In 1893, not tired of writing, but not tired of writing about his fictional London "consulting detective," Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle wrote The Final Problem, in which Holmes falls to his death, taking his arch-nemesis, Professor James Moriarty, with him.
This upset a great many people. The clamor for Holmes' return from death was huge. In 1901, Conan Doyle wrote The Hound of the Baskervilles, taking pains to point out that this took place before 1891, when Holmes and Moriarty fell from the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland.
Finally, in 1903, Conan Doyle gave in, and wrote The Adventure of the Empty House, which took place 3 years after Holmes' apparent death, and (rather correctly) pointed out that there was enough wiggle room in the narrative of Dr. John H. Watson (whom Conan Doyle had based on himself) to explain how Holmes could still be alive, and pursuing, and be pursued by, Moriarty's right-hand man, Colonel Sebastian Moran.
The new Yankee Stadium was a full house in its 1st season, 2009, all the way to the victorious Game 6 of the World Series on November 4.
But it has been an empty house far too early since its last game coming on October 20 in 2010, October 6 in 2011, October 14, in 2012, September 26 in 2013, September 25 in 2014, October 6 in 2015, October 2 in 2016, October 18 in 2017, October 9 in 2018, October 18 in 2019, September 27 in 2020, and October 5 this year.
It is October 17. There are 4 teams left in Major League Baseball's postseason: The Boston Red Sox, the Houston Astros, the Atlanta Braves, and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
None of them is particularly appetizing.
Meanwhile, Yankee Stadium is an empty house. And the Yankees won't be returning from their annual trip to the Reichenbach Falls until April 7, 2022.
But then, Brian Cashman is no Holmes. He's not even an Inspector Lestrade.
*
October 17, 1849: Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin -- or Frédéric François Chopin -- dies in Paris, probably of tuberculosis. The half-Polish, half-French, all-genius pianist and composer was only 39 years old, and had been seriously ill for 7 years.
This means that, within a span of 23 days, the world lost composers Chopin and Johann Strauss, and writer Edgar Allan Poe. Former President James K. Polk and former First Lady Dolley Madison, and the Kings of the Netherlands and Sardinia also died in 1849.
October 17, 1896, 125 years ago: Florence Dent Archibald McSkimming is born in St. Louis. He -- yes, he -- was the son of George Francis McSkimming, who worked at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and George named his son after 2 male colleagues, Florence D. White and Dent H. Robert.
He went by the name Dent McSkimming, and would also write for the Post-Dispatch. Since several members of the U.S. team at the 1950 World Cup were from St. Louis, he went to Brazil to cover it, paying his own way because the Post-Dispatch wouldn't. he saw the U.S. team beat England 1-0, and wrote, "It was as if Oxford University sent a baseball team over here and it beat the Yankees."
He died in 1976, and, because of his journalistic connection to the sport, was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame. In the 2005 film The Game of Their Lives, he was played in 1950 by Terry Kinney, and as an older man by, ironically, an Englishman, Patrick Stewart, in real life a big fan of Yorkshire club Huddersfield Town. Since he only lived for 26 years after the game in question, the age difference shouldn't have been necessary to have an older actor, no matter how good.
*
October 17, 1901, 120 years ago: George Godfrey dies of tuberculosis in Revere, Massachusetts, outside Boston, at age 48. One of the earliest great black boxers, he was "World Colored Heavyweight Champion" from 1883 to 1888. Known as "Old Chocolate," he was a native of the Canadian Province of Prince Edward Island, and was named to its Sports Hall of Fame.
October 17, 1908: Robert Abial Rolfe is born in Penacook, New Hampshire. The starting 3rd baseman in 4 All-Star Games, Red Rolfe helped the Yankees win the 1932, '36, '37, '38, '39 and '41 World Series. He is the greatest player ever born in New Hampshire, although Bellows Falls, Vermont-born Carlton Fisk grew up in Charlestown.
Retiring as a player at only 34, he was immediately hired, due to the wartime manpower shortage, as both baseball and basketball coach at Yale University. He later served as athletic director at his alma mater, Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.
Until Graig Nettles, and later Alex Rodriguez, he was probably the best all-around player ever to play 3rd base for the Yankees. Yankee broadcaster Mel Allen selected him as the 3rd baseman on his all-time team, although Mel did also see plenty of Eddie Mathews and Brooks Robinson, and wasn't that far past the era of Pie Traynor.
*
October 17, 1911, 110 years ago: After criticizing his teammate Rube Marquard's pitching to Philadelphia Athletics 3rd baseman Frank Baker in his newspaper column‚ Christy Mathewson takes the mound for the New York Giants in Game 3 against 29-game winner Jack Coombs. Matty takes a 1-0 lead into the 9th. With 1 out‚ Baker lines another drive over the right field fence to tie it.
With that blow‚ he receives the nickname "Home Run" Baker. Based on 2 home runs? Well, it was
1911, the Dead Ball Era: He only hit 96 home runs in his entire 13-season career, although he did have a .307 lifetime batting average and a very strong 135 OPS+, is regarded as one of the best 3rd basemen of the 1st half of the 20th Century, and is in the Hall of Fame.
However, Baker's homer only ties the game, and it goes to extra innings. Errors by Giant 3rd baseman Buck Herzog and shortstop Art Fletcher give the A's 2 unearned runs in the top of the 11th. New York scores once‚ but the A's win 3-2 behind Jack Coombs's 3-hitter.
October 17, 1917: Marcia Virginia Hunt is born in Chicago. A model and actress, Marsha Hunt played Mary Bennet, sister to Greer Garson's Elizabeth, in the 1940 film version of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, and Diana Steed in the 1943 film version of William Saroyan's The Human Comedy. In 1944, with World War II still ongoing, she starred in None Shall Escape, sometimes regarded as the 1st film about the Nazi Holocaust.
Angry at the investigations of the film industry by the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947, she and her husband, screenwriter Robert Presnell Jr., joined the Committee for the First Amendment, and participated in a radio program titled Hollywood Fights Back.
That got them blacklisted: In 1950, their names appeared in the lie-filled pamphlet Red Channels. Robert managed to sell a few screenplays, but only to television, not to films. He was still working into the 1970s, and they were still married when he died in 1986.
Marsha was also kept out of films, and kept her career going in the new medium of TV. In 1971, the blacklist long over, she teamed with Hollywood Ten member Dalton Trumbo, appearing his his film Johnny Got His Gun. In 1988, she played Anne Jameson, wife of a Starfleet Admiral, on Star Trek: The Next Generation. At age 104, she is the last surviving blacklisted actor, and has lived to see all her accusers discredited while they were still alive.
October 17, 1920: The Chicago Cardinals, who'd been playing football since 1898 (when it was still mostly amateur), play their 1st home game in what was then named the American Professional Football Association. It would become the National Football League in 1922.
They play it at St. Rita's Field, behind a church in Chicago, against a team from the Illinois/Iowa "Quad Cities," the Moline Universal Tractors, a "company team." The Cardinals win, 33-0.
They would play the rest of their home games at Cubs Park (renamed Wrigley Field in 1926) on the North Side and Normal Field on the South Side, before switching to Comiskey Park on the South Side for all home games in 1922, to St. Louis in 1960, and to Arizona in 1988.
October 17 and 18, 1925: Believe it or not, the expansion New York Giants football team plays on back-to-back days. A lot of teams did that in the 1920s, and it will end up becoming an issue that clouds the awarding of this season's title. Neither the Giants nor the Frankford Yellow Jackets have to worry about that, as neither is a contender this season.
On Saturday the 17th, since Pennsylvania law then prohibited playing sporting events on Sundays, they played at Frankford Stadium in Northeast Philadelphia, and the Jackets won 5-3. (The Jackets must have scored a safety.) On Sunday the 18th, since New York State law did allow Sunday sports, they played each other again at the Polo Grounds, officially the 1st home game in franchise history, despite their 1st actual game having been played in Newark. But the home-field advantage didn't help the Giants, as Frankford completed the sweep, 14-0.
The Jackets won the NFL Championship in 1926, but went out of business in 1931, due to the Great Depression. The NFL sold the rights to the Philadelphia territory to Bert Bell and Lud Wray, who founded the Philadelphia Eagles in 1933, but the Eagles signed no Yellow Jackets players, and Eagles management has never counted the Yellow Jackets' records, including their 1926 title, as their own.
Nevertheless, the weekend of October 17-18, 1925, is the beginning of the pro football rivalry between New York and Philadelphia, which remains tense and strange to this day, with all kinds of weird things having happened.
The Jackets won the NFL Championship in 1926, but went out of business in 1931, due to the Great Depression. The NFL sold the rights to the Philadelphia territory to Bert Bell and Lud Wray, who founded the Philadelphia Eagles in 1933, but the Eagles signed no Yellow Jackets players, and Eagles management has never counted the Yellow Jackets' records, including their 1926 title, as their own.
Nevertheless, the weekend of October 17-18, 1925, is the beginning of the pro football rivalry between New York and Philadelphia, which remains tense and strange to this day, with all kinds of weird things having happened.
*
October 17, 1931, 90 years ago: Al Capone is convicted in federal court in Chicago -- not of murder, or of any of the crimes connected to his violation of the Prohibition laws regarding alcohol, on which he had built his criminal empire and fortune, but of income tax evasion. A week later, he was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison.
October 17, 1931, 90 years ago: Al Capone is convicted in federal court in Chicago -- not of murder, or of any of the crimes connected to his violation of the Prohibition laws regarding alcohol, on which he had built his criminal empire and fortune, but of income tax evasion. A week later, he was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison.
The most famous gangster in American history, Capone had been head of "The Chicago Outfit" for less than 7 years, and was only 32 years old when he was finally busted. But his receding hairline and his expanding waistline made him look a lot older.
On May 3, 1932, he was escorted from the Cook County Jail to Dearborn Station by federal agents, including Eliot Ness, leader of the team that had pursued him on Prohibition charges, known as "The Untouchables." In spite of later TV shows and movies showing otherwise, this was the only time the two men ever actually met. The agents put him on a train to the Atlanta, where he was first put into a Federal Penitentiary. When Alcatraz opened in San Francisco in 1934, Capone was sent there.
He ended up serving only 7 years, because the advance of syphilis had left him with brain damage. Not long before his death in 1947, a doctor judged him to have the mental function of a 12-year-old boy.
October 17, 1932: Richard Peter Rodenhiser is born outside Boston in Malden, Massachusetts. An All-American hockey player at Boston University in 1953, Dick Rodenhiser helped the U.S. team win the Silver Medal at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy; and the Gold Medal in 1960, on home soil in Squaw Valley, California. He is 1 of 9 surviving members of that team. This year, to avoid the stigma of a word that is offensive to Native Americans, the host town for the 1960 Winter Olympics was renamed Palisades Tahoe.
Also on this day, Paul Edward Anderson is born in Toccoa, Georgia. After playing football at Furman University in nearby Greenville, South Carlina, he turned to weightlifting, and won a Gold Medal at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, despite having a fever of 104 degrees.
He then turned professional, performing strength stunts for money that funded a home for troubled youth in his native Georgia. Among these were hammering a nail with his bare fist, raising a table loaded with 8 men onto his back, and a back lift of 6,270 pounds, listed by The Guinness Book of World Records as "the greatest weight ever raised by a human being." (For reasons known only to them, Guinness no longer lists this as the record.)
Anderson was known as "The Strongest Man In the World," despite battling kidney disease for his entire life. He died in 1994.
October 17, 1933: William Alison Anders is born in Hong Kong, where his father, a U.S. Navy Lieutenant, was then stationed. He grew up in Annapolis, Maryland, where his father then taught at the U.S. Naval Academy. After serving in the U.S. Air Force, he became an early astronaut.
He, Frank Borman and Jim Lovell were the crew of Apollo 8, the 1st humans to orbit the Moon. Together, they were named Men of the Year for 1968 by Time magazine. They are all still alive, and are the earliest surviving recipients of the award. (And yet, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins of Apollo 11 were not so awarded the next year.) Anders later served as U.S. Ambassador to Norway.
October 17, 1934: John Norman Haynes is born in Kentish Town, North London. A forward, he starred for West London soccer team Fulham in the 1950s and 1960s. He was one of the 1st mass-media footballers, starring in television and magazine ads, and captained the England national team 22 times. In 1958, he scored 3 goals against the Soviet Union at Wembley Stadium, in a 5-0 England win.
A 1962 car crash limited his ability, but he still managed to play for England in his 3rd straight World Cup that summer. But, despite being only 33 years old, age and injury had left him declining by the time of the 1966 World Cup, on home soil, and he was not selected for the national side.
In 1971, he moved to South Africa, and helped Durban City win the national league title, and this turned out to be his only trophy. He later managed Fulham, and moved to Edinburgh, Scotland. On October 17, 2005, his 71st birthday, he suffered a brain hemorrhage while driving, and crashed. There was no recovering from this crash, as he died the next day.
Today, the old Stevenage Road Stand at Fulham's ancient stadium, Craven Cottage, is named for him, and a statue of him stands outside.
Also on this day, Frank Blunstone (no middle name) is born in Crewe, Cheshire, in the North-West of England. After playing for his hometown club Crewe Alexandra, he played 11 seasons for West London club Chelsea. He is the last surviving starter for Chelsea's 1st League Championship team in 1955.
October 17, 1935: Constance Enola Morgan is born in Philadelphia. She was 1 of 3 women to play in baseball's Negro Leagues. All 3 played for the Indianapolis Clowns: Toni Stone (2nd base, 1953, then 1954 with the Kansas City Monarchs), Connie Morgan (2nd base, 1954-55) and Mamie Belton (pitcher, 1953-55).
Morgan and Stone both lived until 1996. Belton, born in South Carolina but raised in Long Branch, Monmouth County, New Jersey, was later known by her married name, Mamie Johnson. She became a nurse, and lived until 2017, having spent her final years being invited to ceremonies honoring the Negro Leagues and women in baseball by several major and minor league teams.
Morgan and Stone both lived until 1996. Belton, born in South Carolina but raised in Long Branch, Monmouth County, New Jersey, was later known by her married name, Mamie Johnson. She became a nurse, and lived until 2017, having spent her final years being invited to ceremonies honoring the Negro Leagues and women in baseball by several major and minor league teams.
*
October 17, 1946, 75 years ago: Robert Charles Christian is born in Chicago. A left fielder, he played 3 games with the 1968 Detroit Tigers, but didn't make their World Series roster. He played 39 games for the Chicago White Sox in 1969, and 12 for them in 1970. But Bob Christian suffered from leukemia, and it ended his career. He died in 1974, only 28 years old.
October 17, 1959: Kevin Bruce Blackistone is born in Washington, D.C., and grows up in the nearby suburb of Hyattsville, Maryland. One of several sportscasters to come out of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, he wrote for The Boston Clobe and The Dallas Morning News.
He is a frequent commentator on ESPN, including its "game show" Around the Horn, which he has won 342 times, 4th among active panelists. He trails Woody Paige at 634, Tim Cowlishaw at 501, and Bill Plaschke at 400. In 2020, he surpassed fellow Medill grad J.A. Adande, who has 320. On the show, his nickname is "The Professor," reflecting his current job, teaching sports journalism at the University of Maryland.
*
October 17, 1960: The National League grants franchises to New York and Houston. So, in a way, this is the Mets' birthday. And the Astros'. Their 61st birthday. And yet, so often, the Mets still act like an expansion team.
The team that will become known as the Mets is awarded to a group led by Joan Whitney Payson, a former member of the New York Giants board of directors, the only member to vote against moving to San Francisco (through her proxy, M. Donald Grant -- probably the last time Grant tried to do something good for baseball in New York).
The Colt .45's, who become the Astros in 1965, are awarded to a group led by Roy Hofheinz, a federal judge and a former Mayor of Houston.
Also on this day, Cobo Hall opens in downtown Detroit. Now named the Cobo Center, it was built on the site where Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac set foot on the land in 1701 and claimed the area for France. The 1st event is the Auto Industry Dinner, and President Dwight D. Eisenhower gives a speech. Every President since has attended some kind of event there, except the current occupant of the office.
The centerpiece is a 12,000-seat arena that was home to the Detroit Pistons from 1961 to 1978, but they never got close to an NBA title there. In 1979, the Joe Louis Arena was built next-door. In 1994, the Joe Louis Arena was the site of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, and Cobo Hall was used as a practice facility. It was there that Nancy Kerrigan was attacked.
With the Red Wings and the Pistons moving to the Little Caesars Arena for the 2017-18 season, Joe Louis Arena was demolished. The City of Detroit is considering renaming the Cobo complex for Louis, as Albert Cobo, the Mayor who got it built, is pretty much forgotten today, despite the Wings winning 4 Stanley Cups and the Lions 2 NFL Championships during his tenure.
October 17, 1961, 60 years ago: Daniel Anthony Pasqua is born in Yonkers, Westchester County, New York, and grows up in another New York suburb, Harrington Park, Bergen County, New Jersey. An outfielder, he seemed to be a "local boy makes good," hitting some long home runs on his 1985 arrival with the Yankees.
Also on this day, Cobo Hall opens in downtown Detroit. Now named the Cobo Center, it was built on the site where Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac set foot on the land in 1701 and claimed the area for France. The 1st event is the Auto Industry Dinner, and President Dwight D. Eisenhower gives a speech. Every President since has attended some kind of event there, except the current occupant of the office.
The centerpiece is a 12,000-seat arena that was home to the Detroit Pistons from 1961 to 1978, but they never got close to an NBA title there. In 1979, the Joe Louis Arena was built next-door. In 1994, the Joe Louis Arena was the site of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, and Cobo Hall was used as a practice facility. It was there that Nancy Kerrigan was attacked.
With the Red Wings and the Pistons moving to the Little Caesars Arena for the 2017-18 season, Joe Louis Arena was demolished. The City of Detroit is considering renaming the Cobo complex for Louis, as Albert Cobo, the Mayor who got it built, is pretty much forgotten today, despite the Wings winning 4 Stanley Cups and the Lions 2 NFL Championships during his tenure.
October 17, 1961, 60 years ago: Daniel Anthony Pasqua is born in Yonkers, Westchester County, New York, and grows up in another New York suburb, Harrington Park, Bergen County, New Jersey. An outfielder, he seemed to be a "local boy makes good," hitting some long home runs on his 1985 arrival with the Yankees.
In 1986, he batted .293 with 16 home runs and 45 RBIs in what was essentially half a season. His lefty swing seemed perfect for Yankee Stadium, and some of us (including a 16-year-old yours truly) thought he could become a Yankee Legend.
But he was a one-dimensional player. His batting average dropped to .233 in 1987, and he couldn't play any position at which he was tried. He was traded to the Chicago White Sox before the 1988 season, and it was a horrible trade: The key was pitcher Richard Dotson, who got hurt, and made only 43 appearances for the Yankees; while Pasqua hit a career-high 20 homers in 1988, and gave the ChiSox seasons of 66, 58, 50 and 47 RBIs. He got hurt in 1994, and never played again, done before turning 33.
As a Yankee, he shared the outfield with Hall-of-Famers Rickey Henderson and Dave Winfield. As a minor-leaguer in the Yankee system, he was a teammate of Pro Football Hall-of-Famer John Elway. On a rehab assignment with the White Sox in 1994, he was a teammate of Basketball Hall-of-Famer Michael Jordan. He now works in the White Sox' front office.
October 17, 1964: The Yankees fire manager Yogi Berra, even though he got an aging and flawed Yankee team to Game 7 of the World Series. Meanwhile, Johnny Keane, the manager of the team that beat the Yankees, the St. Louis Cardinals, having had enough of their management, resigns. Within days, Keane will be given the Yankee manager's job.
It's hard to say that all 3 moves were mistakes. After all, the Cardinals promoted coach and former star 2nd baseman Red Schoendienst to the manager's job, and he won 2 Pennants, including the 1967 World Series. And, let's face it, with what happened to the Yankees, Yogi wouldn't have managed much beyond 1965 even if they'd kept him. But Keane turns out to be a total mismatch for the Yankees, his health falls apart, he's fired early in the 1966 season, and he dies in 1967.
October 17, 1967: The New York Knicks open their season, their last at the old Madison Square Garden, and their 1st at the current one. They beat the San Francisco Warriors 124-122. In his 1st professional game, Walt Frazier -- not yet nicknamed "Clyde" -- does not play. Walt Bellamy leads the Knicks with 16 points, but will be traded for Dave DeBusschere, in what turns out to be a title-making trade.
Their last game at the 49th-50th Street and 8th-9th Avenue Garden was on February 10, 1968, and they beat the Philadelphia 76ers 115-97. Their 1st game at the 31st-33rd Street and 7th-8th Avenue Garden was on February 14, and they beat the San Diego Rockets 114-102.
Also on this day, Major Don Holleder, U.S. Army, is shot and killed by a Viet Cong sniper while attempting to rescue a wounded soldier and bring him aboard a helicopter, in the Battle of Ong Thanh. He was 33.
The Buffalo native was a star athlete at Aquinas Institute in Rochester, and was recruited to the football team at the U.S. Military Academy by Vince Lombardi, then an assistant to their head coach, Colonel Earl "Red" Blaik. He was an All-American end in 1954, but was moved to quarterback in 1955, and led the team to a 6-3 record, including an upset of Navy that made him the 1st athlete from any of the service academies to be shown on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He graduated the following Spring, and one of his classmates was Norman Schwarzkopf, later field commander of all allied troops in the Persian Gulf War.
Although drafted by the New York Giants, he would have had to sit out his military commitment. (Which might have worked out, because Charlie Conerly would have retired as quarterback by then, but the Giants got Y.A. Tittle instead.) He stayed in the Army until his death, including a tenure as an assistant coach at West Point, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
In 1974, his high school's football stadium, Aquinas Memorial Stadium, was renamed Holleder Memorial Stadium. Professional soccer's Rochester Lancers, 1970 NASL Champions, played there. It was torn down in 1985, and Holleder Technology Park is now on the site, on Holleder Parkway. That same year, he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame, and West Point's arena was named the Donald W. Holleder Center.
Their last game at the 49th-50th Street and 8th-9th Avenue Garden was on February 10, 1968, and they beat the Philadelphia 76ers 115-97. Their 1st game at the 31st-33rd Street and 7th-8th Avenue Garden was on February 14, and they beat the San Diego Rockets 114-102.
Also on this day, Major Don Holleder, U.S. Army, is shot and killed by a Viet Cong sniper while attempting to rescue a wounded soldier and bring him aboard a helicopter, in the Battle of Ong Thanh. He was 33.
The Buffalo native was a star athlete at Aquinas Institute in Rochester, and was recruited to the football team at the U.S. Military Academy by Vince Lombardi, then an assistant to their head coach, Colonel Earl "Red" Blaik. He was an All-American end in 1954, but was moved to quarterback in 1955, and led the team to a 6-3 record, including an upset of Navy that made him the 1st athlete from any of the service academies to be shown on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He graduated the following Spring, and one of his classmates was Norman Schwarzkopf, later field commander of all allied troops in the Persian Gulf War.
Although drafted by the New York Giants, he would have had to sit out his military commitment. (Which might have worked out, because Charlie Conerly would have retired as quarterback by then, but the Giants got Y.A. Tittle instead.) He stayed in the Army until his death, including a tenure as an assistant coach at West Point, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
In 1974, his high school's football stadium, Aquinas Memorial Stadium, was renamed Holleder Memorial Stadium. Professional soccer's Rochester Lancers, 1970 NASL Champions, played there. It was torn down in 1985, and Holleder Technology Park is now on the site, on Holleder Parkway. That same year, he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame, and West Point's arena was named the Donald W. Holleder Center.
*
October 17, 1971, 50 years ago: Steve Blass hurls a 4-hitter and Roberto Clemente homers, as the Pittsburgh Pirates win Game 7 of the World Series, 2-1 over the Baltimore Orioles at Memorial Stadium‚ becoming World Champions for the 4th time, the 1st time since 1960.
October 17, 1971, 50 years ago: Steve Blass hurls a 4-hitter and Roberto Clemente homers, as the Pittsburgh Pirates win Game 7 of the World Series, 2-1 over the Baltimore Orioles at Memorial Stadium‚ becoming World Champions for the 4th time, the 1st time since 1960.
Clemente played in all 7 games in '60 and in all 7 games in '71, and got hits in all 14 World Series games in which he played. In fact, all 5 of the Pirates' World Series wins -- 1909, '25, '60, '71 and '79 -- have been in 7 games.
Clemente and Bill Mazeroski are the only men to have played for the Pirates in both the 1960 and the 1971 World Series, although Danny Murtaugh managed them in both, and 1960 player Bill Virdon was one of Murtaugh's 1971 coaches.
After the game‚ 40‚000 people riot in downtown Pittsburgh. At least 100 are injured‚ some seriously, although no deaths are reported.
Immediately after the Game 7 victory, rookie hurler Bruce Kison and his champagne-soaked best man Bob Moose are whisked away from Memorial Stadium by helicopter to a waiting Lear Jet to attend the 21 year-old Kison's 6:30 PM wedding in Pittsburgh, in which the groom will arrive 33 minutes late.
Earlier in the season, the Pirates had become the 1st team ever to field an all-black-and/or-Hispanic starting lineup, leading author Bruce Markusen to title his book about the '71 Bucs The Team That Changed Baseball.
He's also written biographies of Clemente, Ted Williams, Orlando Cepeda, and a book about the 1970s Oakland A's team, published in 1998, just before the Yankees began a streak of 3 straight World Series, thus making a retroactive error out of the title of Markusen's book: Baseball's Last Dynasty: Charlie Finley's Oakland A's.
There are 15 players from the '71 Pirates still alive: Blass, Mazeroski, Manny Sanguillén, Al Oliver, Bob Veale, Bob Robertson, Gene Clines, Gene Alley, Vic Davalillo, Richie Hebner, Luke Walker, Bob Johnson, Milt May, Dave Cash and Dave Giusti.
Also on this day, DC Comics debuts their 1st black superhero, John Stewart, an architect from Detroit who had served in the U.S. Marine Corps, who becomes a member of the Green Lantern Corps. He debuted in Green Lantern #87, with a date of December 1971, but published on this date. October 17 is later retconned as Stewart's birthday.
He was voiced in the animated Justice League TV series by Phil LaMarr. The character was intended to be shown in the live-action film Justice League: Mortal, to be played by rapper-actor Lonnie "Common" Lynn, but it was scrapped in 2007.
In the final episode of Arrow, airing in 2020, John Diggle, a.k.a. Spartan, a black character played by David Ramsey, is hinted at becoming a Green Lantern, thus possibly taking Stewart's place in "The Arrowverse."
October 17, 1973: On the day the Arab oil embargo is announced, driving gas prices way up (and they had already gone up a lot this year, as a general inflation jacked up the prices of everyting), and Motorola engineer Marty Cooper is granted the patent for the handheld mobile telephone, the Mets even the World Series at 2 games apiece with a 6-1 win over the Oakland A's at Shea Stadium.
Rusty Staub goes 4-for-4 with a homer and 5 RBI. The New Orleans chef was really cooking that night.
Also on this day, England can only manage a 1-1 draw against Poland in a qualifying match for the 1974 World Cup. It means that England won't even qualify, and manager Sir Alf Ramsey, who guided them to the 1966 World Cup, is fired. Poland will go on to reach the Semifinals, their best performance ever.
Also on this day, Keith Derrick McKenzie is born in Detroit. A defensive end, he was a rookie with the Green Bay Packers when they won Super Bowl XXXI. A nephew of former Buffalo Bills star Reggie McKenzie, he is now on the coaching staff at Ball State University, his alma mater.
October 17, 1973: On the day the Arab oil embargo is announced, driving gas prices way up (and they had already gone up a lot this year, as a general inflation jacked up the prices of everyting), and Motorola engineer Marty Cooper is granted the patent for the handheld mobile telephone, the Mets even the World Series at 2 games apiece with a 6-1 win over the Oakland A's at Shea Stadium.
Rusty Staub goes 4-for-4 with a homer and 5 RBI. The New Orleans chef was really cooking that night.
Also on this day, England can only manage a 1-1 draw against Poland in a qualifying match for the 1974 World Cup. It means that England won't even qualify, and manager Sir Alf Ramsey, who guided them to the 1966 World Cup, is fired. Poland will go on to reach the Semifinals, their best performance ever.
Also on this day, Keith Derrick McKenzie is born in Detroit. A defensive end, he was a rookie with the Green Bay Packers when they won Super Bowl XXXI. A nephew of former Buffalo Bills star Reggie McKenzie, he is now on the coaching staff at Ball State University, his alma mater.
October 17, 1974: Game 5 of the World Series, at the Oakland Coliseum. Vida Blue of the Oakland Athletics and Don Sutton of the Los Angeles are tied 2-2 going into the bottom of the 6th, when Mike Marshall relieves Sutton and retires the side.
In the 7th‚ a shower of debris from the fans halts the game for 15 minutes. When play is resumed‚ Joe Rudi hits Marshall's 1st pitch for a homer to give the A's a 3rd 3-2 win‚ clinching a 3rd straight World Championship for the team.
The A's thus become only the 2nd major league franchise to win 3 straight World Series, and remain the only one other than the Yankees to have done it. This was also the 1st all-California World Series, or even the 1st with both teams playing more than a few blocks west of the Mississippi River (take note, fans of St. Louis and Minnesota).
Jim "Catfish" Hunter died in 1999, Paul Lindblad in 2006, Jim Holt in 2019, Claudell Washington in 2020, Angel Mangual earlier this year, and Ray Fosse a few days ago. The other 20 men on the 1974 A's World Series roster are still alive: Blue, Rudi, Reggie Jackson, Rollie Fingers, Sal Bando, Bert Campaneris, Gene Tenace, Dick Green, John "Blue Moon" Odom, Darold Knowles, Ted Kubiak, Dave Hamilton, Jesús Alou, Dal Maxvill, Herb Washington (no relation to Claudell), Billy North, Ken Holtzman, Manny Trillo, Larry Haney and John Donaldson.
After the 1974 season, A's owner Charles Oscar Finley reneged on a clause in his contract with ace itcher Hunter, who was then declaresd a free agent, and signed with the Yankees. The A's still won the American League Western Division in 1975, but lost the AL Championship Series to the Boston Red Sox.
Then the reserve clause was struck down. Free agency, and thus much higher salaries, were coming, and Finley didn't want to pay them. First, he traded Reggie to the Baltimore Orioles, where he played out his contract. Then he sold Blue to the Yankees for $1.5 million, and Fingers and Rudi to the Red Sox for $1 million each. He figured, better to get as much money for them now, than to lose them to free agency and get nothing for them.
Commissioner Bowie Kuhn voided those sales. This benefited the Yankees, as they didn't have to deal with Blue's worsening drug problem, and the Red Sox did not get the improvement that Fingers and Rudi would have given them. But was it really, as Kuhn put it, in "the best interests of baseball"?
When the 1976 season came to an end, with the A's finishing 2nd, a mere 2 1/2 games behind the Kansas City Royals, Finley didn't lift a finger to sign any of the players who went for the big money. He didn't try to bring Reggie back, and Reggie signed with the Yankees. Fingers and Tenace were signed by the San Diego Padres. Rudi was signed by the team then known as the California Angels. Campaneris was signed by the Texas Rangers, and would join Rudi on the Angels 2 years later. Team Captain Bando was signed by the Milwaukee Brewers.
Finally, after an attempt to trade Blue to the Cincinnati Reds after the 1977 season fell through, Finley traded him across the Bay to the San Francisco Giants. The A's crashed to last place in 1977, losing 98 games, behind even the expansion Seattle Mariners. They lost 93 games in 1978, and bottomed out at 108 losses and just 306, 763 fans for the entire season.
Finley sold the team in 1980, and they instantly got better. He died in 1996. He is still not in the Baseball Hall of Fame, while Reggie, Catfish and Fingers are.
Pretty much everybody who's studied 1970s baseball -- and several books have been written about the period, all of them examining the A's, the Team of the Decade -- agree that if Charlie O. hadn't been so cheap, and otherwise so vindictive, and had paid his players what they were worth, and had otherwise treated them well enough to make them want to stay in Oakland, the dynasty could have continued, getting in the way of the Big Red Machine, George Steinbrenner's Yankees and Whitey Herzog's Royals.
But Finley broke up his dynasty.
Also on this day, the expansion New Orleans Jazz make their NBA debut, at Madison Square Garden. It doesn't go so well: Despite 15 points from Louisiana's own Pistol Pete Maravich, the Knicks get 20 points from Earl "The Pearl" Monroe, and beat the Jazz, 89-74.
The Jazz will go on to lose their 1st 11 games, playing home games at the New Orleans Municipal Auditorium, before the Superdome opens the next year. They will play 5 seasons in the Crescent City, never making the Playoffs, before moving to Salt Lake City and becoming the Utah Jazz, whiere they will be considerably more successful.
This was actually a watershed day in NBA history. Over the off-season, several titans of the game announced their retirements: Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, and, from the Knicks alone, Willis Reed, Dave DeBusschere and Jerry Lucas. The era of those guys, and of the Celtic team that dominated with Bill Russell, is over.
The rest of the Seventies would see the assertion of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton, Elvin Hayes, and, after the semi-merger with the ABA in 1976, Julius "Dr. J" Erving and Moses Malone. Anyone who tells you that the NBA was "saved" by the 1979 arrival of Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Larry Bird simply doesn't know his history -- or is lying.
It was, however, with the arrival of Magic and Larry that the NBA management figured out that they'd better market what was already a great game much better. Airing Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals, in which Magic, subbing at center for Kareem, led the Lakers to defeat Dr. J's 76ers on tape delay at 11:30 PM was inexcusable.
Also on this day, John Loy Rocker is hatched from his pod in Macon, Georgia. He rose quickly to become a power pitcher, then fell apart, both competitively and physically. At first, we thought it was because, following all his insulting, ignorant, bigoted comments about the Mets and Met fans, that the furious reaction from the Flushing Faithful had gotten into his head. Certainly, there was room in there. (Not entirely a joke: The dope's head is huge.) But, eventually, it was revealed that he was a steroid user. Which explains a lot of things.
He did pitch for the Atlanta Braves in the 1999 World Series, after pitching against the Mets in the NLCS. But here's the difference: The Mets and their fans talked about how they wanted to beat him (justifiably so), while the Yankees actually did it.
He last pitched in the majors for the 2003 Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and recently published -- I won't say "wrote" -- a memoir, Scars and Strikes. He also produces (again, I won't say "writes") a column for
WorldNetDaily, the right-wing loon website also known as World Nut Daily. He has publicly supported Donald Trump. On the plus side, he does work as director of public affairs for an organization called Save Homeless Veterans.
October 17, 1978: The Yankees complete their last of many comebacks in this amazing season, taking Game 6, 7-2 at Dodger Stadium, and winning their 22nd World Championship, their 2nd in a row, having taken the last 4 games after dropping the 1st 2.
Reggie Jackson has his chance for revenge over Dodger rookie Bob Welch for striking him out with the bases loaded to end Game 2, and his revenge goes to right field, halfway to the San Gabriel Mountains.
Both halves of the Yankee double-play combination, Bucky Dent and Brian Doyle (subbing for the injured Willie Randolph) collect 3 hits. Dent batted .417 for the Series and is named MVP, capping a month that began with his Playoff homer over Boston. Doyle bats .438, and, along with 3rd base wizard Graig Nettles and reliever Goose Gossage, also makes a pretty good case for Series MVP.
Jim "Catfish" Hunter, hurting and apparently finished earlier in the season, completes his late-season renaissance, starting and winning. The final out is Gossage popping up Ron Cey behind home plate, where Thurman Munson catches it. The Goose thus becomes the 1st pitcher to nail down the final out of a Division clincher, a Pennant clincher, and a World Series clincher in the same season.
This remains my favorite single-season sports team of all time, as it was the first baseball season I was really old enough to "get" what was happening. I was aware of the 1977 title, but I didn't really comprehend what the Yankees had to overcome to win it.
Unfortunately, as with the year before, my parents waited until the Yankees were winning, and then sent me to bed, so I didn't see it. Despite being a fan of the greatest franchise in the history of sports, I was almost 27 years old before I saw my favorite team win a World Series while it was actually happening. And I don't think it was until that 1996 Series that I got over that fact.
The next season, 1979, Munson was killed in a plane crash. As stated with the 1974 entry, Catfish died of Lou Gehrig's Disease in 1999. Jim Spencer died of a heart attack in 2002. Paul Lindblad (as previously mentioned, a teammate of Reggie's and Catfish's on the 1970s A's) died of early-onset Alzhheimer's disease in 2006. Paul Blair died of a heart attack in 2013. And Jay Johnstone died earlier this year, from the effects of both dementia and COVID-19.
October 17, 1979: As in 1971, the Pittsburgh Pirates win the World Series by beating the Baltimore Orioles in Game 7 at Memorial Stadium, winning 4-1 to complete a comeback from 3 games to 1 down.
Willie Stargell, the 1st baseman known as "Pops" not just for his age (39) but because of his playing of Sister Sledge's hit disco song "We Are Family," hits his 3rd home run of the Series, and is named Series MVP, after having also been named MVP of the NLCS.
After the season, it will be announced that there is a tie vote for the regular-season MVP, between Stargell and the NL's batting champion, St. Louis Cardinal 1st baseman Keith Hernandez. Stargell becomes the 1st man, and remains the only one, ever to sweep the regular season, LCS and World Series MVPs in a single season.
It is the worst-looking World Series ever. I don't mean the baseball was poorly-played. Far from it. But between both teams' horrible uniforms, the awful carpet at Three Rivers Stadium, and the torn-up grass and poor lighting at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, this Series was really hard on the eyes.
It is the worst-looking World Series ever. I don't mean the baseball was poorly-played. Far from it. But between both teams' horrible uniforms, the awful carpet at Three Rivers Stadium, and the torn-up grass and poor lighting at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, this Series was really hard on the eyes.
Stargell, pitcher Bruce Kison and catcher Manny Sanguillen were the only players to have played for the Pirates in both the '71 and the '79 Series, although Sanguillen had left and since returned.
For the only time in his Presidency, Jimmy Carter attends a Major League Baseball game, and he picks a good one. He throws out the ceremonial first ball, and is among those congratulating the Pirates in the locker room afterward.
But in the 42 years since -- 2 full generations -- the Pirates have never won another Pennant, though they reached Game 7 of the NLCS in 1991 and '92, losing to the Atlanta Braves both times. The Steelers have since won 3 Super Bowls and appeared in 2 others; the Penguins have reached the Stanley Cup Finals 5 times, winning 4; and the University of Pittsburgh football team has won some bowl games and has usually a contender for their conference title (formerly the Big East, now the Atlantic Coast Conference).
The Pirates? After 21 years out of the postseason, they made it for 3 straight seasons, 2011 to '13, but, so far, they can't get beyond the NLDS. So they're still waiting for the next generation of the Family to make good.
There are 22 members of the '79 Pirates still alive: Sanguillen, Bert Blyleven, Dave Parker, John Candelaria, Bill Madlock, Kent Tekulve, Joe Coleman, Mike Easler, Phil Garner, Tim Foli, Ed Ott, Enrique Romo, Steve Nicosia, Lee Lacy, Omar Moreno, Jim Rooker, Rick Rhoden, Matt Alexander, Don Robinson, Doe Boyland, Gary Hargis, and Yogi's son Dale Berra.
*
October 17, 1980: Game 3 of the World Series, the 1st Series game ever played in Kansas City. Down 2-0 in games, the Royals are desperate. They get home runs from George Brett and Amos Otis, but blow leads of 1-0 in the 2nd, 2-1 in the 5th, and 3-2 in the 8th. But Willie Aikens singles home Willie Wilson in the 10th, and they beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3.
There are 22 members of the '79 Pirates still alive: Sanguillen, Bert Blyleven, Dave Parker, John Candelaria, Bill Madlock, Kent Tekulve, Joe Coleman, Mike Easler, Phil Garner, Tim Foli, Ed Ott, Enrique Romo, Steve Nicosia, Lee Lacy, Omar Moreno, Jim Rooker, Rick Rhoden, Matt Alexander, Don Robinson, Doe Boyland, Gary Hargis, and Yogi's son Dale Berra.
*
October 17, 1980: Game 3 of the World Series, the 1st Series game ever played in Kansas City. Down 2-0 in games, the Royals are desperate. They get home runs from George Brett and Amos Otis, but blow leads of 1-0 in the 2nd, 2-1 in the 5th, and 3-2 in the 8th. But Willie Aikens singles home Willie Wilson in the 10th, and they beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3.
Also on this day, Bruce Springsteen releases his double album The River. It includes his biggest hit yet, "Hungry Heart," plus the title track, "The Ties That Bind,""Independence Day,""Wreck On the Highway," and "Cadillac Ranch," which uses the title, an art piece of 10 1950s Cadillacs with their hoods buried in the ground off Route 66 in Amarillo, Texas, as a metaphor for death.
Also on this day, Mohammad Hafeez is born in Sargodha, Pakistan. "The Professor" is a former captain of his country's national cricket team.
October 17, 1981, 40 years ago: Eddie Murphy first plays the character of Velvet Jones on Saturday Night Live. Jones is a pimp... and a romance novelist.
October 17, 1987: In the 1st indoor World Series game ever, at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis‚ Dan Gladden's grand slam caps a 7-run 4th inning and leads the Twins to a 10-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 1. It is the 1st World Series grand slam since 1970.
October 17, 1989: Billy Joel releases his album Storm Front. It includes his soon-to-be Number 1 hit, the history lesson "We Didn't Start the Fire." It mentions baseball figures Joe DiMaggio, Roy Campanella, the 1955 Dodgers in their entirety (Campanella was still with them), Mickey Mantle, and the Dodgers' and Giants' 1957 move to California. But it mentions no other sports, and no later sports moments, not even the Mets' 1969 "Miracle" or Joe Namath's Super Bowl guarantee the same year.
People specifically mentioned in the song who are still alive: Queen Elizabeth II of Britain, singer Chubby Checker, singer Bob Dylan, and 1984 New York Subway vigilante Bernhard "Bernie" Goetz. Joel mentioned "British Beatlemania," but didn't name the individual Beatles; nonetheless, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are still alive. So if you count them, that's 6 people. There may be several "children of Thalidomide" still alive, but Joel did not mention them by name.
Although it mentions the Dodgers as a whole twice, it does not mention Jackie Robinson by name: While 1949, the year Joel was born, was Robinson's best year, he is much more identified with his rookie season, 1947.
In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine a few weeks later, after the Berlin Wall fell and Nicolae Ceausescu had been overthrown and executed in Romania, Billy said he had the song all ready to be recorded in June, and he had to change it at the last minute: "That whole Alar thing was happening, so I had 'Poison apples in the store.' Then the whole Tienanmen Square thing happened, and it became 'China's under martial law.' Think of everything I'd have to write about Eastern Europe now."
One thing he couldn't have foreseen was an earthquake at the World Series, which also happened on this day. It was the pregame ceremonies of Game 3 of the World Series, the 1st ever between the 2 teams of the San Francisco Bay Area, the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics. The A's have a 2 games to none lead.
At 5:04 PM Pacific Time -- 8:04 Eastern Time -- ABC is showing highlights of Game 2 when the screen flickers. The ground starts shaking. In ABC's broadcast booth at Candlestick Park are Al Michaels, Jim Palmer and Tim McCarver. Michaels, who had lived in California, figured out what was happening, and said, "I'll tell you what, we're having an earth-- "
And that's when the screen goes black. ABC puts a "Please Stand By" card up. A few minutes later, audio is restored, although video takes a little longer, and Michaels explains that there was, indeed, an earthquake.
The official World Series highlight film shows fans at Candlestick reacting with a sense of fun, since nobody inside the ballpark got hurt. One fan, who'd brought white cardboard panels and magic markers to make up signs on the spot, had on one side, "That was nothing, wait till the Giants bat," and on the other, a jagged line, supposed to be a quake-caused crack, and, "Welcome to Candlestick."
Back in the Giants clubhouse, Giant legend Willie Mays, who had been introduced as part of the pregame ceremony, said, "That's the first time I've ever been scared in Candlestick. I've been knocked down a lot, but that's the first time I was scared." Asked why, he said, "The ground was shaking, man!"
The camera then shifts to a man in a Giants cap with headphones on, and he develops a look that shows he's just found out how serious the situation really is. There are fires all over the city. Many houses in the Marina District are burning. A section of the upper level of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge has collapsed onto the lower level, killing 3 people. Worst of all, a section of the double-decked Nimitz Freeway, Interstate 880, has collapsed in Oakland, killing several.
The quake registered a magnitude of 7.1 on the Richter scale. At first‚ it's believed that over 200 people were killed. When everyone is accounted for, it is determined that the quake killed 67 people, and did $7 billion in damage -- about $14.3 billion in today's money.
Commissioner Fay Vincent has Candlestick evacuated, and the remainder of the Series postponed. Everyone was lucky: The stadium then had a baseball seating capacity of 62,000, and if it had collapsed, or even if a part of the stadium had collapsed, the death toll could have exceeded the nearly 3,000 in the World Trade Center attacks of 12 years later. Certainly, it would have exceeded the 96 deaths at the FA Cup Semifinal in Sheffield, England, the Hillsborough Disaster, 6 months earlier.
But Candlestick Park, the most maligned venue in the history of North American sports, held firm, with only a few small concrete chunks dislodged. In the San Francisco Bay Area's darkest hour since the 1906 earthquake and fire, The 'Stick did its duty, and saved lives.
It would be 10 days before the Series was resumed, and 12 rescue workers -- 6 from San Francisco, 6 from Oakland -- were chosen to throw out ceremonial first pitches.
*
October 17, 1991, 30 years ago: The Braves advance to the World Series for the 1st time since their move to Atlanta – for the 1st time since they were in Milwaukee in 1958 – with John Smoltz leading the way with a 6-hit‚ 4-0 shutout.
The Pirates fail to score in the last 22 innings of the series. Steve Avery is named the MVP of the NLCS. Worst of all, for this Pennant-deciding game, only 46,932 fans come out to the 58,729-seat Three Rivers Stadium. That's a disgrace for such a good sports city as Pittsburgh.
October 17, 1992: In the 1st-ever World Series game involving a team from outside the U.S., the Atlanta Braves defeat the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-1. Catcher Damon Berryhill hits a 3-run homer in the 6th inning.
The pitching matchup of Tom Glavine and Jack Morris is the 1st time that a pair of 20-game winners starts the opening game of a World Series since 1969. Glavine goes all the way for the win‚ while Joe Carter homers for the only Toronto run.
October 17, 1994: The Gund Arena opens in downtown Cleveland, adjacent to the new Jacobs Field. The 1st event is a concert by Billy Joel. The NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers move in a few days later. In 2005, the arena was renamed the Quicken Loans Arena, or "The Q," and the ballpark was renamed Progressive Field in 2008.
In 2016, the Cavs won the NBA title, and The Q thus became the home of Cleveland's 1st World Championship since the 1964 Browns. In 2018, it was renamed the Rocket Mortgage Arena, for a subsidiary of Quicken Loans.
October 17, 1995: The Cleveland Indians shut out the Seattle Mariners‚ 4-0 in Game 6 of the ALCS at the Kingdome in Seattle‚ behind the pitching of Dennis Martínez‚ Julián Tavárez‚ and José Mesa. Carlos Baerga hits a home run off Randy Johnson to ice it, and the Indians win their 1st Pennant in 41 years.
Also on this day, Jamal Lee Adams is born outside Dallas in Lewisville, Texas, and grows up in nearby Carrollton. A safety, he made 2 Pro Bowls with the Jets. But, being the Jets, they messed things up with him, and traded him to the Seattle Seahawks.
October 17, 1996, 25 years ago: The Yankees finally find out who they’ll be playing in their 1st World Series in 15 years. The Braves complete their comeback from being 3 games to 1 down in the NLCS‚ winning their 3rd in a row‚ 15-0‚ to defeat the Cardinals and win the NL Pennant. Homers by Fred McGriff‚ Javy Lopez‚ and Andruw Jones support the shutout pitching of Tom Glavine.
October 17, 1998: Game 1 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium, the way God intended it. Down 5-2 in the bottom of the 7th, the Yankees explode for 7 runs to blow away the Padres‚ 9-6.
Chuck Knoblauch completes his redemption from his ALCS Game 2 "brainlauch" with a 3-run homer in the inning to tie it‚ off Padre starter Kevin Brown, who had a reputation as a "Yankee Killer" while pitching for the Texas Rangers. (Yankee Killer? Kevin Brown? We hadn't seen nothin' yet.)
Then, after reliever Mark Langston (himself rather successful against the Yankees while pitching for the Mariners and Angels) loads the bases, Tino Martinez, who's also been struggling lately, comes up. With a 2-2 count, Langston throws a pitch that’s juuuust low. To this day, Padre fans will say that it was strike 3, and Tino should have been called out, and that this "fixed" the Series for the Yankees.
Now, we Yankee Fans don't have much reason to get upset with Padres fans, but if you blow a 3-run lead in the 7th inning of a World Series game, you don't deserve to win the Series. Tino takes the full-count pitch, and cranks it into the upper deck in right field for a grand slam. San Diego native David Wells notches the win against his hometown team.
October 17, 1999: The Mets edge the Braves in a 15-inning thriller at Shea‚ 4-3‚ to move within 1 game of Atlanta in their NLCS. Robin Ventura's grand slam in the bottom half of the 15th wins it‚ but his Met teammates mob him before he can reach 2nd base. He never completes his round of the bases, and so he gets credit for a single instead of a home run. It becomes known as the Grand Slam Single.
The Braves leave a postseason-record 19 players on base in the contest. The Mets use 9 pitchers in the game‚ with rookie Octavio Dotel getting the win. No "Heartbreak Dotel" in this game.
No, if it's heartbreak you're looking for, head up to Fenway Park. The Yankees defeat the Red Sox‚ 9-2‚ to take a 3-games-to-1 lead in the ALCS. Andy Pettitte gets the victory for New York‚ with home run support from Darryl Strawberry and Ricky Ledee.
It was only 3-2 Yankees going into the top of the 8th, but the Boston bullpen (Ledee hits a grand slam off Rod Beck) and defense collapse – some would say aided by some poor umpiring. The Sox fans, angry about the calls, throw garbage onto the field in the 9th, for about five minutes until the umpires get the public-address announcer to ask the fans to stop or else the game will be forfeited.
But with all the errors the Sox have been making, and with all the bullpen failure, Sox fans have no one to blame but their own players. For years, I’d heard Boston described as "the Athens of America," and Red Sox fans described as the most knowledgeable in baseball. This proved both a lie. Even Tony Massarotti, then writing for the Boston Herald, ripped the Fenway faithful, saying that this was not the Curse of the Bambino, but "the Torment of the Drunks."
Also on this day, the Staples Center opens in Los Angeles. The home ever since of the Los Angeles Lakers, Clippers and Kings, the 1st event is a concert by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band.
*
October 17, 2000: The Yankees defeat the Mariners‚ 9-7 at Yankee Stadium‚ to win the ALCS and their 37th AL Pennant. David Justice's 3-run homer in the 7th inning gives New York a lead it never relinquishes. Justice wins the ALCS MVP award.
Since the Mets have already wrapped up the NL Pennant, New York will have its 1st Subway Series in 44 years.
One positive note for the Mariners: With an opposite-field single, catcher Dan Wilson snaps his 0-for-42 skid, the longest hitless streak in postseason history. Marv Owen had gone 0-for-31 in the 1934 and 1935 World Series playing for the Tigers.
One negative note for everybody: After 53 years, this is the last Major League Baseball game televised by NBC. It's been Fox, ESPN and TBS ever since. In the words of Melvin Franklin of the immortal Temptations, "And that ain't right!"
October 17, 2003: It was 12:16 AM when Aaron Boone became the newest in a long list of unlikely postseason heroes for the Yankees. But aside from another homer that turned out to be meaningless, he barely hit in the World Series against the Florida Marlins, and in the offseason he injured his knee so badly he'd be out for the 2004 season. So the Yankees got Alex Rodriguez. How did that turn out? One title in 13 years.
Early editions of the October 17 New York Post include an editorial claiming the Yankees lost to Boston and couldn't get the job done in Game 7 of the ALCS. Way to go, Murdoch Post, showing your usual quality control and/or honesty.
October 17, 2004: The Red Sox stay alive in the ALCS with a 6-4‚ 12-inning win over the Yankees. David Ortiz's 2-run walkoff homer wins it in the 12th after the Sox tied the score off Mariano Rivera in the 9th, with a walk by Kevin Millar, pinch-runner Dave Roberts' steal of 2nd, and Bill Mueller singling him home with the tying run.
Ortiz drives home 4 runs for Boston‚ while Alex Rodriguez homers for New York – his last positive contribution to a Yankee postseason effort for 5 years. (Millahhhh? Mueller? Ortiz? Cough-steroids-cough.)
The Sox jumped on Ortiz as if they'd just won not just 1 ALCS game, but the World Series. They had good reason to call themselves "Idiots." Aw, what the heck, it's only 1 game, right? The Yankees will wrap up the Pennant tomorrow, right?
It took the Yankees 5 more years to wrap up their next Pennant.
Also on this day, Ray Boone dies at age 81 in his hometown of San Diego. A descendant of American pioneer Daniel Boone, the infielder was a rookie on the Cleveland Indians when he won the 1948 World Series, but was not on the Series roster. He was a 2-time All-Star for the Detroit Tigers, and led the American League in RBIs in 1955.
But he had bad luck: The Chicago White Sox traded him a few weeks before winning the 1959 American League Pennant, and he ended up on the Milwaukee Braves right after they stopped winning Pennants.
He became the patriarch of Major League Baseball's 1st 3-generation family. His son Bob Boone was the catcher for the 1980 World Champion Philadelphia Phillies. His son Bret Boone was a 3-time All-Star won won the 1999 National League Pennant with the Atlanta Braves, and his son Aaron Boone... well, I just told you what he did. Ray lived 1 year after Aaron became a legend.
In 2017, Bret's son Jake was drafted by the Washington Nationals, putting the Boones in position to become the 1st 4-generation MLB family. Jake chose to attend Princeton University instead, and played for their baseball team, but is now in the Nationals' system.
October 17, 2009: Game 2 of the ALCS at the new Yankee Stadium. The Yankees fall behind the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the top of the 11th inning. But, through raindrops, Alex Rodriguez continues the one postseason hot streak of his career, hitting a home run and extending the game.
In the bottom of the 13th, Cesar Izturis commits an error that allows Melky Cabrera to reach base and Jerry Hairston Jr. to score, and the Yankees win 4-3, and take a 2 games to none lead in the series.
Also on this day, actor, pro wrestler, and former college football player Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson makes his 2nd appearance as "The Rock Obama," President Barack Obama's Hulk-like "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry" personality, on Saturday Night Live.
*
October 17, 2019: Game 4 of the ALCS is played, after a rainout the previous night. After being brilliant in Game 1, the Yankees' Masahiro Tanaka has nothing. Despite a home run from Gary Sánchez, the Yankees lose 8-3, and now trail the Houston Astros 3-1.
October 17, 2023: In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this was the date of the climactic events of the film Avengers: Endgame, including the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) reversing "The Snap" of May 31, 2018, and the final battle between the Avengers and their allies on one side, and Thanos (Josh Brolin) and his forces on the other.