October 19, 1981: A Dodger Blue Monday

October 19, 1981: Game 5 of the National League Championship Series is played at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Rick Monday hits a solo home run with 2 out in the top of the 9th against Montreal's Steve Rogers, to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 2-1 victory over the Montreal Expos, and a trip to the World Series.

The loss becomes known as Blue Monday, due to having been played in bitterly cold conditions in Montreal (the roof hadn't been finished yet), the Dodgers' uniforms being blue, and the day being a very sad (a.k.a. "blue") one for baseball fans in Quebec.

The Expos were within 1 run of reaching the World Series. They would never find that run. In fact, they would never play another postseason game before being moved out of town after the 2004 season. The story of that team is one of dashed hopes and awful losses, including, ultimately, the loss to the fans of the team itself.

In 2019, the Expos franchise beat the Dodgers to win the NL Division Series, and went on to appear in the World Series for the 1st time, and win it. But by this point, they were the Washington Nationals, so it did Montreal no good.

*

October 19, 1981, as I said, was a Monday. The New York Yankees had already clinched the American League Pennant, sweeping the Oakland Athletics in 3 games straight.

On ABC Monday Night Football, the Detroit Lions beat the Chicago Bears, 48-17 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

The NBA season started 11 days later. There was 1 game played in the NHL: The Quebec Nordiques beat the Vancouver Canucks, 6-3 at the Colisée de Québec.

September 29, 2004: The End of the Montreal Expos

September 29, 2004: Although the announcement that the Montreal Expos were moving to Washington, D.C. to become the Washington Nationals next season was not a surprise, the timing of it was: On the morning of the Expos' last home game ever, turning the season finale into a French-Canadian wake.

The Expos went down quietly, losing 9-1 to, of all teams, the Florida Marlins, the team that Expos owner Jeffrey Loria was allowed to buy, and giving the Expos back to Major League Baseball, having stripped the franchise of pretty much its entire front office, and even its broadcast team, including Hall-of-Famer Dave Van Horne.

To make matters worse still, the winning pitcher for the Marlins was an Ex-Expo, Carl Pavano. The last Expos play was Terrmel Sledge, batting against Rudy Seanez, popping up to 3rd baseman Mike Mordecai. A crowd of 31,395 came to say Au revoir.

Just as the Expos' 1st game, on April 8, 1969, was away to the New York Mets at Shea Stadium, an 11-10 win, so, too, were their last 3 games at Shea, winning the 1st 2, but losing the last, 8-1 on October 3, 2004. The last active former Expos was Bartolo Colón, who pitched in the major leagues until 2018.

The Expos began play at Jarry Park, meant to be a temporary stadium only, in 1969. In 1973, despite a 79-83 record, they were only 3 1/2 games out of 1st place in the National League Eastern Division. They moved to the Olympic Stadium in 1977. They had a close call in 1981, losing the clinching Game 5 of the National League Championship Series by 1 run, and staying in the NL East race until the final weekend in 1979, 1980, 1987 and 1993.

They had the best record in MLB when the Strike of '94 hit. But the inadequacy of the Stadium, the U.S.-Canadian exchange rate, and Canada's taxes led (I won't say, "forced") ownership to trade away good players.

As of the 2022 election, there are 9 players in the Baseball Hall of Fame who played, however long, with the Expos. Lee Smith lasted only 1 season; Tony Pérez, 3. Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Larry Walker and Vladimir Guerrero were traded in their primes; Randy Johnson and Pedro Martínez, just as they were getting into theirs. Only Tim Raines could be called anything like an "Expos Hall-of-Famer," and even he was just 31 when he was let go.

Even in 2002 and 2003, despite the administrative nightmare, they were 83-79. But they couldn't hang on. They were basically a lame-duck team for 5 seasons, 2000 to 2004, awaiting the inevitable. And, while the team, as the Nationals, endured 7 bad seasons, they then had 8 good ones, including 5 trips to the Playoffs, ending that run by winning the 2019 World Series.

The Olympic Stadium has since held preseason games, involving Canada's remaining MLB team, the Toronto Blue Jays. The Tampa Bay Rays and the Oakland Athletics have struggled in their bids to keep their fans and build new ballparks to replace inadequate stadiums. Still, it is unlikely that a new team -- expansion or moved -- will be placed in Montreal until the City, or the Province of Quebec, is will to spend the money to build a new ballpark there. And that's not going to happen anytime soon.

The Expos had a team Hall of Fame. The inductees were:

From their founding era, 1969 to 1980, but not the 1981 Division title: Manager Gene Mauch, 2nd baseman Ron Hunt, right fielder Daniel "Rusty" Staub, pitchers Claude Raymond (a Quebec native) and Bill Stoneman.

From the 1981 National League Eastern Division title: Founding owner Charles Bronfman, catcher Gary Carter, 1st baseman Warren Cromartie, shortstop Chris Speier, 3rd baseman Larry Parrish, left fielder Tim Raines, center fielder Andre Dawson, right fielder Tim Wallach (later mainly a 3rd baseman); pitchers Steve Rogers, Woodie Fryman, Bill Gullickson, Jeff Reardon; manager Jim Fanning, general manager John McHale; and broadcasters Dave Van Horne, Jean-Pierre Roy and Jacques Doucet.

From after that title: 1980s pitcher Tim Burke. They did not honor any players from their 1994 NL Eastern Division Champions, or from after that.

Bronfman, Raymond, Staub, Carter, Dawson, Raines, Rogers, Wallach, Fanning, McHale, Van Horne, Roy, Doucet have also been elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. So have pitchers Dennis Martínez, Rhéal Cormier and Pedro Martínez; and outfielders Larry Walker, Matt Stairs and Vladimir Guerrero Sr. Cormier, Walker and Stairs were Canadians.

*

September 29, 2004 was a Wednesday. These other Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees swept a doubleheader from the Minnesota Twins, 5-3 and 5-4 at Yankee Stadium. The Yanks needed a 4-run 7th inning, including a home run by Hideki Matsui, to win the opener, and Paul Quantrill was the winning pitcher, in relief of Mike Mussina. He was followed in the 8th inning by Tom Gordon, and the 9th by Mariano Rivera. Quantrill, Gordon and "Mo" Rivera: This combination became known as "QuanGorMo." Johan Santana started for the Twins, but J.C. Romero was the losing pitcher.

Matsui homered again in the 2nd game, and Alex Rodriguez also homered. Jon Lieber was the winning pitcher. Over the 2 games, Derek Jeter went 4-for-9 with an RBI.

* The New York Mets lost to the Atlanta Braves, 6-3 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta.

* The Philadelphia Phillies swept a doubleheader from the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-4 and 8-3 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

* The Baltimore Orioles swept a doubleheader from the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-6 and 4-0 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. In the 2nd game, Rick Bauer -- not to be confused with Rich Dauer, an Oriole 2nd baseman of a previous generation -- pitched 6 innings of 3-hit shutout ball. It took 3 relievers to finish a 4-hit shutout.

* The Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Boston Red Sox, 9-4 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. The winning pitcher was Doug Waechter, and the losing pitcher was Pedro Martínez. David Ortiz went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 11-2 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Austin Kearns hit a home run to win the game in the top of the 12th inning. Ken Griffey Jr. did not play.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-2 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Anaheim Angels beat the Texas Rangers, 8-7 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. The Angels scored a run in the top of the 9th, then scored 2 runs in the top of the 11th, while the Rangers scored only 1 in the bottom half.

* The Houston Astros beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-4 at Minute Mark Park in Houston. Albert Pujols did not play.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 4-1 at Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field) in Phoenix.

* The San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants, 4-3 at Petco Park in San Diego. Mark Loretta drove Kerry Robinson home with a sacrifice fly to win it in the bottom of the 10th. Barry Bonds went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Colorado Rockies the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics, 4-2 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the McAfee Coliseum).

September 28, 1995: The Switch-Pitcher

September 28, 1995: The Cincinnati Reds beat the Montreal Expos, 9-7 at the Olympic Stadium Montreal. Former Met Pete Schourek is the winning pitcher, Pedro Martínez the loser. But neither has the most notable pitching feat in this game.

Greg Harris, who had debuted with the New York Mets in 1981, reached the postseason with the 1984 San Diego Padres and the 1990 Boston Red Sox, had never been especially remarkable, aside from having pitched in the majors at the same time as a pitcher with the same name. That one tended to be identified as "Greg W. Harris," while the subject of this post was called "Greg A. Harris."

(It could have been worse: At least they were never teammates. In their expansion year of 1962, the New York Mets had 2 pitchers named Bob Miller, and they roomed together. When the phone would ring, whoever picked up would say, "Hello, Bob Miller here.")

On this day, approaching his 40th birthday, Greg A. Harris closed his career with something he'd wanted to try for a while. Naturally a righthanded pitcher, he had a special glove made so that he could switch hands, and try pitching lefthanded. With the Expos out of the race, he was allowed to try.

In the 9th inning, throwing righthanded, he retired Reggie Sanders. Then, lefthanded, he walked Hal Morris, and got Ed Taubensee to ground out. Finally, righthanded, he got Bret Boone to ground back to him. Thus did he become the 1st switch-pitcher in a regular-season game since Tony Mullane in 1894, 101 years earlier. He donated the glove to the Baseball Hall of Fame, which now has it on display.

Greg A. Harris finished with a record of 74-90, 54 saves, and a 3.69 ERA.

*

September 28, 1995 was a Thursday. These 6 other games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Houston Astros, 12-11 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Each team scored a run in the 10th inning. The Astros scored a run in the top of the 11th, but singles by Scott Bullett and Mark Parent won it for the Cubs in the bottom of the 11th.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 11-6 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Roger Clemens was the winning pitcher.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-0 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. Mark Gubicza pitched a 4-hit shutout.

* The San Franscisco Giants beat the Colorado Rockies, 12-4 at Coors Field in Denver. Barry Bonds, Matt Williams and Rich Aurilia hit home runs.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers, 6-2 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Ken Griffey Jr. hit a grand slam, and Jay Buhner also homered.

* And the California Angels beat the Oakland Athletics, 4-1 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

August 15, 1989: The Tragedy of Dave Dravecky

August 10, 1989: Dave Dravecky, a 1983 All-Star, returns to Major League Baseball after missing the entire season to that point with cancer in his left arm, his pitching arm.

Aided by a home run by Matt Williams, Dravecky pitches 8 innings for the San Francisco Giants, and beats the Cincinnati Reds 4-3 at Candlestick Park. It is one of the most remarkable comebacks in baseball history. But it will be short-lived.

David Francis Dravecky was born on February 14, 1956 in Youngstown, Ohio, and played baseball and basketball at Youngstown State University. Before becoming the head football coach there, Jim Tressel called the stretch of Ohio east of Cleveland and Pennsylvania west of Pittsburgh "the State of Youngstown," considering it a great recruiting ground for football players.

Dravecky debuted in the major leagues with the San Diego Padres in 1982, and was named a National League All-Star in 1983. On July 4, 1987, the Padres traded him, pitcher Craig Lefferts and 3rd baseman Kevin Mitchell (later converted to a left fielder) to the San Francisco Giants for pitchers Mark Davis, Keith Comstock and Mark Grant, and 3rd baseman Chris Brown.

Davis became a Cy Young Award winner as a Padre reliever, but this trade helped the Giants win the 1987 NL Western Division title, and then the 1989 NL Pennant. Dravecky won Game 2 of the 1987 NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals, but lost Game 6, and the Cards won Game 7.

On Opening Day 1988, Dravecky was the starting and winning pitcher as the Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers. But he only pitched 7 games that season. He was diagnosed with cancer, a desmoid tumor in his left arm, his pitching arm. He underwent a procedure in which half of the deltoid muscle in that arm was removed.

His chances of ever pitching again did not look good, and he was advised to sit out all of the 1989 season. Instead, he worked his way back, and won that game on August 10. It was being hailed as one of the greatest comeback stories in baseball history. He was out from May 29, 1988 to August 10, 1989, but won his 1st game back.

While with the Giants, Dravecky and teammates Scott Garrelts, Atlee Hammaker and Jeff Brantley became known as the "God Squad" because of their strong Christian faith. Foregoing the hard-partying lifestyle of some of their teammates, they preferred to hold Bible studies in their hotel rooms while on the road. Another such player was Eric Show, a pitcher and a Padres teammate of Dravecky's.

August 15, 1989: Dravecky makes his next start, against the Montreal Expos, at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. The Giants led, 3-0 in the bottom of the 6th inning, the scoring including a home run by Matt Williams. Dravecky had a 3-hit shutout going. Yet he later said he felt a "tingling" in his left arm in the 5th. He should have left the game immediately, but he went on.

Dámaso García led off the 6th inning with a home run. Then Dravecky hit Andrés Galarraga with a pitch. Giants manager Roger Craig, himself once a successful pitcher, and the pitching coach for the Detroit Tigers' 1984 World Series winners, should have recognized then that something was wrong, and taken him out. Instead, the next batter was Tim Raines, and Dravecky threw the ball well to the left of the plate, for a wild pitch.

It was the last pitch he would ever throw. The humerus bone, the upper arm between shoulder and elbow, had snapped cleanly. Fans said it could be heard from the stands, and TV viewers claimed they could hear it, too. Dravecky went down in agony, and 1st baseman Will Clark was already by his side before catcher Terry Kennedy could retrieve the ball. Galarraga made it all the way to 3rd base.

Craig brought Jeff Brantley in to pitch, and he gave up a sacrifice fly to Raines that scored Galarraga. But he got out of the inning with no further damage to the scoreboard. He and Steve Bedrosian preserved the Giants' 3-2 lead. Dravecky had the 64th and last win of his major league career.

The Giants won the NL Western Division title, and on October 9, they won Game 5 of the NL Championship Series over the Cubs, to win the Pennant, their 1st in 27 years. The players ran out of the dugout to celebrate on the field. In the process, Dravecky's arm was accidentally broken again. He wouldn't have been available for the World Series, anyway, and they were swept in 4 straight by their cross-Bay opponents, the Oakland Athletics.

A doctor found that the cancer had returned to Dravecky's arm, and this was causing the breaks. Dravecky retired from baseball, at the age of 33. He wrote a book titled Comeback, but the cover showed him at the World Series, with his arm in a sling. Shortly after the picture was taken, before Game 3, San Francisco was struck by an earthquake. No one in Candlestick Park was hurt.

He underwent 2 more surgeries in 1990, but the cancer came back again. On June 18, 1991, his left arm and shoulder were amputated. He became a Christian-based motivational speaker, and he and his wife Janice wrote a sequel book, When You Can't Come Back.

As of August 15, 2022, Dave Dravecky is alive and well at age 66, the amputation having stopped the cancer, and still speaking about his life's highs and lows. The Giants have since won 4 more Pennants and 3 World Series, and he has occasionally been invited to throw out the ceremonial first ball. He has done so, with his right arm. He has been elected to the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame.

*

August 15, 1989 was a Tuesday. Joe Jonas, who starred in a rock band with his brothers, was born.

These other Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Milwaukee Brewers, 1-0 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Teddy Higuera pitched a 6-hit shutout, to outpitch Clay Parker. The only run of the game came in the 4th inning, when Greg Brock singled Jim Gantner home.

Robin Yount went 0-for-3 with a walk. Paul Molitor went 1-for-4. Don Mattingly went 0-for-4. Dave Winfield missed the entire season due to injury.

* The New York Mets beat the San Diego Padres, 3-2 at Shea Stadium. Kevin Elster doubled Barry Lyons home in the bottom of the 9th to win the game. Jeff Musselman was the winning pitcher, in relief of Sid Fernandez. Ed Whitson, a Padre teammate of Dravecky's, and no stranger to frustration in New York due to his Yankee tenure, was the losing pitcher. Howard Johnson and Kevin McReynolds hit home runs. Tony Gwynn went 1-for-4.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-2 at Fenway Park in Boston. Dave Stieb outpitched Mike Smithson. Wade Boggs went 2-for-3 with a walk.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-6 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Ricky Jordan hit his 2nd home run of the game in the bottom of the 8th inning.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-2 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you. In the top of the 12th inning, Reds pitcher Mike Roseler got the 1st 2 outs, but walked Mitch Webster and Mark Grace, and then gave up a home run to Andre Dawson. Mitch Williams was the winning pitcher, in relief of Greg Maddux.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Detroit Tigers, 2-0 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Bob Milacki pitched a 3-hit shutout, outpitching Doyle Alexander. Cal Ripken and Joe Orsulak hit home runs.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox, 10-6 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. George Brett went 2-for-4 with a walk.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Atlanta Braves, 9-1 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Houston Astros beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-2 at the Astrodome in Houston. Ken Caminiti singled Eric Yelding home with the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning. Barry Bonds went 1-for-4 with a walk.

* The California Angels beat the Minnesota Twins, 3-2 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-2 at the Oakland Coliseum. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers, 2-0 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Brad Holman allowed 10 hits over 7 innings, and Mike Schooler 3 over 2, but, even after 13 hits, the Mariners kept the shutout. Charlie Hough allowed just 1 hit in a complete game, a single by Harold Reynolds to lead off the bottom of the 6th.

But, Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you. So can balks, wild pitches and errors. After a balk sent Reynolds to 2nd base, he struck Greg Briley out, then intentionally walked Alvin Davis to set up an inning-ending double play. Then he threw Jeffrey Leonard a wild pitch, taking his strategy with it, and Leonard hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Reynolds. And in the 7th, he led off with a walk to Mike Kingery, who stole 2nd, and scored on Dave Valle's grounder that 3rd baseman Steve Buchele couldn't handle.

May 1, 1962: Eusébio, the Sacred Monster, & The Curse of Béla Guttmann

Eusébio (left) and Mario Coluna

May 1, 1962: Sport Lisboa e Benfica, of Lisbon, Portugal, defeats Real Madrid, 5-3, to successfully defend the European Cup, at the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam. Since the tournament began in 1955-56, Real Madrid (1956-60) and Benfica (1961-62) are the only clubs to have won it, a pattern that will be broken the next season by Italy's AC Milan.

Ferenc Puskás, the Hungarian "Galloping Major," and possibly the best player in the world for the last 10 years, scored a hat trick for Madrid, giving them a 3-2 lead. But a pair of geniuses from Portuguese East Africa, now Mozambique, are the heroes: Mario Coluna, a.k.a. O Monstro Sagrado (the Sacred Monster – what a great nickname!), ties the game; and Eusébio da Silva Ferreira (known universally by just his first name) scores 2 goals in 3 minutes to win it.

Béla Guttmann, Puskás' fellow Hungarian, managed Benfica to both of those European Cup wins. He rarely stayed at a club longer than two seasons, and was quoted as saying, "The third season is fatal."

After the 1962 title, he asked for a raise, didn't get it, and quit. Supposedly, he then said, "Not in a hundred years from now will Benfica ever be European Champions again." 

there is no documentary evidence on Guttmann saying anything related to a curse and that the first mention of such was in May 1988, by newspaper Gazeta dos Desportos, on the day of the 1988 European Cup Final, which Benfica lost to Dutch team PSV Eindhoven.

Supposedly, before the 1990 European Cup Final, played in Vienna, where Guttman had died in 1981, Eusébio reportedly prayed at Guttmann's grave, and asked for the curse to be broken. It didn't work: Benfica lost to AC Milan. In 2011, Eusébio gave an interview in which he said the story of Guttmann placing a curse on the team was a lie.

Not in 100 years? Through the 2012-22 season, 60 years, he remains right: Between the Champions League and the UEFA Cup/Europa League, they have lost their last 8 finals in European competition. Nevertheless, a statue of him now stands outside Benfica's Estádio da Luz (Stadium of Light).

*

May 1, 1962 was a Tuesday. These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Bill Stafford was the winning pitcher. Elston Howard hit a home run. Mickey Mantle went 0-for-3 with 2 walks. Roger Maris went 1-for-3 with 2 walks and an RBI. Yogi Berra did not play.

* The New York Mets lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 8-2 at the Polo Grounds. Joey Jay not only went the distance for the win, but helped his own cause with a home run. Frank Robinson went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Washington Senators beat the Boston Red Sox, 2-1 at District of Columbia Stadium (later Robert F. Kennedy Stadium) in Washington. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-3.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Cleveland Indians, 8-6 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Baltimore Orioles, 8-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Camilo Pascual, who had perhaps the best curveball in the American League while Sandy Koufax had the best one in the National League, not only went the distance for the win, but helped his own cause with a home run. Harmon Killebrew did not play. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-4.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros, 6-4 at the first Busch Stadium (formerly the last Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Athletics, 3-2 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Vic Wertz singled Jake Wood and Al Kaline home in the top of the 10th inning. Jerry Lumpe -- a former Yankee described by manager Casey Stengel as, "He looks like the greatest player in the world, until you play him" -- hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 10th, but the A's couldn't find another run. Kaline had homered earlier in the game. Jim Bunning went all 10 innings for the win.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 6-5 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The Cubs tied the game in the 8th inning. There was no further scoring until the 15th, when both teams scored 2 runs. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Daryl Spencer led off the bottom of the 16th with a walk, and was singled to 2nd base by Willie Davis. They were both bunted over by former Yankee 3rd baseman Andy Carey, and Doug Camilli (son of former Brooklyn Dodger All-Star Dolph Camilli) singled Spencer home to win it.

Duke Snider went 1-for-6 with 2 walks. For the Cubs, Ernie Banks went 0-for-7, while George Altman went 4-for-7 with an RBI.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-2 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Orlando Cepeda hit a home run. Willie Mays went 1-for-3 with a walk. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-4.

* And the Milwaukee Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies were supposed to play at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia, but, according to Baseball-Reference.com, despite it being May, the game was postponed due to cold. It was made up as part of a doubleheader on July 20. The Braves won the opener, 7-5. The Phils won the nightcap, 3-2. Over the 2 games, Hank Aaron went 3-for-9 with a solo home run.

April 27, 1983: Nolan Ryan Surpasses Walter Johnson

April 27, 1983: The Houston Astros beat the Montreal Expos, 4-2 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Nolan Ryan of the Astros strikes out Brad Mills of the Expos. It is the 3,509th strikeout of Ryan's career, allowing him to surpass Walter Johnson as the major leagues' all-time leader. Johnson had held the record since surpassing Cy Young in 1921.

Steve Carlton of the Philadelphia Phillies would, however, soon catch and surpass Ryan. They would go back and forth as the all-time leader, until late in the season, when Ryan would begin to pull away. Ryan would end his career with 5,714.

As of April 27, 2022, also ahead of Johnson now are the unrelated Randy Johnson with 4,875, Roger Clemens with 4,672, Carlton with 4,136, Bert Blyleven with 3,701, Tom Seaver with 3,640, Don Sutton with 3,574, and Gaylord Perry with 3,534. The active leader is Max Scherzer with 3,210.

*

April 27, 1983 was a Wednesday. These other games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals, 6-0 at Yankee Stadium. Bob Shirley, normally a reliever, allowed 8 hits, but kept the shutout. Roy Smalley hit a home run. Willie Randolph and Jerry Mumphrey each got 3 hits. George Brett went 1-for-4.

* The New York Mets beat the Cincinnati Reds, 2-1 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Johnny Bench, in his last season as a player, went 0-for-4.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-2 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Dick Ruthven outpitched Phil Niekro. Mike Schmidt went 1-for-4 with a walk. Pete Rose went 1-for-5 with 2 RBIs.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-2 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-3 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Diego Padres, 5-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Larry Bowa doubled Jerry Morales home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Robin Yount and Paul Molitor each went 2-for-5.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-6 at Busch Memorial Coliseum in St. Louis.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Texas Rangers, 3-2 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The California Angels beat the Detroit Tigers, 13-3 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Rod Carew went 2-for-4 with 2 walks. Fred Lynn and Daryl Sconiers each had 4 RBIs. Reggie Jackson did not play.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Oakland Athletics, 6-0 at the Oakland Coliseum. Mike Flanagan pitched 5 innings, Sammy Stewart 4, combining for a 6-hit shutout. Gary Roenicke went 2-for-3 with 2 walks and 3 RBIs. Eddie Murray went 0-for-4 with a walk. Cal Ripken went 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.

* And the Boston Red Sox beat the Seattle Mariners, 2-1 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

Football was out of season. The Stanley Cup Playoffs were between rounds. There were 3 games in the NBA Playoffs:

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the New York Knicks, 98-91 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. Moses Malone had 30 points and 17 rebounds.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Boston Celtics, 116-95 at the Boston Garden.

* And the San Antonio Spurs beat the Denver Nuggets, 126-109 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio. George Gervin scored 30 points.