October 18, 1969: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 1st Professional Game

October 18, 1969: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then still using his birth name of Lew Alcindor), the greatest player in the history of college basketball, makes his professional debut. The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Detroit Pistons, 119-110 at the Milwaukee Arena.

In 1974, it was renamed the Milwaukee Exposition and Convention Center Arena. Because of its initials, and its status as a gathering place, the arena was nicknamed "The MECCA." I have never heard Kareem, a devout Muslim, give his opinion on that fact. at the Milwaukee Arena. Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena.

In this game, Kareem led all players with 29 points and 12 rebounds, and he added 6 assists. Teammates Jon McGlocklin and Flynn Robinson each scored 23. Walt Bellamy led the Pistons with 25.

Six days later, Kareem opposed Wilt Chamberlain, the man he would eventually surpass as the NBA's all-time leading scorer, for the 1st time, at The Forum, outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. Kareem scored 23 points, but the Milwaukee Bucks were led by Robinson with 33. Wilt scored 25, but the Los Angeles Lakers were led by Elgin Baylor with 26. The Lakers won, 123-112.

The Bucks entered the NBA for the 1968-69 season, along with the Phoenix Suns. The way the NBA Draft worked in those days, the teams with the 2 worst records faced a coin flip, with the winner getting the 1st pick and the loser getting the 2nd pick, so that it paid to "tank," but not that much. The Bucks won the coin flip, and "Big Lew," who had led UCLA to an 88-2 record and 3 National Championships (keeping in mind that freshmen weren't eligible to play on the varsity until 1972), winning the National Player of the Year and the NCAA Tournament's Most Outstanding Player all 3 times, was the easy choice.

With the 2nd pick, the Suns chose Neal Walk, a center from the University of Florida. He played 9 seasons in the NBA, and the fact that he was the next pick after Kareem is by far the most interesting thing about his pro career.

Instead of Walk, the Suns could have chosen Lucius Allen (Kareem's teammate at UCLA, and later in Milwaukee), Bob Dandridge (whom the Bucks also drafted), Bingo Smith, Jo Jo White, Butch Beard, Rick Roberson, Norm Van Lier, Luther Rackley, Steve Mix or Willie Wise, any of whom would have been a noticeably better choice than Walk.

To be fair, the Suns didn't do that badly: Both teams were usually in the Playoffs throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s. But the Bucks, led by Kareem, the veteran star Oscar Robertson, McGlocklin, Robinson, Allen and Dandridge, and coached by Larry Costello, won the 1971 NBA Championship, and also reached the Finals in 1974. Through the 2021-22 season, each team has been to the Finals 3 times, but the Bucks have won 2, while the Suns are still looking for their 1st. The Suns are usually a good team, often a really good one, but they've never been NBA Champions.

Kareem would remain with the Bucks until June 16, 1975. He didn't think Milwaukee was a big enough city for him. He wanted to return to New York, where he was from; or Los Angeles, where he went to UCLA. The Bucks traded him to the Lakers, although with Walt Wesley, for Dave Meyers (another UCLA player), Junior Bridgeman, Brian Winters and Elmore Smith.

This was not a terrible trade for the Bucks: Bridgeman and Winters helped them win 7 straight Division titles, and both of their numbers have been retired, along with those of Kareem, McGlocklin and Dandridge. But the Lakers still got the better part of the deal: Kareem would lead them to 5 titles in the 1980s.

*

October 18, 1969 was a Saturday. This was also the night that The Jackson Five, including Michael Jackson, made their national television debut, on ABC's The Hollywood Palace. They were introduced by fellow Motown Records star Diana Ross, and her boss -- and, secretly, her boyfriend -- Berry Gordy Jr. falsely told the media that Diana had "discovered" them.

These 6 other games were played in the NBA on that night:

* The New York Knicks beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 99-96 at the new Madison Square Garden. Willis Reed scored 25 points, Dick Barnett 21, and Walt Frazier 19. For the Lakers, Jerry West scored 42, Elgin Baylor 18, and Wilt Chamberlain was comparatively quiet with 12 points and 16 rebounds.

This 1st game of the season turned out to be a preview of the last, when the Knicks beat the Lakers at The Garden to win their 1st NBA Championship.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Phoenix Suns, 121-116 at the Alexander Memorial Coliseum (now the McCamish Pavilion) in Atlanta.

* The Baltimore Bullets beat the Boston Celtics, 124-117 at the Baltimore Civic Center (now the CFG Bank Arena). Earl "the Pearl" Monroe scored 34.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Cincinnati Royals, 134-123 at the Cincinnati Gardens. Billy Cunningham scored 40 points, and Archie Clark added 31. For the Royals, Luther Rackley scored 29, and Oscar Robertson 23.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 131-126 in overtime at the Chicago Stadium. Chet "The Jet" Walker scored 31.

* And the San Diego Rockets beat the San Francisco Warriors, 125-124 in overtime at the Cow Palace in the San Francisco suburb of Daly City, California. For the 1971-72 season, the Rockets moved to Houston, and the Warriors moved across San Francisco Bay to Oakland, taking the name "Golden State Warriors."

There were 4 games played in the American Basketball Association:

* The Washington Capitols beat the New Orleans Buccaneers, 110-104 at the Washington Coliseum.

* The Dallas Chaparrals beat the Carolina Cougars, 108-97 at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina.

* The Miami Floridians beat the Kentucky Colonels, 110-106 at the Louisville Convention Center.

* And the Los Angeles Stars beat the Indiana Pacers, 126-123 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum (now the Corteva Coliseum) in Indianapolis.

There were 5 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Montreal Canadiens, 7-3 at the Montreal Forum. Jean Béliveau and Ivan Cournoyer each scored 2 goals.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 4-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Boston Bruins and the Pittsburgh Penguins played to a tie, 3-3 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota North Stars, 4-2 at the St. Louis Arena.

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Oakland Seals, 5-0 at The Forum, outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. Former Toronto Maple Leafs star Eddie Shack lived up to his nickname, "Eddie the Entertainer," by scoring a hat trick. This built-in geographic rivalry did not last, as the Seals failed in 1976.

The baseball season had ended 2 days earlier, when the New York Mets beat the Baltimore Orioles in Game 5 to win the World Series. There was college football on this day, including the following games:

* Number 1 Ohio State beat Minnesota, 34-7 at Memorial Stadium in Minneapolis.

* Number 2 Texas were idle. They were supposed to play Arkansas on this date, but ABC convinced them to move it to the open date of December 6, making it the only game played that day and, as both a rivalry game and the game that could have decided the Southwest Conference title, it would get a huge national audience and be a great advertisement for both schools. Both went for it.

* Number 3 Southern California and Number 11 Notre Dame, played to a tie, 14-14 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. This turned out to be the only blemish on USC's record, as they won the Pacific-Eight Conference title.

* Number 4 Arkansas rescheduled its game with Baylor for this date, and won, 21-7 at Baylor Stadium (later Floyd Casey Stadium) in Waco, Texas. And after USC's tie with Notre Dame, and Ohio State's upset loss to Michigan, Arkansas were ranked Number 2 when they took the field against Texas on December 6, and Texas were ranked Number 1. It became known as "The Game of the Century," and Texas came from 14-0 down to win, 15-14. Texas then beat Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl, and were awarded the National Championship.

* Number 5 Penn State beat Syracuse, 15-14 at Archbold Stadium in Syracuse, New York. Penn State had been offered a berth in the Cotton Bowl, to face the Texas-Arkansas winner, and set up a de facto National Championship Game. But they turned it down, since Ohio State were still undefeated and Number 1 at the time the bid was offered.

* Number 6 Missouri beat Oklahoma State, 31-21 at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri. Missouri won the Big Eight title, but lost the Orange Bowl to Penn State. As a result of this, Penn State finished undefeated, and ranked Number 2. Their fans still say they would have beaten Texas, given the chance. They were given the chance, and head coach Joe Paterno turned it down. For 40 years, that looked like the biggest mistake that "Saint Joseph" ever made in "Happy Valley." It was not.

* Number 7 Tennessee beat Number 20 Alabama, 41-24 at Legion Field in Birmingham. Tennessee would end up winning the Southeastern Conference title, but a loss to Mississippi caused the Sugar Bowl, which normally invited the SEC Champion, to invite "Ole Miss" instead.

* Number 8 UCLA beat the University of California, 32-0 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* Number 9 Louisiana State beat Kentucky, 37-10 at McLean Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky.

* Number 10 Florida beat North Carolina, 52-2 at Florida Field in Gainesville. Florida went on to beat Tennessee in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville.

* Number 13 Michigan were upset by Michigan State, 23-12 at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. Michigan would rebound, winning the Big Ten title by upsetting Ohio State. But they lost the Rose Bowl to USC.

* Number 16 Wyoming beat Brigham Young, 40-7 at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie, Wyoming. They did this despite head coach Lloyd Eaton kicking 14 black players off the team, for wanting to wear black armbands on their sleeves, in protest of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which runs BYU, discriminating against black people, including refusing to let black men be priests in their Church. (That policy was struck down in 1978.)

Without those black players, Wyoming won their next game, but lost their last 4 of the season, and went 1-10 the next season. Eaton was fired, not for being a bigot, but for being a loser. He got a front office job with the Green Bay Packers, but that would be the only subsequent job he would hold in football, at any level.

* Number 19 Mississippi beat Southern Mississippi, 69-7 at Hemingway Stadium (now Vaught-Hemingway Stadium) in Oxford. Despite finishing only 5th in the SEC, "Ole Miss" were invited to the Sugar Bowl, and beat former Number 2 Arkansas.

* Among the service academies, Air Force beat Oregon, 60-13 at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado; but Army lost to Utah State, 23-7 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York; and Navy...

* Among New Jersey teams, Rutgers beat Navy, 20-6 at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway; and Princeton lost to Colgate, 35-28 at Palmer Stadium in Princeton.

* And in New York City, Columbia lost to Yale, 41-6 at Baker Field in Manhattan.

And in English soccer, North London team Arsenal went to the North-East, and played Sunderland to a 1-1 draw at Roker Park in Sunderland.

May 12, 1974: The End of the NBA's 1st Great Era

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, guarded by

Dave Cowens (left) and Don Nelson (right)

May 12, 1974: The Boston Celtics beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 102-87, at the Milwaukee Exposition & Convention Center Arena (The MECCA). This was the Celtics' 12th title, but their first without Bill Russell.

The Bucks were in their 2nd Finals, having won the title in 1971, but it took 50 years for them to get back, before they won the title in 2021. In between, they'd usually been good, but not Finals good.

This was also the last game for Oscar Robertson, closing out his career with the Bucks. In fact, this game was the end of an era for the NBA, as legends Jerry West, Willis Reed, Dave DeBusschere, and Robertson's former Cincinnati Royals teammate Jerry Lucas announced their retirements. So would Wilt Chamberlain, although he hadn't played this season, due to a contract dispute between the NBA and the ABA.

A year and a half later, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar demanded a trade, and got it, going to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Bucks were usually good thereafter, but they would not return to the NBA Finals until 2021.

The 1974 NBA Finals was the end of an era, when men were men, and pretty much only the people in the arena saw the game, because television coverage was so rare. The era of Dr. J, Skywalker, Chocolate Thunder, Magic, Larry, the Human Highlight Film and Air Jordan, an era where substance took a back seat to style, was about to begin. The NBA made a lot more money during that period. But it was not better.

*

May 12, 1974 was a Sunday. The ABA Championship had been won 2 days earlier, by the New York Nets over the Utah Stars.

Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals was played that day. The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Boston Bruins, 2-1 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia, and went on to win the series in 7 games. The WHA Playoffs were between the Semifinals and the Finals. The Houston Aeros went on to sweep the Chicago Cougars in 4 straight.

And these games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees were swept in a doubleheader by the Milwaukee Brewers, at Shea Stadium, where the Yankees were groundsharing with the Mets while Yankee Stadium was renvoated. The Brewers won the opener, 7-3. Clyde Wright outpitched Mel Stottlemyre. George "Boomer" Scott went 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs. Lou Piniella hit a home run.

The Brewers won the nightcap, 5-1. Kevin Kobel outpitched Dick Woodson. Dave May homered for the Brewers. Rick Dempsey, later to be traded to the Baltimore Orioles, where he would not be available to succeed Thurman Munson as the Yankees' catcher (Munson was the designated hitter in this game, after catching the opener.)

* The New York Mets lost to the Chicago Cubs, 4-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. George Mitterwald singled Matt Alexander home, off Tom Seaver, in the bottom of the 9th. José Cardenal hit a home run for the Cubs, Rusty Staub for the Mets.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-7 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Mike Schmidt went 1-for-3 with a walk. Mike Anderson hit a home run. For the Pirates, Willie Stargell went 0-for-4 with a walk, but Richie Zisk went 4-for-5 with 2 RBIs, and Al Oliver went 3-for-5 with a home run and 3 RBIs.

* A doubleheader was split at Atlanta Stadium. (It was renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium the next season.) The Atlanta Braves won the 1st game, 5-1. Hank Aaron went 2-for-3 with a walk and his 721st career home run, before being taken out of the lineup. He did not play in the 2nd game, which the San Francisco Giants won, 6-2.

* The Cincinnati Reds swept the Houston Astros, 5-0 and 4-2 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Fred Norman pitched a 5-hit shutout in the 1st game. Merv Rettenmund hit home runs in both games. Over the 2 games, Pete Rose went 2-for-7 with a walk and an RBI, while Johnny Bench went 2-for-7 with a home run, a walk and an RBI.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-3 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Dick McAuliffe, the Tigers' long-time 2nd baseman, doubled Carl Yastrzemski home in the top of the 10th inning, to win the game for the Red Sox. Yastrzemski went 2-for-4 with a walk. Al Kaline went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Texas Rangers, 5-4 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres, 15-9 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). The Padre bullpen melted down in the top of the 13th inning, so if new team owner Ray Kroc thought Opening Day was "the most stupid ballplaying I've ever seen," then he hadn't seen anything yet.

* The Kansas City Royals swept a doubleheader from the California Angels, 3-2 and 5-2 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Hal McRae singled Amos Otis home in the top of the 9th to win the 1st game. The Royals scored all 5 runs of the 2nd game in the 8th inning. George Brett did not play in the 1st game, and went 0-for-2 in the 2nd game before being replaced. He may have been injured.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins, 9-2 at the Oakland Coliseum. Reggie Jackson did not play. Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-2 with a walk. Rod Carew went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Baltimore Orioles and the Cleveland Indians were rained out at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on July 25. The Indians swept, 8-7 and 5-4. They won the 2nd game when Tommy McCraw singled John Ellis home in the bottom of the 13th inning.

* And the Montreal Expos and the St. Louis Cardinals were rained out at Jarry Park in Montreal. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on August 6. The Cards swept, 5-4 and 9-4.

April 30, 1971: A Title for Oscar Robertson

April 30, 1971: The Milwaukee Bucks win the NBA Championship, in only their 3rd season. It remains a record for the NBA.

It took them half a century to win another.

The Bucks and the Phoenix Suns had both come into the NBA as expansion teams for the 1968-69 season. Like most expansion teams, both of them struggled: The Bucks finished last in the Eastern Division with a record of 27 wins and 55 losses, while the Suns finished with the worst record in the entire league, at 16-66. By all rights, they should have had the top pick in the 1969 NBA Draft.

But, at the time, a coin flip between the teams with the 2 worst records was held to decide who got the rights to the 1st overall pick. The idea was that a team trying to lose in order to get the top pick -- "tanking" would eventually become the expression -- might end up losing it to the team with the 2nd-worst record.

The Bucks won the coin flip, and, naturally, they picked Lew Alcindor, the center who had led UCLA to the last 3 National Championships. Alcindor had already converted to Islam, and, after the 1971-72 season, he announced that he had changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Lew/Kareem immediately turned the Bucks from a 27-55 team into a 56-26 team, and a Division Champion. In the 1970 off-season, the Bucks made a trade with the Seattle SuperSonics, acquiring guard Lucius Allen, Kareem's UCLA teammate.

And they acquired Cincinnati Royals star Oscar Robertson, perhaps the best all-around player the game had ever seen. "The Big O" had come from Indianapolis, and had gotten the University of Cincinnati into what would eventually be called the NCAA Final Four in 1959 and 1960. For 10 years, he starred for the Royals, setting NBA career records for assists and steals (both of them since broken).

In the years to come, having a "triple-double" -- double figures, 10 or more, in points and 2 of 3 other categories, rebounds, assists and steals -- in a single game is considered a big deal. The term wasn't yet in use in 1961-62, but, that season, Robertson averaged a triple-double per game: 30.8 points, 11.4 assists, and 12.5 rebounds. There is no record of how many steals he had, or averaged: He might have averaged a quadruple-double for the season.

But despite having Robertson, rebound specialist Jerry Lucas, and another All-Star, Jack Twyman, the Royals never reached the NBA Finals. In fact, to this day, the franchise, which has been the Sacramento Kings since 1985, has only reached the Finals once, when they won the 1951 NBA Championship as the Rochester Royals.

The closest they got was reaching the Eastern Division Finals, in 1963 and 1964, losing to the Boston Celtics both times. It's also no coincidence that those were the 2 seasons between the move of the Philadelphia Warriors to San Francisco and the Warriors trading Wilt Chamberlain to the team that replaced them, the Philadelphia 76ers. (The Warriors lost the 1964 NBA Finals to the Celtics.) Indeed, from 1956 to 1969, 14 seasons, the Eastern Division playoff title was won by the Celtics or a Philadelphia team every year.

Finally, before the 1970-71 season, Robertson was traded to the Bucks. Today, we would say that Milwaukee were trying to "build a superteam," with Larry Costello, who played on the 1967 NBA Champion Philadelphia 76ers, coaching Alcindor at center, Bob Boozer and Bob Dandridge at forward, and Robertson and Allen at guard, with good reserves in Jon McGlocklin and McCoy McLemore. Alcindor/Abdul-Jabbar (33), Robertson (1), Dandridge (10) and McGlocklin (14, which had been Robertson's number in Cincinnati) would all get their numbers retired by the Bucks.

The Bucks beat the San Francisco Warriors in the 1st round of the Playoffs, then eliminated the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. They would play the Baltimore Bullets, who had beaten the 76ers, and then the defending NBA Champion New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Coached by Gene Shue, the Bullets were favored. They had Earl "the Pearl" Monroe, the flashiest player in the game. They had Gus Johnson, one of the game's early dunk artists. And they had Wes Unseld, one of the NBA's earliest true power forwards. All 3 would make the Basketball Hall of Fame, as would Bucks Robertson and Abdul-Jabbar.

Game 1 was on April 21, at the 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's thoughts on that nickname -- and on New York's Madison Square Garden being known as "the Mecca of Basketball" and "the Mecca of Boxing" -- are not publicly known.) The Bucks won, 98-88. Game 2 was 4 days later, at the Baltimore Civic Center. In a stunning results, the Bucks won that game in a blowout, 102-83.

Game 3 was 3 days later, in Milwaukee, and the Bucks won, 107-99. Just 2 nights later, in Baltimore, the Bucks finished the job, 118-106. The Bucks seemed to do better in Baltimore than they did in Milwaukee.

For the great Oscar, it was his one and only title. For Kareem, it was his 1st of 6 – but the only one in Milwaukee. In 1974, the Bucks returned to the Finals, losing to the Celtics. Game 7 of that Finals was Robertson's last game, as he retired.

In 1975, thinking that Milwaukee had become too small for him, or perhaps that he was too big for it, Kareem demanded a trade.  For most athletes, this would be considered a very arrogant thing, but he had proved that he was now too big for them. And so, he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, where he would win 5 more Championships, and become the NBA's all-time leading scorer.

For the 1973-74 season, the Bullets moved to the next-closest city, becoming the Capital Bullets for 1 season, then the Washington Bullets. In 1997, they moved from the suburbs of Washington to the District of Columbia itself, and became the Washington Wizards. The Baltimore Civic Center still stands, under the name of the CFG Bank Arena.

The Bucks were usually a good team after 1974, at one point winning 7 straight Division titles. But they didn't get back to even the Conference Finals until 2001, and finally won another NBA Championship in 2021. They moved from the MECCA to the Bradley Center, across the street, in 1988; and up one more block to the Fiserv Center in 2018. The MECCA is now home to the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, and is named the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

Oscar and Kareem were named to the NBA's 50th and 75th Anniversary Teams. So were Bullets Monroe and Unseld.

*

April 30, 1971 was a Friday. The American Basketball Association was between its Division Finals and its Finals. The Utah Stars went on to beat the Kentucky Colonels in 7 games.

Football was out of season. The NHL was in the Stanley Cup Semifinals, with the Montreal Canadiens beating the Minnesota North Stars, and the Chicago Black Hawks beating the New York Rangers.

The day before this, the Rangers won Game 6 on a goal by Pete Stemkowski in the 3rd overtime. I considered making a separate entry for that event, since it's still considered one of the biggest wins in Ranger history. But the Hawks won Game 7 on May 2, so the Stemkowski goal turned out to be, however dramatic, ultimately meaningless, much like the Carlton Fisk home run 4 years later.

And these games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-1 at Yankee Stadium. Steve Kline went the distance for the win, and got 2 of the Yankees' 5 hits.

* The New York Mets beat the Houston Astros, 4-1 at the Astrodome in Houston. Ken Boswell singled Bud Harrelson home with the winning run in the top of the 12th inning.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-3 at Fenway Park in Boston. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-2, but had an RBI on a sacrifice fly. Harmon Killebrew went 1-for-2 with 2 walks and an RBI. Rod Carew did not play.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Washington Senators, 8-1 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-2 at Atlanta Stadium (later Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). Hank Aaron went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the San Diego Padres, 5-3 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell each went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-5 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Juan Marichal started for the Giants, but Jerry Johnson ended up as the winning pitcher. Willie Mays went 2-for-3 with 2 walks. Pete Rose went 1-for-3 with 2 walks. Johnny Bench hit 2 home runs.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs, 1-0 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Chris Short pitched a 4-hit shutout. Ernie Banks, in his final season, appeared as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Montreal Expos, 4-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-4 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. The O's scored a run in the top of the 9th, but Freddie Patek singled Paul Schaal home with the winning run in the bottom of the 9th. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Frank Robinson appeared as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the California Angels, 7-4 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Al Kaline went 1-for-4 with a walk and 2 RBIs.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Cleveland Indians, 3-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. Vida Blue went the distance for the win. Reggie Jackson went 0-for-2 with 2 walks.