October 21, 1980: The Philadelphia Phillies Phinally Win a World Series

October 21, 1980: After 98 seasons of play, the Philadelphia Phillies are 1 game away from finally winning their 1st World Championship. They are the last of the "Original 16" teams not to have won a World Series. 

It's Game 6 against the Kansas City Royals at Veterans Stadium. Steve Carlton starts. In 1972, when the Phillies won only 59 games all season, Carlton won 27 of them. He would tell his teammates, "It's Win Day." He was never that good again, but he was still as good as any pitcher in baseball. Now, he was ready to pitch the clincher. It was Win Day. Or so they hoped.

The game was scoreless in the bottom of the 3rd when catcher Bob Boone -- son of Ray, and father of Aaron and Bret -- walked to lead off. Lonnie Smith reached on an error. Pete Rose, despite being 39 years old, not only bunted the runners over, but beat it out. The bases were loaded with nobody out. And Mike Schmidt, so often ripped in the Philadelphia media for not coming through when it matters, singled home Boone and Smith.

The Phillies got another run in the bottom of the 5th when Smith doubled, Rose hit a sacrifice fly to center to move him to 3rd, Schmidt was walked sort-of-intentionally, and Bake McBride hit a grounder to short to bring Smith home. In the bottom of the 6th, Larry Bowa doubled to left, and was singled home by Boone. Smith flew to center. Phillies 4, Royals 0.

In the 8th, Carlton tired, and the Royals scored a run. John Wathan drew one of those dangerous leadoff walks, and Cardenal singled to left. Green had seen enough: He pulled the great Carlton, who got a big hand, and replaced him with Tug McGraw. Tug finished the inning without further damage.

To start the 9th, McGraw struck Amos Otis out looking. 2 more. But he walked Willie Aikens. With Aikens a bit pudgy and not fleet of foot, Frey sent Onix Concepcion in as a pinch-runner. Wathan singled to right. Cardenal singled to center, but it was too short, and Maddox too good a center fielder, for Concepcion to risk being thrown out at the plate. 

Then came a play that had Phillies fans -- remembering the collapse of the last 2 weeks of the 1964 regular season, the shocking 9th inning of Game 3 of the 1977 NL Championship Series, and he NLCS losses of 1976 and 1978 -- thinking, "Oh no, here we go again." Frank White popped up, and the ball drifted toward the Phillie dugout along the 1st base line. Boone chased it. He was normally a good fielder. But it popped out of his glove...

But Rose was right there to catch it. What could have been a disaster was prevented by "Charlie Hustle," the heart and soul of the Cincinnati "Big Red Machine" that had won 4 Pennants and 2 World Series in the previous decade, and had been brought to the Phils to teach them a winning attitude.

One out to go. There are 65,838 Phanatics roaring inside The Vet. The batter was Willie Wilson. Now, McGraw was nervous. And he was a bit spoked by the mounted policemen that Mayor Bill Green sent to line the field in foul territory, to keep fans off the field, artificial though it was. No one wanted a repeat of the Phils' last game at Connie ack Stadium, 10 years earlier, when the fans rioted and tore the old ballpark apart.

McGraw got to a count of 1 & 2. He was gassed. But he had all Fall and Winter to rest. He put everything he had into one last screwball. It was 11:29 PM on October 21, 1980. Wilson swung and missed for strike 3.

According to the Nielsen ratings system, this game was watched by 55 million people, making it the most-watched baseball game of all time.

Dallas Green's wild (or, at least, wild-haired) bunch had done it. Boone, Mike Schmidt, Greg Luzinski, Larry Bowa, Garry Maddox, all the rest, after 3 failed trips to the postseason before this, they had their ring at long last. Rose and McGraw, opponents in the '73 NLC,S and each with at least 1 previous ring, add to their collection. So do Carlton, who'd won with the '67 Cardinals; and Manny Trillo, the 2nd baseman who'd won with the '74 A's, and made a huge difference for the '80 Phils, particularly as the MVP of the NLCS.

The next day’s Philadelphia Daily News filled up their entire front page beneath the masthead with the words "We Win!" A parade went down Broad Street from City Hall to the Sports Complex, and a massive rally at John F. Kennedy Stadium, whose 105,000 seats was a lot more than the Vet's 65,000. Tug held the Daily News up for all to see. It remains the greatest moment in the history of Philadelphia sports.

The Phillies won another World Series in 2008. Again, it ended on a strikeout, Brad Lidge fanning Eric Hinske of the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 5 at Citizens Bank Park. There was another parade. Jamie Moyer had attended the 1980 parade as a 17-year-old high school senior in nearby Souderton, Pennsylvania. As a 45-year-old Phillies pitcher, he was in the 2008 parade.

In 1978, the Phillies founded the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame. They have elected a Phillies figure every year since, and elected a Philadelphia Athletics figure every year until 2003. From the 1980 team, they have elected Steve Carlton, Mike Schmidt, Larry Bowa, Greg Luzinski, Tug McGraw, Garry Maddox, Bob Boone, John Vukovich, Manny Trillo, Bake McBride, Ron Reed, manager Dallas Green, executives Paul Owens and David Montgomery, owner Ruly Carpenter, and broadcasters Richie Ashburn and Harry Kalas. Pete Rose was set to be elected to it, but shortly after the announcement that there would be such a ceremony, allegations were made that forced a cancellation of the honor.

Carlton, Schmidt, Bowa, Luzinski, McGraw, Maddox, Boone, Green, Owens, Montgomery, Ashburn, Kalas, executive Bill Giles and public address announcer Dan Baker have also been elected to the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame. Rose would probably be in it as well, if not for those allegations.

*

October 21, 1980 was a Tuesday. This was also the day of the "October Surprise" that prevented the ending of the Iran Hostage Crisis before the Presidential election on November 4. I have a separate entry for that event. Also, businesswoman/socialite Kim Kardashian was born on this day.

It was midweek for football. There were 8 NBA games played that day:

* The New York Knicks beat the Chicago Bulls, 105-97 at Madison Square Garden. Ray Williams scored 27 for the Knickerbockers.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 121-116 at The Omni in Atlanta.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 115-95 at the Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena, or "The MECCA." Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Kansas City Kings, 116-11 at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City. (It's now named the the Hy-Vee Arena.)

* The Houston Rockets beat the Denver Nuggets, 119-117 at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver. Moses Malone had 41 points and 26 rebounds for the Rockets.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the San Diego Clippers, 123-120 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio. The Clippers moved to Los Angeles in 1984.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Dallas Mavericks, 111-99 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 107-103 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

There were 4 NHL games: 

* The New York Islanders lost to the Vancouver Canucks, 6-3 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 2-0 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-5 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* And the St. Louis Blues beat the Montreal Canadiens, 4-3 at the St. Louis Arena.

September 28, 2003: The Closing of Veterans Stadium In Philadelphia

September 28, 2003: The last event is held at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. The game is no good: The Phillies lose to the Atlanta Braves, 5-2. Greg Maddux outpitched former Brave Kevin Millwood, who had pitched a no-hitter for the Phillies earlier in the year.

Then comes the closing ceremony, hosted by Phils broadcaster Harry Kalas. Every former Phillie who had accepted the invitation wore the uniform he wore at the time. Only Larry Christenson, who started the one and only game they ever played in the all-burgundy uniform, in 1979, wore that.

They closed with 3 big moments re-created: Steve Carlton’s 3,000th career strikeout, a Mike Schmidt home run, and Tug McGraw, battling cancer, pitching to Bob Boone (Aaron’s father) for the final out of the 1980 World Series. It served as a ceremonial "last ball," instead of a "first ball." Tug died before Citizens Bank Park opened the following April.

Veterans Stadium hosted 33 seasons of Phillies baseball, 32 seasons of Eagles football, 15 seasons of Temple University football, 3 seasons of Philadelphia Atoms soccer, 2 Major League Baseball All-Star Games, 9 World Series games, 2 NFC Championship Games, 22 Army-Navy games, a baseball World Championship with the 1980 Phillies, a USFL Championship with the 1984 Philadelphia Stars, and a North American Soccer League Championship with the 1973 Atoms.

The day also saw the San Diego Padres play their last game at Qualcomm Stadium – formerly San Diego Stadium (1967-1980) and Jack Murphy Stadium (1981-1997). They are no more successful in their finale than were the Phillies, losing 10-8 to the Colorado Rockies.

As is usually the case, team legends were brought back, wearing their contemporary uniforms. "Mr. Padre," Tony Gwynn, threw out the ceremonial last ball, to then-manager Bruce Bochy, a former catcher. The Padres moved into Petco Park the following April.

The NFL's Chargers continued to use the stadium until the 2016 season, and San Diego State played football there until 2019. The stadium was demolished, and SDSU's new home, Snapdragon Stadium, has opened on the site.

*

September 28, 2003 was a Sunday. These other Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 3-1 at Yankee Stadium. David Wells was the winning pitcher. Alfonso Soriano hit a home run. Derek Jeter went 0-for-3.

* The New York Mets lost to the Florida Marlins, 4-0 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. Rookie sensation Dontrelle Willis pitched 3-hit shutout ball for 5 innings, and 3 relievers completed the 4-hit shutout.

* The Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Boston Red sox, 3-1 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Cleveland Indians, 6-2 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Cincinnati Reds, 2-1 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. Ken Griffey Jr. was injured, and did not play.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins, 9-4 at Comerica Park in Detroit. The Tigers thus finished the season with a record of 43-119, the most losses in American League history, but avoided matching the 1962 Mets for the most losses since 1899.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-1 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Houston Astros beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-5 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 9-5 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* The Anaheim Angels beat the Texas Rangers, 4-1 at Edison International Field of Anaheim (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 12-3 at Pacific Bell Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco. Barry Bonds went 2-for-3.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics, 9-3 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle.

It was Sunday, so there were NFL games:

* The New York Jets lost to the Dallas Cowboys, 17-6 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Baltimore Ravens, 17-10 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Washington Redskins beat the New England Patriots, 20-17 at FedEx Field (now Northwest Stadium) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Carolina Panthers beat their arch-rivals, the Atlanta Falcons, 23-3 at Ericsson Stadium (now Bank of America Stadium) in Charlotte.

* The Indianapolis Colts beat the New Orleans Saints, 55-21 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The Houston Texans beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 24-20 at Reliant Stadium (now NRG Stadium) in Houston.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Buffalo Bills, 23-13 at Ralph Wilson Stadium (formerly Rich Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Tennessee Titans beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 30-13 at Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) in Pittsburgh.

* The Cincinnati Bengals beat their arch-rivals, the Cleveland Browns, 21-14 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the San Francisco 49ers, 35-7 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The St. Louis Rams beat the former St. Louis team, the Arizona Cardinals, 37-13 at the Edward Jones Dome (now the Dome at America's Center) in St. Louis.

* The Denver Broncos beat the Detroit Lions, 20-16 at Invesco Field at Mile High (now Empower Field at Mile High) in Denver.

* The Oakland Raiders beat the San Diego Chargers, 34-31 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the Network Associates Coliseum).

* And the next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Green Bay Packers beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bears, 38-23 at the newly-opened new version of Soldier Field in Chicago.

* And the New York Giants, the Miami Dolphins, the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers each had a bye week.

May 17, 1979: Phillies 23, Cubs 22

May 17, 1979: The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs, 23-22, on a day when the wind was blowing out at Wrigley Field in Chicago. It becomes known as the Wild Day at Wrigley.

Chicago is known as the Windy City, although that nickname comes from the political kind of wind, a.k.a. "hot air." It's actually not one of the country's windiest cities, although being on Lake Michigan does provide the occasional blast of wind. This is much more pronounced at Soldier Field, which right on the Lake, than it is at Wrigley, which is one mile inland.

It is well-known among baseball fans, who often cite this game as evidence, note that, at Wrigley, the wind blows out, leading to lots of home runs. But what is less well-known is that, about half the time, the wind blows in. As a result, Cubs management has often built their team around home-run hitters, when history shows that they do better when they build their team around pitching, and take advantage of the wind blowing in.

But on this day, it was blowing out: The game started at 1:30 PM Central Time (2:30 Eastern), with a temperature of 68 degrees, and the wind was, indeed, blowing out toward left field at 18 miles per hour. 

Dennis Lamp started for the Cubs, and he allowed 2 home runs, to Mike Schmidt and Bob Boone; a double to Larry Bowa; 3 singles and a fielder's choice, before Cub manager Herman Franks mercifully relieved him. Randy Lerch started for the Phils, and he didn't get out of the 1st inning, either: He loaded the bases, and gave up a grand slam home run to Dave Kingman. At the end of the inning, it was Phillies 7, Cubs 6.

The Phillies scored 8 runs in the top of the 3rd, including a 3-run homer by Garry Maddox, a good hitter but not really a power hitter, and better known for his fielding. Former Pittsburgh Pirates slugger, turned New York Mets broadcaster, Ralph Kiner once said, "Two-thirds of the Earth is covered by water. The other third is covered by Garry Maddox." The Phils added 2 runs in the top of the 4th, making it 17-6. In the bottom of the 4th, the Cubs got homers from Kingman and Steve Ontiveros, so it was 17-9.

The Phillies scored 4 in the top of the 5th, 21-9. The Cubs struck back in the bottom of the 5th, including home runs from Bill Buckner and Jerry Martin, closing to within 21-16. And in the bottom of the 6th, they scored 3, including Kingman's 3rd homer of the game, making it 21-19. The Phils added a run in the top of the 7th. In the bottom of the 8th, the Cubs got singles from Iván DeJesús, Scot Thompson, Buckner, Martin and Barry Foote, and tied the game at 22-22.

Dave Kingman

Neither team could score in the 9th inning. With 2 out in the top of the 10th inning, Schmidt hit a home run off Bruce Sutter. Rawly Eastwick, who had gotten the Cubs out 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 9th, did so again in the bottom of the 10th, and it was over.

Mike Schmidt

For the Phillies: 23 runs, 24 hits, 2 errors, and 15 men left on base. For the Cubs: 22 runs, 26 hits, 2 errors, and 7 men left on base. Eastwick was the winning pitcher, Sutter was the losing pitcher, the time of the game was 4 hours and 3 minutes, and 14,952 people paid to attend this game. The Cubs scored 22 runs, at home, out-hit their opponents, and left half as many men on base. And yet, they never led for so much as a single at-bat.

Philadelphia Phillies 23, Chicago Bears 22. To put this offensive outburst in perspective: In the 1979 NFL season, out of 16 regular-season games, there were 9 games, including 3 that they won, where the Philadelphia Eagles didn't score 23 points; and there were 9 games, including 4 that they won, where the Chicago Bears didn't score 22. And these were not weak football teams: Both made the Playoffs. (The Eagles beat the Bears, 27-17, in an NFC Wild Card Playoff, so that's another game in which the Bears didn't outscore the Cubs from May 17.)

In 2011, the Major League Baseball Network listed its 20 Greatest Games, allowing for availability of TV broadcasts, so it was pretty much from 1975 onward. This game was listed at Number 20, and was thus the premiere of their Baseball's Greatest Games series.

*

May 17, 1979 was a Thursday. These other Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Mets lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-5 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. At age 39, Willie Stargell hit 2 home runs, part of a season where he won the National League's Most Valuable Player award, and led the Pirates to win the World Series.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-2 at Fenway Park in Boston. Jim Rice and Butch Hobson hit home runs. Carl Yastrzemski went 2-for-3 with 2 walks. Eddie Murray went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-3 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Houston Astros, 3-0 at the Astrodome in Houston. Ed Halicki pitched a 2-hit shutout.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 8-3 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals, 7-6 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. George Brett went 2-for-4 with a walk.

* The California Angels beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-5 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Rod Carew went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs. Robin Yount went 1-for-5. Paul Molitor went 0-for-5.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 5-1 at the Oakland Coliseum.

* The Montreal Expos played the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Rain caused the game to be suspended after 10 innings, with the game tied, 2-2. It was resumed on June 25, and, immediately, Warren Cromartie led off the top of the 11th with a home run, and the Expos won, 3-2.

* And the New York Yankees, the Detroit Tigers, the Seattle Mariners, the Texas Rangers, the Cincinnati Reds and the San Diego Padres were not scheduled.

Football was out of season. Game 7 was played in the NBA Western Conference Finals. The Seattle SuperSonics beat the Phoenix Suns, 114-110 at the Kingdome in Seattle. The Sonics went on to beat the Washington Bullets, reversing the result of the previous season's Finals.

Game 3 was played in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Montreal Canadiens beat the New York Rangers, 4-1 at Madison Square Garden. The Canadiens would win the Cup in 5 games.

And the World Hockey Association's Finals were between Games 4 and 5. The Winnipeg Jets would beat the Edmonton Oilers in 6 games. The WHA would then fold, and the Jets, the Oilers, the Quebec Nordiques and the Hartford Whalers would be absorbed into the NHL.

January 27, 1982: The Ryne Sandberg Trade

January 27, 1982: The Chicago Cubs trade shortstop Ivan de Jesus to the Philadelphia Phillies for shortstop Larry Bowa and 3rd base prospect Ryne Sandberg.

The Cubs had just hired Dallas Green as their general manager. For the past 2 years, he had been the Phillies' field manager, and had taken them to the 1980 World Championship. Prior to that, he had been the Phils' farm system director.

This is widely seen as a fleecing of the Phils by their former manager. Sandberg was moved to 2nd base, and became their best player since Ernie Banks, making 10 All-Star teams, winning 9 Gold Gloves, batting .300 or better 5 times, receiving the 1984 NL Most Valuable Player award, and helping them win the National League Eastern Division title in 1984 and 1989. (They are now in the NL Central Division.)

Meanwhile, the Phillies went through several 2nd basemen, none of them as good as Sandberg, the best of them being Juan Samuel. As a result, the Phillies didn't win another World Series until 2008, 11 years after Sandberg retired, and 5 years after they got Chase Utley to play 2nd base.

This was a terrible trade for the Phillies, right? Not as bad as you might think:

* The Phillies had no place for Sandberg. He was a natural shortstop. The Phillies had Bowa, although he ended up being traded with Sandberg. (Green wanted Bowa as an "extra coach on the field," and it worked.) They couldn't move Sandberg to 2nd base, because they had Manny Trillo. (But the 1982 season turned out to be his last with the Phils.) And they couldn't move Sandberg to 3rd base, because they had Mike Schmidt, often called the greatest player ever at that position. (He stayed through 1989.)

At the time of the trade, he had played just 13 games for the Phillies, mostly as a defensive replacement, getting 1 hit in 6 at-bats. He'd had very good seasons at Double-A Reading and Triple-A Oklahoma City, but, at age 22, did not yet look like a star in the making. Given what the Phillies had in the 1981-82 off-season, Ryne Sandberg did not look like an obvious keeper.

* Sandberg was never booed at Wrigley Field. How would he have been treated at Veterans Stadium? If "the Philly Boo-Birds" would boo Mike Schmidt and Santa Claus, they would boo anybody. Would Sandberg's performance have suffered as a result? We'll never know. But, based on Schmidt's occasional slumps, we can guess.

* In spite of the heroics of Schmidt and Greg Luzinski, the Phillies' Veterans Stadium did not favor hitters much. The Cubs' Wrigley Field has wind that blows in half the time, making it a great pitcher's park. But it also blows out half the time, making it a great hitter's park. 

Sandberg batted .285 for his career, collecting 2,386 hits, including 282 home runs, topping off at 40 in 1990. He would not have hit that well playing all his home games at The Vet.

* In spite of the trade, the Phillies were actually better off without him than the Cubs were with him. With de Jesus at 2nd base, they won the NL Pennant in 1983. With Mickey Morandini at 2nd base, they won another Pennant in 1993. True, they didn't win the World Series either time. But the Cubs didn't win a Pennant between 1945 and 2016. Over the course of Sandberg's career, the Pennant count was Phillies 2, Cubs 0.

* And he might not have mattered, anyway. In 1983, he batted .261 with 8 homers and 48 RBIs. Those aren't great totals, although he did steal 37 bases. He was not yet a star. The Phillies won the Pennant, but lost the World Series to the Baltimore Orioles in 5 games. 

Would having Sandberg instead of de Jesus have helped? Maybe: de Jesus batted just .125 in the Series. But maybe not: The Phillies batted just .195 as a team, and the O's held them to 9 runs.

In 1993, when Sandberg was a 34-year-old superstar, the Phillies lost the World Series to the Toronto Blue Jays in 6 games, including the rainy, epic 15-14 loss in Game 4 and the 8-6 loss in the Joe Carter Game in Game 6. 

Would having Sandberg instead of Morandini have helped? Maybe: Morandini batted just .200 in the Series. But Sandberg would have had to make 2 games' worth of difference, in a Series where the Jays had home-field advantage.

In what other season might Sandberg have made a difference? In 1982, they were 3 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL East, but that was his rookie year, and he might not have made 3 games' worth of difference. 

They won the Pennant in 1983 and 1993, but, in between, never got closer than 15 games out in 1987. They won the Pennant in 1993, but had losing seasons for the rest of his career.

In other words, the Sandberg trade had a far greater effect on the Cubs than it had on the Phillies. The Cubs gained a great deal: That 1984 season, broadcast nationwide on "superstation" WGN, brought them lots of new fans from coast to coast, and may have saved Wrigley Field for at least 2 more generations. The Phillies may have lost at least a Division title in 1982 and the 1993 World Series, but that's hardly conclusive.

Even if the Cubs had won 5 World Series with Sandberg, the Phillies needed more than him, on top of what they already had, to win even 1 more World Series, and considerably more to win even 1 more Pennant than they did. So, while it was a great trade for the Cubs, it wasn't such a bad one for the Phillies.

*

January 27, 1982 was a Wednesday. There were 7 games played in the NBA that day:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Boston Celtics, 131-99 at the Boston Garden. Larry Bird scored 31 points.

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Denver Nuggets, 130-116 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Golden State Warriors, 110-106 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio. Bernard King scored 29 points, but that was for the Warriors. It would take until the next season for him to become a Knick.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Atlanta Hawks, 108-107 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan. John Long scored 35 for the Pistons.

* The Seattle SuperSonics beat the Kansas City Kings, 110-103 at the Kemper Arena (now the Hy-Vee Arena) in Kansas City.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Dallas Mavericks, 99-86 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.

* And the San Diego Clippers beat the Phoenix Suns, 99-92 at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena).

And, in an event basketball fans will need many years to realize is significant, Dwyane Wade is born on this day.

There were 8 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Washington Capitals, 5-4 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The New York Islanders beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 6-3 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Hartford Whalers beat the Calgary Flames, 3-1 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-3 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Chicago Black Hawks and the Edmonton Oilers played to a tie, 3-3 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Minnesota North Stars beat the Detroit Red Wings, 8-6 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The Philadelphia Flyers and the Los Angeles Kings played to a tie, 4-4 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* The Vancouver Canucks beat the Buffalo Sabres, 4-3 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

* And the Montreal Canadiens, the Boston Bruins, the St. Louis Blues, the Quebec Nordiques and the Colorado Rockies (the team that became the New Jersey Devils the following season) were not scheduled.