September 7, 1977: President Jimmy Carter and General Omar Torrijos, head of state of the Central American nation of Panama, sign the Panama Canal Treaties at the White House. which superseded the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty of 1903. The treaties guaranteed that Panama would gain control of the Panama Canal after 1999, ending the control of the canal that the U.S. had exercised since 1903.
For liberals, this was a sensible thing to do. For conservatives, it was an outrage. Their line had been, "We built it, we paid for it, it's ours." They treated it as an attack on American sovereignty. They also viewed Torrijos as a Communist. (He wasn't, but he was a military dictator.)
Carter's predecessor, President Gerald Ford, had wanted to do it, and it was a big reason why Governor Ronald Reagan ran against him in the 1976 Republican Primaries. Despite his defeat, this treaty was a big reason why Reagan wanted to try again in 1980. Well, he won, but he couldn’t rescind the treaty, and, in 1999, the Canal went back under Panama's control. Republicans were concerned that it would be used by Communist countries, including Cuba, to undermine America. They were wrong about that, among many other things.
Torrijos, giving himself the Castro-esque title "Maximum Leader of the Panamanian Revolution," had taken power in a military coup in 1968. He never actually took the title of "President," though. He won the people over with some reforms, the kind that made many Americans not trust him.
Carter was one of them, and told him that the U.S. Senate would never approve the Canal Treaties unless he made some changes to his rule. He took the hint, restored some civil liberties, and, while remaining head of state, he stepped down as head of government, setting a puppet, Aristides Royo, up as President. That was good enough for Carter and the Senate.
On July 31, 1981, Torrijos, then 52 years old, and 6 others were killed in a plane crash. It wasn't considered suspicious, as the weather was bad. But it threw Panama into political chaos, resulting in the rise of a new dictator, Manuel Noriega.
Torrijos' son Martin Torrijos, did something his father never did: In 2004, he won a free and fair election, serving as President until 2009.
*
September 7, 1977 was a Wednesday. These Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-3 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Thurman Munson led off the top of the 10th inning with a single. Reggie Jackson singled, and Indians left fielder Bruce Bochte mishandled it, letting Munson score what turned out to be the winning run.
Rookie Ron Guidry went all 10 innings for the win. Wayne Garland, the Indians' big free-agent signing who then hurt his shoulder in Spring Training, went 9 innings, before Jim Kern came on, and took the loss. Kern was a good reliever, but knew his limitations: He once told a reporter, "I'm working on a new pitch. It's called a strike."
* The New York Mets lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-2 at Shea Stadium. Larry Christenson allowed only 2 hits, 1 of them a home run by Lee Mazzilli, to outpitch Pat Zachry. Jay Johnstone hit a home run for the Phils, and Mike Schmidt went 1-for-4 with a walk.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-2 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.
* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Boston Red Sox, 3-2 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-4.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Willie Stargell did not play. Lou Brock went 1-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base. It was his 32nd steal of the season, and the 891st of his career, bringing him to within 1 of what was then thought to be the all-time record, set by Ty Cobb. Later research showed that Cobb's 892 was the 20th Century record, but Billy Hamilton, whose career straddled the turn of that Century, stole 914. Brock would retire with 938, before giving way to Rickey Henderson with 1,406.
* The San Francisco Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Willie McCovey hit his 489th career home run. For the Reds, Joe Morgan and George Foster hit home runs. For Foster, it was his 46th of the season. He ended with 52, the most of any player between 1965 and 1990. Pete Rose went 1-for-4 with a walk. Johnny Bench went 1-for-3 with a walk.
* A doubleheader was split at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. The Baltimore Orioles beat the Detroit Tigers in the opener, 6-2. John Hiller, normally a reliable closer, allowed 4 runs in the top of the 11th inning. In contrast, Scott McGregor pitched all 11 innings for the win. The Tigers won the nightcap, 12-5. Eddie Murray went 1-for-5 in each game.
* The Montreal Expos beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
* The Texas Rangers beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Rod Carew went 1-for-3 with a walk. He was batting .377. He finished the season at .388.
* The San Diego Padres beat the Houston Astros, 9-5 at the Astrodome in Houston. Dave Roberts went 3-for-4 with a home run and 4 RBIs. Dave Winfield went 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.
* The California Angels beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-1 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Robin Yount went 1-for-4.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 5-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. Ralph Garr, a former National League batting champion, hit a home run, not the likeliest of the "South Side Hit Men" to hit one out.
* And the Kansas City Royals beat the Seattle Mariners, 10-7 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Darrell Porter hit 2 home runs, and George Brett went 4-for-4 with a walk and 2 RBIs.
No comments:
Post a Comment