December 26, 1965: The Tom Matte Game

December 26, 1965: The Green Bay Packers play the Baltimore Colts in a Playoff to decide the Championship of the NFL's Western Conference, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Like its predecessor, the facility had been named City Stadium, but had recently been renamed, in memory of Earl "Curly" Lambeau, the Packers' co-founder and original head coach, who guided them to 6 NFL Championships.

Both teams finished the season 10-3-1. The Packers had won both games between them that season, but head-to-head was not a tiebreaker: Won-lost record was the only one, and so a Playoff was mandated. 

In this win-or-go-home game, both teams would have to rely on backup quarterbacks. For the Packers, Edmund "Zeke" Bratkowski, a career backup now 34 years old -- he was born on October 20, 1931, the same day as baseball legend Mickey Mantle -- had to substitute for the injured Bart Starr early in the game.

The Packers were thus taken by surprise. The Colts were not, but they were down to their 4th string quarterback. They were 9-1-1 when Johnny Unitas, then considered the best quarterback in the game, was injured in a 13-0 loss to the Baltimore Colts. Gary Cuozzo stepped in, but he was injured in the next game, a 42-27 loss to the Packers.

The only player the Colts had left on their roster who had ever played quarterback was running back Tom Matte, who had played quarterback at Ohio State, under coach Woody Hayes. But, given Hayes' disdain for the passing game -- he famously said, "There are three things that can happen when you throw the football, and two of them are bad," meaning an incompletion and an interception -- that meant that he hardly ever threw the ball. So he wasn't considered a long-term option.

For their season finale, the Colts signed a free agent, Ed Brown, who was also a good punter. He guided them to a 20-17 win over the Los Angeles Rams. The problem was, he was signed too late in the season to be eligible for any postseason games. So the Colts were stuck with Matte as quarterback. And it would be in Green Bay, and it would be "Packer Weather": No snow, but just 22 degrees, with the wind-chill factor making it 12. Baltimore can get cold in the Winter, but that kind of cold was unusual for Colt games at Memorial Stadium.

At first, it seemed to work. Matte threw 12 passes, completing 5, ran for 57 yards, and was sacked only once. Don Shinnick picked up a fumble by the Packers' Donny Anderson, and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown, just 21 seconds into the game. Starr was the last man between the huge Shinnick and the end zone, and hurt his ribs in his failure to make the tackle, resulting in Bratkowski having to take over.

Lou Michaels kicked the extra point. In the 2nd quarter, Matte drove the Colts downfield, and Michaels kicked a 15-yard field goal, and the Colts went into the locker room leading, 10-0.

In the 3rd quarter, Paul Hornung, who was a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback at Notre Dame before becoming a running back with the Packers, ran the ball in from the 1-yard line to score a touchdown. Don Chandler kicked the extra point.

With 1:58 left to play in regulation, Chandler attempted a tying field goal from 22 yards out. The ball appeared to be wide of the right upright, and Chandler's reaction suggested that he thought he'd missed it. But referee Jim Tunney ruled that it was good, and it was 10-10. Overtime.

Bratkowski led the Packers downfield, and, with 1:21 left in the 1st overtime, Chandler attempted a 25-yard field goal. There was no doubt about this one: It was good, and the Packers would host the NFL Championship Game, against the Cleveland Browns. 

Baltimore football fans have complained ever since that Chandler's 4th quarter field goal was no good. Before the 1966 season, the NFL made 2 changes in response to these complaints: Goalposts were extended from to 10 feet high to 20 feet, and an official would be placed directly under each upright on field goal attempts.

In 1981, John Thorn left his comfort zone, baseball, and published Pro Football's 10 Greatest Games. He included this game as one of them.

The Packers beat the Browns, 23-12. They won the next 2 NFL Championships, and the subsequent games, too, which were retroactively renamed Super Bowl I and Super Bowl II. With Matte as running back, and Earl Morrall filling in for an injured Unitas, the Colts won the 1968 NFL Championship, but lost Super Bowl III to the New York Jets. Unitas led them to win the 1970 NFC Championship, but got hurt in Super Bowl V, and Morrall had to come to the rescue, and the Colts beat the Dallas Cowboys. Matte, and all the other Colts who had lost Super Bowl III, got their redemptions and their rings.

Bratkowski died in 2019, Matte in 2021.

*

December 26, 1965 was a Sunday. The American Football League held its Championship Game that day, and the Buffalo Bills beat the San Diego Chargers, 23-0 at Balboa Stadium in San Diego. The Bills had now won 2 straight AFL Championships. They have not won a league championship since.

Baseball was out of season. There were 3 games played in the NBA:

* The Boston Celtics beat the Baltimore Bullets, 120-99 at the Boston Garden. Sam Jones scored 34 points.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the San Francisco Warriors, 121-107 at the Philadelphia Civic Center. Wilt Chamberlain had 33 points and 30 rebounds.

* And the Cincinnati Royals beat the St. Louis Hawks, 117-115 at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis. Oscar Robertson led all scorers on the day with 37 points.

And the NHL's entire "Original Six" were in action:

* The New York Rangers beat the Boston Bruins, 6-4 at the old Madison Square Garden. Bob Nevin had a hat trick.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Chicago Black Hawks played to a tie, 1-1 at the Chicago Stadium.

* And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Montreal Canadiens, 1-0 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit. This turned out to be a preview of the Stanley Cup Finals, but the Canadiens beat the Wings.

December 26, 1964: The Buffalo Bills Triumphant

December 26, 1964: The American Football League Championship Game is played for the 1964 season.

The season before, the San Diego Chargers, coached by Sid Gillman, had won the title, showing football fans that the AFL wasn't just a pass-happy "basketball league": It could feature good defense, too. The Buffalo Bills, coached by Lou Saban, followed the same path, with a defense led by end Ron McDole, tackle Tom Sestak, and linebacker Mike Stratton.

The Chargers would regret letting quarterback Jack Kemp go, as the Bills had acquired him to run their offense. Protected by a future Hall-of-Famer, guard Billy Shaw, he could hand off to running back Carlton Chester "Cookie" Gilchrist, or pass to receiver Elbert Dubenion.

There was once a common trivia question: Name the men wearing Number 32 who won the Most Valuable Player awards in the American League, the National League, the NFL and the AFL in 1963. But the question was no good: Elston Howard, Sandy Koufax, Jim Brown and Gilchrist won their respective awards, but, while the other 3 players wore 32, Gilchrist wore 34.

The Bills went 12-2 in 1964. They dropped 48 points on the Houston Oilers, and scored at least 30 points in 6 other games. Their only losses were on November 15, 36-28 at home to the Boston Patriots; and on December 6, 16-13 away to the Oakland Raiders.

As it was an even-numbered year, it was the Eastern Division winners' turn to host the AFL Championship Game, and the Bills welcomed the defending Champion Chargers into War Memorial Stadium. Built in 1938, it was already dilapidated, known as "The Old Rockpile." Buffalo native Brock Yates, a screenwriter who created the race upon which the Cannonball Run movies were based, said that it "looks as if whatever war it was a memorial to had been fought within its confines." And it was small: At 40,242 seats, its capacity would prove too small when the AFL and the NFL merged in 1970, so the Bills had to build a larger stadium.

In the 1st quarter, Tobin Rote threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Dave Kocourek, to put the Chargers up, 7-0. But they never scored again. The Bills' defense was symbolized by Stratton hitting Keith Lincoln midway through the 1st quarter, breaking a rib and knocking him out of the game. It was the most famous defensive play in AFL history.

Pete Gogolak and his brother Charley, natives of Hungary, became pro football's 1st "soccer-style kickers," approaching the placement from the side and hitting the ball with the instep of the foot, rather than the traditional straight-on, hit-with-the-toes style. Pete kicked a field goal late in the 1st quarter, and another in the 2nd. In between, Kemp guided the Bills down to where Wray Carlton could score on a 4-yard run. In the 4th quarter, Kemp scored on a quarterback sneak. The Bills won, 20-7.

The Bills won the AFL Championship again in 1965, again beating the Chargers; then lost the 1966 AFL Championship Game to the Kansas City Chiefs. Saban would leave, then return as head coach, and lead the Bills to the AFC Wild Card Playoff berth in 1974.

Like basketball coach Larry Brown, Saban was known, somewhat unfairly, for never staying in the same place for very long, also serving as head coach for the Boston Patriots, the Denver Broncos, and several college teams. He died in 2009. His son, Nick Saban, in junior high school at the time of the Bills' AFL titles, would win 7 National Championships in the college ranks. Unlike many father & son coaching pairs, they never coached together. Indeed, while Lou was head coach at Army in 1979, Nick was an assistant coach at Navy in 1982.

The Bills had won the last 2 AFL Championships before the AFL Champion was allowed to play the NFL Champion for a World Championship, and had lost the game that would have put them in Super Bowl I. It would take until the 1990 season before they finally got into a Super Bowl. And they got into 4 in a row, something no other franchise has done. And yet, they lost all 4, and only the 1st one was all that close (although they were leading the 4th at the half).

The Bills have become to the NFL what the Chicago Cubs once were to baseball, the sport's "lovable losers" with a history of close calls breaking the hearts of some of the most passionate fans in the sport. From 1964 onward, they have been 1 of the last 2 teams standing 6 times, something only 7 other teams have done.

But the fact that the Bills' titles came before the advent of the Super Bowl means that they get discounted: Even before the distance of time became what it is now, NFL fans had come to regard any title won before the Super Bowl, NFL or AFL, as not a "real" championship.

As it stands, through Christmas 2022, no team based in, or near, Buffalo has ever won a major league sports championship. The NHL's Sabres are 0-for-2 in Stanley Cup Finals, and the NBA's Braves, like the Sabres a 1970 expansion team, moved in 1978. Due to Canadian COVID restrictions, the Toronto Blue Jays had to play some "home games" at Buffalo's Sahlen Field in 2020 and '21. Before that, there hadn't been a Major League Baseball team in Buffalo since the 1914-15 Blues of the Federal League; before that, the Bisons of the National League, who folded after the 1885 season. And none of those teams won a Pennant.

Unless you count soccer as a major league sport in North America, with the 1971 Rochester Lancers and the 2016 Western New York Flash, then the last World Championship won by a team that can be considered "Western New York" remains the 1955 NBA Champion Syracuse Nationals. If you don't count Syracuse as "Western," then it's the 1951 NBA Champion Rochester Royals.

In 1998, Vincent Gallo, a Buffalo native, wrote, directed and starred in the film Buffalo '66.. Despite the title, while there are flashbacks, the film took place mostly in the present day. He played Billy Brown, whose mother was going to go to the 1966 AFL Championship Game at War Memorial Stadium, but went into labor, and she has blamed the son's birth for her missing the game, and her missing the game for the Bills' inability to win a title ever since.

The son grew up to become a compulsive gambler, and when Scott Norwood missed his field goal attempt on the last play of Super Bowl XXV, causing the Bills to lose the game, still the closest they've come since 1965, Billy lost a $10,000 bet. Unable to pay up, his bookmaker forced him to clear his debt by confessing to a crime he did not commit, resulting in 5 years in prison.

When he gets out, he decides he wants to get revenge -- not on the bookie, but on Norwood (known as “Scott Wood” in the film), whom he's convinced took a payoff to miss the kick on purpose, a la the Chicago White Sox throwing the 1919 World Series. Have you ever wanted to kill someone who ruined a sporting event for you? Maybe. Would you ever actually attempt it? No. Billy sets out to attempt it. For the record, nobody has ever credibly accused Norwood of missing that kick on purpose.

UPDATE: The Bills have a Wall of Fame, with these members:

* From the 1960s: Quarterback Jack Kemp, running back Chester "Cookie" Gilchrist, receiver Elbert Dubenion, guards Billy Shaw and Bob Kalsu, defensive tackle Tom Sestak, linebacker Mike Stratton, cornerback Booker Edgerson, safety George Saimes; plus founding owner Ralph Wilson, team executive Pat McGroder, head coach Lou Saban, longtime broadcaster Van Miller and trainer Edward Abramoski. Kalsu only played one season before being drafted, and was the only active NFL player killed in action in the Vietnam War. 

* From the 1970s: Quarterback Joe Ferguson, guard Joe DeLamielleure, cornerback Robert James, and running back O.J. Simpson, whose name has never been removed despite his post-playing infamy; plus Wilson, McGroder, Saban, Miller and Abramoski.

* From the 1980s: Quarterback Jim Kelly, receivers Andre Reed and Steve Tasker, center Kent Hull, guard Jim Ritcher, defensive end Bruce Smith, defensive tackle Fred Smerlas, and linebacker Darryl Talley; plus Wilson, Miller and Abramoski.

* From the 1990s: Kelly, Reed, Tasker, Hull, Ritcher, Smith, running back Thurman Thomas and defensive end Phil Hansen; plus Wilson, Miller, Abramoski, head coach Marv Levy and general manager Bill Polian. The Bils have not yet honored whose main contribution was afterward.

In addition, Bills fans have been honored with induction, as "The 12th Man."

And the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame has honored Kemp, Gilchrist, Dubenion, Saimes, Sestak, Ferguson, DeLamielleure, Simpson, Smerlas, Kelly, Hull, Ritcher, Reed, Smith, Talley, Tasker, Thomas, Wilson, Levy, Saban, Polian, 1960s linebacker and later NBC broadcaster Paul Maguire, 1970s guard Reggie McKenzie, 1990s linebacker Shane Conlan, 1970s defensive tackle Jeff Yeates, 1990s kicker Steve Christie, and 2000s and 2010s defensive tackler Kyle Williams. Yeates and Williams were honored less for what they did with the Bills, and more because they were Buffalo area native who played in the NFL.

*

December 26, 1964 was a Saturday. The game was scheduled for that day, so as not to conflict with the NFL Championship Game being played the next day. One college bowl game was played: Georgia beat Texas Tech, 7-0 at the Sun Bowl, in the stadium of the same name, in El Paso, Texas.

Baseball was out of season. There were 4 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Baltimore Bullets, 118-116 at the Baltimore Civic Center (now the CFG Bank Arena).

* The Cincinnati Royals beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 135-125 at the Philadelphia Civic Center. Oscar Robertson scored 38 points.

* The Boston Celtics beat the St. Louis Hawks, 97-84 at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the San Francisco Warriors, 129-122 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. Jerry West scored 44 points.

The NHL's entire "Original Six" were in action:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Boston Bruins, 2-0 at the old Madison Square Garden.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Detroit Red Wings, 6-3 at the Montreal Forum.

* And the Chicago Black Hawks beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-3 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

And in English soccer, on this day after Christmas, Boxing Day, Arsenal beat Staffordshire team Stoke City, 3-2 at the Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. "Highbury," in North London.

December 19, 1998: President Bill Clinton Is Impeached

December 19, 1998: President Bill Clinton is impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives. He will go on trial before the U.S. Senate.

There were 4 Articles of Impeachment drawn up by the House's Committee on the Judiciary, and 2 of them passed the full House:

* Perjury before a grand jury: 228 Yea, 206 Nay. All but 5 Republicans voted for it: Amo Houghton and Peter King of New York, Connie Morella of Maryland, Chris Shays of Connecticut, and Mark Souder of Indiana. All but 5 Democrats voted against it: Ralph Hall and Charles Stenholm of Texas, Virgil Goode of Virginia, Paul McHale of Pennsylvania, and Gene Taylor of Mississippi.

* Obstruction of Justice: 221 Yea, 212 Nay. The same 5 Democrats voted for it. The same 5 Republicans voted against it, and so did Sherwood Boehlert of New York, Mike Castle of Delaware, Phil English and John McHugh of Pennsylvania, Nancy Johnson of Connecticut, Jay Kim of California, Jim Leach of Iowa, and Ralph Regula of Ohio.

* Perjury before a deposition: 229 Nay, 205 Yea, so this one failed.

* Abuse of Power: 285 Nay, 148 Yea. Taylor was the only Democrat to vote for this one, and 81 Republicans voted against it, so this one never had a chance.

The case was based on Clinton's attempt to hide the fact that he had an extramarital relationship with Monica Lewinsky, a former White House intern. It had nothing to do with using the power of his office to commit election fraud, as was the case with Richard Nixon, who resigned in 1974 before the full House could vote on Articles of Impeachment; and with Donald Trump, who was impeached in 2019 and acquitted early the next year.

On February 12, 1999, with 2/3rds of the Senate, 67 out of 100, required to vote "Guilty" in order to remove him from office, Clinton was acquitted. The vote was 55-45 "Not Guilty" on perjury, and a 50-50 split on obstruction of justice.

The evidence against Clinton was so ridiculous, the Republicans, who held the majority, could not get a majority, 51 votes, to say that he had done it. Surely, there were some Senators who knew he was innocent, but voted "Guilty" anyway, because, like the leaders of the impeachment movement in the House, they hated him so much.

UPDATE: Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who voted to impeach Clinton in the House and, as a newly-elected Senator, voted to convict him in the Senate, died on July 11, 2026. As of that date, of the 228 Congressmen who voted to impeach Clinton on at least 1 count, 5 are still serving in the House, 28 years later: Robert Aderholt of Alabama, Ken Calvert of California, Hal Rogers of Kentucky, Chris Smith of New Jersey, and Frank Lucas of Oklahoma. And 3 of them now serve in the U.S. Senate: John Thune of South Dakota, Jerry Moran of Kansas and Mike Crapo of Idaho. (That's pronounced CRAY-poh, although I wouldn't blame you if you thought it was CRAP-oh.)

They all stand by their votes to impeach Clinton, and not to do the same for Trump. The hypocrites.

*

December 19, 1998 was a Saturday. It was the off-season for baseball. There were no games played in the NBA, as the team owners had locked out the players, and they continued to do so until a new Collective Bargaining Agreement was accepted on January 20, 1999.

But there were 2 NFL games played, and one involved one of the New York teams. The New York Jets beat the Buffalo Bills, 17-10 at what was then named Ralph Wilson Stadium in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York. (UPDATE: As of March 29, 2021, it is named Highmark Stadium.) The Jets thus clinched the AFC Eastern Division Championship, for the 1st time since the Division began play in 1970.

In the other game, the team then known as the Washington Redskins beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 20-16 at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland. (The stadium would soon be renamed FedEx Field.)

There was also a college football bowl game played that day, the Las Vegas Bowl, at Sam Boyd Stadium, home field of UNLV. North Carolina beat San Diego State, 20-13.

There were 10 NHL games played that day: 

* The New Jersey Devils played he Montreal Canadiens to a tie, 1-1 at the Molson Centre in Montreal. (It's now the Bell Centre.)

* The New York Rangers lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 7-4 in one of the last games played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. (The last would be on February 13, 1999, the day after Clinton's acquittal.)

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-1 at the First Union Center in Philadelphia. (It's now the Xfinity Mobile Arena.)

* The Boston Bruins beat the Detroit Red Wings, 4-1 at the FleetCenter in Boston. (It's now the TD Garden.)

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2 at the Marine Midland Arena in Buffalo. (It's now the KeyBank Center.)

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Washington Capitals, 3-0 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers, 3-1 at the National Car Rental Center in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida. (It's now the Amerant Bank Center.)

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Los Angeles Kings, 5-2 at the Kiel Center in St. Louis. (It's now the Enterprise Center.)

* The San Jose Sharks beat the Colorado Avalanche, 2-1 at the San Jose Arena. (It's now the SAP Center.)

* And the Nashville Predators beat the Vancouver Canucks, 6-4 at General Motors Place in Vancouver. (It's now the Rogers Arena.)

December 16, 1973: The O.J. 2,000 Game

December 16, 1973: O.J. Simpson sets the NFL's single-season rushing yards record, becoming the 1st player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season.

In 1934, Beattie Feathers of the Chicago Bears became the 1st NFL player to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. His 1,004 yards stood as the record until 1947, when Steve Van Buren of the Philadelphia Eagles raised it to 1,008. In 1949, Van Buren broke his own record, with 1,146.

Jim Brown played 9 seasons in the NFL, 1957 to 1965, all with the Cleveland Browns, and led the League in rushing yards in 8 of them. Jim Taylor of the Green Bay Packers led in 1962. In 1958, Brown broke Van Buren's record by plenty, with 1,527. In 1963, with the schedule having been increased from 12 to 14 games, he raised the record to 1,863. In 2 years, he had increased the record by 33 percent; within 8 years, by 62 percent.

Simpson arrived in professional football in 1969, with the Buffalo Bills, having won the Heisman Trophy the year before and led USC to the National Championship the year before that. But his 1st 3 seasons were a bit of a struggle. In 1972, he rushed for 1,251 yards, leading the NFL, and the most by any player in 7 years, since Brown in his last season.

The Bills began the 1973 season in a new stadium, in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York. It was then named Rich Stadium, and is now named Highmark Stadium. Simpson started off as well as anyone could have hoped for, rushing for 250 yards.

This broke the single-game record of 247, then held by Willie Ellison of the Los Angeles Rams in a 1971 game. In 1976, Simpson would raise that record to 273, but it was broken a year later when Walter Payton rushed for 275. Today, the record is 296, set by Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings in 2007.

Simpson ran for 103 yards in Week 2, 123 in Week 3, 171 in Week 4, and 166 in Week 5. But in Week 6, he was held to 55 yards by the defending Champion Miami Dolphins and their "No-Name Defense." In Week 7, against a Kansas City Chiefs defense that had once been great but was now aging, Simpson ran for 157. That gave him 1,025 for the season, at the halfway mark. Brown's record of 1,863 and even 2,000 now seemed within reach.

Then Simpson went into a slump. He only got 79 yards in Week 8 and 99 in Week 9. He bounced back in Week 10, getting 120. In Week 11, he got 124. In Week 12, he got 137. That got him 1,584. And in Week 15, he got 219. That gave him 1,803. So, in the season's final game, he needed 61 for a new record, and 197 for 2,000.

Fortunately for Simpson and the Bills, they were playing the New York Jets. Unfortunately, it would be at Shea Stadium, in cold air, with snow falling, on a frozen field. But the Bills were used to that kind of weather back home, so it didn't bother them much -- even if Simpson himself was a San Francisco native who'd made his name at USC, in the steady warm weather of Los Angeles, on the pristine grass field at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The result was not really in doubt. The game was 7-7 at the end of the 1st quarter, by which point Simpson had already surpassed Brown's single-season record, needing just 8 carries to do it. The Bills pulled ahead to 21-7 by the half, including a touchdown run by Simpson.

The Bills led 28-7 after 3 quarters, and the final was 34-14. In case you're a Jet fan who is wondering: For the Jets, who finished 4-10, Joe Namath completed 13 out of 30 passes, for 206 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. But he also got sacked 3 times.

With 5 minutes left, Bills quarterback Joe Ferguson handed off to Simpson, and he ran up the middle, gaining 7 yards. It gave him 200 yards even for the day, and 2,003 yards for the season. The Bills carried him off the field, and a crowd of 47,740, mostly Jet fans, gave him a standing ovation.

This turned out to be the last game as an NFL head coach for the Jets' Wilbur "Weeb" Ewbank. He had led the Baltimore Colts to the NFL Championship in 1958 and '59. It had been only 5 seasons since he and Namath had led the Jets to win the Super Bowl, but it now seemed very far away.

The Bills also became the 1st NFL team to rush for over 3,000 yards in a season. At a postgame press conference, Simpson -- because of his initials, sometimes called "Orange Juice" or just "Juice" -- introduced each member of the offensive line, who called themselves "The Electric Company," because, "We make the Juice flow."

Let the record show that they were: Left tackle Dave Foley, left guard Reggie McKenzie, center Mike Montler, right guard Joe DeLamielleure, and right tackle Donnie Green. DeLamielleure would eventually join Simpson in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. (Montler died in 2018, Green in 2019. As of the 2022 NFL season, Foley, McKenzie and DeLamielleure are still alive.)

The following season, their 1st season with the "charging" buffalo on their helmets instead of the standing one they'd had since their 1960 inception, the Bills made the Playoffs. Although he caught a touchdown pass in the AFC Divisional Playoff, the Bills lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers, in what turned out to be the only Playoff game Simpson ever appeared in.

In a way, Simpson was unlucky: For all his personal success, as a player, an actor, and a commercial pitchman, he arrived in Buffalo just as the Dolphins were becoming the team that would dominate the AFC Eastern Division, which they remained until the mid-1980s, by which point Simpson was in the Hall of Fame, a sideline analyst for NFL games on NBC, and still doing commercials, especially for Hertz Rent-a-Car, sometimes with golf legend Arnold Palmer.

And he was popular. Still good-looking. Charming. For a lot of people, including myself, O.J. Simpson had been a hero for all or most of their lives.

And if he, rather than his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman, had died on June 12, 1994, it would have been a shock, but not the greater shock that we all got. Though it's likely that the awful things he had already done by that point would have come out eventually.

The film The Dark Knight featured Aaron Eckhardt as fictional District Attorney Harvey Dent, who said, "You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." And he went on to prove it.

The film The Sandlot featured Art LaFleur as the ghost of Babe Ruth, saying, "Heroes get remembered, but legends never die."

O.J. Simpson was a hero. He is a legend. But it's worth remembering that not all legends are heroic ones, or have happy endings.

The O.J. 2000 Game remains considerably more memorable than the one in which the record O.J. set was broken, by Eric Dickerson of the Los Angeles Rams. How much more memorable? This much: I had to look up not only the date, but the year that it happened. And I was just short of my 15th birthday at the time, so I remember it having happened, though I wasn't watching as it happened.

It was December 9, 1984: The Rams beat the Houston Oilers, 27-16 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium), and, with 215 yards, Dickerson surpassed Simpson, finishing the game with 2,007. There was 1 more week to play, and in the season finale, he ran for 98, finishing the year with 2,105.

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 Vikings, and Derrick Henry had 2,027 for the 2020 Titans.

(UPDATE: Saquon Barkley had 2,005, in a 17-game season in which he was held out for the 17th game to protect him from injury, for the 2024 Philadelphia Eagles. Counting the Playoffs and the Super Bowl, he had 2,504, an all-time record, breaking the 1998 mark of Davis, 2,468.)

Oddly, while Lewis and Peterson would both eventually break (and Peterson still holds) the record for most rushing yards in a game, neither did it in the season in which they rushed for over 2,000 yards. Simpson did (in 1973) -- and didn't (in 1976, when he raised the single-game record).

For comparison's sake: Jim Brown's highest single-game total was 237; Walter Payton, the 1st man to rush for more yards in a game than Simpson (275), and eventually 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. Simpson ranked 26th. In 2010, the NFL Network released their list of the 100 Greatest Players. Simpson ranked 40th.

What he did at his ex-wife's house in 1994 could never change what he did on the field from 1967 to 1979. But it did cast a cloud over it, forever. It's worth nothing that O.J.'s bust at the Pro Football Hall of Fame is the only one that is not put out on public display, because it's been vandalized.

*

December 16, 1973 was a Sunday. These other games were played in the NFL:

* The New York Giants lost to the Minnesota Vikings, 31-7 at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut. (This was after the old Yankee Stadium was renovated, but before Giants Stadium was completed.)

* The Baltimore Colts beat the New England Patriots, 18-13 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Washington Redskins beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 38-20 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the New Orleans Saints, 14-10 at Atlanta Stadium. (It was renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in 1975.)

* The Miami Dolphins beat the Detroit Lions, 34-7 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears, 21-0 at the old Soldier Field in Chicago.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the football version of the St. Louis Cardinals, 30-3 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Diego Chargers, 33-6 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Houston Oilers, 27-24 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Los Angeles Rams beat the Cleveland Browns, 30-17 at the Los Angeles Coliseum.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the San Francisco 49ers, 37-14 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* The Oakland Raiders beat the Denver Broncos, 21-17 at the Oakland Coliseum.

* And there was no Monday Night Football game that week.

There were 4 games played in the NBA:

* The Kansas City-Omaha Kings beat the Detroit Pistons, 105-104 at the Kansas City Municipal Auditorium.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 115-110 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 121-98 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland.

* And the Phoenix Suns beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 113-109 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

There were 3 games played in the American Basketball Association:

* The New York Nets beat the Utah Stars, 129-109 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Memphis Tams, 85-80 at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis.

* And the Kentucky Colonels beat the San Diego Conquistadors, 106-101 at the San Diego Sports Arena. (It's now named the Pechanga Arena.)

There were 7 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Chicago Black Hawks, 6-1 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-0 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Boston Bruins beat the California Golden Seals, 5-3 at the Boston Garden.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Buffalo Sabres, 5-2 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Atlanta Flames, 2-1 at The Omni.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Vancouver Canucks, 7-5 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.

* The Montreal Canadiens, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Los Angeles Kings and the Minnesota North Stars were not scheduled.

And there were 6 games in the World Hockey Association:

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Jersey Knighs, 7-6 at the Cherry Hill Arena in the Philadelphia suburb of Cherry Hill, Camden County, New Jersey.

* The Chicago Cougars beat the New England Whalers, 3-2 at the Boston Garden.

* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Toronto Toros, 4-3 in overtime at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Cleveland Crusaders and the Houston Aeros played to a tie, 2-2 at the Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston.

* The Minnesota Fighting Saints beat the Winnipeg Jets, 3-2 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* The Los Angeles Sharks beat the Vancouver Blazers, 5-3 at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.

December 14, 1963: The Polo Grounds Closes

December 14, 1963: The last event is held at the Polo Grounds, after 53 years of the current stadium, and 72 years of sports on the site. The New York Jets lose to the Buffalo Bills, 19-10.

I suppose it was only fair: The Jets, still known as the New York Titans at the time, ruined the Bills' 1st regular-season game, 27-3 over the September 11, 1960, also at the Polo Grounds -- and, of course, also the first game for the Jets-to-be.

It was a bit of an ignominious end for a stadium that had hosted 13 World Series, 5 NFL Championship Games and 2 Heavyweight Championship fights. Only 6,526 fans attended the wake. That was still more than the 1,752 who were at the last competitive baseball game at the old Harlem Horseshoe. On September 18, 1963, the New York Mets lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-1.

The following April, with both the Mets and the Jets having moved into the new Shea Stadium, the same demolition crew that demolished Ebbets Field in 1960 used the same wrecking ball, painted to look like a baseball, to take the Polo Grounds down. The Polo Grounds Towers opened on the site in 1966, with a playground named Willie Mays Field.

Polo Grounds Towers, as seen from Coogan's Bluff

*

December 14, 1963 was a Saturday. Actress Cynthia Gibb was born. Singer Dinah Washington died. And the Baldwin Hills Dam broke in Los Angeles, killing 5 people. I have separate entries for Washington's death and the dam break.

Also in the American Football League that day, the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Boston Patriots, 35-3 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. In the National Football League, the Green Bay Packers beat the San Francisco 49ers, 21-17 at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco. The rest of both Leagues played the next day, Sunday.

It was the last weekend of the college football season before the bowl games, and only 2 games were played. The University of Houston beat the University of Louisville, 21-7 at Rice Stadium in Houston, where they were groundsharing with their crosstown rivals, Rice University.

And Number 9 Alabama, coached by Paul "Bear" Bryant and quarterbacked by Joe Namath, beat the University of Miami, 17-12 at the Orange Bowl stadium in Miami. 'Bama and the University of Mississippi, each of whom had faced an integration crisis over the last year and change, did not play each other in the regular season, but 'Bama's losses to Florida and arch-rival Auburn, along with Ole Miss' undefeated season, gave Ole Miss the Southeastern Conference Championship. But since 'Bama hadn't had their shot at Ole Miss, they were pitted against each other in the Sugar Bowl, which traditionally features the SEC Champion, and 'Bama won, 12-7.

There were 4 games played in the NBA that day:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Philadelphia 76ers, 123-119 at the old Madison Square Garden.

* The Cincinnati Royals beat the Boston Celtics, 108-105 at the Boston Garden.

* The St. Louis Hawks beat the Detroit Pistons, 104-92 at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Baltimore Bullets, 113-108 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. Jerry West led all scorers on the day with 38 points.

The NHL's entire "Original Six" was in action that day:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-3 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins, 3-1 at the Montreal Forum.

* And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 5-4 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.

And in English soccer, Arsenal, the North London team that I would one day support, traveled to the Birmingham area, and played Wolverhampton Wanderers, a.k.a. Wolves, to a 2-2 draw.

November 25, 1976: O.J.'s Romp In Defeat

November 25, 1976: As usual, the Detroit Lions play at home on Thanksgiving Day. However, for the 2nd year in a row, it's being held at the decidedly untraditional venue of an indoor stadium, the Silverdome in suburban Pontiac, 30 miles northwest of downtown Detroit.

The Lions certainly had a high-profile opponent for their game, televised nationally on NBC. Not so much the team, the Buffalo Bills, as their leading offensive threat, running back O.J. Simpson. The top running back in the NFL in the decade, he was already the holder of the single-season record for rushing yards, with 2,003 in 1973.

At this point, the NFL record for rushing yards in a game was 247, by Willie Ellison of the Los Angeles Rams in a 1971 game. In this game, however, the Lions couldn't stop O.J. He set a new record with 273 yards, and scored 2 touchdowns.

But, much like the Boston Celtics treated Wilt Chamberlain in the 1960s, the Lions approached the situation as if O.J. couldn't be stopped, but the rest of his team could. Quarterback Greg Landry led 4 scoring drives before the Bills got on the board, leading to a touchdown pass he threw to David Hill, 2 field goals from Benny Ricardo, and another pass from Landry to Hill. Midway through the 3rd quarter, the Lions led, 20-0. Simpson's 2 touchdowns bookended a touchdown run by the Lions' Dexter Bussey. Detroit won, 27-14.

The game was fairly typical of Simpson's career. In 11 seasons, he played in 1 Playoff game, a defeat to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1974. In this season, with his best single-game performance, not only did the Bills lose that game, but went 2-12.

A year later, Walter Payton of the Chicago Bears broke the record, rushing for 275 yards. That was still the NFL record in 1994, when O.J. Simpson was arrested for killing 2 people, including his ex-wife. He was acquitted, but was later found liable for their deaths in a civil trial, and later spent time in prison, not for those murders, but for a separate armed robbery.

The NFL record for rushing yards in a game was raised to 278 by Corey Dillon of the Cincinnati Bengals in 2000, to 295 by Jamal Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens in 2003, and to 296 by Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings in 2007. That record still stands.

*

November 25, 1976, like all Thanksgiving Days, was a Thursday. One other game was played in the NFL: The Dallas Cowboys beat the football version of the St. Louis Cardinals, 19-14 at Texas Stadium in suburban Irving, 10 miles northwest of downtown Dallas. The leading rusher in that game only had 54 yards, and it was the Cowboys' quarterback, Roger "the Dodger" Staubach.

There were 3 college games:

* Number 11 Texas A&M beat arch-rival Texas, 27-3 at Memorial Stadium in Austin.

* Number 17 Rutgers beat Colgate, 17-9 at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey. This completed an 11-0, undefeated season for Rutgers. I have a separate entry for that event.

* And Kent State beat Northern Illinois, 42-0 at Dix Stadium in the Cleveland suburb of Kent, Ohio.

One more note from football on this day: Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was born.

Baseball was out of season. In recent times, the NBA and the NHL have avoided playing on Thanksgiving, so as not to compete for TV ratings with the NFL. But, this time, there were 3 NBA games:

* The Cleveland Cavaliers, beat the Detroit Pistons, 111-105 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.

* The Houston Rockets beat the New Orleans Jazz, 105-99 at the Superdome in New Orleans. In defeat, "Pistol" Pete Maravich scored 35 points.

* And the Phoenix Suns beat the Washington Bullets, 104-98 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

And there were 2 NHL games. The New York Islanders lost to the Detroit Red Wings, 3-1 at the Nassau Coliseum. And the Boston Bruins beat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-2 at the Boston Garden.

And there were 2 games in the World Hockey Association. The New England Whalers beat the Birmingham Bulls, 5-3 at the Jefferson County Civic Center in Birmingham. And the Quebec Nordiques beat the Indianapolis Racers, 5-0 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

This was also the day of the last concert by The Band, filmed for the documentary The Last Waltz. I have a separate entry for that event.

October 30, 1964: Buffalo Wings are Invented

October 30, 1964: Buffalo Wings are invented.

Frank and Teresa Bellissimo opened a bar on Main Street in Buffalo, New York in 1935. Because it was near the Buffalo River, they named it the Anchor Bar. Because it was just 5 blocks from War Memorial Stadium, then home of the 1964 season's eventual American Football League Champions, the Buffalo Bills, it became a hangout for Bills fans.

Legend has it that, on a Friday night, Dominic Bellissimo, son of the owners, came by with some friends, looking for a late-night snack. Teresa was there, preparing to make chicken stock with a bunch of wings. Improvising, she stuck them under the broiler (later, they switched to deep frying), sprinkled them with a hot sauce she concocted from a commercially available base (Frank's Hot Sauce), took some celery sticks off the antipasto dishes, put some blue cheese dressing (the house dressing) in a small bowl, and served them to the boys. They loved it, and the word of this new concoction spread.

Dom Bellissimo took over the bar after his parents died, and he tells a different story. In 1980, he was interviewed for The New Yorker by Calvin Trillin. It wasn't until 1966 that the Catholic Church allowed its members to eat meat on Fridays, since the Crucifixion happened on a Friday. On this Friday night, since people were buying a lot of drinks, he wanted to do something nice for them at midnight, when the mostly Catholic patrons would be able to eat meat again. It was still Teresa who came up with the idea, Dom said, but the friends in question weren't there.

There is a competing story that a black chef named John Young invented the wings at his restaurant, John Young's Wings and Things, on Buffalo's mostly-black East Side in 1960, 4 years before the Bellissimos. Due to racial tensions -- although not as publicized as those in Detroit and Newark, Buffalo did have a race riot in 1967 -- Young left the city in 1970. When he came back in 1980, the city had forgotten him and embraced the Bellissimo story.

In 1996, 2 years before his death, in an interview with The Buffalo News, he said, "I am the true inventor of the Buffalo chicken wing. It hurts me so bad that other people take the credit." There may have been a difference in the sauce, to the point where the Bellissimos' sauce is the one that everybody knows.

Of course, buffaloes don't have wings. Chickens have wings... but they don't have fingers. (This sounds like a George Carlin bit.) Nevertheless, "Buffalo wings" and "chicken fingers" have both become standard pub grub in America. The wings have even inspired a restaurant chain, Buffalo Wild Wings, which was founded... not in Buffalo, but in Columbus, Ohio.

So was Wendy's. They remain headquartered in Columbus, as are White Castle, Charley's Philly Steaks, Sbarro and Piada Italian Street Food. Buffalo Wild Wings, however, have moved their corporate headquarters to... not Buffalo, but Atlanta.

Frank Bellissimo lived until 1980, Teresa until 1985. Dom is still alive as of October 30, 2022. In 2004, I visited Buffalo, and had to stop by the Anchor Bar. I can't stand spicy food, so I didn't order the original Buffalo wings. But they make a fantastic Monte Cristo sandwich.

*

October 30, 1964, as I said, was a Friday. Baseball season was over. There was 1 college football game played on that Friday. Oddly enough, it involved a Catholic school, the University of Detroit. But they lost to the University of Miami, 10-7 at the University of Detroit Stadium. The Detroit Titans went 3-7 that season, and then canceled the football program due to a lack of funding. The school, now known as the University of Detroit Mercy following a 1990 merger with the all-women's Mercy College, competes in NCAA Division I in other sports, but not in football.

There were no NHL games that night, but there were 3 in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 94-90 at the old Madison Square Garden.

* The Cincinnati Royals beat the St. Louis Hawks, 119-118 at the Cincinnati Gardens. Oscar Robertson scored 39 for the Royals, Bob Pettit 34 for the Hawks.

* And the Boston Celtics beat the Detroit Pistons, 106-90 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit.

October 23, 1995: Def Leppard Play 3 Concerts on 3 Continents in 30 Hours

Left to right: Rick Savage, Vivian Campbell,

Phil Collen, Rick Allen, Joe Elliott

October 23, 1995: English heavy metal band Def Leppard, having released their greatest hits album Vault, decided to mark the occasion by playing three acoustic shows on three different continents on the same day, as a special "Vaulting The World" publicity event.

"It was the band’s idea to do something weird and wacky," lead singer Joe Elliott said, as the band boarded a plane at London's Gatwick Airport ahead of the 2 hour, 45 minute flight to Tangier, Morocco in Africa for their first gig of the whirlwind tour at Hercules Cave. (The city is officially "Tangier," but "Tangiers" is sometimes also used.)

"We haven't actually had the chance to nail this person's head to a coffee table yet who actually came up with this three gigs in one day lark," Elliott later said. "But, I mean, it is a challenge, and we do like a bit of a challenge."

The quintet’s second gig took place at the Bottom Line club in West London, with Leppard playing "Little Wing" by Jimi Hendrix, "Ziggy Stardust" by David Bowie, and "You Can't Always Get What You Want" by The Rolling Stones, along with their own hits "Animal," "Two Steps Behind" and "Pour Some Sugar On Me."

The same three covers, plus a set-closing run through T. Rex's "Bang A Gong (Get It On)," featured in the band’s final show of the day, at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. With that show starting at 10:45 PM local time, Leppard technically played their 3 shows in 30 hours. But, as the time difference meant it was 6:45 AM in London, the record of 3 concerts on 3 continents in 1 day was allowed to stand.

"The audience was stunning," Elliott said of the Vancouver crowd. "It was like Beatlemania, with people moshing - moshing! - during our acoustic set."

"Would we do it all again?" the singer asked, rhetorically, with the record in the bag. "Yes. Would I do it all again next week? No fucking way."

*

October 23, 1995 was a Monday. It was an off-day between Games 2 and 3 of the World Series, which the Atlanta Braves would win in 6 games over the Cleveland Indians. On ABC Monday Night Football, the New England Patriots beat the Buffalo Bills, 27-14 at Foxboro Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

The NBA season started 11 days later. There were 2 games played in the NHL. The Montreal Canadiens beat the Los Angeles Kings, 6-3 at the Montreal Forum. And the Colorado Avalanche beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 3-1 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.

October 4, 1999: The Al Leiter Game

October 4, 1999: The New York Mets whitewash the Cincinnati Reds‚ 5-0 at Riverfront Stadium (by this point, renamed Cinergy Field)‚ to become the National League's Wild Card Playoff team. Al Leiter hurls a complete game 2-hitter for the win. Rey Ordoñez plays his 100th consecutive errorless game, a record for shortstops.

Leiter allowed just 2 hits, and 4 walks, striking out 7. He threw 135 pitches, and there was no way that manager Bobby Valentine was going to take him out. Having grown up a Met fan in Berkeley Township, Ocean County, New Jersey, this was the game he'd waited for his whole life.

He was supported by a 2-run home run by Edgardo Alfonzo in the 1st inning, a bases-loaded walk by Robin Ventura in the 3rd, a home run by Rickey Henderson in the 5th, and an RBI double by Alfonzo in the 6th.

The Mets had struggled against the Atlanta Braves, who had now won 5 straight NL Eastern Division titles, but managed to be 1 of the last 5 teams standing. Now, they were 1 of the last 4, and would play the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL Division Series. The D-backs had set a record by making the Playoffs in only their 2nd season.

This was a playoff to get into the Playoffs; therefore, Major League Baseball counts it as a regular-season game. The Reds had won 96 games. This is easily the most wins by a team that didn't make the Playoffs proper since the advent of MLB's Wild Card era in 1995.

*

October 4, 1999 was a Monday. Both Leagues' Division Series started the next day. On ABC Monday Night Football, the Buffalo Bills beat the Miami Dolphins, 23-18 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

The NBA season did not begin until November 2. But there were 3 games played in the NHL:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Boston Bruins, 4-0 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the St. Louis Blues, 3-2 at the Kiel Center (now the Enterprise) in St. Louis.

* And the San Jose Sharks beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 7-1 at the San Jose Arena (now the SAP Center).

September 30, 1973: The Last Game at the Pre-Renovation Yankee Stadium

September 30, 1973: The last game is played at Yankee Stadium before its renovation. The Yankees lose 8-5 to the Detroit Tigers.

The renovation was necessary, not because the Mets were talking about how much better Shea Stadium was, but because there were actual structural issues. The institution of Bat Day led to kids sitting in the upper deck, banging their bats on the floor, weakening the stadium structure.

So Mayor John Lindsay negotiated a deal in which the Department of Parks of the City of New York, which already owned Shea, bought both Yankee Stadium and the land on which it sat -- previously owned by separate entities -- and would renovate it, to reopen in time for the 1976 season. The Yankees would play the 1974 and '75 seasons at Shea.

This also forced the football Giants out of Yankee Stadium after 2 games, a 34-14 win over the Houston Oilers on September 16, and a 23-23 tie with the Philadelphia Eagles on September 23. The rest of their home schedule for 1973, and all of it for 1974, would be played 70 miles to the northeast, at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut.

Lindsay, angry that the Giants had already negotiated a deal to build a stadium in the Meadowlands of New Jersey, in time for the 1976 season, denied them the use of Shea, so they had to look elsewhere. So they made the deal to play '73 and '74 at the Yale Bowl. Lindsay's successor, Abe Beame, had no such grudge, and allowed the Giants to play the 1975 season at Shea -- meaning that it was hosting both of New York's MLB teams and both of its NFL teams at the same time.

(In other words: In 1975, the New York Tri-State Area had 8 teams playing in 3 buildings: Shea Stadium had the Yankees, the Mets, the Giants and the Jets; Madison Square Garden had the Knicks and the Rangers; and the Nassau Coliseum had the Nets and the Islanders. In 2022, with the Devils making it 9 teams, they are playing in 7 separate buildings.)

In order to avoid the kind of damage that fans had done to other ballparks in their recent closures, the Monuments were removed from center field, and the Plaques from the wall, before the game.

Duane "Duke" Sims, catching in the last game at the pre-renovation Stadium instead of Thurman Munson, hits the last home run, off Fred Holdsworth in the 7th inning. But Lindy McDaniel, in relief of Fritz Peterson, implodes in the 8th inning, allowing 6 runs, making a winning pitcher of John Hiller.

Sims' 1974 Topps card. Topps tended to take

players' card pictures in New York,

going back to the Polo Grounds.

The last play is 1st baseman Mike Hegan hitting a fly ball to, appropriately, center field, once patrolled by Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle. This one is caught by the Tigers' Mickey Stanley.

Attendance: 32,238, in a Stadium whose capacity was then listed as 65,010.

For all the greats who had played in Yankee Stadium, the only future Hall-of-Famer who played in this game was the Tigers' Al Kaline. He went 1-for-2, then, 39 years old, was replaced in the field.

After the game, Yankee manager Ralph Houk resigned, tired of the meddling of the team's 1st-year owner, George Steinbrenner. He had managed the Yankees in the 1961, '62 and '63 seasons, winning the Pennant each time. Then he became the general manager for 1964, and after 1 more Pennant, everybody seemed to get old and/or hurt at once, and there was hardly anybody to replace them with, because the farm system had dried up.

In 1966, he resigned as GM, and his last act as such was to appoint himself back as field manager. The 1st time around, he had been "a players' manager." Now, he was seen as too much of "a company man," and the younger players didn't like him. He got the Yankees to a 2nd-place finish in 1970, but 15 games behind the Baltimore Orioles. They were in the American League Eastern Division race late in both 1972 and '73, but they faded both times.

The '73 finale was his 1,757th and last game as Yankee manager, giving him a record of 944-806. He managed the Tigers from 1974 to 1978, and the Boston Red Sox from 1981 to 1984, but never came close to another postseason berth. Overall, he was 1,619-1,531 for his career.

George found finding a replacement for Houk difficult, as he tried to hire Dick Williams, who, after the subsequent World Series despite winning it, had quit as manager of the Oakland Athletics. A's owner Charlie Finley contended that Williams couldn't manage anywhere else as long as his contract with him was running. So George hired former Pittsburgh Pirate manager Bill Virdon. Houk was signed to manage the Tigers.

The day after the last game, the renovation began. Claire Ruth, the Babe's widow, was given home plate. Eleanor Gehrig, Lou's widow, was given the 1st base that was used in the last game.

The 1923-73 version of Yankee Stadium saw the home team win 27 American League Pennants and 20 World Series in 51 seasons. (The 1st 2 Yankee Pennants, 1921 and '22, came at the Polo Grounds.) It also hosted 3 NFL Championship Games in the pre-Super Bowl era: 1956, when the Giants beat the Chicago Bears; 1958, when the Giants lost to the Baltimore Colts in an overtime classic that has been called "The Greatest Game Ever Played"; and 1962, when the Giants lost to the Green Bay Packers.

It also hosted the Army-Navy Game in 1930 and '31; and 22 Army-Notre Dame games, including 1928, when Knute Rockne told his team to "Win one for the Gipper," and they did; and 1946, when both teams came in undefeated, and left that way, a "Game of the Century" that didn't live up to the hype, ending 0-0. And it hosted a long run of boxing champions, from Jack Dempsey to Floyd Patterson, including Joe Louis' 1938 knockout of Max Schmeling.

Remaining with the team until 1980, shortstop Fred Stanley was the last Yankee who had played a home game at the pre-renovation Stadium, although center fielder Bobby Murcer would be traded away and reacquired, playing his last game on June 11, 1983, nearly 10 years later.

*

September 30, 1973 was a Sunday. Other Major League Baseball games played on this day:

* The New York Mets split a doubleheader with the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. The Cubs won the opener 1-0, with Rick Reuschel and Bob Locker combining for an 8-hit shutout. In the nightcap, Jerry Koosman was backed by 3 hits from Rusty Staub, 2 each by Wayne Garrett and Felix Millan, and a home run by Cleon Jones, as the Mets won 9-2.

The regular season should have been over, but the National League Eastern Division race was a wild one that no one seemed to want to win. The Mets ended the day 1 game ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals, a game and a half ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3 ahead of the Montreal Expos, and 4 ahead of the Cubs -- who finished closer to the Mets this time than they had in their in famous 1969 "September Swoon."

But because of rainouts, the race still wasn't decided. The Cards had completed their schedule, but the Mets had 2 games left to play, the Pirates 1. It was still possible for any of the 3 to win the Division.

* Because the Cardinals had beaten the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-1 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* And the Pirates had beaten the Expos, 10-2 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. The next day, the Pirates would play a rainout makeup against the San Diego Padres at home, while the Mets would stay at Wrigley and play another doubleheader with the Cubs.

The Mets won the opener, 6-4, and clinched the Division. Until the 1986 Pennant, this would remain their only clincher on the road. (The 1969 and 1986 Division titles, the 1969 and 1973 Pennants, and the 1969 World Series win would all occur at Shea.) They beat the Cubs, and barely beat the rain, which canceled the nightcap, which was now unnecessary. It was made more so when the Pirates lost 4-3 to the Padres.

* Elsewhere on September 30, the Houston Astros beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-3 at Atlanta Stadium. (It was renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in 1975.) This was the 3,739th and last regular-season game managed by Leo Durocher, who was soon fired. He first managed with the 1939 Brooklyn Dodgers, while he was still an active player.

Hank Aaron got 3 hits, but none of them was a home run, so he finished the season with 713 career home runs. It would be a long off-season before he got the chance to break the career record then held by Babe Ruth. He hit Number 714 on April 4, 1974 in Cincinnati, and then Number 715 on April 8 at home to Los Angeles.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 3-2 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The California Angels beat the Minnesota Twins, 3-0 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium). Frank Tanana pitched a 2-hit shutout, outdueling Bert Blyleven.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-0 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Pete Broberg allowed 7 hits, but kept the shutout.

* And the Chicago White Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 1-0 at the Oakland Coliseum. The ChiSox won it in the top of the 10th, on a bases-loaded walk drawn by shortstop Russell "Bucky" Dent, who would later write his name in Yankee history. Speaking of which: Reggie Jackson did not play for the A's, but Catfish Hunter started, and did not get the decision. The A's would go on to beat the Mets in the World Series.

And there were NFL games played on the day:

* The New York Giants lost to the Cleveland Browns, 13-10 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The New York Jets lost to the Buffalo Bills, 9-7. It was the Bills' 1st game at their new stadium, south of the city, in suburban Orchard Park, New York. Originally known as Rich Stadium, for the Rich family of meat-product producers, O.J. Simpson and his teammates beat the Jets, 9-7.

The stadium was renamed Ralph Wilson Stadium for the team's founding owner in 1998, and, in 2015, was renamed New Era Field, as naming rights were bought by the New Era sports cap company. But New Era asked to be let out of the agreement in 2020. It was renamed Highmark Stadium. In 2026, it was torn down, and replaced by a new facility, also named Highmark Stadium.

* The Washington Redskins beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 28-7 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Baltimore Colts beat the New Orleans Saints, 13-10 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the New England Patriots, 44-23 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Houston Oilers, 36-7 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the football version of the St. Louis Cardinals, 45-10 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Green Bay Packers, 11-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Oakland Raiders, 16-3 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Chicago Bears beat the Denver Broncos, 33-14 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the San Diego Chargers, 20-13 at San Diego Stadium.

* The Los Angeles Rams beat the San Francisco 49ers, 40-20 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* The next day, on Monday Night Football, the Detroit Lions beat the Atlanta Falcons, 31-6 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.