Has it really been 10 years since the Yankees won a Pennant? Here is every player on the Yankees' 2009 postseason roster who is, officially, still on the 40-man roster going into the 2019-20 off-season: Brett Gardner. That's it. One guy. CC Sabathia was there, but just officially retired.

I plan to do a "How Long It's Been" to be posted on November 4, the anniversary of the last World Series win.

No Pennants in 10 years. 1 Pennant in 16 years. 1 World Series win in 19 years. Over that same stretch, 2 losses in the World Series, 5 losses in the AL Championship Series, 6 losses in the AL Division Series, 1 loss in the AL Wild Card Game, and 4 times missing the Playoffs completely.

Pennants won since 2003: Boston Red Sox 4, St. Louis Cardinals 4, San Francisco Giants 3, Houston Astros 3, Detroit Tigers 2, Philadelphia Phillies 2, Texas Rangers 2, Kansas City Royals 2, Los Angeles Dodgers 2, Chicago White Sox 1, Colorado Rockies 1, Tampa Bay Rays 1, Cleveland Indians 1, Chicago Cubs 1, Washington Nationals 1, Mets 1, Yankees 1.

Or, to put it another way: Since 2003, 9 teams have won more Pennants than the Yankees, and 7 others have won exactly as many.

World Series won since 2000: Boston Red Sox 4, San Francisco Giants 3, St. Louis Cardinals 2, Houston Astros 1 with a chance at a 2nd, Los Angeles Angels 1, Florida Marlins 1, Philadelphia Phillies 1, Kansas City Royals 1, Chicago White Sox 1, Chicago Cubs 1, Washington Nationals 2 wins away from 1, Yankees 1.

To put that into perspective: As of October 26, 2000, the Royals hadn't won since 1985, the Cardinals hadn't won since 1982, the Phillies hadn't won since 1980, the Astros had played since 1962 and had never won, the Angels had played since 1961 and had never won, the Giants hadn't won since 1954 (then in New York), the Expos/Nationals franchise has played since 1969 and has never won, no Washington baseball team has won since 1924, the Red Sox hadn't won since 1918, the White Sox hadn't won since 1917, and the Cubs hadn't won since 1908.

More glaringly, the Red Sox have won 2 World Series since the Yankees' last, and the Mets still hold New York's most recent Pennant -- or Finals appearance in any sport. (Mets 2015, Rangers 2014, Devils 2012, Giants 2012, Yankees 2009, Red Bulls 2008, Nets 2003, Liberty 2002, Knicks 1999, Islanders 1984, Jets 1969, NYCFC never.)

This drought, no Pennants in 10 years, 1 World Series win in 19 years, has happened despite having the most money, the biggest revenue-generating ballpark, the biggest revenue-generating local sports TV network, and the biggest fanbase in all of North American sports.
Explain to me why Brian Cashman still has a job. I'll wait.

Hell, I've been waiting.

*

October 25, 1147: The Siege of Lisbon finally ends after 4 months, and the Moors surrender the capital of Portugal. King Afonso I (not "Alfonso"), considered the founder of the modern nation of Portugal (O Fundador), ends up reigning for 46 years. He is also known as Afonso the Conqueror (O Conquistador) and Afonso the Great (O Grande).

October 25, 1154: Stephen of Blois dies of a stomach disorder in Dover at age 56. He had been King of England for 19 years, succeeding his uncle, King Henry I, usurping the throne from its rightful recipient, Henry's daughter, Matilda. (Some countries permitted female monarchs, but England had never had one, and wouldn't until Mary I, 400 years later.)

A civil war known as "The Anarchy" had resulted, and it was only settled when Stephen recognized his nephew, Matilda's son, as heir. That nephew became King Henry II, and while the throne of England was settled, the already-long disputes between England and France were not.

Henry ruled for 33 years, alienating almost every other royal in Europe, including his own family, which included his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and his sons, future Kings Richard I and John, as seen in the film The Lion In Winter.

October 25, 1415: The Battle of Agincourt is fought in what is now Azincourt, Pas-de-Calais, France, about 140 miles north of Paris. Outnumbered 2-1, King Henry V of England -- personally leading his troops -- leads English and Welsh longbowmen to a stunning victory over the French army on French soil.

The English lost 112 men, including the sitting Duke of York and the sitting Earl of Suffolk; the French, possibly 10,000, including the Dukes of Alençon, Brabant and Lorraine and the Counts of Dreux and Nevers. Say what you want about those noblemen, but they were noble enough to fight and risk death alongside the men they commanded.

This battle turns the tide for England, as King Charles VI of France, in order to mollify the Lancastrian invader, allows him to marry his daughter, Catherine of Valois. Together, they have a son. But when Henry V dies of illness in 1522, his son is just 9 months old, and King Henry VI -- first under his greedy, incompetent regents, then by his mentally ill self -- ends up losing all the gains of his father and his ancestors during the Hundred Years War.

What does this battle have to do with sports? Well, archery is a sport, and it made an archer the greatest thing to which most Englishmen and Welshmen could aspire. Legend has it that King Henry VIII, 100 or so years later, banned tennis from English and Welsh soil because it was distracting men from practicing archery.

It also led to a ridiculous urban legend. Supposedly, the French would cut the index fingers off English prisoners before releasing them. But when they got back to their own side, they could still use their middle fingers to pull back their bowstrings. And the bows were made from yew trees, so, when they captured French prisoners, they would show them their middle fingers, and say, "See? We can still pluck yew! Pluck yew!" Thus was born both the middle-finger gesture and the profane expression, "Fuck you."

Well, none of it is true: The middle-finger gesture has been traced as far back as ancient Greece, about 2,000 years before Agincourt, and it was rather popular in Roman times, where it was known as "El Dedo Medio": The Middle Digit. As for the other expression, that's probably as old as language itself.

October 25, 1754: Richard Howell is born in Newark, Delaware. A veteran of the Continental Army in the War of the American Revolution, from 1793 to 1801 he served as Governor of New Jersey. He was already ill when he left office, and died in 1802.

Howell Township in Monmouth County is named for him. Howell High School's teams are called the Rebels. This makes sense, given their namesake's Revolutionary background. But the mascot is usually shown as a Confederate soldier. This is a nod to the school's original name, Southern Freehold, even though it opened in 1964 and the town had been named Howell while Richard Howell was still Governor. The name of the school was changed in 1968.

October 25, 1760: King George II of Britain dies at Kensington Palace in London, at age 77, after 43 years on the throne.

He had outlived his son, Frederick, Prince of Wales. Had Frederick not died (apparently of a pulmonary embolism) in 1751, he would now have been King. Had he still been on the throne in 1776 -- he would have been 69, so it's hardly impossible -- the history of the world could have been incredibly different.

Instead, Frederick's son, King George's grandson, takes the throne, as King George III, at age 22. It's not clear what he would have done in the 1770s had porphyria not already begun to drive him mad. It's also worth wondering what would have happened had said madness led him to a fatal accident before the American Revolution got going -- say, before the Boston Tea Party of 1773 -- leaving his son, still a child, as King George IV, instead of waiting until 1811 to sub for his father as Prince Regent and 1820 to finally become King.

Either way, it's possible America would still favor cricket (which Frederick had helped to popularize) and football (soccer), rather than baseball and American football.

October 25, 1774: The Continental Congress in Philadelphia ratifies a "Petition to the King." It is a list of grievances to King George III, asking for a repeal of the measures that British America had come to call "the Intolerable Acts," including the canceling of the colonial government of Massachusetts, the closing of the Port of Boston, and the forcing the quartering of British soldiers in private homes (which would later inspire the 3rd Amendment to the Constitution of the United States).

Of note is the signatories' affirmation of their allegiance to the British Crown -- not the British Parliament. But they wanted to remain within the British Empire, not to declare independence. But this would change over the next 2 years.

John Dickinson, a Delegate from Pennsylvania is credited with writing the Petition. The following year, he would try again, with the Olive Branch Petition. George III answered neither. Dickinson ended up refusing to sign the Declaration of Independence in 1776, but, the following year, he wrote the first draft of the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first governing charter. He later served as President of the State of Delaware, and then of the State of Pennsylvania (effectively, Governor of each), participated in the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and signed the Constitution of the United States.

Only 2 men signed the Petition to the King of 1774, the Declaration of Independence in 1776, and the Constitution of the United States in 1787: George Reed of Delaware, and Roger Sherman of Connecticut, who also signed the Continental Association in 1774 and the Articles of Confederation in 1781, and was part of the committee to draft the Declaration, along with Benjamin Franklin, Philip Livingston, John Adams, and the man who actually wrote it, Thomas Jefferson.

October 25, 1781: The Battle of Johnstown is fought in Johnstown, Fulton County, New York, outside Albany. It was an American victory, 6 days after the Battle of Yorktown in Virginia, although the news of that battle hadn't reached them yet.

*

October 25, 1806: Henry Knox dies when he chokes to death during dinner in Thomaston, Massachusetts, now in Maine. The Boston native was 56. He had fought alongside George Washington during the American Revolution, succeeded him as the 1st Senior Officer of the U.S. Army, and was chosen by him to serve as the 1st U.S. Secretary of War.

Fort Knox in Kentucky, site of the famous gold reserve, and Knoxville, home of the University of Tennessee, are named for him.

October 25, 1812: The USS United States, commanded by Captain Stephen Decatur, defeats the HMS Macedonian, near the Madeira islands off the coast of Portugal during the War of 1812. The British ship lost 104 men, the American ship just 12. It remains one of the most lopsided victories in the history of the U.S. Navy.

The Macedonian was sailed alongside the United States back to New York, the 1st enemy ship ever taken back to America as a prize. Had there been ticker-tape parades in New York in those days, Decatur and his men surely would have gotten one.

The Macedonian was then sailed to the U.S. base at New London, Connecticut, repaired, rechristened USS Macedonian, and served until decommissioned and dismantled in 1828. The United States was at the base in Norfolk when the American Civil War began in 1861, and was taken and rechristened CSS United States (ironically), but was sunk to provide part of a blockade of the harbor against Union vessels a year later, an ignominious end to a ship that had served America so well since its launch in 1797.

October 25, 1854: The Battle of Balaclava is fought in the Crimean War, in what is now part of the city of Sevastopol, currently disputed by Russia and Ukraine. At the time, it was part of the Russian Empire, which was opposed by Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire (present-day Turkey and its Middle Eastern holdings). Both sides lost about 600 men, so the battle was inconclusive.

But that's not how it's remembered. Major General James Thomas Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, commanded the 4th and 13th Light Dragoons, the 17th Lancers, and the 8th and 11th Hussars. These units were "light cavalry," lightly armed and lightly armored troops on horseback, designed for speed, and thus for brief skirmishes and raids, but more for reconnaissance and communications -- not for major battles.

Lord Cardigan sent this "light brigade" to recover guns left behind by the dead Turkish troops, a task for which they would have been well-suited. But (ironically, given the nature of their work) a miscommunication by Captain Louis Nolan sent them on a frontal assault against Russian artillery, and they got clobbered. Nolan himself was one of the first to die -- meaning no one was willing to blame him, so the public blamed Lord Cardigan.

In response, Alfred Tennyson, then Britain's Poet Laureate, published a poem, "The Charge of the Light Brigade," designed to show that the men who fought, not the men who ordered them "but to do and die," should be the ones remembered. It worked: Not only did the British public rally around their Army, but it went on to win the war a year and a half later.

And today? No one remembers Nolan. If we remember Cardigan, it's as the namesake of a sweater. (Yes, it was named for him.) But while we may not remember any individuals in the Light Brigade, we remember the "noble six hundred."

October 25, 1863: William Joseph Shettsline is born in Philadelphia. Bill Shettsline was not a baseball player, but he was club secretary of the Philadelphia Phillies until 1898, when he was named manager. He served until 1902, and bought the team in 1905, selling it in 1909, and remaining as business manager (today, we would say "general manager") until he died in 1933. Only in 1915 did he win a National League Pennant.

October 25, 1867: Local clubs the Uniques and the Monitors meet in a contest for the "championship of colored clubs" at the Satellite Grounds, at Broadway & Rutledge Street in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn -- where the NYPD's 90th Precinct house is today. The Monitors defeat the defending champion Uniques, and it isn't even close: 49-17.

October 25, 1868: Daniel L. Burke is born in Abington, Massachusetts. An outfielder, Dan Burke briefly played in the early 1890s, although he did win a Pennant with the 1892 Boston Beaneaters (forerunners of the Atlanta Braves).

October 25, 1871: Martin Bergen (no middle name) is born in North Brookfield, Massachusetts. This town, outside Worcester, was also home to his brother Bill, catcher turned longtime manager Connie Mack, and legendary entertainer George M. Cohan.

A catcher, Marty Bergen played for the Boston Beaneaters, forerunners of the Atlanta Braves, helping them win the National League Pennant in 1897 and 1898. Unlike Bill, statistically the worst hitter in Major League Baseball history, Marty batted .265, but was much better known for his fielding, as he was regarded as having a great arm and good footwork.

But he was mentally ill. By 1899, only his 4th season in the major leagues, he was experiencing hallucinations, and had to be removed from a game due to his odd behavior. On a train trip, he slapped Hall of Fame pitcher Vic Willis. One of his sons died, and that worsened his condition. He began to see his pitchers' deliveries as knives coming toward him, and he would jump out of the way.

On January 19, 1900, at his home in North Brookfield, he took an axe, and killed his wife Hattie and their 2 remaining children. Then he took a straight razor, and cut his throat, killing himself. He was only 28 years old. This shocking crime, by a person already considerably more famous, was less than 8 years after the axe murders in nearby Fall River, Massachusetts, attributed to Lizzie Borden (who was acquitted).

Following the murder-suicide, Jesse Burkett, in the middle of a Hall of Fame career as an outfielder, said, "As a catcher, Martin Bergen was the best the world ever produced. No man acted with more natural grace as a ballplayer." He said this at a time when Buck Ewing had only been retired for 3 years and Mike "King" Kelly for 6. Alas, Kelly's career ended in 1894 with his death due to the effects of alcoholism, just short of turning 37; and Ewing died in 1906 from diabetes, at 47.

October 25, 1881: Pablo Picasso is born in Málaga, Andalusia, southern Spain. Or, as "Epic Lloyd" Ahlquist said, playing him opposite "Nice Peter" Shukoff as Bob Ross in an episode of Epic Rap Battles of History, "My name is Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso! Back to you, Bob!"

Bob Ross might not have believed in mistakes, but just try getting all that right in icing on a birthday cake!

Picasso lived to be 91, until 1973, making him the longest-lived authenticated real-person character in ERB history. In between, as Lloyd-as-Picasso said, "I am the greatest: The modern art Muhammad Ali!"

October 25, 1884: Charley "Old Hoss" Radbourn of the National League Champion Providence Grays wins his 3rd straight game over the American Association Champion New York Metropolitans – the 1st team to be known as the New York Mets, predating the Amazin's by 80 years – concluding the 3-game series and making the Grays the World Champions of baseball, which they had also become in 1879 by winning the NL Pennant.

Only 500 diehard fans show up in the cold‚ since Providence had already clinched by winning the 1st 2 games.

October 25? Cold weather? And they were still playing baseball at that time of year in the 1880s? Hey, Bud Selig's moronic scheduling was just trying to get baseball back to its roots!

On this same day, Lafayette College defeats Lehigh University in football, 56-0. The Lehigh Valley rivals, separated by 17 miles along U.S. Route 22 (the Lafayette Leopards in Easton, the Lehigh Engineers in Bethlehem), will go on to produce the most-played rivalry in college football.

In 2014, their meeting was their 150th, due to having played twice and even, during World War II with travel restrictions, 3 times in some seasons. That 150th "Double L Game" was the 1st one played outside Northeastern Pennsylania, at Yankee Stadium. Lafayette won it, 27-7. Lehigh won last year, but Lafayette leads the rivalry, 78-70-5. This year's game will be played at Lafayette's Fisher Stadium on November 17.

October 25, 1888: The Giants clinch New York's 1st true World Championship in any professional sport, 6 games to 2, by trouncing the St. Louis Browns (forerunners of the Cardinals), 11-3. Tim Keefe gets his 4th win of the series.

Of course, this doesn't count amateur championships won from 1845 to 1870 by teams like the Knickerbockers, the New York Club, the Mutuals, and Brooklyn teams like the Atlantics, the Excelsiors and the Eckfords.

The last survivor of the 1888 Giants was Ledell "Cannonball" Titcomb, a pitcher from Maine, who pitched a no-hitter in 1890, and lived until 1950.

October 25, 1889, 130 years ago: Howard Ellsworth Wood is born in Kansas City, and grows up in Ouray, Colorado. Because of his blazing fastball, his Boston Red Sox teammates nicknamed him Smoky Joe. In 1911, he pitched a no-hitter. In 1912, he went 34-5 for the Red Sox, including 16 straight wins. Since 1912, there have been 2 seasons of 31 wins, 1 of 30, 1 of 28 and 2 of 27, but 34 is not going to happen again unless rules or ballpark conditions are radically changed.

Shortly before a heavily hyped game against the Washington Senators on September 6, 1912, between Wood and the man generally agreed to be the best pitcher of the day, Walter Johnson, Johnson said, "Can I throw harder than Joe Wood? Listen, my friend: There's no man alive can throw harder than Smoky Joe Wood!"

Reminded of Johnson's assessment 60 years later, Wood said, "Oh, I don't think there was ever anybody faster than Walter." Wood and the Sox won, 1-0. He went on to help them win the World Series by coming in to relieve the clinching Game 8. Counting the Series, he was 37-6 on the year.

Unfortunately, Wood injured his thumb in spring training in 1913, and he was never the same pitcher. The Red Sox traded him to the Cleveland Indians, where he was reunited with his former Boston teammate Tris Speaker and converted into an outfielder. He still pitched well enough to go 15-5 and lead the AL in ERA with 1.49 in 1915, giving him a career record of 117-56 at age 25. But he never won another game as a pitcher.

Still, his hitting and fielding helped the Indians win the 1920 World Series, and he finished his career with a lifetime batting average of .283 and an OPS+ of 110. No other pitcher with at least 95 wins can top that. (Babe Ruth won 94.)

In 1965, Lawrence S. Ritter interviewed Wood for his book The Glory of Their Times. In 1981, Ritter and Donald Honig included him in their book The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time. They explained what they called "the Smoky Joe Wood Syndrome," where a player of truly exceptional talent but a career curtailed by injury should still, in spite of not having had career statistics that would quantitatively rank him with the all-time greats, be included on their list of the 100 greatest players.

In addition to Wood himself, the players they included in this category were Dizzy Dean, Pete Reiser (see the 1981 entry) and Herb Score. But not Tony Conigliaro. Nor Mark Fidrych. Nor Lyman Bostock. And, of course, they could not yet have known about Kirk Gibson, Dwight Gooden, Kerry Wood or Stephen Strasburg.

Wood later became the baseball coach at Yale University, and died in 1985, age 95, the last survivor of the 1912 World Series. His son, actually named Joe Wood, pitched 3 games for the Red Sox in 1944, due to wartime-stretched rosters, but never really made it even at the Triple-A level, and retired at age 31 in 1947. At least, like his dad, he lived to a ripe old age, making it to 86 in 2002.

October 25, 1891: Charles Edward Coughlin is born in Hamilton, Ontario, became a priest in Toronto, and settled in Detroit. In 1926, he began his career as "The Radio Priest" on WJR in Detroit, the station that would later become famous for broadcasting the Tigers' games.

At first, he seemed like a liberal. At the time, the Ku Klux Klan, at least in the North, was more interested in discriminating against Catholics than against black people. Father Coughlin took a stand against them. While denouncing Communism, as any good Catholic of the time would, he also denounced the predatory capitalists who had made Communism so attractive.

In 1932, he supported the Presidential campaign of Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1933, as FDR put his New Deal into place, he made a short film of one of his radio broadcasts, saying, "The New Deal is Christ's deal," and, "It is either Roosevelt or ruin." In January 1934, he testified before Congress saying, "If Congress fails to back up the President in his monetary program, I predict a revolution in this country which will make the French Revolution look silly!"

But he began to turn. Because they were opposed to Communism, he supported the Fascist governments of Adolf Hitler in Germany and Benito Mussolini in Italy. At the time, Communism was widely seen to be a Jewish movement, and his broadcasts became more anti-Semitic in nature. But he also believed that unregulated capitalism was a Jewish plot. And he came to believe that FDR's policies didn't regulate capitalism enough -- which would seem to fly in the face of his attacks on Communism. He began to call the President "Franklin Double-Crossing Roosevelt."

He was unable to help defeat Roosevelt in 1936. By 1938, he was frequently denying that he was anti-Semitic, because he was frequently being called that. By 1939, and the dawn of World War II in Europe, Coughlin was no longer being taken seriously. In 1942, the Archbishop of Detroit ordered Coughlin to stop making political statements. By the time he retired from active preaching in 1966, he was a relic. He died in 1979, at age 88.

October 25, 1892: Caroline Harrison, wife of President Benjamin Harrison, dies of tuberculosis at age 60. She, Letitia Tyler, and Ellen Wilson are the only First Ladies to die "in office." Most likely, the President would have lost the election anyway, and he does not get a sympathy vote.

Also on this day, Gerald Paul Nugent is born in Philadelphia. A leather goods and shoe merchant, in 1925 he married Mae Mallen, secretary to Phillies owner William Baker. Baker died in 1930, leaving control of the team to his widow and Nugent. When Mrs. Baker died in 1932, Gerry Nugent had full control.

But it was the Great Depression, and while he wanted to spend money to improve the team (something Baker wouldn't do), he didn't have it to spend. By 1943, he was forced to sell the team back to Major League Baseball, who eventually sold it to the very rich Carpenter family, which saved it. Nugent died in 1970, living long enough to see the team to be financially secure, win the 1950 Pennant, and get out of Shibe Park/Connie Mack Stadium, if not quite move into Veterans Stadium.

October 25, 1895: Levi Yitzhak Shkolnik is born in Orativ, Ukraine. We knew him as Levi Eshkol. One of the founding fathers of the State of Israel, he served as Minister of Finance for 11 years until being named Prime Minister on June 26, 1963.

His tenure included the country's finest hour, the Six-Day War of June 5-10, 1967. But he died in office, of a heart attack at age 73, on February 26, 1969.

*

October 25, 1902: Alfred Eastlack Driscoll is born in Pittsburgh, and grows up in the Philadelphia suburb of Haddonfield, Camden County, New Jersey. In 1946, the Republican was elected Governor of New Jersey, and presided over the Constitutional Convention that wrote the current State Constitution in 1947, at the College Avenue Gym at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, home of Rutgers' basketball team from 1931 to 1977, and adjacent to the site of the 1st college football game in 1869.

Elected to the 1st 4-year term for Governor of the State in 1949, he had already gotten the New Jersey Turnpike approved, and would do the game for the Garden State Parkway in his 2nd term. He was, if not the greatest, then certainly the most consequential Governor in New Jersey's history, at least as far as the State is concerned. (Woodrow Wilson was a Governor of New Jersey who became President, but he only served 2 years in Trenton, and didn't exactly remake the State.)

The Parkway's bridge over the Raritan River, connecting Woodbridge and Sayreville in Middlesex County, was named for Driscoll in 1974, a year before his death. It opened in 1954, with a 2nd span opening in 1972, and the original span was replaced in 2006.

October 25, 1906: For the 1st time, a legal forward pass is thrown in a professional football game. George Watson "Peggy" Parratt, a 23-year-old quarterback who had graduated from the Cleveland school now known as Case Western Reserve University, throws it to Bullet Riley (a good name for a receiver), for the Massillon Tigers in an Ohio League game against the Bendwood-Moundsville team.

Ironically, it would be by intercepting 2 passes in the championship game, against the Canton Bulldogs, that Parratt would be best remembered in his own time. He would help Massillon win the Ohio League title in 1906, 1911, 1913 and 1914. He later served on the NFL Rules Committee, and lived until 1959.

October 25, 1911: Game 5 of the World Series at the Polo Grounds. Giants 2nd baseman Larry Doyle scores on a sacrifice fly to give the New York Giants a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Athletics. According to home plate umpire Bill Klem, commenting after the game, Doyle, in his jubilation about scoring the winning run, really never touched home plate. But the A's failed to notice the gaffe, and did not appeal.

Nobody seemed to remember this, even though it evoked the mistake Doyle's teammate, 1st baseman Fred Merkle, made 3 years earlier in a game that effectively cost the Giants the Pennant. But then, it wasn't caught on film or television, and it ended up not mattering, because the A's ended up winning the World Series the next day anyway.

October 25, 1912: Jack Kent Cooke is born in Hamilton, Ontario, and grows up in Toronto. A radio magnate, he bought the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League, the baseball team that gave its name to the city's hockey team.

He negotiated with St. Louis Browns owner Bill Veeck to make the Leafs a Browns farm team, and followed Veeck's lead in both integrating the team and instituting wacky promotions, keeping it going even after Veeck was no longer the owner and the team had become the Baltimore Orioles. In 1952, The Sporting News named him Minor League Executive of the Year. They won Pennants in 1954, 1956, 1957 and 1960. He sold the team in 1964.

Cooke moved to the U.S., to Los Angeles, and continued his communications empire, making KRLA a big Top 40 station, and built one of the first cable television empires, which he sold in the late 1970s for $646 million. He also bought the Los Angeles Daily News and New York's Chrysler Building.

In 1961, after a stroke left founding owner George Preston Marshall an invalid, his family began to sell off the team, and sold Cooke a 25 percent share. In 1965, he bought the Los Angeles Lakers, and built an arena for them adjacent to Hollywood Park racetrack in suburban Inglewood, The Forum. He was also responsible for turning the team's colors from blue & white to purple & gold.

Actually, the real reason he built The Forum was because he had outbid Los Angeles Rams owner Dan Reeves (no relation to the later football coach of the same name) for the right to get L.A.'s expansion team in the NHL, and Reeves used his influence over the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission, which also owned the Los Angeles Sports Arena, to ensure that Cooke's teams would no longer be able to use it. So they left the Sports Arena, and played at the Long Beach Sports Arena until "the Fabulous Forum" could open on December 30, 1967.

The Kings were the least successful of Cooke's teams. He was told that 300,000 former Canadians lived within a 3-hour drive of Los Angeles, but the Kings struggled at the box office, leading Cooke to say, "Now I know why they left Canada: They hate hockey!"

And he had balloons suspended from the Forum ceiling prior to Game 7 of the 1969 NBA Finals, but the Boston Celtics spoiled the party. Indeed, the Lakers lost the Finals to the Celtics in 1962, 1963, and, after Cooke bought them, 1965, 1966, 1968 and 1969, and to the Knicks in 1970. They finally won in 1972. He sold the Lakers to Jerry Buss in 1979 -- and then they won 5 of the next 9 NBA titles.

But it is as Redskins owner by which Cooke will be most remembered. By 1974, he and Washington-based "superlawyer" Edward Bennett Williams had become the sole owners, with Cooke as majority owner, as Williams bought the Baltimore Orioles, and NFL rules prohibit a majority owner from being a majority owner of a team in another sport.

In 1972, the Redskins won the NFC Championship, reaching Super Bowl VII, their 1st NFL Championship Game, under any name, since 1945. They lost to the Miami Dolphins. In 1983, they beat the Dolphins to win Super Bowl XVII, their 1st World Championship in 40 years. Later in the year, the Baltimore Orioles won the World Series, making Williams the only person ever to have ownership shares in the World Series and Super Bowl titleholders at the same time. He sold out in 1985, making Cooke sole Redskins owner. The Redskins won a 2nd Super Bowl in 1988 (XXII, over the Denver Broncos), and a 3rd in 1992 (XXVI, over the Buffalo Bills).

But Cooke was tired of having the smallest stadium in the NFL, the 56,692-seat Robert F. Kennedy Stadium. After failing to get funding for a new stadium from the District of Columbia government, he built his own in the suburb of Landover, Maryland, across the Beltway from the Capital Centre arena.

This stadium has been fraught with problems from day one. First, Cooke died at age 85 in 1997, a few months before it could be completed. Then, right before it opened, my local newspaper, the Home News Tribune, printed a picture of it, with the caption "Jack Kent Cookie Stadium." For crying out loud, the man just died! Then, with a capacity of 80,116, the Redskins went from having the smallest stadium but the best home-field advantage in the NFL to the largest stadium and the worst game-day atmosphere.

Cooke's heirs sold the team and the stadium to Daniel Snyder, and he sold naming rights to the stadium, and now it's FedEx Field. The Redskins have reached the Playoffs just 5 times in the stadium's 1st 21 seasons.

Cooke has been called the best owner in sports history. Certainly, he made the Redskins an nationally iconic franchise, as opposed to the regionally iconic one they were under the racist Marshall. And he was definitely successful, winning 3 titles in the NFL and 1 in the NBA, and building 2 tremendous sports facilities. But his teams could have been so much more, and, in his declining years, his building of the stadium that no longer bears his name may have doomed the team to a generation of mediocrity.

Also on this day, Les McDowall (I can find no listing for his full name) is born in Gunga Pur, India, the son of a Scottish officer in the British Army. A wing-half, he played for Scottish team Glentyan Thistle before moving to Sunderland in the North-East of England. They won England's Football League in 1936, but he did not make enough appearances for a winner's medal.

He played for Manchester City from 1937 to 1949, and managed them from 1950 to 1963, winning the 1956 FA Cup. He died in 1991.

Also on this day, Abdalkader Ben Bouali is born in Sendjas, Algeria, then a colony of France. A defender, he was one of the earliest North Africans to play for the French national team, including being selected for the 1938 World Cup, although he did not play in the tournament.

Among the teams he played for were Montpellier, Olympique de Marseille, Racing Club Paris, and Toulouse. He lived until 1997.

Also on this day, Sarah Ophelia Colley is born in Centerville, Tennessee. Unlike a lot of girls in that place and time, she went to college, graduating from what's now Belmont University in Nashville. She became a community theater organizer, and in 1939 debuted her character of Minnie Pearl. In her act, which began with her yelling, "How-dee! I'm jest so proud to be here," Centerville became "Grinders Switch," and her relatives became laugh subjects.

She was a regular on the television shows Ozark Jubliee, The Ford Show Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford (named not for the country-singing host, but for its carmaking sponsor), Hee Haw and
Hollywood Squares. She played herself in the film about country singer Loretta Lynn, Coal Miner's Daughter.

She became such an institution in American culture that the Smithsonian Institution asked for her famous straw hat, with its $1.98 price tag. She agreed, and it joined Archie Bunker's chair from All In the Family, Fonzie's leather jacket from Happy Days, and the "Swamp" tent from M*A*S*H.

She died in 1996. After the renovation of the Ryman Auditorium, original home of The Grand Ole Opry, a statue of her sitting next to country legend Roy Acuff was placed in the lobby.

October 25, 1914: Annis Paul Stukus is born in Toronto. The quarterback led the Toronto Argonauts to Grey Cup wins, in 1937 and 1938, in the latter season playing in the same backfield as his brothers Bill and Frank. He later served as head coach of the Edmonton Eskimos and the BC Lions.

He also worked in basketball for the Toronto Huskies, hockey for the Vancouver Canucks and Winnipeg Jets, and soccer for the Vancouver Whitecaps. He was elected to the Canadian Football and Canadian Sports Halls of Fame. The CFL's Coach of the Year award is named for him. He spent his retirement in Canmore, Alberta, and died there in 2006, age 91.

October 25, 1916: Stanley Cullis (no middle name) is born in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England. A centreback, he was selected for the England team that was to play Germany at the Olympiastadion in Berlin on May 14, 1938.

But when Sir Neville Henderson, the British Ambassador to Germany, out of respect for their hosts and the betterment of international relations with one of the world's major powers at the time, demanded that all England players give the Nazi salute on the pitch before the game, and was backed up by the Football Association (the FA), Cullis refused. He was the only England player selected for this game to do so. England won the game, 6-3, thanks to 2 goals by... Jackie Robinson. No, not that Jackie Robinson: This one was a white forward for Sheffield Wednesday.

Contrary to popular belief, Cullis was not punished by the FA, but his England appearances were limited to 12 due to World War II interrupting international play.

He captained West Midlands club Wolverhampton Wanderers into the 1939 FA Cup Final, but they lost to Portsmouth. They also finished 2nd in the Football League -- "the Dubious Double," runners-up in both League and Cup. They finished 2nd in 1938 as well.

He would have more luck as manager of "Wolves." He got them to win the League in 1954, '58 and '59, and the Cup in 1949 and '60. In a weird twist, the 1954 title was won by edging Wolves' local "Black Country" arch-rivals, West Bromwich Albion, who featured a Wolverhampton boy that Cullis refused to sign, Don Howe, who would later be a star coach -- and West Brom then beat Wolves to win the FA Cup. Thus, each rival denied the other the Double.

In 1954, Cullis led Wolves to a win over Honved, the Budapest side that featured several of the Hungary players that had embarrassed England at Wembley and in Budapest the year before. This was one of the catalysts in the establishment of the European Cup, the tournament now known as the UEFA Champions League.

Stan Cullis died in 2001. A statue of him now stands outside Wolves' Molineux Stadium, one of whose stands is named for him. Legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly said of him, "All round, as a player, as a manager, and for general intelligence, it would be difficult to name anyone since the game began who could qualify to be in the same class as Stan Cullis."

October 25, 1917: Leland Stanford MacPhail Jr. is born in Nashville. The son of pioneering baseball executive Larry McPhail, Lee MacPhail was general manager of the Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles, and from 1974 to 1983 was President of the American League.

Unfortunately, Yankee Fans remember him best for overruling the correct ruling of the umpires in the Pine Tar Game of July 24, 1983, and giving George Brett a home run and the Kansas City Royals a win they did not deserve.

Larry and Lee are the only father-son combination in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Lee was the oldest living Hall-of-Famer when he died in 2012, at age 95. The Most Valuable Player award for the AL Championship Series is named for him.

His son Andy was general manager of the Minnesota Twins, and later president of the Chicago Cubs and the Baltimore Orioles, and is now President of the Philadelphia Phillies. Another son, Lee MacPhail III, was working in the Philadelphia Phillies' minor-league system when he was killed in a car crash in 1969. His son, Lee MacPhail IV, works in the front office of the Seattle Mariners.

October 25, 1918: The Canadian passenger liner SS Princess Sophia runs aground on Vanderbilt Reef outside Juneau, Alaska, and sinks, killing all 364 people on board. This being the waning days of World War I, sabotage was suspected, but never proven.

*

October 25, 1921: William Barclay Masterson dies of a heart attack at his desk, where he had just written a column for the New York Morning Telegraph. "Bat" Masterson was 67.

He was born Bartholomew Masterson in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, and "Bat" was short for "Bartholomew." (So why not "Bart"?) It had nothing to do with swinging a baseball bat. But he was a more effective crimefighter than Batman: He was said to be so quick on the draw, eventually men stopped being willing to face him.

He left the gunslinging life to become one of the 1st sportswriters, covering boxing and horse racing. He covered the April 5, 1915, heavyweight championship fight in Havana, Cuba, where Jack Johnson finally lost the title to Jess Willard.

October 25, 1923: Robert Brown Thomson is born in Glasgow, Scotland, and grows up in Staten Island, New York. If you don't know what Bobby Thomson is famous for, you either have a lot to learn, or you've never seen ESPN Classic.

He batted .270 lifetime, and hit 264 home runs, including the one on October 3, 1951 that meant, "The Giants win the Pennant!" So even if his home run was a fluke, he was still a pretty good player. He played in the majors from 1946 to 1960, and lived until 2010.

October 25, 1924: Arsenal defeat their North London arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur 1-0. Jimmy
Brain makes his Arsenal first-team debut, and scores the only goal. He would score 125 goals in 7 seasons for Arsenal, helping them to win their 1st FA Cup in 1930, and their 1st Football League title in 1931.

Early in the 1931-32 season, Arsenal sold him -- to Tottenham, of all teams. But, at that point, he was 31 years old. Especially in those days, that was considered old for a forward. When Dennis Bergkamp, a later Arsenal legend, retired shortly before turning 37, it was considered a rare thing to be playing that position at such a high level at that age. Defenders frequently last that long, but forwards usually don't. Arsenal legend Thierry Henry retired at age 37, but hadn't played in a top European league since he was 33.

Brain played 3 seasons for Tottenham, and, amazingly -- or, perhaps not so amazingly, considering that the 1930s was the decade of the Great Depression -- kept playing until he was 40. He later managed a couple of clubs, and died in 1971, admired on both sides of the North London Derby.

Also on this day, Robert William Brown is born in Seattle, and grows up in San Francisco. A 3rd baseman, he was signed by the Yankees, and manager Casey Stengel said, "Brown looks like a feller who's been hitting for 12 years and fielding for 1." Nevertheless, he helped the Yankees win 4 World Series: 1947, 1949, 1950 and 1951. Then he was drafted into the Korean War, and by the time he returned in 1954, he'd lost his stuff.

That didn't matter, though, since he had another calling. He attended medical school during the off-season. On roadtrips, he roomed with Yogi Berra, a high school dropout, who, when asked how he liked school, said, "Closed." Legend has it that, one night, he finished his copy of Boyd's Pathology at the same time that Yogi finished one of the comic books he loved, and Yogi said, "Mine was good. How did yours turn out?"

It must have turned out well, because he moved to the Dallas area, and developed a cardiology practice. He gave it up in 1984, when he was elected President of the American League. He came to Old-Timers' Day at Yankee Stadium every year, but, since he was representing the entire AL, he always wore a suit, never a uniform. He served in the post until 1994, and, ever since, has worn a uniform with his old Number 6 on it for Old-Timers' Day, even though it's now been retired for Joe Torre.

At 95, he is not quite the oldest living Yankee -- 1954-56 1st baseman Aaron Robinson is, just short of turning 99, and 1951-55 pitcher Art Schallock is 6 months older than Brown -- but he is the last surviving member of the Yankees' 1947, 1949 and 1951 World Champions. (He and Whitey Ford are the last 2 survivors from the 1950 team, but Whitey was in the service in 1951 and '52.) Bobby is now the earliest surviving World Series winner.

Also on this day, Earl Cyril Palmer is born in New Orleans. The top drummer in that city in the 1950s, he played on Lloyd Price's "Lawdy Miss Clawdy," Smiley Lewis'"I Hear You Knockin'," Shirley & Lee's "Let the Good Times Roll," Fats Domino's "Blue Monday" and "I'm Walkin'," Thurston Harris'"Little Bitty Pretty One"; Larry Williams'"Slow Down,""Dizzy Miss Lizzy" (both later recorded by The Beatles) and "Bony Moronie"; and, perhaps most notably, Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally" and a few others -- but not, as I previously believed, his drum-leading "Keep A-Knockin'." (That was Charles Connor.)

His reputation preceding him, he was requested by others, and played on Sam Cooke's "You Send Me," Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues," Johnny Otis'"Willie and the Hand Jive," and both hits that Ritchie Valens lived to see: "Donna" and "La Bamba."

Along with Hal Blaine, he became 1 of the 2 big drummers in Los Angeles in the 1960s, playing on the instrumentals "Percolator Twist" by Billy Joe & The Checkmates and "The Lonely Bull" by Herb Alpert & His Tijuana Brass. He also played on Jan and Dean's "The Little Old Lady from Pasadena" and "Dead Man's Curve," The Righteous Brothers'"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," Mel Carter's "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me," and Ike & Tina Turner's "River Deep -- Mountain High." The last of these is testament to the regard in which he was held: It was produced by Phil Spector, who usually used Blaine. Earl Palmer died in 2008,

October 25, 1928: Marian Ross (no middle name) is born in the Minneapolis suburb of Watertown, Minnesota, but grows up in San Diego, where she graduated from Point Loma High School. A year later, Don Larsen would graduate from there, and go on to pitch a perfect game for the Yankees. So would another Point Loma graduate, David Wells.

She made a slight change to her name, thinking "Marion Ross" would look better on a theater marquee. Well, she did do some stage acting, but is best known for playing Marion Cunningham on Happy Days. She is still acting, appearing in the film Angels On Tap last year.

October 25, 1929, 90 years ago: For the 1st time, a person who had been a member of a President's Cabinet is convicted of a crime. Of course, he was a Republican. Albert Bacon Fall had been one of New Mexico's 1st 2 Senators when it gained Statehood in 1912. In 1920, visiting the ailing President Woodrow Wilson, he said, "I have been praying for you, Mr. President." And Wilson said, "Which way, Senator?"

That year, his fellow Senator, Warren Harding of Ohio, was elected President, and appointed Fall to be Secretary of the Interior. He got caught up in the Teapot Dome scandal, involving the U.S. Navy and oil drilling rights in Western States. He resigned his office in 1923, and was convicted 6 years later, serving 1 year in prison.

His Congressional testimony in the scandal inspired the "I drink your milkshake speech of Daniel Day-Lewis in the film There Will Be Blood. Day-Lewis' character, Daniel Plainview, was based on oil baron Edward Doheny, who had given Fall a bribe of $385,000 -- about $5.9 million in today's money. But Doheny was never convicted. He lived until 1935. Fall died in disgrace in 1944, at age 83.

*

October 25, 1931: James McIlroy (no middle name) is born in Lambeg, Northern Ireland. A forward, he starred for Lancashire soccer team Burnley, leading them to the 1960 Football League title (finishing just 1 point ahead of Stan Cullis' Wolves, denying them a 3rd straight title) and the 1962 FA Cup Final.

He also played for Northern Ireland in the 1958 World Cup. The East Stand at Burnley's stadium, Turf Moor, is named the Jimmy McIlroy Stand. He later managed Oldham Athletic and Bolton Wanderers, and died in 2018.

October 25, 1932: Robert Michael Mischak is born in Newark, and grows up in nearby Union, Union County, New Jersey. A guard, he played football at the U.S. Military Academy under Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik.

When Blaik's assistant coach, Vince Lombardi, became what we would now call the offensive coordinator for the New York Giants, he recommended Bob Mischak to head coach Jim Lee Howell. Mischak lasted only 1 season for his "hometown" team, but did play in the 1958 NFL Championship Game, "The Greatest Game Ever Played," which the Giants lost to the Baltimore Colts.

He wasn't quite good enough for the NFL, but that made him fodder for the AFL when it was founded in 1960, and he again signed with a "hometown team," the Titans, making him an original New York Jet. He lasted 3 seasons with them, and 3 more with the Oakland Raiders, and was named an AFL All-Star 3 times.

He went into coaching, initially back at West Point, and then with the Raiders, on the staff of all 3 of their Super Bowl-winning teams. He coached teams in NFL Europe in the 1990s, and died in 2014.

October 25, 1935: John Stewart MacMillan is born in Lethbridge, Alberta. A right wing, he won National Championships with the University of Denver in 1958 and 1960. He is also 1 of 9 surviving members of both the 1962 and the 1963 Stanley Cup Champion Toronto Maple Leafs.

October 25, 1936: Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy sign a treaty of alliance. A week later, on November 1, Italy's Premier, Benito Mussolini, declared that all other European countries would, from then on, rotate on the Rome-Berlin axis, thus creating the term "Axis" for this alliance.

A month later, on November 25, Germany and the Empire of Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact, and anti-Communist treaty, which Italy would sign on to the following year. Thus did Japan join the Axis.

October 25, 1937: Charles Thomas Schilling is born in Brooklyn. This C. Schilling played for the Boston Red Sox, but in a down period for them. Chuck was a 2nd baseman, and played for them from 1961 to 1965. He is still alive.

October 25, 1939, 80 years ago: Peter James Mikkelsen is born in Staten Island. Like Mel Stottlemyre, he grew up in Mabton, Washington, outside Yakima, and debuted with the Yankees in 1964, helping them to win a Pennant. Unlike Mel, that was his only good season for the Yankees, losing the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals. He remained in the major leagues as a reliever until 1972, including losing another World Series in 1968, ironically with the Cardinals, to the Detroit Tigers. He died in 2006.

Also on this day, Zelmo Beaty (no middle name) is born in Hillister, Texas. A forward, he was an All-Star twice in the NBA with the St. Louis Hawks, and 3 times in the ABA with the Utah Stars, winning the 1971 ABA Championship and reaching the 1974 ABA Finals with them. He later became a teacher, and died in 2013.

*

October 25, 1940: Robert Montgomery Knight is born in Massillon, Ohio. He always seemed to be listed as "Bobby Knight" until well into his Indiana tenure, but he seems to always be listed as "Bob Knight" now.

He was the 6th man on the Ohio State basketball team that won the 1960 National Championship, led by Jerry Lucas and John Havlicek. Like Vince Lombardi and Bill Parcells, he was an assistant coach at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. Unlike them, Bob Knight became head coach at "Army."

He moved on to Indiana University, and led them to 11 Big Ten Conference Championships, 5 NCAA Final Fours, and 3 National Championships, in 1976 (still the last undefeated season in men's college basketball history), 1981 and 1987. Among his players were Kent Benson, Scott May, Quinn Buckner, Isiah Thomas and Steve Alford, now the head coach at UCLA.

He also coached the U.S. team to the Gold Medal at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. This may have been the best basketball team ever assembled to that point, including Alford, Patrick Ewing, Chris Mullin, and North Carolina stars Michael Jordan and Sam Perkins. (As I said: The best ever assembled to that point.)

But controversy followed him, ranging from assaulting a police officer at a preseason tournament in Puerto Rico, to sexist comments, to profanity-laden press conferences, to the infamous chair toss to protest the officiating in a 1985 loss to in-State arch-rival Purdue, to assaulting his own players, including his own son, Pat Knight. IU finally had no choice but to fire him in 2000, but he resurfaced at Texas Tech, and brought them more NCAA Tournament success than they'd ever had before.

With 902 wins, he became the winningest coach in men's college basketball history, although he has been surpassed by his former assistant at West Point, Duke University coach Mike Krzyzewski. And not once in 41 seasons of head coaching (1965-71 with Army, 1971-2000 with Indiana, 2001-08 with Texas Tech) was he ever accused of breaking NCAA or conference rules.

And his players graduated. And, like Joe Paterno, who left under a more horrible controversy than anything that's been thrown at Knight, Knight has been a heavy donor to his schools' libraries. Top that, Rick Pitino and John Calipari.

As the man in the red sweater himself -- adopting those after ditching his former plaid jackets -- said, "When my time on Earth is gone, and my activities here are passed, I want they bury me upside-down, so my critics can kiss my ass." As he's shown as a college basketball pundit on ESPN, he's not done yet.
October 25, 1944, 75 years ago: Chester James Carville Jr. is born in... Carville, Louisiana. The town was named for his grandfather, who'd been a postmaster nearby. A Marine veteran of the Vietnam War (he likes to call himself "Corporal Cueball") and a political campaign genius, James Carville (never "Jim" or "Jimmy," and definitely not "Chester" or "Chet") played football at Louisiana State University, and remains a big fan of LSU and the New Orleans Saints.

Carville and Paul Begala managed Bill Clinton's 1992 Presidential campaign. Ironically, he married Mary Matalin, who worked on the other side, having been on the senior staff of the George H.W. Bush campaigns of 1988 and 1992. They have 2 daughters, and now live in New Orleans, where James teaches political science at Tulane University.

In one of his books, correctly titled We're Right, They're Wrong, Carville said, "There's only one thing a conservative hates more than fair taxation, and that's a fair fight."

October 25, 1945: Donald Rogers (no middle name) is born in Paulton, Somerset, England. A left winger, Don Rogers scored 2 goals in extra time for Wiltshire team Swindon Town, to win them the 1969 League Cup, defeating Arsenal in one of the most stunning upsets in the history of English soccer.

He played professionally from 1961 to 1977, and is now retired from running a sporting goods store in Swindon. The South Stand at Swindon's County Ground has been renamed the Don Rogers Stand. He is still alive.

October 25, 1946: Donald Eugene Eddy is born in Mason City, Iowa. Mason City has 2 musical connections: It was the hometown of Meredith Willson, composer of the musical The Music Man, and known as "The River City," which Willson worked into the song "Ya Got Trouble"; and it was the location of the airport where Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper took off from following their concert at nearby Clear Lake, and subsequently crashed in 1959.

Don Eddy was not a musician, as far as I can tell. He pitched in 22 games for the Chicago White Sox in 1970 and 1971. On the last day of the 1971 season, he hit a double off Bill Parsons of the Milwaukee Brewers. It was his only major league at-bat. His career totals: 0-2, but with a 2.36 ERA, and a batting average of 1.000. He died last year, from cancer, in Rockwell, Iowa, a few days short of turning 72.

Also on this day, Kōji Yamamoto is born in Hiroshima, Japan, just 14 months after the atomic bomb was dropped on the city. A center fielder, he played for his hometown Hiroshima Toyo Carp from 1969 to 1986, and managed them from 1989 to 1993, and again from 2001 to 2005.

Known as Mr. Red Helmet (For the Carp's distinctive headgear, equivalent to Ernie Banks being known as Mr. Cub), in 1975, he was Central League batting champion and Most Valuable Player. He was named MVP again in 1980.

He won 4 home run titles, 3 RBI titles, and 10 Gold Gloves. He led the Carp to Pennants in 1975, 1979, 1980, 1984 and 1986 as a player, and in 1991 as manager. (They also won the Central League Pennant this year, although he was not directly involved.) His 536 home runs are the 4th-most in Japanese history. They've retired his Number 8, and he is a member of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.

Also on this day, Elías Ricardo Figueroa Brander is born in Valparaíso, Chile. Known as Elías Figueroa, the centreback is often called Chile's greatest footballer ever. (Alexis Sanchez, you blew it.)

With Peñarol of Montevideo, he won Uruguay's league in 1967 and 1968. With Internacional of Porto Alegre, he won Brazil's league in 1975 and 1976. With Palestino of Santiago, he won Chile's national cup in 1977 and its league in 1978. He was later named "best foreign player of the century" in both Uruguay and Brazil.

He played for Chile in the 1966, 1974 and 1982 World Cups -- in World Cups 16 years apart, despite the team not qualifying in 1970 and 1978. He later managed Palestino, and is now a TV studio pundit in the sport.

October 25, 1947: Columbia University upsets the U.S. Military Academy, a.k.a. "Army," 21-20. It is Army's 1st defeat in 4 years, after winning the National Championship in 1944 and '45, and being denied another due to a tie with Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium in '46.

Although Columbia's home ground, Baker Field (since rebuilt, and now Robert Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium), is at 218th Street and Broadway, at the northern tip of Manhattan, in a neighborhood called Inwood, the game is nicknamed for Columbia's location, 100 blocks south: The Miracle of Morningside Heights. No Ivy League team, not even the undefeated Dartmouth squad of 1970, has had such a memorable victory since.

Also on this day, Baseball Commissioner Happy Chandler suspends the Chicago White Sox from the American League, in a dust-up that started when the Sox inked 17-year-old star pitcher George Zoeterman, in violation of a ban on signing high school players.

Sox general manager Leslie O'Connor argued that Zoeterman was a private school student (at Chicago Christian High School, now defunct), and therefore not covered under the ban. This position earned O'Connor a $500 fine. O'Connor refused to pay, resulting in the suspension.

Ironically, O'Connor had been the chief assistant to the previous Commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, and was even Acting Commissioner between Landis' November 25, 1944 death and Chandler's April 24, 1945 election. On November 4‚ White Sox owner Lou Comiskey paid the fine, and the AL was once again comprised of 8 teams.

What would have happened if Comiskey had backed his GM up? It could have meant a lawsuit. Chances are, before that case could reach court, the owners would have fired Chandler, and replaced him with a Commissioner more amenable to the Pale Hose's case.

It's highly unlikely that the AL would have played the 1948 season with a different ownership group getting the rights to play in Chicago (they'd have had to share Wrigley Field with the Cubs, as the aggrieved Sox surely wouldn't have let them use Comiskey Park), very unlikely that a different team would have been invited to replace the White Sox (an early promotion to the AL for Baltimore or Kansas City, perhaps?), and even less likely that they would have gone with just 7 teams.

And what, you might ask, happened to the principals? O'Connor left the White Sox after the 1948 season, and later served 8 years as the president of the Pacific Coast League, including the difficult 1957-58 off-season in which the Dodgers and Giants came to California, and he had to replace the original Los Angeles Angels (with, as it turned out, the Spokane Indians), the Hollywood Stars (with the Salt Lake Bees) and the San Francisco Seals (with the Phoenix Giants). He died in 1966, at age 76.

Zoeterman? A year later, he was signed -- by the crosstown Cubs. But he never got past Triple-A ball, and was released after the 1951 season, washed-up at 21. He died in 2001, age 71, and I can find no record of what he did in the last 50 years of his life.

October 25, 1948: It is a good day for an NBA center to be born. David William Cowens is born in Newport, Kentucky. Despite having the universities of Kentucky and Louisville in his home State, he went to Florida State. He starred for the Boston Celtics, and led them to NBA Championships in 1974 and 1976.

Cowens was one of the best centers of the 1970s, competing against guys like Wilt Chamberlain, Willis Reed and Nate Thrumond at the start of the decade; and Bill Walton at the end, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar all the way through it. His Number 18 was retired, and he was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame and the NBA’s 50th Anniversary 50 Greatest Players.

But it did bother me that, after years of not exactly packing the Boston Garden when the title-winning center was the outspoken black man Bill Russell, when the white Cowens came in, suddenly, Bostonians started packing the place and putting his poster up on their walls. Well into the 1980s, there was a giant mural of Cowens on the side of a building near the Garden. It wasn't until recently that Russell finally got the statue he had long deserved.

Also on this day, Daniel Paul Issel is born in Batavia, Illinois. Unlike Kentucky native Cowens, he did play at the University of Kentucky. He led the Louisville-based Kentucky Colonels to the 1975 ABA Championship, and starred for the Denver Nuggets after the NBA-ABA merger in 1976. At his retirement, he was the NBA’s 4th-leading all-time point-scorer, trailing only Kareem, Wilt and Julius Erving.

UK and the Nugs both retired his Number 44 (surely, if the Colonels had been taken into the NBA, they would have done so as well), and he is a member of the Hall of Fame. He wasn't named to the 50 Greatest Players, but perhaps he should have been.

Also on this day, Danny Mack Gable is born in Waterloo, Iowa. He is the greatest wrestler in American history, and I ain't talking about that crap that C.M. Punk does. Through high school and college, at Iowa State University, he lost only 1 match, his last, at the 1972 NCAA Championships. He won a Gold Medal at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany, not allowing a single point against the best wrestlers in the world at his weight class (150 pounds).

And he was just getting warmed up. He began coaching Iowa State's biggest rival, the University of Iowa, in 1976, and from 1978 to 1986 they won 9 straight National Championships, eventually winning 15 National Championships and the Big 10 Championship all 21 years he was at Iowa, making him arguably, as hard as it would have been to believe in 1972, a greater success as a coach than as a performer in his sport.

As a player, he was his sport's Lew Alcindor/Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. As a coach, he was his sport's John Wooden. He coached the U.S. Olympic wrestling team in 1980 (not competing due to the Soviet boycott), 1984 and 2000. He is now retired from an active role at Iowa.

October 25, 1949, 70 years ago: Réjean Houle (no middle name) is born in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec. a right wing, he won Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens in 1971, 1973, 1977, 1978 and 1979 -- but not 1976, as he was then playing with the Quebec Nordiques of the World Hockey Association.

But he's best-remembered as the Canadiens' general manager from 1995 to 2000, and by "best-remembered," I don't mean "most fondly remembered." It was Houle who traded Patrick Roy to the Colorado Avalanche, initiating "The Curse of Saint Patrick" that has kept the Habs from winning the Cup since (their last coming in 1993). Houle was also a notoriously poor drafter, which probably hurt the team more than the Roy trade. He is now a club ambassador.

*

October 25, 1950: John Daniel Matuszak is born in Milwaukee, and grows up in nearby Oak Creek, Wisconsin. He got a scholarship to play tight end at the University of Missouri, but when Dan Devine left to take the Notre Dame job, the new coach, Al Onofrio, revoked it. He was allowed to transfer to the University of Tampa, a Division II school, without losing eligibility.

His size (6-foot-8 and 280 pounds) and speed got him noticed, and the Houston Oilers made him the 1st pick in the 1973 NFL Draft. But legal issues between the NFL and the World Football League meant that he bounced around, until joining the Oakland Raiders, winning Super Bowls XI and XV with them.

He became an actor, playing O.W. Shaddock in the football-themed film North Dallas Forty, yelling at his coach, played by Charles Durning, "Every time I call it a game, you call it a business. And every time I call it a business, you call it a game!"

After that, he mainly played guys who were big on size but not on brains: A dissatisfied Corporal on M*A*S*H, a caveman in Caveman, and the deformed but kind-hearted Sloth Fratelli in The Goonies.

But his years of prescription drug use caught up with him, and he died in 1989, only 38 years old. I suspect that he was the inspiration for 2 football players played by Donald Gibb: Frederick Aloysius Palowaski, a.k.a. "The Ogre," in the Revenge of the Nerds movies, and Leslie "Dr. Death" Krunchner on 1st & Ten.

Also on this day, Roger Davies is born in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. He had no middle name, and, like most people with the name in Britain, the E is silent: It's "DAY-viss," not "DAY-veez." A forward, he was a reserve at East Midlands club Derby County when they won the Football League in 1972, but a starter when they did it again in 1975.

He later played in the original North American Soccer League, for the Tulsa Roughnecks, the Seattle Sounders, and the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. He is now a radio broadcaster for Derby County matches.

October 25, 1954: Michael Eruzione (no middle name) is born in Winthrop, Massachusetts, just outside Boston. He starred for the storied hockey team at Boston University, and was named Captain of the U.S. team at the 1980 Winter Olympics. It was his goal that gave the U.S. the 4-3 lead and ultimately the victory over the Soviet Union. Two days later, they beat Finland for the Gold Medal.

As the Captain, it was Mike Eruzione who stood on the medal stand to receive the flag-raising and the National Anthem. Afterward, he invited all his teammates onto the stand with him, and they all raised their fingers in the "We're Number 1 salute.

Despite offers, Eruzione decided not to play pro hockey, becoming a broadcaster. He now works for Boston University, and tours the nation as a motivational speaker. Wouldn't you be motivated by the guy who captained the team that beat the Russians?

At the 2002 Winter Olympics, Eruzione and his 1980 teammates were invited to be the torchbearers for the lighting of the Olympic Flame. Wearing their 1980 jerseys (or perhaps replicas of them), they recreated the We're Number 1 pose, 22 years later.

In the 1981 made-for-TV movie Miracle on Ice, Eruzione was portrayed by Andrew Stevens. In the 2004 Disney film Miracle, he was portrayed by Patrick O'Brien Demsey, who had also played collegiate hockey in Massachusetts, at Fitchburg State College -- and is not to be confused with Patrick "Dr. McDreamy" Dempsey.

October 25, 1955: Daniel Wayne Darwin is born in Bonham, Texas, outside Dallas. He pitched for his "hometown" Texas Rangers, and later appeared in the postseason with the 1986 Houston Astros and the 1997 San Francisco Giants. His career record was 171-182, mostly for bad teams, with a 3.84 ERA and 1,942 career strikeouts. With the 1990 Astros, he led the National League in ERA. He is now the pitching coach for the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, the Class AA farm team of the Cincinnati Reds.

Also on this day, Dennis Winston (no middle name) is born in Forrest City, Arkansas. The linebacker nicknamed "Dirt" was a backup on the Pittsburgh Steelers' 1978 and 1979 NFL Champions, starting Super Bowl XIV in place of the injured Jack Ham. He has since gone into coaching, and is now working in the Cincinnati Reds' system.

October 25, 1957: Albert Anastasia, the founder of what became New York's Gambino crime family, is whacked. He entered the barbershop of the Park Sheraton Hotel (in whose ballroom Jackie Gleason staged and filmed The Honeymooners, and it's now the Park Central Hotel), on 56th Street & 7th Avenue in New York. His bodyguard parked the car in an underground garage and then, most conveniently, perhaps with a little financial incentive from one of Anastasia's enemies, decided to take a little stroll.

As Anastasia relaxed in the barber chair, 2 men – scarves covering their faces – rushed in, shoved the barber out of the way, and fired at Anastasia. After the 1st volley of bullets, Anastasia allegedly attempted to lunge at his killers. However, the stunned Anastasia had actually attacked the gunmen's reflections in the wall mirror of the barber shop. The gunmen resumed firing, and Anastasia finally fell to the floor, dead. He was 55 years old.

His murder remains officially unsolved, although it's easy to imagine that the NYPD wasn't exactly exerting itself to find the killers. It is widely believed that the contract was given to Joe Profaci, who passed it on to "Crazy Joe" Gallo from Brooklyn, who then performed the hit with one of his brothers. Gallo, himself later the victim of an infamously unsolved rubout, was the subject of Bob Dylan's song "Joey."

Anastasia was one of the most powerful mob bosses ever, known as Il Capo di Tutti Capi -- The Boss of All Bosses. But, today, he is best known for the way he died, which was fictionally portrayed near the end of the film The Godfather.

In an episode of M*A*S*H, temporarily blinded, a blindfolded Hawkeye Pierce feels around an empty chair by the door and jokingly says, "Ah, Albert Anastasia's bodyguard." But this is an anachronistic error, as the Korean War ended in 1953, 4 years before the Anastasia murder. (A moment later, finding an empty bed, Hawkeye cites the actor who starred in The Invisible Man: "Ah, Claude Rains." This is a different kind of mistake, as the Invisible Man could not be seen, but could be felt.)

In an episode of The West Wing, the question of when Anastasia was killed comes up, and White House Communications Director Toby Ziegler asks his visiting father, former Murder, Incorporated officer Julius (a.k.a. Julie), when it happened. Julie says, "October, 1957." He later tells Toby he should know things like that, and Toby tells him he does know, that he knows all about Julie's Mob activities back then. Julie's attempt to admonish is ironic, since he gave the year and the month, but not the day.

In an episode of The Sopranos, Uncle Junior says that he wishes the Mob were like they were in the Fifties, "when it was peaceful." Tony says he remembers seeing the picture of Anastasia in a pool of blood on the barbershop floor. I guess even nostalgia ain't what it used to be.

Also on this day, Donna Lauria is born in Queens. But she, too, will be murdered in New York City. On July 29, 1976, she becomes the 1st victim of the Son of Sam.

October 25, 1958: Estadio Cibao opens in Santiago, the Dominican Republic. Seating 18,077, making it the largest stadium in the country, it is home to Águilas Cibaeñas, the Cibao Eagles, of the Dominican Winter Baseball League. They have won 20 Pennants and 5 Caribbean Series, all but the 1st Pennant since Estadio Cibao opened. 

Also on this day, Kornelia Ender is born in Plauen, Saxony, Germany. She won 4 Gold Medals in swimming for East Germany at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, all in world-record times. She had help, as did many of East Germany's Olympic athletes, and it rhymed with "spheroids."

*

October 25, 1960: Daniel Leroy Baldwin is born in Massapequa, Long Island, New York. Brother of Alec, William and Stephen, he is best remembered for playing Detective Beau Felton on Homicide: Life On the Street. He now hosts a radio show in Syracuse.

October 25, 1961: Brian Keith Kelly is born in the Boston suburb of Everett, Massachusetts, and grows up in nearby Chelsea. After playing football as a linebacker at NCAA Division II school Assumption College in Worcester, he served as one of their assistant coaches, before moving on to another Division II school, Grand Valley State in Michigan.

He became their head coach in 1991, and won Division II National Championships in 2002 and 2003. That got him hired at Central Michigan in 2004, winning the Mid-American Conference in 2006. That got him hired at the University of Cincinnati in 2007, winning the Big East Conference in 2008 and 2009.

That got him hired at Notre Dame in 2010. In 2012, it looked like he would follow the pattern set by Knute Rockne (1924), Frank Leahy (1943), Ara Parseghian (1966), Dan Devine (1977) and Lou Holtz (1988): Winning the National Championship in his 3rd season in South Bend. They beat Number 10 Michigan State, Number 18 Michigan, Number 17 Stanford and Number 8 Oklahoma, and finished the regular season 12-0. Then they went to the National Chamionship Game ranked Number 1, and got clobbered by Alabama.

They went 9-4 in 2013. Then they had to forfeit all their 2012 and 2013 wins due to academic violations. They sandwiched a 4-8 2016 season with 10-3 seasons in 2015 and 2017. They went 12-0 in the 2018 regular season, and played the Playoff Semifinal in the Cotton Bowl (game, not stadium), but got embarrassed by eventual National Champion Clemson.

Tomorrow, they go into Ann Arbor to play rival Michigan. They are ranked Number 8, having already beaten Louisville, New Mexico, then-Number 18 Virginia, Bowling Green and USC, and lost to then-Number 3 Georgia. Kelly's record is 66-35 at Notre Dame, and 236-92-2 overall.

Also on this day, David Jeffrey Jones is born in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, where his father was stationed as a diplomat. A 6-foot-9 offensive lineman, in 1987 he played for both teams that ended up playing in Super Bowl XXII at the end of the season, first the Denver Broncos, then the Washington Redskins. Although he got a ring with the 'Skins, he never played another NFL game.

October 25, 1962: John Michael Stollmeyer is born in Pittsburgh. A centreback, he helped Indiana University win the NCAA soccer championship in 1982 and 1983, and was a member of the U.S. team at the 1990 World Cup. He was already coaching by the time Major League Soccer began play in 1996. He is now an executive with. Raymond James in Indianapolis.

Also on this day, Stephen Brian Hodge is born in Nottingham, England. A midfielder, he starred with his hometown team, Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest, in the early 1980s, then was signed by North London club Tottenham Hotspur.

He was a member of the 1986-87 "Spurs" squad that looked set to complete a never-before-done domestic Treble: Winning the Football League, the FA Cup and the League Cup in the same season. Except they tailed off late in the season and finished 3rd in the League, lost a tumultuous League Cup Semifinal to North London arch-rivals Arsenal, and then lost the FA Cup Final to Coventry City on an own goal. (The feat has still never been accomplished.)

He returned to Forest, and won the Full Members Cup with them in 1989, and the League Cup in 1989 and 1990. In 1991, he got to the FA Cup Final again, but again lost due to a teammate's own goal -- this time to Tottenham! Hodge moved on to Leeds United, and finally won the League, in 1992. (Neither Forest nor Spurs nor Leeds have won a major trophy since, unless you count Spurs' League Cup wins of 1999 and 2008 -- and you shouldn't.)

He played for England in the 1986 and 1990 World Cups. He is now the reserve manager for the other Nottingham team, Notts County, and briefly served as caretaker manager in 2013.

October 25, 1963: The Twilight Zone airs the episode "The Last Night of a Jockey." Series creator Rod Serling was only 5-foot-4 and sensitive about it, so he wrote an episode about Michael Grady, a disgraced jockey, who loses his job, in one of the few professions where it helps to be small.

So the jockey wishes to be "big." He gets his wish: He grows to be well over 6 feet tall. Then he gets a phone call: In a classic Serling twist, the jockey is told that he's been legally cleared, and can race again tomorrow. Except he can't, because now, he's too big.

Serling, only 5-foot-4 himself, wrote it with the 5-foot-2 Mickey Rooney in mind, and Rooney shows that he's more than just a song-a-dance man.

Also on this day, Tracy Kristine Nelson is born in the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Monica, California. The daughter of singer-actor Ricky Nelson (and thus granddaughter of Ozzie & Harriet) and actress Kristin Harmon (and thus a niece of Mark Harmon and grandniece of Heisman Trophy winner Tommy Harmon), she played Jennifer DiNuccio on Square Pegs, Sister Steve Oskowski on The Father Dowling Mysteries, Everlyn Gardner in the brief TV version of the baseball film A League of Their Own, and Meredith Parker on Melrose Place.

October 25, 1965: The Cubs end their "It seemed like a good idea at the time" College of Coaches experiment with the hiring of Leo Durocher. Having coached with the Dodgers since their 1957-58 move to Los Angeles, and not having managed since the 1955 Giants, he signs a 3-year deal, and is given complete authority on the field.

Leo the Lip takes over a team that finished 8th in the 10-team NL, and says, "Chicago is not an eighth-place ball club." He was right: In 1966, they finished 10th. But in 1967, he turned them around, leading them to a winning season, and did it again in 1968. In 1969, they were in 1st place in the newly-created NL Eastern Division in early September. And then...

He actually got them closer to winning the Division in 1970, but it wasn't as dramatic, and they lost out to Pittsburgh, not New York, so it wasn't covered as much. He was fired by the Cubs in 1972, and was quickly picked up by the Houston Astros, but was fired only a year later, ending a 48-year run as a player and a manager in the major leagues. He won 2,009 games as a manager, 2nd in NL play only to John McGraw. He died in 1991, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1994.

Also on this day, Amy Allman (no middle name) is born is born in Seattle, and grows up in the neighboring suburb of Federal Way, Washington. A goalkeeper, she played on the U.S. team that won the 1st Women's World Cup in 1991. She now uses her married name, Amy Griffin, and coaches at the University of Washington and for the U.S. Under-20 Women's team.

October 25, 1966: Wendel Clark is born in Kelvington, Saskatchewan. The All-Star left wing played for several teams, but is best known for his three tenures with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He scored 330 goals in his 15-year career. He was a 2-time NHL All-Star, and was Captain of the Leafs as they reached the Conference Finals in 1993 and 1994.

In 2016, the Leafs retired his Number 17. He is now a club ambassador. He is a cousin of former NHL player Joey Kocur and ESPN commentator and former NHL coach Barry Melrose.

October 25, 1968: Star Trek airs the episode "Spectre of the Gun." Five USS Enterprise officers are captured by aliens, and forced to be on the losing side of the Gunfight at the OK Corral --  which occurred in Tombstone, Arizona exactly 87 years, minus 1 day, before the episode aired: October 26, 1881.

Ensign Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig) is killed by Morgan Earp. This provides Commander Spock (Leonard Nimoy, forced to play the part of Frank McLaury) with the key: Chekov's character, Billy Claiborne, survived the gunfight. Therefore, history can be changed.

So Spock performs a mind-meld on Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner, Ike Clanton), Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley, Tom McLaury), and Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott (James Doohan, Billy Clanton), to give them what they need to survive: The 100 percent assurance that the bullets are not real. At one point, he calls the bullets "spectres," hence the title of the episode.

When the crewmen survive the battle, and Kirk kicks Wyatt's ass in a real fight, and then refuses to kill him, the aliens are convinced that the Federation men are worthy of their diplomacy, and returns them to the ship, including restoring Chekov to life.

This was the 3rd time De Kelley had re-enacted the Gunfight at the OK Corral. In a 1955 episode of the historical re-enactment series You Are There, he played Ike Clanton. And in the 1957 film Gunfight at the OK Corral, he was on the other side, playing Morgan Earp.

*

October 25, 1970: Joshua Ade Adande is born in Los Angeles. The ESPN commentator, whose former work writing sports columns for the Los Angeles Times got him a Pulitzer Prize, he is a mainstay on ESPN's Around the Horn.

When he wins, and he's won 315 times in the show's 17 years, he takes viewers to "The J.A. Adande Lounge," where some celebrities, sports and otherwise, are present, and delivers his "30 seconds of face time." He's just as good funny as he is serious.

October 25, 1971: Pedro Martinez emerges from Emperor Palpatine's laboratory, deep within the Dominican Republic, ready to do the Emperor's bidding and cause great mayhem throughout the galaxy's baseball parks.

Also on this day, Basil O'Meara dies of a stroke in Montreal, at age 79. A columnist for the Montreal Star, he was elected into the media section of the Hockey and Canadian Football Halls of Fame.

October 25, 1972: Persia White is born in Miami. She played Lynn Searcy on Girlfriends, and worked her real-life activism for veganism and animal rights, and her unconventional spiritual and sexual beliefs, into the character. All by herself, she was the biggest difference between that show and the earlier sitcom Living Single.

She has released 2 albums, first with the industrial rock band XEO3 and now solo, and appeared as Abby Bennett on The Vampire Diaries. She married Joseph Morgan, her co-star on that show.

What does she have to do with sports? Well, her 1st film role was in the college basketball-themed movie Blue Chips. Bob Knight was also in that one. That, and a shared birthday, may be the only thing they have in common.

October 25, 1973: Abebe Bikila dies. The 1st black African to win a Gold Medal in the Olympics, the Ethiopian won the marathon in 1960 and 1964 – running the ’60 marathon barefoot. But a car accident in 1969 left him a paraplegic, and he never recovered from his injuries. He was only 41 when he died.

Also on this day, the Chicago Cubs trade 6-time 20-game winner Ferguson Jenkins to the Texas Rangers for 3rd baseman Bill Madlock and utility man Vic Harris. Fergie has led the Cubs in wins in each of the past 7 seasons‚ the only pitcher ever to do so for a club and then be traded.

Although Madlock will win 2 batting titles with the Cubs, they will be out of contention while he is with them. By contrast, Jenkins will pitch the Rangers to a 2nd-place finish in 1974, their best-ever finishes until 1994. He would also pitch for the Red Sox, finishing 2nd with them as one of the "Buffalo Heads" in 1977. He will, however, return to the Cubs and help them win the 1984 Division Title.

Meanwhile‚ the San Francisco Giants trade 3-time home run champion Willie McCovey‚ a Giant since 1959‚ together with a minor leaguer named Bernie Williams (no relation to the Yankee Legend of the same name)‚ to the San Diego Padres for pitcher Mike Caldwell.

This was a bad trade, as Caldwell did nothing for the Giants, but developed one of the best curveballs in the game in helping the Milwaukee Brewers mature into a Pennant winner. As Jenkins did with the Cubs, McCovey later rejoined the Giants, a second act that would include winning NL Comeback Player of the Year in 1977, and his 500th career home run in 1978. He finished with 521 homers.

Also on this day, the Yom Kippur War is settled, thanks to the "shuttle diplomacy" of U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, but also due to the fact that, as in 1967, Israel had pretty much won the war in less than 3 weeks, and the Arabs didn't want to lose any further.

This shocked President Anwar el-Sadat of Egypt into making strides toward peace with Israel. Five years later, it was achieved.

October 25, 1975: Elton John plays the 1st of 2 sold-out shows at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The gates open at 1:00 PM, and the warmup acts are Emmylou Harris, and the James Gang, featuring future Eagle Joe Walsh on guitar.

Elton takes the stage at 4:30, wearing a sequin-encrusted Dodger uniform designed by Bob Mackie, the costume designer for CBS, famed for his designs for The Carol Burnett Show and The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour. He starts with his 1st big hit, "Your Song." He usually closes with "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting," but, this time, with his role in the recent film version of The Who's Tommy in mind, he follows that with "Pinball Wizard."

Joining him on backing vocals was Billie Jean King. Elton was a big tennis fan, and, in Billie Jean, also then closeted despite being the biggest star in her field of endeavor, he found a kindred spirit.

Also on this day, The Mary Tyler Moore show airs the episode "Chuckles Bites the Dust." Chuckles the Clown, the never-seen kids-show host on WJM-Channel 12 in Minneapolis, meets a sad end. As his rival for attention, newscaster Ted Baxter (Ted Knight), says, "He died a broken man."

Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore) can't believe that nobody is sad about his death. Everybody is laughing. Finally, at his funeral, the minister recites Chuckles'"A Clown's Credo": "A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants." And Mary cracks up. And the minister tells her that this is exactly what Chuckles would have wanted, and encourages her to laugh some more. And she bursts into tears. It's often called the show's best episode.

Later that night, on Saturday Night Live, John Belushi debuts his uncanny impression of British soul singer Joe Cocker. In 1978, Cocker was be the musical guest, and in the middle of singing "Feelin' Alright," Belushi sidled up to him and mimicked him perfectly. This ticked Cocker off, and he never appeared on the show again.

October 25, 1976: Brett Kirk (no middle name) is born in Albury, New South Wales, Australia. One of the top Australian Rules footballers of the 2000s, he is now an assistant coach for his former team, Sydney Swans. They won an Australian Football League (AFL) title in 2005.

One of the current Swans Co-Captains is Luke Parker, born October 25, 1992 in the Melbourne suburb of Langwarrin, Victoria.

October 25, 1977: Birgit Prinz (no middle name) is born in Frankfurt, Germany. One of the greatest players in women's soccer history, the striker starred for hometown clubs FSV Frankfurt and FFC Frankfurt, and in the U.S. for the Carolina Courage.

She played for Germany in the 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011 Women's World Cups, winning in 2003 and 2007. She is now the sport psychologist for Germany club TSG 1899 Hoffenheim -- both their men's and women's teams.

Also on this day, M*A*S*H airs the episode "The Light That Failed." A shortage of supplies, including light bulbs, leads to Charles (David Ogden Stiers) making a reading mistake on a bottle that nearly kills a patient.

In addition, B.J. (Mike Farrell) receives a book in the mail, The Rooster Crowed at Midnight by Abigail Porterfield, obviously meant as a parody of the murder mysteries of Agatha Christie. As he finishes each chapter, he tears it out of the book, and passes it to Hawkeye (Alan Alda), who then passes it around after he's done, and so on. But the last page is already torn out, and B.J.'s attempts to figure out whodunit are laughable: "I'll admit, a few of my deduces were wild."

Also on this day, Happy Days airs the episode "Fonsillectomy." Arthur Fonzarelli (Henry Winkler) has to have his tonsils out. And that is not cool.

October 25, 1978: Gaylord Perry of the San Diego Padres becomes the 1st pitcher to win the Cy Young Award in each league. Perry copped the NL honors with a 21-6 record and a 2.72 ERA. He also won it with the AL's Cleveland Indians in 1972. This also makes him, at 39, the oldest man to win the Award. This is the 13th straight season that Perry has won 15 or more games‚ second only to Cy Young's 15 straight 15+ seasons.

Perry's achievement of Cy Youngs in both Leagues has been matched by Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, Roy Halladay and Max Scherzer. But he remains the oldest winner, slightly outpacing Clemens' last award.

October 25, 1979, 40 years ago: Anthony Dale Torcato is born in Woodland, California. An outfielder, Tony Torcato was with the San Francisco Giants when they won the 2002 NL Pennant. He last played in the majors with the Giants in 2005.

*

October 25, 1980: Pat Rice, like the aforementioned Sammy Nelson a native of Belfast, Northern Ireland, plays for Arsenal for the 397th and last time, in a 1-1 draw with North-East team Sunderland at Roker Park. The right back was the only man to start on both the 1971 League and Cup Double winners and the 1979 FA Cup winners, captaining the latter.

He was soon sold to Hertfordshire team Watford, and later served Arsenal as an assistant coach, including as caretaker manager in 1996 following the firing of Bruce Rioch, while they were waiting for Arsène Wenger's Japanese contract to run out.

During his tenure with Arsenal (1967-80 and 1984-2012), the team won 17 major trophies. It didn't win any trophies without him having a role between 1953 and 2014.

October 25, 1981: The Los Angeles Dodgers win Game 5 of the World Series, as back-to-back homers by Pedro Guerrero and Steve Yeager off Yankee ace Ron Guidry give the Dodgers their 3rd consecutive win, 2-1.

This turns out to be Reggie Jackson's last game as a Yankee. Reggie went 1-for-4 with a 2nd-inning double. But he had been battling an injury, and manager Bob Lemon -- acting on Yankee owner George Steinbrenner's orders, it has been alleged -- kept "Mr. October" out of Game 6, and the Dodgers won it to clinch the Series. George did not try to re-sign Reggie, which he later said was the biggest mistake he made as Yankee owner. Reggie signed with the Angels.

After this game, George says he'd scuffled with 2 Dodger fans in a hotel elevator, and emerges with a fat lip and a broken hand.

Also on this day, Pete Reiser (pronounced REEZ-er, not RIZE-er like actor Paul, no relation) dies at the age of 62. His relatively early death may have been hastened by the various injuries, including head injuries, he sustained as an outfielder for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Like Lenny Dykstra in the 1980s and '90s, he was a center fielder who frequently crashed into the outfield wall trying to make catches. Unlike Dykstra, he played in the 1940s, when outfield walls had no padding.

Branch Rickey, the general manager of the Cardinals, claimed he began scouting Reiser when he was just 12 years old, and while Reiser signed with the Dodgers instead, they were brought together when Rickey was hired as Dodger president in 1942. As a rookie in 1941, he won the NL batting title while the Dodgers took home the Pennant.

There was no Rookie of the Year award in those days; if there was, that year's awards would surely have gone to Reiser in the NL and Phil Rizzuto of the Yankees in the American League.

The following year, he was hitting .380 until he ran into a concrete outfield wall while running at full speed. That incident robbed him of any more effective play that year, and led to Brooklyn's painful drop in the NL standings. He led the NL in stolen bases in 1942 and '46, but a broken ankle in '47 robbed him of his great speed and hastened the end of his career. The Dodgers traded him after the '48 season, and he was done after '52, just 33 years old.

My Grandma used to tell the story of listening to the Dodgers on the radio in the Forties, and hearing that a player had crashed into the wall. She could never remember which player it was, but, considering his tendencies, it has to have been Reiser. As Reiser was being carried off the field on a stretcher, the public-address annoucer at Ebbets Field, Tex Rickards (nicknamed after Tex Rickard, the boxing promoter who built the old Madison Square Garden and the old Boston Garden), asked why Reiser was being taken out of the game. Some less-than-fully-educated
Brooklyn guy must’'e told him, "He don't feel good."

And Grandma could hear the announcement over the radio: "Ladies and gentlemen, Reiser has to leave the game, because he don't feel good!" Grandma said she knew that Dodger broadcaster Red Barber, a Southerner but a cultured gentleman, would have a fit over this poor grammar from the PA announcer. Sure enough, he did.

Reiser's first big-league manager, Leo Durocher, always said that Willie Mays was the greatest player he ever saw, let alone managed, but thought nearly as highly of Reiser: "Willie Mays had everything. Pete Reiser had everything but luck." (An ironic statement, since he was born on March 17, 1919, St. Patrick’s Day – although he was of German descent, not Irish.)

Durocher later hired Reiser as one of his coaches, and he was named Minor League Manager of the Year by The Sporting News in 1959. But in 1965, while managing the Spokane Indians of the Pacific Coast League, he suffered a heart attack and resigned. His replacement there was the same man who had replaced him as center fielder in Brooklyn in 1947, Duke Snider, a considerably luckier man who made the Hall of Fame and lived until 2011.

Also on this day, Shaun Wright-Phillips is born in the Greenwich section of London. The midfielder is the adopted son of Arsenal legend and TV soccer pundit Ian Wright (and has often worn his father’s Number 8), and the half-brother of Bradley Wright-Phillips. They were teammates at Manchester City, and for a while, they were teammates with the New York Red Bulls.

Together, they won the 2015 MLS Supporters' Shield, for finishing 1st overall in the league's regular season. This year, they finished 1st in the Eastern Conference regular season, and are determined to help the Red Bulls finally win that elusive 1st MLS Cup. Previously, Shaun won 2 Premier League titles with West London club Chelsea. He last played in 2017, for Phoenix Rising FC in the United Soccer League.

October 25, 1983: U.S. Marines invade the Caribbean island nation of Grenada, in what is known as Operation Urgent Fury. The purpose is to overthrow the leftist government that had been endangering American citizens living there. In 1986, Clint Eastwood would direct and star in a film about it, Heartbreak Ridge.

In his memoir Man of the House, retired House Speaker Thomas "Tip" O'Neill of Massachusetts said he believed it was designed to obscure the Beirut bombing 2 days earlier, because Reagan would be running for re-election in a little over a year. I believed this for many years: At the very least, knowing what I knew about Reagan, it was plausible.

But in 2011, in the debate over President Barack Obama's alleged tendency toward taking vacations -- alleged by Donald Trump, who has since rendered the idea insane -- I knew that Obama had approved the plan to kill Osama bin Laden while on vacation, that President Bill Clinton had approved a previous plan to attack bin Laden's forces on vacation in 1998, and that President Eisenhower had ordered the 101st Airborne to Little Rock while on vacation in 1957. I also knew that President George W. Bush had ignored a warning about bin Laden while on vacation in 2001; and that, presuming he was telling the truth, President Richard Nixon was first told about the Watergate break-in while on vacation in 1972.

So I sent an e-mail to the Reagan Library, asking if Reagan, whose tendency to go on vacation led Tonight Show host Johnny Carson to say, "Ronald Reagan spends more time in California than I do," had approved any major policy initiatives while at his ranch outside Santa Barbara, not including famously signing his 1981 tax cut there (which I already knew). I was told that he approved the Grenada invasion while he was there -- before the Beirut bombing, thus debunking Tip's theory.

Also on this day, Bay City Blues premieres on NBC, about a minor-league baseball team. Unfortunately, the TV season and the baseball season do not match up well, and this is one of many TV shows about a baseball team that failed. It is possible that news of the invasion helped distract people from the premiere, thus killing any of its momentum.

The series was created by Stephen Bochco, and featured many performers who had previously acted for him, and would again on shows like Hill Street Blues and L.A. Law: Dennis Franz, Ken Olin and Michele Greene. The one who would become the biggest star did not, however, do so through a Bochco vehicle: Sharon Stone. Michael Nouri played aging veteran Joe Rohner, and would later play Joe DiMaggio in Billy Crystal's film about the 1961 Yankees, 61*.

Also on this day, Happy Days airs the episode "Welcome Home." Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard) and Ralph Malph (Don Most) make their 1st appearances in 3 years, having been discharged from the U.S. Army.

Richie wants to move to California, to switch from journalism to screenwriting. His parents don't like it. In the 2nd half of the 2-parter, airing on November 1, he goes to Arnold's, and drinks too much. Up until now, most of us hadn't realized that Arnold's even served beer and booze. When Fonzie tries to get Richie to come home, Richie decks him. Not that surprising: The Fonz may have been street tough, but Richie was now a trained soldier.

They make up, and Richie writes a letter telling the Fonz how he feels about him, saying he writes better than he talks, and goes on about how he doesn't know how to tell Fonzie how he feels. Fonzie says, "I think you just did," and tells him that he loves him.

The series ends that season, on May 8, 1984, with the wedding of Richie's sister Joanie (Erin Moran) and Fonzie's cousin Chachi (Scott Baio), uniting the families, and Richie, of course, attends.

Also on this day, Adrian Awasom (no middle name) is born in Yaounde, Cameroon, and grows up in the Houston suburb of Stafford, Texas. A defensive end, he was with the Giants when they won Super Bowl XLII.

October 25, 1984: Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson is born in Santa Barbara, California. She wanted to sing, but couldn't use her real name, Katy Hudson, because people would confuse her with actress Kate Hudson. So she became Katy Perry. She performed the halftime show at Super Bowl XLIX in 2015.

October 25, 1985: Sayreville War Memorial High School in Central Jersey moves its scheduled football game with neighboring East Brunswick back a day, so it can be the 1st night game at the school.

The Bombers were talking a lot of trash, saying that they were going to beat EB -- something they'd previously done only once in 22 tries. They didn't. Da Bears came from 13-0 down to win, 14-13.

As late as 1990, EB would be 27-1 all-time vs. Sayreville. Then a new coach was hired, and it turned the tide. Since then, Sayreville has a 23-7 record against EB, for a total of EB 34, Sayreville 29.

Also on this day, Colt Anderson (no middle name) is born in Butte, Montana. The safety played at the University of Montana, and was All-Big Sky Conference 3 times, before playing 2 seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, 2 with (appropriately) the Indianapolis Colts, and 2 with the Buffalo Bills. He is currently a free agent.

Also on this day, Ciara Princess Harris is born in Austin, Texas. The R&B singer married Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson in 2016.

*

October 25, 1986: Dave Henderson steps to the plate at 11:59 PM, and hits a home run off Rick Aguilera, to give the Boston Red Sox a 4-3 lead over the New York Mets in the top of the 10th inning of Game 6 of the World Series.

By the time he crosses the plate, it's 12:00 midnight, October 26. The Red Sox will extend their lead to 5-3 before their half of the inning is over. All they need now is 3 more outs in the bottom of the 10th.

They get the 1st 2. You know the rest. But do you really remember? Red Sox pitcher Calvin Schiraldi, an ex-Met, allows a single to Gary Carter. Then he allows a single to Kevin Mitchell. Carter to 2nd. Then he allows a single to Ray Knight. Carter scores, Mitchell to 2nd, 5-4 Red Sox. Then Sox manager John McNamara pulls Schiraldi, and calls on Bob Stanley, once a very good reliever, but by this point in his career a lost cause.

Stanley faces William Hayward "Mookie" Wilson, and gets to 2 strikes. There were 13 separate pitches that could have ended this game in victory and a 1st World Championship in 68 years for the Red Sox. The 13th almost hit Mookie. He jumps out of the way, and it rolls to the backstop. Wild pitch. Mitchell scores, Knight to 2nd, 5-5 tie.

For the Mets and their fans, Christmas had come 2 months early: The Red Sox had given them the game. They had royally blown it. According Dan Shaughnessy, the Boston Globe columnist, in his book The Curse of the Bambino, somebody later calculated that the odds of the Red Sox blowing a 2-run, 2-out, 2-strike lead at that point were 320-1.

Three hundred and twenty to one. Think about that for a moment: A baseball regular season lasts 162 games. So if you had those conditions every single game -- 2 outs, 2 strikes on the batter, and you're up by 2 runs -- the odds are that you would win every single game in a season, and nearly every single game in a 2nd season, up to Game 158 of that 2nd season, before you would lose one.

Some teams have meltdowns that last 2 months, like the 1978 Red Sox, the 1969 Cubs, and the 1995 California Angels. Some teams have meltdowns that last 1 month, like the 2011 Red Sox, the 2007 Mets and the 1951 Dodgers. Some teams have meltdowns that last 2 weeks, like the 1964 Philadelphia Phillies. Some teams have meltdowns that last 1 week, like the 1987 Toronto Blue Jays. Some teams have meltdowns that last less than a week, like the 2004 and 2012 Yankees. The 1986 Red Sox had a meltdown that lasted 10 minutes.

You'll notice that there's a name I haven't mentioned yet: That of Red Sox 1st baseman Bill Buckner. The Red Sox had already blown a lead that is the closest any team, in any of the 4 major league sports, had ever been to winning a World Championship without actually getting it. Even the 1999 Bayern Munich soccer team that allowed goals in the 91st minute to Teddy Sheringham and in the 93rd to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to blow the UEFA Champions League Final didn't come that close.

The Sox had blown what should have been an insurmountable lead, and Bill Buckner had absolutely nothing to do with it.

Then Stanley threw Mookie another pitch. It was, as Los Angeles Dodger broadcaster Vin Scully, leading the broadcast team for NBC, described, a "little roller up along first." It remains the most famous defensive miscue in the history of sports, over Fred Snodgrass' 1912 "$30,000 Muff," over Mickey Owen's 1941 passed ball, over any missed tackle in football, over any goalie's mistake in hockey or soccer, over any hockey or soccer player's own goal.

Buckner had injuries on both legs, and, as Yogi Berra might have said, even when he could run, he couldn't run. He was not going to beat Mookie to the bag, and Stanley hadn't run over to 1st to cover the base and take a throw. Mookie would have made it to 1st, and the bases would have been loaded. Granted, the next batter was light-hitting shortstop Rafael Santana, but, at that point, no one would have bet against the Mets. Scully was right: "If one picture is worth a thousand words, we have seen about a million words tonight!"

There will be time to tease the Mets about their 33 years of failure since October 1986. This is about how the Red Sox are cursed. So cursed they needed to cheat to interrupt the curse.  And, as we now know, the curse still lives. It's been 98 years since they won a World Series fair and square.

In spite of how much many Yankee Fans already hated them, it would take the Nomar/Pedro/Papi Era, 1998 to the present, for the Red Sox to truly become The Scum. But, retroactively, they deserved The Buckner Game.

In 1975, the Red Sox won a World Series Game 6 that was a game for the ages. But for 34 years now, you can say the words "Game Six" in New England, or to a New Englander wherever he might be, and, instead of bringing a smile to his face, you would bring him to say, "Which one?" At least now, with his death earlier this year, Buckner will never have to face any more questions about it.

Also on the day of the Mets-Red Sox Game 6, the East Brunswick football team isn't so lucky. They lose 20-17 to Perth Amboy, in a game riddled with atrocious officiating, and this costs them a spot in the Central Jersey Group IV Playoffs. They will, however, win their last 3 games and take the Greater Middlesex Conference Red Division title.

Also on this day, Edward Gaven (no middle name) is born in Hamilton, Mercer County, New Jersey, outside Trenton. Eddie Gaven went to Steinert High School (sometimes listed as "Hamilton East"), and played the 2003, '04 and '05 with his home-State New York/New Jersey MetroStars, the last seasons before the rebranding as Red Bull New York.

From 2006 to 2013, the midfielder played for the Columbus Crew, winning the MLS Cup in 2008 (beating the Red Bulls in the Final) and the Supporters' Shield in 2008 and 2009. He now coaches the soccer team at Ave Maria University in South Florida.

*

October 25, 1987: The Minnesota Twins defeat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, in Game 7, and win the World Series. It is the 1st-ever World Championship for a Minnesota baseball team, the first for the franchise since they were the Washington Senators in 1924 (63 years), and the first for any Minnesota team since the Lakers won the 1954 NBA Championship (33 years). Game 7 starter Frank Viola is named Series MVP.

The Twins won Games 1, 2, 6 and 7 at the Metrodome. The Cards won Games 3, 4 and 5 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. This is the 1st time every game of a World Series has been won by the home team. It has happened since in 1991 (again the Twins, over the Braves) and 2001 (Diamondbacks over Yankees).

Also on this day, in the 1st game back after the NFL strike was settled, Philadelphia Eagles head coach Buddy Ryan calls for a fake spike in the final seconds of a game with the Dallas Cowboys at Veterans Stadium, as payback for Cowboy coach Tom Landry using strikebreaking starting players at Texas Stadium 2 weeks earlier. Already up by 10 points, the Eagles score a touchdown to win 37-20.

Games like this, the later "Bounty Bowls" vs. the Cowboys, and the "Body Bag Game" against the Washington Redskins are why Eagles fans still love Buddy Ryan. Maybe they'd love him a lot more if he remembered that he had Randall Cunningham, the quarterback known as "The Ultimate Weapon." But, like his son Rex Ryan, Buddy was a defensive genius but clueless when it came to offense.

Also on this day, Darron Thomas Daniel Gibson is born in Derry, Northern Ireland. The midfielder was a typically dirty Manchester United player, helping them win the League Cup in 2009 and 2010, and the Premier League in 2011.

He played the 2018-19 season for Manchester-area club club Wigan Athletic, but is currently a free agent. In spite of his birthplace, he plays his international soccer for the Republic of Ireland.

October 25, 1990: Evander Holyfield knocks out James "Buster" Douglas in the 3rd round, and wins the Heavyweight Championship of the World. It was Douglas' 1st defense, after his shocking February knockout of Mike Tyson. It was supposed to be Tyson-Holyfield, or at least Tyson-Holyfield I.

But Tyson had committed a shocking crime, and would serve time in prison. Eventually, he and Holyfield would fight. Twice. But we remember those fights not as "Tyson-Holyfield," but as "Holyfield-Tyson."

October 25, 1991: George Brunet dies of a heart attack in Poza Rica, Mexico. The native of Calumet, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, was only 56 years old. He pitched in the major leagues from 1956 to 1971, for 9 different teams, 6 of which are no longer using the names they were using them: The Kansas City Athletics (Oakland), the Milwaukee Braves (Atlanta), the Houston Colt .45's (Astros), the Los Angeles Angels who became the California Angels while he was there (and are now the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim), the Seattle Pilots (Milwaukee Brewers) and Washington Senators (Texas Rangers).

He also played for the Baltimore Orioles, the Pittsburgh Pirates (with whom he made his only postseason appearance, in the 1970 National League Championship Series) and the St. Louis Cardinals.

In his diary of the 1969 season with the Pilots, Ball Four, former Yankee pitcher Jim Bouton mentions the team's acquistion of Brunet from the Angels, and said, "He'll fit right in on this ballclub. He's crazy." (He was a lefthanded pitcher, and crazy was their stereotype even then.)

One time, after a game, Bouton -- prefacing his observation with his being the last guy who should be referencing anyone else's strange behavior -- asked Brunet, "Did you forget to put on your undershorts?" Brunet said, "No, I never wear them. This way, I don't have to worry about losing them. The only time you ever need them is when you're in an accident."

He was 69-93 in the major leagues. He went to the Mexican League, and kept on pitching. And pitching. And pitching. They called him El Viejo: The Old One. In 1978, at age 42, he pitched a no-hitter. He kept going until 1989, at age 54, giving him 36 seasons of playing in professional baseball, which is believed to be a record.

October 25, 1994, 25 years ago: Had the 1994 baseball season been allowed to reach a conclusion, this was the day that Game 3 of the World Series would have been played, at the home park of the American League Champion.

Also on this day, at the Arava border crossing at the Dead Sea, overseen by President Bill Clinton, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel and King Hussin I of Jordan sign a peace treaty, ending the official state of war between their countries, which had existed since Israel's declaration of independence in 1948.

October 25, 1995: August Anheuser Busch III, a.k.a. Augie Busch, announces that he's selling the Cardinals, whom his father, August Anheuser Bush Jr., a.k.a. Gussie Busch, had bought 42 years earlier, not because he liked baseball, but because he wanted to use it as a vehicle to sell Budweiser. Mission accomplished: Bud was not especially popular in 1953, but by the time Busch Memorial Stadium opened in 1966, it was the most popular beer in the country. And, oh yeah, on the Busch family's watch, the Cards had won 6 Pennants and 3 World Series.

Bill DeWitt Jr., whose father had been an executive with the St. Louis Browns, is the eventual buyer, and still owns the team.

On this same day, Bobby Riggs dies at age 77. He really was a great tennis player once, winning both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. But that was all the way back in 1939. By 1973, he was a 55-year-old hustler, countering the era's trend of "women's liberation" by being -- or, at least, acting the part of, only he knew for sure -- a proud male chauvinist pig. He challenged one of the era's top women's tennis players, Margaret Smith Court, and he beat her. Next, he challenged the top woman in the game at the time, Billie Jean King.

On September 20, 1973, "the Battle of the Sexes" was held at the Astrodome in Houston. Billie Jean, who had already done so much to advance the causes of both tennis and women's sports, took no chances and showed no mercy: She beat Riggs 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, a genuine wipeout. While Riggs remained unrepentant in his chauvinism, he admitted that Billie Jean was better, and he never challenged another high-profile female player.

It has since been alleged that Bobby's hustling was the result of a gambling addiction, which is easy enough to believe; and that he threw the match to pay off his Mob-held gambling debts, which is harder to believe. After all, he would have made a lot more money having won the match, and taking the appearances and endorsements that followed, than betting on himself and losing.

A few weeks later, on November 16, the 2 of them guest-starred on The Odd Couple, in the episode "The Pig Who Came to Dinner." The episode lampooned Riggs' hustler image: Oscar bet Felix that "Bobby Riggs" would kiss him and he'd like it, sending a gorgeous woman named Roberta Riggs to do it. But Bobby hustles Oscar so much, that Oscar has lost everything he owns.

The only thing he has left to bet is Felix. Bobby bets Oscar that he, a sportswriter, cannot type his own name in 10 seconds. If Oscar wins, he gets everything back. If he loses, Felix becomes his servant. Felix ends up saying, "In 1776, Thomas Jefferson wrote that all men are created equal. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation! But in 1973, history was rewritten by 'Oscar Madisoy'!"

Felix wins his freedom back by betting Bobby he can hold a note longer than he can. Finally, he challenges Bobby to a table tennis match, and brings in a ringer: Billie Jean. Bobby loses again, but since it wasn't him vs. Oscar, Oscar still owes him. So Oscar bets him that Jack Kramer (the name of another famous tennis player of his generation) would kiss him and he'd like it. Of course, it's a woman named Jacqueline Kramer, and he admits defeat.

This would be parodied on Cheers, when Sam Malone (Ted Danson) is informed of a bet he doesn't remember, because he was drunk: By midnight that night, he had to marry Jacqueline Bisset, or he'd lose the bar. So he finds a woman named Jacqueline Bisset ("And she's got the ID to prove it!"), and she agrees to marry him. The opposing bettor, played by future Seinfeld actor Michael Richards, admits Sam has won, and he doesn't have to marry her.

In 2000, ABC, which had televised that Odd Couple episode and the original "Battle," aired the TV-movie When Billie Beat Bobby, with Holly Hunter as King and Ron Silver, in a rare mustache-less role for him, as Riggs. In 2017, a new feature film version, Battle of the Sexes, starred Emma Stone as Billie Jean and Steve Carell as Bobby.

October 25, 1998: The Chicago Fire defeat 2-time defending Champion D.C. United 2-0 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, to win the MLS Cup. It is only the Fire's 1st season.

Despite DC having such talents as John Harkes, Jeff Agoos, Eddie Pope, Roy Lassiter, Marco Etcheverry and Jamie Moreno, it is the Fire who emerge victorious. Polish striker Jerzy Podbrożny scores in the 29th minute, Colombian midfielder Diego Gutiérrez adds another just before the half, and another Pole, Chicago's Captain Piotr Nowak, is named Man of the Match, much to the delight of the large Polish rooting section among the Fire's ultra support, known as Section 8.

Zach Thornton keeps a clean sheet in goal. Manager Bob Bradley can also count among his starting lineup Jesse Marsch, later to manage the New York Red Bulls to 2 Supporters' Shields.

Also on this day, Juan José Soto Pacheco is born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The outfielder for the Washington Nationals was the youngest player in the major leagues in the 2018 season. Despite not being called up until May 20, he batted .292 with 22 home runs and 70 RBIs.

On June 18, 2018, he hit a home run against the Yankees. This was a game that had begun on May 15, and been suspended due to rain with a tie score in the 5th inning. Technically, he hit a home run before his major league debut.

This season, he got the game-winning hit in the Nationals' victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Wild Card Game, and continued to be a key in the Nationals march to their 1st Pennant.

October 25, 1999, 20 years ago: Golfer Payne Stewart and 5 friends die in the crash of a Learjet. The plane was flying from Orlando to Dallas, and suffered a loss of cabin pressure, meaning that everyone on board was dead well before the plane finally ran out of gas and went down, far off course, in Mina, South Dakota.

Best known for wearing old-time golf clothing, including ivy caps and plus-fours for pants, Stewart had recently participated in the U.S.' win in the Ryder Cup, and had also won the year's U.S. Open. He previously won it in 1991 and won the PGA Championship in 1989.

Stewart was 42. The section of Interstate 44 that goes through his hometown of Springfield, Missouri has been named the Payne Stewart Memorial Highway.

*

October 25, 2000: Game 4 of the World Series at Shea Stadium. The Mets won Game 3 last night, to close within 2 games to 1.

Now, Bobby Jones is the Game 4 starter, and he's not especially good. However, the Yankees will have to choose between an aging and struggling David Cone, a struggling Denny Neagle, and Andy Pettitte on 3 days rest. This bodes well for the Mets, and if they win this one, then the Series is tied, and they've really got momentum. In Game 5, also at Shea, Al Leiter can outpitch Pettitte as he did in Game 1, and maybe this time the bullpen won't blow it; after all, after blowing the save in Game 1, Armando Benitez got it in Game 3.

Then the Mets only have to win 1 of 2 at Yankee Stadium to win the Subway Series, and reclaim New York from the Yankees. The Yanks will start Roger Clemens in Game 6, and after the bat-throwing incident in Game 2, the Mets will be loaded for bear, and Mike Hampton can't possibly have as bad a start in Game 6 as he had in Game 2, right? And if it still goes to Game 7, it'll be Rick Reed against Orlando Hernandez again, and Reed showed in Game 3 he could outpitch "El Duque."

So, at this point, if you're a Met fan, you don't have a lot of reason to be confident of ultimate victory; but your position is quite defensible, your team is hardly in deep trouble following the Game 3 win, and, as the one man who has ever managed both these teams to Pennants, Yogi Berra, has said, "It ain't over 'til it's over." This World Series is far from over, and if you're a Met fan, at this point, you do have some reason to be optimistic.

Game 4 begins, and that reason lasts all of one pitch. The 1st pitch of the game is from Jones to Derek Jeter, who knocks it over the left-field fence for a home run.

Neagle struggles in the 5th, and manager Joe Torre plays a huge hunch, bringing Cone, once a superb Met starter, out of the bullpen to face the dangerous Mike Piazza with the bases loaded. I have to admit, I was sure he was going to either walk home a run, or serve up a gopher ball for a grand slam. Instead, Cone gets Piazza to pop up, ending the threat. Cone never throws another postseason pitch, and he never throws another pitch for the Yankees. But he got the job done.

The Yankees hang on to win the game, 3-2, and take a 3 games to 1 lead in the Series. They can wrap it up tomorrow night. Met fans, who began the day feeling like it was still possible, are no longer using Tug McGraw’s old rallying cry of "Ya Gotta Believe!" Now, they'e using another familiar rallying cry, that of "Yankees Suck!"

But all is not good news in Yankeeland. Darryl Strawberry, who was introduced to stardom and drug as a Met, and has been one of George Steinbrenner's reclamation projects, is arrested and jailed, after leaving a treatment center following a weekend drug binge.

*

October 25, 2003: The Florida Marlins win their 2nd World Championship, as World Series MVP Josh Beckett hurls a 5-hit shutout in defeating the Yankees‚ 2-0‚ in Game 6. Luis Castillo's 5th-inning single brings home Florida's 1st run‚ the only one Beckett needs as he outduels Andy Pettitte. Thus the Marlins conclude their 2nd winning season in the past 11 years in the same manner they concluded their 1st winning season.

This was a particularly frustrating loss for this Yankee Fan, as we were just 1 run away from being up 3 games to 1, until Jeff Fucking Weaver gave up a walkoff home run to "the other Alex Gonzalez." And we go out meekly on our field, to this crummy squad that still looks like an expansion team (and now appears to be a fraud, as catcher Ivan Rodriguez is a suspected steroid user). And the last play of the game was a pathetic one, Jorge Posada hitting a meek grounder back to Beckett.

At this point, I didn't like Beckett, solely for what he did to the Yankees in this Series. After 2 more seasons in the Miami suburbs, he would be traded to the Red Sox, and I would dislike him just for belonging to that team. But after observing him a few times in a Boston uniform, I realized there was a perfectly legitimate reason to hate his guts: His personality.

This turns out to be the 99th and last World Series game played at the original Yankee Stadium. The
Yankees went 63-36 in these games. Thankfully, we later got the ABC TV series Castle, with a much better Beckett, a Detective loyal to New York, and played by the magnificent Stana Katic. Her character, while not explicitly a Yankee Fan, did get a thrill in the 2010 episode "The Suicide Squeeze," from meeting, as she called him, "Joe Freakin' Torre," who played himself.

Also on this day, Estádio Sport do Lisboa e Benfica, a.k.a. Estádio da Luz, opens in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon. The 64,642-seat Stadium of Light replaced the previous stadium, of the same name, which stood on the same site from 1954 to 2002. Seating 120,000 at its peak, its conversion to all-seater dropped it to 78,000.

S.L. Benfica, Portugal's greatest sports team, played the interim season, 2002-03, at the nearby Estadio Nacional, famed for hosting the 1967 European Cup Final, won by Glasgow's Celtic over Milan's Internazionale.

The new stadium inspired other new stadiums, including the Emirates Stadium, which opened for London's Arsenal in 2006. Since moving in, The Eagles (also known as O Glorioso) have won Portugal's Primeira Liga 6 times.

October 25, 2005: Game 3 of the World Series at Minute Maid Park in Houston. This is the 1st World Series game ever played in the State of Texas. Geoff Blum's 14th inning homer off Ezequiel Astacio leads the Chicago White Sox to a 7-5 victory over the Astros.

Houston led‚ 4-0‚ before Chicago scored 5 runs in the 5th inning off Roy Oswalt to take the lead. Joe Crede also homers for the Sox‚ while Jason Lane connects for the Astros. Damaso Marte gets the win in relief.

At 5 hours, 41 minutes‚ the contest is the longest in Series history in terms of time. It also ties the mark for longest game in terms of innings played.

Also on this day, Wellington Mara dies of lymphoma at age 88. He had been involved with the New York Giants since their founding in 1925 by his father, Tim Mara, who made his son the bellboy. The NFL's TV-revenue-sharing plan was his idea, bringing the irony of the biggest market in the League, New York, saving the smallest market, Green Bay.

Well Mara was buried in Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, Westchester County, New York, the same cemetery as Babe Ruth.

His son John Mara now runs the Giants, another son Chris is the Giants' chief scout, and Chris' daughters Kate Mara and Rooney Mara are actresses. Chris' wife and Kate's mother is Katherine Rooney, daughter of Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney and granddaughter of Steelers founder Art Rooney, which makes Kate and Rooney the great-granddaughters of the founders of 2 of the NFL's greatest franchises.

At the Giants' 1st home game after her grandfather's death – the first one the franchise ever played without Wellington Mara being on hand, after 80 years – Kate sang the National Anthem.

October 25, 2007: The Prudential Center opens, at 165 Mulberry Street in Newark (the official address has since been changed to 25 Lafayette Street, around the corner), with a concert by Jon Bon Jovi. It has been home to the NHL's New Jersey Devils and Seton Hall University's basketball team ever since. It was also a temporary home to the NBA's New Jersey Nets from 2010 to 2012, and the WNBA's New York Liberty in 2011 and 2012.

Also on this day, Hideki Okajima becomes the 1st Japanese-born player to pitch in the World Series. The former Nippon Ham Fighters hurler comes out of the bullpen in relief of Curt Schilling and retires 7 straight Colorado Rockies, including Kazuo Matsui, making it the 1st time Japanese natives have faced one another in the Fall Classic. The Red Sox hang on to win, 2-1, and lead the Series 2 games to none. Due to injury, it turns out to be Schilling's last major league game.

October 25, 2008: Game 3 of the World Series, the 1st Series game played at Citizens Bank Park. Carlos Ruiz, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard hit home runs, but the Philadelphia Phillies and the Tampa Bay Rays are tied 4-4 going to the bottom of the 9th.

The winning run scores as a result of bizarre circumstances -- but then, it wouldn't be a true Phillies game without something bizarre happening, right? Eric Bruntlett leads off, and J.P. Howell hits him with a pitch -- unintentionally, we can safely presume. With Shane Victorino up, Howell throws a wild pitch, and the Rays' catcher, former Yankee prospect Dioner Navarro, throws the ball away trying to stop Bruntlett from reaching 2nd base, letting him get to 3rd.

Desperate for any out, Rays manager Joe Maddon orders both Victorino and Greg Dobbs walked intentionally to load the bases with nobody out, to create a force play at home plate, brings the infield in, and brings right fielder Ben Zobrist in as a 5th infielder. But Ruiz grounds to 3rd, and Evan Longoria has no play at any base. The Phils win, 5-4, and take a 2-1 lead in the Series, which is, essentially, decided in that inning.

Also on this day, Archie Arnett is born in Manhattan, the son of Saturday Night Live actress Amy Poehler and Arrested Development actor Will Arnett. (They also had son Abel in 2010, and divorced in 2016.) Since it was a Saturday, the birth was announced on that night's show.

The previous week, Archie sort-of become the youngest performer in the show's history, a record it would be pretty hard to break. Amy played a woman dancing at a bar, her baby bump knocking things over, thus making Archie a "character" in the sketch. At one point, she danced with a man who asked her, "So, when is your baby due?" And she says, "Yesterday."

*

October 25, 2012: Game 2 of the World Series. Madison Bumgarner's legend is underway. He takes a 2-hit shutout into the 8th inning, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Detroit Tigers 2-0 at AT&T Park. The Giants lead the Series by the same margin.

Also on this day, the Swedbank Arena opens in Solna, just outside the Swedish capital of Stockholm. Now known as the Friends Arena, the 54,000-seat stadium is home to the Sweden national team and to AIK Fotboll (Allmänna Idrottsklubben), 12-time Swedish league champions and 8-time winners of the Svenska Cupan (Sweden's version of the FA Cup).

It replaces the nearby 36,000-seat Råsundastadion, built in 1937 and the site of the 1958 World Cup Final.

Also on this day, Jacques Barzun dies at his home in San Antonio. He was 104. He was born and raised in France, but attended Columbia University in New York and stayed in America, teaching and writing history books. He published From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life, 1500 to the Present at age 93, and, just before turning 104, he wrote a book review for The Wall Street Journal. So he was working at an age at which the average person has been dead for 25 years.

He wasn't some stuffy, tweedy professor in a ivy tower. He loved crime fiction, and in 1961 he edited and wrote the introduction for the anthology The Delights of Detection. He loved supernatural fiction, and in 1986 he wrote the introduction for the anthology The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural. And he loved baseball. He once said, "Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball." He was right.

Also on this day, John Connelly dies in Barrowford, Lancashire, England. He was 74. A right winger in soccer, he starred for Lancashire club Burnley, and helped them win the Football League title in 1960. They came close to the League and FA Cup "Double" in 1962, but finished 2nd in both, losing the title to Ipswich Town and the Cup Final to Middlesex club Tottenham Hotspur. (The boundaries of the city of London were redrawn in 1965, and "Spurs" officially became what they had always pretended to be: A club in North London.)

In 1965, he helped Manchester United win the League. He played for England in the 1962 and 1966 World Cups, but in the latter he only played in the opening game. He continued to play until 1973, and later ran a fish & chips shop -- the British equivalent of a burger joint or a pizzeria.

At first, only the 11 men who played for England in the Final got winner's medals for the 1966 World Cup. After a long campaign, in 2009, FIFA, the governing body for world soccer, relented, and Connelly and the other 10 men who had been denied until then received their medals, given to them by Prime Minister Gordon Brown at 10 Downing Street. (Brown, however, is a Scotsman, so this probably wasn't his favorite duty as PM.)

October 25, 2013: Bill Sharman dies from the effects of a stroke at his home in Redondo Beach, California. He was 87. In 1951, he was called up to the Brooklyn Dodgers, but wasn't put into a game. On September 27, an umpire threw the entire Dodger bench out of a game for bench-jockeying. Therefore, Bill Sharman is the only playing ever to be thrown out of a major league game without having played in one.

He had better luck in basketball. The guard won 4 NBA Championships in 5 years with the Boston Celtics: 1957, 1959, 1960 and 1961. He was considered the best shooter of his time. He was named to the NBA's 25th Anniversary All-Star Team and its 50th Anniversary 50 Greatest Players. The Celtics retired his Number 21. 

He may have had more impact as a coach, winning the ABA title with the Utah Stars in 1971, and then guiding the Los Angeles Lakers to their 1st NBA title the next year, including a major league sports record 33-game winning streak. He may be the only man who is a sports hero for both Boston and Los Angeles. He, John Wooden, Lenny Wilkens and his former Celtic teammate Tommy Heinsohn are the only people to be elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame as both players and coaches.

October 25, 2014: Game 4 of the World Series. The Giants hit no home runs, but score 2 runs in the 5th inning, 3 in the 6th and 4 in the 7th, and beat the Kansas City Royals 11-4. The Series is now tied at 2 games apiece.

Also on this day, Leslie Jones makes her Saturday Night Live debut. At 47, she breaks Michael McKean's 1994 record of 46 as the oldest 1st-time castmember in the show's history.

October 25, 2015: Philip "Flip" Saunders, on sabbatical as head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves, dies of Hodgkin's lymphoma. He was 60 years old. He played at the University of Minnesota with future Knick and Net Ray Williams, Kevin McHale and Mychal Thompson, but was better known as a coach. He coached the Timberwolves to their only NBA Western Conference Finals berth to date, in 2004, and also coached the Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards before returning to the T-Wolves. 

Also on this day, Cecil Lolo, a defender for South African soccer team Ajax Cape Town, is killed in a car crash in Khayelisha. He is only 27, and the team retires his Number 21.

October 25, 2016: Game 1 of the World Series is played at Progressive Field in Cleveland. It was the 1st World Series game played by the Chicago Cubs since October 10, 1945 -- 71 years and 15 days. Since that was before Major League Baseball was reintegrated, leadoff hitter Dexter Fowler becomes the 1st black player to appear for the Cubs in a World Series game.

It doesn't go so well for them: Corey Kluber pitches a shutout, Roberto Perez hits 2 home runs, and the Cleveland Indians win 6-0. Cub fans around the world must have been thinking, "Oh well, it was nice to finally be in a World Series, but I guess it was just too much to ask to be allowed to win one." Little do they know... 

Also on this day, Carlos Alberto dies of a heart attack in his hometown of Rio de Janeiro. He was 72. One of the greatest right backs in soccer history, he starred for Brazilian clubs Fluminense and Santos, and captained the Brazil team to victory at the 1970 World Cup, scoring the tournament's final goal. He later won 4 Soccer Bowls with the original New York Cosmos, alongside former Brazil and Santos teammate Pelé, and served as a manager and a TV analyst in the sport.

October 25, 2017: For the 1st time in their history, the Houston Astros win a World Series game. It takes 11 innings, but, when you've waited 56 seasons, what's 2 extra innings?

The Astros trailed the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-1 going into the top of the 8th inning, but scored in the 8th and the 9th, including a home run by Marwin Gonzalez, to send it to bonus cantos. The Astros scored 2 runs in the top of the 10th, on home runs by Jose Altuve and Carols Correa, but the Dodgers answered with 2 runs of their own.

In the top of the 11th, George Springer hit a home run off Brandon McCarthy to give the Astros a 7-5 lead. But the Dodgers still weren't done, as Charlie Culberson hit a solo homer off Chris Devenski. But Devenski struck out Yasiel Puig, who had homered earlier, to end the game 7-6 in the Astros' favor.

In winning a World Series game for the 1st time, the Astros became the 1st team in the Series' 114-year history to hit home runs in the 9th, 10th and 11th innings of the same game. The Series leaves Dodger Stadium tied 1-1, and heads to Houston.

October 25, 2266: If we presume that the last 3 digits, plus the decimal points, of the Stardates on Star Trek represented a percentage of the year, then, at Stardate 2817.6, the episode "The Conscience of the King" begins on this date.

Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) is alerted by an old friend, a scientist named Dr. Thomas Leighton (William Sargent), that Anton Karidian (Arnold Moss), the leader of a troupe of Shakespearean actors, may be Kodos, who, 20 years earlier, was the Governor of the colony on Federation planet Tarsus IV.

Kirk, then 13 years old, was on that planet -- and, as he soon discovers in "the present," so was one of his officers, Lieutenant Kevin Riley (Bruce Hyde), then just 4 -- when a fungus destroyed most of the food supply. The government was told that relief ships were coming, but it looked like they would arrive too late to prevent mass starvation. So Kodos led a revolution that overthrew the colony's government, installed himself as Governor, and, in order to save half the population, 4,000 people, killed the other 4,000 -- "based on his own theory of eugenics," as the historical record is quoted by Commander Spock (Leonard Nimoy) -- and Riley's parents were among those chosen for execution.

Except the relief ships arrived just 2 days after the execution. The official story was that, overcome with remorse, Kodos killed himself, and all that was found was a burned body. This episode, written by Barry Trivers, aired long before the creation of DNA testing, which would have made it clear that the body was not that of Kodos. Later Star Trek novels, all non-canon, have tried to explain this by Kodos burning the body of one of his victims, and forging the DNA records to make it look like the body was his, and Federation investigators bought the ruse.

Supposedly, only 9 people witnessed the actual execution and could identify Kodos by sight -- and 7 of them have been murdered, including, later on the night that Leighton told Kirk that Karidian was Kodos, Leighton himself. Now, Kirk and Riley are the last 2, and attempts are made to kill them both.

The episode has a resolution that Shakespeare himself would have appreciated.

Earlier this year, for the 1st time in about 30 years, I visited the American Museum of Natural History. This New York institution includes the Milstein Family Hall of Ocean Life, a big room nicknamed the Blue Whale Room, for the life-size blue whale replica suspended from the ceiling.

Among the creatures stuffed and mounted in this room is a shark. And I saw a toddler wearing a Baby Shark costume standing there, fascinated by the real thing.

That might be the most 2019 thing possible, without that bastard Trump being involved.

Last night, Game 3 of the World Series was played, and it was the first Series game played in the District of Columbia since October 7, 1933. And what happened? Gerardo Parra, their 32-year-old outfielder, came to bat. His walk-up-to-bat song is "Baby Shark," the version popularized by the Korean educational group Pinkfong. It was suggested by his children.

And the Nationals Park special-effects producer played the song, and 43,867 not only sang it, but did the "Baby Shark Dance," moving their arms together on top of each other, similar to the "Gator Grab" popular at the University of Florida.

They waited 86 years to host the World Series again, and they did that. Clark Griffith, Walter Johnson, Bucky Harris and Joe Cronin must have been turning over in their graves.It was enough to make me nostalgic for that oh-so-1980s phenomenon The Wave.

To make matters worse, the Nationals lost for the 1st time since Game 4 of the National League Division Series, 18 days and 8 games earlier. They turned into the 2019 Yankees, going 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position against the Houston Astros, and fell 4-1. Fine time to turn into a bunch of mortal again.

Game 4 will be tonight. I hope the Nats win it, because I hate Texas.

But I don't like "Baby Shark," either. We're gonna need a bigger chant.

*

October 26, 1697: John Peter Zenger is born in Impflingen, in what was then the Holy Roman Empire, now in the State of Rhineland-Palatinate of Germany. His family moved to New York in 1710, and he became a printer. In 1733, he began printing The New York Weekly Journal, which voiced opinions critical of the British-appointed colonial governor, William Cosby. (Sheesh, even then, guys named William Cosby were trouble.) In 1734, Zenger was arrested for libel.

His lawyers won the case, and established the precedent in American law that a statement is not to be considered libel if it can be proven true. A jury acquitted him after deliberating for only 10 minutes. He lived on until 1746, and has remained a hero in the story of freedom of the press.

October 26, 1757: Charles Pinckney is born in Charleston, South Carolina -- like the Carolinas themselves, named not for him but for England's King Charles I. He served in the Continental Army at the Siege of Savannah, and when the British captured Charleston, they held him as a prisoner of war until the war ended.

He was returned to the Continental Congress, and served at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. On the one hand, he was responsible for putting in the words banning any religious test for public office in America. On the other hand, he was also responsible for inserting the Fugitive Slave Law into the Constitution.

He was elected Governor of South Carolina, and then to the U.S. Senate. President Thomas Jefferson appointed him U.S. Minister to Spain. He died in 1824.

His first cousin once removed, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, was also a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and was the Federalist Party's nominee for President against Jefferson in 1804 and James Madison in 1808.

October 26, 1806: John Graves Simcoe dies in Exeter, Devon, England at age 54. In Canada, he is known as the founder of Fort York, what became the city of Toronto. In America, he is remembered for his battles against George Washington: Losing the Siege of Boston, assisting Lord Howe in the conquest of New York, winning the Battle of Brandywine, losing the Battle of Monmouth, and helping to lose the Battle of Yorktown.

In the TV series Turn: Washington's Spies, he was played by Samuel Roukin as one of the show's main villains, but the surviving evidence does not back up the show's portrayal of him as sadistic.

October 26, 1824: Andrew Jackson finishes 1st in the Presidential election, both in the popular vote and in the Electoral Vote. But he doesn't get a majority of either: The Electoral Vote goes 99 for Jackson, America's greatest living military hero and a servant of Tennessee in both houses of Congress; 84 for John Quincy Adams, the Secretary of State to outgoing President James Monroe and the son of President John Adams; 41 for William H. Crawford, then Secretary of War; and 37 for Henry Clay, then the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

October 26, 1825: The Erie Canal opens, connecting Buffalo on the Niagara River with Albany on the Hudson River, and thus connecting the Great Lakes to New York City. This goes on to make New York the biggest and richest city in the country, but it also enriches Great Lakes cities like Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit and Chicago. It also makes the sports teams eventually founded there commercially viable.

October 26, 1859, 160 years ago: Frank Gibson Selee is born in Amherst, New Hampshire. He never played professional baseball, but managed the Boston Beaneaters (forerunners of the Atlanta Braves) to National League Pennants in 1891, 1892, 1893, 1897 and 1898. He moved on to the Chicago Cubs, but was overcome with tuberculosis in 1905, and replaced by 1st baseman Frank Chance, who then won the next 3 Pennants. He died in 1909, and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999.

October 26, 1863: The Football Association is formed at the Freemasons Tavern in Holborn, Central London. Although there were football clubs (soccer teams) in England already (and a few of these are still in operation, though most on an amateur level), the rules of the game across the country were not uniform. So the founding of the FA is considered the "birthday" of English football.

The meeting was held after Ebenezer Cobb Morley, chairman of Barnes Football Club in South London, and possessor of a name the still-living Charles Dickens could have thought up had Morley not been born in 1831, before Dickens was ever published, wrote a letter to Bell's Life, a London newspaper, suggesting that football should have a unified set of rules.

Morley drafted the first "Laws of the Game," was hired as the FA's 1st secretary, and its 2nd president, serving from 1867 to 1874. And he was still a player, though 35 years old: He played for Barnes against Richmond in the 1st game played under his rules. (As opposed to Alexander Cartwright, who, in 1846, was the umpire in the 1st non-intrasquad baseball game played under the rules he has been widely credited with writing.)

Morley was a lawyer, was also active in rowing, and later served as a member of the Surrey County council and a Justice of the Peace. He died in 1924.

October 26, 1868: A crowd of 10‚000 is at the Union Grounds in Brooklyn to see the Mutual Club of New York capture the national amateur baseball championship of the year by defeating the Atlantics of Brooklyn for the 2nd time‚ 28-17.

This is the 1st time that a New York City club has won a postseason series designed to crown the national champions of baseball – or, if you prefer, the “World Champions.” However, when the Cincinnati Red Stockings declare themselves openly professional next year, it makes this the last "world championship" won by an amateur baseball team.

October 26, 1870: In a rematch of the game that finally ended their unbeaten streak at the Capitoline Grounds in Brooklyn the previous June, the Cincinnati Red Stockings take on the Atlantics of Brooklyn‚ on neutral ground in Philadelphia. The Atlantics score 5 runs in the bottom of the 9th to beat the mighty Reds‚ 11-7.

This was, effectively, the end of the 1st era of organized baseball, the all-amateur era. The next season, the National Association, the 1st professional league, began play. The Boston Red Stockings were formed, taking about half of the Cincinnati players, and they continued to dominate baseball in the 1870s. The National League came along in 1876. The Boston club won NA Pennants in 1872, '73, '74 and '75, and NL Pennants in 1877 and '78, before poachings from other teams finally forced them off their perch. They won just 1 Pennant between 1878 and 1891, before starting a new dynasty.

The Atlantics weren't so lucky, as they refused to join the NA, and lost most of their good players to that league. They continued to play an independent schedule until folding in 1882, baseball's first great team (founded in 1855) going out not with a bang, but with a whimper.

It would be the late 1880s before Brooklyn had another championship-quality team, the one that would eventually become the Dodgers. While Brooklyn outpaced Manhattan in the 1860s and the early 1870s, it would be the other way around until the late 1890s. The Dodgers (then the Superbas) won Pennants in 1899 and 1900.

But in 1902, John McGraw became Giants manager, and Manhattan ruled the City (with the brief exception of the 1916 and 1920 Brooklyn Pennants) until the original Yankee Stadium opened in The Bronx in 1923, and the northernmost Borough ruled until the 1969 Met Miracle. So Queens ruled NYC baseball in the first half of the 1970s and the latter half of the 1980s. Other than that, it's been all Bronx since the end of the Harding Administration. The Mets' 2015 Pennant and 2016 Wild Card berth hasn't changed that.

October 26, 1877: What we would later call "Major League Baseball" suffers its 1st scandal. Charles Chase, vice president of the club known as the Louisville Eclipse, confronts George Hall‚ the National League home run leader in 1876 with 5‚ and pitcher Jim Devlin with charges that they threw road games in August and September of this past season.

Both admit to throwing non-league games -- an exhibition game in Lowell‚ Massachusetts on August 30, and another in Pittsburgh on September 3 -- and implicate teammates Al Nichols and Bill Craver. Hall implicates Devlin, saying that the 2 helped in losses to the NL's Cincinnati Reds (no connection to the current team of that name) on September 6, and to the minor league Indianapolis Blues on September 24‚ but he argues that since the Reds were about to be suspended and the games nullified‚ it amounted to an exhibition game. The accused players will end up being permanently banned from baseball.

*

October 26, 1881: The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (the initials stood for "Old Kindersley") is fought in Tombstone, Arizona Territory -- actually on Fremont Street, a couple of blocks from where the Corral was. While the Earp brothers and Dr. John Holliday were no angels -- by the standards of the time, the Earps were a lot like a Mob family (just as Henry McCarty, a.k.a. William H. Bonney, a.k.a. Billy the Kid, killed in the New Mexico Territory earlier that year, was essentially a hitman) -- the Clanton Gang, a.k.a. "The Cowboys," was worse. So if there were any "good guys" in this fight, it was the Earps, and they won.

For the record: Wyatt Earp was not hit, Morgan Earp was hit in the shoulder but recovered quickly, Virgil Earp was shot through the calf and also recovered quickly, and Doc Holliday (a dentist, so it wasn't just a nickname) was saved when a bullet hit his holster, allowing him to escape with only a bruise; Cowboys leader Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne were both unarmed, and ran away from the scene without being hit, while the other 3 -- Tom's brother Billy Clanton and the brothers Frank and Tom McLaury -- were killed. (Frank was 33, Tom was 28, Billy Clanton just 19.)

As was the case in the major cities of the East in those days, there was a partisan divide reflected in competing newspapers. The Tombstone Nugget took the Cowboys' side, saying, "Blood flowed as water, and human life was held as a shuttle cock." The Tombstone Epitaph (one of the best newspaper names ever) took the Earps' side, saying, "The feeling among the best class of our citizens is that the Marshal was entirely justified in his efforts to disarm these men, and that being fired upon they had to defend themselves which they did most bravely."

Since the Epitaph had gotten the sanction of the Associated Press, that's the version that the public outside Arizona would come to accept as the truth. The coroner's report backed it up, essentially proving that Billy Clanton did not have his hands raised, thus making Ike Clanton a liar when he said Billy was trying to surrender, thus vindicating the Earps from the charge that it was murder instead of self-defense.

It didn't help the Cowboys' case that none of them lived past 1887 (Ike was shot while resisting arrest for stealing a horse, age 40; Billy Claiborne was killed by Frank Leslie a year after the Corral shootout, just 22), while both Wyatt and Virgil Earp lived into the 20th Century, with Wyatt spreading tall tales about his deeds all the way up to his death in 1929, 48 years after the shootout. (He was 80. Virgil died in 1905, age 62.)

And while there would be setbacks -- in the next year, Morgan would be killed (30) and Virgil badly wounded -- today, the Clantons would be forgotten if things had been settled peacefully. Then again, so might the Earps and Doc Holliday. (The Doc was already suffering from tuberculosis, and died in 1887, age 36. His last words were a comment on the fact that he was dying in bed, with bare feet, rather than in a gunfight with his boots on: "This is funny.")

The incident inspired the films My Darling Clementine in 1946, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in 1957, and both Wyatt Earp and Tombstone in 1994. It also inspired, ironically, TV science fiction, first with an episode of Doctor Who in 1966; and, more recently, with Wynonna Earp, with a supernaturally-immortal Holliday helping Wyatt's great-great-granddaughters fight monsters (and having a baby with the titular Wynonna, a choice forced on the scriptwriters by star Melane Scrofano's real-life pregnancy).

In the 1983-84 TV season, NBC aired a series titled The Rousters, starring Chad Everett as Wyatt Earp III, who ran both a carnival and a bounty-hunting business. In spite of that show and the later Wynonna Earp, in real life, Wyatt is not known to have had any children.

DeForest Kelley played Ike Clanton in a TV version of Gunfight at the O.K. Corral on a 1955 episode of You Are There, played Morgan Earp in the 1957 film adaptation, and in the Star Trek
episode "Spectre of the Gun," his Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy was forced by an alien to stand in for Tom McLaury.

That episode nearly aired on the anniversary: October 25, 1968. Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) was forced to stand in for Ike Clanton, Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott (James Doohan) as the considerably younger Billy Clanton, Science Officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy) as Frank McLaury, and Ensign Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig) as Billy Claiborne.

Tombstone, founded in 1879, was a frontier boomtown of 5,300 people, due to nearby silver mines, with a population of about 14,000 by the time of the gunfight -- a huge amount for a town in the West in that era. An 1886 fire ended the boomtown status, but its status as a County Seat saved it from being completely abandoned by the time Arizona gained Statehood in 1912.

In 1964, Detroit-based investors bought the Corral and several other historic buildings, and turned Tombstone into a "living history museum," a Wild West counterpart to Colonial Williamsburg. They also bought The Tombstone Epitaph. In 1975, the daily paper was converted into a weekly. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Arizona.

Today, the population of "The Town Too Tough to Die" is listed as 1,380 -- and they may get that population doubled in tourists. It is 184 miles southeast of Phoenix, 70 miles southeast of Tucson, and 35 miles north of the Mexican border.

*

October 26, 1895: West Virginia University defeats the Western University of Pennsylvania 8-0 in Wheeling, West Virginia. In 1908, WUP becomes the University of Pittsburgh. These 2 schools, about 80 miles apart, one "city" and one "country," develop a deep rivalry that becomes known as the Backyard Brawl.

From the founding of the Big East Conference (for football) in 1991 until 2011, Pitt and West Virginia were league rivals. Because they are no longer in the same league -- the Panthers went to the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Mountaineers to the Big Twelve -- they haven't played since 2011. They have agreed to a 4-year renewal of the series, starting in 2022. Until then, Pitt leads the series, 61-40-3. And their 2017 basketball game was the 1st such game between them since 2012.

The Panthers-Mountaineers rivalry is mean! (How mean is it?) In 1994, the public-address announcer at Pitt Stadium announced, "There is no smoking allowed inside Pitt Stadium, and that includes corncob pipes!" He later announced, "There is a tractor in the parking lot with its lights on, West Virginia license plate EIEIO!" (As if great swaths of Pennsylvania aren't rural as hell, hence the term "Pennsyltucky.")

October 26, 1898: Harold Oliver (no middle name) is born in Selkirk, Manitoba. A right wing, Harry "Pee-Wee" Oliver helped the Calgary Tigers win the West Coast Hockey League title in 1924, although they lost the Stanley Cup Finals to the NHL Champion Montreal Canadiens.

He helped the Boston Bruins win the Stanley Cup in 1929, dethroning the defending champion New York Rangers. He retired in 1937, after 19 seasons, was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1967, and died in 1985.

October 26, 1899, 120 years ago: William Julius Johnson is born in Snow Hill, on Maryland's Eastern Shore, and grows up in Wilmington, Delaware. Without question, "Judy" Johnson is the greatest baseball player ever to come from the State of Delaware.

So why are some of you saying, "I've never heard of him"? Because he played long ago, and in the Negro Leagues. Even those of you who have heard of him may be asking, "Why was he called Judy?" Because he resembled an earlier Negro League player, Judy Gans of the Chicago American Giants. I don't know why he was called "Judy." I thought perhaps his real name was Jude, but it was Robert.

Judy Johnson starred in the 1920s for the closest Negro League team to Wilmington, the Philadelphia Hilldales. He was considered the best-fielding 3rd baseman in Negro League history, and 4 times hit .390 or higher, once hitting .401. Connie Mack, owner and manager of the Philadelphia Athletics, once told Johnson, "If you were a white boy, you could name your own price."

In 1930, as a player-coach for the Homestead Grays, Johnson discovered the legendary slugging catcher Josh Gibson. Johnson and Gibson, as well as Satchel Paige and Cool Papa Bell, played for the powerful Pittsburgh Crawfords of the mid-1930s. Johnson's play, and his proximity to the Pittsburgh Pirates, led to easy comparisons to their .300-hitting, slick-fielding hot-corner man, then considered the best one in the majors: Just as Gibson was called "the Black Babe Ruth," and 1st baseman Buck Leonard was called "the Black Lou Gehrig," Judy Johnson was called "the black Pie Traynor."

Once the color barrier was broken in the majors by Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson, Mack signed Johnson as the 1st black person in the front office of any major league team. Mack didn't promote a black player to the majors until 1949, but that's 8 years sooner than the Phillies did, playing in the same ballpark, let alone city.

Johnson moved to Kansas City with the A's, but the Phillies, much slower to integrate than the A's, allowed him to "come home" as one of their scouts, and for them he discovered the man then known as Richie Allen. Dick Allen may have been as talented as Johnson's other great find, Josh Gibson, but he was also a parallel for Gibson in the personal difficulties department, thankfully managing to overcome these as Gibson did not, and live, thus far, to the age of 74.

Johnson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and was the 1st person elected to the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame, whose display is located at the home field of the State's only professional sports team, the Wilmington Blue Rocks of the Class A Carolina League. The ballpark is named Judy Johnson Field at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium. (Frawley was the Mayor who brought the team in and got the ballpark built.)

Johnson did not live to see this honor, dying in 1989 at the age of 89. His daughter married Billy Bruton, an All-Star outfielder for the Milwaukee Braves, and another player that Johnson discovered.

*

October 26, 1902: Joseph Paul Zukauskas is born in Binghamton, New York, and moved to Boston after serving in the U.S. Navy, having tried to enlist to fight in World War I but being turned down due to his age, finally being let in after the war. It was in the Navy that he learned how to box.

Although a Lithuanian-American, he tapped into his adopted hometown's Irish fan base by changing his name to the more Hibernian-sounding Jack Sharkey. He was the last major fighter beaten by Jack Dempsey, in the 1st heavyweight fight at Yankee Stadium, in 1927, in between Dempsey's 2 title fight defeats to Gene Tunney.

In 1930, Sharkey came back to Yankee Stadium to fight Max Schmeling, the winner to receive the title vacated by Tunney's retirement. But in the 4th round, Sharkey hit Schmeling with a low blow, and was disqualified. For the 1st and (so far) only time, a major boxing title changed hands as the result of a disqualification.

In 1932, Schmeling and Sharkey fought again, this time at the Madison Square Garden Bowl in Long Island City, Queens, and Sharkey won a controversial split decision to take the title. And he never successfully defended the title, as just 1 year later, he fought for the 1st time as sitting champion, and lost (see the 1906 entry).

Like many of boxing's former champions, he later opened a restaurant in his hometown. He also became a boxing and wrestling referee and an accomplished fly fisherman, and occasionally fished with another Boston sports legend, Ted Williams. When asked if he liked fishing better than boxing, he said, "It doesn't pay as much, but then, the fish don't hit back." He died in 1994, age 91.

October 26, 1906: Primo Carnera is born in Sequals, Udine, Italy. The only citizen of Italy ever to win the heavyweight title, he won it by knocking Sharkey out at the MSG Bowl in 1933. Had Don King promoted the fight, he wouldn't have held it on June 29, he'd have held it on October 26 and called it "The Birthday Bash."

Carnera remains the tallest and heaviest man ever to win an undisputed boxing world championship, although there have recently been bigger men, Russians and Ukrainians, who have won the divided, quite disputed heavyweight title.

But he, too, defended the title only once, also at MSG Bowl, and was knocked out by Max Baer in 1934, leading someone to say about the Bowl, "The place is jinxed!" Baer, too, would wait almost exactly one year to defend his title, and do it at the Bowl, and lost in one of boxing's great upsets to Jim Braddock. "Cinderella Man" Braddock was smarter: He waited a whole 2 years, and then defended his title in Chicago's Comiskey Park instead of Long Island City, but it didn't work, as he got clobbered by Joe Louis.

Carnera got to the top by a lot of boxers "taking dives," encouraged to do so by the Mob, who wanted an Italian heavyweight champ, as Carnera was not very bright and easily manipulated. The 1st time there was an Italian-American heavyweight champ, Rocky Marciano, he didn't need no help from the wiseguys. In fact, they idolized him, because he was what they wanted to be: The toughest guy in the world.

Carnera moved to Los Angeles, and became yet another boxer to open a restaurant, but ended up dying young, age 60, not because the Mob became unhappy with him, but because of diabetes and drinking.

*

October 26, 1910: The Washington Post headlines a rumored trade that, had it gone through, would have been the biggest in baseball history in terms of the one-for-one names involved, with Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators going to the Detroit Tigers for Ty Cobb.

Tigers president Frank Navin scoffs at the story‚ saying he would never trade Cobb‚ but praising Johnson "as the best pitcher in the country." Cobb was about to turn 24 and had just finished his 5th full season of baseball; Johnson was 23 and had just finished his 4th season. This would have been like trading Mike Trout for Clayton Kershaw in 2013.

Also on this day, John Joseph Krol is born in Cleveland. Cardinal Krol was Archbishop of Philadelphia from 1961 to 1988, a period that included the construction of Veterans Stadium and The Spectrum, the 76ers' NBA Championships of 1967 and 1983, the Flyers' Stanley Cups of 1974 and 1975, the Phillies' World Series win in 1980, and Villanova's 1985 National Championship. He died in 1996.

October 26, 1911: The Philadelphia Athletics win their 2nd straight World Series. Chippewa pitcher Albert "Chief" Bender cruises to his second victory‚ a 4-hit 13-2 breeze. The A's cap the win with a 7-run 7th‚ battering three tired Giant hurlers‚ Red Ames‚ Hooks Wiltse‚ and Rube Marquard.

Overall‚ the Giants manage just 13 runs and a .175 batting average off Bender‚ Jack Coombs and Eddie Plank, gaining revenge for the Christy Mathewson-dominated Series of 1905 when the Giants embarrassed the A's.

Because of the NL's extended playing season‚ and a record 6-day rain delay, this is the latest ending ever for a World Series‚ and would remain so until the strike-delayed 1981 Series.

The last survivor of the 1911 A's was center fielder Amos Strunk, who lived until 1979.

Also on this day, Sidney Gillman (no middle name) is born in Minneapolis. With the Los Angeles Rams, Sid Gillman used the passing game of Norm Van Brocklin to Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch and Tom Fears to win an NFL Championship as an assistant coach in 1951 and a Western Division title as head coach in 1955.

He became the 1st head coach of the San Diego Chargers in 1960 (they played their 1st season in Los Angeles before moving down the Coast), coaching quarterbacks like Jack Kemp, Tobin Rote and John Hadl, and receiver Lance Alworth, and reached 5 of the 1st 6 AFL Championship Games, in 1960, '61, '63, '64 and '65, winning in 1963 – still the only time in major league sports that a San Diego team has gone as far as their league allowed them to go. (They did not play the NFL Champion Chicago Bears, and if they had, it might have been the AFL's best chance to make a statement until Joe Namath and the Jets beat the Colts 5 years later.)

It was Gillman's wide-open passing game that helped to give the AFL its first positive reviews and its reputation as a League where anything could happen at any time, contrasting with the NFL, then comparatively very conservative despite having such quarterbacks as Johnny Unitas, Sonny Jurgensen and Bart Starr.  

Gillman later served as an assistant with the Philadelphia Eagles, helping head coach Dick Vermeil develop Ron Jaworski, and with the Los Angeles Express of the USFL, where he helped to develop Steve Young.

NFL coaches who played or coached under him include Vermeil, George Allen, Al Davis, Chuck Noll and Chuck Knox. Coaches who played or coached under those men include: With Davis' Oakland Raiders, John Madden, Tom Flores, Art Shell, Bill Walsh and Jon Gruden; with Allen’s Redskins, Jack Pardee, Richie Petitbon and Joe Bugel; with Noll's Steelers, Bud Carson and Tony Dungy; with Vermeil's Eagles, Herman Edwards. Walsh's "coaching children," and thus Gillman's "grandchildren," include Mike Holmgren, Jim Fassel, Sam Wyche, George Seifert and Dennis Green; through them, Gillman's "great-grandchildren" include Andy Reid, John Fox, Mike Shanahan, Jeff Fisher, Brian Billick, Lovie Smith and Mike Tomlin.

Gillman was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983, one of the 1st primarily-AFL figures to be so honored.

Also on this day, Mahalia Jackson (no middle name) is born in New Orleans. She is often regarded as the greatest singer of gospel music ever, of any race, of any gender, of any era. As far as I know, she had nothing to do with sports, but I want to mention her anyway.

She sang at the March On Washington in 1963, and, supposedly, saw Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was wrapping up his speech, and she remembered a previous speech of his, and said to him, "Martin, tell them about the dream." He did so, and a strong call for social justice became something larger than even all the people on that stage, which also included A. Philip Randolph, Bayard Rustin, Roy Wilkins, Whitney Young, John Lewis, Daisy Bates, Rosa Parks, Walter Reuther, Josephine Baker, Marian Anderson, Lena Horne, Jackie Robinson, Ruby Dee, Sammy Davis Jr., James Baldwin, Harry Belafonte, Diahann Carroll, Burt Lancaster, Marlon Brando, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, James Garner, Charlton Heston, Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey, Mary Travers, Bob Dylan and Joan Baez.

If that story is true, then Mahalia performed a greater service to the human race than most people ever do to the God who created it, and to whom she sang so superbly.

October 26, 1916: Francois Mitterand is born. He was President of France from 1981 to 1995, and died in 1996.

October 26, 1917: Miller Huggins‚ a former "good-field, no-hit" 2nd baseman for the Cincinnati Reds, who managed the St. Louis Cardinals to a 3rd-place finish this season‚ is signed to manage the Yankees by owner Jacob Ruppert.

Co-owner Til Huston‚ who favored Brooklyn Dodger boss Wilbert Robinson for the job‚ has a falling out with partner Ruppert, and will sell his half interest to Ruppert in 1923. Huston had tried throughout the 3 men's common tenure to get rid of Huggins, to the point that, when Ruppert finally bought Huston out and announced it to the press, the next words out of his mouth were "Miller Huggins is my manager." And Huggins remained Yankee manager until his death in 1929, along the way leading the club to its 1st 6 Pennants and its 1st 3 World Championships.

No, I won't stop posting this every year on the anniversary. Why should I? At least I used a different photo this time.

October 27, 1986: The Mets win the World Series. I was not happy about this.

They have not done so since. I am very happy about that.

After Game 7 was pushed back a day by rain, the Red Sox actually seem to be shaking off the historical, hysterical Game 6 loss. They lead the Mets, 3-0 in the bottom of the 6th inning. Bruce Hurst, with an extra day's rest, is doing just fine. The Sox have chased Ron Darling. Sid Fernandez has relieved him. The Sox are just 12 outs away from their 1st World Championship in 68 years after all.

Can they hold it? These are the Boston Red Sox, what do you think? The Mets tie it up in the 6th. The idiot manager John McNamara brings in Calvin Schiraldi, who choked in the 10th the night before, to pitch the 7th, and Ray Knight leads off with a home run.  he Mets make it 6-3 by the inning's end.

The Sox make it 6-5 in the top of the 8th, so there's still hope, but then Al Nipper serves one up to Darryl Strawberry, and he hits one out, and takes a leisurely stroll around the bases, allowing NBC to run about a dozen commercials.

The Mets let reliever Jesse Orosco bat for himself, and he drives in another run, and he gets the last out by striking out Marty Barrett. Mets 8, Red Sox 5. Orosco hurls his glove high into the Flushing air.

The Mets won their 1st World Championship on October 16, 1969. It took them 17 years and 11 days, but they had now won their 2nd World Championship.

Anyone then thinking that they wouldn't win their 3rd World Championship for at least another 32 years would have been asked what he was smoking.

*

But, tonight, exactly 33 years later, one-third of a century, the Mets are still looking for that 3rd World Championship. They've won just 2 more Pennants and just 2 more World Series games since that night -- 1 in 2000, and 1 in 2015. To make matters worse, following the 1st of those Pennants, they went on to lose to the Yankees in the World Series, 1 of 5 the Yankees have won since 1986.

Indeed, since October 27, 1986, the Mets have reached the Playoffs 6 times, not a bad total at all. Of the other 25 teams then in existence, 8 have not done that well: Baltimore, Cincinnati and Montreal/Washington 5; Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee, San Diego and Seattle 4; and Kansas City 2.

But the Yankees have done it 21 times, including 7 Pennants and 5 World Championships. As late as 1992, before the Yankees started contending again, it could be argued that the Mets were the top baseball team in New York. It has never been true again -- it wasn't even true in 2015.

What the hell happened? Well, when something goes wrong, people like to look for scapegoats. Someone frustrated with the Red Sox' inability to win a World Series since 1918 thought he found a reason: They hadn't won since they sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1919, and the phrase "The Curse of the Bambino" was born. The phrase was popularized by Boston Globe sports columnist Dan Shaughnessy, and became the title of his 1990 book about the history of that franchise.

*

December 11, 1986, a date which lives in Flushing infamy: The Mets sent Kevin Mitchell, Shawn Abner, Stan Jefferson, Kevin Armstrong and Kevin Brown (no, not that Kevin Brown, though he did also pitch for the Padres later) to Mitchell's hometown, San Diego, for Kevin McReynolds, Gene Walter and Adam Ging. Forget everyone else, if you hadn't already: The keys to this trade were Mitchell and McReynolds.

McReynolds was a good player, but he was not a member of the glorious '86 team that went all the way. When the Mets didn't go all the way again, he became a scapegoat, and got the hell booed out of him. Fair? Of course not.

But it wouldn't have mattered so much if Mitchell hadn't panned out. And, as far as his hometown Padres were concerned, he didn't: On July 5, 1987, not even at the All-Star Break of his 1st season with them, he was batting just .245 in 62 games, so they sent him, and pitchers Dave Dravecky and Craig Lefferts, up the coast to the San Francisco Giants, getting back 3rd baseman Chris Brown, reliever Mark Davis (both of whom became All-Stars but never helped the team into the Playoffs) and 2 guys you don't need to remember. So Mitchell-for-McReynolds didn't help the Mets or the Padres.

These two Mitchell trades, however, helped the Giants tremendously. Before the trade, they had been in San Francisco for 29 years and had reached the postseason exactly twice, the last time, 16 years earlier. In 1987, the Giants won the NL West, as Mitchell responded to the change of scenery by hitting .306 with 15 homers and 44 RBIs in just 69 games for them.

In 1988, Mitchell tailed off a little, and the Giants tailed off a lot. But in 1989, he hit 47 home runs, had 125 RBIs, put up a sick OPS+ of 192, and made one of the great catches of all time, a running barehanded catch in St. Louis -- off the bat of defensive "Wizard" Ozzie Smith, no less -- that almost sent him barreling into the stands. Not since the salad days of Willie Mays had the Giants seen that kind of outfield defense.

He won the NL's Most Valuable Player award, and helped the Giants win only their 2nd Pennant in 35 years, while the Mets finished 2nd in the NL East for the 5th of 6 times in a span of 8 years – the others being the '86 crown and the '88 Division title.

Problems with his weight and other disciplinary issues led to Mitchell being traded several times. But he did help the Cincinnati Reds into 1st place in the NL Central Division when the Strike of '94 hit, and still had an OPS+ of 138 as late as 1996.

But he played his last big-league game in 1998 at age 36, and after bouncing around the independent minors, including stints in New Jersey with the Newark Bears and Atlantic City Surf, he called it a career. Sort of: He went back to his native San Diego, playing in an "adult baseball league" (no, no porn stars involved – that I know of), and won a title with his team in 2009.

At 57, he is now an instructor for youth baseball teams, and recently recovered from a nasty neck injury that put him in the hospital for a month. By the time he returned to Shea for the celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the title in the Summer of 2016, he was walking on his own again, and hoping to go back to his passion for motorcycles. He belongs to a motorcycle club (not a "biker gang" -- he calls it "Just a bunch of old guys having fun") called the Hood Beasts. That's their cap and jacket he's wearing in this photo.

It seems silly to suggest that he was angry about being traded by the Mets so soon after winning the Series, certainly not so angry that he would place a "curse" on them. After all, he went to his hometown, the team he grew up rooting for. They soon traded him, but that worked out really well for him. Perhaps not in terms of team success, but in terms of fame and fortune, getting away from the Mets was the best thing that could have happened to him.

Still, the fact remains that the Mets won a World Series, and were expected to win more; then, just 45 days after they won said Series, they traded Mitchell away, and they haven't won one since.

Are the Mets cursed? Or have they just been hit with a 3-decade-long combination of good competition and their own incompetence -- on the field, in the dugout, and in the boardroom?

Other teams have waited longer. Some, a lot longer. Some of those teams have had bizarre moments and crashes-and-burns that suggest being cursed. Some haven't, and have just... not... gotten it done.

The Mets?

* Post-season chokes in 1988, 1999, 2006, 2015 and 2016.

* Regular-season chokes in 1998, 2007 and 2008.

* Near-misses for the Playoffs, that can't really be called "chokes," in 1987, 1989, 1990, 2001 and 2019.

* Injury-riddled seasons, aside from those, in 1995, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2017. (Certainly, 2016 qualifies.)

* The Madoffization of the Wilpons' finances in 2008.

* And losses to teams they considered rivals in 1987 and 2006 (Cardinals), 1989 (Cubs), 1998 and 1999 (Braves), 2000 (Yankees), and 2007 and 2008 (Phillies). That's... at least 17, and possibly as many as 25, out of 33 seasons with possible "Curse Material."

The Curse of Kevin Mitchell? Do you believe?

Met fans like to use the old line of 1965-74 relief pitcher Tug McGraw: YA GOTTA BELIEVE!

I'd rather believe in the curse on the Mets than believe in the Mets themselves.

*

October 27, 939: Aethelstan the Good dies at about age 45, after 15 years as King of the Anglo-Saxons and 12 years as King of the English. For conquering York, then the last remaining Viking kingdom in the British Isles, thus uniting Wessex and Mercia, modern historians regard him as the 1st true "King of England."

But he never married and had no children, so he was succeeded by his half-brother, who became known as Edmund the Magnificent. Their grandfather, Alfred, remains the only English or British monarch ever to carry the honorific "The Great."


October 27, 1858: Theodore Roosevelt Jr. is born at 28 East 20th Street in the Gramercy Park section of Manhattan. (He would drop the Jr. after his father died in 1880.) Over a century and a half later, he remains the only legitimately-elected President to have been born in New York City.

Others have, at some point or another, lived in the City: Washington, both Adamses, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Grant, Arthur, Cleveland, Hoover, Franklin Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Obama. Eisenhower was, for a time, president of Columbia University, and Obama was a student there. So was Monroe, at a time when it was still called King's College.

TR was a member of the boxing team at Harvard University. (Yes, colleges once had boxing teams, even the Ivies.) He loved tennis, although, knowing it was considered an elitist sport, refused to allow the press to photograph him while he played. (He warned his handpicked successor, William Howard Taft, not to let them take his picture while he played golf, another sport then considered elitist, but Taft didn't listen to him.)

Seeing a newspaper photo of a bloodied Swarthmore College player, Robert "Tiny" Maxwell, in 1905, TR called in the top football officials of the time, and told them to do something about the violence in the game, or he would act. Not knowing how far he would go, fearing he might pass a law banning the game, in 1906 they formed what became the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and passed rule changes including the forward pass.

Had he ordered football shut down, that might have given soccer its best chance to succeed in America until the current boom. But he didn't.

Mount Rushmore, outside Rapid City, South Dakota, has the faces of 4 Presidents, chosen by sculptor Gutzon Borghlum for the following reasons: George Washington, as the father of the country; Thomas Jefferson, not for writing the Declaration of Independence, but for the Louisiana Purchase, beginning America's westward expansion; Abraham Lincoln, for saving the Union and making the Transcontinental Railroad possible; and Theodore Roosevelt, for being the 1st President to really have a connection with the West, as he had a ranch in North Dakota.

When Epic Rap Battles of History did Winston Churchill vs. Theodore Roosevelt, Dan Bull, a British rapper playing Churchill, told "Epic Lloyd" Ahlquist, playing TR, "They put your fat head on a mountain to save face, but if Rushmore were a band, you'd play bass!"

I say that TR is "the only legitimately-elected President to have been born in New York City." Officially, he is the 1st of 2 Presidents to have been born in The City -- and he would have beaten the shit out of the 2nd. Granted, that would have required a lot of beating, because Donald Trump is full of shit. But TR was fond of what he called "The Strenuous Life."

October 27, 1866: In Philadelphia‚ the Unions of Morrisania‚ with future Cincinnati Red Stockings star George Wright playing shortstop‚ upset the Athletics‚ 42-29. This Philadelphia Athletics had no connection to the later American League team of the same name, which now plays in Oakland.

October 27, 1868: Corvallis State Agricultural College is founded in the Oregon city of the same name. It will be named Oregon State Agricultural College in 1882, Oregon State College in 1937 and Oregon State University in 1961.

The Beavers' most famous athlete is Terry Baker, a lefthanded quarterback who won the Heisman Trophy in 1962, and, due to his aura as a "scholar-athlete," was also honored by Sports Illustrated as that year's Sportsman of the Year. Alas, his pro career was a bust, as he was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams, who already had Roman Gabriel. But he became one of Oregon's most distinguished lawyers.

Other notable Oregon State athletes include high jump innovator Dick Fosbury; basketball legends A.C. Green and Gary Payton; NFL stars Derek Anderson, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Steven Jackson and Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson; and baseball star and current Yankee Jacoby Ellsbury.

Political alumni include former Oregon Governors John H. Hall and Douglas MacKay, former Idaho Governor Cecil Andrus (who, like McKay, also served as U.S. Secretary of the Interior), former Nevada Senator John Ensign, and former Congressman Norris Poulson, who, as Mayor of Los Angeles, helped clear the way for the Brooklyn Dodgers to move there.

Other notable alumni include Douglas Engelbart, the computer scientist who invented the "mouse" and helped develop e-mail; and Linus Pauling, who won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1954 and for Peace in 1962 -- not only the only Peace Prize laureate to have won for another category, but the only person to win unshared Nobels in 2 different categories.

October 27, 1869, 150 years ago: Charles P. Pedroes -- I can find no record of what the P stands for -- is born in Havana, Cuba. "Chick" Pedroes was the 1st native of Cuba to play in what we would now call Major League Baseball, being light-skinned enough to not be confused for a person of African descent. As the saying went with light-skinned Hispanics before Jackie Robinson, he was "as white as Castilian soap."

But the right fielder played in only 2 games, on August 21 and 22, 1902, with the Chicago Cubs. He came to the plate a total of 6 times, and got no hits. He died in 1927.

October 27, 1873: James John Davies is born in Tredegar, Wales, and moves with his family to the Pittsburgh area at age 8. Because the Welsh name "Davies" is pronounced "Davis," he later changed his name to James J. Davis.

"Puddler Jim" worked in the steel industry, and rose through the ranks of organized labor. In 1921, President Warren G. Harding appointed him U.S. Secretary of Labor, and he held the office through his Administration, and throughout that of President Calvin Coolidge, and into that of President Herbert Hoover. He left the post in 1930 to accept an appointment to the U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania. He was elected in his own right in 1932, 1938 and 1944, and died in office in 1945.

October 27, 1885: Frederick Hugh Lehman is born in Pembroke, Ontario. "Hugh,""Hughie,""Bull" or "Old Eagle Eyes" -- as Rocky Balboa would say, "Yo, you think you got enough nicknames?" -- was the 1st great goaltender as hockey became a professional game. He won the Stanley Cup with the 1915 Vancouver Millionaires. In 1926, he became the 1st starting goalie for the Chicago Blackhawks. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958, and died in 1961.

*

October 27, 1904: The 1st Subway line opens in New York. It runs from City Hall to Grand Central Station (roughly today's 4, 5 and 6 trains), then turns onto 42nd Street (today's S, or Times Square-Grand Central Shuttle), then up Broadway to 207th Street (today's 1 train) before making one final curve into the Bronx to Bailey Street (this part is part of today's A train).

The Polo Grounds of the time, and its 1911 successor, were served by the 155th Street station that opened on this day. It was supposedly on this line in 1908 that Jack Norworth, a songwriter, saw a sign saying, "Baseball To-Day, Polo Grounds," inspiring him to write the lyrics to "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."

It would be 1918 before "34th St.-Penn Station" opened to service the 1910-built Pennsylvania Station, and thus to the successor station and the "new" Madison Square Garden built on the site. The 34th Street station on the 8th Avenue side of Penn Station opened in 1932, as did the 42nd Street station that serves the Port Authority Bus Terminal that opened in 1950, and the 50th Street station that served the old Garden from 1932 until its closing in 1968.

The current 4 train station at 161st Street and River Avenue opened in 1917, and began serving Yankee Stadium at its opening in 1923; the D train station there opened in 1933, probably to coincide with the opening of the nearby Bronx County Courthouse. The Prospect Park station now used by the Q train became part of the City Subway in 1920, and was used to get to games at Ebbets Field.

The station now served by the 7 train opened in 1939 for the 1939-40 New York World's Fair, well predating the 1964-65 World’s Fair and the opening of Shea Stadium and the National Tennis Center. It was named "Willets Point Blvd." from 1939 to 1964 and "Willets Point-Shea Stadium" from 1964 to 2008, and has been renamed "Mets-Willets Point," as the MTA did not want to use the name "Citi Field" due to CitiGroup's role in the 2008 financial crisis.

October 27, 1906: Earle Cabell (no middle name) is born in Dallas. He founded Cabell's, a chain of dairy and convenience stores, much like Wawa or Cumberland Farms. (7-Eleven is a convenience store, but didn't start out as a dairy.) His grandfather William and his father Ben both served as Mayor of Dallas, and he followed in their footsteps, and was elected Mayor in 1961.

That election came a few days after the Bay of Pigs invasion, and one of the CIA officials fired by President John F. Kennedy in its wake was his brother, former Air Force General Charles Cabell, the Agency's Deputy Director. On November 22, 1963, Mayor Cabell met Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline when they got off Air Force One at Love Field, the original Dallas airport. One of the theories about JFK's assassination that day is that, as a favor to his brother, the Mayor rewrote the motorcade route to put JFK in what prosecutor Jim Garrison called a "triangle of fire." But no evidence has ever been found linking either of the Cabell brothers to the assassination.

In 1964, Earl Cabell was elected to Congress as a Democrat, and served 4 terms before losing to a Republican in 1972. He died in 1975.

October 27, 1907: Union Station opens in Washington, D.C., 6 blocks north of the U.S. Capitol, replacing 2 earlier stations. It hosts service for the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (a.k.a. the B&O). In 1971, in the wake of the bankruptcies of most of America's passenger railroads, it becomes the headquarters of Amtrak.

October 27, 1910: Philadelphia Athletics manager, and part-owner, Connie Mack, just a few days after winning the World Series for the 1st time, marries Catarina Hallahan. This is the 2nd marriage for Mack, widowed in 1892, and it will have dire consequences for the A's.

In the 1940s, as Mack, by then majority owner but in his 80s and quite senile, refused to step down as manager, the products of his 2 marriages were opposed to each other: His sons from his 1st marriage, Earle Mack and Roy Mack, on one side; his 2nd wife and their son, Connie Mack Jr., on the other.

To make matters worse, Earle and Roy were feuding with each other, each thinking he should take over the team (as operating owner, if not as manager, though both had played and coached for Connie Sr.), but the only thing they seemed to agree on was that they hated Kate and Connie Jr. It got so bad that, at one point, Kate kicked the old man out of the house.

Connie Sr. desperately wanted to manage the team through the 1950 season, to make it 50 seasons in charge. He actually believed that, at age 87, he could manage one more Pennant winner. Well, Philadelphia did win a Pennant that year, but it was the Phillies, while the A's crashed to last place. Finally, with the anniversary out of the way, Earle, Roy and Connie Jr. swallowed their differences, made a brief, uneasy alliance for the good of the team, mortgaged the heck out of their various properties, bought out the other part-owners, ganged up on their father, and forced him out of the manager's job.

Connie Sr. kept his office at Shibe Park, but had no more power. And the sons once again agreed on nothing, and, with their respective finances in shambles, sold the team after the 1954 season, and they were moved to Kansas City. The Phillies bought Shibe Park, and renamed it Connie Mack Stadium. Connie Sr. lived until 1956, Roy until 1960, Kate until 1966, Earle until 1967, and Connie Jr. until 1996.

October 27, 1918: Muriel Teresa Wright is born in Manhattan. Dropping her first name, Teresa Wright played Eleanor Gehrig in Pride of the Yankees. She died in 2005, the last surviving major castmember of the film.

*

October 27, 1922: Ralph McPherran Kiner is born in Santa Rosa, New Mexico. He grew up in Alhambra, California, outside Los Angeles. From 1946 to 1952, he led the National League in home runs every year, twice topping 50 homers in a season.

He was a one-dimensional player, but he was the best player the Pittsburgh Pirates had. Still, the team wasn't doing well, on the field or at the gate, and team president Branch Rickey said, "We finished last with you, and we can finish last without you," meaning, "We can finish last without having to pay your salary," and sold him to the Chicago Cubs.

A back injury ended his career in 1955, after only 10 seasons. But in those 10 seasons, he hit 369 home runs. If it had been 20 years, double that, and it becomes 738 home runs – not as many as Hank Aaron and the cheating Barry Bonds ended up with, but more than the man who held the record then, Babe Ruth. Hall-of-Famer Warren Spahn said, "Ralph Kiner can wipe out your lead with one swing."

Kiner allegedly said, "Home run hitters drive Cadillacs, singles hitters drive Fords." That line has also been attributed to Luke Appling, but he probably didn't say it, since he was a singles hitter (albeit one of the best ever).

Kiner went into broadcasting, and joined the staff of the expansion New York Mets in 1962. His postgame show Kiner's Korner did so much to teach a generation of us about the game. But Ralph's broadcasting, well, had its moments. Remembering early Met Marv Thronberry and '73 Met George Theodore, he called Darryl Strawberry "Darryl Throneberry" and "George Strawberry." He said, "Darryl Strawberry has been voted into the Hall of Fame five times in a row"– he meant the All-Star Team. He called Gary Carter "Gary Cooper." He called himself "Ralph Korner" many times.

He once called his broadcasting partner "Tim McArthur." At the end of the game, Tim McCarver said, "Well, Ralph, Douglas MacArthur said, 'Chance favors the prepared mind, and the Mets obviously weren't prepared tonight.'" Kiner said, "He also said, 'I shall return,' and so will we, right after these messages."

Then there was, "Today is Father's Day, so for all you dads out there, Happy Birthday." Like Herb Score in Cleveland and Jerry Coleman in San Diego, he is sometimes cited as having said, "He slides into second with a standup double." But he definitely said, "Kevin McReynolds stops at third, and he scores." Like Phil Rizzuto across town with the Yankees, he frequently called home runs that ended up off the wall or caught.

My favorite Kinerism is when he cued up an ad for Manufacturer's Hanover, a bank now owned by CitiGroup, by saying, "We'll be right back, after this message from Manufacturer's Hangover."

He blamed his malaprops on hanging around Casey Stengel and Yogi Berra so much in the Mets' early days. But when he did call a home run correctly, it was with a variation on the classic theme: "That ball is going, it is going, it is gone, goodbye!" And he paid one of the great tributes to a player, when he cited the fielding of the Phillies' 1970s center fielder: "Two-thirds of the Earth is covered by water. The other third is covered by Garry Maddox."

A bout with Bell's palsy left him with a noticeable speech impediment, and as he reached the age of 80, his workdays were cut back, but into the 2010s, he still did Met games on Friday nights. As the Mets' radio booth is named for Bob Murphy, their TV booth is named for Kiner. The Pirates retired his Number 4, the Mets elected him to their team Hall of Fame, and he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He died in 2014, at age 91, and was, deservedly so, one of the game's most revered figures.

Also on this day, Ruby Ann Wallace is born in Cleveland. Known professionally as Ruby Dee, she played Rachel Robinson in The Jackie Robinson Story, while Jackie played himself. It's a little weird that two actresses (Ruby and Teresa Wright) who played wives of Baseball Hall-of-Famers, in films only 8 years apart, would have the same birthday.

Dee was married to Ossie Davis, who, among his own many acting achievements, did many of the voiceovers, including some concerning Jackie, for Ken Burns' Baseball miniseries. Until her death in 2015, Ruby lived in New Rochelle, New York, only 18 miles from Rachel Robinson in Stamford, Connecticut.

October 27, 1924: Percy Haughton dies at age 48, 2 days after suffering a heart attack, while coaching the Columbia University football team to a 27-3 win over Williams College at Baker Field. An All-American tackle at Harvard in 1898, he had coached Harvard to National Championships in 1908, 1910, 1912 and 1913. From 1916 to 1919, he owned the Boston Braves.

Also on this day, Clifford Holland dies of a heart attack in Battle Creek, Michigan, at age 41. He had gone there because of the stress of building the 1st major automobile crossing of the Hudson River from New York City to New Jersey. It would open in 1927, and be named the Holland Tunnel in his memory. He had also overseen the construction of 4 Subway tunnels under the East River, 3 from Manhattan to Brooklyn, 1 from Manhattan to Queens.

Also on this day, Cesario Gurciullo is born in Siracusa, on the Italian island of Sicily, the city that gave its name to the New York State city of Syracuse. Using the name Gary Chester, he became one of the greatest drummers of the early days of rock and roll.

A sample of his hits: "Charlie Brown" and "Poison Ivy" by The Coasters; "Sixteen Candles" by Johnny Maestro & The Crests; "Dream Lover" by Bobby Darin; "Save the Last Dance For Me,""Up On the Roof" and "Under the Boardwalk" by The Drifters; "Spanish Harlem" and "Stand By Me" by Ben E. King; "Wild One" by Bobby Rydell; "Pretty Little Angel Eyes" by Curtis Lee & The Halos; "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" by The Shirelles; and "Crying In the Rain" by The Everly Brothers.

Also: "Twist and Shout" by The Isley Brothers; "Don't Make Me Over,""Walk On By" and "I Say a Little Prayer" by Dionne Warwick; "Tell Him" by The Exciters; "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" and "It Hurts to Be In Love" by Gene Pitney; "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" by Neil Sedaka; "Roses Are Red (My Love)" and "Mr. Lonely" by Bobby Vinton; "It's My Party" by Lesley Gore; "My Boyfriend's Back" by The Angels; "He's So Fine" by The Chiffons; "Our Day Will Come" by Ruby & The Romantics; "Hey Girl" by Freddie Scott; "Come a Little Bit Closer" and "Cara Mia" by Jay & The Americans; and "Goin' Out of My Head" by Little Anthony & The Imperials.

Also: "What the World Needs Now Is Love" by Jackie DeShannon; "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison; "Sugar, Sugar" by The Archies; "Rocky Mountain High" by John Denver; and "You Don't Mess Around With Jim,""Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" and "Time In a Bottle" by Jim Croce.

If you know your music history, you've counted 12 Number 1 hits in there, which is more than most performers, on any instrument. To put it another way: If it was a hit record recorded in New York City between 1958 and 1965, and Buddy Saltzman wasn't the drummer on it, chances are, it was Gary Chester. He died in 1987.

October 27, 1925: Warren Minor Christopher is born in Scranton, North Dakota, and grows up in Los Angeles. A lawyer, he clerked for Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, was a Deputy Attorney General for the last 2 years of the Lyndon Johnson Administration, and was Deputy Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter, heavily involved in getting the hostages released by Iran in late 1980 and early 1981.

He then served as Secretary of State in Bill Clinton's 1st term, and headed Vice President Al Gore's legal team in the 2000 Presidential election recount. He lived until 2011.

October 27, 1926: For the 1st time in their history, the New York Rangers fire their head coach. This would not seem to be a big deal to anyone who isn't a member of the Ranger organization, or a fan of the team. Except the firing happened before the team had even played a game.

The owner of the Rangers, and of their arena, the new (eventually the "old") Madison Square Garden, was George "Tex" Rickard -- hence, the team's name: Before a name could be officially selected, the press was already calling them "Tex's Rangers." To assemble the organization for him, Rickard (who liked hockey, but his specialty was promoting prizefights) hired Colonel John S. Hammond, a former hockey player and a hero of World War I.

On the recommendation of Charles Adams, owner of the Boston Bruins, Hammond hired another man who had been a hockey player and a hero of World War I: Lieutenant Constantine Falkland Cary Smythe. Conn Smythe had been the manager of the varsity team at the University of Toronto. With the Rangers, his job was to recruit players whom he would then manage (as general manager, as we would say today) and coach.

One of the players Hammond wanted to sign was Cecil "Babe" Dye, a 2-time NHL scoring champion who had helped the Toronto St. Patricks win the 1922 Stanley Cup. But Smythe flat-out refused to sign Dye, claiming that he was not a team player. Dye would be sold by the St. Patricks before the season started, to another expansion franchise, the Chicago Blackhawks. And he would end up playing at The Garden, for the New York Americans.

Furious at Smythe's defiance, Hammond fired him, and hired an established major league coach who had been one of the greatest defensemen in the game's history to that point: Lester Patrick. He would coach the team for the next 13 years, winning the 1928 and 1933 Stanley Cups, and be general manager for 20 years, adding another Cup in 1940.

A major hockey trophy and, from 1974 to 1992, a Division of the NHL would be named for Patrick. These 2 things would also become true of Smythe. Both of them are in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Interestingly enough, so is Babe Dye. You know who isn't? John Hammond. Then again, neither is Tex Rickard, although he is in the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Also on this day, Harry Robbins Haldeman is born in Los Angeles. An advertising executive, he worked on President Dwight D. Eisenhower's re-election campaign in 1956, meeting Vice President Richard Nixon. He worked on Nixon's campaigns for President in 1960, losing a squeaker; and in 1968, winning one.

That led Nixon to choose "Bob" Haldeman as his White House Chief of Staff, and he was a tough one, proudly calling himself "Richard Nixon's son of a bitch." But he got involved in the Watergate cover-up. The Oval Office tapes revealed that, on June 23, 1972, Nixon told Haldeman to tell the FBI to stop investigating the Watergate break-in, because the CIA was involved -- not that they actually were (Or were they?), but that Nixon wanted them to think so. This became known as "The Smoking Gun Tape," because Nixon's instruction was obstruction of justice, and it would have gotten Nixon impeached and removed from office, had he not resigned first.

Nixon thought he could stave off impeachment by sacrificing some of his close advisers, including Haldeman, Domestic Policy Adviser John Ehrlichman, and White House Counsel John Dean, firing them on April 30, 1973. Haldeman was convicted on several counts connected to Watergate, and served 18 months in prison.

Upon his release, he went into real estate development, and regained his fortune. Like nearly everyone associated with Watergate, he published a memoir that made Nixon look worse, and rationalized his own actions; Haldeman's was titled The Ends of Power. In Oliver Stone's 1995 film Nixon, he was played by James Woods -- who, in real life, has turned further to the right than Nixon or pretty much anyone else working for him.

When he died of cancer in 1993, at age 67, he left behind notepads and his own audiotapes, which were published the next year -- as things turned out, within weeks of Nixon's own death -- as The Haldeman Diaries. It is a fascinating document for anyone wanting to study the Nixon years, but it hasn't changed opinions: Nixon's supporters have been able to rationalize it away, the way they rationalized everything else away; and his detractors have merely had their suspicions about him deepened.

He had no connection to Haldeman Ford, operator of 2 car dealerships in Mercer County, New Jersey; and 2 more in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania. But it does bring to mind an old question that the Democrats used to ask about Nixon: "Would you buy a used car from this man?"

October 27, 1928: William Kyle Rote is born in San Antonio. Kyle Rote succeeded Doak Walker as the star running back at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, and teamed with Frank Gifford to form one of the great running tandems in NFL history. He helped the Giants reach 4 NFL Championship Games, winning in 1956.

A 4-time Pro Bowler, he was later a great sportscaster. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the New York Giants Ring of Honor. He died in 2002. His son Kyle Rote Jr. was one of the 1st well-known American soccer players, and his son Rock Rote is also a New York sportscaster.

October 27, 1929, 90 years ago: William J. George (I don't have a record of what the J stands for) is born in the Pittsburgh suburb of Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. Bill George made 8 Pro Bowls as a middle linebacker for the Chicago Bears, and led their defense to the 1963 NFL Championship.

He was killed in a car crash in Rockford, Illinois in 1982. He was only 52 years old. The Bears retired his Number 61. He was named to the NFL's 1960s All-Decade Team and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In a 1989 column for Sports Illustrated, Rick Reilly called him, "The meanest Bear ever." In 1999, The Sporting News ranked him Number 49 on their list of The 100 Greatest Football Players.

*

October 27, 1932: Harry Gregg is born in Magherafelt, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. A soccer goalkeeper, he played 5 years for Doncaster Rovers before being sold to Manchester United before the 1957-58 season.

He was on the plane that crashed and killed 20 of its 44 passengers, including 8 United teammates, in a snowstorm in Munich, Germany on the way back from a European Cup match against Red Star Belgrade in Yugoslavia (now Serbia). He pulled teammates Bobby Charlton, Jackie Blanchflower and Dennis Viollet, and manager Matt Busby, from the wreckage, probably saving their lives.

The Munich Air Disaster is blamed for short-circuiting United's great team of the 1950s, and (considerably less fairly) for preventing England from winning the 1958 and 1962 World Cups.  Gregg played for Northern Ireland in the 1958 World Cup, and was voted the outstanding goalkeeper of the tournament.

Injuries prevented him from playing in United's 1963 FA Cup Final win, and from getting enough appearances to qualify for league championship medals when United won in 1965 and '67. He later managed 4 different League teams, and is now retired from active service in the game.

He and Sir Bobby Charlton are the only players who were on the plane who are still alive, 60 years later. The other people on board who are still alive are: Stewardess Rosemary Cheverton; Eleanor Miklos, wife of a travel agent who was killed; and 2, technically 3, others who were saved by Gregg: Passenger Vera Lukić, her baby daughter Vesna, and her unborn child, who became her son Zoran. (An urban legend had it that her unborn son grew up to be 1980s Arsenal goalkeeper John Lukic, an Englishman of Serbian descent, but this is not the case.)

Also on this day, Sylvia Plath (no middle name) is born in Boston, and grows up in nearby Winthrop and Wellesley, Massachusetts. Although she was a brilliant writer, she suffered from depression, at a time when attitudes toward mental health were less enlightened than they are today.

She married British poet Ted Hughes, and had 2 children, but her writing success was minimal. On February 11, 1963, she committed suicide by inhaling gas from her oven, in an apartment once held by William Butler Yeats.

It's worth noting that, at the time, she and Hughes were separated due to his infidelity. In 1969, Hughes' mistress Assia Wevill killed herself and their 4-year-old daughter. Sylvia and Ted's son Nicholas Hughes, a marine biologist, also suffered from depression, and committed suicide in 2009. Sylvia and Ted also had a daughter, Frieda Hughes, now 58, and a writer and painter. She has been divorced 3 times, and has had no children, so Sylvia's line will die with her.

"Dying is an art," Sylvia wrote, "like anything else. I do it exceptionally well." In 2003, Gwyneth Paltrow starred in the film Sylvia.

October 27, 1933: Floyd Cramer (no middle name) is born in Shreveport, Louisiana, and grows up in Hutting, Arkansas. He became one of the top piano players in country music, providing the chilling instrumental bridge near the end of Elvis Presley's 1st national Number 1 hit, "Heartbreak Hotel"; and also providing the signature sound on Patsy Cline's records, such as "Crazy."

He had a few hits under his own name, including "Last Date,""On the Rebound," and "San Antonio Rose." All of his hits were piano-based instrumentals. He died in 1997.

October 27, 1936: Albert Lee Stange is born in Chicago. Dropping his first name, Lee Stange played baseball and football at Drake University in Iowa. A knee injury ended his football career, but he made it to the major leagues as a pitcher.

He was an original member of the Minnesota Twins in 1961, and a member of the Boston Red Sox "Impossible Dream" team that won the 1967 American League Pennant. His career record was 62-61. He later served as a pitching coach, and managed the Tucson Toros for the Oakland Athletics. He died this past September 21, at age 81.

October 27, 1939, 80 years ago: John Marwood Cleese is born in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, in the West Country of England. The Monty Python performer is not an athlete? You try doing "Silly Walks" sometime. He's also narrated and starred in a documentary explaining soccer in a humourous vein. (You were expecting something completely different?) While Somerset currently has no soccer team in the top flight, he is a fan of the East London club West Ham United.

*

October 27, 1940: John Joseph Gotti Jr. is born in The Bronx. From 1985, when he ordered the assassination of then-boss Paul Castellano, until 1992, when he was convicted of multiple charges including 5 murders, he was not only the head of New York's Gambino Crime Family, but the American Mafia's Capo di Tutti Cappi: The Boss of All Bosses.

It took the federal government 4 tries to bring "The Teflon Don" down. Probably because, the 1st 3 times, the U.S. Attorney was Rudolph Giuliani. He was also known as "The Dapper Don" for his fancy suits.

The fictional Corleones of The Godfather aside, he was the most famous gang leader in America since Al Capone. His style and ruthlessness made him a touchstone for rappers, particularly in Queens where he lived and in Brooklyn, even though Gotti was no friend to black people, running drugs into their neighborhoods and running prostitution rings in them. (Brooklyn record executive and producer Irving Domingo Lorenzo, Jr. renamed himself Irv Gotti. To make matters worse, he named his company after the old Jewish Mob in New York: Murder Inc.)

John Gotti was scum, and he died of cancer in prison, in 2002. As my father said when somebody like that died, "No great loss."

Despite being still in power, he was obviously the basis for Tony "the Tiger" Russo (played by Dean Stockwell) in the 1988 film Married to the Mob; and Joey Zasa (Joe Mantegna) in the 1990 film The Godfather Part III. He was played by Anthony John Denison in Getting Gotti (1994), Armand Assante in Gotti: Rise and Fall (1996), Tom Sizemore in Witness to the Mob (1998), Sonny Marinelli in Boss of Bosses (2001), Danny Nucci in Sinatra Club (2010), and John Travolta in Gotti in 2017.

October 27, 1941: David Joseph Costa is born in Yonkers, Westchester County, New York. A defensive tackle, Dave Costa was a 4-time AFL All-Star, with the Oakland Raiders and the Denver Broncos. He died in 2013.

October 27, 1942: Lenny Sachs dies while coaching the football team at Wendell Phillips High School in Chicago. He was only 45 years old. A Chicago native, he played end for several early NFL teams, winning a Championship with the 1925 Chicago Cardinals. He also coached the basketball team at the city's Loyola University, going 16-0 in 1928-29, part of a 31-game winning streak.

October 27, 1945: Michael Ken-Wai Lum is born in Honolulu. An outfielder and 1st baseman, Mike Lum was the 1st American of Japanese descent to play in the major leagues, debuting with the Atlanta Braves on September 12, 1967.

On May 22, 1969, he became 1 of 3 players to be sent up to pinch-hit for Hank Aaron. Against Al Jackson of the Mets, he hit a double, driving in 2 runs. His 15-season major league career included a World Series win with the 1976 Cincinnati Reds. He last played in the majors with the 1981 Chicago Cubs, batting .247 for his career, including over 100 pinch hits. He is now a hitting instructor in the Pittsburgh Pirates' minor-league system.

Also on this day, Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva is born. President of Brazil from 2003 to 2010, "Lula" is largely responsible for the South American nation being one of the few countries that has thrived in the 2007-current global slowdown, and spearheaded the movement to get Brazil to host the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.

In spite of being one of Brazil's most popular leaders ever, he was convicted of corruption charges including money laundering earlier this year, and is currently serving a 12-year term in prison. He is the 5th President of Brazil to be imprisoned.

Also on this day, President Harry S Truman gets a ticker-tape parade in New York.

October 27, 1947: Members of The Committee for the First Amendment fly to Washington, D.C., as part of the "Hollywood Fights Back" movement against the House Un-American Activities Committee's hearings investigating Communist influence in the American film industry. They were attempting to defend screenwriters accused of Communist activity, a group known as The Hollywood Ten.

Members of The Committee included directors John Huston, William Wyler and Billy Wilder; songwriter Ira Gershwin; singers Frank Sinatra and Lena Horne; and actors Myrna Loy (who founded the group with Huston and Wyler), Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall, Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz, Judy Garland & her director husband Vincente Minnelli, Groucho Marx, Edward G. Robinson, Henry Fonda, John Garfield, Bette Davis, Melvyn Douglas, Katharine Hepburn, Danny Kaye, Gene Kelly, Burt Lancaster, Burgess Meredith, Jane Wyatt, Dorothy Dandridge, and the last one still living, Marsha Hunt, who recently celebrated her 101st birthday.

Some of them, including Lucy, were registered Republicans, but they couldn't accept this garbage. Lucy and Bogie, in particular, testified in such a way that it could only be described as an artful way of telling the HUAC members to go to Hell. That night, the actors bought a 30-minute special on ABC Radio, and did another a week later.

It ended up ineffective. Marsha Hunt, in particular, saw her career shut down. She is the last surviving blacklisted actor, and, at age 102, remains unrepentant, because she wasn't a Communist, and still believes that what had already been done before she stepped in was unfair. Ring Lardner Jr., son of the famous sportswriter, was the last surviving member of the Hollywood Ten, living until 2000.

*

October 27, 1951: Jayne Harrison (no middle name) is born in Washington, D.C. The 1st black woman to win the Miss USA version of Miss Ohio (a few years before Halle Berry did), she became an actress under her married name of Jayne Kennedy. She was a regular correspondent on CBS' The NFL Today in the 1978 and 1979 seasons, the 1st black actress to appear on the cover of Playboy (but she didn't pose nude for the magazine), and the 1st black woman to host an exercise video. Some people were calling her "the black Farrah Fawcett."

She's stayed out of the public eye the last 30 years, and has raised 4 now-grown daughters.

October 27, 1952: Peter Dennis Vukovich is born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. An original member of the Toronto Blue Jays in 1977, he was a part of the best trade in Milwaukee Brewers history: From the St. Louis Cardinals, they got him, catcher Ted Simmons, and (by way of the San Diego Padres) reliever Rollie Fingers. It didn't matter who they gave up.

In 1981, Pete Vukovich led the American League in wins, and Fingers had a mind-boggling year that earned him the Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Awards, and the Brewers reached the Playoffs for the 1st time. In 1982, Vukovich got the Cy Young Award, and the Brewers won their 1st Pennant. Ironically, they lost the World Series to the Cardinals -- and they've never been to another.

A torn rotator cuff cut his career short in 1986, leaving him with a record of 93-69. In 1989, he appeared in the film Major League -- not as a pitcher, but as a rather repulsive slugger for the Yankees, Clu Haywood. He has since served as a Brewers broadcaster, the pitching coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates (for all intents and purposes, his hometown team), in the Pirates' front office, and now as a scout for the Arizona Diamondbacks. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.

October 27, 1953: Robert Picardo (no middle name) is born in Philadelphia. He played Dr. Dick Richards on ABC's Vietnam War-centered drama China Beach, and Coach Cutlip on their other 1960s-set show of the 1980s, The Wonder Years.

But he's best known for his roles in science fiction. He played the Emergency Medical Hologram (a.k.a. "The Doctor") on Star Trek: Voyager, and in said role, he had more "I'm a doctor, not a... " lines than all other Star Trek physicians combined. He also played diplomat Richard Woolsey in the Stargate franchise. He recently returned to sci-fi TV, playing Ildis Kitan, father of Ilara Kitan, the Xeleyan Chief of Security on The Orville.

October 27, 1954: The divorce of Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe is certified in San Francisco. Apparently, Joe wanted Marilyn to stay home and be a good little Italian wife -- even though, with a birth name of Norma Jeane Mortensen, Marilyn was of Scandinavian descent. And she wanted to keep acting. Supposedly, the last straw was the skirt-billow over the subway grate scene, filmed for The Seven Year Itch on September 15, 1954, in front of the Trans-Lux Theatre, at 586 Lexington Avenue at 52nd Street.

It's been alleged that Joe hit her on occasion. Even if that despicable possibility is true, in 1961, he got her out of a psychiatric institution to which she'd been committed. And, with rumors abounding that they might remarry before she died in 1962, he organized her funeral and kept all the Hollywood leeches out.

For 20 years, he had roses sent to her grave every day, until he found out they were being stolen by tourists and local kids. He seemed never to have gotten over her. Nor have we all: Even in the 1st verse of "We Didn't Start the Fire" and the spoken-word part of "Vogue," respectively, Billy Joel and Madonna rhymed their names.

To paraphrase Elton John's song about her, "Candle In the Wind," I would've liked to have known her, but I wasn't born yet -- her candle may have burned out, but the world never will forget.

Also on this day, Francis Tierney Gray is born in Glasgow, Scotland. The left back was one of several Scottish players to star for Yorkshire club Leeds United in the latter half of the 1960s and the 1st half of the 1970s, as was his brother, winger Eddie Gray. Frank Gray arrived in time to help them reach, but not win, the Finals of the FA Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1973. He won the League with them in 1974.

But then, legendary manager Don Revie retired, and Brian Clough, who had managed Derby County to the 1972 League title, was brought in. The Leeds players, including Gray, did not respond well to Clough, who got fired in just 44 days, before Jimmy Bloomfield came in and took them to the 1975 European Cup Final. Clough moved on to Nottingham Forest, and, ironically, bought Gray for the 1979-80 season, and, together, they won the European Cup and the League Cup.

Gray finished his playing career in 1992, as player-manager of Darlington. He managed other teams, including an Essex club named, interestingly enough, Grays Athletic. His most recent job with any team was managing Hampshire club Bashley in 2013. He now lives in Australia, and comments on Fox Sports Australia's coverage of the Premier League.

His son Andrew Gray (not to be confused with the former Everton striker turned announcer Andy Gray) also played for Leeds and Nottingham Forest, and later managed Leeds' Under-18 team. Eddie's son Stuart Gray played for Celtic and Reading, and played his father in the film version of The Damned United, about Clough's 44 days at Leeds. Oddly, Frank does not appear as a character in the film, although he and Eddie were both interviewed for its DVD extras.

October 27, 1955: Clark Griffith dies at the age of 85. "The Old Fox" would probably have been elected to the Hall of Fame strictly on his pitching with the Chicago White Stockings (forerunners of the Cubs), but he also managed the Chicago White Sox to the first American League Pennant in 1901, and nearly managed the New York Highlanders (forerunners of the Yankees) to the Pennant in 1904 – in each case, while still an All-Star quality pitcher -- or he would have been considered such, had there been All-Star Games back then.

He managed the Washington Senators, and was still pitching for them at age 45 in 1914. He bought the Senators in 1919, and their home, National Park, was renamed Griffith Stadium. However, in a play on the phrase describing George Washington, a comedian named Charley Dryden called them, "Washington: First in war, first in peace, and last in the American League."

With Walter Johnson pitching, and 26-year-old "boy manager" and second baseman Bucky Harris leading the way, the Senators finally won a World Series in 1924 and another Pennant in 1925. With yet another "boy manager," shortstop Joe Cronin – who married Griffith's adopted daughter, Mildred Robertson – they won the Pennant again in 1933. But that was it: They finished 1 game out in 1945, and no Washington team has ever come close again.

Griffith's nephew and adopted son, Calvin Griffith, took over, and in 1959 publicly said he would never move the Senators. Of course, he did, just a year later. A monument to Griffith stood outside Griffith Stadium, and was moved first to Robert F. Kennedy Stadium and then to Nationals Park. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in the Pioneers & Executives category.

Also on this day, Rebel Without a Cause premieres, 27 days after the death of its star, James Dean, in a California car crash, at age 24. It becomes the teen angst movie of all time.

Some people consider the film "cursed," because of how many performers, in addition to Dean, died young -- or, if not quite "young," then within a few years of the film: Nick Adams died of a drug overdose in 1968, at the age of 36; William Hopper had a stroke and died in 1970, at the age of 55; Rochelle Hudson died of liver failure in 1972, at 56; Edward Platt, later the Chief on Get Smart, committed suicide due to depression in 1974, at 58; Sal Mineo was stabbed to death in 1976, at 37; and Natalie Wood drowned (some say she was murdered and dumped) in 1981, at 43.

On the other hand, some of the actors lived a long time, including a few that are still alive 63 years later, and one actress in it lived to be 96.

October 27, 1956: Matthew Andrew Cavanaugh is born in Youngstown, Ohio. The starting quarterback of the 1976 University of Pittsburgh team led by Heisman Trophy winner Tony Dorsett, he led them to an undefeated season and the National Championship, won by winning the 1977 Sugar Bowl, of which he was named the Most Valuable Player.

In the NFL, though, he was a career backup, filling in for Steve Grogan with the New England Patriots, Joe Montana with the San Francisco 49ers, Randall Cunningham with the Philadelphia Eagles, and Phil Simms and Jeff Hostetler with the New York Giants. He won Super Bowl rings with the 1984 49ers and the 1990 Giants, but did not appear in either Super Bowl XIX or XXV.

He went on to become one of the game's most respected quarterbacks coaches. He won rings as the offensive coordinator of the 2000 Baltimore Ravens and the 2006 Pittsburgh Steelers. He guided Mark Sanchez to get the Jets into the AFC Championship Game in the 2009 and 2010 seasons. He is now the offensive coordinator of the Washington Redskins, working with Alex Smith and Colt McCoy.

Also on this day, Patty Sheehan (her full name, not "Patricia") is born in Middlebury, Vermont. She won the Women's PGA Championship in 1983, 1984 and 1993; and the U.S. Women's Open in 1992 and 1994. She was one of the earliest female golfers to come out, and she and her partner adopted 2 children.

October 27, 1957: Tony Morabito, the founding owner of the San Francisco 49ers, dies of a heart attack while watching his team play the Chicago Bears at Kezar Stadium. He was only 47, and, by his own admission, been "living on borrowed time" since a heart attack 5 years earlier.

The Niners were losing 17-7 when coach Buck Shaw was handed a note, reading only, "Tony's gone." He told the team, and, instead of being dispirited, rose up, and came from behind to win, 21-17.

The 49ers would tie the Detroit Lions for the NFL Western Division Championship, but lose a Playoff to the Lions. They would not get so close to a title again for 24 years. Control of the team remained in the Morabito family until 1977, when it was sold to Eddie DeBartolo.

Also on this day, Glenn Hoddle (no middle name) is born in the Hillingdon section of West London. The midfielder starred for North London soccer team Tottenham Hotspur, leading them to the FA Cup in 1981 and 1982, and the UEFA Cup in 1984.

He also helped AS Monaco, which is located outside of France but is a member of France's Ligue 1, to the 1988 Ligue 1 title and the 1991 Coupe de France. At the time, their manager was Arsène Wenger, who went on to manage Spurs' North London arch-rivals, Arsenal. Hoddle last played as a player-manager for the West London club Chelsea in 1995.

Wenger has said, "His control was superb, and he had perfect body balance. His skill in both feet was uncanny... I couldn't understand why he hadn't been appreciated in England. Perhaps he was a star in the wrong period, years ahead of his time."

Others have appreciated him, calling him the best English player of his generation. But that may just be because Tottenham are a classically "English" team -- while Arsenal, long having had stars who were Scottish and later Irish, and more recently French, Dutch and African, are a "foreign team" and thus unworthy of standing up to "English" clubs like Tottenham, Chelsea, West Ham and the Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester and North-East clubs.

Hoddle's status as a player made the English want to like him as a manager, but in that capacity he was a joke. He got Chelsea to the FA Cup Final in 1994, and Tottenham to the 2002 League Cup Final, but he was unable to consummate the hype and lead either of his former clubs to glory.

In between, he managed the England national team to an ignominious crash out of the 1998 World Cup at the first knockout round, and his evangelism, his reliance on (not an affair with) "faith healer" Eileen Drury, and his remarks that the disabled were "being punished for sins in a former life" -- which would seem to conflict with the tenets of Christianity -- led to his sacking. He also failed as manager of Southampton, Swindon Town and Wolverhampton Wanderers, his last managing job, in 2006.

In 2008 he established a soccer academy, not in his native England but in Spain. He said he had received 26 management offers since then but has had to turn them all down "until the academy is able to run itself." In 2014, he joined the staff of another whacked-out London football personality, Harry Redknapp, at West London club Queens Park Rangers, but left the club in February 2015 when Redknapp also did. He's now a pundit for BT Sport (British Telecom).

Tony Cascarino, a former Chelsea teammate, has said Hoddle was "completely besotted with himself. If he had been an ice cream, he would have licked himself."

October 27, 1958: Gordon Sidney Cowans is born in West Cornforth, County Durham, England. The midfielder won the 1977 League Cup, the 1981 Football League title, and the 1982 European Cup with Birmingham club Aston Villa. He is now an assistant manager for them.

October 27, 1959, 60 years ago: Richard Preston Carlisle is born in Ogdensburg, New York, on the St. Lawrence River, across the border from Canada. Hockey player? No, basketball. He was a University of Virginia teammate of Ralph Sampson, was a guard on the Boston Celtics' 1986 World Champions, and briefly played with both the Knicks and the Nets. That would be quite a career for most guys.

Rick Carlisle was just getting warmed up. After retiring, the Nets kept him on as an assistant coach. He joined the staff of the Portland Trail Blazers, and his Celtic teammate Larry Bird brought him to the Indiana Pacers. He became head coach of the Detroit Pistons in 2001 (winning NBA Coach of the Year as a rookie in 2002), the Pacers in 2003, and the Dallas Mavericks in 2008, guiding them to the NBA Championship in 2011.

He enters the 2019-20 season, his 17th as a head coach, with a record of 751-627, having made the Playoffs in 12 of his seasons, and is 1 of 11 men to win the NBA title as a player and as a coach. Four others have been Celtics: Bill Russell, Bill Sharman, Tommy Heinsohn and K.C. Jones, who coached Carlisle on the 1986 title. The others are Buddy Jeannette, Red Holzman, Pat Riley, Billy Cunningham, Phil Jackson and Tyronn Lue.

Also on this day, Clinton Wheeler (no middle name) is born in Long Branch, Monmouth County, New Jersey. He played professional basketball from 1984 to 1995, but mostly in the minor leagues. He played for the Indiana Pacers in 1987-88, was an original member of the Miami Heat in 1988-89, and last appeared in the NBA that season with the Portland Trail Blazers. He died on February 14, 2019.

*

October 27, 1960: Trying to jump ahead of the National League‚ the American League admits Los Angeles and Minneapolis to the League, with plans to have the new clubs begin competition in 1961 in the new 10-team League.

At the same time, Calvin Griffith is given permission to move the existing Washington Senators franchise to Minneapolis/St. Paul‚ the "Twin Cities," where he will settle the "Minnesota Twins" at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, on the Minneapolis side of the Mississippi River but equidistant from the downtowns of both cities. An expansion team is given the Washington Senators name.

(Coincidentally, the new Senators will be moved in 1972, to an existing and greatly-expanded minor-league park at point halfway between Dallas and Fort Worth, and take the name of the State instead of that of a city: The Texas Rangers.)

AL President Joe Cronin says the AL will play a 162-game schedule‚ with 18 games against each opponent. The NL will balk‚ saying the two expansions are not analogous and that the AL was not invited to move into L.A.

Also on this day, Thomas Andrew Nieto is born in Downey, California. A backup catcher, Tom Nieto played in the World Series for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1985 and lost. He was not listed on the World Series roster for the Minnesota Twins, but he did play for them in 1987 and won a World Series ring for them that way.

He served as a coach for both New York teams. He managed the Twins' Triple-A team, the Rochester Red Wings (a longtime Baltimore Orioles affiliate), and has also managed in the Yankees' farm system.

October 27, 1961: William Charles Swift is born in Portland, Maine. With the 1992 San Francisco Giants, Bill Swift went 10-4, and led the National League with a 2.08 ERA. In 1993, he went 21-8. In 1995, he helped the Colorado Rockies, in only their 3rd season, win the NL Wild Card. He finished 94-78, with 17 saves, and his 767 strikeouts lead all Maine-born pitchers. He has since served as the head coach at Arizona Christian University in Phoenix.

Also on this day, the designers, builders and crew of the USS Constellation get a ticker-tape parade in New York. The aircraft career had been built in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and served the U.S. Navy until being decommissioned in 2003.

October 27, 1963: Leon Joseph Roberts is born in Berkeley, California, outside Oakland. By the time he became a baseball prospect, there had already been a Leon Roberts in the major leagues. So he went by his nickname, Bip Roberts.

He battled injury in a career that lasted from 1986 to 1998, but was an All-Star outfielder with the Cincinnati Reds in 1992. His only trip to the postseason was with the Pennant-winning 1997 Cleveland Indians. He finished with a lifetime batting average of .294, and has returned to his native East Bay, where he's been a high school coach, and now hosts the pregame show on Comcast SportsNetBay Area's A's broadcasts.

In 1995, with the San Diego Padres, he did a commercial for Major League Baseball, saying that his 1986 rookie card was worth $275. Teammate Tony Gwynn looked at a baseball card guide, and discovered that Bip had actually been looking at the value of a rookie card for Robin Roberts, while Bip's was worth 4 cents. Robin Roberts was already in the Hall of Fame, and Tony Gwynn was elected. Bip Roberts was not.

Also on this day, Marla Ann Maples is born in Cohutta, Georgia -- closer to Chattanooga, Tennessee than to Atlanta. An actress, she began an affair with Donald Trump in 1989, at a time when he wasn't particularly well-known outside the New York Tri-State Area. Indeed, the tabloid mess created when "The Donald" cheated on his Czech-born wife Ivana (mother of Donald Jr., Eric and Ivanka) with Marla made him (and, by extension, her) national stars.

They married in 1993, shortly after the birth of their daughter Tiffany, and the guests at the wedding included Bill and Hillary Clinton, Rosie O'Donnell (all 3 of whom would become enemies of Trump's) and O.J. Simpson (who became a villain within months, and I recently called Trump the O.J. Simpson of politics). They broke up in 1999.

She remains active in charity work -- much more so than her supposed billionaire ex-husband. She may have arrived in the public consciousness as a stereotypical blonde bimbo and a trophy mistress/wife, but, at least from the neck up, she is more qualified to be President of the United States than her ex is.

October 27, 1964: Mary Terstegge Meagher is born in Louisville. Mary T. Meagher (always with the middle initial) swam her way to 3 Gold Medals (2 individual and 1 relay) at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Her sister, Anne Northup, served Kentucky in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1997 to 2003.

Also on this day, Mark Anthony Taylor is born in Leeton, New South Wales, Australia. He was Captain of the Australia national cricket team from 1994 to 1999, leading it to the Final of the 1996 Cricket World Cup. "Tubby" is now a broadcaster in the sport.

October 27, 1965: Catcher Bob Uecker‚ 1st baseman Bill White and shortstop Dick Groat are traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies for pitcher Art Mahaffey‚ outfielder Alex Johnson‚ and catcher Pat Corrales.

In his 1st at-bat for the Phils against the Cards, White has to hit the deck, as a pitch from his former roommate, Bob Gibson, comes perilously close to his head. White would later say that Gibson's message was clear: "We're not teammates anymore."

Uecker, as has been his custom, found humor in the trade: "I was pulled over by the police. I was fined $400. It was $100 for drunk driving, and $300 for being with the Phillies."

Also on this day, a testimonial is held for Brian Clough at Roker Park in Sunderland, in England's North-East. Clough, a native of Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire, had been a star striker for Middlesbrough F.C., then was sold to Sunderland, before a knee injury curtailed his career on Boxing Day 1962. He called it "one of those grey, biting, forbidding days that only the North-East can produce." Today's sports medicine would have had him ready to go for the 1963-64 season. But, in those days, he was effectively finished at age 27.

While "The Boro" consider Sunderland their greatest rivals, Sunderland considers theirs to be Newcastle United, who are the opponents for this exhibition game. Among the "guest players" for "The Toon" were Liverpool's Scottish forward Ian St. John, and a pair of Arsenal players, former Newcastle star George Eastham and Tyneside native George Armstrong (also a North-east native, and not to be confused with the man of the same name who was then Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs).

Newcastle won 6-2. As is usually the case in a testimonial, when the "honoured" player is able to play, Clough scores -- in fact, he scores both goals for the "Mackems," one a penalty. Eastham is among the scorers for the "Geordies."

Clough's playing career was over at age 30, but his "football" legend was just getting warmed up. He was soon hired as manager of nearby club Hartlepool United, in England's 3rd division. He got them promoted to the 2nd. In 1968, he was hired by Derby County, then near the bottom of the 2nd division. He got them promoted to the 1st in 1969, and won the League with them in 1972 and got them to the Semifinals of the European Cup in 1973.

After a brief and disastrous spell managing Leeds United in 1974, he was hired by Nottingham Forest, ironically Derby's arch-rivals. He got them promoted to the 1st division in 1977, then had an English record streak of 42 games unbeaten, winning the League in 1978 and the European Cup in 1979 and 1980. He held on until 1993, when Forest were relegated, and he was finally fired, his alcoholism having rendered the former genius a liability.

He became a TV studio pundit for the sport, and was on hand at Middlesbrough in 2004 when Arsenal tied his record of 42 straight in a thrilling 5-3 win over The Boro. By the time the new record streak ended at 49 a few weeks later, Clough had died at 69, his health ruined by his drinking.

October 27, 1966: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown premieres on CBS. The 2nd Peanuts
special (after the previous year's A Charlie Brown Christmas) features the 1st animated renditions of Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown, Linus' myth of the Great Pumpkin, and Snoopy's adventures as "The World War I Flying Ace." Also, Charlie Brown kept getting a rock. Curse you, Red Baron!

Also on this day, Howard Alexander Smith dies in Princeton at age 86. A longtime official with the Republican Party in New Jersey, he was appointed to a vacancy in the U.S. Senate in 1944, and was elected in his own right in 1946 and 1952. He chose not to run again in 1958.

October 27, 1967: Helsingen Jokerit is founded in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. They are the country's most successful sports team, winning 6 titles in their country's hockey league: 1973, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997 and 2002. They won back-to-back European Cups in 1995 and 1996.

Since 2014, they have been members of the Russia-based Kontinental Hockey League. They've made the Playoffs every year since 2007, but haven't won a Playoff round since 2012. Their playing legends include Jari Kurri, Finland's most successful NHL player, whose Number 17 was retired by the club on October 27, 2007, the team's 40th Anniversary, and is now their general manager; and Esa Tikkanen.

Also on this day, Star Trek airs the episode "Catspaw." In all its series, this is the one and only "holiday episode" that Trek canon has ever done, the holiday being Halloween.

It was also the 1st episode to include Walter Koenig as Ensign Pavel Chekov. Series creator Gene Roddenberry was asked by a Russian, given Russia's contributions to spaceflight, why there were no Russians on the USS Enterprise. Chekov was his answer -- even though Chekov's own answers often ended with, "It was inwented in Russia," and his hairstyle was designed to look like Davy Jones of The Monkees.

Koenig once said, "Vhen they thought I vas 22, single and Russian, I got more fan mail than anybody except Spock. When they found out I was 31, married and American, the fan mail dried up." In fact, while the character of Chekov was 12 years younger than that of James T. Kirk, Koenig was only 5 years younger than William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy.

October 27, 1968: Vincent Samways (no middle name) is born in Bethnal Green, East London. A midfielder, Vinny won the FA Cup with Tottenham Hotspur in 1991 and Everton in 1995 -- in each case, the club's last major trophy.

*

October 27, 1970: Alain Boghossian is born in Digne-les-Bains, Provence, France. A midfielder, he is probably the greatest ethnic Armenian in soccer history, but chose to play his international football for the country in which he was born and raised. It paid off, as France won the 1998 World Cup.

He played for Olympique de Marseille, then helped Parma win the Coppa Italia and the UEFA Cup (now the UEFA Europa League) in 1999, and another Coppa Italia in 2002. He is now an assistant coach for the France national team, and helped them win another World Cup in 2018.

Also on this day, the U.S. Congress passes the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970. President Richard Nixon signs the bill into law, beginning the federal government's "War On Drugs."

In 1994, shortly after Nixon's death, Nixon adviser John Ehrlichman, who would be among those who were imprisoned for crimes falling under the umbrella term "Watergate," gave an interview where he admitted that the War On Drugs was a cynical way of going after Nixon's enemies:

The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: The antiwar left and black people. You understand what I'm saying? We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the war or black.

But by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news.

Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.

October 27, 1971: Theodoros Zagorakis is born in Kavala, Greece. The midfielder won the 2000 League Cup with Leicester City, and the 2002 Greek Cup with AEK Athens. In 2004, he captained Greece to win Euro 2004. In the Final, they beat Portugal on home soil, and Theo was named Man of the Match and Player of the Tournament. In 2014, he was elected to the European Parliament.
October 27, 1972: Brad William Radke is born in Eau Claire, in a part of Wisconsin that tilts toward Minneapolis rather than Milwaukee.  Somewhat appropriately, he pitched his entire 12-year career for the Twins, and was a member of their Playoff teams of 2002, '03, '04 and '06. He won 148 games in the majors, and has been elected to the Twins' Hall of Fame.

October 27, 1973: After going 0-6 against them the season before, their 1st season in the NHL, the New York Islanders gain their 1st regular season win over their metropolitan rivals, the New York Rangers, beating them 3-2 at the Nassau Coliseum.

Also on this day, Jason Michael Johnson is born in Santa Barbara, California. The pitcher had some terrible luck: He was a member of the original 1998 Tampa Bay Devil Rays; he was traded away by the Detroit Tigers (2005-06) and the Cleveland Indians (2006-07) the seasons before each reached their next Playoff berths; he played for the Boston Red Sox in 2006, the one season between 2002 and 2010 that they did not make the Playoffs; he pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers in their NL Western Division Championship season of 2008 but did not appear in the Playoffs; and was injured throughout 2009, resulting in his release by the Yankees.

All this would be bad enough, but he is also a diabetic, and he was the 1st MLB player to receive permission to wear an insulin pump on the field during games. His career record was 56-100.

October 27, 1976: Peerless LeCross Price is born in Dayton, Ohio. Yes, that's his real name. A receiver, he was a member of the University of Tennessee's 1998 National Champions. He played 9 seasons in the NFL, catching 403 passes, but the closest he ever got to a Super Bowl was the 2003 NFC Championship Game, where the Atlanta Falcons were beaten by the Philadelphia Eagles.

October 27, 1977: David Michael Nugent is born in Cincinnati. A defensive end, he won Super Bowl XXXVI with the New England Patriots.

Also on this day, Jiří Jarošík is born in Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic. A centreback, he won the Czech League with Sparta Prague in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2003; the Russian Premier League with CSKA Moscow in 2003; the Premier League and the League Cup with West London's Chelsea in 2005; and the Scottish Premier League and Cup "Double" with Glasgow's Celtic in 2007.

Oddly, he was never selected for his country in a major tournament. He is now retired.

Also on this day, this question was asked on Match Game: "The African Tribesman said, 'Let me tell you why I hate dogs: Yesterday, one came up to me, and started (blank)ing the bone in my nose.'" That was bad enough, but the contestant was black. And so was one of the panelists, comedian Nipsey Russell. Another, Charles Nelson Reilly, used the line that was so often used for a questionable question on that show: "We're gonna get letters!" Another, Betty White, objected to the question on the basis that she loved animals, especially dogs.

The contestant said, "Chewing on." But Nipsey and Charles both said, "Burying," and the contestant was defeated. The other panelists were Brett Somers, Patty Duke and Richard Dawson. 

October 27, 1978: Cosey Casey Coleman -- yes, that's his real name -- is born in the Atlanta suburb of Clarkston, Georgia. A guard, he won a National Championship at the University of Tennessee in 1998, and Super Bowl XXXVII with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He is now a high school football coach.

Also on this day, Sergei Viktorovich Samsonov is born in Moscow. A longtime left wing for the Boston Bruins, he came very close to winning the Stanley Cup in 2006, when his Edmonton Oilers fell to the Carolina Hurricanes in 7 games. He is now a scout for the Hurricanes.

October 27, 1979, 40 years ago: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines gains its independence from Great Britain. Today, the island nation is home to 110,000 people.

*

October 27, 1983: Martín Manuel Prado is born in in Maracay, Venezuela. In a major league career that began in 2006, he has played 792 games at 3rd base, 273 games at 2nd base, 256 games in left field, 97 games at 1st base, 16 games at shortstop, 9 games in right field, and 6 games as a designated hitter. In other words, he's played every position except pitcher, catcher and center field -- and I wouldn't be surprised to see him experimented at those as well.

He's been to the All-Star Game and the postseason once each, with the 2010 and 2012 Atlanta Braves, respectively. In 2014, the Yankees got him from the Arizona Diamondbacks for Peter O'Brien, and he batted .316 in 37 games. Foolishly, general manager Brian Cashman refused to keep him as a possible 2nd baseman in place of the pathetic Stephen Drew, and traded him and David Phelps to the Miami Marlins, with whom he still plays. Prado's lifetime batting average stands at a nice .287.

Also on this day, Brent Aaron Clevlen is born in Austin, Texas. Despite his name, the outfielder has never played for the Cleveland Indians. He did, however, reach the World Series as a rookie with the 2006 Detroit Tigers. He is now managing in independent leagues.

Also on this day, Bob Dylan releases his album Infidels. After 3 albums of what would now be called Christian rock, the Bob of the 1960s, who dabbled in biblical imagery to make on-Earth points, was back.

It includes 2 songs absolutely worth standing alongside his 1960s classics, "Jokerman" and "License to Kill." It does not, however, include a song he recorded at the same time, and became popular in his concerts, a song which would not appear on a recording until he began releases his Bootleg Series in 1991: "Blind Willie McTell."

October 27, 1984: East Brunswick High School defeats John P. Stevens High School 26-6, at Stevens' McGowan Stadium in Edison, Middlesex County, New Jersey. There have been a few notable men named John Stevens, and this one was President of the Edison Board of Education in the 1950s, so his name is also on the dedication plaques of both this school and their crosstown rivals, Edison High School.

This game went a long way toward EB earning the Championship of the Middlesex County Athletic Conference. I was a sophomore at the time, and was at this game. It was Stevens' Homecoming, and 5,000 of their fans went home angry.

They would get their revenge. Their big running back, George Boothe, was unavailable for this game due to injury. He returned, and helped them make the Central Jersey Group IV Playoffs. In the Final, at EB's Jay Doyle Field, he scored 3 of their 4 touchdowns. Trailing the Hawks 27-20, the Bears came back, and scored a touchdown to make it 27-26 with a minute and a half to go.

Remembering the Orange Bowl at the beginning of the year, when Nebraska's Tom Osborne went for the 2-point conversion and the National Championship against the University of Miami, and not getting it, and losing 31-30 -- but forgetting that, unlike college football at the time, New Jersey's State Playoffs did have a provision for overtime -- EB coach Marcus Borden went for the 2-point conversion.

Steve Hughes, who would be named Middlesex County Offensive Player of the Year by The Home News, found running back Deric Rowe wide open in the end zone. It was 3:37 PM. Don't bet me on the time. Rowe later said he lost the ball in the Sun. It hit him in the chest, slipped through his fingers, and fell to the grass. We got the ball back one last time, but it was no use: Stevens 27, EB 26. Our undefeated State Championship season was gone. And, yes, 34 years later, it still hurts.

Deric played basketball for us, too, and we still cheered him every time he got the ball. But this was EB's "Bill Buckner moment" -- 2 years before Buckner had his own. There would be other close calls, including another 1-point loss to Stevens in next year's regular season, costing us the Conference Championship, and another loss to them in the State Final. But EB football hadn't won a "State Championship" (officially, Central Jersey Group IV Championship) since 1972.

Finally, we did it again in 2004, against Jackson Memorial at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway. Borden was still the head coach. I was there. We did it again in 2009, beating Brick Memorial at The College of New Jersey (formerly Trenton State College) in Ewing.

Both Deric Rowe and George Boothe ended up in legal trouble. Rowe played at Kansas State University, but dropped out, and served time for armed robbery, carjacking and kidnapping. He now lives in the San Diego suburbs. Boothe played at the University of Connecticut, but fell into drug use there, and became Central Jersey's "O.J. Simpson" -- the difference being that he was convicted for killing his girlfriend, in Atlanta in 1994. As far as I can tell, he is still in prison.

Also on this day, Larry Foust dies of a heart attack in Pittsburgh. He was only 56. A forward, he was an 8-time NBA All-Star, but had the dubious distinction of reaching the NBA Finals 4 times and losing them all: With the 1955 and '56 Fort Wayne Pistons, the 1959 Minneapolis Lakers, and the 1961 St. Loius Hawks.

Also on this day, Brayden Tyler Quinn is born in Dublin, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus. Though with a name like Brady Quinn and coming from a town named Dublin, it's not surprising that the quarterback spurned Ohio State for Notre Dame, the Fighting Irish. An All-American, he washed out in an NFL career that saw him play for Cleveland, Denver, Kansas City, St. Louis and, in 2013, the Jets. He is now a color commentator for The NFL on Fox. He's married to gymnast Alicia Sacramone.

Also on this day, William Edwards Blacmon is born in Providence, Rhode Island. A safety, Will Blackmon won Super Bowl XLVI with the Giants. He is now a commentator for the NFL Network.

Also on this day, Kelly Michelle Lee Osbourne is born in the Westminster section of London. The singer and actress (who is probably not partially named for actress Michelle Lee), and judge on Lifetime's Project Runway Junior, is not actively involved in sports in any way, but her father, a singer of some renown, is a native of Birmingham, England, and a big fan of that city's Aston Villa F.C. But her brother Jack roots for arch-rival Birmingham City F.C.

It's also been joked that Ozzy is an "expert batsman," although that has nothing to do with either baseball or cricket.

October 27, 1985: The Kansas City Royals rout the St. Louis Cardinals 11-0 in Game 7, to win their 1st World Championship, and the 1st All-Missouri World Series since the Cardinals-Browns matchup of 1944. They become only the 6th team to rally from a 3-1 deficit and win the Series (and remain the last to do so). Series MVP Bret Saberhagen pitches the shutout while Cardinals ace John Tudor allows 5 runs in 2 1/3 innings.

The Cards are still upset over the blown call that cost them Game 6 – 34 years later, despite 5 Pennants and 3 World Series wins, they and their fans still are – and allowed it to affect their performances and their minds for Game 7.

After being lifted from the game‚ Tudor punches an electric fan in the clubhouse and severely cuts his hand. Fellow 20-game winner Joaquin Andujar is ejected for arguing balls and strikes during Kansas City's 6-run 5th inning, screaming at Don Denkinger, who blew the call at first base the night before and is now behind the plate. The Cardinals finish the World Series with a .185 team batting average‚ lowest ever for a 7-game Series.

It took the Royals 29 years to even reach the Playoffs again, and I began to wonder if they were cursed. But they won the Pennant in 2014, and went all the way in 2015, so if they were cursed, the curse was broken.

Also on this day, Billy Martin is fired by the Yankees for an unprecedented 4th time (not counting all those firings in 1977 that didn't take), and is replaced by former Yankee outfielder Lou Piniella‚ who had been the team's hitting instructor since retiring as a player in 1984.

October 27, 1986: On the very day the Mets won their last World Series to date, Jonathon Joseph Niese is born in Lima, Ohio. He pitched for the Mets from 2008 to 2015, appearing in all 3 rounds of the 2015 postseason, including 4 of the 5 games of the World Series. He was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for 2016, and then reacquired by the Mets, and released.

He was signed to minor-league deals by the Yankees in 2017 and the Texas Rangers in 2018, but, each time, he was released in Spring Training. He was signed by the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League this past April, and was quickly snapped up by the Seattle Mariners and assigned to their top farm team, the Tacoma Rainiers. But he was released in July, and hasn't pitched in a regular season major league game in 3 years. Although plagued by injuries, he has a career record of 69-68.

Also on this day, David Andrew Warner is born in the Sydney suburb of Paddington, New South Wales, Australia. He was the Australia cricket team's captain in 2018, and the vice captain of their 2015 Cricket World Cup winners. But in 2018, he was charged with ball tampering, permanently banned from leadership positions on any cricket team on Earth, and suspended from international play for 1 year.

October 27, 1987: Andrew Bynum (no middle name) is born in Plainsboro, Mercer County, New Jersey. After 2 years at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North, the center transferred to St. Joseph's High School of Metuchen, whose faculty and students still deny that they've ever recruited a student solely for his athletic ability. (There are black Catholics, but, as far as I know, Bynum is not one of them.)

After reneging on an agreement to attend the University of Connecticut, he declared himself for the 2005 NBA Draft. The Los Angeles Lakers made him the youngest NBA draftee ever, and, after preseason instruction from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar -- formerly the oldest NBA player ever -- on November 2, 2005, he played 6 minutes against the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center, becoming the youngest NBA player ever: 18 years and 6 days old. The Lakers won, 99-97.

He won NBA Championships with the Lakers in 2009 and '10, and was an NBA All-Star in 2012. But he missed the entire 2012-13 season, and hasn't played since the 2013-14 season with the Indiana Pacers. If a guy plays in the major leagues of any sport at 18, you don't expect him to play his last game at 26.

But then, he does have 2 titles, and I don't think we'll be seeing any more 18-year-olds playing in the NBA -- certainly not for a team with a pedigree anywhere near the Lakers'.

Also on this day, Yi Jianlian is born in Heshan, Guangdong Province, China. Also a center, he is again playing in his homeland, after playing in the NBA for the Milwaukee Bucks, New Jersey Nets, Washington Wizards and Dallas Mavericks.

October 27, 1988: Evan Marcel Turner is born in Chicago. He was named Big Ten Player of the Year as a senior in 2010, and Ohio State retired his Number 21. He now plays for the Atlanta Hawks.

October 27, 1989, 30 years ago: After a 10-day delay following the Loma Prieta Earthquake, the World Series resumes at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Ceremonial first balls are thrown out by 12 rescue workers, from both sides of San Francisco Bay, San Francisco and Oakland.

The title song from the 1936 musical film San Francisco, about the 1906 quake ("San Francisco, open your Golden Gate... ") is sung on the field by the cast of a San Francisco-based drag-queen stage show, Beach Blanket Babylon, and in the stands by 60,000 people. After the events of the last 10 days, suddenly no one has the energy to make bigoted or silly remarks about gay people, drag queens, or people dealing, directly or otherwise, with AIDS.

Game 3 begins, but it is over nearly as quickly as it was 10 days earlier, as the Oakland Athletics hit 5 home runs, to beat the San Francisco Giants, 13-7. The A's can wrap it up tomorrow.

I wasn't aware of this at the time, although I had set my VCR to record it. I was otherwise engaged, at Jay Doyle Field in East Brunswick, to see EB play Madison Central of Old Bridge, the school now called Old Bridge. We pulled one of the biggest upsets in the history of Middlesex County football, 10-9, ending Madison's 24-game winning streak. They'd beaten EB 33-0 in the 1987 Playoffs, 55-3 in the 1988 regular season, and 31-7 in the 1988 Playoffs. We'd graduated most of our good players, while they still had a lot left from their title teams.

*

October 27, 1990: Patrick Swayze is the guest host on Saturday Night Live, and, in one of the most fondly-remembered sketches of that era of SNL, the former professional dancer and star of Dirty Dancing plays a finalist to be a new Chippendales stripper -- against the morbidly obese Chris Farley.

Mariah Carey the the musical guest, making her national TV debut, and sings her 1st single, now the Number 1 song in the country, "Vision of Love." In baseball terms, the rookie knocks it out of the park.

October 27, 1991: The Minnesota Twins become World Champions with a 1-0 victory in 10 innings over the Atlanta Braves, behind Jack Morris's masterful pitching. Gene Larkin's single off Alejandro Pena scores Dan Gladden with the game's only run.

The game is the 1st Game 7 to go into extra innings since the Senators-Giants Series in 1924. Morris is named the Series MVP for the Twins‚ who win all 4 games in the Metrodome while losing all 3 in Atlanta -- repeating their pattern against St. Louis in 1987. Four of the 7 games are decided on the final pitch‚ while 5 are decided by a single run‚ and 3 in extra innings. All are Series records. Morris's 10-inning masterpiece turns out to be the last extra-inning complete game of the 20th Century.

Through the 2019 season, the Twins' record in World Series play is 11-10: 11-1 at home (3-1 at Metropolitan Stadium in '65, 4-0 at the Metrodome in '87 and again in '91, and they have yet to get that far at Target Field) and 0-9 on the road. However, since that day, 28 years ago, they have never won another Pennant. The Braves have, although once in the World Series, they've rarely been better off.

October 27, 1992: Brandon Saad (no middle name) is born in Pittsburgh. A left wing, the Syrian-American won the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013 and 2015, and was an All-Star in 2016.

Also on this day, Stephan Kareem El Shaarawy is born in Savona, Liguria, Italy. The son of an Egyptian father and a Swiss-Italian mother, he could have played his international soccer for Italy, Switzerland or Egypt. He chose Italy, where he is known as Il Faraone (The Pharoah) due to his Egyptian heritage. He represented his country at Euro 2016, but Italy did not qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

Because the winger was born in 1992, he wears Number 92 with AC Milan and AS Roma. He now plays in China, for Shanghai Shenhua, and wears Number 22.

October 27, 1994, 25 years ago: Had the 1994 baseball season been allowed to reach a conclusion, this is the day that Game 5 of the World Series, had the Series gone that far, would have been played, at the home park of the American League Champions.

Also on this day, Kurt Happy Zouma -- yes, that is the name he was born with -- is born in Lyon, France. His parents emigrated to France from their native Central African Republic, a former French colony, but he chose to play his international football for France. Although he helped them win the Under-20 World Cup in 2013, but he was not selected for the 2014 World Cup, and an injury excluded him from Euro 2016 on French soil. Nor was he selected for the 2018 World Cup, which France won. He has played for France since.

He began his club career at French club Saint-Étienne, and won France's League Cup (Coupe de la Ligue) with them in 2013. He now plays for West London club Chelsea, with whom he won the Premier League and the League Cup in 2015, and the Premier League again in 2017. He did not play in their winning UEFA Europa League campaign in 2019, as he was on a season-long loan to Merseyside team Everton.

His brother Lionel Zouma is a midfielder for Bourg-en-Bresse in France, and, unlike his brother, plays internationally for the Central African Republic.

October 27, 1997: Lonzo Anderson Ball is born in Anaheim. The guard was an All-American at UCLA, and played 2 seasons for the Lakers, seasons that were long on hype but short on results. He was included in the big trade to the New Orleans Pelicans for Anthony Davis.

October 27, 1999, 20 years ago: The Yankees defeat the Braves‚ 4-1‚ to win their 25th World Championship. Roger Clemens gets the win‚ hurling 4-hit ball before leaving the game in the 8th inning, to finally get his first World Series ring, 13 years after his only previous appearance, with the ill-fated '86 Red Sox.

Mariano Rivera gets the save‚ his 2nd of the Series. Jim Leyritz hits a solo homer in the 8th, the last home run, and the last run, in baseball in the 20th Century. The last out is Keith Lockhart flying out to left field, where the ball is caught by Game 3's hero, Chad Curtis. Rivera wins the Series MVP award. It is also the last major league game for New York baseball legend -- if not quite "hero" -- Darryl Strawberry, who goes 1-for-3 as the Yankee DH, his last hit a single off John Smoltz in the 2nd inning.

Four years earlier, as the final out was registered of the 1995 World Series, NBC's Bob Costas called the Braves "The Team of the Nineties." That label made sense at the time. Going into this Series, in the decade, the Braves had won 8 Division Titles and 5 Pennants, but just that 1 World Series; the Yankees had won 3 Division Titles (4 counting the strike-shortened 1994), 3 Pennants and 2 World Series.

This Series decided it, and in indisputable fashion, as the Yanks were now 2-0 over the Braves in Series play in the decade. This time, after the final out, Costas gets it right: "The New York Yankees. World Champions. Team of the Decade. Most successful franchise of the Century."

*

October 27, 2001: Game 1 of the World Series, the 1st ever played in the Mountain Time Zone. The Arizona Diamondbacks pound the Yankees by a score of 9-1 behind Curt Schilling, who hurls 7 innings to win his 4th game of the postseason. Craig Counsell and Luis Gonzalez (cough-steroids-cough) homer for Arizona as Mike Mussina takes the loss for New York.

October 27, 2002: The Angels win their 1st World Series in 42 years of play – under any name -- as they defeat the San Francisco Giants‚ 4-1‚ in Game 7. John Lackey gets the Series-clinching win, making him the 1st rookie to win Game 7 of a World Series since Babe Adams of the 1909 Pirates. (My, how times have changed.)

Garret Anderson's bases-loaded double in the 3rd inning scores 3 runs for Anaheim. Troy Glaus is named Series MVP. The Giants had a 5-0 lead in Game 6, and were up 5-3 and just 9 outs away from winning the Series, but they blew it.

Soon, people begin to wonder if the Giants are a "cursed team." The Curse of Horace Stoneham? The Curse of Captain Eddie (Grant)? The Curse of Candlestick? The Kurse of Krukow? Who knows. And, now that the Giants finally have won 3 World Series as a San Francisco team, who cares?

This is the 21st World Series to be played between two teams of the same State, the 7th from a State other than New York, and the 4th from California. In each case, it remains, through 2019, the last.

October 27, 2003: The Red Sox announce that manager Grady Little's contract will not be renewed for 2004. They also say it has nothing to do with Little's decision to stay with Pedro Martinez in Game 7 of the ALCS. Readers of Jim Bouton's book Ball Four have the right words for this: "Yeah, surrrre!"

Sox fans come up with a rather cruel joke: "What do Grady Little and Don Zimmer have in common? Neither could take out Pedro."

October 27, 2004: The Curse of the Bambino is finally broken. Well, sort of. The Boston Red Sox win their 1st World Series in 86 years with a 3-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Memorial Stadium.

Derek Lowe ends up as the winning pitcher in all 3 postseason series-clinchers for the Sox, the 1st pitcher of any team to do so. (Andy Pettitte became the 2nd in 2009.) Johnny Damon hits a home run for Boston. Manny Ramirez is voted Series MVP‚ as he leads Boston to the 4-game sweep with a .412 BA and 4 RBI.

Some people had joked that the Red Sox winning the World Series would be a sign of the Apocalypse. Well, according to the Bible, one such sign is the Moon turning blood red -- and, in fact, there was a full lunar eclipse during the game. (Although this was hardly a surprise, as newspapers and news networks had mentioned it before nightfall.)

A sign held aloft at the victory parade in Boston sums it all up: "Our (late) parents and g'parents thank you." So many people said, "We wanted them to win it in our lifetime, just once." Well, as Dan Shaughnessy of The Boston Globe said in the following weeks, "There was no spike in the obits. We checked. All those people who said they couldn't die until the Red Sox won a World Series decided to live a little longer."

Of course, they didn't win it just once in those people's lifetimes – except for those who died between October '04 and October '07. And now that we know that the Red Sox are a bunch of lying, cheating, dirty, low-down, no-good bastards, we can tell the truth: They still haven't really won a World Series since 1918*. The Curse lives.

So all those Sox fans who weren't old enough to suffer through Harry Frazee, Johnny Pesky, Harry Agganis, Tony Conigliaro, Larry Barnett, Bobby Sprowl, Bucky Dent, John McNamara and Bill Buckner – though most of them did get through what Nomar, Pedro and Grady put them through – and showed more bastardry in victory than their forebears ever showed in defeat can kiss my 27 rings (well, 7 in my lifetime – for the moment), and then they can kiss my Pinstriped ass.

Now, where was I? Oh yeah. Also on this day, Arsenal play for the 1st time since their 49-game League unbeaten streak was broken by some major cheating that Manchester United were allowed to completely get away with. It's a League Cup match at the City of Manchester Stadium (now the Etihad Stadium), and ends in a 1-1 draw.

Making their Arsenal debuts are Spanish goalkeeper Manual Almunia and Swiss centreback Philippe Senderos. Both would infuriate Arsenal fans. In Senderos' case, it was less his never really panning out, and more his being the 1st player to receive the Number 6 jersey since Tony Adams, the longtime Captain known as "Mr. Arsenal," had retired. Fans never warmed up to him. He was loaned out to A.C. Milan in 2008 and to Everton in 2010, and was sold to Fulham at the start of the next season. Having played for Switzerland in the 2006, 2010 and 2014 World Cups, he now plays in America, for the Houston Dynamo.

With Almunia, it was different. He had to go into the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final when starter Manuel Almunia was wrongly sent off by the referee, and managed to keep the clean sheet going until Samuel Eto'o scored in the 76th minute, a goal that should have been disallowed as offside. Four minutes later, Juliano Belletti won the game for Barcelona.

Lehmann went back to Germany in 2008, making Almunia the starter. He was not up to the standard of legendary Arsenal goalies Alex Wilson, George Swindin, Jack Kelsey, Bob Wilson, Pat Jennings, John Lukic, David Seaman and Lehamnn.Fans sang, to the tune of "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore,""Manuel will not let them score, Al-mu-ni...a!" But, just as often, they called him "The Clown." He was not re-signed after his contract ran out in 2012, and, after 2 years at Watford, he retired.

Also on this day, Paulo Sergio Oliveira da Silva dies. Better known as Serginho, the Brazilian played for São Caetano as a defender, and was playing for his team in a Campeonato Brasileiro match against São Paulo when he suffered a fatal cardiac arrest 60 minutes into the match.

A later autopsy showed Serginho's heart to weigh 600 grams, twice the size of an average human heart, causing mystery towards his real cause of death. He had just turned 30, and his team was defending league champions. His son Raymundo followed in his father's footsteps and also played in the Brazilian league.

Also on this day, The West Wing airs the episode "The Birnam Wood." President Jed Bartlet (Martin Sheen) and his staff take the Prime Minister of Israel and the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority to Camp David, and, somehow, negotiate a solution that never seems to have occurred to any real-life President.

But White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry has been arguing with him, and, after telling him the solution won't work, and being told by Bartlet that it would, says to his best friend, whom he prodded into running for President and has guided in that office for 6 1/2 years, "My counsel is no longer of use to you." He resigns. A few minutes later, after taking a walk in the woods, he has a heart attack, and nearly dies.

What was not known to the general public at the time is that Leo's portrayer, John Spencer -- like his character, a recovering alcoholic whose heavy drinking had compromised his health -- had cancer. This storyline enabled him to step away from the show for treatment. Alas, Spencer's illness returned the following season, and he died, forcing the writers to kill Leo off as well.

October 27, 2006: The St. Louis Cardinals defeat the Detroit Tigers, 4-2, to take the 2006 World Series. Jeff Weaver – Jeff Fucking Weaver? Are you kidding me?!? – gets the win for St. Louis, who get a pair of RBIs from Series MVP (and former Trenton Thunder shortstop) David Eckstein. Sean Casey homers for Detroit.

After the 2004 Series, when the Cardinals lost to the Red Sox, Cardinal fans began to speculate about a Curse of Keith Hernandez. Hernandez had helped the Cards win the 1982 Series, but manager-GM Whitey Herzog didn't like him and traded him to the Mets in 1983.

After this, the Cards reached but lost the Series in '85 (on the Don Denkinger blown call and their Game 7 11-0 meltdown) and '87, blew a 3-games-to-1 lead in the '96 NLCS, reached the Playoffs in 2000 and '02 but failed to win the Pennant, and looked awful in losing the '04 Series. Someone brought up pitcher Jeff Suppan's baserunning blunder in '04, and noted that he wore Number 37, which was Hernandez's number in '82.

But this win, in the Cardinals' 1st season at the 3rd Busch Stadium, their 10th title, 2nd all-time behind the Yankees and 1st among NL teams, erases any possibility of a curse on them. It should be noted that the Cards' 83 regular-season wins are the fewest of any team to win a World Series in a full 162-game, or even 154-game, season.

Also on this day, Joe Niekro dies. The longtime knuckleballer, and brother of knuckleballing Hall-of-Famer Phil Niekro, had pitched in the postseason for the Houston Astros in 1980 and '81, and finally got his ring with the '87 Twins. He won 221 games, joining with Phil to become the winningest brothers in baseball history. On May 29, 1976, he hit his only big-league home run, off Phil. He died of a brain aneurysm at age 61.

His son Lance Niekro pitched for the San Francisco Giants, and since 2012 has been the head coach at Florida Southern College in Lakeland.

October 27, 2007: After 25 years at the drafty, unsuitable arena at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, the New Jersey Devils play their 1st game at the Prudential Center in downtown Newark. The Ottawa Senators spoil the party, winning 4-1, with Chris Neil scoring the 1st goal. Brian Gionta scores the 1st for the Devils.

Also on this night, in the 1st World Series game ever played in the State of Colorado, Daisuke Matsuzaka becomes the 1st Japanese pitcher to start a World Series game. (Hideki Irabu was on the Yankees' World Series roster in 1998 and '99, but did not start any games. Hideo Nomo never appeared in a World Series.) He allows 2 runs on 3 hits in 5 1/3rd innings, to get the win against the Rockies in the 10-5 Red Sox Game 3 victory.

After paying $51.1 million for the rights simply to negotiate with the righthander, Boston obtained "Dice-K" from the Seibu Lions, signing the World Baseball Classic MVP to a 6-year deal worth $52 million.

With where the Sox have been since, especially with Dice-K missing so many games due to injury, how does the deal look now? Pretty good, since he did help them win a World Series. Well, as far as I know, he isn't one of the steroid freaks that helped the Sox cheat their way to said victory -- but with all of those injuries, you could wonder.

October 27, 2008: Game 5 of the World Series begins at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. But it doesn't end on this night, and I don't mean because it ends after midnight tonight. Unless you mean well after midnight tonight.

The Phillies take a 2-0 lead in the 1st inning when Shane Victorino knocks in Jayson Werth and Chase Utley. Tampa Bay cuts the lead in the top of the 4th, as Carlos Peña doubles and scores on Evan Longoria's single. The Rays then tie the game in the top of the 6th when B. J. Upton scores from 2nd base on a Peña single.

But it had already been raining all game, and as the Phillies get out of the inning, the umpires suspend the game. After the game was suspended, umpiring crew chief Tim Tschida told reporters that he and his crew ordered the players off the field because the wind and rain threatened to make the game "comical." The Phils' Chase Utley agreed, saying that by the middle of 6th inning, "the infield was basically underwater."

Under normal conditions, games are considered to be official games after 5 innings, or 4 1/2 if the home team is leading at that point. However, postseason games are operated by the Commissioner's Office, and thus are subject to the Commissioner's discretion of how to handle the scheduling of the games.

So, with rain for the rest of the night in the forecast for Philadelphia, and remembering the fuss made when, due to entirely different circumstances, he had declared the 2002 All-Star Game a tie after 11 innings, Commissioner Bud Selig informed both teams' management before the game began that a team would not be allowed to clinch the Series in a rain-shortened game.

This was the 1st game in World Series history to be suspended. There had been 3 tied games in the history of the World Series: 1907, 1912, and 1922, all of them called due to darkness, as artificial lighting had not yet been brought to ballparks. (Not until 1949 would lights be used on a dark day for a Series game, and not until 1971 would a Series game start at night.)

In general, no ties would be needed under modern rules, which provide for suspension of a tied game and resumption of it at the next possible date. Weather has caused numerous delays and postponements in Series history (notable postponements beforehand coming in 1911, 1962, 1975, 1986, 1996 and 2006), but never any suspended games before 2008.

Rain continues to fall in Philadelphia on Tuesday, further postponing the game to Wednesday, October 29, when the Phils finish it off.

*

October 27, 2010: Game 1 of the World Series, the 1st ever for the Texas Rangers. It doesn't go so well for them. The highly-anticipated matchup of the Rangers' Cliff Lee and the San Francisco Giants' Tim Lincecum goes by the boards, and turns into a slugfest. The Giants score 6 runs in the bottom of the 5th inning, and win 11-7.

October 27, 2011: Game 6 of the World Series. In 1986, the Red Sox had a 2-run lead in the 10th inning of Game 6, and were 1 strike away from winning their 1st World Series in 68 years... and blew it. Exactly 25 years and 2 days later...

The Texas Rangers had a 2-run lead in the 9th inning of Game 6, and were 1 strike away from winning the 1st World Series in the 51 years of the franchise, 40 of them in their current location... and blew it... and then had the exact same setup in the 10th inning, and blew it again! David Freese hit a game-tying triple in the 9th. He wasn't involved in the 10th inning comeback, but in the bottom of the 11th, he hit a walkoff home run, and the Cardinals won, 10-9.

If the '86 Red Sox were not officially off the hook for the biggest World Series choke ever seen to that point, thanks to the Red Sox of 2004 and '07, they were now, thanks to the Rangers having a bigger one.

October 27, 2012: Game 3 of the World Series. Gregor Blanco triples home Hunter Pence in the top of the 2nd, and Brandon Crawford singles home Blanco. Those are the only runs of the game, as the Giants beat the Detroit Tigers 2-0. Ryan Vogelsong, Tim Lincecum and Sergio Romo combine on a 5-hit shutout, moving the Giants to within 1 game of the title.

Also on this day, the last game is played at Ivor Wynne Stadium, formerly Civic Stadium, in Hamilton, Ontario. The Canadian Football League's Hamilton Tiger-Cats beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 28-18. They had played at the 29,000-seat facility since 1950, and one of their forebears, the Hamilton Wildcats, had played there since it opened in 1930.

The Ticats played the 2013 CFL season at the 13,000-seat Alumni Stadium in nearby Guelph, while the old stadium was torn down, and the 24,000-seat Tim Hortons Field was built on the site. They moved in for the 2014 season.

October 27, 2013: As if the interference call ending last night's game wasn't weird enough, Game 4 of the World Series also has a weird ending. The Red Sox win the 1st World Series game to ever end on a pickoff, beating the Cardinals, 4-2.

Kolten Wong, a 23 year-old rookie pinch-running for Allen Craig, is caught off 1st base by Boston closer Koji Uehara, ending the Busch Stadium contest with the dangerous Carlos Beltran at the plate.

The Cardinals had momentum after the previous night's wacky ending, but now, they won't win another game that counts until March 31, 2014.

October 27, 2015: Game 1 of the World Series at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. The Kansas City Royals played in the World Series just last year. The Mets? Not since October 26, 2000, 15 years earlier.

Matt Harvey starts for the Mets. The 1st pitch thrown by "The Dark Knight" is hit by Alcides Escobar for an inside-the-park home run, the 1st in Series play since Mule Haas of the 1929 A's. Curtis Granderson hits a home run off Royals starter Edinson Vólquez, giving the Mets a 3-1 lead. But the Royals tie it in the bottom of the 6th, taking Vólquez off the hook. Only then is he told that his father died earlier in the day.

The Mets took a 4-3 lead in the top of the 8th, and were just 2 outs away from taking Game 1, when Jeurys Familia blows his 1st save opportunity since July 30, by giving up a home run to Alex Gordon. He becomes the 5th player, the 1st since Tino Martinez and Scott Brosius of the 2001 Yankees, to hit a game-tying 9th inning home run in World Series play.

The game went into extra innings, and Granderson made a sensational catch of a Jarrod Dyson drive in the 11th. But in the bottom of the 14th, David Wright, the Mets' 3rd baseman and Captain -- and, to hear Met fans tell it, "the face of New York baseball" now that Derek Jeter has retired -- makes a throwing error that lets Escobar reach 1st. Ben Zobrist singles him over to 3rd, and Eric Hosmer flies out to center, a sacrifice fly that brings home the winning run. Royals 5, Mets 4.

This was the 1st time in World Series history that the same player scored both the 1st run of the game on the 1st pitch, and the last run of the game on the last pitch. The game tied the record for the longest game by innings in World Series history, shared with Game 2 in 1916 and Game 3 in 2005. The loss made 42-year-old Bartolo Colón the oldest player ever to lose a World Series game.

It was also the 7th time in the Mets' 25 World Series games to that point in which they had a lead and blew it. That ratio would get worse.

October 27, 2017: Game 3 of the World Series. Yuli Gurriel backs Lance McCullers Jr. with a home run, and the Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3 at Minute Maid Park. For the 1st time in their 56-season history, they take a lead in a World Series, 2 games to 1.

Through the 2018 season -- he missed 2019, recovering from Tommy John surgery -- Lance McCullers Jr. has won 29 regular-season games, plus 1 more in the postseason. Lance McCullers Sr. was also a major league pitcher, and won 28 games, but never appeared in the postseason.

Also on this day, based on the results of a recently-held referendum, the autonomous community of Catalonia declares independence from Spain and the founding of the Catalan Republic. But the Constitutional Court of Spain declared the referendum illegal, and Spain did not recognize Catalonia as an independent state.

Nor did the European Union, nor did any country therein. Nor did the United Nations, nor did any of the permanent members of its Security Council: America, Britain (also an EU member, for the moment), France (also an EU member), Russia and China. While some other places attempting to become "breakaway republics" have voiced support for Catalonia, there is little they can do. Every country on Earth has, thus far treated the issue as a domestic matter within Spain.

If independence does happen, it could have a big effect on sports, particularly soccer. Instead of Spain's La Liga being, essentially, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and the 18 Dwarfs, it would take Barcelona, their crosstown rivals Espanyol (who would almost certainly have to change their name), and Girona FC out, and force a new national league to be formed. And Real Madrid would truly be domestically dominant.

This month, there have been protests, and the Real Madrid-Barcelona "El Clásico" match scheduled for yesterday was postponed.

October 27, 2018: Game 4 of the World Series at Dodger Stadium. Rich Hill starts for the Dodgers, having pitched in relief the night before, in the longest game in Series history. This made him the 1st pitcher to start a Series game the day after pitching in one since Fred "Firpo" Marberry of the Washington Senators in 1924.

The game is scoreless until the bottom of the 6th, when the Dodgers score 4 runs on an error and a 3-run home run by Yasiel Puig. But the Red Sox score 9 runs over the last 3 innings, including home runs by Mitch Moreland and Steve Pearce. Kanley Jansen joins Byung-hyun Kim of the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks to give up game-tying home runs in back-to-back games. The D-backs won that Series anyway, but now, with a 9-6 win, the Red Sox take a 3-1 lead.

Before the game, a moment of silence was held for the victims of a despicable crime. Earlier in the day, Robert Gregory Bowers, a white supremacist, takes an AR-15 assault rifle, walks into the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh during a Shabbat service, and shoots 17 people, 11 of whom die. Among the 17 were 4 policemen, all of whom survived. He has yet to go on trial.

The day before, Cesar Altieri Sayoc Jr, who sent pipe bombs to several Democratic Party officials, including former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, was caught. He became known as the MAGABomber because of his van, festooned with Trump memorabilia.

Donald Trump still refuses to accept responsibility for his incendiary rhetoric, including bigoted "dog whistles," including the word "globalist" and references to George Soros, code words for "evil Jews." Soros was also the first person to receive a MAGABomb.

October 27, 2266: If we presume that the last 3 digits and the decimal points of the "Stardates" on Star Trek represent a percentage of that year to that point, then, with the Stardate being 2821.5, the episode "The Galileo Seven" begins on this date. Seven members of the USS Enterprise's crew, investigating a quasar-like phenomenon, are stranded when their shuttlecraft crash-lands on a planet within.

Because of the quasar's interference, finding them is difficult, even for the highly-skilled crew of the Enterprise. As Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) says in his Captain's Log, "Finding a needle in a haystack would be child's play by comparison."

On the shuttle, the ship's Chief Engineer, Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott (James Doohan), says that the craft doesn't have enough fuel to take off again, unless they can jettison 450 pounds. As the First Officer, Commander Spock (Leonard Nimoy), in command of the mission, points out, this is "the weight of three grown men." The other six officers, including one woman, are not happy to hear this, and the mission is tense thereafter. In the end, circumstance ends up making Spock's command decision for him.

The episode was based on a 1939 film titled Five Came Back, which included a young Lucille Ball -- who, as head of Desilu Productions, was partly responsible for Star Trek reaching the airwaves, and no doubt recognized the storyline.

The Washington Nationals won the 1st 2 games of the World Series. In Houston. But the Houston Astros have now won the last 3 games of the World Series. In Washington.

Cue Vince Lombardi: "What the hell's goin' on out here?"

Ever since Gerardo Parra came to bat in Game 3 with "Baby Shark" as his walkup song, the Nats have done next to nothing. Are we looking at "The Curse of Baby Shark"?

It could be worse. Donald Trump had his best day as President, with the news of U.S. Special Forces having killed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of "The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant," or ISIL. (Often incorrectly called "The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria," or ISIS.)

But he screwed it up by staging that photograph with generals in the White House Situation Room, with a time-stamp about 2 hours after it happened. When it actually happened, he was playing golf. And he may not even have been told about it before it happened, so he didn't even get to make the order himself.

Unlike Barack Obama with Osama bin Laden on May 1, 2011. Naturally, Trump's 50-minute speech on the matter made it sound like al-Baghdadi was a bigger kill than bin Laden. Trump has this desperate need to be seen as bigger and better than Obama. Mainly because, the day before bin Laden was killed, Obama released his birth certificate and humiliated Trump at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

bin Laden killed a hell of a lot more Americans than al-Baghdadi did. What's more, Trump said that nobody knew who bin Laden was before 9/11. This is a lie. There were news reports about his terrorist activities as early as 1996. In 1998, when al-Qaeda bombed 2 U.S. Embassies in Africa, it was known that bin Laden ordered it.

In contrast, I never heard of al-Baghdadi until the night before he was killed. I literally never knew he was alive until I knew he was dead. ISIL/ISIS, sure, everyone's heard of them. But ask any American to name their leader before Saturday night, and they would draw a blank.

And then Trump goes to Game 5 of the World Series. He had not been asked to throw out the ceremonial first ball. It was Washington-based celebrity chef Jose Andres.

Trump took Melania. He did not take Barron, his 13-year-old son who is a known sports fan.

The World Series was 2 miles from his house, and he had tickets, and he didn't take his 13-year-old son.

Yeah, sure, it's a school night. I think a note from the President of the United States would carry some weight.

Well, it would, if it were any other President.

When a group of veterans was shown on the scoreboard, the sellout crowd of 43,910 cheered them. When the image shifted to Trump, it was about 60-40 boos, and the boos were louder than the cheers. Fans chanted, "Lock him up!" The scoreboard operator had to switch back to the camera on the veterans, and the crowd when back to cheering.

Nobody booed Franklin Roosevelt on D-Day. Nobody booed John F. Kennedy after he solved the Cuban Missile Crisis. Nobody booed Obama after he ordered the bin Laden raid. Even George W. Bush didn't start getting booed until well after that dumb "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED" stunt.

This was Trump's best day as President, and he got the hell booed out of him anyway.

Washington Nationals fans, win or lose in this World Series, you have my thanks forever.

*

October 28, 1492: Christopher Columbus, still on his 1st voyage to the New World, becomes the 1st European to sight Cuba -- and the 1st white man to treat it poorly. He will not be the last. Because Cuba would be one of the Spanish possessions the U.S. took in the Spanish-American War in 1898, before Spain became obsessed with soccer, Cuba took to baseball far more easily.

October 28, 1550: Stanisław Kostka is born in Rostkowo, Poland. He was ordained as a Jesuit priest in 1567, on his 17th birthday, and is said to have foretold his death the following year. He was canonized as Saint Stanislaus Kostka, one of the most honored Polish Catholic figures.

October 28, 1636: New College is founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts, across the Charles River from Boston. In 1639, it would be renamed for its benefactor, John Harvard. The school would be instrumental in the spread of sports in America, particularly American football.

October 28, 1771: The Pennsylvania Packet is founded by John Dunlap. A weekly newspaper, it became a daily in 1784, the 1st successful daily newspaper published in America. But its name was changed several times, by 1791 becoming the Daily Advertiser, and thereafter going through various names as (new owner's) Daily Advertiser.

In 1796, it published outgoing President George Washington's Farewell Address. In 1839, it was purchased by the owners of The North American, and the papers were merged, keeping the North American name. In 1925, it was bought and absorbed by the Public Ledger. In 1934, it was bought by The Philadelphia Inquirer, which ceased publication of the Public Ledger in 1942. So, in a way, the Inquirer is the descendant of America's 1st real newspaper.

October 28, 1776: The Battle of White Plains is fought in Westchester County, New York. Having already conquered New York City, General William Howe pounced, in an attempt to capture General George Washington and his Continental Army.

Washington was not a good battle commander, losing a lot more than he won. But his retreats were brilliant, and so was his luck with the weather: Just as fog had enabled him to get his troops across the East River from Brooklyn to Manhattan after losing the Battle of Long Island, a chill halted the British advance, and he managed to get his men out of White Plains.

He eventually got his men across the Hudson River, roughly where the George Washington Bridge now stands, and into New Jersey, which he crossed into Pennsylvania, before going back and surprising the British-allied Hessian troops holding Trenton, and then winning another battle at Princeton.

Supposedly, author Washington Irving got the idea for the Headless Horseman in his story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," which takes place a little to the north, in Tarrytown, from a Hessian soldier who was decapitated by an American cannonball.

October 28, 1800: Artemas Ward dies in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts at age 72. An esteemed General in the Continental Army during the War of the American Revolution, he later served in the U.S. House of Representatives. A great-grandson of the same name became a famous author.

October 28, 1818: Abigail Adams dies of typhoid fever in Quincy, Massachusetts at age 73. As the wife of John Adams, and a prodigious writer of supporting correspondence around the young nation, she was the closest thing to a "Founding Mother" among the Founding Fathers.

In 1800, she became the 1st First Lady to live in the White House. Unlike her husband, she did not live to see their son John Quincy Adams become President.

October 28, 1840: Joseph Wilson Fifer is born in Staunton, Virginia. He moved to Illinois at age 16, was wounded fighting for the Union Army at the Battle of Vicksburg, and was elected Governor of Illinois in 1888. His term was scandalous, and he was defeated for re-election in 1892. He died in 1938.

October 28, 1989, 30 years ago: The Oakland Athletics take an 8-0 lead, and beat the San Francisco Giants 9-6 at Candlestick Park, to complete a 4-game sweep of the Bay Bridge World Series‚ the 1st Series sweep since 1976.

Oakland native Dave Stewart‚ who won Games 1 and 3‚ is named MVP. However, with the Loma Prieta Earthquake only 11 days prior, it may be the most subdued World Series celebration ever.

This was the 9th World Series win for the A's franchise. How many times had they won, Ed Rooney? "Nine times!" They had won it in Philadelphia in 1910, 1911, 1913, 1929 and 1930. They had won 3 straight in Oakland, 1972, 1973 and 1974. This 9th win tied them with the St. Louis Cardinals for 2nd all-time, behind the Yankees, who then had 22.

The Yankees now have 27. The Cardinals, 11. The Boston Red Sox, also 9. The A's? Although they have since between to the Playoffs 13 times, they have never won another. Indeed, since 1990, they have never won another Pennant.

It's been 30 years since they won the whole thing. How long has that been?

*

Manager Tony La Russa, outfielder Rickey Henderson, and relief ace Dennis Eckersley are in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Outfielders Jose Canseco and Dave Parker, the latter one of the heroes of the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates' World Championship, are close to Hall-worthiness. So is 1st baseman Mark McGwire. So are pitchers Dave Stewart and Bob Welch. Parker and 3rd baseman Carney Lansford were former batting champions. Outfielder Billy Beane became the general manager that built the A's Playoff teams of the 2000s and 2010s.

What no one knew at the time was that Canseco, and (possibly then, certainly later on) McGwire, were steroid cheats, and this casts a pall over this Series win every bit as much as the earthquake did.

There were 26 teams in Major League Baseball. There were very few Asian players in the major leagues. There was no Interleague Play. The SkyDome, now the Rogers Centre, the 1st retractable-roof stadium, had just opened.

This made the Toronto Blue Jays 1 of 7 teams that will still be using their 1989 stadiums in the 2020 season. The others are the A's (who are working on getting a new ballpark built), the Kansas City Royals (who replaced the A's in Kansas City in 1969), the Boston Red Sox, the Chicago Cubs, and the 2 Los Angeles-area teams, then known as the Los Angeles Dodgers and the California Angels.

The Colorado Rockies, Miami Marlins, Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Rays did not yet exist. The Washington Nationals were still the Montreal Expos.

The Jays had not yet won the World Series. The Giants had not done so since 1954, before moving to San Francisco. The Red Sox had not done so since 1918; the Chicago White Sox, since 1917; the Cubs, since 1908. The Jays, the Expos/Nationals franchise, the Houston Astros had not yet won a Pennant. The Cleveland Indians had not done so since 1954. The Braves had not done so since 1958, before moving to Atlanta. The Cubs, since 1945. The Seattle Mariners and the Texas Rangers had not yet made the Playoffs. All of these facts have since changed.

Joe Sewell, Leo Durocher, and Mark Koenig of the 1927 Yankees were still alive. Most of the defining players of my childhood were retired, with a few exceptions, like George Brett, Nolan Ryan and Carlton Fisk. But Mike Schmidt had just retired, Carl Yastrzemski and Johnny Bench had just been elected to the Hall of Fame, and Reggie Jackson and Tom Seaver were awaiting their turn. Pete Rose had just found out that his term would not come.

Derek Jeter was in high school. Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz were in junior high school. Jimmy Rollins was about to turn 11. Albert Pujols and CC Sabathia, himself a native of the A's East Bay region, were 9. David Wright, Justin Verlander, Miguel Cabrera and Zack Greinke were 6. Max Scherzer was 5. Yoenis Cespedes was 4. Felix Hernande was 3. Buster Posey was 2. Dallas Keuchel and Clayton Kershaw were 1 and a half. Stephen Strasburg was 1. Madison Bumgarner was almost 3 months old. Jose Altuve, Mike Trout, Christian Yelich, Kris Bryant, Aaron Judge, Mookie Betts and Bryce Harper had not yet been born.

Pat Shurmur of the Giants was an assistant coach at Michigan State University. Barry Trotz of the Islanders was a scout for the Washington Capitals. Domenec Torrent of New York City FC was playing at Guixols in Spain. David Quinn of the Rangers was out of hockey due to a long-term illness. Kenny Atkinson of the Nets was at the University of Richmond. Aaron Boone of the Yankees, David Fizdale of the Knicks, Katie Smith of the Liberty and Chris Armas of the Red Bulls were in high school. Recently fired Mets manager Mickey Callaway and John Hynes of the Devils were in junior high. Adam Gase of the Jets was 11 years old.

The A's had lost the previous year's World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The NFL's defending Champions were also in the San Francisco Bay Area, the San Francisco 49ers. The NBA titleholders were the Detroit Pistons; those of the NHL, the Calgary Flames. Mike Tyson was the undefeated, the undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World.

The Olympic Games have since been held in America twice, Canada, France, Norway, Japan, Greece, Italy, China, Britain, Russia, Brazil and Korea. The World Cup has since been held in America, Italy, France, Japan, Korea, Germany, South Africa, Brazil and Russia.

The idea that the Iron Curtain would fall was no longer a ridiculous one. Ideas still considered ridiculous included the idea that a President of the United States would collaborate with the Russians, a black man could be President, that people of the same gender could marry each other, and that corporations were "people" and entitled to the rights thereof. No one then on the Supreme Court of the United States is still on it now.

The President of the United States was George H.W. Bush. Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter. Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, their wives, and the widows of Lyndon Johnson and John F. Kennedy were still alive.

Bill Clinton was the Governor of Arkansas. George W. Bush had just bought baseball's Texas Rangers. Barack Obama was working at a law firm in Chicago, and was about to meet Michelle Robinson, who would become his wife. Donald Trump was a racist slumlord, cheating on his 1st wife with his 2nd. Outside New York City, he was mainly known as the guy who killed the United States Football League.

The Governor of the State of New York was Mario Cuomo, whose son, Andrew, the current Governor, was running a foundation designed to help poor people obtain low-cost housing. The Mayor of the City of New York was Ed Koch. Manhattan Borough President David Dinkins was running to defeat him, and the current Mayor, Bill de Blasio, was one of his aides. (Dinkins won.) The Governor of the State of New Jersey was Tom Kean. The current Governor, Phil Murphy, was working at Goldman Sachs.

The Prime Minister of Canada was Brian Mulroney, and of Britain Margaret Thatcher. The head of state of both nations was Queen Elizabeth II -- that hasn't changed. The United Nations Peace-Keeping Forces had just been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The Pope was John Paul II. The current Pope, Francis, was in graduate school at Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology in Frankfurt, Germany. There have since been 5 Presidents of the United States, 7 Prime Ministers of Britain, and 3 Popes.

There were still living veterans of the Spanish-American, Boer and Russo-Japanese Wars. There were still living survivors of the Johnstown Flood, the Galveston Hurricane, the Iroquois Theatre Fire, the General Slocum fire, the Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire, and the sinking of the Titanic.

Major novels of 1989 included Total Recall by Piers Anthony, Clear and Present Danger by Tom Clancy, Billy Bathgate by E.L. Doctorow, Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel, A Time to Kill by John Grisham, The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean, While My Pretty One Sleeps by Mary Higgins Clark and Daddy by Danielle Steel.

All were made into major motion pictures, except the last two: Clark's and Steele's novels tend to get adapted for television instead, and these were, as well. Daddy starred Patrick Duffy and Lynda Carter. The sight of Bobby Ewing and Wonder Woman making out was shocking, even when I remembered that, when Lynda was playing Wonder Woman, Patrick was playing another superhuman, starring in the Aquaman ripoff The Man From Atlantis.

Also published that year was Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco. As yet, it has not been filmed. Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth became a TV miniseries. John Irving's 1989 novel A Prayer for Owen Meany, itself an American rewrite of Gunter Grass' The Tin Drum, was seriously reworked for the film Simon Birch.

Stephen King published The Dark Half. George R.R. Martin published The Skin Trade. J.K. Rowling was working as a researcher for Amnesty International.

Gene Roddenberry was putting Star Trek V: The Final Frontier together. George Lucas and Steve Spielberg had released Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade -- which, of course, turned out not to be Indy's last "crusade." Christopher Reeve was the most recent live-action Superman. Michael Keaton had just begun playing Batman.

The original run Doctor Who was canceled, with Sylvester McCoy as The Doctor. Timothy Dalton was playing James Bond for the 2nd and last time, in Licence to Kill. Major films released in the Autumn of 1989 included Crimes and Misdemeanors, The Fabulous Baker Boys, Look Who's Talking, Drugstore Cowboy, the cartoon All Dogs Go to Heaven, and new live-action versions of The Phantom of the Opera and William Shakespeare's Henry V. Earlier in the year, the baseball-themed Major League and Field of Dreams had been released.

The 1st episode of Seinfeld had recently aired, but the show was being retooled. Recent premieres included Saved by the Bell, American Gladiators, Life Goes On, Major Dad, Doogie Howser, M.D., The Young Riders, Baywatch, Family Matters, and the pseudo-news show Hard Copy. The Simpsons' debut was 2 months away. Family Ties, Moonlighting, Small Wonder, Miami Vice, Kate & Allie, Hollywood Squares, Highway to Heaven, The Dating Game, ThunderCats, and American Bandstand were canceled.

No one had yet heard of Deadpool, the Seinfeld Four, Buffy Summers, Alex Cross, Fox Mulder & Dana Scully, Andy Sipowicz, Jay & Silent Bob, Ross Geller & Rachel Greene, Doug Ross, Alan Partridge, Bridget Jones, Xena, Ash Ketchum, Austin Powers, Carrie Bradshaw, Tony Soprano, Jed Bartlet, Robert Langdon, Master Chief, Jack Bauer, Omar Little, Rick Grimes, Wynonna Earp, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Michael Bluth, Lisbeth Salander, Bella Swan, Michael Scott, Don Draper, Katniss Everdeen, Walter White, Jax Teller, Richard Castle, Leslie Knope, Sarah Manning, Jane "Eleven" Hopper or Maggie Bell.

Kris Jenner was still married to Robert Kardashian Sr. I don't know if she had yet met the person then known as Bruce Jenner, who turned 40 that day, and had pretty much been forgotten over the course of 3 more Olympiads.

The Number 1 song in America was "Miss You Much" by Janet Jackson. Paul McCartney released his album Flowers in the Dirt, Bob Dylan Oh Mercy, Tom Petty Full Moon Fever, Stevie Ray Vaughan In Step, Richard Marx Repeat Offender, Clint Black Killin' Time, Soul II Soul Club Classics Vol. One, 10,000 Maniacs Blind Man's Zoo, Queen their last album The Miracle, Nirvana their debut album Bleach, and both Garth Brooks and the Stone Roses released self-titled debut albums.

Inflation has been such that what $1.00 would buy then, $2.04 would buy now. A postage stamp cost 25 cents. A single ride on the New York Subway cost $1.00, and on the London Underground £1.30. The average price of a gallon of gas was $1.06, a cup of coffee $1.41, a McDonald's meal (Big Mac, fries, shake) $5.28, a movie ticket $3.96, a new car $14,372, and a new house $151,200. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed that day at 2,596.72.

The New Jersey Devils travel to play the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh next Saturday night. The 'Canes have given the Devils fits over the years, including in the Playoffs.

They didn't seem to do so from 1982 to 1997, when they were known as the Hartford Whalers. (They were the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association from 1972 to 1979, then were brought into the NHL and changed their name to the Hartford Whalers.) But as the 'Canes, yikes. That loss at home in Game 7 of the 1st Round in 2009, going from 3-2 up with 1:20 to go to losing 4-3, still sticks in my craw.

Needless to say, I don't like the Hurricanes. And hockey doesn't belong in the South, anyway. Y'all go back to Hartford, y'hear?

Before You Go. Being in the South, it's going to be warmer in Raleigh than in Newark. But, this being November, it won't be hot. For next Saturday, the Raleigh News & Observer is predicting low 60s for daylight, but dropping to the high 30s for night. But no rain for the entire weekend.

Raleigh is in the Eastern Time Zone, so you won't have to fiddle with your timepieces. It is in North Carolina, a former Confederate State, but you won't need your passport or to change your money.

Tickets. The Hurricanes averaged 14,322 fans per game last season -- and that's an improvement by over 1,000 per game over the previous season. It's only 76 percent of capacity. No team in the NHL has a lower percentage except for Ottawa, and only the Islanders, Florida and Arizona drew fewer per game. For the sake of comparison, the Whalers averaged 13,680 fans per game, or 87 percent of capacity, in their last season before the move. So tickets shouldn't be very hard to come by.

Tickets in the lower level, the 100 sections, are $150 between the goals and $90 behind them. In the 200 sections, they're $113 between and $108 behind. the upper level, the 300 sections, they're $58 between and $32 behind.

Getting There. It's 510 miles from the Prudential Center in Newark to the PNC Arena in Raleigh. It's in that tricky range: A bit too close to fly, a bit too far to go any other way.

If you're going to drive, take the New Jersey Turnpike/Interstate 95 South all the way from New Jersey to Petersburg, Virginia. There, Interstate 85 will split off. Take that South to Exit 178. Take U.S. Route 70 South to Interstate 40 East, and Exit 289 will put you on Wade Avenue. Edwards Mill Road will be about half a mile ahead, and turn right for the arena.

You'll be in New Jersey for about an hour and a half, Delaware for 20 minutes, Maryland for 2 hours, inside the Capital Beltway (Maryland, District of Columbia and Virginia) for half an hour if you're lucky (and don't make a rest stop anywhere near D.C.), Virginia for 3 hours, and North Carolina for an hour and a half. Throw in traffic at each end, rest stops, preferably in Delaware, near Richmond and near Raleigh, and it'll be close to 12 hours.

Greyhound has 9 buses a day leaving from Port Authority to Raleigh, but only 3 of them are no-changeover routes. It costs as much as $326 round-trip (though it can be as low as $98 on advanced purchase). The trip takes 13 hours, including a long layover to change buses in Richmond. The station is at 2210 Capital Blvd., 3 miles northeast of downtown. Take the Number 1 or 3 bus in.

Founded in 1792, Raleigh is home to about 460,000 people, making it the 2nd-largest city in the State, behind Charlotte. The Raleigh-Durham area, known as the Triangle (or the "Research Triangle," to give it a tech-savvy nickname to suggest it's an East Coast version of the Silicon Valley) is home to a about 2.1 million people. This ranks it 25th among NHL markets, and would rank it 27th in the NBA, 29th in the NFL, and 30th in MLB, ahead of only Milwaukee. Don't expect it to ever get a team in the other markets, though.

The State House is the divider for addresses. The north-south divider is New Bern Avenue east of the State House, and Hillsborough Street west of it. The east-west divider is Halifax Street north of the State House, and Fayetteville Street south of it.

Capital Area Transit runs buses around Raleigh. The fare is $2.25. GoTriangle serves the Triangle region: Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. There is a light rail system being planned for the area, but it won't open before 2026.


Going In. The official address of the PNC Arena is 1400 Edwards Mill Road, at E. Stephen Stroud Way, about 5 miles west of downtown Raleigh. Stroud Way separates it from Carter-Finley Stadium, home field of the football team at North Carolina State University. N.C. State also uses PNC Arena as its basketball home, succeeding the Reynolds Coliseum, where it won National Championships in 1974 and 1983.

Parking is $15. If you're using public transportation, use Bus 100. That will get you to Blue Ridge Road at the State Fairgrounds, but then you'll have to make a left on Trinity Road to the stadium and the arena.

Food. This is the South, tailgate party country, and North Carolina is among the places in this country particularly known for good barbecue. Tailgating is usually not done before NHL games, but there are enough options to satisfy all but the most discriminating foodie.

A bar called The Locker Room is at Section 110. Pub 300 is at, no, not Section 300, but Section 312. North Carolina BBQ Company is at 104, 115, 123, 130, 306 and 326; The Carvery sandwiches and chips (potato chips, not what the British call thick-cut fries) at 104 and 123; Metro Deli at 104 and 326; Sausage Stop at 105, 120 and 304; Rituals Coffee Company at 105 and 120; Dos Bandidos pseudo-Mexican food at 112; South Street Cheese Steaks ("cheesesteak" is one word, guys) at 123 and 324; Fire It Up! Grill Stands (burgers, chicken, fries, onion rings, corn dogs) at 130 and 301;

For dessert, there's Nutty Bavarian at 101, 116 and 316; Gourment Pretzels (as if there is such a thing) at 103, 118 and 304; Breyes Ice Cream at 105, 110, 126, 309 and 329; Dippin' Dots at 105, 110, 120, 306 and 326; Sinfully Sinnamon at 110, 128 and 304; Twisted Waffle at 116 and 322; Poppin' Plants popcorn and cotton candy at 118, 124, 130 and 324.

Team History Displays. Despite having been around for only 23 seasons (22 if you don't count the canceled 2004-05), the 'Canes do have some history, which they display with banners for their 2006 Stanley Cup; their 2002 and 2006 Eastern Conference titles; and their 1999, 2002 and 2006 Division Championships.

Their retired number history is complicated. When the Whalers moved to Carolina to begin the 1997-98 season, the previously retired Number 2 for Rick Ley (defenseman, 1972-1981) and Number 19 for John McKenzie (right wing, 1977-79) were returned to circulation. The Hurricanes have never issued Number 9, which Gordie Howe wore with the Whalers (right wing, 1977-80), and consider it unofficially retired, as there is no banner to recognize it.

Number 2 has now been retired anyway, for defenseman Glen Wesley (1994-2008, 1997-2008 in Carolina). Number 10 is retired for Ron Francis (center, 1981-91 in Hartford, 1998-2004 in Carolina). Number 17 is retired for Rod Brind'Amour (center, 2000-10).
Steve Chiasson (defenseman, 1996-99, 1997-99 in Carolina) was killed in a car crash in 1999. The 'Canes have not reissued his Number 3. But they can't officially retire it, because he was driving drunk.
The Arena also holds banners for the N.C. State basketball team: Their 1974 and 1983 National Championships, their 1950, 1974 and 1983 Final Four berths, their 13 regular-season conference titles, and their 17 conference tournament wins. They also have 23 "honored numbers," including 1983 heroes Dereck Whittenburg (25), Sidney Lowe (35), Thurl Bailey (41) and Lorenzo Charles (43); but only 1974 hero David "Skywalker" Thompson's Number 44 is actually retired.

Stuff. Official Carolina Hurricanes merchandise is available at multiple The Eye store locations throughout the PNC Arena. For non-event hours, The Eye is located on the south end of the building, across from Carter Finley Stadium, and is accessible through an exterior entrance. 

Hockey is not exactly a glamour sport in the South. In North Carolina in particular, it trails basketball, football and NASCAR (which, of course, is not a sport). So there haven't been many books written about the 'Canes. And, since hurricanes frequently hit the Carolinas (hence the name of the team), if you type "Carolina Hurricanes" into Amazon.com, you get books about local storms.

Erin Butler recently published the Hurricanes' edition in the Inside the NHL series. And after the 2006 Stanley Cup, the sports staff of the News & Observer published a commemorative book, titled Whatever It Takes.

Commemorative DVD sets were produced for the 2006 Cup and the team's 10th Anniversary in 2007, but that's about it as far as videos go. There was no 20th Anniversary video in 2017.

During the Game. A November 19, 2014 article on The Hockey News' website ranked the NHL teams' fan bases, and listed the 'Canes' fans 23rd out of 30, saying, "Canes put weak product on ice, so fans won't come even if tickets are cheap."

At least your safety is unlikely to be an issue. Unless you're going to a basketball game between Duke University and the University of North Carolina -- especially at Duke -- North Carolina fans, in any sport, don't have a rough reputation.


Their mascot is Stormy the Ice Hog. Fortunately, he's not a wild boar, a warthog, or even a Razorback hog like the University of Arkansas' mascot. He's a friendly-looking brown pig, whose jersey has Number 97, in honor of the year the team moved to North Carolina.
After the Game. Unlike Charlotte, whose sports facilities are now all downtown, Raleigh's arena and football stadium are in a suburban part of town, 2 islands in a sea of parking. Crime should not be an issue: Most likely, you will be safe, and if you drove in, so will your car.

But this setup also means you'll have a bit of a walk back to public transportation, and to any place serving late-night food and/or drinks. Backyard Bistro is across Trinity Road from the complex, and there's a Wendy's at Trinity Road and Edwards Mill Road. If those aren't good enough for you, you may have to head back downtown.

Downtown Sports Bar in Raleigh is the home of a local Giants fan club. It's at 410 Glenwood Avenue at Anwood Place. There are 2 places worth mentioning just off the N.C. State campus. Amadeo's Italian Restaurant is the home of a local Jets fan club. It's at 3905 Western Blvd. at Whitmore Drive. Fuhgeddaboudit Pizza, at 2504 Hillsborough Street and Horne Street, is said to be covered in various items of New York memorabilia.

If your visit to Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill is during the European soccer season, as we are now in, your best bets for a pub to watch your club are London Bridge Pub, at 110 E. Hargett Street in downtown Raleigh; or Bull McCabe's Irish Pub, at 427 W. Main Street across from the Amtrak and Greyhound stations in downtown Durham.

I should note that the former is owned by Liverpool fans, so if you don't want to be surrounded by Scousers and wannabe Kopites, you may wish to look elsewhere; while the latter is the home of the local Arsenal supporters' club, so if you're not fond of Gooners, you may want to avoid that one.
Sidelights. Charlotte's sports history, at least at the major league level, isn't much, and Raleigh's is even less than that.

* Carter-Finley Stadium. After playing football at Riddick Stadium from 1907 to 1965 (demolished in 2005), North Carolina State moved into Carter Stadium in 1966. It was originally named for brothers Harry C. Carter and Wilbert J. "Nick" Carter, N.C. State graduates and major financial contributors. Albert E. Finley, another big contributor, had his name added in 1979. The playing surface is now named for yet another contributor: Wayne Day Family Field.
Currently seating 57,583, the N.C. State Wolfpack have won 3 Atlantic Coast Conference football titles there, in 1968, 1973 and 1979. This is in addition to the 8 titles they won in their various leagues at Riddick Stadium, for a total of 11: 1907, 1910, 1913, 1927, 1957, 1963, 1964 and 1965. Those last 3 conference titles provided the revenue for the building of a new stadium, to replace the obsolete Riddick. It features a display of 10 retired numbers, including current NFL quarterbacks Philip Rivers (17) and Russell Wilson (16), and former New York Jet Dennis Byrd (77 for them, 90 for the Jets).

It was also home to what's been called the worst team in the history of professional football: The Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks of the World League of American football. Their red, kelly green, black and white uniforms, and their jets in formation leaving vapor trails helmet logo, were weird enough. Their cheerleaders, tapping into the aviation theme and the Wright Brothers' first flight in the Outer Banks in 1903, were named the Kittyhawks. Charlotte Hornets owner George Shinn owned them, and Roman Gabriel, another N.C. State quarterback whose number has been retired (18), was their head coach.

But even with Shinn's money, Gabriel as head coach, and former pro quarterback Johnnie Walton and eventual Pro Football Hall-of-Famer Claude Humphrey as offensive and defensive coordinators, they went 0-10 in a weak league (the WLAF was nicknamed "The Laugh League") in the 1991 season. And, with no beer sold, they averaged just 12,066 fans per home game. (Even the Hurricanes can usually top that.) The team was moved to Columbus for the 1992 season and renamed the Ohio Glory.

Carter-Finley Stadium hosted a summer tour soccer game between Italy's Juventus and Mexico's C.D. Guadalajara (a.k.a. "Chivas") in 2011. It has also hosted concerts by Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd, U2 and, just this past summer, the Rolling Stones. 4600 Trinity Road at Youth Center Drive, separated from the PNC Arena by Stephen Stroud Way.

According to an article in the September 2014 issue of The Atlantic, as you might guess, the Charlotte-based Carolina Panthers, just 168 miles from the State House, are the most popular NFL team not just in Charlotte and in the Raleigh-Durham area, but in the entire State of North Carolina.

However, both Carolinas have significant pockets of support for the Washington Redskins, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys, mainly due to the media saturation (and, in the Redskins' case, proximity is also a cause). In particular, these teams tend to cancel out Panther support in the ocean resort communities, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina and at Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head in South Carolina.

* Reynolds Coliseum. Home to N.C. State basketball from 1949 to 1999, the William Neal Reynolds Coliseum (named for the former chief executive of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and brother of R.J. himself) hosted the Wolfpack teams that won the National Championship in 1974 and 1983, reached the Final Four in 1950, and won the ACC title in the regular season in 1950, '51, '53, '55, '56, '59, '73, '74, '85 and '89; and in the tournament in 1950, '51, '52, '54, '55, '56, '59, '65, '70, '73, '74, '83 and '87. (They haven't won either since moving into the new arena.)
The Coliseum was the home of the ACC Tournament from 1954 to 1966, and has hosted many NCAA Tournament games, and still hosts them for the women's tournament. It remains the home for N.C. State women's basketball and wrestling. It is currently undergoing a renovation that is scheduled to be completed next August, providing more space for offices and a school Athletic Hall of Fame, but also reducing the seating capacity from 9,500 to 5,600. 2411 Dunn Avenue at Jeter Drive (not named for Derek Jeter), next door to the Talley Student Union, 2 miles west of downtown.
The only Final Fours held in the Carolinas have been 1974 at the Greensboro Coliseum (N.C. State interrupting the UCLA dynasty in the Semifinal and beating Marquette in the Final) and 1994 at the 2nd Charlotte Coliseum (Arkansas beating Duke).


The Mudcats won Pennants in the Class AA Southern League in 1995 and 2003, but have not won one since moving to the Class A Carolina League in 2012. Ironically, where they were once higher in classification than the Bulls, they are now lower. 1501 State Highway 39 at Old U.S. 264, 26 miles east of the State House. Accessible by car only: No public transportation out there.

* Durham Athletic Park. Made famous by the 1988 film Bull Durham, which jump-started the minor-league baseball craze of the late 20th Century, the Durham Bulls played at the site of "The DAP" from 1926 until 1994 (with a rebuild in 1939-40 after a fire), mostly in the Class A Carolina League. Having already won Pennants in 1924 and '25, they won them at The DAP in 1929, '30, '40, '41, '57, '65 and '67.

The film, which takes place in 1987, the year before it was released (a fact confirmed by the calendar in the manager's office), gives the impression that they weren't very good, and hadn't been for a long time, but got to 1st place by the 4th of July, and then faltered.

In real life, they went 67-75 that season, but they did have 6 players who went on to reach the major leagues: Kevin Brown, Kent Mercker, Mark Lemke, Derek Lilliquist, Gary Eave and Rusty Richards. Not bad for a Single-A team that was 8 games under .500. Then again, this was before their parent club, the Atlanta Braves, got good again in 1991, so they needed whatever help they could get. But Mercker and Lemke were a part of the Braves' quasi-dynasty.

The film made The DAP the most famous minor-league ballpark ever. But the park became a victim of the film's success: Soon, people came flocking to it, and its 5,000-seat capacity was now obsolete. A new ballpark was built, but the old one was left standing, and is still used for local baseball.

428 Morris Street. Unlike the Mudcats' home, The DAP can be reached by public transit from Raleigh. Take Bus 100 to the Regional Transit Center, then switch to Bus 700, and take that to the Durham Amtrak station. Then Bus 4 or a short walk.

* Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The DBAP (pronounced DEE-bap) has been home to the Bulls since 1995, and since 1998 they've been the Triple-A farm team of the Tampa Bay Rays. The Bulls have won International League Pennants there in 2002, '03, '09 and '13, making a total of 13 Pennants in various leagues at various levels.

Although it seats twice as many, 10,000, the Bulls tried to make it as much like the old DAP as possible, including the 305-foot right-field fence, nicknamed the Blue Monster, complete with the famous bull "HIT SIGN WIN STEAK" sign that was erected for the movie and kept. Even the overhanging roof, although up to public safety code, looks pretty much the same. 409 Blackwell Street at Willard Street, a 5-minute walk from the train station.

According to an article in the April 24, 2014 edition of The New York Times, the Yankees are the most popular MLB team in the Triangle, averaging around 26 percent, with the Boston Red Sox at 20 and the Atlanta Braves at around 12. That's mainly due to the national media's exposure of the Yanks and Sox, since the Braves are easily the closest team, 265 miles away. It could also be due to the fact that UNC and Duke have a national reach with their student bodies.

Raleigh's relatively low metropolitan population means it would rank 31st and last in MLB, 29th in the NFL, and 28th in the NBA.

* Duke University. As with the Durham ballparks, reachable by taking Bus 100 to the Regional Transit Center and transferring to Bus 700. Cameron Indoor Stadium, opening in 1940, is at 115 Whitford Drive. Wallace Wade Stadium, opening in 1929, is next door. Wade Stadium hosted the only Rose Bowl away from Pasadena, in 1942, because of concerns over the Pacific Coast just 25 days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Duke lost it to Oregon State. 27 miles northwest of downtown Raleigh, up U.S. Route 70.

* The University of North Carolina. About 28 miles northwest of downtown Raleigh, but in a slightly different direction, on Interstate 40. The Dean E. Smith Student Activities Center, a.k.a. the Dean Dome (where they've won National Championships in 1993, 2005, 2009 and 2017), is at 300 Skipper Bowles Drive. It's just 11 miles between the Dean Dome and Cameron.

The old court, Carmichael Arena, where the Tar Heels played from 1965 to 1986 (and won the National Championship in 1982), is at 310 South Road. Woollen Gymnasium, where they played from 1937 to 1965 (and won the National Championship in 1957), is also at South Road. And Kenan Memorial Stadium, home to Tar Heel football since 1927, is at 104 Stadium Drive.

According to an April 23, 2014 article in The New York Times, the Yankees are actually the most popular MLB team in Raleigh, a little bit ahead of the Atlanta Braves, the 2nd-closest team at 408 miles away. The Washington Nationals are the closest, 278 miles, but are not as popular in the Triangle as either the Yanks or the Braves.

Sahlen's Stadium, part of WakeMed Soccer Park, is the home of the North Carolina Courage, winners of the 2018 National Women's Soccer League Championship. This past October, it also hosted 6 games of the CONCACAF Women's Championships, including 3 U.S. games: A 6-0 win over Mexico, a 5-0 win over Panama, and a 7-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago.

It's also hosted the only 2 games played in the Triangle by the U.S. men's team: A 1-1 draw with Jamaica on April 11, 2006, and 1-0 win over Paraguay this past March 27. 201 Soccer Park Drive, in Cary, about 8 miles west of the State House. Bus 300. The nearest Major League Soccer team is D.C. United, 283 miles.

North Carolina A&T, in Greensboro, about 92 miles northeast of Charlotte and 76 miles west of Raleigh, has won "the National Championship of black college football" 6 times: 1951, 1968, 1990, 1999, 2015 and 2017. Winston-Salem State University, in the city of the same name, 75 miles northeast of Charlotte and 104 miles west of Raleigh, has won it 4 times, all recently: 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2016. North Carolina Central, in Durham, has won it 3 times: 1954, 2005 and 2006.

Fayetteville State University, in the city of the same name, 136 miles east of Charlotte and 57 miles south of Raleigh, won it in 2002, although they compete in NCAA Division II. And Shaw University, in Raleigh, won it in 1947, and also now competes in Division II.
* Museums. The North Carolina Museum of History and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences are next-door to each other, across Edenton Street from the State House.

The Beatles never performed together in the Raleigh-Durham area, although Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr have done so on solo tours. Elvis Presley only did so early in his career, all in Raleigh (never in Durham or Chapel Hill), at the Memorial Auditorium on May 19 and September 21, 1955; and a whopping 4 shows in 1 day at the Ambassador Theater on February 8, 1956. The Memorial Auditorium is now the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, at 2 E. South Street, 7 blocks south of the State House. The Ambassador is at 115 Fayetteville Street, just south of the State House, but was demolished in 1989.

In addition to Raleigh -- and Charlotte, which I've covered in my guides for the Panthers and Hornets -- Elvis sang at the following North Carolina locations:

* In New Bern, at the Shrine Auditorium on May 14 and September 13, 1955.
* In Asheville, at the City Auditorium on May 17 and September 16, 1955, and at the Asheville Civic Center on July 22, 23 and 24, 1975.
* In Thomasville, at the High School Auditorium on September 17, 1955.
* In Wilson, at Fleming Stadium on September 14, 1955, and 3 shows at the Charles L. Coon Auditorium on February 14, 1956.
* In Greensboro, 4 shows in 1 day at the National Theater on February 6, 1956, and at the Greensboro Coliseum on April 14, 1972; March 13, 1974; July 21, 1975; June 30, 1976; and April 21, 1977.
* In High Point, 4 shows in 1 day at the Convention Center on February 7, 1956.
* In Williams, at the High School Auditorium on February 15, 1956.
* In Winston-Salem, 3 shows in 1 day at the Carolina Theater on February 16, 1956.
* In Lexington, at the YMCA Gym on March 21, 1956.
* And in Fayetteville, at the Cumberland County Memorial Arena in Fayetteville on August 3, 4 and 5, 1976.

If you're paying attention, you saw that he did 4 shows in 1 day on February 6, 7, 8 and 10, 1956. That's 16 shows in a span of 5 days. He was 21. It was easier to do that than to do 2 in 1 day when he was packing on the pounds in his early 40s in 1975, '76 and '77.

Andrew Johnson was born in the State capital of Raleigh. His birthplace was a log cabin (which didn't help him as much as it helped his predecessor, Abraham Lincoln) on the grounds of Casso's Inn, where his father worked, at Morgan Street and Fayetteville Street, across from the State House. It was moved to Mordecai Historic Park at 1 Mimosa Street, a mile north of downtown. Number 1 Bus.

He is 1 of 3 Presidents produced by the Carolinas. No one is precisely sure where Andrew Jackson was born -- not even whether it happened in North or South Carolina, only that it was in the Waxhaw region along the State Line. He was the 1st President born in a log cabin, but that cabin is long-gone. Andrew Jackson State Park, at 196 Andrew Jackson Park Road in Lancaster, South Carolina, is considered the likeliest place. It's about 33 miles south of Charlotte and not reachable by public transportation.

James K. Polk State Historical Site is in Pineville, which, like Charlotte, is in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. It's about 12 miles south, at 12031 Lancaster Highway. It's easier to reach without a car: The Number 20 bus can get you to within half a mile.

All 3 Carolina-born Presidents have their main historical sites in Tennessee: Polk is buried on the State House grounds in Nashville; Jackson's home, The Hermitage, is in the Nashville suburbs; and Johnson's Museum is in Greeneville.

Yankee Legend Jim "Catfish" Hunter was from Hertford, North Carolina, 150 miles northeast of Raleigh, in the coastal Inner Banks region, and is buried in Cedarwood Cemetery there, on Hyde Park Road. Another major baseball legend, though not a New York one, Willie Stargell, is buried at Oleander Memorial Gardens, at 306 Bradley Drive, in Wilmington, 130 miles southeast of Charlotte. (Wilmington is also the hometown of Michael Jordan and David Brinkley.) And football legend Reggie White is buried at Glenwood Memorial Park in Mooresville, 150 miles west.
PNC Plaza, at 538 feet, is the tallest building in Raleigh, and the tallest building in the Carolinas outside of Charlotte.

Bull Durham was filmed almost entirely in Durham and other North Carolina minor-league towns. Mitch's Tavern, site of the bar scenes near the beginning and the end of the film, is still in business, at 2426 Hillsborough Street in Raleigh. Other movies filmed in the area include The Handmaid's Tale
(which used Duke University for some location shots) and Brainstorm (Natalie Wood's last film, which also did some filming at Duke).

A few TV shows have been filmed in North Carolina, most notably Dawson's Creek in Wilmington, although it was set in fictional Capeside, Massachusetts. One Tree Hill was set in the fictional town of Tree Hill, North Carolina, but filmed in Southern California.

But shows set in Raleigh are few and far between. The Andy Griffith Show, set in fictional Mayberry and based on Griffith's real-life hometown of Mount Airy, mentioned Raleigh a few times, but was filmed in Southern California.

A statue of Griffith and Ron Howard as Sheriff Andy Taylor and his son Opie was dedicated by television network TV Land. It depicts them walking down the fishing trail, as seen in the show's famous opening. Unfortunately, the fishing poles the figures hold are frequently swiped. Pullen Park, near the carousel. 408 Ashe Avenue, a mile and a half west of downtown. The 100 bus gets you about halfway there.

A copy of the statue stands outside the Andy Griffith Museum at 218 Rockford Street in Mount Airy, 139 miles to the northwest, near the Virginia State Line. Pilot Mountain (known on the show as Mount Pilot) is 16 miles southeast of Mount Airy.

*

The Raleigh-Durham Triangle isn't really big enough -- yet -- for a major league sports team. And the Carolinas are certainly no place for hockey. But, for better or for worse, the Hurricanes are there, and they have a Stanley Cup and are a perennial Playoff team. Maybe the Devils can show the fans down there -- the ones who show up, anyway -- what a real hockey team looks like.

October 29, 1929, 90 years ago: Black Tuesday. The stock market completed the crash that began the preceding Thursday. The Roaring Twenties are over. The Dirty Thirties, and the Great Depression, have begun.

The incumbent Republican President, Herbert Hoover, gets blamed for it, when it was his Republican predecessors, Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, who set the table for it. Hoover shouldn't be blamed for the Depression. And he shouldn't be blamed for doing nothing: He tried a few things.

What he should be blamed for is giving up. Some of the things he tried worked a little, but not enough, and he abandoned his efforts. And in 1932, he lost in a landslide, to the Democratic Governor of New York, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Emptied pockets, to show that you had no money, became known as Hoover flags. Newspapers used as cover by homeless people became known as Hoover blankets. Shanty towns became Hoovervilles. And hitching a horse up to your car, because you couldn't afford gasoline but you didn't dare sell your car, earned the vehicles the nickname Hoover wagons. In Canada, where Richard Bennett rode the Depression to become Prime Minister in 1930, but was turned out in 1935 because he governed more like Hoover than Roosevelt, they were known as Bennett buggies.

The happy, peppy songs of the Roaring Twenties -- including a song recorded just before, but released just after, the crash, which was saved by FDR making it his campaign theme song, "Happy Days Are Here Again" -- were gone. Songs of the Depression either spoke of hardship, like "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?", "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (not the Green Day song of 2005), "Gloomy Sunday," and "Remember My Forgotten Man"; or tried to defy it, like "We're In the Money" and "Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries."

Movies also reflected this. Monster movies abounded, with Dracula and Frankenstein both released in 1931, and King Kong and The Invisible Man in 1933, each inspiring many imitators. Gangster movies peaked then, with James Cagney's The Public Enemy, Edward G. Robinson's Little Caesar, and the original version of Scarface, starring Paul Muni, all made in 1931, the latter not released until 1932.

At the height of the stock boom in early September 1929, America's unemployment rate was 3.2 percent. By the end of 1930, 8.7. 1931, 15.9. At the 1932 election, 23.6. At the depth, on March 4, 1933, when FDR was inaugurated and the banking crisis was critical, the rate was 24.9 percent. Fully 1 out of 4 Americans who wanted to work couldn't get work. Some people have suggested the rate was considerably higher than that, as much as 31 percent, or nearly 1 in 3.

FDR ended up building on some of what worked under Hoover, and in New York State under his leadership there, and put it in overdrive. Banking reforms stopped the financial bleeding, securities reforms prevented much of the abuses that had been done (stopped it, that is, until deregulation in the 1980s), and his public works and other construction programs created millions of jobs.

His New Deal had worked very well, but the problems remained vast. When he was sworn in for a 2nd term on January 20, 1937, having gotten the rate down to 14 percent (either cut by a third or a half, depending on whose figures you believe), FDR said the work was far from done: "I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished." And it may have been more like two-fifths, 40 percent, because that included what we would now call "the working poor."

That year, FDR did what conservatives have always suggested for economic hardship: Cut spending. It backfired, and unemployment went from a Depression-low of 14.3 percent to 19.0 percent by the time of the 1938 elections, resulting in the Republicans' best performance between 1928 and 1946, although not enough to gain control of either house.

But 1937 was the year Social Security began handing out checks, and 1938 was the year the 1st federal minimum wage took effect. By 1941, unemployment was back under 10 percent. It still didn't get back to tolerable levels until the U.S. entered World War II, and a lot of unemployed men went into the armed forces, and a lot of employed men did as well, their stateside jobs becoming available to unemployed men -- and women.

From the dawn of the American Civil War in 1860 to 1928, the Republican Party had gone 14-4 in Presidential elections. (Okay, they may have stolen those of 1876, 1880 and 1888.) And the 4 that the Democratic Party won -- 1884, 1892, 1912 and 1916 -- they still didn't get a majority of the popular vote in any of them, not even with the 1912 split in the Republicans that led to an Electoral Vote landslide for Woodrow Wilson. The GOP also held both houses of Congress for most of a 70-year stretch from 1860 to 1930.

But when the Great Depression began, and turned out to be worse than previous depressions -- 1837-43, 1857-59, 1873-78, 1893-98, 1920-22 -- people took their anger out on the Republicans. Herbert Hoover went from winning 21.4 million votes in 1928 to 15.7 million in 1932. He went from a popular vote percentage of 58.2 percent in 1928 to 39.6 in 1932. He went from winning 40 States to 6, and only in Maine and Vermont did he get more than 51 percent. In the Electoral Vote, he went from 444 to 59. This was not so much an embrace of FDR and his as-yet vague New Deal as it was a firing of Hoover and the Republicans.

The Democrats won 7 of the next 9 elections. The 2 the Republicans won, 1952 and 1956, were by Dwight D. Eisenhower, and "Ike" basically won them because he was the commanding General of World War II.

Even when Richard Nixon won in 1968, it was a 3-way race, in which he got 48 percent of the vote. Aside from Ike, no Republican got at least 50 percent between Herbert Hoover in 1928 and Nixon himself in 1972. It wasn't until the Democrats, with Jimmy Carter at the head of the ticket, got blamed for the high inflation of 1980 that a Republican nominee, in that case Ronald Reagan, got more than 50 percent.

Furthermore, in Congressional elections, the Republicans lost the House of Representatives in 1930, and held it only in 1947-48 and 1953-54, until 1994. They lost the Senate in 1932, and held it only in 1947-48, 1953-54, and 1981-86, until 1994.

Among the effects the Depression had on sports: Connie Mack lost everything he had aside from his stock in the Philadelphia Athletics, forcing him, by the end of the 1932 season, to break up his dynasty. The American Basketball League lost several teams, thus delaying pro basketball's rise to major league status until after World War II. And several NFL teams went under, putting the League's future in jeopardy.

In addition, when cartoonist Willard Mullin went to Ebbets Field , and heard a fan call his beloved Brooklyn Dodgers "you bums," he drew a bum, with a five o'clock shadow, just one tooth, and patches all over his clothes, and everyone in New York could identify with it, because they had all been seriously affected by poverty, or knew someone who had been.

The Dodgers were "Dem Bums" from then on, even including Mullin's drawing on the covers of their yearbooks, until Walter O'Malley moved them to Los Angeles after the 1957 season. As late as 1975, the Houston Astros had cartoon representations of the other National League teams on the cover of their yearbook, and the Dodgers, in their 18th season in Los Angeles, were still represented by a bum.

But the Great Depression of which the Crash of 1929 was the chief cause (but not the only cause, as is commonly believed) also led Americans to search for heroes wherever they could find them. As they so often do, they turned to sports. Babe Ruth, still a star up to his 1935 retirement, became even more popular. So did Lou Gehrig. Dizzy Dean, Hank Greenberg, Joe DiMaggio and Bob Feller would debut within the next 7 years, and become legends. So would football stars Bronko Nagurski, Don Hutson and Slingin' Sammy Baugh, and the Heisman Trophy would be established.

The New York Rangers' forward line of Frank Boucher and the brothers Bill and Bun Cook, previously known as the A Line for the Subway line that went to Madison Square Garden (the 50th Street stop used for the old Garden is now used by the C and the E, and is bypassed by the A), becomes known as the Bread Line. Desperate for any paying customers, sports promoters would try anything, from the college basketball doubleheaders that began at the old Garden in 1934 to night games for outdoor events, which began in baseball's minor leagues in 1930 and in the majors in 1935.

The Depression also led, in 1933, to the repeal of Prohibition, which led to the booze industry being able to create jobs, as well as people once again legally being able to enjoy its products; and the repeal of Pennsylvania's "blue laws" prohibiting certain activities on Sunday, including sports.

That allowed for crowds that couldn't be gotten on any other day of the week, except Saturday, since there were no lighted stadiums in the big cities, which would also change soon. That may have kept the Athletics and the Philadelphia Phillies in business, and made the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Pirates (changing their name to the Steelers in 1940), both founded in 1933, economically viable.

The Great Depression left scars on people that never went away. My grandmother grew up in Queens in that era, and knew how important it was to save money. She grew up in the Depression, so, due to her pinching pennies as an adult, my mother also "grew up in the Depression." And because of that, I "grew up in the Depression." Am I saying that I'm cheap? Not by choice.

In 1992, during another bad recession, I stayed with my grandmother over Thanksgiving Weekend. On the Saturday, I helped her with grocery shopping. We walked out of the car, and, crossing the parking lot, I saw a penny on the ground. I knew she was superstitious, and that a penny, heads-up, was good luck, but tails-up was not. This penny was tails-up, so I left it alone.

She saw it, stopped, pointed, and said, "Aren't you going to pick that up?"

I said, "It's tails-up, it's not good luck." I figured she would accept this answer.

I was wrong. After nearly 40 years of living in New Jersey, her N'Yawk accent kicked back in, and she said, "Whaaaat? It's money!"

I picked it up.

She died in 2006. Now, every time I see a coin on the ground -- assuming my arthritis allows me to -- I pick it up, and say, "Thanks, Grandma."

But she never had a "Depression survivors group," the way war veterans have social clubs, and survivors of other forms of trauma have support groups.

The people who grew up in the Depression are now dead or very old. We cannot allow their memories to fade. Remember our forgotten men and women.
*

October 29, 539 BC: Cyrus the Great, founder of the Persian Empire, enters the capital of Babylon. He announces that the Jewish exile is over. After 52 years, the Jews are permitted to return to their homeland.

And those of you who are Chicago Cubs fans thought going 108 years without winning a World Series, or 71 years without a Pennant, was bad.

Babylon, the capital of Babylonia, was about 50 miles south of present-day Baghdad, Iraq.

October 29, AD 312: Constantine enters Rome after his victory the previous day at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, at the Tiber River at the northern edge of Rome, 2 days after his "Vision of the Cross" told him he would win the battle if he converted to Christianity. He stages a grand celebration in the city, and is met with popular jubilation. His enemy Maxentius' body is fished out of the Tiber, and beheaded.

And you thought the Derby della Capitale between Rome's soccer clubs, AS Roma and SS Lazio, was rough.


The capital of North Carolina is named for him: Raleigh, also home of the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes and North Carolina State University. Unfortunately, so was a brand of cigarettes popular in the mid-20th Century, due to Carolina's tobacco-growing tradition.

October 29, 1822: Theodore Runyon is born in Somerville, Somerset County, New Jersey. He was a Brigadier General in the New Jersey Militia in the American Civil War, and served as Mayor of Newark from 1864 to 1866. He was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Germany in 1893, and died there in 1896.

October 29, 1855: Moses McNeil (no middle name) is born in Rhu, Scotland. In 1872, just 16 years old, he was 1 of the 4 founders of Glasgow soccer team Rangers Football Club, along with his brother Peter McNeil and their friends William McBeath and Peter Campbell. He played with them through 1882, and lived until 1938.

*

October 29, 1859, 160 years ago: Charles Hercules Ebbets is born in Manhattan. In 1883, he got a job with a new baseball team, then known as the Brooklyn Grays. By 1890, he had become the majority owner. In 1912, knowing that Washington Park was insufficient for a major league team in the wake of new stadiums like Shibe Park and Forbes Field, he began building a new ballpark for his team, by then known as the Dodgers. He was told that since it was his idea, it should be called Ebbets Field. And so the Dodgers played at Ebbets Field from 1913 until 1957.

Under his guidance, the team, under various names, won Pennants in 1889 (in the American Association, thereafter in the National League), 1890, 1899, 1900, 1916 and 1920. He invented Ladies Day, with women admitted at half-price, in 1899. His experience as a bookkeeper led him to the concept that the best schedule for baseball was for the 8 NL teams to play each other 22 times a season: 22 times 7 = 154, so he created the 154-game schedule that was in place from 1904 to 1960 (and until 1961 in the NL).

In 1906, he installed a visiting team clubhouse, complete with showers, at Washington Park, eliminating the need for teams to change at their hotels and arrive in open vehicles (horse-drawn carriages, and by this point early taxis) in their uniforms, where home fans could throw things at them. He invented the rain check in 1911. As early as 1922, he suggested that players wear uniform numbers -- although his suggestion was on the cap or the sleeve, not on the back as would happen starting in 1929. He also served in the New York State Assembly and on the New York City Council, as a Democrat.

Unfortunately, his messy personal life would have consequences for baseball, and, indirectly, the entire world. He had lived with his eventual 2nd wife for 12 years before his divorce from his 1st wife became final. And, unlike later team owners Branch Rickey and Walter O'Malley, he was not a lawyer who would have known a way around this: To guarantee his alimony payments, he deposited his shares of the Dodgers with the Mechanics Bank, which was later bought by the Brooklyn Trust Company.

He died in 1925, with the team in dire financial straits. To make matters worse, it rained at his funeral, and one of his co-owners, Ed McKeever, caught a cold, which developed into the flu, and, in those pre-antibotic days, he outlived Ebbets by only 11 days.

That left Ebbets' widow Grace, his son-in-law Joseph Gilleaudeau, and Brooklyn Trust as half-owners of the Dodgers, and Ed's brother Steve McKeever as owner of the other half. When Steve died in 1938, his half-share passed to his daughter Elizabeth "Dearie" Mulvey and her husband James. But the team was still, financially, in bad shape.

So Brooklyn Trust appointed Cincinnati Reds general manager Larry MacPhail as team president. He straightened things out, until leaving to re-enter the U.S. Army in World War II. He was replaced by Rickey. In 1944, Rickey and John L. Smith bought out Mrs. Ebbets and Gilleaudeau. Rickey and Smith were now each 1/4 owners.

O'Malley was the lawyer who handled the Dodgers for Brooklyn Trust, and eventually bought the bank's shares. In 1950, he bought Rickey and Smith out, and the Mulveys pretty much did what he wanted, including approving the move of the team to Los Angeles after the 1957 season, before O'Malley bought them out in 1975.

The move not only betrayed Ebbets' vision and the Dodger fans in the New York Tri-State Area, but made Los Angeles a "major league city" in a way that even the NFL's Rams hadn't, elevating it to the status of the loftiest city in the American West.

O'Malley died in 1979. His son Peter owned the team until selling to Rupert Murdoch in 1998. Frank McCourt bought them in 2004, but, learning nothing from the example of Charlie Ebbets, had to sell them in 2012 to pay off his divorce settlement. For $2 billion, basketball legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson became their owner, and remains so today.

*

October 29, 1860: In the match for the whip-pennant‚ emblematic of the championship of the U.S.‚ the Atlantics top the Eckfords‚ 20-11. Both clubs are from Brooklyn, until 1898 a separate city from New York. With the game tied at 5-5 after 5 innings‚ the Atlantics score 6 in the 6th‚ 5 in the 7th‚ and 4 in the 8th to win.

Years from now, somebody not yet born will look at the result of Game 6 of the 2019 World Series, and see the final score of Washington Nationals 7, Houston Astros 2, and consider it to have been a pretty straightforward affair. It will look like the Nationals had a fairly easy time of it.

Of course, we know that was not the case, because we went through it.

It began with Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler the 1995 NBA Champion Houston Rockets throwing out the ceremonial first balls I guess because the Astros don't have enough legends of their own for a full postseasons worth of first balls. They did, however, have a 3-games-to-2 lead, so they could have closed it out last night, to add to a record that includes the World Series of 2017.

Jeff Passan of ESPN.com wrote this morning, "Baseball can be a maddening sport, too slow or too boring or too so many other things, but damn if it isn't the most beautiful sport in the world when played at the level the Astros and Nationals did Tuesday night."

It started out innocently enough. Just one future Hall-of-Famer, Justin Verlander of the Astros, starting against a guy who could turn out to be another, Stephen Strasburg of the Nats. The Nats scored a run to the top of the 1st inning, but in the bottom of the 1st, Alex Bregman hit a home run to make it to 2-1 Houston. Bregman carried his bat all the way down to 1st base, handing it off to the coach there, Don Kelly.

The Nats didn't like that. They struck back in the top of the 5th, on home runs by Adam Eaton and Juan Soto. Soto carried his bat down to 1st base, handing it off to Nationals coach Tim Bogar, a former Met. It was 3-2 Washington.

And Verlander was done. In spite of a magnificent career thus far, he is now 8-1 in Division Series play, and 6-4 in the LCS, but 0-6 in World Series games.

It was still 3-2 in the top of the 7th, when Yan Gomes singled for the Nats. Trea Turner bunted down the 3rd base line. Brad Peacock was now pitching for the Astros, he fielded the ball, and threw to 1st baseman Yuli Gurriel. Turner and Gurriel collided, and the ball got away, allowing Turner to get to 2nd base and Gomez to 3rd. It looked like the Nats were in business.

Except home plate umpire Sam Holbrook called Turner out, ruling interference, and sending the runners back to their previous spaces. Shades of the Alex Rodriguez slap play in Game 6 of the 2004 ALCS.

It was a judgment call, and thus, under the current rules of MLB, not reviewable by instant replay. Nats manager Dave Martinez had a fit, with some justification, and became the first person at any level of the team to be thrown out of a World Series game since Bobby Cox managing the Braves against the Yankees in Game 6 in 1996.

Turner noted that Joe Torre, the Yankees manager at that time, was on hand in his role in charge of baseball's rules and umpires, and suggested they appeal directly to him. He upheld the decision. A protest was lodged.

As the old saying goes, Nobody buys a ticket to see an umpire. As my Grandma, the Dodger-turned-Met fan from Queens, would have said, "Sometimes, these umpires get too big for their britches." She didn't mean they were fat -- although many of them are.

I saw one guy on Twitter who said, Imagine if the Astros come from behind to win this game, thus winning the World Series, And the Nats' protest is upheld, and the game has to be replayed. It would have been the most controversial moment in baseball history, without even a New York team or the Red Sox or the Cubs being involved.

The Nats put such concerns to rest. Anthony Rendon hit a home run to make it 5-2.  Rendon added an RBI double in the ninth to make it 7-2. Strasburg pitched into the 9th, defying analytics idiots like Brian Cashman, and marking himself, along with Soto, as a legitimate candidate for Series MVP honors.

For the 1st time, the road team is won the 1st 6 games of a World Series. Can the Nats make it 7, And when D.C.'s 1st World Series in 95 years?  Or will the Astros cement their place in history with a 2nd world championship in 3 years?

Game 7 is tonight, in Houston. Max Scherzer will start for Washington. Zack Greinke is scheduled to start for Houston. And may the best team, not the worst rule or the worst umpires, win.



Other notable Venezuelan shortstops among the 372 players from the country that have reached the major leagues include César Tovar, César Gutiérrez, Dave Concepción, Omar Vizquel, former Yankee Álvaro Espinoza, Miguel Cairo, Álex González, Carlos Guillén, César Izturis, Marco Scutaro, Omar Infante, Alcides Escobar, Elvis Andrus, and the Mets' Wilmer Flores. 

Non-shortstops from the country include Vic Davalillo, Manny Trillo, Tony Armas, Andrés
Galarraga, Wilson Álvarez, Yankee World Series hero Luis Sojo, Carlos García, Met 2nd base hero Edgardo Alfonzo, Ugeth Urbina, Roger Cedeno, Bobby Abreu, Magglio Ordóñez, Freddy García, Melvin Mora, Ramon Hernández, Met "no-hitter" pitcher Johan Santana, Met Playoff hero Endy Chávez, Carlos Zambrano, Victor Martínez, Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez, Miguel Cabrera,
José López, Dioner Navarro, "King" Félix Hernández, Martín Prado, Edward Mujica, Anibal Sanchez, Miguel Montero, current Met Asdrúbal Cabrera, Carlos González, Pablo Sandoval, former Yankee catcher Francisco Cervelli, José Lobatón, Wilson Ramos, Félix Doubront, José Altuve, Henderson Álvarez, Salvador Pérez and Roughned Odor.