August 6, 1977: Having not been offered a new contract by Tottenham Hotspur, whom he'd helped win the 1967 FA Cup, the 1971 and 1973 League Cups, and the 1972 UEFA Cup, goalkeeper Pat Jennings signs with their North London arch-rivals, Arsenal. Since he is not currently under contract, "The Gunners" don't have to pay a penny to sign him.
Born on June 12, 1945 in Newry, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, Jennings helped Arsenal reach 4 cup finals in the next 3 seasons, but they won only 1 of them, the 1979 FA Cup. And even that was nearly blown.
On the other hand, "Spurs" didn't miss him that much. They got back up the next season. With Milija Aleksic, an Englishman of Serbian descent, in goal, the won the 1981 FA Cup. Then they signed former Liverpool goalie Ray Clemence, and won the 1982 FA Cup and the 1984 UEFA Cup (now the UEFA Europa League).
Jennings remained with Arsenal until 1985, and later returned to Spurs as a "club ambassador," meaning he schmoozes rich people in luxury boxes. He may be the only player to have played for both Arsenal and Spurs who remains beloved by fans of both.
There are many differences between N5's Arsenal and N17's Spurs. Here's one of the biggest: At Spurs, Pat Jennings, now 73, is the greatest goalie in club history; at Arsenal, despite having won Arsenal's biggest trophy in a generation, he might not even be one of their 5 greatest goalies ever.
He made 119 appearances for the Northern Ireland national football team, including in the 1982 and 1986 World Cups. This was a record for that team until 2019, when he was surpassed by Steven Davis, a midfielder who starred for English teams Aston Villa and Southampton, and for Scottish team Rangers.
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August 6, 1977 was a Saturday. These games were played in Major League Baseball:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Seattle Mariners, 9-2 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Glenn Abbott outpitched Jim "Catfish" Hunter. The M's got home runs from Bill Stein, Steve Braun, Leroy Stanton and Ruppert Jones. For the Yankees, Mickey Rivers went 3-for-4, and Reggie Jackson went 0-for-4.
* The New York Mets lost to the San Francisco Giants, 7-3 at Shea Stadium. Ed Halicki outpitched Pat Zachry. Willie McCovey went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs. Félix Millán and Ron Hodges each had 3 hits for the Mets, but the rest of the team had only 3.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 1-0 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. The game was scoreless in the bottom of the 9th, when Ted Sizemore singled Jerry Martin home to win it. This made Gene Garber a winning pitcher in relief of Jim Kaat, completing a 6-hit shutout, outpitching Burt Hooton. Mike Schmidt went 0-for-3 with a walk. This turned out to be a preview of the National League Championship Series, but the Dodgers won that.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the Montreal Expos, 3-1 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Tom Seaver outpitched Terry Forster, who was usually a reliever. Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan hit home runs for the Big Red Machine. Pete Rose went 1-for-5 with 2 RBIs.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Texas Rangers, 6-5 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Diego Padres, 10-5 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Bobby Murcer went 2-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Jerry Morales went 3-for-5 with 4 RBIs. Dave Winfield went 0-for-3 with a walk.
* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Robin Yount went 3-for-4 with an RBI.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Cleveland Indians, 6-5 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of
Bloomington, Minnesota. Rod Carew went 1-for-4 with a walk, 2 stolen bases and an RBI.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-3 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. George Brett went 2-for-4 with a home run, a walk, and 3 RBIs.
* A doubleheader was split at the Astrodome in Houston. The St. Louis Cardinals won the opener, 3-1. The Houston Astros won the nightcap, 4-1. Over the 2 games, Lou Brock went 3-for-7 with 2 RBIs.
* The California Angels beat the Baltimore Orioles, 9-5 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Ken Brett outpitched Rudy May. Ken Singleton went 3-for-4 with a home run and 4 RBIs, while Eddie Murray went 2-for-4.
* And the Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 2-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. Jim Rice went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-4.
