October 3, 1984: The Last North American Soccer League Game

October 3, 1984: Soccer Bowl '84 is played at Varsity Stadium in Toronto. Playing Soccer Bowl '83 in Canada (albeit all the way across the country in Vancouver) didn't help the Toronto Blizzard the year before, and playing on their actual home field doesn't help them now, as they lose 3-2 to the Chicago Sting.

The Blizzard -- who won the North American Soccer League title in 1976, as "Toronto Metros-Croatia" -- trailed 2-0 after 70 minutes, but scored twice in 3 minutes to equalize. But Patricia "Pato" Margetic, the Argentine striker who'd scored the Sting's 2nd goal, scores in the 82nd to win it.

Attendance at the 21,739-seat Varsity Stadium is just 16,842. No one knows it yet, but this is the last game that the original NASL will ever hold.

Varsity Stadium

The Sting, who had also won the title in 1981, had already announced that this would be their last season in the League, as they had already been admitted to the Major Indoor Soccer League -- which played soccer in arenas on hockey rinks covered with artificial turf, with the boards ensuring the ball wouldn't go out of bounds unless it went over the boards, resulting in higher scores. It was exciting, but it was a bastardized version of the sport, something that no one would have called "The Beautiful Game." Instead, it was called "pinball soccer." 

Clive Toye, who built the New York Cosmos' dynasty, and also the Sting's '81 champs, was now running the Blizzard, and made postgame comments that Sting coach Willy Roy and striker Karl-Heinz Granitza -- both Germans, and the latter would later honor his Chicago experience by running a bar in Berlin named State Street -- were "cheats," and that the Sting were "unworthy champions."

During the ensuing off-season, NASL President Howard Samuels died, and Toye was named interim President. Then the Cosmos folded, due to striker/part-owner Giorgio Chinaglia's mismanagement. Without the flagship franchise, the League was doomed, no matter what Toye did, and he did try.

But when the time came to prepare for a 1985 season, only 2 teams -- the Blizzard and the Minnesota (formerly Fort Lauderdale) Strikers -- were still interested in playing, and the League folded, after 17 seasons. North America was without a "first division" in soccer for 11 years, setting the sport in the United States back a generation. The damage was incalculable.

Another league named the North American Soccer League played from 2011 to 2017, but it was never more than a second division, behind Major League Soccer, founded in 1996. The Chicago Fire would win the MLS Cup in 1998; Toronto FC, in 2017.

*

October 3, 1984 was a Wednesday. Singer Ashlee Simpson and actress Jessica Parker Kennedy were born.

Football was in midweek. The NBA and NHL were in their preseasons. But baseball's Playoffs were underway, and Game 2 was played in both the American League Championship Series and the National League Championship Series.

In the AL, the Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-3 at Royals Stadium in Kansas City. (It was renamed Kauffman Stadium for owner Ewing Kauffman, shortly before he died in 1993.) For the Tigers, Kirk Gibson hit his 1st postseason home run. It would not be his last. In the top of the 11th inning, Johnny Grubb doubled home 2 runs off Dan Quisenberry to win the game.

In the NL, the Chicago Cubs, playing in their 1st postseason series since the 1945 World Series, beat the San Diego Padres, playing in their 1st postseason series since their founding in 1969. The game, at Wrigley Field in Chicago, ended 4-2 in the Cubs' favor.

The Cubs now needed just 1 more win to win their 1st Pennant in 39 years. It would take them another 32 years to win that Pennant.

The fact that ABC got great ratings for this series in the Chicago area, but lousy ratings everywhere else, led to a decision from the new Commissioner of Baseball, Peter Ueberroth: From now on, all postseason games would have to be played at stadiums that had lights, because the team owners wanted the revenue that came from games on prime-time TV. And Wrigley was the last stadium that didn't have lights.

Ueberroth ruled that, the next time the Cubs made the Playoffs, they would have to play their "home games" at the next-closest stadium in the National League Eastern Division, which they were in. But that would have been Busch Memorial Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals, their arch-rivals. Why not Comiskey Park, home of the crosstown Chicago White Sox? Ueberroth didn't say.

So the process for putting lights up at Wrigley Field began. In 1988, the 1st night game was played there. In 1989, the next time the Cubs won the NL East, they hosted night games in the NLCS. In 1990, they hosted the All-Star Game there, which they also wouldn't have been allowed to do without lights. Game 4 of the 1984 World Series remains the last World Series game to be played entirely in daylight.

October 1, 1977: Pelé's Testimonial

October 1, 1977: Edson Arantes do Nascimento, a.k.a. Pelé, the greatest soccer player who ever lived, plays his last game at a sold-out Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. It is his testimonial, and he plays the 1st half for the New York Cosmos, with whom he recently won the North American Soccer League Championship, and scores a goal; and the 2nd half for Santos, for whom he starred so long in Brazil's São Paulo State. The Cosmos win, 2-1.

When it's over, he stands at midfield with a microphone, and asks the crowd, "Please, say with me, three times: Love! Love! Love!" They do.

President Jimmy Carter attended. So did Muhammad Ali, the Heavyweight Champion of the World, who frequently called himself "the Greatest of All Time." This time, he says, "Now, I understand: He is greater than me."

*

October 1, 1977 was a Saturday. These Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Detroit Tigers, 10-7 at Yankee Stadium. Elrod Hendricks, briefly a Yankee in a long career mostly with the Baltimore Orioles, hit his only home run in Pinstripes. Reggie Jackson drew a walk in his only plate appearances, and was taken out for a pinch-runner.

The rain that fell on Pelé's testimonial at the Meadowlands comes down much harder on The Bronx, as the Yankees sit through a 2-hour, 42-minute rain delay. But the Yankees clinched the American League Eastern Division title anyway, because...

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox, 8-7 at Fenway Park in Boston. The Sox had eliminated the O's from the race the night before, and the Birds returned the favor on this day. Both teams would end up 2 1/2 games behind the Yankees.

* A doubleheader was split at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. The New York Mets won the 1st game, 8-4. The St. Louis Cardinals won the 2nd game, 4-2. Lou Brock went 2-for-8 with an RBI over the 2 games.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-5 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. The Expos scored 3 runs in the top of the 12th inning, and the Phillies could only come back with 2 in the bottom of the 12th. Mike Schmidt went 0-for-2 with a walk.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-2 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Pete Rose went 1-for-3, and did not finish the game. Johnny Bench did not start the game, and went 0-for-2.

* A doubleheader was split at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The expansion Seattle Mariners won the opener, 5-3. The Chicago White Sox won the nightcap, 6-1.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 9-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Rod Carew went 3-for-5 with an RBI, to raise his batting average to .386. He would finish the next day at .388, after having been above .400 in early September. Robin Yount went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* The California Angels beat the Kansas City Royals, 4-1 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. George Brett went 1-for-2 with a walk before being replaced by a pinch-runner. The Yankees would beat the Royals for the AL Pennant.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Oakland Athletics, 6-5 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Houston Astros, 4-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The Dodgers would beat the Phillies for the National League Pennant, but lose the World Series to the Yankees.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres, 13-4 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* The Cleveland Indians and the expansion Toronto Blue Jays were rained out at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. They played a doubleheader the next day. The Jays won the 1st game, 2-1 in 11 innings. The Indians won the 2nd game, 5-4.

* The Chicago Cubs and the Pittsburgh Pirates were rained out at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. They played a doubleheader the next day. The Pirates swept, 5-1 and 3-2.

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

* Number 1 Oklahoma beat Kansas, 24-9 at Owen Field in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma won the Big Eight title. 

* The night before, Number 2 Southern California beat Washington State, 41-7 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* Number 3 Michigan beat Number 5 Texas A&M, 41-3 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.

* Number 4 Penn State were upset by Kentucky, 24-20 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.

* Number 6 Ohio State beat Southern Methodist (SMU), 35-7 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

* Number 7 Colorado beat Army, 31-0 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York.

* Number 8 Texas beat Rice, 72-15 at Memorial Stadium in Austin. While the Longhorns had running back Earl Campbell, who went on to win the Heisman Trophy, the big story in this game was placekicker and punter Russell Erxleben, who set a record with a 67-yard field goal. The record would be tied twice within the next year and change, but never broken, partly because kicking tees have been banned.

Erxleben remains the only punter to be a 3-time All-American, and played 5 seasons for the New Orleans Saints, plus 1 as a "scab" for the Detroit Lions during the 1987 strike. He went into the securities business, and has twice served time in prison for fraud. His son, Ryan Erxleben, went into the family business -- punting, that is, not securities (fraudulent or otherwise), at Texas Tech, although he didn't make it to the NFL. 

* Number 9 Florida were upset by Louisiana State, 36-14 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

* Number 10 Alabama beat Georgia, 18-10 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. 'Bama won the Southeastern Conference title, and beat Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl.

* Number 11 Nebraska beat Indiana, 31-13 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

* Number 12 Arkansas beat Texas Christian (TCU), 42-6 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas. Arkansas went on to lose to Texas, costing them the Southwest Conference title, but beat Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl.

* Number 14 Notre Dame beat Michigan State, 16-6 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

* Number 20 Arizona State were upset by Missouri, 15-0 at Sun Devil Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

* The University of Washington lost to Minnesota, 19-17 at Memorial Stadium in Minneapolis. But Washington rebounded to win the Pacific-8 title, and beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

* Duke beat Navy, 28-16 at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.

* Columbia beat Pennsylvania, 30-18 at Baker Field in Manhattan.

* Among New Jersey's teams, Rutgers beat Cornell, 30-14 at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, New York. And Princeton lost to Brown, 10-7 at Brown Stadium in Providence, Thode Island.

Also on this day, the St. Louis Blues retired the Number 3 of Bob Gassoff, a defenseman who'd been with them since 1973. The preceding May 27, he was killed in a motorcycle accident in Gray Summit, Missouri. He'd been racing motorcycles with friends at a barbecue at the home of teammate Garry Unger, but had driven off the property, wasn't wearing a helmet, and was hit by a car. The native of Quesnel, British Columbia was only 26.

In high school football, my Alma Mater, East Brunswick High School in Central New Jersey, beat Madison Central, 28-0 at Vince Lombardi Field in Old Bridge. Madison Central is now named Old Bridge.

And in English soccer, Arsenal of North London beat West Ham United of East London, 3-0 at Highbury in North London.

August 26, 1972: The Cosmos Win New York's 1st Soccer Title

August 26, 1972: The New York Cosmos beat the St. Louis Stars, 2-1 at Hofstra Stadium (now James M. Shuart Stadium) in Hempstead, Long Island, New York, across the Jericho Turnpike from the Nassau Coliseum complex. This wins the North American Soccer League title for the Cosmos, the 1st of 5 times they would win it.

Randy Horton scores in the 5th minute. In the 86th minute, with the score tied, the Cosmos are correctly awarded a penalty, and Josef Jelínek, who had played for Czechoslovakia in the 1962 World Cup Final, converts it to win the game.

Sadly, there appears to be no surviving footage. That's the kind of league the NASL was at the time.

This makes New York the 1st team to win World Championships in all 5 major North American sports: Baseball, football, basketball, hockey and soccer. They have been followed by Philadelphia (who completed the circuit with the 1974 Flyers), Chicago (1991 Bulls), Los Angeles (2007 Anaheim Ducks) and Washington (2018 Capitals).

The Cosmos would also win titles in 1977, 1978, 1980 and 1982. They went out of business after the 1984 season, and the NASL soon followed.

In 1996, Major League Soccer would be founded, with the New York/New Jersey Metro Stars. In 2005, they became the New York Red Bulls. In 2008, they reached the MLS Cup Final, but lost to the Columbus Crew. In 2013, 2015 and 2018, they had the league's best overall regular-season record, earning them the Supporters' Shield, but, in 27 seasons, they have made just the 1 trip to the MLS Cup Final.

New York City Football Club was established in 2015, and, head-to-head, have not gotten the better of the Red Bulls. But in 2021, in only their 7th season, they achieved what the Red Bulls, as yet, have not: They won the MLS Cup.

*

August 26, 1972 was a Saturday. There was top-flight soccer in England, including a 0-0 draw between Manchester United and North London team Arsenal, at Old Trafford, United's stadium in Salford, outside Manchester. Defending Football Champions Derby County lost 1-0 to Norwich City at Carrow Road in Norwich, East Anglia. And Liverpool FC, which would go on to win the League that season, beat East London team West Ham United, 3-2 at Anfield in Liverpool.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Kansas City Royals, 6-2 at Yankee Stadium. Yankee starter Rob Gardner got knocked out of the box in the 3rd inning. Bobby Murcer went 4-for-5 with an RBI, and Johnny Callison and Bernie Allen hit home runs for the Pinstripes, to no avail.

* The New York Mets lost to the Atlanta Braves, 7-6 at Atlanta Stadium (renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in 1975). Hank Aaron went 1-for-4. Willie Mays did not play.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Texas Rangers, 7-6 at Fenway Park in Boston. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-3 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Willie Stargell went 2-for-4. Roberto Clemente did not enter the game. Nor did Frank Robinson, in his only season with the Dodgers.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. It was "Win Day" for the Phils: Steve Carlton was pitching, and helped his own cause with an RBI single. Pete Rose went 1-for-5, Johnny Bench went 0-for-4 but had an RBI on a groundout, Joe Morgan went 2-for-5, and Tony Pérez hit a home run.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants, 10-9 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The game was won in the bottom of the 10th when Giant pitcher Randy Moffitt, brother of tennis legend Billie Jean King, hit Joe Pepitone with a pitch with the bases loaded.

* A doubleheader was split at Milwaukee County Stadium. The Chicago White Sox won the opener, 3-1. Mike Andrews won it with a sacrifice fly in the top of the 13th inning. The Milwaukee Brewers won the nightcap, 4-0. Jim Colborn came within 2 outs of a 2 hit shutout, with Frank Linzy getting them.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Aurelio Rodríguez won it with a home run in the to of the 11th inning. Al Kaline and Harmon Killebrew only appeared as pinch-hitters; Kaline got a hit, while Killebrew did not reach base. Rod Carew went 0-for-3, but did draw 2 walks.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres, 9-3 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Bob Gibson helped his own cause with an RBI single. Lou Brock went 4-for-4 with 2 RBIs and a stolen base. Joe Torre went 0-for-3, but drove in a run with 2 bases-loaded walks.

* The Houston Astros beat the Montreal Expos, 6-5 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The California Angels beat the Cleveland Indians, 7-1 at Anaheim Stadium (renamed Edison International Field in 1997 and Angel Stadium of Anaheim in 2004).

* And the Baltimore Orioles beat the Oakland Athletics, 5-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. Brooks Robinson went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Reggie Jackson also went 2-for-4. These 2 Hall-of-Famers share a birthday, May 18.

April 17, 1971: The New York Cosmos Debut

April 17, 1971: The New York Cosmos make their debut in the North American Soccer League. They lose to the St. Louis Stars, 2-1 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

The Cosmos were not the 1st "major league" soccer team in New York. The NASL was formed in 1968.  Essentially, it was a merger of 2 leagues that began play in 1967, trying to ride the wave of interest brought about by England's home-soil World Cup win the year before, and the subsequent documentary about it, Goal!

The United Soccer Association had teams that ran a summer schedule in between the European winter seasons, importing entire teams from elsewhere: England, Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, the Netherlands, Italy, Brazil, and Uruguay, whose Cerro became the New York Skyliners.

The USA did not do well. They couldn't sell out the facilities, as nearly every team played in an MLB or an NFL stadium. The Skyliners drew an average of 8,766 to the original Yankee Stadium, which in its pre-renovation configuration had 67,224 seats.

The other league was the National Professional Soccer League. Unlike the USA, the NPSL had mainly North American players. In most cases, the owners were owners of other local teams. The New York Generals were owned by RKO, which owned WOR-Channel 9 (now WWOR), and thus had an easy time getting TV rights.

Not much could be said for the Generals. Like the Skyliners, they couldn't sell out the old Garden, with its 18,496 seats, let alone the old Yankee Stadium, with 67,224. But they had 2 players whose names you should know. Cesar Luis Menotti played for a number of clubs in Argentina, including Buenos Aires giants Boca Juniors, and in 1978 would manage his country to win the World Cup on home soil. And Gordon Bradley, a midfielder from Sunderland, would play in New York again.

The NPSL had the advantage of not taking entire teams from elsewhere, teams that were emotionally committed to other places on other continents. So they could get the jump on the USA and start earlier, on April 16. But CBS didn't really know what they were doing on their TV broadcasts. There was also the issue of each league putting a team not just in one city, but in some cases both in one stadium. Both leagues' New York teams played at Yankee Stadium, both L.A. teams played at the Coliseum, and both Toronto teams played at old Varsity Stadium rather than the new Exhibition Stadium.

The Cosmos played their home games in the 1971 season at Yankee Stadium, making their home debut on May 5, beating the Washington Darts, 1-0. They finished 2nd in the Eastern Division, and lost to the Atlanta Chiefs in the 1st round of the Playoffs.

In 1972, they moved out to Hempstead, Long Island, playing at Hofstra University, at what would later be named James M. Shuart Stadium, across the Hempstead Turnpike from the Nassau Coliseum, the new home of the ABA's New York Nets and the NHL's New York Islanders. Led by Randy Horton, they won the title, beating the St. Louis Stars for the title.

In 1974, they moved to Downing Stadium, on Randall's Island in the East River. In 1975, they signed Pelé, the biggest sports star in the world. He hated playing on the lousy pitch in the crumbling old track & field stadium. In 1976, with Yankee Stadium renovated, they moved in. In 1977, with Giants Stadium open at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, they won another title. Pelé retired, but, led by Giorgio Chinaglia, they won titles in 1978, 1980 and 1982. Mismanagement brought the team and the league to an end after the 1984 season.

*

April 17, 1971 was a Saturday. A full slate of Major League Baseball games was played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-3 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Fritz Peterson won, in relief of Mike Kekich. This was 2 years before they swapped families. Frank Robinson went 2-for-4, but Brooks Robinson went 0-for-5. John Ellis hit a home run, and Felipe Alou and Danny Cater singled home runs in the top of the 10th inning.

* The New York Mets lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-0 at Shea Stadium. Steve Blass pitched a 5-hit shutout. Willie Stargell hit a home run, and Roberto Clemente went 1-for-4.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2 at Jarry Park in Montreal. Pete Rose went 1-for-5, and Johnny Bench went 0-for-4.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-2 at the new Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. They did this despite Hank Aaron going 0-for-4.

* The Washington Senators beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-3 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 10-9 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Carl Yastrzemski went 2-for-3 with 2 RBIs. Al Kaline went 0-for-4, but drew 2 walks. The Tigers got home runs in the 7th inning from Jim Northrup, Norm Cash and Willie Horton. Horton singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 4-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Tom Bradley pitched a 4-hit shutout. Reggie Jackson got 1 of the hits. Rollie Fingers started this game, and ended up as the losing pitcher. He only started 6 more games the rest of his career, but became a Hall of Fame relief pitcher.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

* The California Angels beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres, 4-0 at San Diego Stadium.

* The Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. In his last season, Ernie Banks did not play. In his last full season with the Giants, Willie Mays hit a home run.

This was an off-day in the NBA Playoffs and the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Two games were played in the ABA Playoffs. The Virginia Squires beat the Kentucky Colonels, 142-122 at The Scope in Virginia. And the Utah Stars beat the Indiana Pacers, 121-108 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City.

Also, Arsenal beat Newcastle United, 1-0 at home at Highbury, on their way to winning "The Double."