October 4, 1970: Janis Joplin Dies

October 4, 1970: Janis Joplin dies of a heroin overdose at the Landmark Motor Hotel in Los Angeles. She was 27 years old.

She had starred at the Monterey Pop Festival in California in 1967, became a symbol of the Hippie era, and had also played Woodstock. Jimi Hendrix had done each of these things as well. He died on September 16, as a result of mixing drugs and alcohol. When asked for her thoughts on his death, Janis said, "There but for the grace of God go I."

She wasn't kidding. She died just 16 days later.

When he found out about Jimi's death, Jim Morrison, the lead singer of The Doors, himself a hippie icon with a booze problem and a drug problem, asked his friends, "Do you believe in omens?" Like Janis, he didn't take the hint. When Janis died, Jim told his friends, "Believe it or not, you're drinking with number three."

If any of those friends tried to get him to stop, it didn't take. Nine months after Jimi and Janis, Jim Morris was dead, too. All 3 of them died at the age of 27, giving rise to the idea of rock and roll's "27 Club."

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October 4, 1970 was a Sunday. The NBA, the ABA and the NHL were still a few days away from starting their new seasons. But Major League Baseball had begun its Playoffs:

* In Game 2 of the American League Championship Series, the Baltimore Orioles beat the Minnesota Twins, 11-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. It was only 4-3 O's going into the 9th inning, but the Birds scored 7 runs to put it away. Frank Robinson and David Johnson hit home runs for Baltimore, and Harmon Killebrew and Tony Oliva did so for Minnesota.

* In Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, the Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-1 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Bobby Tolan hit a home run for the Big Red Machine. Pete Rose went 0-for-4, and Johnny Bench went 0-for-3 with a walk, but they weren't needed. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-4 with an RBI, and Willie Stargell went 0-for-4.

Baltimore and Cincinnati would clinch their Leagues' respective Pennants the next day, each completing a 3-game sweep.

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And there were NFL games that day: 

* The New York Giants lost to the New Orleans Saints, 14-10 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans. It was 1 of only 2 games the Saints would win all season, the other coming on November 8, when they beat the Detroit Lions at home, on the last play of the game, a record-setting 63-yard field goal by Tom Dempsey.

* The New York Jets lost to the Buffalo Bills, 34-31 at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo.

* The Baltimore Colts beat the Boston Patriots, 14-6 at Harvard Stadium in Boston. The next season, the Patriots would move to Foxborough, Massachusetts, and change their name to the New England Patriots.

* The Washington Redskins beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 33-21 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the San Francisco 49ers, 21-20 at Atlanta (later Atlanta-Fulton County) Stadium.

* The Houston Oilers beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 13-10 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the Minnesota Vikings, 13-10 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Dallas Cowboys, 20-7 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Denver Broncos beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 26-13 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

* The Los Angeles Rams beat the San Diego Chargers, 37-10 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

You'll notice that this accounts for 20 of the 26 teams then in the newly-merged NFL. On Saturday, October 3, the Miami Dolphins beat the Oakland Raiders, 20-13 at the Orange Bowl in Miami. And the Cleveland Browns beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 15-7 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

And, on October 5, in the new phenomenon of ABC Monday Night Football, which had begun just 2 weeks earlier, the Detroit Lions beat the Chicago Bears, 28-14 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.