June 25, 1994: The Russians Pull Their Last Troops Out of Germany

June 25, 1994: The last Russian troops leave Germany, 49 years after V-E Day.

President Boris Yeltsin of Russia realized that there was no longer any point to it. It had been 49 years since V-E Day put an end to Nazi Germany. It had been 4½ years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a tacit admission that the Soviet Union no longer cared about defending East Germany from West German invasion. It had been 3½ years since the reunification meant that there no longer was an East Germany to defend from anyone. And it had been 2½ years since the fall of the Soviet Union, meaning the country that thought it needed troops in Germany no longer existed.

And it had been 5 months since Yeltsin and American President Bill Clinton signed an agreement, in which the Russian Federation and NATO, led by America, would leave each other alone, with the stipulation that Russia pull its troops out of Germany. Yeltsin did so.

Yeltsin retired in 1999. Vladimir Putin became President of Russia. He would probably like to have troops in Germany.

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June 25, 1994 was a Saturday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Mets lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-1 at Shea Stadium. Orlando Merced's 3rd-inning home run off Bret Saberhagen made the difference, and also made a winning pitcher of Zane Smith.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Florida Marlins, 7-3 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves, 7-1 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-1 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto. Cal Ripken went 1-for-4 with 2 RBIs.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-0 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Joey Hamilton pitched a 6-hit shutout. Tony Gwynn went 2-for-4 with a walk.

* The Chicago Cubs beat their arch-rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 10-8 at Milwaukee County Stadium. For the Red Sox, Andre Dawson went 4-for-7 with 2 home runs and 4 RBIs. Mo Vaughn hit a home run to win the game in the top of the 12th inning.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-1 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Houston Astros, 4-2 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-4 at Mile High Stadium in Denver. Barry Bonds went 2-for-5 with an RBI.

* The California Angels beat the Texas Rangers, 12-7 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Detroit Tigers, 2-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-5.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Seattle Mariners, 2-1 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Ken Griffey Jr. went 0-for-4.

* And the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians were rained out at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland. Due to the Strike of '94, the game was never made up.