October 31, 2010: "The Walking Dead" Premieres

October 31, 2010: The Walking Dead premieres on AMC -- appropriately enough, on Halloween Night. It is based on the graphic novel series of the same title, created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Tony Moore in 2003, and published by Image Comics until 2019.

English actor Andrew Lincoln played Rick Grimes, a Sheriff in Cynthiana, Georgia, who falls into a coma after being wounded in a shootout. Some time later, he awakens to discover that, in his absence, a zombie apocalypse has taken place. He is told his wife Lori and son Carl had been taken to Atlanta for their protection. Rick becomes the leader of a group of survivors, trying to fend off both zombies (known as "walkers") and rival survivor groups, the more evil enemy: Unlike the walkers, who are acting solely on instinct, the other survivors have made choices.

Lincoln left the series during its 9th season, succeeded as group leader by Norman Reedus as hunter Daryl Dixon. But many viewers had already given up on the show by then, saying that the stories had become repetitive. It's inspired several spinoffs featuring individual characters; Fear the Walking Dead, which shows how it all began, but with a separate group of characters; and Talking Dead, a post-show fan-discussion show. The original show's final episode, concluding its 11th season, will air on November 20, 2022.

(UPDATE: The series finale left the fates of both Rick and Michonne Hawthorne, played by Danai Gurira, unclear. On June 18, 2023, another spinoff series began: The Walking Dead: Dead City follows the characters of Maggie Greene, played by Lauren Cohan; and Negan Smith, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, in what remains of New York City. On February 25, 2024, a new series, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, picked up the story of Rick and Michonne.)

In a 2014 episode of Epic Rap Battles of History, "Nice" Peter Shukoff played Rick, against "Epic" Lloyd Ahlquist, who played Walter White of Breaking Bad.

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October 31, 2010 was a Sunday. These NFL games were played that Halloween:

* The New York Jets lost to the Green Bay Packers, 9-0 at the New Meadowlands Stadium (now MetLife Stadium). Yes, that's a football score, not baseball.

* The New England Patriots beat the Minnesota Vikings, 28-18 at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The New Orleans Saints beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 20-10 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 22-14 at Paul Brown Stadium (now Paycor Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Washington Redskins, 37-25 at Ford Field in Detroit.

* The St. Louis Rams beat the Carolina Panthers, 20-10 at the Edward Jones Dome (now The Dome at America's Center) in St. Louis.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Buffalo Bills, 13-10 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Ryan Succop kicked a 35-yard field goal as time ran out in overtime.

* The Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Dallas Cowboys, 35-17 at the new Cowboys Stadium (now AT&T Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Arizona Cardinals, 38-35 at Sun Devil Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

* The San Diego Chargers beat the Tennessee Titans, 33-25 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

* The Oakland Raiders beat the Seattle Seahawks, 33-3 at the Oakland Coliseum.

* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Denver Broncos, 24-16 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* The next night, on Monday Night Football, the Indianapolis Colts beat the Houston Texans, 30-17 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

* And the Atlanta Falcons, the Baltimore Ravens, the Chicago Bears, the Cleveland Browns, the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles had a bye week.

Game 4 of the World Series was played at Rangers Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium), practically next-door to the new Cowboys Stadium. The San Francisco Giants beat the Texas Rangers, 4-0. Aubrey Huff and Buster Posey hit home runs for the Giants. Madison Bumgarner pitched 8 innings of 3-hit shutout ball. He and Posey were the 1st rookie battery to start a World Series game since 1947, when Frank "Spec" Shea and Yogi Berra did it for the New York Yankees. The Giants took a 3-1 lead in the Series, and won it the next day.

There were no games played in the NHL, but 4 were in the NBA:

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Miami Heat, 101-78 at the Prudential Center in Newark.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 120-99 at the Ford Center (now the Paycom Center) in Oklahoma City.

* And in a doubleheader at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors, 107-83; and the Los Angeles Clippers lost to the Dallas Mavericks, 99-83.

June 17, 2009: Iván Rodríguez Breaks the Record for Games Caught

June 17, 2009: The Texas Rangers beat their cross-State, then-Interleague rivals, the Houston Astros, 5-4 at Rangers Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. David Murphy singled Ian Kinsler home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

For the Rangers, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Nelson Cruz hit home runs. For the Astros, Hunter Pence went 4-for-5 with a home run and 4 RBIs, and Carlos Lee also homered.

Iván Rodríguez, a Rangers legend, played for the Astros in this game, going 1-for-5. It was his 2,227th game at the position of catcher, setting a new major league record. He surpassed the total of 2,226 set from 1969 to 1993 by Carlton Fisk. Like Fisk, Rodríguez was nicknamed "Pudge." Unlike Fisk, however -- he was a Boston Red Sock, but not of the 21st Century -- Rodríguez has long been suspected of steroid use.

Fisk actually played longer, 13 seasons to 11, with the Chicago White Sox, who released him the day after his 2,226th game as a catcher. By 1 game, he surpassed the old record, set from 1972 to 1990 by Bob Boone.

Rodríguez reached the postseason with the Rangers in 1996, '98 and '99; in 2003 with the Florida Marlins, winning the World Series; and 2006 with the Detroit Tigers, winning the American League Pennant. He was named the AL's Most Valuable Player in 1999. He finished his career with 2,844 hits, including 311 home runs, 14 All-Star Game berths, 13 Gold Gloves, and 2,427 games as a catcher. Fisk and Boone remain 2nd and 3rd on the all-time list.

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June 17, 2009 was a Wednesday. These other Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Washington Nationals, 3-2 at the new Yankee Stadium. John Lannan outpitched Chien-Ming Wang. Adam Dunn hit a home run. For the Yankees, Robinson Canó and Johnny Damon hit home runs. Alex Rodriguez went 0-for-3 with a walk. Derek Jeter did not play.

* The New York Mets lost to the Baltimore Orioles, 6-4 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Nick Markakis went 4-for-4. Aubrey Huff went 2-for-3 with a home run, a walk, and 3 RBIs. Matt Wieters went 1-for-3 with a home run and 2 RBIs. For the Mets, Gary Sheffield went 2-for-4, including a solo shot for his 507th career home run. He would hit just 2 more.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Florida Marlins, 6-1 at Fenway Park in Boston. David Ortiz went 1-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-1 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Scott Richmond struck 11 batters out in 8 innings, outpitching Jamie Moyer. Rod Barajas, Aaron Hill, and, of course, former Phillie Scott Rolen hit home runs for the Jays. Jayson Werth homered for the Phils, but Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley each went 0-for-4, and Ryan Howard went 1-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Cleveland Indians, 9-8 at Progressive Field in Cleveland. J.J. Hardy hit a sacrifice fly to score Prince Fielder with the winning run in the top of the 11th inning.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-3 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

* The Chicago White Sox beat their crosstown rivals, the Chicago Cubs, 4-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Minnesota Twins, 8-2 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-3 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Albert Pujols went 0-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Kansas City Royals, 12-5 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 5-3 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the San Diego Padres, 4-3 at Petco Park in San Diego. Ken Griffey Jr. went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Ichiro Suzuki went 1-for-4 with a stolen base.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-4 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the Los Angeles Angels beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants, 4-3 at AT&T Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco.

Football was out of season. The NBA Finals ended 3 days earlier, when the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Orlando Magic in Game 5. The Stanley Cup Finals ended 2 days before that, when the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings in Game 7.

June 12, 1997: Interleague Play Comes to Major League Baseball

June 12, 1997: The 1st regular season Interleague games are played in Major League Baseball.

Interleague games had been played before. Of course, the World Series. In Spring Training, since some teams trained in Florida and others in Arizona, forcing the crossover "Grapefruit League" and "Cactus League." In-season exhibition games, such as the Mayor's Trophy Game between the New York Yankees and the New York Mets. Chicago also had City Series games between the Cubs and the White Sox, sometimes before the regular season, sometimes after it. In the era when there were more cities with 2 teams, there would frequently be postseason series for charity.

But in the regular season? No, this was one time when "segregation" in baseball was considered good. There was a mystique about the World Series, in that the teams facing each other hadn't faced each other during the regular season.

But most cities and metropolitan areas only had 1 team, in 1 League. The exceptions were New York, Chicago, the San Francisco Bay Area (the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics), and Los Angeles (the Los Angeles Dodgers and the team known from 1965 to 1996 as the California Angels).

If you were a fan of a team in 1 League, and wanted to see a team, or a star player, in the other, and you didn't live in 1 of those 4 areas, you had to go a long way, usually over 100 miles, to see it. Otherwise, you had to wait for television: NBC's Saturday Game of the Week, ABC's Monday Night Baseball, or, maybe, if your TV antenna was good enough, you could pull in another city's station. Failing that, you had to wait for the postseason.

The growth of ESPN and its baseball coverage didn't satisfy the appetite of fans looking to see players and teams from the other League: It actually increased it. Those of us who were opposed to Interleague Play joked, "What's next, cats and dogs becoming friends?"

The jokes went the other way, too: During the pregame show for the 1993 All-Star Game, Barry Bonds, of the National League's Giants, walked into Oriole Park of Camden Yards, home of the American League's Baltimore Orioles, and, since it wasn't an NL park, and he wasn't familiar with it due to having played there several times before, he couldn't find the locker room. He looked into the camera, and said, "This is why we need Interleague Play!" 

(As you can see, Bonds was put on the cover of the game program, along with then-current Rangers star Juan González, and legends Nolan Ryan of Texas and Willie Mays of San Francisco.)

And so, in 1995, as a way of bringing fans back after the Strike of '94, MLB officials, including Acting Commissioner Bud Selig, agreed on Interleague Play for the 1997 season. At first, it would only be series between "Divisional" opponents: Teams in the AL East would play teams in the NL East, Central vs. Central, West vs. West. This would lead to intracity, intra-metro-area, and intra-State matchups that had never happened in the regular season.

There were still separate umpiring crews, so they would be mixed for these games. As for the designated hitter, MLB would apply the same rule from the World Series and the All-Star Game: Which ever League had the home team would decide. So, home game in an AL park, DH, yes; home game in an NL park, DH, no.

The 1st such game was on June 12, 1997, a Thursday. It was at The Ballpark in Arlington (which has since undergone several name changes, and is now named Choctaw Stadium), in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas, where the Texas Rangers hosted the Giants.

At 7:11 PM, Central Daylight Time (8:11 Eastern), Darren Oliver threw a pitch, which home plate umpire Jim McKean called ball 1, to Darryl Hamilton. McKean handed that ball to the Rangers' equipment manager, who made sure it went to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. After 126 1/2 seasons without regular-season Interleague Play, it had begun. With the next ball, Hamilton singled, for the 1st Interleague hit, but did not score.

Billy Ripken, Cal's brother, had the 1st Interleague RBI, with a single up the middle off Mark Gardner, that scored Damon Buford, in the bottom of the 2nd. Stan Javier of the Giants led off the 3rd with the 1st Interleague homer. The Giants went on to win the game, 4-3. Winning pitcher: Gardner. Save: Rod Beck. Losing pitcher: Oliver.

(Ripken, Buford and Javier had all been sons of major league figures: Ripken of Oriole coach Cal Ripken Sr., Buford of former Oriole outfielder Don Buford, and Javier of former St. Louis Cardinals star Julián Javier.)

There were 3 other Interleague games that night, all on the Pacific Coast. The newly-renamed Anaheim Angels beat the San Diego Padres, 8-4 at Edison International Field in the Los Angeles suburb of Anaheim, California. (In 2004, the team would be renamed the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and the Stadium, formerly Anaheim Stadium, was renamed Angel Stadium of Anaheim.) The Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-4 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the Network Associates Coliseum). And the Seattle Mariners beat the Colorado Rockies, 12-11 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

That night, there were 2 games played that night within the American League: The Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 9-5 at Fenway Park in Boston; and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Cleveland Indians, 6-2 at Jacobs Field (which was renamed Progressive Field in 2007) in Cleveland.

There were no scores in other sports on this historic day: Football was in the off-season; hockey had ended 5 days earlier, when the Detroit Red Wings completed a 4-game sweep of the Philadelphia Flyers to win their 1st Stanley Cup in 42 years; and it was a travel day in the NBA Finals, as, the next night, the Chicago Bulls beat the Utah Jazz in Game 6 to take the title.

This introduction of Interleague Play would set up the first regional rivalries:

* June 16, 1997, the 1st regular-season game between the New York teams: The New York Mets beat the New York Yankees, 6-0 at Yankee Stadium. I was there, and, as a Yankee Fan, it was a miserable experience. Among the 56,188 fans, the fandom was about evenly split, and the Met fans were having way too much fun.

Bernard Gilkey, John Olerud, Butch Huskey and Matt Franco each collected 2 hits. Joe Girardi got 3 hits for the Yankees, but to the rest of the team, Dave Mlicki allowed only 6, and pitched a shutout. Andy Pettitte was the losing pitcher.

The Yankees did win the next 2 games to take the series, and also went on to win the only World Series between them (so far), in 2000.

* Also on June 16, 1997, the 1st regular-season game between the Chicago teams: The Chicago Cubs beat the Chicago White Sox, 8-3 at the new Comiskey Park (which was renamed U.S. Cellular Field in 2002, Guaranteed Rate Field in 2016, and just Rate Field in 2025). The teams had met in the 1906 World Series, which the White Sox won.

* Also on June 16, 1997, the 1st regular-season game between the Ohio teams: The Cincinnati Reds beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-1 at Jacobs Field. (Starting in 2022, the Indians became the Cleveland Guardians.) There has never been a World Series between them, the closest call coming in 1940, when the Reds won, beating the Detroit Tigers, who finished a game ahead of the Indians.

* On June 17, 1997, the 1st regular-season game between the Los Angeles-area teams: The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Anaheim Angels, 4-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. (In 2004, the Angels became the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. In 2016, they dropped the "of Anaheim.") Todd Zeile hit a home run off Troy Percival to win the game in the bottom of the 9th.

There has never been a World Series between them, the closest call coming in 2009, when both teams made their respective League's Championship Series.

* On June 30, 1997, the 1st regular-season game between the Canadian teams: The Montreal Expos beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 2-1 at the SkyDome in Toronto (renamed the Rogers Centre in 2005). The next day, July 1, Canada Day, saw them play each other again, wearing red as their primary color, matching the Canadian flag, as opposed to the blue that both teams usually wore. The Expos won that game, 2-1, as well.

With the Expos having moved after the 2004 season, to become the Washington Nationals, there can still be a World Series between the franchises, but there was never an All-Canadian World Series, nor was there ever a season when both teams made the Playoffs.

* On July 2, 1997, the 1st regular-season game between the San Francisco Bay Area teams: The Oakland Athletics beat the San Francisco Giants, 8-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. They played each other in the 1989 World Series, and the A's won. They also played each other when they were still on the East Coast: The New York Giants won in 1905, while the Philadelphia Athletics won in 1911 and 1913. (UPDATE: The Athletics left Oakland after the 2024 season, but were still, for the moment, in Northern California, in Sacramento, through the 2027 season, planning to move to Las Vegas in 2028.)

* On August 29, 1997, the 1st regular-season game between the Missouri teams: The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Kansas City Royals, 9-7 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. They had already played each other in the 1985 World Series, which the Royals won under controversial circumstances.

* Also on August 29, 1997, the 1st return of the Braves to Boston since 1952: The Atlanta Braves beat the Boston Red Sox, 9-1 at Fenway Park. The teams have never played each other in the World Series, regardless of city. The closest call for an all-Boston World Series was in 1948, when the Braves won the Pennant, and the Red Sox lost a Playoff for the Pennant to the Cleveland Indians.

* On June 1, 1998, the 1st return of the Braves to Milwaukee since 1965: The Atlanta Braves beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium. This was also the year the Brewers moved to the National League, so there can never be a World Series between them, although both teams made the Playoffs in 1982.

* On June 22, 1998, the 1st regular-season game between the Florida teams: The Florida Marlins beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 3-2 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. Todd Zeile is involved again, hitting a sacrifice fly that scores the winning run in the top of the 12th inning. There has never been a World Series between them, although both teams made the Playoffs in 2020.

* On June 8, 2001, the 1st regular-season game between the Texas teams: The Houston Astros beat the Texas Rangers, 5-4 at The Ballpark in Arlington. Moisés Alou hit a home run to win the game in the top of the 11th inning.

The Astros moved to the American League in 2013, so there can never be a World Series between them. The closest call came in 1998 and 1999, when both teams made the Playoffs.

* On June 6, 2003, the 1st return of the Athletics to Philadelphia since 1954: The Oakland Athletics beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-4 at Veterans Stadium. I was at this game as well, and a few surviving Philadelphia Athletics, including Bobby Shantz and Gun Zernial, appeared on the field in a pregame ceremony.

The teams have never played each other in the World Series, regardless of city. There was never even a close call for an all-Philadelphia World Series, as they were never both good at the same time.

* Finally, on June 28, 2011, the schedule worked out to give fans the 1st return of the team that had been the Browns to St. Louis since 1953: The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-2 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. They had played each other in an all-St. Louis World Series in 1944, and though the Browns took 2 of the 1st 3, the Cards won the next 3 to take the title. They have never faced each other as the Cardinals and the Orioles.