October 21, 1980: The Philadelphia Phillies Phinally Win a World Series

October 21, 1980: After 98 seasons of play, the Philadelphia Phillies are 1 game away from finally winning their 1st World Championship. They are the last of the "Original 16" teams not to have won a World Series. 

It's Game 6 against the Kansas City Royals at Veterans Stadium. Steve Carlton starts. In 1972, when the Phillies won only 59 games all season, Carlton won 27 of them. He would tell his teammates, "It's Win Day." He was never that good again, but he was still as good as any pitcher in baseball. Now, he was ready to pitch the clincher. It was Win Day. Or so they hoped.

The game was scoreless in the bottom of the 3rd when catcher Bob Boone -- son of Ray, and father of Aaron and Bret -- walked to lead off. Lonnie Smith reached on an error. Pete Rose, despite being 39 years old, not only bunted the runners over, but beat it out. The bases were loaded with nobody out. And Mike Schmidt, so often ripped in the Philadelphia media for not coming through when it matters, singled home Boone and Smith.

The Phillies got another run in the bottom of the 5th when Smith doubled, Rose hit a sacrifice fly to center to move him to 3rd, Schmidt was walked sort-of-intentionally, and Bake McBride hit a grounder to short to bring Smith home. In the bottom of the 6th, Larry Bowa doubled to left, and was singled home by Boone. Smith flew to center. Phillies 4, Royals 0.

In the 8th, Carlton tired, and the Royals scored a run. John Wathan drew one of those dangerous leadoff walks, and Cardenal singled to left. Green had seen enough: He pulled the great Carlton, who got a big hand, and replaced him with Tug McGraw. Tug finished the inning without further damage.

To start the 9th, McGraw struck Amos Otis out looking. 2 more. But he walked Willie Aikens. With Aikens a bit pudgy and not fleet of foot, Frey sent Onix Concepcion in as a pinch-runner. Wathan singled to right. Cardenal singled to center, but it was too short, and Maddox too good a center fielder, for Concepcion to risk being thrown out at the plate. 

Then came a play that had Phillies fans -- remembering the collapse of the last 2 weeks of the 1964 regular season, the shocking 9th inning of Game 3 of the 1977 NL Championship Series, and he NLCS losses of 1976 and 1978 -- thinking, "Oh no, here we go again." Frank White popped up, and the ball drifted toward the Phillie dugout along the 1st base line. Boone chased it. He was normally a good fielder. But it popped out of his glove...

But Rose was right there to catch it. What could have been a disaster was prevented by "Charlie Hustle," the heart and soul of the Cincinnati "Big Red Machine" that had won 4 Pennants and 2 World Series in the previous decade, and had been brought to the Phils to teach them a winning attitude.

One out to go. There are 65,838 Phanatics roaring inside The Vet. The batter was Willie Wilson. Now, McGraw was nervous. And he was a bit spoked by the mounted policemen that Mayor Bill Green sent to line the field in foul territory, to keep fans off the field, artificial though it was. No one wanted a repeat of the Phils' last game at Connie ack Stadium, 10 years earlier, when the fans rioted and tore the old ballpark apart.

McGraw got to a count of 1 & 2. He was gassed. But he had all Fall and Winter to rest. He put everything he had into one last screwball. It was 11:29 PM on October 21, 1980. Wilson swung and missed for strike 3.

According to the Nielsen ratings system, this game was watched by 55 million people, making it the most-watched baseball game of all time.

Dallas Green's wild (or, at least, wild-haired) bunch had done it. Boone, Mike Schmidt, Greg Luzinski, Larry Bowa, Garry Maddox, all the rest, after 3 failed trips to the postseason before this, they had their ring at long last. Rose and McGraw, opponents in the '73 NLC,S and each with at least 1 previous ring, add to their collection. So do Carlton, who'd won with the '67 Cardinals; and Manny Trillo, the 2nd baseman who'd won with the '74 A's, and made a huge difference for the '80 Phils, particularly as the MVP of the NLCS.

The next day’s Philadelphia Daily News filled up their entire front page beneath the masthead with the words "We Win!" A parade went down Broad Street from City Hall to the Sports Complex, and a massive rally at John F. Kennedy Stadium, whose 105,000 seats was a lot more than the Vet's 65,000. Tug held the Daily News up for all to see. It remains the greatest moment in the history of Philadelphia sports.

The Phillies won another World Series in 2008. Again, it ended on a strikeout, Brad Lidge fanning Eric Hinske of the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 5 at Citizens Bank Park. There was another parade. Jamie Moyer had attended the 1980 parade as a 17-year-old high school senior in nearby Souderton, Pennsylvania. As a 45-year-old Phillies pitcher, he was in the 2008 parade.

In 1978, the Phillies founded the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame. They have elected a Phillies figure every year since, and elected a Philadelphia Athletics figure every year until 2003. From the 1980 team, they have elected Steve Carlton, Mike Schmidt, Larry Bowa, Greg Luzinski, Tug McGraw, Garry Maddox, Bob Boone, John Vukovich, Manny Trillo, Bake McBride, Ron Reed, manager Dallas Green, executives Paul Owens and David Montgomery, owner Ruly Carpenter, and broadcasters Richie Ashburn and Harry Kalas. Pete Rose was set to be elected to it, but shortly after the announcement that there would be such a ceremony, allegations were made that forced a cancellation of the honor.

Carlton, Schmidt, Bowa, Luzinski, McGraw, Maddox, Boone, Green, Owens, Montgomery, Ashburn, Kalas, executive Bill Giles and public address announcer Dan Baker have also been elected to the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame. Rose would probably be in it as well, if not for those allegations.

Schmidt hit 548 home runs in his career, all with the Phillies. This included 313 in the 1980s, making him the decade's leader.

*

October 21, 1980 was a Tuesday. This was also the day of the "October Surprise" that prevented the ending of the Iran Hostage Crisis before the Presidential election on November 4. I have a separate entry for that event. Also, businesswoman/socialite Kim Kardashian was born on this day.

It was midweek for football. There were 8 NBA games played that day:

* The New York Knicks beat the Chicago Bulls, 105-97 at Madison Square Garden. Ray Williams scored 27 for the Knickerbockers.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 121-116 at The Omni in Atlanta.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 115-95 at the Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena, or "The MECCA." Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Kansas City Kings, 116-11 at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City. (It's now named the the Hy-Vee Arena.)

* The Houston Rockets beat the Denver Nuggets, 119-117 at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver. Moses Malone had 41 points and 26 rebounds for the Rockets.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the San Diego Clippers, 123-120 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio. The Clippers moved to Los Angeles in 1984.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Dallas Mavericks, 111-99 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 107-103 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland.

There were 4 NHL games: 

* The New York Islanders lost to the Vancouver Canucks, 6-3 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 2-0 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-5 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* And the St. Louis Blues beat the Montreal Canadiens, 4-3 at the St. Louis Arena.

September 28, 2003: The Closing of Veterans Stadium In Philadelphia

September 28, 2003: The last event is held at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. The game is no good: The Phillies lose to the Atlanta Braves, 5-2. Greg Maddux outpitched former Brave Kevin Millwood, who had pitched a no-hitter for the Phillies earlier in the year.

Then comes the closing ceremony, hosted by Phils broadcaster Harry Kalas. Every former Phillie who had accepted the invitation wore the uniform he wore at the time. Only Larry Christenson, who started the one and only game they ever played in the all-burgundy uniform, in 1979, wore that.

They closed with 3 big moments re-created: Steve Carlton’s 3,000th career strikeout, a Mike Schmidt home run, and Tug McGraw, battling cancer, pitching to Bob Boone (Aaron’s father) for the final out of the 1980 World Series. It served as a ceremonial "last ball," instead of a "first ball." Tug died before Citizens Bank Park opened the following April.

Veterans Stadium hosted 33 seasons of Phillies baseball, 32 seasons of Eagles football, 15 seasons of Temple University football, 3 seasons of Philadelphia Atoms soccer, 2 Major League Baseball All-Star Games, 9 World Series games, 2 NFC Championship Games, 22 Army-Navy games, a baseball World Championship with the 1980 Phillies, a USFL Championship with the 1984 Philadelphia Stars, and a North American Soccer League Championship with the 1973 Atoms.

The day also saw the San Diego Padres play their last game at Qualcomm Stadium – formerly San Diego Stadium (1967-1980) and Jack Murphy Stadium (1981-1997). They are no more successful in their finale than were the Phillies, losing 10-8 to the Colorado Rockies.

As is usually the case, team legends were brought back, wearing their contemporary uniforms. "Mr. Padre," Tony Gwynn, threw out the ceremonial last ball, to then-manager Bruce Bochy, a former catcher. The Padres moved into Petco Park the following April.

The NFL's Chargers continued to use the stadium until the 2016 season, and San Diego State played football there until 2019. The stadium was demolished, and SDSU's new home, Snapdragon Stadium, has opened on the site.

*

September 28, 2003 was a Sunday. These other Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 3-1 at Yankee Stadium. David Wells was the winning pitcher. Alfonso Soriano hit a home run. Derek Jeter went 0-for-3.

* The New York Mets lost to the Florida Marlins, 4-0 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. Rookie sensation Dontrelle Willis pitched 3-hit shutout ball for 5 innings, and 3 relievers completed the 4-hit shutout.

* The Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Boston Red sox, 3-1 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Cleveland Indians, 6-2 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Cincinnati Reds, 2-1 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. Ken Griffey Jr. was injured, and did not play.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins, 9-4 at Comerica Park in Detroit. The Tigers thus finished the season with a record of 43-119, the most losses in American League history, but avoided matching the 1962 Mets for the most losses since 1899.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-1 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Houston Astros beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-5 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 9-5 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* The Anaheim Angels beat the Texas Rangers, 4-1 at Edison International Field of Anaheim (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 12-3 at Pacific Bell Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco. Barry Bonds went 2-for-3.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics, 9-3 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle.

It was Sunday, so there were NFL games:

* The New York Jets lost to the Dallas Cowboys, 17-6 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Baltimore Ravens, 17-10 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Washington Redskins beat the New England Patriots, 20-17 at FedEx Field (now Northwest Stadium) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Carolina Panthers beat their arch-rivals, the Atlanta Falcons, 23-3 at Ericsson Stadium (now Bank of America Stadium) in Charlotte.

* The Indianapolis Colts beat the New Orleans Saints, 55-21 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The Houston Texans beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 24-20 at Reliant Stadium (now NRG Stadium) in Houston.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Buffalo Bills, 23-13 at Ralph Wilson Stadium (formerly Rich Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Tennessee Titans beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 30-13 at Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) in Pittsburgh.

* The Cincinnati Bengals beat their arch-rivals, the Cleveland Browns, 21-14 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the San Francisco 49ers, 35-7 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The St. Louis Rams beat the former St. Louis team, the Arizona Cardinals, 37-13 at the Edward Jones Dome (now the Dome at America's Center) in St. Louis.

* The Denver Broncos beat the Detroit Lions, 20-16 at Invesco Field at Mile High (now Empower Field at Mile High) in Denver.

* The Oakland Raiders beat the San Diego Chargers, 34-31 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the Network Associates Coliseum).

* And the next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Green Bay Packers beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bears, 38-23 at the newly-opened new version of Soldier Field in Chicago.

* And the New York Giants, the Miami Dolphins, the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers each had a bye week.

August 4, 1982: Joel Youngblood's Two-City, Two-Game Odyssey

August 4, 1982: The New York Mets beat the Chicago Cubs, 7-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Joel Youngblood drives in the winning run with a 3rd-inning single off future Hall-of-Famer Fergie Jenkins.

As soon as he comes off the field after the inning, Youngblood is told that he's been traded to the Montreal Expos. His performance in the game is still official: Legally, he could have remained with the Mets until the final out. Nevertheless, the Expos, who are scheduled to play the Philadelphia Phillies in Philadelphia that night, ask the Mets to ask him if he can get there as soon as possible, to play in that game.

He flies to Philadelphia, arrives at Veterans Stadium in midgame -- that's 769 miles by road -- suits up for his new team, and, in the 7th inning, gets a hit off another future Hall-of-Famer, Steve Carlton. But the Phillies beat the Expos, 5-4. Youngblood remains the only player ever to get hits for 2 different teams, and the only one to get hits in 2 different cities, in the same day.

In that game, Mike Schmidt and Pete Rose each went 1-for-4 for the Phillies, with Rose adding an RBI.

From 1976 to 1989, he batted .265. He won a World Series as a rookie with the Cincinnati Reds. He was an All-Star with the Mets in 1981. His only other postseason appearance was with the 1987 San Francisco Giants.

He later served as a coach with the Reds, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Baltimore Orioles and the Arizona Diamondbacks. He is now approaching his 71st birthday, and no longer involved with baseball.

*

August 4, 1982 was a Wednesday. In addition to Mets-Cubs and Expos-Phillies, these Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* A doubleheader was split at Yankee Stadium. The New York Yankees won the opener, 6-2. Graig Nettles and Oscar Gamble hit home runs in support of Ron Guidry. The Chicago White Sox won the nightcap, 7-0. Britt Burns pitched a 2-hit shutout, allowing only singles to Nettles and Rick Cerone. Tommy John went the distance in defeat.

After the 1985 season, the Yankees traded Joe Cowley and Ron Hassey to the White Sox for Burns, because they needed starting pitching. But Burns was hurt, and never pitched again, hurting the Yankees a lot more than he did on this day.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-2 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Eddie Murray went 2-for-4. Cal Ripken went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Wade Boggs went 1-for-4. Carl Yastrzemski appeared as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves, 3-2 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 8-0 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Mike Caldwell pitched a 7-hit shutout. The Brewers got home runs from Paul Molitor, Cecil Cooper, Gorman Thomas and Ted Simmons. Robin Yount went 1-for-5. Along with Ben Oglivie, the Brew Crew were responding to their new manager, Harvey Kuenn, once a batting champion, and became known as "Harvey's Wallbangers."

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Texas Rangers, 8-4 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 8-2 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium. Willie Stargell, in his final season with the Pirates, did not enter the game.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals, 7-1 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. The only Royal run came on a solo homer by George Brett.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Houston Astros, 5-2 at the Astrodome in Houston. John Montefusco, formerly of the Giants, goes the distance, beating Don Sutton, formerly of the Dodgers, and don't think that rivalry didn't enter the minds of both "The Count" and "Little D." (When Sutton started out, Don Drysdale, already known as "Big D," was still with the Dodgers.)

* The California Angels beat the Minnesota Twins, 8-6 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Rod Carew went 0-for-3. Reggie Jackson went 0-for-4, but got an RBI when it was ruled that the grounder on which and error was made, allowing him to reach base, would have gotten the run home, anyway.

* And a doubleheader was split at the Oakland Coliseum. The Seattle Mariners won the 1st game, 5-2. The Oakland Athletics won the 2nd game, 8-3. Over the 2 games, Rickey Henderson was only 1-for-7 with a walk, but stole his 101st base of the season.

June 6, 1972: Turn It Around Night In Philadelphia

Steve Carlton

June 6, 1972: The Philadelphia Phillies, having lost 18 of their last 19 games, hold Turn It Around Night at Veterans Stadium. It was one of many promotional ideas, some of them sillier than others, that came from the mind of Bill Giles.

The son of former National League President Warren Giles, for whom the NL's championship trophy is named, Bill had been, as had his father before him, an executive with the Cincinnati Reds. In 1962, he and 2 other former Reds executives, Gabe Paul and Tal Smith, were a part of the inaugural front office of the Houston Astros. In 1965, he became their director of promotions.

In 1969, he was named a vice president of the Phillies, and focused on promotions. His biggest promotion was the last game at Connie Mack Stadium, formerly Shibe Park, in 1970, and it was a disaster: He gave each fan a ceremonial seat slat, and they used the wooden slats as clubs as they tore what was then the oldest active ballpark apart.

The move to The Vet led to all kinds of promotions. The 1st game there, April 10, 1971, featured the ceremonial first ball dropped out of a helicopter hanging over the artificial turf field, caught by Phillies catcher Mike Ryan, who scurried like crazy trying to catch it, but did. On another occasion, Giles tried a ceremonial first ball delivered by Rocketman, a man wearing a jet-pack. A ceremonial first ball delivered by Kiteman, which was tried 4 times, crashing the 1st time. A high-wire walk across the middle of the stadium by the legendary circus performer Karl Wallenda. He made it.

Everything was going wrong for the Phillies in 1972 -- except for the pitching of the newly-acquired Steve Carlton. It seemed as though he couldn't lose. On days he was starting, he would tell his teammates, "It's Win Day."

On June 6, 1972, for the Phillies against the Astros, the scheduled starting pitcher was Woodie Fryman. He was a decent pitcher, who had gone 10-7 the previous season, and would eventually win 141 games in the major leagues. But this was an unlikely Win Day. So Giles scheduled a promotion: Turn It Around Night.

The lineup was announced in reverse order, with last names first. Instead of the 1st name being the leadoff hitter: "The shortstop, Number 10, Larry Bowa"; it was "The pitcher, Number 35, Fryman, Woodie." The 7th inning stretch was held in the 3rd inning. The ushers wore their hats backwards and their name tags on the backs of their shirts. And the scoreboard welcomed groups that were not in attendance.

How many people were in attendance? Not many: 8,237, meaning that there were about 50,000 empty seats. (To be fair, it was a Tuesday night, not a weekend.) Did they, at least, see a good game? It didn't start out that way: The Astros scored 2 runs in the 1st inning, and 2 more in the 4th.

The Phillies made a go of it in the bottom of the 9th. Bowa led off with a single. Terry Harmon grounded into a force play that eliminated Bowa. Don Money drew a walk, Greg Luzinski doubled, scoring Harmon. The Astros made a pitching change. Tommy Hutton singled, scoring Money and Luzinski.

The Phils had closed to within 4-3, and had the tying run on 1st and the winning run at the plate, with only 1 out. The next batter was Deron Johnson, who would hit 245 home runs in his career. After him, it was Willie Montañez, who would hit 145. There was hope. But Johnson popped to short, and Montañez struck out, ending the game.

How far should the Phillies have taken this pre-George Costanza "Do the Opposite" Day? Given that it was Philadelphia, they should have served pastrami sandwiches instead of cheesesteaks, listened to music without any soul, and cheered somebody in a Santa Claus suit.

When the 1972 season came to an end, the Phillies were 29-12 in games that Carlton, named the Cy Young Award winner, started; and 30-85 in games that he didn't start.

But hope was on the way. Before the season started, Ruly Carpenter -- Robert Ruliph Morgan Carpenter III -- had already told his father, Bob Carpenter, the team's owner, to give him the keys to the kingdom. Ruly and Giles hired Paul Owens to be the team's general manager, and former pitcher Dallas Green to be the team's scouting director. It wasn't yet visible in wins and losses, but these moves were already beginning to pay off.

They already had Carlton, Bowa and Luzinski. On September 12 of that season, Mike Schmidt made his major league debut. A team that would make the Playoffs 6 times in an 8-year stretch, including 2 Pennants and the 1980 World Championship, managed by Green, was on the way. And the promotions kept coming, including the 1978 creation of baseball's most popular mascot, the Phillie Phanatic.

After winning the World Series, the Carpenters decided to sell the team the next season. Giles led the group that bought the team. He remained the controlling owner until 1997, when he began selling his shares to David Montgomery. Since 2001, he has held his father's old post of President of the National League.

*

June 6, 1972 was a Tuesday. These other Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Texas Rangers, 6-3 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Dick Bosman outpitched Fritz Peterson. Rusty Torres hit a home run.

* The New York Mets beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2 at Shea Stadium. John Milner hit a home run. Although he was on the Mets' roster, Willie Mays did not play. For the Reds, Johnny Bench hit a home run, and Pete Rose went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Montreal Expos, 3-2 at Jarry Park in Montreal. Hank Aaron went 0-for-4.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-4 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. The Orioles led 4-0 going into the 9th inning, but Jim Palmer ran out of gas, and the game went to extra innings. Steve Brye singled home Rod Carew with the winning run in the top of the 15th inning. Carew went 4-for-7. Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-4 with a walk. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-5 with 2 walks and an RBI.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Cleveland Indians, 7-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The A's trailed 2-1 going into the 8th inning, but scored 2 runs in the 8th and 4 in the 9th to win it. Reggie Jackson went 3-for-5 with a home run and 3 RBIs.

* A doubleheader was split at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. The Detroit Tigers won the opener, 8-6. The California Angels won the nightcap, 4-0. Clyde Wright pitched a 4-hit shutout. After not playing in the 1st game, Al Kaline went 0-for-3 with a walk in the 2nd.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox, 2-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Sonny S

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-2 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Al Downing pitched a 5-hit shutout. Frank Robinson, in his only season with the Dodgers, went 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Francisco Giants, 5-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Lou Brock went 2-for-4 with 2 stolen bases. Joe Torre hit a home run.

* And in a rare rainout at San Diego Stadium, the San Diego Padres and the Pittsburgh Pirates had their game rescheduled as part of a doubleheader on August 20. The Pirates swept, 9-3 and 5-2. Roberto Clemente was injured, and did not play in either game. But Willie Stargell went 3-for-7 with a walk and 3 RBIs over the 2 games.

May 16, 1984: Andy Kaufman Dies

May 16, 1984: Comedian Andy Kaufman dies of lung cancer -- even though he didn't smoke cigarettes, which was the leading cause of that ailment.

Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman was born on January 17, 1949 in Manhattan, and grew up in nearby Great Neck, Long Island. He developed a routine where he would play a record of the theme to the cartoon Mighty Mouse, stand still while it played, and then lip-synch only the line, "Here I come to save the day!" For some reason, this proved popular.

He became known for his "Foreign Man" routine, with an unplaceable accent. In that voice, he would say, "And now, I would like to imitate... " and do an impression of someone famous, but it would be that person's tagline in the "Foreign Man" voice.

The exception was, "And now, I would like to imitate the Elvis Presley." (Always "The Elvis Presley.") Then he would turn his back to the audience, and start combing his hair as Also Sprach Zarathustra played, as it would to start Elvis' concerts. And when the overture and the combing were done, Andy would turn around, and his impression, quivering lip and all, would be perfect. And he would sing a song associated with Elvis, and it would be perfect. And he would close with Elvis' tagline, "Thank you very much" -- but back in the Foreign Man voice. Not only did he do this while Elvis was still alive, but Elvis himself admitted that Kaufman did the best impression of him.

In 1978, Kaufman was hired for the ABC sitcom Taxi, where the Foreign Man character became immigrant mechanic Latka Gravas. This made him a bigger star than ever, and paved the way for Bronson Pinchot to play Balki Bartokomous on a later ABC sitcom, Perfect Strangers.

Another Kaufman character was Tony Clifton, an absurd, audience-abusing lounge singer, who began opening for Kaufman at comedy clubs, and eventually even performed concerts on his own around the country. Sometimes it was Kaufman performing as Clifton, sometimes it was his brother Michael Kaufman, and sometimes it was Bob Zmuda, another comedian who was a friend of the brothers.

For a brief time, it was unclear to some that Clifton was not a real person. News programs interviewed Clifton as Kaufman's opening act, with the mood turning ugly whenever Kaufman's name came up. Kaufman, Clifton insisted, was attempting to ruin Clifton's "good name" in order to make money and become famous.

Kaufman kept his personal life quiet. He never married, although a high school relationship resulted in the birth of a daughter who was given up for adoption. Her adult name is Maria Bellu-Colonna, and she eventually found the Kaufman family, who welcomed her with open arms.

Andy dated female comedians, including Elayne Boosler, who still speaks well of him. For the last 2 years of his life, he dated a woman named Lynne Margulies, who later published a book titled Dear Andy Kaufman, I Hate Your Guts! The title was nothing more than an attention-grab, as she still loved him. (She should not be confused with Lynn Margulis, a prominent biologist who was once married to astronomer Carl Sagan.)

Kaufman made 16 appearances on Saturday Night Live. On November 20, 1982, Drew Barrymore, then just 7 years old, became the youngest host in SNL history. That night, as a joke, NBC held a telephone poll to decide whether Kaufman – 4 months after an incident with pro wrestling figure Jerry Lawler on another NBC show, Late Night with David Letterman, but who apparently had done nothing to offend the SNL brass – should ever be allowed to host the show again. The vote was close, but it was "No."

Whether executive producer Lorne Michaels would have ever lifted the ban is unknown: On May 16, 1984, having not hosted the show again, Kaufman died, only 35 years old. He had been fighting lung cancer for 6 months.

He had often spoken of faking his death, as a hoax, so many people presumed that he had done so. This was taken to a new level when Zmuda resumed appearing in public as Tony Clifton. But an official website sanctioned by the Kaufman family includes a picture of Andy's death certificate.

In 1992, the rock band R.E.M. recorded "Man On the Moon," a tribute to Kaufman. That also became the title of the 1999 film about him, starring Jim Carrey, with Courtney Love playing Lynne Margulies. Brittany Bellu-Colonna, Andy's granddaughter, played the child version of Andy's sister Carol.

*

May 16, 1984 was a Wednesday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Oakland Athletics, 7-6 at Yankee Stadium. The A's scored a run on an error in the top of the 10th inning. But Don Mattingly led off the bottom of the 10th with a single, and Dave Winfield hit a home run to win it. Mattingly and Butch Wynegar had homered earlier in the game. Rickey Henderson entered the game as a pinch-runner, and stayed in as the left fielder, but did not come to bat.

* The New York Mets lost to the San Francisco Giants, 4-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the California Angels, 5-0 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Mike Boddicker pitched a 6-hit shutout. Eddie Murray went 0-for-2, but with 3 walks and an RBI on a groundout. Cal Ripken went 3-for-4. Reggie Jackson went 1-for-4. Rod Carew went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Houston Astros beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1-0 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Nolan Ryan pitched a 5-hit shutout, striking out 11.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 10-4 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Seattle Mariners, 10-1 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-6 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. George Brett did not play.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Texas Rangers, 5-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Minnesota Twins, 8-7 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Montreal Expos beat the San Diego Padres, 3-2 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Pete Rose, briefly an Expo, went 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs. Tony Gwynn, forever a Padre, went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

* And the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Steve Carlton not only won the game, he hit a grand slam off Fernando Valenzuela. Mike Schmidt went 1-for-5.

The NBA was in the middle of its Conference Finals. The Los Angeles Lakers would beat the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference, the Boston Celtics would beat the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference, and the Celtics beat the Lakers in the Finals.

The Stanley Cup Finals were underway, and the Edmonton Oilers were in the process of avenging their Finals defeat of the previous season, leading the New York Islanders, 2 games to 1. The Oilers would win the series, 4-1, ending the Isles' 4 straight Cups, and beginning their own run of 5 Cups in 7 seasons.

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.

February 25, 1972: The Steve Carlton-Rick Wise Trade

February 25, 1972: A classic "my headache for your headache" trade is made. The Philadelphia Phillies trade Rick Wise to the St. Louis Cardinals, for fellow pitcher Steve Carlton.

Wise had won 17 games for a bad Phillies team, making the All-Star Game. But he had a habit of wearing out his welcome: He would be traded to the Boston Red Sox after 2 years, the Cleveland Indians after 4, and the San Padres after 2. And they released him after 3.

As far Carlton, he'd just had his 1st 20-win season, at the age of 25. And he'd made the All-Star Team for the 3rd time. So why would the Cardinals get rid of him?

Well, you see, the Cardinals were owned by August Anheuser Busch Jr., the chairman of Anheuser-Busch breweries, and, as he always reminded us, maker of Budweiser beer. Gussie was an autocrat: He rewarded loyalty, but punished anyone who complained, however benignly. Gussie was willing to offer Carlton $50,000 for the 1972 season. Carlton thought he deserved $60,000. This was while the reserve clause was still in effect, when a team owner could squeeze a player on salary. Gussie was a billionaire, so, to him, $10,000 was nothing. But he was infuriated that Carlton would demand more money. So he traded him.

Carlton won 241 games for the Phillies, more than any pitcher in the history of Philadelphia baseball, except for Eddie Plank, who won 284 for the Athletics. (Robin Roberts won 234 for the Phillies, Grover Cleveland Alexander 190. Lefty Grove won 194 for the A's.) Carlton won 27 in 1972 alone, a season in which the rest of the Phillies won only 32. He would tell his team, "It's Win Day." Despite their last-place performance, he was named the National League Cy Young Award winner. (But not the Most Valuable Player: That went to Johnny Bench of the Pennant-winning Cincinnati Reds.)

Slowly but surely, the Phillies were being built into a winner. When they finally got to the World Series in 1980, Carlton was given the starting assignment for Game 6, set to be the clincher. As their best player, Mike Schmidt, said, "It was Win Day." October 21, 1980. The Phillies were World Champions.

He won 329 games in his career, winning 20 games in a season 6 times, making 10 All-Star Games, becoming the 1st pitcher to win 4 Cy Young Awards, and becoming, briefly in 1983, the major leagues' all-time strikeout leader, trading the title back and forth with Nolan Ryan all season long, until Ryan began to pull away. Carlton became the 2nd pitcher, after Ryan, to strike out 4,000 batters. He struck out 4,136, becoming the 2nd all-time leader, and 1st among lefthanded pitchers. Through the 2021 season, Randy Johnson is the only lefty to surpass him.

*

February 25, 1972 was a Friday. Baseball and football were out of season. No games were scheduled for the NHL. There were 5 games played in the NBA:

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 114-110 at The Omni in Atlanta.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Buffalo Braves, 117-115 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. John Havlicek scored 33 points for the Celtics. Elmore Smith scored 40 for the Braves.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 113-104 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Phoenix Suns, 115-107 at the Chicago Stadium.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Cincinnati Royals, 109-88 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

And there were 4 games played in the American Basketball Association:

* The New York Nets beat the Denver Rockets, 124-116 at the brand-new Nassau Coliseum. Rick Barry scored 38 points for the Nets.

* The Memphis Pros beat the Pittsburgh Condors, 115-111 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh. George Thompson scored 38 points.

* The Dallas Chaparrals beat the Kentucky Colonels, 100-92 at the Moody Coliseum in Dallas.

* And the Utah Stars beat the Indiana Pacers, 117-107 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City.