October 16, 1983: Eddie Murray slams a pair of home runs and Scott McGregor pitches a 5-hitter, as the Baltimore Orioles beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-0 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, and win the World Series 4-1. Baltimore catcher Rick Dempsey‚ who hit .385 with 4 doubles and a home run‚ is named the Series' Most Valuable Player.
The Orioles win their 3rd World Series, marking a unique double: Edward Bennett Williams, famed trial lawyer, majority owner of the Orioles, and minority owner and former majority owner of the NFL's Washington Redskins, becomes the only man ever to be an owner of the current World Series winners and the current Super Bowl champions at the same time.
This caps a period where the Orioles have finished 1st 8 times in 18 years, and have at least been competitive almost continuously since 1960. But, due to their core players getting old and later mismanagement by owner Peter Angelos, they have not played a World Series game since.
The last out is a line shot to shortstop Cal Ripken Jr., son and namesake of the Orioles' longtime 3rd base coach. He becomes the only player ever to win either League's Rookie of the Year in his 1st full season, and then the League's MVP in his 2nd, defying what had come to be known as "the sophomore jinx." He will play another 18 seasons, but never appear in another World Series.
Edward Bennett Williams is born on May 31, 1920 in Hartford, Connecticut. Setting up practice in Washington, D.C., he became known as a "superlawyer," representing people on the left, the right, and those who switched. He represented singer-actor Frank Sinatra, Playboy magazine publisher Hugh Hefner, Teamsters Union president Jimmy Hoffa, cult leader the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, and, at the end of his life, "junk bond" trader Michael Milken.
In 1965, he bought a controlling interest in the Redskins from the conservators of founding owner George Preston Marshall, who had been rendered incompetent for ownership by a stroke. Williams rebuilt the long-dormant team, seeing them reach 3 Super Bowls.
In 1980, he bought the Orioles. At the time, NFL rules prohibited a majority owner from being a majority owner in another sport, so, in preparation for buying the Orioles, Williams sold some of his stake in the Redskins to Jack Kent Cooke, former owner of the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers and the NHL's Los Angeles Kings, the builder of the Forum arena outside L.A., and the last owner of the minor-league baseball team that gave its name to an NHL powerhouse, the Toronto Maple Leafs.
On January 30, 1983, the Redskins won Super Bowl XVII. Eight and a half months later, the Orioles won the World Series. Williams remains the only person to be an owner of the holder of the MLB and NFL championships at the same time. In 1985, he sold the rest of his Redskins stock to Cooke. Not long before his death in 1988, he negotiated the deal to build a new ballpark for the Orioles, ending Baltimore's fears that he would move the team down the Parkway to his beloved Washington.
As of the 2022 NFL season, Williams' "double" has not be repeated, and cannot be, as no majority owner of an MLB team has a noticeable share of ownership of an NFL team, and vice versa.
One other note: The day before, October 15, 1983, Game 4 was played in daylight: Orioles 5, Phillies 4. Through the 2022 MLB season, it remains the last World Series game played under the Sun. Game 4 in 1984 was played in daylight, but under overcast skies. Game 6 in 1987 began in daylight, but was played in a dome.
Also on this day, Kelso died at age 26. A grandson of 1943 Triple Crown winner Count Fleet, he was eligible to run in the Triple Crown races in 1960, but did not do so. But from ages 3 to 8 (8 is not old for a horse, but it's old for a horse to be racing), he won many big races, including 5 straight Jockey Club Gold Cups from 1960 to 1964 and 3 straight Woodward Stakes from 1961 to 1963.
He won the Daily Racing Form Horse of the Year award 5 times. No other horse has even won it 4 times. He was retired in 1966, having won just under $2 million, a record that would stand until 1979. He died just 1 day after being paraded around the track at Belmont Park, prior to the running of the race that was his trademark, the Jockey Club Gold Cup. Perhaps it was too much for him.
Horse racing writer Joe Hirsch wrote, "Once upon a time there was a horse named Kelso. But only once."
*
October 16, 1983 was a Sunday. These games were played in the NFL:
* The New York Giants lost to the Kansas City Chiefs, 38-17 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
* The New York Jets lost to the Miami Dolphins, 32-14 at Shea Stadium.
* The New England Patriots beat the San Diego Chargers, 37-21 at Sullivan Stadium (formerly Schafer Stadium, later Foxboro Stadium) in the Boston suburb of Foxboro, Massachusetts.
* The Buffalo Bills beat the Baltimore Colts, 30-7 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.
* The football version of the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 34-27 at Tampa Stadium.
* The San Francisco 49ers beat the New Orleans Saints, 32-13 at the Superdome in New Orleans.
* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat their arch-rivals, the Cleveland Browns, 44-17 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.
* The Detroit Lions beat the Chicago Bears, 31-17 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.
* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Houston Oilers, 34-14 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.
* The Dallas Cowboys beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 37-7 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.
* The Denver Broncos beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 24-17 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.
* The Los Angeles Rams beat the Atlanta Falcons, 27-21 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).
* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Los Angeles Raiders, 38-36 at the Kingdome in Seattle.
* And the next night, the highest-scoring game in the history of ABC Monday Night Football was played: The Green Bay Packers beat the Washington Redskins, 48-47 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
The NBA season hadn't started yet. There were 6 games played in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-4 at Madison Square Garden.
* The New York Islanders beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.
* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-1 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands.
* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Washington Capitals, 4-2 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.
* The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Minnesota North Stars, 4-3 at the Chicago Stadium.
* And the Edmonton Oilers beat their "Battle of Alberta" arch-rivals, the Calgary Flames, 4-3 at the Flames' new home, the Olympic Saddledome, which opens on this night. The next night, the same teams played at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton, and the Oilers won again, 5-1.
No comments:
Post a Comment