October 1, 1977: Edson Arantes do Nascimento, a.k.a. Pelé, the greatest soccer player who ever lived, plays his last game at a sold-out Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. It is his testimonial, and he plays the 1st half for the New York Cosmos, with whom he recently won the North American Soccer League Championship, and scores a goal; and the 2nd half for Santos, for whom he starred so long in Brazil's São Paulo State. The Cosmos win, 2-1.
When it's over, he stands at midfield with a microphone, and asks the crowd, "Please, say with me, three times: Love! Love! Love!" They do.
President Jimmy Carter attended. So did Muhammad Ali, the Heavyweight Champion of the World, who frequently called himself "the Greatest of All Time." This time, he says, "Now, I understand: He is greater than me."
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October 1, 1977 was a Saturday. These Major League Baseball games were played that day:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Detroit Tigers, 10-7 at Yankee Stadium. Elrod Hendricks, briefly a Yankee in a long career mostly with the Baltimore Orioles, hit his only home run in Pinstripes. Reggie Jackson drew a walk in his only plate appearances, and was taken out for a pinch-runner.
The rain that fell on Pelé's testimonial at the Meadowlands comes down much harder on The Bronx, as the Yankees sit through a 2-hour, 42-minute rain delay. But the Yankees clinched the American League Eastern Division title anyway, because...
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox, 8-7 at Fenway Park in Boston. The Sox had eliminated the O's from the race the night before, and the Birds returned the favor on this day. Both teams would end up 2 1/2 games behind the Yankees.
* A doubleheader was split at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. The New York Mets won the 1st game, 8-4. The St. Louis Cardinals won the 2nd game, 4-2. Lou Brock went 2-for-8 with an RBI over the 2 games.
* The Montreal Expos beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-5 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. The Expos scored 3 runs in the top of the 12th inning, and the Phillies could only come back with 2 in the bottom of the 12th. Mike Schmidt went 0-for-2 with a walk.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-2 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Pete Rose went 1-for-3, and did not finish the game. Johnny Bench did not start the game, and went 0-for-2.
* A doubleheader was split at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The expansion Seattle Mariners won the opener, 5-3. The Chicago White Sox won the nightcap, 6-1.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 9-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Rod Carew went 3-for-5 with an RBI, to raise his batting average to .386. He would finish the next day at .388, after having been above .400 in early September. Robin Yount went 1-for-4 with an RBI.
* The California Angels beat the Kansas City Royals, 4-1 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. George Brett went 1-for-2 with a walk before being replaced by a pinch-runner. The Yankees would beat the Royals for the AL Pennant.
* The Texas Rangers beat the Oakland Athletics, 6-5 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Houston Astros, 4-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The Dodgers would beat the Phillies for the National League Pennant, but lose the World Series to the Yankees.
* The San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres, 13-4 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
* The Cleveland Indians and the expansion Toronto Blue Jays were rained out at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. They played a doubleheader the next day. The Jays won the 1st game, 2-1 in 11 innings. The Indians won the 2nd game, 5-4.
* The Chicago Cubs and the Pittsburgh Pirates were rained out at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. They played a doubleheader the next day. The Pirates swept, 5-1 and 3-2.
There were also college football games played on this day, including the following:
* Number 1 Oklahoma beat Kansas, 24-9 at Owen Field in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma won the Big Eight title.
* The night before, Number 2 Southern California beat Washington State, 41-7 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
* Number 3 Michigan beat Number 5 Texas A&M, 41-3 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.
* Number 4 Penn State were upset by Kentucky, 24-20 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.
* Number 6 Ohio State beat Southern Methodist (SMU), 35-7 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
* Number 7 Colorado beat Army, 31-0 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York.
* Number 8 Texas beat Rice, 72-15 at Memorial Stadium in Austin. While the Longhorns had running back Earl Campbell, who went on to win the Heisman Trophy, the big story in this game was placekicker and punter Russell Erxleben, who set a record with a 67-yard field goal. The record would be tied twice within the next year and change, but never broken, partly because kicking tees have been banned.
Erxleben remains the only punter to be a 3-time All-American, and played 5 seasons for the New Orleans Saints, plus 1 as a "scab" for the Detroit Lions during the 1987 strike. He went into the securities business, and has twice served time in prison for fraud. His son, Ryan Erxleben, went into the family business -- punting, that is, not securities (fraudulent or otherwise), at Texas Tech, although he didn't make it to the NFL.
* Number 9 Florida were upset by Louisiana State, 36-14 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
* Number 10 Alabama beat Georgia, 18-10 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. 'Bama won the Southeastern Conference title, and beat Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl.
* Number 11 Nebraska beat Indiana, 31-13 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.
* Number 12 Arkansas beat Texas Christian (TCU), 42-6 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas. Arkansas went on to lose to Texas, costing them the Southwest Conference title, but beat Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl.
* Number 14 Notre Dame beat Michigan State, 16-6 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.
* Number 20 Arizona State were upset by Missouri, 15-0 at Sun Devil Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.
* The University of Washington lost to Minnesota, 19-17 at Memorial Stadium in Minneapolis. But Washington rebounded to win the Pacific-8 title, and beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl.
* Duke beat Navy, 28-16 at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.
* Columbia beat Pennsylvania, 30-18 at Baker Field in Manhattan.
* Among New Jersey's teams, Rutgers beat Cornell, 30-14 at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, New York. And Princeton lost to Brown, 10-7 at Brown Stadium in Providence, Thode Island.
Also on this day, the St. Louis Blues retired the Number 3 of Bob Gassoff, a defenseman who'd been with them since 1973. The preceding May 27, he was killed in a motorcycle accident in Gray Summit, Missouri. He'd been racing motorcycles with friends at a barbecue at the home of teammate Garry Unger, but had driven off the property, wasn't wearing a helmet, and was hit by a car. The native of Quesnel, British Columbia was only 26.
In high school football, my Alma Mater, East Brunswick High School in Central New Jersey, beat Madison Central, 28-0 at Vince Lombardi Field in Old Bridge. Madison Central is now named Old Bridge.
And in English soccer, Arsenal of North London beat West Ham United of East London, 3-0 at Highbury in North London.
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