September 18, 1970: Jimi Hendrix Dies

September 18, 1970: Jimi Hendrix dies in his apartment at the Samarkand Hotel in London. He was just 27 years old. Often called the greatest guitarist in rock and roll history, he made the mistake of mixing alcoholic beverages and barbiturates.

Just 15 months earlier, just 3 miles away across Hyde Park, Judy Garland had made the same mistake, and died at age 47. She had already been through tough times for most of her life, little of which was of her own making, and looked considerably older. It wasn't hard to imagine that her story had come to an end.

But Hendrix was still in his prime, and apparently healthy. He had released 4 albums, all of them considered "instant classics." With the Jimi Hendrix Experience, he had released Are You Experienced and Axis: Bold as Love in 1967, and Electric Ladyland in 1968. With Band of Gypsys, he had released an album of the same title only 6 months earlier.

I have never been a fan of his -- the version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" he played as he closed the Woodstock festival a year earlier particularly bothers me -- but it's clear that he had more to say. It's not hard to imagine him going through the 1970s, working, experimenting, finding new things that worked (and some things that didn't), much in the same way that Miles Davis, David Bowie and Lou Reed did. It's also easy to imagine him approaching age 50, in 1992, by making a cultural shift like Davis and Paul Simon did. (Indeed, Miles attended his funeral in Seattle.) But we'll never know.

When asked for her thoughts on the death of Hendrix, who had starred at the Monterey Pop Festival in California in 1967, became a symbol of the Hippie era, and had also played Woodstock, all things she had also done, Janis Joplin said, "There but for the grace of God go I."

She wasn't kidding: She, too, had a drug problem. She died just 16 days later.

When he found out about Jimi's death, Jim Morrison, the lead singer of The Doors, himself a hippie icon with a booze problem and a drug problem (but hadn't played either Monterey or Woodstock), asked his friends, "Do you believe in omens?" Like Janis, he didn't take the hint. When Janis died, Jim told his friends, "Believe it or not, you're drinking with number three."

If any of those friends tried to get him to stop, it didn't take. Nine months after Jimi and Janis, Jim Morrison was dead, too. All 3 of them died at the age of 27, beginning the idea of rock and roll's "27 Club."

I've read that Jimi Hendrix liked football, but I can't find any reference as to whether he was a baseball fan. He grew up in Seattle, which had a team in the Pacific Coast League, but only played 1 season in the major leagues during his lifetime, 1969, with the American League's Seattle Pilots. They quickly went bankrupt, and moved to become the Milwaukee Brewers in 1970. The Queen City of the Northwest didn't rejoin the major leagues until the AL added the Seattle Mariners in 1977.

I once read a list that somebody made up of the best-dressed and worst-dressed athletes. This was in 1980, and Rich Gossage of the Yankees was then one of the top relievers in baseball. Whoever was writing it put the Goose on his worst-dressed list, saying he "has one tie that could have doubled as Jimi Hendrix's headband."

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September 18, 1970 was a Friday. Actress Aisha Tyler was born.

The NFL played games 2 days later, and the NBA, the ABA, and the NHL started new seasons a few weeks later. But there was an entire slate of Major League Baseball games: 

* The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 5-0 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. A 4-run 1st inning, including a 3-run home run by John Ellis, was all Ron Klimkowski needed, as he pitched 3-hit shutout in one of the best hitter's parks in baseball history.

* The New York Mets lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-2 at Shea Stadium. Steve Blass outpitched Jim McAndrew.

* The Chicago Cubs swept a doubleheader from the Montreal Expos at Jarry Park in Montreal. In the opener, Fergie Jenkins won his 20th game of the season, and the Cubs won 3-2. In the nightcap, Ron Santo singled in the winning run in the top of the 10th, and the Cubs won 5-4. Ernie Banks did not appear in the 1st game, and only appeared in the 2nd as a pinch-hitter, unsuccessfully.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-3 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Don Baylor singled home a run in the bottom of the 11th inning to win it for the Birds. Neither Brooks Robinson nor Frank Robinson played.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Atlanta Braves, 11-6 at Atlanta (later Atlanta-Fulton County) Stadium. For the Reds, Pete Rose went 1-for-5 with 2 RBIs, Johnny Bench went 1-for-3 with 4 RBIs, and each hit a home run. For the Braves, Hank Aaron went 0-for-2, but did draw 2 walks.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-4 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Neither Harmon Killebrew nor Rod Carew entered the game.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Kansas City Royals, 4-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 9-7 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres, 3-2 at San Diego Stadium. Ken Henderson drove in the winning run with a double in the top of the 10th. Willie Mays went 2-for-5.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Houston Astros, 3-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the California Angels, 3-2 at the Oakland Coliseum. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. The bottom of the 9th began with the game tied and Ken Tatum walking Don Mincher, included a wild pitch that got Mincher, kind of chunky and not fleet of foot, to 3rd base, and intentional walks to Reggie Jackson and Frank Fernandez to load the bases. After Dave LaRoche was brought in to relieve, he struck out Dick Green. But with the bases still loaded, he walked Gene Tenace, and the A's had beaten the Halos.