April 4, 1988: The NCAA Final Four was held in Kansas City to celebrate its 50th renewal (although not its 50th Anniversary, which would come the next season), going back to the city that had hosted the most Final Fours.
This was K.C.'s 10th. The 1st 9 were held at the Kansas City Municipal Arena. This one was held at the Kemper Arena, just over the Missouri side of the Kansas State Line, and now named the Hy-Vee Arena. Only once more, in Denver in 1990, was the Final Four was played at a building with less than 20,000 seats.
Opened in 1974, the arena was named for local banking executive Rufus Kemper, who donated $3.2 million of the $23 million it took to build the arena. In 2018, it was renamed the Hy-Vee Arena, for a Midwestern supermarket chain.
As part of the 50th Tournament celebrations, many of the sport's icons showed up for a pregame ceremony, including University of Kansas legends Wilt Chamberlain (lost the 1957 Final to North Carolina) and Clyde Lovellette (won the 1952 Final over St. John's); UCLA coach John Wooden and some of his stars, including Bill Walton (but not Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was still active with the Los Angeles Lakers); and Howard Hobson, coach of the winners of the 1st Tournament in 1939, the University of Oregon. (Hobson lived until 1991.)
Having a virtual home-court advantage, the Kansas Jayhawks, based 40 miles to the west in Lawrence, pulled a big upset of the University of Oklahoma, 83-79. Danny Manning was the star for the Jayhawks, and Larry Brown, frequently mocked for how he never stayed at any coaching job for too long, won the National Championship, having previously lost the Final with UCLA against Louisville in 1980.
Brown would later coach the Detroit Pistons to the 2004 NBA title, and remains the only coach to win both an NCAA and an NBA title. Manning went on to play 15 seasons in the NBA, including under Brown on the Los Angeles Clippers and the Pistons. He later returned to Kansas as an assistant coach, and has been the head coach at the University of Tulsa, Wake Forest and Maryland.
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April 4, 1988 was a Monday, as NCAA Tournament Finals tend to be. As they also tended to be in the late 20th Century, they coincided with Major League Baseball's Opening Day, and these games were played:
* The New York Mets beat the Montreal Expos, 10-6 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Dwight Gooden outpitched Dennis Martinez. Darryl Strawberry went 4-for-4 with 2 solo home runs and a walk. One of the homers was the longest ever hit at Le Stade Olympique, crashing into the right field roof, 535 feet from home plate.
Lenny Dykstra (3 RBIs), Kevin Elster and Kevin McReynolds (4-for-5 with 3 RBIs) also hit home runs. Former Met Hubie Brooks homered for the Expos.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-3 at Fenway Park in Boston. Jack Morris and Roger Clemens both went 9 innings, but the game went to a 10th, where Lee Smith gave up a home run to Alan Trammell. Mike Henneman mopped up for Morris. Matt Nokes also homered for the Tigers. For the Sox, Wade Boggs went 2-for-5, and Brady Anderson went 3-for-5.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 12-0 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. It was a bad omen for the O's: They lost their 1st 21 games of the season, an all-time record, and 107 games over the course of the season.
Teddy Higuera outpitched Mike Boddicker. Dale Sveum went 3-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Robin Yount went 1-for-4 with a walk. Paul Molitor went 1-for-4 with 2 walks. Eddie Murray went 0-for-4. Cal Ripken went 1-for-4.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially
the leadoff variety. Jeff Treadway led off the bottom of the 12th inning with a walk, and eventually scored on a single by Kal Daniels. Joe Magrane was the starting pitcher for the Cards, and hit a home run, but did not figure in the decision.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the California Angels, 8-5 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Ricky Horton outpitched Mike Witt. Ken Williams, later to be the general manager who built the White Sox' 2005 World Series winners, went 2-for-3 with a home run and 3 RBIs.
* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-3 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. Jimmy Key outpitched Bret Saberhagen. George Brett went 2-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBIs.
* The Texas Rangers beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-3 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Pete O'Brien hit 2 homers, to make a winning pitcher out of Charlie Hough. He and the Indians' starter, Tom Candiotti, were both knuckleballers, but it would be Chris Codiroli who blew the lead for Candiotti.
* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Dave Dravecky outpitched Fernando Valenzuela. Brett Butler went 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs. The only Dodger run came on a home run by Steve Sax.
The Giants had won the National League Western Division the year before, and would win it the year after, and the Pennant, too. Not this year: The Dodgers went on to win the World Series.
* The Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners, 4-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. Dave Stewart outpitched Mark Langston. José Canseco and Dave Henderson hit home runs for the A's.
* The New York Yankees opened the next day, April 5, beating the Minnesota Twins, 8-0 at Yankee Stadium. Rick Rhoden pitched a 3-hit shutout, beating Frank Viola. Mike Pagliarulo and Rickey Henderson hit home runs. Willie Randolph and Roberto Kelly each went 3-for-4. Dave Winfield went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Don Mattingly went 1-for-4 with an RBI.
* The Philadelphia Phillies and the Pittsburgh Pirates also opened the next day. The Pirates won, 5-3 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Mike Dunne outpitched Shane Rawley. Barry Bonds hit his 13th career home run. There would be 749 more. Mike Schmidt hit his 531st career home run. There would be 17 more.
* The Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta Braves also opened the next day. The Cubs won, 10-9 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Rick Sutcliffe and Rick Mahler started, but neither lasted into the 6th inning. Manny Trillo hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the 13th inning, to score Vance Law with the winning run, making a winning pitcher of Mike Bielecki.
* And the Houston Astros and the San Diego Padres also opened the next day. The Astros won, 6-3 at the Astrodome in Houston. Mike Scott outpitched Ed Whitson. Glenn Davis hit a home run. Tony Gwynn went 0-for-2 with 2 walks.
Football was out of season. No games were played in the NBA. And the NHL was between its regular season and the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
This was also the day that Evan Mecham of Arizona became the 1st Governor of any State to be removed through impeachment by his State's legislature. I have a separate entry for that event.
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