May 8, 1970: The Hard Hat Riot takes place in Lower Manhattan, a backlash against antiwar demonstrators, 4 days after 4 of them were murdered in cold blood at Kent State University.
One sign that survives in a photograph took a shot at Mayor John Lindsay: "IMPEACH THE RED MAYOR." Lindsay was an old-money Republican, but, because he supported civil rights and opposed the war, that demonstrator thought he was a Communist.
President Richard Nixon had called them "The great silent majority of Americans" 6 months earlier. They were never a majority, and if they were silent before, in the more than 50 years since, they have never shut up.
Back then, these were the guys, as much as Warren Mitchell's Alf Garnett on the British show on which it was based, Till Death Us Do Part, who inspired the creation of the character of Archie Bunker, played by Carroll O’Connor on All In the Family, which premiered on CBS 8 months later. They were under-educated, bigoted, and ignorant as hell, but they considered themselves to be the real "working-class heroes."
By 2015, they had become Donald Trump's base.
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May 8, 1970 was a Friday. The New York Knicks beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 113-99 at Madison Square Garden, to win Game 7 of the NBA Finals, and the Knicks' 1st NBA Championship. I have a separate entry for that event.
It was an off-day in the American Basketball Association Playoffs, which would be won 17 days later by the Indiana Pacers over the Los Angeles Stars. It was also an off-day in the Stanley Cup Finals, which would be won 2 days later by the Boston Bruins over the St. Louis Blues. And football was out of season.
These Major League Baseball games were played that night:
* The New York Yankees lost to the California Angels, 4-3 at Anaheim Stadium. (It was renamed Edison International Field in 1997, and Angel Stadium of Anaheim in 2004.) Clyde Wright outpitched Ron Klimkowski. Former Yankee Roger Repoz and future Yankee Jim Spencer hit home runs for the Halos, while Ron Woods hit one for the Bronx Bombers.
* The New York Mets lost to the San Francisco Giants, 7-1 at Shea Stadium. Ken Boswell hit a home run for the Mets, but Willie Mays hit 2 and Bobby Bonds 1 for the Giants.
* A doubleheader was split at Jarry Park in Montreal. The San Diego Padres won the opener, 11-1. The Montreal Expos won the nightcap, 7-6. In the bottom of the 11th inning, Jimmy Qualls scored the winning run on a wild pitch by Gary Ross with Bobby Wine at bat.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-4 at Connie Mack Stadium. The Phils' bullpen collapsed in the top of the 12th inning, including allowing a home run to Bill Sudakis.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-1 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Boog Powell hit a home run, Brooks Robinson went 2-for-4, and Frank Robinson went 1-for-4.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-7 at Atlanta Stadium. (It was renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in 1975.) For the Cards, Dick Allen went 2-for-5, but no RBIs. Lou Brock went 0-for-5, Joe Torre 0-for-3. For the Braves, Hank Aaron hit his 566th career home run, and Hal King his 2nd. Aaron would finish his career with 755, King with 24.
* The Houston Astros beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-5 at the Astrodome in Houston. Roberto Clemente only entered the game as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Cleveland Indians, 7-6 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Harmon Killebrew hit a home run, and Rod Carew went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers, 9-3 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Dalton Jones and Bill Freehan hit homers for the Tigers, but it wasn't enough. Al Kaline did not play.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 10-7 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ernie Banks went 0-for-5, but hit his 500th career home run 4 days later. Billy Williams hit 2 home runs. Pete Rose went 0-for-4, Johnny Bench went 1-for-4 with an RBI, and Hal McRae and Tony Perez each hit 2 home runs for the Big Red Machine, but it wasn't enough.
* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. The only Boston run came on a home run by Carl Yastrzemski. Reggie Jackson did not play for Oakland.
* And the game between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Washington Senators at Milwaukee County Stadium was rained out. It was rescheduled as part of a doubleheader 2 days later. The Brewers won the opener, 6-5. In the bottom of the 9th, Ted Kubiak led off with a game-tying home run, followed by a walk by Ted Savage (not quite a leadoff walk, but every bit as deadly, as it turned out), a double by Danny Walton, an intentional walk by Jerry McNertney, and a single by Wayne Comer.
The Brewers also won the nightcap in walkoff fashion, 7-6, with McNertney singling home the winning run.
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