May 25, 1979: "Alien" Premieres

May 25, 1979: The film Alien premieres, directed by Ridley Scott. It is, perhaps, the greatest film to truly blend science fiction and horror.

At first, it appears that the film's stars are Tom Skerritt and John Hurt. But, as is usually the case in horror films, the apparent stars are killed early, and there is a "final girl," Ellen Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver in the role that makes her a star.

Veronica Cartwright -- coming off another sci-fi/horror film, the 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers -- Yaphet Kotto and Harry Dean Stanton also starred. The "xenomorph," designed by H.R. Giger, was played by 6-foot-10 Nigerian actor Bolaji Badejo. When the film proved successful enough that a sequel was ordered, Badejo turned down the opportunity, and returned to his native country, which has a thriving film industry. He died of sickle-cell anemia in 1992, only 39 years old.

There were sequels: Aliens (plural) in 1986, Alien 3 in 1992, and Alien Resurrection in 1997. In 1987, Predator premiered, and among the titular hunter's "trophies" was the skull of a xenomorph, suggesting that the 2 civilizations were mortal enemies. It was probably intended as an "Easter egg," but fans began to demand an "Alien vs. Predator" film.

They would have to wait through Predator 2 in 1990, as well as the 3rd and 4th Alien films. Alien vs. Predator finally happened in 2004, followed by Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem in 2007. Scott directed the prequel films Prometheus in 2012 and Alien: Covenant in 2017. And the Predator side would produce Predators in 2010, The Predator in 2018, and Prey in 2022.

As is so often the case, the franchise continued to produce sequels without regard to quality: As with Star Trek, Star Wars, baseball films, and the movies that were made with Elvis Presley in the lead role, the thinking was, "There's enough fans who'll see it, no matter what we do, that we'll make a profit, so why spend big on quality?"

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May 25, 1979 was a Friday. This was also the day of the worst air travel crash in American history occurred, at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. I have a separate entry for that. Carlos Bocanegra, former captain of the U.S. soccer team, was born that day.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Mets and the Pittsburgh Pirates were tied, 3-3 after 11 innings at Shea Stadium, when the game was called by rain. Joel Youngblood got 3 hits, while the rest of the Mets, combined, only got 5. Willie Stargell went 1-for-4 with a walk.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-0 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Lynn McGlothin pitched 8 innings of 4-hit shutout ball, and Bruce Sutter pitched a perfect 9th inning. Mike Schmidt went 1-for-4. Pete Rose went 2-for-3 with a walk.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the California Angels, 6-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Rod Carew went 0-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Oakland Athletics, 3-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Robin Yount went 1-for-4. Paul Molitor went 2-for-4.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. George Brett went 1-for-4 with a walk.

* The Seattle Mariners swept a doubleheader from the Texas Rangers, 3-2 and 5-3 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Houston Astros, 2-1 at San Diego Stadium (later renamed Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). The Astros tied the game in the 9th inning, but Dan Briggs brought Gene Richards home with a sacrifice fly in the 10th.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 17-6 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Johnny Bench went 2-for-3.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-4 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* The Montreal Expos and the St. Louis Cardinals were rained out at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal -- the allegedly retractable roof was still years away from being ready. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on July 30. The Cards won the 1st game, 7-2. The Expos won the 2nd game, 5-1.

* The New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians were rained out at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on September 17. The Indians swept, 5-1 and 6-5. Rick Waits, a lefthander who always seemed to give the Yankees trouble, outpitched Jim Beattie in the opener. Mike Hargrove won the nightcap with with a triple in the bottom of the 9th. The Yankees had gotten home runs from Reggie Jackson, Bucky Dent, and Jerry Narron, the rookie who had to take over as the starting catcher after the plane-crash death of Thurman Munson on August 2.

* The Boston Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays were also rained out, at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. This game was also made up as part of a doubleheader on September 17. The Jays won the 1st game, 5-4. The Sox led 4-2 going into the bottom of the 9th, but a double by Rick Cerone and an error by Sox catcher Carlton Fisk gave Toronto the win. Carl Yastrzemski went 2-for-3 with a walk, then sat out the 2nd game, which the Sox won, 5-3.

* And the Baltimore Orioles and the Detroit Tigers were rained out at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. The game was made up on September 20. The Orioles won, 8-7. Eddie Murray went 2-for-5 with a home run.