October 26, 1997: The José Mesa Game

October 26, 1997: Game 7 of the World Series is played at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in the Miami suburb of Miami Gardens, Florida. The Cleveland Indians jump out to a 2-0 lead over Florida‚ and are just 2 outs away from winning their 1st World Series in 49 years.

But José Mesa, not for the first time nor for the last, blows the save, and the Marlins claw their way back and tie the score in the bottom of the 9th on a sacrifice fly by Craig Counsell. In the last half of the 11th‚ Édgar Rentería gets his 3rd hit of the game‚ driving home Counsell with the winning run‚ as Florida wins Game 7 by a score of 3-2.

This was, after 1962, only the 2nd World Series where neither team won back-to-back games: The Marlins won Games 1, 3, 5 and 7; the Indians won Games 2, 4 and 6. This was also the Series with the greatest extremes of weather: The 4 games in South Florida were the 4 warmest on record for Series games, while the 3 in Cleveland were 3 of the 4 coldest (the previous coldest, in New York in 1976, remains 3rd), and Game 4 is the only Series game to be played in a snowfall, except for Games 1 and 2 in Chicago in 1906.

The Marlins, in just their 5th season of existence (as opposed to the Indians, in their 97th), thus become the fastest team in baseball history to win a World Series title‚ 3 years quicker than the 1969 Mets. (In 2001, this record would be broken by the 4th-year Arizona Diamondbacks.) Liván Hernández, the pitcher who fled Cuba (and would soon be followed by his brother Orlando "El Duque" Hernández) is named the Most Valuable Player of the Series.

This Series is sweet vindication for:

* Marlins manager Jim Leyland, who lost 3 straight NLCS while managing the Pittsburgh Pirates.

* Bobby Bonilla, who played for Leyland on those Pirates, bad-attituded his way out of his native New York with the Mets, and flopped the year before with the Baltimore Orioles

* Alex Fernandez, who pitched for the talented Chicago White Sox team that fell just short in 1990, lost the ALCS in '93 and was screwed over by the Strike of '94, and was injured and unable to pitch in the postseason, so his teammates put his Number 32 on their caps.

* And for Gary Sheffield, who was already gaining a reputation as a bad apple that nobody wanted to keep around for very long, despite his obvious talent for power hitting, and this remained his only World Series win.

For the Indians, who hadn't won a Series since 1948, went from 1954 to 1995 without winning a Pennant, went from 1959 to 1994 without even being in a Pennant race, stood to be the AL's Wild Card if the standings at the time of the Strike of '94 had held to the end of the season, lost the '95 Series despite winning 100 of 144 games in the regular season, lost the '96 ALDS to an inferior Oriole team, and won just 86 games in this regular season but had defeated the favored Yankees and the Seattle Mariners before this crushing defeat, it is not just a crushing defeat, where they came closer to winning the World Series without doing so than any team ever had except the '86 Red Sox (and now the 2011 Texas Rangers).

No, this loss meant that, like the Red Sox, the Indians now had a reputation of being a choking team. They have never shaken it, despite return trips to the postseason in 1998, '99, 2001 and '07 – blowing a 2-1 lead in the '98 ALCS, 3-1 leads in the '07 ALCS and the '16 World Series, and a 2-0 lead in the '17 ALDS.

The Marlins were immediately broken up, and dropped to a 108-loss team the next year. This was part of the plan: Team owner Wayne Huizenga was going for it in 1997, so it was a now-or-never situation. Dave Rosenbaum wrote a book about it, titled If They Don't Win It's a Shame.

They were sold and rebuilt, and won another World Series in 2013. They were broken up again, moved to the new LoanDepot Park on the site of the Orange Bowl in 2012, renamed the Miami Marlins, were built back into a Playoff team in 2020, and broken up yet again.

The Indians won Division titles in 1995, '96, '97, '98, '99 and 2001, and Pennants in '95 and '97, but not a World Series. They fell 1 game short of a Pennant in 2007, and won the Pennant but against lost Game 7 of the World Series in extra innings in 2016. In 2022, they changed their name to the Cleveland Guardians, and won another Division title.

In 2010, the MLB Network listed this game at 13th on their list of MLB's 20 Greatest Games -- limited in scope, due to the availability of surviving videotape, to 1975 onward.

UPDATE: The Guardians have a team Hall of Fame. From their 1995 and 1997 Pennant winners, they have honored 1st baseman Jim Thome, 2nd baseman Carlos Baerga, shortstop Omar Vizquel, left fielder Albert Belle, center fielder Kenny Lofton, right fielder Manny Ramirez, catcher Sandy Alomar Jr., pitcher Charles Nagy; team owner Richard Jacobs, general manager John Hart, team executives Hank Peters and Dennis Lehman, manager Mike Hargrove, coach Johnny Goryl, longtime clubhouse manager Cy Buynak, longtime trainer Jim Warfield, longtime travel director Mike Seghi (son of former team owner Phil Seghi); broadcasters Herb Score, Mike Hegan, Tom Hamilton and Rick Manning; and famous fan John Adams.

Hargrove and Hegan have also been elected to the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame. So has outfielder Brian Anderson, mainly because he was a Cleveland native.

From their 2007 team that reached the AL Championship Series, the Guardians have honored pitcher CC Sabathia; while the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame has honored outfielder Ellis Burks and 1st baseman Travis Hafner.

*

October 26, 1997 was a Sunday. The following NFL games were played:

* The New York Giants beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 29-27 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the team their fans hate the most, if not their geographic rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, 13-12 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Rodney Peete won it in the last minute of regulation with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Chad Lewis.

* The Baltimore Ravens beat the Washington Redskins, 20-17 at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium (now Northwest Stadium) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Carolina Panthers beat the Atlanta Falcons, 21-12 at Ericsson Stadium (now Bank of America Stadium) in Charlotte, 21-12.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 10-6 at Tampa Stadium.

* The San Francisco 49ers beat the New Orleans Saints, 23-0 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The Denver Broncos beat the Buffalo Bills, 23-20 at Rich Stadium (later Ralph Wilson Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York. Jason Elam won it with a 33-yard field goal in overtime.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 23-17 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Kordell Stewart won it in overtime with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Jerome Bettis: "Slash" to "The Bus."

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the cross-State St. Louis Rams, 28-20 at the TWA Dome (now The Dome at America's Center) in St. Louis.

* The Tennessee Oilers beat the Arizona Cardinals, 41-14 at Sun Devil Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

* The San Diego Chargers beat the Indianapolis Colts, 35-19 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Oakland Raiders, 45-34 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

* The next night, the Green Bay Packers beat the New England Patriots, 28-10 at Foxboro Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* Game 7 of the World Series forced a rescheduling, since the Marlins needed Pro Player Stadium. So the Miami Dolphins' home game set for Sunday afternoon, October 26 was moved to Monday night, October 27. They lost to the Chicago Bears, 36-33. Jeff Jaeger won it with a 35-yard field goal in overtime.

* And the New York Jets and the Detroit Lions had a bye week.

The NBA season began 5 days later. There were 5 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim played to a tie, 3-3 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-1 at the Ice Palace (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-2 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Phoenix Coyotes beat the Buffalo Sabres, 6-1 at the America West Arena (now the Footprint Center) in Phoenix.

* And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Vancouver Canucks, 5-1 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

Also on this day, D.C. United won their 2nd MLS Cup, in the league's 2nd season, beating the Denver-based Colorado Rapids, 2-1 on home soil at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington. Jaime Moreno and Tony Sanneh scored the goals. 

October 22, 2003: The Jeff Weaver Game

October 22, 2003: The Jeff Weaver Game. As Phil Rizzuto would have said, I get agita just thinking about it.

It's Game 4 of the World Series at the Dolphins/Marlins Stadium. I’ve seen the location listed as "Miami," "Miami Gardens," "Miami Lakes," "Carol City" and "Opa-Locka." Just as the stadium itself has gone through several names: Joe Robbie Stadium, Pro Player Stadium, Dolphin Stadium, Land Shark Stadium, Sun Life Stadium, and, currently, Hard Rock Stadium.

The Florida Marlins lead the Yankees 3-1 after 7 innings, but as he strikes out Luis Castillo (a name that will feature in the Yankees-Mets rivalry in 2009) to end the 7th, Roger Clemens walks off the mound, and a crowd of 65,934 gives him a standing ovation, thinking that the 41-year-old legendary fireballer is walking off the field as an active player for the last time. (Within weeks, this will prove to have been, as his distant cousin Samuel Clemens, a.k.a. Mark Twain, might have said, greatly exaggerated -- and not because Clemens could have appeared in Game 7, had this Series gone that long.)

Marlins starter Carl Pavano holds the Yankees to 1 run through 8 strong innings. Like Clemens' retirement, Pavano's frustration of Yankee Fans is happening for the first time, but by no means for the last.

The Yankees rally in the 9th against reliever Ugueth Urbina, whose post-baseball career will be more troubled than even Clemens', as he will serve 7 years in prison for attempted murder in his native Venezuela. Bernie Williams singles with one out, Hideki Matsui walks and Jorge Posada grounds into a force play. Pinch-hitter Rubén Sierra fouls off two full-count pitches before tripling into the right-field corner to tie the ball game.

This is Sierra's 2nd tenure with the Yanks, having made up with manager Joe Torre after Torre had him traded for Cecil Fielder in '96 due to disciplinary issues. This is the biggest hit Sierra ever got for the Yankees – or for anyone else, for that matter. But he is stranded on 3rd.

No matter, as the momentum seems to have shifted to the Yankees, and if they can win the game in extra innings, they will take a 3-games-to-1 lead, and can clinch their 27th World Championship tomorrow night over a Marlins team that really was unworthy of being there. This unworthiness is almost certain now that nearly everybody suspects Iván "Pudge" Rodríguez of steroid use.

The Yankees threaten to score in the top of the 11th when they load the bases with one out off Chad Fox. Braden Looper relieves and strikes out Aaron Boone, and replacement catcher John Flaherty pops out to third. (Yes, the same John Flaherty who has since parlayed one big regular-season hit, against the Red Sox in 2004, into a career as a mediocre broadcaster. At least he had one big hit, as Boone did 6 days earlier, which is more than the similar Fran Healy ever got.) Still, the Yankees have the chance to win this game.

But in the bottom of the 11th, Torre makes a mistake every bit as critical as the stranding of Sierra on 3rd in the 9th. He had already used Jeff Nelson, and José Contreras, originally a starter, had already pitched 2 innings. Torre could have left Contreras in.

He could have brought in his closer, Mariano Rivera. But he had this mental block about using Mo in non-save situations -- Game 7 of the ALCS, just 6 days earlier, being the most notable exception. He could also have brought in Chris Hammond, one of the best middle-relievers of that period, in his only season with the Yankees.

Instead, he brings in Jeff Weaver, who gets through the 11th with no trouble, but Álex González leads off the bottom of the 12th. This is not the Alex Gonzalez, ironically from Miami, who uses no accent marks on the A's in his name, and whose error at shortstop made the Cubs' collapse in the previous week's Steve Bartman Game possible. This is the Venezuelan shortstop, who had a .245 lifetime batting average, although he did hit 18 home runs that season, and a respectable 157 for a career that included a 1999 All-Star berth.

Weaver throws him a hanging curveball, and González hits it down the left-field line, and it creeps over the fence for a game-winning home run. Marlins 4, Yankees 3.

Not since Bill Mazeroski, 43 years earlier, had the Yankees given up a walkoff home run in a Series game. By bringing in Weaver – or, as Red Sox fans would say if this happened to them, Jeff Fucking
Weaver – Torre turned the Yankees from a team that was 1 run away from being up 3 games to 1 to a team that ends up losing the World Series to a team that was lucky to even get the NL's Wild Card and then needed both steroids and the Bartman-connected collapse.

The Yankees don't win another World Series game until October 29, 2009.

This loss really, really pissed me off. I was not heartbroken. I was enraged. And that was before I knew that Pudge, the Marlins' emotional leader, was a steroid cheat. And before I knew that Josh Beckett, who shut the Yankees out in Game 6 to clinch it, was going to become a typical classless Red Sock. This loss angers me more nearly 20 years later than it did at the time.

On July 5, 2002, the Yankees traded Ted Lilly to the A's. Lilly was a much-hyped prospect, but had been horrible for the Yankees.  When I heard he'd been traded, I used the old line: "Great trade. Who did we get?"

It was a 3-team deal, also involving the Tigers. The only player worth mentioning that the A's got was Lilly, who turned out to be a good pitcher -- when he wasn't wearing Pinstripes: He won 130 games in the major leagues, but only 8 of them for the Yankees. The Tigers got Carlos Peña, who ended up hitting 286 career home runs, and Jeremy Bonderman, who gave them some good pitching.

The only player the Yankees got as part of the deal was Weaver, who, to that point, was an average pitcher at best.  He would be less than that with the Yankees. He pitched poorly in the 2002 Playoffs, had nearly a 6 ERA in the 2003 regular season. Joe Torre didn't trust Weaver enough to put him on the Division Series roster, or on the League Championship Series roster. But he put him on the World Series roster.

In that Game 4, Torre used Clemens into the 8th, Nelson to get out of the 8th, Contreras in the 9th and 10th, and Weaver in the 11th. Aside from facing González to lead off the 12th, that was the only inning Weaver pitched in the entire postseason. Those 4 games against the Minnesota Twins, and those 7 games against the Red Sox, including the epic Game 7? No sign of Weaver. And the Yankees won both series.

As former UCLA quarterback Mark Harmon would say on NCIS, a TV series that began airing on CBS the previous month, would say in character as Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, "There is no such thing as coincidence."

In Game 5 the next night, David Wells lasted only an inning, and Torre threw Contreras out there with no notice and about 20 hours' rest. He had nothing, and the Marlins won. In Game 6, the last World Series game ever played at the old Yankee Stadium, Beckett shut out a lifeless bunch of Yankees, and the Marlins were World Champions for the 2nd time -- both times as a Wild Card.

Torre trusted Weaver, and the World Series turned on that one pitch.

Does this look like the kind of guy you can trust?

On December 13, 2003, the Yankees traded Weaver and 2 guys you don't need to know about to the Los Angeles Dodgers, for a better pitcher. Or so we thought.

On April 29, 2004, I went to Shea Stadium to see the Mets play the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Mets beat the Dodgers, 6-1. The losing pitcher was Jeff Weaver. I went to that game for the sole purpose of booing Weaver. Cheering for the Mets? That felt lame. But booing Jeff Fucking Weaver? Damn, that felt good.

On June 18 of that year, the Yankees went out to L.A. to play the Dodgers in an Interleague series. I did not go to any games of that series. The Dodgers won that day, 6-3. The winning pitcher was Jeff Weaver. That felt lousy.

But Weaver wasn't done screwing the Yanks over. You know that pitcher the Yanks got for him? Well, he also gave up a major postseason homer for the Yanks. It was Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS. The batter was David Ortiz. The pitcher was Kevin Brown.

In 2006, the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series. On their Series roster was... Jeff Weaver. He has a World Series ring.

You know who doesn't have a World Series ring? Pre-expansion era greats Ty Cobb, Nap Lajoie, George Sisler, Luke Appling, Ted Williams, Early Wynn, Ralph Kiner, Robin Roberts, Richie Ashburn, Luis Aparicio, Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Ron Santo, Harmon Killebrew and Juan Marichal.

You know who else doesn't have a World Series ring? The following players that I can remember seeing: Willie McCovey, Carl Yastrzemski, Gaylord Perry, Ferguson Jenkins, Phil Niekro, Ferguson Jenkins, Bobby Murcer, Don Sutton, Rod Carew, Carlton Fisk, Robin Yount, Jim Rice, Andre Dawson, Dale Murphy, Ryne Sandberg, Tony Gwynn, Don Mattingly, Ken Griffey Jr., Frank Thomas, Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Mike Piazza, Trevor Hoffman, Ichiro Suzuki, David Wright and José Reyes.

You know who else doesn't have a World Series ring? So far, the still-active Evan Longoria, Zack Greinke, Joey Votto, Bryce Harper, Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge.

You know who else doesn't have a World Series ring? Jered Weaver, the younger and considerably better brother of Jeff. Reaching the majors with the Los Angeles Angels in 2006, he spent his entire career with them, before finishing in 2017 with the San Diego Padres. He won 150 games against only 98 losses, and an ERA+ of 111, making him 11 percent better at preventing earned runs since 2006 than the average pitcher over those 12 years.

Jeff, whose career ended in 2010, when he was only 34 years old, had a record of 104-119, and an ERA+ of 93 -- meaning he was 7 percent less effective at preventing earned runs from 1999 to 2010 than the average pitcher was over that stretch.

But Jeff Weaver has a World Series ring.

I would hate Jeff Weaver's guts -- if he had any guts to hate.

*

October 22, 2003 was a Wednesday. This was the only baseball game played that day. Football was in midweek. The NBA season didn't start for another 6 days. There were 6 games played in the NHL:

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Florida Panthers, 2-1 at the Continental Airlines Arena (as the Meadowlands Arena was then known).

* The Carolina Hurricanes and the Pittsburgh Penguins played to a 1-1 tie at the Mellon Arena (as the Civic Arena was then known) in Pittsburgh.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-1 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Dallas Stars, 3-1 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-3 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center). Rob Niedermayer scored the winning goal with 3:50 left in overtime.

* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the St. Louis Blues, 3-2 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

October 4, 2003: Pudge vs. Snow

October 4, 2003: Game 4 of the National League Division Series is played at Pro Player (now Hard Rock) Stadium in the Miami suburbs. The Florida Marlins led the San Francisco Giants 5-1 after 4 innings. The Giants scored 4 runs in the top of the 6th, to tie the game. In the bottom of the 8th, rookie Miguel Cabrera, who would go on to have one of the greatest careers of any player in his generation, singled home to 2 runs to give the Marlins a 7-5 lead.

Marlins manager Jack McKeon brought closer Ugueth Urbina on to pitch the 9th. But he allowed a leadoff double to Neifi Perez, and an RBI single to J.T. Snow. He struck Pedro Felix out, and got Benito Santiago to fly to right. He needed just 1 more out. But he hit Ray Durham with a pitch to load the bases.

The batter was Jeffrey Hammonds, who singled to left. Jeff Conine, a member of the Marlins' 1997 World Champions who had been traded away and reacquired, and was so popular in South Florida that he was known as "Mr. Marlin," fielded the hit and threw home.

Iván Rodríguez, like previous catching legend Carlton Fisk known as "Pudge," had starred for the Texas Rangers, and had built a reputation as the best catcher in baseball -- possibly having built it on steroid use -- took the throw. Snow crashed into him, thinking he could dislodge the ball, like Pete Rose did with Ray Fosse in the 1970 All-Star Game.

It didn't work: Rodríguez held onto the ball, and Snow was out. The Marlins won, 7-6, and advanced to the NL Championship Series. It was the 1st time a postseason series had ever ended with the potential tying run thrown out at home plate.

This was the last postseason game for Barry Bonds, who went 0-for-2 with a walk and an RBI sacrifice fly. For his career, in 48 games of postseason play, Bonds had a .245 batting average, 9 home runs and 24 RBIs. But despite playing on good teams in Pittsburgh and San Francisco, he never appeared on a World Series winner. Like Rodríguez, he was accused of using performance-enhancing drugs. Unlike Rodríguez, there was a positive test. Rodríguez is in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Bonds is not.

In 2010, the MLB Network ranked this game 19th on their list of MLB's 20 Greatest Games -- a scope limited to 1975 onward, due to the availability of surviving videotape.

*

October 4, 2003 was a Saturday. On the same day, for the 1st time in 95 years, the Chicago Cubs win a postseason series. They beat the Atlanta Braves 5-1 at Turner Field, and win their NLDS in 5 games.

The Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 3-1, on Trot Nixon's walkoff homer in the 11th inning at Fenway Park in Boston. This forces a 5th game in their ALCS.

And the New York Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins, 3-1 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, taking a 2-1 lead in the series. Roger Clemens outpitched Kyle Lohse, Hideki Matsui hit a home run, and Derek Jeter went 1-for-4 with a walk.

The Yankees would beat the Red Sox for their Pennant, the Marlins would beat the Cubs for theirs, and then the Marlins would beat the Yankees to win the World Series.

And it was a college football weekend. Two nights earlier, Number 2 Miami had beaten West Virginia, 22-20 at the Orange Bowl in Miami. Miami went on to win the Big East Conference title. On Saturday, these notable games were played:

* Number 1 Oklahoma beat Iowa State, 53-7 at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa.

* Number 3 Ohio State had the week off. They went on to beat Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl.

* Number 4 Virginia Tech beat Rutgers, 48-22 at the new Rutgers Stadium (now SHI Stadium) in Piscataway, New Jersey. Tech collapsed, losing 5 of their last 6 games, including the Insight Bowl.

* Number 5 Florida State had the week off. They went on to win the Atlantic Coast Conference title, but lost to Miami during the regular season, and lost to them again in the Orange Bowl game.

* Number 6 Louisiana State had the week off. The following week, they were upset by Florida. But that would be their only loss of the season. They had already beaten Georgia, and would beat them again in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game. LSU then went on to beat Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl.

* Number 7 Tennessee lost to Auburn, 28-21 at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama.

* Number 8 Arkansas had they week off. They dropped their next 3 games to fall out of contention, although they did win the Independence Bowl.

* Number 9 Michigan were upset by Number 23 Iowa, 30-27 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. This would be Michigan's only loss within the Big Ten Conference, and they won the title. 

* Number 10 Southern California beat Arizona State, 37-17 at Sun Devil Stadium (now named Mountain America Stadium) in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona. USC went on to win the Pacific-Ten Conference title, and beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

* Number 13 Texas beat Number 16 Kansas State, 24-20 at Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas. Texas lost to arch-rival Oklahoma the next week, knocking them out of contention for the Big Twelve Conference Championship Game, and they ended up losing the Holiday Bowl. However, Kansas State rebounded, and upset Oklahoma in the Conference Championship Game.

* Number 24 Florida were upset by Mississippi, 20-17 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida. "Ole Miss" went to the Cotton Bowl, where they beat Oklahoma State. Florida ended up tying for the SEC Eastern Division title with Georgia and Tennessee. Georgia had the higher ranking, so, despite having beaten Georgia, Florida didn't go to the SEC title game. They stayed in-State, going to the Outback Bowl in Tampa, and lost to Iowa.

* Among the service academies, Army lost to Number 20 Texas Christian (TCU) at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas; and Navy beat Air Force, 28-25 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.

* Wisconsin beat Penn State, 30-23 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.

* And Notre Dame had the week off. They went 5-7, and did not go to a bowl game.

October 4, 1999: The Al Leiter Game

October 4, 1999: The New York Mets whitewash the Cincinnati Reds‚ 5-0 at Riverfront Stadium (by this point, renamed Cinergy Field)‚ to become the National League's Wild Card Playoff team. Al Leiter hurls a complete game 2-hitter for the win. Rey Ordoñez plays his 100th consecutive errorless game, a record for shortstops.

Leiter allowed just 2 hits, and 4 walks, striking out 7. He threw 135 pitches, and there was no way that manager Bobby Valentine was going to take him out. Having grown up a Met fan in Berkeley Township, Ocean County, New Jersey, this was the game he'd waited for his whole life.

He was supported by a 2-run home run by Edgardo Alfonzo in the 1st inning, a bases-loaded walk by Robin Ventura in the 3rd, a home run by Rickey Henderson in the 5th, and an RBI double by Alfonzo in the 6th.

The Mets had struggled against the Atlanta Braves, who had now won 5 straight NL Eastern Division titles, but managed to be 1 of the last 5 teams standing. Now, they were 1 of the last 4, and would play the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL Division Series. The D-backs had set a record by making the Playoffs in only their 2nd season.

This was a playoff to get into the Playoffs; therefore, Major League Baseball counts it as a regular-season game. The Reds had won 96 games. This is easily the most wins by a team that didn't make the Playoffs proper since the advent of MLB's Wild Card era in 1995.

*

October 4, 1999 was a Monday. Both Leagues' Division Series started the next day. On ABC Monday Night Football, the Buffalo Bills beat the Miami Dolphins, 23-18 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

The NBA season did not begin until November 2. But there were 3 games played in the NHL:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Boston Bruins, 4-0 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the St. Louis Blues, 3-2 at the Kiel Center (now the Enterprise) in St. Louis.

* And the San Jose Sharks beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 7-1 at the San Jose Arena (now the SAP Center).

May 25, 2008: Omar Vizquel Breaks the Record for Games Played at Shortstop

May 25, 2008: The Florida Marlins sweep a doubleheader from the San Francisco Giants, 8-6 and 5-4 at Dolphin Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. It is a bad day for veteran shortstop Omar Vizquel, as he goes 0-for-7 with a walk for the Giants over the 2 games.

But it is still an important day for him, as he plays in his 2,582nd and 2,583rd career games as a shortstop. That ties and then breaks the record for most games played at the position, set by Luis Aparicio.

Both men were from Venezuela. Aparicio starred in the major leagues from 1956 to 1973, mostly for the Chicago White Sox. His slick fielding, contact hitting and quick baserunning were emblematic of the "Go-Go White Sox" won won the American League Pennant in 1959. In 1966, with the Baltimore Orioles, he won the World Series for the only time in his career. He was a 13-time All-Star and a 9-tie Gold Glove winner, collecting 2,677 hits and stealing 506 bases. In 1984, Aparicio became the 1st native of South America elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Vizquel debuted with the Seattle Mariners in 1989, and was best known for his fielding with the Cleveland Indians. He helped them win the AL Pennant in 1995 and 1997. He collected 2,877 hits and stole 404 bases. He last played in 2012, with the Toronto Blue Jays.

He had the misfortune to play the same position, in the same League, at the same time as Cal Ripken Jr., Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Nomar Garciaparra, before Ripken and "A-Rod" each switched to 3rd base. As a result, he only made 3 All-Star Games, but he won 11 Gold Gloves.

Vizquel became eligible for in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018. As of 2022, he has not been elected, due to allegations of domestic violence. He remains the all-time leader in games played at shortstop, with 2,709. Jeter is now 2nd, with 2,674.

*

May 25, 2008 was a Sunday. These other games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees beat the Seattle Mariners, 6-5 at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th to come from behind, making a winning pitcher of Edwar Ramírez in relief of Chien-Ming Wang. Derek Jeter went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Alex Rodriguez went 1-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The New York Mets lost to the Colorado Rockies, 4-1 at Coors Field in Denver. Aaron Cook outpitched John Maine.

* The Washington Nationals beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-6 at Nationals Park in Washington.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Atlanta Braves, 9-3 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta. Micah Owings outpitched Tom Glavine.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat he Baltimore Orioles, 5-4 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City royals, 3-1 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs, 6-5 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. Jason Bay singled Chris Gomez home with the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Cleveland Indians, 2-1 at Progressive Field in Cleveland. Ramón Vázquez singled Jarrod Saltalamacchia home with the winning run in the top of the 10th inning.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-1 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels, 3-2 at U.S. Cellular Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Houston Astros 15-6 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston. The Phils scored 5 runs in the 6th inning and 6 in the 7th. Geoff Jenkins, Pat Burrell and Chase Utley hit home runs.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Cincinnati Reds, 12-9 at Petco Park in San Diego. Each team scored a run in the 9th. Each team scored 2 in the 11th. Finally, in the bottom of the 18th inning, Adrián González hit a game-winning home run.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. This one needed "only" 10 innings, before Andre Ethier singled Juan Pierre home with the winning run.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Boston Red Sox, 6-3 the McAfee Coliseum (as the Oakland Coliseum was then known). David Ortiz cheated his way to a home run.

Football was out of season. The Stanley Cup Finals were between Games 1 and 2. The Detroit Red Wings went on the beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in 6 games. There was 1 game in the NBA Playoffs: The San Antonio Spurs beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 103-84 at the AT&T Center (now the Frost Bank Center) in San Antonio.

April 25, 1995: Baseball Resumes After Its Longest Strike

April 25, 1995: For the 1st time since August 11, 1994 -- 247 days -- a regular-season Major League Baseball game is played.

In the interim, football player-turned actor Woody Strode; former Heavyweight Champion Jack Sharkey and former Middleweight Champion Carlos Monzón; soccer legend Billy Wright; runner Wilma Rudolph; tennis legend Fred Perry; sportscaster Howard Cosell; scientist Linus Pauling; authors James Clavell, Robert Bloch, James Herriot; directors Terence Young and George Abbott; actors Patrick O'Neil, Jessica Tandy, Harriet Nelson, Martha Raye, Burt Lancaster, Raúl Juliá, Noah Beery Jr., Sebastian Shaw, Peter Cook, Donald Pleasence, David Wayne, Ed Flanders, Priscilla Lane, Burl Ives and Ginger Rogers; songwriters Jule Styne, Antônio Carlos Jobim; singers Carmen McRae, Cab Calloway, Melvin Franklin of The Temptations, Selena, and rapper Eazy-E; fashion magnate Maurizio Gucci, astronaut Stuart Roosa; former Secretary of State Dean Rusk, former Senator J. William Fulbright, and Kennedy family matriarch Rose Kennedy died.

Basketball player Jabari Parker, soccer players Bruno Fernandes, Takuma Asano, Raheem Sterling, Joshua Kimmich, Naby Keïta, Héctor Bellerín, Divock Origi and Adrien Rabiot; skier Mikaela Shiffrin; actors Zooey Deutch and Jake T. Austin; singer Halsey, rapper Megan Thee Stallion; and model Gigi Hadid were born.

The Strike of '94 began the preceding August 12. When the MLB team owners threatened to use "replacement players" -- essentially, strikebreakers, or "scabs" -- a federal Judge ruled that this was in violation of their contract. With nothing else they can do, the owners settled, and the players "won" the strike. The judge was Sonia Sotomayor, a Yankee Fan from The Bronx. In 2009, she was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

This was each MLB team's 1st game back:

* April 25: The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Florida Marlins, 8-7 at Joe Robbie Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. Marlin pitcher John Burkett restarted the proceedings by getting Delino DeShields to fly out to center fielder Chuck Carr. Raúl Mondesi hit 2 home runs, including the 1st one in restarted baseball, while Terry Pendleton and Jeff Conine homered for the Marlins. The Marlins trailed 8-2 going into the bottom of the 8th inning, and a comeback fell just short.

On April 26:

* The New York Yankees beat the Texas Rangers, 8-6 at Yankee Stadium. I was there, setting near the back of the Main Level, behind home plate. Joe DiMaggio threw out a ceremonial first ball. Danny Tartabull and Bernie Williams hit home runs in support of Jimmy Key.

* The New York Mets lost to the Colorado Rockies, 11-9 in the 1st-ever game at Coors Field in Denver. The Mets got home runs from Rico Brogna and Todd Hundley. They trailed 5-1 going into the top of the 6th, then took leads of 7-6 into the top of the 9th, 8-7 in the top of the 13th, and 9-8 into the top of the 14th. But the Rockies just kept on coming, until Dante Bichette hit a 3-run homer off Mike Remlinger to win it for the Rockies in the bottom of the 14th.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 9-0 at Fenway Park in Boston. Aaron Sele allowed just 1 hit over 5 innings, and 4 relievers helped complete a 2-hit shutout.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Francisco Giants, 12-5 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. The Braves went on to win the National League Pennant.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Oakland Athletics, 13-1 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto. Officially, since there was no World Series the year before, the Jays were now beginning their 3rd straight season as defending World Champions.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-2 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-1 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago White Sox, 12-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-6 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-1 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. In spite of the strike, the consecutive games played streak of Cal Ripken Jr. was officially still going. He would break Lou Gehrig's record of 2,130 straight games on September 6.

* The Houston Astros beat the San Diego Padres, 10-2 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the California Angels, 5-4 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

On April 27:

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Rangers, 11-6 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. The Indians went on to win the American League Pennant, but the Braves beat them in the World Series.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Tigers, 3-0 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Randy Johnson allowed 3 hits over 6 innings, and 2 relievers completed the 3-hit shutout.

*

April 25, 1995 was a Tuesday. Football was in the off-season. The NBA was between its regular season and the Playoffs. There were 5 games played in the NHL, whose regular season was pushed back by a strike of its own:

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-3 at the United Center. Murray Craven scored the winning goal, 2 minutes into overtime.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Dallas Stars, 8-4 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Winnipeg Jets, 5-3 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Detroit Red Wings, 5-1 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the Calgary Flames beat the San Jose Sharks, 3-2 at the San Jose Arena (now the SAP Center).

April 5, 1993: The 1st Major League Baseball Game In Florida

April 5, 1993: Two new Major League Baseball teams play their first games. At the facility then named Joe Robbie Stadium, in the Miami suburb of Miami Gardens, Florida, the team then named the Florida Marlins played the first major league game in Florida, and beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-3.

Baseball legend Joe DiMaggio, who lived in nearby Hollywood, Florida, threw out the first ball. Hialeah, Charlie Hough, a 45-year-old knuckleballer from nearby Hialeah, Florida, who had 202 career wins at that point, 47 of them for the Dodgers, started for the Marlins, and went 6 innings to beat his former team. The Marlins' 1st batter was center fielder Scott Pose, and Tim Wallach of the Dodgers hit the 1st major league home run in Miami.

Since 1915, major league teams had been playing Spring Training games in Florida, leading to its being nicknamed "The Grapefruit League." It had been, more or less, a race between Miami and Tampa to become the city that would bring Florida into MLB.

In the 1970s and 1980s, there were suggestions that the Cleveland Indians, the Houston Astros, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Seattle Mariners might move to Miami, playing in the Orange Bowl with a short fence until a real ballpark could be built. None of these bids ever got much traction. Art imitated life in 1989, with the film Major League showing a plan to move the Indians to Miami.

In contrast, moves to the Tampa Bay area were considerably closer. The construction of what became known as Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, to open in 1990, made the threats real. The Chicago White Sox threatened to move in 1989, and if not for some political shenanigans, necessary to build a new ballpark in Chicago, the move would have happened. The San Francisco Giants announced an agreement to move to St. Petersburg for the 1993 season, which would have given Florida 2 teams at once, but the team owners voted it down, and they stayed. The Mariners and the Minnesota Twins also threatened to move to Tampa Bay, before another expansion produced the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1998.

The former Dolphins/Marlins stadium is now known as Hard Rock Stadium. In 2012, the team moved to Marlins Park, now known as LoanDepot Park, built on the site of the Orange Bowl, and changed their name to the Miami Marlins.

UPDATE: The team has a Marlins Legends Hall of Fame. From their 1997 World Champions, they have honored 1st baseman Jeff Conine, 2nd baseman Luis Castillo, and manager Jim Leyland. From their 2003 World Champions, they have honored Conine, Castillo, pitchers Josh Beckett and Dontrelle Willis, and manager Jack McKeon.

Conine has been elected to the Florida Sports Hall of Fame. So have 3rd baseman Gary Sheffield and pitcher Al Leiter, from the 1997 World Champions. So has founding owner Wayne Huizenga. So have Tim Raines and Andre Dawson, based mainly on their performances with the Montreal Expos, although both were from Miami, and both played briefly with the Marlins.

*

Also playing their 1st game on April 5, 1993 were the Denver-based Colorado Rockies. They debuted at Shea Stadium with a 3-0 loss to the New York Mets. After decades as one of the leaders in attendance among minor-league baseball teams, Denver finally got its own MLB team in the expansion of 1991, along with Miami.

Their 1st starting pitcher was David Nied. Their 1st batter was 2nd baseman Eric Young, who grew up as a Met fan in nearby New Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey, and had played baseball and football at Rutgers University. Four days later, he hit a home run to help win the 1st Rockies home game. His son Eric Young Jr. would play for both the Mets and the Yankees.

*

April 5, 1993 was a Monday. These other Major League Baseball games were played on this day, Opening Day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians, 9-1 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. It would be the last Opening Day at that stadium, where the Indians had played part-time since 1932 and full-time since 1947. A pregame tribute was held for pitchers Steve Olin and Tim Crews, who were killed in a boating accident during Spring Training.

Wade Boggs, Paul O'Neill, Spike Owen and Jimmy Key made their Yankee debuts. Key started and went 8 innings for the win. Boggs had a 2-run single. O'Neill went 2-for-5. Owen went 3-for-5. Danny Tartabull, Matt Nokes and Pat Kelly hit home runs.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-4 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore. President Bill Clinton threw out the ceremonial first ball.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Montreal Expos, 2-1 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Chicago Cubs, 1-0 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Greg Maddux, a Cub the season before, took a shutout into the 9th inning against his former team.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-1 at Royals Stadium in Kansas City. Later in the season, the ballpark's name was changed to Kauffman Stadium.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Houston Astros, 3-1 at the Astrodome in Houston. 

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Detroit Tigers, 9-4 at the Oakland Coliseum.

That night, the NCAA Tournament Final was played. North Carolina beats Michigan to win college basketball’s National Championship. It should have been remembered for a nice performance by a Carolina team with Eric Montross and Jerry Stackhouse, getting coach Dean Smith his 2nd title. Instead, all everyone remembers is Chris Webber making the biggest goof in college basketball history. I have a separate entry for this event.

Football was out of season. The NBA chose not to schedule any games for the day, so as not to conflict with the NCAA Final. The NHL scheduled 1: The New York Rangers lost to the Hartford Whalers, 5-4 at Madison Square Garden. The Broadway Blueshirts blew 2-1 and 4-2 leads, and former New Jersey Devil star Pat Verbeek scored the winning goal with 2:17 to go.

February 7, 2010: The Saints Win a Super Bowl for New Orleans

Drew Brees

February 7, 2010: Super Bowl XLIV is played at Sun Life Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

The City of New Orleans, Louisiana had hosted 9 Super Bowls to that point. But its team, the New Orleans Saints, had never played in one. Now, they would.

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, resulting in a broken levee that flooded the city, which was already below sea level. By nightfall, 80 percent of the Crescent City, and parts of neighboring areas, were flooded. Over 1,800 people were killed, and thousands were left homeless.

The Louisiana Superdome, home of the Saints, was used as a shelter, topping out at 26,000 people. But because of the nature of the emergency, getting relief supplies into the city was incredibly difficult.

As late as 1950, New Orleans' population was 660,000, putting it in America's top 20 cities. White flight led to a drop to about 484,000 people within the city limits in the 2000 Census. After Hurricane Katrina, it dropped to 230,000, losing over half its people in one fell swoop. According to a recent estimate, it's back up to about 391,000, making it larger than such NFL cities as Tampa, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Buffalo (and, of course, Green Bay).

But the metropolitan area has just 1.27 million people, making it the smallest metro area in the NFL, if Green Bay is included with Milwaukee and Niagara Falls is included with Buffalo. And the poverty issue, so pervasive before the hurricane, is worse. And crime is definitely an issue.

In 1940, the city was 70 percent white. As late as 1970, it was 51 percent white. By 1990, it was 62 percent black, and the proportions are roughly the same today: 61 percent black, 31 percent white, 5 percent Hispanic and 3 percent Asian. The further east you go, the greater the black percentage; the further west, the more white.

The Saints played their entire 2005 season on the road while the dome was refurbished. The Superdome reopened for the 2006 season, and the Saints provided a lift to the devastated city.

Under coach Sean Payton, the Saints were more popular than ever. They started the 2009 season 13-0, before dropping their last 3: 24-17 at home to the Dallas Cowboys, 20-17 in overtime at home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and 23-10 away to the Carolina Panthers.

Maybe having clinched the NFC South Division early, earning them a bye week for the Wild Card Round, helped. Certainly, having home-field advantage all the way through the Playoffs did. In the Divisional Playoff, they beat the Arizona Cardinals 34-3. And in the NFC Championship Game, which they had reached only once before in their 42 previous seasons, they beat the Minnesota Vikings, 31-28. They were headed for the Super Bowl.

Their opponents would be the Indianapolis Colts, a perennial Playoff team, and Super Bowl winners just 3 seasons before. Ironically, their quarterback was from New Orleans: Peyton Manning, son of former Saints quarterback Archie Manning, who stayed in the city after his retirement as a player.

The Colts had gone 14-2 -- and they, too, had started on a long undefeated run before losing at the end, 29-15 at home to the New York Jets, and 30-7 away to the Buffalo Bills. But they also had home-field advantage all the way through, and beat the Baltimore Ravens 20-3, before avenging their loss to the Jets, 30-17.

Both teams played on artificial turf, under domes. The Colts would be playing in the same stadium, on the same natural grass field, on which they'd won Super Bowl XLI. That might not have been much of an advantage. The Colts went into the game favored by 5 points.

But there was a sense around the country that the Saints had more people rooting for them. Maybe it was because of the sympathy people felt for New Orleans after the hurricane. Or maybe it was because the Colts had won recently, while the Saints had never been to the big game before. Or, maybe people were just sick of Peyton Manning always being on TV, in games and in all those commercials. He advertised so many products, even Joe Namath, Reggie Jackson and Shaquille O'Neal must have thought he was overexposed.

At the age of 42, Matt Stover became the oldest man ever to play in a Super Bowl (a record since broken). He kicked a 38-yard field goal that put the Colts up, 3-0, midway through the 1st quarter. 

Toward the end of the quarter, Manning launched a 96-yard drive, tying the record for the longest in Super Bowl history. Joseph Addai accounted for 53 of those yards with his rushing. The last play was a 19-yard touchdown pass from Manning to Pierre Garçon. With a French name like that, people could have been excused for thinking he was from New Orleans. In fact, he was a local, having grown up in the suburbs of Miami, a black man of Haitian descent. The Saints led, 10-0.

The Saints got on the board with a 46-yard field goal from Garrett Hartley. He kicked a 44-yarder on the last play of the 1st half, and the teams went into the locker rooms with the score 10-6 in Indy's favor. The Colts had been the better team, but hadn't pulled away.

The Saints had won the opening coin toss, and chose to receive the ball. Which meant they had to kick off to start the 2nd half. But Sean Payton made the gutsiest coaching move in the history of NFL Championship Games. It would have been bold enough had he been winning, but, down by 4 points, it was huge. He called for an onside kick. Never before, in 43 Super Bowls, had an onside kick been attempted before the 4th quarter.

Thomas Morstead kicked the ball to his left. It went 15 yards -- it had to go at least 10 for the Saints to have a chance to recover it and keep it -- and it bounced off the facemask of Hank Baskett of the Colts, making it a free ball. It took the officials more than a minute to separate the pile of men on the ball. When they did, it was Jonathan Casillas who had it: Saints ball, on their own 42-yard line.

Saints quarterback Drew Brees threw 5 passes, all complete, for 58 yards, the last a 16-yarder to Pierre Thomas, for a go-ahead touchdown. (Nope, this Pierre wasn't from Louisiana, either: He was from the Chicago suburbs.) It was 13-10 New Orleans.

Manning shook it off, and led a 76-yard drive that ended with a 4-yard touchdown run by Addai. 17-13 Indianapolis. Hartley kicked a 47-yard field goal to make it 17-16, making him the 1st kicker to make 3 field goals of 40 or more yards in a single Super Bowl. As the 4th quarter began, Stover tried a 51-yard field goal, but missed.

Drew "breezed" through the Colts' defense on the next drive, ending with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Shockey, the tight end whose bad behavior had gotten him exiled from the New York Giants. (Not that they cared much: They'd already won a Super Bowl without him, and with Manning's brother Eli, and would win another that way.)

Sean Payton made another gutsy call, and went for a 2-point conversion. Brees threw to Lance Moore, and the ball was knocked away from him by Jacob Lacey. The play was ruled an incomplete pass, but Payton challenged the call. The instant replay showed that he had possession in the end zone long enough, and it was 24-17 Saints, with 5:42 to go.

This was plenty of time for Peyton Manning, of course. And he got into Saint territory. But he was intercepted at the Saint 26 by Tracy Porter, and he took it to the house. Hartley's extra point made it 31-17 New Orleans.

The Colts still had 3:12 to go, plus all 3 of their 2nd half time-outs, plus the 2-minute warning. But now, they needed 2 touchdowns. They got to the Saints' 3-yard line, but, with a field goal offering them little help, they had to go for it on a 4th down, and couldn't do it. The Saints took over, and Brees knelt with the ball to run out the clock. He was named the game's Most Valuable Player.

The Saints were NFL Champions. New Orleans had a World Championship. Louisiana had a professional World Championship. In each case, it was the 1st. (The football team at Louisiana State University had won 3 National Championships, and has since won another. But this was the pros.)

It had been a little over 4 years since the hurricane, and it resulted in the biggest party in the history of America's greatest party city. For this game, and for all his charitable efforts, in New Orleans and elsewhere, Brees was named Sportsman of the Year for 2010 by Sports Illustrated.

In preparation for Super Bowl 50, 6 years later, Slate writer Justin Peters watched every Super Bowl over a 2-month period. He ranked Super Bowl XLIV the 5th-best -- behind XXII, XXXIV, XIII and XXIII -- saying, "Coming as it did five years after New Orleans was flooded in Hurricane Katrina, the Saints' victory actually mattered." (For the record, he named Super Bowl XII -- the 1st one I can remember watching -- as the worst game of the 1st 49.)

UPDATE: The Saints have a Ring of Honor. It does not include their only 2 retired numbers, both for Hall-of-Famers from very early in Saints history: 31, for running back Jim Taylor; and 81, for defensive end Doug Atkins. It does include 1970s quarterback Archie Manning, 1980s kicker Morten Andersen, 1980s linebackers Rickey Jackson and Sam Mills, 1990s offensive tackle Willie Roaf, 2000s defensive end Will Smith, 2000s and '10s guard Jahri Evans, and 1985-2018 team owner Tom Benson.

The Saints also have a team Hall of Fame. It includes:

* From the founding period, 1967 to 1979: Atkins, Manning, quarterback Billy Kilmer, receiver Danny Abramowicz, running back Tony Galbreath, tight end Henry Childs, guard Jake Kupp, defensive end Bob Pollard, defensive tackle Derland Moore, linebacker Jim Federspiel, cornerback Dave Whitsell, safety Tommy Myers, and kicker Tom Dempsey.

* From the 1980s: Benson, Andersen, Jackson, Johnson, Mills, general manager Jim Finks, head coach Jim Mora Sr., assistant coach Steve Sidwell; quarterback Bobby Hebert; running backs George Rogers, Dalton Hilliard and Rueben Mayes; receiver Eric Martin, tight end Hoby Brenner, centers John Hill and Joel Hilgenberg, offensive tackle Stan Brock, defensive ends Jim Wilks and Frank Warren, linebacker Pat Swilling, and safeties Dave Waymer and Brett Maxie.

* From the 1990s: Benson, Roaf, guard Jim Dombrowski, defensive ends Wayne Martin and Joe Johnson, defensive tackle LaRoi Glover, cornerback Tyrone Hughes, safety Sammy Knight.

* From the 2000s, but not the Super Bowl season: Quarterback Aaron Brooks, running back Deuce McAllister, receivers Joe Horn and Michael Lewis, and special teams player Fred McAfee.

* From their Super Bowl XLIV winners: Benson, Smith, Evans, quarterback Drew Brees; running backs Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas; receivers Devery Henderson, Lance Moore and Marques Colston; guard Carl Nicks, linebacker Jonathan Vilma, cornerbacks Tracy Porter and Jabari Green, safety Roman Harper, and kicker John Carney -- but not yet head coach Jim Haslett.

Abramowicz, Manning, Andersen, Finks, Mora, Jackson, Johnson, Mills, Swilling, Hebert, Hilliard, Martin, Brees, Colston and Evans have also been inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.

*

February 7, 2010 was a Sunday. The Super Bowl was the only football game played that day. Baseball was out of season. There were 2 games played in the NBA. The Orlando Magic beat the Boston Celtics, 96-89 at the TD Garden in Boston. And the Toronto Raptors beat the Sacramento Kings, 115-104 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto. Chris Bosh scored 36 points for the Raps.

And there were 2 games played in the NHL. In an "Original Six" matchup, the Boston Bruins beat the Montreal Canadiens, 3-0 at the Bell Centre in Montreal. And the Washington Capitals beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-4 at the Verizon Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington. Mike Knuble scored the winning goal, with 2:11 left in overtime.

Also, Arsenal lost to Chelsea, 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in West London.

February 4, 2007: Peyton Manning's Validation

February 4, 2007: Super Bowl XLI is played at Sun Life Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. It remains the only Super Bowl ever played in rain, which fell throughout the game. The result was 8 turnovers, including 5 lost fumbles.

The Chicago Bears were in the big game for the 1st time since their dominant season of 1985-86. The Indianapolis Colts were in it for the 1st time since they were the Baltimore Colts, 36 years earlier.

Chicago and Indianapolis are the two closest cities, geographically, to ever play each other in a Super Bowl, separated by 182 miles, mostly of Interstate 65. Colts coach Tony Dungy, who won 2 Super Bowls as a Pittsburgh Steeler defensive back, joked that the game should be moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana. A better location, roughly halfway between the cities, would have been Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, home of Purdue University.

The hype was that it was a battle between the Bears' speedy rookie return man, Devin Hester, and the Colts' quarterback, Peyton Manning. Hester was going home: He was from Riviera Beach, Florida, and starred at the University of Miami, although he grew up as a Dallas Cowboys fan. He had returned 3 punts and 2 kickoffs for touchdowns, and had 1,128 total return yards.

Over 4 years at the University of Tennessee, Manning went 8-4, 11-1, 10-2 and 11-2. He won the Gator Bowl as a freshman, and won the Citrus Bowl as a sophomore and a junior. He finally led the Volunteers to the Southeastern Conference title in his senior year, 1997, but they lost the Orange Bowl, and thus a shot at the National Championship. All 4 seasons, Tennessee lost to Florida. To make matters worse for Manning, the next season, 1998, quarterback Tee Martin led them to the National Championship.

Manning was the Number 1 pick in the 1998 NFL Draft, and got the Colts to the Playoffs in only his 2nd season. But, just as he couldn't get the Vols all the way, especially past the Florida Gators, he couldn't get the Colts to the Super Bowl, with Tom Brady and the New England Patriots being particularly in the way. The Colts lost the 2003 AFC Championship Game and the 2004 AFC Divisional Playoff, to the Patriots. Manning was on the verge of becoming the most clutch-failing quarterback since Dan Marino.

Finally, in 2006, the Colts went 12-4, beat the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens in the Playoffs, and, finally having home-field advantage for the AFC Championship Game, beat the Patriots, 38-34. One big reason the Colts did so well is that they'd signed the Patriots' great kicker, Adam Vinatieri, as a free agent.

The Bears were coached by Lovie Smith -- that's not a nickname, he was born Lovie Lee Smith -- who had been an All-American linebacker at the University of Tulsa. He never played in the pros, and went straight into coaching. When Dungy was the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Smith was his linebackers coach. This would be the 1st time both Super Bowl teams had a black head coach, so the winner would be the 1st black head coach to win an NFL Championship.

Hester returned the opening kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown. The Colts struck back when Manning threw a 53-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne, but punter Hunter Smith fumbled the snap on the extra point, and Vinatieri missed the kick. It was 7-6 Colts, and there was already a feeling that this one point would end up mattering. Later in the 1st quarter, the Bears extended their lead to 14-6, when Rex Grossman threw a touchdown pass to Muhsin Muhammad.

The Colts took over, with their defense converting 3 Bears punts and a fumble into a touchdown run by Dominic Rhodes and 3 field goals by Vinatieri. It was 22-14 late in the 3rd quarter. But Robbie Gould kicked a field goal to bring the Bears to within 22-17 at the end of the 3rd quarter.

Vinatieri had also missed a field goal attempt just before halftime. The man had kicked 2 Super Bowl-winning field goals for the Pats, but would his 4 missed points make the difference against the Colts? No: With 11:44 to go, Grossman threw a pass that was intercepted by Kelvin Hayden, and returned 56 yards for a touchdown. Final score: Colts 29, Bears 17.

It was the 1st League Championship won by an Indiana-based team since the Indiana Pacers won the 1973 ABA title. It was the 1st World Championship won by an Indianapolis-based team, and the 1st title that could be called a "World Championship" won by an Indiana-based team since the Fort Wayne Pistons won back-to-back titles in the National Basketball League in 1944 and 1945.

For the Bears, it was more frustration: The NFL's founding franchise has won 9 NFL Championship Games, including Super Bowl XX, more than any team except the Green Bay Packers; but it was also their 5th loss in a title game. Through the 2021 season, they haven't won a title in 35 years, they've won just 1 title in 58 years, and only 2 titles in 75 years.

Manning had won the title that had previously eluded both him and his father, former New Orleans Saints quarterback Archie Manning. He had gotten the validation he needed: He was no longer a great quarterback who made great TV commercials but couldn't go all the way, either in college or the pros. He had won the title that had eluded Marino.

The next year, his brother, Eli Manning, would quarterback the New York Giants to a Super Bowl win over the Patriots. Two years after that, Peyton led the Colts back into the Super Bowl, but lost to the Saints. Two years after that, Eli led the Giants to another Super Bowl win over the Patriots. Two years after that, Peyton went to the Denver Broncos, losing a Super Bowl to the Seattle Seahawks. Two years after that, Peyton led the Broncos to win one over the Carolina Panthers, then retired.

The Colts have a Ring of Honor. From their founding era, before Manning, 1984 to 1997, they have inducted founding owner Robert Irsay, head coach Ted Marchibroda, quarterback Jim Harbaugh, running backs Eric Dickerson and Marshall Faulk, receiver Bill Brooks, and offensive tackle Chris Hinton. From Manning's early career, but before the Super Bowl win, they have inducted running back Edgerrin James.

From their Super Bowl XLI winners, they have inducted owner Jim Irsay, general manager Bill Polian, head coach Tony Dungy, quarterback Peyton Manning, receivers Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne, tight end Dallas Clark, center Jeff Saturday, offensive tackle Tarik Glenn, and defensive ends Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis. They have also honored their fans, as "The 12th Man." Jim Irsay, Polian, Manning, Wayne, Clark, Saturday, Freeney and Mathis were also members of their team that lost Super Bowl XLIV.

The Irsays, Harbaugh, Hinton, Faulk, Dungy, Manning, Harrison and Wayne have also been inducted into the Indiana Sports Hall of Fame. So has Adam Vinatieri, whose kicking hurt the Colts for the New England Patriots, before the Patriots let him go and he was able to help the Colts. So has Mark Herrmann, the Colts' last starting quarterback in Baltimore and their 1st starting quarterback in Indianapolis, although it was mainly for his performance at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. So has Andrew Luck, the greatest Colt quarterback since Manning.

*

February 4, 2007 was, like all Super Bowl days, a Sunday. Baseball was out of season. There were 3 games in the NBA:

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Atlanta Hawks, 101-99 in overtime at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands. Joe Johnson scored 37 points for the Hawks.

* The Toronto Raptors beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 122-110 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* And the Detroit Pistons beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 90-78 at the Quicken Loans Arena (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland.

And there were 2 games in the NHL. The New York Islanders lost to the Washington Capitals, 2-1 at the Verizon Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington. And the Montreal Canadiens beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3 at the Bell Centre in Montreal. Sheldon Souray scored the winning goal with 2:59 left in overtime.