April 13, 1996: The sports rivalry between the New York and Los Angeles metropolitan areas, dormant in soccer since the Los Angeles Aztecs folded after the 1980 North American Soccer League season, resumes, as each area's 1st team in Major League Soccer began play, against each other.
At the Rose Bowl in suburban Pasadena, California, the Los Angeles Galaxy played the New York/New Jersey MetroStars. A crowd of 69,225 attended, and the game was broadcast nationally on ABC.
Cobi Jones opened the scoring for the Galaxy, in the game's 37th minute. Arash Noamouz scored another in the 56th minute. Giovanni Savarese pulled one back for the MetroStars in the 77th, but that was as close as they would get: L.A. won, 2-1.
The "Gals" have gone on to win 5 MLS Cups. The MetroStars, or "Metro" for short, became the New York Red Bulls in 2005, but they and the New England Revolution are the only original MLS teams that have not yet won an MLS Cup.
Despite having had such stars as Savarese, Peter Vermes, Tony Meola, Tab Ramos, Clint Mathis, Lothar Matthäus, Eddie Pope, Juan Pablo Ángel, Thierry Henry, Dax McCarty, Tim Cahill, Sacha Kljestan, and the brothers Shawn and Bradley Wright-Phillips, the Red Bulls haven't gone all the way. They've won the Supporters' Shield, the overall regular-season title, in 2013, '15 and '18; and also finished 1st overall in the Eastern Conference in 2000, '10 and '16. They've reached the MLS Cup Final in 2008, but never won it. They've also reached the Final of the U.S. Open Cup in 2003 and '17, but never won that, either. (UPDATE: They reached the MLS Cup Final again in 2024, but lost it.)
*
April 13, 1996 was a Saturday. Other MLS games on this date:
* The Columbus Crew beat D.C. United, 4-0 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.
* The Kansas City Wizards (now Sporting Kansas City) beat the Colorado Rapids (Denver's team), 3-0 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
* And the Tampa Bay Mutiny beat the New England Revolution (Boston's team), 3-2 at Tampa Stadium. The Mutiny folded after the 2001 season.
A full slate of Major League Baseball games was played:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Texas Rangers, 10-6 at Yankee Stadium. Jim Leyritz hit a home run. Wade Boggs, Paul O'Neill, Ruben Sierra and Joe Girardi each got 2 hits. But it wasn't enough, as Dwight Gooden didn't get out of the 6th inning.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Red Sox, 14-2 at Fenway Park in Boston.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Minnesota Twins, 7-6 at Camden Yards in Baltimore.
* The Seattle Mariners beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 14-3 at the SkyDome in Toronto. (It's now named the Rogers Centre.)
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Montreal Expos, 9-3 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the California Angels, 9-5 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 6-5 at the new Comiskey Park in Chicago. (It's now named Rate Field.) Tony Phillips singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 3-23 at Milwaukee County Stadium.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium.
* The San Diego Padres beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-2 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Florida Marlins, 3-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-2 at Candlestick Park (then named 3Com Park at Candlestick Point) in San Francisco. Shawon Dunston singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.
There were 8 games played in the NBA:
* The Washington Bullets beat the Boston Celtics, 122-108 at the FleetCenter in Boston. (It's now named the TD Garden.)
* The Miami Heat beat the Charlotte Hornets, 116-106 at the Charlotte Coliseum.
* The Orlando Magic beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 116-104 at the Orlando Arena.
* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Vancouver Grizzlies, 105-82 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
* The Detroit Pistons beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 92-76 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.
* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 111-90 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
* The Utah Jazz beat the Phoenix Suns, 103-79 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Sacramento Kings, 108-89 at the KeyArena in Seattle.
And tbere were 9 games played in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers lost to the Washington Capitals, 4-1 at Madison Square Garden.
* The New York Islanders beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 6-2 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.
* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-1 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.
* The Tampa Bay Lightning beat their arch-rivals, the Florida Panthers, 2-1 at the Miami Arena.
* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Ottawa Senators at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. The Sabres would play just 1 more home game there, having missed the Playoffs. The next season, they moved into the Marine Midland Arena, now named the KeyBank Center.
* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Winnipeg Jets, 5-2 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 7-3 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.
* The Dallas Stars beat the Edmonton Oilers, 4-2 at the Edmonton Coliseum, as the Northlands Coliseum was temporarily known.
* And the Los Angeles Kings beat their arch-rivals, the San Jose Sharks, 6-2 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.
No comments:
Post a Comment