He moved to London in 1906, covered soccer and greyhound racing, and in 1911 became the London correspondent for the
. He served in the Royal Flying Corps (forerunner of the Royal Air Force) in World War I, then joined the nascent BBC. He was the 1st radio commentator for the English Derby (thoroughbred horse racing), the Grand National (steeplechase horse racing), and, in 1927, the FA Cup Final, in which Cardiff City of Wales defeated North London's Arsenal, becoming, to this day, the only non-English club ever to win the Cup.
He had already been the editor of Arsenal's matchday programme (we'd call it a "game program" in the U.S.) since 1906. He became club secretary, and after Herbert Chapman died in 1934 and Joe Shaw finished the season as caretaker manager, he was named the full-time manager. He led the club to League titles in 1935 and 1938, and the 1936 FA Cup.
was filmed, and while the Arsenal players appeared, none of them had any lines. Allison did. After Alf Kirchen scored the only goal of the game filmed for the movie -- an actual Football League Division One match, on May 6, 1939, an Arsenal win over West London club Brentford -- he said, "One-nil to The Arsenal. That's the way we like it." The phrase "One-nil to The Arsenal" became a catchphrase, and eventually a song.
He continued to manage the team through World War II, and resigned after the 1947 season, handing the reins over to Tom Whittaker, his assistant, and a former player and physiotherapist (we would say "trainer") for the team. Ironically, he outlived Whittaker, who died in office in 1956. Allison followed him a year later.
Also on this day, the Calhoun Street Bridge opens, connecting Trenton, New Jersey and Morrisville, Pennsylvania over the Delaware River. From 1913 to 1928, it was an original part of the Lincoln Highway, until that road's realignment over the new Lower Trenton Bridge (the one with the big letters reading "TRENTON MAKES THE WORLD TAKES"). It is now part of the East Coast Greenway.
He was an All-Star in 1935, and later managed the Senators. He continued to work in the franchise's front office, including after it moved to become the Minnesota Twins, and helped build the team that won the 1965 American League Pennant and the 1969 and '70 AL Western Division Chamions. He died in 1985, a few days after being honored on the Washington Hall of Stars at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium.
He settled in Clearwater, Florida, and worked with the city to built a baseball stadium, to attract a major league team for Spring Training. It opened in 1955, and was named Jack Russell Stadium for him. He died in 1990, and the 7,000-seat ballpark was renamed Jack Russell Memorial Stadium. The Philadelphia Philies used it as their Spring Training home from 1955 to 2003, and their Florida State League farm team, the Clearwater Phillies, used it from 1985 to 2003. It now hosts high school and college games.
October 24, 1925: Brown Stadium opens on the campus of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown still uses the 20,000-set stadium. The Brown Bears have won just 4 Ivy League titles, in 1976, 1999, 2005 and 2008. Their most famous player ever was their late 1940s quarterback, who is better known for having coached elsewhere: Joe Paterno.
Also on this day, Kenneth Donald Mackay is born in Windsor, Queensland, Australia. A star batsman and bowler (hitter and pitcher) for the Australia cricket team in the 1950s and early 1960s, Ken Mackay only lived until 1982. In
Australian Cricket, the Game and the Players, Jack Pollard wrote, "While cricket is played in Australia, he will be fondly remembered."
October 24, 1926: Yelberton Abraham Tittle is born in Marshall, Texas. Y.A. Tittle was a sensational quarterback at Louisiana State University, where one of his receivers was future big-league baseball player and manager Alvin Dark.
He starred for the San Francisco 49ers, joining with running backs Hugh McElhenny, Joe "the Jet" Perry and John Henry Johnson to form "the Million Dollar Backfield" in 1954 – the only season in which one team had an entire backfield that went on to reach the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Tittle has joked about the nickname, though: "They should have called us the Hundred Dollar Backfield, because that's about what they paid us." ($1 million in 1954 would be about $9.7 million in today's money.)
Despite all that talent, which also included Hall-of-Famers Bob St. Clair at offensive tackle and defensive end Leo Nomellini, the 49ers only reached the Playoffs once during Tittle's tenure, tying with the Detroit Lions for the 1957 Western Division title, and losing a Playoff for the right to face the Cleveland Browns for the NFL Championship. (The Lions won that one, too – and haven't won an NFL Championship since.) The 49ers would not reach an NFL Championship Game until Super Bowl XVI, in the 1981-82 season.
In 1961, the New York Giants traded for Tittle, despite his being 35 years old. He helped them win 3 straight Eastern Division titles, but they lost all 3 NFL Championship Games, all in miserably cold weather: 1961 to the Green Bay Packers on a snowy New Year's Eve at Lambeau Field, 1962 to the Packers on a frozen field at Yankee Stadium, and 1963 to the Chicago Bears on an equally-rock-hard gridiron at Wrigley Field, with the Bears winning 14-10 with the clock winding down, but an already-injured Tittle leading the Giants on a desperate drive that ended with an interception.
In 1964, hit hard in a game in Pittsburgh, his helmet knocked off, his bald head dripping blood as he knelt on the field, a photograph of this scene won a Pulitzer Prize. Tittle retired after the season. Despite never winning a title, he is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and the Giants have retired his Number 14. He died in 2017, shortly before his 91st birthday, after being stricken with Alzheimer's disease.
October 24, 1928: George Donald Bullard is born in the Boston suburb of Lynn, Massachusetts. A shortstop, he played 4 games for the Detroit Tigers at the end of the 1954 season. He died in 2002.
October 24, 1929: The New York Stock Exchange is hit with "Black Thursday," a crash that will last until the following "Black Tuesday." Calendars aside, Black Thursday is the effective end of the Roaring Twenties, and Black Tuesday is the beginning of the Great Depression and the Dirty Thirties. It will be 25 years, until 1954, before the Dow Jones Industrial Average tops its September 3, 1929 peak.
Also on this day, James Patrick Brosnan is born in Cincinnati. A pitcher, he debuted with the Chicago Cubs in 1954. In 1959, he was traded from the St. Louis Cardinals to his hometown Cincinnati Reds, and chronicled the season in a diary, published as The Long Season. It was the first autobiographical baseball book to not be excessively sanitized, and he was criticized not so much for specific passages but for "violating the sanctity of the clubhouse." It was, however, tame in comparison to Ball Four, the diary another pitcher, Jim Bouton, kept 10 years later.
In 1961, as Brosnan kept another diary, he had his best season in the major leagues, and the Reds won their only Pennant between 1940 and 1970. This book was titled Pennant Race, and was better received. The Reds traded Brosnan to the White Sox in 1963, and he retired after the season. He later became sportscaster, continued writing, and lived until 2014.
Also on this day, Lim Kwong Yew is born in Calgary. He was known in adult life as Norman Kwong, or Normie Kwong. A running back, he played for both of Alberta's teams in the Canadian Football League.
Like the 1st Asian player in the NHL, Larry Kwong (no relation), he was nicknamed the China Clipper. Unlike Larry, Normie got a fair shot in his league, and made 4 CFL All-Star Teams. Despite being just 5-foot-7 and 170 pounds, he helped the Calgary Stampeders win the Grey Cup, the CFL Championship, in his rookie season of 1948. Then he helped the Edmonton Eskimos win it in 1954, 1955 and 1956. In 1956, he rushed for 1,437 yards, which stood as a record for a Canadian until 2012.
He was elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, the Stampeders' Wall of Fame, the Eskimos' Wall of Honour, and the CFL's 50th Anniversary Top 50 Players.
In 1971, he was elected to the Alberta legislature. He later became a part-owner of the Calgary Flames and general manager of the Stampeders. When the Flames won the 1989 Stanley Cup, Norman Kwong became 1 of 3 men with his name on both the Grey Cup and the Stanley Cup. The other 2, the only actual players to have won both, are Lionel Conacher and Carl Voss (who won his Stanley Cup with the 1933 New York Rangers.)
Kwong was named Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, making him the stand-in for Canada's monarch, Queen Elizabeth II of Britain, in the Province. He served from 2005 to 2010, and died in 2016, at age 86.
Also on this day, John Stokeley Fulton is born in Brosville, Virginia. Dropping his first name, Stokeley Fulton played center on the football team at Hampden-Sydney College, an NCAA Division III school in Hampden Sydney, Virginia, and later served as its head coach in football, baseball, tennis and wrestling, and as its athletic director.
He won 10 Conference Championships in football, 4 in baseball, and 2 in tennis. He was still officially the school's head baseball and football coach when he died of cancer in 1985. He was elected to the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.
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October 24, 1930, 90 years ago: The Revolution of 1930 takes place in Brazil, preventing the inauguration of the rightly-elected President-elect Julio Prestes, installing the dictatorial President Getulio Vargas, and ending Brazil's Old Republic. For most of the next half-century and more, Brazil would be led by militaristic dictatorships, who nonetheless promoted the country's highly-successful soccer team.
Also on this day, Jiles Perry Richardson Jr. is born in Port Arthur, Texas, 13 years before Jimmy Johnson and Janis Joplin were born there. A disc jockey who called himself The Big Bopper, J.P. Richardson was one of the many deejays who thought he could record a song as good as the ones he was playing, and one of the few who turned out to be right: His song "Chantilly Lace" was a Top 10 hit in 1958.
Early in 1959, "Jape" wrote "Running Bear," a "teenage lament" song about a boy and a girl from opposing Native American tribes, and gave it to Johnny Preston. Then he went on The Winter Dance Party Tour, headlined by Buddy Holly. But their tour bus' heater broke down, and he caught a nasty cold. When Buddy suggested renting an airplane to fly them from Clear Lake, Iowa to Fargo, North Dakota, the Bopper jumped at the chance. Ritchie Valens also rented a seat. The plane crashed in the early morning hours of February 3, 1959. Richardson was 28, Holly 22, Valens just short of turning 18.
October 24, 1931: The George Washington Bridge opens to traffic, connecting the Washington Heights section of Manhattan with Fort Lee, Bergen County, New Jersey. Today, it carries U.S. Routes 1 and 9 and Interstate 95 over the Hudson River. Until the Golden Gate Bridge opened in San Francisco 6 years later, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world.
The GWB is the gateway for Yankee Fans driving from New Jersey into Yankee Stadium, as it was for the old Stadium, and for baseball Giants fans going to the Polo Grounds. Many was the time that Phil Rizzuto, living in Hillside, Union County, New Jersey during his time as a Yankee broadcaster, would talk about leaving a game early by saying, "I gotta get over that bridge!"
October 24, 1933: William Samuel Bell is born in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Like a later pitcher with the surname, Gary, Bill Bell was nicknamed "Ding-Dong." He pitched in the minor leagues from 1951 to 1959, but made only 5 major league appearances, all for the Pittsburgh Pirates: 4 in 1952, and 1 more in 1955. He was killed in a car accident in Durham in 1962, just before his 29th birthday.
Also on this day, Ronald Kray and Reginald Kray (neither had a middle name) are born in Hoxton, East London. In the 1950s and '60s, the Kray Twins straddled the divide between respectability and treachery, using their West End nightclubs as fronts for their East End gangster activities, making themselves the most famous crime bosses in British history.
They were finally arrested for murder in 1968 and convicted in 1969, and sentenced to life in prison. Ronnie died in prison in 1995. Reggie, deathly ill, was released in 2000, and died 2 months later.
In 1990, with both brothers still alive, Gary and Martin Kemp, the twin brothers who led the British band Spandau Ballet, played them in the film The Krays. In 2015, Tom Hardy played both brothers in the film Legend.
October 24, 1935: Charles Comer Alexander is born in Linden, Texas. A history professor, in 1984 he published Ty Cobb, the 1st biography of the Hall-of-Famer that looked past the nasty 1961 bio written by Al Stump, and tried to find the truth.
He has since written biographies of Hall-of-Famers John McGraw, Tris Speaker and Rogers Hornsby, the latter 2 fellow Texans. He's also written Turbulent Seasons: Baseball in 1890-1891 about the Players' League challenge to the baseball establishment; The Miracle Braves, 1914-1916; and Breaking the Slump: Baseball in the Depression Era. He is still alive.
October 24, 1936: The East Stand opens at the Arsenal Stadium, nicknamed Highbury for its North London neighborhood. It becomes the stadium's main entrance, on the street named Highbury Hill. It is a companion to the West Stand that opened in 1932. Arsenal play Grimsby Town, then in the Football League Division One, to a 0-0 draw.
Its lobby included a bust of Herbert Chapman, who had managed Arsenal from 1925 until his death in 1934, winning the League title in 1931 and 1933, and the FA Cup in 1930. He had previously managed Huddersfield Town to the League title in 1924 and 1925. What he left in place added a 1926 League title for Huddersfield, and the 1934 and 1935 League titles and the 1936 FA Cup for Arsenal. Arsenal would add a League title in 1938 before World War II closed down League and Cup play for the duration.
The bust was commissioned by The Pals of Herbert Chapman, 12 men, some of whom had known him since he was player-manager at Northampton Town in 1907, and had dinner with him in December 1933 just before he fell victim to pneumonia which, in those days before antibiotics, could easily be fatal -- in Chapman's case, at age 55. They were all wealthy men by the standards of the time, and raised a great deal of money (including their own) for local charities in Chapman's name.
Their names were: Harry Bryant, John Hope, William McLean Johnston, Harry Joyner, W. Kendrick, Joe Levi, Mark Mintz, Hugh Stewart, Mark Swears, William Valentine, William Webster and John Whitehall.
The state of medicine to which I referred meant that, at their 1949 ceremony honoring Chapman at his lobby bust, just 15 years after his death, only 4 of them were able to appear. The last survivor was Stewart, who only lived until 1971, 37 years -- but he did live long enough to see the League and Cup "Double" won by The Arsenal, a Bertie Mee-managed team which thus surpassed the 1930s Chapman side in the public memory as the club's defining team.
When The Arsenal moved a few blocks away to the Emirates Stadium in 2006, the bust of Chapman was moved there as well. In 2011, a full-body live-size statue of Chapman was dedicated.
Also on this day, David Oswald Nelson is born in Manhattan, and grows up in Los Angeles. The son of Big Band leader Ozzie Nelson and singer Harriet Nelson, and the older brother of singer Ricky Nelson, he starred with his family on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. After the show was cancelled, he stuck mainly to the production side of Hollywood. Married twice, with 5 children, he was the last survivor of the main cast of his show, living until 2011.
Also on this day, William George Perks Jr. is born in Lewisham, South London. We know him as Bill Wyman. From 1963 until 1993, he was the bass guitarist for The Rolling Stones. Since 1997, he has run his own band, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings.
October 24, 1937: John Hardy Goetz is born in Raber Township, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, in a section named Goetzville for his family. A pitcher, he appeared in 4 games for the 1960 Cubs. He died in 2008.
Also on this day, Jeanine Ann Roose is born in Los Angeles. She spent much of her childhood playing "Little Alice" Harris, daughter of actress Alice Faye and her husband, bandleader Phil Harris, on various radio shows, including The Jack Benny Program, for which Phil was the musical director. The real Alice Harris did not want to appear.
Jeanine has appeared in only 1 film, but it was It's a Wonderful Life, as the child version of Violet Bick in the film's "past" sequences of the 1946 holiday-season classic. She is 1 of 7 surviving castmembers. She left acting to attend UCLA, and became a practicing psychoanalyst.
Also on this day, Barry George Davies is born in London. Like all British people with the surname, he pronounces it like "Davis." While serving in the British Army, he got into radio, and upon his discharge in 1963, he began working for the BBC and as a sports journalist for The Times of London.
He was hired by ITV, the BBC's rival, to cover the 1966 World Cup on home soil. In 1969, the BBC hired him back, and he was a fixture on their soccer programme (as it's "spelt" over there) Match of the Day. and became known for his broadcasting of European Cup/UEFA Champions League Finals, until his semiretirement began in 2004. He is still occasionally called upon to offer his expertise on live BBC sports shows.
October 24, 1939: James Wickersham dies in Juneau, capital of the Alaska Territory, at age 82. The Territory's non-voting Delegate in Congress, the Illinois native sponsored the 1st Alaska Statehood bill (though the Territory did not gain Statehood until 1959), and founded the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines, which became the University of Alaska.
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October 24, 1941: Ulis C. Williams -- I can find no record of what the C stands for -- is born in Hollandale, Mississippi, and grows up outside Los Angeles: Like Duke Snider and the tennis-playing Williams sisters, he was straight outta Compton. He was a member of the U.S. team that won the Gold Medal in the 4x400-meter relay at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. He later served as President of Compton Community College outside Los Angeles, and is still alive.
October 24, 1942: Corporal Henry Race of the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders is killed in action at the Battle of El Alamein in Egypt, which still ends up being a British victory over the Nazis. He was 36 years old. From 1928 to 1930, he was a forward for Liverpool FC.
October 24, 1944: John Jeter (no middle name) is born in Shreveport, Louisiana. The outfielder played in the majors from 1969 to 1974. The highlight of his career was probably playing for the San Diego Padres in the doublehader of August 1, 1972, when Nate Colbert hit 5 home runs.
Johnny Jeter is no relation to Derek, but his son Shawn Jeter played 13 games in the major leagues, all with the 1992 Chicago White Sox. Both are still alive.
October 24, 1945, 75 years ago: The National Hockey League plays its 1st peacetime game since April 16, 1939, with World War II beginning for Canada, as part of the British Empire, the following September 3. Although it had continued to operate for the duration, Canada's membership in the Empire had led to a serious manpower drain in the League.
Some teams were affected more than others. The New York Americans had to suspend operations after the 1941-42 season, and never started up again. The New York Rangers had won the Stanley Cup in 1940 and finished 1st overall in 1942, but went into a tailspin, and only reached the Stanley Cup Finals once in the next 30 years.
The Boston Bruins' entire "Kraut Line" -- Milt Schmidt centering Bobby Bauer and Woody Dumart -- all Canadians of German descent, helped them win the Cup in 1939 and 1941, and losing the Finals in 1943, dropped off after that, not winning another Cup until 1970, going 0-5 in Finals from 1941 to 1970.
The Bruins were the hosts in this peacetime puck-dropper, but lost to the Chicago Blackhawks, 5-4 at the Boston Garden. They would make the Finals in 1945-46, but lose to the Montreal Canadiens.
Also on this day, the Charter of the United Nations is ratified by the original 5 permanent members of the United Nations Security Council: America, Britain, France, China and the Soviet Union, and by a majority of the other signatories.
The Charter established the purposes, governing structure and overall framework of the UN system, including its 6 principal organs: The Secretariat, the General Asembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the International Court of Justice, and the Trusteeship Council.
In commemoration of the event, the General Assembly celebrates United Nations Day every October 24, and schedules its annual gathering for the days leading up to the date.
Also on this day, Vidkun Quisling is executed by firing squad in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. He was 58 years old. The only man ever to be leader of the National Union Party, in 1931 he was named Norway's Minister of Defense, serving until 1933. On February 1, 1942, after the Nazis conquered Norway, he was appointed Minister President.
He held the office until May 9, 1945, a day after V-E Day, when, knowing the game was up, he turned himself in. On V-E Day, he had written:
I know that the Norwegian people have sentenced me to death, and that the easiest course for me would be to take my own life. But I want to let history reach its own verdict. Believe me, in ten years' time I will have become another Saint Olav. He was wrong. Even while still in power, "quisling" became a word synonymous with "traitor." He is remembered as a traitor, and a willing sender of Norwegian Jews to die in the Holocaust.
Also on this day, Gene Monahan (as far as I know, his full name) is born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In 1962, during his senior year in high school, the Yankees began their Spring Training tenure in Fort Lauderdale. Gene ("Geno" to some friends) became a bat boy and clubhouse attendant. After graduating from Indiana University, he was rehired by the Yankees. From 1973 to 2011, he was the team's head trainer, 1 of only 3 people to be a Yankee employee through the entire ownership of George Steinbrenner.
He survived throat cancer in 2009-10, and passed the trainer's job on to his assistant, Steve Donohue, in 2011. While the Yankees had their issues with injuries during his tenure, they have greatly increased since his retirement. He is now a consultant for Hendrick Motorsports in North Carolina, and has returned for every Old-Timers' Day at Yankee Stadium.
October 24, 1946: The Bihar Riots take place in Bihar, West Bengal, India. They are in response to the Calcutta Killings the previous August 16, and the Noakhali Riots on October 10, both actions by Muslims against Hindus.
Between both sides, up to 10,000 people are killed, as India heads toward independence, which takes place on August 15, 1947, but Muslims get their separate nation of Pakistan. Even this does not stop the violence, and, to this day, with religion being the key, the two nations still hate each other's guts.
October 24, 1947: Derek Smethurst (no middle name) is born in Durban, South Africa. A forward, he played soccer in his homeland until 1968, when he was signed by West London team Chelsea. He did not make enough appearances in their successful 1970 FA Cup run to earn a winner's medal, but he did for their 1971 European Cup Winners' Cup.
In 1975, he came to America, and helped the Tampa Bay Rowdies win the North American Soccer League title, Tampa Bay's 1st "World Championship." (To put this in perspective: The Buccaneers were a year away from debuting, and the Lightning and the Rays were a generation away from doing so.) He continued to play in the U.S. until 1987. He still lives in Florida, and runs a soccer academy there.
Also on this day, Kevin Delaney Kline is born in St. Louis. He's a Broadway legend, and played a President and his unwilling lookalike substitute in the 1993 film
Dave. He is married to actress Phoebe Cates. Their son Owne Kline is an actor, and their daughter Greta Kline is a singer, using the name Frankie Cosmos.
October 24, 1948: Phillip Bennett (no middle name) is born in Felinfoel, Wales.
A legend of Welsh rugby, Phil Bennett helped his country-within-a-country win the Five Nations Championship (the Six Nations Championship with the addition of Italy in 2000) in 1969, 1970 (shared with France), 1973 (a 5-way tie), 1975, 1976 and 1978, after which he retired.
As Captain of the Wales side, he told his teammates before a 1977 Five Nations match, "Look what these bastards have done to Wales. They've taken our coal, our water, our steel. They buy our homes and live in them for a fortnight every year. What have they given us? Absolutely nothing. We've been exploited, raped, controlled and punished by the English – and that's who you are playing this afternoon." Wales won, 14-9.
He now commentates on the game for Welsh television.
October 24, 1949: Czesław Bolesław Marcol is born in Opole, Poland. He was a soccer player until age 14, when a tragedy forced the family to move to the Detroit suburb of Imlay City, Michigan. There, he was taught how to kick an American-style football.It paid off. The Green Bay Packers drafted him in 1972, and as a rookie, now using the anglicized name Chester Marcol, he helped them win the NFC Central Division, setting team records that still stand for most field goals attempted (48) and made (33) in a season.
In the opening game of the 1980 season, the Packers played their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bears. Marcol attempted a game-winning field goal in overtime, but it was blocked, and the ball came right back to him, and he took it and ran for a 25-yard touchdown, giving the Pack a 12-6 win.
He later overcame alcohol and cocaine addictions, and is now an addiction recovery counselor in Dollar Bay, Michigan, across the Upper Peninsula from the aforementioned Goetzville. He was elected to the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame.
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October 24, 1950, 70 years ago: Rawlins Jackson Eastwick is born in Camden, New Jersey, across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, and grows up in neighboring Haddonfield, Camden County. "Rawly" was a relief pitcher who helped the Cincinnati Reds win the 1975 and 1976 World Series, but after being acquired by the Yankees in 1978, he was injured, and only played 8 games for them before they traded him to the Philadelphia Phillies in midseason for Jay Johnstone. Eastwick hardly played again after that, retiring after being cut by the Cubs in spring training in 1982.
He now runs office buildings in Boston, and was scheduled to be at the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon, but was delayed, and avoided injury in the explosions.
Also on this day, Thomas Patck Myers is born outside Albany in Cohoes, New York. A safety, he started for the New Orleans Saints for 10 years, making the Pro Bowl in 1979. He is still alive, and a member of their team Hall of Fame.
Also on this day, Richard Asa Hartford is born in Clydebank Scotland. A midfielder, Asa Hartford starred for West Bromwich Albion, Manchester City, Everton, Norwich City and Bolton Wanderers. He helped Man City win the 1976 League Cup, and he scored the only goal in the 1985 League Cup Final, to give Norwich their most recent major trophy.
He played for Scotland in the 1978 and 1982 World Cups, and is a member of the Scottish FA International Roll of Honor. He later went into management, and is still alive.
October 24, 1952: Omar Renán Moreno Quintero is born in Puerto Armuelles, Panama. A center fielder, he led the National League in stolen bases in 1978 and 1979, and helped the Pittsburgh Pirates win the 1979 World Series. In 1980, he stole 96 bases, a team record -- but didn't lead the NL, because Ron LeFlore stole 97.
He played for the Yankees from 1983 to 1985, and he and his wife Sandra now run a youth baseball charity in Panama.
Also on this day, Reginald Sherard Walton is born in Kansas City, Missouri. An outfielder, he appeared in 43 games for the Seattle Mariners and 13 for the Pirates in the early 1980s, making him a teammate of Moreno.
Also on this day, Ángel Rafael Torres Ruiz is born in La Ciénaga, Dominican Republic. He pitched in 5 games for the Cincinnati Reds at the end of the 1977 season.
Also on this day, Former General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Republican nominee for President, who was already almost certain to win the election, calls a press conference. He says, "Where will a new Administration begin? It will begin with its President taking a simple, firm resolution. The resolution will be: To forego the diversions of politics and to concentrate on the job of ending the Korean War until that job is honorably done.
"That job requires a personal trip to Korea. I shall make that trip. Only in that way could I learn how best to serve the American people in the cause of peace. I shall go to Korea."
On November 4, the inevitable became reality: Eisenhower was elected, defeating the Democrtic nominee, Governor Adlai Stevenson of Illinois, in a landslide. On November 29, President-elect Eisenhower kept his promise, and went to Korea to take note of the situation in the field.
On January 20, 1953, he was sworn in as the 34th President of the United States. On July 27, the Truce of Panmunjom was signed, ending the war after 3 years.
October 24, 1953: Christoph Paul Daum is born in Olesnitz, East Germany. A midfielder, he was signed by 1. FC Köln (usually listed as FC Cologne in English), and thus defected to the West.
But he is better known as a manager, having taken Stuttgart to the 1992 Bundesliga title, winning the Austrian Bundesliga with Austria Wien in 2003, and winning the Turkish Süper Lig with Istanbul clubs Beşiktaş in 1995 (also winning the Turkish Cup in 1994) and Fenerbahçe in 2004 and 2005. He recently managed the national team of Romania.
October 24, 1954: President Dwight D. Eisenhower pledges U.S. support to South Vietnam. This is the beginning of a 20-year mistake.
Also on this day, Harold John Snepsts is born in Edmonton. A defenseman, the son of Latvian immigrants played 17 seasons in the NHL, mostly for the Vancouver Canucks, helping them reach their 1st Stanley Cup Finals in 1982. The Canucks have hired him as a scout, and inducted him into their Ring of Honour.
Also on this day, Malcolm Bligh Turnbull is born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. On September 15, 2015, following a no-confidence vote in his party's previous leader, Tony Abbott, the former Rhodes scholar, journalist and merchant banker became his homeland's Prime Minister.
He led the Liberal Party to victory by the slimmest of margins in 2016. (Among the many weird things about Australia: Their conservative party is called the Liberal Party, while their liberal party, like Britain's and Israel's, is called the Labour Party.) But another leadership challenge led him to resign on August 24, 2018, and soon thereafter resign from Parliament altogether.
Unlike Donald Trump, he actually is a self-made tycoon. As far as I know, aside from watching Australia compete at the highest levels in cricket and rugby, he has nothing to do with sports. Through his Scottish mother, he is a cousin of actress Angela Lansbury.
October 24, 1955: Elaine Elliott (no middle name) is born in Lakewood, Washington. She played basketball at Boise State University, and got her master's degree from the University of Utah. She was hired as an assistant coach for Utah's women's team basketball team in 1979, and as head coach in 1983.
From then until 2011, she won 582 games, 7 Conference Coach of the Year awards, and the 2001 National Coach of the Year award. She is still alive, and a member of the Utah Sports Hall of Fame.
Also on this day, Amy Ruley (no middle name) is born in Lowell, Indiana. After playing at Purdue University, she coached at North Dakota State University from 1979 to 2008, , and won even more games than Elliott: 671, leading them to 5 NCAA Division II Championships. She is still alive, and a member of the North Dakota Sorts Hall of Fame.
October 24, 1956: Tom Whittaker dies of a heart attack in London, only 58 years old. He is 1 of only 2 men to die in office as manager of North London's Arsenal Football Club, the 1st being his former boss, Herbert Chapman, in 1934.
Born in Aldershot, Hampshire on July 21, 1898, where his father was stationed in the British Army, Tom grew up in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and thus was a "Geordie." He served first in the Army, then in the Royal Navy, during World War I. He played as a "wing half," a position that became obsolete as fullbacks became more defensive, from 1919 to 1925, all for Arsenal. In 1925, on a tour of Australia as part of a Football Association all-star team, he broke his kneecap, and his playing career was over.
But his service to Arsenal was far from over. Chapman, who had led Huddersfield Town to the League title, became manager, and, when Tom's attempt to come back from injury led him to want to study to become a physiotherapist, thinking he could do it better, Chapman encouraged this. He was the club's head trainer from 1927 until 1947, first under Chapman, then under George Allison, taking time off in World War II to be an air raid warden.
When Allison retired in 1947, Tom was named manager. In his 1st season, 1947-48, he took them to the League title. He led them to the FA Cup in 1950 (beating Liverpool in the Final), to the FA Cup Final but lost in 1952 (ironically, to his hometown side, Newcastle United), and winning the closest League title race ever, beating Burnley by goal difference on the last day of the 1953 season. In total, he was a part of the club's 1st 7 League titles, their 1st 6 FA Cup Finals, and their 1st 3 FA Cup wins. (There were no European club tournaments until the 1955-56 season.)
The club's last game with Tom in charge was on October 20, a 3-1 home win over arch-rival Tottenham. It should surprise no one that they lost their next game badly, on October 27, 4-0 to Everton at Goodison Park.
October 24, 1957: Ronald Clyde Gardenhire is born at a U.S. Army base in Butzbach, Hessen, Germany, and grows up in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. A good-field-no-hit shortstop for the early 1980s Mets, he managed the Minnesota Twins to 6 American League Central Division titles between 2002 and 2010, and was named AL Manager of the Year in 2010. He recently resigned as manager of the Detroit Tigers, to concentrate on his health.
His son Toby was drafted by the Twins, but never made the big club, and is now managing in the Twins' farm system.
October 24, 1959: The greatest player in the history of basketball makes his NBA debut. If you're paying attention to the date, you will notice that Michael Jordan hasn't been born yet, and neither have LeBron James' parents.
The place is the old Madison Square Garden. The home team is the New York Knicks. The visiting team is the Philadelphia Warriors. Unfortunately for the Knicks, it is the Warriors who have the player in question: West Philadelphia native Wilton Norman Chamberlain.
Wilt, at this point a 23-year-old 7-foot-1-inch center, scores 43 points. Kenny Sears scores 35 for the Knicks, but it's nowhere near enough, as the Warriors beat the Knicks, 118-109. Basketball will never be the same again.
A little more than 2 years later, on March 2, 1962, these teams will play at the Hershey Arena outside Harrisburg, and Wilt will score 100 points in a 169-147 Warriors victory.
Also on this day, Michael Quinn Brewer is born in Shreveport, Louisiana. A right fielder, he played 12 games for the Kansas City Royals in 1986.
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October 24, 1960, 60 years ago: Tyrone Keys (no middle name) is born in Jackson, Mississippi. A defensive end, he played for the Chicago Bears in their Super Bowl XX season, and was in their "Super Bowl Shuffle" video.
Also on this day, Ian Michael Baker-Finch is born in Nambour, Queensland, Australia. He won 18 PGA Tour events, including the 1991 British Open. Now living in Florida, he is a golf commentator for CBS.
October 24, 1962: Eugene Thomas Larkin is born in Flushing, Queens. A 1st baseman, he went to Columbia, where he broke several school records set by an earlier 1st baseman from New York, named Lou Gehrig.
He was 1 of 7 players to be a part of both of the Minnesota Twins' World Series titles, in 1987 and 1991. In Game 7 in 1991, he hit the bases-loaded single in the bottom of the 10th inning that clinched the title, 1-0 over the Atlanta Braves. He still lives in the Minneapolis suburbs, and runs a baseball school.
Also on this day, Jay McKinley Novacek is born in Martin, South Dakota. The All-Pro tight end from the University of Wyoming (whose teams are also called the Cowboys) helped the Dallas Cowboys win 3 Super Bowls. The 5-time Pro Bowler was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2012, but, as yet, has not been elected to the Pro Football Hall. He and his wife Amy star on the reality-TV series Saddle Up With Jay Novacek.
Also on this day, Biggie Mbasela (his real, full name) is born in Kitwe, Northern Rhodesia, the British colony that became the independent nation of Zambia. Better known as Gibby Mbasela, he was a forward who won 2 league titles in his country, and was named Zambian Footballer of the Year in 1990.
He was not among the 18 members of the Zambia national team killed in a plane crash off the coast of Gabon on April 27, 1993. He was, however, among those who took Zambia to the Final of the 1994 African Cup of Nations, losing to Nigeria. Shortly after retiring as an active player, he fell ill, and died on May 1, 2000, only 37 years old.
Also on this day, the film The Manchurian Candidate premieres, based on Richard Condon's 1959 novel. The fact that the Cold War-themed film's scheduled premiere turned out to be during the Cuban Missile Crisis probably brought it more hype than expected.
The film starts with the Red Chinese capturing a platoon of U.S. soldiers during the Korean War, and brainwashing them. Most of them are brainwashed only into believing that one of them, a shy, not particularly combative type played by Laurence Harvey, saved their lives. Another, played by Frank Sinatra, recommends him for the Congressional Medal of Honor, based on this incorrect belief.
The trick is that this "war hero" is being set up for a political rise, as his conniving mother (Angela Lansbury), already a Communist agent, is married to his stepfather (James Gregory, later Barney Miller's Inspector Luger), a U.S. Senator (ironically, a Red-baiter like the late Senator Joseph McCarthy), who is being set up to be nominated for Vice President, and the "hero" will then assassinate the Presidential nominee, setting the stepfather up to be President and the mother as the power behind the throne, aiding the Red cause.
One of the brainwashers is played by Khigh Dhiegh, later to be better known for playing Wo Fat, the villain of the original Hawaii Five-O series. Janet Leigh, then the wife of Tony Curtis, and the mother of Jamie Lee Curtis, also appears.
Sinatra had creative control over the film, and originally wanted Lucille Ball to play the mother -- which would have been as big a shock to 1960s viewers as it was to see Henry Fonda as the villain in the 1969 film Once Upon a Time in the West.
But Sinatra's choice as director, John Frankenheimer, had worked with Lansbury on the film All Fall Down, and insisted that Frank watch that film with him. That convinced Frank to cast Lansbury instead, even though she was only 3 years older than the actor playing her son, Harvey. In a further irony, Harvey died young, while Lansbury, at this writing, is still alive and acting at age 95. (The year before, she had played the mother of Elvis Presley's character in Blue Hawaii, and was only 9 years older than Elvis.)
October 24, 1963: Mark Andrew Grant is born in the Chicago suburb of Aurora, Illinois. He was Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Year in 1985, but his big-league career never really worked out. He was one of the players the San Francisco Giants traded to the San Diego Padres to get Kevin Mitchell, leading him to miss out on the 1987 and 1989 postseasons. Bad luck befell him again when the Braves traded him before their 1991 Pennant run. He is now a broadcaster for the Padres.
Also on this day, a day after recording "When the Ship Comes In," Bob Dylan records "The Times They Are A-Changin'." That will also be the title of his album that these songs go on, which will be released on January 13, 1964. This is also the dawn of Beatlemania in America. The times were, indeed, changing.
It's been remarked that the best part of Zack Snyder's 2009 film adaptation of the superhero-themed graphic novel Watchmen was the opening credits, with the song backing a summary of the events from the 1940 founding of the Minutemen to the "present" in 1985.
October 24, 1966: Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich is born in Saratov, Russia. He turned an investment into the Russian black market into oil and aluminum empires, and developed a close relationship with then-President Boris Yeltsin, and has worked with Yeltsin's successors, Vladimir Putin and Dmitri Medvedev.
He has been indicted on numerous corruption charges, but has never been convicted. It's good to have friends in high places. His fortune has gone up and down, but is now believed by Forbes magazine to be about $12.8 billion. Two divorce settlements and his sports investments have not helped in this regard, as you'll see below.
In 2003, he bought Chelsea Football Club of West London, leading to its new nickname of "Chelski," or "Chavski," as the club's popularity with London's tracksuit-wearing, baggy-pantsed, jewelry-flashing, cap-turned-sideways, foul-mouthed juvenile delinquents (we don't really have a single name for such in the U.S.) has led to them being called "The Chavs."
In 2004, he hired manager Jose Mourinho away from the Portuguese club F.C. Porto, and together they built a team that won the Premier League title in 2005 and again in 2006 – this after winning just 1 title in the team's 1st 99 seasons, in 1955 (and that with a former Arsenal player as their manager, Ted Drake).
Early in the 2007-08 season, Mourinho decided he'd had enough of Abramovich's meddling and left for Internazionale in Milan, Italy, and that for Real Madrid in Spain, returned to Chelsea in 2014-15 and won another League title, but crashed and burned the next season. He has since failed as manager of Manchester United.
Despite winning 5 League titles, 5 FA Cups, both the League and the Cup (The Double) in 2010, 3 League Cups, the UEFA Champions League in 2012 and the UEFA Europa League in 2013 and 2019, Chelsea is believed to be heavily in debt under Abramovich's ownership, due to the high sums paid in wages, transfer fees, and upkeep of the aging home ground, Stamford Bridge. He is believed to have sunk over 2 billion pounds – over $2.6 billion – into the club in his 17 years of ownership.
In 1999, he was elected to the Russian Parliament, the Duma, from the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, the oil-rich easternmost oblast (what they call a "state" of Russia, and from 2000 to 2008 served as its Governor, making him a "neighbor" of 2007-09 Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska, as this is the part of Russia that she claimed could be seen from her home State. (But she never actually said, "I can see Russia from my house" – that was Tina Fey doing the impersonation.)
The 54-year-old "Mad Russian" has been married and divorced 3 times, most recently in 2017 from his 3rd wife, Darya "Dasha" Zhukova, 15 years younger, a fashion designer known on ESPN's Pardon the Interruption as "Marat Safin's Girlfriend." While she was dating the Russian tennis star, the show's co-host Tony Kornheiser slobbered over her so much it made my feelings for Catherine Zeta-Jones look mature by comparison. Abramovich and Zhukova are parents of 2 children, and Abramovich has 5 others with his 1st 2 wives.
October 24, 1967: Frank-Paul Santangelo is born in the Detroit suburb of Livonia, Michigan, and grows up in the Sacramento suburb of El Dorado Hills, California. An outfielder, he played for the Montreal Expos from 1995 to 1998, the San Francisco Giants in 1999, the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2000, and the Oakland Athletics in 2001, the only time he made the Playoffs.
For his career, he batted .245 and hit just 21 home runs in 7 seasons. Nevertheless, he was named as a steroid user in in the Mitchell Report. He confirmed it, sort of, confessing to using human growth hormone on 2 occasions, to help with injury rehab, but denying the other allegations against him.
After hosting a radio talk show in Sacramento, and another in San Francisco, he joined the Washington Nationals' broadcast team in 2011, and is still with them. His best-known schtick is to say, "Well, there goes the no-hitter" when the Nats get their 1st hit of the game. But when a Nats pitcher finishes one, as Jordan Zimmerman did in 2014 and Max Scherzer did twice in 2015, he says, "And there is the no-hitter!"
Also on this day, Ian Raphael Bishop is born in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. A star bowler for the West Indies cricket team from 1989 until succumbing to injuries in 1998, he is now a TV commentator for the sport, frequently waxing poetic about the decline of his former "national team."
October 24, 1969: Ten years to the day after Wilt Chamberlain made his NBA debut, he and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then still using his birth name of Lew Alcindor), the man who would eventually surpass him as the NBA's all-time leading scorer, oppose each other for the 1st time, at The Forum in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood.
Kareem scores 23 points, but the Milwaukee Bucks are led by Flynn Robinson with 33. Wilt scores 25, but the Los Angeles Lakers were led by Elgin Baylor with 26. The Lakers won, 123-112.
Also on this day, the film Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid premieres, with Paul Newman as Robert Leroy Parker, Robert Redford as Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, and Katharine Ross as Etta Place. Lessons to be learned from this movie:
1. Nothing lasts forever, not even the Wild West.
2. Use enough dynamite, no more.
3. There are no rules in a knife fight.
4. The man who is the best at something might not be the best man at it for you.
5. Life, especially a life of crime, is harder in a foreign country, especially when the dominant language is not your first language.
6. If you got a woman who looks like a young Katharine Ross, and she says we should go home because it's too dangerous to stay where we are, go home.
7. Western movies rarely tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
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October 24, 1970, 50 years ago: Lamont Bertrell Hollinquest is born in Los Angeles. A linebacker, he was with the Green Bay Packers when they won Super Bowl XXXI.
Also on this day, Graham Charles Stuart is born in Tooting, South London. A midfielder, he helped Everton win the 1995 FA Cup. He is now a commentator for Sky Sports.
October 24, 1971: After playing their 1st home game of the season at their original home, the Cotton Bowl, the Dallas Cowboys open Texas Stadium in the suburb of Irving, Texas. They beat the New England Patriots 44-21. They will go on to win Super Bowl VI at the end of the season. It will remain their home through the 2008 season, including 7 Super Bowl berths, winning 5.
Also on this day, Don McLean releases his album American Pie. The title track is one of the most analyzed songs ever written, including references to the death of Buddy Holly, Bob Dylan replacing Elvis Presley as America's most important rock and roll performer, the rise of the Beatles, the Woodstock and Altamont rock festivals, and the disillusionment faced as the 1960s gave way to the 1970s. The 4th verse uses a football game as a metaphor.
Also on this day, Caprice Bourret (no middle name) is born in the Hacienda Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. In the mid-1990s, she moved to London to further her modeling career, and became a star there, using just her first name. In America, she is best known for appearing on VH1's The Surreal Life in 2005. In England, she is best known for being a former girlfriend of Arsenal Captain Tony Adams.
October 24, 1972: Jackie Robinson dies. The 1st black player in modern baseball had been suffering from diabetes, which had robbed him of most his eyesight, caused such poor circulation in his legs that amputation was being considered, and damaged his heart to the point where it killed him at age 53.
Just 10 days earlier, he had flown from his home in Stamford, Connecticut (his wife Rachel, now 93, now lives near their old house), and was a special guest at Game 2 of the World Series between the A's and Reds in Cincinnati. It had been 25 years since the great experiment that he and Brooklyn Dodger president Branch Rickey (who died in 1965) had reached its successful conclusion with the Dodgers winning the Pennant and Jackie making it through the season, not just surviving but excelling. His former teammate, Pee Wee Reese, was on hand, and former Dodger broadcaster Red Barber introduced him. Jackie said, "I'm extremely pleased to be here, but I must confess, I'm going to be even more pleased when I see a black face managing in baseball."
Jackie's eulogy was delivered by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and his funeral was attended by most of his surviving teammates. Roy Campanella was there in his wheelchair. Among his pallbearers were former Dodger pitcher Don Newcombe and basketball legend Bill Russell.
Earlier in the year, on June 4, in Los Angeles, Jackie's hometown (if not the team's), the Dodgers retired uniform numbers for the first time, packing away Jackie's Number 42, Campy's Number 39 and Sandy Koufax' Number 32. Jackie was the 1st black player in the Hall of Fame, Campy the 2nd, and Koufax had been newly elected at the time of the ceremony.
It would be 2 more years, on October 3, 1974, before Frank Robinson, no relation, was hired as Major League Baseball's 1st black manager, with the Cleveland Indians, the team that had been the first in the American League to add black players with Larry Doby and Satchel Paige.
Oddly, Frank beat Jackie to being the 1st black player to get his number retired: The Orioles let him go before the 1972 season, and, though he was still active, announced the retirement of his number on March 10 of that year.
Ironically, while black Hispanics are now the leading presence in the game, very few black Americans are in the major leagues. Jackie would probably be disturbed by that, but not puzzled, as he would surely factor in the rise of pro football and basketball as sports preferred by African-Americans, especially since he played those, in addition to baseball, at UCLA.
Of the 30 current MLB franchises, 4 have never had a manager who was either black or Hispanic: The Yankees, the Minnesota Twins, the Oakland Athletics, and the Philadelphia Phillies -- by an unfortunate coincidence, also the last National League team to have had a black player.
(I previously had the Los Angeles Angels listed as one of those teams. But while they still have never had a black manager, they have had a white Hispanic: Octavio "Cookie" Rojas, from Cuba, who managed them in 1988. The Yankees have had black coaches, such as Elston Howard, Willie Randolph and Tony Peña, but no black or Hispanic managers, unless you count Peña on those occasions when Joe Torre or Joe Girardi was thrown out of a game, or took a personal day.)
It took until 2016, with former Red Sox star Dave Roberts, for the Dodgers to have their 1st black manager. Currently, of the 24 MLB teams that don't have vacancies, 5 have a black or Hispanic manager. That's right: More teams have their manager's jobs vacant than have them filled with a nonwhite man.
In 1997, on the 50th Anniversary of Jackie's arrival, Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig announced that Jackie's Number 42 would be retired for all of baseball, as yet a unique honor. All players then wearing it would be allowed to continue to do so for the remainder of their careers, but no new players could wear it, and no current players could switch to it.
The last remaining Number 42 in baseball was Mariano Rivera of the Yankees; the Yankees appeared to have been waiting for Mariano to retire before retiring the number for both him and Jackie, but in 2007, on the 60th Anniversary of Jackie's arrival, they retired it for Jackie, and did so again for Mariano when he hung 'em up in 2013, just as they retired Number 8 for both Bill Dickey and Yogi Berra.
Also on October 24, 1972, Patrick Williams (no middle name) is born in Monroe, Louisiana. He was a 3-time Pro Bowler at defensive tackle for the Minnesota Vikings. He is now an assistant coach at a high school in his home State.
October 24, 1973: Jackie McNamara is born in Glasgow, Scotland. He won 4 Scottish Premier League titles and 3 Scottish Cups with Glasgow's Celtic Football Club, serving as their Captain in 2005. He recently served as manager, and then as chief executive, of York City F.C., a Yorkshire club in England's 5th division, and is now back in Scotland, in the front office of Dunfermline Athletic.
Also on this day, Jeffrey William Wilson is born in Invercargill, New Zealand. Jeff Wilson starred in rugby union, cricket (playing for his country in both sports, making him a rare "Double All-Black," although the cricket team is better known as the "Black Caps") and basketball. He was a member of the New Zealand team that lost to host South Africa in the 1995 Rugby World Cup immortalized in the film Invictus. He now commentates on rugby for Sky Sports.
Also on this day, Kojak premieres on CBS. Telly Savalas plays Lieutenant Theo Kojak of the New York Police. He sucked a lollipop to soothe his oral fixation after quitting smoking. The show lasts 5 years. "Who loves ya, baby?"
October 24, 1974: The expansion New Orleans Jazz play their 1st home game, the 1st NBA game played in New Orleans. It doesn't go so well: Pete Maravich is held to just 11 points, while Freddie Boyd drops 35, and the Jazz hit a sour note, losing to the Philadelphia 76ers 102-89.
The game is played at the Municipal Auditorium, where they played their 1st season, until the Superdome opened, going from a building that opened in 1930 with 7,853 seats to one brand-new with a basketball capacity of 47,000. The Auditorium was damaged in Hurricane Katrina and, 12 years later, its future remains in doubt.
Also on this day, Corey James Dillon is born in Seattle. He set single-season rushing yardage records for the University of Washington, the Cincinnati Bengals and the New England Patriots. On October 23, 2000, he rushed for 278 yards against the Denver Broncos, breaking Walter Payton's 1977 record of 275. Dillon's record has been surpassed by Jamal Lewis and Adrian Peterson.
In the 2004 season, he was a member of the Patriot team that won Super Bowl XXXIX. (By cheating?) He rushed for 11,241 yards, but, as yet, has not been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Also on this day, Wilton Alvaro Guerrero is born in Don Gregorio, Dominican Republic. The older brother and former Montreal Expo teammate of Vladimir Guerrero, he is best known for a 1997 incident with the Dodgers, where he was found to have a corked bat. He is now a scout with the Dodgers.
Also on this day, Jamal David Mayers is born in Toronto. One of the few black players in the NHL, the right wing was an Alternate Captain for his hometown Maple Leafs, and retired after winning the 2013 Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks. He is now an analyst for the NHL Network.
October 24, 1975: Juan Pablo Ángel Arango is born in Medellín, Colombia. He began his soccer career in his hometown, at Atlético Nacional . He later played for River Plate in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Aston Villa in Birmingham, England, before starring for the New York Red Bulls. He retired in 2014.
October 24, 1979: Diff'rent Strokes airs the episode "Arnold's Hero." Willis Jackson (Todd Bridges) and adoptive sister Kimberly Drummond (Dana Plato) convince Muhammad Ali (who plays himself) to visit brother Arnold (Gary Coleman), by telling The Greatest that Arnold is dying. Arnold goes along with it, but the ruse lasts less time than one of Ali's fights.
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October 24, 1980, 40 years ago: Monica Denise Arnold is born in Atlanta. The singer, who uses only her first name, is known for the Number 1 hits "The Boy Is Mine" (a duet with fellow mononymous singer Brandy) and "Angel." She was married to former Knick Shannon Brown from 2010 to 2019.
Also on this day, Cathryn Rose Wilson is born in the Washington suburb of Alexandria, Virginia. A graduate of T.C Williams High School there (the school in the film Remember the Titans), Casey Wilson was a castmember of Saturday Night Live in 2008 and 2009. She later played Penny Hartz on the sitcom Happy Endings, and now plays Tiff Georgina on Black Mondays.
October 24, 1981: The Dodgers tie the World Series up at 2 games apiece, 8-7, thanks to some poor Yankee fielding. Reggie Jackson and Willie Randolph hit home runs for the Bronx Bombers -- Reggie's last in a Yankee uniform, as it turned out -- but Jay Johnstone, who'd helped the Yankees beat the Dodgers in the 1978 World Series, returns the favor.
Johnstone would later write, in his memoir Temporary Insanity (a title based on his quirky personality), that George Steinbrenner stormed into the locker room and demanded that Ron Davis (Yankee reliever and Ike's father) tell him why he threw Johnstone a fastball.
October 24, 1982: Joseph Macay McBride is born in Augusta, Georgia. Dropping his first name, Macay McBride pitched for the Atlanta Braves in 2005, '06 and '07, and for the Detroit Tigers in '07, with a 6-2 career record, his career ending due to nagging injuries.
October 24, 1983: Christopher Adrian Colabello is born in the Boston suburb of Framingham, Massachusetts. A 1st baseman, he reached the ALCS with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2015 and 2016, and now plays in independent leagues.
October 24, 1985: Richie Evans is killed in a crash while practicing for the Winn-Dixie 500 Modified Feature, at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia. He was 41, and had won 17 professional races.
Also on this day, Wayne Mark Rooney is born in Liverpool, England. Because England needs to believe that its soccer players are the best in the world, "Wazza" was their great hope in the 2000s, starring at hometown club Everton for 2 seasons, and saying, "I'll always be a Blue."
Then Manchester United shoveled a lot of money at him, and he jumped ship. His name is mud on Merseyside now, not just among the Everton fans whom he betrayed, but also among the Liverpool F.C. fans, who never liked him in the first place because he was an Evertonian, but now despised him for going to the team they really hate the most, Man U. With Rooney, Man U have won the Premier League in 2007, '08, '09, '11 and '13, and the UEFA Champions League in 2008.
But after a good showing for England in Euro 2004, he's been a total bust for the national side. He lashed out against Portugal in the 2006 World Cup Quarterfinal and got himself sent off, leading to England's defeat on penalties (where his talents really could have been used).
He was a big reason why England didn't even qualify for Euro 2008. England washed out in the Round of 16 at the 2010 World Cup, and Rooney was caught on camera cursing out his own country's fans. England lost in the Quarterfinal to Italy on penalties, and while Rooney made his, he didn't score in regular time or in extra time. England was actually knocked out of the 2014 World Cup after just 2 games of the Group Stage, their 3rd game meaningless. And they got knocked out of Euro 2016 in the Quarterfinal -- by Iceland. He then retired from "international football."
Why has Rooney done so well for club, and so badly for country? Because Man United cheat. Dives, dirty tackles, goals given when they are clearly offside, opposing goals rules offside when they are clearly not. Between them, Man U, Chelsea and Liverpool have made up the bulk of the England side for over 10 years, and -- Liverpool less so than the other 2, but hardly innocent -- they are known cheaters, but their players almost never do well in international tournaments.
Rooney has become England's all-time leading scorer, breaking the record of 1960s Man U legend Bobby Charlton, but that's been built up in friendlies and tournament qualifiers against small countries like San Marino and Montenegro.
Rooney is a dirty player. (He doesn't just cheat on the field: He was caught cheating on his wife, TV personality Colleen Rooney. While she was pregnant.) And his most infamous dirty play, at least for club (if not country), also took place on an October 24, as you'll see shortly.
Point-blank: If the rules were applied correctly, Manchester United would not have won a single trophy in the last 35 years, and the people of England would see Wayne Rooney for what he truly is: Incredibly average. Come to think of it, Rooney is an Irish name, and he was born in Liverpool, across the Irish Sea from Dublin. If he'd been born there -- perhaps while his mother was visiting relatives? -- and was playing for the Republic of Ireland, the people of England wouldn't think he was so great.
His Man U contract ran out in 2017, and he returned to Everton. Essentially, the fans welcomed him back as an England hero, putting aside everything he did at Old Trafford. The problem is, he's not an England hero. Or any other kind of hero. He recently moved to Washington to play in MLS for D.C. United, but he's not an American hero, either. He has gone back to England, as a player-coach for 2nd division East Midlands team Derby County.
October 24, 1986: John Thomas Gordon Ruddy is born in St. Ives, Cambridgeshire, England. A national side teammate of Rooney's, he is the starting goalkeeper for West Midlands side Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Also on this day, Aubrey Drake Graham is born in Toronto. Like Robyn Rihanna Fenty, whom he dated and with whom he's collaborated on songs, the rapper uses his middle name. There seemed to be a "Curse of Drake," that any team whose gear he wore would lose, but that ended when his hometown Toronto Raptors won the 2019 NBA Championship with him sitting courtside.
October 24, 1987: Game 6 of the World Series. Don Baylor and Kent Hrbek back Dan Schatzeder with home runs, and the Minnesota Twins beat the St. Louis Cardinals 11-5, tying up the Series, and setting up a Game 7 tomorrow.
Also on this day, Anthony Henri Vanden Borre is born in Likasi, Zaire, once the Belgian Congo, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The right back won Belgium's League with RSC Anderlecht in 2013 and '14, and was a member of the Belgium team that knocked the U.S. out of the 2014 World Cup. He is now retired.
October 24, 1988: The Silvio O. Conte Forum opens, attached to the west stand of Alumni Stadium at Boston College, just to the west of Boston in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. It was named for a Congressman from Western Massachusetts, who had graduated from BC as both an undergraduate and a law student. First elected in 1958, he lived long enough to see it, dying in office 3 years later.
For hockey games, the arena is known as Kelley Rink, in memory of John "Snooks" Kelley, the school's hockey coach from 1933 to 1972 (except for the World War II years).
Also on this day, Christopher James Hogan is born in Wyckoff, Bergen County, New Jersey. A receiver for the New York Jets, he was with the New England Patriots when they won Super Bowl LI. He is not related to the Chris Hogan who was part of the casts of MADtv and 3rd Rock from the Sun.
October 24, 1989: Eric John Hosmer is born in the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Cooper City, Florida. The 1st baseman won 2 Pennants, including the 2015 World Series, has 3 Gold Gloves, for the Kansas City Royals. He was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2016 All-Star Game. He now plays for the San Diego Padres, and helped them make the Playoffs this season.
Also on this day, Bruce Edward Daniels Jr. is born in Tallahassee. A quarterback at the University of South Florida, B.J. Daniels was converted to a receiver of the Seattle Seahawks, and was with them when they won Super Bowl XLVIII. After playing for the Seattle Dragons of the new version of the XFL, the Seahwks have brought him back for their practice squad.
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October 24, 1990, 30 years ago: The Boston Red Sox announce they will not renew the contract of former All-Star Dwight Evans, a.k.a. Dewey. Evans signs a 1-year contract with the Baltimore Orioles, plays the 1991 season for them, and retires with 385 home runs and a reputation as one of the best-fielding right fielders ever.
In that 1991 season, I visited Boston for the first time, and watched the Red Sox without Evans beat the Orioles with him at Fenway Park. Coming out of South Station, one of the city's two major rail terminals, I saw that the street area around it was called Dewey Square. Forgetting about Admiral George Dewey, the naval hero of the Spanish-American War, I thought, "Wow, this city is so crazy about its Red Sox, they named a square after Dwight Evans!"
Also on this day, İlkay Gündoğan is born in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. A German of Turkish descent, the midfielder started out in the youth system of Gelsenkirchen club Schalke 04, but would star for their arch-rivals, Borussia Dortmund. He helped them win the German version of the Double, the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal, in 2012, and reach the 2013 Champions League Final.
He was selected to play for Germany in Euro 2012, but injuries kept him out of the the 2014 World Cup (which Germany won) and Euro 2016. He now plays for Manchester City, and helped them win the Premier League and the League Cup in 2018, and the 1st-ever "Domestic Treble" -- the Premier League, the FA Cup and the League Cup -- in 2019, and another League Cup in 2020.
October 24, 1991: David Justice, Lonnie Smith and Brian Hunter hit home runs to back Tom Glavine, and the Atlanta Braves beat the Minnesota Twins 14-5. The Braves need 1 more win to clinch their 1st title in Atlanta -- but Game 6 and, if necessary, Game 7 will be at the Metrodome.
This was the only game of the Series that was not close.
Also on this day, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry dies of a heart attack in the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Monica, California. He was 70, and had been dealing with the effects of diabetes and a series of strokes. His use of cocaine and prescription drugs hadn't helped.
October 24, 1992: For the 1st time, a World Series is won by a team from outside the United States of America. The Toronto Blue Jays clinch their 1st World Championship with a 4-3 win over the Atlanta Braves in Game 6.
Dave Winfield's 2-out‚ 2-run double in the top of the 11th gives Toronto a 4-2 lead. The Braves score 1 run in the bottom half of the inning, and have the tying run on 3rd when the final out is made. Jimmy Key wins the game in relief‚ and Candy Maldonado homers for the Blue Jays.
Toronto catcher Pat Borders‚ with a .450 BA‚ is named Series MVP. Winfield, derided as "Mister May" by Yankee owner George Steinbrenner for his poor performances in the 1981 World Series and subsequent Pennant races, finally has his ring, in his 20th season in the majors.
Also on this day, Tommylee Lewis -- no middle name, and "Tommylee" is listed as just 1 word -- is born in Palm Beach, Florida. A receiver, the only NCAA FBS (formerly Division I-A) school to offer him a football scholarship was Northern Illinois. And he was not selected in the NFL Draft.
But a recommendation of a friend of his high school coach, a friend named Bill Parcells, convinced the New Orleans Saints to sign him. He has become one of the rising receivers of the NFL. Lewis was the receiver clobbered by Nickell Robey-Coleman of the Los Angeles Rams in the 2018 NFC Championship Game, without pass interference correctly being called.
Lewis was then cut by the Saints, and then signed but quickly cut by the Detroit Lions. He has since signed to the practice squad of the Saints.
October 24, 1993: Cloyce Box dies in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas. He was 70. A 2-time Pro Bowl end, he helped the Detroit Lions win the NFL Championship in 1952 and 1953. He later opened a ranch, which was the stand-in for the Southfork Ranch on the 1st 5 episodes of Dallas in 1978.
Also on this day, Heinz Kubsch dies at age 63. A goalkeeper for FK Pirmasens, he was the backup goalie on the West German team that won the 1954 World Cup.
October 24, 1994: Jalen Lattrel Ramsey is born outside Nashville in Smyrna, Tennessee. A cornerback, he helped Florida State win the 2013 National Championship, and made 2 Pro Bowls for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He now plays for the Los Angeles Rams, and has made a Pro Bowl for them as well.
October 24, 1995, 25 years ago: Game 3 of the World Series at Jacobs (now Progressive) Field is the 1st World Series game played in Cleveland in 41 years, since Game 4 of 1954 was played at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
In 8 career World Series starts, this would prove to be the only early exit for John Smoltz of the Atlanta Braves. Nevertheless, after leading 4-1 after 3 innings, and 5-3 after 7, the Cleveland Indians blow it, and trail 6-5 in the bottom of the 8th. But Sandy Alomar Jr. ties the game with an RBI double.
In the bottom of the 11th, the Indians get a double by Carlos Baerga and a single by future Hall-of-Famer Eddie Murray, and win 7-6. It is the Indians' 1st win in a World Series game since Game 6 in 1948 in Boston -- against the team then known as the Boston Braves. The 2 teams used a total of 18 pitchers, a new Series record.
October 24, 1996: Game 5 of the World Series. Andy Pettitte, in just his 2nd season in the majors, opposes seasoned veteran John Smoltz, who is pitching in his 4th World Series. The Yankees take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 4th, thanks to an error by Marquis Grissom and a double by Cecil Fielder.
In the bottom of the 6th, the Braves put 2 runners on with nobody out. A bunt is attempted by Mark Lemke, but Pettitte snares it, and throws lefthanded to Charlie Hayes at 3rd base, nailing the lead runner. The next batter, Chipper Jones, hits a comebacker to Pettitte, who throws to Derek Jeter covering 2nd base for one, over to Fielder on 1st, and it's an inning-ending double play.
That's the Braves' last threat until the last out, when John Wetteland comes on to face once and future Yankee Luis Polonia, who lines a shot into the gap, which an injured Paul O'Neill somehow catches, to save the 5-hit shutout.
The Yankees have taken all 3 games in Atlanta, and take a 3 games to 2 lead back to Yankee Stadium,
just as former Brave player and manager, now Yankee manager, Joe Torre predicted to owner George Steinbrenner.
This is the last game ever played at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, after 30 major league seasons (plus 1 preceding season in the minors), as the Braves move into Turner Field for the next season. By a weird coincidence, Torre had also hit the 1st home run in the stadium's 1st major league game, on April 12, 1966.
Also on this day, Kyla Briana Ross is born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and grows up in the Los Angeles suburb of Aliso Viejo, California. She was one of the "Fierce Five" U.S. Olympic team that won the women's gymnastics Gold Medal at the 2012 Olympics in London.
Also on this day, Jaylen Marselles Brown is born outside Atlanta in Marietta, Georgia. Named Georgia's Mr. Basketball in 2015, he played 1 season at the University of California, then turned pro with the Boston Celtics, and is still with them.
October 24, 1998: In the wake of their World Series win 3 days earlier, Yankees David Cone, Tino Martinez, David Wells, Chili Davis and Graeme Lloyd appear on Saturday Night Live.
October 24, 1999: The Yankees beat the Braves, 7-2 at Turner Field, behind the pitching of David Cone and 3 hits from Bernie Williams, and take a 2 games to 0 lead in the World Series.
Before the game, the winners in the fan balloting for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team are introduced. With some older players overlooked by young fans, some "wild cards" were added by a "select panel."
* Pitchers: Cy Young, Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson, Left Grove, Warren Spahn, Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens.
* Catchers: Yogi Berra and Johnny Bench.
* 1st Basemen: Lou Gehrig and Mark McGwire.
* 2nd Basemen: Rogers Hornsby and Jackie Robinson.
* Shortstops: Honus Wagner, Erie Banks and Cal Rikpken Jr.
* 3rd Basemen: Brooks Robinson and Mike Schmidt.
* Outfielders: Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Pete Rose and Ken Griffey Jr.
October 24, 2000, 20 years ago: Game 3 of the World Series at Shea Stadium. The Mets defeat the Yankees‚ 4-2‚ behind the pitching of Rick Reed and their bullpen. Benny Agbayani's 8th inning double is the key hit for the Mets as they cut the Yankees Series lead to 2-games-to-1. Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez strikes out 12, a Series record for a Yankee pitcher, but loses a postseason game for the 1st time after 8 wins.
The loss ends the Yankees' record streak of 14 consecutive wins in World Series action. This would be the last World Series game won by the Mets until Game 3 in 2015.
October 24, 2002: Game 5 of the World Series at Pacific Bell Park (now AT&T Park) in San Francisco. Jeff Kent hits 2 home runs, and the Giants pound the Anaheim Angels 16-4. (Only once, the 1936 Yankees against the New York edition of the Giants, has a team scored more than 16 runs in a Series game.)
The Giants now need to win just 1 of the possible 2 games in Anaheim to take their 1st World Championship in 45 seasons in San Francisco. They, and their long-suffering fans, will have to agonize through the next 2 games, and then wait 8 more years.
Also on this day, the Boston Bruins retire the Number 24 of 1970s star and former Captain Terry O'Reilly, before their home opener at the Fleet Center (now the TD Garden). The game, against the Ottawa Seantors, ends in a 2-2 tie.
Also on this day, Hermán Gaviria and Giovanni Córdoba are struck by lightning in training with Deportivo Cali in Cali, Colombia. Gavriria, a midfielder who had played for Brazil in the 1994 World Cup, dies instantly, at the age of 32. Córdoba dies 3 days later, at 24.
To make matters worse. Córdoba's brother, Hernan Córdoba, a striker for Atlético Huila, was killed in a car crash 7 years later. He was only 19.
October 24, 2003: British Airways retires its supersonic Concorde jet after 27 years of service. Air France had already done so. The service was doomed by the combination of its high cost, the 2000 crash of Air France Flight 4590, and the 9/11 attacks in 2001.
*
October 24, 2004: The Boston Red Sox take a 2-games-to-0 lead in the World Series with a 6-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Fenway Park. Curt Schilling, again wearing the Bloody Sock, gets the win. Orlando Cabrera‚ Mark Bellhorn‚ and Jason Varitek each drive in a pair of runs.
But, as disgusting as the Red Sox cheating their way to another World Series is, that wasn't the most disgusting sporting event that happened on this day. Not by a long shot.
Arsenal had gone 49 straight Premier League games without a loss, a record streak for top-flight English "football" dating back to the founding of The Football League in 1888. Arsenal hadn't lost since Leeds United beat them on May 7, 2003 -- 536 days.
Making it 50 straight games without a loss would have been great semantically, but more important was who they are playing in Game 50: They went into Old Trafford, home of the other dominant team of the era, Manchester United. Either Arsenal or Man U had won the last 9 League titles, and 13 of the last 16.
The game is scoreless going into the 72nd minute (out of 90, so, 80 percent done), mainly because
United's players, particularly the Neville brothers -- right back Gary and midfielder Phil, not the singing Neville brothers of New Orleans -- were kicking Gunners forward José Antonio Reyes into oblivion, rendering him too timid to shoot -- he is, literally, intimidated.
In addition, United's Dutch striker, Ruud van Nistelrooy -- nicknamed Van Horseface due to an uncanny facial resemblance to Seattle Slew -- has a challenge on Arsenal defender Ashley Cole that is clearly worthy of a straight red card. So the Red Devils should be down to no more than 10 men, possibly as few as 8.
But the referee is Mike Riley, and he hates Arsenal. He gives only 2 cards to United throughout the match, a yellow each to the Neville brothers. Indeed, van Nistelrooy was retroactively given the punishment he would have gotten if, in fact, he had received a straight red during the game: 3 domestic games. (2 yellows, which equal 1 red, would have been a mere 1-game suspension.)
In that 72nd minute, United's young striker, Wayne Rooney, on his 19th birthday, executes a blatant dive in the 18-yard box. Instead of properly giving him a straight red card and sending him off, Riley calls a foul on Arsenal defender Sol Campbell, who never even touched Rooney. It is a completely bogus call, and Riley awards a penalty, which van Nistelrooy converts. Rooney adds another goal that he didn't deserve to even be on the pitch for in the 90th minute, and United had unfairly won, 2-0.
In contrast to the 2 yellow cards on United, Riley had actually given Arsenal 3 yellow cards -- and the alleged penalty foul by Campbell wasn't one of them.
The fireworks for this most dubious of games in the long and dubious history of Arsenal-Manchester United matches are hardly over at the final whistle. Despite being teammates on the national side, Campbell refuses to shake Rooney's hand, a deserved mark of disrespect. Entering the tunnel to head to the locker rooms, United manager Alex Ferguson is hit in the face by a slice of pizza from the postgame spread in Arsenal's locker room.
The game becomes known as "The Battle of the Buffet" -- a 1990 game between the teams, which featured a fight, had already been called "The Battle of Old Trafford" -- and, as it turned out, the Arsenal player who threw the slice was 17-year-old Spanish midfield wizard Cesc Fàbregas. As it also turned out, this, not anything he did on the field from 2003 to 2011, was the best thing Fàbregas did in an Arsenal uniform, the traitorous bastard.
*
October 24, 2005: Rosa Parks dies from the effects of old age, in her adopted hometown of Detroit, at the age of 92, 50 years after her refusal to stand and move began the Montgoery Buss Boycott.
On October 31, she became the 1st woman, the 2nd black person, and the 1st American not a U.S. government official to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda.
October 24, 2006: Game 3 of the World Series, at the brand-new 3rd ballpark to be named Busch Stadium. The St. Louis Cardinals follow the 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates, the 1911 New York Giants, the 1923 Yankees, and the 1970 Cincinnati Reds in hosting a World Series in their 1st year in a new ballpark. (They have since been followed by the 2009 Yankees.)
Chris Carpenter pitches brilliantly, and Braden Looper closes out the 3-hit shutout in the 9th, as the Cardinals defeat the Detroit Tigers 5-0, and take a 2-1 Series lead. This was Carpenter's World Series debut, as he had been injured for the 2004 Fall Classic, in which the Cards were swept by the Boston Red Sox. Would he have made a difference, thus extending the Curse of the Bambino to at least 2007? We'll never know, but he made a difference in 2006.
Also on this day, Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, sells the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics to Clay Bennett. He'd bought them in 2001, but he didn't run the team like a sports team, he ran it like a business, and, in so doing, alienated a lot of people, including their best player, Gary Payton, driving him away.
Whatever persuasive techniques he used to build Starbucks were ineffective in convincing the local governments to help him build a new arena or expand the old one. Since he was worth about $3 billion, and a new arena would have cost about $500 million, he could have afforded to build 6 new arenas for the team. But ask a billionaire to pay out of his own pocket for something that would help the community? "That's socialism!"
He sold the Sonics to Bennett, taking him at his word (Schultz said) that he wouldn't move the team, when everybody in Washington State and his dog knew that the team would be moved to Bennett's hometown of Oklahoma City.
Schultz might be a genius when it comes to running and marketing Starbucks, but all his business sense seemed to desert him when it came to running a major league sports team. He, not Clay Bennett, is the reason the Seattle SuperSonics are, officially, in limbo. And most former (and future?) Sonics fans get that: Some hate Bennett, but most blame Schultz.
And if there is ever a new Sonics -- an expansion team or a moved team -- Schultz won't be asked to be a part of the ownership group. I doubt they'll even negotiate to put a Starbucks stand in KeyArena or its replacement.
October 24, 2007: Game 1 of the World Series, the 1st Series game for the Colorado Rockies. They had won 21 of their last 22, counting both the regular season and the postseason. But Dustin Pedroia puts an end to that early, leading off the game with a home run. This is only the 2nd time this has been done in a Series game, after Don Buford of the Baltimore Orioles off Tom Seaver of the Mets in Game 1 in 1969.
The Sox run away with this game, 13-1, and, after doing spectacularly well for the last month, the Rockies will not win another game that counts until April 1, 2008.
*
October 24, 2011: Game 5 of the World Series. Mitch Moreland and Adrian Beltre back the veteran Darren Oliver with home runs, and the Texas Rangers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2. The Rangers need 1 more win to take their 1st-ever World Championship.
They're still looking for that 1 more win.
October 24, 2012: Babe Ruth, Babe Ruth again, Reggie Jackson, Albert Pujols… Pablo Sandoval? Yes, Pablo Sandoval hits 3 home runs in a World Series game, helping the San Francisco Giants beat the Detroit Tigers 8-3 in Game 1. Also of note was Gerry Davis becoming the umpire with the most postseason games worked: He would finish the Series, which was swept by the Giants, with 115.
Also on this day, Jeff Blatnick dies -- not from Hodgkin's lymphoma, which he had battled in the early 1980s, but from complications from heart surgery. He was only 55.
After beating cancer, the Albany-area native won America's 1st-ever Olympic Gold Medal in Greco-Roman wrestling, in 1984 in Los Angeles. (Steve Fraser won the 2nd the same day.) Interviewed afterward, through tears of joy, he yelled, "I'm a happy dude!" His cancer returned, but he beat it again, and served as a commentator for NBC at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.
From 1994 onward, he was involved in Ultimate Fighting, helping to standardize its rules and broadcasting the sport. When he died, it was for announcing UFC bouts, not his wrestling title, that he was best known.
Also on this day, Margaret Osborne duPont dies in El Paso, Texas. She was 94. The top female tennis player in the world in the late 1940s, she won the U.S. Open 3 times, the French Open twice, and Wimbledon in 1947.
October 24, 2013: Game 2 of the World Series. Despite another steroid-aided home run by David Ortiz, Michael Wacha outpitches John Lackey, and the Cardinals beat the Red Sox 4-2, to tie the Series up heading to St. Louis.
After their sweeps of 2004* and 2007*, this was the 1st World Series game lost by the Sox since... Game 7 in 1986.
October 24, 2014: Game 3 of the World Series. After 11 seasons in the major leagues, Jeremy Guthrie of the Kansas City Royals makes his 1st World Series start. After 16 seasons, so does Tim Hudson of the San Francisco Giants. Guthrie gets the key hits he needs, Hudson doesn't, and the Royals beat the Giants 3-2, and take a 2-1 lead in the Series.
Also on this day, Mbulaeni Mulaudzi dies in a car crash in Witbank, South Africa. He was 34 years old. He won a Silver Medal in the 800 meters at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, and Gold Medals at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and the 2009 World Championships of Track & Field.
October 24, 2017: Game 1 of the World Series, the 1st to be held at Dodger Stadium since Game 2 of 1988, is the hottest Series game ever: The temperature at first pitch was 103 degrees. Clayton Kershaw, until now an underachiever in postseason play, outpitches Dallas Keuchel, and gets home runs from Chris Taylor and Justin Turner. The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Houston Astros 3-1.
In their respective histories to this point, in World Series games, the Los Angeles edition of the Dodgers is 25-24. The Astros? 0-5. That would change the next night.
October 24, 2018: Game 2 of the World Series at Fenway Park. The Dodgers load the bases in the top of the 4th, but get only 1 run home, taking a 2-1 lead. They will come to regret this.
Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you. In the bottom of the 5th, Hyun-Jin Ryu allows singles to Christian Vazquez and Mookie Betts, and walks Andrew Benintendi to load the bases. Dave Roberts -- one of the Sox heroes of 2004, but now managing the Dodgers -- brings in Ryan Madson, a Series winner with the 2008 Phillies and the 2015 Royals, but he walks Steve Pearce home with the tying run, and allows a 2-run single to J.D. Martinez. David Price, with a postseason record that had made Kershaw look like Bob Gibson, cruises, and the 4-2 Sox lead of the 5th turns out to be the final score. The Series heads for Los Angeles with the Sox up 2-0.
