September 13, 1988: Governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts, the Democratic Party's nominee for President, tries to show that he's strong on defense by taking a ride in an M1 Abrams tank at a General Dynamics plant in the Detroit suburb of Sterling Heights, Michigan.
It backfired, to the point where, today, a quarter of a century later, if you Google "Dukakis," "dukakis tank" comes up before "dukakis campaign" and "dukakis bentsen." Actually, Dukakis had served in the U.S. Army for 2 years, 1955-57, although this was after Korea and before Vietnam, so, unlike his Republican opponent, Vice President George H.W. Bush, he wasn't in combat.
Let the record show that Bush was the Number 2 man in an administration that let 241 of our Marines get blown up in Lebanon, and sold weapons to Iran, Iraq, and the guys who became al-Qaeda and the Taliban. And Dukakis mentioned Iran-Contra in the debates. But he was a risk we couldn't afford to take?
I took that risk: Michael Dukakis was the 1st Presidential candidate I voted for, and I'd take him again in a heartbeat.
In the years to come, "to tank" has become a sports term, meaning to lose on purpose, in order to get a higher draft pick for the next season.
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September 13, 1988 was a Tuesday. These Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-4 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The Yankees scored 2 runs in the top of the 8th to come from behind, making Neil Allen a winning pitcher in relief of Ron Guidry. The runs came on a home run by... Luis Aguayo? Yes, him. Dave Winfield went 3-for-3 with a walk. Rickey Henderson, then a Yankee, went 1-for-3 with 2 walks, 3 stolen bases, and an RBI. Don Mattingly went 0-for-5.
* The New York Mets lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1-0 at Shea Stadium. Bob Walk pitched 8 innings of 5-hit shutout ball, and Jim Gott finished the 6-hit shutout, outpitching Dwight Gooden. The only run of the game came in the top of the 4th, when future Met Bobby Bonilla doubled home Andy Van Slyke. Barry Bonds went 0-for-4.
* The Montreal Expos beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-1 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-4 at Fenway Park in Boston. Jim Rice hit a home run. Eddie Murray went 3-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Cal Ripken went 0-for-4.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 9-2 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Mike Schmidt did not play.
* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers, 9-1 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Houston Astros, 5-2 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Juan Nieves pitched a 3-hit shutout. Robin Yount and Paul Molitor both his home runs.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the California Angels, 4-3 at Anaheim Stadium (later Angel Stadium of Anaheim).
* The San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres, 4-1 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Tony Gwynn did not play.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves, 2-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. People familiar with late 1988 in baseball might presume that this was part of Orel Hershiser's consecutive scoreless innings streak. Instead, John Tudor allowed 2 hits over 5 innings, and then Ramón Martínez and Jay Howell each pitched 2 shutout innings.
* The Oakland Athletics beat the Texas Rangers, 2-1 at the Oakland Coliseum.
* And the Minnesota Twins beat the Seattle Mariners, 2-1 at the Kingdome in Seattle.
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