April 30, 1975: The Fall of Saigon

April 30, 1975: The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN, representing "the Democratic Republic of Vietnam," a.k.a. North Vietnam) and the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (NLF, or "Viet Cong") capture the capital of the Republic of Vietnam, a.k.a. South Vietnam, Saigon. The Vietnam War is finally over: Vietnam is united, and it is Communist.

The capture of the city was preceded by Operation Frequent Wind, the evacuation of almost all American civilian and military personnel in Saigon, more than 2 years after combat operations there had ended; along with tens of thousands of South Vietnamese civilians who had been associated with the Republic of Vietnam regime.

The sight of civilians climbing a staircase in a desperate attempt to reach the last helicopter, on the roof of the American Embassy, became a symbol of America's 1st true military defeat. The War of 1812 may have been a stalemate, but tends to get treated like a victory. There was no way to spin the Vietnam War as a win for America, or even a draw.

In 1976, the National Assembly of the united Socialist Republic of Vietnam, in the national capital of Hanoi, which had been the capital of North Vietnam, renamed Saigon for the founder of North Vietnam: Hồ Chí Minh City. Today, with the country still a corrupt one-party state, but embracing free-market reforms since 1986, and thus Communist in name only, Hồ Chí Minh City is home to 9.4 million people, more than New York or London. And the former U.S. Embassy is home to the country's Oil Ministry.

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April 30, 1975 was a Wednesday. Actor Johnny Galecki was born.

These games were played in Major League Baseball that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-4 at Shea Stadium, where they were playing while the original Yankee Stadium was renovated in the 1974 and '75 seasons. The Yankees trailed 4-1 going into the bottom of the 8th, but won it on a walkoff home run by Bobby Bonds.

Today, following the controversial acquisition of the moody superstar Bonds for the beloved Bobby Murcer in the preceding off-season, we would say, "This was when Bobby Bonds became a real Yankee," or he "earned his Pinstripes."

Who knows: Maybe, under today's conditions, he would have been embraced by Yankee Fans, and he, rather than Reggie Jackson, would have been the complicated superstar in Pinstripes from 1977 to 1981 (and in '75 and '76, too). Reggie might have ended up taking Ray Kroc's burger bucks in San Diego. And maybe, if Bobby Bonds were happy in New York, it would have paved the way for Barry Bonds to be happy there, and he never would have felt the need to artificially inflate his stats, and... But now, we're engaging in counterfactual speculation. So, let's move on:

* The New York Mets lost to the Chicago Cubs, 7-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. John Stearns hit a home run, and Joe Torre went 1-for-5.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Red Sox, 8-1 at Fenway Park in Boston. Frank Robinson, completing his 1st month as MLB's 1st black manager, did not put himself into the game. He did put former Oriole star John "Boog" Powell into the game, and he hit a home run. Wearing the Indians' all-red uniforms, Boog, a very large man and a chef, said, "I look like the world's biggest Bloody Mary."

For the Red Sox, Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-3. Gaylord Perry outpitched Luis Tiant. But it would be the Red Sox who won the American League Pennant.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Montreal Expos, 2-1 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Mike Schmidt went 0-for-3, but Steve Carlton went the distance for the win.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-0 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Jerry Reuss pitched a 5-hit shutout, and Richie Zisk and Willie Stargell hit home runs off Bob Gibson, who retired late in the season.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium. George Scott hit a home run for the Brew Crew. Hank Aaron went 1-for-4, and Robin Yount went 3-for-4 with an RBI.

* The California Angels beat the Kansas City Royals, 7-6 at Royals Stadium in Kansas City. George Brett went 0-for-3, but had an RBI on a sacrifice fly.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Chicago White Sox, 8-2 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Houston Astros, 4-2 at San Diego Stadium. (It was renamed Jack Murphy Stadium in 1980, and Qualcomm Stadium in 1997.)

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the San Francisco Giants, 4-1 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Pete Rose went 0-for-4, but Tony Perez hit a home run, Joe Morgan went 3-for-5, and Johnny Bench went 1-for-3. 

* The Minnesota Twins and the Oakland Athletics were supposed to play at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota, but were rained out. It was made up as part of a doubleheader on September 12. The A's won the opener, 11-4. The Twins won the nightcap, 7-6. Reggie Jackson went a ghastly 0-for-10 with in the doubleheader, although, in the opener, he had an RBI on a groundout, and reached on 2 errors, scoring both times. Rod Carew went 1-for-8.

The NBA Playoffs featured Game 2 of both Conference Finals. In the Eastern Conference, the Washington Bullets beat the Boston Celtics, 117-92 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland. And in the Western Conference, the Chicago Bulls beat the Golden State Warriors, 90-89 at the Chicago Stadium. The Warriors would come back, beat the Bulls, and then sweep the Bullets in the Finals, for their 1st title in the San Francisco Bay Area.

And Game 6 of the ABA Western Conference Finals was played: The Denver Nuggets beat the Indiana Pacers, 104-99 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. But the Pacers would win Game 7 in Denver. The Louisville-based Kentucky Colonels had already wrapped up the Eastern Conference Finals, beating the Spirits of St. Louis in 5 games. The Colonels won the title, beating the Pacers in 5 games.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs were in between games, on the way to a Finals in which the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Buffalo Sabres in 6 games. The World Hockey Association Playoffs were also between games, on the way to a Finals in which the Houston Aeros beat the Quebec Nordiques in 4 straight.