September 22, 1980: The Iran-Iraq War Begins

September 22, 1980: The Iran-Iraq War begins, when Iraq invades from the east.

Iraq's primary rationale for the attack against Iran cited the need to prevent the country's new Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who had spearheaded the Iranian Revolution in 1979, from exporting his ideology to Iraq.

There were also fears among the Iraqi leadership of President Saddam Hussein that Iran, a theocratic state with a population predominantly composed of Shia Muslims, would exploit sectarian tensions in Iraq by rallying Iraq's Shia majority against the Ba'ath Party government, which was officially secular, but was dominated by Sunni Muslims.

An estimated 85 to 90 percent of the world's Muslims are Sunni. The remaining 10 to 15 percent are Shia. The term "Shiite" (pronounced "SHE-ight") was frequently used in America after the 1979 Revolution, but was generally dropped due to its resemblance to an English profanity. It is estimated that, in Iraq, about 61 percent of the population is Shia, and 34 percent are Sunni, like the Ba'athists. So the Ba'athists were, though a dictatorship, a minority government. Only 2 percent of Iraqis are Christian.

The war lasted 8 years, until a truce was brokered by the United Nations. So who won? Neither. Nobody gained anything, and there were losses. A lot of losses. Neither side was all that honest about its casualties. Iran's death toll could be anywhere from 200,000 to 600,000. Iraq's has been cited as anywhere from 100,000 to 500,000. And it's been said that there were 100,000 civilian casualties, both sides combined.

At the time, Saddam was considered America’s ally, since he opposed Iran and Khomeini. With hindsight, this may not have been the proper stance. Americans would see games where they didn't like either team, and joke, "It's like Iran vs. Iraq: It’s a shame they can't both lose." In this war, both did.

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September 22, 1980 was a Monday. These games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-3 at Yankee Stadium. Tommy John outpitched Len Barker. Reggie Jackson went 1-for-4. Bob Watson went 1-for-3 with 3 RBIs.

* The New York Mets lost to the Chicago Cubs, 3-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-3 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Carl Yastrzemski did not play, but Tony Pérez and Dwight Evans hit home runs for Boston. Eddie Murray went 1-for-5.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Montreal Expos, 4-2 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Willie Stargell did not play.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-5 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The California Angels beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Rod Carew went 3-for-5 with an RBI. Robin Yount did not play, but Paul Molitor went 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Texas Rangers, 1-0 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Jerry Koosman allowed 9 hits, but no runs, over 8 innings. Doug Corbett finished the shutout.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Keith Moreland doubled Larry Bowa home with the winning run in the top of the 10th inning, giving Steve Carlton his 23rd win of the season. Mike Schmidt hit his 42nd home run of the season. Pete Rose went 0-for-5.

* The Houston Astros beat the San Diego Padres, 4-2 at San Diego Stadium (later renamed Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). Joe Niekro outpitched Bob Shirley. Dave Winfield went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Johnny Bench went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-4 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Willie Horton singled Bruce Bochte home with the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning. George Brett and Willie Aikens hit home runs for the Royals. Brett ended the day batting .393, and finished at .390.

* And the Chicago White Sox and the Oakland Athletics were not scheduled.

And on ABC Monday Night Football, the Philadelphia Eagles beat the New York Giants, 35-3 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.