November 1, 2010: The San Francisco Giants End the "Torture"

November 1, 2010: The Giants win their 1st World Series since moving to San Francisco. Édgar Renteria, who drove in the winning run for the Florida Marlins against the Cleveland Indians in the 11th inning during Game 7 of the 1997 Fall Classic, joins Yankees legends Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Yogi Berra as only the 4th player in baseball history to collect two World Series-winning hits. (He had also made the last out for the St. Louis Cardinals as the Boston Red Sox won the 2004 World Series *.)

He was named the Series' Most Valuable Player. His 3-run home run off Cliff Lee in the 7th inning led to San Francisco's 3-1 victory over the Texas Rangers, and brings an end to 56 seasons of what some Giants fans had been, in recent days, describing as "torture." (Clearly, they'd never been truly tortured.)

Since the 1957-58 move, the Giants had won the National League Pennant, but lost the World Series, in 1962, 1989 and 2002; lost the NL Championship Series in 1971, 1987; lost the NL Division Series in 1997, 2000 and 2003; fell just short of the single-division Pennant in 1959, 1964, 1965 and 1966; and fell just short of the NL Western Division title in 1969, 1982, 1993, 2001 and 2004.

This was made worse by the fact that the Los Angeles Dodgers, who had been their Brooklyn-based arch-rivals when both were in New York City, and whose move to L.A. led to the Giants moving to San Francisco to continue the rivalry in a geographic sense (instead of moving to the site of their top farm team, Minneapolis, as they'd planned), had been far more successful.

From 1958 to 2009, the Giants had reached the postseason 8 times, winning 7 Division titles and 3 Pennants, but never a World Series; while the Dodgers had reached the postseason 18 times, winning 11 Division titles, 9 Pennants, and 5 World Series -- although their last Pennant, at this point, was in 1988.

But this 2010 title changed baseball history, at least on the West Coast. Bruce Bochy, a former major league catcher, had helped the San Diego Padres win both of their Pennants, in 1984 as a player and in 1998 as their manager. Now, he was managing the Giants to glory.

Catcher Buster Posey was the team's on-field leader, starring with shortstop Renteria and Juan Uribe, 1st baseman Aubrey Huff, 3rd baseman Pablo Sandoval, and, from the 2008 World Series-winning Philadelphia Phillies, left fielder Pat Burrell. The starting rotation was led by Tim Lincecum, a.k.a. "The Freak"; former Oakland Athletics ace Barry Zito, who had struggled since signing with the Giants but came through this season; and Matt Cain, who pitched a perfect game 2 years later. Brian Wilson led the NL with 48 saves.

The Giants won the NL West by 2 games over the Padres, beat the Atlanta Braves 3-1 in the NLDS, and beat the Phillies 4-2 in the NLCS, before beating the Rangers, 4-1. The Rangers had won their 1st American League Pennant, and their win in Game 3 was the 1st World Series game ever won by a Texas-based team. But they were no match for the Giants.

The Giants began an on-and-off run: The Giants would do well in even-numbered years, but not odd-numbered years. They won the World Series in 2010, missed the Playoffs in 2011, won the World Series again in 2012, had a losing record in 2013, won the World Series again in 2014, missed the Playoffs in 2015, and won the NL Wild Card Game but lost the NLDS in 2016. After that, they fell apart, and rebuilt.

The Dodgers wouldn't win another Pennant until 2017, or another World Series until 2020.

*

November 1, 2010 was a Monday. On ESPN Monday Night Football, the Indianapolis Colts beat the Houston Texans, 30-17 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

There were 3 games in the NBA:

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 110-98 at the United Center in Chicago. Luol Deng scored 40 points.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 97-88 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

* And the Sacramento Kings beat the Toronto Raptors, 111-108 at the Power Balance Pavilion (formerly the ARCO Arena) in Sacramento.

And there were 3 games in the NHL:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-2 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Vancouver Canucks, 3-0 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver.

* And the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 3-2 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

October 31, 2010: "The Walking Dead" Premieres

October 31, 2010: The Walking Dead premieres on AMC -- appropriately enough, on Halloween Night. It is based on the graphic novel series of the same title, created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Tony Moore in 2003, and published by Image Comics until 2019.

English actor Andrew Lincoln played Rick Grimes, a Sheriff in Cynthiana, Georgia, who falls into a coma after being wounded in a shootout. Some time later, he awakens to discover that, in his absence, a zombie apocalypse has taken place. He is told his wife Lori and son Carl had been taken to Atlanta for their protection. Rick becomes the leader of a group of survivors, trying to fend off both zombies (known as "walkers") and rival survivor groups, the more evil enemy: Unlike the walkers, who are acting solely on instinct, the other survivors have made choices.

Lincoln left the series during its 9th season, succeeded as group leader by Norman Reedus as hunter Daryl Dixon. But many viewers had already given up on the show by then, saying that the stories had become repetitive. It's inspired several spinoffs featuring individual characters; Fear the Walking Dead, which shows how it all began, but with a separate group of characters; and Talking Dead, a post-show fan-discussion show. The original show's final episode, concluding its 11th season, will air on November 20, 2022.

(UPDATE: The series finale left the fates of both Rick and Michonne Hawthorne, played by Danai Gurira, unclear. On June 18, 2023, another spinoff series began: The Walking Dead: Dead City follows the characters of Maggie Greene, played by Lauren Cohan; and Negan Smith, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, in what remains of New York City. On February 25, 2024, a new series, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, picked up the story of Rick and Michonne.)

In a 2014 episode of Epic Rap Battles of History, "Nice" Peter Shukoff played Rick, against "Epic" Lloyd Ahlquist, who played Walter White of Breaking Bad.

*

October 31, 2010 was a Sunday. These NFL games were played that Halloween:

* The New York Jets lost to the Green Bay Packers, 9-0 at the New Meadowlands Stadium (now MetLife Stadium). Yes, that's a football score, not baseball.

* The New England Patriots beat the Minnesota Vikings, 28-18 at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The New Orleans Saints beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 20-10 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 22-14 at Paul Brown Stadium (now Paycor Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Washington Redskins, 37-25 at Ford Field in Detroit.

* The St. Louis Rams beat the Carolina Panthers, 20-10 at the Edward Jones Dome (now The Dome at America's Center) in St. Louis.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Buffalo Bills, 13-10 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Ryan Succop kicked a 35-yard field goal as time ran out in overtime.

* The Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Dallas Cowboys, 35-17 at the new Cowboys Stadium (now AT&T Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Arizona Cardinals, 38-35 at Sun Devil Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

* The San Diego Chargers beat the Tennessee Titans, 33-25 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

* The Oakland Raiders beat the Seattle Seahawks, 33-3 at the Oakland Coliseum.

* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Denver Broncos, 24-16 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* The next night, on Monday Night Football, the Indianapolis Colts beat the Houston Texans, 30-17 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

* And the Atlanta Falcons, the Baltimore Ravens, the Chicago Bears, the Cleveland Browns, the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles had a bye week.

Game 4 of the World Series was played at Rangers Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium), practically next-door to the new Cowboys Stadium. The San Francisco Giants beat the Texas Rangers, 4-0. Aubrey Huff and Buster Posey hit home runs for the Giants. Madison Bumgarner pitched 8 innings of 3-hit shutout ball. He and Posey were the 1st rookie battery to start a World Series game since 1947, when Frank "Spec" Shea and Yogi Berra did it for the New York Yankees. The Giants took a 3-1 lead in the Series, and won it the next day.

There were no games played in the NHL, but 4 were in the NBA:

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Miami Heat, 101-78 at the Prudential Center in Newark.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 120-99 at the Ford Center (now the Paycom Center) in Oklahoma City.

* And in a doubleheader at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors, 107-83; and the Los Angeles Clippers lost to the Dallas Mavericks, 99-83.

October 29, 2014: The Madison Bumgarner Game

October 29, 2014: For only the 2nd time since Bud Selig -- now, thankfully, overseeing his final game as Commissioner -- declared in 2003 that the League that wins the All-Star Game would have home-field advantage for the World Series, a Series goes to a Game 7. That means that the Kansas City Royals will host it at Kauffman Stadium.

And the 1st time was in 2011, and the St. Louis Cardinals won Games 6 and 7 to beat the Texas Rangers. And the last time the road team has won a Game 7 in the World Series was the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates, 35 years earlier. And that means that, despite most of the San Francisco Giants having at least 1 ring (2012) and many of them 2 rings (2010 and 2012), and the Royals are in their 1st World Series in 29 years, the Giants have no chance, right?

Wrong. The teams trade blocks of 2 runs in the 2nd inning, and in the top of the 4th, Pablo Sandoval reaches on an infield single, and advances to 3rd on a single by Hunter Pence. Michael Morse singles him home to give the Giants the lead.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy gambles, sending Madison Bumgarner out to pitch the 5th on 2 days' rest. "MadBum" gave up a hit, but, in a display that wouldn't have seemed so courageous as recently as the 1970s, didn't allow another baserunner until the 9th, retiring 14 batters in a row.

With 1 out to go, Alex Gordon hits a liner that rolls to the wall, and he gets to 3rd. Salvador Perez had already gotten the game-winning hit in the AL Wild Card game. But Bumgarner induces a foul popup that is caught by Sandoval, completing the longest save in World Series history: 5 full innings.

The Giants win, 3-2, and take their 3rd World Championship in the last 5 years -- their 8th World Series win, counting their New York period. Sports Illustrated named Bumgarner their Sportsman of the Year.

The Royals would have to wait 1 more year to win the World Series. Gordon would have to wait 1 more World Series game to become a baseball legend.

*

October 29, 2014 was a Wednesday. Football was in midweek. There were 12 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lose to the Chicago Bulls, 104-80 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Brooklyn Nets lose to the Boston Celtics, 121-105 at the TD Garden in Boston.

* The Charlotte Hornets name is officially revived. The original Hornets, who played from 1988 to 2002, moved to New Orleans, but were enticed to give the name up in 2013, and take the name of a former minor-league baseball team, the New Orleans Pelicans. The Charlotte Bobcats, created as an expansion team in 2004, are officially allowed to take the Charlotte Hornets name.

Like the Oklahoma City Thunder did 2 years earlier, the new Hornets play their 1st game at home against the Milwaukee Bucks. Unlike the Thunder, the Hornets win, 108-106 at Time Warner Cable Arena (now the Spectrum Center). Kemba Walker leads all scorers with 26 points.

* The Miami Heat beat the Washington Wizards, 107-95 at the American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami.

* The Memphis Grizzlies beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 105-101 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

* The Toronto Raptors beat the Atlanta Hawks, 109-102 at the Air Canada Center (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 103-91 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse (now the Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Detroit Pistons, 89-79 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Utah Jazz, 104-93 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City (then named the EnergySolutions Arena.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 119-99 at the US Airways Center (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Sacramento Kings, 95-77 at the Sleep Train Arena (formerly the ARCO Arena) in Sacramento.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 106-89 at the Moda Center in Portland. Russell Westbrook scored 38 points in defeat.

There were 2 games in the NHL. The Detroit Red Wings beat the Washington Capitals, 4-2 at the Verizon Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington. And the Nashville Predators beat the Edmonton Oilers, 4-1 at Rexall Place (as the Northlands Coliseum was then known) in Edmonton.

October 29, 2012: Hurricane Sandy

The Seaside Heights roller coaster, ruined

October 29, 2012: Hurricane Sandy strikes the New York Tri-State Area, the most destructive storm ever to hit the region. It kills 233 people, including 53 people in New York and 37 people in New Jersey. The damage is especially devastating on the Jersey Shore and Staten Island. In my hometown of East Brunswick, New Jersey, power was out for a full 7 days.

The day before, on Facebook, I posted:

New Jersey Transit buses and trains will suspend service at 4:00 this afternoon, in anticipation of the effects of Hurricane Sandy.

New York subways and buses will do so at 7:00 tonight.

PATH (Port Authority Trans-Hudson) trains will wait until midnight. I guess Jersey City think they're tougher than everyone else.

A few minutes later, the last sporting event in the New York Tri-State Area before the hurricane hit was completed. The New York Jets were hosting Miami, the city best known for facing hurricanes, at the Meadowlands. I wrote, "Well, it's official. Disaster conditions in New Jersey. Dolphins 30, Jets 9."

The New York Giants beat the Dallas Cowboys on the road, 29-24, and I wrote, "I wonder if the Giants were able to fly back home. I certainly wouldn't want to be stuck in a crummy city like Dallas." (They were able to fly home.)

On October 29, we were hit by hard rain and heavy wind all day, but the power stayed on through daylight. My Facebook postings went like this:

* So far, here, it's no worse than an ordinary, if windy, autumn storm. A mess with the fallen leaves, but that's it. As long as we have power and food, we're okay.

A friend who was a Yankee Fan, remembering how the Yankees had gotten embarrassed by in the recent American League Championship Series, with the Detroit Tigers going on to get swept in the World Series by the San Francisco Giants, wrote, "Imagine if the Yankees had won the ALCS, and the prospects of World Series Games in the Bronx last night and tonight with this weather." To which I replied, "The Candlestick-era Giants would've felt like they had the home-field advantage!"

* This hurricane is hitting Central Jersey like we're Jeff Weaver. (A reference to the Yankee pitcher who threw away the 2003 World Series.)

* Accuweather.com is saying which hours over the next few days have such-and-such percent chance of rain. But not what kind - drizzle, shower, thunderstorm, cats-n-dogs - nor what speed of wind we can expect.

It's like a menu saying, "We have meat, vegetables and drinks, and it will cost you some money." And that's it.

* Based on what I'm reading off Channel 6 Action News out of Philly, Sandy should start crawling up the Jersey coast at around 8:00 tonight. The worst of it will hit my area at around midnight. Hopefully, by that point I'll be ready to fall asleep, so losing power won't be as big a problem - if it happens. By the morning, the wind should be significantly reduced, but there's going to be rain for much of the day.

Then it's just a matter of when NJ Transit will resume normal service.

* (A reference to the Obama vs. Romney election, 8 days later) At times like this, a CEO is useless. What's he going to do, fire the hurricane? Transfer it to another city? Outsource it to another country? Offer it stock options if it'll do something helpful? Offer it a "golden parachute" if it'll go away?

A CEO can't help us now. A community organizer is exactly what we need - before, during, and after the storm.

* (At 5:30 PM) Just heard on WCBS 880: Sandy has made landfall, in Cape May. 134 miles away.

* So far, a lot of noise, but no damage, and the power remains on. I haven't even heard the sump-pump - which is a good thing, it means that there's no sump to pump.

I was beginning to think we were going to get away with it. But at 7:00 PM on the dot, already dark, the lights went out. We had flashlights, candles, and fully-charged phones, and the phone charger in the car still worked. And, while we were one block from a river, we were on relatively high ground, so flooding wasn't an issue. I typed:

Well, that's it. The power is out. Just as I was sitting down to dinner, too.

Since my phone's battery drains rather easily, I'm going to have to be very judicious with its use. This may be the last time you hear from me until the morning when I get to work - if, that is, bus service is restored by then.

Good luck, everyone.

* (A little later) 11 hours to sunrise. At least then, I can see well enough to prepare cereal (I have one serving of milk left) and read.

* WCBS 880 reports "dozens of trees across Route 18" in East Brunswick. Route 9 closed in Old Bridge and Sayreville.

I have about 60% power left on this phone. 10 hours and change until sunrise.

* Nine hours to sunrise. I tried to use my flashlight to do a little reading, but after a while it hurt my eyes too much.

* Lincoln Tunnel now the only way off Manhattan Island. Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel and at least one subway tunnel under East River flooded.

On November 3, after shopping at the first nearby supermarket to reopen, I wrote in Uncle Mike's Musings (on the road, using my phone):

Although my home base is still without power, 5 days later, I did get through Hurricane Sandy all right.

New posts will have to wait until I can use a computer other than my smartphone for more than a few minutes at a time.

But I did make it through. I didn't want anyone to worry...

Until I can type for longer, I hope you all made it through as well, and that we'll all have power again soon.

Power returned on November 5, after 7 days. We were lucky. A lot of people weren't. On March 24, 2013, 5 months later, the family took my 5-year-old nieces to Point Pleasant Beach for the annual Palm Sunday Easter Egg Hunt. The town had replaced the parts of the Boardwalk that had been wrecked.

Point Pleasant Beach is at the top of a sandbar, separated from the mainland by Barnegat Bay, which includes the famous (or infamous) Seaside Heights, and also South Seaside Park, where my father's parents had a bungalow where they spent Summer weekends, and where my parents watched the 1st Moon landing on TV in 1969.

For old times' sake, we went down the sandbar on New Jersey Route 35, where everything was hit by wind coming off both the Atlantic Ocean and Barnegat Bay. There was so much devastation. Houses shattered. Some seeming intact, but cockeyed and leaning off their foundations. Much of the Seaside Heights boardwalk was still being repaired. The bungalow was still there, apparently unharmed.

But, 10 years later, there are still communities on Staten Island and Long Island working to rebuild.

*

What was meant to be the 1st regular-season game for the Brooklyn Nets, three nights later against the crosstown New York Knicks, was postponed. They first played 2 days after that, on November 3, at the Barclays Center in downtown Brooklyn, beating the Toronto Raptors 107-100. The New York City Marathon was canceled outright, since the City was in no condition to host such a wide-ranging event.

Most of the country was not affected. Nevertheless, the NBA season hadn't yet begun, and no games were played that night. Nor were any NHL games played, as the season was delayed by the owners once again being greedy enough to lock the players out. The season did not start until January 19, 2013.

Nor was there any baseball. The season ended the night before, as the San Francisco Giants beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-3 in 10 innings, to take Game 4 and sweep the World Series. The winning run scored on a single by Marco Scutaro.

But there was NFL action, on Monday Night Football: The San Francisco 49ers beat the Arizona Cardinals, 24-3 at University of Phoenix Stadium (now named State Farm Stadium) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona. Alex Smith threw 3 touchdown passes, 2 to Michael Crabtree and 1 to Randy Moss. 

October 27, 2002: Emmitt Smith Becomes the NFL's All-Time Rushing Leader

October 27, 2002: The Seattle Seahawks beat the Dallas Cowboys, 17-14 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas. Rian Lindell wins it with a 20-yard field goal with 25 seconds left.

But the game was memorable for another reason. The Cowboys' Emmitt Smith rushed for 109 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown that tied the game with 5:35 left in regulation. Those 109 yards enabled him to surpass Chicago Bears legend Walter Payton as the NFL's all-time rushing leader, breaking the record of 16,726 yards.

Drafted out of the University of Florida in 1990, Smith had helped the Cowboys win Super Bowls XXVII, XXVIII and XXX. He made 8 Pro Bowls, and in 1995, he set a new single-season record with 25 rushing touchdowns. (That record is now 28, set in 2006, by La Dainian Tomlinson of the San Diego Chargers.)

Smith, a native of Pensacola, in the Florida Panhandle, remained with the Cowboys through the 2002 season, and played 2 more seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. He still holds the NFL career records for most rushing attempts, 4,409; most rushing yards, 18,355, with Payton still 2nd; and most rushing touchdowns, 164.

In 1999, before he broke the record, The Sporting News ranked him 68th on their list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. In 2010, the NFL Network ranked him 28th on their list of the 100 Greatest Players. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor.

*

October 27, 2002 was a Sunday. These other NFL games were played:

* The New York Jets lost to the Cleveland Browns, 24-21 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The Denver Broncos beat the New England Patriots, 24-16 at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Baltimore Ravens, 31-18 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Washington Redskins beat the Indianapolis Colts, 26-21 at FedEx Field (now Northwest Stadium) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Carolina Panthers, 12-9 at Ericsson Stadium (now Bank of America Stadium) in Charlotte.

* The Houston Texans beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 21-19 at Alltel Stadium (now EverBank Stadium) in Jacksonville.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat their arch-rivals, the New Orleans Saints, 37-35 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Detroit Lions, 24-17 at Ralph Wilson Stadium (formerly Rich Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Tennessee Titans beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 30-24 at Paul Brown Stadium (now Paycor Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Chicago Bears, 25-7 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Oakland Raiders, 20-10 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Arizona Cardinals, 38-28 at Candlestick Park (then named San Francisco Stadium at Candlestick Point) in San Francisco.

* The next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Philadelphia Eagles beat the New York Giants, 17-3 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. The Giants are the Eagles' geographical and longest-lasting rivals, but most Eagle fans consider the Cowboys to be the team's true arch-rivals.

* And the Green Bay Packers, the Miami Dolphins, the St. Louis Rams and the San Diego Chargers had a bye that week.

In baseball, Game 7 of the World Series was played. At the ballpark then known as Edison International Field of Anaheim, the team then known as the Anaheim Angels beat the San Francisco Giants, 4-1. The team now known as the Los Angeles Angels, playing at what's now named Angel Stadium of Anaheim, having already won their 1st Pennant in 42 seasons of trying, had now won their 1st World Championship.

The NBA season started 2 days later. There were 3 games played in the NHL:

* The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Los Angeles Kings, 5-1 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the San Jose Sharks, 3-2 at the United Center in Chicago.

* And the Minnesota Wild and the Colorado Avalanche played to a tie, 3-3 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

October 26, 2002: The Anaheim Comeback -- Or the San Francisco Choke

Scott Spiezio

October 26, 2002: Game 6 of the World Series, at what was then known as Edison International Field of Anaheim – the former "Big A" briefly nicknamed "the Big Ed." The San Francisco Giants led the Series 3 games to 2, and led the team then known as the Anaheim Angels, 5-0 after 6½ innings, thanks to home runs by Shawon Dunston and Barry Bonds.

Let me take a step back. On October 19, Game 1 was played at the Big Ed. The Giants won it, 4-3, and their lineup included Tsuyoshi Shinjo, making him the 1st Japanese-born player to appear in a World Series game.

On October 24, Game 5 was played at Pacific Bell Park (now AT&T Park) in San Francisco. Jeff Kent hit 2 home runs, and the Giants pounded the Angels, 16-4.

But the event that will be forever remembered came in the bottom of the 7th inning. Kenny Lofton hit a triple, driving in J.T. Snow and David Bell (son of Buddy, grandson of Gus). But Darren Baker, 3-year-old son of Giant manager Dusty Baker, acting as batboy, had come up to the plate to collect Lofton’s bat, unaware that the play was still in progress. Snow saw this, and, fearing that Darren might get hurt in a play at the plate, grabbed him by his Giants jacket and pulled him away. There was no play at the plate, and Bell was able to score standing up.

The fact that the Giants had won the game so overwhelmingly, and the fact that Darren Baker had been saved from serious injury, made the Giants look like a team of destiny. They needed to win just 1 of the possible 2 games in Anaheim to take their 1st World Championship in 45 seasons in San Francisco.

Instead, the Angels scored 3 runs in the 7th to make it 5-3, including a home run by Scott Spiezio, but the Giants were still just 9 outs away from their 1st World Championship since moving to San Francisco 45 years earlier, their 1st in any city since they were in New York 48 years earlier.

But they choked. The Angels scored 3 more in the 8th, including 1 on a home run by Darin Erstad, and won, 6-5. The Series went to a Game 7 in Anaheim tomorrow night.

That night, I had dinner at an Applebee's in Milltown, New Jersey, about 3 miles from my residence in East Brunswick. When I left, the Giants were winning. When I got home, they were losing. To put it another way: According to Baseball-Reference.com, when Spiezio came to the plate, the Giants had a 93 percent chance of winning the game, and thus the Series. But they lost.

The next night, Angels won Game 7, 4-1. Liván Hernández, one of the Florida Marlins' heroes in the 1997 World Series, began the bottom of the 3rd inning by giving up a single to David Eckstein. He gave up a single to Darin Erstad. Then he hit Tim Salmon with a pitch, loading the bases with nobody out. And Garrett Anderson doubled down the right-field line to clear the bases. John Lackey pitched 5 strong innings, and 3 relievers shut the Giants out the rest of the way.

Having already won a World Series as a player with the 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers, Mike Scioscia had now won one as the Angels' manager.

In his one and only World Series appearance, Barry Bonds went 8-for-17, .471, with 4 home runs, 6 RBIs, and a Series record 13 walks. It was all in vain.

The Angels' inability to win a Pennant had been called "The Curse of the Cowboy." Gene Autry, Western movies' "Singing Cowboy," was their 1st owner, and still owned the team at this point. There seemed to be no reason why he would put a curse on his own team, but maybe he was the one who was cursed.

In the midst of the illness that would end his life the next year, Autry sold the Angels to the Walt Disney Company in 1997. Disney changed the team's name to the Anaheim Angels. The team finally won their 1st Pennant in 2002, and then won the World Series, ending the curse. But maybe they've started a new one: They've been to the Playoffs a few times since, but still have only the 1 Pennant.

Twenty years later, Dusty Baker is managing in the World Series again. Darren Baker is 23, and played 2nd base for the Harrisburg Senators of the Class AA Eastern League, a farm team of the Washington Nationals. If he continues at his current pace of progress through the minor leagues, he could be in the major leagues by the start of the 2024 season.

Scott Spiezio and David Eckstein would be teammates on another World Series winner, the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals. Spiezio's father, Ed Spiezio, was a 3rd baseman who won the World Series with the Cardinals in 1964 and 1967.

UPDATE: The Angels have a team Hall of Fame. Through the 2025 season, the inductees are:

* From the 1960s: Founding owner Gene Autry, 2nd baseman Bobby Knoop, shortstop Jim Fregosi, and pitcher Dean Chance.

* From the 1979 American League Western Division title: Autry, Fregosi as manager, Knoop as coach, coach Jimmie Reese, 1st baseman Rod Carew, 2nd baseman Bobby Grich, left fielder Don Baylor, catcher Brian Downing, and pitcher Nolan Ryan.

* From the 1982 AL West title: Autry, Knoop, Reese, Carew, Grich, Baylor, Downing, and pitcher Mike Witt -- but not manager Gene Mauch, nor right fielder Reggie Jackson.

* From the 1986 AL West title: Autry, Knoop, Reese, Grich, Downing (now in left field), Witt, and pitcher Chuck Finley -- but, again, neither Mauch nor Jackson.

* From the 1995 team that blew a big AL West lead: Autry, Knoop, Reese, Carew (now a coach), Finley, right fielder Tim Salmon, and left fielder Garret Anderson.

* From the 2002 World Champions: Salmon and Anderson are the only players yet honored.

* From the 2004 and '05 AL West titles: Salmon, Anderson and right fielder Vladimir Guerrero Sr. From the 2007, '08 and '09 Division titles: Anderson and Guerrero. So far, no players from the 2014 Division title have been honored.

*

October 26, 2002 was a Saturday. Among the college football games played that day were these:

* Number 1 Miami beat West Virginia, 40-23 at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, West Virginia. Miami, defending National Champions, won the Big East Conference Championship.

* Number 2 Oklahoma had the week off. They beat Colorado in the Big Twelve Conference Championship Game.

* Number 3 Virginia Tech beat Temple, 20-10 at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Virginia. But Tech lost 4 of their last 5 regular season games, their only victory at home to arch-rival Virginia.

* Number 4 Ohio State beat Number 18 Penn State, 13-7 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. Ohio State won the Big Ten Conference Championship, and then beat Miami in the Fiesta Bowl for the Bowl Championship Series' National Championship.

* Number 5 Georgia beat Kentucky, 52-24 at Commonwealth Stadium (now Kroger Field) in Lexington, Kentucky. Georgia beat Arkansas in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game.

* Number 6 Notre Dame beat Number 11 Florida State, 34-24 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee. Florida State recovered, and won the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship, before losing to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.

* Number 7 Texas beat Number 17 Iowa State, 21-10 at Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas. Losing to Oklahoma and Texas Tech cost Texas a shot at the Big Twelve title, but they still ended up in their frequent season finale, the Cotton Bowl.

* Number 8 Michigan were upset by Number 13 Iowa, 34-9 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. Iowa finished 2nd in the Big 10, and went to the Orange Bowl.

* Number 9 Washington State beat Arizona, 21-13 at Arizona Stadium in Tucson. "Wazzu" won the Pacific-Ten Conference title, but lost the Rose Bowl to Oklahoma.

* Number 10 Louisiana State lost to Auburn, 31-7 at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama. LSU reached the Cotton Bowl, where they lost to Texas.

* Number 14 Oregon were upset by Number 15 Southern California, 44-33 at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon. USC blew their shot at the Pac-10 title by losing to Washington State, but beat Iowa in the Orange Bowl.

* Number 16 Tennessee lost in a mild upset, but by a big score, to Number 19 Alabama, 34-14 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee.

* Among the service academies, Number 22 Air Force were upset by Wyoming, 34-26 at, with some appropriateness, War Memorial Stadium in Laramie, Wyoming; Army lost to Alabama-Birmingham (UAB), 29-26 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York; and Navy lost to Tulane, 51-30 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* And Rutgers lost to Syracuse, 45-14 at the Carrier Dome (now the JMA Wireless Dome) in Syracuse, New York.

The NBA season didn't start for another 3 days. There were 13 games in the NHL:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-3 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Philadelphia Flyers, 6-2 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-1 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.

* On the opener of CBC's Hockey Night In Canada, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Ottawa Senators, 5-3 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Atlanta Thrashers, 4-3 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston.

* The Chicago Blackhawks and the Carolina Hurricanes played to a tie, 3-3 at the RBC Center (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh, North Carolina.

* The Washington Capitals and the Florida Panthers played to a tie, 1-1 at the Office Depot Center (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.

* The Nashville Predators beat the Detroit Red Wings, 3-1 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center (now the Bridgestone Arena) in Nashville.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Buffalo Sabres, 5-2 at the Mellon Arena (as the Civic Arena was then known) in Pittsburgh.

* The Minnesota Wild beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 6-1 at the America West Arena (now the Footprint Center) in Phoenix.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Calgary Flames, 4-3 at the Saddledome in Calgary. Eric Boguniecki scored the winning goal with 25 seconds left in overtime.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 4-3 at the Skyreach Centre (as the Northlands Coliseum was then known) in Edmonton.

* In the nightcap of Hockey Night In Canada, the Vancouver Canucks lost to the Dallas Stars, 4-1 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

* And the Los Angeles Kings, the Colorado Avalanche, the San Jose Sharks and the Columbus Blue Jackets were not scheduled to play.

And in English soccer, Arsenal lost to Lancashire team Blackburn Rovers, 2-1 at Highbury in North London.

October 25, 1973: Two Unpopular Baseball Trades

Fergie Jenkins

October 25, 1973: The Chicago Cubs trade 6-time 20-game winner Ferguson Jenkins to the Texas Rangers for 3rd baseman Bill Madlock and utility man Vic Harris. "Fergie" has led the Cubs in wins in each of the past 7 seasons‚ the only pitcher ever to do so for a club and then be traded.

Although Madlock will win 2 batting titles with the Cubs, they will be out of contention while he is with them. They trade him to the San Francisco Giants, who then trade him to the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he will win 2 more batting titles, and help them win the 1979 World Series.

Bill Madlock

By contrast, Jenkins will pitch the Rangers to a 2nd-place finish in 1974, their best-ever finish until 1994. He would also pitch for the Red Sox, finishing 2nd with them as one of the "Buffalo Heads" in 1977. He did, however, return to the Cubs, and help them win the 1984 Division Title.

Meanwhile‚ the San Francisco Giants trade 3-time home run champion Willie McCovey‚ a Giant since 1959 and their most popular player since their 1957-58 move from New York‚ together with a minor leaguer named Bernie Williams (no relation to the Yankee Legend of the same name)‚ to the San Diego Padres for pitcher Mike Caldwell.

Willie McCovey. For once, saying that a player

"didn't look right in a Padre uniform"

had nothing to do with the uniform's style, or lack thereof.

This was a bad trade, as Caldwell did nothing for the Giants, but developed one of the best curveballs in the game in helping the Milwaukee Brewers mature into a Pennant winner in 1982. As Jenkins did with the Cubs, McCovey later rejoined the Giants, a second act that would include winning NL Comeback Player of the Year in 1977, and his 500th career home run in 1978. He finished with 521 homers.

Mike Caldwell, with the Brewers

Jenkins and McCovey are in the Hall of Fame. Madlock has his supporters for election, but will probably never make it. Caldwell isn't even close, although he had a good career, finishing with a record of 137-130.

*

October 25, 1973 was a Thursday. The baseball season had ended 4 days earlier, when the Oakland Athletics beat the New York Mets in Game 7 to win the World Series. Football was in midweek. There was only 1 game played in professional basketball, and it was in the ABA, not the NBA: The Carolina Cougars beat the Utah Stars, 115-104 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City.

There were 3 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders and the Minnesota North Stars played to a tie, 1-1 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Buffalo Sabres, 9-4 at the Boston Garden. Phil Esposito had 2 goals and an assist. Chris Oddleifson also had 2 goals. Bobby Orr had a goal and an assist.

* And the Montreal Canadiens beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-0 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

And there were 2 games in the World Hockey Association. The New England Whalers beat the New York Golden Blades, 8-3 at Madison Square Garden. And the Chicago Cougars beat the Quebec Nordiques, 4-2 at Le Colisée de Québec.

October 22, 2012: Lance Armstrong Is Busted

October 22, 2012: Lance Armstrong is busted. The biggest hero his sport had ever known was exposed as a cheater.

Born in 1971 in the suburbs of Dallas, he competed in triathlons: Long-distance swimming, long-distance bike riding, and then a marathon run of 26.2 miles. Never mind "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result": Even trying that, one time, fits my definition of "insanity."

In 1992, he began his career as a professional cyclist, with the Motorola team, competing in the Tour de France in 1993, 1994 and 1995. In 1996, he was diagnosed with a potentially fatal testicular cancer. After recovering, Armstrong founded the Lance Armstrong Foundation to assist other cancer survivors.

Returning to cycling in 1998, Armstrong was a member of the US Postal/Discovery team between 1998 and 2005, when he won his record 7 Tour de France titles. In 2002, Sports Illustrated named him Sportsman of the Year. He had dominated the event like few athletes had ever dominated a sporting event before. It was... something like how Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and then Barry Bonds broke home run records over the same stretch. It was a bit suspicious, and as early as 1999, the accusation of steroid use, or "doping" as it's known in international sports, started flying. But he insisted he was clean.

He retired from racing at the end of the 2005 Tour de France, but returned to competitive cycling with the Astana team in January 2009, finishing 3rd in the 2009 Tour de France. He retired for a 2nd time in 2011.

In 2012, it was revealed that Lance Armstrong truly was a champion -- when it came to cheating. A United States Anti-Doping Agency investigation concluded that he had used performance-enhancing drugs over the course of his career, and named him as the ringleader of "the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen."

He received a lifetime ban from all sports that follow the World Anti-Doping Code. The International Cycling Union (UCI) upheld the USADA's decision, stripped him of all his wins, and decided that these wins would not be allocated to other riders. In January 2013, in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Armstrong publicly admitted his involvement in doping. Shortly thereafter, the Lance Armstrong Foundation changed its name to the Livestrong Foundation.

In a 2013 episode of the YouTube series Epic Rap Battles of History, "Nice" Peter Shukoff played Armstrong, while "Epic" Lloyd Ahlquist played Babe Ruth.

*

October 22, 2012 was a Monday. Although the National League Championship Series went to Game 7, the last one is no contest. Brandon Belt lives up to his name, and belts a home run off Kyle Lohse. Matt Cain pitches a 7-hit shutout, and the San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals 9-0 at AT&T Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco. It is the 22nd Pennant for the Giants -- the 5th, if you only count those won in San Francisco. The American League Championship Series had already been decided: The Detroit Tigers swept the New York Yankees in 4 straight.

The NBA season started 8 days later. The NHL players were locked out by the team owners, and the season did not start until January 19, 2013. On ESPN Monday Night Football, the Chicago Bears beat the Detroit Lions, 13-7 at the new Soldier Field in Chicago.

October 22, 1974: The Murcer-Bonds Trade

October 22, 1974: The Yankees and the San Francisco Giants swap popular star outfielders: Bobby Bonds goes to New York, and Bobby Murcer heads to San Francisco. Bonds hit 32 home runs and stole 32 bases in 1975‚ becoming only the 2nd member of "the 30-30 Club" for any of The City's baseball teams. (The 1st was Willie Mays of the 1956 Giants.)

Bonds got off to a rough start, before adjusting to the different style of pitching in the American League. He went on a tear in May. But a knee injury in Chicago on June 7 wrecked his season. He later admitted that he should have gotten surgery, missed the rest of the season, and come back stronger in 1976.

Instead, he played on, and never quite adapted to New York. After just the 1 season, he was traded to the California Angels for outfielder Mickey Rivers and pitcher Ed Figueroa. They turned out to be 2 major figures in the Yankees' revival, so Bonds' greatest value to the Yankees was as trade bait.

Today, Bonds is known 3rd for his amazing combination of power and speed, 2nd for being traded so many times, and 1st for being the father of Barry Bonds. That really isn't fair, as Bobby was a fantastic player, one of the best of the 1970s.

As for Murcer, he felt betrayed. Team owner George Steinbrenner had promised him he would be "a Yankee for life." But Steinbrenner had been suspended from operation of the team, and wasn't reinstated until 1976. So general manager Gabe Paul made the call.

Murcer loved the city of San Francisco, but hated playing in cold, windy Candlestick Park, both as a batter and as an outfielder. He was traded to the Chicago Cubs in 1977, and he enjoyed Wrigley Field a lot more. (Sure, Wrigley also has wind issues, but it is also much more of a hitter's park.)

Still, Murcer was heartbroken to be traded by the Yankees, to whom he had given as much as anybody could in those dark years between 1964 and 1976, and swore he would never forgive them for trading him. But in 1979, Steinbrenner traded to get him back, and Bobby jumped at the chance, and he remained a part of the Yankee family, as a player until 1983, and then as a broadcaster until his death in 2008. He titled his autobiography Yankee For Life. It made sense, because, as much as he could, Steinbrenner kept his word.

*

October 22, 1974 was a Tuesday. The baseball season had ended 5 days before, with the Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. Football was in midweek. There were 6 games played in the NBA that day:

* The New York Knicks beat the Houston Rockets, 110-100 at Madison Square Garden. Bill Bradley led the Knicks with 22 points.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 125-92. John Drew scored 42 for the Hawks.

* The Buffalo Braves beat the New Orleans Jazz, 134-118 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. Bob McAdoo had 33 points and 22 rebounds. The Braves became the San Diego Clippers in 1978, and the Los Angeles Clippers in 1984. The Jazz moved to Salt Lake City in 1979, becoming the Utah Jazz.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Chicago Bulls, 92-90 at the Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena, or "The MECCA." Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena.

* The Washington Bullets beat the Kansas City-Omaha Kings, 123-121 at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City. (It's now named the Hy-Vee Arena.) Elvin Hayes scored 35 points for the Bullets, who became the Washington Wizards in 1997.

The Kings stopped playing the occasional game in Omaha after this season, and became just the Kansas City Kings, then the Sacramento Kings in 1985.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Golden State Warriors, 107-106 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

There were 2 games played in the American Basketball Association:

* The San Diego Conquistadors beat the Memphis Sounds, 109-106 at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis. Travis Grant scored 41 for the visiting "Q's."

* And the Virginia Squires beat the Spirts of St. Louis, 118-112 at the St. Louis Arena, known from 1973 to 1981 as the Checkerdome.

There were 4 games played in the National Hockey League:

* The New York Islanders beat the Atlanta Flames, 2-1 at the Nassau Coliseum. Bob Bourne scored the winner with just 43 seconds left in regulation.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Washington Capitals, 3-0 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland. This was the down period in which the Detroit team was known as the Dead Things, but the expansion Caps put together the worst season, winning-percentage-wise, in NHL history. Famously, they didn't win a game on the road until their last try, and skated around the ice with a trash can, in imitation of having won the Stanley Cup.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Los Angeles Kings, 4-2 at The Forum in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, California. The Flyers had won the Cup the season before, and would again this season -- but haven't won it since.

* And the Minnesota North Stars beat the Vancouver Canucks, 3-2 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

And there were games played in the World Hockey Association:

* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Houston Aeros, 7-2 at the Colisee de Quebec. In spite of this loss, the Aeros, led by a line of ageless Gordie Howe and his sons Mark and Marty, would repeat as WHA Champions.

* The Toronto Toros beat the Minnesota Fighting Saints, 11-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* And the San Diego Mariners beat the Cleveland Crusaders, 5-2 at the San Diego Sports Arena.