August 1, 1876: Colorado Is Admitted As the 38th State

The State Flag

August 1, 1876: Colorado is admitted to the Union as the 38th State.

Aside from the continuing readmission of the Confederate States, this was the 1st new State since Nebraska, 9 years earlier. The previous States were admitted in this order, with the 1st 13 being listed by when their legislatures ratified the new Constitution of the United States:

1. Delaware, December 7, 1787.

2. Pennsylvania, December 12, 1787.

3. New Jersey, December 18, 1787.

4. Georgia, January 2, 1788.

5. Connecticut, January 9, 1788.

6. Massachusetts, February 6, 1788.

7. Maryland, April 28, 1788. 

8. South Carolina, May 23, 1788.

9. New Hampshire, June 21, 1788. Getting 9 of the 1st 13, or three-quarters, guaranteed the Constitution's overall ratification.

10. Virginia, June 25, 1788.

11. New York, July 26, 1788. Getting the largest Northern State, New York, and the largest Southern State, Virginia, was seen as vital for overall acceptance of the Constitution. Hence, The Federalist Papers, designed to persuade legislators to ratify the document, were written by Alexander Hamilton of New York, plus 5 by John Jay, also of New York; and James Madison of Virginia, who had written the bulk of the Constitution.

12. North Carolina, November 21, 1789, the 1st State admitted after the 1st convening of Congress on March 4, 1789, and the 1st admitted after the Inauguration of the 1st President, George Washington, on April 30, 1789. Georgia, Virginia and both Carolinas are the only States to have been part of the Original 13 and the Confederate 11.

13. Rhode Island, May 29, 1790.

14. Vermont, March 4, 1791, the 1st State admitted that was not part of what we now tend to call "The Original 13 Colonies."

15. Kentucky, June 1, 1792, the 1st "Western" State.

16. Tennessee, June 1, 1796.

17. Ohio, March 1, 1803, the 1st State admitted as a result of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.

18. Louisiana, April 30, 1812, the 1st State admitted as a result of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.

19, Indiana, December 11, 1816.

20. Mississippi, December 10, 1817.

21. Illinois, December 3, 1818.

22. Alabama, December 14, 1819.

23. Maine, March 15, 1820.

24. Missouri, August 10, 1821. Maine and Missouri were admitted, albeit a year and a half apart, as a result of the Missouri Compromise of 1820, an attempt to assure a balance of Free States and Slave States. Maine's land had been part of Massachusetts.

25. Arkansas, June 15, 1836.

26. Michigan, January 26, 1837.

27. Florida, March 3, 1845.

28. Texas, December 29, 1845.

29. Iowa, December 28, 1846.

30, Wisconsin, May 28, 1848.

31. California, September 9, 1850, the 1st State from the land won from the Mexican-American War, and the 1st State on the Pacific Coast.

32. Minnesota, May 11, 1858.

33. Oregon, February 14, 1859.

34. Kansas, January 29, 1861, the last State admitted before the American Civil War, admitted as some Southern States were seceding.

35. West Virginia, June 20, 1863. Virginia had seceded from the Union, so West Virginia seceded from Virginia, and rejoined the Union.

36. Nevada, October 31, 1864.

37. Nebraska, March 1, 1867, the 1st State admitted after the Civil War.

A reminder: My cutoff date for this project is 1869, because of 3 significant events that occurred that year, 2 of them sporting events on back-to-back days: The completion of the 1st transcontinental railroad, the end of the 1st professional baseball season, and the 1st American football game.

Colorado is in the Rocky Mountains, which include the State's most famous physical feature, the 14,115-foot-high Pikes Peak. The Colorado Territory had been separated from the Kansas Territory, which was obtained as part of the Louisiana Purchase. It has become known for gold mining (a gold rush in 1859 helped start the movement for Statehood) and skiing (Aspen and Vail are world-famous ski resorts).

In politics, it was traditionally Republican until 1992, when a large influx of Hispanic voters switched it to being usually Democratic. Still, there is a bit of a divide: Denver and Boulder, the latter having a Hippie image, make for "The People's Republic of Boulder." The rest of the State is so conservative, it might as well be called "West Nebraska" or "East Utah."

No Colorado native has ever become President. Its highest-ranking politician has been Federico Peña, who served as Mayor of Denver (1983-91), and, in the Administration of President Bill Clinton, served as Secretary of Transportation (1993–1997) and Secretary of Energy (1997–1998). Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, was born in Denver, and was the Democratic nominee for President in 2004, but lost. Mamie Eisenhower, wife of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, grew up in Denver.

It is home to the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado State University in Fort Collins, the University of Denver (multi-time National Champions in hockey), and the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.

Its capital, Denver, is also its largest city. Denver is home to MLB's Colorado Rockies, the NFL's Denver Broncos, the NBA's Denver Nuggets, the NHL's Colorado Avalanche, and MLS' Colorado Rapids. (UPDATE: The NWSL's Denver Summit began play in 2026.)

Denver has never hosted a Super Bowl, although the Broncos have been in 8; and was not selected as a host city for the 1994 World Cup. The Broncos have won the Super Bowl in 1998, 1999 and 2015; and the Avalanche have won the Stanley Cup in 1996, 2001 and 2022. The Rockies have won the National League Pennant in 2007, but never the World Series. The Nuggets reached the ABA Finals in 1976, but never the NBA Finals. The Rapids won the 2010 MLS Cup.

(UPDATE: Denver was not selected as a host city for the 2026 World Cup. But the Nuggets won the 2023 NBA Championship.) 

*

August 1, 1876 was a Tuesday. The only major sports league in North American was baseball's National League, and these 3 games were played:

* The Hartford Dark Blues beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 8-4 at the Hartford Ball Club Grounds in Hartford, Connecticut.

* The St. Louis Brown Stockings beat the Cincinnati Reds, 19-3 at the Avenue Grounds in Cincinnati.

* And the Chicago White Stockings beat the Louisville Grays, 15-7 at Louisville Baseball Park in Louisville, Kentucky.

Despite some later teams having similar names to these, the only one of these teams still in existence today is the Chicago White Stockings, who have been known as the Chicago Cubs since 1903.

July 31, 1997: The McGwire and "White Flags" Trades

July 31, 1997: The Major League Baseball season comes to its trading deadline. From 1923 until 1986, the deadline had been June 15.

Despite his already having hit 34 home runs this season, the Oakland Athletics trade Mark McGwire to the St. Louis Cardinals for Eric Ludwick, T.J. Mathews and Blake Stein. They were 3 pitchers, and, between them, they went 30-30 for the A's. By the trading deadline 2 years later, July 31, 1999, none of them were still with the A's; by July 24, 2002, none of them were even in the major leagues anymore.

McGwire finished the 1997 season with 58 home runs; 1998, a new record of 70; 1999, 65. When he retired after the 2001 season, he had 583 home runs, and was one of the most beloved players of all time. Of course, it was eventually revealed that he did it with steroids, costing him so much goodwill. Perhaps no player in history, except for Pete Rose, ever had such a fall from grace.

Less publicized, but more shocking, was the trade the Chicago White Sox made. They sent pitchers Danny Darwin, Wilson Alvarez and Roberto Hernandez to the San Francisco Giants, getting pitchers Keith Foulke, Bob Howry, Lorenzo Barcelo and Ken Vining, shortstop Mike Caruso and outfielder Brian Manning.

The White Sox were only 3 1/2 games behind the Cleveland Indians in the American League Central Division, but it looked like they were giving up. They were mocked as "The Chicago White Flags." To make matters worse, the Giants ended up winning the National League West that season.

Was it a good trade anyway? Well, Foulke did help the White Sox win the Division in 2000. And he did help the Sox win the 2004 World Series -- but that was the Boston Red Sox. For a team that had made just 6 postseasons and won just 5 Pennants in their 1st 97 years, maybe 1 postseason made the trade worth it. On the other hand, the White Sox did win the World Series in 2005 (not as a result of this trade), while the Giants had to wait until 2010 to do so.

UPDATE: Since the 2023 Collective Bargaining Agreement, the deadline is no longer a constant: It can fall between July 28 and August 3.

*

July 31, 1997 was a Friday. These games were played:

* The Montreal Expos beat the San Diego Padres, 9-2 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Tony Gwynn went 1-for-2 with an RBI. Rickey Henderson was with the Padres that season, and went 1-for-3.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 2-1 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Midre Cummings singled Gregg Jeffries home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Ricky Bottalico was the winning pitcher, in relief of Curt Schilling, who struck out 11 batters in 9 innings.

* The Florida Marlins beat the Atlanta Braves, 1-0 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. Troy Saunders pitched 7 innings of 4-hit shutout ball, and 3 relievers completed the 4-hit shutout. They outpitched Paul Byrd. The only run came in the 4th inning, when Darren Daulton singled Édgar Rentería home.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Colorado Rockies, 4-1 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-2 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Seattle Mariners, 2-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Ken Griffey Jr. went 1-for-4.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Boston Red Sox, 3-2 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. Dave Nilsson singled Fernando Viña home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Anaheim Angels, 14-12 at Edison International Field of Anaheim (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Yes, that's a baseball game, not football.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Oakland Athletics, 4-0 at the Oakland Coliseum. The game was scoreless after 10 innings. In the top of the 11th inning, the O's scored 4 runs on 1 hit, 3 walks (1 of them intentional), a hit-by-pitch, and an error.

* And the New York Yankees, the New York Mets, the Cincinnati Reds, the Cleveland Indians, the Houston Astros, the Minnesota Twins, the San Francisco Giants and the Texas Rangers were not scheduled.

July 31, 1981: Journey Release "Escape"

July 31, 1981: The rock band Journey release their album Escape. It turns out to be their biggest hit, with their signature song, "Don't Stop Believin'," and what a 2003 VH1 special called the top "power ballad" of all time, "Open Arms."

The cover lists the title as "E5C4P3," as it it's a personalized license plate, and someone already had the California plate reading "ESCAPE." It's an early example of what the Internet would come to call "Leetspeak."

Left to right: Jonathan Cain, Ross Valory,

Neal Schon, Steve Perry, Steve Smith.

Journey were a "supergroup," consisting of musicians who had already starred with previous groups:

* Steve Perry, lead singer, formerly of Ice and Alien Project.

* Neal Schon, lead guitar, formerly of Santana, later of Bad English and Hardline.

* Ross Valory, bass guitar, formerly of The Steve Miller Band and Frumious Bandersnatch

* Jonathan Cain, keyboards, formerly of The Babys, later of Bad English.

* Steve Smith, drums, formerly of Focus.

In 1983, Bally Midway released a video game based on the album, with Atari licensed to produce a home version. The premise was that each of the 5 members at the time had to get past various obstacles, in the fashion of games like Breakout, to reach their instruments: Perry his microphone, Schon his guitar, Valory his bass, Cain his keyboard, and Smith his drum kit. Once reaching the instrument, the performer would use it as a weapon to blast himself to safety.

If all 5 were successful, the band would reunited for a concert, and the player would then use the joystick to operate a fat security guard, in order to block fans from rushing the stage. Once that failed, the fans would then carry the bandmembers off, and it would start all over again, on a more difficult level.

As of July 31, 2022, all 5 members are still alive. Cain is married to sketchy "prosperity gospel" televangelist Paula White. He and Schon formed Bad English with John Waite of The Babys. Valory has begun recording with Neal's son, Miles Schon, playing guitar.

For years, on "Don't Stop Believin'," I thought Perry was singing "Streetlife people, living with profound emotion." Was I ever disappointed when I found out it was "living just to find emotion." Far be it from me to tell him how to write songs, but I still like my version better. Finding emotion is easy. "Profound Emotion" sounds like the title of an epic album.

Of course, there is no "South Detroit." That would be Windsor, Ontario, Canada. But Perry, a native of central California's San Joaquin Valley, just liked the sound of it.

*

July 31, 1981 was a Thursday. English soccer player Titus Bramble was born.

The only major league sport in season at the time was baseball, and the Strike of '81 was on. So there were no scores on this historic day.

July 31, 1969: Elvis Takes Vegas

July 31, 1969: Elvis Presley takes the stage again. It had been a while. And he had returned to the scene of a "crime."

No, I don't mean that the Las Vegas hotel where he was performing was owned by the Mob. Whether that was true or not is, for the purpose of this post, irrelevant.

Elvis' first concert stand in Las Vegas was an unmitigated failure. On April 23, 1956, still early in his career, he began a 3-week stand at the Frontier Hotel. He did 2 shows a night, at 8:00 PM and 12:00 Midnight. Putting aside his already-present nicknames of "Elvis the Pelvis" and "the Memphis Flash" -- "The King of Rock and Roll" would come later in the year -- and with Nevada's nearby atomic tests in mind, he was billed as "The Atomic-Powered Singer."

He was just 3 months past his 21st birthday, barely old enough to be allowed onto the casino floor. And most of his fans ranged from only a little older to considerably younger. They literally weren't allowed to see him, by law, no matter what their parents said. And grownups, stuck in their Sinatra-era preferences, weren't prepared to like him. Throw in the ticket prices for Las Vegas shows -- which, then as now, were exorbitant -- and attendances were not good.

So, on May 7, after 2 weeks, the Frontier's management decided to cut their losses: They paid Elvis for the full 3 weeks, and sent him home.

When he got back to Memphis, he saw his former Sun Records labelmate, Carl Perkins, then riding high with "Blue Suede Shoes." (His version was already coming down the charts before Elvis' version started going up.) In an interview a few years before his own death in 1998, Perkins recalled Elvis saying, "Someday, I'm going to be the highest-paid guy, ever, on that Strip." And, in the present, Perkins said, "I have had so much respect for him: He did that very thing."

He did pretty well everywhere else in 1956 and 1957. Then he got drafted. In 1958 and 1959, he played no shows, not even for his fellow troops. He didn't ask the U.S. Army, and they didn't ask him. On March 26, 1960, right after he was discharged, he did a TV special with Frank Sinatra in Miami. On February 25, 1961, he did 2 shows in his hometown. And on March 25, 1961, he did a veterans' benefit at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

That was it, for 7 years: It was movies, some good, mostly bad. By 1968, with the culture, and rock and roll itself, having changed tremendously, he was seen as a relic. So a comeback was arranged. On June 27 and 29, 1968, he taped 2 performances for a TV special at NBC's Burbank studio, the same one at which his new favorite TV show, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, was taped. (He really wanted to make a guest appearance on that show. His manager, Colonel Tom Parker, wouldn't let him.)

The shows in June were successful. The special, airing on December 3, was a smash. He wanted to strike while the iron was hot. He went back to Memphis and recorded an album titled From Elvis In Memphis, which was released on June 17, 1969.

The King of Rock and Roll went back to his country roots, recording Eddy Arnold's "I'll Hold You in My Heart (Till I Can Hold You In My Arms)," Hank Snow's "I'm Movin' On," Johnny Tillotson's "It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin'," Glen Campbell's "Gentle On My Mind," and Mac Davis' "In the Ghetto."

But he also jumps back into the rhythm and blues pool, singing Chuck Jackson's "Any Day Now," written by Burt Bacharach; and Jerry Butler's "Only the Strong Survive," written by Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff. And, let's face it: While Davis was a country singer, "In the Ghetto" is R&B.

(The word "ghetto" was first used to describe the Jewish section of Rome during the Middle Ages. As late as World War II, it meant "Jewish" as much as anything else, from the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising to Brooklyn-born boxer Ruby Goldstein, known as "The Jewel of the Ghetto." While American ghettoes are still stereotypically black, the Hispanics have barrios; in England, "council estates" with people of all races; in France, "banlieues" with people of former colonies in Africa and the Caribbean; in Brazil, the "favelas.")

Mark James' "Suspicious Minds" was also recorded at this time, but was held back from the album, for overdubbing, and was put on his next album, From Memphis to Vegas / From Vegas to Memphis, released on October 14.

With this fantastic new material, under his belt, Elvis wanted to hit the stage again. Particularly, in Vegas. In 1969, while the International Hotel was still under construction -- it became the Las Vegas Hilton and, since 2015, has been named the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino -- Elvis signed a contract to receive the highest performance fee in Vegas history. His record would be broken by Liberace, and later by the man known as "Mr. Las Vegas," Wayne Newton. As of July 31, 2022, Rod Stewart holds the record.

And there was a tremendous difference from 1956. By 1969 (when the photo at the top was taken), he was 34, and his original fans were well into adulthood. And lots of older people had heard their favorite singers praise him, and had seen him serve in the Army without public complaint. As a result of these factors, they had changed their minds about him, hence the "blue-haired ladies" jokes about his audience. Until he died on August 16, 1977, Elvis never played to an unsold seat in any Nevada casino -- not in Las Vegas, not in Reno, not in Lake Tahoe.

Today, Vegas casinos provide big sums to plenty of entertainers in residence. Newton is still alive and performing, Celine Dion was said to have owned the town for a while, Britney Spears had a standing Vegas show, and even younger stars like Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars have conquered the Strip. The image of Vegas as Sinatra's town still has some hold, but now, Frank is considered the 1st in a long line of stars to make Vegas their own -- and not the biggest one. That's Elvis.

The Westgate today, behind the Vegas monorail

A statue of Elvis now stands in the lobby of the Westgate, after previously being outside it. He also has statues in Memphis, and outside the arena where he gave his Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite concert in 1973. Sinatra, rightly, has a statue in his hometown of Hoboken, New Jersey. As yet, he does not have one in Vegas. Nor does Liberace. Nor does Newton.

There is only one King.

*

July 31, 1969 was a Thursday. These games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Oakland Athletics, 3-2 at the Oakland Coliseum. The Yankees led 2-1 going to the bottom of the 8th, thanks to solo home runs by Bobby Murcer and Roy White. But Mel Stottlemyre ran out of gas, allowing a run in the 8th, and then, in the bottom of the 9th, 3 straight singles, to Rick Monday, Dick Green and Larry Haney to give the A's the win. Reggie Jackson went 0-for-2, but did draw 2 walks -- for the A's. The Yankee years would come later.

* The New York Mets lost to the Houston Astros, 2-0 at Shea Stadium. Tom Griffin pitched 8 innings of 4-hit shutout ball, and Fred Gladding pitched a perfect 9th inning. Jimmy Wynn hit a home run off Tom Seaver. As their unofficial fight song, quoted by Jim Bouton in his book Ball Four, went, "It makes a fellow proud to be an Astro."

* A doubleheader was split at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. The Atlanta Braves won the opener, 4-2. Hank Aaron went 2-for-4 with a solo homer, then was given the nightcap off. The Philadelphia Phillies won it, 9-0. Rick Wise pitched a 5-hit shutout.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-1 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Al Oliver singled Matty Alou home with the winning run in the bottom of the 15th inning. Roberto Clemente went 4-for-6. Oliver and Freddie Patek each got 3 hits for the Pirates. Willie Stargell only appeared as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base. The entire Dodger team only got 6 hits in 15 innings.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Montreal Expos, 6-1 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Pete Rose went 2-for-5, and Johnny Bench hit a home run.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Chuck Hinton singled home the winning run in the 10th inning.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants, 12-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ernie Banks, Randy Hundley and Billy Williams hit home runs. Fergie Jenkins went the distance. Willie Mays did not play.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers, 5-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Harmon Killebrew and Rod Carew each went 1-for-4, and Killebrew added an RBI. Al Kaline went 0-for-4.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-1 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-4, and Frank Robinson went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the California Angels, 9-1 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-5 with an RBI. Mike Andrews went 3-for-5 with a homer and 3 RBIs.

* And the Washington Senators beat the Seattle Pilots, 7-6 at Sick's Stadium in Seattle. Bouton spent most of the season with the Pilots before being traded to the Astros on August 24. This game was tied 1-1 after 6 innings, the Pilot run coming on a homer by Jim Pagliaroni. 

Fred Talbot was the starting and losing pitcher for the Pilots, going 6 1/3rd innings. But the Senators scored 5 in the top of the 7th. After John O'Donoghue faced 2 batters in the 7th, and couldn't get anybody out, manager Joe Schultz used his mentality and woke up to reality, bringing in Bouton and his "Super Knuck." He gave up an RBI single to Frank Howard. At 6-foot-7 and 280 pounds, Howard was the biggest and perhaps strongest slugger in the game, so Bouton may have gotten off lucky. Then he threw a knuckleball that Pagliaroni, the catcher, couldn't handle, a run scored, and it was charged as a passed ball to Pagliaroni. But then Bouton struck Mike Epstein out, and got Bernie Allen to ground to 2nd to end the threat.

The Pilots got 2 back in the bottom of the 7th. Howard homered in the top of the 9th to make it 7-3, Washington D.C. over Washington State. And it was just like the bedraggled Pilots to have a bottom-of-the-9th comeback that came just short. Batting against Darold Knowles, Tommy Harper led off by flying to center. Ron Clark drew a walk. Wayne Comer singled. Tommy Davis doubled Clark home to make it 7-4. Greg Goosen drew a walk. Pagliaroni popped up to short. Jerry McNertney singled home Comer and Davis to make it 7-6. But Knowles struck John Gelnar out to end it.

Also on this day, Italian soccer player and manager Antonio Conte was born.

July 31, 1964: The Death of Jim Reeves

July 31, 1964: Country singer Jim Reeves is killed in a plane crash. He was 3 weeks short of his 31st birthday.

James Travis Reeves was born on August 20, 1923 in Galloway, in eastern Texas. He pitched in the St. Louis Cardinals' farm system before an injury ended his career. After failing his U.S. Army draft exam, he became a radio announcer, and had the perfect voice for it. But that voice was so good that, like many other disc jockeys, he began to think he could sing as well as anybody whose records he was playing. Unlike most of those deejays, he turned out to be right.

He was announcing for KWHK in Shreveport, Louisiana, the station that broadcast the South's most popular music program, The Louisiana Hayride. One night, a performer was late, and Reeves was asked to substitute. By the Autumn of 1955, "Gentleman Jim" was a country-singing star. "Four Walls" was his 1st big hit, in 1957. In 1960, "He'll Have to Go" hit Number 1 on Billboard magazine's country chart, and Number 2 on its pop chart. Now, Jim was popular from coast to coast, and from border to border.

He became popular in Britain, and in 1963, with "Welcome to My World" a big hit, he toured U.S. military bases there, and in Europe. But on July 2, 1964, he recorded 3 songs whose titles would prove retroactively foreboding: "Make the World Go Away," "Missing You," and "Is It Really Over?"

Jim was a licensed pilot, and on July 31, 1964, with Dean Manuel -- his business partner, manager, and the pianist of his backing group, the Blue Boys -- he took off from Batesville, Arkansas in a Beechcraft Debonair. They had almost gotten to Nashville, to the suburbs of Brentwood, when they flew into a thunderstorm. Reeves turned to his left, to stay over the road leading to Nashville International Airport, but this put him deeper into the storm. The FAA's investigation suggested that he had suffered spatial disorientation, let his airspeed get too low, stalled, and crashed at 4:52 PM. Contrary to rumor, the plane was not upside down when it hit.

Country singer Marty Robbins, a friend of Reeves', had heard the explosion. He contacted another singer who was a friend of Reeves', Ernest Tubb, and they led the search for the wreckage. But the plane went down in the woods, and it took 2 days to find it. Reeves left behind a wife, but no children, and was laid to rest in Carthage, Texas, near his childhood home.

Buddy Holly, Jim Reeves, Otis Redding, Jim Croce: All died in the crashes of Beechcraft planes.

*

July 31, 1964 was a Friday. This was also the day that the probe Ranger 7 took the first close-up pictures of the surface of the Moon. I have a separate entry for that event.

These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Minnesota Twins, 4-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Al Downing took a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the 8th, but gave up a home run to Bob Allison. In the bottom of the 9th, he allowed a single to Rich Rollins, and a game-winning home run to Harmon Killebrew. Mickey Mantle went 1-for-4.

* The New York Mets swept a doubleheader from the Houston Colt .45s, 3-0 and 6-2 at Shea Stadium. Frank Lary pitched a 2-hit shutout against the Astros-to-be in the opener.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-1 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Washington Senators, 6-0 at District of Columbia Stadium in Washington. (It was renamed Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in 1969.) Juan Pizarro pitched a 4-hit shutout, striking out 14 and walking just 1.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-6 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Willie Mays went 3-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-5 with 2 RBIs.

* The Cleveland Indians swept a doubleheader from the Detroit Tigers, 12-3 and 4-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Al Kaline went 3-for-8 with 3 RBIs over the 2 games.

* The Milwaukee Braves beat the Chicago Cubs, 13-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Hank Aaron, Joe Torre and Denis Menke hit home runs for the Braves. Ernie Banks went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-6 at Busch Stadium (formerly Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis. Frank Robinson went 2-for-3 with 2 walks and an RBI. Pete Rose went 1-for-5 with an RBI.

* A doubleheader was split at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. The Baltimore Orioles won the opener, 6-1. The Kansas City Athletics won the nightcap, 7-6. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-8 with a home run, a walk and an RBI. Dick Brown hit 2 home runs for the O's, but the A's won, scoring 6 runs in the 8th, and with Ed Charles hitting a home run in the bottom of the 9th.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels, 4-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The Angels groundshared with the Dodgers until their Anaheim stadium was built. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-3 with 2 walks.

July 31, 1964: The 1st Close-Up Pictures of the Moon

July 31, 1964: Ranger 7 provides the people of Earth with the first close-up pictures of the surface of the planet's only Moon.

Ranger 6 was supposed to be the probe that did that. It was launched on January 30, 1964 from Cape Canaveral on the Atlantic coast of Florida, and it reached the Moon 3 days later. Everything worked -- except the cameras. Like the hockey team in New York and the later baseball team in Texas named the Rangers, when its big moment came, Ranger 6 choked.

The source of the problem was found and corrected. On July 28, Ranger 7 was launched, also from Cape Canaveral. It arrived 3 days later, and worked perfectly, taking over 4,300 photographs in 17 minutes before it crash-landed on the lunar surface.

It would be another 5 years, to the month, before human beings landed on the Moon.

*

July 31, 1964 was a Friday. This was also the day on which country music singer Jim Reeves was killed in a plane crash. I have a separate entry for this event.

These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Minnesota Twins, 4-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Al Downing took a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the 8th, but gave up a home run to Bob Allison. In the bottom of the 9th, he allowed a single to Rich Rollins, and a game-winning home run to Harmon Killebrew. Mickey Mantle went 1-for-4.

* The New York Mets swept a doubleheader from the Houston Colt .45s, 3-0 and 6-2 at Shea Stadium. Frank Lary pitched a 2-hit shutout against the Astros-to-be in the opener.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-1 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Washington Senators, 6-0 at District of Columbia Stadium in Washington. (It was renamed Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in 1969.) Juan Pizarro pitched a 4-hit shutout, striking out 14 and walking just 1.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-6 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Willie Mays went 3-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-5 with 2 RBIs.

* The Cleveland Indians swept a doubleheader from the Detroit Tigers, 12-3 and 4-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Al Kaline went 3-for-8 with 3 RBIs over the 2 games.

* The Milwaukee Braves beat the Chicago Cubs, 13-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Hank Aaron, Joe Torre and Denis Menke hit home runs for the Braves. Ernie Banks went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-6 at Busch Stadium (formerly Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis. Frank Robinson went 2-for-3 with 2 walks and an RBI. Pete Rose went 1-for-5 with an RBI.

* A doubleheader was split at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. The Baltimore Orioles won the opener, 6-1. The Kansas City Athletics won the nightcap, 7-6. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-8 with a home run, a walk and an RBI. Dick Brown hit 2 home runs for the O's, but the A's won, scoring 6 runs in the 8th, and with Ed Charles hitting a home run in the bottom of the 9th.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels, 4-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The Angels groundshared with the Dodgers until their Anaheim stadium was built. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-3 with 2 walks.

July 31, 1917: An Irish Poet and a Welsh Poet Die for Great Britain

Francis Ledwidge

July 31, 1917: The Battle of Passchendaele, also known as the Third Battle of Ypres, begins at what used to be the village of Passchendaele in Belgium, but was basically now a bombed-out wasteland.

Among those who died that day was Francis Ledwidge. Born August 19, 1887 in Slane, County Meath, Ireland, about 30 miles northwest of Dublin, working menial jobs such as coal mining made him a trade union activist, and he joined the pro-independence political party Sinn Féin.

He met the writer Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany, who gave him a desk job at his castle, and access to his large library. Thus inspired to write his own poetry, Ledwidge completed Songs of the Fields, which Lord Dunsany published in 1915.

Ledwidge enlisted in the British Army because he saw the advancing German Empire as the greatest threat to the Irish people, not the British Empire that then controlled it. He served at the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915, continued to write, and mailed his work back to Lord Dunsany so it could be published. Although still an Irish patriot, he was dismayed when he learned of the Easter Rising of 1916, fearing it would do more harm than good, and losing a friend to execution in its aftermath.

In a letter home from the front, he wrote:

Oh what a pleasant world 'twould be,
How easy we'd step thro' it,
If all the fools who meant no harm,
Could manage not to do it!

On July 31, 1917, Corporal Francis Ledwidge was serving with a battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers that was road-laying in preparation for an assault, at a spot called Hell Fire Corner for the frequency of German shelling, 78 miles west of Brussels. (It's actually closer to London, 165 miles, than it is to Paris, 167.)

A Catholic Mass, with rain falling, was delivered outdoors by an army chaplain, Father Devas. Without wine for Communion, tea was offered instead. He reported that Ledwidge took a sip of his tea, and then a German shell landed next to him and exploded. There was nothing left of him. An Irish tricolour was later raised as a memorial at the spot where he died.

Lord Dunsany republished all of Ledwidge's work that could be collected in a single volume in 1919, allowing him to be claimed as a patriot poet by both the United Kingdom and, after 1922, the independent Republic of Ireland.

Ledwidge wasn't the only British soldier who was a notable poet but not an Englishman to die in service on that day. Ellis Humphrey Evans was born on January 13, 1887 in Trawsfynydd (pronounced "Trous-VEN-yith"), Gwyendd, Wales, about 140 miles north of Cardiff and 70 miles southwest of Liverpool. By the time he was 11, he was already writing poetry; at 20, he won his 1st poetry contest. At a poets' meeting in 1910, he was given the "bardic name" Hedd Wyn: "Hedd" ("Heth") meaning "peace," and "Wyn" meaning "white" or "pure." Hedd Wyn: Pure peace.

He took the name to heart, refusing to enlist at the outbreak of war in August 1914, believing that he could never willingly kill anyone. In "Rhyfel," meaning "War" in the Welsh language, he wrote, when translated into English:

Translation:

Why must I live in this grim age,
When, to a far horizon, God
Has ebbed away, and man, with rage,
Now wields the sceptre and the rod?

Man raised his sword, once God had gone,
To slay his brother, and the roar
Of battlefields now casts upon
Our homes the shadow of the war.

The harps to which we sang are hung,
On willow boughs, and their refrain
Drowned by the anguish of the young
Whose blood is mingled with the rain.

Farming was considered a "reserved occupation" and exempt from the draft, but the Evans family had 2 sons of draft age. In early 1917, Ellis enlisted so that his younger brother Robert wouldn't be drafted. In June, under his birth name, Private Ellis Evans he joined the 15th Service Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers. Upon his arrival on the Continent, he wrote, "Heavy weather, heavy soul, heavy heart. That is an uncomfortable trinity, isn’t it?"

Before sunrise on July 31, the Germans began shelling Pilckem Ridge, and the 15th attacked. Hedd Wyn was shot in the stomach, and was carried to a first aid post. He asked the doctor, "Do you think I will live?" The doctor did not, and, at 11:00 that morning was proven right.

Wyn was buried in the Artillery Wood Cemetery in Boezinge, Belgium, a 3-minute walk from Ledwidge's monument. About a mile and a quarter down the next road is the Welsh National Memorial Park, which includes the spot where Wyn was hit. 

A statue of Wyn stands in his hometown, with an inscription he had written for a fallen friend:

His sacrifice was not in vain, his face
In our minds will remain,
Although he left a bloodstain
On Germany's iron fist of pain.

Hedd Wyn, "The Shepherd War Poet," had reached his 30th birthday. Francis Ledwidge, "The Poet of the Blackbirds," didn't quite make it to his own. Neither man ever married, and neither is known to have fathered any children.

In 1992, Huw Garmon starred in the film Hedd Wyn. Although he was the subject of the 1973 documentary Behind the Closed Eye, through 2022, there has never been a feature film about Francis Ledwidge.

*

It's unclear how many soldiers, British on one side and German on the other, died in the Battle of Passchendaele, since many men were either literally blown to pieces like Ledwidge, or sank into the mud in what Wyn called the "Heavy weather," never to be seen again. But it may have been over 200,000 on each side, plus that many again who were wounded, inhaled mustard gas and were removed from action that way, or otherwise were no longer available, and thus got counted as "casualties" even though they didn't die quickly.

Canadian writer James Fell, who proudly calls himself a "sweary historian," has said, "Between August and November of 1917, Passchendaele ranks near the top of places you did not want to fucking be":

It was another one of those "hey the Germans are ready to break all we need to do is throw hundreds of thousands of young men in their prime into a hail of gun and artillery fire and we can end this war" ideas that had proven false before, and would prove a crock of shit yet again. Germany was far from ready to collapse, and most of what the offensive accomplished was a metric shit-ton of muddy death.

If this sounds like the American strategy in Vietnam, which added air power but not any effectiveness, then you're paying attention. But the British Empire had other Dominions to throw into it. General Sir Douglas Haig threw Australians and New Zealanders into the mix, and gained no ground. Then he sent Canadians in, over the objection of their commander, General Arthur Currie. By November 10, they had pushed the Germans back a bit, and the battle was over. The idea that the war would last another full year would have further depressed anyone.

*

July 31, 1917 was a Tuesday. These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the St. Louis Browns, 4-1 at the Polo Grounds. Ray Caldwell was the winning pitcher. Charles "Paddy" Baumann, the Yankees' 2nd baseman, went 1-for-3 with 2 RBIs. Why a man of German descent got the Irish nickname "Paddy," I don't know. George Sisler went 1-for-4 for the Browns.

* The New York Giants swept a doubleheader from the Pittsburgh Pirates, 11-7 and 9-3 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Over the 2 games, Benny Kauff went 6-for-10 with a stolen base and 4 RBIs, Joe Wilhoit went 5-for-8 with 2 walks and 5 RBIs, George Burns (for whom the later entertainer named himself) went 5-for-9 with a walk and 3 RBIs, and Heinie Zimmerman went 4-for-8 with 5 RBIs.

For the Pirates, Max Carey went 5-for-8 with a walk and 2 RBIs, Carson Bigbee went 5-for-7 with an RBI; and Honus Wagner, in his final season, playing 1st base instead of his former shortstop, went 1-for-8 with an RBI.

This was the Dead Ball Era: There were 30 runs scored in this game, but none came through a home run, not even of the inside-the-park variety, despite Forbes Field having deep dimensions everywhere but the right field corner.

* The Brooklyn Robins (as the Dodgers were known under manager Wilbert Robinson, from 1914 to 1931) beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-2 at Redland Field (later Crosley Field) in Cincinnati. Leon Cadore, who would one day pitch 26 innings in one game, outpitched Fred Toney, who, earlier in the year, pitched a 10-inning no-hitter to beat a man who'd pitched one for 9 innings.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-2 at Fenway Park in Boston. Dutch Leonard outpitched Eddie Cicotte. Harry Hooper hit a home run. At the time, Babe Ruth did not bat unless he also pitched. Eddie Collins went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Shoeless Joe Jackson went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 8-5 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Robert "Braggo" Roth went 3-for-5 with 4 RBIs. Tris Speaker went 2-for-5. Frank "Ping" Bodie went 3-for-4 with a walk and 3 RBIs for the A's.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Washington Senators, 8-4 at National Park (later Griffith Stadium) in Washington. Ty Cobb went 1-for-5.

* A doubleheader was split at Weeghman Park, later to be renamed Wrigley Field, in Chicago. The Chicago Cubs won the opener, 9-6. The Boston Braves won the nightcap, 8-1.

* And a doubleheader was split at Robison Field in St. Louis. The Philadelphia Phillies won the 1st game, 6-4. Grover Cleveland Alexander pitched a 4-hit shutout, and went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs. The St. Louis Cardinals won the 2nd game, 4-2. Over the 2 games, Milt Stock went 6-for-8 with a walk and an an RBI, while Rogers Hornsby went 1-for-4.

July 31, 1910: Dr. Hawley Crippen Is Arrested

July 31, 1910: One of the world's most notorious murderers is caught -- using technology never before tried.

Hawley Harvey Crippen was born on September 11, 1862 in Coldwater, Michigan. He became a homeopath, a practitioner of what would now be called "alternative medicine." His 1st wife, Charlotte, died in 1892, of a stroke. No foul play has ever been suspected in her death. Together, the Crippens had a son, Hawley Otto Crippen, who was left in the care of his father's parents.

In 1894, Dr. Crippen remarried, to Kunigunde Macamotski, daughter of a Polish father and a German mother. She had anglicized her name to Cora Henrietta Turner, and was a music hall singer who performed under the name Belle Elmore. In 1897, they moved to England, where Crippen, unqualified to be a practicing physician under British law, made many as a distributor of patent medicines (so, more or less, a pharmacist), while Cora continued her stage career.

Kunigunde Macamotski, a.k.a. Cora Henrietta Turner,

a.k.a. Cora Crippen, a.k.a. Belle Elmore

In 1900, Crippen was hired as the manager of a school for the deaf. He hired a secretary, Ethel Le Neve. By 1905, with the full knowledge that Cora had cheating on Hawley with her show business acquaintances from the beginning, Hawley and Ethel began an affair.

Ethel Le Neve

There was a party at the Crippen home in London on January 31, 1910. Afterward, Cora disappeared. It took some time for the police to be notified of her disappearance. Chief Inspector Walter Dew, who had worked on the Jack the Ripper case as a younger policeman, led the investigation. The police searched the house, but found nothing. Crippen told the police that she had returned to the United States. Dew bought this story.

But Crippen thought he hadn't, and he and Ethel panicked, and went to Brussels, Belgium. The next day, they went to Antwerp, Belgium, and boarded the cruise liner SS Montrose, heading for Quebec City, Canada.

With both Crippens and Ethel now officially missing, the police searched the house again. They found the torso of a human female buried under the brick floor of the basement. The rest of her was never recovered, but there was enough evidence to determine that it was Cora. She was 36 years old.

Captain Henry Kendall, captain of the Montrose, had his ship's telegraphist send a wireless telegram to the British authorities: "Have strong suspicions that Crippen London cellar murderer and accomplice are among saloon passengers. Mustache taken off growing beard. Accomplice dressed as boy. Manner and build undoubtedly a girl."

Dew was notified. He took a train to Liverpool, and boarded the SS Laurentic, a faster liner from the White Star Line. He arrived in Quebec City on July 29, ahead of the Montrose, and informed the Canadian authorities of what was happening. Since Canada was still part of the British Empire, Dew could rightfully arrest Crippen on Canadian soil.

Well, not on Canadian soil, but on July 31, the ship docked at Quebec City, putting it in British jurisdiction. Dew boarded the ship, and, with Captain Kendall already knowing what was going on, kept Crippen and Ethel on board long enough to introduce him to the newly-boarded passenger:

Dew: "Good morning, Dr. Crippen. Do you know me? I'm Chief Inspector Dew from Scotland Yard."

Crippen: "Thank God it's over. The suspense has been too great. I couldn't stand it any longer."

He held out his hands to be cuffed. He had become the 1st fugitive to be caught using radio. He and Dew returned to Britain aboard the SS Megantic. At his trial, Crippen's defense was that the identification of the body as his wife's was unreliable, that it was left there by the house's previous owner, and that his wife was still alive, somewhere in America. The jury didn't buy it, and found him guilty after just 27 minutes of deliberation on October 21.

Crippen showed no remorse, though he was concerned for Ethel's fate and reputation. She was charged only with being an accessory after the fact. This was considerably harder to prove, and she was acquitted. He gave no reason for the murder, although in 1981, Sir Hugh Rhys Rankin, 3rd Baronet, claimed to have met Ethel in Australia in 1930, where she told him that Crippen killed Cora because he found out she had syphilis, that his treatment had gone wrong, she died, and he panicked.

Dr. Hawley Crippen was sentenced to death, and was hanged at Pentonville Prison in North London on November 23, 1910. He was 48 years old. Ethel Le Neve moved to the U.S., then to Canada, then back to Britain in 1915, where she lived until 1967, at age 84. Chief Inspector Dew retired from Scotland Yard shortly after the trial, and became a private criminal consultant, much like Sherlock Holmes. He lived until 1947, also 84.

Doubts as to Crippen's guilt have persisted. One theory that combines his guilt (he did it) with a theory as to his innocence (his wife had fled to America) is that he had been performing secret abortions, and that the victim was one whose surgery he'd botched.

Hawley Otto Crippen was 13 when his father was executed. He did his best to hide from his father's fame, using his middle name Otto. Like his father, he married twice. Like his father, his 1st wife died, with no evidence of foul play. Unlike his father, his 2nd wife was the half-sister of his 1st wife. Unlike his father, he appears to have had no children, so the line died out with him, in Los Angeles, in 1974, at age 85.

*

July 31, 1910 was a Sunday. At this time, playing baseball on Sunday was still illegal in New York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. As a result, there were only 6 games played on this day, including doubleheaders hosted by both St. Louis teams:

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2 at the Palace of the Fans in Cincinnati. In the 1911-12 off-season, that ballpark would be torn down, and what became Crosley Field was built on the site. Honus Wagner went 0-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-5 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. That ballpark had just opened at the beginning of the month, and would still be the home of the White Sox 80 years later. In this game, Bill Donovan outpitched future Hall-of-Famer Big Ed Walsh. Ty Cobb went 2-for-2 with a home run and 2 walks.

* The Cleveland Naps swept the St. Louis Browns, 5-4 and 2-0 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The opener went 11 innings. Cy Falkenberg pitched a 3-hit shutout in the nightcap. Napoleon "Nap" Lajoie, the slugger, 2nd baseman and manager for whom the team that became the Indians in 1915 and the Guardians in 2022 were then named, went 4-for-9 on the day.

With the Chalmers Auto Company offering a new car to the winner of the American League batting title, this was a big deal. Lajoie and Cobb battled it out to the end, with Cobb beating Lajoie out, .385 to .384, with both men helped by less-than-savory circumstances. In the end, Chalmers gave each man a new car.

* And the Chicago Cubs swept the St. Louis Cardinals, 9-3 and 4-0 at Robison Field in St. Louis. (That's not a typo: The Cards were then owned by the Robison brothers, not "Robinson.") Leonard Leslie "King" Cole had a no-hitter going after 7 innings of the 2nd game, but the doubleheader had taken so long that the umpires called the 2nd game due to darkness, denying Cole a piece of baseball immortality. 

July 30, 2009: The Boston Red Sox Are Exposed As Cheaters

July 30, 2009: The New York Times and Sports Illustrated publish reports that reveal that David Ortiz tested positive for a banned substance during survey testing in 2003.

"Big Papi," the biggest reason why the Boston Red Sox won the 2004 and 2007 World Series, cheated.

It was also revealed that Manny Ramirez, another big bat behind those titles, had failed the same test. But this was not new: He had been exposed as using performance-enhancing drugs earlier in the year, after having been traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

It was "nice" of the Times and SI to reveal it 6 years after the fact, 5 years after the Red Sox finally ended "the Curse of the Bambino," and 2 years after they won a 2nd World Series as well.

Still, those World Series wins are hereby invalidated.

Let's be blunt, shall we? Let's be brutally honest.

The linchpin to saying that the Yankees "cheated" their way to winning the 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000 World Series is Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte.

For Pettitte, we have an admission of PED use to come back from an injury in 2002, a season in which the Yankees did not win a Pennant, much less a World Series.

For Clemens, we have the word of Brian McNamee. Translation: Even if Clemens is a louse (and we have many reasons to say that he is), McNamee isn't exactly trustworthy, either. He submitted evidence that has not been revealed to the public. The 2000 WS, and the '01 and '03 Pennants, can be attributed in part to Clemens' use, if in fact McNamee is being completely honest. But 1999? Clemens wasn't all that hot that year. Either he wasn't using, or it wasn't working.

Alex Rodriguez? At this point, he had never played on a Pennant winner, and, besides, all we had on him is an admission of an accusation that he used before becoming a Yankee. He would become the most-tested player ever, and did not test positive in 2009, when he finally helped the Yankees win a World Series. Even afterward, when evidence as to his guilt came again, and he got a lengthy suspension, he still didn't test positive.

Gary Sheffield? He never helped the Yankees win a Pennant, either, and all we have on him is an admission of something that happened before becoming a Yankee.

Jason Giambi? He helped the Yankees win the '03 Pennant – against those same cheating Red Sox – but in '04, it was obvious that steroids weren't helping him.

Compare also the Yankees' postseason opponents:

The 1995, 2000 and '01 Seattle Mariners: Jay Buhner (probably), Edgar Martinez (possibly), and, for the latter two, Alex Rodriguez (using then? who knows). They almost certainly used steroids, but the Yankees still beat them 2 times out of 3.

The '96, '98 and '99 Texas Rangers: Rafael Palmeiro (caught), Juan Gonzalez and Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez (almost certain). Still, the Yankees beat them 3 times, going 9-1 in games in the process (though those 1st two, in '96, were awfully dicey).

The '96 and '97 Baltimore Orioles: Palmeiro (caught) and Brady Anderson (not official, but, come on). The Yankees beat them in the '96 ALCS, but lost the '97 Division Title to them. Still, in those two years combined, they won a grand total of 1 home game in ALCS play, so I don't want to hear about how the Yankees "cheated" -- either with steroids or a kid in right field.

The '96 and '99 Atlanta Braves: On the second occasion, John Rocker, even though he did nothing against us. Besides, the Yankees beat them.

The '97 and '98 Cleveland Indians: Manny Ramirez (caught), Matt Williams (mentioned in the Mitchell Report) and Jim Thome (suspected). Split 2 series.

The '98 San Diego Padres: Ken Caminiti (admitted). Swept in the World Series, so it didn't matter.

The '99 Red Sox: Hard to tell. Manny wasn't there yet, nor Papi, nor Curt Schilling, nor Mark Bellhorn, nor Kevin Millar. But Pedro Martinez? So skinny, but now you have to wonder. Jason Varitek was there. So was Trot Nixon. And Nomar Garciaparra: He's fallen apart since, so was Nomahhhh using? In this case, it didn't matter, because the Yankees beat them in the ALCS.

The 2000 and '01 Oakland Athletics: The aforementioned Jason, and also Jeremy, Giambi, and that's just the ones I know of. It didn't matter, because the Yankees beat them both times.

The '01 Arizona Diamondbacks: Matt Williams, and the heavily suspected Schilling and Luis Gonzalez.

The '02 Anaheim and '05 Los Angeles Angels: As far as I know, they were clean.

The '03 and '04 Minnesota Twins. As far as I know, they were clean, and it didn't matter because the Yankees beat them both times anyway. In fact, after those two ALDS, the Yankees now have a better postseason record in the Metrodome than the Twins do.

The '03 Florida Marlins: Pudge Rodriguez again.

The '03 and '04 Red Sox: Papi and Manny, and rumors abound about Schilling, Millahhhh, Bellhorn, Trot and Tek.

The '06 Detroit Tigers: Pudge again.

The ’07 Indians: As far as I know, they were clean.

And, of course, the 2000 New York Mets: Mike Piazza. It didn't matter, because the Yankees beat them anyway.

Put it all together, and not only have the Yankees been helped less by steroid use than any of those teams (if they were helped by it at all), but the Yankees have been hurt by steroid use more than any other team!

*

But as big a story, and as underreported a story, as that is, the biggest story right now is that the Red Sox cheated. They couldn't win honestly, so they cheated.

The Yankees didn't cheat: They had no control over how to use the Curse, and then again, as one of the River Avenue T-shirts says, maybe there never was a Curse, the Sox just, uh, underachieved for 86 years! (As long as we're being honest, I checked once, and they were within range of the postseason in September in 43 of those 86 years, exactly half. They didn't "suck for 86 years.")

But the Red Sox cheated. Sox fans can throw away those "Got rings lately?" T-shirts -- if not in the trash, then I can suggest other places to stick them -- and Yankee fans could bring back the "1918" T-shirts, just add an asterisk. (Not sure if Roger Maris would approve, but I'll bet the Babe would laugh at it!)

All their smack talk these last five years, and it was all a big fat lie. Red Sox fans on July 30, 2009 are roughly in the same position as Richard Nixon fans were on July 30, 1974: They know now, their guy is a crook!

In 1967, during the Sox' "Impossible Dream" season, the young Bee Gees, not yet the hideous avatars of disco, sang a lovely song called "Massachusetts." They sang "The lights all went out in Massachusetts." I'm sure a few Yankee Fans have sung that one over the years.

On this historic day, the lies all came out in Massachusetts.

Of course, when the 2022 election for the Baseball Hall of Fame took place, David Ortiz, eligible for the 1st time, was elected. Alex Rodriguez, also eligible for the 1st time, was not.

It's been said that the greater offense of Pete Rose isn't that he bet on baseball, but that he lied about it for 15 years after getting caught, before coming clean.

For his steroid use, both times he was accused, A-Rod came clean quickly.

Big Papi has lied about it for 13 years -- almost as long as Rose has lied about what he did.

Ortiz is in the Hall of Fame. A-Rod and Rose are not.

I'm not saying that A-Rod and Rose should be in the Hall. I am saying that Ortiz should not be in it. 

*

July 30, 1999 was a Thursday. These Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Chicago White Sox, 3-2 at U.S. Cellular Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago. Nick Swisher hit a home run, and Derek Jeter went 1-for-4. But Alex Rodriguez went 0-for-4, and Phil Hughes blew it in relief of Andy Pettitte.

* A doubleheader was split at Citi Field. The New York Mets won the opener, 7-0. Johan Santana pitched 7 innings of 4-hit shutout ball, and 2 relievers finished the shutout. The Colorado Rockies won the nightcap, 4-2.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 8-5 at Fenway Park. David Ortiz went 2-for-3 with a 3-run homer. I guess he was still juicing.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Kansas City Royals, 7-3 at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Florida Marlins, 6-3 at Land Shark Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. Brian McCann won it with a home run in the top of the 10th inning.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-4 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Houston Astros, 12-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Yes, both Chicago teams were not only at home on the same day, but both won.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Washington Nationals, 7-3 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-3 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Matt Kemp singled Andre Ethier home with the winning run in the top of the 10th.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners, 7-1 at Rangers Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-2 at AT&T Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco.

* And the following teams were not scheduled to play that day: The Arizona Diamondbacks, the Cleveland Indians, the Detroit Tigers, the Los Angeles Angels, the Minnesota Twins, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Toronto Blue Jays.