddled with atrocious officiating, and this costs them a spot in the Central Jersey Group IV Playoffs. They will, however, win their last 3 games and take the Greater Middlesex Conference Red Division title.
Also on this day, Edward Gaven (no middle name) is born in Hamilton, Mercer County, New Jersey, outside Trenton. Eddie Gaven went to Steinert High School (sometimes listed as "Hamilton East"), and played the 2003, '04 and '05 with his home-State New York/New Jersey MetroStars, the last seasons before the rebranding as Red Bull New York.
From 2006 to 2013, the midfielder played for the Columbus Crew, winning the MLS Cup in 2008 (beating the Red Bulls in the Final) and the Supporters' Shield in 2008 and 2009. He now coaches the soccer team at Ave Maria University in South Florida.
*
October 25, 1987: The Minnesota Twins defeat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, in Game 7, and win the World Series. It is the 1st-ever World Championship for a Minnesota baseball team, the 1st for the franchise since they were the Washington Senators in 1924 (63 years), the 1st for any Minnesota sports team since the Lakers won the 1954 NBA Championship (33 years), and the 1st title for either an MLB team or an NFL team that plays its home games in a dome.
The Twins' Game 7 starter, Frank Viola, is named Series MVP. The Cards' starter, Danny Cox, was thrown out of the game by umpire Dave Phillips for arguing with him after manager Whitey Herzog had relieved him. He remains the last player thrown out of a World Series game.
The Twins won Games 1, 2, 6 and 7 at the Metrodome. The Cards won Games 3, 4 and 5 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. This is the 1st time every game of a World Series has been won by the home team. It has happened since in 1991 (again the Twins, over the Braves) and 2001 (Diamondbacks over Yankees).
Also on this day, in the 1st game back after the NFL strike was settled, Philadelphia Eagles head coach Buddy Ryan calls for a fake spike in the final seconds of a game with the Dallas Cowboys at Veterans Stadium, as payback for Cowboy coach Tom Landry using strikebreaking starting players at Texas Stadium 2 weeks earlier. Already up by 10 points, the Eagles score a touchdown to win 37-20.
Games like this, the later "Bounty Bowls" vs. the Cowboys, and the "Body Bag Game" against the Washington Redskins are why Eagles fans still love Buddy Ryan. Maybe they'd love him a lot more if he remembered that he had Randall Cunningham, the quarterback known as "The Ultimate Weapon." But, like his son Rex Ryan, Buddy was a defensive genius but clueless when it came to offense.
Also on this day, Darron Thomas Daniel Gibson is born in Derry, Northern Ireland. The midfielder was a typically dirty Manchester United player, helping them win the League Cup in 2009 and 2010, and the Premier League in 2011.
He now plays for Manchester-area team Salford City in England's 4th division. In spite of his birthplace, he plays his international soccer for the Republic of Ireland.
Also on this day, in the 1st game back after the NFL strike was settled, Philadelphia Eagles head coach Buddy Ryan calls for a fake spike in the final seconds of a game with the Dallas Cowboys at Veterans Stadium, as payback for Cowboy coach Tom Landry using strikebreaking starting players at Texas Stadium 2 weeks earlier. Already up by 10 points, the Eagles score a touchdown to win 37-20.
Games like this, the later "Bounty Bowls" vs. the Cowboys, and the "Body Bag Game" against the Washington Redskins are why Eagles fans still love Buddy Ryan. Maybe they'd love him a lot more if he remembered that he had Randall Cunningham, the quarterback known as "The Ultimate Weapon." But, like his son Rex Ryan, Buddy was a defensive genius but clueless when it came to offense.
Also on this day, Darron Thomas Daniel Gibson is born in Derry, Northern Ireland. The midfielder was a typically dirty Manchester United player, helping them win the League Cup in 2009 and 2010, and the Premier League in 2011.
He now plays for Manchester-area team Salford City in England's 4th division. In spite of his birthplace, he plays his international soccer for the Republic of Ireland.
*
October 25, 1990, 30 years ago: Evander Holyfield knocks out James "Buster" Douglas in the 3rd round, and wins the Heavyweight Championship of the World, at the Mirage casino-hotel in Paradise, Nevada, outside Las Vegas. It was Douglas' 1st defense, after his shocking February knockout of Mike Tyson.
This fight was supposed to be Tyson-Holyfield, or at least Tyson-Holyfield I. But Tyson had committed a shocking crime, and would serve time in prison. Eventually, he and Holyfield would fight. Twice. But we remember those fights not as "Tyson-Holyfield," but as "Holyfield-Tyson."
October 25, 1991: George Brunet dies of a heart attack in Poza Rica, Mexico. The native of Calumet, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, was only 56 years old. He pitched in the major leagues from 1956 to 1971, for 9 different teams, 6 of which are no longer using the names they were using them: The Kansas City Athletics (Oakland), the Milwaukee Braves (Atlanta), the Houston Colt .45's (Astros), the Los Angeles Angels who became the California Angels while he was there (and are now the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim), the Seattle Pilots (Milwaukee Brewers) and Washington Senators (Texas Rangers).
He also played for the Baltimore Orioles, the Pittsburgh Pirates (with whom he made his only postseason appearance, in the 1970 National League Championship Series) and the St. Louis Cardinals.
In his diary of the 1969 season with the Pilots, Ball Four, former Yankee pitcher Jim Bouton mentions the team's acquisition of Brunet from the Angels, and said, "He'll fit right in on this ballclub. He's crazy." (He was a lefthanded pitcher, and crazy was their stereotype even then.)
One time, after a game, Bouton -- prefacing his observation with his admission that he is the last guy who should be referencing anyone else's strange behavior -- asked Brunet, "Did you forget to put on your undershorts?" Brunet said, "No, I never wear them. This way, I don't have to worry about losing them. The only time you ever need them is when you're in an accident."
October 25, 1991: George Brunet dies of a heart attack in Poza Rica, Mexico. The native of Calumet, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, was only 56 years old. He pitched in the major leagues from 1956 to 1971, for 9 different teams, 6 of which are no longer using the names they were using them: The Kansas City Athletics (Oakland), the Milwaukee Braves (Atlanta), the Houston Colt .45's (Astros), the Los Angeles Angels who became the California Angels while he was there (and are now the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim), the Seattle Pilots (Milwaukee Brewers) and Washington Senators (Texas Rangers).
He also played for the Baltimore Orioles, the Pittsburgh Pirates (with whom he made his only postseason appearance, in the 1970 National League Championship Series) and the St. Louis Cardinals.
In his diary of the 1969 season with the Pilots, Ball Four, former Yankee pitcher Jim Bouton mentions the team's acquisition of Brunet from the Angels, and said, "He'll fit right in on this ballclub. He's crazy." (He was a lefthanded pitcher, and crazy was their stereotype even then.)
One time, after a game, Bouton -- prefacing his observation with his admission that he is the last guy who should be referencing anyone else's strange behavior -- asked Brunet, "Did you forget to put on your undershorts?" Brunet said, "No, I never wear them. This way, I don't have to worry about losing them. The only time you ever need them is when you're in an accident."
He was 69-93 in the major leagues. He went to the Mexican League, and kept on pitching. And pitching. And pitching. They called him El Viejo: The Old One. In 1978, at age 42, he pitched a no-hitter. He kept going until 1989, at age 54, giving him 36 seasons of playing in professional baseball, which is believed to be a record.
October 25, 1993: Canada holds a federal election. Brian Mulroney had resigned as Prime Minister and Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party 4 months earlier, because he knew that the PCs, or "Tories," were going to get clobbered. So he asked the Party to approve his Minister of Justice, Kim Campbell as Leader, thus making her the 1st female head of government in North America. She was also the 1st Prime Minister from the Province of British Columbia.
If Mulroney thought this might gain the Tories some female voters, he was very, very wrong. The Liberal Party gained 96 votes to achieve 177 seats and a majority, and make their Leader, Jean Chrétien, the new Prime Minister. The Tories went from 156 seats to only 2 -- and Campbell's, for Vancouver Centre, was not one of them. Nor was Mulroney's, in Charlevoix, Quebec. They fell from 43 percent of the popular vote to 16 percent.
Campbell's 133-day tenure as Prime Minister was one of the shortest in the nation's history, and it was not her fault at all that it ended so soon. After 9 years of Mulroney, the countries was sick of the Tories. They went from the most seats in the House of Commons to 5th place.
The Bloc Québécois, essentially representing the interests of people who didn't even want to be in Canada anymore, were now in 2nd place, and thus the official Opposition, with 54. The Reform Party was now the leading right-of-center party, going from just 1 seat to 52. And the New Democratic Party, the largest openly socialist party in North America, actually lost seats, retaining 35. Left parties now outnumbered right parties 266-54, getting 75 percent of the popular vote.
Chrétien remained in office for 10 years, his party for nearly 13. The PCs and the Reform Party would merge to form a new Conservative Party, and it would regain power under Stephen Harper in 2006.
October 25, 1994: Had the 1994 baseball season been allowed to reach a conclusion, this was the day that Game 3 of the World Series would have been played, at the home park of the American League Champion.
Also on this day, at the Arava border crossing at the Dead Sea, overseen by President Bill Clinton, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel and King Hussein I of Jordan sign a peace treaty, ending the official state of war between their countries, which had existed since Israel's declaration of independence in 1948.
October 25, 1995, 25 years ago: Game 4 of the World Series. Ryan Klesko hits a home run to back the pitching of Steve Avery, and the Atlanta Braves beat the Cleveland Indians 5-2. The Braves are now 1 win away from their 1st title since 1957, when they were in Milwaukee.
Also on this day, August Anheuser Busch III, a.k.a. Augie Busch, announces that he's selling the Cardinals, whom his father, August Anheuser Bush Jr., a.k.a. Gussie Busch, had bought 42 years earlier, not because he liked baseball, but because he wanted to use it as a vehicle to sell Budweiser. Mission accomplished: Bud was not especially popular in 1953, but by the time Busch Memorial Stadium opened in 1966, it was the most popular beer in the country. And, oh yeah, on the Busch family's watch, the Cards had won 6 Pennants and 3 World Series.
Bill DeWitt Jr., whose father had been an executive with the St. Louis Browns, is the eventual buyer, and still owns the team.
Also on this day, Bobby Riggs dies at age 77. He really was a great tennis player once, winning both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. But that was all the way back in 1939. By 1973, he was a 55-year-old hustler, countering the era's trend of "women's liberation" by being -- or, at least, acting the part of, only he knew for sure -- a proud male chauvinist pig. He challenged one of the era's top women's tennis players, Margaret Smith Court, and he beat her. Next, he challenged the top woman in the game at the time, Billie Jean King.
On September 20, 1973, "the Battle of the Sexes" was held at the Astrodome in Houston. Billie Jean, who had already done so much to advance the causes of both tennis and women's sports, took no chances and showed no mercy: She beat Riggs 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, a genuine wipeout. While Riggs remained unrepentant in his chauvinism, he admitted that Billie Jean was better, and he never challenged another high-profile female player.
It has since been alleged that Bobby's hustling was the result of a gambling addiction, which is easy enough to believe; and that he threw the match to pay off his Mob-held gambling debts, which is harder to believe. After all, he would have made a lot more money having won the match, and taking the appearances and endorsements that followed, than betting on himself and losing.
A few weeks later, on November 16, the 2 of them guest-starred on The Odd Couple, in the episode "The Pig Who Came to Dinner." The episode lampooned Riggs' hustler image: Oscar bet Felix that "Bobby Riggs" would kiss him and he'd like it, sending a gorgeous woman named Roberta Riggs to do it. But Bobby hustles Oscar so much, that Oscar has lost everything he owns.
The only thing he has left to bet is Felix. Bobby bets Oscar that he, a sportswriter, cannot type his own name in 10 seconds. If Oscar wins, he gets everything back. If he loses, Felix becomes his servant. Felix ends up saying, "In 1776, Thomas Jefferson wrote that all men are created equal. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation! But in 1973, history was rewritten by 'Oscar Madisoy'!"
Felix wins his freedom back by betting Bobby he can hold a note longer than he can. Finally, he challenges Bobby to a table tennis match, and brings in a ringer: Billie Jean. Bobby loses again, but since it wasn't him vs. Oscar, Oscar still owes him. So Oscar bets him that Jack Kramer (the name of another famous tennis player of his generation) would kiss him and he'd like it. Of course, it's a woman named Jacqueline Kramer, and he admits defeat.
This would be parodied on Cheers, when Sam Malone (Ted Danson) is informed of a bet he doesn't remember, because he was drunk: By midnight that night, he had to marry Jacqueline Bisset, or he'd lose the bar. So he finds a woman named Jacqueline Bisset ("And she's got the ID to prove it!"), and she agrees to marry him. The opposing bettor, played by future Seinfeld actor Michael Richards, admits Sam has won, and he doesn't have to marry her.
In 2000, ABC, which had televised that Odd Couple episode and the original "Battle," aired the TV-movie When Billie Beat Bobby, with Holly Hunter as King and Ron Silver, in a rare mustache-less role for him, as Riggs. In 2017, a new feature film version, Battle of the Sexes, starred Emma Stone as Billie Jean and Steve Carell as Bobby.
October 25, 1996: On a travel day for the World Series between the Yankees and the Atlanta Braves, Frank Torre, former Milwaukee Braves 1st baseman and brother of Joe Torre, now the Yankee manager after having been a Braves player and manager, receives a heart transplant. The surgery takes place at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, which was built on the Upper Manhattan site of the Yankees' 1st ballpark, Hilltop Park.
Frank, who had helped the Braves beat the Yankees in the 1957 World Series, recovered quickly, and lived 18 years on his new heart.
October 25, 1997: Rapper and music executive Dr. Dre hears someone freestyling on Los Angeles radio station Power 106 (KPWR-FM, 105.9), and decides he has to sign him. It turns out to be Marshall Mathers, a Detroit native calling himself Eminem. The rest is history.
October 25, 1998: The Chicago Fire defeat 2-time defending Champion D.C. United 2-0 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, to win the MLS Cup. It is only the Fire's 1st season.
Despite DC having such talents as John Harkes, Jeff Agoos, Eddie Pope, Roy Lassiter, Marco Etcheverry and Jamie Moreno, it is the Fire who emerge victorious. Polish striker Jerzy Podbrożny
October 25, 1998: The Chicago Fire defeat 2-time defending Champion D.C. United 2-0 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, to win the MLS Cup. It is only the Fire's 1st season.
Despite DC having such talents as John Harkes, Jeff Agoos, Eddie Pope, Roy Lassiter, Marco Etcheverry and Jamie Moreno, it is the Fire who emerge victorious. Polish striker Jerzy Podbrożny
scores in the 29th minute, Colombian midfielder Diego Gutiérrez adds another just before the half, and another Pole, Chicago's Captain Piotr Nowak, is named Man of the Match, much to the delight of the large Polish rooting section among the Fire's ultra support, known as Section 8.
Zach Thornton keeps a clean sheet in goal. Manager Bob Bradley can also count among his starting lineup Jesse Marsch, later to manage the New York Red Bulls to 2 Supporters' Shields.
Also on this day, Juan José Soto Pacheco is born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The outfielder for the Washington Nationals was the youngest player in the major leagues in the 2018 season. Despite not being called up until May 20, he batted .292 with 22 home runs and 70 RBIs.
On June 18, 2018, he hit a home run against the Yankees. This was a game that had begun on May 15, and been suspended due to rain with a tie score in the 5th inning. Technically, he hit a home run before his major league debut.
In 2019, he got the game-winning hit in the Nationals' victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Wild Card Game, and continued to be a key in the Nationals' march to their 1st Pennant and World Series win.
October 25, 1999: Golfer Payne Stewart and 5 friends die in the crash of a Learjet. The plane was flying from Orlando to Dallas, and suffered a loss of cabin pressure, meaning that everyone on board was dead well before the plane finally ran out of gas and went down, far off course, in Mina, South Dakota.
Best known for wearing old-time golf clothing, including ivy caps and plus-fours for pants, Stewart had recently participated in the U.S.' win in the Ryder Cup, and had also won the year's U.S. Open. He previously won it in 1991 and won the PGA Championship in 1989.
Stewart was 42. The section of Interstate 44 that goes through his hometown of Springfield, Missouri has been named the Payne Stewart Memorial Highway.
*
October 25, 2000, 20 years ago: Game 4 of the World Series at Shea Stadium. The Mets won Game 3 last night, to close within 2 games to 1.
Zach Thornton keeps a clean sheet in goal. Manager Bob Bradley can also count among his starting lineup Jesse Marsch, later to manage the New York Red Bulls to 2 Supporters' Shields.
Also on this day, Juan José Soto Pacheco is born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The outfielder for the Washington Nationals was the youngest player in the major leagues in the 2018 season. Despite not being called up until May 20, he batted .292 with 22 home runs and 70 RBIs.
On June 18, 2018, he hit a home run against the Yankees. This was a game that had begun on May 15, and been suspended due to rain with a tie score in the 5th inning. Technically, he hit a home run before his major league debut.
In 2019, he got the game-winning hit in the Nationals' victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Wild Card Game, and continued to be a key in the Nationals' march to their 1st Pennant and World Series win.
October 25, 1999: Golfer Payne Stewart and 5 friends die in the crash of a Learjet. The plane was flying from Orlando to Dallas, and suffered a loss of cabin pressure, meaning that everyone on board was dead well before the plane finally ran out of gas and went down, far off course, in Mina, South Dakota.
Best known for wearing old-time golf clothing, including ivy caps and plus-fours for pants, Stewart had recently participated in the U.S.' win in the Ryder Cup, and had also won the year's U.S. Open. He previously won it in 1991 and won the PGA Championship in 1989.
Stewart was 42. The section of Interstate 44 that goes through his hometown of Springfield, Missouri has been named the Payne Stewart Memorial Highway.
*
October 25, 2000, 20 years ago: Game 4 of the World Series at Shea Stadium. The Mets won Game 3 last night, to close within 2 games to 1.
Now, Bobby Jones is the Game 4 starter, and he's not especially good. However, the Yankees will have to choose between an aging and struggling David Cone, a struggling Denny Neagle, and Andy Pettitte on 3 days rest. This bodes well for the Mets, and if they win this one, then the Series is tied, and they've really got momentum. In Game 5, also at Shea, Al Leiter can outpitch Pettitte as he did in Game 1, and maybe this time the bullpen won't blow it; after all, after blowing the save in Game 1, Armando Benitez got it in Game 3.
Then the Mets only have to win 1 of 2 at Yankee Stadium to win the Subway Series, and reclaim New York from the Yankees. The Yanks will start Roger Clemens in Game 6, and after the bat-throwing incident in Game 2, the Mets will be loaded for bear, and Mike Hampton can't possibly have as bad a start in Game 6 as he had in Game 2, right? And if it still goes to Game 7, it'll be Rick Reed against Orlando Hernandez again, and Reed showed in Game 3 he could outpitch "El Duque."
So, at this point, if you're a Met fan, you don't have a lot of reason to be confident of ultimate victory; but your position is quite defensible, your team is hardly in deep trouble following the Game 3 win, and, as the one man who has ever managed both these teams to Pennants, Yogi Berra, has said, "It ain't over 'til it's over." This World Series is far from over, and if you're a Met fan, at this point, you do have some reason to be optimistic.
Game 4 begins, and that reason lasts all of one pitch. The 1st pitch of the game is from Jones to Derek Jeter, who knocks it over the left-field fence for a home run.
Neagle struggles in the 5th, and manager Joe Torre plays a huge hunch, bringing Cone, once a superb Met starter, out of the bullpen to face the dangerous Mike Piazza with the bases loaded. I have to admit, I was sure he was going to either walk home a run, or serve up a gopher ball for a grand slam. Instead, Cone gets Piazza to pop up, ending the threat. Cone never throws another postseason pitch, and he never throws another pitch for the Yankees. But he got the job done.
The Yankees hang on to win the game, 3-2, and take a 3 games to 1 lead in the Series. They can wrap it up tomorrow night. Met fans, who began the day feeling like it was still possible, are no longer using Tug McGraw’s old rallying cry of "Ya Gotta Believe!" Now, they'e using another familiar rallying cry, that of "Yankees Suck!"
But all is not good news in Yankeeland. Darryl Strawberry, who was introduced to stardom and drug as a Met, and has been one of George Steinbrenner's reclamation projects, is arrested and jailed, after leaving a treatment center following a weekend drug binge.
*
October 25, 2002: Senator Paul Wellstone, Democrat of Minnesota, running for a 3rd term, is killed in a plane crash outside Eveleth, Minnesota. One of the leading liberals in the U.S. Senate, he was 58 years old. His wife Sheila and his daughter Marcia are also killed. His sons David and Mark were not on the plane.
It was 11 days before the election. His memorial service was held at Williams Arena on the campus of the University of Minnesota. In accordance with State law, his name was removed from the ballot, and was replaced by that of a previous Senator from the State, and a former Vice President of the United States: Walter Mondale. He lost the election to the Republican nominee, Mayor Norm Coleman of St. Paul.
October 25, 2003: The Florida Marlins win their 2nd World Championship, as World Series MVP Josh Beckett hurls a 5-hit shutout in defeating the Yankees‚ 2-0‚ in Game 6. Luis Castillo's 5th-inning single brings home Florida's 1st run‚ the only one Beckett needs as he outduels Andy Pettitte. Thus the Marlins conclude their 2nd winning season in the past 11 years in the same manner they concluded their 1st winning season.
This was a particularly frustrating loss for this Yankee Fan, as we were just 1 run away from being up 3 games to 1, until Jeff Fucking Weaver gave up a walkoff home run to "the other Alex Gonzalez." And we go out meekly on our field, to this crummy squad that still looks like an expansion team (and now appears to be a fraud, as catcher Ivan Rodriguez is a suspected steroid user). And the last play of the game was a pathetic one, Jorge Posada hitting a meek grounder back to Beckett.
At this point, I didn't like Beckett, solely for what he did to the Yankees in this Series. After 2 more seasons in the Miami suburbs, he would be traded to the Red Sox, and I would dislike him just for belonging to that team. But after observing him a few times in a Boston uniform, I realized there was a perfectly legitimate reason to hate his guts: His personality.
This turns out to be the 99th and last World Series game played at the original Yankee Stadium. The
Yankees went 63-36 in these games. Thankfully, we later got the ABC TV series Castle, with a much better Beckett, a Detective loyal to New York, and played by the magnificent Stana Katic. Her character, while not explicitly a Yankee Fan, did get a thrill in the 2010 episode "The Suicide Squeeze," from meeting, as she called him, "Joe Freakin' Torre," who played himself.
Also on this day, Estádio Sport do Lisboa e Benfica, a.k.a. Estádio da Luz, opens in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon. The 64,642-seat Stadium of Light replaced the previous stadium, of the same name, which stood on the same site from 1954 to 2002. Seating 120,000 at its peak, its conversion to all-seater dropped it to 78,000.
S.L. Benfica, Portugal's greatest sports team, played the interim season, 2002-03, at the nearby Estadio Nacional, famed for hosting the 1967 European Cup Final, won by Glasgow's Celtic over Milan's Internazionale.
The new stadium inspired the design of other new stadiums, including the Emirates Stadium, which opened for London's Arsenal in 2006. Since moving in, The Eagles (also known as O Glorioso) have won Portugal's Primeira Liga 7 times.
October 25, 2005: Game 3 of the World Series at Minute Maid Park in Houston. This is the 1st World Series game ever played in the State of Texas. Geoff Blum's 14th inning homer off Ezequiel Astacio leads the Chicago White Sox to a 7-5 victory over the Astros.
Houston led‚ 4-0‚ before Chicago scored 5 runs in the 5th inning off Roy Oswalt to take the lead. Joe Crede also homers for the Sox‚ while Jason Lane connects for the Astros. Damaso Marte gets the win in relief.
At 5 hours, 41 minutes‚ the contest is the longest in Series history in terms of time. It also ties the mark for longest game in terms of innings played.
Also on this day, Wellington Mara dies of lymphoma at age 88. He had been involved with the New York Giants since their founding in 1925 by his father, Tim Mara, who made his son the bellboy. The NFL's TV-revenue-sharing plan was his idea, bringing the irony of the biggest market in the League, New York, saving the smallest market, Green Bay.
Well Mara was buried in Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, Westchester County, New York, the same cemetery as Babe Ruth.
His son John Mara now runs the Giants, another son Chris is the Giants' chief scout, and Chris' daughters Kate Mara and Rooney Mara are actresses. Chris' wife and Kate's mother is Katherine Rooney, daughter of Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney and granddaughter of Steelers founder Art Rooney, which makes Kate and Rooney the great-granddaughters of the founders of 2 of the NFL's greatest franchises.
At the Giants' 1st home game after her grandfather's death – the first one the franchise ever played without Wellington Mara being on hand, after 80 years – Kate sang the National Anthem.
October 25, 2007: The Prudential Center opens, at 165 Mulberry Street in Newark (the official address has since been changed to 25 Lafayette Street, around the corner), with a concert by Jon Bon Jovi. It has been home to the NHL's New Jersey Devils and Seton Hall University's basketball team ever since. It was also a temporary home to the NBA's New Jersey Nets from 2010 to 2012, and the WNBA's New York Liberty in 2011 and 2012.
Also on this day, Hideki Okajima becomes the 1st Japanese-born player to pitch in the World Series. The former Nippon Ham Fighters hurler comes out of the bullpen in relief of Curt Schilling and retires 7 straight Colorado Rockies, including Kazuo Matsui, making it the 1st time Japanese natives have faced one another in the Fall Classic. The Red Sox hang on to win, 2-1, and lead the Series 2 games to none. Due to injury, it turns out to be Schilling's last major league game.
October 25, 2008: Game 3 of the World Series, the 1st Series game played at Citizens Bank Park. Carlos Ruiz, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard hit home runs, but the Philadelphia Phillies and the Tampa Bay Rays are tied 4-4 going to the bottom of the 9th.
The winning run scores as a result of bizarre circumstances -- but then, it wouldn't be a true Phillies game without something bizarre happening, right? Eric Bruntlett leads off, and J.P. Howell hits him with a pitch -- unintentionally, we can safely presume. With Shane Victorino up, Howell throws a wild pitch, and the Rays' catcher, former Yankee prospect Dioner Navarro, throws the ball away trying to stop Bruntlett from reaching 2nd base, letting him get to 3rd.
Desperate for any out, Rays manager Joe Maddon orders both Victorino and Greg Dobbs walked intentionally to load the bases with nobody out, to create a force play at home plate, brings the infield in, and brings right fielder Ben Zobrist in as a 5th infielder. But Ruiz grounds to 3rd, and Evan Longoria has no play at any base. The Phils win, 5-4, and take a 2-1 lead in the Series, which is, essentially, decided in that inning.
Also on this day, Archie Arnett is born in Manhattan, the son of Saturday Night Live actress Amy Poehler and Arrested Development actor Will Arnett. (They also had son Abel in 2010, and divorced in 2016.) Since it was a Saturday, the birth was announced on that night's show.
The previous week, Archie sort-of become the youngest performer in the show's history, a record it would be pretty hard to break. Amy played a woman dancing at a bar, her baby bump knocking things over, thus making Archie a "character" in the sketch. At one point, she danced with a man who asked her, "So, when is your baby due?" And she said, "Yesterday."
This was a particularly frustrating loss for this Yankee Fan, as we were just 1 run away from being up 3 games to 1, until Jeff Fucking Weaver gave up a walkoff home run to "the other Alex Gonzalez." And we go out meekly on our field, to this crummy squad that still looks like an expansion team (and now appears to be a fraud, as catcher Ivan Rodriguez is a suspected steroid user). And the last play of the game was a pathetic one, Jorge Posada hitting a meek grounder back to Beckett.
At this point, I didn't like Beckett, solely for what he did to the Yankees in this Series. After 2 more seasons in the Miami suburbs, he would be traded to the Red Sox, and I would dislike him just for belonging to that team. But after observing him a few times in a Boston uniform, I realized there was a perfectly legitimate reason to hate his guts: His personality.
This turns out to be the 99th and last World Series game played at the original Yankee Stadium. The
Yankees went 63-36 in these games. Thankfully, we later got the ABC TV series Castle, with a much better Beckett, a Detective loyal to New York, and played by the magnificent Stana Katic. Her character, while not explicitly a Yankee Fan, did get a thrill in the 2010 episode "The Suicide Squeeze," from meeting, as she called him, "Joe Freakin' Torre," who played himself.
Also on this day, Estádio Sport do Lisboa e Benfica, a.k.a. Estádio da Luz, opens in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon. The 64,642-seat Stadium of Light replaced the previous stadium, of the same name, which stood on the same site from 1954 to 2002. Seating 120,000 at its peak, its conversion to all-seater dropped it to 78,000.
S.L. Benfica, Portugal's greatest sports team, played the interim season, 2002-03, at the nearby Estadio Nacional, famed for hosting the 1967 European Cup Final, won by Glasgow's Celtic over Milan's Internazionale.
The new stadium inspired the design of other new stadiums, including the Emirates Stadium, which opened for London's Arsenal in 2006. Since moving in, The Eagles (also known as O Glorioso) have won Portugal's Primeira Liga 7 times.
October 25, 2005: Game 3 of the World Series at Minute Maid Park in Houston. This is the 1st World Series game ever played in the State of Texas. Geoff Blum's 14th inning homer off Ezequiel Astacio leads the Chicago White Sox to a 7-5 victory over the Astros.
Houston led‚ 4-0‚ before Chicago scored 5 runs in the 5th inning off Roy Oswalt to take the lead. Joe Crede also homers for the Sox‚ while Jason Lane connects for the Astros. Damaso Marte gets the win in relief.
At 5 hours, 41 minutes‚ the contest is the longest in Series history in terms of time. It also ties the mark for longest game in terms of innings played.
Also on this day, Wellington Mara dies of lymphoma at age 88. He had been involved with the New York Giants since their founding in 1925 by his father, Tim Mara, who made his son the bellboy. The NFL's TV-revenue-sharing plan was his idea, bringing the irony of the biggest market in the League, New York, saving the smallest market, Green Bay.
Well Mara was buried in Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, Westchester County, New York, the same cemetery as Babe Ruth.
His son John Mara now runs the Giants, another son Chris is the Giants' chief scout, and Chris' daughters Kate Mara and Rooney Mara are actresses. Chris' wife and Kate's mother is Katherine Rooney, daughter of Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney and granddaughter of Steelers founder Art Rooney, which makes Kate and Rooney the great-granddaughters of the founders of 2 of the NFL's greatest franchises.
At the Giants' 1st home game after her grandfather's death – the first one the franchise ever played without Wellington Mara being on hand, after 80 years – Kate sang the National Anthem.
October 25, 2007: The Prudential Center opens, at 165 Mulberry Street in Newark (the official address has since been changed to 25 Lafayette Street, around the corner), with a concert by Jon Bon Jovi. It has been home to the NHL's New Jersey Devils and Seton Hall University's basketball team ever since. It was also a temporary home to the NBA's New Jersey Nets from 2010 to 2012, and the WNBA's New York Liberty in 2011 and 2012.
Also on this day, Hideki Okajima becomes the 1st Japanese-born player to pitch in the World Series. The former Nippon Ham Fighters hurler comes out of the bullpen in relief of Curt Schilling and retires 7 straight Colorado Rockies, including Kazuo Matsui, making it the 1st time Japanese natives have faced one another in the Fall Classic. The Red Sox hang on to win, 2-1, and lead the Series 2 games to none. Due to injury, it turns out to be Schilling's last major league game.
October 25, 2008: Game 3 of the World Series, the 1st Series game played at Citizens Bank Park. Carlos Ruiz, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard hit home runs, but the Philadelphia Phillies and the Tampa Bay Rays are tied 4-4 going to the bottom of the 9th.
The winning run scores as a result of bizarre circumstances -- but then, it wouldn't be a true Phillies game without something bizarre happening, right? Eric Bruntlett leads off, and J.P. Howell hits him with a pitch -- unintentionally, we can safely presume. With Shane Victorino up, Howell throws a wild pitch, and the Rays' catcher, former Yankee prospect Dioner Navarro, throws the ball away trying to stop Bruntlett from reaching 2nd base, letting him get to 3rd.
Desperate for any out, Rays manager Joe Maddon orders both Victorino and Greg Dobbs walked intentionally to load the bases with nobody out, to create a force play at home plate, brings the infield in, and brings right fielder Ben Zobrist in as a 5th infielder. But Ruiz grounds to 3rd, and Evan Longoria has no play at any base. The Phils win, 5-4, and take a 2-1 lead in the Series, which is, essentially, decided in that inning.
Also on this day, Archie Arnett is born in Manhattan, the son of Saturday Night Live actress Amy Poehler and Arrested Development actor Will Arnett. (They also had son Abel in 2010, and divorced in 2016.) Since it was a Saturday, the birth was announced on that night's show.
The previous week, Archie sort-of become the youngest performer in the show's history, a record it would be pretty hard to break. Amy played a woman dancing at a bar, her baby bump knocking things over, thus making Archie a "character" in the sketch. At one point, she danced with a man who asked her, "So, when is your baby due?" And she said, "Yesterday."
October 25, 2009: With a 5-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels at the new Yankee Stadium, the Yankees win their 40th American League Pennant. The Bronx Bombers, after a 6-year absence from the Fall Classic and 2 previous Playoff defeats against the Anaheim club, will play the Philadelphia Phillies in quest of their 27th World Championship.
Has it really been 11 years since the Yankees won a Pennant? Here is every player on the Yankees' 2009 postseason roster who is, officially, still on the 40-man roster going into the 2020-21 off-season: Brett Gardner. That's it. One guy.
No Pennants in 11 years. 1 Pennant in 17 years. 1 World Series win in 20 years. Over that same stretch, 2 losses in the World Series, 5 losses in the AL Championship Series, 7 losses in the AL Division Series, 1 loss in the AL Wild Card Game, and 4 times missing the Playoffs completely.
Pennants won since 2003: Boston Red Sox 4, St. Louis Cardinals 4, San Francisco Giants 3, Houston Astros 3, Los Angeles Dodgers 3, Detroit Tigers 2, Philadelphia Phillies 2, Texas Rangers 2, Kansas City Royals 2, Tampa Bay Rays 2, Chicago White Sox 1, Colorado Rockies 1, Cleveland Indians 1, Chicago Cubs 1, Washington Nationals 1, Mets 1, Yankees 1.
Or, to put it another way: Since 2003, 10 teams have won more Pennants than the Yankees, and 6 others have won exactly as many.
World Series won since 2000: Boston Red Sox 4, San Francisco Giants 3, St. Louis Cardinals 2, Houston Astros 1, Los Angeles Angels 1, Florida Marlins 1, Philadelphia Phillies 1, Kansas City Royals 1, Chicago White Sox 1, Chicago Cubs 1, Washington Nationals 1, Yankees 1.
To put that into perspective: As of October 26, 2000, the Royals hadn't won since 1985, the Cardinals hadn't won since 1982, the Phillies hadn't won since 1980, the Astros had played since 1962 and had never won, the Angels had played since 1961 and had never won, the Giants hadn't won since 1954 (then in New York), the Expos/Nationals franchise has played since 1969 and has never won, no Washington baseball team had won since 1924, the Red Sox hadn't won since 1918, the White Sox hadn't won since 1917, and the Cubs hadn't won since 1908.
More glaringly, the Red Sox have won 2 World Series since the Yankees' last, and the Mets still hold New York's most recent Pennant -- or Finals appearance in any sport. (Mets 2015, Rangers 2014, Devils 2012, Giants 2012, Yankees 2009, Red Bulls 2008, Nets 2003, Liberty 2002, Knicks 1999, Islanders 1984, Jets 1969, NYCFC never.)
This drought, no Pennants in 11 years, 1 World Series win in 20 years, has happened despite having the most money, the biggest revenue-generating ballpark, the biggest revenue-generating local sports TV network, and the biggest fanbase in all of North American sports.
Hell, I've been waiting.
Also on this day, Kenny Albert -- son of Marv, nephew of Al and Steve, and Marv's successor as the Knicks' main radio announcer -- calls the Pittsburgh Steelers' 27-17 win over the Minnesota Vikings at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh for Fox Sports. Then he gets on a plane, flies to New York, and reports from the Yankees' locker room celebration after winning the aforementioned Pennant.
The next night, he broadcasts a New York Rangers game at Madison Square Garden on radio, a 5-2 win over the team then known as the Phoenix Coyotes. And 2 days after that, he calls the Knicks' season opener on MSG Network, a 115-93 loss to the Miami Heat at the American Airlines Arena in Miami. That's 4 broadcasts, of 4 sporting events, on 2 networks, in 3 cities, in 4 days. As far as I know, no sportscaster, not even his father, has ever matched that.
*
October 25, 2012: Game 2 of the World Series. Madison Bumgarner's legend is underway. He takes a 2-hit shutout into the 8th inning, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Detroit Tigers 2-0 at AT&T Park. The Giants lead the Series by the same margin.
Also on this day, the Swedbank Arena opens in Solna, just outside the Swedish capital of Stockholm. Now known as the Friends Arena, the 54,000-seat stadium is home to the Sweden national team and to AIK Fotboll (Allmänna Idrottsklubben), 12-time Swedish league champions and 8-time winners of the Svenska Cupan (Sweden's version of the FA Cup).
It replaces the nearby 36,000-seat Råsundastadion, built in 1937 and the site of the 1958 World Cup Final.
Also on this day, Jacques Barzun dies at his home in San Antonio. He was 104. He was born and raised in France, but attended Columbia University in New York and stayed in America, teaching and writing history books. He published From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life, 1500 to the Present at age 93, and, just before turning 104, he wrote a book review for The Wall Street Journal. So he was working at an age at which the average person has been dead for 25 years.
He wasn't some stuffy, tweedy professor in a ivy tower. He loved crime fiction, and in 1961 he edited and wrote the introduction for the anthology The Delights of Detection. He loved supernatural fiction, and in 1986 he wrote the introduction for the anthology The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural. And he loved baseball. He once said, "Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball." He was right.
Also on this day, John Connelly dies in Barrowford, Lancashire, England. He was 74. A right winger in soccer, he starred for Lancashire club Burnley, and helped them win the Football League title in 1960. They came close to the League and FA Cup "Double" in 1962, but finished 2nd in both, losing the title to Ipswich Town and the Cup Final to Middlesex club Tottenham Hotspur. (The boundaries of the city of London were redrawn in 1965, and "Spurs" officially became what they had always pretended to be: A club in North London.)
In 1965, he helped Manchester United win the League. He played for England in the 1962 and 1966 World Cups, but in the latter he only played in the opening game. He continued to play until 1973, and later ran a fish & chips shop -- the British equivalent of a burger joint or a pizzeria.
At first, only the 11 men who played for England in the Final got winner's medals for the 1966 World Cup. After a long campaign, in 2009, FIFA, the governing body for world soccer, relented, and Connelly and the other 10 men who had been denied until then received their medals, given to them by Prime Minister Gordon Brown at 10 Downing Street. (Brown, however, is a Scotsman, so this probably wasn't his favorite duty as PM.)
October 25, 2013: Bill Sharman dies from the effects of a stroke at his home in Redondo Beach, California. He was 87. In 1951, he was called up to the Brooklyn Dodgers, but wasn't put into a game. On September 27, an umpire threw the entire Dodger bench out of a game for bench-jockeying. Therefore, Bill Sharman is the only playing ever to be thrown out of a major league game without having played in one.
He had better luck in basketball. The guard won 4 NBA Championships in 5 years with the Boston Celtics: 1957, 1959, 1960 and 1961. He was considered the best shooter of his time. He was named to the NBA's 25th Anniversary All-Star Team and its 50th Anniversary 50 Greatest Players. The Celtics retired his Number 21.
He may have had more impact as a coach, winning the ABA title with the Utah Stars in 1971, and then guiding the Los Angeles Lakers to their 1st NBA title the next year, including a major league sports record 33-game winning streak. He may be the only man who is a sports hero for both Boston and Los Angeles. He, John Wooden, Lenny Wilkens and his former Celtic teammate Tommy Heinsohn are the only people to be elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame as both players and coaches.
October 25, 2014: Game 4 of the World Series. The Giants hit no home runs, but score 2 runs in the 5th inning, 3 in the 6th and 4 in the 7th, and beat the Kansas City Royals 11-4. The Series is now tied at 2 games apiece.
Also on this day, Leslie Jones makes her Saturday Night Live debut. At 47, she breaks Michael McKean's 1994 record of 46 as the oldest 1st-time castmember in the show's history.
October 25, 2015: Philip "Flip" Saunders, on sabbatical as head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves, dies of Hodgkin's lymphoma. He was 60 years old. He played at the University of Minnesota with future Knick and Net Ray Williams, Kevin McHale and Mychal Thompson, but was better known as a coach. He coached the Timberwolves to their only NBA Western Conference Finals berth to date, in 2004, and also coached the Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards before returning to the T-Wolves.
Also on this day, Cecil Lolo, a defender for South African soccer team Ajax Cape Town, is killed in a car crash in Khayelisha. He is only 27, and the team retires his Number 21.
October 25, 2016: Game 1 of the World Series is played at Progressive Field in Cleveland. It was the 1st World Series game played by the Chicago Cubs since October 10, 1945 -- 71 years and 15 days. Since that was before Major League Baseball was reintegrated, leadoff hitter Dexter Fowler becomes the 1st black player to appear for the Cubs in a World Series game.
It doesn't go so well for them: Corey Kluber pitches a shutout, Roberto Perez hits 2 home runs, and the Cleveland Indians win 6-0. Cub fans around the world must have been thinking, "Oh well, it was nice to finally be in a World Series, but I guess it was just too much to ask to be allowed to win one." Little do they know...
Also on this day, Carlos Alberto dies of a heart attack in his hometown of Rio de Janeiro. He was 72. One of the greatest right backs in soccer history, he starred for Brazilian clubs Fluminense and Santos, and captained the Brazil team to victory at the 1970 World Cup, scoring the tournament's final goal. He later won 4 Soccer Bowls with the original New York Cosmos, alongside former Brazil and Santos teammate Pelé, and served as a manager and a TV analyst in the sport.
October 25, 2017: For the 1st time in their history, the Houston Astros win a World Series game. It takes 11 innings, but, when you've waited 56 seasons, what's 2 extra innings?
The Astros trailed the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-1 going into the top of the 8th inning, but scored in the 8th and the 9th, including a home run by Marwin Gonzalez, to send it to bonus cantos. The Astros scored 2 runs in the top of the 10th, on home runs by Jose Altuve and Carols Correa, but the Dodgers answered with 2 runs of their own.
In the top of the 11th, George Springer hit a home run off Brandon McCarthy to give the Astros a 7-5 lead. But the Dodgers still weren't done, as Charlie Culberson hit a solo homer off Chris Devenski. But Devenski struck out Yasiel Puig, who had homered earlier, to end the game 7-6 in the Astros' favor.
In winning a World Series game for the 1st time, the Astros became the 1st team in the Series' 114-year history to hit home runs in the 9th, 10th and 11th innings of the same game. The Series leaves Dodger Stadium tied 1-1, and heads to Houston.
The next night, he broadcasts a New York Rangers game at Madison Square Garden on radio, a 5-2 win over the team then known as the Phoenix Coyotes. And 2 days after that, he calls the Knicks' season opener on MSG Network, a 115-93 loss to the Miami Heat at the American Airlines Arena in Miami. That's 4 broadcasts, of 4 sporting events, on 2 networks, in 3 cities, in 4 days. As far as I know, no sportscaster, not even his father, has ever matched that.
*
October 25, 2012: Game 2 of the World Series. Madison Bumgarner's legend is underway. He takes a 2-hit shutout into the 8th inning, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Detroit Tigers 2-0 at AT&T Park. The Giants lead the Series by the same margin.
Also on this day, the Swedbank Arena opens in Solna, just outside the Swedish capital of Stockholm. Now known as the Friends Arena, the 54,000-seat stadium is home to the Sweden national team and to AIK Fotboll (Allmänna Idrottsklubben), 12-time Swedish league champions and 8-time winners of the Svenska Cupan (Sweden's version of the FA Cup).
It replaces the nearby 36,000-seat Råsundastadion, built in 1937 and the site of the 1958 World Cup Final.
Also on this day, Jacques Barzun dies at his home in San Antonio. He was 104. He was born and raised in France, but attended Columbia University in New York and stayed in America, teaching and writing history books. He published From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life, 1500 to the Present at age 93, and, just before turning 104, he wrote a book review for The Wall Street Journal. So he was working at an age at which the average person has been dead for 25 years.
He wasn't some stuffy, tweedy professor in a ivy tower. He loved crime fiction, and in 1961 he edited and wrote the introduction for the anthology The Delights of Detection. He loved supernatural fiction, and in 1986 he wrote the introduction for the anthology The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural. And he loved baseball. He once said, "Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball." He was right.
Also on this day, John Connelly dies in Barrowford, Lancashire, England. He was 74. A right winger in soccer, he starred for Lancashire club Burnley, and helped them win the Football League title in 1960. They came close to the League and FA Cup "Double" in 1962, but finished 2nd in both, losing the title to Ipswich Town and the Cup Final to Middlesex club Tottenham Hotspur. (The boundaries of the city of London were redrawn in 1965, and "Spurs" officially became what they had always pretended to be: A club in North London.)
In 1965, he helped Manchester United win the League. He played for England in the 1962 and 1966 World Cups, but in the latter he only played in the opening game. He continued to play until 1973, and later ran a fish & chips shop -- the British equivalent of a burger joint or a pizzeria.
At first, only the 11 men who played for England in the Final got winner's medals for the 1966 World Cup. After a long campaign, in 2009, FIFA, the governing body for world soccer, relented, and Connelly and the other 10 men who had been denied until then received their medals, given to them by Prime Minister Gordon Brown at 10 Downing Street. (Brown, however, is a Scotsman, so this probably wasn't his favorite duty as PM.)
October 25, 2013: Bill Sharman dies from the effects of a stroke at his home in Redondo Beach, California. He was 87. In 1951, he was called up to the Brooklyn Dodgers, but wasn't put into a game. On September 27, an umpire threw the entire Dodger bench out of a game for bench-jockeying. Therefore, Bill Sharman is the only playing ever to be thrown out of a major league game without having played in one.
He had better luck in basketball. The guard won 4 NBA Championships in 5 years with the Boston Celtics: 1957, 1959, 1960 and 1961. He was considered the best shooter of his time. He was named to the NBA's 25th Anniversary All-Star Team and its 50th Anniversary 50 Greatest Players. The Celtics retired his Number 21.
He may have had more impact as a coach, winning the ABA title with the Utah Stars in 1971, and then guiding the Los Angeles Lakers to their 1st NBA title the next year, including a major league sports record 33-game winning streak. He may be the only man who is a sports hero for both Boston and Los Angeles. He, John Wooden, Lenny Wilkens and his former Celtic teammate Tommy Heinsohn are the only people to be elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame as both players and coaches.
October 25, 2014: Game 4 of the World Series. The Giants hit no home runs, but score 2 runs in the 5th inning, 3 in the 6th and 4 in the 7th, and beat the Kansas City Royals 11-4. The Series is now tied at 2 games apiece.
Also on this day, Leslie Jones makes her Saturday Night Live debut. At 47, she breaks Michael McKean's 1994 record of 46 as the oldest 1st-time castmember in the show's history.
October 25, 2015: Philip "Flip" Saunders, on sabbatical as head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves, dies of Hodgkin's lymphoma. He was 60 years old. He played at the University of Minnesota with future Knick and Net Ray Williams, Kevin McHale and Mychal Thompson, but was better known as a coach. He coached the Timberwolves to their only NBA Western Conference Finals berth to date, in 2004, and also coached the Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards before returning to the T-Wolves.
Also on this day, Cecil Lolo, a defender for South African soccer team Ajax Cape Town, is killed in a car crash in Khayelisha. He is only 27, and the team retires his Number 21.
October 25, 2016: Game 1 of the World Series is played at Progressive Field in Cleveland. It was the 1st World Series game played by the Chicago Cubs since October 10, 1945 -- 71 years and 15 days. Since that was before Major League Baseball was reintegrated, leadoff hitter Dexter Fowler becomes the 1st black player to appear for the Cubs in a World Series game.
It doesn't go so well for them: Corey Kluber pitches a shutout, Roberto Perez hits 2 home runs, and the Cleveland Indians win 6-0. Cub fans around the world must have been thinking, "Oh well, it was nice to finally be in a World Series, but I guess it was just too much to ask to be allowed to win one." Little do they know...
Also on this day, Carlos Alberto dies of a heart attack in his hometown of Rio de Janeiro. He was 72. One of the greatest right backs in soccer history, he starred for Brazilian clubs Fluminense and Santos, and captained the Brazil team to victory at the 1970 World Cup, scoring the tournament's final goal. He later won 4 Soccer Bowls with the original New York Cosmos, alongside former Brazil and Santos teammate Pelé, and served as a manager and a TV analyst in the sport.
October 25, 2017: For the 1st time in their history, the Houston Astros win a World Series game. It takes 11 innings, but, when you've waited 56 seasons, what's 2 extra innings?
The Astros trailed the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-1 going into the top of the 8th inning, but scored in the 8th and the 9th, including a home run by Marwin Gonzalez, to send it to bonus cantos. The Astros scored 2 runs in the top of the 10th, on home runs by Jose Altuve and Carols Correa, but the Dodgers answered with 2 runs of their own.
In the top of the 11th, George Springer hit a home run off Brandon McCarthy to give the Astros a 7-5 lead. But the Dodgers still weren't done, as Charlie Culberson hit a solo homer off Chris Devenski. But Devenski struck out Yasiel Puig, who had homered earlier, to end the game 7-6 in the Astros' favor.
In winning a World Series game for the 1st time, the Astros became the 1st team in the Series' 114-year history to hit home runs in the 9th, 10th and 11th innings of the same game. The Series leaves Dodger Stadium tied 1-1, and heads to Houston.
October 25, 2019: Game 3 of the World Series is played, the 1st Series game played in the District of Columbia since October 7, 1933. Gerardo Parra comes to bat for the host Washington Nationals. His walk-up-to-bat song is "Baby Shark," the version popularized by the Korean educational group Pinkfong. It was suggested by his children.
And the Nationals Park special-effects producer plays the song, and 43,867 fans not only sing it, but do the "Baby Shark Dance," moving their arms together on top of each other, similar to the "Gator Grab" popular at the University of Florida.
They waited 86 years to host the World Series again, and they did that. Clark Griffith, Walter Johnson, Bucky Harris and Joe Cronin must have been turning over in their graves. It was enough to make me nostalgic for that oh-so-1980s phenomenon The Wave.
To make matters worse, the Nationals lose for the 1st time since Game 4 of the National League Division Series, 18 days and 8 games earlier. They turn into the 2019 Yankees, going 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position against the Houston Astros, and fall 4-1. Fine time to turn into a bunch of mortals again.
"Baby Shark"? To paraphrase Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) in Jaws, We're gonna need a bigger chant.
October 25, 2266: If we presume that the last 3 digits, plus the decimal points, of the Stardates on Star Trek represented a percentage of the year, then, at Stardate 2817.6, the episode "The Conscience of the King" begins on this date.
Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) is alerted by an old friend, a scientist named Dr. Thomas Leighton (William Sargent), that Anton Karidian (Arnold Moss), the leader of a troupe of Shakespearean actors, may be Kodos, who, 20 years earlier, was the Governor of the colony on Federation planet Tarsus IV. (Kodos' first name as never mentioned. The Trek novels, which are usually non-canon, have told a versionof the story, and usually list him as Arnold Kodos, after his portrayer.)
Kirk, then 13 years old, was on that planet -- and, as he soon discovers in "the present," so was one of his officers, Lieutenant Kevin Riley (Bruce Hyde), then just 4 -- when a fungus destroyed most of the food supply. The government was told that relief ships were coming, but it looked like they would arrive too late to prevent mass starvation.
So Kodos led a revolution that overthrew the colony's government, installed himself as Governor, and, in order to save half the population, 4,000 people, killed the other 4,000 -- "based on his own theory of eugenics," as the historical record is quoted by Commander Spock (Leonard Nimoy) -- and Riley's parents were among those chosen for execution. (This idea may have been ripped off by Marvel Comics and later their movies for the story of the villain Thanos.)
Except the relief ships arrived just 2 days after the execution. The official story was that, overcome with remorse, Kodos killed himself, and all that was found was a burned body. This episode, written by Barry Trivers, aired long before the creation of DNA testing, which would have made it clear that the body was not that of Kodos. One of the aforementioned Trek novels tried to explain this by saying that Kodos burned the body of one of his victims, and forged the DNA records to make it look like the body was his, and Federation investigators bought the ruse.
Supposedly, only 9 people witnessed the actual execution and could identify Kodos by sight -- and 7 of them have been murdered, including, later on the night that Leighton told Kirk that Karidian was Kodos, Leighton himself. Now, Kirk and Riley are the last 2, and attempts are made to kill them both.
The episode has a resolution that Shakespeare himself would have appreciated.
Except the relief ships arrived just 2 days after the execution. The official story was that, overcome with remorse, Kodos killed himself, and all that was found was a burned body. This episode, written by Barry Trivers, aired long before the creation of DNA testing, which would have made it clear that the body was not that of Kodos. One of the aforementioned Trek novels tried to explain this by saying that Kodos burned the body of one of his victims, and forged the DNA records to make it look like the body was his, and Federation investigators bought the ruse.
Supposedly, only 9 people witnessed the actual execution and could identify Kodos by sight -- and 7 of them have been murdered, including, later on the night that Leighton told Kirk that Karidian was Kodos, Leighton himself. Now, Kirk and Riley are the last 2, and attempts are made to kill them both.
The episode has a resolution that Shakespeare himself would have appreciated.
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