September 18, 1987: "Fatal Attraction" Premieres

Michael Douglas and Glenn Close

September 18, 1987: Amazon Women on the Moon premieres. Believe it or not, this might not have been the most ridiculous movie released on this day.

The Principal premieres. The "middle-class guy teaching in the ghetto school" template is taken to its dangerous conclusion, as Jim Belushi goes to Oakland. There were some scary moments, but this was not the scariest movie released on this day.

Hellraiser premieres. Clive Barker directed it, based on his own novella, The Hellbound Heart. Doug Bradley played the Lead Cenobite, a character renamed "Pinhead" for the sequels. Believe it or not, this might not have been the scariest movie released on this day.

Fatal Attraction premieres, directed by Adrian Lyne, who had already begun to specialize in films about illicit sex. It stars Michael Douglas as a guy who lets his hormones do his thinking for him (he was already typecast), Anne Archer as a wife who was too fine for a sensible man to cheat on, and Glenn Close as a woman who, after Douglas had the fling with her, delivered the catchphrase: "I'm not going to be ignored!" This may have been the scariest, and the most ridiculous, movie released not just on this day, but in this entire year.

Close is a New York Mets fan, and sang the National Anthem before one of the World Series games the year before. She is also a Democrat, and, at a pre-election rally for Presidential candidate Bill Clinton at the Meadowlands Arena in 1992, she told the crowd, "I'm Glenn Close, and I'm here because I'm not going to be ignored!"

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September 18, 1987 was a Friday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-3 at Yankee Stadium. Jim Clancy outpitched Neil Allen. Willie Upshaw hit a home run for the Jays. Dave Winfield went 0-for-3 with a walk. Don Mattingly went 1-for-5 with an RBI. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-4 with a walk, a stolen base, and an RBI.

* The New York Mets lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 10-9 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Former Yankee Brian Fisher stared for the Bucs, former Pirate John Candelaria started for the Mets, and neither one made it through the 3rd inning. The Mets got home runs from Darryl Strawberry, Gary Carter and Tim Teufel, while the Pirates got one from John Cangelosi.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-3 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Mike Schmidt went 0-for-5.

* A doubleheader was split at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. The Baltimore Orioles won the opener, 9-4. The Boston Red Sox won the nightcap, 10-7. Over the 2 games, Eddie Murray went 2-for-6 with 4 walks, and Cal Ripken went 4-for-9 with an RBI.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-6 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Robin Yount went 0-for-4 with a walk. Paul Molitor went 2-for-5 with a home run and 3 RBIs.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago White Sox, 1-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Mark Langston pitched a 6-hit shutout, outpitching Floyd Bannister. The only run came in the top of the 6th inning, when Scott Bradley singled John Christensen home.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Cleveland Indians, 9-4 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Chicago Cubs beat their arch-rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-1 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Kansas City Royals, 4-0 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. Tony La Russa was the A's manager, so, even as far back as 1987, it took 3 A's pitchers to pitch a 4-hit shutout: Steve Ontiveros for 6 1/3rd innings, all 4 hits; Eric Plunk, 2 innings; and Dennis Eckersley got the last 2 outs. Reggie Jackson had returned to the A's for his last season, but did not play in this game. Mike Davis hit a home run. George Brett went 0-for-3 with a walk.

*  The Texas Rangers beat the California Angels, 5-1 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Houston Astros, 2-1 at the Astrodome in Houston. Tony Gwynn went 2-for-3 with 2 RBIs.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves, 7-4 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the Cincinnati Reds and the San Francisco Giants were not scheduled, although they did begin a series the next day.

May 11, 1984: "The Natural" Premieres

May 11, 1984: The film version of Bernard Malamud's baseball-themed 1952 novel The Natural premieres, starring Robert Redford, Glenn Close, Kim Basinger, Barbara Hershey, Robert Duvall, Joe Don Baker, Wilford Brimley, Red Farnsworth, Darrin McGavin, Michael Madsen and Robert Prosky.

Is it the best baseball movie ever? Maybe. Certainly, it's the one with the best photography, thanks to director Barry Levinson;  and the one with the best music, thanks to Randy Newman.

It's not perfect, though. And I don't mean that it's corny or sappy.

I'd still like to know what happened to Roy Hobbs between 1923, when he was a hot pitching prospect and got shot, and 1939, when he was 35, a right fielder, and a great hitter. Not to mention what happened to him after he shot out the lights at the end. Sure, he reunites with his wife and son, which is the whole point. But, still, I'd like to know that story.

Richard Farnsworth died in 2000, Darren McGavin in 2006, Robert Prosky in 2008, Wilford Brimley in 2020. The rest of the stars, along with director Barry Levinson and composer Randy Newman, are still alive as of May 11, 2022.

UPDATE: Robert Redford died on September 16, 2025. Michael Madsen died 2 months earlier, Joe Don Baker 2 months before that.

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May 11, 1984 was a Friday. Andrés Iniesta, a star for Spanish soccer team FC Barcelona, was born.

These games were played in Major League Baseball that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Seattle Mariners, 4-3 at Yankee Stadium. Ken Griffey Sr. hit an RBI single to send the game to extra innings, and the teams traded runs in the 14th inning, including a home run by the Yankees' Roy Smalley. But a Jack Perconte sacrifice fly won it for the M's in the top of the 17th inning.

* The New York Mets beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Rookie sensation Dwight Gooden went the distance, pitching a 4 hit shutout, striking out 11.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Oakland Athletics, 4-3 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-2 with 3 walks, but no stolen bases. Joe Morgan had a 2-RBI double. Eddie Murray went 1-for-3, Cal Ripken 0-for-4.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-2 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. César Cedeño hit a home run for the Reds. Manager Pete Rose did not put player Pete Rose into the game.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the California Angels, 8-2 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. For the Angels, Reggie Jackson goes 0-for-4, and Rod Carew only 1-for-5, but Doug DeCinces hits a home run. But the Tigers get a home run from Kirk Gibson.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Robin Yount hit a home run.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Boston Red Sox, 6-4 at Royals Stadium in Kansas City. (It was renamed Kauffman Stadium in 1993.) George Brett did not play for the Royals in this game, but Jorge Orta hit a home run.

* The Houston Astros beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-1 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Diego Padres, 6-4 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. The Phils got homers from Len Matuszek, Ozzie Virgil Jr., MIke Schmidt and Sixto Lezcano. Tony Gwynn went 0-for-4.

* And the Montreal Expos beat the San Francisco Giants, 7-5 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

Ordinarily, football would have been out of season. But these 4 games were played in the United States Football League that night:

* The New Jersey Generals lost to the Washington Federals, 31-17 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington. Yes, the Generals lost to the Feds. That was embarrassing.

* The Birmingham Stallions beat the Jacksonville Bulls, 42-10 at Legion Field in Birmingham.

* The Memphis Showboats beat the San Antonio Gunslingers, 38-14 at the LIberty Bowl in Memphis.

* And the Chicago Blitz beat the Denver Gold, 29-17 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

One game was played in the NBA Playoffs, Game 6 of an Conference Semifinal: The New York Knicks beat the Boston Celtics, 106-104 at Madison Square Garden. Bernard King scored 44 to offset Larry Bird's 35, and send the series to a Game 7 at the Boston Garden. But the Celtics won it.

And the Stanley Cup Finals were between games. The previous night, the Edmonton Oilers had beaten the New York Islanders, 1-0 at the Nassau Coliseum, on a 3rd period goal by Kevin McClelland. The Isles had won 4 straight Cups, but their "Drive For Five" would come to a disappointing end: Their dynasty ending, and the Oilers' dynasty beginning.