September 28, 1980: Cosmos premieres on PBS, a limited series hosted by astronomer Carl Sagan. Like fellow PBS stars Fred Rogers, Julia Child and Louis Rukeyser, and later Bob Ross and Bob Vila, Sagan explained difficult things in a way that the average viewer could understand, without treating them like a child (or, in Mr. Rogers' case, he was talking to children, but treated them as though their feelings mattered.)
Sagan began the series by holding up a dandelion seed, and letting it fly away into the wind off an unidentified coast. This became his "Ship of the Imagination," which he used to travel through the stars.
There were 13 parts, airing on succeeding Sundays, with titles like "The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean" (the 1st episode), "One Voice in the Cosmic Fugue," "Blues for a Red Planet" (an episode devoted to the planet Mars and how Earthlings have perceived it), and "Who Speaks for Earth?" (the finale).
The series inspired impersonators, who latched onto Sagan's expression, "Picture if you will... " and his use of the word "billions," with the heavy emphasis on the B.
The show would be updated in 2014, by Neil deGrasse Tyson, a former student of Sagan's at Cornell University. But it aired on Fox, which meant commercials. It seemed like every time Tyson said, "Come with me," Fox would break for commercial.
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September 28, 1980 was a Sunday. These Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Detroit Tigers, 6-5 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. The winning run scored in the bottom of the 10th inning, on an error by Bob Watson. Reggie Jackson entered the game as a pinch-hitter, and went 1-for-2. Bobby Brown hit a home run.
* The New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-0 at Shea Stadium. Mike Scott pitched an 8-hit shutout, and Joel Youngblood hit a home run.
* The Montreal Expos beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-3 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Mike Schmidt went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Pete Rose went 0-for-3 with a walk. These teams would meet again in Montreal the next weekend, with whoever winning 2 out of 3 winning the National League East title. The Phillies did, and went on to win their 1st World Series.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-3 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Carl Yastrzemski did not play.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-3 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Jim Palmer was the winning pitcher. Ken Singleton and Doug DeCinces hit home runs, but Eddie Murray went 0-for-4.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Willie Stargell did not play.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals, 8-7 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. George Brett hit a pinch-hit grand slam, raising his batting average to .385. He had been above .400 earlier in the month, and finished at .390, the highest in a full season since Ted Williams batted .406 in 1941. The Royals faced the Yankees in the American League Championship Series for the 4th time in 5 years, and finally got their 1st win.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Houston Astros, 8-5 at the Astrodome in Houston. Johnny Bench did not play.
* The San Diego Padres beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-5 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the California Angels, 8-1 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Rod Carew went 2-for-4.
* The Oakland Athletics beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 3-2 at the Oakland Coliseum. Rickey Henderson went 0-for-4. Robin Yount and Paul Molitor each went 1-for-4.
* The Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners, 4-1 at the Kingdome in Seattle.
* And the Atlanta Braves and the San Francisco Giants were rained out at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. The game was never made up.
In the NFL:
* The New York Giants lost to the Los Angeles Rams, 28-7 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.
* The New York Jets lost to the Baltimore Colts, 35-21 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.
* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Washington Redskins, 14-0 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.
* The Miami Dolphins beat the New Orleans Saints, 21-16 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.
* The Cleveland Browns beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 34-27 at Tampa Stadium.
* The Buffalo Bills beat the Oakland Raiders, 24-7 at Rich Stadium (later Ralph Wilson Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.
* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Chicago Bears, 38-3 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.
* The Houston Oilers beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 13-10 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.
* The Detroit Lions beat the Minnesota Vikings, 27-7 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.
* The Dallas Cowboys beat the Green Bay Packers, 28-7 at Milwaukee County Stadium.
* The football version of the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 24-14 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.
* The San Diego Chargers beat the Kansas city Chiefs, 24-7 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
* The Atlanta Falcons beat the San Francisco 49ers, 20-17 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
* And on ABC Monday Night Football, the New England Patriots beat the Denver Broncos, 23-14 at Schaefer Stadium (later Sullivan Stadium and Foxboro Stadium) in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.
