May 31, 1976: The Bicentennial Cup

Left to right: Bobby Moore, Gerry Francis, Pelé

May 31, 1976: The Bicentennial Cup concludes. Set up as one of the celebrations of the 200th Anniversary of American independence, it was not a good showcase for American soccer.

England and Italy were invited after they failed to qualify for Euro 76. Also invited was Brazil. The 4th team would be "Team America," made up of players in the North American Soccer League. That meant American players, who simply were not up to the task; and foreign players, who were mostly too old to play at a world class level anymore, such as Brazil's Pelé of the New York Cosmos and England's Bobby Moore of the San Antonio Thunder.

On May 23, Team America played Italy at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington. The crowd was decent: 33,445. The result was rather indecent: Italy won, 4-0. Fabio Capello scored in the 15th minute, and the U.S. was never really in it. A midfielder for Turin club Juventus, Capello would later win Serie A (Italian league) titles with A.C. Milan, A.S. Roma and Juventus; and La Liga titles with Real Madrid; total league titles, 9. He also led Milan to the UEFA Champions League title in 1994.

Also on May 23, Brazil beat England, 1-0 before 32,495 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Carlos Roberto de Oliveira, a forward for Rio de Janeiro club Vasco da Gama, known as "Roberto Dinamite," won the game with a goal in the 89th minute.

On May 28, England beat Italy, 3-2 at Yankee Stadium; and Team America lost to Brazil, 2-0 at the new Kingdome in Seattle. Only 20,245 paid to get into the big gray toadstool in Seattle's Lower Downtown. For England vs. Italy in The Bronx, the attendance was 40,650. I would have expected more, given how many Italians live in and around New York City. But the vast majority of Italian-Americans are descended from people who left Italy before the country embraced soccer. For Italian New Yorkers of the 1970s, their sports were baseball, football and boxing.

At any rate, Francesco Graziani of the other Turin club, Torino F.C., scored 2 goals within 5 minutes early in the 1st half. But Mick Channon of Hampshire team Southampton scored 2 within 7 minutes early in the 2nd half, and Phil Thompson of Liverpool scored between those Channon goals.

On May 31, England beat Team America, 3-1 before 16,239 at John F. Kennedy Stadium, leaving over 87,000 empty seats at the big South Philadelphia horseshoe. Kevin Keegan of Liverpool scored twice within 6 minutes in the 1st half, and Trevor Francis of Birmingham City scored early in the 2nd half. Stuart Scullion, a Scottish winger playing for the Tampa Bay Rowdies, got a consolation goal for Team America in the 87th minute.

Later, 36,096 went into the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut, to see a copy of the 1970 World Cup Final: Brazil beat Italy, 4-1. Capello scored in the 2nd minute, but Gil (Gilberto Alves) of Rio club Fluminense, who had scored 2 against Team America, did it again against Italy.

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May 31, 1976 was a Monday. Actor Colin Farrell was born.

Football was out of season. The Stanley Cup was won by the Montreal Canadiens 15 days earlier. The NBA Finals was between Games 3 and 4, and the Boston Celtics beat the Phoenix Suns in 6 games. And these games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox, 8-3 at Fenway Park. Jim "Catfish" Hunter went the distance for the win, while Ferguson "Fergie" Jenkins didn't get out of the 4th inning. Thurman Munson hit a home run, and Chris Chambliss and Oscar Gamble each had 3 hits. Fred Lynn homered for the Sox, and Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-4.

* The New York Mets split a doubleheader with the Pittsburgh Pirates at Shea Stadium. The Mets won the opener, 13-2. Jon Matlack went the distance for the win, and had an RBI single in his own cause, while Jerry Reuss didn't get out of the 4th inning.

Willie Stargell went 1-for-4, then sat out the night, which the Pirates won the nightcap, 2-1. Oddly, despite all their runs in the 1st game, the Mets' only home run on the day was in this game, a solo shot by Ron Hodges. Over the 2 games, Wayne Garrett went 3-for-6 with 2 walks and 3 RBIs.

* A doubleheader was split at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. The Chicago Cubs won the 1st game, 7-5. Rick Reuschel outpitched Steve Carlton: But it was still "Win Day" for the Philadelphia Phillies, as they won the 2nd game, 4-1. Jim Kaat went the distance for the win, while Mike Garman couldn't get out of the 2nd inning. Over the 2 games, Bill Madlock went 4-for-8, and Mike Schmidt went 1-for-9. 

* The San Diego Padres beat the Atlanta Braves, 10-7 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Dave Winfield hit a home run. Earl Williams hit one for the Braves, while Ken Henderson and Jerry Royster each had 3 hits.

* The Cleveland Indians swept a doubleheader from the Baltimore Orioles, 4-1 and 4-3 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. In the opener, Jim Kern outpitched Ken Holtzman, Rick Manning went 3-for-5 with a solo home run, and Larvell Blanks went 4-for-4 with a walk and 2 RBIs. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-3, the left the game with an injury, and did not play in the nightcap.

In that game, former Oriole Pat Dobson outpitched Mike Cuellar. Blanks hit a 2-run homer. Over the 2 games, Reggie Jackson, in his only season with the O's, went 2-for-7 with a walk and an RBI. Reggie and Brooks shared a birthday, May 18. As far as I know, the 1976 Orioles were the only team with 2 future Hall-of-Famers who shared a birthday.

Frank Robinson, the Indians' manager, in his last season as a player, did not insert himself into either game. It must have been the right choice, because the Tribe swept.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-4 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. The Brewers scored a run in the top of the 11th inning. In the bottom of the 11th, the Tigers tied it, and then Tom Veryzer singled future manager Jerry Manuel home with the winning run. Hank Aaron, playing his final season, went 1-for-4 with a walk for the Brewers.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Texas Rangers, 9-4 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The California Angels beat the Minnesota Twins, 3-2 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Frank Tanana outpitched Bert Blyleven. Rod Carew went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Houston Astros, 4-2 at the Astrodome in Houston. Pat Darcy, who gave up Carlton Fisk's winning home run in Game 6 of the previous season's World Series, started, and pitched just 5 innings, but got the win, over J.R. Richard. Pete Rose went 2-for-4 with a walk. Johnny Bench went 1-for-4 with a walk.

* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The game was 0-0 after 8, a fine pitching duel between Los Angeles' Doug Rau and San Francisco's Jim Barr. Each team scored a run in the 9th. But Dodger closer Mike Marshall melted down in the top of the 12th, allowing 5 singles, a double, and an intentional walk, with an error behind him, for 6 runs.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Kansas City Royals, 10-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. Mike Torrez outpitched Paul Splittorff. George Brett went 0-for-3. Billy Williams, the former Chicago Cubs star playing out the string with the A's, went 3-for-5 with 5 RBIs, including the 421st home run of his career. He retired at the end of the season, with 426.

* And the Montreal Expos and the St. Louis Cardinals were rained out at Jarry Park in Montreal. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on September 6. The Cardinals won the 1st game, 3-1. The Expos won the 2nd game, 3-2. Earl Williams singled Mike Jorgensen home with the winning run in the bottom of the 9th inning.