April 20, 1999: A mass shooting kills 12 students and a teacher at Columbine High School, in the Denver suburb of Littleton, Colorado. At the time, it was the deadliest mass shooting at an American school. Another 21 were wounded, but survived.
What made it more chilling is that it was done by 2 of the school's own students, both seniors within weeks of graduation: Eric Harris, who had just turned 18 and had recently moved there after many places as the child of a U.S. Air Force officer; and Dylan Klebold, still 17 and a lifelong resident of the community.
Both worked at a nearby pizza parlor. According to Harris' journal, he had planned to exceed the death toll of the Oklahoma City bombing, 4 years plus 1 day earlier: 168.
President Bill Clinton, being a Democrat, had managed, through legislation while Congress was controlled by Democrats, to greatly reduce gun crime in America. Now, he wanted to do more. The Congress of that time, being controlled by Republicans, did nothing. No new legislation regarding gun control was put on the Presidential desk.
The school, and the unincorporated community in which it stands, were named for the State Flower of Colorado. The school opened in 1973, and, with retroactive irony, its mascot is the Rebels, with a logo reminiscent of the Continental Army in the War of the American Revolution. If Harris and Klebold only had the kind of weapons available then, the death toll would have been much lower.
Among Columbine's graduates is Darrel Akerfelds, who pitched for 4 different major league teams from 1986 to 1991. He also died too soon, at 50, in 2012, from cancer.
A memorial to the victims opened at the school near the start of the 2007-08 schoolyear. Today, the school has an enrollment of about 1,700.
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April 20, 1999 was a Tuesday. Only 1 game was canceled in any sport: The Colorado Rockies, the team closest to the crime, canceled their games that night and the next one, at Coors Field against the Montreal Expos. The April 20 game was made up on August 13, and the Expos won, 14-13 in 10 innings.
These games were played in Major League Baseball on the day of the shooting:
* The New York Yankees beat the Texas Rangers, 4-0 at Yankee Stadium. David Cone and Mariano Rivera combined on a 4-hit shutout. Paul O'Neill hit 2 home runs.
* The New York Mets beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2 at Cinergy Field in Cincinnati. (It had been Riverfront Stadium from 1970 to 1996.) Marge Schott, who had owned the Reds since 1984, sells the team on this day, against her will, under orders from MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, after 25 years of cheapness, bigotry, and one Pennant and World Series win. Nobody misses her, except maybe Trump fans.
* The Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-3 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.
* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the team then known as the Anaheim Angels, 5-1 at the SkyDome in Toronto. (It was renamed the Rogers Centre in 2005.)
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Oakland Athletics, 5-1 at Jacobs Field in Cleveland. (It was renamed Progressive Field in 2008.)
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 1-0 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.
* The Houston Astros beat the Chicago Cubs, 10-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Seattle Mariners, 3-1 at the new Comiskey Park in Chicago. (It was renamed U.S. Cellular Field in 2003, Guaranteed Rate Field in 2016, and just Rate Field in 2025.) Yes, both Chicago teams played at home on the same day, but only the ChiSox won. Attendance on the North Side: 28,876. Attendance on the South Side: 8,980.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals, 8-7 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. Chris Latham drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the top of the 13th inning.
* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-1 at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix. (It was renamed Chase Field in 2005.)
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the San Diego Padres, 7-3 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. (It had been San Diego Stadium from 1967 to 1981, then Jack Murphy Stadium until 1997. It would be SDCCU Stadium from 2017 until its demolition in 2020.) Trevor Hoffman, recorder of more saves than any pitcher in MLB history except for Mariano Rivera, imploded in the 10th inning to lose this game.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-4 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
* And the Florida Marlins beat the San Francisco Giants, 7-2 at Candlestick Park (then named 3Com Park at Candlestick Point) in San Francisco.
One more note, although this is about a game that I do not consider a sport: On this day, for his comic strip B.C., Johnny Hart drew this strip, showing that he loves golf, but is frustrated by it:
In case you're having trouble reading it:
Panel 1: Woman asks male golfer, "Let me get this straight, the less I hit the ball, the better I am doing." Golfer says, "That's right."
Panel 2: Woman asks golfer, "Then why do it at all?"
Panel 3, at night, so, clearly, golfer has been thinking about it the whole time: "Why... do it... at all?"
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