How Long It's Been: Penn State Played Without Joe Paterno As Head Coach

Last Saturday, the football team at Pennsylvania State University opened their season by losing to Ohio University, 24-14, blowing a 14-3 lead, in front of 97,186 people at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.

That's Ohio University, the Bobcats. Not Ohio State University, the Buckeyes. Losing to Ohio University isn't so bad if you're, say, their conference opponents Central Michigan.  But if you're Penn State, that's not good.

This was the 1st game as head coach for Bill O'Brien, taking over from Tom Bradley, who coached the last 3 games last season, as interim coach after Joe Paterno, for whom he played as a defensive back from 1975 to 1978 and was an assistant coach thereafter, was fired due to his role in the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

So while this wasn't the 1st time in ages that Penn State played without Paterno as head coach, it was the 1st time they played without Paterno as the face of the program since…

December 4, 1965. Penn State went to Byrd Stadium in College Park, Maryland, outside Washington, D.C., and beat the University of Maryland, 19-7. Paterno had been on the staff as an assistant since 1950, under Charles A. "Rip" Engle (shown above, 1906-1983), who had been his own head coach when he was a quarterback at Brown University, the Ivy League school in Providence, Rhode Island.

Oddly enough, after Engle's retirement, and Paterno's hiring as head coach, the next game was also against Maryland, on September 17, 1966 at Beaver Stadium. Penn State won that one, too, in front of 40,911 – then 88 percent of capacity, but 38 percent of what the stadium holds now (106,572 – making the 97,186 crowd 91 percent of capacity).

December 4, 1965. That's 45 years and 9 months.  How long has that been?

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Penn State was then considered a decent college football program, but hardly a national power. The biggest program in the Northeast (if you can call Central Pennsylvania or Central New York State part of America's Northeast) was Syracuse University, which produced great running backs (mostly wearing Number 44) the way Paterno's Nittany Lions would soon begin producing linebackers.

Penn State was not in any league or conference at the time. Of the league they would eventually join, the Big Ten Conference, 9 of the 10 classic teams are still playing at the same location they were then, although their stadiums, some significantly so (as with Beaver Stadium, which only opened in 1960), have been altered and expanded. The exception is the University of Minnesota, which has now changed stadiums twice, having abandoned first Memorial Stadium on their campus on the east bank of the Mississippi River for the Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis, and now the Metrodome for TCF Bank Stadium, built pretty much across the street from the site of the old stadium.

Michigan State, coached by Duffy Daugherty and led by George Webster and Bubba Smith, won the National Championship. Mike Garrett of USC won the Heisman Trophy. Amos Alonzo Stagg, a legend of playing college football in the late 1880s and coaching it up to the 1940s, had recently died at age 102. (Amos Alonzo Stagg Jr., a.k.a. Lonnie Stagg, coached football and basketball at Pennsylvania's Susquehanna University, and lived to be 97. His brother Paul Stagg was also a small-college head football coach, but lived to be "only" 83.)

UCLA was the 2-time defending National Champion of college basketball, and had, a week earlier on November 27, 1965, opened Pauley Pavilion with a game between their varsity and freshmen teams.  The freshmen team won, defeating the team that had won the last 2 national titles and was ranked Number 1 going into the new season. It wasn't even close: 75-60.  But then, the freshman team had Lew Alcindor, who would become the greatest college basketball player ever, and one of the top 10 pro players ever – mostly under the name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

The NFL had 14 teams, and the American Football League 10.  Merging the 2 leagues was just an idea, and the NFL Championship Game was called just that: "The National Football League Championship Game." Not "the Super Bowl." A few months later, the merger process began, and, for the 1st time since its institution, the NFL Championship Game was not the final competitive game of the season.

There was a pro football team in Baltimore, but it wasn't the Ravens. There was one in St. Louis, but it wasn't the Rams. There was one in Houston, but it wasn't the Texans. The Boston Patriots had yet to move out to the suburbs and became "the New England Patriots." The Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, Pittsburgh Steelers, Oakland Raiders, San Francisco 49ers and Patriots had yet to win any World Championships. Between them, they have now won 24.

Some of the NFL's founding fathers were not only still alive, but still involved: George Halas with the Chicago Bears, Art Rooney with the Steelers, and Dan Reeves with the Los Angeles Rams – no relation to the Cowboys running back of the same name, later to be head coach of the Broncos, Giants and Atlanta Falcons. George Preston Marshall, the founder and owner of the Washington Redskins, had suffered a stroke and was no longer active in the team's operation, but he was still alive.

Curly Lambeau, the founder and longtime coach of the Green Bay Packers, had died earlier in the year. The Packers' City Stadium had just been renamed Lambeau Field in his honor. Although Candlestick Park had opened, the 49ers had not yet moved into it, so Lambeau Field remains the only stadium used by an NFL or an AFL team used in 1965 that is still used today. Jim Brown was about to retire as the NFL's all-time leading rusher. Gale Sayers and Dick Butkus made their NFL debuts.

In baseball, the Milwaukee Braves were in the process of moving to Atlanta.  There was a team in Washington, but it wasn't the Nationals, and it was in the American League. There was a team in Kansas City, but it wasn't the Royals. Both Leagues were single-division, with no wild cards.

All teams except the Chicago Cubs now had lighted ballparks, but there are only 3 ballparks used then that are still used today: The Cubs' Wrigley Field, the Boston Red Sox' Fenway Park, and the Los Angeles Dodgers' Dodger Stadium. Houston had just opened the Astrodome, the 1st roofed sports stadium, but it was still a few months away from debuting sports' 1st artificial turf field.  None of the NBA or NHL arenas used then are still used now.

On December 9, just 5 days after the Penn State game in question, the Cincinnati Reds traded slugging outfielder Frank Robinson to the Baltimore Orioles for pitchers Milt Pappas and Jack Baldschun and outfielder Dick Simpson. The trade made the Orioles champions.

The defining football players of my childhood? Terry Bradshaw had just led Woodlawn High School of Shreveport, Louisiana into a State Championship game, but lost. Mean Joe Greene was in his freshman year at what is now named the University of North Texas. O.J. Simpson was a freshman at the University of Southern California. Roger Staubach wasn't playing football at all, but serving out his military commitment after graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy. Walter Payton was in junior high school in Mississippi, and Joe Montana was in grade school outside Pittsburgh.

The defending World Champions in the 4 major sports were the Dodgers in baseball, the Cleveland Browns (believe it) in football, the Boston Celtics in basketball and the Montreal Canadiens in hockey. The heavyweight champion of the world was Muhammad Ali, who, 6 months earlier, had knocked out former champion Sonny Liston for the 2nd time. However, he was hardly a widely-loved figure – and that would get a lot worse, before it got a lot better.

Current Penn State head coach Bill O'Brien wasn't born yet. Tom Coughlin of the Giants was playing at Syracuse. Terry Collins of the Mets was in high school in Michigan. Mike Woodson of the Knicks and John Tortorella of the Rangers were 7 years old. Rex Ryan of the Jets was about to turn 3. Joe Girardi of the Yankees was just past his 1st birthday. Avery Johnson of the Nets was 8 months old. Jack Capuano of the Islanders and Peter DeBoer of the Devils were not born yet. And, of course, the Nets, the Islanders and the Devils did not yet exist.

The Olympic Games have since been held 4 times in America; 3 times in Canada; twice each in France, Japan; and once each in Mexico, Germany, Austria, Russia, Bosnia, Korea, Spain, Norway, Australia, Greece, Italy, China and Britain. The World Cup has since been held twice each in Mexico and Germany; and once each in England, America, Argentina, Spain, Italy, France, Japan, Korea and South Africa.

The President of the United States was Lyndon Baines Johnson. A little more than a year after an overwhelming election victory, he had, in the preceding months, signed into law Medicare, Medicaid and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He was set up to be considered one of the greatest Presidents in the nation's history. Alas, the previous month, the Battle of Ia Drang was fought, the 1st major land battle fought by U.S. forces in Vietnam.

Harry Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower were still alive. Richard Nixon was a former Vice President, a defeated nominee for President and for Governor of California, and in political exile as a corporate lawyer. Gerald Ford was the Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives. Jimmy Carter was a State Senator in Georgia, about to run his 1st, unsuccessful, campaign for Governor. Ronald Reagan had just given up acting and announced his 1st campaign for public office, for the office that had eluded Nixon in 1962.

George Herbert Walker Bush was an oil businessman who had been defeated for U.S. Senator from Texas, and would soon run for the House of Representatives. His son George was a sophomore at Yale University. Bill Clinton was at Georgetown University, and Hillary Rodham was at Wellesley College. Al Gore had just started at Harvard University. Joe Biden had just entered law school at Syracuse University. Mitt Romney had just entered Stanford University, although he would leave it to go on a Mormon mission; when he resumed his undergraduate studies, it was at Brigham Young University. His father, George Romney, was Governor of Michigan. Barack Obama was 4. Michelle Robinson was about to turn 2. Paul Ryan was not born yet.

The Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania – like Massachusetts, Virginia and Kentucky, the Keystone State officially calls itself a "Commonwealth" rather than a "State" – was William W. Scranton, who is still alive at age 95.  (There are 2 former Governors who are older: John Anderson Jr. of Kansas is a few months older, and Raul Castro of Arizona is 96.)

Current Governor Tom Corbett was in high school. Pennsylvania's U.S. Senators at the time were Hugh Scott, later to be Senate Minority Leader, and former Philadelphia Mayor Joseph S. Clark. The current Senators? Bob Casey Jr. was 5 years old, and Pat Toomey had just turned 4. The Mayor of Philadelphia was James Tate, and of Pittsburgh Joseph M. Barr. The current holders of those offices are Michael Nutter, who was 8; and Luke Ravenstahl, who wasn't born yet.

The Governor of New York was Nelson Rockefeller. John Lindsay had just been elected Mayor of New York City, to replace Robert Wagner Jr., the Mayor who let the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers get away. The Governor of New Jersey was Richard J. Hughes, newly elected to a 2nd term.

There were then 25 Amendments to the Constitution. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the bill creating Medicare and Medicaid had all become law within the past 17 months. But there was, as yet, no Fair Housing Act, no Environmental Protection Agency, no Title IX and no legalized abortion. The Stonewall Riot was 3 1/2 years away. The last Justice then on the U.S. Supreme Court to still be serving was former football star Byron "Whizzer" White, who retired in 1993.

UNICEF, the United Nations' Children's Fund, had just been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The Pope was Paul VI. The current Pope, Benedict XVI, then Father Joseph Ratzinger, was teaching at Germany's University of Münster. There were still living veterans of the Spanish-American War, the Boer War, the Mahdist War, the Boxer Rebellion, and Canada's Northwest Rebellion.

Canada's Prime Minister was Lester Pearson. Elizabeth II was Queen of England -- that still hasn't changed -- but she was just 39 years old. Britain's Prime Minister was Harold Wilson. There have since been 9 Presidents of the United States, 8 Prime Ministers of Britain and 4 Popes.

The English Football League season that was underway would be won by Liverpool, and the FA Cup by their neighbors and rivals, Everton. Internazionale Milano, a.k.a. Inter Milan, won their 2nd straight European Cup, defeating Benfica of Lisbon, Portugal, 1-0.

Major novels of 1965 included Dune by Frank Herbert, Hotel by Arthur Hailey, Georgy Girl by Margaret Forster, and the last full-length James Bond novel by Ian Fleming, The Man With the Golden Gun. Truman Capote published In Cold Blood, and Alex Haley published The Autobiography of Malcolm X. 


Mario Puzo had just published The Fortunate Pilgrim, but his publisher told him it would have made more money if it had more Mafia references. This inspired him to write The Godfather -- which the same publisher rejected. Stephen King had just entered the University of Maine, and Comics Review had just serialized his 1st published story: "I Was a Teenage Grave Robber." George R.R. Martin was a senior in high school. J.K. Rowling was 4 months old.

No one had yet heard of Alex Portnoy, John Rambo, Spenser: For Hire, George Smiley, The Punisher, Rocky Balboa, T.S. Garp, Arthur Dent, Jason Bourne, Hannibal Lecter, Celie Harris, Kinsey Millhone, Jack Ryan, Forrest Gump, John McClane, Alex Cross, Bridget Jones, Robert Langdon, Bella Swan, Lisbeth Salander or Katniss Everdeen.

A week after the Penn State game in question, the Bond film Thunderball would premiere, with Sean Connery. Other films then in theaters included Doctor Zhivago, For a Few Dollars More (the 2nd film in the Sergio Leone & Clint Eastwood "Man With No Name Trilogy"), A Patch of Blue, A Thousand Clowns, the original version of The Flight of the Phoenix, the Elvis Presley film Harum Scarum (definitely not one of The King's better efforts), Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, Invasion of Astro-Monster, the Disney film That Darn Cat! It was the Sixties.

The 1965-66 American television season was the 1st in which most shows were now in color, although only about 1/3rd of American homes had color TV sets. Britain, where William Hartnell was still the First Doctor, wouldn't switch to "colour" until the 1969-70 season.

Shows that debuted in that season included several fantasy shows: Batman (with Adam West cast as the 1st live-action Caped Crusader since 1949), Get Smart, Lost In Space, I Dream of Jeannie, My Mother the Car, The Wild Wild West and Dark Shadows. Also I Spy (with Bill Cosby as the 1st black star of an American TV series – ironically for the great comedian, in a mostly serious role), Run for Your Life, The Big Valley, the soap opera Days of Our Lives, the original version of The Dating Game, and the rock music shows Hullabaloo and Shindig.

The 1st TV special based on the Peanuts comic strip, A Charlie Brown Christmas, first aired. But Superman was still in a long interregnum between the 1959 death of George Reeves and the 1973 Super Friends cartoon version voiced by Danny Dark.

On the TV satire series BBC-3, theater critic Kenneth Tynan spoke the word "fuck" on the air during a live broadcast, possibly the 1st person to do so anywhere in the world. The BBC formally apologized for this.

Robert Kardashian was a senior at USC, Bruce Jenner was in high school in Sleepy Hollow, New York (at the time, no one was concerned about his head), Kristen Houghton (the future Kris Kardashian and Kris Jenner) was 10 years old, and none of them had met each other yet.)

The day of the game, The Rolling Stones had released the album December's Children (And Everybody's), including "Get Off My Cloud," "As Tears Go By" and their cover of "Route 66." It was only the 3rd-most important album released by a British band that weekend: The day before, The Beatles released Rubber Soul, and The Who released My Generation. 

Motown's Supremes, Temptations, Miracles and Four Tops had all released albums the previous month. So had The Beach Boys, The Yardbirds, The Kinks, The Lovin' Spoonful, and James Brown, none nearly as significant as Rubber Soul or My Generation. The term "hippie" still mean "jazz musician." 

The Number 1 song in America was The Byrds' version of Pete Seeger's adaptation of King Solomon's words, as taken from the Bible's book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3, Verses 1 to 8: "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)." The Four Seasons nearly hit Number 1 with "Let's Hang On!" but bass singer and bass guitarist Nick Massi left the group. Frankie Valli, pianist Bob Gaudio and lead guitarist Tommy DeVito would replace him with Joe Long, meaning that, like the Beatles, the Seasons would have a lefty on bass.

Frank Sinatra had just released September of My Years, including "It Was a Very Good Year." Bob Dylan was recording Blonde On Blonde, and, having recently left Joan Baez, married Sara Lowndes, who soon gave birth to their son Jakob. Reggie Dwight was leading a band named Bluesology, and backing up American rhythm & blues groups as they toured Britain; soon, they would begin backing singer Long John Baldry, and Reggie would take his stage name from him and bandmate Elton Dean: Elton John. Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen were juniors in high school. Michael Jackson and Madonna were both 7 years old.

Inflation has been such that what $1.00 bought then, $7.28 would buy now. A U.S. postage stamp was 5 cents, and it had just been announced that a New York Subway token was going to rise from 15 to 20 cents. The average price of a gallon of gas was 30 cents, a cup of coffee 36 cents, a McDonald's meal (McDouble cheeseburger -- no Big Mac yet -- fries and shake) 75 cents, a movie ticket $1.09, a new car $2,650, and a new house $21,700. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the day before at 946.10.

There were computers, but they weren't laptops. Or desktops. Or personal. The idea of having a computer in your home was ridiculous. In December 1965, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Tim Berners-Lee were all 10 years old. My mother was working in an office building on Broad Street in Newark at this time, and she told me that, in that building, a computer took up an entire floor. Supposedly, it was around this time that a moth flew into a room with a computer in it and shorted out the circuitry, resulting in the expression "computer bug." While there is no doubt that something like this happened many times, the term "bug" for a problem with a machine dates back to the 19th Century.

The tallest building in the world was the Empire State Building. Putting a man on the Moon was still a goal. There were no mobile telephones, unless you count phones in cars and on boats, which had to be connected with land lines via radio operators. There were artificial kidneys, but no artificial hearts. Transplanting a kidney or a lung was possible, but not a heart or liver. There were birth control pills, but no Viagra. Credit cards were still a relatively new thing, and there were no automatic teller machines in America.

People had been launched into orbit, but not yet to the Moon. The Soviet Union launched Venera 3, which would land on Venus the following March, becoming the 1st Earth spacecraft to land on another planet. France joined America and the Soviets as the 3rd nation to launch a satellite, Asterix-1. Just 3 days later, Canada became the 4th, with Alouette 2. Gemini 6 and Gemini 7 performed the 1st controlled rendezvous in Earth orbit.

In the late Autumn of 1965, Joseph Mobutu launched a coup in the Congo, eventually changing his name to Mobutu Sese Seko and that of his country to Zaire. Rhodesia declared itself not only independent from Britain, but an apartheid state like neighboring South Africa. Ferdinand Marcos was elected President of the Philippines for the 1st time, Charles de Gaulle that of France for the 2nd and last time.

In America, a blackout struck the Northeastern U.S. during the evening rush hour, lasting 13 hours.  The New York Police Department claimed it was the lowest crime night since they began keeping records. The Pillsbury Doughboy first appeared in a TV commercial. Man of La Mancha, based on Don Quixote, a role played by Richard Kiley, opened on Broadway. Craig Breedlove became the 1st man to drive faster than 600 miles per hour.

Henry Wallace, and W. Somerset Maugham, and Branch Rickey died. Cris Carter, and Katarina Witt, and Ben Stiller, son of the husband-and-wife comedy team of Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, were born.

December 4, 1965. Penn State last played a game without Joe Paterno as permanent head coach.  Now they are doing so again.

It will be a while before they are a national football power again.  But before that happens, they may regain their honor.

Fit to Be Tied

On July 18, the Yankees led the American League Eastern Division by 10 games.

Last night, at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, the last of those 10 games vanished.

There is no precedent for the Yankees blowing a big 1st-place lead. I had been led to believe that, in 1949, the Yankees led the American League (no divisions back then) by 12 games over the Boston Red Sox and blew it -- only to win the Pennant anyway. But this is not true: Their biggest lead was 6 1/2 games on July 15. That appears to be the biggest lead the franchise has ever blown, until now.

Freddy Garcia needed to step up for the Yankees last night. He didn't: He went just 5 innings, allowing the Tampa Bay Rays 5 runs on 5 hits (including 3 home runs) and 4 walks. This after Robinson Cano's 29th homer of the season staked him to a 2-0 lead before he ever took the mound. That is not a Pennant race performance.

After Cano's homer, the Yankees didn't score again. Aside from it, they got only 5 hits: 2 by Derek Jeter, 1 each by Alex Rodriguez, Jayson Nix and Chris Dickerson.

Rays 5, Yankees 2. WP: Alex Cobb (9-8). SV: Fernando Rodney (42). LP: Garcia (7-6).

To make matters worse, last night, the Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays 12-0. Why can't the Jays be as pesky for the O's as they are for us?

The AL East now stands as follows: The Yankees (who have lost 7 of their last 10) and the Orioles (who have won 8 of their last 10) are tied for 1st. The Rays are just a game and a half back, 2 in the loss column. The Red Sox are 14 (15) back, and the Jays are 16 back.

Ten up. Now tied.

The sting is less for Yankee Fans than it would be for fans of any other team, because we have the 27 titles to fall back on. If a fan of any other team says we choked, we have the easy answer: "And what has your team done?"

Lots of teams have frittered away big leads, or given away Pennants (or at least a Division title) that they should have won -- whether with 1 game left, or a few, or even a lot. The Giants in 1914, 1934 (in New York), 1959, 1978 and 1993 (in San Francisco). The St. Louis Cardinals in 1935. The Pittsburgh Pirates in 1938 and 1973. The Cleveland Indians in 1940. The Dodgers in 1951 (in Brooklyn) and 1962 (in Los Angeles). The Philadelphia Phillies in 1964. The Chicago Cubs in 1969. The Chicago White Sox in 1977. The Mets in 1985 and 2007. The Blue Jays in 1987. The California Angels (as they were then known) in 1995. The Detroit Tigers in 2006 (although they got the Wild Card and won the Pennant anyway). And, of course, the Red Sox, many times: 1949, 1972, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1991 and 2011. And that only counts regular-season chokes.

Tonight, the Yankees send Hiroki Kuroda, their most consistently good pitcher in the 2nd half of the season, to the hill against the Rays' Matt Moore.

Anything less than taking the last 2 games of this series, and then 2 out of 3 in the following series, in Baltimore, is unacceptable.

Joe Girardi should now be managing as if his job depends on it. Because it should. But it probably won't.

I should do that list of Top 10 Yankee Managers -- and 5 Worst.

How Long It's Been: Washington, D.C. Had a Baseball Team with a Winning Record

On September 26,  1969, the Washington Senators defeated the Cleveland Indians, 4-1, at what had been known as District of Columbia Stadium, but, earlier in the year, in memory of the assassinated Presidential candidate, Senator from New York, U.S. Attorney General and brother of an assassinated President, was renamed Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium.

The winning pitcher was Joe Coleman, a pretty good fastball pitcher in his day.  The losing pitcher was former Yankee Stan Williams.

Names you might recognize from the Senators are Frank Howard, Del Unser, Mike Epstein (who was nicknamed "Super Jew," and I'm not sure if that's a compliment or bigotry) and Ed Brinkman – the guy the scouts were looking for when they discovered his high school teammate, Pete Rose.

And Lee Maye, who hit a home run in this game, and had played on the Milwaukee Braves teams of the late 1950s, and even sang on a couple of hit records at the same time – but should not be confused with the better-hitting Lee May. (Nor should Lee Maye be confused with Willie Mays, although they were both from Alabama and both wore Number 24.) Their manager was legendary hitter Ted Williams.

Names you might recognize from the Indians are Ken "Hawk" Harrelson, future Yankee coach Jose Cardenal, Duke Sims (who would go on to hit the last home run in the pre-renovation original Yankee Stadium), and Richie Scheinblum, who, a year later, would say of his team, "They ought to change our name to the Cleveland Utility Company. All we have are utility players."

And Tony Horton, a good ballplayer, but a deeply troubled young man who, the next season, would attempt suicide, quit baseball, recover, and live a normal life working in the telecommunications industry – but he has never returned to baseball, not even for an Old-Timers' Day.

Their manager was Alvin Dark, who helped the Giants win Pennants as a player in New York and manager in San Francisco, and would go on to head across the Bay and win a World Series with Oakland.

The attendance was 6,727. Nope, that’s not a misprint: Six thousand, seven hundred and twenty-seven. RFK Stadium seated about 45,000 for baseball. This is one of the reasons that the Senators would move to the Dallas area after the 1971 season, and become the Texas Rangers: They never had good attendance.

What is the significance of this game? It was the Senators' 82nd win of the season, guaranteeing that, for the 1st time in 24 years, a Washington baseball team would finish with a record better than .500.

It just happened again, yesterday, September 3, 2012, with a 2-1 Washington Nationals victory over the Chicago Cubs at Nationals Park. It was the 1st time in 43 years, and just the 2nd time in 67 years.  Two-thirds of a century.

It hadn't happened since September 26, 1969. How long has that been?

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These 43 years include almost the entire existence of the Montreal Expos, who began in April of that year, and moved to Washington after the 2004 season. The Nationals played the 2005, '06 and '07 seasons at RFK before opening Nationals Park, which has now hosted its 1st Playoff-qualifying season.

The San Diego Padres also began play that season, although, as with the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Angels, there had previously been a minor-league team with the name. Also beginning play were the Kansas City Royals and the Seattle Pilots, but the Pilots flopped and, with their finances a mess, were sold to used-car dealer Bud Selig, who moved them to his hometown, and they adopted the Milwaukee Brewers name.

RFK Stadium still stands, but it is no longer the home of Washington baseball or football. It still serves as the home of the local soccer team, D.C. United. Of the 24 ballparks used by Major League Baseball teams that year, only 9 still stand, and only 5 are still in use by the teams then using them: Fenway Park in Boston, Wrigley Field in Chicago, Dodger Stadium and Angel Stadium in the Los Angeles area, and the Oakland Coliseum.

Still standing but no longer being used by an MLB team: The aforementioned RFK Stadium, San Diego Stadium (now Qualcomm Stadium and still the home of the NFL's Chargers), Candlestick Park (still the home of the NFL's San Francisco 49ers) and the Astrodome in Houston (dormant, its future uncertain).

The only NFL teams still in the same stadiums they were in for the 1969 season are the Chargers, the 49ers, the Raiders (who left Oakland and returned), and the Green Bay Packers (Lambeau Field).  From the NBA and the NHL combined, only one arena remains from the 1969-70 season that was about to begin: Madison Square Garden in New York, then billed as "the New Madison Square Garden Center," but now older than the "Old Garden" that it replaced.

Washington hadn't had an NBA team since the Capitols went bust in 1951, after firing their coach, Red Auerbach. He then became the head coach of the Boston Celtics; at this point in 1969, the Celts had won 11 of the last 13 NBA Titles, making Red's firing by the Capitols perhaps the dumbest transaction in NBA history.

The District of Columbia and its metropolitan area would get back into the NBA in 1973, when the Baltimore Bullets moved down Interstate 95, and changed their name to the Washington Wizards in 1997. The D.C. area would not have a major league hockey team until the Capitals arrived in 1974.

The biggest problem for Washington baseball was just up I-95: The Baltimore Orioles, who had become a Pennant contender in 1960, and a World Champion in 1966, and were on their way to winning 109 games in this 1969 season – but would be shocked in the World Series by the New York Mets, who clinched the 1st National League Eastern Division title, in this 1st year of divisional play, 2 days before the Senators clinched their winning season. The Yankees? They were barely a .500 team in this, their 1st season without Mickey Mantle since 1950.

Major League Baseball celebrated the 100th Anniversary of professional baseball, with, among other things, an all-time team that proclaimed Babe Ruth "Baseball's Greatest Player Ever" and Joe DiMaggio "Baseball's Greatest Living Player." Also on their list of greatest living players, but like Joe D no longer living in 2012, were George Sisler, Charlie Gehringer, Joe Cronin, Pie Traynor, Ted Williams, Billy Dickey, Lefty Grove and Bob Feller.  The only ones still alive are Stan Musial and Willie Mays – Mays still being active in 1969.

The National Football League celebrated its 50th season (the next year would be its 50th Anniversary) with an all-time team, with members like Johnny Unitas, Marion Motley, Don Hutson, Leo Nomellini and Emlen Tunnell – then all still alive (Unitas still active), now all dead.

The NFL, in the process of being merged with the AFL, and had a combined total of 26 teams. As I said, there was a team in Baltimore, but it wasn't the Ravens. There was one in St. Louis, but it wasn't the Rams. There was one in Houston, but it wasn't the Texans. The Boston Patriots had yet to move out to the suburbs and become "the New England Patriots." The Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, Pittsburgh Steelers, Oakland Raiders, San Francisco 49ers and Patriots had yet to win any World Championships. Between them, they have now won 24. 

Some of the NFL's founding fathers were not only still alive, but still involved: George Halas with the Chicago Bears, Art Rooney with the Steelers, and Dan Reeves with the Los Angeles Rams – no relation to the Cowboys running back of the same name, later to be head coach of the Broncos, Giants and Atlanta Falcons.

The defending World Champions in the 4 major sports were the Detroit Tigers in baseball, the New York Jets (believe it) in football, the Boston Celtics in basketball and the Montreal Canadiens in hockey. The Jets had actually won a title before the Knicks, who were now -- if you didn't count the American Basketball Association's New York Nets, out on Long Island -- the only New York team without a World Championship. But that would soon change. The Islanders and the Devils hadn't started play yet.

The... Ohio State University, led by Woody Hayes, were defending National Champions, but were about to be shocked by arch-rival Michigan, in their 1st season being coached by one of Woody’s former players and assistants, Bo Schembechler.

USC's arch-rivals, the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), coached by John Wooden and led by Lew Alcindor (later to be Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and Michael Warren (later to be Sgt. Bobby Hill on Hill Street Blues and Jessica Alba's father-in-law), had won their 3rd straight National Championship in basketball, going 88-2 in the process.

Lew had just been drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks, who got him because they finished tied with the Phoenix Suns with the worst record in the NBA in 1968-69 (each club's 1st season), and the tie was broken when… the Bucks won a coin toss. Unfair? Perhaps: The Bucks did get a title out of it, in 1971, but haven't won one since; the Suns have never won one, although, like the Bucks, they've usually been good since.

There was no official Heavyweight Champion of the World, as Muhammad Ali had been stripped of the title for refusing to be drafted, an unconstitutional measure that would take until October 30, 1974 to be rectified. Joe Frazier and Jimmy Ellis would soon fight in a "unification" bout to decide who was the official champion.

What were the defining baseball players of my childhood doing in September 1969? Reggie Jackson was wrapping up his 2nd full season, in which he hit 47 home runs. Thurman Munson and Carlton Fisk had recently made their big-league debuts. Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan were helping the Mets to their Miracle – but, 20 days later, after it was completed, if you had bet then that neither one would ever win another World Championship, people would have laughed at you. (Of course, they also would have laughed if you had then bet that Ryan would win more games in the majors than Seaver.)

Pete Rose won his 2nd straight NL batting title, and his Cincinnati Reds teammate Johnny Bench had a pretty good season, but they hadn't yet won their 1st Pennant -- that would come the next season. Rod Carew was about to finish off his 1st AL batting title, and there would be 6 more. Carl Yastrzemski hit 40 home runs and drove in 111 runs, but his Red Sox had already changed significantly from their "Impossible Dream" Pennant team of 2 years earlier. Steve Carlton had recently set a new NL record with 19 strikeouts -- but still lost the game to the Mets. Willie Stargell had recently become the 1st player to hit a home run completely out of Dodger Stadium. Four years later, he would do it again.

Mike Schmidt was still playing at Ohio University (not to be confused with The… Ohio State University) and had yet to face a professional pitch. George Brett was still at El Segundo High School in Los Angeles County.

Of the 24 MLB teams then playing, all but one, the Chicago Cubs, was playing their home games in stadiums with permanent lights. Only one, the Houston Astros, was playing on an artificial turf field, and only the Astros were playing under a dome (retractable or otherwise). There was no designated hitter, and no regular season interleague play.

The current Washington team's manager, Davey Johnson, was then the 2nd baseman for the Orioles, was then usually called "Dave Johnson," and, though he didn't know it yet, would soon become involved in the Mets' 1st World Championship -- he made the last out of the World Series. He would also be involved in their 2nd: He was their manager.

Tom Coughlin of the Giants was starting his 1st coaching job, as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Syracuse University. Terry Collins of the Mets was at Eastern Michigan University. Mike Woodson of the Knicks and John Tortorella of the Rangers were 11 years old. Rex Ryan of the Jets was 6, and his father, Buddy Ryan, was an assistant to Weeb Ewbank on the Super Bowl-winning Jets. Joe Girardi of the Yankees was about to turn 5. Avery Johnson of the Nets and Jack Capuano of the Islanders were 3. Peter DeBoer of the Devils was 1.

The Olympic Games have since been held in America 4 times, Canada 3 times, Japan twice, and once each in Germany, Austria, Russia, Bosnia, Korea, France, Spain, Norway, Australia, Greece, Italy, China and Britain. The World Cup has since been held in Mexico and Germany twice each, and once each in America, Argentina, Spain, Italy, France, Japan, Korea and South Africa.

Richard Nixon was President of the United States. Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson were still alive. So was the widow of Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had died earlier in the year. Gerald Ford was the Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives. Jimmy Carter was a former State Senator in Georgia, about to run his second, much more successful, campaign for Governor. Ronald Reagan was in his first term as Governor of California.

George Herbert Walker Bush was a Congressman from Texas, and his son George had entered the Texas Air National Guard. Apparently, it was okay for him and his father to support the Vietnam War even if he didn't have to actually fight in it. Bill Clinton was at Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship, and Hillary Rodham was about to be named valedictorian at Wellesley College. Al Gore was in the U.S. Army in Vietnam, while Dan Quayle was in the Indiana National Guard. Guess which one supported the war, and which one didn't.

Joe Biden was about to be admitted to the Delaware bar, and was too old to be drafted. Mitt Romney had just gotten married, and had gotten a draft deferment as a Mormon missionary. His father, George Romney, was President Nixon's Secretary of Housing & Urban Development. Dick Cheney and Newt Gingrich both had teaching deferments. Rudy Giuliani got a deferment as a law clerk. John McCain did not have a deferment, and the Navy pilot was a prisoner of war in Vietnam. John Boehner enlisted in the U.S. Navy, but was later discharged for medical reasons, and was now going to college. Jon Corzine was a new college graduate, and about to enlist in the Marine Corps. Barack Obama was not subject to the draft, being just 8 years old.

Washington, District of Columbia, had neither a Mayor nor a Governor. It had a President of the Board of Commissioners, and in 1969 that President was the aptly-named Walter E. Washington, the 1st black person to hold the post. In 1974, when the District was finally allowed to elect a Mayor and a City Council, Washington was elected. Subsequent Mayors – the notorious Marion Barry, Sharon Pratt Kelly, Anthony A. Williams, Adrian Fenty and the now-troubled Vincent Gray – have had to perform the services that both a Mayor of the City and a Governor of the State would do for that city of 618,000 people – more than the State of Wyoming, and a little less than Vermont.

The Governor of New York was Nelson Rockefeller, having made 3 unsuccessful runs for President. The Mayor of New York City was John Lindsay, who had just been denied renomination by the City’s Republican Party because of his poor handling of snow removal during the blizzard earlier in the year. But he would win a 2nd term as a 3rd-party nominee.

The Governor of New Jersey was Richard J. Hughes, about to wrap up his second term. Former Governor Robert B. Meyner would try to get the office back, but would fail, losing to South Jersey Congressman William T. Cahill.

The last Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1969 to still be on it was former football star Byron "Whizzer" White, in 1993. They are all dead now.

Hugh Carey was in Congress. Ed Koch, David Dinkins and Mario Cuomo were practicing law. Brendan Byrne was Essex County Prosecutor. Tom Kean was in the New Jersey Assembly, Harry Reid in Nevada's. Michael Bloomberg was a young stockbroker. 

Nancy Pelosi was about to move to San Francisco, where her brother-in-law was on the Board of Supervisors. Jim Florio was the assistant city attorney for Camden. Mitch McConnell was an assistant to the man whose job he would later hold, Senator Marlow Cook of Kentucky. George Pataki and Donald DiFrancesco were in law school. 

Christine Todd was about to join the Nixon Administration, working in the Office of Economic Opportunity. (There's a laugh: The future Christie Whitman working in the War On Poverty? That's like Jim McGreevey becoming a priest! Wait a minute... ) Richard Codey was in the family business: He was a funeral director. David Paterson was in high school. Barack Obama, Michelle Robinson (Obama), Eliot Spitzer, Andrew Cuomo, Jim McGreevey and Chris Christie were in grade school. Sarah Palin was in kindergarten -- unless she quit. Paul Ryan was not born yet.

There were then 25 Amendments to the Constitution. There was, as yet, no Environmental Protection Agency, Title IX or legalized abortion. The Stonewall Riot had happened just a few weeks before.

The United Nations' International Labour Organization was about to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The Pope was Paul VI. Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, was teaching at the University of Regensburg in his native Germany.

Canada's Prime Minister was Pierre Trudeau. He was young (50), dashing and charismatic. It was as if John F. Kennedy was singing lead for the Beatles -- in French. Canada had just gotten the Expos, their 1st Major League Baseball team. And a group called The Guess Who had just become Canada’s biggest rock band ever (to that point). For the first time ever, Canada was hip. Especially if you were an American worrying about being drafted. 

Elizabeth II was Queen of England -- that still hasn't changed -- but she was just 43 years old. Britain's Prime Minister was Harold Wilson. There have since been 8 Presidents of the United States, 8 Prime Ministers of Britain and 4 Popes.

The English Football League season that had just begun would be won by Everton, the "other club" in Liverpool, and the FA Cup, for the 1st time, would be won by West London's Chelsea.  In the season that ended earlier in the year, the League was won by Leeds United, and the FA Cup was won by Manchester City, the defending League Champions, beating Leicester City 1-0 on a goal by Neil Young – no, not that Neil Young.

AC Milan, led by perhaps Italy's greatest player ever, Gianni Rivera, won their 2nd European Cup by beating Ajax Amsterdam, led by 21-year-old wunderkind Johan Cruijff. Ajax and their "Total Football" would be back, big-time. 

There were still living veterans of America's Indian Wars, the Mahdist War, the Boer War and the Spanish-American War. There were still living survivors of the Johnstown Flood of 1889, the competitors of the 1st modern Olympics of 1896, and the players of the 1st World Series of 1903.

Major novels of 1969 included The Godfather by Mario Puzo, Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton, The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles, Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth, Rich Man, Poor Man by Irwin Shaw, and The Seven Minutes by Irving Wallace (about a novel, of the same title, that was "the most banned book in history," containing a woman's thoughts during 7 minutes of sex).

Also published that year was Naked Came the Stranger by Peneleope Ashe. This was a name used for a composite of 24 authors, conspiring to see if a novel could be really, really bad, but still sell big if it had a lot of sex scenes in it. This was a truly late-Sixties kind of experiment – and, for better or for worse, it worked.

Stephen King was at the University of Maine, George R.R. Martin was at Northwestern University, and J.K. Rowling was 4 years old. No one had yet heard of John Rambo, Spenser: For Hire, George Smiley, The Punisher, Rocky Balboa, T.S. Garp, Arthur Dent, Jason Bourne, Hannibal Lecter, Celie Harris, Kinsey Millhone, Jack Ryan, Forrest Gump, John McClane, Alex Cross, Bridget Jones, Robert Langdon, Bella Swan, Lisbeth Salander or Katniss Everdeen.

Major non-fiction books included the career-launching memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, and the career-launching historical work Mary, Queen of Scots by Antonia Fraser. 

Films out in late September 1969 included the "counterculture" "classic" Easy Rider (you'd think I would have liked it, but I hated it), the Westerns Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Wild Bunch, Woody Allen's directorial debut Take the Money and Run, Paul Mazursky's directorial debut Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, Charlton Heston's poor take on football Number One, the Nicol Williamson version of Hamlet (with Marianne Faithfull as Ophelia and Anthony Hopkins as Claudius), and Elvis Presley's The Trouble with Girls (and How to Get Into It).

James Bond was about to be played by George Lazenby for the 1st and only time, in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Adam West's TV version of Batman had recently been canceled. Bob Holiday, in the 1966 Broadway musical It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman, was the most recent live-action Man of Steel. The Doctor Who franchise was in the process of regenerating from Patrick Troughton to Jon Pertwee. Michael Douglas (in his 2nd movie) and Peter Strauss (in his 1st) were about to premiere in Hail, Hero! Douglas' future wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, was born the day before, on September 25, 1969.

Television shows that debuted in the 1969-70 season included Room 222, Marcus Welby, M.D., Medical Center, The Brady Bunch, and kids' shows Sesame Street, H.R. Pufnstuf and Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? From Britain came the debuts of Monty Python's Flying Circus and The Benny Hill Show. Robert Kardashian was in law school, Bruce Jenner was playing college football in Iowa, Kristen Mary Houghton was about to turn 14, and none of them knew each other yet.

On September 26, 1969, The Beatles released what was, chronologically, their last album, Abbey Road. Psychedelia and bubblegum music peaked at around this time, and the Number 1 song in America was "Sugar, Sugar," by a group led by studio-session singer Ron Dante and labeled "The Archies," after the comic-book characters.

Elvis Presley had recently released From Elvis in Memphis, which included Mac Davis' "In the Ghetto," Burt Bacharach's "Any Day Now," and "Only the Strong Survive," which Jerry Butler had turned into a big hit (he'd written it with the rising Philadelphia-based geniuses Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff). By November 1, his song "Suspicious Minds" would be Number 1. Elvis was reminding everyone who was king around here anyway, and he was enjoying it. Woodstock had happened the month before -- but Altamont was coming.

"Suspicious Minds" was written by Mark James. He would also write Elvis' songs "Always On My Mind" and "Moody Blue"; hits for his boyhood friend from Houston, B.J. Thomas, including "Hooked On a Feeling" and "The Eyes of New York Woman"; and "Sunday Sunrise" by Brenda Lee. "Always On My Mind" would also be a hit for Willie Nelson and Pet Shop Boys.

Frank Sinatra had recently released "My Way." Bob Dylan had recently released Nashville Skyline. The Jackson 5 were about to hit it big. Michael was 11. Madonna was the same age, but wouldn't have a hit for another 13 years. Billy Joel's 1st band, The Hassles, had just released its 2nd album, but was about to break up. Bruce Springsteen had just formed a band named Child, which would become Steel Mill, and would evolve into The E Street Band. Elton John was about to release his 1st album. David Bowie had released "Space Oddity," but had yet to suggest the legend he was to become.

Inflation has been such that what $1.00 bought then, $6.24 would buy now. A U.S. postage stamp was 6 cents. A New York Subway token was 20 cents, but the city in question, Washington, wouldn't have a subway system until 1976. The average prices of a gallon of gas was 35 cents, a cup of coffee 42 cents, a McDonald's meal 79 cents (49 cents of that being the recently-introduced Big Mac), a movie ticket $1.20, a new car around $2,300, and a new house $28,100. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed that day at 824.18.

The tallest building in the world was the Empire State Building. There were artificial kidneys, but no artificial hearts. There were birth control pills, but no Viagra.

In the early Autumn of 1969, the first automatic teller machine (ATM) in America was installed in Rockville Centre, Long Island, New York. (Barclays Bank had introduced them in London 2 years earlier.) Credit cards were still a relatively new thing. Former heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano was killed in a plane crash. The Chicago Eight trial began. Colonel Moammar Khadafy overthrew King Idris of Libya. And 750,000 people demonstrated against the Vietnam War in Washington on Moratorium Day.

Architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and golf legend Walter Hagen, and skating superstar Sonia Henie died. Brett Favre, and Rachel Hunter, and Gwen Stefani were born.

September 26, 1969. A Major League Baseball team based in Washington, D.C. clinched a winning season. Now, it has happened again, for the 1st time in 43 years.

Can they take it to the next level? It may depend on whether they let Stephen Strasburg pitch in the postseason.

(UPDATE: They didn't let Strasburg pitch. I wonder what they would now give to have let Strasburg pitch 1 inning of the 2012 National League Division Series. Specifically, the 9th inning of the deciding Game 5.)

And Then There Was One

The Yankees started a big series in Tampa Bay this Labor Day afternoon. Alex Rodriguez was back, as the designated hitter. CC Sabathia was on the mound. These were good signs.

The Rays scored single runs in the 2nd and 3rd inning, but the Yankees struck back in the top of the 4th, with the following sequence: A leadoff double by Robinson Cano, a single by A-Rod (the 2,873rd hit of his career, tying Babe Ruth on the all-time list), Raul Ibanez tripling them home, and Russell Martin singling Ibanez home. 3-2 Yankees.

But CC allowed the Rays to tie it in the bottom of the 5th. Joe Girardi only let CC go 7 innings -- having thrown 116 pitches. CC is not fragile cargo like, oh, I don't know... Joba Chamberlain. CC Sabathia is a man. He should be treated as such. But Girardi trusted the damn binder again.

David Robertson came in, which you would expect if the Yankees were leading going into the 8th. He allowed a single by Jeff Keppinger, who was then replaced by pinch-runner Rich Thompson, who was then caught stealing, and then Rays manager Joe Maddon put on his diva act and got tossed like the bitch that he is.

Robertson got the 2nd out, but then Ryan Roberts singled to left, and unlike Thompson, he successfully stole 2nd. And Chris Gimenez singled him home.

A-Rod struck out to lead off the 9th. Eric Chavez reached on an error, and Eduardo Nunez pinch-ran for him and stole 2nd. (Hey, two can play at that game.) Two chances to get the tying run home.

Ibanez grounded out, moving Nunez to 3rd. And Curtis Granderson made his return from a brief injury, batting for Russell Martin... and struck out. Game over.

Rays 4, Yankees 3. WP: James Shields (13-8). SV: Fernando Rodney (41). LP: Robertson (1-5).

And the Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-0.

On July 18, the Yankees' lead in the American League East was 10 games. Now, on September 3, it is 1 game.

The ghost of Thurman Munson demands an explanation for this bullshit!

*

In other news, Rutgers opened the Kyle Flood era by beating Tulane, 24-12, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.

The NFL season begins this Wednesday night.

And Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez appears to be dating Desperate Housewife Eva Longoria.

*

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: 4, this Friday night, home to South Brunswick. A little over 3 weeks. I'm glad it's a home game: It's always good to open the season at home, and South Brunswick is particularly tough to get to: Despite the distance, it's not close to public transportation. But that's the only thing I have against them: Though they are neighbors, they are not rivals. I intend to attend this game, which will hopefully end around 9:00 PM, so I can get somewhere and see most of this game which starts at 9:30:

Days until the U.S. National Soccer Team plays again: 4, this Friday night, against Jamaica in their capital of Kingston. The Stars & Stripes come off their 1st-ever win over arch-rival Mexico on Mexican soil, beating El Tri 1-0 at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. Maybe Jurgen Klinsmann is starting to figure out how to pick a lineup. The U.S. team will also play Jamaica the following Tuesday, at Columbus Crew Stadium in Ohio. The next games will be in October at Antigua & Barbuda (that's one country), and against Guatemala in Kansas City.

Days until Rutgers plays football again: 5, this Saturday afternoon, home to Howard University, the historically black school of Washington, D.C. that likes to bill itself as "The Black Harvard." Should be an easy win for Rutgers' football team, but they'll never win the battle of the bands.

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: 8, a week from tomorrow, Tuesday night, September 11, at Fenway Park. Hopefully, the Red Sox and their fans will respect the anniversary. After all, both planes that hit the old World Trade Center -- those words don't sound right, and they certainly don't look right, but there is a new one -- took off from Boston's Logan International Airport.

Days until Arsenal play another competitive match (not counting preseason friendlies, which are already underway): 12, on this Saturday, September 15, home to Southampton, the newly-promoted South Coast team. This weekend, there are no Premier League games due to an international break, a.k.a. an Interlull, so Arsenal can't build on that fantastic 2-0 win over Liverpool at Anfield yesterday.

Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": 19, against the New England Revolution in Foxboro on Saturday, September 22, and to Chester to face the Union on Saturday, October 27. Last Wednesday, they went to Washington to play D.C. United and came away with a 2-2 draw.

Days until the Devils play again: 39, opening the season on Friday night, October 12, away to the Washington Capitals. If, that is, the owners don't lock the players out again. If they don't, then it's under 6 weeks. The home opener is the next night, against the Boston Bruins.

Days until the Devils play another local rival: 44, on Wednesday night, October 17, the 3rd game of the season, the 2nd home game, at the Prudential Center, against the Rangers, the 1st meeting between the teams since Adam Henrique put The Scum in their place. The 1st meeting with the Philadelphia Flyers will be on Thursday night, November 1. I'd say the game will be at the Wells Fargo Center in Philly, but that's dependent on the arena's name not being changed... again. The 1st meeting with the New York Islanders will be on Saturday night, November 17, at the Nassau Coliseum. Barring a big change, there will be only 3 seasons left at the Coliseum -- and possibly only 18 more Devils-Islanders games, unless the Isles build a new arena, move to the Barclays Center, or somehow make the Playoffs in the next 3 seasons.

Days until the 1st Nets game in Brooklyn: 59, on Thursday, November 1, against the now actually crosstown Knicks. Just under 2 months.

Days until the 2012 Presidential election: 62. Just over 2 months. Register to vote... and on November 6, vote!

Days until the next North London Derby: 75, on Saturday, November 17, at the Emirates Stadium. The return fixture will be on Saturday, March 2, 2013, at White Hart Lane.

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge Thanksgiving clash: 80. Come on you Boys in Green! Beat those Purple Bastards!

Days until Alex Rodriguez collects his 3,000th career hit: 363 (estimated around September 1, 2013). This is taking his recent injury into account. Under 1 year.

Days until Super Bowl XLVIII at the Meadowlands: 517 (February 2, 2014). Under 17 months.

Days until the 2014 Winter Olympics: 522 (February 7, 2014).

Days until the 2014 World Cup in Brazil: 647 (June 12, 2014). Under 22 months.

Days until Alex Rodriguez hits his 700th career home run: 742 (estimated, around September 15, 2014).

Days until the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: 1,432 (August 5, 2016). Under 2 years.

Days until Alex Rodriguez hits his 756th career home run to surpass all-time leader Hank Aaron: 1,488 (estimated -- I'm guessing around the end of 2016, around September 30).

Days until Alex Rodriguez hits his 763rd career home run to become as close to a "real" all-time leader as we are likely to have: 1,731 (estimated -- estimating 28 home runs a year, taking his current injury into account, I'm guessing around April 30, 2017, at age 41). Under 3 1/2 years -- if he can.

Burn the Binder. Now!

The Yankees started a 3-game home series with the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night, and were just 3 games ahead of the O's when it began.

This was a chance for the O's to make a statement, and they sure did on Friday night.

Hiroki Kuroda had pitched wonderfully for the Yankees lately, and he pitched pretty well on Friday, too -- except for a 4-batter stretch in the top of the 2nd. Adam Jones led off with a single, Matt Wieters singled him to 3rd, Chris Davis got Jones home on a sacrifice fly, and Mark Reynolds homered to make it 3-0 Baltimore. Kuroda allowed J.J. Hardy to homer in the 6th, and despite otherwise pitching well, was the losing pitcher (12-10).

Manager Joe Girardi let Kuroda pitch into the 9th, and he got Wieters for the 1st out. Then Girardi removed him. What happened, Joe, did your binder tell you that Kuroda had reached his pitch limit? It was only 4-0, not good but overcomeable.

Girardi brought in Clay Rapada. Rapada got Davis to ground out. Okay, so leave him in to get the last guy in the 9th, right?

Wrong. Girardi consulted the binder again. He brought in Derek Lowe, who is finished. The 1st batter Lowe faced was Reynolds, who hit another homer. Then he allowed a single to Robert Andino, and a single to Manny Machado, and an RBI single to Nick Markakis. It took Lowe 5 batters, and 2 runs, to get 1 out.

What does the binder tell you about Lowe now, Joe?

Curtis Granderson hit his 34th homer of the season in the bottom of the 9th, to mess up the shutout, but Miguel Gonzalez (6-3) and the Oriole bullpen otherwise limited the Yankees to no runs on 3 hits and a walk. Orioles 6, Yankees 1. Yankee lead down to 2 games.

*

So the Yankees had a 10-game lead, and the Orioles had closed it to within 2 games.

Just like 1996.

More precisely, according to Baseball-Reference.com (a website which is your friend, whether you know it or not), in 1996, the Yankees were 12 games ahead of the Orioles on July 28, were down to 2 1/2 ahead on September 10, and ended up winning the Division by 4, before beating the Texas Rangers in the Division Series, the O's in the ALCS, and the Atlanta Braves in the World Series.

This year, we were 10 up on July 18 -- remember, the Boston Red Sox were 9 1/2 ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers and 14 ahead of the Yankees on that date in 1978 -- and at the close of business on Friday, August 31, were up by 2.

So Saturday, September 1, the Yankees needed a win, badly. And in the bottom of the 4th, it wasn't looking good, with the Orioles 3-0 up, as David Phelps -- effectively, Andy Pettitte's replacement in the rotation -- didn't have it.

Then Robinson Cano pulled a run back with his 28th home run of the season. But the key inning -- maybe of the entire season thus far -- was the bottom of the 7th. Until then, Wei-Yin Chen had done a fabulous job on the mound for the Bay City Birds. He got Andruw Jones to pop up for the 1st out.

But then Steve Pearce came up. A "Quadruple-A" player who wasn't good enough to stick with the Pittsburgh Pirates – before they got good again this season – the Yankees got him from the Houston Astros for cash, and he came into yesterday's game as Granderson got hurt, and Girardi moved players around, taking Nick Swisher off 1st base and putting Pearce there. He singled to left.

After a Russell Martin fly out, Jayson Nix drew a walk, and Eduardo Nunez -- remember him? He can hit a little -- singled home Pearce. Buck Showalter, the last Yankee manager who never won a Pennant, replaced Chen (12-8) with Pedro Strop. But it was Ichiro Suzuki who got stroppy, drawing a walk to load the bases. Then Derek Jeter worked another walk, forcing home a run. Then Hardy made an error to allow Swisher on base and force home Nunez.

Boone Logan (6-2), David Robertson and Rafael Soriano (35th save) shut the O's down the rest of the way. Yankees 4, Orioles 3. It wasn't pretty, and there was plenty of help from oppositional incompetence, but the Yanks got their biggest win of the season to this point. And were back up by 3.

*

But yesterday's game is one that may end up living in infamy. The following key personnel were now unavailable: 3rd baseman knd main slugging threat Alex Rodriguez, slugging 1st baseman Mark Teixeira, slugging center fielder Curtis Granderson, speedy right fielder Brett Gardner, starting pitcher Andy Pettitte, starting pitcher Ivan Nova, starting pitcher Michael Pineda, and relief ace Mariano Rivera.

The Yankees got off to a good start, with Chris Dickerson, filling in for Grandy, hitting a 2-run homer in the 2nd. But in the 5th, Reynolds homered again, this time off starter Phil Hughes, who had been much improved lately. A Swisher single in the bottom of the inning made it 3-1 Yankees, and things were looking up.

But if the Yankees fail to win the AL East, or fail to make the Playoffs entirely, the top of the 6th is the one that we'll look back on as to where it all went wrong. This won't be entirely accurate, since we'd already gotten from 10 games up down to 2 up 2 days earlier. But it will have been the surest symbol of a collapse nearly as bad as the Red Sox of last season.

Nate McLouth opened the inning with a walk. Jones singled McLouth over to 2nd. Wieters singled McLouth home. Yankees 3, Orioles 2.

The next batter was Reynolds, who'd already hit 3 homers in the series, including one off Hughes the previous inning.

Hughes threw Reynolds a curveball that didn't curve enough. Steve Politi's column in today's Star-Ledger tells the story:

Reynolds hit that pitch into the left-field seats, too, turning a one-run lead into a two-run deficit, and no matter who Girardi trotted out there next — and he tried everyone — it didn't matter.

Baltimore won 8-3. What could have been a 4½-game lead over the Rays heading into a 10-game trip that starts in Tampa today is just a two-game lead over the Orioles. And Girardi had no one to blame but himself.

Imagine that: Girardi, the binder-toting micromanager who has never met a pitching change that he didn't like, getting burned for not making one.

"That was my decision, okay, to leave him in there," Girardi said, his voice rising, when asked a third time for an explanation. He had to be pressed because his answer made no sense.

He said he stuck with the flat-lining Hughes because there were no outs, and had he gone to righty Cody Eppley, he’d have to use left-handed Boone Logan to face DH Chris Davis before bringing in another righty to face third baseman Manny Machado to finish the inning.

"If it's one out, it’s a different story," Girardi said, "but it's nobody out."

For fuck's sake, as they say in English soccer.

No. You do not bring in a pitcher to face only one batter. Ever. That is blatant stupidity.

I don't give a damn what your binder or "the book" -- as in "he manages by the book" -- says. Use your eyes! If a pitcher is pitching well, you leave him in. If he's not, you get another pitcher ready to come in.

If you know you're going to need a lefty pitcher in the coming inning, bring that pitcher in to start the inning. Don't waste 2 pitchers when 1 will do just fine.

Forget all this left-to-lefty, righty-to-righty stuff. If a lefty pitcher can't get righty hitters out more often than not, he doesn't belong in the major leagues. Same with a righty pitcher who can't get lefty hitters out more often than not. If you can't trust a pitcher to pitch to a batter who's of "the opposite hand," then you can't trust him to pitch to any batter.  Simple as that, baby.

I am a liberal Democrat. I am against burning books, because it is an insult to freedom of expression. But if "Girardi's binder" actually exists, burn the goddamned thing! Burn it on the pitcher's mound at Yankee Stadium! Let the press see it. Let the cameras roll! Let 'em roll, baby, let 'em roll! The whole world should be watching!

If the Yankees do not win the 2012 American League Pennant, the game of September 2 should be Exhibit A for the prosecution in the firing of Joe Girardi.

Get rid of him, and replace him with a manager who knows how to use his eyes.

Anyway, as Politi said, the final was Orioles 8, Yankees 3. WP: Randy Wolf (4-10), the former Philadelphia Phillies ace lefty. I didn't realize he was still in the major leagues. No save. LP: Hughes (13-12)

*

So, going into the action of today, Labor Day, Monday, September 3, 2012, with 29 games to go, the Yankees are 2 games ahead of the Orioles, 3 1/2 (4 in the loss column) ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays, who've also surged and must be stopped, 15 (16 in the loss column) ahead of the Red Sox, and 16 ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Elimination Numbers: 17 for the Jays, 20 for the Sox, 29 for the Rays and 31 for the O's.

Jeter has said that every other team in the Division would trade places with the Yankees. Which is true: It's better to be in 1st place than not to be. If you don't mind the oblique reference to William Shakespeare. Which is better than an oblique strain.

The good news is, A-Rod is back in the lineup as the designated hitter, as the Yanks begin a roadtrip with a series in Tampa Bay. And CC Sabathia, the ace, is starting. Grandy should be back tomorrow. Teixeira should be back in time for the weekend series in Baltimore -- where the Maryland native, who snubbed his ome-area team to sign with the Yankees for 2009, will once again be lustily booed. Pettitte and Nova look like they will be back in a couple of weeks.

I just hope Girardi, whom Politi calls "the ultimate micromanager," doesn't find a way to fuck this up.

Find the binder. Burn it. Stop Girardi, before he consults again! And if he says, "The only way you're going to get my binder is to pry it from my cold, dead hands," well...

As Girardi's fellow Chicagoan, Jack Benny, would have said, "I'm thinking it over!"

But at least I'm not letter a binder do my thinking for me!