October 30, 2019: The Washington Nationals Win the World Series

October 30, 2019: Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston is the site of the 1st Game 7 of the World Series in which both starting pitchers had previously won the Cy Young Award: Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals and Zack Greinke of the Houston Astros.

Yuli Gurriel's home run in the bottom of the 2nd and Carlos Correa's single in the bottom of the 5th gave the Astros a 2-0 lead. Greinke cruised into the 7th, but then gave up a home run to Anthony Rendon. He then walked Juan Soto, and was replaced by Will Harris, who gave up a home run to Howie Kendrick.

The Nationals ended up winning 6-2, marking the 1st World Championship for the franchise that had once been the Montreal Expos, in 51 seasons; the 1st World Series win for a Washington baseball team in 95 years, since the 1924 Senators; the 6th straight year that the World Series was clinched by the visiting team, including 4 Game 7s (2014, '16, '17 and '19); and the 1st time in the history of major league sports that the visiting team won all 7 games of a postseason series.

Stephen Strasburg, the injury-prone pitcher whom the Nationals infamously benched for the 2012 postseason to save his arm, resulting in an embarrassing NLDS loss, was named the Series' MVP. He had beaten Justin Verlander in both Game 2 and Game 6. Verlander, 8-1 in Division Series games and 7-4 in League Championship Series games, fell to 0-6 in World Series games.

The Nats' win got more amazing when it was revealed that the Astros were cheating, especially at home, and yet the Nats won all 4 games in Houston. They will always have my thanks for that. Their fans will always have my respect for booing Donald Trump in Game 5 at Nationals Park.

Essentially, the Nats traded a chance at the 2012 title without Strasburg for future chances at a title with him. It worked. But in 2019, they traded a chance at the title with him for the risk of his career. That worked, too, but at a price. Strasburg led led the NL with 209 innings pitched in the 2019 regular season, plus another 36 1/3rd in the postseason. In the 2020, '21 and '22 seasons combined, he pitched just 31 1/3rd innings in the major leagues, plus another 18 in minor-league rehab assignments.

(UPDATE: Strasburg did not pitch at all in 2023. On April 7, 2024, he announced his retirement. He had thrown his last professional pitch at the age of 34. He was 113-62, with 1,723 strikeouts. He should have had twice as many in each of those stats. He finished with a 3.24 ERA, and a 1.096 WHIP.)

As Strasburg has gone, so have gone the Nats: First, mere existence; then, frustration at coming close but falling short; ultimately, the crowning glory; and then pain, physical and emotional. But what achievements he did have were more than most players get.

UPDATE: Scherzer's 161 wins during the 2010s made him the winningest pitcher of the decade. Through the 2024 season, he has won 216 regular-season games, Verlander 262, and Greinke retired after the 2023 season with 225. Verlander finally won a World Series game, when the Astros won in 2022.

*

October 30, 2019 was a Wednesday. Football was in midweek. There were 3 games played in the NBA:

* The Miami Heat beat the Atlanta Hawks, 112-97 at the American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Denver Nuggets, 109-106 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 120-91 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles. That's right: Within 1 year, all 3 of these arenas saw their naming rights deals expire, and the rights bought by someone else.

And there were 6 games in the NHL: 

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning, 7-6 at the Prudential Center. Tyler Johnson scored the winning goal with 3:44 left in overtime.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-1 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild, 2-1 at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Colorado Avalanche, 4-3, at the Pepsi Center, a few hours after the Nuggets game there. Jonathan Huberdeau scored the winning goal, 29 seconds into overtime.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Arizona Coyotes, 4-1 at the Gila River Arena (now the Desert Diamond Arena) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, California.

* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Los Angeles Kings, 5-3 at the Staples Center, a few hours after the Lakers game there.

October 26, 2005: A World Series Won by Chicago

October 26, 2005: The Chicago White Sox shut out the Astros‚ 1-0 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston‚ to sweep the World Series and win their 1st World Championship since 1917, the 1st for either Chicago team in that time.

The White Sox won the 1st American League Pennant, in 1901. They won the 1st intracity World Series, beating the Chicago Cubs in 1906. They won the World Series in 1917. Then they lost the World Series in 1919. The following year, it got out that 7 players on the team had "thrown" the Series, to get money from gamblers, since team owner Charlie Comiskey was underpaying them. It took 40 years to win another Pennant, as "The Go-Go White Sox" did it in 1959.

Over the years, the South Siders had some close calls. They missed the Pennant by 1 game in 1964, and 3 games in 1967. They missed the AL Western Division title by 5 1/2 games in 1972, and led the Division as late as August 8 in 1977, before drifting to 12 games back. They won the Division in 1983, but lost the AL Championship Series to the Baltimore Orioles. In 1990, the last season at the old Comiskey Park, they stayed close to the Oakland Athletics most of the season, before 9 back.

In 1993, they won the AL West, but lost the ALCS to the Toronto Blue Jays. In 1994, they led the newly-created AL Central Division when the Strike hit. In 2000, they won the Division, but lost the AL Division Series to the Seattle Mariners.

And so their drought after 1959 turned out to be longer than the one they had from 1919 to 1959. What's more, the crosstown Cubs, who hadn't won a Pennant since 1945 and the World Series since 1908, and the Boston Red Sox, who hadn't won the World Series since 1918 -- one year more recently than the White Sox -- were celebrated for their seemingly "cursed" close calls. The White Sox? They didn't have a litany of bizarre incidents down the years that could seemingly be ascribed to a curse. They just... lost.

And with the Cubs having gotten the WGN Superstation to broadcast their games, and the White Sox not, and the Cubs and the Red Sox both having literati write lots of books about their woe-is-us status, it was as if the baseball world didn't care that the White Sox hadn't won the World Series for longer than the Red Sox. Even when the Red Sox finally won it in 2004 *, the attention that was on them didn't shift to the White Sox. If anything, the Cubs got even more.

Finally, the Pale Hose won the AL Central Division again in 2005. They swept the defending World Champion * Red Sox in 3 straight games in the AL Division Series. They lost Game 1 of the AL Championship Series to the team then known as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and looked likely to lose Game 2 before a controversial call led to the winning run in the bottom of the 9th.

They never lost another game, tying the 1999 New York Yankees' record for best postseason record in the 1995-present Division Series Era, 11-1. On October 16, trailing Game 5, 3-2 after 6 innings, they won, 6-3, to win the Pennant for the 1st time in 46 years and 24 days.

The White Sox hadn't won the World Series in 88 years. The Houston Astros were in it for the 1st time in their 44 seasons of play. Something had to give. Baseball fans can look at a written record of what happened, and figure that the White Sox had it easy. That was far from the case.

Each team's manager had previously played for them. Ozzie Guillén, like Luis Aparicio and Chico Carrasquel before him, had come from Venezuela to play shortstop for the White Sox, made the move from the old Comiskey Park to the new one in 1990 (the stadium was renamed U.S. Cellular Field in 2003, and would be renamed Guaranteed Rate Field in 2016), and was a member of their Playoff team of 1993. He won a Pennant with the Atlanta Braves in 1999.

As a player, Guillén was a slick fielder and a 3-time All-Star, who could run well and hit a little. There was little to suggest that he would one day become a successful manager, and even less to suggest the wild personality that would one day become known.

Phil Garner was a 2nd baseman who, like Guillén, made 3 All-Star Games. He won the World Series with the Oakland Athletics in 1973 and 1974, and with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1979, before helping the Astros win the NL West title in 1986. Despite the nickname "Scrap Iron," he was not as argumentative, or as controversial, as Guillén.

The White Sox won Game 1 at U.S. Cellular Field, 5-3. Game 2, also at home, was a wild one, before Scott Podsednik hit a home run in the bottom of the 9th to win it. Game 3, at Minute Maid Park in Houston, went 14 innings, tying what was then a World Series record. Geoff Blum, a once-and-future Astro, and now a broadcaster for them, hit a home run for the White Sox in the top of the 14th inning, putting them 1 win away from the title.

Game 4 was played in Houston. Freddy Garcia, formerly the ace of the Seattle Mariners, started for the White Sox, Brandon Backe for the Astros, and both pitched 7 shutout innings, dispatching major threats along the way.

But Garner made a mistake, bringing closer Brad Lidge in for the 8th inning. Willie Harris singled off him, and was moved over by a bunt from Podsednik and a groundout by Carl Everett. Jermaine Dye singled Harris home, and was be named the Series' Most Valuable Player.

The Astros threatened in the bottom of the 8th, but ChiSox reliever Neal Cotts got out of it. For the 9th, Guillén brought in Bobby Jenks, the closer he called "The Big Boy." He allowed a single to Jason Lane, who was bunted over by Brad Ausmus. Chris Burke came up: His 18th-inning home run clinched the Division Series for the Astros, so there was concern. He hit a foul pop-up, of which Juan Uribe made a great catch for the 2nd out.

Orlando Palmeiro grounded to Uribe, who made another great play, and the ball just barely hit the glove of 1st baseman Paul Konerko in time. It was 11:01 PM Central Time on October 26, 2005 -- 12:01 AM Eastern on October 27 -- and, for the 1st time in 88 years and 9 days, the World Championship of baseball belonged to a team based in Chicago.

In Chicago in the interim:

* The NFL had been founded, the Bears had won 9 NFL Championships, including a Super Bowl; and the Cardinals had won 2 Championships, and moved to St. Louis, and then to Phoenix.

* The NBA had been founded, 2 Chicago-based teams and a few other professional basketball teams had failed, before the Bulls began play, eventually winning 6 NBA Championships in 8 years; DePaul University had won the NIT, when that was still considered college basketball's National Championship, and Loyola University had won an NCAA Tournament, and (7 months earlier) the University of Illinois had reached an NCAA Final.

* The NHL had been founded, and the Blackhawks had won 3 Stanley Cups; while the World Hockey Association had run its course, including the Chicago Cougars having reached but lost a Finals.

* The North American Soccer League had gone through its entire existence, with the Chicago Sting winning 2 titles, including the last; and Major League Soccer had been founded, with the Fire winning an MLS Cup and a U.S. Open Cup in the same year, "doing the Double."

* And the original Soldier Field, the Chicago Stadium, and the International Amphitheatre had all been built, hosted all kinds of events, and been torn down and replaced by new buildings.

In the world at large: Radio broadcasting, television, photocopiers, computers, the Internet and smart phones had all been invented. Penicillin had been synthesized, the polio vaccine had been created, smallpox had been eradicated, AIDS had developed and treatments for it had been created, and it had become possible to transplant major organs. Humanity had developed rockets, been to the Moon, and had sent unmanned probes to all 7 of the other bodies then officially classified as "planets."

And there had been 8 Popes, 16 Presidents and 11 Mayors of Chicago, 2 of them (including the incumbent) named Richard Daley and living within walking distance of the home of the White Sox.

A Chicago team had won the World Series. And it wasn't the Cubs. Still, the Cubs had better attendance over the next few years. And when the Cubs finally won it all again in 2016, it was celebrated as a great moment for Chicago and environs, and White Sox fans were all, "Uh, hello? We did it first!"

Guillén had become the 1st foreign-born manager to win a World Series. The Astros would not win another Pennant until 2017, finally winning a World Series -- dubiously, as it turned out.

UPDATE: Both teams' ballparks were renamed in 2025: Minute Maid Park in Houston became Daikin Park, and Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago became simply "Rate Field."

From the 2005 World Champions, the White Sox have retired the Number 14 of Paul Konerko, the 56 of Mark Buehrle, and, while he was injured and unable to contribute to the postseason, the 35 of their greatest hitter since Shoeless Joe Jackson, Frank Thomas.

From their 1919-59 Pennant drought, they retired the 4 of Luke Appling, the 9 of Minnie Miñoso, and the 16 of Ted Lyons. From the "Go-Go White Sox" Pennant winners of 1959, they retired the 2 of Nellie Fox, the 11 of Luis Aparicio and the 19 of Billy Pierce. And from their 1983 A.L. Western Division Champions, they retired the 3 of Harold Baines and the 72 of Carlton Fisk.

*

October 26, 2005 was a Wednesday. Football was in midweek. The NBA season started 6 days later. But there were 6 games played in the NHL:

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning, 6-3 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2 at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York. Tom Golisano, then the owner of the Sabres, was from Rochester, and got permission from the NHL to schedule some "home games" at the arena that was home to the American Hockey League's Rochester Americans, and had once been home to the NBA's Rochester Royals, 76 miles east of downtown Buffalo.

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Boston Bruins, 4-3 at the RBC Center (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh, North Carolina. Matt Cullen scored the winning goal with 1:36 left in overtime.

* The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Nashville Predators, 3-2 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus. Adam Foote scored the winning goal, 35 seconds into overtime.

* The San Jose Sharks beat the Dallas Stars, 5-4 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Patrick Marleau scored the winning goal with 1:40 left in overtime.

* And the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim beat the Calgary Flames, 4-1 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now named the Honda Center).

October 25, 2005: The Geoff Blum Game

October 25, 2005: Game 3 of the World Series at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston. This is the 1st World Series game ever played in the State of Texas. Geoff Blum's 14th inning homer off Ezequiel Astacio leads the Chicago White Sox to a 7-5 victory over the Astros.

Houston led‚ 4-0‚ before Chicago scored 5 runs in the 5th inning off Roy Oswalt to take the lead. Joe Crede also homers for the Sox‚ while Jason Lane connects for the Astros. Dámaso Marte gets the win in relief.

At 5 hours, 41 minutes‚ the contest is the longest in Series history in terms of time, up to that point. It also ties the mark for longest game in terms of innings played. The White Sox complete the sweep the following night, to win their 1st World Championship in 88 years. The Astros, now in their 44th season, have taken this long just to get into their 1st World Series. They will have to wait a bit longer for their 1st title.

Blum, a utility infielder, had been acquired by the White Sox from the San Diego Padres at the trade deadline. This would be his only season for them, as he signed with the Padres again for 2006. In 2008, he signed with the Astros, playing 3 seasons with them, without helping them reach the postseason. He retired after the 2012 season, and has been a broadcaster for the Astros ever since.

Also on this day, Wellington Mara dies of lymphoma at age 88. He had been involved with the New York Giants since their founding in 1925 by his father, Tim Mara, who made his son the bellboy. The NFL's TV-revenue-sharing plan was his idea, bringing the irony of the biggest market in the League, New York, saving the smallest market, Green Bay.

Well Mara was buried in Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, Westchester County, New York, the same cemetery as Babe Ruth. His son John Mara now runs the Giants, another son Chris is the Giants' chief scout, and Chris' daughters Kate Mara and Rooney Mara are actresses. Chris' wife and Kate's mother is Katherine Rooney, daughter of Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney and granddaughter of Steelers founder Art Rooney, which makes Kate and Rooney the great-granddaughters of the founders of 2 of the NFL's greatest franchises.

At the Giants' 1st home game after her grandfather's death – the first one the franchise ever played without Wellington Mara being on hand, after 80 years – Kate sang the National Anthem.

*

October 25, 2005 was a Tuesday. This was the only baseball game played that day. Football was in midweek. The NBA season started 7 days later. There were 8 NHL games played:

* The New York Islanders beat the Atlanta Thrashers, 4-3 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-2 at the Bell Centre in Montreal. Mike Ribeiro scored the winning goal with 2:32 left in overtime.

* The Nashville Predators beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 5-3 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center (now the Bridgestone Arena) in Nashville.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3 at the Mellon Arena (as the Civic Arena was known at the time) in Pittsburgh. Stephen Weiss scored the winning goal, 53 seconds into overtime.

* The Vancouver Canucks beat the Minnesota Wild, 3-1 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Edmonton Oilers, 5-3 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

* The Phoenix Coyotes beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-4 at the Glendale Arena (now named the Desert Diamond Arena) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona. Petr Nedvěd scored his 2nd goal of the game with 3:09 left in overtime to win it.

* And in a cross-metro-area matchup, the Los Angeles Kings beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 3-1 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

October 19, 2019: The José Altuve Game

October 19, 2019: Game 6 of the American League Championship Series is played at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston. The New York Yankees need to beat the Houston Astros to force a Game 7. Both teams are doing the "bullpen game" or "opener" thing. Yankee general manager Brian Cashman picks Chad Green to start, and field manager Aaron Boone follows orders. Green allows 3 runs in the 1st inning. So Cashman and Boone have blown it again.

Brad Peacock starts for the Astros, and the Yankees score 1 run on him in the 2nd. Gio Urshela hits a home run in the 4th to make it 3-2 Houston. J.A. Happ pitches a scoreless 2nd and 3rd. Cashman selects Luis Cessa to pitch the 4th and the 5th, making every Yankee Fan cringe, but he gets the job done. Tommy Kahnle pitches the 6th, and allows a run, and this turns out to be critical.

Cashman selects Adam Ottavino to pitch the 7th, making every Yankee Fan cringe, but he gets the job done. Zack Britton pitches a scoreless 8th, but it's still 4-2 Houston.

In the top of the 9th, with the Yankees down to their last out of the season, DJ LeMahieu ties it with a 2-run homer. Aroldis Chapman gets the 1st 2 outs in the 9th, but the bullpen is depleted, and we don't know who would pitch in extra innings.

It doesn't get that far. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you. Chapman walks George Springer. And then he serves an absolute meatball up to José Altuve, and he crushes it deep to left field for a Pennant-winning home run, 6-4.

When he approaches his celebrating teammates at home plate, Altuve tells his teammates not to rip his jersey open. Was it because there was a hidden device to let him know what pitches were coming?

In the off-season, the Astros' cheating from the 2017 season was revealed. The team's punishment was minimal -- really, only slightly more than the absolute nothing that the Boston Red Sox had gotten for their 4 stolen World Series in this Century. Altuve himself was not punished at all.

There will always be a cloud over the Astros' achievements from 2015 onward. But that cloud is insufficient. If MLB did things the way the NCAA does, the Red Sox and Astros would have been stripped of their titles, banned from postseason play for a year or two, and even banned from appearing on national television for a time. Indeed, in relation to the Astros, that very punishment was given to the University of Houston football program in 1989.

And yet, it would have mattered considerably less had Cashman acquired the starting pitching that would have won the Pennant. He didn't. It also might have mattered less had Cashman allowed Boone to manage his own games. He didn't.

In the subsequent off-season, Cashman signed Gerrit Cole, who had pitched superbly for the Astros the last 2 seasons. Cole instantly became the Yankees' ace. Nevertheless, Cashman still doesn't allow Boone to manage his own games. And the Yankees are still looking for their 1st Pennant since 2009.

UPDATE: The Yankees lost the ALCS to the Astros again in 2022. They finally won another Pennant in 2024, but lost the World Series.

*

October 19, 2019 was a Saturday. The National League Championship Series had been decided 4 days earlier, with the Washington Nationals sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals.

There were college football games played on this day, including the following:

* Number 1 Alabama beat Tennessee, 35-13 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

* Number 2 Louisiana State beat Mississippi State, 36-13 at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi. LSU later beat Alabama in a 1 vs. 2 game, won the Southeastern Conference title, and beat Clemson for the National Championship.

* Number 3 Clemson beat Louisville, 45-10 at Cardinal Stadium in Louisville. Clemson won the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship, but lost the National Championship Game to LSU at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The night before, Number 4 Ohio State beat Northwestern, 52-3 at Ryan Field in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois. Ohio State won the Big Ten Championship, but lost to Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl, which served as a National Championship Playoff Semifinal.

* Number 5 Oklahoma beat West Virginia, 52-14 at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman. Oklahoma won the Big Twelve title, but lost to LSU in the Peach Bowl, which served as the other National Championship Playoff Semifinal.

* Number 6 Wisconsin were upset by Illinois, 24-23 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois. Wisconsin finished 2nd in the Big Ten, and, since Ohio State made the Playoff, Wisconsin got the Big Ten's slot in the Rose Bowl.

* Number 7 Penn State beat Number 16 Michigan, 28-21 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.

* Number 9 Florida beat South Carolina, 38-27 at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina.

* Number 10 Georgia beat Kentucky, 21-0 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia.

* Number 12 Oregon beat Number 25 Washington, 35-31 at Husky Stadium in Seattle. Oregon won the Pacific-Twelve title, but 2 losses denied them a slot in the Playoff. They beat Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl.

* Number 13 Utah beat Number 17 Arizona State, 21-3 at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City.

* Number 14 Boise State were upset by Brigham Young University (BYU), 28-25 at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah.

* Number 20 Minnesota beat Rutgers, 42-7 at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey.

* Among the service academies, Navy beat South Florida, 35-3 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland; and Air Force beat Hawaii, 56-26 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu; and Army lost to Georgia State, 28-21 at Georgia State Stadium in Atlanta. (It had been Centennial Olympic Stadium and Turner Field, and is now Center Parc Stadium.)

The NBA season began 3 days later. There were 11 games in the NHL:

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Vancouver Canucks, 1-0 at the Prudential Center. Jack Hughes scored the only goal of the game at 14:08 of the 1st period.

* The New York Islanders beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-2 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus. Brock Nelson -- sounds like the name of an old-time superhero's secret identity -- scored the winning goal, 33 seconds into overtime.

* The Dallas Stars beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-1 at the Wells Fargo Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 6-2 at the Amalie Arena (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Boston Bruins, 4-3 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. Morgan Reilly -- sounds like the name of a law firm -- scored his 2nd goal of the game with 1:06 left in overtime to win it.

* The Vegas Golden Knights beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-0 at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Nashville Predators, 3-2 in a shootout at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-2 at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis.

* The Arizona Coyotes beat the Ottawa Senators, 5-2 at the Gila River Arena (now the Desert Diamond Arena) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Calgary Flames, 4-1 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

* And the Buffalo Sabres beat the San Jose Sharks, 4-3 at the SAP Center in San Jose, California.

October 9, 2005: The Chris Burke Game

October 9, 2005: At Minute Maid Park in Houston, Chris Burke's 18th-inning home run ends the longest postseason game in baseball history to that point, as the Houston Astros defeat the Atlanta Braves, 7-6, in Game 4 of the National League Division Series, to advance to the NL Championship Series.

Atlanta's 5-run lead late in the game was erased with an 8th inning grand slam by Lance Berkman and a 2-out 9th inning solo shot by Brad Ausmus, which barely cleared Gold Glove center fielder Andruw Jones' outstretched hand.

By time, the game ran 5 hours and 50 minutes. Roger Clemens was the winning pitcher, tossing goose eggs in the 16th, 17th and 18th innings, ensuring that he wouldn't have to start Game 5. Tim Hudson started for the Braves, and would also start another 18-inning NLDS game, Game 2 in 2014 for the San Francisco Giants against the Washington Nationals. That time, he ended up on the winning side.

Despite being on the winning side of this one, Morgan Ensberg went 0-for-6. So did Rafael Furcal of the Braves.

UPDATE: In 2025, Minute Maid Park was renamed Daikin Park.

*

October 9, 2005 was a Sunday. The other NLDS had wrapped up the day before, with the St. Louis Cardinals sweeping the San Diego Padres. The Astros would beat the Cards for their 1st Pennant.

In the American League Division Series on this day, the New York Yankees downed the team then known as "the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim‚" 3-2 in Game 4 at Yankee Stadium‚ to force a deciding Game 5. Al Leiter got the win for New York, in relief of Shawn Chacon. It was Leiter's 1st postseason win in 12 years, since Game 1 for the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1993 World Series. Counting postseason wins, it was the 164th win of his career. It was the last.

He also helped the Florida Marlins win the World Series in 1997, and the team he grew up rooting for, the New York Mets, win a Pennant in 2000, before losing the World Series to the Yankees, for whom he started his career, and would later broadcast on the YES Network. He now works for the MLB Network.

It was also the last game for Tino Martinez, who had been reacquired by the Yankees after 3 years away. He came in as a defensive replacement in the top of the 8th, and, in his last at-bat, popped up to short in the bottom of the inning. He did not play Game 5 in Anaheim, the Yankees were eliminated, and he retired with 339 career home runs, 192 of them as a Yankee.

The other ALDS had already been wrapped up, as the Chicago White Sox swept the Boston Red Sox. Most baseball observers expected that, having traded wins in classic 7-game ACLS'es the preceding 2 years, it would be Yanks-Sox again. But neither one held up their end of the bargain. The White Sox beat the Angels for the Pennant, and then swept the Astros to win their 1st World Series in 88 years.

Also on this day, Tom Cheek died of cancer in the Tampa suburb of Oldsmar, Florida. He was 66. He had broadcast for the Toronto Blue Jays from their 1977 inception until his illness caught up with him in 2004. He had broadcast 4,306 consecutive games for the Jays, and that number now stands in for a "retired number" for his notation on the Jays' "Level of Excellence" at the Rogers Centre. In 2013, the Baseball Hall of Fame posthumously gave him its Ford Frick Award, tantamount to election for broadcasters.

These NFL games were played:

* The New York Jets beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 14-12 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The New England Patriots beat the Atlanta Falcons, 31-28 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Adam Vinatieri won it with a 29-yard field goal with 17 seconds left.

* The Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 23-20 at Alltel Stadium (now EverBank Stadium) in Jacksonville.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 33-10 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

* The Tennessee Titans, the former Houston Oilers, beat their replacements, the Houston Texans, 34-20 at Reliant Stadium (now NRG Stadium) in Houston.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Miami Dolphins, 20-14 at Ralph Wilson Stadium (formerly Rich Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Cleveland Browns beat the Chicago Bears, 20-10 at Cleveland Browns Stadium (now Huntington Bank Field).

* The Detroit Lions beat the Baltimore Ravens, 35-17 at Ford Field in Detroit.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the New Orleans Saints, 52-3 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. You're reading that right: Fifty-two to three. You usually don't see blowouts like that in the pros. It looks like a Nebraska game against a Big Eight team from the 1980s.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the St. Louis Rams, 37-31 at the Edward Jones Dome (now The Dome at America's Center) in St. Louis.

* The Denver Broncos beat the Washington Redskins, 21-19 at Invesco Field (now Empower Field) at Mile High in Denver. Mark Brunell threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Chris Cooley with 1:09 left to win it.

* The Carolina Panthers beat the Arizona Cardinals, 24-20 at Sun Devil Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

* The Indianapolis Colts beat the San Francisco 49ers, 28-3 at Candlestick Park (then named Monster Park) in San Francisco.

* The next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the San Diego Chargers, 24-22 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

* And the New York Giants, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Minnesota Vikings and the Oakland Raiders each had a bye week.

The NBA season didn't start until November 1. But there were 3 games played in the NHL on this day:

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Calgary Flames, 6-3 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 3-2 at the United Center in Chicago.

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Minnesota Wild, 2-1 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles. Pavol Demitra scored the winning goal with 1:19 left in overtime.