May 14, 1998: The final episode of Seinfeld airs on NBC. It was terrible.
Perhaps we should have seen it coming. Just a week earlier, the show aired its next-to-last episode, "The Puerto Rican Day Parade." Between the writing, the stereotyping, and the sight of Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards) accidentally burning, and then purposely stomping, a Puerto Rican flag, this episode was so offensive, NBC actually issued an apology for it, and dropped it from the repeat schedule.
The night before the Seinfeld finale, on his ABC talk show at the time, Politically Incorrect, Bill Maher asked his panel what NBC should do if, 3 minutes into the finale, they get the word that O.J. Simpson has killed again. Should they break into coverage, and handle that instead of showing the finale? The panel all agreed: Yes.
The finale was a disaster. Both in-universe and out. Face it: Any competent lawyer would have explained that the camcorder recorded a crime, providing evidence of it, meaning that "The New York Four" were doing the local police's job for them.
Furthermore, none of those "character witnesses" -- from former restaurateurs Babu Bhat and Yev Kassem, a.k.a. the Soup Nazi, to baseball legend Keith Hernandez and the parents of George's late fiancée, Susan Ross -- were relevant to the case, so Judge Art Vandelay should have told the jury to disregard their testimony completely. The case should have been dismissed.
And if the writers were on their game, they wouldn't have just shown Newman laughing so hard at the verdict that he choked on his popcorn, they would have shown him actually choking, and then, Jerry would have saved him. This would have shown the judge that these people weren't so bad, and he should have vacated the verdict.
I recently saw an article where actual former prisoners were asked how long each of the characters would have lasted in prison. They seemed to agree: Jerry and George would have been killed quickly. Elaine was tough enough that she might have lasted a little longer, until she angered the wrong inmate. But Kramer would have won them over.
I'm not so sure: I think that, as in "The Contest," Kramer would have been the 1st one out.
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Well, O.J. Simpson didn't commit another murder that night -- that we know of. But there was something big happening that night, although it wasn’t revealed until the next morning: Frank Sinatra had died.
The singer and actor known as "The Voice," "Ol' Blue Eyes" and "The Chairman of the Board," the biggest pop-culture star of the World War II generation, died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 82, and had several health issues. So his death had nothing to do with seeing the Seinfeld finale.
Only his 4th and last wife, Barbara – "Lady Blue Eyes," she liked to call herself – was at his side at the end. She told him to keep fighting. She said that his last words were, "I'm losing."
Barbara and Frank. One of the last photos of the Chairman of the Board.
But also among his final words were, "Where are my children?" His daughter Tina, a television producer, believes that Barbara purposely did not tell her, daughter Nancy, and son Frank Jr. (who became singers in their own right) that this was it, so that only she could be by his side at the end.
He is buried at Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California, not far from Palm Springs, where he made his final home. His epitaph is the title of the last song he sang in public: "The Best Is Yet to Come."
Also buried there: Actors Dorothy Arnold (Joe DiMaggio's 1st wife), Brad Dexter of The Magnificent Seven, Cameron Mitchell, Patrick Macnee and Howard Hesseman; singers Betty Hutton and Sonny Bono; songwriters Frederick Loewe, Hugo Montenegro, and Sinatra's close friend and frequent collaborator Jimmy Van Heusen; and baseball star Pete Reiser, who had starred in the 1940s, despite an unceasing array of injuries, for Sinatra's favorite team, the Brooklyn Dodgers. Like comic actor Danny Kaye, Sinatra went to Los Angeles before the Dodgers did, and can't be faulted for staying a fan of theirs.
Barbara followed Frank in 2017. Frank Jr. died in 2016. As of May 14, 2022, Nancy and Tina are still alive.
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May 14, 1998 was a Thursday. Football was out of season. The NBA Playoffs were between the Conference Semifinals and Finals. There were 2 games played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Buffalo Sabres beat the Montreal Canadiens, 3-1 at the Molson Centre (now the Bell Centre) in Montreal, completing a 4-game sweep. And the Detroit Red Wings beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-2 at the Kiel Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis. The Wings went on to win the Cup for the 2nd straight season.
And these Major League Baseball games were played that day:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Texas Rangers, 7-5 at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees led 5-0 going into the 8th inning, but Hideki Irabu's shutout was ruined by a combined meltdown of Mike Stanton, Jeff Nelson and Mariano Rivera, before Rusty Greer hit a home run off Willie Banks in the top of the 13th inning. Derek Jeter, Paul O'Neill, Chad Curtis, Jorge Posada and Scott Brosius each had 2 hits, and Curtis hit a home run, but it wasn't enough.
* The New York Mets got swept in a doubleheader by the San Diego Padres, 3-1 and 6-2 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. Over the 2 games, Tony Gwynn went 3-for-8 with a home run and 5 RBIs.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-4 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Jim Thome and Travis Fryman hit home runs. Cal Ripken went 1-for-4.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 10-2 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.
* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Anaheim Angels, 5-4 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Florida Marlins, 11-8 at Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium) in Cincinnati.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Oakland Athletics, 8-3 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Rickey Henderson went 0-for-3 with a walk and a stolen bases.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Seattle Mariners, 5-3 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago. Ken Griffey Jr. went 3-for-5, but did not hit a home run. He had 15 on the season.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Boston Red Sox, 2-1 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Pat Meares singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-3 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Mark McGwire hit his 15th home run of the season.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Houston Astros, 7-2 at the Astrodome in Houston.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Colorado Rockies, 9-7 at Coors Field in Denver. Mark Grace hit 2 home runs. Sammy Sosa didn't hit any. He had 7 at that point, and nobody had any idea that he was going to battle McGwire for Roger Maris' home run record.
* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-1 at Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field) in Phoenix.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Mark Portugal pitched shutout ball for 8 innings, with Mark Leiter finishing the 2-hit shutout.
* And the San Francisco Giants swept the Montreal Expos, 6-1 and 2-0 at Candlestick Park (then named 3Com Park at Candlestick Point) in San Francisco. Barry Bonds hit a home run in the opener. Danny Darwin pitched shutout ball for 8 innings in the nightcap, with Robb Nen finishing the 4-hit shutout.
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