December 24, 1994: The Rams and Raiders Abandon Los Angeles

December 24, 1994: The Kansas City Chiefs defeat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Raiders, 19-9, before 64,130 fans -- a big crowd, but hardly a sellout at the 93,000 seat Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The Coliseum had been the home of the Raiders since moving from Oakland before the 1982 season, and the home of the Los Angels Rams from 1946 to 1979. The Rams had moved 38 miles southeast to Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). On this same day, they played there, and lost to the Washington Redskins, 24-21. The crowd was 25,705, a pathetically small one for a stadium whose football capacity was 69,000.

Before the next season opened, the Los Angeles metropolitan area dropped from 2 NFL teams to none: Al Davis took the Raiders back to Oakland, and Rams owner Georgia Frontiere took the team to her hometown of St. Louis. The Rams' move also killed the famous Los Angeles-San Francisco rivalry with the 49ers, whose run of success the preceding few years hurt the Rams as much as anything: For about 15 years before it, the Rams had dominated the division that became the NFC West.

It took the Rams a while to get going in St. Louis, building "The Greatest Show on Turf," winning Super Bowl XXXIV, and losing Super Bowl XXXVI, before falling apart again. After the 2015 season, with Stan Kroenke having bought the team from Mrs. Frontiere's estate, the Rams moved back to Los Angeles, playing 4 seasons at the Coliseum before Kroenke's SoFi Stadium was built in Inglewood, on the site of the Hollywood Park racetrack, across from The Forum. The NBA's Los Angeles Clippers have begun building their new arena, the Intuit Dome, on the same campus.

The Raiders' return to Oakland was shaky. They fell victim to the Tuck Rule Game in the 2001 season, then won the 2002 AFC Championship, but lost Super Bowl XXXVII. Al Davis died in 2011, and his son Mark Davis inherited the team. He never liked Oakland, and tried to go back to Los Angeles, before making a deal to move to Las Vegas for the 2020 season.

With the Raiders having balked in their negotiations, it was the San Diego Chargers who moved for the 2017 season, spending 3 season at Dignity Health Sports Park in suburban Carson, California, before moving into SoFi as tenants of the Rams.

*

December 24, 1994 was a Saturday. No college football bowl games were played. Baseball was out of season. The NBA had no games scheduled. And the NHL team owners were locking out the players. So the only games played on the day were in the NFL.

At the time, the NFL preferred not to play games on Christmas Day, even when it fell on a Sunday. That changed the next year. This time, the only game played on Sunday, December 25 was the Miami Dolphins' 27-20 win over the Detroit Lions at Joe Robbie Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida, and that was in prime time. The next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Minnesota Vikings beat the San Francisco 49ers, 21-14 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. The rest of the NFL slate, including the 2 L.A. farewells, was played on the afternoon of Saturday, December 24:

* The New York Giants beat the Dallas Cowboys, 15-10 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the Arizona Cardinals, 10-6 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 34-19 at Tampa Stadium.

* The New Orleans Saints beat the Denver Broncos, 30-28 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The New York Jets lost to the Houston Oilers, 24-10 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Cleveland Browns beat the Seattle Seahawks, 35-9 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 33-30 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Indianapolis Colts beat the Buffalo Bills, 10-9 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.

* The New England Patriots beat the Chicago Bears, 13-3 at Soldier Field in Chicago.

* And the San Diego Chargers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 37-34 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego.

December 9, 1984: Eric Dickerson Becomes the Single-Season Rushing Leader

December 9, 1984: The Los Angeles Rams beat the Houston Oilers, 27-16 at Anaheim Stadium -- now named Angel Stadium of Anaheim -- in the Los Angeles suburb of Anaheim, California. Eric Dickerson rushes for 215 yards, including 2 runs ending in touchdowns. In so doing, he finishes the game with 2,007 yards rushing on the season. This breaks the NFL's single-season rushing record, 2,003, set by O.J. Simpson of the Buffalo Bills in 1973.

The Rams played 1 more game in that regular season, traveling to face their arch-rivals, the San Francisco 49ers. Dickerson added 98 yards to his total, raising it to 2,105. (The 49ers won, 19-16 at Candlestick Park.)

This remains the NFL record. In 1985, Herschel Walker ran for 2,411 yards for the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League. But, just as Dickerson needed a 15th game to surpass Simpson (O.J. still holds the record for most rushing yards in the 1st 14 games of a season), Walker played an 18-game season. What's more, the USFL was not highly regarded. Dickerson himself said, "The difference is, I did it in the majors, and he did it in the minors." The next year, Walker came to the NFL, with the Dallas Cowboys. His peak total in the NFL was 1,514 yards, in 1988.

There have now been 8 2,000-yard rushing seasons in NFL history. Since Simpson and Dickerson: Barry Sanders had 2,053 for the 1997 Detroit Lions, Terrell Davis had 2,008 for the 1998 Denver Broncos, Jamal Lewis had 2,006 for the 2003 Baltimore Ravens, Chris Johnson had 2,006 for the 2009 Tennessee Titans, Adrian Peterson had 2,097 for the 2012 Minnesota Vikings, and Derrick Henry had 2,027 for the 2020 Titans.

For comparison's sake: The highest single-game total for Jim Brown, who held the single-season record before Simpson, at 1,863 in 1963, was 237; Walter Payton, the 1st man to rush for more yards in a game than Simpson (275), and eventually surpassed Brown as the NFL's all-time rushing leader, topped out at 1,852 yards in a season; and Emmitt Smith, who surpassed Payton and remains the all-time rushing leader, topped out at 237 for a game and 1,773 for a season.

In 1999, The Sporting News released their list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. Dickerson ranked 38th. In 2010, the NFL Network released their list of the 100 Greatest Players. Dickerson ranked 52nd.

*

December 9, 1984 was a Sunday. These other NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Giants lost to the football version of the St. Louis Cardinals, 31-21 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the New England Patriots, 27-17 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Atlanta Falcons, 23-6 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the New Orleans Saints, 24-21 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The Washington Redskins beat their arch-rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, 30-28 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat their arch-rivals, the Cleveland Browns, 23-20 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the Indianapolis Colts, 35-17 at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis.

* The Green Bay Packers beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bears, 20-14 at Soldier Field in Chicago.

* The Denver Broncos beat the San Diego Chargers, 16-13 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Minnesota Vikings, 51-7 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The Niners finished 15-1 in the regular season, and went on to win the Super Bowl.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Seattle Seahawks, 34-7 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The day before, the New York Jets beat the Buffalo Bills, 21-17 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* And the next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Los Angeles Raiders beat the Detroit Lions, 24-3 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

There were 5 games played in the NBA that day:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Philadelphia 76ers, 110-94 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Atlanta Hawks, 128-127 at the Boston Garden. Larry Bird scored 48 points.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Kansas City Kings, 123-120 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah. Adrian Dantley scored 38 points.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the San Antonio Spurs, 126-123 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Houston Rockets, 96-90 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

And there were 4 games played in the NHL:

* The Washington Capitals beat the Detroit Red Wings, 4-0 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Quebec Nordiques and the Buffalo Sabres played to a tie, 4-4 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Chicago Black Hawks beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 7-2 at the Chicago Stadium.

* And the Winnipeg Jets beat the Minnesota North Stars, 4-2 at the Winnipeg Arena.

October 27, 2002: Emmitt Smith Becomes the NFL's All-Time Rushing Leader

October 27, 2002: The Seattle Seahawks beat the Dallas Cowboys, 17-14 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas. Rian Lindell wins it with a 20-yard field goal with 25 seconds left.

But the game was memorable for another reason. The Cowboys' Emmitt Smith rushed for 109 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown that tied the game with 5:35 left in regulation. Those 109 yards enabled him to surpass Chicago Bears legend Walter Payton as the NFL's all-time rushing leader, breaking the record of 16,726 yards.

Drafted out of the University of Florida in 1990, Smith had helped the Cowboys win Super Bowls XXVII, XXVIII and XXX. He made 8 Pro Bowls, and in 1995, he set a new single-season record with 25 rushing touchdowns. (That record is now 28, set in 2006, by La Dainian Tomlinson of the San Diego Chargers.)

Smith, a native of Pensacola, in the Florida Panhandle, remained with the Cowboys through the 2002 season, and played 2 more seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. He still holds the NFL career records for most rushing attempts, 4,409; most rushing yards, 18,355, with Payton still 2nd; and most rushing touchdowns, 164.

In 1999, before he broke the record, The Sporting News ranked him 68th on their list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. In 2010, the NFL Network ranked him 28th on their list of the 100 Greatest Players. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor.

*

October 27, 2002 was a Sunday. These other NFL games were played:

* The New York Jets lost to the Cleveland Browns, 24-21 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The Denver Broncos beat the New England Patriots, 24-16 at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Baltimore Ravens, 31-18 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Washington Redskins beat the Indianapolis Colts, 26-21 at FedEx Field (now Northwest Stadium) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Carolina Panthers, 12-9 at Ericsson Stadium (now Bank of America Stadium) in Charlotte.

* The Houston Texans beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 21-19 at Alltel Stadium (now EverBank Stadium) in Jacksonville.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat their arch-rivals, the New Orleans Saints, 37-35 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Detroit Lions, 24-17 at Ralph Wilson Stadium (formerly Rich Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Tennessee Titans beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 30-24 at Paul Brown Stadium (now Paycor Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Chicago Bears, 25-7 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Oakland Raiders, 20-10 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Arizona Cardinals, 38-28 at Candlestick Park (then named San Francisco Stadium at Candlestick Point) in San Francisco.

* The next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Philadelphia Eagles beat the New York Giants, 17-3 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. The Giants are the Eagles' geographical and longest-lasting rivals, but most Eagle fans consider the Cowboys to be the team's true arch-rivals.

* And the Green Bay Packers, the Miami Dolphins, the St. Louis Rams and the San Diego Chargers had a bye that week.

In baseball, Game 7 of the World Series was played. At the ballpark then known as Edison International Field of Anaheim, the team then known as the Anaheim Angels beat the San Francisco Giants, 4-1. The team now known as the Los Angeles Angels, playing at what's now named Angel Stadium of Anaheim, having already won their 1st Pennant in 42 seasons of trying, had now won their 1st World Championship.

The NBA season started 2 days later. There were 3 games played in the NHL:

* The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Los Angeles Kings, 5-1 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the San Jose Sharks, 3-2 at the United Center in Chicago.

* And the Minnesota Wild and the Colorado Avalanche played to a tie, 3-3 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

October 26, 2002: The Anaheim Comeback -- Or the San Francisco Choke

Scott Spiezio

October 26, 2002: Game 6 of the World Series, at what was then known as Edison International Field of Anaheim – the former "Big A" briefly nicknamed "the Big Ed." The San Francisco Giants led the Series 3 games to 2, and led the team then known as the Anaheim Angels, 5-0 after 6½ innings, thanks to home runs by Shawon Dunston and Barry Bonds.

Let me take a step back. On October 19, Game 1 was played at the Big Ed. The Giants won it, 4-3, and their lineup included Tsuyoshi Shinjo, making him the 1st Japanese-born player to appear in a World Series game.

On October 24, Game 5 was played at Pacific Bell Park (now AT&T Park) in San Francisco. Jeff Kent hit 2 home runs, and the Giants pounded the Angels, 16-4.

But the event that will be forever remembered came in the bottom of the 7th inning. Kenny Lofton hit a triple, driving in J.T. Snow and David Bell (son of Buddy, grandson of Gus). But Darren Baker, 3-year-old son of Giant manager Dusty Baker, acting as batboy, had come up to the plate to collect Lofton’s bat, unaware that the play was still in progress. Snow saw this, and, fearing that Darren might get hurt in a play at the plate, grabbed him by his Giants jacket and pulled him away. There was no play at the plate, and Bell was able to score standing up.

The fact that the Giants had won the game so overwhelmingly, and the fact that Darren Baker had been saved from serious injury, made the Giants look like a team of destiny. They needed to win just 1 of the possible 2 games in Anaheim to take their 1st World Championship in 45 seasons in San Francisco.

Instead, the Angels scored 3 runs in the 7th to make it 5-3, including a home run by Scott Spiezio, but the Giants were still just 9 outs away from their 1st World Championship since moving to San Francisco 45 years earlier, their 1st in any city since they were in New York 48 years earlier.

But they choked. The Angels scored 3 more in the 8th, including 1 on a home run by Darin Erstad, and won, 6-5. The Series went to a Game 7 in Anaheim tomorrow night.

That night, I had dinner at an Applebee's in Milltown, New Jersey, about 3 miles from my residence in East Brunswick. When I left, the Giants were winning. When I got home, they were losing. To put it another way: According to Baseball-Reference.com, when Spiezio came to the plate, the Giants had a 93 percent chance of winning the game, and thus the Series. But they lost.

The next night, Angels won Game 7, 4-1. Liván Hernández, one of the Florida Marlins' heroes in the 1997 World Series, began the bottom of the 3rd inning by giving up a single to David Eckstein. He gave up a single to Darin Erstad. Then he hit Tim Salmon with a pitch, loading the bases with nobody out. And Garrett Anderson doubled down the right-field line to clear the bases. John Lackey pitched 5 strong innings, and 3 relievers shut the Giants out the rest of the way.

Having already won a World Series as a player with the 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers, Mike Scioscia had now won one as the Angels' manager.

In his one and only World Series appearance, Barry Bonds went 8-for-17, .471, with 4 home runs, 6 RBIs, and a Series record 13 walks. It was all in vain.

The Angels' inability to win a Pennant had been called "The Curse of the Cowboy." Gene Autry, Western movies' "Singing Cowboy," was their 1st owner, and still owned the team at this point. There seemed to be no reason why he would put a curse on his own team, but maybe he was the one who was cursed.

In the midst of the illness that would end his life the next year, Autry sold the Angels to the Walt Disney Company in 1997. Disney changed the team's name to the Anaheim Angels. The team finally won their 1st Pennant in 2002, and then won the World Series, ending the curse. But maybe they've started a new one: They've been to the Playoffs a few times since, but still have only the 1 Pennant.

Twenty years later, Dusty Baker is managing in the World Series again. Darren Baker is 23, and played 2nd base for the Harrisburg Senators of the Class AA Eastern League, a farm team of the Washington Nationals. If he continues at his current pace of progress through the minor leagues, he could be in the major leagues by the start of the 2024 season.

Scott Spiezio and David Eckstein would be teammates on another World Series winner, the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals. Spiezio's father, Ed Spiezio, was a 3rd baseman who won the World Series with the Cardinals in 1964 and 1967.

UPDATE: The Angels have a team Hall of Fame. Through the 2025 season, the inductees are:

* From the 1960s: Founding owner Gene Autry, 2nd baseman Bobby Knoop, shortstop Jim Fregosi, and pitcher Dean Chance.

* From the 1979 American League Western Division title: Autry, Fregosi as manager, Knoop as coach, coach Jimmie Reese, 1st baseman Rod Carew, 2nd baseman Bobby Grich, left fielder Don Baylor, catcher Brian Downing, and pitcher Nolan Ryan.

* From the 1982 AL West title: Autry, Knoop, Reese, Carew, Grich, Baylor, Downing, and pitcher Mike Witt -- but not manager Gene Mauch, nor right fielder Reggie Jackson.

* From the 1986 AL West title: Autry, Knoop, Reese, Grich, Downing (now in left field), Witt, and pitcher Chuck Finley -- but, again, neither Mauch nor Jackson.

* From the 1995 team that blew a big AL West lead: Autry, Knoop, Reese, Carew (now a coach), Finley, right fielder Tim Salmon, and left fielder Garret Anderson.

* From the 2002 World Champions: Salmon and Anderson are the only players yet honored.

* From the 2004 and '05 AL West titles: Salmon, Anderson and right fielder Vladimir Guerrero Sr. From the 2007, '08 and '09 Division titles: Anderson and Guerrero. So far, no players from the 2014 Division title have been honored.

*

October 26, 2002 was a Saturday. Among the college football games played that day were these:

* Number 1 Miami beat West Virginia, 40-23 at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, West Virginia. Miami, defending National Champions, won the Big East Conference Championship.

* Number 2 Oklahoma had the week off. They beat Colorado in the Big Twelve Conference Championship Game.

* Number 3 Virginia Tech beat Temple, 20-10 at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Virginia. But Tech lost 4 of their last 5 regular season games, their only victory at home to arch-rival Virginia.

* Number 4 Ohio State beat Number 18 Penn State, 13-7 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. Ohio State won the Big Ten Conference Championship, and then beat Miami in the Fiesta Bowl for the Bowl Championship Series' National Championship.

* Number 5 Georgia beat Kentucky, 52-24 at Commonwealth Stadium (now Kroger Field) in Lexington, Kentucky. Georgia beat Arkansas in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game.

* Number 6 Notre Dame beat Number 11 Florida State, 34-24 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee. Florida State recovered, and won the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship, before losing to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.

* Number 7 Texas beat Number 17 Iowa State, 21-10 at Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas. Losing to Oklahoma and Texas Tech cost Texas a shot at the Big Twelve title, but they still ended up in their frequent season finale, the Cotton Bowl.

* Number 8 Michigan were upset by Number 13 Iowa, 34-9 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. Iowa finished 2nd in the Big 10, and went to the Orange Bowl.

* Number 9 Washington State beat Arizona, 21-13 at Arizona Stadium in Tucson. "Wazzu" won the Pacific-Ten Conference title, but lost the Rose Bowl to Oklahoma.

* Number 10 Louisiana State lost to Auburn, 31-7 at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama. LSU reached the Cotton Bowl, where they lost to Texas.

* Number 14 Oregon were upset by Number 15 Southern California, 44-33 at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon. USC blew their shot at the Pac-10 title by losing to Washington State, but beat Iowa in the Orange Bowl.

* Number 16 Tennessee lost in a mild upset, but by a big score, to Number 19 Alabama, 34-14 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee.

* Among the service academies, Number 22 Air Force were upset by Wyoming, 34-26 at, with some appropriateness, War Memorial Stadium in Laramie, Wyoming; Army lost to Alabama-Birmingham (UAB), 29-26 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York; and Navy lost to Tulane, 51-30 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* And Rutgers lost to Syracuse, 45-14 at the Carrier Dome (now the JMA Wireless Dome) in Syracuse, New York.

The NBA season didn't start for another 3 days. There were 13 games in the NHL:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-3 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Philadelphia Flyers, 6-2 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-1 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.

* On the opener of CBC's Hockey Night In Canada, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Ottawa Senators, 5-3 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Atlanta Thrashers, 4-3 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston.

* The Chicago Blackhawks and the Carolina Hurricanes played to a tie, 3-3 at the RBC Center (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh, North Carolina.

* The Washington Capitals and the Florida Panthers played to a tie, 1-1 at the Office Depot Center (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.

* The Nashville Predators beat the Detroit Red Wings, 3-1 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center (now the Bridgestone Arena) in Nashville.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Buffalo Sabres, 5-2 at the Mellon Arena (as the Civic Arena was then known) in Pittsburgh.

* The Minnesota Wild beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 6-1 at the America West Arena (now the Footprint Center) in Phoenix.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Calgary Flames, 4-3 at the Saddledome in Calgary. Eric Boguniecki scored the winning goal with 25 seconds left in overtime.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 4-3 at the Skyreach Centre (as the Northlands Coliseum was then known) in Edmonton.

* In the nightcap of Hockey Night In Canada, the Vancouver Canucks lost to the Dallas Stars, 4-1 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

* And the Los Angeles Kings, the Colorado Avalanche, the San Jose Sharks and the Columbus Blue Jackets were not scheduled to play.

And in English soccer, Arsenal lost to Lancashire team Blackburn Rovers, 2-1 at Highbury in North London.

October 12, 1986: The Dave Henderson Game

October 12, 1986: Game 5 of the American League Championship Series is played at Anaheim Stadium (now named Angel Stadium of Anaheim). The host California Angels (now named the Los Angeles Angels) have the Boston Red Sox one loss away from elimination. Trailing 5-2 entering the 9th inning‚ the Red Sox stage one of the most improbable comebacks in postseason history.

After Don Baylor's 9th-inning home run reduces the deficit to 5-4‚ reserve outfielder Dave Henderson slugs a 2-out‚ 2-run homer off Donnie Moore to give Boston a 6-5 lead. California ties the score with a run in the bottom of the 9th, but Henderson‚ who had appeared to be the goat when he dropped Bobby Grich's long fly ball over the fence for a home run in the 7th inning‚ delivers a sacrifice fly in the 11th for the winning run.

Red Sox 7, Angels 6. Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated and Fox Sports has called this the greatest game he's ever seen.

The Sox would win the Pennant 3 days later. Three years after that, still despondent over having given up the home run that blew the Pennant for the Angels, Moore shot his wife, then himself. She lived, he didn't. A loss in a baseball game may be a terrible disappointment, but there is a difference between disappointment, however great, and tragedy.

Henderson would also hit the home run that appeared to give the Sox Game 6 of the World Series, and their 1st title in 68 years. That they did not finish the job, and how they failed, has become legend. If they had, Henderson would have become a god in New England, as David Ortiz eventually did. That he is not is no fault of his.

Hendu would later help Oakland with 3 straight Pennants, and he was invited to throw out the ceremonial first ball before Game 3 of the 2009 ALDS between the Red Sox and Angels. Unfortunately for the Sox, it didn't work any more than the Yankees bringing out Bucky Dent to do the honors before Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS between the Yanks and the Sox. He died of a heart attack in 2015, only 57 years old.

In 2010, the MLB Network listed this game at 8th on their list of MLB's 20 Greatest Games -- limited in scope, due to the availability of surviving videotape, to 1975 onward.

*

October 12, 1986 was a Sunday. Game 4 of the National League Championship Series was played that day, at Shea Stadium. The Houston Astros shook off the previous day's walkoff loss to the New York Mets, and won, 3-1, to tie up the series at 2 apiece. Alan Ashby hit a home run. So dids Dickie Thon, the once-promising 2nd baseman whose career nearly ended early in 1984, when he was beaned by Mike Torrez, then with the Mets.

These NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles, 35-3 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The New York Jets beat the New England Patriots, 31-24 at Sullivan Stadium (formerly Schaefer Stadium, later Foxboro Stadium) in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the Los Angeles Rams, 26-14 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The football version of the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 30-19 at Tampa Stadium.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the Buffalo Bills, 27-14 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

* The Chicago Bears beat the Houston Oilers, 20-7 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat their arch-rivals, the Washington Redskins, 30-6 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

* The Cleveland Browns beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 20-7 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The New Orleans Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts, 17-14 at the Hoosier Dome (later the RCA Dome) in Indianapolis.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Green Bay Packers, 21-14 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.

* The Denver Broncos beat the San Diego Chargers, 31-14 at Jack Murphy Stadium (later Qualcomm Stadium) in San Diego.

* The Los Angeles Raiders beat the Seattle Seahawks, 14-10 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the San Francisco 49ers, 27-24 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Chuck Nelson kicked a 28-yard field goal in overtime.

* And the next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 24-22 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

The NBA season started 19 days later. There were 4 games played in the NHL:

* The Boston Bruins beat fellow New England team the Hartford Whalers, 7-2 at the Boston Garden.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Buffalo Sabres, 4-2 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-1 at the Chicago Stadium.

* And the Winnipeg Jets beat the Edmonton Oilers, 5-3 at the Winnipeg Arena.

September 27, 1973: Nolan Ryan's 383rd Strikeout

September 27, 1973: The California Angels beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-4 at Anaheim Stadium – now named Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Richie Scheinblum doubles Tommy McCraw home with the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning.

Nolan Ryan went the distance, to finish the season at 21-15. In the 8th inning, he struck McCraw out, to tie Sandy Koufax's record of 382 strikeouts in a season. He didn't get another in the 9th, but the game went to extra innings, giving him another chance. He didn't get another in the 10th, but he struck Rich Reese out in the 11th, for his 383rd strikeout.

During Reese's at-bat, Rod Carew stole 2nd base. The Anaheim crowd cheered the call of "Safe," because, if he had been called out, it would have ended the inning, and taken away Ryan's chance at a 383rd K. Instead, Carew was safe, and Ryan fanned Reese.

That total of 383 remains the single-season major league record. The following season, he struck out 367 batters, and that remains the 2nd-most in American League history, and the 3rd-most in the major leagues.

On 4 occasions, but only 1 without extra innings, Ryan struck out 19 batters in a game. From 1983 to 1986, when Roger Clemens became the 1st pitcher to strike out 20 in 9 innings, Ryan held (or, in the case of the single-season mark, shared) the records for strikeouts in a game, in a season, and in a career. He still holds the records for a season and, with 5,714, in a career.

*

September 27, 1973 was a Thursday. There were 5 other Major League Baseball games played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 2-0 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Pat Dobson allowed 9 hits, but kept the shutout.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-2 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Despite being a Baltimore native, Tiger legend Al Kaline did not play. Brooks Robinson went 2-for-4. Joe Coleman Jr., son of a major league pitcher, won his 23rd game of the season, outpitching rookie Wayne Garland.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-2 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Greg Luzinski, not the fastest of men, scores the winning run in the top of the 13th inning -- on a wild pitch by Chris Zachary. Willie Stargell went 0-for-5. So did Mike Schmidt, on his 24th birthday, wrapping up a rookie season in which he batted .196 -- albeit with 18 home runs and 52 RBIs. He led the National League in home runs in each of the next 3 seasons, and average 36 home runs a year for the next 14 seasons.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-2 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Buddy Bradford won it with a home run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Jim Kaat went the distance for the win.

* And the St. Louis Cardinals beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs, 2-0 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Reggie Cleveland faced the minimum 27 batters, allowing a single Ken Rudolph in the top of the 6th inning, and then eliminated him on a double play. Lou Brock hit a home run.

September 14, 1990: The Griffeys, Father & Son, Back-to-Back

September 14, 1990: The California Angels beat the Seattle Mariners, 7-5 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim) in Anaheim, California. But nobody remembers the result. This is one of the few games where what someone on the losing team did. In this case, two someones, together.

George Kenneth Griffey was born on April 10, 1950 in Donora, Pennsylvania, outside Pittsburgh. The greatest baseball player ever to come from that town was Stan Musial. Ken's father, Joseph, known as Buddy Griffey, had played on a racially integrated team with Stan the Man.

Ken had a pretty good career, lasting from 1973 to 1991. He batted .296, made 3 All-Star Games, and was the starting right fielder on the Cincinnati Reds' "Big Red Machine" team that won the 1975 and 1976 World Series.

George Kenneth Griffey Jr. was born on November 21, 1969, also in Donora -- on Musial's 49th birthday. While his father played for the Reds, the family lived in suburban Beckett Ridge, Ohio. From 1982 to 1986, Ken Sr. played for the New York Yankees. During that time, there was an incident where Ken Sr. and Jr. were sitting together in the dugout, when Ken Jr. was told to leave the dugout, while a white player's son was allowed to practice on the field. From that time onward, Ken Jr. swore he would never play for the Yankees.

Like several other Reds players' sons, Ken Jr. went to Archbishop Moeller High School, a Catholic school in a northern, suburban part of Cincinnati. Among the other baseball players produced by the school are Buddy Bell (son of Reds star Gus Bell) and his sons David and Mike; and future Hall-of-Famer Barry Larkin and his brother Stephen, who also played for the Reds. Another brother, Byron Larkin, is the all-time leading basketball scorer at Cincinnati's Xavier University. John Boehner, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, is also a Moeller graduate.

Ken Jr. was drafted by the Mariners in 1987, and he had no problem playing for them. He made his major league debut on April 3, 1989. On August 29, 1990, the Mariners signed Ken Sr., making the Ken Griffeys the 1st father and son to be MLB teammates. On August 31, they played together for the 1st time, and the Mariners beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-2 at the Kingdome. Both went 1-for-4.

That would have been an entry for this blog -- if what happened 2 weeks later had not happened. Yes, the Mariners lost this game in Anaheim. But here's how that game began. Angels starter Kirk McCaskill walked Harold Reynolds, then gave up a home run to 40-year-old Ken Griffey Sr. In the very next at-bat, he gave up a home run to 21-year-old Ken Griffey Jr. Father and son, back-to-back home runs.

Ken Sr. played his last major league game on May 31, 1991. Ken Jr. would go on to become the Mariners' greatest player ever, then signed with his hometown Reds, playing for them from 2000 to 2008. For his career, he batted .284, collected 2,781 hits, including 630 home runs, and was named to the Baseball Hall of Fame and the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

*

September 14, 1990 was a Friday. These other Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 5-2 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Tim Leary, in a rare good start for the Yankees, was the winning pitcher, advancing to 9-18 on the season, falling to 9-19. Don Mattingly doubled as a pinch-hitter.

* The New York Mets lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-1 at Shea Stadium. Pat Combs went the distance, outpitching Sid Fernandez. Dale Murphy hit a home run for the Phils, and Howard Johnson hit one for the Mets.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-2 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Barry Bonds hit 2 home runs. He was not yet using steroids.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Diego Padres, 7-3 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Tony Gwynn went 1-for-5.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles, 8-7 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto. Cal Ripken Jr. went 1-for-5.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 10-4 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago, in one of that old ballpark's last games. Jack McDowell pitched 7 innings of 4-hit shutout ball, and 3 relievers completed the 4-hit shutout. Sammy Sosa, not yet a star -- and, presumably, not yet using steroids -- hit a home run.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs, 4-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals, 6-4 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. George Brett went 1-for-4.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 2-1 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Nolan Ryan pitched 8 innings, striking out 11, but was not involved in the decision. Robin Yount went 2-for-4, and drove in the Brewers' only run with a solo home run. Paul Molitor went 1-for-4. Juan González won the game with a home run in the bottom of the 10th inning. It is not known whether he had begun using steroids.

* The Houston Astros beat the San Francisco Giants, 2-1 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins, 9-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. Rickey Henderson went 2-for-5.

And the high school football season began in New Jersey. My Alma Mater, East Brunswick in Middlesex County, lost to Cherokee of Burlington County, 23-6 at Jay Doyle Field in East Brunswick.

August 4, 1985: Rizzuto, Seaver & Carew

August 4, 1985: It is a special day in baseball. Three legends of the game receive proper honor. But only one of them was actually scheduled.

The New York Yankees were scheduled to play the Chicago White Sox on a Sunday afternoon at the original Yankee Stadium. It was Phil Rizzuto Day, and Rizzuto, known as "the Scooter," the beloved Yankee shortstop (1941-56) and broadcaster (since 1957, eventually retiring after 1996), was going to have his Number 10 retired, and a Plaque dedicated in his honor for Monument Park.

I was 15 years old, and, with my parents' permission (they, along with my grandmother, would be going with me), I called Ticketmaster the preceding Tuesday, and ordered the tickets, neither knowing nor caring who would be the day's opposing starting pitchers.

The next day, Wednesday, the starters for the Sunday game were announced: Joe Cowley for the Yankees, and Tom Seaver for the White Sox.

At that point, Cowley had 19 career wins, a total that would eventually rise to 33. Seaver had 299 career wins, a total that would eventually rise to 311.

In other words, the man that New York Met fans (for whom he won 199 of his 311) called "Tom Terrific" and "The Franchise" would be going for his 300th win, and I would be there.

Interestingly, while Seaver had made the uniform Number 41 iconic in baseball, Cowley was also wearing it for the Yankees at the time.

The ceremony for Rizzuto was great. Several of his Yankee teammates showed up, including Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford. This was the first time I'd ever seen either of them in person.

Ex-teammate Yogi Berra was not there, having recently been fired as manager by team executive Clyde King on behalf of team owner George Steinbrenner, and having begun was turned out to be a 14-year boycott of the Yankee organization.

Ex-teammate Joe DiMaggio wasn't there, either. I don't know why. Considering the kind of praise he frequently had for Rizzuto, the only reason I can think of is his egotistical insistence on always being the last man introduced, which wouldn't have happened on another figure's Day.

In reference to two of the Scooter's favorite expressions, one of his gifts was a cow with a papier-mache halo, a "Holy Cow," named "Huckleberry."

That cow, paying no heed to the halo or to Rizzuto being just 5-foot-5 and 150 pounds, or 67 years old for that matter, stepped on his foot, causing him to fall backwards. There was a lot of gasping in The House That Ruth Built. Fortunately, Rizzuto was all right.

And he gave a speech in which he said, "This means more to me than the Hall of Fame ever could." This elicited a big cheer from the Bronx faithful, since he had not yet been elected to the Hall.

But it was a lie, and he knew it. In 1994, 9 years later, he found out just how big a lie it was, as he was finally, rightfully elected, and Yankee Fans everywhere rejoiced that he'd gotten his due while he was still alive.

It was a gorgeous Summer Sunday afternoon: Not too hot, no discernable wind. The field at the old Yankee Stadium was immaculate. Cliché Alert: It was a beautiful day for baseball.

From our box seats in Section 35 in right field -- right around the spot where Roger Maris' 61st home run of 1961 landed (although it was Section 33 in the pre-renovation configuration), we had a decent view. And we were surrounded by other Yankee Fans. This would turn out to be very helpful.

In the bottom of the 3rd inning, with the game scoreless, Mike Pagliarulo led off with a single to right. Bobby Meacham flew to center. Rickey Henderson grounded to 2nd, but Bryan Little couldn't make the double play, and threw Henderson out at 1st, allowing Pags to advance to 2nd. Ken Griffey Sr., not nearly as good as his son. but still a very good player at this stage of his career, singled to right, scoring Pags. Yankees 1, White Sox 0.

The Yankees still led 1-0 after 5 innings. But the White Sox struck back in the top of the 6th. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Yankee starter Joe Cowley issued a leadoff walk to, somewhat appropriately, Greg Walker. Longtime Yankee nemesis Carlton Fisk grounded into a force play, getting to 1st as Walker was eliminated by Willie Randolph. But Oscar Gamble singled Fisk over to 3rd.

Billy Martin, in his 4th term as Yankee manager, dismissed Cowley, and brought in Brian Fisher. The Pale Hose hadn't yet scored. Now, they would. Tim Hulett tied the game with a double, bringing home Fisk. Ozzie Guillén, who would later manage the White Sox to a World Series win, gave the South Siders the lead by singling home Gamble. Luis Salazar grounded to short, enabling Andre Robertson to eliminate Guillén, but that left 1st and 3rd with 2 outs. Vance Law drew a walk to load the bases. Little singled home Hulett and Salazar. Harold Baines singled to left, but Dan Pasqua threw Law out at the plate.

As the Scooter would have said, "But the damage is done. I tell ya, Bill White, this is unbelievable." In the space of less than 10 minutes, the Yankees had gone from 1-0 up to 4-1 down, and were very nearly 5-1 down.

Seaver set the Yankees down in order in both the 6th and the 7th. In the 8th, he began to tire, allowing singles to Bobby Meacham and Don Mattingly, but worked out of it. Tony La Russa, noted bullpen tinkerer, was the White Sox manager at the time, but he trusted the veteran from Fresno, California to finish the job he began, and to still be on the mound to accept congratulations on Number 300 after the final out.

If Seaver's milestone had been the whole story, that would be enough of a memory. But it wasn't.

For the out-of-town scoreboard told another story -- and led to another, very shocking story. New York was playing Chicago in the National League as well, the Mets vs. the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. By a wacky turn of events, this one also ended 4-1, in favor of the Mets, who were closer to 1st place at that point in the season than at any time since 1969. (When they won the Pennant in 1973, they were in last place on August 4, before going on a tear.)

And Dwight Gooden, the most heralded Met pitcher since Seaver (the most heralded, and probably even more hyped), went the distance. For some reason, I remembered him striking out 16 Cubs that day. He struck out "only" 6. He did have a 16-strikeout game that season, on August 20, a 3-0 home win over the San Francisco Giants.

The crowd at Yankee Stadium that day sure looked like it was about evenly split between Yankee Fans hoping for a win, and Met fans hoping to see Seaver win his 300th.

This was 1985. It was the peak year of soccer hooliganism in England, including the Millwall-Luton riot in an FA Cup Quarterfinal on March 13, and the Heysel Stadium disaster at the European Cup Final between Liverpool and Italy's Juventus in Brussels, Belgium on May 29, which resulted in English clubs being banned from European play for 5 seasons. (In each case, click on the 1st link for details, and the 2nd link for video.)

When the Mets-Cubs score went up on the out-of-town scoreboard, a "Let's Go Mets" chant went up from the visiting Met fans. After about 10 seconds of shock from the home fans, this blasphemous utterance was followed by a "Mets suck" chant. This was followed by a fight, and I couldn't tell which side started it: The Yankee Fans (indicating an overreaction) or the Met fans (indicating that their blue and orange skins were very thin). Whoever started the fight, it started small, then got bigger. Much bigger.

I've seen Yankees-Red Sox at the old Stadium, the new Stadium, and at Fenway Park. I've been to hockey games at Madison Square Garden, the old Boston Garden and the new Philadelphia arena. But I've never seen as much fighting at a sporting event as I saw that day. There were hundreds of people throwing punches. Most of it, including easily the worst of it (but not all of it), was in the Bleachers, and the proto-Bleacher Creatures were taking no shit from the infiltrating 7 Line Army.

There must have been about 50 people ejected by the Burns security officers. At the time, an English "football" crowd would have called that "just another matchday." An American baseball fan would call it "disgraceful." The game went on, and I have no idea if any of the players involved knew about the fighting.

The Yankees did threaten in the bottom of the 9th. Pasqua led off with a single. Seaver reared back, and, in that familiar overhand throw with his right knee brushing the mound, struck Ron Hassey out. He got Randolph to fly to right. But he walked Pagliarulo.

That brought the tying run to the plate, but it was the pathetic Meacham, then batting an inept .232. Billy knew that he needed baserunners. Surely, he was remembering the play 2 nights earlier, when Meacham got caught between 2nd and 3rd, not knowing if a Henderson fly ball would drop for a hit, which it did, and then stumbling, resulting in himself and Yogi's son Dale Berra both running through 3rd base coach Gene Michael's stop sign, and both being tagged out at the plate by Fisk. So Billy went for broke, sending up Don Baylor to pinch-hit.

Baylor was 36, and wasn't hitting much better, .239, but his OPS was .796, .188 higher than Meacham's. And he did end up with 24 doubles, 23 home runs and 91 RBIs that season. So, on paper, it was a good move. (Cliché Alert: The game isn't played on paper, it's played on grass. Had the game gone to extra innings, Billy probably would have sent Andre Robertson out to play shortstop.)

Seaver was 40, had gone the distance, was in his 2nd straight struggling inning, and had to be gassed at this point. But he reared back, reached into his bag of tricks -- one of the greatest arrays of "stuff" any pitcher has ever had -- fired, and his pitch reached the inside corner, a perfect strike.

But Baylor swung, and connected. In almost any other ballpark -- even the White Sox' home of Comiskey Park, a notoriously poor one for hitters as opposed to its windy, ivy-walled North Side NL counterpart -- this might have been a game-tying home run. But in the old Yankee Stadium, with its left-center "Death Valley," it was just a long fly. Reid Nichols, who had replaced Law in left field for Chicago, caught it. Ballgame over. White Sox win.

All 54,032 in attendance rose as one to applaud Seaver off the field, just as La Russa had intended. Yes, at age 40, he pitched a complete game. Tom Terrific had allowed just 1 run, 6 hits, and just 1 walk. He had notched 7 strikeouts, 1 more than Gooden did that day, and the much-hyped "Doctor K" was, literally, half his age. Truly, we had seen a master of his craft at work.

From Section 35, the last section of box seats in right field, I had a great view of the Bleachers (and the fighting), and, although in the outfield, I had a good view of Seaver and the strike zone. Though I hate to lose and I hate the Mets, all I could do was stand and tip my cap to Seaver. It was the only time I ever saw him pitch live.

As my man Reggie Jackson, who struggled against him in All-Star Games and late in their careers when both were in the AL, but hit an RBI double off him in Game 6 of the 1973 World Series, once said of Tom Seaver, "Blind people come to the park, just to listen to him pitch."

The entire broadcast of the game is available on YouTube, if you're so inclined. Here's the last out.

Speaking of Reggie Jackson, he was present for another big milestone on the same day. He was with the California Angels (now named the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim), as was another future Hall-of-Famer, Rod Carew. They were playing Carew's former team, the Minnesota Twins, at Anaheim Stadium (now named Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

In the bottom of the 3rd, Carew batted against Frank Viola, and singled. It was his 3,000th career hit. It was his only hit of the day, going 1-for-5.

He was batting just .264 at the time, and retired at the end of the season. It was a far cry from his multiple batting titles in the 1970s, including a run at .400 in 1977, when he ended up at .388, with 14 homers, tying a career high, his only 100-RBI season, a Gold Glove, and the AL Most Valuable Player award, despite the Twins finishing nowhere near the Playoffs.

Carew was a legend, not fully appreciated by Calvin Griffith, the racist cheapskate who inherited the original Washington Senators from his uncle Clark, moved them to Minnesota, and then pissed off fans and players alike. Like Reggie, Rod was welcomed with open arms by "Singing Cowboy" turned media mogul and Angels owner Gene Autry.

When the news of Carew's 3,000th hit went up on the scoreboard at Yankee Stadium, everybody cheered: Yankee Fans, Met fans, and the few White Sox fans in attendance, even though Carew never played for any of them.

Managed by Gene Mauch, The Angels won, 6-5, despite Kirby Puckett's 3 RBIs for Minnesota. Reggie pinch-hit for Dick Schofield in the 8th, and grounded to 1st, resulting in a force play. He was stranded on 1st. Attendance: 41,630 -- far from a sellout, as this was the era (1980 to 1996) when The Big A had a capacity of 65,000, enabling the Los Angeles Rams to play home games there -- but, considering that Carew was on 2,999 hits, and any at-bat could be Number 3,000, a decent crowd.

There was no distraction up Interstate 5: Tommy Lasorda's Los Angeles Dodgers were in Cincinnati, where they lost to Pete Rose's Reds 5-4. Rose, MLB's last player-manager, did not put himself into the game. He had 4,168 hits in his career. At the time, the record was considered to be 4,191, by Ty Cobb. On September 11, 1985, Rose collected his 4,192nd hit. With a duplicate game found in Cobb's record, his total was officially reduced to 4,189, meaning Rose actually broke the record on September 8.

*

August 4, 1985 was a Sunday. These other Major League Baseball games were played that day.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 8-4 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. The Yankees had a chance to pick up a game on the 1st-place Jays, but didn't do it.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Francisco Giants, 5-4 in 10 innings at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Montreal Expos, 4-3 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-4 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Eddie Murray went 2-for-3 with walks and an RBI. Cal Ripken went 1-for-5 with an RBI.

* A doubleheader was split at Tiger Stadium. The Detroit Tigers won the 1st game, 7-4. The Milwaukee Brewers won the 2nd game, 14-4. Over the 2 games, Robin Yount went 2-for-8 with 2 walks and 2 RBIs, and Paul Molitor went 2-for-9 with a walk and an RBI.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-0 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Mike Schimdt went 0-for-3 with a walk. Kevin Gross pitched a 4-hit shutout.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 6-5 in 5 innings at Royals (now Kauffman) Stadium. Wade Boggs went 4-for-6, and Bill Buckner went 3-for-6 with 3 RBIs.

* The Houston Astros beat the San Diego Padres, 2-1 at the Astrodome. Tony Gwynn went 1-for-4.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners, 5-3 at the Oakland Coliseum.

Also on this day, soccer players Robbie Findley and Antonio Valencia, and singer Crystal Bowersox, were born.

*

The Yankees finished the 1985 season 97-64, 2 games behind the Blue Jays in the American League Eastern Division. The Mets finished it 98-64, 3 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League East.

The Chicago teams? The Cubs, defending NL East Champions, had been slammed by the injury bug, and went from 96 wins to 77, a 19-game drop -- or from 6 1/2 games ahead of the 2nd-place Mets in '84 to 23 1/2 games behind the Cards, their arch-rivals, in '85, by that measure a whopping 30-game slide. The White Sox finished 6 games behind the Royals in the AL West.

There was no Central Division in either League in those days, meaning you had to finish ahead of 6 teams (in the AL) or 5 teams (in the NL) to make the Playoffs, instead of the 3, 4 or 5 you have to top now; and no Wild Card, meaning that, despite 97 wins -- 5 more than they won in their 1996 title season and 10 more than in their 2000 title season -- the Yankees were out of luck. So were the Mets,

If the current setup were in place then, the Yankees would have won the AL Wild Card; while the Cards would have won the NL Central, enabling the Mets to win the NL East.

In the Playoffs, the Royals came from 3 games to 1 down to beat the Jays, the Cards beat the NL West Champion Dodgers, and the Royals came back from 3 games to 2 down to beat the Cards and win an all-Missouri World Series, thanks to a controversial umpiring decision in Game 6 and a Cardinal mental meltdown in Game 7.

1985. A strange year. And nobody was bowling for soup.

Note to fans of that band: George Michael was still in Wham! and hadn't gone into his "Faith" phase yet. And when wasn't Ozzy Osbourne an actor?)

*

One final note. On September 19, 1986, a little more than a year later, the White Sox beat the Angels 7-1 in Anaheim. The ChiSox' pitcher that day pitched a no-hitter, despite walking 7 batters, and allowing a run in the 6th inning, on 3 straight walks and a sacrifice fly by Reggie. The Sox pitcher? None other than Joe Cowley, the man Tom Seaver outpitched to win Number 300.

In the preceding winter, the Yankees had traded Cowley and Hassey to the White Sox for 2 guys who never reached the majors, and Britt Burns, a solid lefty who was supposed to be the 2nd left in the rotation (along with Ron Guidry) that the Yankees so desperately needed, but had a degenerative condition in his hip, and never pitched in the majors again. That was the kind of trade that George Steinbrenner and "my baseball people" made in the 1980s.

And in a fascinating irony, that same day, although no one knew it for sure at the time, Seaver made his last major league appearance. (Appropriately, his age was 41.) The previous June, the White Sox had traded him to the Boston Red Sox, even-up, for outfielder Steve Lyons. That's right: The man today's kids know as baseball pundit "Psycho."

In his last game, Seaver started for the Red Sox against the Blue Jays at Exhibition Stadium. He only went 4 innings, and lost to the Jays, 6-4. Dave Stieb was the winning pitcher. The last batter he ever faced? Tony Fernandez, who flew out to right.

The first batter he ever faced? It was on April 13, 1967, at Shea Stadium, against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and his 1st batter was the dangerous defending NL batting champion, Matty Alou, who doubled to right. But the 22-year-old Seaver stranded him, and the Mets won, 3-2 on an 8th inning single by Chuck Hiller. The opposing pitcher was 1960 Cy Young Award winner Vernon Law.

Attendance: 5,005. It was the 3rd game of the 1967 season, the Mets were still horrible, and while Seaver had been highly-touted, many a highly-touted rookie has failed to pan out. At the time, who knew? Seaver did, however, pan out, and then some.

Moving back to 1986: The Red Sox did not include him on their roster for either the American League Championship Series or the World Series, so the September 19 loss in Toronto was his last major league appearance. But with his Boston teammates, he was introduced at Shea Stadium before Game 1 of the World Series, and appropriately got a thunderous ovation.

And you know what? After September 19, 1986, Cowley, like Seaver, never won another game. He was traded by the White Sox to the Philadelphia Phillies during spring training in 1987, went 0-4 in 5 starts, got send down in early May, went 3-9 in Triple-A, got released, and before turning 29 had thrown his last professional pitch.

Cowley is forgotten today. Seaver is remembered. So is Carew. And so is Rizzuto, who even had Seaver as a WPIX-Channel 11 broadcast partner in his last few years on the air.

Holy Cow.

"Rizzuto, Seaver and Carew." Sounds like a re-write of Terry Cashman's "Talkin' Baseball (Willie, Mickey and the Duke)."

July 11, 1989: Bo Knows Baseball

July 11, 1989: The Major League Baseball All-Star Game is played at Anaheim Stadium, in Orange County. At the time, Anaheim was still thought of as a suburb of Los Angeles, rather than as a real city.

NBC's broadcast included the premiere of a Nike commercial with Bo Jackson: "Bo Knows":

* It begins with a black screen, and white lettering saying, "Cross-Training by Bo Jackson." Then, "Music by Bo Diddley." With rock and roll pioneer Bo Diddley cranking out guitar chords in between:

* We see Jackson, in a Kansas City Royals powder-blue away uniform, taking batting practice, and Kirk Gibson, then with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the hero of the previous season's World Series, telling the camera, "Bo knows baseball." No argument there.

* We see Jackson, in a Los Angeles Raiders black home uniform, busting through a line in practice, and Jim Everett, then the quarterback of the Los Angeles Rams, saying, "Bo knows football." No argument there.

* We see Jackson in a gym, wearing a T-shirt and shorts, dunking a basketball. He hadn't even played basketball in high school. Then we see Michael Jordan, who helped to make Nike as a brand as much as Nike made him one (although he hadn't yet won his 1st NBA Championship), say, "Bo knows basketball, too."

* We see Jackson on a tennis court, hitting volleys. John McEnroe, not convinced, seems to be asking the camera: "Bo knows tennis?"

* We see Jackson jogging, and Joan Benoit Samuelson, winner of the 1984 women's Olympic marathon, saying, "Bo knows running." No question about that.

* We see Jackson playing hockey, wearing a Los Angeles Kings black home uniform, but, instead of controlling the puck, he's checking a player with "KC" into the boards. Kansas City had only briefly had a team in the NHL, in the 1974-75 and 1975-76 seasons, and a lot of people from that area, seeing this commercial, objected. It was later revealed that Bo wasn't actually on skates, he was wearing Nike sneakers. Did Bo "know hockey"? Wayne Gretzky, then with the Kings, skated up to a camera, and said, simply, "No." Bo Diddley was shown laughing, which the viewer is led to believe is at Gretzky's word.

* We see Jackson on a racing bicycle, and 3 women, not identified, but all dressed alike, as if they're on a cycling team, say, "Bo knows cycling."

* We see Jackson in a weight room, lifting. The scene shifts to a beach, with a sign saying, "MUSCLE BEACH VENICE," which was famous as the training ground of fitness icon Jack LaLanne. And 5 solidly muscled guys say, "Bo knows weights." No surprise there.

* Finally, the scene shifts to the music club where Bo Diddley has been playing. Bo Jackson's ability on the guitar is minimal. Bo Diddley looks into the camera, "breaking the fourth wall," as if to say, "You believe this guy?" Finally, Bo Diddley says to Bo Jackson, "Bo, you don't know diddley!"

(A sequel was made: After 6 months of practice, Jackson was able to play well enough that Bo Diddley was able to say, "Bo, I guess you do know diddley.")

*

When the All-Star players were introduced, it was announced that Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies had been voted by the fans as the National League's starting 3rd baseman -- even though he had retired a few weeks earlier. In recognition of this tribute, he made the trip and suited up. When announced, he tipped his cap, and got a standing ovation -- in a ballpark in which he had never played, since the Phils were in the NL, the Angels were in the American League, they had yet to win their 1st Pennant, and had last hosted the All-Star Game in 1967.

The starting pitchers were Rick Reuschel of the San Francisco Giants for the NL, and Dave Stewart of the Oakland Athletics for the AL. The NL scored 2 runs in the top of the 1st inning. In the bottom of the 1st inning, Vin Scully, broadcasting the game for NBC, brought in a special guest broadcaster, who had once called Chicago Cubs games for radio station WHO in Des Moines, Iowa: Ronald Reagan, the former President, who had recently retired to his ranch on the other side of Southern California.

Orange County had been the heart of "Reagan Country." In the years to come, it grew less conservative. But Reagan, not showing any sign of Alzheimer's disease on the night, acknowledged the area's role in his rise, first to be Governor of California, and then as President, by saying that Anaheim Stadium was "the best ballpark in baseball."

It sure didn't look like it: In 1979, seating had been built in the outfield, expanding seating capacity from 43,250 to 64,593 for baseball, and 69,008 for football, so that the Los Angeles Rams could move in. They played there from 1980 to 1994, then left the L.A. area completely, before moving back in 2016. Before the 1997 season, the football bleachers were torn down, and what would later be renamed Angel Stadium of Anaheim was a baseball park again, seating 45,517.

Bo Jackson led off the bottom of the 1st inning for the American League. And, while Reagan was speaking, Reuschel threw Jackson a knuckleball. It was right where Jackson wanted it, and he hit a tremendous drive, onto the tarp on the football bleachers that served as a hitter's background.

It was reminiscent of a drive by another Jackson, Reggie, who hit a knuckleball from Charlie Hough to straightaway center field in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series. This drive was in the same direction, and about the same distance, around 475 feet.

Wade Boggs of the Boston Red Sox, not really a slugger, also hit a home run, as the American League won, 5-3. The winning pitcher was Angels legend Nolan Ryan, at this point with the Texas Rangers.

At the end of the 1990 NFL regular season, Bo Jackson looked like he might make the Hall of Fame in both sports. But during the Playoffs, he injured his hip so badly that it required a replacement. He never played in the NFL again, and hung on in MLB until 1995.

*

July 11, 1989, as is usual for the day of baseball's All-Star Game, was a Tuesday. Since this was the only baseball game on the day, and all other major league sports in North America were out of season, this was the only score on this historic day.