December 27, 2001: The Mets Trade Kevin Appier for Mo Vaughn

December 27, 2001: The New York Mets trade pitcher Kevin Appier to the Anaheim Angels (as the team was then known) for 1st baseman Mo Vaughn.

With the Boston Red Sox, Vaughn had been a good slugger and, despite his weight, a good fielder. But with the Angels, he was plagued with injuries, including missing the entire 2001 season. He had just turned 34: He should have had at least a couple of good years left. But, between his age, his weight, and his injury, he was already a big question mark.

When the trade was made, the Angels' closer, Troy Percival, took an unnecessary shot at him: "We may miss Mo's bat, but we won't miss his leadership. Darin Erstad is our leader." Mo lost his cool, and launched a foul-mouthed fusillade against the Angels: "They ain't done shit in this game... They ain't got no flags hanging at friggin' Edison Field, so the hell with them."

Mo always hit well against the Yankees, and you'd think his game-winning home run against them in an Interleague game on June 16, 2002 would have endeared him to the Flushing Faithful. But his rising weight and his injuries kept him from being productive, and Met fans booed him. 2002 turned out to be the Mets' 1st losing season since 1996, and their never-finished Mike Piazza Era renaissance was over.

Vaughn last played for them, or for anybody else, on May 2, 2003. He was also later outed as a steroid user. However, he has done good work since retiring, rehabilitating urban housing in New York and Boston.

Appier? In his 1st season with the Angels, he helped them win the World Series. Now, there was "a friggin' flag at Edison Field," or Angel Stadium of Anaheim as it's now known.

Just 16 days before this trade, the Mets made one with the Cleveland Indians to get Roberto Alomar. He got old in a hurry, and was terribly booed at Shea in 2002 and 2003. But the Mets weren't going anywhere anyway, and they didn't give much up to get him, so I can't make a separate entry for that bad trade.

*

December 27, 2001 was a Thursday. Baseball was out of season. The NFL was in midweek. There were 8 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers, 98-88 at the Gund Arena (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Charlotte Hornets, 105-89 at the Charlotte Coliseum.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Detroit Pistons, 87-78 at the TD Waterhouse Center in Orlando.

* The Memphis Grizzlies beat the Miami Heat, 91-86 at the American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 93-90 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver. Allen Iverson scored 38 points for the Sixers, Nick Van Exel 33 for the Nugs.

* The Toronto Raptors beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 89-86 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Golden State Warriors, 100-93 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena (then named The Arena in Oakland).

* And the Sacramento Kings beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 125-111 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento.

There were 6 games in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders lost to the Ottawa Senators, 5-2 at the Corel Centre (now the Canadian Tire Centre) in Ottawa.

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-2 at the Ice Palace (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 5-1 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Colorado Avalanche, 3-1 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and their metro-area rivals, the Los Angeles Kings, played to a 2-2 tie at the Staples Center. Yes, it hosted an NBA game and an NHL game on the same day. On a Thursday.

* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Calgary Flames, 4-2 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

December 10, 1971: Mets Trade Nolan Ryan for Jim Fregosi

December 10, 1971: The New York Mets trade pitchers Nolan Ryan and Don Rose, catcher Frank Estrada, and right fielder Leroy Stanton to the California Angels for shortstop Jim Fregosi.

Estrada was a backup catcher who'd played 1 big-league game, for the Mets in '71, and never appeared in another. No loss there. Rose had also reached the majors for 1 game with the '71 Mets, put up a 1-4 record for the '72 Angels, and by April 1974 had appeared in the majors for the last time. No loss there.

Stanton turned out to be a good player, putting up OPS+ seasons of 110, 116 and 123, before slumping a bit in 1976, and being left unprotected in the expansion draft. Taken by the Seattle Mariners, he put up an OPS+ of 130 in 1977, before an injury ended his career the next season at just 32 years old.

We all know what happened to Ryan: He found his control with the Angels in 1972. He set records for strikeouts in a game (19, since broken), a season (383 in 1973, still stands) and a career (5,714, still stands). He pitched 7 no-hitters. He won 324 games, 295 of them after leaving the Mets. And we know what happened to Fregosi: He got hurt, was never the same player again, and is now better known as a manager, having gone back to the Angels and leading them to their 1st postseason appearance, in 1979 -- he was only 37, and could still have been a productive player -- and then leading the Philadelphia Phillies to a Pennant in 1993.

This was just 8 days after the New York Yankees traded Stan Bahnsen to the Chicago White Sox for Rich McKinney. That remains one of the worst trades in Yankee history, but it turned out to not be even the worst New York baseball trade of the month.

Why did the Mets do something so stupid? If you know your baseball history, then you've heard the case for the prosecution. Can there possibly be a case for the defense?

Maybe. At this point, there was nothing wrong with wanting a healthy Jim Fregosi on your team. He would be just 30 years old on Opening Day 1972, had been an American League All-Star 6 times, won a Gold Glove in 1967, and, until slumping to 89 in 1971, had never had an OPS+ (on-base percentage + slugging percentage, in relation to the league average) lower than 108 in his first 8 full seasons in the majors, peaking at 141 in 1964.

His highest batting average had been .290, in 1967; peak home runs, 22, and peak runs batted in, 82, both in 1970. In 1968, he led the AL in triples with 13. The franchise was just 11 seasons old at that point, but Fregosi was, without a doubt, the greatest player the Angels had yet had.

Certainly, Fregosi was a better player than the Mets' incumbent starting shortstop, Derrel McKinley "Bud" Harrelson. Although Harrelson had helped the Mets win the 1969 World Series, and had won the '71 season's National League Gold Glove for shortstops and was selected for the last 2 All-Star Games, Harrelson couldn't hit a lick. His highest single-season OPS+ was 82, well below Fregosi's slump season. His peak batting average thus far was .254, and he would top that only twice; his peak RBI year was 42, and his peak home run year was... 1 -- in each case, it would remain so.

Clearly, what the Mets needed to do was make Harrelson a backup, a "defensive replacement." Or maybe the Mets could move him to 3rd base, where 1969 starter Wayne Garrett had badly tailed off, and incumbent starter Bob Aspromonte was at the end of the line. (Bob was a Brooklyn native, now best known as the last active player who had played for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was also the brother of the somewhat better Ken Aspromonte.)

Instead, the Mets kept Harrelson at short, and moved Fregosi to 3rd. At first, it seemed to work, but then Fregosi got hurt. He appeared in only 101 games that season, finishing the season with only 32 RBIs and an OPS+ of just 89, and was never the same again. His 382 plate appearances that season would be far and away more than he'd ever have again.

Between the ages of 21 and 28, Jim Fregosi was, statistically speaking, similar to Alan Trammell, the longtime Detroit Tiger shortstop who is now in the Baseball Hall of Fame. But between the ages of 29 and 36, Fregosi was just another broken-down player.

Another problem was Joan Payson, the owner of the Mets. She trusted her team chairman, M. Donald Grant, to make the team's personnel decisions. After the 1973 World Series, Grant began breaking up their "dynasty." Keep in mind, this man not only traded Seaver and Dave Kingman away on the same day, but he used Ryan (and his wife! and Seaver's wife, too) as an excuse to lowball Seaver on contract talks.

Mrs. Payson offered little oversight over Grant's decisions. In contrast to Dan Topping and Del Webb, who would occasionally overrule George Weiss' decisions with the Yankees in the 1950s, she let Grant do whatever he wanted. After she died in 1975, her daughter, Lorinda de Roulet, continued this policy, until she finally fired him in 1978.

So, chances are, keeping Nolan Ryan beyond the 1971 season would have meant giving him up well before 1984. 

At the time of the trade, Ryan was a month and a half short of his 25th birthday. He had a career won-lost record of 29-38. Not good, especially when you consider that the Mets had won 100 games in 1969, 83 in 1970 and 83 again in 1971.

He struck out a lot of batters, but also walked a lot, giving him a WHIP (Walks and Hits, divided by Innings Pitched) of almost 1.6 in '71. His ERA was nearly 4, not good in the NL of the time, which was pitching-friendly with a lot of concrete multipurpose oval stadiums (3 new ones in the preceding season and a half), and, of course, no designated hitter.

With Ryan having been disappointing thus far, and with Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Gary Gentry and a somewhat-still-effective Ray Sadecki in their rotation, the Mets could afford to let Ryan go. He was expendable. Trade bait. Or so it seemed at the time.

And keeping Ryan might not have mattered in the short term. The 2 biggest questions in Met history are, "What if Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry hadn't fallen victim to drugs?" and, "What if the Mets had never traded Nolan Ryan?"

The answers to both questions are uncomfortable. After all, Doc and Darryl had injuries that cut their careers shorter than they should have been, and those would probably have happened even without substance abuse. And having Ryan might not have helped the Mets much.

Met fans see a rotation with Ryan and Tom Seaver as being unbeatable from 1972 onward. But would it have been? From 1972 until 1983, the Mets only got close to a National League Eastern Division title once, in 1973. They actually did win it, although with the worst record any Division title winner has ever had, 82-79. Then they won the NL Championship Series over the Cincinnati Reds. They didn't need Ryan to do that.

The key is the World Series, against the defending World Champion Oakland Athletics. The Mets took a 3-2 lead, with Games 6 and (if necessary) 7 still to play in Oakland. Yogi Berra, then the Mets' manager, gambled by starting Seaver in Game 6, on 3 days' rest. It didn't work: The A's won. That left him with Jon Matlack as his best available Game 7 starter, and he had 1 bad inning (the 3rd), and the A's won.

If the Mets still had Ryan, they could have started him in Game 7. Or, depending on how Yogi set up the rotation, Ryan in Game 6 and, if necessary, Seaver in Game 7.

But let's look at Ryan's postseason record. It's mixed. He saved the Mets' bacon in Game 3 of the '69 NLCS against the Atlanta Braves, and did so again in Game 3 of the World Series against the Baltimore Orioles -- all this before he became NOLAN RYAN.

After that, he next appeared in postseason play in 1979, and while he pitched well for the Angels, it wasn't enough, as they lost the game and the Pennant to the Orioles.

In 1980, now with his hometown Houston Astros, he blew the Pennant-clinching Game 5 of the NLCS, at the Astrodome no less, enabling the Phillies to win their 1st Pennant in 30 years, and then their 1st World Championship in 98 years of trying. At that point in their history, blowing a Pennant to the Phillies was like losing to Suzanne Somers on Jeopardy! (This was when she was playing Chrissy Snow on Three's Company, well before she proved her smarts as a fitness expert and a businesswoman. She wasn't a dumb blonde, she just played one on TV.)

In the strike-forced Division Series of 1981, Ryan pitched well for the Astros, but in the process, he only got a split of 2 decisions against the Los Angeles Dodgers. And he made just one other postseason appearance, in the 1986 NLCS with the Astros, losing Game 2, and pitching well but not getting the decision in a Game 5 his team lost... to the Mets.

And even in 1973, the year the Mets won the Pennant and Ryan fanned a still-standing record of 383, he also led the AL in walks with 162. In fact, he led the League in walks 8 times (6 in the AL, 2 in the NL). He also gave up 18 homers. He was hard to hit, but when he got hit, he got hit. (Which sounds like something Yogi might say.)

Having a 2nd World Series win since the Yankees' last one in 1962 would have been a huge bragging point for Met fans until the Yankees started winning again in 1977. Until 1996, they could say that, since 1962, we've won just as many titles as you have (2). But, if you'll pardon my mixing of my sports metaphors, but having Ryan in the 1973 World Series to pitch to "The Swingin' A's" of Reggie Jackson, Joe Rudi, Sal Bando, Gene Tenace and Deron Johnson was no slam dunk.

But there would be other chances, right? Having Ryan would certainly improve those chances, right? Maybe not: From 1974 to 1983, the Mets were not in one single Pennant race, and it's hard to say how much difference Ryan would have made then.

Then there's the Mets' glory years from 1984 to 1990. Then again, for all their talk, there wasn't a whole lot of glory. Could Ryan, who pitched remarkably well even until he was 44 in 1991, have made a difference there? The Mets finished 6 1/2 games behind the Chicago Cubs in 1984, so Ryan wouldn't have made the difference there.

In 1985, the Mets finished 3 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals, but Ryan was 10-12 with a 3.80 ERA. If he makes 3 games' difference, do the Mets beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS? Maybe, the Dodgers had Tom Niedenfuer in their pen; Jack Clark hitting a Pennant-clincher in the top of the 9th in Game 6 wasn't a surprise, but Ozzie Smith hitting a walkoff in the bottom of the 9th of Game 5 was. I can certainly imagine Niedenfuer giving up homers to Lenny Dykstra in Game 5 (or maybe Lenny still hits his in Game 3) and Gary Carter in Game 6.

The Series, against the Kansas City Royals? I don't know, because the Cards did lose, and if Cardinal fans still curse the name of umpire Don Denkinger over a quarter of a century later, what would Met fans say if that same call were made? I think the Mets win the '85 Pennant, but lose the Series.

Ryan would have made no difference in 1986. How could he? The Mets won the World Series. The only difference is that the Mets beat the Reds in the NLCS, since the Astros don't have Ryan. (Then again, the Astros won the NL West by 10, so maybe they win it anyway.)

In 1987, at age 40, Ryan led the NL in ERA and strikeouts, but had an 8-16 record, because the Astros remembered that they are the Houston Astros: Great pitching, good defense, couldn't hit the ground if they fell off a ladder.

The Mets finished 2nd to the Cards again, 3 games back. Ryan definitely would have made a difference here, and the Mets would probably have beaten the San Francisco Giants for the Pennant. But the Minnesota Twins were not going to lose any World Series games in the Metrodome. Nobody beat the Twins in the Dome in October. Nobody. (Except, as it turned out, the 2003, '04 and '09 Yankees, who clinched 3 ALDS in that disgraceful facility.) So the Mets reach their 3rd straight Series, but win only 1.

In 1988, the Mets lost the NLCS to the Dodgers in Game 7... or, rather, they lost it in Game 4, when Mike Scioscia took Gooden deep in the 9th. The Mets started, in the 7 games, Gooden, David Cone, Ron Darling, Gooden, Sid Fernandez, Coney, Darling. Ryan had a good year, but I'm not sure where he starts. In all honesty, I can't say with any certainty that he makes a difference in this series.

In 1989, his 1st season with the Texas Rangers, Ryan had his last big season in terms of wins, 16, for an 83-win team. The Mets finished 2nd to the Cubs again, 6 games back. Maybe with Ryan, now 42 but still effective, the Mets don't make that dumb trade for Frank Viola, and win the Division.

But I don't think they win the Pennant, unless there's another dumb trade they don't make, Kevin Mitchell to the San Diego Padres for Kevin McReynolds. Mitchell's trade, soon after, from the Padres to the Giants made the Giants a postseason team in '87 and '89, and they beat the Cubs soundly in the NLCS; they would have done the same to the Mets.

In 1990, the Mets finished 2nd, 4 games behind the Pirates. Ryan had a pretty good season, and if he'd been in the rotation instead of the sinking-fast El Sid, they might have won the Division. On the other hand, as I said, if they still had Ryan, they wouldn't have traded for Viola, who won 20 in his one good season for the Mets. No, having Ryan at this point probably hurts them.

In 1991, Ryan's last effective season -- as a fastball pitcher at age 44! How come no one ever tested him for steroids? -- the Mets collapsed, finishing 20 1/2 back of the Pirates. Having Ryan wouldn't have helped. Having him in the disastrous '92 and '93 seasons, Ryan's last 2, wouldn't have helped, either.

So Ryan might have helped them win 3 more Division titles (1985, '87 and '89), and 2 more Pennants (1985 and '87), but it's hard to see how he wins them any more World Series (unless you count 1973, and you can't count on that).

M. Donald Grant made a lot of bad decisions as the Mets' de facto owner, and trading Ryan for Fregosi is the one that sticks out the most. But, just as Harry Frazee had reasons to let Babe Ruth go from the Boston Red Sox in 1919, there was more to the move than meets the eye. It would be fairer to say that both Frazee in the early 1920s and Grant in the 1970s broke up their winning teams, each with many bad decisions, too soon.

*

December 10, 1971 was a Friday. Baseball was out of season. Football was played the next 3 days, but not on this day. But there were 8 games played in the NBA that day:

* The Cincinnati Royals beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 113-106 in overtime at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Buffalo Braves, 101-100 in overtime at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Detroit Pistons, 112-111 at the Cleveland Arena. Bob Lanier scored 35 points for the Pistons, but it was in a losing effort.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Baltimore Bullets, 118-102 at the Chicago Stadium. 

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Boston Celtics, 120-104 at the Milwaukee Arena. In 1974, it was renamed the Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena, or "The MECCA." Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 55 points, and had 18 rebounds. John Havlicek scored 32 for the Celtics, but it didn't get them close to the defending NBA Champions.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Atlanta Hawks, 95-88 at the Hofheinz Pavilion in Houston.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Phoenix Suns, 126-117 in overtime at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. Gail Goodrich scored 32, Jim McMillian had 31, Jerry West had 28k and Wilt Chamberlain had 14 points and 28 rebounds. This was during the Lakers' record 33-game winning streak. For the Suns, Dick Van Arsdale scored 31, and Connie Hawkins scored 28.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Golden State Warriors, 105-94 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

There were 5 games played in the American Basketball Association:

* The New York Nets beat the Memphis Pros, 103-101 at the Island Garden in West Hempstead, Long Island, New York. The Nassau Coliseum opened 2 months later, on February 11, 1972, and the Nets moved in. Bill Melchionni scored 36 for the Nets on this night.

* The Virginia Squires beat the Indiana Pacers, 118-114 at The Scope in Norfolk, Virginia. Charlie Scott scored 41 for the Squires. Adding 19 for them was a rookie, Julius Erving.

* The Pittsburgh Condors beat the Carolina Cougars, 144-138 at the Greensboro Coliseum. No, that wasn't in overtime: That was in a regulation 48 minutes, making for a typical ABA barnburner. For the Condors, George Thompson scored 41, John Brisker 34, and George Carter 28. For the Cougars, Jim McDaniels scored 45, and Larry Miller (not the later Utah Jazz owner) 33.

* The Kentucky Colonels beat the Miami Floridians, 116-100 at Freedom Hall in Louisville.

* And the Utah Stars beat the Denver Rockets, 110-102 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City. Ralph Simpson (not Sampson) scored 43 in a losing effort for the Rockets, who became the Denver Nuggets in 1974.

Only 1 NHL game was played that day. The St. Louis Blues and the California Golden Seals played to a 4-4 tie at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

October 27, 2002: Emmitt Smith Becomes the NFL's All-Time Rushing Leader

October 27, 2002: The Seattle Seahawks beat the Dallas Cowboys, 17-14 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas. Rian Lindell wins it with a 20-yard field goal with 25 seconds left.

But the game was memorable for another reason. The Cowboys' Emmitt Smith rushed for 109 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown that tied the game with 5:35 left in regulation. Those 109 yards enabled him to surpass Chicago Bears legend Walter Payton as the NFL's all-time rushing leader, breaking the record of 16,726 yards.

Drafted out of the University of Florida in 1990, Smith had helped the Cowboys win Super Bowls XXVII, XXVIII and XXX. He made 8 Pro Bowls, and in 1995, he set a new single-season record with 25 rushing touchdowns. (That record is now 28, set in 2006, by La Dainian Tomlinson of the San Diego Chargers.)

Smith, a native of Pensacola, in the Florida Panhandle, remained with the Cowboys through the 2002 season, and played 2 more seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. He still holds the NFL career records for most rushing attempts, 4,409; most rushing yards, 18,355, with Payton still 2nd; and most rushing touchdowns, 164.

In 1999, before he broke the record, The Sporting News ranked him 68th on their list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. In 2010, the NFL Network ranked him 28th on their list of the 100 Greatest Players. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor.

*

October 27, 2002 was a Sunday. These other NFL games were played:

* The New York Jets lost to the Cleveland Browns, 24-21 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The Denver Broncos beat the New England Patriots, 24-16 at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Baltimore Ravens, 31-18 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Washington Redskins beat the Indianapolis Colts, 26-21 at FedEx Field (now Northwest Stadium) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Carolina Panthers, 12-9 at Ericsson Stadium (now Bank of America Stadium) in Charlotte.

* The Houston Texans beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 21-19 at Alltel Stadium (now EverBank Stadium) in Jacksonville.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat their arch-rivals, the New Orleans Saints, 37-35 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Detroit Lions, 24-17 at Ralph Wilson Stadium (formerly Rich Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Tennessee Titans beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 30-24 at Paul Brown Stadium (now Paycor Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Chicago Bears, 25-7 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Oakland Raiders, 20-10 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Arizona Cardinals, 38-28 at Candlestick Park (then named San Francisco Stadium at Candlestick Point) in San Francisco.

* The next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Philadelphia Eagles beat the New York Giants, 17-3 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. The Giants are the Eagles' geographical and longest-lasting rivals, but most Eagle fans consider the Cowboys to be the team's true arch-rivals.

* And the Green Bay Packers, the Miami Dolphins, the St. Louis Rams and the San Diego Chargers had a bye that week.

In baseball, Game 7 of the World Series was played. At the ballpark then known as Edison International Field of Anaheim, the team then known as the Anaheim Angels beat the San Francisco Giants, 4-1. The team now known as the Los Angeles Angels, playing at what's now named Angel Stadium of Anaheim, having already won their 1st Pennant in 42 seasons of trying, had now won their 1st World Championship.

The NBA season started 2 days later. There were 3 games played in the NHL:

* The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Los Angeles Kings, 5-1 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the San Jose Sharks, 3-2 at the United Center in Chicago.

* And the Minnesota Wild and the Colorado Avalanche played to a tie, 3-3 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

October 26, 2002: The Anaheim Comeback -- Or the San Francisco Choke

Scott Spiezio

October 26, 2002: Game 6 of the World Series, at what was then known as Edison International Field of Anaheim – the former "Big A" briefly nicknamed "the Big Ed." The San Francisco Giants led the Series 3 games to 2, and led the team then known as the Anaheim Angels, 5-0 after 6½ innings, thanks to home runs by Shawon Dunston and Barry Bonds.

Let me take a step back. On October 19, Game 1 was played at the Big Ed. The Giants won it, 4-3, and their lineup included Tsuyoshi Shinjo, making him the 1st Japanese-born player to appear in a World Series game.

On October 24, Game 5 was played at Pacific Bell Park (now AT&T Park) in San Francisco. Jeff Kent hit 2 home runs, and the Giants pounded the Angels, 16-4.

But the event that will be forever remembered came in the bottom of the 7th inning. Kenny Lofton hit a triple, driving in J.T. Snow and David Bell (son of Buddy, grandson of Gus). But Darren Baker, 3-year-old son of Giant manager Dusty Baker, acting as batboy, had come up to the plate to collect Lofton’s bat, unaware that the play was still in progress. Snow saw this, and, fearing that Darren might get hurt in a play at the plate, grabbed him by his Giants jacket and pulled him away. There was no play at the plate, and Bell was able to score standing up.

The fact that the Giants had won the game so overwhelmingly, and the fact that Darren Baker had been saved from serious injury, made the Giants look like a team of destiny. They needed to win just 1 of the possible 2 games in Anaheim to take their 1st World Championship in 45 seasons in San Francisco.

Instead, the Angels scored 3 runs in the 7th to make it 5-3, including a home run by Scott Spiezio, but the Giants were still just 9 outs away from their 1st World Championship since moving to San Francisco 45 years earlier, their 1st in any city since they were in New York 48 years earlier.

But they choked. The Angels scored 3 more in the 8th, including 1 on a home run by Darin Erstad, and won, 6-5. The Series went to a Game 7 in Anaheim tomorrow night.

That night, I had dinner at an Applebee's in Milltown, New Jersey, about 3 miles from my residence in East Brunswick. When I left, the Giants were winning. When I got home, they were losing. To put it another way: According to Baseball-Reference.com, when Spiezio came to the plate, the Giants had a 93 percent chance of winning the game, and thus the Series. But they lost.

The next night, Angels won Game 7, 4-1. Liván Hernández, one of the Florida Marlins' heroes in the 1997 World Series, began the bottom of the 3rd inning by giving up a single to David Eckstein. He gave up a single to Darin Erstad. Then he hit Tim Salmon with a pitch, loading the bases with nobody out. And Garrett Anderson doubled down the right-field line to clear the bases. John Lackey pitched 5 strong innings, and 3 relievers shut the Giants out the rest of the way.

Having already won a World Series as a player with the 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers, Mike Scioscia had now won one as the Angels' manager.

In his one and only World Series appearance, Barry Bonds went 8-for-17, .471, with 4 home runs, 6 RBIs, and a Series record 13 walks. It was all in vain.

The Angels' inability to win a Pennant had been called "The Curse of the Cowboy." Gene Autry, Western movies' "Singing Cowboy," was their 1st owner, and still owned the team at this point. There seemed to be no reason why he would put a curse on his own team, but maybe he was the one who was cursed.

In the midst of the illness that would end his life the next year, Autry sold the Angels to the Walt Disney Company in 1997. Disney changed the team's name to the Anaheim Angels. The team finally won their 1st Pennant in 2002, and then won the World Series, ending the curse. But maybe they've started a new one: They've been to the Playoffs a few times since, but still have only the 1 Pennant.

Twenty years later, Dusty Baker is managing in the World Series again. Darren Baker is 23, and played 2nd base for the Harrisburg Senators of the Class AA Eastern League, a farm team of the Washington Nationals. If he continues at his current pace of progress through the minor leagues, he could be in the major leagues by the start of the 2024 season.

Scott Spiezio and David Eckstein would be teammates on another World Series winner, the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals. Spiezio's father, Ed Spiezio, was a 3rd baseman who won the World Series with the Cardinals in 1964 and 1967.

UPDATE: The Angels have a team Hall of Fame. Through the 2025 season, the inductees are:

* From the 1960s: Founding owner Gene Autry, 2nd baseman Bobby Knoop, shortstop Jim Fregosi, and pitcher Dean Chance.

* From the 1979 American League Western Division title: Autry, Fregosi as manager, Knoop as coach, coach Jimmie Reese, 1st baseman Rod Carew, 2nd baseman Bobby Grich, left fielder Don Baylor, catcher Brian Downing, and pitcher Nolan Ryan.

* From the 1982 AL West title: Autry, Knoop, Reese, Carew, Grich, Baylor, Downing, and pitcher Mike Witt -- but not manager Gene Mauch, nor right fielder Reggie Jackson.

* From the 1986 AL West title: Autry, Knoop, Reese, Grich, Downing (now in left field), Witt, and pitcher Chuck Finley -- but, again, neither Mauch nor Jackson.

* From the 1995 team that blew a big AL West lead: Autry, Knoop, Reese, Carew (now a coach), Finley, right fielder Tim Salmon, and left fielder Garret Anderson.

* From the 2002 World Champions: Salmon and Anderson are the only players yet honored.

* From the 2004 and '05 AL West titles: Salmon, Anderson and right fielder Vladimir Guerrero Sr. From the 2007, '08 and '09 Division titles: Anderson and Guerrero. So far, no players from the 2014 Division title have been honored.

*

October 26, 2002 was a Saturday. Among the college football games played that day were these:

* Number 1 Miami beat West Virginia, 40-23 at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, West Virginia. Miami, defending National Champions, won the Big East Conference Championship.

* Number 2 Oklahoma had the week off. They beat Colorado in the Big Twelve Conference Championship Game.

* Number 3 Virginia Tech beat Temple, 20-10 at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Virginia. But Tech lost 4 of their last 5 regular season games, their only victory at home to arch-rival Virginia.

* Number 4 Ohio State beat Number 18 Penn State, 13-7 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. Ohio State won the Big Ten Conference Championship, and then beat Miami in the Fiesta Bowl for the Bowl Championship Series' National Championship.

* Number 5 Georgia beat Kentucky, 52-24 at Commonwealth Stadium (now Kroger Field) in Lexington, Kentucky. Georgia beat Arkansas in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game.

* Number 6 Notre Dame beat Number 11 Florida State, 34-24 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee. Florida State recovered, and won the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship, before losing to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.

* Number 7 Texas beat Number 17 Iowa State, 21-10 at Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas. Losing to Oklahoma and Texas Tech cost Texas a shot at the Big Twelve title, but they still ended up in their frequent season finale, the Cotton Bowl.

* Number 8 Michigan were upset by Number 13 Iowa, 34-9 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. Iowa finished 2nd in the Big 10, and went to the Orange Bowl.

* Number 9 Washington State beat Arizona, 21-13 at Arizona Stadium in Tucson. "Wazzu" won the Pacific-Ten Conference title, but lost the Rose Bowl to Oklahoma.

* Number 10 Louisiana State lost to Auburn, 31-7 at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama. LSU reached the Cotton Bowl, where they lost to Texas.

* Number 14 Oregon were upset by Number 15 Southern California, 44-33 at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon. USC blew their shot at the Pac-10 title by losing to Washington State, but beat Iowa in the Orange Bowl.

* Number 16 Tennessee lost in a mild upset, but by a big score, to Number 19 Alabama, 34-14 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee.

* Among the service academies, Number 22 Air Force were upset by Wyoming, 34-26 at, with some appropriateness, War Memorial Stadium in Laramie, Wyoming; Army lost to Alabama-Birmingham (UAB), 29-26 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York; and Navy lost to Tulane, 51-30 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* And Rutgers lost to Syracuse, 45-14 at the Carrier Dome (now the JMA Wireless Dome) in Syracuse, New York.

The NBA season didn't start for another 3 days. There were 13 games in the NHL:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-3 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Philadelphia Flyers, 6-2 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-1 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.

* On the opener of CBC's Hockey Night In Canada, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Ottawa Senators, 5-3 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Atlanta Thrashers, 4-3 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston.

* The Chicago Blackhawks and the Carolina Hurricanes played to a tie, 3-3 at the RBC Center (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh, North Carolina.

* The Washington Capitals and the Florida Panthers played to a tie, 1-1 at the Office Depot Center (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.

* The Nashville Predators beat the Detroit Red Wings, 3-1 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center (now the Bridgestone Arena) in Nashville.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Buffalo Sabres, 5-2 at the Mellon Arena (as the Civic Arena was then known) in Pittsburgh.

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

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Calgary Flames, 4-3 at the Saddledome in Calgary. Eric Boguniecki scored the winning goal with 25 seconds left in overtime.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 4-3 at the Skyreach Centre (as the Northlands Coliseum was then known) in Edmonton.

* In the nightcap of Hockey Night In Canada, the Vancouver Canucks lost to the Dallas Stars, 4-1 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

* And the Los Angeles Kings, the Colorado Avalanche, the San Jose Sharks and the Columbus Blue Jackets were not scheduled to play.

And in English soccer, Arsenal lost to Lancashire team Blackburn Rovers, 2-1 at Highbury in North London.

October 12, 2005: The Doug Eddings Game

October 12, 2005: In Boston, it's Larry Barnett (1975 World Series Game 3). In St. Louis, it's Don Denkinger (1985 World Series Game 6). In Baltimore, it's Rich Garcia (1996 ALCS Game 1). In Atlanta, it's Eric Gregg (1997 NLCS Game 5). In Orange County, California, the most hated of all umpires is Doug Eddings.

Game 2 of the American League Championship Series is being played at U.S. Cellular Field (now Guaranteed Rate Field) in Chicago. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are up 1 game to none, and are tied 1-1 with the Chicago White Sox.

The Sox are batting in the bottom of the 9th, with 2 out. Catcher A.J. Pierzynski faces Angels relief pitcher Kelvim Escobar, who quickly gets 2 strikes. Pierzynski swings at Escobar's 3rd pitch, a split-fingered fastball that comes in very low. Angels catcher Josh Paul says after the game, "I caught the ball, so I thought the inning was over."

Eddings later said the ball had not been legally caught, but he made no audible call that the ball hit the ground. Pierzynski, already having had a reputation as a rough player, takes a couple of steps toward the dugout, but then, noticing that he had not heard himself called out, turns and runs to 1st base, while most of the Angels are walking off the field. He makes it to 1st safely. A pinch-runner, Pablo Ozuna, replaces Pierzynski, steals 2nd base, and scores on a base hit by 3rd baseman Joe Crede for the winning run.

The controversy surrounding the play concerns both whether Eddings' ruling (that the ball hit the ground) was correct, and the unclear mechanic for signaling the ruling. Eddings did not indicate no-catch signals during the game. In fact, in the 2nd inning of the same game, Eddings had ruled "no catch" on a 3rd strike to Garret Anderson of the Angels, but the White Sox were not aware of the ruling until Eddings called Anderson out as he entered the dugout.

At the time, professional umpiring mechanics did not dictate a specific no-catch signal or a "no catch" verbalization after an uncaught third strike. A mechanic was added for the 2006 season.

After the game, Eddings explained his actions: "My interpretation is that was my 'strike three' mechanic, when it's a swinging strike. If you watch, that’s what I do the whole entire game… I did not say, 'No catch.' If you watch the play, you do watch me -- as I'm making the mechanic, I'm watching Josh Paul, and so I'm seeing what he's going to do. I'm looking directly at him while I'm watching Josh Paul. That's when Pierzynski ran to first base."

Angels fans remain convinced that Eddings screwed them over and cost them a Pennant – and, since the ChiSox went on to sweep the Houston Astros in 4 straight, that Eddings also cost them the World Series. They are wrong: The video clearly shows the ball touching the ground, and Paul should have tried to throw Pierzynski out at 1st. He didn't try, and therefore Pierzynski was entitled to the base. Eddings was right, and Pierzynski acted within the rules of the game.

And here's the key: The series was still tied. While the next 3 games were going to be in Chicago, theoretically, the Angels still had as much chance to win the Pennant as the Pale Hose did. They could have shut their traps, gotten their acts together, and gone out and won Game 3 in Chicago, taken a 2-1 lead in the series, and it would have been a very different story.

Instead, like the 1996 Baltimore Orioles on the Jeffrey Maier play, like the 1985 St. Louis Cardinals on the Don Denkinger/Jorge Orta play, and like the 1978 Los Angeles Dodgers on the Reggie Jackson "Sacrifice Thigh," they let the incident get into their heads. They lost 3 straight and the Pennant. They did not deserve to win that one. The White Sox, thinking clearly, did.

This remains the only LCS that Eddings has umpired. He had previously umpired in Division Series in 2000 and 2002, and in the 2004 All-Star Game. Since then, he has umpired in the 2017 All-Star Game; the 2014 and '20 Wild Card Games; a 2022 Wild Card Series; the 2018, '19, '20 and '21 Division Series; and the 2019 World Series. So, clearly, MLB hasn't held the 2005 ALCS incident against him.

*

October 12, 2005 was a Wednesday. Game 1 was played in the National League Championship Series, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros, 5-3 at Busch Memorial Stadium. Seven days later, in what would be the last event at that stadium, the Astros would win Game 6 to take the Pennant.

The following season, the Cardinals opened the 3rd facility to bear the name "Busch Stadium" in one form or another, following the last one to bear the name "Sportsman's Park" (1909-1966, with the name being changed to Busch Stadium in 1953) and Busch Memorial. 

Football was in midweek. The NBA season hadn't started yet. There were 5 games played in the NHL:

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat their arch-rivals, the Washington Capitals, 7-2 at the RBC Center (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Atlanta Thrashers, 2-0 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.

* The Minnesota Wild beat the Vancouver Canucks, 6-0 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The Nashville Predators beat the Colorado Avalanche, 5-4 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

* And the San Jose Sharks beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-1 at the HP Pavilion (now the SAP Center) in San Jose, California.

October 3, 2008: The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)

U.S. Department of the Treasury Building,

across 15th Street in Washington from the White House.

The Statue is former Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.

October 3, 2008: President George W. Bush signs the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) into law. It turns out to be key in preventing the current economic recession from turning into a flat-out depression.

TARP allowed the U.S. Department of the Treasury to purchase or insure up to $700 billion of "troubled assets,", defined as "(A) residential or commercial obligations will be bought, or other instruments that are based on or related to such mortgages, that in each case was originated or issued on or before March 14, 2008, the purchase of which the Secretary determines promotes financial market stability; and (B) any other financial instrument that the Secretary, after consultation with the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, determines the purchase of which is necessary to promote financial market stability, but only upon transmittal of such determination, in writing, to the appropriate committees of Congress."

In short, this allowed the Treasury to purchase illiquid, difficult-to-value assets from banks and other financial institutions. The targeted assets could be collateralized debt obligations, which were sold in a booming market until 2007, when they were hit by widespread foreclosures on the underlying loans. TARP was intended to improve the liquidity of these assets by purchasing them using secondary market mechanisms, thus allowing participating institutions to stabilize their balance sheets and avoid further losses.

TARP did not allow banks to recoup losses already incurred on troubled assets, but officials expected that, once trading of these assets resumed, their prices would stabilize and ultimately increase in value, resulting in gains to both participating banks and the Treasury itself.

The concept of future gains from troubled assets came from the hypothesis in the financial industry that these assets were oversold, as only a small percentage of all mortgages were in default, while the relative fall in prices represented losses from a much higher default rate.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 263-171 to approve it, and the Senate did so, 74-25. While there were archconservatives who voted against it out of not caring who got hurt through business failures, and there were liberals who voted against it out of not wanting to give the Republicans a win, as the election was just a month away, these concerns were overwhelmed by a desire to do the right thing.

TARP became known as simply "The Bailout." After the election, archconservatives, calling themselves "The Tea Party," blamed the new President, Barack Obama, for it, even though he had nothing to do with it, other than being 1 vote for it in the U.S. Senate -- as was his opponent, John McCain.

Nevertheless, in a 2012 survey of leading economists conducted by the University of Chicago Booth School of Business' Initiative on Global Markets, economists generally agreed that unemployment at the end of 2010 would have been higher without the program. In other words, Bush, McCain and Obama, agreeing on little else, were all right about TARP, while the hard right wing was wrong.

Also bailed out was the American auto industry, including each of the "Big 3": General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. How come, since the federal government took over, and then gave control up after it worked, we no longer hear conservatives say, "What's good for General Motors is good for America"?

*

October 3, 2008 was a Friday. There were 2 American League Division Series games played, both Game 2 in their respective series. The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-2 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. And the Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 7-5 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

There were 2 college football games. Number 8-ranked Brigham Young University (BYU) beat Utah State, 34-14 at Romney Stadium in Ogden, Utah. USU named its stadium after Dick Romney, their head football and basketball coach and athletic director from 1919 to 1948. He was a first cousin of George Romney, father of Mitt Romney, and had a brother named Milton Romney, who was known as "Mitt" and played in the NFL in the 1920s. In 2015, the stadium was renamed Maverik Stadium, after a chain of Rocky Mountain-based convenience stores. Apparently, in Utah, greed is more powerful than even the Romney family.

In the other game, the University of Cincinnati beat Marshall University, 33-10 at Joan C. Edwards Stadium in Huntington, West Virginia. A big donor to Marshall, Joan Edwards was not related to LaVell Edwards, the former head coach for whom BYU renamed their stadium.

And the football team at East Brunswick High School, my Alma Mater, lost to South Brunswick, 17-7 at Mike Elko Stadium in South Brunswick, New Jersey.

June 26, 1962: Earl Wilson's Slugging No-Hitter

June 26, 1962: The Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels, 2-0 at Fenway Park in Boston. Earl Wilson becomes the 1st black pitcher to throw a no-hitter in the American League, and hits a home run to help his own cause. It wasn't a perfect game: He walked 4 batters.

The losing pitcher had already thrown a no-hitter that season: Bo Belinsky.

Boston sports' racial history is complicated. On the one hand, there was the phony tryout that the Red Sox gave to Jackie Robinson and 2 others in 1945, the Sox being the last MLB team to desegregate, the treatment of Bill Russell, and even Tommy Harper's firing as a Sox coach for apparently racial reasons in 1985; and the fact that white fans filled the Boston Garden for regular-season games for the Bruins while they were lousy in the 1960s, while they shunned the place for the Celtics while they were winning titles, only packing it during the Playoffs so they could celebrate the wins.

On the other hand, the Braves integrated early with Sam Jethroe, the Celtics were the 1st team to draft a black player with Chuck Cooper in 1950, Red Auerbach fully embraced integration with the Celtics, the Bruins were the 1st NFL team to integrate with Willie O'Ree in 1958, and Wilson pitched a no-hitter before any black man had done so in the AL.

Wilson would go on to win a World Series ring with the 1968 Detroit Tigers, pitching like almost anyone else’s ace but behind Denny McLain and Mickey Lolich. He went 121-109 for his career, and died in 2005.

*

June 26, 1962 was a Tuesday. Basketball star Jerome Kersey was born. And these other baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Minnesota Twins, 5-0 at Yankee Stadium. Camilo Pascual allowed 9 hits, but no walks, striking out 12, and pitched a shutout, beating Rollie Sheldon. Rich Rollins hit 2 home runs, and Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-3 with a walk, but had an RBI on a sacrifice fly. Mickey Mantle was injured and did not play. In his place in center field, usual right fielder Roger Maris went 0-for-4.

* The New York Mets lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-2 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Former Pirate Frank "Big Donkey" Thomas got 2 hits for the expansion Mets, but the rest of the team combined got only 3. In the other direction, Donn Clendenon hit a home run for the Pirates, and would go on to become a World Series hero for the Mets. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Philadelphia Phillies swept the Houston Colt .45s, 2-0 and 6-4 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Jack Hamilton pitched a 2-hit shutout in the 1st game. The Colts became the Houston Astros in 1965.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox, 1-0 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Charley Lau, later to become one of baseball's best hitting instructors despite his own lifetime batting average of .255, singled Dave Nicholson home with the winning run in the bottom of the 9th to win it. Milt Pappas pitched a 4-hit shutout.

* The Kansas City Athletics beat the Washington Senators, 2-1 at District of Columbia Stadium (later Robert F. Kennedy Stadium) in Washington.

* A doubleheader was split at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. The Detroit Tigers won the opener, 6-0. Jim Bunning pitched a 4-hit shutout. The Cleveland Indians won the nightcap, 3-1. Al Luplow hit a home run in the top of the 12th inning. Al Kaline was hurt, and did not appear in either game.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs, 15-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Stan Musial, 42 years old, sat this game out. The Cards didn't need him, getting home runs from Ken Boyer, Bill White, Gene Oliver and Charlie James. Ernie Banks went 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. The winning pitcher for the Cardinals was Ernie Broglio. The man for whom he would later be traded, Lou Brock, went 1-for-4 with a walk for the Cubs.

* The Milwaukee Braves beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Despite 13 strikeouts, Sandy Koufax was outpitched by Lew Burdette. (Burdette was also the winning pitcher 3 years earlier when Harvey Haddix of Pittsburgh pitched a perfect game before losing in the 13th inning.) Hank Aaron went 2-for-4.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-5 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Orlando Cepeda singled Felipe Alou home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Willie Mays went 0-for-5. Frank Robinson went 2-for-5 with a home run.

May 5, 1962: The Triumph and Tragedy of Bo Belinsky

May 5, 1962: The Los Angeles Angels, groundsharing with the city’s National League team at Dodger Stadium, beat the Baltimore Orioles, 2-0. Robert "Bo" Belinsky (no middle name), a 25-year-old lefthander from Trenton, New Jersey, pitches a no-hitter. He walks 4 batters, but allows no hits, and no runs, and outpitches Steve Barber.

This was the best thing that could have happened to him, as he is still remembered today. It was also the worst thing that could have happened to him: Having done this in the pop-cultural capital of the Western U.S., he became a celebrity way too soon. He became a party animal on the Sunset Strip, and dated, among other beautiful women, actress Mamie Van Doren.

Bo and Mamie

Whatever career he had, he threw away, throwing his last major league pitch in 1970, and finishing with a record of 28-51.

He later beat his drinking problem through religion: "Can you imagine finding Jesus Christ in Las Vegas?" And he became a substance abuse counselor, doing a lot of good with the 2nd half of his life. But the thing about substance abuse is that it can weaken your organs, so that it can end up killing you long after you stop. He died of cancer in 2001, at age 64.

*

May 5, 1962 was a Saturday. These other baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Washington Senators, 7-6 at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning, to come from behind, and to make Bob Turley a winning pitcher in relief of Rollie Sheldon. They got home runs from Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and rookie Joe Pepitone.

* The New York Mets lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-1 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Calvin Coolidge Julius Caesar Tuskahoma McLish outpitched Alvin Neill Jackson.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox, 8-3 at Fenway Park in Boston. Carl Yastrzemski went 3-for-5 with a home run and 3 RBIs. Galen Cisco was the winning pitcher, while Early Wynn got knocked out of the box in the 4th inning.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 10-1 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Don Drysdale went the distance for the win, while former Yankee reliever Tom Sturdivant started for the Bucs, and didn't get out of the 2nd inning. Duke Snider went 1-for-3. Tommy Davis went 4-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-4.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-7 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Vada Pinson hit 2 home runs. Frank Robinson went 2-for-4 with a walk and 3 RBIs. Stan Musial went 2-for-3 with a walk.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants, 12-8 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Billy Williams hit 2 home runs, Ernie Banks 1. For the Giants, Willie Mays and Ed Bailey hit home runs.

* The Milwaukee Braves beat the Houston Colt .45s, 6-5 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Mack Jones hit a home run in the bottom of the 12th inning to win the game. Hank Aaron went 1-for-5.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-2 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-3 with a walk. Al Kaline went 1-for-4.

* And a doubleheader was split at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. The Kansas City Athletics won the opener, 18-6. Dick Howser went 4-for-6 with a home run. The Cleveland Indians won the nightcap, 5-2. This time, Howser went 0-for-4.

The FA Cup Final is held at the old Wembley Stadium in West London. Tottenham Hotspur of Middlesex – a part of London since 1965 – defeat Burnley of Lancashire, 3-1. “Spurs” had won the Cup the year before, and the League as well; Burnley had won the League the season before that. Neither has won it since.

This was the last Cup Final before the Wembley roof was extended all the way around the stadium. Queen Elizabeth II presented the Cup to Spurs Captain Danny Blanchflower – which could have been a touchy situation, since Blanchflower was from Northern Ireland.

April 15, 1998: A Strange Doubleheader at Shea

Darryl Strawberry (left), interviewed by

Al Trautwig of the MSG Network

April 15, 1998: An accident at the old Yankee Stadium -- the fall of an "expansion joint," from the extension of the left-field stands in the 1927-28 off-season, crushing a seat -- forces some reschedulings.

The New York Yankees switch series with the Detroit Tigers, so that the upcoming series that was going to be in New York would be in Detroit, and the next one set for Detroit would be in New York. Two games with the team then known as the Anaheim Angels were postponed until August, while the one set for today is moved across town to Shea Stadium.

Then, the New York Mets would host the Chicago Cubs. For the 1st time since 1954, a ballpark would host games by 2 different home teams on the same day.

The Yankees won the opener, 6-3. Darryl Strawberry, the former Met who had hit more home runs at Shea than any other player, hit one more, and the scoreboard operator raised the Home Run Apple to half its height, so that the New York skyline could be seen, but not the word "Mets." David Wells was the winning pitcher.

The Home Run Apple in its usual display

In the regularly-scheduled game, now a nightcap, the Mets beat the Cubs, 2-1. Rick Reed was the winning pitcher, and helped his own cause with a home run. The Cubs' only run came on a home run by Sammy Sosa, his 3rd of the season. No one yet had any idea of how many Sosa would hit.
 

The Yankees returned home on April 27. But if George Steinbrenner's greed still wasn't making a new Yankee Stadium happen, this accident turned the tide, and convinced the City of New York to build it. From this moment forward, the old Yankee Stadium, the most history-laden building ever constructed for sports on planet Earth, was doomed.

But Shea was also becoming unsuitable. As it turned out, the teams replaced their stadiums at the same time. The Yankees played the last game at the old Yankee Stadium on September 21, 2008. The last game at Shea Stadium came 7 days later. After both new stadiums hosted exhibition games, the 1st regular-season game at Citi Field was played on April 13, 2009, and the 1st at the new Yankee Stadium came 3 days after that.

With the building of Citi Field, the Mets built a new Home Run Apple for center field. They restored the old one, and put it in the parking lot. It now serves as a meeting place for fans, much as the "Big Bat" smokestack did at the old Yankee Stadium. That still stands, because it still functions as a smokestack for the complex, but is now a bit of a walk from the new Stadium. There is no one single "Meet me at... " location at the new Stadium.

*

April 15, 1998 was a Wednesday. These other MLB games were played that day:

* The Montreal Expos beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-3 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 4-3 at Fenway Park in Boston. Rickey Henderson went 0-for-4 with a walk.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-6 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Cal Ripken went 1-for-3 with an RBI.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-0 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta. Greg Maddux pitched a 6-hit shutout.

* The Florida Marlins beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-3 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland. Ken Griffey Jr. went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Alex Rodriguez went 1-for-5.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Houston Astros, 4-1 at Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-3 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-3 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants, 1-0 at Candlestick Park (then named 3Com Park at Candlestick Point) in San Francisco. Kevin brown pitched a 4-hit shutout. Tony Gwynn went 0-for-4. Barry Bonds went 2-for-3 with a walk.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Colorado Rockies were rained out at Coors Field in Denver. The game was made up the next day. The Dodgers won, 4-3. Todd Hollandsworth singled home the winning run in the top of the 10th inning.

*The St. Louis Cardinals and the Arizona Diamondbacks were rained out at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader the next day. The Cards won the opener, 5-4. Mark McGwire went 0-for-4. The D-backs won the nightcap, 8-2. McGwire sat this one out, so this day did not help him on his pursuit of the single-season home run record.

* And the Minnesota Twins and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays were not scheduled.

There were 8 games played in the NBA:

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Charlotte Hornets, 109-103 at the Charlotte Coliseum.

* The Washington Wizards beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 101-93 at the MCI Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Boston Celtics, 117-109 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston.

* The Orlando Magic beat their arch-rivals, the Miami Heat, 99-87 at the Miami Arena.

* The Detroit Pistons beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bulls, 87-79 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 82-70 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Denver Nuggets, 96-89 at the America West Arena (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.

* And the Golden State Warriors beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 92-80 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

There were 9 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat their arch-rivals, the New York Islanders, 4-2 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Buffalo Sabres, 5-4 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands. Scott Stevens scored the winning goal with 22 seconds left in overtime.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Boston Bruins beat the Montreal Canadiens, 6-2 at the Molson Centre (now the Bell Centre) in Montreal.

* In another "Original Six" matchup, the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-1 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Dallas Stars beat the Detroit Red Wings, 3-1 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.

* The San Jose Sharks and the Calgary Flames finished in a tie, 3-3 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 5-3 at the Edmonton Coliseum (as the Northlands Coliseum was then known).

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Vancouver Canucks, 2-0 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.