October 12, 1918: Harry Glenn Dies In Service

October 12, 1918: Harry Glenn, a former major league baseball player, dies while serving in the U.S. Army during World War I.

Harry Melville Glenn was born on June 9, 1890 in Shelburn, Indiana. Nicknamed "Husky," he played as a catcher in the minor leagues from 1910 to 1918. In 1915, he played 6 games for the St. Louis Cardinals, appearing in 6 games, getting 5 hits in 16 at-bats for a .313 batting average. He also had a run batted in.

He was drafted to serve in the U.S. Army in August 1918, while still playing for the St. Paul Saints of the American Association. He was stationed in St. Paul, as an aviation mechanic. He caught pneumonia, and these were the days before antibiotics were developed. On October 12, 1918, just 1 month before the Armistice ended the war, Glenn died at the age of 28.

He was 28 years old. There is no memorial to him at Busch Stadium, current home of the Cardinals. He was 1 of 8 major league players to die in "The War to End All Wars." Another, former New York Yankees outfielder Alex Burr, died in a "friendly fire" incident in France, on the same day as Glenn. I have a separate entry honoring him.

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October 12, 1918 was a Saturday. Another former player, Alex Burr, also died on this day. And the Cloquet Fire broke out in Minnesota. I have a separate entry for these events.

The War Department had ordered that the baseball season end a month early, in September, and that all players obey the "work or fight order": Enlist, or get a job in an industry essential to the war effort, or get an otherwise necessary job (like police or firemen), or be subject to the military draft. Hockey season hadn't started yet. Professional basketball barely existed.

And even college football was affected by the manpower drain of the war. That day, the following schools played military teams: The Universities of California, Chicago, Illinois, Minnesota and Texas; Lehigh University; and Texas A&M.

These intercollegiate games were played that day:

* Georgia Tech beat Furman, 118-0 at Grant Field in Atlanta. It had been 2 years and 5 days since Tech had beaten Cumberland College 222-0, college football's all-time biggest blowout.

* Ohio State beat Denison University, 34-0 at Ohio Field in Columbus. Before coaching Ohio State to glory, Woody Hayes would graduate from Denison in 1935.

* Michigan State beat Hillsdale College, 66-6 at College Field in East Lansing, Michigan. Hillsdale, of Hillsdale, Michigan, no longer fields sports teams.

* Iowa beat Coe College, 27-0 at Iowa Field in Iowa City. Coe is now an NCAA Division III school.

* And the Multnomah Athletic Club, a semi-pro team, beat the University of Oregon, 20-0 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.

October 11, 2000: The NHL Is Restored to Minnesota

October 11, 2000: The expansion Minnesota Wild play their 1st home game, at the Xcel Energy Center, built on the site of the old St. Paul Civic Center. They retire the team's uniform Number 1 for their fans. They get goals from Marian Gaborik, Darby Hendrickson and Wes Walz, but that's not enough, as the Philadelphia Flyers play them to a 3-3 tie.

A native of Calgary, Wes Walz is not related to Tim Walz, a successful high school football coach in Mankato, Minnesota, who was elected to Congress in 2006, and Governor in 2018.

Minnesota likes to call itself "The State of Hockey." The University of Minnesota have won 5 National Championships: In 1974, 1976, 1979, 2002 and 2003. They've made the NCAA's "Frozen Four" 22 times. (UPDATE: They made it a 23rd time in 2023.) The University of Minnesota Duluth have won 3 National Championships: 2011, 2018 and 2019; and reached 8 Frozen Fours.

But the Minnesota North Stars played in the NHL for 26 seasons, 1967 to 1993, and only made the Stanley Cup Finals twice, losing to the New York Islanders in 1981 and the Pittsburgh Penguins 1991. In 1993, team owner Norm Green moved them to Texas, where he renamed them the Dallas Stars. He couldn't even do that right: The first thing he should have tried was staying in Minnesota, and the second thing he should have tried was naming them the Dallas Lone Stars.

The North Stars became hockey's version of the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Baltimore Colts: The beloved blue-collar team that was moved for no reason other than money. Green was nicknamed "Norm Greed."

The Metropolitan Sports Center, in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, which opened for the North Stars in 1967, was demolished in 1994. A plan was developed to tear down an arena on the other side of the Mississippi River, the St. Paul Civic Center, and replace it with a new arena with all the modern amenities.

In 1997, the NHL announced 4 new expansion teams: The Nashville Predators, to begin play in 1998; the Atlanta Thrashers, to begin play in 1999 (they moved in 2011, becoming the new Winnipeg Jets); and, to begin play in 2000, the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild. The Xcel Energy Center opened on time for the Wild, and the NHL was restored to the State.

That name, though. "Wild"? Not "Wildcats," not "Wild Dogs," not even "Wild Things," but just "Wild"? Fans did embrace them, and the 1st uniform number the team retired was 1, in honor of their fans.

In their 1st 22 seasons, the Wild have made the Playoffs 12 times, reaching the Western Conference Finals in 2003.

UPDATE: The Wild's arena was renamed the Grand Casino Arena in 2025. They do not yet have a team hall of fame, but in addition to Number 1 for their fans, in 2022, they retired 9 for center Mikko Koivu.

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October 11, 2000 was a Wednesday. There were 6 other games played in the NHL that night:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers beat the Montreal Canadiens, 3-1 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Washington Capitals and the Atlanta Thrashers played to a tie, 3-3 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Detroit Red Wings, 4-3 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 3-2 at the Arrowhead Pond (now the Honda Center) in Anaheim. Joe Thornton scored the winning goal with 2:57 left in overtime.

* And the St. Louis Blues and the Los Angeles Kings played to a tie, 4-4 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

Football was in midweek. The NBA season was 20 days away from starting. The New York Yankees won Game 2 of the American League Championship Series, beating the Seattle Mariners, 7-1 at Yankee Stadium. Orlando "El Duque" Hernández was the winning pitcher. Derek Jeter hit a home run.

And the New York Mets won Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, beating the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Mike Hampton was the winning pitcher. Todd Zeile and Jay Payton hit home runs. Mark McGwire did not play for the Cardinals in this game.

August 29, 2008: John McCain Chooses Sarah Palin

August 29, 2008: The day after a highly successful Democratic Convention in Denver, and on his own 72nd birthday, the Republican nominee for President, Senator John McCain of Arizona, tries to steal the Democrats' thunder by announcing his selection for Vice President: Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska.

Traditionally, Vice Presidential picks are chosen for contrast. Sometimes, they represent a part of the country that the Presidential nominee doesn't, although they usually don't make much of a difference in winning States the Presidential nominee might not win.

Lyndon Johnson made a big difference for John Kennedy in 1960, and Walter Mondale might have done so for Jimmy Carter in 1976, but there have been no good examples since. Alaska has just 3 Electoral Votes, and has gone Republican in every Presidential election since 1968, so McCain didn't need Palin's help McCain there. The same was true on the Democratic side: Delaware also has just 3 EVs, and has gone Democratic in every election since 1992, so whatever help Joe Biden gave to Barack Obama, it wasn't geographic.

Sometimes, the Vice Presidential nominee has a particular strength that the Presidential nominee doesn't have. A younger nominee or a Governor might take an older foreign policy expert: Former Governor Ronald Reagan with George H.W. Bush in 1980, Governor Michael Dukakis with Lloyd Bentsen in 1988, Governor George W. Bush with Dick Cheney in 2000, and, there in 2008, the 47-year-old Obama with Biden. Palin certainly didn't help McCain there, and, with his experience, he was the older person and the foreign policy expert.

Sometimes, the age difference matters. In 1988, 64-year-old George H.W. Bush tried to appeal to youth with 41-year-old Dan Quayle. It's worked the other way, too. In that very election, Obama, 47, chose Biden, 66. McCain was 72, and Palin was 44. (Later, Biden chose Kamala Harris, 78 to 56, in 2020.)

And sometimes, a nominee who doesn't please the "true believers" in the party needs one of them on the ticket. Dwight D. Eisenhower chose Richard Nixon for that reason in 1952. Lyndon Johnson chose Hubert Humphrey in 1964. In 1976, Carter chose Mondale, and Gerald Ford dumped Nelson Rockefeller for Bob Dole. The elder Bush chose Quayle in 1988. In 1996, Dole, no longer seen by GOP archconservatives as one of their own, chose tax-cutting icon Jack Kemp. (Later, Mitt Romney chose Paul Ryan for this reason in 2012, and Donald Trump chose evangelical Catholic Mike Pence in 2016.)

When McCain first ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982, seeking the seat of retiring Minority Leader John Rhodes, he was seen as a staunch conservative, a loyal soldier in the Reagan Revolution. When he first ran for the U.S. Senate in 1986, seeking the seat of retiring conservative icon Barry Goldwater, he was still seen as a good conservative. But by the time he made his 1st run for President in 2000, he was seen as the moderate alternative to George W. Bush. And here, in 2008, despite finally winning his Party's nomination, a lot of Republicans were calling him a liberal.

McCain hadn't changed much over those 26 years. Politically, he was almost exactly the same. But the Party had veered so far to the right, that he was now seen by many moderates and independents as a sane Republican. He needed to shore up the conservative base. And so, he chose Palin, an absolutist on abortion (she had 5 children), guns (she bragged about her hunting skills), and taxes.

An editorial cartoon in the coming days showed an elephant in a suit, behind a podium, with the top half of a McCAIN-PALIN bumper sticker torn off, as if Palin was the reason any true Republican was going to vote for this ticket.

And, given McCain's age, and the fact that he had already beaten cancer once, the possibility that Palin could become President -- the 1st female President if it happened -- made her even more appealing to Republicans. The Democrats had nominated Geraldine Ferraro for Vice President on Mondale's ticket in 1984, and almost nominated Hillary Clinton for President instead of Obama this time. It would give the Republicans a chance to one-up the Democrats on a civil rights issue.

At first glance, it seemed like a very interesting pick: A woman, young, attractive, nice-looking family, in an executive position, shores up areas in the conservative movement where McCain is seen to have fallen short, and comes across like gangbusters on TV. It looks like the Obama-Biden campaign’s momentum has been wiped out, and we might have a close race all the way.

But then she started talking. And she began to sound not just like an archconservative, but like someone too inexperienced for the role into which she was thrust. Like someone whose total political experience had been a year and a half as Governor of a State of 687,000 people (only Vermont and Wyoming had fewer, then as now), and 6 years as Mayor of a "city" of 7,000 people. Like what the early Saturday Night Live would have called a "not-ready-for-prime-time player."

Her acceptance speech at the Republican Convention, at the Xcel Energy Center (UPDATE: It's now named the Grand Casino Arena) in St. Paul, Minnesota, was basically a throwing of platitudes against a wall to see which ones stuck. None did.

In his acceptance speech, McCain's best line referred to his basic idea of "biography as candidacy": He told of his life of service to America, and said, "I have the scars to prove it, Barack Obama does not!" Obama was 11 years old when the Vietnam War ended, and McCain was released as a prisoner of war. McCain found a good way to contrast himself with Obama without directly insulting him. But, to put it in baseball terms, after Palin's strikeouts of the preceding 7 days, he needed a home run, and only managed a single.

Speaking of SNL, former writer and castmember Tina Fey was rehired by the show, because of her resemblance to Palin. It got to the point where all she had to do was repeat what Palin was saying in interviews, and the audience would laugh. Except for one thing: In the September 13 cold open, in character, Fey said, "I can see Russia from my house!"

It seemed like the sort of thing the real thing, dingbat that she was, would have said. What did Palin say? Two days earlier, in her 1st major interview after being nominated, she sat down with Charles Gibson, then the anchor of ABC World News Tonight. He asked her about the proximity of Alaska to Russia, specifically easternmost Siberia, and she said, "They're our next-door neighbors, and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska." And, given a day with clear enough skies, that turns out to be true.

The problem was this: She seemed to be citing this fact as a foreign policy credential. It shouldn't have been considered one. In other words, it was actually dumber than the dumb quote misattributed to her.

By putting up such a rotten foreign policy credential, she reminded people of a major reason they'd turned against the Republican Party: The Bush Administration's policies on the Iraq War and the War On Terror. Nor did she, an apparently middle-class family-oriented woman, reassure people that the disastrous Bush economic policies would be significantly altered by an incoming McCain-Palin Administration. She needed to be strong where McCain was weak, and stand with him where he was strong. Not only did she do neither especially well, she emphasized the areas where McCain was weak.

In the Vice Presidential debate, Biden had to walk a fine line, criticizing her ticket's policies without sounding like an old man bullying a young woman. He stuck to criticizing McCain rather than Palin, and it seemed to work. At one point, Palin tried to invoke Reagan by saying, "Oh, there you go again, Joe." But, unlike Reagan's famous 1980 debate zinger on Carter, it sounded planned, and thus artificial. Palin wasn't going to remind any Republican old enough to remember Reagan of him. She didn't make a fool of herself in the debate, but she didn't help herself much, which she needed to do, and Biden won it solidly.

In the end, Palin may have gained as many conservative voters as she turned off independents and Democrats who were unsure about Obama. The Republican politician who really cost John McCain the election wasn't Sarah Palin, it was George W. Bush: McCain never explained how his policies were going to be better than those of the incumbent, the policies America had turned against.

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August 29, 2008 was a Friday. There were 2 college football games played that night. Temple beat Army, 35-7 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York. And Rice beat Southern Methodist University (SMU), 56-27 at Rice Stadium in Houston.

These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 2-1 at Yankee Stadium. Carl Pavano, already hated by Yankee Fans, was the winning pitcher, defeating A.J. Burnett, who would become beloved by Yankee Fans. Derek Jeter went 0-for-4. Alex Rodriguez went 1-for-3.

* The New York Mets beat the Florida Marlins, 5-4 at Dolphin Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. The Mets scored 4 runs in the top of the 9th, on a grand slam by Carlos Beltrán, and the Marlins 2 in the bottom half.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox, 8-0 at Fenway Park in Boston. Daisuke Matsuzaka allowed 2 hits over 8 innings, and Mike Timlin finished the 2-hit shutout. David Ortiz went 3-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.

* The Washington Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves, 7-3 at Nationals Park in Washington.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Baltimore Orioles, 14-3 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-1 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Cleveland Indians, 3-2 at Progressive Field in Cleveland. Ichiro Suzuki went 1-for-3.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the San Francisco Giants, 11-7 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals, 6-3 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Alfonso Soriano hit a home run in the 7th inning, which made the difference.

* The Houston Astros beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 9-3 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres, 9-4 at Petco Park in San Diego.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Texas Rangers, 3-1 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

* And the Minnesota Twins beat the Oakland Atletics, 12-2 at the McAfee Coliseum (as the Oakland Coliseum was then known).

April 13, 1993: The End of the Minnesota North Stars

Mike Modano

April 13, 1993: The Minnesota North Stars lose to the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-2 at the Metropolitan Sports Center, in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. It is the Stars' last home game: Their owner, Norm Green, is moving them to Texas, to become the Dallas Stars.

Russ Courtnall scored the team's last goal, with 23 seconds left in the game. The 1st home game had been on October 21, 1967, also at the Met Center, a 3-1 win over the Oakland Seals, with Bill Goldsworthy scoring the 1st goal.

The North Stars reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 1981, losing to the New York Islanders; and in 1991, losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins. They also got to the Playoffs' round of 4 in 1968, 1971, 1980 and 1984. They finished 1st in the Norris Division in the regular season in 1980 and 1982.

But the Met Center was built next-door to Metropolitan Stadium, in Bloomington, 9 miles south of downtown Minneapolis, and 11 miles southwest of downtown St. Paul. Transit links were not good at the time. The arena, which looked more like a giant 1960s bank than one of the 1920s arenas used by the NHL's "Original Six" teams, didn't have the kind of amenities that were being put into the new NHL and NBA arenas of the 1980s and '90s. And attendance was never all that good.

In contrast, Dallas was a fast-growing metropolitan area, had the new Reunion Arena, and was planning a larger, better arena, which became the American Airlines Center, opening in 2001.

What's more, Norm Green, who had previously moved the Atlanta Flames to his hometown of Calgary in 1980, and bought the North Stars in 1990, fell into a sex scandal, and decided that leaving Minnesota was the best thing for himself, but he didn't want to give up ownership of the team, not caring about the effect the move would have on the fans. 

The team played one more game under the Minnesota name, losing to the Detroit Red Wings, 5-3 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit on April 15. (By a weird coincidence, the last game of the original Winnipeg Jets, in the 1996 Playoffs, would also be against the Red Wings, albeit as a home game for the departing team, who became the Phoenix, now Arizona, Coyotes.)

In 1995, for financial reasons, Green sold the Stars. They won the Stanley Cup in 1999, and reached the Finals again in 2000, without him. The year 2000 also saw the restoration of Minnesota to the NHL, as the Xcel Energy Center opened on the site of the St. Paul Civic Center, which had been home to the World Hockey Association's contradictorily-named Minnesota Fighting Saints. The new team's name was also odd: The Minnesota Wild. Not Wildcats, not Wild Dogs, not Wildmen, not Wild Things, just "Wild."

The Dallas Stars -- who should have been named the Dallas Lone Stars -- reached the Stanley Cup Finals again in 2020. The Wild reached the Western Conference Finals in 2003, only their 3rd season, but, despite usually making the Playoffs, as of the 2021-22 season, they have not reached the Stanley Cup Finals.

The North Stars retired 2 numbers: 8, for right wing Bill Goldsworthy; and 19, for center Bill Masterton, the only NHL player to die as the result of an in-game injury, on February 15, 1968. Since the move, the Stars have retired 2 more numbers for players who were with them in Minnesota, both centers: Neal Broten and Mike Modano.

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April 13, 1993 was a Tuesday. There were 8 games in the NHL that night:

* The New York Islanders and the Hartford Whalers played to a tie, 3-3 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Ottawa Senators, 6-2 at the Colisée de Québec.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the St. Louis Blues, 2-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. Peter Zezel scored the winning goal with 3:14 left in overtime.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. Brian Bellows -- the Number 1 overall pick in the 1982 NHL Draft, and recently let go by the North Stars after 10 seasons -- scored the winning goal, with 1:10 left in overtime.

* The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Winnipeg Jets, 5-3 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* The Calgary Flames beat their arch-rivals, the Edmonton Oilers, 4-2 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.

* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Los Angeles Kings, 7-4 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

There were 8 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Washington Bullets, 93-85 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Indiana Pacers, 96-90 at the Boston Garden.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 112-109 in double overtime at The Omni in Atlanta. The Cavs overcame 35 points and 25 rebounds by Kevin Willis.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 110-91 at the Orlando Arena. Dennis Scott scored 41.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 126-107 at The Summit in Houston. (It's now the Central Campus of the Lakewood Church, Dr. Joel Osteen's "megachurch.)

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Sacramento Kings, 110-100 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento.

* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 101-99 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 129-95 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

Football was out of season. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Mets beat the Colorado Rockies, 8-4 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

* The Houston Astros beat the Montreal Expos, 9-6 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 6-2 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-1 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-2 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Seattle Mariners, 6-5 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto. Ken Griffey Jr. went 1-for-4.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Oakland Athletics, 20-4 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. The Tigers were already up 8-2 in the bottom of the 4th inning, when they scored 8 runs. Rickey Henderson went 0-for-1, had an RBI on a bases-loaded walk, and then left the game.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-0 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago. Alex Fernandez pitched a 3-hit shutout.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 8-3 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Cal Ripken went 0-for-4.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the San Diego Padres, 6-4 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Tony Gwynn went 2-for-4.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 9-7 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Florida Marlins, 3-1 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Barry Bonds did not play.

* And the New York Yankees, the California Angels, the Kansas City Royals and the Milwaukee Brewers were not scheduled.