May 24, 1988: Blackout at the Boston Garden

May 24, 1988: Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals is underway at the Boston Garden. The Boston Bruins are trying to stave off a sweep and elimination at the hands of the defending Champion Edmonton Oilers.

Glenn Anderson of the Oilers set a new Finals record by scoring only 10 seconds into the contest. The Bruins bounced back, and took a 3-2 lead. Craig Simpson had just tied the game at 3-3 at 16:37 of the 2nd period, when the lights went out.

A 1930s' vintage 4160V switchgear failed, and the emergency generator did not start. NHL President John Ziegler, on hand in case the Stanley Cup had to be presented to the Oilers, ordered the game suspended.

This blackout was not the oddest moment in the building’s 60-year history (which eventually reached 67 years), but it is not easy to get 16,000 people (an official attendance of 14,448, plus attendees on freebies and whoever was working there) evacuated from a building that went up in 1928 when there's only emergency power running.

Game 5, set for the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton 2 days later, was relabeled Game 4, and the Oilers won it, 6-3. It was their 4th Cup win in the last 5 years. It turned out to be Wayne Gretzky's last game with them.

Two years later, the Bruins and Oilers were the opposing teams in the Finals again. On May 15, 1990, in Game 1, the lights went out again, this time in overtime. However, with Garden officials having learned from the last time, the lights were on an automatic timer, and could be turned back on this time. Petr Klima scored 15:13 into the 3rd overtime, giving the Oilers a 3-2 win. They went on to sweep that series, too.

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May 24, 1988 was a Tuesday. Football was out of season. The NBA Playoffs were in progress, but no games were played. These Major League Baseball games were:

* The New York Yankees beat the California Angels, 5-3 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Al Leiter outpitched Kirk McCaskill. Don Mattingly went 2-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Jack Clark also went 2-for-4, with a solo home run. Dave Winfield also went 2-for-4, with an RBI. Rickey Henderson also went 2-for-4, but got picked off 1st base.

* The New York Mets lost to the San Francisco Giants, 4-2 at Shea Stadium. Mike Krukow outpitched Bob Ojeda. Will Clark hit a home run for the Jints, Howard Johnson for the Metropolitans.

* The Montreal Expos beat the San Diego Padres, 7-6 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Andrés Galarraga tied the game with a home run in the bottom of the 9th inning. Roberto Alomar hit a home run in the top of the 11th, but Galarraga opened the bottom of the 11th by reaching 2nd base on an error, and was singled home by Tom Foley. Dickie Thon scored Marvel Wynne with a sacrifice fly in the top of the 12th, but Tim Wallach singled Tim Raines home in the bottom half. Wynne hit a 2-run homer in the top of the 13th. In the bottom of the 13th, 3 straight singles, the last by Hubie Brooks, won the game for the 'Spos. Tony Gwynn was injured, and did not play for the Padres.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-1 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Mike Davis singled Rick Dempsey home with the winning run in the top of the 12th inning. Mike Schmidt went 0-for-5.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Houston Astros, 5-4 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Nolan Ryan took a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the 7th inning. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. And Ryan set the career record for walks before he set the one for most strikeouts. This time, he started the inning by walking John Cangelosi, who was batting .184. He allowed a hit, and then reliever Juan Agosto allowed the game-tying hit.

Alan Ashby hit a home run in the top of the 9th. In the bottom of the 9th, Barry Bonds and Andy Van Slyke singled, Bobby Bonilla singled Bonds home to tie it, and Sid Bream hit a sacrifice fly to score Van Slyke and win it.

So when someone tells you that Ryan had a lot of losses and no-decisions because his teams didn't hit for him, remind them that the teams also had a lot of losses because Ryan blew games with walks.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-0 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Tom Filer pitched a 5-hit shutout, while Doyle Alexander didn't get out of the 3rd inning. Robin Yount went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Paul Molitor went 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-3 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* There were actually 3 games in Chicago on this day. In the 1st game of a doubleheader at Wrigley Field, the Atlanta Braves beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-0. The game was scoreless after 9 innings. As I said, leadoff walks can kill you, and, pitching for the Cubs, Jamie Moyer walked Dale Murphy to start the top of the 10th. He allowed doubles to Ken Oberkfell and Bruce Benedict, and reliever Mike Capel allowed an RBI single to Albert Hall. (No holes in him, apparently.) In the bottom of the 10th, the Cubs got the tying run to the plate with nobody out, but couldn't score on former Cub Bruce Sutter.

Pete Smith (7 hits in 7 innings), Paul Assenmacher (none in an inning and 1/3rd), José Álvarez (none in 2/3rds) and Sutter (1 in 1) combined for a 10-inning 8-hit shutout. Moyer, just 25 years old, who lost the game after pitching 9 shutout innings, was so traumatized that he only played in another 627 major league games, going 269-209 for his career, plus another 3-3 in postseason play.

The Cubs won the 2nd game, 2-1. Al Nipper outpitched Charlie Puleo.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. What did I say about walks? John Franco walked 3 batters in the bottom of the 11th inning, including José Oquendo with the bases loaded to end it.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals, 6-5 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. George Brett went 0-for-4 with a walk.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Texas Rangers, 13-2 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-0 at the Oakland Coliseum. Steve Ontiveros pitched 7 innings of 4-hit shutout ball, and Greg Cadaret went the rest of the way without a hit. Carney Lansford went 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs. Eddie Murray and Cal Ripken each went 0-for-4.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Boston Red Sox, 14-1 at the Kingdome in Seattle. The M's got home runs from Mickey Brantley, Harold Reynolds, Glenn Wilson and Ken Phelps.