September 21, 1938: The New England Hurricane of 1938

September 21, 1938: The Northeastern United States is hit by one of the most damaging hurricanes in the nation's history. Hurricanes didn't start to be identified with girls' names until 1953, and with boys' names until 1979. This one was the 5th of the Atlantic hurricane season, so its name would have started with an E.

For the New York Tri-State Area, it's known as the Long Island Express Hurricane. When New York newscasters warn about coming hurricanes, they're not nearly as concerned about them hitting the New Jersey shore, which runs north-to-south. They're much more concerned with east-to-west shorelines: The South Shore of Staten Island, Coney Island in Brooklyn, the Rockaways in Queens, and the shores of Long Island Sound, less the North Shore of Long Island than its South Shore and the Sound Shore of Connecticut.

It was an Autumnal Equinox, resulting in higher tides than usual even without the storm. Having gained strength on the morning of September 21, by passing over only water, no land, as it passed Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and the Chesapeake Region, this hurricane ripped up the Jersey Shore, putting Wildwood under 3 feet of water, wrecking much of the Atlantic City Boardwalk, destroying the Brigantine Bridge, and ripping up the boardwalks in Bay Head and Point Pleasant Beach.

At 3:45 PM, it made landfall at Bellport, Suffolk County, and it quickly laid waste to both Long Island and Connecticut. The East River overflowed and flooded a Consolidated Edison plant at 133rd Street, producing New York City's biggest blackout between the Blizzard of 1888 and "The Night the Lights Went Out" in 1965. A Staten Island Ferry boat got stuck in a terminal. All the bridges and tunnels were shut down.

Long Island lost all power, although that had nothing to do with Con Ed's issues. Montauk Point, at the eastern tip of Long Island, was turned into an island by flooding. Long Island's fishing industry and its apple crop were ruined for the year.

The hurricane turned east, and the danger topped out in Rhode Island, as it moved into Narragansett Bay. Houses on the bay were swept out to see. A school bus was blown into Mackerel Cove in Jamestown, killing 7 children. The Whale Rock Lighthouse was torn off its base, causing it to fall into the sea, and it has never been replaced. The body of lighthouse keeper Walter Eberle was never found. Downtown Providence, the State capital, was flooded, and some people drowned in their cars.

Massachusetts, especially the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, was hit hard as well. The Connecticut River flooded in Springfield. New Bedford was left under 8 feet of water, and 2/3rds of its harbor's boats were lost. The foundations of houses swept away in Fall River can still be seen on the beach. Gloucester got the tallest wave of the storm, 50 feet.

We may never know how many people died as a result of the storm: Estimates range from 600 to 800, but it is generally believed that 100 of them were outside Rhode Island. Over 4,500 homes and 26,000 cars were destroyed, and 20,000 electrical poles were torn down. Over 2 billion trees were uprooted in New York State and New England, as New England lost 35 percent of its total forest area.

This hurricane stands out partly because it hit 2 major media centers, New York and Boston; but also because it struck at a setback period in the Great Depression, and at a time when news of war clouds was coming over from Europe, as Adolf Hitler had his designs on Czechoslovakia. It was news that, literally, hit home for thousands of people, on top of the seemingly endless bad news they already had.

*

September 21, 1938 was a Wednesday. There were 5 baseball games played that day. Somehow, one of them was at National League Park, formerly and soon again to be Braves Field, in Boston, and they got all 9 innings in before the storm arrived. The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Boston Bees, the once-and-future Braves, 4-0. Paul "Daffy" Dean pitched a 7-hit shutout, backed by a home run by Joe Medwick.

The Boston Red Sox were not affected, as they were playing the St. Louis Browns at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Jimmie Foxx hit his 47th home run of the season, and ended it with 50. When the Sox got home, they found that Fenway Park had been spared major damage.

No games were played in New York City. The storm didn't affect the New York Yankees, as they were playing the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The White Sox won, 5-2, as Thornton Lee, later to be a 2-time All-Star, outpitched eventual Hall-of-Famer Lefty Gomez. Lou Gehrig went 2-for-4 with a solo home run, while Joe DiMaggio went 0-for-3, although he did draw a walk.

New York's National League teams weren't so lucky. The New York Giants had already home games on September 13 and 16 pushed back a day by rain. Their games with the Cincinnati Reds at the Polo Grounds on the 20th and the 21st were turned into a doubleheader on the 22nd, which the Giants swept, 6-1 and 2-1. Then they had to go to Boston to play the Bees, and while their ballpark wasn't damaged, they got rained out on the 23rd. They played a doubleheader on the 24th (the Giants swept) and another on the 25th (the Bees swept).

The Brooklyn Dodgers were also rained out at Ebbets Field on September 13 and 16, and made up an earlier rainout as part of a doubleheader on the 18th, and were scheduled to do so again on the 22nd. They were able to do that. They got rained out with the Pittsburgh Pirates on the 21st, but their schedule got backed up anyway. The Giants were supposed to play the Dodgers at Ebbets Field on the 26th, and got rained out again, forcing a doubleheader for the 27th, which was split.

The Chicago Cubs and the Philadelphia Phillies were supposed to play at Shibe Park in Philadelphia on the 21st and the 22nd. Both games got pushed back, as the field was still too wet to play on for the 22nd. They played a doubleheader on the 23rd, and the Cubs swept, 3-2 and 7-6. This was crucial: While the Yankees were running away with the American League Pennant, the National League went to the wire. When dawn came on the 21st, the Pirates led the Cubs by 3 1/2 games, the Reds by 5, and the Giants by 6 1/2. The Cubs went on a tear, and taking 2 of 3 against the Pirates late in the month helped them to win the Pennant by 2 games over the Pirates, 5 over the Giants, and 6 over the Giants.

Also on the 21st, the Detroit Tigers played a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium). The Tigers won the 1st game, 8-6, and were winning the 2nd game, 3-0, when it was called due to darkness after 5 innings. Hank Greenberg went 3-for-5 with 6 RBIs in the 1st game, including his 54th of what turned out to be 58 home runs, but was 0-for-3 in the 2nd game when it was called.

The Cleveland Indians and the Washington Senators were not scheduled.

August 14, 2003: The Biggest Blackout Ever

August 14, 2003: A blackout strikes the Northeastern U.S. at 4:10 PM. In New Jersey, where I was, there was a flickering of power, but no more, so it didn’t matter much. But in nearby New York City, power was lost for a few hours. Parts of New England, Canada, and even places as far west as Michigan lost power for a time.

The blackout's cause was a software bug in the alarm system at the control room of FirstEnergy, based in Akron, Ohio. The bug rendered operators unaware of the need to redistribute load after overloaded transmission lines drooped into foliage. What should have been a manageable local blackout cascaded into the collapse of much of the Northeast regional electricity distribution system.

The blackout affected 55 million people, including 10 million in Canada. Most places restored power by midnight, within 7 hours; some as early as 6:00 PM, within 2 hours.

Unlike in 1977, when the last blackout led to the worst night of looting in the City’s history, people worked together in this one. Some even used the lights of their cellphones as flashlights.

New York City has not had a major blackout since. (UPDATE: There was a brief, 20-minute blackout, shortly after midnight on December 15, 2023.)

*

August 14, 2003 was a Thursday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 8-5 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Andy Pettitte was the winning pitcher. Jorge Posada went 2-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Derek Jeter went 1-for-4.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-3 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Diego Padres, 7-4 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta, 7-4.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Florida Marlins, 6-4 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3-2 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Houston Astros, 7-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Minnesota Twins, 8-3 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-3 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Anaheim Angels beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-1 at Edison International Field of Anaheim (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 4-2 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the Network Associates Coliseum). Bill Mueller's sacrifice fly brought the winning run home in the top of the 10th inning.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Seattle Mariners, 5-2 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle.

* And the New York Mets, the Colorado Rockies, the Montreal Expos, the San Francisco Giants, the Kansas City Royals and the Tampa Bay Rays were not scheduled. Apparently, the blackout didn't affect any games.

July 6, 1988:"Hypodermics On the Shore"

July 6, 1988: The first reported medical waste on beaches in the Greater New York area, including hypodermic needles and syringes possibly infected with the AIDS virus, washes ashore on Long Island.

Subsequent medical waste discoveries on beaches in Coney Island, Brooklyn and in Monmouth County, New Jersey forced the closure of numerous area beaches in the middle of one of the hottest summers on record in the American Northeast. New England was also hit hard by this phenomenon.

Dumping dirty needles into the ocean was typical of how people treated the seas before the environmental movement, discouraged into dormancy by the Presidency of Ronald Reagan, got going again after the old bastard left office.

It got so bad, Long Islander Billy Joel worked it into his song "We Didn't Start the Fire": "Hypodermics on the shore." In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine in 1990, following the successful revolutions in Eastern Europe and the failed one in China, he said, "I almost added, 'Poison apples in the store,' because that whole 'Alar' thing was happening. Then Tienanmen Square happened, and it became 'China's under martial law.' Think what I'd have to write about Eastern Europe now."

*

July 6, 1988 was a Wednesday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Texas Rangers, 4-2 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Jeff Russell outpitched Ron Guidry, who was nearing the end of the line. Pete Incaviglia hit a home run for the Rangers. For the Yankees, Dave Winfield went 2-for-4 with a walk. Don Mattingly went 3-for-5. Rickey Henderson went 0-for-3 with 2 walks.

* The New York Mets beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-4 at Shea Stadium. Ron Darling was the winning pitcher. Darryl Strawberry hit a home run.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Mike Schmidt appeared as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.

* The California Angels beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-4 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Chili Davis hit a home run in the top of the 10th inning.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Oakland Athletics, 8-6 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Seattle Mariners, 7-6 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 4-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Eddie Murray went 0-for-4. Cal Ripken went 2-for-4.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Boston Red Sox, 8-1 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Kansas City Royals, 4-2 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. Robin Yount went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Paul Molitor went 1-for-4 with a walk. George Brett went 1-for-4.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Houston Astros, 4-2 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Chicago Cubs, 2-0 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Former Cub Rick Reuschel pitched 8 innings of 6-hit shutout ball, but needed Craig Lefferts and Scott Garrelts to finish the 7-hit shutout.

It was the 176th out of the 218 wins Reuschel would have in his career, that began in 1972. The losing pitcher was Jamie Moyer, who then had 24 of the 269 wins he would have in his career, that ended in 2012, 50 years after Reuschel's began.

* And, despite playing each other at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego both the day before and the day after, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the San Diego Padres did not play. Baseball-Reference.com gives no explanation, nor suggests that a game was postponed and made up later in the year.

June 15, 2011: The Boston Bruins Win the Stanley Cup, Vancouver Fans Riot

June 15, 2011: Look, I didn't want the Boston Bruins to win the Stanley Cup, either. But when they did, I just moped a bit, and talked about how they had to have cheated.

I've seen my teams have their shares of winning, and their shares of losing. But when they lost, I didn't do anything like this.

Just a little over a year earlier, Vancouver had hosted the Winter Olympics, and it was a phenomenal success. Now, the Vancouver Canucks were in the Stanley Cup Finals for the 3rd time, having lost to the New York Islanders in 1982 and the New York Rangers in 1994. After losing to the Rangers, Canucks fans launched a minor riot in Vancouver.

The Canucks won Game 1, 1-0 at Rogers Arena, when Raffi Torres scored with 19 seconds left in regulation. They won Game 2, 3-2, when Alex Burrows scores 11 seconds into overtime. The Canucks were sitting pretty going to Boston.

But Game 3 at the TD Garden was a slaughter, as the Bruins win, 8-1. The Bruins also took Game 4, 4-0. Game 5 in Vancouver was similar to the 1st 2 there, with Maxim Lapierre scoring early in the 3rd period, and the Canucks won, 1-0.

The Bruins hadn't won the Cup since 1972, losing the Finals in 1974, 1977, 1978, 1988 and 1990. But they had won it before. The Canucks had played since 1970, but hadn't won the Cup. Not since the 1925 Victoria Cougars had a team from British Columbia won it. And not since the 1915 Millionaires had a Vancouver team done so. All the Canucks had to do was win Game 6 in Boston; failing that, Game 7 at home.

But Game 6 was a disaster. Canuck forward Mason Raymond suffered a fractured vertebra only 20 seconds into the game, on an awkward hit into the boards by Bruin defenseman Johnny Boychuk -- not to be confused with the Bruins' 1970 and '72 Cup-winning Captain, Johnny Bucyk -- and had to be taken to the hospital.

What's more, the ice at the TD Garden was soft, almost slushy, apparently designed to slow the Canucks down. The Bruins scored four goals in a span of 4:14 in the 1st period, breaking the record for the quickest 4 goals tallied by one team in the Cup Finals. The Bruins went on to win, 5–2. More cheating in a big moment by a New England sports team.

It was the 18th time the Bruins were in the Stanley Cup Finals. Oddly, it was the 1st time they went to a Game 7 in the round. Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand each scored 2 goals, and the Bruins went on to win, 4-0. The Bruins had their 1st Cup win in 39 years. In mid-game, I wrote on Facebook:

(George Carlin word), another championship handed to Boston. Thanks a lot for not enforcing the rules or keeping the TD Garden ice suitable, NHL refs & Commissioner Gary Bettman! Maybe the Canucks can come back from 3-0 down with 12 to go and force one of those epic Boston chokes... and maybe I can flap my arms and fly to the Moon.

Bruins Captain Zdeno Chara with the Cup

Vancouver fans, who had come out into downtown before the game, expecting the biggest party in the city's history, were, naturally, even angrier than I was. They began smashing windows, overturning cars, looting stores, setting things on fire.

The riot was bigger than the one they had when they lost in 1994. No deaths were reported, but 3 out of 140 injuries were reported to be critical. The damage toll was put at $4 million Canadian.

It was the 1st major sports-related riot of the social media era, and many people recorded themselves committing acts of vandalism. This was used by the police to make it backfire on them, and many people were arrested, and some lost their jobs and the college scholarships, as a result.

The Canucks have never been back to the Finals. The Bruins made it in 2013 and 2019, but lost.

UPDATE: The Canucks have retired 6 uniform numbers: 10, for 1990s right wing Pavel Bure; 12, for 1980s right wing Stan Smyl; 16, for 1990s and 2000s center Trevor Linden; 19, for 2000s left wing Markus Näslund, 22 for 2000s and 2010s left wing Daniel Sedin, and 33 for his twin brother, 2000s and 2010s center Henrik Sedin.

In addition to their retired numbers, they have a Ring of Honour. The inductees are: 1970s center Orlando Kurtenbach, 1970s defenseman Harold Senpsts, 1980s center Thomas Gradin, 1990s head coach and general manager Pat Quinn, 1990s goaltender Kirk McLean, 2000s defenseman Mattias Öhlund, 2010s right wing Alex Burrows, and 2010s goaltender Roberto Luongo.

*

June 15, 2011 was a Wednesday. Football was out of season. The NBA season had ended 3 days earlier, with the San Antonio Spurs beating the Miami Heat in 6 games. And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New Yankees beat the Texas Rangers, 12-4 at the new Yankee Stadium. Iván Nova was the winning pitcher. Mark Teixeira hit 2 home runs. Homers were also hit by Eduardo Núñez (playing shortstop in place of Derek Jeter), Ramiro Peña and Robinson Canó. Alex Rodriguez went 0-for-3 with 2 walks.

* The New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-0 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta. It took 4 pitchers -- Dillon Gee for 4 innings, D.J. Carrasco for 2, Bobby Parnell (the winning pitcher) for 2, and Francisco Rodríguez for 1 -- to finish a 2-hit shutout.

* The Philadelphia Phillies swept a doubleheader from the Florida Marlins, 8-1 and 5-4 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. The Phils trailed the nightcap 4-2 going into the bottom of the 9th, but tied it up. Ryan Howard led off the bottom of the 10th by being hit with a pitch from Mike Dunn. Domonic Brown drew a walk, and then Carlos Ruiz singled Howard home to win it.

* The Washington Nationals beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 10-0 at Nationals Park in Washington. Liván Hernández pitched a 3-hit shutout, backed by 2 home runs from Mike Morse, and 1 each by Danny Espinosa and Jayson Werth.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 3-0 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Josh Beckett allowed just 1 hit: A single by Reid Brignac in the 3rd inning. He didn't walk anybody, either. Good night for Boston teams.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Houston Astros, 7-3 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles, 4-1 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-4 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs, 9-5 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-1 at Target Field in Minneapolis.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres, 6-3 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-2 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Kansas City Royals, 2-1 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the O.co Coliseum).

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Los Angeles Angels, 3-1 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle.

April 20, 1912: Fenway Park Opens

April 20, 1912: Two of baseball's legendary ballparks open: Fenway Park in Boston, and Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Given their respective historical natures, I've decided to do separate entries for each.

The Boston Red Sox were charter members of the American League in 1901, under the name of the Boston Americans. They played their 1st 11 seasons at the Huntington Avenue Grounds. It seated only 11,500 people, so they needed a new place to play.

Team owner John I. Taylor bought a plot of land in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, bordered by Brookline Avenue, Jersey Street, Van Ness Street and Lansdowne Street. It was near "The Fens," a marshy area, and Taylor also owned the Fenway Realty Company. So the new 35,000-seat stadium was named Fenway Park.

For the first game, the Mayor of Boston threw out the ceremonial first ball. He was John F. Fitzgerald, known as Honey Fitz. He also served in Congress, and would later become the grandfather of 3 U.S. Senators: John Fitzgerald, Robert Francis and Edward Moore Kennedy. JFK, of course, became the 35th President of the United States.

The opponent for the 1st game was the New York Highlanders. By this point, they were already being called the Yankees, and they officially took that name the next season. Despite having finished 2nd 3 times, including taking the Red Sox (then named the Boston Americans) to the final day of the season in 1904, the team was now terrible, and would go on to lose 102 games.

This would be one of them. Thomas "Buck" O'Brien started for the Red Sox, Ray Caldwell for the Highlanders, and neither one made it to the 5th inning. New York scored 3 runs in the top of the 1st inning, and Boston scored 1 in the bottom half. The Highlanders scored 2 more in the top of the 3rd, leading 5-1. The Red Sox scored 3 in the bottom of the 4th and 1 in the bottom of the 6th, making it 5-5. Both teams scored in the 8th, and it went to extra innings. Tris Speaker singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 11th: Boston 7, New York 6.

The winning pitcher was Charley Hall, and the losing pitcher was Jim "Hippo" Vaughn. No home runs were hit during the game: This was, after all the Dead Ball Era.

The Red Sox won the World Series that 1st season. This inspired the city's National League team, the Boston Braves, to build their own new ballpark, leaving the small South End Grounds behind. It wasn't ready for the 1914 World Series, which the Braves made, so they played home games at Fenway.

When the 40,000-seat Braves Field opened in 1915, it was then the largest ballpark in the country. So they returned the favor to the Red Sox, who played their home games for the 1915, 1916 and 1918 World Series at Braves Field. Fenway didn't host another World Series until 1946.

Tom Yawkey bought the Red Sox in 1933. Prior to the next season, he substantially altered Fenway Park, including the construction of a 37-foot-high left field wall to protect businesses on the other side of Lansdowne Street. He couldn't build seats behind it, because there wasn't any room, so he expanded the center field bleachers. In 1947, he had the advertising signs taken off the left field wall, making it look big and green and foreboding. The nickname "The Green Monster" was applied, and it has stuck.

The Red Sox won Pennants in 1946, 1967, 1975 and 1986, but lost the World Series in 7 games every time. Finally, in 2004, through means that should have been officially rendered unacceptable, and the achievements thereof stripped from the record, they ended an 86-year drought, and won the World Series. They did it again in 2007. They did it again 2013, their 1st Series clincher at Fenway since 1918. And they won another in 2018.

Fenway would also host the All-Star Game in 1946, 1961 and 1999. The New England Patriots, then known as the Boston Patriots, played there from 1963 to 1968. It's also hosted college football, hockey, boxing, concerts, and political rallies, including what turned out to be the last ever held by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, on November 4, 1944, with singer Frank Sinatra and actor Orson Welles also giving speeches.

In 1999, the Red Sox organization released a plan for a new Fenway Park, across Jersey Street from the old one. But in 2002, John W. Henry bought the team from the Yawkey Trust, and, instead of building the new Fenway, decided to make as many modernizations as he could to the old one.

On April 20, 2012, Fenway Park became the 1st Major League Baseball ground to celebrate a 100th Anniversary. Again, the Yankees were the opponent. This time, the Yankees beat the Red Sox, 6-2.

As of April 20, 2022, there are no plans to build a new stadium for the Red Sox.

*

April 20, 1912 was a Saturday. A full slate of games was played in what we would now call Major League Baseball. This included the 1st game at what would become Tiger Stadium in Detroit. The Detroit Tigers defeated the Cleveland Naps, forerunners of the Indians and the Guardians, 6-5.

In addition to the preceding:

* The New York Giants beat the Brooklyn Dodgers, 4-3 at the Polo Grounds.

* The Boston Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-1 at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia.

* The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Washington Senators, 6-3 at National Park in Washington. (It was renamed Griffith Stadium in 1922.)

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-0 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Honus Wagner went 1-for-5.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-4 in 10 innings at West Side Park in Chicago.

* And the Chicago White Sox and the St. Louis Browns played 15 scoreless innings at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, before the game was called due to darkness.

Although it was a Saturday, Arsenal, then still known as Woolwich Arsenal, did not play. They may have had a game that was pushed back by very cold weather or unplayable grounds. Two days later, on the Monday, they beat Blackburn Rovers, 5-1 at the Manor Ground in Plumstead, Southeast London.

This was the day of the FA Cup Final, at the Crystal Palace stadium in South London. Barnsley F.C., of Yorkshire, played West Bromwich Albion, of the Birmingham area, to a 0-0 tie. A replay was held 4 days later, at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, and that nearly went a full 120 minutes without scoring, before Barnsley won it, 1-0. 

February 7, 2013: Vic DiBitetto Posts "Bread & Milk"

February 7, 2013: Vic DiBitetto posts a video to YouTube: "Bread & Milk."

A Brooklyn native, Vic started doing comedy in the early 1980s, doing not well enough to become a star, but doing just well enough to keep doing it, while he made a living as a garbage truck driver, and then a school bus driver, on Staten Island. In 1991, he and his son Michael won $10,000 on America's Funniest People, for a home video of a mock ventriloquist act.

The coming of YouTube inspired Vic to make his own channel, and bring his comedy to the masses, a few minutes at a time. Frequently, he would open with, "Hey, whattaya say, my Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Google Plus, your sister's ass, the Pony Express? A very ticked-off Vic here. You know what ticks me off?" And then he would explain what was ticking him off at the moment. Usually, it was something really annoying and stupid, instead of something actually dangerous. Such is life when you live in the New Jersey suburbs of New York. (I understood completely: At the time, we lived 16 miles apart.)

By early February 2013, he had turned 52, and had appeared in exactly one feature film -- and it was Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2. He got raves for this brief appearance in an otherwise forgettable movie, but he was still no closer to becoming a star than he was in 1991. Still, people were liking his videos and telling him he was funny. Again, he was getting just enough encouragement to continue.

Then came a weather report: A storm was going to dump a lot of snow on the Northeastern United States. Words like "blizzard," "nor'easter," "extratropical cyclone" and "bomb cyclone" were used.

When warnings of a big storm come, people tend to panic, and head to stores to get food. And paper products, such as toilet paper and paper towels. And, in case power is lost, fuel for portable generators, and candles. Runs on stores' supplies of bread and milk are common.

It's worth pointing out that this was just 14 weeks after Hurricane Sandy had ravaged the Northeast, so that was still on people's minds. There was no snow on that occasion. But if the snow that was being predicted for this occasion had turned out to be deep -- say, 2 feet (24 inches) or more, it might be days before you could get to the store again, so you'd better get what you need now, before the snowfall starts.

And so, Vic posted a 28-second video of himself running out of his house, and getting into his car to go to the store, getting more and more worried as he goes along:

Gotta get the bread and milk. I gotta get the bread and milk. I gotta get the bread and milk. Gotta get the bread and milk, oh my God! I gotta... I gotta get the bread and milk! I gotta get the bread and... They said snow! I gotta get the bread and milk! Oh my God! I gotta get the bread... I gotta get the bread and milk! I gotta get the bread and milk, oh my God!

Within a year of posting it, this video got over 12 million views. By 2022, it was up to 20 million. It was shown on CNN, NBC's The Today Show, and ABC's The View.

And the parodies of it came up fast. Within 5 days, a man recorded what he called "Bread & Milk (black version)": "I gotta get the sugar and Kool-Aid!" In January 2014, with snow already falling, another guy went through the whole shebang of saying he's gotta get the bread and milk, and closed with, "I'm gettin' Dunkin Donuts, screw this." In January 2016, with Shopkins being a toy craze, a woman taped her daughter, probably around 8 years old, getting into the car's driver's seat, and saying, "I gotta get the Shopkins!"

Vic said, "Thirty seconds of stupidity brought me more recognition than thirty years of stand-up." He now occasionally gets parts in comedy movies, usually playing guys like himself: Italians who yell a lot.

He parodies this with his character, Tony Gaga. That's with the accent on the 2nd syllable, Ga-GA, not like Lady Gaga (who is also Italian and from New York). Tony Gaga, whom Vic claims is his cousin, wears shades, an undershirt, and Bermuda shorts, and doesn't know the meaning of the words "inside voice." Whatever you're talking about, he says, "You gotta guy? You gotta go to the guy I go to! He'll get it for ya for two dollars! Two dollars!"

Vic as Tony Gaga

He also does videos pretending to be the manager of the New York Yankees, the head coach of the New York Giants (keeping his own personality for both, not pretending to be the actual field boss), Sylvester Stallone's Rocky Balboa, Al Pacino's Tony Montana of Scarface, Marlon Brando's Don Vito Corleone of The Godfather, Robert Shaw's Quint from Jaws, or the late, great comedian Rodney Dangerfield, who was a friend of his. Sometimes, he's himself, Tony Gaga, Rocky, Tony Montana, Don Corleone, Quint and Rodney, all in the same video.

But he's still best known as "The Bread and Milk Guy." In 2021, after a year of COVID, with its runs on store supplies, one commenter wrote, "This man was living in 2020 before 2020 was even a thing." Around that time, Vic actually did get COVID. He was miserable for 4 days, but survived, and, as of February 7, 2022, shows no ill effects, but minces no words: You don't want it.

As for the storm in question: New York got 11 inches of snow, and most of New Jersey got around that as well. New England was hit much worse: Boston got 25 inches; Portland, Maine set a city record with 32 inches; and Hamden, Connecticut got hit the worst, 40 inches -- that's 3-foot-4. Both New England and Atlantic Canada (the Maritime Provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador) got hit with waves much higher than usual. Over 700,000 people lost power, some only briefly, others for days; and 18 deaths were attributed to the storm.

And, just so you know, he did get the bread and milk.

This head-tilt and glare is known to his fans as "Doing The Look."

*

February 7, 2013 was a Thursday. Baseball was out of season. The football season had just ended with Super Bowl XLVII, in which the Baltimore Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers, 34-31.

Only 2 NBA games were played. That was what was scheduled; it wasn't due to the storm. The Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 116-95 at the TD Garden in Boston; and the Denver Nuggets beat the Chicago Bulls, 128-96 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

There were 12 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat their arch-rivals, the New York Islanders, 4-1 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-2 at the Prudential Center.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-2 in a shootout at the Wells Fargo Arena (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Nashville Predators beat the Los Angeles Kings, 3-0 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Ottawa Senators, 3-2 in overtime at Scotiabank Place (now the Canadian Tire Centre) in Ottawa.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Montreal Canadiens, 5-4 in a shootout at the First Niagara Center (now the KeyBank Center) in Buffalo.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Washington Capitals, 5-2 at the Consol Energy Center (now the PPG Paints Arena) in Pittsburgh.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-3 in overtime at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-1 at the Scottrade Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis.

* The Vancouver Canucks beat the Minnesota Wild, 4-1 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Winnipeg Jets, 3-2 at the MTS Centre (now the Canada Life Centre) in Winnipeg.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 6-2 at the Jobing.com Arena (now the Desert Diamond Arena) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

* And the Anaheim Ducks, the Boston Bruins, the Colorado Avalanche, the Dallas Stars, the Edmonton Oilers and the San Jose Sharks were not scheduled.

February 6, 1978: The Northeast Blizzard of '78

That's Boston's New City Hall in the background.

February 6, 1978: A blizzard hits the Northeastern United States. The storm killed about 100 people, mostly in car crashes.

This came just 12 days after "The White Hurricane," the Midwest's version of the Blizzard of '78, struck the Ohio Valley and the Great Lakes, killing 70 people.

The biggest snowfall hit Woonsocket, Rhode Island: 38 inches; or 3 feet, 2 inches. Records for snowfall hit Boston with 27 inches; Providence, Rhode Island with 27 inches; and Atlantic City with 20 inches.

Not records, but bad enough: New York, 20 inches; Hartford, Connecticut, 17 inches; Philadelphia, 16 inches; Baltimore, 12 inches. Washington, D.C. was comparatively lucky: Only 4 inches.

February 6 was the date scheduled for the annual Beanpot Tournament, contested between hockey teams from 4 local colleges in Boston: Boston College, Boston University, Harvard University, and Northeastern University. But instead of postponing the tournament, it was played on February 6. The 11,666 fans who showed up actually got more hockey than they expected: The opening game went to overtime, and Harvard beat Northeastern, 4-3. In the nightcap, BU beat BC, 12-5.

And they couldn't get out. They were snowed in. They were stuck in the Boston Garden. Fortunately, there were bathrooms inside -- even if they were the kind of bathrooms you would expect in an arena that opened in 1928. And there was food inside, as the concession stands remained open until it ran out. The Celtics' famed parquet floor was put down over the ice, to provide sleeping space. Even the locker rooms were opened, to provide more.

The next day, the Garden was dug out, and people were able to leave. Traditionally, the Beanpot is held on the 1st and 2nd Mondays in February. This time, the 2nd round wasn't held until Wednesday, March 1: BC beat Northeastern, 3-2 in overtime; and BU won the tournament, beating Harvard, 7-1.

If Boston sports fans thought February 1978 was rough, they hadn't seen nothin' yet. The Celtics had the worst season, record-wise, in their history. The Bruins lost the Stanley Cup Finals. The Red Sox led the American League Eastern Division by 9 1/2 games, and were 14 games ahead of the arch-rival New York Yankees, then collapsed, and lost a Playoff for the Division title on October 2. And the Patriots won the AFC East title, but fell out of the Playoffs when they lost at home on New Year's Eve to the Houston Oilers.

*

February 6, 1978 was a Monday. Baseball and football were out of season. The NBA was in it's All-Star Break, holding the Game the day before, with the East beating the West, 133-125 at the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta.

Only 1 NHL game was scheduled: The Philadelphia Flyers beat the St. Louis Blues, 2-0 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. And there were no games scheduled in the World Hockey Association.