May 11, 1984: "The Natural" Premieres

May 11, 1984: The film version of Bernard Malamud's baseball-themed 1952 novel The Natural premieres, starring Robert Redford, Glenn Close, Kim Basinger, Barbara Hershey, Robert Duvall, Joe Don Baker, Wilford Brimley, Red Farnsworth, Darrin McGavin, Michael Madsen and Robert Prosky.

Is it the best baseball movie ever? Maybe. Certainly, it's the one with the best photography, thanks to director Barry Levinson;  and the one with the best music, thanks to Randy Newman.

It's not perfect, though. And I don't mean that it's corny or sappy.

I'd still like to know what happened to Roy Hobbs between 1923, when he was a hot pitching prospect and got shot, and 1939, when he was 35, a right fielder, and a great hitter. Not to mention what happened to him after he shot out the lights at the end. Sure, he reunites with his wife and son, which is the whole point. But, still, I'd like to know that story.

Richard Farnsworth died in 2000, Darren McGavin in 2006, Robert Prosky in 2008, Wilford Brimley in 2020. The rest of the stars, along with director Barry Levinson and composer Randy Newman, are still alive as of May 11, 2022.

UPDATE: Robert Redford died on September 16, 2025. Michael Madsen died 2 months earlier, Joe Don Baker 2 months before that.

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May 11, 1984 was a Friday. Andrés Iniesta, a star for Spanish soccer team FC Barcelona, was born.

These games were played in Major League Baseball that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Seattle Mariners, 4-3 at Yankee Stadium. Ken Griffey Sr. hit an RBI single to send the game to extra innings, and the teams traded runs in the 14th inning, including a home run by the Yankees' Roy Smalley. But a Jack Perconte sacrifice fly won it for the M's in the top of the 17th inning.

* The New York Mets beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Rookie sensation Dwight Gooden went the distance, pitching a 4 hit shutout, striking out 11.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Oakland Athletics, 4-3 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-2 with 3 walks, but no stolen bases. Joe Morgan had a 2-RBI double. Eddie Murray went 1-for-3, Cal Ripken 0-for-4.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-2 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. César Cedeño hit a home run for the Reds. Manager Pete Rose did not put player Pete Rose into the game.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the California Angels, 8-2 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. For the Angels, Reggie Jackson goes 0-for-4, and Rod Carew only 1-for-5, but Doug DeCinces hits a home run. But the Tigers get a home run from Kirk Gibson.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Robin Yount hit a home run.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Boston Red Sox, 6-4 at Royals Stadium in Kansas City. (It was renamed Kauffman Stadium in 1993.) George Brett did not play for the Royals in this game, but Jorge Orta hit a home run.

* The Houston Astros beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-1 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Diego Padres, 6-4 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. The Phils got homers from Len Matuszek, Ozzie Virgil Jr., MIke Schmidt and Sixto Lezcano. Tony Gwynn went 0-for-4.

* And the Montreal Expos beat the San Francisco Giants, 7-5 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

Ordinarily, football would have been out of season. But these 4 games were played in the United States Football League that night:

* The New Jersey Generals lost to the Washington Federals, 31-17 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington. Yes, the Generals lost to the Feds. That was embarrassing.

* The Birmingham Stallions beat the Jacksonville Bulls, 42-10 at Legion Field in Birmingham.

* The Memphis Showboats beat the San Antonio Gunslingers, 38-14 at the LIberty Bowl in Memphis.

* And the Chicago Blitz beat the Denver Gold, 29-17 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

One game was played in the NBA Playoffs, Game 6 of an Conference Semifinal: The New York Knicks beat the Boston Celtics, 106-104 at Madison Square Garden. Bernard King scored 44 to offset Larry Bird's 35, and send the series to a Game 7 at the Boston Garden. But the Celtics won it.

And the Stanley Cup Finals were between games. The previous night, the Edmonton Oilers had beaten the New York Islanders, 1-0 at the Nassau Coliseum, on a 3rd period goal by Kevin McClelland. The Isles had won 4 straight Cups, but their "Drive For Five" would come to a disappointing end: Their dynasty ending, and the Oilers' dynasty beginning.

March 5, 1982: “Diner” Premieres

March 5, 1982: Diner premieres, directed by Barry Levinson, set in his hometown of Baltimore, during Christmas-to-New-Year's Week, 1959. Levinson was 17 at the time, so these characters were a few years older.

Maryland was the only one of the "Original Thirteen Colonies" founded by the Roman Catholic Church, and Baltimore was the site of the 1st Catholic Archdiocese in America. It is known for its large Irish, Italian and German (including Babe Ruth and his family) Catholic populations.

Nevertheless, Levinson is Jewish, and so are several of the main characters of this film: Daniel Stern as Laurence Schreiber, a.k.a. Shrevie; Mickey Rourke as Robert Sheftell, a.k.a. Boogie; Paul Reiser, in his film debut, whose character is listed only as "Modell"; and Michael Tucker, who is known in the film only as "Bagel." Not Jewish are Steve Guttenberg as Eddie Simmons, Kevin Bacon as Timothy Fenwick Jr., and Tim Daly as Billy Howard.

The guys meet at the Fell's Point Diner, and talk about everything from girls to sports to music. This is the week in which the Baltimore Colts are playing in the NFL Championship Game, at home at Memorial Stadium, against the New York Giants, in a rematch of the previous season's game, which famously went to overtime at Yankee Stadium, and quarterback Johnny Unitas led the Colts to victory, making Baltimore a very proud city.

Eddie's obsession with the Colts reaches a ridiculous level. On New Year's Eve, he is marrying Elyse, played by Sharon Ziman, but whose face is never shown. But he'll only go through with it if she can pass a quiz on Colts facts. He also demands a color theme for the wedding: Blue and white, Colts colors. Beth, Shrevie's wife, played by Ellen Barkin, compares it to the yellow and white theme that they had for their wedding, and tells Shrevie this is Eddie being too stubborn. Shrevie says, "It could be worse: It could be black and gold, Steelers colors."

Elyse fails the quiz, but Eddie decides to go through with it, anyway. The color scheme is, indeed, blue and white, and the organist plays the Colts' fight song. Oh yes: After trailing 9-7 after 3 quarters, the Colts come from behind, and beat the Giants, 31-16, and repeat as World Champions.

A major goof: Eddie and Elyse discuss a honeymoon in Cuba. But it had been almost a year since Fidel Castro's Communist takeover, making such an idea impossible.

As Reiser himself might say, Here's what I'm thinkin': It's a great movie, because, A, it's got Paul Reiser before Mad About You; and, 2, it's got Ellen Barkin, who was too sexy for the Fifties.

The Fell's Point Diner was built just for the movie, but the City of Baltimore bought it cheap, as a tourist attraction. It is now a training center for restaurant jobs.

One of the great retroactive ironies: Diner is set in Baltimore, at the height of the Colts' success; and yet it contains a character named Modell, the same as the man who would move the Cleveland Browns to become the Baltimore Ravens, to take the place of the Colts.

It could have been weirder, though: There could have been a character named Irsay, after the man who moved the Colts out to Indianapolis, less than 2 years after the film premiered.

March 5, 1982 was a Friday. This was also the day that actor John Belushi died. I have a separate entry for that event.

Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were 6 games in the NBA that day:

* The New York Knicks beat the Boston Celtics, 105-98 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Detroit Pistons, 122-108 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Dallas Mavericks, 98-91 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.

* The Seattle SuperSonics beat the Houston Rockets, 126-103 at The Summit in Houston. (The arena has since been converted into the Central Campus of the Lakewood Church, Dr. Joel Osteen's "megachurch.")

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 126-120 at the McNichols Arena in Denver. Kiki Vandeweghe scored 36 points.

* And the Golden State Warriors beat the Utah Jazz, 127-121 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. Joe Barry Carroll scored 52 points, and had 14 rebounds. Clearly, this was not a night when he earned the nickname "Joe Barely Cares."

And there were 2 games played in the NHL. The Washington Capitals beat the Calgary Flames, 8-6 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland. And the Winnipeg Jets beat the Detroit Red Wings, 2-0 at the Winnipeg Arena.