July 11, 2013: "Orange Is the New Black" Premieres

July 11, 2013: Orange Is the New Black premieres on the streaming service Netflix. It is based on Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison, the memoir of Piper Kerman, who spent a year in a federal women's prison on a conviction for money laundering and drug trafficking.

In the 1970s, prisons began replacing the traditional inmate attire of striped jumpsuits with orange ones. "The new black" refers not to race, but to fashion trends, based on the ideal of Coco Chanel's "little black dress."

Taylor Schilling plays Piper Chapman, a 33-year-old New Yorker, sentenced to a minimum-security federal women's prison, for transporting a suitcase full of drug money for her girlfriend, Alex Vause (Laura Prepon), who turned out to be an international drug smuggler.

The federal statute of limitations for standard drug smuggling and trafficking is 5 years from the date the crime was completed. However, certain aggravated offenses, such as drug smuggling resulting in death or charges tied to a continuing criminal enterprise, carry no time limit. And so, Piper is arrested 10 years later, when Alex, having been busted, rats her out, ending her quiet, law-abiding, upper-middle-class life.

Episodes often feature flashbacks to significant events from various inmates' and prison guards' pasts. The show looks at the nature of the crimes committed, the level of fairness of the sentences, racism, guards' brutality, and, being that this is a prison, same-sex relationships.

Eventually, a peaceful protest in Season 4 leads to an inmate's murder by a guard, and then to a prisoners' revolt in Season 5. This leads to Piper and Alex being transported to a nearby maximum security prison. Finally, in Season 7, storylines are resolved, and Piper and Alex are released.

The series lasted 7 seasons, veering between comedy and drama, until July 26, 2019.

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July 11, 2013 was a Thursday. This was also the day that New Jersey Devils star Ilya Kovalchuk retired -- temporarily, as it turned out. I have a separate entry for this event.

These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals, 8-4 at Yankee Stadium. Andy Pettitte outpitched Ervin Santana. Derek Jeter went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Ichiro Suzuki went 1-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base, and an RBI. Alex Rodriguez was injured, and did not play.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Washington Nationals, 3-1 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Texas Rangers, 3-1 at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-5 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-3 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-2 at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-3 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Chicago Cubs beat their arch-rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-0 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. How many Cubs does it take to pitch a 4-hit shutout? This time, 5: Edwin Jackson allowed 3 hits over 7 innings, and 4 relievers finished the job.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-3 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies, 6-1 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres, 4-2 at Petco Park in San Diego.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Seattle Mariners, 8-7 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle. Daniel Nava singled Jackie Bradley Jr. home with the winning run in the top of the 10th inning. David Ortiz went 0-for-3 with 2 walks.

* And the Houston Astros, the Los Angeles Angels, the Miami Marlins, the New York Mets, the Oakland Athletics and the Pittsburgh Pirates were not scheduled.