August 16, 1977: Elvis Presley dies at his home, Graceland, in Memphis, Tennessee. He had a massive heart attack, brought on by years of a rotten diet and massive prescription drug use. The man known as the King of Rock and Roll was only 42 years old.
When ESPN made its miniseries about the 1977 Yankees, The Bronx Is Burning, it included this exchange, between Mather Zickel, playing Lou Piniella, and Leonard Robinson, playing Mickey Rivers -- keeping in mind, this was 3 years before John Lennon was shot and killed in New York:
Lou: Presley's dead!
Mickey: Who?
Lou: Elvis Presley! I just heard it on the radio.
Mickey: Somebody shot him?
Lou: No, nobody shot him!
Mickey: Well, what, then? Heart attack? 'Cause, I heard, for a superstar, he had a pretty poor diet.
Lou: No, they're saying, drugs, or something.
Mickey: Well, that just goes to show you.
Lou: Goes to show you what?
Mickey: Well, hell if I know, but it must go to show you something!
And then the Yankees took the field at the original Yankee Stadium, against the Chicago White Sox, and played maybe their craziest game of the year. They led 2-0 after 2 innings, saw the ChiSox tie it in the 4th, took a 4-2 lead in the 5th, saw the ChiSox tie it in the top of the 7th, took a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the 7th, extended it to 9-4 in the 8th, then the ChiSox exploded for 6 runs in the top of the 9th to make it 10-9.
Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Thurman Munson led off the bottom of the 9th with a walk. Piniella hadn't started the game, but manager Billy Martin put him in as a pinch-runner for Reggie Jackson, and kept him in right field for Reggie. Lou bunted Thurman over. This turned out to be unnecessary, as the next batter, Chris Chambliss, hit a walkoff home run.
Major League Baseball games played on this Tuesday:
* As stated: New York Yankees 11, Chicago White Sox 10, at Yankee Stadium in New York.
* New York Mets 5, St. Louis Cardinals 1, at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.
* Baltimore Orioles 6, Minnesota Twins 5, in 13 innings, at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.
* Boston Red Sox 5, Kansas City Royals 3, at Fenway Park in Boston.
* Philadelphia Phillies 7, Montreal Expos 5, at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.
* California Angels 7, Toronto Blue Jays 2, at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.
* Houston Astros 4, Atlanta Braves 1, at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.
* Oakland Athletics 7, Cleveland Indians 3, at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
* Cincinnati Reds 5, San Diego Padres 1, at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.
* Seattle Mariners 3, Detroit Tigers 2, at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.
* Chicago Cubs 6, Pittsburgh Pirates 5, in 15 innings, at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
* Texas Rangers 11, Milwaukee Brewers 3, at Milwaukee County Stadium.
* And Los Angeles Dodgers 3, San Francisco Giants 2, at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.