June 16, 1998: The Last Ride of the Russian Five

Vladimir Konstantinov (left) and Viacheslav Fetisov

June 16, 1998: The Detroit Red Wings beat the Washington Capitals, 4-1 at the arena now known as the Capital One Arena in Washington, completing a 4-game sweep and winning their 2nd straight Stanley Cup. It was the 8th Stanley Cup as a head coach for Scotty Bowman, tying Toe Blake's record.

The Wings' biggest stars were longtime center and Captain Steve Yzerman, defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, and goaltender Mike Vernon. But they also featured the Russian Five: Defensemen Viacheslav Fetisov and Vladimir Konstantinov, centers Sergei Fedorov and Igor Larionov, and left wing Vyacheslav Kozlov.

All 5 of them had played for CSKA Moscow, the club team of the Red Army. Fetisov had long starred for the Soviet Union's national team before the fall of the Berlin Wall made it possible for Russian players to play in the NHL. He starred with the New Jersey Devils before being traded to the Wings in the 1995 season -- ironically, going from the team that would win the Stanley Cup to the team they would beat in the Finals.

Larionov debuted with the Vancouver Canucks in 1989, and was traded to the Wings for the 1995-96 season. Fedorov debuted with the Wings in 1990. Neither Festisov nor Larionov played in an NHL All-Star Game, but Fedorov played in 1. All 3 were elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Konstantinov and Kozlov were a bit younger, and both debuted debuting with the Wings in 1992. Konstantinov played in an All-Star Game, while Kozlov did not.

The year before, shortly after winning the Cup, a car crash badly hurt Konstantinov and team massage therapist Sergei Mnatsakonov. Both were in attendance for the clincher, and Yzerman, awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as Most Valuable Player of the Playoffs, wheeled Konstantinov onto the ice, and put the Cup in his lap.

Fetisov retired after this Cup win. Kozlov left in 2001. Fedorov and Larionov remained with the Wings long enough to win a 3rd Cup, in 2002. Fedorov scored 483 career goals, Kozlov 356.

It would take another 20 years for another D.C. team – unless you count the soccer team, D.C. United – to reach a major league sports final. But when they did, the Capitals not only won their 1st Stanley Cup Finals game after 44 years of play, but their 1st Cup.

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June 16, 1998 was a Tuesday. Football was out of season. The NBA season ended 2 days earlier, when the Chicago Bulls completed their dynasty, beating the Utah Jazz in Game 6 of the Finals, for their 2nd "threepeat" and their 6th title in 8 seasons. And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Baltimore Orioles, 2-0 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Roberto Alomar hit a home run for the O's. Cal Ripken went 0-for-3.

Hideki Irabu pitched well, but Sidney Ponson allowed only 3 baserunners: A single to Luis Sojo in the 3rd inning, and a walk to Tino Martinez and a single to Jorge Posada in the 7th, at which point Oriole manager Ray Miller replaced Ponson with Arthur Rhodes, whom the Yankees hit well when he was with the Texas Rangers, but not this time.

To put this in perspective: Five years after this, Irabu was out of the major leagues; three years after that, Ponson was a Yankee; and five years after that, Irabu was dead.

* The New York Mets beat the Montreal Expos, 2-0 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Al Leiter pitched a 5-hit shutout.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-7 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. The Phils trailed 7-0 after 5 innings, but came back, and scored 7 runs in the bottom of the 9th, culminating in a grand slam by Mike Lieberthal.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Florida Marlins, 7-0 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta. Denny Neagle pitched a 4-hit shutout. Ryan Klesko went 2-for-4 with a home run and 4 RBIs.

* The Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-3 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals, 9-1 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Kansas City.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-1 at Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers, 8-5 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-1 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat their newly-installed (due to the League switch) arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs, 11-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Yes, both Chicago teams were at home on the same day. The White Sox, who were 28-39 at the time, got 13,383 fans; the Cubs, 39-29, and with Sammy Sosa in the process of setting a steroid-aided single-month record with 20 home runs (though he went 0-for-3 with a walk in this game), got 25,409.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros, 9-4 at the Astrodome in Houston. The Cardinals got home runs from Gary Gaetti, Brian Jordan and Delino DeShields -- but not from Mark McGwire, who went 0-for-3 with 2 walks.

* The San Diego Padres beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 10-6 at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium). Tony Gwynn went 2-for-3 with 2 RBIs.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Colorado Rockies, 5-3 at Candlestick Park (then named 3Com Park at Candlestick Point) in San Francisco. Barry Bonds did not play.

* The Anaheim Angels beat the Seattle Mariners, 3-2 at Edison International Field of Anaheim (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Ken Griffey Jr. went 2-for-4.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Texas Rangers, 9-7 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-3 with 2 walks, 2 stolen bases, and 2 RBIs. Ben Grieve, son of former Rangers star Tom Grieve, hit 2 home runs and had 4 RBIs for the A's.

April 8, 1973: The End of the Baltimore Bullets

April 8, 1973: The New York Knicks beat the Baltimore Bullets, 109-99 at the new Madison Square Garden, and eliminate the Bullets from the Playoffs.

For the Knicks, on their way to their 2nd NBA Championship and 3rd trip to the Finals in 4 seasons: Former Bullets star Earl "The Pearl" Monroe scored 26 points, Dave DeBusschere 21, Walt Frazier 20, Willis Reed 12, and Bill Bradley 9. Among substitutes, Phil Jackson had 13, Dean Meminger 6 and Jerry Lucas 2.

For the Bullets: Archie Clark scored 30 points, Elvin Hayes and Phil Chenier each added 20, Mike Riordan (who played on the Knicks' 1970 title team) had 17, and Wes Unseld had 12. These starters played nearly the entire game. John Tresvant played 4 minutes and Kevin Porter 2, each without a shot, a rebound or an assist.

This would be the last game the Bullets played as a Baltimore team. They were a 1961 expansion team, playing the 1961-62 season as the Chicago Packers, then the 1962-63 season as the Chicago Zephyrs, then played at the Baltimore Civic Center from 1963 to 1973.

In 1971, they nearly gave Baltimore a very rare treble of titles: The Orioles had won the 1970 World Series, the Colts had won Super Bowl V, and the Bullets reached the 1971 NBA Finals. Coached by Gene Shue, They had a starting lineup of Earl "the Pearl" Monroe and Fred "Mad Dog" Carter, both from Philadelphia, as guards; Jack Marin and John Tresvant at forward; and Wes Unseld at center; with former All-Star forward Gus Johnson and guard Kevin Loughery as key reserves. But they were swept by the Milwaukee Bucks.

Left: Wes Unseld, with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar watching.

Right: Earl Monroe.

Washington-based construction magnate Abe Pollin bought the Bullets in 1964, but wasn't happy with the Civic Center having only 13,000 seats. So he built the Capital Centre, just outside the Capital Beltway in Landover, Prince George's County, Maryland -- 34 miles southwest of downtown Baltimore, and 11 miles east of downtown Washington. He also established the NHL's Washington Capitals, to begin play there in 1974. The saddle-roofed arena was intended to be easily reachable for people from both cities to drive to it, but the Washington Metro didn't open a station for it until 1978.

Under his ownership, his teams reached their sports' Finals 5 times, but he won only in 1978 with the Bullets, with Shue still coaching them, and Unseld still leading the team, with the addition of forward Elvin Hayes.

In 1997, Pollin built a new arena in downtown Washington, now named the Capital One Arena, and changed the NBA team's name to the Washington Wizards, to help remove the stigma of gun violence from his hometown.

The Wizards have honored 5 players with the retirement of their uniform numbers, with 3 of them contributing significantly to the Baltimore Bullets: Monroe, 10; Johnson, 25; and Unseld, 41. Walt Bellamny, Bailey Howell, and Hayes (the final season, 1972-73, only) joined those 3 as members of the Basketball Hall of Fame who played for the Baltimore Bullets.

Abe Pollin died in 2009, and his 45 years with the Bullets/Wizards makes him the longest-tenured owner in NBA history. But in spite of his long ownerships, neither the Basketball nor the Hockey Hall of Fame's voters have seen fit to elect him.

The Bullets played 35 regular season "home" games at the Civic Center, by then having taken a series of new names as one corporation after another bought naming rights, from January 1989 through March 1997. As of April 8, 2022, the building is named the Royal Farms Arena, and has been renovated, but the wider seats have reduced seating capacity to 11,614. Adding modern luxury boxes would basically eliminate the upper deck, reducing capacity further. Baltimore has looked at plans for a new arena, but hasn't selected one. Until they do, and it can open, Baltimore will remain the largest metropolitan area in the Northeastern U.S. without an NBA team.

The Baltimore Civic Center, now the CFG Bank Arena.

Oriole Park at Camden Yards can be seen in the background.

UPDATE: In 2023, the name of the former Baltimore Civic Center was changed again, to the CFG Bank Arena.

The Washington Wizards have retired the numbers of Baltimore Bullets Earl Monroe, 10; Gus Johnson, 25; and Wes Unseld, 41.

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April 8, 1973 was a Sunday. Actress Emma Caulfield was born. And painter Pablo Picasso died.

There were 2 other games in the NBA Playoffs. The Atlanta Hawks beat the Boston Celtics, 97-94 at The Omni in Atlanta. "Pistol" Pete Maravich scored 37 points for the Hawks. And that wasn't the highest point total of the day: In the Chicago Bulls' 98-94 win over the Los Angeles Lakers at the Chicago Stadium, Bob Love of the Bulls scored 38.

There was 1 game in the American Basketball Association: The Utah Stars beat the San Diego Conquistadors, 120-98 at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena).

There were 4 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs:

* The New York Rangers beat the Boston Bruins, 4-0 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Montreal Canadiens, 5-1 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Minnesota North Stars, 3-0 in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* And the St. Louis Blues beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Black Hawks, 5-3 at the St. Louis Arena.

And there were 3 games in the inaugural World Hockey Association Playoffs:

* The New England Whalers beat the Ottawa Nationals, 4-3 at the Boston Garden.

* The Cleveland Crusaders beat the Philadelphia Blazers, 3-1 at the Philadelphia Arena.

* And the Winnipeg Jets beat the Minnesota Fighting Saints, 5-2 at the Winnipeg Arena.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Boston Red Sox, 4-3 at Fenway Park in Boston. The Yankees tied the game in the top of the 9th inning, but, in a rare moment when the Sox' 1972 trade of Sparky Lyle to the Yankees looked good for them, Sparky gave up what would now be called a walkoff home run to Orlando Cepeda.

* A doubleheader was split at Atlanta Stadium (later renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). The Houston Astros won the opener, beating the Atlanta Braves, 10-3. The Asros scored 8 runs in the top of the 6th inning. César Cedeño went 4-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Hank Aaron went 0-for-3 with a walk. The Braves won the nightcap, 4-3. Mike Lum singled Darrell Evans home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Aaron only appeared as a pinch-hitter, and struck out.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates swept a doubleheader from the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3 and 5-3 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Bob Robertson won the 1st game with a home run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Lou Brock went 0-for-4. Despite the loss in the 2nd game, Brock rebounded to go 5-for-5 with a stolen base and an RBI. Over the 2 games, Willie Stargell went 3-for-8 with a home run, a walk, and 2 RBIs.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-0 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Joe Coleman pitched 8 innings of 3-hit shutout ball, and Lerrin LaGrow completed the 3-hit shutout. Norm Cash hit a home run, and Al Kaline went 1-for-4.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the San Francisco Giants, 3-1 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Pete Rose went 1-for-4. Johnny Bench went 1-for-2 with 2 walks. Willie McCovey went 0-for-4.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the California Angels, 6-5 at Anaheim Stadium (now named Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres, 4-0 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). Tommy John allowed 7 hits over 7 1/3rd innings, and George Culver finished the 8-hit shutout.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Oakland Athletics, 4-2 at the Oakland Coliseum. Jim Kaat outpitched Ken Holtzman. Harmon Killebrew did not play. Rod Carew went 1-for-3. Reggie Jackson went 1-for-4 with 2 RBIs.

* The New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies were rained out at Shea Stadium. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on June 27. The Mets won the 1st game, 7-6, scoring all 7 runs in the 1st inning. Barry Lersch survived the onslaught -- probably because manager wanted to save the bullpen for a still-winnable 2nd game -- and lasted 7 innings. In contrast, George Stone went only 5 innings for the Mets, but was the winning pitcher.

The Phils won the 2nd game, 7-1. Mike Wallace (not the CBS newscaster) outpitched Harry Parker. After not appearing in the 1st game, Willie Mays, in his final season, went 2-for-4 in the 2nd game. Over the 2 games, Mike Schmidt, in his 1st full season, went 3-for-8 with 2 home runs, a walk, and 5 RBIs.

* The Chicago White Sox and the Texas Rangers were rained out at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. The game was made up as part of a 4th of July doubleheader. The ChiSox swept, 2-0 and 6-2. Jim Geddes had to leave the 1st game in the 5th inning, due to injury, and Cy Acosta pitched the rest of the way. Each of them allowed only 2 hits in a combined 4-hit shutout.

* And the Baltimore Orioles and the Milwaukee Brewers were rained out at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on September 12. The O's swept, 4-1 and 5-3. In the 1st game, Jim Palmer outpitched Skip Lockwood for his 20th win of the season. Over the 2 games, Brooks Robinson went 1-for-6 with 2 walks.