November 2, 1934: The Yankees vs. the Yankees of Japan

Eiji Swamura

November 2, 1934: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and several other baseball players, led by manager Connie Mack, step off the cruiseliner Empress of Japan at the port city of Yokohama, and begin a tour of Japan. This was the 1st time that American major leaguers faced Japanese professionals.

The American "besuboru" players were adored by the Japanese fans, especially "Babu Rusu." But as much as they loved their own players, the natives were under no illusions: No one was surprised when the Americans won 17 out of 18 games.

The big surprise occurred when 17-year-old Eiji Sawamura of the Tokyo Baseball Club struck Ruth, Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx and Charlie Gehringer out in succession in a game in Shizuoka. But Gehrig also hit a home run off him, and the Americans won 1-0.

The Tokyo BC was founded that season, and in 1947, they became known as the Yomiuri Giants. Unlike in North American sports, where sports teams merely sell the naming rights to their venues to corporations, in Asian sports leagues, corporations buy teams, and name them after themselves. (This has also been done by Red Bull of Austria, buying the New York Red Bulls and the former soccer teams of Salzubrg and Leipzig.) Yomiuri Shumbun started as a newspaper, and has grown to a massive media conglomerate.

The Giants have won 47 Pennants (38 of them in the Central League, including in 2021) and 22 Japan Series (the last in 2012). Because of this, despite bearing the name and colors of the New York (now San Francisco) Giants of the National League, they are known as "The Yankees of Japan."

Among the American players on that tour was Moe Berg, a good catcher, and an intellectual from Newark. Dave Harris, a teammate on the Washington Senators, was told that Berg spoke 7 languages, responded, "Yeah, and he can't hit in any of them." He was right: Berg's lifetime batting average was .243.

Moe Berg

But his skill with languages, and with a camera, led the U.S. Department of State to include him on the roster. With the countries not yet at war, but with tensions between them rising, Berg was able, without suspicion, to go onto the rooftops of major buildings in Japan's various cities, and take pictures and home movies. These images aided the U.S. Department of War (which became the Department of Defense in 1947) to pick bombing targets once Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 forced America into World War II.

That war cut Sawamura's career short: He ended up being killed in 1944, when his ship was sunk by an American ship. The Japanese leagues now give the Eiji Sawamura Award to their best pitcher, their equivalent of the Cy Young Award.

Berg last played in the major leagues in 1939, served with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS, forerunner of the CIA), and lived on until 1972.

*

November 2, 1934 was a Friday. Baseball season was over. Football was in midweek. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. And the NHL season wouldn't start until November 8. So there were no scores on this historic day. But Australian tennis legend Ken Rosewall was born on this day.

September 2, 1945: The Battleship Missouri Surrender

MacArthur signing, for the U.S. acknowledgement of the surrender

September 2, 1945: Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu, acting for the Empire of Japan, signs the Instrument of Surrender to end World War II, on the deck of the American battleship USS Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay. Shigemetsu later served as Deputy Prime Minister, and died in 1957.

Representing the Allied Powers:

* The United States of America: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, and Admiral John S. McCain Sr., grandfather of the longtime Senator and Presidential candidate.

* The British Empire: British Admiral of the Fleet Sir Bruce Fraser, Canadian Colonel Lawrence Moore Cosgrave, Australian General Sir Thomas Blamey, and New Zealand Air Vice Marshall Sir Leonard Isitt.

* France: Général d'armée Philippe Leclerc.

* The Netherlands: Vice Admiral Conrad Helfrich.

* The Republic of China: General Xu Yongchang.

* The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics: Lieutenant General Kuzma Derevyanko.

Admiral Fraser was the last survivor of these men, living until 1981.

Among the sailors serving aboard the Missouri at the time, and thus a witness to the ceremony, was Bernard Schwartz, an aspiring actor from The Bronx, who was inspired to enlist in the Navy by Cary Grant and Tyrone Power, who had both appeared in films about submarine service. He took his stage name from the 1936 film Antony Adverse, and a name that had been in his mother's family Kurtz: Tony Curtis.

World War II is over, and the Allies have won. Now, the victorious nations have work to do, to set their own people free. The British Empire will get there first, mostly getting it done by 1960. France will take a little longer, due to a nasty war in Algeria. America will take until the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Soviet Union, and the countries formed when it broke apart? Some of those countries have been free, to this day.

USS Missouri

The Missouri, built at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, was the last ship built by the U.S. Navy to be classified as a "battleship." The "Mighty Mo" also served in the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Persian Gulf War, and was decommissioned in 1992. It is now a museum ship – appropriately, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii.

*

September 2, 1945 was a Sunday. Due to that fact, and the wartime travel restrictions that were still in place, not only was a full slate of baseball games played that day, but nearly every team was in a doubleheader:

* The New York Yankees split a doubleheader with the Washington Senators at Griffith Stadium in Washington. The Yankees won the opener, 4-2. Joe Page, later to be known as the best reliever in the game, started, and went 8 innings for the win. The Yankees scored all 4 runs in the 6th inning, including 3 on a bases-loaded triple by Nick Etten.

The Senators won the nightcap, 3-0. Roger Wolff almost pitched a 5-hit shutout, but he walked 2 batters in the bottom of the 9th, and Senators manager Ossie Bluege brought Mickey Haefner in to get the last out.

* The New York National League arch-rivals split a doubleheader at the Polo Grounds. The Brooklyn Dodgers won the 1st game, 7-4. The New York Giants won the 2nd game, 6-2. Dixie Walker singled home the winning run of the 1st game in the top of the 11th inning, and Tommy Brown singled home 2 more.

* A doubleheader was split at Braves Field in Boston. The Boston Braves won the 1st game, 6-3. The Philadelphia Phillies won the 2nd game, 5-4.

* The Philadelphia Athletics swept a doubleheader from the Boston Red Sox, 1-0 and 7-2 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Bobo Newsom pitched a 5-hit shutout in the 1st game. He would finish 8-20 with a 3.29 ERA for a team that finished 52-98.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates swept a doubleheader from the Cincinnati Reds, 4-2 and 7-3 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati.

* In a single game, the Cleveland Indians beat the Detroit Tigers, 3-2 at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. Having already been discharged by the U.S. Army, Hank Greenberg went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. At the end of the month, his grand slam on the last day of the regular season would win the Pennant for the Tigers.

* A doubleheader was split at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The Chicago White Sox won the 1st game, 6-0. Eddie Lopat, later to star with the Yankees, pitched a 5-hit shutout. The St. Louis Browns won the 2nd game, 3-2.

* And the NL's Midwestern arch-rivals split a doubleheader at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The Chicago Cubs won the 1st game, 4-1. Frank Secory hit a bases-loaded double in the top of the 10th inning.

The St. Louis Cardinals won the 2nd game, 4-0. Charles "Red" Barrett allowed only 1 hit, a single by Lennie Merullo in the 3rd inning. It was his 20th win of the season, and he finished 23-12. But his only full season with the Cards would be the one season between 1942 and 1946 in which they didn't win the Pennant. He did win one with the 1948 Boston Braves.

August 12, 1985: The Worst Air Disaster Ever

August 12, 1985: Japan Air Lines Flight 123, intended to fly from Tokyo to Osaka, suffers a severe structural failure and explosive decompression 12 minutes after takeoff, crashing after 32 minutes.

It remains the worst air disaster in history, killing 524 people, with only 4 survivors.  An estimated 20 to 50 passengers survived the initial crash, but died from their injuries while awaiting rescue.

Among those who died was Kyu Sakamoto, the singer who hit Number 1 on the U.S. charts in 1963 with a song whose title, when translated into English, was "I Look Up as I Walk." One of those "I wish it would rain so people won't see a man cry" songs. But Capitol Records issued it under the title "Sukiyaki," which led someone to say it was like releasing "Moon River" in Japan and calling it "Beef Stew." Sakamoto remained beloved in his homeland, until his death at the age of 43.

*

August 12, 1985 was a Monday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Chicago White Sox, 12-4 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Phil Niekro, 46, outpitched former Yankee prospect Gene Nelson, 24. Ron Hassey went 3-for-5 with  2 home runs and 4 RBIs. Mike Pagliarulo also homered. Ken Griffey Sr. went 2-for-5 with 3 RBIs. Dave Winfield went 0-for-4 with a walk. Don Mattingly went 2-for-5. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-4 with a walk, a stolen base and an RBI. For the South Siders, Ron Kittle hit 2 homers.

* The New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3 at Shea Stadium. Sid Fernandez outpitched John Denny. Wally Backman went 3-for-4 with an RBI, and Keith Hernandez went 2-for-3 with 3 RBIs. Mike Schmid went 1-for-4.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Boston Red Sox, 3-2 at Fenway Park in Boston. George Brett went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Baltimore Orioles, 8-5 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Eddie Murray went 1-for-1, a home run, and drew 3 walks. Cal Ripken went 0-for-4.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Montreal Expos, 8-7 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Robin Yount went 2-for-4. Paul Molitor went singled, and then left the game with an injury.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-1 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Minnesota Twins swept a doubleheader from the Oakland Athletics, 4-3 and 5-4 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-4 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Cincinnati Reds, 2-0 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Mark Thurmond pitched 6 1/3rd innings of 7-hit shutout ball, and Lance McCullers finished the 8-hit shutout. Tony Gwynn went 0-for-3 with a walk. Reds player-manager Pete Rose did not put himself into the game.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves, 3-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Rick Honeycutt pitched 6 innings of 2-hit shutout ball, and Tom Niedenfuer finished the 3-hit shutout.

* A doubleheader was split at the Kingdome in Seattle. The Seattle Mariners won the opener, 6-5. The California Angels won the nightcap, 4-3. Over the 2 games, Reggie Jackson went 3-for-6 with a home run, 3 walks and 2 RBIs; and Rod Carew went 4-for-7 with 2 walks and an RBI.

* And the Houston Astros and the San Francisco Giants were not scheduled.

March 29, 2000: Major League Baseball In Japan

March 29, 2000: For the 1st time, a Major League Baseball regular-season game is played outside of North America. The New York Mets and the Chicago Cubs play the 1st of 2 season-opening games at the Tokyo Dome in Japan.

From 1938 to 1987, the Tokyo-based Yomiuri Giants played at the 42,337-seat Korakuen Stadium. In 1988, they moved next-door to the 55,000-seat Tokyo Dome, known as "The Big Egg" because of its shape, which included a white fabric roof, similar to the Metrodome in Minneapolis, the Silverdome outside Detroit, the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, and (formerly) BC Place in Vancouver.

As is the case with most domed stadiums, and most stadiums in Japan regardless of whether there's any kind of roof, the Dome has artificial turf. The field is symmetrical: 329 feet to the poles, 375 to the power alleys, and 400 to center. Like most domes that host baseball, it favors hitters over pitchers.

The Mets and the Cubs were chosen because of the size of their markets and their international appeal -- and also because the most obvious matchup, the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, weren't willing to each give up a home game's revenue against their arch-rivals to play on the other side of the world.

Game time, local, was 7:05 PM, making it 6:05 AM in New York, and 5:05 AM in Chicago. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Eric Young Sr. led off the game by drawing a walk on Mike Hampton, who was making his Mets debut. He stole 2nd, and was singled home by Damon Buford.

In hindsight, that was a sign that the Mets were going to have a great season anyway: Buford was the son of Don Buford, the Baltimore Orioles left fielder who hit Tom Seaver's 2nd pitch of Game 1 of the 1969 World Series for a home run, and while the Orioles won that game, the Mets took the next 4 for their "Miracle."

The score remained 1-0 until the bottom of the 3rd, when a sacrifice fly by Darryl Hamilton tied it. Did I mention that walks could be deadly? In the top of the 5th, Buford led off with a single, and after a lineout by Mark Grace, Hampton walked Sammy Sosa, walked Henry Rodriguez to load the bases, and walked Shane Andrews to force home a run.

Andrews hit a home run off Dennis Cook in the 7th, making him the 1st major leaguer to homer outside North America. Grace became the 2nd, taking Rich Rodriguez deep in the 8th. The Mets tried their own spin on the walks cliché: Edgardo Alfonzo led off the bottom of the 8th with one, and Mike Piazza hit a home run.

But they could get no closer, and the Cubs won, 5-3. Jon Lieber went 7 innings to become the winning pitcher. With some irony, Rick Aguilera, a member of the last Met title team in 1986, closed it out for the Cubs.

The Mets were designated the "home team" for this game. The next day, it was the Cubs' turn to be the "home team," but it was, again, the "away team" that emerged victorious. The game was tied 1-1 in the top of the 11th inning, when the Mets loaded the bases, and got a grand slam home run. With some appropriateness, given that it was in Japan, it was hit by Benny Agbayani, their Hawaiian native who, like Hawaiian pitcher Sid Fernandez, wore Number 50 in honor of his home, the 50th State, the site of Japan's 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor.

The games were roaring successes, in every sense of the word: Competitiveness, box office, and public relations. Knowing that any future attempts would have to be done by teams willing to stop Spring Training early, and then take a few days' break to reacclimate themselves to U.S. time, they now had the template for how to run a Japan series.

In 2004, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Yankees 8-3 on March 30, but the Yankees, with Japan's biggest baseball star, Hideki Matsui, homering at his former home dome, came back on March 31 to win, 12-1.

The Tokyo Dome hosted another series in 2012: The Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics, 3-1 on March 28; and the A's returned the favor on March 29, 4-1. In 2019, it was again the A's and the M's, with the M's sweeping, winning 9-7 on March 20, and 5-4 on March 21. (UPDATE: In 2025, to start a new season, the Dodgers beat the Cubs, 4-1 on March 18, and 6-3 on March 19.)

The Tokyo Dome has also hosted 12 NFL games, all of them preseason exhibitions. And the Japan games also inspired MLB to schedule regular-season games in Australia and Britain.

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March 29, 2000 was a Wednesday. Most of baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were 6 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 110-95 at the KeyArena in Seattle.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Washington Wizards, 101-93 at the MCI Center in Washington. (It's now named the Capital One Arena.)

* The Charlotte Hornets beat the Detroit Pistons, 98-91 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Chicago Bulls, 86-81 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 98-84 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Vancouver Grizzlies, 108-99 at General Motors Place in Vancouver. (It's now named the Rogers Arena.)

There were 8 games played in the NHL:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins, 4-3 at the Molson Centre in Montreal. (It's now named the Bell Centre.)

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Nashville Predators, 3-1 at the Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena. (It's now named the Lenovo Center.)

* The Phoenix Coyotes beat the Atlanta Thrashers, 3-2 at the Philips Arena in Atlanta. (It's now named the State Farm Arena.)

* The Dallas Stars beat the Florida Panthers, 4-1 at the National Car Rental Center in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida. (It's now the Amerant Bank Arena.)

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Vancouver Canucks, 6-3 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the St. Louis Blues, 3-2 at the Kiel Center in St. Louis. (It's now named the Enterprise Center.)

* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Edmonton Oilers, 3-2 at the Pepsi Center in Denver. (It's now named the Ball Arena.)

* And the San Jose Sharks and the Los Angeles Kings played to a 1-1 tie, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. (It's now named the Crypto.com Arena.)

March 20, 1995: The Tokyo Metro Gas Attack

March 20, 1995: The subway system in Tokyo, the capital of Japan, is hit with a terrorist attack that leaves 14 people dead, and over 1,000 people hospitalized.

The Tokyo Metro opened in 1927, and remained in operation throughout World War II and the postwar reorganization of the country. It carries about 7 million people per day. In 2022, a 24-hour ticket costs 800 yen, or about $6.71. Which means if you ride it to and from work every day, and no other rides, that's about $3.36 per ride, making it more expensive that New York's Subway; but if you need 4 trips per day, that's about $1.68 per ride, making it cheaper than New York.

The attack took place at 7:00 AM local time. The weapon was Sarin, ordinarily a colorless, odorless liquid; but, in this case, in a gaseous form. Exposure is lethal even at very low concentrations, where death can occur within 1 to 10 minutes after direct inhalation of a lethal dose, due to suffocation from respiratory paralysis, unless antidotes are quickly administered. People who absorb a non-lethal dose, but do not receive immediate medical treatment, may suffer permanent neurological damage.

The attack was launched by Aum Shinrikyo, founded by Shoko Asahara. A nearly blind man who was convicted of practicing pharmacy without a license, and founded Aum Shinrikyo in 1984, at age 29. It was a doomsday cult, containing elements of Hinduism, the Chinese form of Buddhism, and evangelical Christianity.

Like David Koresh, leader of the Branch Davidian cult that was taken down by the American federal government in 1993, Asahara told his cult members that he was the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. He gave them conspiracy theories about rival Japanese religions, the Jews, the Freemasons, the British Royal Family, and, for some reason, the Dutch. He believed that the world could only be saved after a nuclear war -- a sickening statement for someone from the only country on whom nuclear weapons had ever been used in warfare.

On May 16, 1995, Asahara was arrested, but due to technicalities, it took 7 years for his trial to begin. He was convicted, sentenced to death, and finally hanged on July 6, 2018, 23 years after the attack.

In 2007, without him, Aum Shinrikyo split into 2 separate cults, named Aleph and Hikari no Wa. Both have been designated as terrorist groups by NATO, the European Union, and Russia.

*

March 20, 1995 was a Monday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were 4 games played in the NBA that night:

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 106-102 at The Omni in Atlanta.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 102-100 in double overtime at the Gund Arena in Cleveland. (It's now named the Rocket Arena.)

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 104-96 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

* And the Sacramento Kings beat the Denver Nuggets, 91-89 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento. (It's now named the Sleep Train Arena.)

And there were 5 games played in the NHL:

* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Florida Panthers, 5-4 at Colisée de Québec. Owen Nolan scored the winning goal with 2:27 left in overtime.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Hartford Whalers, 5-0 at the Hartford Civic Center. (It's now named the PeoplesBank Arena.)

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Montreal Canadiens, 8-4 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. Eric Lindros had a hat trick.

* In "The Battle of Alberta," the Edmonton Oilers beat the Calgary Flames, 5-2 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-3 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

March 9, 1945: The Firebombing of Tokyo

March 9, 1945: The U.S. Army Air Force launches Operation Meetinghouse, bombing raids on the Japanese capital of Tokyo. It is the most destructive bombing raid in human history.

A total of 334 B-29 bombers took off to raid, with 279 of them dropping 1,665 tons of bombs on Tokyo. The bombs were mostly the 500-pound E-46 cluster bomb, which released 38 napalm-carrying M-69 incendiary bomblets at an altitude of 2,000–2,500 feet. The M-69s punched through thin roofing material or landed on the ground. In either case, they ignited 3 to 5 seconds later, throwing out a jet of flaming napalm globs. A lesser number of M-47 incendiaries were also dropped. The M-47 was a 100-pound jelled-gasoline and white phosphorus bomb, which ignited upon impact.

The 1st B-29s to arrive dropped bombs in a large X pattern, centered in Tokyo's densely populated working-class district near the docks. Later aircraft simply aimed near this flaming X. The individual fires caused by the bombs joined to create a general conflagration, which would have been classified as a firestorm but for prevailing winds gusting at 17 to 28 mph.

Officially, it was known as Operation Meetinghouse. Its commanding officer, Major General Curtis LeMay, described it as follows: "The U.S. had finally stopped swatting at flies and gone after the manure pile." (That was for his official report. I suspect that, privately, he used a word other than "manure." The man known as "Old Iron Pants" eventually rose to become a full General, 4 stars.)

Approximately 16 square miles of the city were destroyed, killing an estimated 100,000 people, and leaving over 1 million homeless. Over half of the city's industrial capacity was said to be taken out. In contrast, 27 of the B-29s were lost: They were either shot down by Japanese air defenses, crashed due to mechanical failure, or were caught in updrafts caused by the fires.

For comparison's sake: The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 is believed to have killed about 150,000 people; the one on Nagasaki on August 9, 80,000. The implication of those was that, if Japan did not surrender, Tokyo would be the next target.

*

March 9, 1945 was a Friday. Dennis Rader, the serial murderer known as the BTK Killer, was born on this day.

Baseball and football were out of season. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. And no games were scheduled for the NHL. So there were no scores on this historic day.

February 11, 1990: Buster Douglas Knocks Mike Tyson Out

February 11, 1990: Mike Tyson steps into the ring at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan, to defend the undisputed Heavyweight Championship of the World against James "Buster" Douglas.

Douglas, a few weeks shy of his 30th birthday, was 29-4-1. His losses had come to David Bey, a former USBA Heavyweight Champion who had lost to Larry Holmes for "the real title"; Mike White, who never came close to a title shot; Jesse Ferguson, who had lost to Tyson, but would later beat WBO Champion Ray Mercer; and Tony Tucker, in a fight for the then-vacant IBF Heavyweight Championship. His draw had come against Norwegian boxer Steffen Tangstad, whose last fight had been against Michael Spinks for the IBF title.

Douglas had beaten some good fighters: Randall "Tex" Cobb, who had fought hard against Holmes but lost; Greg Page, who briefly held the WBA Heavyweight Championship; Trevor Berbick, who held the WBC Heavyweight Championship briefly, until Tyson took it away from him; and Oliver McCall, who would later hold the WBC title.

But Tyson was "Iron Mike," "Kid Dynamite," "The Baddest Man On the Planet." He had been in 37 professional fights. He had won them all. He had won by knockout in 33 of them, with 27 coming in 4 or fewer rounds, and 17 in the very 1st round.

He had taken the WBC title from Berbick on November 22, 1986; the WBA title from James "Bonecrusher" Smith on March 7, 1987; the IBF title from Tucker on August 1, 1987; beat former undisputed Champion Holmes on January 22, 1988; destroyed the previously undefeated Spinks in 91 seconds on June 27, 1988; and had also beaten former partial champions James "Quick" Tillis, Pinklon Thomas, Tony Biggs, Frank Bruno and Carl "The Truth" Williams.

A few months before this fight, Tyson and his promoter, Don King, had played themselves in a music video. DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince had written and record a song titled "I Think I Can Beat Mike Tyson." Of course, it was a comedy. Will Smith, the Fresh Prince, was no heavyweight. In the song, even his own grandmother bets on Tyson. Of course, Tyson wins.

(The video also included Tyson's fellow Brooklynite, comedian Chris Rock. In 2001, Will Smith, by then one of the movies' biggest action stars, starred in Ali. In 2022, Rock hosted the Academy Awards, and made a joke about Smith's wife, actress Jada Pinkett Smith. Smith got up onto the stage and slapped Rock. Rock was taken by surprise, but the slap didn't knock him down. That should tell you that Smith was no Muhammad Ali, and wouldn't have stood a chance against Tyson -- even then.)

But that should give you an idea of how Tyson was thought of at the time. Nobody ever made a comedy record of how they could beat Jack Dempsey, or Joe Louis, or Rocky Marciano, or Ali. But Tyson was seen as absolutely unbeatable. And if anybody was going to beat him, it sure didn't seem like the rather ordinary Douglas was going to be the man to do it. And, just 23 days before the fight, Douglas' mother died. Going into the fight, the odds against Douglas were 42-1.

But is the fight went along, one thing became very clear: Douglas was not afraid of Tyson. Tyson's greatest weapon wasn't his physical strength, but the fear he put into his opponents. Douglas kept throwing punches as if he wasn't afraid, and kept landing them, dominating the middle rounds. Tyson was not used to even having middle rounds.

Soon, Tyson's left eye began to swell from Douglas' right jabs, preventing him from seeing his opponent's punches well. Tyson's cornermen were caught unprepared; they had not brought an endswell or ice packs, usually standard equipment for a fight, as they were so confident that Tyson would easily beat Douglas. Instead, they filled a rubber glove with ice water and held it on Tyson's eye between rounds.

Finally, in the last 10 seconds of the 8th round, Tyson, who had been backed onto the ropes, landed a big right uppercut that knocked Douglas down. 

The referee was Octavio Meryan, a Mexican previously best known for overseeing the 2nd fight between Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Durán, the "No Más" Fight. Although the knockdown timekeeper began when Douglas' backside hit the ring's surface, Don King, with an interest in keeping Tyson unbeaten, claimed that Meyran started his own count behind by two beats. Douglas rose as the Meyran counted 9, but the bell ended the round. King protested after the fight, but the most powerful man in the sport was turned down.

Douglas pounded his left fist on the mat. This was a sign: He was still not afraid, nor was he discouraged, he was angry. He had made a mistake against Mike Tyson, and been knocked down -- but wasn't knocked out. He still thought he could win.

When the 9th round began, Tyson went for the knockout. Douglas refused to go down, and pounded away, to the point where Tyson's left eye was closed. It was Tyson who was impaired, badly in pain and barely hanging on at the end of the round, not Douglas.

At the 1:54 mark of the 10th round, Douglas landed a right uppercut that snapped Tyson's head upward. He followed with four punches to the head, and Tyson fell, knocked down for the 1st time in his career. On his knees, Tyson fumbled for his mouthpiece on the canvas, before sticking one end in his mouth with the other end hanging out. He seemed to have gotten to his feet between the counts of 9 and 10, but, at the 1:37 mark, Meyran counted him out.

The fight had been close through 9 rounds: One card was 88-83 for Douglas, one was 87-87 for Tyson, and one was even at 86-86. If Douglas hadn't completed the knockout, it might have been a very controversial split decision in Tyson's favor, followed by a rematch in which Douglas might have been, to put it politely, encouraged to lose. I don't think he would have taken it.

During the post fight interview, Douglas broke down in tears when asked why he was able to win this fight when no one thought he could. "Because of my mother...God bless her heart," said the emotional new Champion.

On October 25, Douglas got the fight against Evander Holyfield that Tyson was supposed to get next. Holyfield knocked Douglas out in the 3rd round. Douglas didn't fight again for 6 years, and retired in 1999, with a career record of 38-6-1.

In 1991, Tyson was arrested, convicted, and imprisoned for rape. By the time he was released, in 1995, he was 29 years old, having, essentially, thrown his prime away. He went right back to boxing, and won 4 matches within a span of a year: Knocking Peter McNeely out in the 1st round, knocking Buster Mathis Jr. out in the 3rd, knocking Frank Bruno out in the 3rd to reclaim the WBC title, and knocking Bruce Seldon out in the 1st round to reclaim the WBA title. He was 45-1, and the Douglas fight was beginning to look like the fluke of all time.

The next fight was his long-awaited matchup with Holyfield. Holyfield studied the Douglas fight, and knew that Douglas had won because he wasn't afraid of Tyson. Holyfield wasn't, either, and his 2 fights with Tyson ended up defining Tyson as much as the 46 fights before it: Tyson was a great puncher, but he wasn't even a good boxer. Holyfield was a great boxer.

Along with Super Bowl III, the New York Jets beating the Baltimore Colts, and the U.S. hockey team's win over the Soviet Union in the 1980 Winter Olympics, the Douglas-Tyson fight is regarded as one of the greatest upsets in the history of sports.

From March 6, 1985, his 1st professional fight, until February 11, 1990, Mike Tyson went 37-0. From February 11, 1990 onward, he went 13-6. From March 6, 1985 to November 8, 1996, Tyson went 45-1. From November 9, 1996 until his last fight, on June 11, 2005, he was 5-5.

*

February 11, 1990 was a Sunday. This was also the day that Nelson Mandela was freed from prison. I have a separate entry for that event.

Baseball and football were out of season. On that day, the NBA held its All-Star Game, at the Miami Arena. The East beat the West, 130-113. Magic Johnson was named the game's Most Valuable Player.

There were 6 games played in the NHL that day: 

* The New York Rangers lost to the Calgary Flames, 5-2 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Vancouver Canucks beat the Boston Bruins, 4-2 at the Boston Garden.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-1 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Minnesota North Stars, 5-3 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Buffalo Sabres, 4-2 at the St. Louis Arena.

* And the Edmonton Oilers beat the Winnipeg Jets, 7-4 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.