September 12, 1974: Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia Is Deposed

September 12, 1974: Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia is deposed in a military coup. He had reigned officially since 1930, and unofficially since 1916. Although once a symbol of resistance to European colonialism, he had allowed his country to fall apart into economic chaos. He died under house arrest a year later. The Communist military dictatorship, the Derg, fell in 1991, and a parliamentary democracy has been in place ever since.

In 1936, when troops of Benito Mussolini's Fascist Italy took over his country, Haile Selassie begged the League of Nations for help. He got none, until America and Britain went to war with the Axis. In 1974, the world was very different -- but he still got no help from the Western democracies.

 

Had the monarchy been allowed to continue, the current Emperor would be his grandson, Zera Yacob Amha Selassie, 71, an Eton-educated banker who now lives in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.

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September 12, 1974 was a Thursday. This was also the day that Brian Clough was fired as manager of English soccer team Leeds United after 44 tumultuous days, and the day the Boston Busing Crisis began. I have separate entries for those events.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 3-0 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Mike Wallace -- no relation to the CBS journalist of the same name -- makes his only start of the season, and goes 7 2/3rds innings. allowing just 3 hits, outpitching Hall-of-Famer Jim Palmer. Dick Tidrow completes the 4-hit shutout, and Wallace advances to 7-0 on the season. Other than this one season, he was little more than a journeyman pitcher.

Bobby Murcer, Lou Piniella and Elliott Maddox each got 2 hits for the Yankees. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The New York Mets lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 12-5 at Shea Stadium. The night before, the Cardinals had beaten the Mets in 25 innings. There may have been some carryover, as Bob Gibson outpitched Jon Matlack, who nonetheless had 2 hits and 2 RBIs in his own cause.

John Milner hit a home run for the Mets, but Reggie Smith went 3-for-5 with a home run and 4 RBIs for the Cards. Ted Simmons also went 3-for-5, albeit with no RBIs. As for 2 future Mets, Joe Torre went 0-for-5, and Keith Hernandez did not reach base as a pinch-hitter.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Chicago Cubs, 2-1 at Jarry Park in Montreal.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-4 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Mike Schmidt and Del Unser hit home runs for the Phils. Willie Stargell went 2-for-2 with 3 walks.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 3-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Bill Lee outpitched Jim Perry. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-5. This game, and the Yanks' win over the O's, meant that the day ended with the Yankees leading the American League Eastern Division by 2 1/2 games over the Sox, and 3 over the O's. The Sox had led for most of the season, but went into one of their occasional late-season tailspins. Ultimately, the Orioles would win the Division, by 2 games over the Yankees and 7 over the Red Sox.

* The Cincinnati Reds swept a doubleheader from the Atlanta Braves, 9-6 and 6-2 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Over the 2 games, Pete Rose went 3-for-8 with a walk, and Johnny Bench went 2-for-7 with 2 home runs, a walk and 6 RBIs. Hank Aaron, having already become baseball's all-time home run leader, went 0-for-5 in the opener, and did not play in the nightcap. Darrell Evans homered for the Braves in both games.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 9-7 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Tom Veryzer won the game with a home run in the bottom of the 10th inning. It was the 1st home run of his career. He would hit 14. Al Kaline, in his last month as an active player, went 1-for-4. Rookie Robin Yount did not get into the game for the Brewers.

* The Texas Rangers and the Chicago White Sox were tied 2-2 after 6 innings at Comiskey Park in Chicago, when it was called due to rain. It was never made up.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins, 2-1 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Ken Holtzman outpitched Bert Blyleven. Reggie Jackson went 0-for-4. Harmon Killebrew went 1-for-4. Rod Carew did not play.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Houston Astros, 4-1 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). Dave Winfield entered the game as a defensive replacement, and did not get to bat.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants, 11-0 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Al Downing pitched a 2-hit shutout. The Dodgers got no home runs, but Bill Russell went 3-for-5 with 4 RBIs, and Ron Cey went 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs.

* And the California Angels and the Kansas City Royals were not scheduled.