November 29, 1978: The Viv Anderson Game

November 29, 1978: England, trying to rebound from not qualifying for the last 2 World Cups or Euro 76, defeats Czechoslovakia, winners of Euro 76, 1-0 at the old Wembley Stadium in London.

Steve Coppell of Manchester United scores the goal. Vivian Alexander "Viv" Anderson of Nottingham Forest starts at right back, making him the 1st black player to start for the England senior national football (soccer) team.

Paul Reaney of Leeds United had appeared as a substitute in a 1968 England match, making him the 1st black player for the side. However, he was mixed-race, and was light-skinned enough that he rarely faced racial abuse, and many fans didn't even realize that he was black, so that Anderson frequently got full credit later.

Vivian Alexander Anderson was born on July 29, 1956 in Nottingham. He helped the Forest team, managed by Brian Clough, win the Football League and the League Cup in 1978, and the European Cup in 1979 and 1980. In 1984, he was sold to Arsenal, and he helped coach the North London club's young black players, such as David Rocastle, Paul Davis and Michael Thomas. They won the League Cup in 1987. He helped Manchester United win the FA Cup in 1990, and retired in 1995.

*

November 29, 1978 was a Wednesday. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 4 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Indiana Pacers, 101-99 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Seattle SuperSonics, 125-111 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the San Antonio Spurs, 120-114 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio. Despite the Spurs' loss, George Gervin led all scorers on the night with 35 points.

* And the Golden State Warriors beat the Houston Rockets, 109-94 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

There were 6 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Atlanta Flames, 5-3 at The Omni in Atlanta.

* The New York Islanders and the Los Angeles Kings played to a tie, 5-5 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Washington Capitals, 5-3 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Chicago Black Hawks and the Vancouver Canucks played to a tie, 1-1 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Minnesota North Stars, 5-3 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* And the Detroit Red Wings and the Colorado Rockies played to a tie, 2-2 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.

And there were 2 games in the world Hockey Association. The Quebec Nordiques beat the Birmingham Bulls, 7-4 at the Colisée de Québec. And the Winnipeg Jets beat the New England Whalers, 4-2 at the Winnipeg Arena.

October 25, 1915: Franz Kafka Publishes "The Metamorphosis"

October 25, 1915: Franz Kafka, a 32-year-old Czech and Jewish novelist, publishes Die Verwandlung -- in English, "The Metamorphosis." It becomes his most famous work, both during and after his lifetime. In works like this and The Trial, he wrote of surreal situations, to the point that surreal situations became known, after his death, as "Kafkaesque."

The opening line, in its original German, is, "Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgens aus unruhigen Träumen erwachte, fand er sich in seinem Bett zu einem ungeheueren Ungeziefer verwandelt." Kafka never gave an interview to an English-language publication, so exactly what Gregor turned into, only he knew for sure.

In 1933, Scottish writer Willa Muir produced the 1st English translation. Her interpretation of the opening line: "As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect." And, ever since, the most common interpretation has been that of an insect, usually a cockroach.

But that might not be correct. Ungeziefer literally means "unclean animal not suitable for sacrifice," and "ungeheueren Ungeziefer" has been translated elsewhere as "monstrous vermin." Which could mean a rat, or a mouse, or some other rodent.

At any rate, Gregor is disgusted by what he's become, and so is his family. He ends up neglected, and dies of starvation. And, in a final insult, the family is better off without him.

Kafka died on June 3, 1924, in Klosterneuburg, Austria, only 40 years old. He had developed laryngeal tuberculosis, preventing him from eating. So, in a twist that could be considered Kafkaeque, he died the same way Gregor Samsa did: From starvation.

* 

October 25, 1915 was a Monday. There were no scores on this historic day: Baseball season had just ended, football was in midweek, the professional hockey season didn't start until early December, and professional basketball barely existed.

October 23, 1968: The Silent Protest of Věra Čáslavská

October 23, 1968: As Tommie Smith and John Carlos proved a few days earlier, at the Olympic Games in Mexico City, Věra Čáslavská proved that actions, or even the smallest of gestures, can speak louder than words.

Věra Čáslavská was born on May 3, 1942, in Nazi-occupied Prague, in what is now the Czech Republic. The gymnast won 3 Gold Medals at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, and 4 more at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, in each case winning the all-around individual title.

The 1968 Olympics were less than 2 months after the Soviet Union crushed the Prague Spring in her homeland. To make matters worse, dodgy judging cost her an additional Gold Medal. So, during the presentation for her all-around Gold, as her National Anthem was played, she bowed her head in protest.

She was prohibited from traveling abroad upon her return, and only with the Velvet Revolution of 1989 was her reputation officially restored. She went into coaching, married a fellow Olympic Medalist, had 2 children, and died of cancer on August 30, 2016, at age 74.

*

October 23, 1968 was a Wednesday. Baseball season ended 13 days earlier, when the Detroit Tigers beat the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 7 of the World Series. Football was in midweek. There were 5 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 114-112 at the Milwaukee Exposition and Convention Center Arena, a.k.a. The MECCA (now the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena).

* The Boston Celtics beat the Cincinnati Royals, 108-101 at the Boston Garden. Celtics player-coach bill Russell, in his last season, scored just 10 points, but grabbed 30 rebounds.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Chicago Bulls, 106-91 at the Alexander Memorial Coliseum (now the McCasmish Pavilion) in Atlanta.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 117-110 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit. Dave Bing scored 39 points for the Pistons, and Eddie Miles had 28. For the Lakers, Elgin Baylor scored 31, while Wilt Chamberlain scored 29 and had 21 rebounds.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the San Diego Rockets, 118-117 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

There was 1 game in the American Basketball Association: The Kentucky Colonels beat the Indiana Pacers, 112-108 at the Indiana State Fair Coliseum (now the Corteva Coliseum) in Indianapolis.

There were 4 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Oakland Seals, 6-1 at the new Madison Square Garden.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the St. Louis Blues, 6-4 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 8-5 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Los Angeles Kings, 5-2 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the Boston Bruins, the Detroit Red Wings, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Minnesota North Stars were not scheduled.

September 30, 1938: The Munich Agreement

September 30, 1938: The Munich Agreement is reached. Terrified of what another continent-wide war would mean, just 20 years after the conclusion of "The Great War" -- which we now know as World War I -- Britain and France abandon their ally Czechoslovakia, and cave in to Nazi Germany's demand for the western part of that country, the Sudetenland, which was mostly ethnically and linguistically German.

This was "appeasement," and most of Europe celebrated it at the time, because it meant peace, following nearly a month of the Nazis, led by Chancellor Adolf Hitler, saying they would invade and take the Sudetenland, and that if Britain and France, their enemies in the previous war, tried to stop them, it would mean war again.

The 4 years of war, 1914 to 1918, were unbearable on both sides. Hitler was willing to risk it, even though his country had suffered more than Britain and France had. Britain and France were not willing to risk it.

Neville Chamberlain, the Prime Minister of Britain, had gone to Munich to negotiate. He returned to London, got off the plane at Heston Aerodrome, and immediately met the press, saying:

The settlement of the Czechoslovak problem, which has now been achieved is, in my view, only the prelude to a larger settlement in which all Europe may find peace.

This morning I had another talk with the German Chancellor, Herr Hitler. And here is the paper which bears his name upon it as well as mine. 

He held up the document for all to see. It would have been heavily symbolic if it had blown away in the wind. He returned to 10 Downing Street, the traditional residence for the Prime Minister, and said:

My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honor. I believe it is peace for our time. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Go home and get a nice quiet sleep.

The words are usually incorrectly listed as "peace in our time." But Hitler, having watched the later newsreel of Chamberlain's return, told his inner circle that the piece of paper meant nothing. In that, at the least, he was honest: In March 1939, he took the entirety of Czechoslovakia, and the British people, including Chamberlain himself, knew Chamberlain had been duped.

Time magazine named Hitler its Man of the Year for 1938. Many subscribers protested, demanding an explanation for giving Hitler the honor. Owner Henry Luce reminded them that it wasn't an honor, just a recognition that this was the person who had most affected the news during the calendar year.

On September 1, 1939, the Nazis invaded Poland. Two days later, Chamberlain asked Parliament for a declaration of war. France followed suit. To this day, it is debated whether the extra year gave Britain the time they needed to build up their defenses. Even if it did, it also gave Germany time to build up theirs. Would Britain and France have beaten Germany had the war started in October 1938, like it looked like it might? We'll never know.

In May 1940, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium fell. Chamberlain resigned in disgrace. Winston Churchill became the new Prime Minister. In June, France fell. It might not have mattered, in Chamberlain's case: He had cancer. Before the year was out, he was dead, and Nazi planes were bombing London and the other major cities in Britain.

Britain hung on long enough for America to get into the war in December 1941. By May 1945, the Nazis were defeated, and Hitler was dead.

But, in the years to come, "appeasement" would be the cry of anyone who wanted war rather than a "dishonorable" peace. Nowhere would this be a bigger problem for America than in Vietnam. In 1972, with the Vietnam War still going, "Munich" ceased to mean the appeasement of 1938. It now meant the massacre of Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists at the Olympics. So when the War On Terror and the Iraq War came along, America's warmongers couldn't use "Munich" as a code word any longer.

*

September 30, 1938 was a Friday. There were 5 games played in what would later be called Major League Baseball:

* A doubleheader was split at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. The Cincinnati Reds won the 1st game, 7-1. The Pittsburgh Pirates won the 2nd game, 4-2.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the St. Louis Browns, 7-5 in the opener of a doubleheader at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The nightcap was 3-3 after 8 innings, before being called due to darkness.

* And the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals were tied, 7-7 after 9 innings at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, when that game was called due to darkness.

September 15, 1976: The 1st Canada Cup

Left to right: Phil Esposito, Bobby Orr, Denis Potvin, Bobby Clarke

September 15, 1976: Canada defeats Czechoslovakia, 5-4 at the Montreal Forum, and wins the 1st Canada Cup, taking the Final 2 games to none. Darryl Sittler of the Toronto Maple Leafs scores the winning goal in overtime. Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins, who wanted to sit it out because of his injured knees, but was talked into it with an appeal to patriotism, was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.

Unless you count the 1972 "Summit Series" between Canada and the Soviet Union -- in which Orr was too injured to play -- this was the 1st time hockey had had something resembling soccer's World Cup, with the best available players, both professional and amateur, eligible, something that Hockey Canada had been insisting upon.

Hockey Canada also put aside its pro-NHL bias, which led to WHA players like Bobby Hull, Gerry Cheevers and Bernie Parent being kept out of the '72 Summit Series and nearly blowing it for Canada, and included players signed to both leagues. That was the theory, anyway. In reality, while Cheevers and Parent had both been welcomed back into the NHL, only Cheevers was selected, despite Parent having helped the Philadelphia Flyers win back-to-back Stanley Cups. And the only player actually with a WHA team at the time was Hull, of the Winnipeg Jets.

In the round-robin games, Canada went 4-1, Czechoslovakia 3-1-1, the Soviet Union and Sweden both 2-2-1, the U.S. 1-3-1, and Finland 1-4. In addition to Montreal, games were played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, the Ottawa Civic Centre, the Winnipeg Arena; and one American arena, The Spectrum in Philadelphia (naturally, tying in with the U.S. Bicentennial), hosted 2 games, both of them matches of the U.S. team.

The tournament is now called the World Cup of Hockey. Canada won the tournament in 1976, 1984, 1987, 1991, 2004 and 2016. The Soviet Union won it in 1981. The U.S. won it in 1996, after losing the Final to Canada in 1991. With 2016, it was set to be held every 4 years, in September, right before the start of the new season. The 2020 edition was canceled due to the COVID epidemic. A bid to merely postpone the 2020 WCOH to 2021, rather than cancel it outright, failed, leaving the concept in limbo.

UPDATE: The 2024 edition was not held, either. Instead, a "4 Nations Face-Off" was held, with Canada beating the U.S. in the Final in Boston on February 20, 2025, after Sweden and Finland had been eliminated. An agreement has been reached to stage a WCOH in 2028.

*

September 15, 1976 was a Wednesday. Dutch actress Carice van Houten, known for her role on Game of Thrones, was born on this day. And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians, 2-0 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Doyle Alexander pitched a 4-hit shutout. Thurman Munson went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Indians manager Frank Robinson, did not put himself into the game. He played his last game 3 days later.

* The New York Mets were swept in a doubleheader by the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-0 and 4-1 at Shea Stadium. John Denny pitched a 4-hit shutout in the opener, outpitching a washed-up Mickey Lolich.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Montreal Expos, 2-0 at Jarry Park in Montreal. Ray Burris pitched a 4-hit shutout.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-2 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Dave Parker went 4-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Willie Stargell went 1-for-4 with a walk. Mike Schmidt went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Baltimore Orioles were leading the Detroit Tigers, 1-0 after 6 innings at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, when the game was called due to rain. Andrés Mora had hit a home run. Reggie Jackson, in his only season in Baltimore, went 0-for-3. Wayne Garland had allowed 2 hits, on his way to a 20-win season, and a big free-agent contract with Cleveland. Sadly, he hurt his shoulder in Spring Training, and was never the same pitcher.

* The Houston Astros beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-3 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Pete Rose went 4-for-5. Johnny Bench went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-3 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 2-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Butch Hobson hit a home run. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-2 with 2 walks. Hank Aaron, in his last month as an active player, went 0-for-3 with a walk. Robin Yount, on the way up, did the same.

* The California Angels beat the Kansas City Royals, 2-1 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Nolan Ryan went the distance for the win, allowing 6 hits and striking out 9. George Brett went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres, 2-1 at San Diego Stadium (later renamed Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium).

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-2 at the Oakland Coliseum. The A's scored all 5 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning. Rod Carew went 1-for-3.

August 21, 1968: The Prague Spring Is Crushed

August 21, 1968: Soviet tanks roll into Prague, the capital of Czechoslovakia, to put an end to the Prague Spring. For the 2nd time in 30 years, following the Munich Agreement of 1938 that allowed Nazi Germany to invade, the Western democracies saw the Czechs being invaded, and chose to let it happen.

This marked the end of the Prague Spring, which began on the preceding January 5. On that day,

Alexander Dubček was elected First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. He began a series of reforms, including a loosening of restrictions on the media, speech and travel, and a partial decentralization of the economy. The Soviets didn't like that, and they acted.

Alexander Dubček

Dubček was arrested, but when the Soviets found out he had told his people not to resist, they kept him for only 6 days. His most lasting punishment was his expulsion from the Communist Party in 1970.

It would be 1989 before the "Velvet Revolution" truly freed the country from the Soviets' grip. Dubček

lived long enough to see it, dying in 1992. Two months later came the Velvet Divorce: The country was split into the Czech Republic, or Czechia, and Slovakia.

*

August 21, 1968 was a Wednesday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins, 2-1 at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, outside Minneapolis. Al Downing outpitched future Yankee broadcaster Jim Kaat. Rocky Colavito, whom we don't usually think of as a Yankee, hit a home run off Kaat. Mickey Mantle, whom we do, played 1st base, and went 1-for-4. Both Mantle and Colavito would play in the major leagues for the last time on the following September 28.

* The New York Mets lost to the San Francisco Giants, 13-3 at Shea Stadium. Willie Mays went 3-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBIs.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-3 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Steve Carlton, pitching for the Cards, not yet for the Phils, didn't get out of the 4th inning, but the Cards won anyway. Lou Brock went 0-for-2 before leaving the game due to an injury.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Red Sox, 8-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-2 with 2 walks and an RBI.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds, 19-1 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Roberto Clemente went 3-for-4 with 2 solo home runs. Willie Stargell did not play. Playing 1st base instead was Donn Clenendon, and he went 2-for-6 with a home run and 5 RBIs. A year later, he would be traded to the Mets, and would be instrumental in their "Miracle." Pete Rose went 1-for-4, and Johnny Bench only appeared as a pinch-hitter, unsuccessfully.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-2 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Al Kaline was injured and did not play. Jim Price won the game with a home run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

* The Chicago Cubs swept a doubleheader from the Atlanta Braves at Wrigley Field, 5-4 and 13-5. Hank Aaron went 4-for-9 with a home run and 3 RBIs over the doubleheader, and Joe Torre went 3-for-5 with an RBI. Ernie Banks went 0-for-5 in the opener, but 3-for-4 with 2 homers and 3 RBIs in the nightcap.

* The Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-1 at the Astrodome.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the California Angels, 4-3 at Anaheim Stadium. Boog Powell singled home the winning run in the top of the 15th inning. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-6, although he did draw a walk. Frank Robinson went 2-for-4 with 3 walks and a solo home run.

The winning pitcher was Gene Brabender. The losing pitcher was Marty Pattin. They would be teammates the next season, on the expansion Seattle Pilots, as told in teammate Jim Bouton's book Ball Four.

* And the Oakland Athletics (with Reggie Jackson) and the Washington Senators were not scheduled to play.

July 27, 1952: Emil Zátopek Wins the Olympic Marathon

July 27, 1952: The Olympic Marathon is held in Helsinki, Finland. The winner is from a country controlled by Communism -- but he is hailed as a hero worldwide, anyway.

Emil Zátopek was born on September 19, 1922 in Kopřivnice, Czechoslovakia. "The Czech Locomotive" was a veteran of World War II, fighting the Nazis. Still in the Czech Army during the 1948 Olympics in London, he won the Gold Medal in the 10,000 meters, and the Silver Medal in the 5,000 meters.

The 1940 Olympics were supposed to be held in Helsinki, but, by September 1939, Finland was among the nations wrapped up in World War II, specifically the "Winter War" with the Soviet Union. With the war over, they were awarded the Olympics for 1952.

And in those Olympic Games, Emil Zátopek won Gold in both the 5,000 meters and the 10,000 meters. That had never been before, although it has since. He had never previously run a marathon, but he entered the Olympic marathon, and won it in record time: 2 hours, 23 minutes, 3.2 seconds. At those same Games, his wife, Dana Zátopková, who was born on the exact same day tha the was, won the Gold Medal in the javelin throw.

Dana did not compete in the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. Emil did, attempting to repeat as marathon winner, which had never happened before (and wouldn't until 1960 and 1964). But an injury in training resulted in him coming back too soon, and he finished 6th. Dana returned in 1960, in Rome, and won the Silver Medal in the javelin.

The Zátopeks never had children. While Emil was a member of the Communist Party, it was basically a requirement, however reluctant, for any major athlete from a Warsaw Pact county. In 1968, supporting the party's democratic wing, he was expelled from the Party and stripped of his Army rank after the Prague Spring. He was only allowed to work menial jobs into his 50s.

The Velvet Revolution of 1989 freed the country, and Emil was officially "rehabilitated." He died on November 22, 2000, at the age of 78. In 2012, the International Association of Athletics Federations, the world's governing body for track & field, established its IAAF Hall of Fame, and Emil Zátopek was 1 of its 1st 12 inductees.

(Requirements: Athletes must have won at least 2 Gold Medals in "Athletics" -- their official name for track & field -- in the Summer Olympics or the World Championships, must have set at least one world record, and must be retired from competition for at least 10 years.)

Dana Zátopková died on March 13, 2020, at 97. She and her husband are buried in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm, in the Czech Republic.

*

July 27, 1952 was a Sunday. As was common in this era, baseball teams often played doubleheaders on Sundays. These games were played:

* The New York Yankees split with the Detroit Tigers at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. (The ballpark was renamed Tiger Stadium in 1961.) The Tigers won the opener, 8-3. Billy Hoeft outpitched Allie Reynolds. Johnny Groth's 3-run home run in the 5th inning was the key blow. Gil McDougald homered for the Yankees.

The Yankees won the nightcap, 6-0. Bill Miller pitched a 7-hit shutout. It was 1 of only 6 games he would win in the major leagues. Gene Woodling went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Over the 2 games, Mickey Mantle went 1-for-7 with a walk.

* The New York Giants lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 11-4 at the Polo Grounds. Willie Mays was serving in the Korean War, and unavailable for the Giants.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3 at Ebbets Field. Red Schoendienst singled Tommy Glaviano home with the winning run in the top of the 9th inning. Gil Hodges hit a home run. Jackie Robinson drew a walk as a pinch-hitter. Stan Musial went 2-for-4 with a walk.

* The Boston Braves won the 1st game of a doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-2 at Braves Field. The 2nd game was tied 3-3 after 11 innings, but, while the ballpark had lights, and Sunday sports were now legal in Massachusetts, they had a curfew, and the game was called.

* The Philadelphia Phillies swept the Chicago Cubs, 12-8 and 3-0 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. (The ballpark was renamed Connie Mack Stadium the next season.) Karl Drews pitched a 6-hit shutout in the 2nd game.

* The Cleveland Indians swept the Washington Senators, 3-1 and 3-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Philadelphia Athletics swept the Chicago White Sox, 3-1 and 9-3 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* There was a split at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The St. Louis Browns won the 1st game, 8-1. The Boston Red Sox won the 2nd game, 9-3. Ted Williams was serving in the Korean War, and unavailable for the Red Sox.

June 19, 1938: Italy's Back-to-Back World Cups

The 1938 Italy World Cup team. Manager Vittorio Pozzo

holds up what would become known as the Jules Rimet Trophy.

June 19, 1938: The Final of the 3rd FIFA World Cup is played, at the Stade Olympique de Colombes, in the Paris suburb of Colombes, France. It had previously been the main stadium for the 1924 Olympics.

There were 16 teams that qualified, including Austria, which might have then had the best team in Europe. However, due to the Anschluss with Nazi Germany, earlier in the year, Austria withdrew. This left:

* From Europe, hosts France, defending Champions Italy, Germany, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, and World Cup debutantes Norway and Poland.

* From South America, Brazil. 1930 winners Uruguay boycotted, as they had in 1934, and Argentina also refused to participate.

* From the Caribbean, debutantes Cuba; and from Asia, debutantes the Dutch East Indies, one day to the be known as Indonesia.

Despite having reached the Semifinals in the 1st World Cup, in 1930, and qualifying again in 1934, the United States not only did not qualify for the 1938 edition, they chose not to send a team to the qualifying competition.

So a Round of 16 was held, starting on June 4, with Sweden advancing automatically, since they were set to play Austria in Lyon. France beat Belgium in Colombes. Italy beat Norway in Marseille. Czechoslovakia beat the Netherlands in Le Havre. Hungary beat the Dutch East Indies in Reims. 

Playing in Strasbourg, Poland and Brazil were tied 4-4 at full-time, and it went to extra time, with Brazil winning, 6-5. It was the highest-scoring game in World Cup play until 1954, when Austria beat Switzerland, 7-5, which remains the highest-scoring.

Two replays were needed, due to matches ending in draws: Germany vs. Switzerland in Paris, and Cuba vs. Romania in Toulouse. Each replay was at the site of its original match. In spite of the addition of the Austrian players, Germany blew an early 2-0 lead. Switzerland scored 3 goals in a 14-minute stretch in the 2nd half, and won, 4-2. And Cuba beat Romania, 2-1.

The Quarterfinals featured the roughest match in World Cup history to that point, which became known as the Battle of Bordeaux. A Brazilian player was sent off for a hard foul in the 14th minute. The Czechs suffered 3 injuries: A broken right arm for Captain and goalkeeper František Plánička, a broken right leg for Oldřich Nejedlý, and a punch in the stomach for Josef Košťálek. Substitutes were not allowed, but while Nejedlý left the field, the others played on: Each team had 10 men, but the Czechs had only 8 of them fully fit.

Brazil took the lead in the 30th minute, on a goal by Leônidas da Silva, but their dirty play led to a handball in the box, and a penalty converted by the Czechs. Leônidas and José Perácio would be injured. Just before full time, there was a fight, and a player from each team was sent off. It was the 1st World Cup match with 3 sendoffs, which would be matched in 1954, but not surpassed until 2006. So the game ended 1-1, with Brazil having 8 men on the pitch, Czechoslovakia 9, but 7 of them healthy. Brazil won the replay.

In the other Quarterfinals, Italy eliminated hosts France, 3-1 at Colombes; Sweden obliterated Cuba, 8-0 at Antibes; Hungary beat Switzerland, 2-0 at Lille. In the Semifinals, Italy beat Brazil, 2-1 in Marseille, while Hungary beat Sweden, 5-1 at the Parc des Princes in Paris.

For the Italy, Italy manager Vittorio Pozzo fielded nearly a completely different team from the one he sent out that won the 1934 Final on home soil: Only inside right Giuseppe Meazza and inside left Giovanni Ferrari, both then with Internazionale Milano, were holdovers.

The game got off to a fast start: Gino Colaussi, of Trieste team Triestina, scored for Italy in the 6th minute, but Pál Titkos of MTK Budapest equalized for Hungary in the 8th. (Titkos would later coach Egypt to win the 1959 Africa Cup of Nations.) Silvio Piola, star of Rome team Lazio, scored in the 16th. Colaussi scored again in the 35th.

György Sárosi of Ferencvárosi was Hungary's Captain, and considered their best all-around player until Ferenc Puskás came along a few years later. He able to play almost any position, but was mainly used as a "second striker." He scored in the 70th, the close the gap to 3-2. Ironically, he would manage in Italy after World War II, winning Serie A with Turin team Juventus in 1952. 

Piola scored again in the 82nd minute, to clinch the win for Italy, 4-2. They became the 1st 2-time winners, and the 1st back-to-back winners, a feat accomplished since only by Brazil in 1958-62. Their Fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini, was pleased.

World War II would force the cancellation of the 1942 World Cup, and the war ended too late to begin the qualification process for the 1946 World Cup, which was also canceled. The next World Cup wouldn't be held until 1950, meaning that Italy's 16-year old of the World Cup -- a period that included their invasions of Libya, Ethiopia and Somalia, their losses of those countries, their liberation by the Allies, the fall and execution of Mussolini, and their postwar rebuilding as a democracy -- remains a record.

Pietro Rava of Juventus was the last survivor of this Italy team, living until 2006.

Built in 1907, the Stade Olympique de Colombes still stands, under the name Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, named for a French rugby star who was killed in a plane crash in 1928. Since it opened, it has been the home of Racing Club de France Football. Once one of the powers of French soccer, it went into decline due to a financial crisis in the 1960s, and is now in France's 4th division. Rugby team Racing 92 also play there. Both will play elsewhere in the 2023-24 season, as the stadium is renovated to be a venue for the 2024 Olympics.

UPDATE: An article for ESPN.com, published after the 2026 World Cup, ranking all 23 tournaments, rated this one 20th. 

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June 19, 1938 was a Sunday. These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees played a doubleheader with the St. Louis Browns at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The Browns won the opener, 10-9. Starting pitcher Steve Sundra didn't get out of the 2nd inning, and Bobo Newsom went the distance for the Browns, despite allowing 9 runs on 9 hits and 8 walks, though he struck out 7. The Yankees almost came from behind in the 9th inning, but 4 runs was 1 run short.

The Yankees were leading the nightcap, 7-6 in the bottom of the 8th, when Red Kress doubled home the tying run, making it 7-7, and, those days when most ballparks did not yet have lights, the game was called due to darkness. Over the 2 games, Mel Almada and future Yankee George McQuinn each got 5 hits. Lou Gehrig went 3-for-9 with a walk and 3 RBIs, and Joe DiMaggio went 2-for-8 with 2 walks and an RBI.

* The New York Giants were swept by the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-7 and 4-2 at the Polo Grounds. Joe Stripp, a former Dodger from nearby Harrison, New Jersey, and thus known as Jersey Joe, singled Pepper Martin home in the top of the 12th inning to win the 1st game. Harry "The Horse" Danning hit 2 home runs. Over the 2 games, Mel Ott went 4-for-8 with 2 walks and 4 RBIs.

* A doubleheader was split at Ebbets Field. The Brooklyn Dodgers won the 1st game, 6-2. The Chicago Cubs won the 2nd game, 4-3.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Boston Bees, 14-1 at National League Park in Boston. This was after the awful 1935 season led to the Boston Braves undergoing a "rebranding" that also renamed Braves Field. The new names never caught on, and the old names were restored in 1941. Frank McCormack went 4-for-5, and Harry Craft and former Braves star Wally Berger hit home runs for the Reds.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates swept the Philadelphia Phillies, 14-4 and 16-3 at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia. That's right: The Pirates scored 27 runs in 1 day, although it should be noted that Baker Bowl had a 280-foot right field fence. At the end of the month, the Phillies, unable to pay for its maintenance, abandoned it, and began groundsharing with the Athletics at Shibe Park.

Each Pirate starting pitcher helped his own cause with 2 hits: Jim Tobin and, also with an RBI, Cy Blanton. The Bucs used different catchers in each game, too: Al Todd went 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs, and Ray Berres went 2-for-4 with a walk. Left fielder Johnny Rizzo hit a home run in the 1st game, and 2 in the 2nd game, going 6-for-10 with a walk and 7 RBIs over the 2 games.

As for their 3 future Hall-of-Famers: Paul "Big Poison" Waner went 7-for-12, including a homer in each game, for 8 RBIs; his brother Lloyd "Little Poison" Waner went 3-for-10 with an RBI; and Joseph "Arky" Vaughan went 3-for-7 with 4 walks and an RBI.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 5-4 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. All the scoring was in the 3rd inning.

* The Washington Senators beat the Detroit Tigers, 10-6 at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. Hank Greenberg went 1-for-2 with 2 walks.

* And a doubleheader was split at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The Chicago White Sox won the 1st game, 3-2. The Boston Red Sox won the 2nd game, 6-1. Jimmie Foxx went 5-for-8 with a walk and 2 RBIs.

June 17, 1962: Brazil's World Cup Repeat

Manuel Francisco dos Santos, a.k.a. Garrincha

June 17, 1962: The World Cup Final is held at the Estadio Nacional in Santiago, Chile. Brazil take on Czechoslovakia. This was also the 1st Final in which both teams came from the same group in the Group Stage.

The Czechs had reached the Final in 1934, and had a better team this time, led by Captain and defender Ladislav Novák, and midfielder Josef Masopust, a midfielder. Both men played for Dukla Prague, which dominated Czech soccer in the 1950s and '60s.

But Brazil would go into the Final with 10 of the 11 players who had started for them in the 1958 Final: Gilmar in goal, Djalma Santos at right back, Nílton Santos at left back, Mauro Ramos (also Captain) and Zózimo at centerback, Zito at right halfback, Didi at left halfback, Garrincha at right wing, Mário Zagallo at left wing, and forward Vavá.

The only change was at the other forward, with Amarildo coming in for Pelé. All games in Group 3 were played at Estadio Sausalito in Viña del Mar. In Brazil's opening game, Pelé scored to help them beat Mexico, 2-0. The next day, Czechoslovakia beat Spain, 1-0. Two days after that, Brazil and Czechoslovakia played each other, and Pelé tore a thigh muscle, and had to leave the game. With substitutes not allowed at the time, Brazil played about 2/3rds of the game with 10 men, and it ended in a 0-0 draw. Brazil beat Spain, 2-1; while Czechoslovakia lost to Mexico, 3-1, giving Brazil the Group.

In the quarterfinals, Brazil beat England, 3-1 in Viña del Mar, thanks to 2 goals from Garrincha; while the Czechs beat Hungary, 1-0 in Rancagua. In the Semifinals, Brazil again got 2 goals from Garrincha, and beat Chile, 4-2 at Santiago; while Czechoslovakia beat Yugloslavia, 3-1 in Viña del Mar. So the final was set for Santiago.

Brazil wore their traditional yellow shirts with blue shorts. The Czechs wore white shirts with red shorts. Masopust scored in the 15th. Amarildo, subbing for Pelé, equalized 2 minutes later. It stayed 1-1 until the 69th minute, when Zito put Brazil ahead. In the 78th, Vavá became the 1st player to score in back-to-back World Cup Finals, and it ended 3-1 to Brazil. After Italy in 1934 and '38, they became the 2nd country to win back-to-back World Cups.

Czechoslovakia won Euro 76, but 1962 remains the last time they, or either of their now-separate nations of Czechia (the Czech Republic) or Slovakia have reached the knockout stage of the World Cup. Czechia have not qualified at all since 2006; Slovakia, only in 2010.

Built in 1937, Estadio Nacional has been used by several teams in the Santiago area, most notably Universidad de Chile. Sadly, it was used as a prison by the Fascist government of Augusto Pinochet. It had a significant renovation in 2010, and is still used for soccer today.

UPDATE: An article for ESPN.com, published after the 2026 World Cup, ranking all 23 tournaments, rated this one 18th, citing the violence while admiring the star power.

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June 17, 1962 was a Sunday. These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees were swept in a doubleheader by the Cleveland Indians, 6-1 and 6-3 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Mickey Mantle was injured, and did not play. Dick Donovan outpitched Bill Stafford in the opener, and Pedro Ramos beat Jim Coates in the nightcap. Over the 2 games, Yogi Berra went 2-for-7 with a home run and 2 RBIs, and Roger Maris went 2-for-7 with a walk.

* The New York Mets were swept in a doubleheader by the Chicago Cubs, 8-7 and 4-3 at the Polo Grounds. The 1st game was "The Marv Throneberry Game," and I have a separate entry for that event: Throneberry made an error in the field, then hit a triple, and was called out for not touching 2nd base. He didn't touch 1st base, either.

Also in that 1st game, Lou Brock, not yet known as a base stealer, and never really known for his power, hit a home run in the 1st inning, into the center field bleachers at the Polo Grounds. Only 2 players had ever done that before: Joe Adcock, and, in a Negro League game, Luke Easter. Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves did it the very next day.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-2 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Frank Robinson went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Washington Senators, 4-3 at District of Columbia Stadium (later Robert F. Kennedy Stadium) in Washington. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-5.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Milwaukee Braves, 7-3 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Hank Aaron went 2-for-4. So did Roberto Clemente, and he also had an RBI. Harvey Haddix outpitched Warren Spahn.

* A doubleheader was split at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. The Detroit Tigers won the 1st game, 8-5. Purnal Goldy hit 2 home runs for the Tigers. He was playing right field, and Al Kaline didn't play in either game. The Boston Red Sox won the 2nd game, 5-0. Ike Delock pitched a 7-hit shutout. Frank Malzone hit a home run for the Red Sox in each game. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-5 with 3 walks.

* The Los Angeles Angels swept a doubleheader from the Chicago White Sox, 5-3 and 6-5 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The Kansas City Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins, 10-6 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Harmon Killebrew and Lenny Green hit home runs for the Twins, while Norm Siebern hit 2 and Ed Charles hit 1 for the A's.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Houston Colt .45s (who became the Astros in 1965), 6-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Stan Musial went 0-for-3. Willie Mays went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs.

June 10, 1942: The Lidice Massacre

June 10, 1942: The Nazis perpetrate the Lidice massacre in Czechoslovakia, as revenge for the assassination of "Protector" Reinhard Heydrich.

All 173 men over 15 years of age from the village were executed. Another 11 men who were not in the village were arrested and executed soon afterwards, along with several others already under arrest. The 184 women and 88 children were deported to concentration camps. A few children considered racially suitable for Germanisation were handed over to SS families, and the rest were sent to the Chełmno extermination camp, where they were gassed to death.

About 340 people from Lidice died because of the German reprisal. After the war ended, only 153 women and 17 children returned.

This is why you stop Nazis before they get the power to do this.

*

June 10, 1942 was a Wednesday. These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Detroit Tigers, 4-1 at Yankee Stadium. Johnny Murphy, in relief of Marv Breuer, gave up a home run to Ned Harris in the top of the 11th inning. Al Benton went the distance for win. Joe DiMaggio went 0-for-4 with a walk.

* The New York Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-1 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Mel Ott went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the St. Louis Browns, 10-3 at Fenway Park in Boston. Ted Williams went 0-for-3 with 2 walks, but had an RBIs on 2 groundouts.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 4-1 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Washington Senators, 4-3 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. In the top of the 12th, Red Embree grounded to short, a fielder's choice that scored Ray Mack with the winning run.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Boston Braves, 3-0 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Rip Sewell pitched a 4-hit shutout. Former Pirate Paul Waner went 1-for-3 with a walk for the Braves.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* And the Brooklyn Dodgers and the St. Louis Cardinals were rained out at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The game was made up on August 27. The Dodgers won, 4-1. Curt Davis went the distance, and had 2 RBIs in his own cause. Rookie Stan Musial went 1-for-4.

June 10, 1934: Italy Win the World Cup On Home Soil

Angelo Schiavio

June 10, 1934: The Final is played in the 2nd FIFA World Cup tournament, at the Stadio Nazionale in Rome.

Only 13 countries competed in that 1st World Cup, in 1930. Due to the distance to Uruguay in South America, only 3 of them were from Europe, and none were from Africa or Asia. This time, with the tournament in Europe, 16 teams qualified:

* From Europe: Hosts Italy, Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

* From South America, Brazil and Argentina. Defending Champions Uruguay boycotted the tournament, due to most European teams refusing to come to their country for the original tournament. From 1950 onward, FIFA, the governing body for world soccer, allowed all defending Champions, as well as all host nations, to qualify automatically.

* From the North American/Caribbean region, the United States qualified, by winning a Playoff in Italy, in their 1st-ever match against the country that would become its soccer arch-rival, Mexico. It would be a long time before they beat Mexico again.

* And Egypt became the 1st country on the African continent to qualify, though it's usually thought of as more "the Middle East" than "Africa."

* No Asian nations qualified.

The tournament began on May 27, as a straight 16-team tournament, with no group stage. As the old joke goes, like a teabag, America did not stay in the Cup for very long: Italy beat them, 7-1. Angelo Schiavio of Bologna scored a hat trick.

The only U.S. goal was scored by a man of Italian descent, Angelo "Buff" Donelli, in the 57th minute. Donelli was also a star in American football, playing at Duquesne University in his native Pittsburgh. He later coached there, and in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Rams.

Buff Donelli

In the other Round of 16 games, like that one played on May 27, Spain beat Brazil, 3-1 in Genoa; Hungary beat Brazil, 4-2 in Naples; Switzerland beat the Netherlands, 3-2 in Milan; Czechoslovakia beat Romania, 2-1 in Trieste; Sweden beat Argentina, 3-2 in Bologna; Germany beat Belgium, 5-2; and Austria needed extra time to beat France, 3-2 in Turin.

In the Quarterfinals, on May 31, Germany beat Sweden, 2-1 in Milan; Austria beat Hungary, 2-1 in Bologna; Czechoslovakia beat Switzerland, 3-2 in Turin; and Italy and Spain played to a 1-1 draw in Florence.

That required a replay, and, the next day, Italy won, 1-0, on a goal in the 11th minute, by Internazionale Milano star Giuseppe Meazza, for whom the San Siro Stadium in Milan, already in use by this point, would later be formally named, though everyone still calls it "The San Siro." It has been alleged that Italy cheated, interfering with the Spanish goalkeeper, Juan José Nogués, on the goal -- and he was already a substitute, with Ricardo Zamora having been injured the day before -- and having 2 legitimate Spanish goals disallowed.

The Semifinals were held on June 3, but were marred by torrential rain. Czechoslovakia beat Germany, 3-1 in Rome, with Sparta Prague star Oldřich Nejedlý scoring a hat trick. At the San Siro, host Italy wore light blue, like Lazio; while the "Wunderteam" of Austria, led by the illustrious Matthias Sindelaar, wore white.

And a 19th-minute goal by Enrique Guaita gave Italy a 1-0 win over Austria at the San Siro. Guaita was an Argentine of Italian descent, and thus allowed to play for Italy under the rules of the time, although this has been cited as an example of Italy "cheating" to win this World Cup.

Internazionale's Giuseppe Meazza, playing on a soaked version of his home field, hits the post in the 19th minute, but Enrique Guaita, an Argentine allowed to play for Italy, and his "club football" for AS Roma, puts the rebound in, for the only goal in a 1-0 Italy win.

Guaita was one of many Argentines to have played in Italy's league, Serie A, including his 1934 national teammates Luis Monti and Raymundo Orsi, both of Turin team Juventus. The most famous of these was a non-Italian: Diego Maradona, leading SSC Napoli to the title in 1987 and 1990.

The Final was played a week later, in 104-degree heat in Rome. The game was scoreless until the 71st minute, when Antonín Puč of Slavia Prague put the Czechs on the board. (A Czecher-board?) Orsi tied the game in the 81st, and it went to extra time. Schiavio scored in the 95th minute, and the Czechs could not find an equalizer. Italy won, 2-1, and took the World Cup on home soil, much to the delight of Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, who was in attendance.

It had been 10 years to the day since Mussolini had had Opposition Leader Giacomo Matteotti assassinated.

The 47,300-seat Stadio Nazionale was built in 1911, and both major Rome teams used it: SS Lazio starting in 1931, and AS Roma starting in 1940. It was torn down in 1953, and replaced by the Stadio Flaminio in 1957.

Italy would win the World Cup again in 1938, 1982 and 2006, reaching the Final but losing in 1970. They hosted again in 1990, reaching the Semifinals.

UPDATE: An article for ESPN.com, published after the 2026 World Cup, ranking all 23 tournaments, rated this one 23rd and last, citing the lack of competition and the seeming favoritism of the officials toward the hosts.

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June 10, 1934 was a Sunday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 7-3 at Yankee Stadium. Usually a reliever, Johnny Murphy started, and went 8 innings for the win. Burleigh Grimes, in his last season as the last pitcher legally allowed to throw the spitball, pitched the 9th. Babe Ruth went 0-for-1... with 3 walks. Lou Gehrig hit a grand slam. For the A's, Jimmie Foxx went 0-for-3 with a walk, and had an RBI on a sacrifice fly; while Roger "Doc" Cramer, of Beach Haven on New Jersey's Long Beach Island, hit a home run.

* The New York Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 18-7 at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia. Player-manager Bill Terry went 2-for-4 with 2 walks. Mel Ott went 3-for-5 with a home run, a walk, and 5 RBIs. Carl Hubbell only went 4 2/3rds innings, so, while he was awarded the win under the rules of the time, he would not have gotten it under the rules of today.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the Boston Braves, 10-8 at Ebbets Field. In the top of the 11th inning, Randy Moore singled Buck Jordan home, and then an error on a Pinky Whitney grounder allowed Hal Lee to score an insurance run.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Washington Senators, 4-3 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the St. Louis Browns, 6-1 at League Park in Cleveland.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 3-1 at Navin Field (later Briggs Stadium and Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. Hank Greenberg went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* And the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-2 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Dizzy Dean went the distance for the win.