May 20, 2023: The Cuscatlán Stadium Disaster

May 20, 2023: A stampede at a soccer game in the Central American nation of El Salvador leaves 12 people dead.

NOTE: While these entries are dated 2022, I decided to backdate the posting dates of events from 2023 onward to the same date in 2022.

Alianza F.C., of the national capital of San Salvador, were hosting Club Deportivo Futbolistas Asociados Santanecos, a.k.a. FAS, at Estadio Cuscatlán, in the 2nd leg of a Clasura tournament Quarterfinal. At 44,000 fans, the Cuscatlán has the largest seating capacity in Central America, unless Mexico is counted as "Central America" rather than "North America."

FAS have a national record of 18 titles, while Alianza are right behind them with 17. After the 1st leg of the Quarterfinal, FAS led 1-0 on aggregate. As with the Hillsborough Disaster of 1989, the tragedy happened before the game, while one group of fans, many unknowingly having fake tickets, ran into another, leaving the 2nd group with nowhere to go, and they were crushed. There were dozens of injuries, with 9 people dying on-site, and 3 others later in hospitals.

All matches in the country were put on hold.

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May 20, 2023 was a Saturday. In English soccer, Manchester City clinched the English Premier League title for the 5th time in 6 seasons, without even playing, when 2nd-place Arsenal, of North London, lost 1-0 to Nottingham Forest at the City Ground in Nottingham.

A nearly full slate of games was played in Major League Soccer:

* The New York Red Bulls beat CF Montréal, 2-1 at Red Bull Arena.

* The Philadelphia Union beat the New England Revolution, 3-0 at Subaru Park outside Philadelphia in Chester, Pennsylvania.

* DC United beat LA Galaxy, 3-0 at Audi Field in Washington.

* Nashville SC beat Charlotte FC, 2-1 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

* The Chicago Fire and Atlanta United played to a 3-3 tie at the new Soldier Field in Chicago.

* Orlando City beat their arch-rivals, Inter Miami, 3-1 at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

* FC Cincinnati beat their arch-rivals, the Columbus Crew, 3-2 at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati.

* St. Louis City, a 2023 expansion team, beat their (at least, geographic) rivals, Sporting Kansas City, 4-0 at Citypark in St. Louis.

* FC Dallas and their arch-rivals, the Houston Dynamo, played to a draw, 1-1 at Toyota Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas.

* Austin FC beat Toronto FC, 1-0 at Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas.

* Real Salt Lake beat their arch-rivals, the Colorado Rapids, 3-2 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in the Denver suburb of Commerce City, Colorado.

* Los Angeles FC beat the San Jose Earthquakes, 2-1 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. Built on the site of the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, next-door to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the former Banc of California Stadium already has a 2nd name in 5 years.

* Minnesota United beat the Portland Timbers, 1-0 at Providence Park in Portland, Oregon.

* And the Vancouver Whitecaps beat the Seattle Sounders, 2-0 at BC Place in Vancouver.

These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-4 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. Anthony Rizzo hit a home run in the top of the 10th inning.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs, 12-3 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

* The Washington Nationals beat the Detroit Tigers, 5-2 at Nationals Park in Washington.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Atlanta Braves, 7-3 at Truist Park in the Atlanta suburb of Cumberland, Georgia.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-4 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-5 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. Austin Hays grounded into a fielder's choice that got the winning run home in the top of the 10th inning.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-1 at Guaranteed Rate Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-5 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Colorado Rockies, 11-5 at Globe Life Field in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Houston Astros beat the Oakland Athletics, 3-2 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the San Diego Padres, 4-2 at Petco Park in San Diego.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Los Angeles Angels, 6-2 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

* The Miami Marlins beat the San Francisco Giants, 1-0 at Oracle Park in San Francisco. It took 4 pitchers for the Marlins to pitch a 3-hit shutout: Braxton Garrett (6 1/3rd innings), JT Chargois (2/3rds), Tanner Scott (2/3rds), and Dylan Floro (1 1/3rd). Because he was the pitcher of record Chargois was the last pitcher the Marlins had used when Jon Berti singled home the game's only run in the top of the 8th inning, he was named the winning pitcher.

* And the New York Mets and the Cleveland Guardians were rained out at Citi Field. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader the next day. The Mets swept, 5-4 and 2-1.

American football was out of season. One game was played in the NBA Playoffs, Game 3 of the Western Conference Final: The Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 119-108 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

And one game was played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final: The Florida Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 2-1 at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. Matthew Tkachuk scored the winning goal, 1:51 into overtime.