October 30, 2015: An MLB Debut In the World Series

October 30, 2015: Game 3 of the World Series is the 1st World Series game ever played at Citi Field in Flushing Meadow, Queens, the new home of the New York Mets.

This game includes one of the great oddities in baseball history. In the top of the 5th inning, Raúl A. Mondesí, a 20-year-old 2nd baseman, pinch-hits for pitcher Danny Duffy. He was the 1st player to make his major league debut in the World Series: Although he had not played in the major leagues during the regular season, the NLDS or the NLCS, Royals manager Ned Yost included him on the World Series roster. That's very odd, but it is legal. Noah Syndergaard strikes him out.

Now calling himself Adalberto Mondesí, to avoid confusion, he is still with the Royals, and led the American League in stolen bases in 2020, but has seen his career riddled with injuries. He is the son of Raúl R. Mondesí, a former All-Star outfielder, who was elected to a 6-year term as the Mayor of San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic, in 2010; and is now serving an 8-year term in prison, for corruption while in office.

The Royals score a run in the top of the 1st. David Wright hits his 1st World Series home run in the bottom of the 1st, but the Royals take a 3-2 lead in the top of the 2nd -- meaning the Mets have now blown leads in all 3 games of the Series so far, and in their last 4 Series games (dating to 2000).

But the Mets take the lead back in the 3rd, as Curtis Granderson hits a home run. They add a run in the 4th, and 4 more in the 6th, and win 9-3. The Mets close the Series gap to 2-1 -- just like they did in 2000. But, just as they did in 2000, they will lose in 5.

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October 30, 2015 was a Friday. There were 3 college football games played that night:

* The University of Louisville beat Wake Forest, 20-19 at Truist Field in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

* Louisiana Tech beat Rice, 42-17 at Rice Stadium in Houston.

* And Utah State beat Wyoming, 58-27 at Maverik Stadium in Logan, Utah.

There were 12 games played in the NBA:

* The Brooklyn Nets lost to the San Antonio Spurs, 102-75 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio.

* The Toronto Raptors beat the Boston Celtics, 113-103 at the TD Garden in Boston.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 99-71 at the Wells Fargo Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Charlotte Hornets, 97-94 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.

* The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Orlando Magic, 139-136 in double overtime at the Amway Center in Orlando. (It's now named the Kia Center.) Russell Westbrook had 48 points for the Thunder.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Houston Rockets, 112-92 at the Toyota Center in Houston.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Miami Heat, 102-92 at the Quicken Loans Arena (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland.

* The Detroit Pistons beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bulls, 98-94 in overtime at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The Washington Wizards beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 118-113 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Denver Nuggets, 95-78 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 110-92 at the Talking Stick Resort Arena (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.

* And the Sacramento Kings beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers, 132-114 at the Sleep Train Arena (formerly the ARCO Arena) in Sacramento. The Golden State Warriors are the closest team to the Kings, but after the early 2000s, who's kidding who about who the Kings' arch-rivals are?

There were 9 games in the NHL:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-1 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 2-1 at the Verizon Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Colorado Avalanche, 3-2 at the PNC Arena (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh, North Carolina.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Florida Panthers, 3-1 at the BB&T Center (now the FLA Live Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-1 at the HSBC Arena (now the KeyBank Center) in Buffalo.

* The Ottawa Senators beat the Detroit Red Wings, 3-1 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* The Minnesota Wild beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Blackhawks, 5-4 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The Vancouver Canucks beat the Arizona Coyotes, 4-3 at the Gila River Arena (now the Desert Diamond Center) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

* And the Montreal Canadiens beat the Calgary Flames, 6-2 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

And in New Jersey high school football, my Alma Mater, East Brunswick, lost to Sayreville, 33-13 at War Memorial Stadium in Sayreville.