October 6, 1981: Also on this day, Anwar Sadat is assassinated while reviewing a military parade in the Egyptian capital of Cairo. President of Egypt since 1970, and negotiator of the Camp David Peace Accords with President Jimmy Carter and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in 1978, he was 63.
The assassin, Army Lieutenant Khalid Islambouli, claimed he did it because of the peace with Israel. He was tried, convicted, and executed the following April.
Vice President Hosni Mubarak becomes President, and resumes the repression of Sadat's predecessor, Gamal Abdel Nasser. until his overthrow in 2011. But the promise of the "Arab Spring" falls short, and Egypt remains a repressive country.
Earlier in the year, on March 30, President Ronald Reagan was shot, but survived. And on May 13, Pope John Paul II was shot, but survived. Sadat did not.
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October 6, 1981 was a Tuesday. Football was in midweek. The NBA season didn't start until October 30.
Game 1 of the AL Division Series, forced by the strike season's split-season format, was played. Billy Martin, now managing the Oakland Athletics, becomes the 1st manager to take 4 franchises into the postseason. He had previously done so with the 1969 Minnesota Twins, the 1972 Detroit Tigers, and the 1976 and 1977 New York Yankees.
The A's are facing the Kansas City Royals, at Royals Stadium (later Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City, and due to his exile there from the Yankees in 1957 and his 1976 and '77 Playoff battles against them, Martin hates Kansas City, and, more than usual, wants to win there.
No problem: Mike Norris tosses a 6-hit shutout, and the A's win 4-0, their 1st win in a postseason game in 7 years.
On the same day, Game 1 of the NL Division Series is played. Alan Ashby, a light-hitting catcher, hits a walkoff home run to give the Astros another big win over the Dodgers, 3-1. Rookie sensation Fernando Valenzuela was the winning pitcher. The pitcher who gave up the home run was Dave Stewart. Both he and the Dodgers would have more luck as the postseason went on, first together, then apart.
The other ALDS, between the New York Yankees and the Milwaukee Brewers, started the next day. So did the other NLDS, between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Montreal Expos.
This was also the Opening Night of the 1981-82 NHL season, and 5 games were played:
* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers lost to the Detroit Red Wings, 5-2 at Madison Square Garden.
* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Hartford Whalers, 6-5 at the Colisée de Québec.
* The St. Louis Blues beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 6-2 at the St. Louis Arena.
* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Winnipeg Jets, 6-1 at the Winnipeg Arena.
* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Colorado Rockies, 4-2 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver. The next season, the Rockies moved to the Meadowlands, and became the New Jersey Devils.
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