Rickwood Field
I have said before that Halloween is the demarcation line: The end of October, the last month of the baseball season. Or, since 2001, it is sometimes, instead, the last full month. It can get cold by October 31, and even sooner. It can even snow: We had snow in Central Jersey on October 29, 2011. And, of course, Hurricane Sandy clobbered us on October 29, 2012. And with the falling leaves being very slick and raising the potential for accidents (pedestrian and vehicular), no bad-weather day in October feels as bad as a bad-weather day in November, which starts tomorrow.
One particular past Halloween has come up for a rather sickening anniversary:
October 31, 1961, 60 years ago: A federal judge rules that laws in the city of Birmingham‚ Alabama against integrated playing fields are illegal‚ eliminating the last barrier against integration in the Class AA Southern Association.
Rather than allow black players into their league, the SA team owners vote to be cowardly bastards and shut the league down.
This is typical of conservatives, especially in the South: Screw over the people we hate, even if it means screwing over our own people. Or, in today's political terms, throwing baseball away to own the libs.
In 1964, the original South Atlantic League (a.k.a. the SAL or "Sally League") filled the void, renaming itself the Southern League, and allowed integration. The Western Carolinas League became the new South Atlantic League.
Charlie Finley, a Birmingham native who, by this point, owned the Kansas City Athletics, put a new team in Birmingham's historic Rickwood Field, and named them the Birmingham A's. Many of the players who became part of the "Swingin' A's" dynasty of the early 1970s played in Birmingham, including Reggie Jackson, who says it was his first exposure to full-scale racism. The A's won the SL Pennant in 1967, but, by that time, Reggie had been promoted to the big-league club, which moved to Oakland the next season.
In 1976, the A's contract with Birmingham ran out, and baseball did not return to Rickwood Field until 1981, when the Detroit Tigers brought a team in, and brought back the name of the previous team, the Birmingham Barons.
Built in 1910, Rickwood is the oldest standing baseball stadium in the world, and still hosts games, including annual "throwback" games by the Barons and Negro League reenactors. Because of its old-time architecture, the films Cobb, Soul of the Game and 42 have all used it (the last of those using it as the CGI-aided base for all the 1947 National League parks, including Ebbets Field).
The Barons moved into suburban Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in 1988. While it still hosts the SEC baseball tournament, the Barons moved again in 2013, to Regions Field, downtown. They have won 13 Pennants: In the old Southern League in 1906, 1912, 1914, 1928, 1929, 1931 and 1958; in the new Southern League as the A's in 1967, and in 1983, 1987, 1993, 2002 and 2013. The Birmingham Black Barons, who also played at Rickwood, won Negro League Pennants in 1942 and 1948, the latter with a 17-year-old kid from the neighboring town of Fairfield, named Willie Mays.
Charlie Finley, a Birmingham native who, by this point, owned the Kansas City Athletics, put a new team in Birmingham's historic Rickwood Field, and named them the Birmingham A's. Many of the players who became part of the "Swingin' A's" dynasty of the early 1970s played in Birmingham, including Reggie Jackson, who says it was his first exposure to full-scale racism. The A's won the SL Pennant in 1967, but, by that time, Reggie had been promoted to the big-league club, which moved to Oakland the next season.
In 1976, the A's contract with Birmingham ran out, and baseball did not return to Rickwood Field until 1981, when the Detroit Tigers brought a team in, and brought back the name of the previous team, the Birmingham Barons.
Built in 1910, Rickwood is the oldest standing baseball stadium in the world, and still hosts games, including annual "throwback" games by the Barons and Negro League reenactors. Because of its old-time architecture, the films Cobb, Soul of the Game and 42 have all used it (the last of those using it as the CGI-aided base for all the 1947 National League parks, including Ebbets Field).
The Barons moved into suburban Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in 1988. While it still hosts the SEC baseball tournament, the Barons moved again in 2013, to Regions Field, downtown. They have won 13 Pennants: In the old Southern League in 1906, 1912, 1914, 1928, 1929, 1931 and 1958; in the new Southern League as the A's in 1967, and in 1983, 1987, 1993, 2002 and 2013. The Birmingham Black Barons, who also played at Rickwood, won Negro League Pennants in 1942 and 1948, the latter with a 17-year-old kid from the neighboring town of Fairfield, named Willie Mays.
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October 31, 1451: This is the traditional date given for the birth of Christoforo Colombo, in Genoa, Italy. The English-speaking world knows him as Christopher Columbus. Whether you treat him as a great explorer or a sadistic slavemaker is up to you. "Nice Peter" Shukoff played him in Epic Rap Battles of History, against "Epic Lloyd" Ahlquist as Star Trek's James T. Kirk.
October 31, 1517: Martin Luther writes Disputation on the Power of Indulgences, challenging some Roman Catholic Church doctrines as being contradictory to Christian teaching, and sends them to Albert of Brandenburg, Archbishop of Mainz. This paper becomes known as the Ninety-five Theses, and sparks the Protestant Reformation.
Apparently, the fact that it was October 31, All Hallows Eve or "Hallowe'en," as the day was once written, had nothing to do with it.
According to legend, he also nailed a copy of his paper to the door of All Saints' Church in Wittenburg, a.k.a. the Schlosskirche (Castle Church). If this happened, it was not on this date, more likely a few days later. No account from Luther's lifetime quotes him as having admitted that the story of him nailing the Theses to the church door is true. The 1st written account of the story comes from a man writing after Luther's death, and who had not arrived in Wittenberg until the year after the event.
Luther was persecuted by his superiors in the Church for years, leading to a trial in Worms (pronounced "Verms"), outside Frankfurt. On April 18, 1521, he told his accusers, "I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen."
As with the nailing of the Theses to the door, there is no contemporary evidence that he preceded, "May God help me. Amen" with, "Hier stehe ich, ich kann nicht anders" -- which, depending on who's translating it from Medieval German into Modern English, becomes either "Here I stand. I can do no other" or "Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise." (Google Translate turns it into "Here I stand, I can't help it.")
He was convicted on May 25. His literature was banned, it was made a crime for anyone in Germany to give him food or shelter, and it was made legal to kill him. Some Christians, huh?
He was sheltered, taken to Wartburg Castle at Eisenach, in Thuringia. He was said to have disappeared, possibly been murdered. But he kept writing, including translating the New Testament from ancient Greek not into Latin, the language of the Catholic Church, but German. William Tyndale would be executed in England for translating the Bible into English in 1536, 15 years later.
Luther stayed there for 10 months, until March 1522. Eventually, his conviction was essentially set aside. In 1525, he married a former nun, Katharina von Bora. He was 41, she was 26, and they would go on to have 3 sons and 3 daughters. He lived until 1546, at the age of 62.
Above and beyond the Ninety-five Theses being the birth certificate of Protestantism, leading to my own Methodist faith, this is an important moment to me for another reason: The 95 Theses have been called "The First Blog."
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October 31, 1795: John Keats (no middle name) is born in Moorgate, in what is now Central London. One of the finest poets who ever lived, he died of tuberculosis in 1821, only 25 years old.
October 31, 1800: America holds its 4th Presidential election. John Adams, the 2nd President of the United States and the Federalist Party's nominee, becomes the 1st President ever to be defeated for re-election. He gets 65 Electoral Votes, to the 73 of the Democratic-Republican Party's nominee, his old friend from the Continental Congress, now his arch-rival, outgoing Vice President Thomas Jefferson.
Except, under the law of the time, Jefferson's Vice Presidential nominee, Aaron Burr, former Senator from New York, also got 73 Electoral Votes, and claimed an equal right to be President, since he was tied with Jefferson for 1st place. The election was thus, as constitutionally prescribed, sent to the U.S. House of Representatives, resulting in tie vote after tie vote.
Finally, Alexander Hamilton, who had been the nation's 1st Secretary of the Treasury under George Washington (while Jefferson was the 1st Secretary of State), and the leader of the Federalists -- but, being foreign-born, ineligible for the Presidency himself -- decided that Jefferson, a man he personally liked but politically despised, was a better choice than Burr, whom he considered unsuitable on all levels. Hamilton told his supporters to support Jefferson, and they did, electing Jefferson the 3rd President on February 17, 1801.
That was not why Burr ultimately challenged Hamilton to a duel, but it didn't help. In 1804, after the 12th Amendment was ratified, and Electoral Votes for President and Vice President were counted separately, Jefferson dumped Burr from the ticket. Burr ran for Governor of New York, but Hamilton, also a New Yorker, campaigned against him, and he lost the nomination.
Accusation and counter-accusation made the feud irreconcilable, and that's why the duel happened. It happened across the Hudson River in Weehawken, New Jersey, not far from what's now the Jersey entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel, because dueling was legal in New Jersey but not in New York.
It was July 11, 1804. Hamilton didn't actually want to kill Burr, but, since it was a matter of honor, he couldn't refuse the duel. So Hamilton fired his shot into the air. Burr fired directly at Hamilton, who was hit, and died in agony the next day.
October 31, 1828: Voting begins in a Presidential election. Andrew Jackson, victorious General of the War of 1812, former military Governor of Florida Territory, and servant of Tennessee in both houses of Congress, gets his revenge on incumbent President John Quincy Adams for the 1824 election and its "corrupt bargain," when Jackson finished 1st in both the popular vote and the Electoral Vote, by 3rd place finisher Henry Clay threw his support to Adams in exchange for the post of Secretary of State.
This time, Adams had to run on his record, which was not well-received, and the election wasn't close enough to steal. Jackson, the nominee of the Democratic-Republican Party (soon to be renamed simply the Democratic Party), got 56 percent of the vote, carrying 15 States for 178 Electoral Votes. Adams, the nominee of the National Republican Party (later to "evolve" into the Whig Party), got less than 44 percent, carrying 9 States for 83 Electoral Votes. Jackson becomes the 7th President of the United States.
But the election was as nasty as any we've ever had, with Jackson, his wife Rachel, and even his long-dead mother being libeled by the National Republicans and their partisan newspapers. Rachel soon dies of a heart attack at age 61, the only woman who lived to see her husband elected President, but did not become First Lady.
Jackson never forgives his opponents, and, while his Presidency had some achievements, he did a great deal of governing by spite. Sound familiar? No so fast: Jackson was always faithful to his wife, and he was a brave soldier who defended his country against all comers, and he was not a criminal, and he was thin. So he was not another Donald Trump.
October 31, 1853: Stephen W. McKeever -- I can find no record of what the W stands for -- is born in Brooklyn. He and his brother Ed bought a half-share of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1912, with Charles Ebbets keeping the other half.
The McKeever brothers had a construction business, and, with Ebbets' money backing it, they (along with their workers) literally built Ebbets Field. Ebbets died in 1925, and Ed caught a cold at the funeral, which developed into pneumonia, and he died 12 days after Ebbets did.
Steve lived on until 1938. His death threw the Dodgers' ownership into doubt, and the result was the rise of Walter O'Malley.
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October 31, 1864: Nevada is admitted to the Union as the 36th State, a.k.a. the Silver State. President Abraham Lincoln wanted its silver revenues to win the American Civil War. Turns out, he didn't need them.
Nevada has been a part of the Union for a century and a half. But, due to gambling and other issues, no Nevada city, including Las Vegas, had ever been granted a team in any major sports league -- not even MLS or the WNBA (if you consider those "major").
That changed last year, as the NHL granted its 31st franchise to Las Vegas and its new arena, the T-Mobile Center, to begin play this season, as the Vegas Golden Knights. The the owners' 1st choice, "Black Knights," was rejected because it would be too close to that of the Chicago Blackhawks. Also, the Monty Python references would never have stopped.
In addition, Mark Davis, owner of the Oakland Raiders since the death of his father Al, has gotten permission from the NFL to move them to Vegas as the Las Vegas Raiders in 2019. He has already received the copyright on the name. He says he wants to "make the Silver State the Silver & Black State."
October 31, 1891, 130 years ago: The University of Kansas and the University of Missouri play each other in football for the 1st time, and Kansas wins, 22-10. This becomes the most-played college football rivalry west of the Mississippi River.
Originally called the Border War, and evoking memories of proslavery raids before and during the Civil War, by the 2004 the schools agreed to rename it the Border Showdown in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and the Iraq War. (Colorado State and Wyoming, however, still call their rivalry the Border War. CSU fans would rather beat Wyoming than Colorado.)
In 2007, a T-shirt created by a Missouri alumnus gained national attention. It depicted the 1863 burning of Lawrence, seat of KU ("UK" is correct, but "KU" is preferred) following the raid of Confederate guerrilla William Quantrill and his Bushwhackers, who included Jesse and Frank James. The image of Lawrence burning was paired with the word "Scoreboard" and a Mizzou logo. On the back of the shirts, Quantrill was quoted, saying, "Our cause is just, our enemies many." Some Kansas fans interpreted these shirts as supporting slavery. KU supporters returned fire with a shirt depicting abolitionist John Brown, perpetrator of the anti-slavery Pottawottamie Massacre, with the words, "Kansas: Keeping America Safe From Missouri Since 1854."
Missouri's move from the Big 12 Conference to the Southeastern Conference (I'm guessing Colonel Quantrill and his latter-day apologists would approve) ended the football edition of the rivalry after the 2011 season. They've agreed to start playing each other again in 2025. The current all-time results are disputed, due to a controversial ruling on the 1960 game: Missouri say they lead 57-54-9, while Kansas give themselves 1 more win, thus giving Missouri a slim lead of 56-55-9.
October 31, 1896, 125 years ago: Ethel Waters (no middle name) is born outside Philadelphia in Chester, Pennsylvania. She became one of the top jazz singers of all time. In 1950, ABC made her the 1st black actress to star in a TV series, Beulah. She quit after one season, finding the scripts degrading. For a 1961 guest appearance on Route 66, she became the 1st black person of either gender to be nominated for an Emmy Award in a dramatic role, and the 1st black woman to be nominated for any Emmy. She lived until 1977.
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October 31, 1900: Ban Johnson, founder and President of the American League, writes a letter to National League President Nick Young. In it, he offers a deal for peaceful coexistence: Accept the AL as a "major league," and it won't pursue NL players. This was possible because the NL had contracted from 12 to 8 teams for the 1900 season. Johnson was willing to let his 8 teams leave the NL teams alone and respect their contracts. He had room to do this, so he could afford to give up the chance to "raid" NL rosters.
Young refused the deal. In retaliation, Johnson defined this as Young being willing to let any of his League's players be raided, and authorized his teams' owners to raid any NL team for any player they wanted. These ended up including future Hall-of-Famers Cy Young, Jimmy Collins, Napoleon Lajoie, Sam Crawford, Elmer Flick, Clark Griffith, Jack Chesbro and Willie Keeler.
The "war" between the Leagues raged for 2 years, until the NL, with a new President, Harry Pulliam, accepted the AL in 1903. After this deal, Johnson agreed to accept the reserve clause and respect all NL contracts.
Also on this day, Robert Calvin Hubbard is born in Keytesville, Missouri. Cal Hubbard is unique: The only man in the Baseball and Pro Football Halls of Fame. He's also in the College Football Hall of Fame. That makes it sound like he was a great player in 2 sports.
Actually, he was a great player in only 1: He was elected to Canton as perhaps the greatest tackle of his era (playing on offense and defense), and to Cooperstown as an umpire. At 6-foot-2 and 253 pounds, he was huge for his era of football, and few baseball players dared to argue with him.
He was a 4-time All-Pro, and a member of 4 NFL Champions: The 1927 Giants, and the 1929, '30 and '31 Green Bay Packers. Grantland Rice named him to his All-Time All-America team for how he starred at Centenary College in Louisiana. He was named to the Sports Halls of Fame of both Missouri and Louisiana, to the Packers' team Hall of Fame, and to the NFL's 1920s All-Decade Team and to its 50th and 75th Anniversary Teams.
October 31, 1903: A train carrying the Purdue University football team to its annual game with in-State rival Indiana University hits a coal train on the north side of Indianapolis, killing 17 people, including 14 players. The game is canceled.
The uninjured tried to help the others. Some got out and got the stationmaster to send a warning to the next train coming down the track, saving many more lives. Among these heroes were the President of Purdue University, Winthrop E. Stone.
Purdue's football and baseball captain, Harry Leslie, was pronounced dead at the scene. At the funeral home, the mortician was ready to begin the embalming process, when he found a pulse: Leslie was alive. He teetered on the brink of death for weeks, but recovered, becoming a folk hero. With some irony, he went to Indiana University's law school, became a bank president, Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives, and in 1928 was elected Governor. But he was a Herbert Hoover Republican, and did very little to help during the Depression, and was voted out in 1930. He died for sure in 1937.
Aside from the World War I years of 1918 and '19, 1903, the year of the Purdue Wreck, was the only time Purdue and Indiana have not met in football since the rivalry began in 1891. Since 1925, they have played each other for a trophy known as the Old Oaken Bucket. Purdue leads the rivalry, 74-42-6. In just the "Bucket Games," Purdue leads 60-32-3.
Also on this day, the University of Michigan football team comes to Minneapolis to play the University of Minnesota. Michigan coach Fielding Yost, while a football genius, was a bit paranoid, and thought opposing fans might poison his water. So he sent student manager Thomas B. Roberts to buy something and bring it to him. He went to a local variety store and spent 30 cents on a 5-gallon earthenware jug. The game ended in a 6-6 tie.
Afterward, Minnesota custodian Oscar Munson discovered, in his Scandinavian accent, "Yost left his yug." Supposedly, they contacted Yost and said, "Come and win it back." They didn't even try until 1909, when they did win it back.
Ever since, the jug -- which is not little and not brown -- has been painted maize & blue with Michigan's winning scores on one side, and maroon & gold with Minnesota's winning scores on the other, and gone to the winner. Michigan dominates the rivalry 76-25-3, including the battle for the Little Brown Jug 72-23-2.
This rivalry means little to Michigan, because they have absolutely dominated it. Michigan went 18-2-1 from 1895 to 1932, 14-2-1 from 1943 to 1959, and has gone 44-4 since 1968, including 18 straight from 1987 to 2004. Minnesota won 9 straight from 1934 to 1942.
Also on this day, Hampden Park opens in Glasgow, and becomes Scotland's national stadium. The previous facility with the name had been home to Queen's Park Football Club, the 1st professional sports team in Scotland, since 1873.
Queen's Park have played on the current site since 1903, the Scottish Cup Final has been held there since 1904, the national team has used it as their main home since 1906, and the Scottish Claymores of NFL Europe played there from 1998 to 2004.
The east and north stands of the stadium were redeveloped as all-seater in 1994, in time for Glasgow team Celtic to use Hampden while their own Celtic Park was redeveloped in the 1994-95 season. The rest of the stadium was upgraded by 1999. A record crowd of 149,415 saw a Scotland vs. England game in 1937, but the capacity is now 51,866.
Hampden hosted the Final of the European Cup in 1960 (Real Madrid beating Eintracht Frankfurt), 1976 (Bayern Munich beating Saint-Étienne), and 2002 (by which point the tournament had been renamed the UEFA Champions League, with Real Madrid beating Bayer Leverkusen). It has been chosen as a venue for Euro 2020.
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October 31, 1913: The Lincoln Highway, America's 1st coast-to-coast highway, is dedicated, running from Times Square in New York to Lincoln Park in San Francisco.
In New Jersey, this included the New York Central Railroad's ferry to the Weehawken Terminal (replaced by the Lincoln Tunnel in 1937); Pershing Road, 5th Street (now 49th Street), Hudson Blvd. (now John F. Kennedy Blvd.) and Communipaw Avenue in Jersey City; the Newark Plank Road (now Truck Route 1 & 9) in Kearny; Ferry Street, Market Street, Broad Street and Frelinghuysen Avenue in Newark; what's now New Jersey Route 27 through Elizabeth, Linden, Rahway, Woodbridge, Edison, Metuchen, Highland Park, New Brunswick, North Brunswick, South Brunswick, Franklin, Plainsboro and Princeton; and U.S. Route 206 in Princeton, Lawrence, and Trenton, where the Highway turns and crosses the Delaware River into Pennsylvania via the Calhoun Street Bridge.
It goes down into Philadelphia. From there, what was the Lincoln Highway pretty much becomes concurrent with U.S. Route 30 all the way out to Wyoming, including Pittsburgh, Chicago and Omaha.
The federal highway system -- the "U.S. Routes," indicated by black numbers on a white shield on a black background -- pretty much took the place of the early American highways in the 1920s. By the 1950s, the Interstate Highway System pretty much replaced those, and Interstate 80, essentially connecting the George Washington and San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridges, has taken the New York-to-San Francisco role formerly held by the Lincoln Highway.
October 31, 1915: Luella Jane Nossett is born in Vincennes, Indiana, and grows up in Gary, Indiana. We knew her as Jane Jarvis.
She played the organ at Braves games at Milwaukee County Stadium, and was hired by the Mets, playing from Shea Stadium's opening in 1964 until 1980. She played the team's theme song, "Meet the Mets," as they took the field to start the game. Before "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" and "God Bless America" (and, in the Mets' case, "Lazy Mary" by Lou Monte) became staples of the 7th inning stretch, she played "The Mexican Hat Dance" to get the fans to clap along.
Despite her advanced age, she returned for Shea's finale in 2008, and died in 2010.
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October 31, 1931, 90 years ago: Daniel Irvin Rather Jr. is born in Wharton, Texas, outside Houston. The longtime CBS News reporter, anchor of The CBS Evening News from 1981 to 2004, walked off the set in anger just before a remote broadcast from Miami, where Pope John Paul II had begun a rare U.S. tour, when a U.S. Open tennis match was being broadcast into the time scheduled for the newscast. He was upset that the news was being but into to make room for sports, and discussed it with the sports department.
The match, between Steffi Graf and Lori McNeil, ended at 6:32 PM, earlier than expected, but Rather had disappeared. So over 100 affiliates were forced to broadcast 6 minutes of dead air. The next day, Rather apologized for leaving the anchor desk.
The following year, when Rather asked then Vice President George H.W. Bush about his role in the Iran-Contra Affair during a live interview, Bush responded by saying, "Dan, how would you like it if I judged your entire career by those 7 minutes when you walked off the set in New York?"
Bush deflected. He was wrong: What Rather did embarrassed his network; but America deserved to know what Bush did, if anything in Iran-Contra. At age 90, Rather is still publicly opposed to Republican corruption -- more than ever, now that he doesn't have CBS' corporate-controlled sponsors looking over his shoulder.
The following year, when Rather asked then Vice President George H.W. Bush about his role in the Iran-Contra Affair during a live interview, Bush responded by saying, "Dan, how would you like it if I judged your entire career by those 7 minutes when you walked off the set in New York?"
Bush deflected. He was wrong: What Rather did embarrassed his network; but America deserved to know what Bush did, if anything in Iran-Contra. At age 90, Rather is still publicly opposed to Republican corruption -- more than ever, now that he doesn't have CBS' corporate-controlled sponsors looking over his shoulder.
October 31, 1935: John B. Barrow (I can find no reference to what the B. stands for) is born in Delray Beach, Florida. A 2-way tackle, he was an All-Southeastern Conference selection at the University of Florida, and was drafted by the Detroit Lions. But the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League offered more money, and he signed with them.
A mistake? Maybe: The Lions won the NFL Championship in 1957, his rookie season. But the Ticats also won their League that season, and again in 1963, 1965 and 1967. That last year, as the nation celebrated its Centennial, Barrow was named Canadian football's Lineman of the Century. He made 6 CFL All-Star Teams, and later served as general manager of the Toronto Argonauts.
He was named to the University of Florida Athletic and Canadian Football Halls of Fame, and to the CFL's 50 Greatest Players by TSN (The Sports Network, Canada's version of ESPN) in 2006. He died in 2015, at age 79.
By a weird coincidence, another John Barrow was born on October 31, 1955, 20 years later, also in the South, in Athens, seat of the University of Georgia. He graduated from that school, but was not an athlete there. He served as a Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2005 to 2015, winning 5 terms before being defeated for a 6th.
October 31, 1936, 85 years ago: Madison Square Garden -- the 3rd one, on 8th Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, then still fairly knew, but known to my generation as "The Old Garden" -- hosts its greatest moment. And it had nothing to do with sports.It is 3 days before a Presidential election. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the incumbent Democrat, is running for re-election. The Republican nominee is the Governor of Kansas, Alfred M. Landon. Landon is not the problem: His campaign was rather inoffensive.
Considerably more offensive are the charges that many have made against Roosevelt and his series of programs for lifting the country out of the Great Depression, programs he put under the umbrella term "The New Deal." FDR summarized these, in a more palatable way, in a speech to the nation over the radio networks of the time, a.k.a. one of his "Fireside Chats," on June 28, 1934:
A few timid people, who fear progress, will try to give you new and strange names for what we are doing. Sometimes they will call it "Fascism," sometimes "Communism," sometimes "Regimentation," sometimes "Socialism." But, in so doing, they are trying to make very complex and theoretical something that is really very simple and very practical.
A story FDR liked to tell as he ran for a 2nd term in 1936 was this:
A wealthy man in a fine suit and top hat fell into deep water. He didn't know how to swim, and was on the verge of drowning. Hearing his cries, another man dove into the water, and saved him, as his top hat floated away. The man who had almost drowned regained his breath, and, for a moment, seemed grateful.
Three years later, though, he returned, and denounced his rescuer for not saving his hat, too!
The very rich, and their hired spokesmen, said FDR was trying to "destroy capitalism." Sound familiar? Their successors have said it about every Democratic Presidential nominee since, including Barack Obama, both Bill and Hillary Clinton, and, now, Joe Biden.
A wealthy man in a fine suit and top hat fell into deep water. He didn't know how to swim, and was on the verge of drowning. Hearing his cries, another man dove into the water, and saved him, as his top hat floated away. The man who had almost drowned regained his breath, and, for a moment, seemed grateful.
Three years later, though, he returned, and denounced his rescuer for not saving his hat, too!
The very rich, and their hired spokesmen, said FDR was trying to "destroy capitalism." Sound familiar? Their successors have said it about every Democratic Presidential nominee since, including Barack Obama, both Bill and Hillary Clinton, and, now, Joe Biden.
Presidential candidates have frequently held rallies close to the election, sometimes in New York, sometimes in their hometowns. John F. Kennedy had his at the Boston Garden in 1960. Bill Clinton, having already had the Democratic Convention at the 4th and current version of The Garden, had one at the Meadowlands Arena 2 days before.
FDR, from Hyde Park, in Dutchess County, actually closer to Albany than to Midtown Manhattan, did have a home in Manhattan, so New York, for practical purposes, could be called his hometown. And so he had his close-to-Election Day rally at The Garden, arguably already, even though it did not use the slogan for decades to come, the world's most famous arena.
We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace -- business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering. They had begun to consider the Government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own affairs. We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob.
Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me -- and I welcome their hatred.
I should like to have it said of my first Administration that in it the forces of selfishness and of lust for power met their match. I should like to have it said of my second Administration that in it these forces met their master! ...
Here is an amazing paradox! The very employers and politicians and publishers who talk most loudly of class antagonism and the destruction of the American system now undermine that system by this attempt to coerce the votes of the wage earners of this country. It is the 1936 version of the old threat to close down the factory or the office if a particular candidate does not win. It is an old strategy of tyrants to delude their victims into fighting their battles for them.
FDR went on in this vein for some time. Tweaking the details, this speech could be given by a Democratic leader today, 85 years later.
Today, the forces of selfishness, of greed, and of bigotry -- against women, various religions, gay people, and the poor in general -- are united behind Donald Trump.
Trump has, in the past, claimed to be a Yankee fan. Can we deport him to Red Sox Nation?
Also on this day, Eugene Maurice Orowitz is born in Forest Hills, Queens, and grows up in the Philadelphia suburb of Collingswood, Camden County, New Jersey. He was a track star at Collingswood High School, with the longest javelin throw by any high schooler in the country in 1954. He won a track scholarship to the University of Southern California, but hurt his shoulder, ending his track career
Already in Los Angeles anyway, he became an actor. We tend not to remember who won the Gold Medal in the javelin at the Olympics in 1956 (Egil Danielsen of Norway) or 1960 (Viktor Tsybulenko of the Soviet Union), but we remember "Ugy" Orowitz by the name he adopted by then: Michael Landon. Funny, but Little Joe Cartwright, Charles "Pa" Ingalls and angel John Smith didn't look Jewish!
He was also a frequent panelist on the original Match Game on NBC in the 1960s, and when it was revived on CBS, he was the 1st panelist introduced on the 1st show, on July 2, 1973. It was a bit odd to see his nameplate read "Mike." I'd never heard anyone call him "Mike Landon." Then again, I'd never heard anyone call him "Ugy Orowitz," either!
FDR, from Hyde Park, in Dutchess County, actually closer to Albany than to Midtown Manhattan, did have a home in Manhattan, so New York, for practical purposes, could be called his hometown. And so he had his close-to-Election Day rally at The Garden, arguably already, even though it did not use the slogan for decades to come, the world's most famous arena.
We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace -- business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering. They had begun to consider the Government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own affairs. We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob.
Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me -- and I welcome their hatred.
I should like to have it said of my first Administration that in it the forces of selfishness and of lust for power met their match. I should like to have it said of my second Administration that in it these forces met their master! ...
Here is an amazing paradox! The very employers and politicians and publishers who talk most loudly of class antagonism and the destruction of the American system now undermine that system by this attempt to coerce the votes of the wage earners of this country. It is the 1936 version of the old threat to close down the factory or the office if a particular candidate does not win. It is an old strategy of tyrants to delude their victims into fighting their battles for them.
FDR went on in this vein for some time. Tweaking the details, this speech could be given by a Democratic leader today, 85 years later.
Today, the forces of selfishness, of greed, and of bigotry -- against women, various religions, gay people, and the poor in general -- are united behind Donald Trump.
Trump has, in the past, claimed to be a Yankee fan. Can we deport him to Red Sox Nation?
Also on this day, Eugene Maurice Orowitz is born in Forest Hills, Queens, and grows up in the Philadelphia suburb of Collingswood, Camden County, New Jersey. He was a track star at Collingswood High School, with the longest javelin throw by any high schooler in the country in 1954. He won a track scholarship to the University of Southern California, but hurt his shoulder, ending his track career
Already in Los Angeles anyway, he became an actor. We tend not to remember who won the Gold Medal in the javelin at the Olympics in 1956 (Egil Danielsen of Norway) or 1960 (Viktor Tsybulenko of the Soviet Union), but we remember "Ugy" Orowitz by the name he adopted by then: Michael Landon. Funny, but Little Joe Cartwright, Charles "Pa" Ingalls and angel John Smith didn't look Jewish!
He was also a frequent panelist on the original Match Game on NBC in the 1960s, and when it was revived on CBS, he was the 1st panelist introduced on the 1st show, on July 2, 1973. It was a bit odd to see his nameplate read "Mike." I'd never heard anyone call him "Mike Landon." Then again, I'd never heard anyone call him "Ugy Orowitz," either!
*
October 31, 1941, 80 years ago: Lucious Brown Jackson is born in San Marcos, Texas. A forward, Luke Jackson was an Olympic Gold Medalist for the U.S. at Tokyo in 1964, an NBA All-Star in 1965, and a member of the 1967 NBA Champion Philadelphia 76ers. He is still alive.Also on this day, Edward Wayne Spiezio is born outside Chicago in Joliet, Illinois. A 3rd baseman, he was a member of the St. Louis Cardinals' World Series winners of 1964 and 1967 and their Pennant winners of 1968. He was left unprotected in the 1969 expansion draft, and hit the 1st home run in San Diego Padres history. He remained with the Padres until 1972, and then finished his career that year with the Chicago White Sox.
He is 1 of 12 surviving members of the 1967 World Champions, and attended a ceremony honoring them on their 50th Anniversary at Busch Stadium in 2017. His son Scott Spiezio was an infielder who won World Series with the 2002 Anaheim Angels and the 2006 Cardinals. As far as I know, Ed and Scott Spiezio are the only father and son to have both won the World Series with the same team.
Also on this day, Ronnie Wickers is born in Chicago. He's been going to Chicago Cubs games since he was a boy, and around 1958 or so, he started his familiar, "Cubs, woo! Cubs, woo!" chant. He has become known as Ronnie Woo Woo, and is a Chicago icon. He has lived long enough to see the Cubs win a World Series, and still goes to games.
Also on this day, Lincoln Borglum admits defeat, and declares that his father Gutzon Borglum's masterwork, Mount Rushmore outside Rapid City, South Dakota, is finished. The faces of Presidents (left to right) George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, had been finished (in, respectively, 1934, 1936, 1939 and 1937), but the rest of it, which was meant to include them down to the waist, was not, except for the lapels on Washington's jacket. Gutzon had died earlier in the year, and there just wasn't enough money to do it all.
Also on this day, the USS Reuben James, a destroyer named for a U.S. Navy hero of the First Barbary War in 1804, is sunk by a German U-boat off the coast of Iceland. There were 100 deaths, and only 44 survivors.
This was an act of war, as America had not yet entered World War II. It was at least the 2nd, and possibly the 3rd, attack by the Kriegsmarine on the U.S. Navy, and certainly the 2nd in which American sailors had been killed. Still, FDR does not as Congress for a Declaration of War on Nazi Germany, because he knew he couldn't get it. Folksinger Woody Guthrie wrote "The Sinking of the Reuben James" about it.
On April 1, 1943, a new destroyer named Reuben James was christened. It was decommissioned only 4 years later, after the War ended. A 3rd ship with the name, a frigate, served from 1982 to 2013.
Also on this day, More Fun Comics #73 is published, debuting the character of Roy Harper, teenage sidekick to the costumed crimefighter Green Arrow. Harper is also an expert archer, and yet his superhero name, Speedy, suggests he should be a sidekick to the Flash. Oliver Queen gave him the name because he managed to stop a couple of crooks before Ollie could even put his Green Arrow costume on. October 31 is later retconned as the character's birthday.
In 1967, Speedy joined the Teen Titans, along with other teenage sidekicks: Dick Grayson (Batman's Robin), Donna Troy (Wonder Woman's Wonder Girl), Wally West (the Flash's Kid Flash) and Garth Curry (Aquaman's Aqualad).
In August 1971, in Green Lantern #85 -- the comic usually showed team-ups between the title hero and Green Arrow -- Harper was revealed to have a drug addiction, and this was considered a landmark moment in comic book history. It was a 2-part story: The 1st part was titled "Snowbirds Don't Fly," the 2nd "They Say It'll Kill Me... But They Won't Say When."
October 31, 1942: Maurice Richard makes his NHL debut. Wearing Number 15 for the Montreal Canadiens -- just like Gordie Howe with the Detroit Red Wings 4 years later, each taking on their iconic Number 9 in their 2nd season -- he plays in the Habs' 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins at the Montreal Forum.
The man eventually known as the Rocket would score the 1st of his 544 goals 8 days later, against the New York Rangers. Playing from 1942 to 1960, he held the NHL career scoring record from 1952, when he passed Nels Stewart with 325, until 1963, when Gordie Howe surpassed him, and Howe's 801 was surpassed by Wayne Gretzky in 1994, and he finished with 894. However, it's important to note that Gretzky played in seasons of 80 to 84 games. Richard began playing 50-game seasons, going to 60 in 1946-47, and going to 70 in 1949-50. He died in 2000, age 78.
Also on this day, David Arthur McNally is born in Billings, Montana. Dave McNally pitched a complete game to clinch the 1966 World Series for the Baltimore Orioles, and won another game and hit a grand slam in it to help them win it in 1970. His career won-lost record was a sterling 184-119.
But he's best known as one of the two pitchers, along with Andy Messersmith, who played the 1975 season without a contract to test the legality of the reserve clause. McNally, by then with the Montreal Expos, had been injured, had a successful ranch in his native Montana, and was ready to retire anyway, so he was an ideal player to make the test, since he didn't need the money. The clause was overturned.
McNally retired to his ranch and a car dealership, and wrote a memoir, A Whole Different Ball Game. He was a member of the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame and the Montana Sports Hall of Fame, and died of cancer in 2002.
Also on this day, Bing Crosby hits Number 1 with "White Christmas." On Halloween. And you thought the Christmas season started too early these days! The song will remain Number 1 until January 16, 1943.
Also on this day, David Ogden Stiers is born in Peoria, Illinois. Best known as Major Charles Emerson Winchester III, the fabulously wealthy, pompous but sometimes surprisingly human surgeon on M*A*S*H, he has spent much of the last few years doing voiceovers for PBS documentaries – in his real voice, not in Charles' Boston Brahmin accent. Stiers died in 2018.
Also on this day, More Fun Comics #73 is published, debuting the character of Roy Harper, teenage sidekick to the costumed crimefighter Green Arrow. Harper is also an expert archer, and yet his superhero name, Speedy, suggests he should be a sidekick to the Flash. Oliver Queen gave him the name because he managed to stop a couple of crooks before Ollie could even put his Green Arrow costume on. October 31 is later retconned as the character's birthday.
In 1967, Speedy joined the Teen Titans, along with other teenage sidekicks: Dick Grayson (Batman's Robin), Donna Troy (Wonder Woman's Wonder Girl), Wally West (the Flash's Kid Flash) and Garth Curry (Aquaman's Aqualad).
In August 1971, in Green Lantern #85 -- the comic usually showed team-ups between the title hero and Green Arrow -- Harper was revealed to have a drug addiction, and this was considered a landmark moment in comic book history. It was a 2-part story: The 1st part was titled "Snowbirds Don't Fly," the 2nd "They Say It'll Kill Me... But They Won't Say When."
The preceding May, The Amazing Spider-Man #96 introduced a drug story, without the approval of The Comics Code Authority, taking a risk of a huge backlash. It didn't happen, so DC did the Speedy story, and got the Authority's approval. The difference with the Spider-Man story is that it was an actual superhero, rather than the acquaintance of one, who had a drug addiction.
In 1983, Roy Harper fell in love with Jade Nguyen, a Eurasian assassin known as Cheshire, instead of capturing her. Cheshire gave birth to his daughter, Lian Harper. Roy changed his superhero name to Arsenal in 1993 (the North London soccer team of that name, also wearing red, did not publicly comment) and Red Arrow in 2005, becoming a full member of the Justice League under that last name. He was played by Colton Haynes on The CW's superhero series Arrow.
The man eventually known as the Rocket would score the 1st of his 544 goals 8 days later, against the New York Rangers. Playing from 1942 to 1960, he held the NHL career scoring record from 1952, when he passed Nels Stewart with 325, until 1963, when Gordie Howe surpassed him, and Howe's 801 was surpassed by Wayne Gretzky in 1994, and he finished with 894. However, it's important to note that Gretzky played in seasons of 80 to 84 games. Richard began playing 50-game seasons, going to 60 in 1946-47, and going to 70 in 1949-50. He died in 2000, age 78.
Also on this day, David Arthur McNally is born in Billings, Montana. Dave McNally pitched a complete game to clinch the 1966 World Series for the Baltimore Orioles, and won another game and hit a grand slam in it to help them win it in 1970. His career won-lost record was a sterling 184-119.
But he's best known as one of the two pitchers, along with Andy Messersmith, who played the 1975 season without a contract to test the legality of the reserve clause. McNally, by then with the Montreal Expos, had been injured, had a successful ranch in his native Montana, and was ready to retire anyway, so he was an ideal player to make the test, since he didn't need the money. The clause was overturned.
McNally retired to his ranch and a car dealership, and wrote a memoir, A Whole Different Ball Game. He was a member of the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame and the Montana Sports Hall of Fame, and died of cancer in 2002.
Also on this day, Bing Crosby hits Number 1 with "White Christmas." On Halloween. And you thought the Christmas season started too early these days! The song will remain Number 1 until January 16, 1943.
Also on this day, David Ogden Stiers is born in Peoria, Illinois. Best known as Major Charles Emerson Winchester III, the fabulously wealthy, pompous but sometimes surprisingly human surgeon on M*A*S*H, he has spent much of the last few years doing voiceovers for PBS documentaries – in his real voice, not in Charles' Boston Brahmin accent. Stiers died in 2018.
The 1980 episode "A War for All Seasons" depicted life at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital from December 31, 1950 to January 1, 1952 -- not the only episode to wreak havoc with the show's continuity. One plot was a bet that Corporal Max Klinger (Jamie Farr), the company clerk, had with the commanding officer, Colonel Sherman Potter (Harry Morgan), that Klinger's favorite major league team, the Brooklyn Dodgers (not to be confused with his hometown minor-league team, the Toledo Mud Hens), would win the National League Pennant, rather than Potter's favorite team, his fellow Eastern Missourians the St. Louis Cardinals.
Since they hope the Korean War will be over by the 4th of July, a date on which, according to superstition (fact frequently did not hold that up), the team leading goes on to win the Pennant, the bet is that the Dodgers will be ahead of the Cards on that date. They were. Indeed, Dem Bums led the whole Senior Circuit by 8 1/2 games.
Properly paid, but now forced to acknowledge that they'd still be in Korea by October, Klinger then offers Potter 2-1 odds, the Dodgers against the entire rest of the League for the Pennant. Potter offers a bet that Klinger can't cover. Winchester, having no interest in baseball despite being a Bostonian, does have an interest in money, and notes that Klinger's predictions have come true thus far. So he covers Klinger's bet. Which becomes bets with several other soldiers in camp.
As the Dodgers stretch their lead to 13 1/2 games on August 11, Charles' greed goes into overdrive, and he raises the odds to 6-1. Potter raises his bid to $100, or $600 to Charles -- about $6,480 in today's money, so this was a tidy sum, even by the standards of a Winchester. And that was just to Potter, not what he stood to owe in total if the Dodgers blew it.
When the New York Giants catch the Dodgers and force a Playoff, everyone's listening to Armed Forces Radio, and Winchester paces the compound wearing a Brooklyn Dodger cap -- not an easy thing for a soldier stationed overseas to get in 1951, even a rich one, and rich men tended not to be Dodger fans. After Bobby Thomson hits the home run that means, "The Giants win the Pennant!" Winchester swears revenge on Klinger. We never find out of if he gets it.
October 31, 1943: Louis Brian Piccolo is born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, but grows up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, making him a Southerner by osmosis. Dropping his first name, the All-American running back from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina overcame his natural prejudice to help his black Chicago Bears teammate Gale Sayers come back from a devastating knee injury, then developed lung cancer and died at age 26.
Shortly before Piccolo's death, Sayers was given the NFL's Most Courageous Man award for winning the 1969 rushing title on a knee with no cartilage in it. At the award ceremony, he said he didn't deserve the award, because Piccolo was showing more courage. "I love Brian Piccolo," he said, "and tonight, when you get down on your knees to pray, I want you to ask God to love him, too."
The Bears retired Piccolo's Number 41. In the 1971 film Brian's Song, Piccolo was played by James Caan, and Sayers by Billy Dee Williams, career-making roles for both men.
Since they hope the Korean War will be over by the 4th of July, a date on which, according to superstition (fact frequently did not hold that up), the team leading goes on to win the Pennant, the bet is that the Dodgers will be ahead of the Cards on that date. They were. Indeed, Dem Bums led the whole Senior Circuit by 8 1/2 games.
Properly paid, but now forced to acknowledge that they'd still be in Korea by October, Klinger then offers Potter 2-1 odds, the Dodgers against the entire rest of the League for the Pennant. Potter offers a bet that Klinger can't cover. Winchester, having no interest in baseball despite being a Bostonian, does have an interest in money, and notes that Klinger's predictions have come true thus far. So he covers Klinger's bet. Which becomes bets with several other soldiers in camp.
As the Dodgers stretch their lead to 13 1/2 games on August 11, Charles' greed goes into overdrive, and he raises the odds to 6-1. Potter raises his bid to $100, or $600 to Charles -- about $6,480 in today's money, so this was a tidy sum, even by the standards of a Winchester. And that was just to Potter, not what he stood to owe in total if the Dodgers blew it.
When the New York Giants catch the Dodgers and force a Playoff, everyone's listening to Armed Forces Radio, and Winchester paces the compound wearing a Brooklyn Dodger cap -- not an easy thing for a soldier stationed overseas to get in 1951, even a rich one, and rich men tended not to be Dodger fans. After Bobby Thomson hits the home run that means, "The Giants win the Pennant!" Winchester swears revenge on Klinger. We never find out of if he gets it.
October 31, 1943: Louis Brian Piccolo is born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, but grows up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, making him a Southerner by osmosis. Dropping his first name, the All-American running back from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina overcame his natural prejudice to help his black Chicago Bears teammate Gale Sayers come back from a devastating knee injury, then developed lung cancer and died at age 26.
Shortly before Piccolo's death, Sayers was given the NFL's Most Courageous Man award for winning the 1969 rushing title on a knee with no cartilage in it. At the award ceremony, he said he didn't deserve the award, because Piccolo was showing more courage. "I love Brian Piccolo," he said, "and tonight, when you get down on your knees to pray, I want you to ask God to love him, too."
The Bears retired Piccolo's Number 41. In the 1971 film Brian's Song, Piccolo was played by James Caan, and Sayers by Billy Dee Williams, career-making roles for both men.
October 31, 1946, 75 years ago: Stephen Rea (no middle name) is born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He starred in The Crying Game and was nominated for an Oscar for it. He's best known in the U.S. as Inspector Eric Finch, a good guy who figures out, to his horror, that the guys he's working for are really the bad guys, in V for Vendetta.
It was because of that film that he was the only actor besides Colin Firth that I recognized from the original, British soccer, version of Fever Pitch. He played a school governor who was, as he is in real life, an Arsenal fan.
October 31, 1947: Frank Charles Shorter is born in Munich, Germany, where his father was serving with the U.S. Army. He grew up in Middletown, Orange County, New York, and won the Olympic marathon in 1972 -- in Munich. He finished 2nd in Montreal in 1976.
October 31, 1947: Frank Charles Shorter is born in Munich, Germany, where his father was serving with the U.S. Army. He grew up in Middletown, Orange County, New York, and won the Olympic marathon in 1972 -- in Munich. He finished 2nd in Montreal in 1976.
Thanks to his '72 win, the Boston Marathon was reborn as an event the whole country wanted to watch, and the New York City Marathon, which started the year before, took off. Along with Jim Fixx and his Jim Fixx's Book of Running, Shorter is probably more responsible than anyone for the rise of recreational running in America. I leave it to you to decide whether that's a good thing.
He has been elected to the United States Olympic Hall of Fame, the USA National Track and Field Hall of Fame, the National Distance Running Hall of Fame, and the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. He lives in Boulder, Colorado, home of the University of Colorado, where a statue of him stands outside the football stadium, Folsom Field. It's made of bronze, so, now, he has a Gold, a Silver and a Bronze. Since 1979, in that city, he has run a 10-kilometer race, the Bolder Boulder. And by "run," I mean he organizes it and participates in it.
October 31, 1948: John Milton Rivers is born in Miami. We know him as Mickey Rivers. Roger Kahn, an English major at New York University, and the author of The Boys of Summer, later wrote October Men, about the 1977 and '78 Yankees, of whom Mick the Quick was such a big part. Kahn wrote that Rivers might be the only man named for John Milton who has never heard of Milton's epic poem, Paradise Lost.
Like his coach Yogi Berra, Mickey is something of a wacky philosopher. His best known line is, "Ain't no sense worrying 'bout things you got control over. 'Cause, if you got control, ain't no sense worrying. And ain't no sense worrying 'bout things you got no control over. 'Cause, if you got no control, ain't no sense worrying." I can't argue with that. I wouldn't know how.
He debuted with the team then known as the California Angels in 1970. In 1974, he led the American League in triples. In 1975, he led in triples again, and also in stolen bases, swiping 70. That remains the highest total of any player for a California-based baseball team other than Maury Wills and Rickey Henderson.
On December 11, 1975, general manager Gabe Paul pulled off one of the greatest trades in Yankee history, sending unhappy superstar Bobby Bonds to the Angels, and getting Rivers and Ed Figueroa. Instantly, he'd gotten rid of a malcontent and gained a superb leadoff man who would bat .299 with 93 stolen bases in nearly 4 years as a Yankee, and a solid starting pitcher who would win 55 games over the next 3 years. The same day, Paul swung Willie Randolph, Dock Ellis and Ken Brett from the Pittsburgh Pirates for Doc Medich. Good day for the Yankees.
In 1976, Mick and finished 3rd in the AL Most Valuable Player voting, and batted .348 in the AL Championship Series against the Royals, sparking the Yankees to their 1st Pennant in 12 years. In 1977, he hit .391 in the ALCS, also against the Royals. He tailed off in 1978, but hit .455 in yet another ALCS against Kansas City, making 3 straight Pennants. And this time, unlike in the '76 and '77 Fall Classics, he batted .333 in the '78 World Series, to get the Yankees to back-to-back titles.
If the ESPN miniseries The Bronx Is Burning, about the 1977 Yankees, in which he was played by standup comedian Leonard Robinson, is any indication, Mick had serious money problems, due to lavish spending and gambling. If this had been publicly known at the time, it could have been very bad.
On July 30, 1979, the Yankees traded him to the Texas Rangers for lefty slugger Oscar Gamble. He played for the Rangers through the 1984 season, and retired. Since then, he has turned his love of betting on racehorses into training them. He and his wife Mary had a son, Mickey Jr., who played in the Rangers organization, and a daughter, Rhonda, who's a teacher. He still comes back to Yankee Stadium for Old-Timers' Day nearly every season, and remains a fan favorite.
He debuted with the team then known as the California Angels in 1970. In 1974, he led the American League in triples. In 1975, he led in triples again, and also in stolen bases, swiping 70. That remains the highest total of any player for a California-based baseball team other than Maury Wills and Rickey Henderson.
On December 11, 1975, general manager Gabe Paul pulled off one of the greatest trades in Yankee history, sending unhappy superstar Bobby Bonds to the Angels, and getting Rivers and Ed Figueroa. Instantly, he'd gotten rid of a malcontent and gained a superb leadoff man who would bat .299 with 93 stolen bases in nearly 4 years as a Yankee, and a solid starting pitcher who would win 55 games over the next 3 years. The same day, Paul swung Willie Randolph, Dock Ellis and Ken Brett from the Pittsburgh Pirates for Doc Medich. Good day for the Yankees.
In 1976, Mick and finished 3rd in the AL Most Valuable Player voting, and batted .348 in the AL Championship Series against the Royals, sparking the Yankees to their 1st Pennant in 12 years. In 1977, he hit .391 in the ALCS, also against the Royals. He tailed off in 1978, but hit .455 in yet another ALCS against Kansas City, making 3 straight Pennants. And this time, unlike in the '76 and '77 Fall Classics, he batted .333 in the '78 World Series, to get the Yankees to back-to-back titles.
If the ESPN miniseries The Bronx Is Burning, about the 1977 Yankees, in which he was played by standup comedian Leonard Robinson, is any indication, Mick had serious money problems, due to lavish spending and gambling. If this had been publicly known at the time, it could have been very bad.
On July 30, 1979, the Yankees traded him to the Texas Rangers for lefty slugger Oscar Gamble. He played for the Rangers through the 1984 season, and retired. Since then, he has turned his love of betting on racehorses into training them. He and his wife Mary had a son, Mickey Jr., who played in the Rangers organization, and a daughter, Rhonda, who's a teacher. He still comes back to Yankee Stadium for Old-Timers' Day nearly every season, and remains a fan favorite.
*
October 31, 1950: The Rochester Royals defeat the Washington Capitols, 78-70, at the Edgerton Park Arena in Rochester. (It was demolished in the late 1950s.) Arnie Risen scores 20 for the home team, as they begin a season that will bring their 1st NBA Championship.
They had previously won the title in the National Basketball League in 1945. They will become the Cincinnati Royals in 1957, the Kansas City Kings in 1972, and the Sacramento Kings in 1985. Their long-term future in Sacramento is now settled, as they've opened a new arena.
Earl Lloyd, a forward wearing Number 11, scores 2 baskets and 2 free throws for the Capitols, for a total of 6 points. It doesn't sound like much, but his mere presence in the game makes him the NBA's 1st black player.
Chuck Cooper had been the 1st black player drafted, by the Boston Celtics, but, the way the schedule worked out, Earl beat him to the court by 1 day. Chuck should not be confused with another early black star, Charles "Tarzan" Cooper, who played for the New York Renaissance (a.k.a. the Rens) in the 1930s. Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton, formerly of the Rens and the Harlem Globetrotters, had been the 1st black player actually signed, by the New York Knicks, but Earl beat him to the court by 4 days.
Earl Lloyd was born in 1928 in Alexandria, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. His hometown team, having fired coach Red Auerbach in 1949, was 10-25 on January 9, 1951, and folded, leaving the nation's capital without an NBA team for the next 22 years. Lloyd was then drafted, and served in the Korean War.
Discharged in 1952, "the Big Cat" (also the nickname of Baseball Hall-of-Famer Johnny Mize, then wrapping up his career with the Yankees) played for the Syracuse Nationals until 1958, and the Detroit Pistons from then until his retirement in 1960. He averaged 8.4 points per game in his 9 NBA seasons. The Pistons then hired him as a scout. In 1968, they named him the 1st black assistant coach in the NBA, and the 2nd black head coach (after Bill Russell of the Celtics) and 1st non-playing black head coach in 1972. But the Pistons were awful then, and his career coaching record was just 22-55.
He worked for the Detroit school system, helping students find jobs, then did the same thing for a company run by Pistons Hall-of-Famer Dave Bing. He retired to Tennessee. In 2003, the Basketball Hall of Fame elected him as a "contributor," for his historical prominence. In 2007, T.C. Williams High School, the integrated Alexandria school into which his former all-black school, Parker-Gray, had been consolidated (a tale told in the football-themed film Remember the Titans), named their new gym's court after him. He was also elected to the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, and died in 2015, a few weeks short of his 87th birthday.
Also on this day, John Franklin Candy is born in Newmarket, Ontario, outside Toronto. In the closing minutes of Super Bowl XXIII, when the Cincinnati Bengals had just scored to take the lead, the San Francisco 49ers were nervous, when quarterback Joe Montana pointed out of the huddle to the stands and said, "Isn't that John Candy?" The question relaxed the players, and Montana drove them for the winning touchdown.
Candy played Cubs broadcaster Cliff Murdoch in Rookie of the Year, and I give him a lot of credit for playing someone similar to, but not a total caricature of, Cubs broadcasting legend Harry Caray. On the other side of Chicago, he shot a scene at the old Comiskey Park in its closing days for Only the Lonely. Considering his weight, I'm not surprised that he died young (43), but I'm still sorry about it. He gave us a lot, but, based on how he switched from comedy to pathos in Planes, Trains and Automobiles, he had a lot more to give.
Also on this day, Margaret Jane Pauley is born in Indianapolis. Dropping her first name, she was the longtime co-host of The Today Show on NBC, and is married to Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau. She recently took over for the retiring Charles Osgood as the host of CBS Sunday Morning.
October 31, 1951, 70 years ago: Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. is born in Fairmont, West Virginia. It will surprise no fans of Southeastern Conference football to learn that Nick Saban has Halloween as his birthday. The son of legendary football coach Lou Saban, Nick hasn't yet moved around to as many coaching jobs, but he has moved around with considerably less ethics than his father.
Jake Gibbs, Ole Miss' quarterback and punter, and later a catcher for the Yankees, punts, and Billy Cannon, who led LSU to the National Championship the year before, returns it 89 yards, breaking 7 tackles and running the last 60 yards untouched through the fog, for a touchdown that wins the game, 7-3. It becomes known as "Billy Cannon's Halloween Run," and it effectively clinches the Heisman Trophy for him.
But LSU lost to the University of Tennessee the next week, 14-13, as Cannon was stuffed on an attempt for a 2-point conversion, costing LSU a 2nd straight national title. A rematch with Ole Miss was set up for the Sugar Bowl, and Ole Miss won.
*
October 31, 1961, 60 years ago: Hurricane Hattie makes landfall in Central America, killing over 300 people.
Also on this day, Lawrence Joseph Mullen Jr. is born in Dublin, Ireland. Larry Mullen Jr. is the drummer for the band U2.
Also on this day, Peter Robert Jackson is born in Wellington, New Zealand. He directed the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, including winning the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director for the 2003 finale, The Return of the King. He also directed the 2005 remake of King Kong, and The Lovely Bones.
They had previously won the title in the National Basketball League in 1945. They will become the Cincinnati Royals in 1957, the Kansas City Kings in 1972, and the Sacramento Kings in 1985. Their long-term future in Sacramento is now settled, as they've opened a new arena.
Earl Lloyd, a forward wearing Number 11, scores 2 baskets and 2 free throws for the Capitols, for a total of 6 points. It doesn't sound like much, but his mere presence in the game makes him the NBA's 1st black player.
Chuck Cooper had been the 1st black player drafted, by the Boston Celtics, but, the way the schedule worked out, Earl beat him to the court by 1 day. Chuck should not be confused with another early black star, Charles "Tarzan" Cooper, who played for the New York Renaissance (a.k.a. the Rens) in the 1930s. Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton, formerly of the Rens and the Harlem Globetrotters, had been the 1st black player actually signed, by the New York Knicks, but Earl beat him to the court by 4 days.
Earl Lloyd was born in 1928 in Alexandria, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. His hometown team, having fired coach Red Auerbach in 1949, was 10-25 on January 9, 1951, and folded, leaving the nation's capital without an NBA team for the next 22 years. Lloyd was then drafted, and served in the Korean War.
Discharged in 1952, "the Big Cat" (also the nickname of Baseball Hall-of-Famer Johnny Mize, then wrapping up his career with the Yankees) played for the Syracuse Nationals until 1958, and the Detroit Pistons from then until his retirement in 1960. He averaged 8.4 points per game in his 9 NBA seasons. The Pistons then hired him as a scout. In 1968, they named him the 1st black assistant coach in the NBA, and the 2nd black head coach (after Bill Russell of the Celtics) and 1st non-playing black head coach in 1972. But the Pistons were awful then, and his career coaching record was just 22-55.
He worked for the Detroit school system, helping students find jobs, then did the same thing for a company run by Pistons Hall-of-Famer Dave Bing. He retired to Tennessee. In 2003, the Basketball Hall of Fame elected him as a "contributor," for his historical prominence. In 2007, T.C. Williams High School, the integrated Alexandria school into which his former all-black school, Parker-Gray, had been consolidated (a tale told in the football-themed film Remember the Titans), named their new gym's court after him. He was also elected to the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, and died in 2015, a few weeks short of his 87th birthday.
Also on this day, John Franklin Candy is born in Newmarket, Ontario, outside Toronto. In the closing minutes of Super Bowl XXIII, when the Cincinnati Bengals had just scored to take the lead, the San Francisco 49ers were nervous, when quarterback Joe Montana pointed out of the huddle to the stands and said, "Isn't that John Candy?" The question relaxed the players, and Montana drove them for the winning touchdown.
Candy played Cubs broadcaster Cliff Murdoch in Rookie of the Year, and I give him a lot of credit for playing someone similar to, but not a total caricature of, Cubs broadcasting legend Harry Caray. On the other side of Chicago, he shot a scene at the old Comiskey Park in its closing days for Only the Lonely. Considering his weight, I'm not surprised that he died young (43), but I'm still sorry about it. He gave us a lot, but, based on how he switched from comedy to pathos in Planes, Trains and Automobiles, he had a lot more to give.
Also on this day, Margaret Jane Pauley is born in Indianapolis. Dropping her first name, she was the longtime co-host of The Today Show on NBC, and is married to Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau. She recently took over for the retiring Charles Osgood as the host of CBS Sunday Morning.
October 31, 1951, 70 years ago: Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. is born in Fairmont, West Virginia. It will surprise no fans of Southeastern Conference football to learn that Nick Saban has Halloween as his birthday. The son of legendary football coach Lou Saban, Nick hasn't yet moved around to as many coaching jobs, but he has moved around with considerably less ethics than his father.
He did, however, lead Louisiana State to the 2003 National Championship, and Alabama to the 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2017 editions. He's won 9 Southeastern Conference Championships, in 2001 and 2003 at LSU; and in 2009, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2020 at Alabama. (Alabama lost, oddly, to LSU in 2011, thus denying them a place in the SEC Championship Game, but because they were Number 2 in the final rankings, they still got into the National Championship Game.) He and Bear Bryant, with Kentucky and Alabama, are the only coaches to win SEC Championships at 2 different schools. He also won a Mid-American Conference at the University of Toledo in 1990.
His career record currently stands at 263-66-1. Alabama is currently 7-1, holding the Number 3 ranking, after losing Number 1 following a loss to Texas A&M.
His career record currently stands at 263-66-1. Alabama is currently 7-1, holding the Number 3 ranking, after losing Number 1 following a loss to Texas A&M.
October 31, 1959: Louisiana State University hosts the University of Mississippi at Tiger Stadium in a foggy Baton Rouge. LSU comes into the game ranked Number 1, Ole Miss Number 3. Late in the 4th quarter, Ole Miss leads 3-0.
Jake Gibbs, Ole Miss' quarterback and punter, and later a catcher for the Yankees, punts, and Billy Cannon, who led LSU to the National Championship the year before, returns it 89 yards, breaking 7 tackles and running the last 60 yards untouched through the fog, for a touchdown that wins the game, 7-3. It becomes known as "Billy Cannon's Halloween Run," and it effectively clinches the Heisman Trophy for him.
But LSU lost to the University of Tennessee the next week, 14-13, as Cannon was stuffed on an attempt for a 2-point conversion, costing LSU a 2nd straight national title. A rematch with Ole Miss was set up for the Sugar Bowl, and Ole Miss won.
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October 31, 1961, 60 years ago: Hurricane Hattie makes landfall in Central America, killing over 300 people.
Also on this day, Lawrence Joseph Mullen Jr. is born in Dublin, Ireland. Larry Mullen Jr. is the drummer for the band U2.
Also on this day, Peter Robert Jackson is born in Wellington, New Zealand. He directed the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, including winning the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director for the 2003 finale, The Return of the King. He also directed the 2005 remake of King Kong, and The Lovely Bones.
He recently made The Beatles: Get Back, a documentary about the making of their album Let It Be, using footage from the previous documentary based on it, some of it not used.
October 31, 1962: The Number 1 song in America on this Halloween is "Monster Mash," credited to Bobby "Boris" Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers. Pickett was a 24-year-old native of the Boston area who loved horror films, and had a nightclub act where he would sing doo-wop songs while imitating such actors as Boris Karloff, who played the monster in the 1931 version of Frankenstein, and the title character in the 1932 version of The Mummy; and Bela Lugosi, who played the title character in the 1931 version of Dracula.
In May 1962, he wrote and recorded as a parody of dance crazes like the Twist and the Mashed Potato -- hence, "Monster Mash." He was signed by Gary Paxton, who ran Garpax Records and had been the lead singer of The Hollywood Argyles, who hit Number 1 in 1960 with a novelty song about a comic strip caveman, "Alley Oop." The piano player on "Monster Mash" was a young Leon Russell.
The key to the joke is one that I didn't get for years: In the 1950s, Karloff had a kids' show on New York radio station WNEW, so his voice became familiar to the Baby Boom generation, even though he had hardly any lines as the Frankenstein Monster. (Remember: Frankenstein was the mad scientist, though the name is often mistakenly given to the Monster.) In 1958, Karloff came full circle, playing the scientist in Frankenstein 1970. So it wasn't odd for Pickett to play Karloff as the scientist in the song -- even though, at the end, Igor, "you impetuous young boy," sounds more like the Monster than the classic scientist's hunchbacked assistant.
One thing Pickett didn't do was use the word "antipasto," which, due to the impression of another horror-themed radio show host, John Zacherle, "the Cool Ghoul," became the word to use when imitating Karloff, who died in 1969, 3 years after narrating the TV special How the Grinch Saved Christmas. Another thing he didn't do was pronounce the location of his work a "la-BORE-a-tory" like an Englishman like Karloff would, instead of "LAB-oratory."
Pickett never had another serious hit, although "Monster Mash" being overused every late October meant that he never had to work another day in his life, which ended in 2007. Zacherle made it until 2016, age 98.
October 31, 1963: A propane leak at a concession stand at the Indiana State Fair Coliseum causes an explosion that kills 74 people during a Holiday On Ice show.
Opened in 1939, the 6,800-seat building still stands, known as the Indiana Farmers Coliseum. It was the 1st home of the Indiana Pacers, from 1967 to 1974, and they won the American Basketball Association title there in 1970, 1972, and 1973.
It has also been home to a series of minor-league hockey teams. The Indianapolis Capitals won the Calder Cup, the championship of the American Hockey League, in 1942 and 1950. The Indianapolis Ice won the Turner Cup, the championship of the International Hockey League, in 1990; and the Ray Miron Cup, the championship of the Central Hockey League, in 2000. The Indiana Ice won the Clark Cup, the championship of the United States Hockey League, in 2009 and 2014. The current team is called the Indy Fuel.
Also on this day, Fredrick Stanley McGriff is born in Tampa. In 1982, the Yankees traded LP1st baseman Fred McGriff, young pitcher Mike Morgan and outfielder Dave Collins to the Toronto Blue Jays for pitcher Dale Murray and 3rd baseman Tom Dodd. Dodd did play 1 year in the majors, but for Baltimore. Murray got hurt and never contributed to the Yankees, either. Collins was pretty much finished.
In contrast, in 2001, 19 years after the trade, Morgan pitched against the Yankees in the World Series for the Arizona Diamondbacks, and McGriff was also still active. By trading him, the Yankees essentially traded 493 home runs for nothing. It was a horrible trade.
Or was it? McGriff was 19 at the time, and did not reach the majors for another 4 years. Had he done so with the Yankees, he would have smacked right into Don Mattingly at his peak. And the Yankees seemed to be loaded with designated hitters and pinch-hitters at that time. They may not have had any place to put him.
McGriff was involved in some other big trades: The Jays traded him to the San Diego Padres in 1990, a trade which brought them Joe Carter and Roberto Alomar, key figures in their 1992 and '3 World Champions; and the Padres sent him to the Atlanta Braves as part of their 1993 "fire sale," a pure "salary dump."
McGriff hit the 1st home run at the Rogers Centre (then called the SkyDome) in 1989. With the Jays that season and the Padres in 1992, McGriff became the 1st player in the post-1920 Lively Ball Era to lead both leagues in home runs. He helped the Braves win the World Series in 1995, and later played for his hometown Tampa Bay Rays. He served as the head baseball coach at Jesuit High School in Tampa, Lou Piniella's alma mater, and now works in the Rays' front office and hosts a sports-themed radio show in Tampa.
He has been eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame since the election of January 2010. He has not yet made it. He fell just 7 homers short of the magic 500 Club, and has a career OPS+ of 134. He has never been seriously suspected of steroid use. Baseball-Reference.com's Hall of Fame Monitor, on which a score of 100 is a "Likely HOFer," has him at exactly 100, meaning he should make it. Their Hall of Fame Standards, on which a score of 50 matches the "Average HOFer," has him at 48, meaning he falls slightly short.
According to B-R, his 10 Most Similar Batters (weighted toward players of the same position) includes 5 HOFers: Willie McCovey, Willie Stargell, Jeff Bagwell, Frank Thomas and Billy Williams; a guy not yet eligible who has a decent shot, Paul Konerko; a guy now eligible who could get in, Carlos Delgado; and 3 guys who would probably make it if they weren't tainted by steroids: David Ortiz, Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield. (At this point, Ortiz may make it in even though everybody knows he's a big fat lying cheater.)
Opened in 1939, the 6,800-seat building still stands, known as the Indiana Farmers Coliseum. It was the 1st home of the Indiana Pacers, from 1967 to 1974, and they won the American Basketball Association title there in 1970, 1972, and 1973.
It has also been home to a series of minor-league hockey teams. The Indianapolis Capitals won the Calder Cup, the championship of the American Hockey League, in 1942 and 1950. The Indianapolis Ice won the Turner Cup, the championship of the International Hockey League, in 1990; and the Ray Miron Cup, the championship of the Central Hockey League, in 2000. The Indiana Ice won the Clark Cup, the championship of the United States Hockey League, in 2009 and 2014. The current team is called the Indy Fuel.
Also on this day, Fredrick Stanley McGriff is born in Tampa. In 1982, the Yankees traded LP1st baseman Fred McGriff, young pitcher Mike Morgan and outfielder Dave Collins to the Toronto Blue Jays for pitcher Dale Murray and 3rd baseman Tom Dodd. Dodd did play 1 year in the majors, but for Baltimore. Murray got hurt and never contributed to the Yankees, either. Collins was pretty much finished.
In contrast, in 2001, 19 years after the trade, Morgan pitched against the Yankees in the World Series for the Arizona Diamondbacks, and McGriff was also still active. By trading him, the Yankees essentially traded 493 home runs for nothing. It was a horrible trade.
Or was it? McGriff was 19 at the time, and did not reach the majors for another 4 years. Had he done so with the Yankees, he would have smacked right into Don Mattingly at his peak. And the Yankees seemed to be loaded with designated hitters and pinch-hitters at that time. They may not have had any place to put him.
McGriff was involved in some other big trades: The Jays traded him to the San Diego Padres in 1990, a trade which brought them Joe Carter and Roberto Alomar, key figures in their 1992 and '3 World Champions; and the Padres sent him to the Atlanta Braves as part of their 1993 "fire sale," a pure "salary dump."
McGriff hit the 1st home run at the Rogers Centre (then called the SkyDome) in 1989. With the Jays that season and the Padres in 1992, McGriff became the 1st player in the post-1920 Lively Ball Era to lead both leagues in home runs. He helped the Braves win the World Series in 1995, and later played for his hometown Tampa Bay Rays. He served as the head baseball coach at Jesuit High School in Tampa, Lou Piniella's alma mater, and now works in the Rays' front office and hosts a sports-themed radio show in Tampa.
He has been eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame since the election of January 2010. He has not yet made it. He fell just 7 homers short of the magic 500 Club, and has a career OPS+ of 134. He has never been seriously suspected of steroid use. Baseball-Reference.com's Hall of Fame Monitor, on which a score of 100 is a "Likely HOFer," has him at exactly 100, meaning he should make it. Their Hall of Fame Standards, on which a score of 50 matches the "Average HOFer," has him at 48, meaning he falls slightly short.
According to B-R, his 10 Most Similar Batters (weighted toward players of the same position) includes 5 HOFers: Willie McCovey, Willie Stargell, Jeff Bagwell, Frank Thomas and Billy Williams; a guy not yet eligible who has a decent shot, Paul Konerko; a guy now eligible who could get in, Carlos Delgado; and 3 guys who would probably make it if they weren't tainted by steroids: David Ortiz, Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield. (At this point, Ortiz may make it in even though everybody knows he's a big fat lying cheater.)
He was always popular – ESPN's Chris Berman took the public-service-announcement character of "McGruff the Crime Dog" and nicknamed McGriff "Crime Dog." And he was on winning teams. So why hasn't he been elected? He is a member of the Florida Sports Hall of Fame, and his son Erick McGriff played wide receiver at the University of Kansas.
Also on this day, according to the movie Halloween, Michael Myers, despite being only 6 years old, kills his older sister and babysitter, Judith, in their home in Haddonfield, Illinois. (There is a Borough of Haddonfield in the Philadelphia suburbs of Camden County, South Jersey, but the one in the Halloween movies, presumably a suburb of Chicago, does not actually exist.)
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October 31, 1964: East Brunswick High School, later to be my high school, but at this point in only its 4th season of varsity football, plays on Halloween for the 1st time. This is also their 1st game against neighboring school Edison. EB wins, 29-0.
Also on this day, Marcel van Basten is born in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Better known as Marco van Basten, the striker starred for Ajax Amsterdam, winning League Championships in 1982, '83 and '85 and the Dutch Cup in '83, '86 and '87 – meaning they won "The Double" in 1983. He moved on to AC Milan in Italy, winning Serie A in 1988, '92 and '93, and back-to-back European Cups (now the Champions League) in 1989 and '90. He led the Netherlands to the European Championship in 1988.
Despite an ankle injury that essentially ended his career at age 28, 3 times he was named European Player of the Year, and the magazine France Football placed him 8th in a poll of the Football Players of the Century. He has managed both Ajax and the Netherlands national team, and is now a technical director at FIFA, the world governing body for the sport.
Also on this day, Marcel van Basten is born in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Better known as Marco van Basten, the striker starred for Ajax Amsterdam, winning League Championships in 1982, '83 and '85 and the Dutch Cup in '83, '86 and '87 – meaning they won "The Double" in 1983. He moved on to AC Milan in Italy, winning Serie A in 1988, '92 and '93, and back-to-back European Cups (now the Champions League) in 1989 and '90. He led the Netherlands to the European Championship in 1988.
Despite an ankle injury that essentially ended his career at age 28, 3 times he was named European Player of the Year, and the magazine France Football placed him 8th in a poll of the Football Players of the Century. He has managed both Ajax and the Netherlands national team, and is now a technical director at FIFA, the world governing body for the sport.
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October 31, 1970: East Brunswick defeats Cedar Ridge of Old Bridge, 29-0. Cedar Ridge was in its 2nd season of varsity football, and had yet to win a game.
Also on this day, Stephen Christopher Trachsel is born in Oxnard, California. In 1996, the Chicago Cubs pitcher was named to the All-Star Team. On September 8, 1998, Steve gave up Mark McGwire's steroid-aided 62nd home run.
But just 20 days later, he was the winning pitcher for the Cubs over the San Francisco Giants in the Playoff for the NL Wild Card berth. Since the Cubs only made the Playoffs 4 times in the 61 seasons between 1946 and 2006, this makes him a Wrigleyville hero for all time. He also pitched for the Mets, winning the NL East with them in 2006. He now lives outside San Diego.
October 31, 1971, 50 years ago: Elgin Baylor of the Los Angeles Lakers announces his retirement due to a knee injury, early in his 14th season in the NBA. The Lakers lose to the Golden State Warriors, 109-105 at The Forum in Inglewood. They are 6-3 in the young season, and it's beginning to look like the chance for an NBA title has passed them by, following 8 losses in the NBA Finals, including 1959, Baylor's rookie season, in Minneapolis.
But just 20 days later, he was the winning pitcher for the Cubs over the San Francisco Giants in the Playoff for the NL Wild Card berth. Since the Cubs only made the Playoffs 4 times in the 61 seasons between 1946 and 2006, this makes him a Wrigleyville hero for all time. He also pitched for the Mets, winning the NL East with them in 2006. He now lives outside San Diego.
October 31, 1971, 50 years ago: Elgin Baylor of the Los Angeles Lakers announces his retirement due to a knee injury, early in his 14th season in the NBA. The Lakers lose to the Golden State Warriors, 109-105 at The Forum in Inglewood. They are 6-3 in the young season, and it's beginning to look like the chance for an NBA title has passed them by, following 8 losses in the NBA Finals, including 1959, Baylor's rookie season, in Minneapolis.
This turns out not to be the case: Their next game, on November 5, starts them on a record inning streak that will result in a title.
October 31, 1978: In the 1st movie in the Halloween franchise, premiering 6 days earlier, this is the day on which Michael Myers escapes from the psychiatric institution where he was being kept, and begins his killing spree.
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October 31, 1980: Harold McLinton is hit by a car and killed on Interstate 295 in Washington, D.C., after stopping to help another driver with a flat tire. He was only 33, and just 2 years into retirement from a career as a linebacker with the Washington Redskins.
He was a member of the Redskins team that won the 1972 NFC Championship, but lost Super Bowl VII. On the franchise's 70th Anniversary in 2002, he was named one of the 70 Greatest Redskins.
Also, this was "The Night the Cylons Landed." That's the title of this 2-part episode, which has a Halloween storyline, of Galactica 1980, the ill-fated sequel to the original version of the science fiction series Battlestar Galactica, which aired on ABC on April 13 and 20, 1980.
As with E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial 2 years later, landing on Earth on or near Halloween helps to prevent a panic, since everyone believes the aliens are simply people in costumes. This also worked for the "transgenics" on a 2001 episode of Dark Angel, taking place in the year 2020.
October 31, 1981, 40 years ago: Having already blown a shot at the Central Jersey Group IV Playoffs in last week's loss to Cedar Ridge, East Brunswick loses again, 29-22 to Edison, which was favored anyway, and ended up winning the Middlesex County Athletic Conference title.
October 31, 1981, 40 years ago: Having already blown a shot at the Central Jersey Group IV Playoffs in last week's loss to Cedar Ridge, East Brunswick loses again, 29-22 to Edison, which was favored anyway, and ended up winning the Middlesex County Athletic Conference title.
Also on this day, Michael Anthony Napoli is born in the Miami suburb of Hollywood, Florida. The 1st baseman is best remembered for his time with the Red Sox, with whom he made the 2012 All-Star Game and won * the 2013 World Series. He also won an AL West title with the 2009 Los Angeles Angels, a Pennant with the Rangers in 2011, and a Pennant with the Indians in 2016.
He has an unusual distinction, having led the AL in errors at 2 different positions: Catcher in 2009 and 1st base in 2016. He is now a coach with the Chicago Cubs.
Also on this day, in the Harry Potter franchise, Harry's parents, Lily & James Potter, are murdered by Lord Voldemort. Harry was just 1 year old.
October 31, 1983: George Halas dies at age 88. He was the founder of the Chicago Bears, for all intents and purposes the founder of the NFL, and even a pretty good player by the standards of his time. As part of their 100th Season celebrations, the Bears named him to their 100 Greatest Players.
He was formerly the winningest coach in NFL history (324), and no coach in the history of professional football has won as many league championships, 8: 1921, 1932, 1933, 1940, 1941, 1943, 1946 and 1963.
To put it another way: When he was first involved with the NFL, the President was Woodrow Wilson, Chicago was best known as the site of America's most famous fire, most people didn't yet have cars or telephones, there were no objects being launched into space by any nation, radio broadcasting was a few weeks away from being introduced, movies were silent, the Yankees had never won a Pennant, the NHL was new, there was no professional basketball to speak of, and professional football was a small-time thing.
When he was last involved with the NFL, the President was Ronald Reagan, there had been 4 different British monarchs and 7 different Popes, Chicago was known as the home of Al Capone and Mayor Richard J. Daley and his demonstrator-beating cops, pretty much everybody had telephones, pretty much everybody who didn't live in a city where it wasn't necessary had a car, many even had personal computers, space shuttles were being launched and returned, the Yankees had won 33 Pennants, the and NFL was a titan of television and America's favorite pro sports league.
One of his last acts as owner was to hire former Bears star Mike Ditka as head coach, and Ditka would lead them to a 9th World Championship in 1985. When asked by Bob Costas in the locker room after that Super Bowl XX if he thought of "Papa Bear," he said, "I always think of Coach Halas."
This was in spite of Halas having a reputation for being cheap, which led a younger Ditka to say, "George Halas throws nickels around like manhole covers." It was also Halas' cheapness that kept the Bears in Wrigley Field, with a football capacity of just 47,000, in spite of Soldier Field having over 65,000 seats and lights, because he didn't want to pay the rent the City of Chicago was demanding. The Bears didn't move there until 1971, when the money available to teams on Monday Night Football, which couldn't be played at then-lightless Wrigley, more than offset the cost of the rent.
In spite of his infamous penuriousness, when the aforementioned Brian Piccolo got sick, Halas paid all his medical expenses and for his funeral. He died on what would have been Piccolo's 40th birthday.
An NFL Films documentary from 1977, Their Deeds and Dogged Faith, showed Halas walking through the Bears' practice facility at suburban Lake Forest, Illinois (the main building is now named Halas Hall), and announcer John Facenda said it was "like visiting Mount Vernon and seeing George Washington still surveying the grounds."
The NFC Championship Trophy is named for him, and, after his death, the Bears put the initials GSH, for George Stanley Halas, on their left sleeves. Unique among NFL teams, they have retained this tribute to their founder on their uniforms. (Even the Pittsburgh Steelers didn't keep Art Rooney's initials on a patch for more than one season.)
He had planned to hand the team over to his son George Jr., but "Mugs" predeceased him in 1979. Upon Papa Bear's death, his daughter Virginia handed control to her husband, Ed McCaskey. Unfortunately, Big Ed handed a lot of control over to his and Virginia's son, George's grandson, Mike McCaskey, who ran the franchise into the ground before Big Ed took it back and handed it over to another son, George Halas McCaskey.
Big Ed has since died, but Virginia is still alive, and is the sole owner of Da Bears. At 98, she is, as was her father before her, the oldest owner in the NFL. She and son George have entrusted team president Ted Phillips with operational control.
October 31, 1986: East Brunswick High School plays John P. Stevens High School of Edison in football. The last 2 years, Stevens had beaten EB in the Central Jersey Group IV Championship Game. EB had won the Conference title in 1984, Stevens in 1985. This game would go a long way toward deciding the 1986 edition.
Stevens went into the game with a 22-game winning streak, and it was their Homecoming, on Halloween, with 5,000 green & gold fans baying for our Green & White blood. It was not to be, as Da Bears spoiled the Halloween party 17-12. What a fantastic game. What a fantastic night.
EB won its last 2 games, then waited for the results on Thanksgiving, as we wrapped up our season earlier. Stevens lost to crosstown rival Edison High, thus throwing the title to us. They then lost the State Final to Middletown North, ending their bid for 3 straight.
Stevens had long been our most difficult opponent, but, historically, have been succeeded by Piscataway, Sayreville and Old Bridge. Conference realignment means we don't even play them every season anymore, although we opened the 2020 season with a resounding victory over them. And, the way the calendar worked out, EB would not play on Halloween again for 17 years.
To put it another way: When he was first involved with the NFL, the President was Woodrow Wilson, Chicago was best known as the site of America's most famous fire, most people didn't yet have cars or telephones, there were no objects being launched into space by any nation, radio broadcasting was a few weeks away from being introduced, movies were silent, the Yankees had never won a Pennant, the NHL was new, there was no professional basketball to speak of, and professional football was a small-time thing.
When he was last involved with the NFL, the President was Ronald Reagan, there had been 4 different British monarchs and 7 different Popes, Chicago was known as the home of Al Capone and Mayor Richard J. Daley and his demonstrator-beating cops, pretty much everybody had telephones, pretty much everybody who didn't live in a city where it wasn't necessary had a car, many even had personal computers, space shuttles were being launched and returned, the Yankees had won 33 Pennants, the and NFL was a titan of television and America's favorite pro sports league.
One of his last acts as owner was to hire former Bears star Mike Ditka as head coach, and Ditka would lead them to a 9th World Championship in 1985. When asked by Bob Costas in the locker room after that Super Bowl XX if he thought of "Papa Bear," he said, "I always think of Coach Halas."
This was in spite of Halas having a reputation for being cheap, which led a younger Ditka to say, "George Halas throws nickels around like manhole covers." It was also Halas' cheapness that kept the Bears in Wrigley Field, with a football capacity of just 47,000, in spite of Soldier Field having over 65,000 seats and lights, because he didn't want to pay the rent the City of Chicago was demanding. The Bears didn't move there until 1971, when the money available to teams on Monday Night Football, which couldn't be played at then-lightless Wrigley, more than offset the cost of the rent.
In spite of his infamous penuriousness, when the aforementioned Brian Piccolo got sick, Halas paid all his medical expenses and for his funeral. He died on what would have been Piccolo's 40th birthday.
An NFL Films documentary from 1977, Their Deeds and Dogged Faith, showed Halas walking through the Bears' practice facility at suburban Lake Forest, Illinois (the main building is now named Halas Hall), and announcer John Facenda said it was "like visiting Mount Vernon and seeing George Washington still surveying the grounds."
The NFC Championship Trophy is named for him, and, after his death, the Bears put the initials GSH, for George Stanley Halas, on their left sleeves. Unique among NFL teams, they have retained this tribute to their founder on their uniforms. (Even the Pittsburgh Steelers didn't keep Art Rooney's initials on a patch for more than one season.)
He had planned to hand the team over to his son George Jr., but "Mugs" predeceased him in 1979. Upon Papa Bear's death, his daughter Virginia handed control to her husband, Ed McCaskey. Unfortunately, Big Ed handed a lot of control over to his and Virginia's son, George's grandson, Mike McCaskey, who ran the franchise into the ground before Big Ed took it back and handed it over to another son, George Halas McCaskey.
Big Ed has since died, but Virginia is still alive, and is the sole owner of Da Bears. At 98, she is, as was her father before her, the oldest owner in the NFL. She and son George have entrusted team president Ted Phillips with operational control.
October 31, 1986: East Brunswick High School plays John P. Stevens High School of Edison in football. The last 2 years, Stevens had beaten EB in the Central Jersey Group IV Championship Game. EB had won the Conference title in 1984, Stevens in 1985. This game would go a long way toward deciding the 1986 edition.
Stevens went into the game with a 22-game winning streak, and it was their Homecoming, on Halloween, with 5,000 green & gold fans baying for our Green & White blood. It was not to be, as Da Bears spoiled the Halloween party 17-12. What a fantastic game. What a fantastic night.
EB won its last 2 games, then waited for the results on Thanksgiving, as we wrapped up our season earlier. Stevens lost to crosstown rival Edison High, thus throwing the title to us. They then lost the State Final to Middletown North, ending their bid for 3 straight.
Stevens had long been our most difficult opponent, but, historically, have been succeeded by Piscataway, Sayreville and Old Bridge. Conference realignment means we don't even play them every season anymore, although we opened the 2020 season with a resounding victory over them. And, the way the calendar worked out, EB would not play on Halloween again for 17 years.
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October 31, 1991, 30 years ago: Bad weather hits the U.S. A storm over the New England States became known as "The Perfect Storm," inspiring a feature film of that title.
That storm killed 13 people. It also caused another storm to, literally, stop cold over the Midwest, resulting in a Halloween Blizzard that dumped up to 3 feet of snow and killed 22 people.
October 31, 1992: Rutgers plays Virginia Tech in a Halloween Homecoming thriller, in the next-to-last game at the old Rutgers Stadium. The stars were quarterback Bryan Fortay of East Brunswick, running back Bruce Presley of Highland Park, tight end Jim Guarantano of Lodi, and receiver Chris Brantley of Teaneck. RU wins on the final play, 50-49. Yes, that score is in football, not basketball.
October 31, 1994: The NFL's oldest rivalry is played in a chilly, windy Halloween rainstorm at Soldier Field in Chicago, broadcast on Monday Night Football. ABC's announcers got it right:
Frank Gifford, former New York Giants running back: "Guys, we've got some weather. This is about as bad as I've seen it in a long time."
Al Michaels, never a pro athlete, acknowledging the holiday: "I don't know whether we should've dressed up as the Three Stooges or the Three Frozen Turkeys tonight!"
Dan Dierdorf, former offensive tackle for the St. Louis Cardinals, 2 years away from joining Gifford in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: "Some people think we're the Three Blind Mice. Tonight, I think it's the Three Drowned Rats!"
ABC later put up a film from the October 25, 1976 Monday Night Football game between St. Louis and Washington at a rainy, muddy Robert F. Kennedy Stadium, a game Gifford broadcast and Dierdorf played in. The Redskins won it 20-10.
For this game, both teams wear "throwback uniforms" (with modern protection, of course) as part of the NFL's 75th Season celebration. The Chicago Bears wear the 1925 uniforms made famous by Red Grange. The Green Bay Packers wear the uniforms of their 1936 NFL Championship team, led by Cal Hubbard and Don Hutson.
The Packers lead 14-0 at halftime. Then, a long-overdue ceremony is held, as the Bears retire the Number 40 of running back Gale Sayers -- on what would have been Brian Piccolo's 51st birthday -- and the Number 51 of linebacker Dick Butkus.
Both were drafted by the Bears in 1965, and played into the early 1970s, and sometimes looked as if they were the only decent players on the team. But both battled knee injuries and became all-time legends. Walter Payton, who succeeded Grange and Sayers as the Bears' greatest running back, was also on hand.
Introducing the honorees was Mike McCaskey, grandson of Bears founder George Halas and son of owners Virginia and Ed McCaskey, who was seen as having broken up the great Bear team of the 1980s. He was heavily booed.
After the ceremony, the crowd, held to 47,381 due to the weather, almost disappears, not wanting to stick around to see a mediocre Bears team get beat. Which they do, as the Packers win, 33-6.
October 31, 1997: The Washington NBA team makes its debut under the Wizards name, having dropped "Bullets" because of the District of Columbia's reputation as "the murder capital of America."
Chris Webber and Juwan Howard, formerly of the University of Michigan's "Fab Five," combine for 32 points, but it's not enough, as the Wiz fall to the Detroit Pistons, 92-79 at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Grant Hill leads all scorers with 25 points, and Lindsey Hunter adds 23.
Also on this day, Marcus Rashford (no middle name) is born in Manchester. The forward helped Manchester United win the FA Cup in 2016, and, within days, scored on his England debut, and became the youngest England player ever to do so. Already, Man U's idiot fans were calling him "the next Thierry Henry." Despite that exaggeration, he also helped Man U win the Europa League in 2017. He helped England reach the Semifinal of last year's World Cup, its best performance in 28 years.
October 31, 1994: The NFL's oldest rivalry is played in a chilly, windy Halloween rainstorm at Soldier Field in Chicago, broadcast on Monday Night Football. ABC's announcers got it right:
Frank Gifford, former New York Giants running back: "Guys, we've got some weather. This is about as bad as I've seen it in a long time."
Al Michaels, never a pro athlete, acknowledging the holiday: "I don't know whether we should've dressed up as the Three Stooges or the Three Frozen Turkeys tonight!"
Dan Dierdorf, former offensive tackle for the St. Louis Cardinals, 2 years away from joining Gifford in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: "Some people think we're the Three Blind Mice. Tonight, I think it's the Three Drowned Rats!"
ABC later put up a film from the October 25, 1976 Monday Night Football game between St. Louis and Washington at a rainy, muddy Robert F. Kennedy Stadium, a game Gifford broadcast and Dierdorf played in. The Redskins won it 20-10.
For this game, both teams wear "throwback uniforms" (with modern protection, of course) as part of the NFL's 75th Season celebration. The Chicago Bears wear the 1925 uniforms made famous by Red Grange. The Green Bay Packers wear the uniforms of their 1936 NFL Championship team, led by Cal Hubbard and Don Hutson.
The Packers lead 14-0 at halftime. Then, a long-overdue ceremony is held, as the Bears retire the Number 40 of running back Gale Sayers -- on what would have been Brian Piccolo's 51st birthday -- and the Number 51 of linebacker Dick Butkus.
Both were drafted by the Bears in 1965, and played into the early 1970s, and sometimes looked as if they were the only decent players on the team. But both battled knee injuries and became all-time legends. Walter Payton, who succeeded Grange and Sayers as the Bears' greatest running back, was also on hand.
Introducing the honorees was Mike McCaskey, grandson of Bears founder George Halas and son of owners Virginia and Ed McCaskey, who was seen as having broken up the great Bear team of the 1980s. He was heavily booed.
After the ceremony, the crowd, held to 47,381 due to the weather, almost disappears, not wanting to stick around to see a mediocre Bears team get beat. Which they do, as the Packers win, 33-6.
October 31, 1997: The Washington NBA team makes its debut under the Wizards name, having dropped "Bullets" because of the District of Columbia's reputation as "the murder capital of America."
Chris Webber and Juwan Howard, formerly of the University of Michigan's "Fab Five," combine for 32 points, but it's not enough, as the Wiz fall to the Detroit Pistons, 92-79 at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Grant Hill leads all scorers with 25 points, and Lindsey Hunter adds 23.
Also on this day, Marcus Rashford (no middle name) is born in Manchester. The forward helped Manchester United win the FA Cup in 2016, and, within days, scored on his England debut, and became the youngest England player ever to do so. Already, Man U's idiot fans were calling him "the next Thierry Henry." Despite that exaggeration, he also helped Man U win the Europa League in 2017. He helped England reach the Semifinal of last year's World Cup, its best performance in 28 years.
In 2020, he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), not for his playing achievements, but for his work against homelessness hunger and poverty in Britain.
October 31, 1998: On this day, within the Star Trek chronology, Harmon Buck Gin Bokai is born in the Marina del Rey section of Los Angeles. A switch-hitting shortstop, Buck Bokai debuted with the London Kings in 2015, not yet 17 years old, and led them to one of the greatest seasons in baseball history, presumably winning the World Series. In 2026, he broke Joe DiMaggio's record of a 56-game hitting streak.
In 2032, he led the Kings to another Pennant, but they lost the World Series to the Yankees in 6 games. He continued to play until 2042, at age 44, and hit a home run in Game 7 to win the Series for the Kings. But only 300 people paid to attend, and Major League Baseball suspended play, never to return.
While never specified, a reason could be that, according the Star Trek chronology, World War III had been waged since 2026, with an eco-terrorist attack that killed 37 million people, and would continue until 2053, devastating Earth, and making professional sports a luxury the world could not afford. By the time Bokai died in 2132, age 134, Earth had rebuilt as a near-utopian society.
The 2026 breaking of DiMaggio's record was cited by Data (Brent Spiner) in the 1988 Next Generation episode "The Big Goodbye," but he was interrupted before he could give the player's name. In the 1993 Deep Space Nine episode "The Storyteller," Bokai's name was mentioned, and Ricardo Delgado, who worked on set design for the show, decided that, since Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) was a fan of baseball and eventually worked to revive interest in it, he should have a baseball card in his office. Delgado had Greg Jein, a model maker for the show, pose in a uniform, and the character was named after the title character in the 1984 movie The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai.
For a later episode in 1993, "If Wishes Were Horses," a simulation of Bokai appears on the station, interacting with Sisko and his son Jake (Cirroc Lofton). The Bokai simulation was played by Keone Young, who bore a striking resemblance to Jein.
In real life, the Kansas City Royals won the 2015 World Series. As of the conclusion of the 2020 season (which only had 60 regular-season games), DiMaggio's record still stands, and there are no plans to expand MLB, although the Yankees and the Red Sox played 2 games against each other at the London Olympic Stadium in 2019, in the hopes of boosting Britain's minimal interest in the sport.
Whether we have a World War III by 2026 is pretty much up to Donald Trump, and to those who could stop him if they have the will. Two of the big problems I have with the Star Trek mythos is the spectre of World War III and its resultant death of baseball.
I prefer to think of the 1994-95 science fiction series Space Precinct, which takes place in 2040, and shows no sign of a worldwide war, but does show the Yankees playing Game 1 of the World Series against the Yomiuri Giants at a Tokyo Dome that is absolutely packed.
*
While never specified, a reason could be that, according the Star Trek chronology, World War III had been waged since 2026, with an eco-terrorist attack that killed 37 million people, and would continue until 2053, devastating Earth, and making professional sports a luxury the world could not afford. By the time Bokai died in 2132, age 134, Earth had rebuilt as a near-utopian society.
The 2026 breaking of DiMaggio's record was cited by Data (Brent Spiner) in the 1988 Next Generation episode "The Big Goodbye," but he was interrupted before he could give the player's name. In the 1993 Deep Space Nine episode "The Storyteller," Bokai's name was mentioned, and Ricardo Delgado, who worked on set design for the show, decided that, since Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) was a fan of baseball and eventually worked to revive interest in it, he should have a baseball card in his office. Delgado had Greg Jein, a model maker for the show, pose in a uniform, and the character was named after the title character in the 1984 movie The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai.
For a later episode in 1993, "If Wishes Were Horses," a simulation of Bokai appears on the station, interacting with Sisko and his son Jake (Cirroc Lofton). The Bokai simulation was played by Keone Young, who bore a striking resemblance to Jein.
In real life, the Kansas City Royals won the 2015 World Series. As of the conclusion of the 2020 season (which only had 60 regular-season games), DiMaggio's record still stands, and there are no plans to expand MLB, although the Yankees and the Red Sox played 2 games against each other at the London Olympic Stadium in 2019, in the hopes of boosting Britain's minimal interest in the sport.
Whether we have a World War III by 2026 is pretty much up to Donald Trump, and to those who could stop him if they have the will. Two of the big problems I have with the Star Trek mythos is the spectre of World War III and its resultant death of baseball.
I prefer to think of the 1994-95 science fiction series Space Precinct, which takes place in 2040, and shows no sign of a worldwide war, but does show the Yankees playing Game 1 of the World Series against the Yomiuri Giants at a Tokyo Dome that is absolutely packed.
*
October 31, 2001, 20 years ago: Game 4 of the World Series. It's not just Halloween -- the 1st time a Major League Baseball game has been played on the day, due to the 9/11 postponements -- it's also a night of a Full Moon.
During batting practice at Yankee Stadium, Arizona Diamondbacks 1st baseman Mark Grace, who so long played for the Chicago Cubs without winning a Pennant and is enjoying his 1st World Series, can be seen on the official Series highlight film looking up, and saying, "Full Moon! You know what that means: Strange things happen!"
The Yankees trail the Diamondbacks 3-1 in the bottom of the 9th, and are about to fall behind in the World Series by the same margin of games. This is due in large part to the fine pitching of Curt Schilling, who was asked about the "mystique" of Yankee Stadium. He said, "Mystique, Aura, those are dancers in a nightclub." (Three years later, pitching for Boston, he would prove he was still not intimidated by Yankee Stadium, saying, "I can't think of anything better than making 55,000 Yankee fans shut up.") Schilling had outpitched the Yankees' Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez. Grace had homered for the Snakes, Shane Spencer for the Yankees.
Byung-Hyun Kim, a "submarine" style pitcher from Korea, tries to close the Yankees out. But Paul O'Neill singles, and, after Bernie Williams strikes out, Tino Martinez comes to the plate as the Yankees' final hope. Tino electrifies the crowd by slamming a drive toward the right-center-field Bleachers. The home run ties the game, and sends it into extra innings.
On the video, a fan in the front row of the Bleachers tries to catch the ball, but it bounces off his hand. Now, imagine you are that fan: Are you excited that the Yankees have come back in this World Series game, or are you mad that you were unable to catch this historic homer (and probably hurt your hand in the process)?
As the clock strikes midnight, for the 1st time ever, Major League Baseball game is played in the month of November. It is the bottom of the 10th, and Derek Jeter steps to the plate against Kim. A fan holds up a sign saying, "Mr. November." Michael Kay, broadcasting this game for the Yankees, has asked, "How did he know to hold up that sign for Jeter?" The answer is easy: He didn’t hold it up specifically for Jeter. Jeter was just the batter when the clock struck 12, making him the first batter for whom it could be held up.
At 12:03 came a typical Jeter hit, an inside-out swing to right-center, and it just... barely... got over the fence for a game-winning home run. Kay yells out, "See ya! See ya! See ya!" Yankees 4, Diamondbacks 3. The Series was tied. The old ballyard was shaking. The "Yankee Mystique" had struck again. It is hits like this that got Jeter the nickname "Captain Clutch."
The next night, the 1st game to officially be played in the month of November, a fan made up a sign that said, "BASEBALL HISTORY MADE HERE" on what looked like an ancient scroll. Another fan made up a sign that said, "MYSTIQUE AND AURA APPEARING NIGHTLY." (Two years later, in what became known as the Aaron Boone Game, that same fan made up one that said, "MYSTIQUE DON’T FAIL ME NOW." It didn't.)
*
Byung-Hyun Kim, a "submarine" style pitcher from Korea, tries to close the Yankees out. But Paul O'Neill singles, and, after Bernie Williams strikes out, Tino Martinez comes to the plate as the Yankees' final hope. Tino electrifies the crowd by slamming a drive toward the right-center-field Bleachers. The home run ties the game, and sends it into extra innings.
On the video, a fan in the front row of the Bleachers tries to catch the ball, but it bounces off his hand. Now, imagine you are that fan: Are you excited that the Yankees have come back in this World Series game, or are you mad that you were unable to catch this historic homer (and probably hurt your hand in the process)?
As the clock strikes midnight, for the 1st time ever, Major League Baseball game is played in the month of November. It is the bottom of the 10th, and Derek Jeter steps to the plate against Kim. A fan holds up a sign saying, "Mr. November." Michael Kay, broadcasting this game for the Yankees, has asked, "How did he know to hold up that sign for Jeter?" The answer is easy: He didn’t hold it up specifically for Jeter. Jeter was just the batter when the clock struck 12, making him the first batter for whom it could be held up.
At 12:03 came a typical Jeter hit, an inside-out swing to right-center, and it just... barely... got over the fence for a game-winning home run. Kay yells out, "See ya! See ya! See ya!" Yankees 4, Diamondbacks 3. The Series was tied. The old ballyard was shaking. The "Yankee Mystique" had struck again. It is hits like this that got Jeter the nickname "Captain Clutch."
The next night, the 1st game to officially be played in the month of November, a fan made up a sign that said, "BASEBALL HISTORY MADE HERE" on what looked like an ancient scroll. Another fan made up a sign that said, "MYSTIQUE AND AURA APPEARING NIGHTLY." (Two years later, in what became known as the Aaron Boone Game, that same fan made up one that said, "MYSTIQUE DON’T FAIL ME NOW." It didn't.)
*
October 31, 2008: For the 1st time since conference realignment in 1975, my alma mater, East Brunswick High School, plays New Brunswick in football, at Memorial Stadium in New Brunswick. Both teams had recently won State Championships in their respective enrollment groups, but both were struggling this season.
This was the 1st time I had ever had to go through a security checkpoint at a high school football game, despite having previously gone to games at Memorial Stadium, and also to games in Perth Amboy, Paterson and Bayonne. Apparently, there'd been an increase in local gang activity. East Brunswick got an early lead, and hung on to beat New Brunswick 26-21.
After the game, I walked to the New Brunswick train station -- not fearing for my safety -- and took a train to New York, so that I could take the overnight bus to Boston. I like to do that at this time of year, to see the changing of the leaf colors in New England, and also because, while I despise its sports teams, I like Boston as a city. Nothing particularly eventful happened to me in Boston, and I got home okay.
But before I could get on the Greyhound out of Boston, I saw New York on Halloween Night. I didn't get to see the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade (that had happened earlier), but I saw lots of costumes. The Dark Knight was still in theaters, so there were a lot of Batman-themed costumes. I saw 4 Jokers, 3 Batmen, and 1 Catwoman -- an incredibly tight Catwoman costume made of rubber. Worn by a man. Some things cannot be unseen.
Outside Port Authority Bus Terminal, I saw a guy on a bicycle. He was wearing a Superman costume. Why would Superman need a bike?
October 31, 2009: Game 3 of the World Series, at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Alex Rodriguez's fly ball in the right-field corner becomes the subject of the 1st instant replay call in World Series history. The Yankee 3rd baseman's hit, originally ruled a double, is correctly changed by the umpires to a home run, after the replay clearly shows the ball going over the fence before striking a television camera and bouncing back to the field.
It figures that A-Rod's 1st World Series home run would be controversial, even though all he did was hit the ball. But it does help make the difference, as the Yankees win, 8-5, and take a 2-games-to-1 lead in the Series, retaking home-field advantage after the Phillies won Game 1.
Also on this day, Sam Zell sells the Chicago Cubs to Tom Ricketts. At last, the Cubs have an owner with both the means and the desire to win the World Series.
Also on this day, soccer teams Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur play a North London Derby that I like to call "45 Seconds of Hell."
The game is scoreless until the 43rd minute, when Robin van Persie scores for Arsenal. It takes about 40 seconds to restart the game, and almost immediately, Cesc Fàbregas takes the kickoff, goes through Spurs' defense like a hot knife through butter, and scores. Dispirited, Spurs have nothing for the rest of the game, and Arsenal win, 3-0.
This game is treasured by Arsenal fans, a.k.a. Gooners (a takeoff on the club's nickname, the Gunners), even though both Fàbregas (in August 2011) and van Persie (in July 2012) would whine their way off the team: The former to his former club Barcelona, the latter to Manchester United.
Cesc was largely forgiven for his treachery by Gooners, until Barcelona no longer wanted him, and he begged Wenger to take him back. Wenger refused, because treason is forever. Then Cesc signed with Chelsea, and Arsenal fans finally woke up to his treachery, and began calling him "the Snake." RVP, or "the Dutch skunk" as the author of Arseblog has dubbed him, has never been forgiven. (Like Ashley Cole, he also gets called "Judas.")
After the game, I walked to the New Brunswick train station -- not fearing for my safety -- and took a train to New York, so that I could take the overnight bus to Boston. I like to do that at this time of year, to see the changing of the leaf colors in New England, and also because, while I despise its sports teams, I like Boston as a city. Nothing particularly eventful happened to me in Boston, and I got home okay.
But before I could get on the Greyhound out of Boston, I saw New York on Halloween Night. I didn't get to see the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade (that had happened earlier), but I saw lots of costumes. The Dark Knight was still in theaters, so there were a lot of Batman-themed costumes. I saw 4 Jokers, 3 Batmen, and 1 Catwoman -- an incredibly tight Catwoman costume made of rubber. Worn by a man. Some things cannot be unseen.
Outside Port Authority Bus Terminal, I saw a guy on a bicycle. He was wearing a Superman costume. Why would Superman need a bike?
October 31, 2009: Game 3 of the World Series, at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Alex Rodriguez's fly ball in the right-field corner becomes the subject of the 1st instant replay call in World Series history. The Yankee 3rd baseman's hit, originally ruled a double, is correctly changed by the umpires to a home run, after the replay clearly shows the ball going over the fence before striking a television camera and bouncing back to the field.
It figures that A-Rod's 1st World Series home run would be controversial, even though all he did was hit the ball. But it does help make the difference, as the Yankees win, 8-5, and take a 2-games-to-1 lead in the Series, retaking home-field advantage after the Phillies won Game 1.
Also on this day, Sam Zell sells the Chicago Cubs to Tom Ricketts. At last, the Cubs have an owner with both the means and the desire to win the World Series.
Also on this day, soccer teams Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur play a North London Derby that I like to call "45 Seconds of Hell."
The game is scoreless until the 43rd minute, when Robin van Persie scores for Arsenal. It takes about 40 seconds to restart the game, and almost immediately, Cesc Fàbregas takes the kickoff, goes through Spurs' defense like a hot knife through butter, and scores. Dispirited, Spurs have nothing for the rest of the game, and Arsenal win, 3-0.
This game is treasured by Arsenal fans, a.k.a. Gooners (a takeoff on the club's nickname, the Gunners), even though both Fàbregas (in August 2011) and van Persie (in July 2012) would whine their way off the team: The former to his former club Barcelona, the latter to Manchester United.
Cesc was largely forgiven for his treachery by Gooners, until Barcelona no longer wanted him, and he begged Wenger to take him back. Wenger refused, because treason is forever. Then Cesc signed with Chelsea, and Arsenal fans finally woke up to his treachery, and began calling him "the Snake." RVP, or "the Dutch skunk" as the author of Arseblog has dubbed him, has never been forgiven. (Like Ashley Cole, he also gets called "Judas.")
October 31, 2014: Due to a scandal that echoes the one at Penn State 2 years earlier, the football team at Sayreville War Memorial High School in Middlesex County, New Jersey has its season cancelled, and its remaining games forfeited.
This was supposed to be the day of its game against neighboring East Brunswick, my alma mater. This enables E.B. to get enough wins to make the State Playoffs for the only time in the 2010s. Sayreville quickly recovered, as if the whole thing had never happened. But it did.
October 31, 2015: Game 4 of the World Series at Citi Field. Tim McGraw, country music superstar and son of Met legend Tug McGraw, both sings the National Anthem and throws out the ceremonial first ball. As far as I know, no other person has ever been given both honors at a major league game. Unlike his famously lefthanded father, he throws righthanded.
Michael Conforto's home run gives the Mets a 2-0 lead in the 3rd inning, and another Conforto homer in the 5th makes it 3-1. He is the only Met ever to hit 2 home runs in a World Series game. As late as the top of the 8th, they lead the Kansas City Royals 3-2.
But for the 4th straight game -- actually, the 5th, since they did it in Game 5 back in 2000 -- the Mets blow a lead in a World Series game. Tyler Clippard walks the 1st 2 Royals in the 8th. With Jeurys Familia brought in to pitch, Daniel Murphy, the Mets' biggest postseason hero thus far, makes a key error that allows the tying run to score. Mike Moustakas singles home the go-ahead run, and the Royals tack on another. Yoenis Cespedes, the other big Met hero of the season, gets doubled off 1st base following a soft line drive to end it, in a 5-3 Royals win.
The Mets had thrilled the baseball world the last 3 months. Now, they were clowning their way to an ignominious defeat.
October 31, 2015: Game 4 of the World Series at Citi Field. Tim McGraw, country music superstar and son of Met legend Tug McGraw, both sings the National Anthem and throws out the ceremonial first ball. As far as I know, no other person has ever been given both honors at a major league game. Unlike his famously lefthanded father, he throws righthanded.
Michael Conforto's home run gives the Mets a 2-0 lead in the 3rd inning, and another Conforto homer in the 5th makes it 3-1. He is the only Met ever to hit 2 home runs in a World Series game. As late as the top of the 8th, they lead the Kansas City Royals 3-2.
But for the 4th straight game -- actually, the 5th, since they did it in Game 5 back in 2000 -- the Mets blow a lead in a World Series game. Tyler Clippard walks the 1st 2 Royals in the 8th. With Jeurys Familia brought in to pitch, Daniel Murphy, the Mets' biggest postseason hero thus far, makes a key error that allows the tying run to score. Mike Moustakas singles home the go-ahead run, and the Royals tack on another. Yoenis Cespedes, the other big Met hero of the season, gets doubled off 1st base following a soft line drive to end it, in a 5-3 Royals win.
The Mets had thrilled the baseball world the last 3 months. Now, they were clowning their way to an ignominious defeat.
October 31, 2018: The world's tallest statue is dedicated in Kevadia, in the State of Gujarat, India. Known as the Statue of Unity, the 597-foot monument honors Vallabhbhai Patel, on the 143rd anniversary of his birth, for his work in bringing India's principalities together to form a unified nation.
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