August 21, 1974: "The Longest Yard" Premieres

August 21, 1974: The Longest Yard premieres. Burt Reynolds, who really did play football at Florida State University long before that became cool (ESPN's Lee "Not So Fast, My Friend!" Corso was his teammate), stars as Paul Crewe, a quarterback kicked out of the NFL for point shaving, and imprisoned for drunk driving. The role required him to shave his already-iconic mustache.

Eddie Albert, who usually played nice guys, played the nasty warden, who organizes a charity football game between the prison's guards and its inmates, who name themselves the Mean Machine. Reynolds was an end, or a receiver as we would now say, at FSU, but Crewe played quarterback and captained the Mean Machine. As Reynolds did at FSU, Crewe wears Number 22.

Among the real-life football stars who appeared were Green Bay Packer linebacker Ray Nitschke, Minnesota Viking quarterback Joe Kapp, and University of Washington All-American quarterback Sonny Sixkiller (a Cherokee who, naturally, wore Number 6). Bernadette Peters, Richard Kiel (Jaws in 2 James Bond films), Michael Conrad (later on Hill Street Blues), Sonny Shroyer (later the deputy on The Dukes of Hazzard, and Bear Bryant in Forrest Gump) and country singer George Jones also appear.

The film would be remade with English soccer in 2001 as Mean Machine, with former Wimbledon FC midfield terror Vinnie Jones in the Burt role; and in 2005, with Adam Sandler playing "Wrecking" Crewe, and Reynolds appearing as an older player-turned-convict, who served as a coach.

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August 21, 1974 was a Wednesday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-1 at Shea Stadium, where they played while the original Yankee Stadium was renovated in '74 and '75. George "Doc" Medich went the distance for the win. Bobby Murcer went 3-for-5, and Graig Nettles and Thurman Munson each went 2-for-4, with Nettles adding 3 RBIs. For the Twins, Rod Carew went 2-for-3 with a walk, while Harmon Killebrew appeared as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.

* The New York Mets beat the Houston Astros, 10-2 at the Astrodome in Houston. Jerry Koosman went the distance for the win. Rusty Staub went 1-for-4 with 2 walks and 4 RBIs.

* The Montreal Expos beat the San Diego Padres, 8-7 at Jarry Park in Montreal. Barry Foote and Ron Hunt singled home the tying and winning runs in the bottom of the 9th. Rookie Dave Winfield went 1-for-3 with an RBI.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-0 Fenway Park in Boston. Roger Moret allowed just 1 hit, a single to Dick Allen in the 7th inning. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-2 with a walk and an RBI.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-1 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Jim Bibby outpitched Ross Grimsley. Brooks Robinson went 2-for-3.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4 at Atlanta Stadium. (It was renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.) Hank Aaron went 1-for-4 with a walk. He didn't hit a home run for the Braves, but Darrell Evans and Mike Lum did. Lou Brock went 3-for-5, with the 86th of the 118 stolen bases he would have that season, a new MLB record, and still a National League record.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the San Francisco Giants, 4-2 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Dock Ellis outpitched Ed Halicki. Willie Stargell went 2-for-3 with a walk.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals, 7-6 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Rico Carty and Charlie Spikes had back-to-back RBI singles in the bottom of the 9th, to tie and then win the game. Rookie George Brett went 1-for-4.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds, 10-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Mike Schmidt went 3-for-5 with 2 home runs and 3 RBIs. For the Reds, Pete Rose and Johnny Bench both went 1-for-4.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 7-5 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The California Angels beat the Detroit Tigers, 2-0 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Andy Hassler pitched a 4-hit shutout. Frank Robinson went 0-for-2 with a walk. Al Kaline, in his last season, went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* And the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Oakland Athletics, 5-3 at the Oakland Coliseum. Reggie Jackson and Gene Tenace hit home runs for the A's, but it wasn't enough.