October 9, 2022: The Joe Musgrove Game

October 9, 2022: Game 3 of the National League Wild Card Series was held at Citi Field in Queens. It shouldn't have come to this: The New York Mets had new owner Steve Cohen's billions to spend, Max Scherzer to pitch Game 1, Jacob deGrom to pitch Game 2, a lineup loaded with hitters like Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso, and the home-field advantage in every game; while the San Diego Padres had lost their best player, Fernando Tatís Jr., to a season-ending suspension, and his replacement, Juan Soto, had underwhelmed since they traded for him.

But, being the Mets, the Mets found a way to blow it. Scherzer had nothing in Game 1. The Mets won Game 2. But in Game 3, Joe Musgrove shackled the Mets, who got only 2 baserunners all game long: A single by Pete Alonso to lead off the bottom of the 5th inning, and a walk by Starling Marte to lead off the bottom of the 7th. And the Padres got the hits they needed, and eliminated the Mets, 6-0.

The Mets had won 101 games, but became the 1st 100-or-more-wins team to fail to reach the Division Series, in either League, since that level of the Playoffs was implemented in 1995.

To make matters even more embarrassing: In the 6th inning, Met manager Buck Showalter -- who had previously failed in the Playoffs with the New York Yankees, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Baltimore Orioles, now in his 7th postseason series, of which he has won only 1 and never won a Pennant -- asked the umpires to check behind Musgrove's ears, for a foreign substance that Showalter thought he was using to "doctor" the baseball. The umps checked. They found nothing illegal. All that did was piss Musgrove off, and make him throw harder. 

From April 7 to September 20, the Mets went 95-55, a 103-59 pace. From September 21 to October 5, they went 6-6, an 81-81 pace. Including the Playoffs: From September 21 to October 9, they went 7-8, a 76-86 pace. In the 6 biggest games they had in this season, 3 at home to the Atlanta Braves to decide the National League Eastern Division title, and 3 at home to the San Diego Padres in the NL Wild Card Series, they went 1-5.

Given hype divided by results, and the fact that cheating was not discovered (thus setting aside the Yankees' 2004-present struggles against the Boston Red Sox and their 2015-present struggles against the Houston Astros), this was the most embarrassing performance in New York baseball since the Mets blew the 1988 National League Championship Series against an apparently inferior Los Angeles Dodgers team.

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October 9, 2022 was a Sunday. The other NL Wild Card Series had wrapped up the day before, with the Philadelphia Phillies eliminating the St. Louis Cardinals. The American League Wild Card Series had also wrapped up the day before, with the Cleveland Guardians eliminating the Tampa Bay Rays, and the Seattle Mariners eliminating the Toronto Blue Jays.

The NHL season started 2 days later; the NBA season, 7 days after that. These NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Giants beat the Green Bay Packers, 27-22 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. The G-Men had trailed by as much as 17-3, but came back.

* The New York Jets beat the Miami Dolphins, 40-17 at MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands. It may have been the most satisfying Jet win since the 2010-11 Playoffs.

* The New England Patriots beat the Detroit Lions, 29-0 at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The Baltimore Ravens beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 19-17 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. Justin Tucker won it with a 43-yard field goal on the last play.

* The Tennessee Titans beat the Washington Commanders, 21-17 at FedEx Field (now Northwest Stadium) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Carolina Panthers, 37-15 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

* The Houston Texans beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 13-6 at TIAA Bank Field (now EverBank Stadium) in Jacksonville.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Atlanta Falcons, 21-15 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. This game featured a sack of Tom Brady, a completely legal play for any honest person that saw the instant replay, that was stupidly ruled "roughing the passer." As Michael Wilbon said on ESPN's Pardon the Interruption the next day, "Brother can't touch Tom Brady!"

* The New Orleans Saints beat the Seattle Seahawks, 39-32 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 38-3 at the original Highmark Stadium (formerly Rich Stadium and Ralph Wilson Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Los Angeles Chargers beat the Cleveland Browns, 30-28 at FirstEnergy Stadium (now named Huntington Bank Field) in Cleveland.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Chicago Bears, 29-22 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

* The Indianapolis Colts beat the Denver Broncos, 12-9 at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver. It was a game of field goals, won by Chase McLaughlin with a 48-yarder with 5:50 left in overtime.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Arizona Cardinals, 20-17 at State Farm Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona. Cameron Dicker won it with a 23-yard field goal with 1:45 left.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the Los Angeles Rams, 22-10 at SoFi Stadium outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the next night, on Monday Night Football, the Kansas City Chiefs beat their arch-rivals, the Las Vegas Raiders, 30-29 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

October 4, 1999: The Al Leiter Game

October 4, 1999: The New York Mets whitewash the Cincinnati Reds‚ 5-0 at Riverfront Stadium (by this point, renamed Cinergy Field)‚ to become the National League's Wild Card Playoff team. Al Leiter hurls a complete game 2-hitter for the win. Rey Ordoñez plays his 100th consecutive errorless game, a record for shortstops.

Leiter allowed just 2 hits, and 4 walks, striking out 7. He threw 135 pitches, and there was no way that manager Bobby Valentine was going to take him out. Having grown up a Met fan in Berkeley Township, Ocean County, New Jersey, this was the game he'd waited for his whole life.

He was supported by a 2-run home run by Edgardo Alfonzo in the 1st inning, a bases-loaded walk by Robin Ventura in the 3rd, a home run by Rickey Henderson in the 5th, and an RBI double by Alfonzo in the 6th.

The Mets had struggled against the Atlanta Braves, who had now won 5 straight NL Eastern Division titles, but managed to be 1 of the last 5 teams standing. Now, they were 1 of the last 4, and would play the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL Division Series. The D-backs had set a record by making the Playoffs in only their 2nd season.

This was a playoff to get into the Playoffs; therefore, Major League Baseball counts it as a regular-season game. The Reds had won 96 games. This is easily the most wins by a team that didn't make the Playoffs proper since the advent of MLB's Wild Card era in 1995.

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October 4, 1999 was a Monday. Both Leagues' Division Series started the next day. On ABC Monday Night Football, the Buffalo Bills beat the Miami Dolphins, 23-18 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

The NBA season did not begin until November 2. But there were 3 games played in the NHL:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Boston Bruins, 4-0 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the St. Louis Blues, 3-2 at the Kiel Center (now the Enterprise) in St. Louis.

* And the San Jose Sharks beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 7-1 at the San Jose Arena (now the SAP Center).

October 2, 2018: The Saudi Hit On Jamal Khashoggi

October 2, 2018: There are certain things that the President of the United States has to avoid, first if he wants to be re-elected; then, if successful in that, if he wants to be remembered well by history.

As Ulysses S. Grant, Grover Cleveland, Herbert Hoover, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and both George Bushes found out, you can't have a major economic downturn on your watch.

As Lyndon Johnson and George W. Bush found out, you can't have a war go badly on your watch -- or, as Carter also found out, you can't have a hostage crisis that drags out until it feels like a war.

As Grant, Warren Harding, Richard Nixon and George W. Bush found out, you can't have a major scandal. (The one that the Republican Party tried to put on Bill Clinton didn't work: Having avoided the other things, he was more popular after a full 8 years than any President.)

And, as George W. Bush also found out, you can't be seen as screwing up the response to a devastating hurricane.

Except for a war, all of those things happened during the Presidency of Donald Trump. But what no one foresaw until Trump got into the White House was the possibility of a President being compromised by a foreign power. 

Trump is compromised by, among other nations, Russia and Saudi Arabia. Without the backing of both of these nations, his financial empire wouldn't be worth the paper it's printed on. (It still might not be.) And without their campaign contributions -- and hacking from at least the Russians and possibly also the Saudis -- he could not have become President.

On June 3, 2009, President Barack Obama met with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, and appeared to bow before him. Trump had a public fit over this. But on January 23, 2015, Abdullah died, succeeded by his half-brother, King Salman; and on May 2017, Trump met with Salman in the Saudi national capital of Riyadh, received a gaudy medal from him, and appeared to curtsy right afterward.

Salman's health was already beginning to fail. On June 21, 2017, he appointed his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to run the country on his behalf. On that day, Trump called him to "congratulate him on his recent elevation." Trump and "MBS" pledged "close cooperation" on security and economic issues.

The month before, MBS publicly warned: "I confirm to you, no one will survive in a corruption case—whoever he is, even if he's a prince or a minister." He wasn't kidding: On November 4, the Saudi media announced the house arrest of some 200 wealthy businessmen and princes at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Riyadh, on various "corruption" charges. They became the subject of "The Night of Beating," with Saudi agents torturing them.

He became his country's absolute ruler at age 32.

This is why "foreign policy by obituary," waiting for

a tyrant to die so policy can change, usually doesn't work.

This included Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, an English-language news commentator and a major shareholder in Citigroup, Twitter, and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp; Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah, head of the Saudi Arabian National Guard; Adel Fakeih, Minister of Economy and Planning; and Admiral Abdullah bin Sultan bin Mohammed Al-Sultan, commander of the Royal Saudi Navy. As of October 2, 2022, Fakeih was still in custody; the others were quickly released, but have not been returned to any role in the Saudi government. 

Jamal Khashoggi was born on October 13, 1958 in Medina, Saudi Arabia. He was an exiled journalist who had written damning exposes of his homeland's government. This was complicated by the fact that his grandfather, Mohammed Khashoggi, was the personal physician of King Ibn Saud, the founder of the Saudi state. His uncle, Adnan Khashoggi, was a billionaire arms dealer. He was also a first cousin of Dodi Fayed, the Egyptian film producer who was Princess Diana's boyfriend and was killed with her in the 1997 Paris car crash.

In a column printed in the April 3, 2018 edition of The Washington Post, Jamal Khashoggi wrote that Saudi Arabia "should return to its pre-1979 climate, when the government restricted hard-line Wahhabi traditions. Women today should have the same rights as men. And all citizens should have the right to speak their minds without fear of imprisonment." In that same column, he said that Saudis "must find a way where we can accommodate secularism and Islam, something like what they have in Turkey," the country where he was then living. He also opposed the Saudi's intervention in neighboring Yemen.

He was no angel: He had just gotten married for the 3rd time, but was already planning to divorce his new wife and marry another woman. He was critical of Israel. He had even been friends with Osama bin Laden during the latter's opposition to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, but renounced bin Laden when he turned to violence against America. When bin Laden was killed in 2011, Khashoggi wrote, "You were beautiful and brave in those beautiful days in Afghanistan, before you surrendered to hatred and passion."

On October 2, 2018, Khashoggi walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, where he was living, to obtain documents needed for his planned marriage. (He was already married, but planning to divorce his wife so he could marry someone else.) He never left alive, and word reached the outside world that he was murdered and dismembered inside the consulate. He was just short of turning 60, and left behind his wife, 2 sons and 2 daughters (with all 4 children from his 2nd marriage).

On November 16, the CIA determined that MBS has personally ordered the murder. This was not just an assassination: This was more like a Mob hit.

On December 11, 2018, Time magazine collectively named journalists they called "Guardians of the Truth" as their "Persons of the Year." They put Khashoggi on the cover as their stand-in. This made him, technically, the 1st person already dead to receive their Man/Person of the Year designation since the distinction was established in 1927. Time also cited journalists in the U.S., Mexico, Venezuela, Russia, Turkey, Sudan, Bangladesh, Myanmar (formerly Burma), Vietnam and the Philippines.

(No, John F. Kennedy didn't receive it in 1963, although he got it while alive in 1961. The 1963 recipient was Martin Luther King Jr.)

In 2021, the former Saudi intelligence official Saad al-Jabri said in an interview with CBS that bin Salman is "a psychopath, killer... with infinite resources, who poses threat to his people, to the Americans and to the planet."

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October 2, 2018 was a Tuesday. Football was in midweek. The NHL season started 2 days later; the NBA season, 15 days later. And only 1 baseball game was played. It was the National League Wild Card Game, at Wrigley Field in Chicago, and the Colorado Rockies beat the Chicago Cubs, 2-1. With 2 outs in the top of the 13th inning, the Rockies got consecutive singled from Trevor Story, Gerardo Parra and Tony Wolters to take the lead. The Rockies were subsequently swept by the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Division Series.

October 1, 2007: The Colorado Rockies' Disputed Holliday

October 1, 2007: A Playoff for the National League Wild Card Playoff berth is held at Coors Field in Denver. The Colorado Rockies and the San Diego Padres had both finished with a record of 89-73, 1 game behind the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL Western Division. Since only 1 Wild Card berth was available per League, they would have to play each other for it.

The Rockies had won 13 of their last 14 scheduled games just to get that far, for a shot at only their 2nd Playoff berth ever, after the 1995 NL Wild Card. The Padres had won the NL West the 2 preceding seasons.

Jake Peavy, having won the Triple Crown of Pitching, started for the Padres, and lasted into the 7th inning, bolstered by a 5-run 3rd inning that included a home run by Adrián González. Rockies starter Josh Fogg got knocked out in the 5th inning, but the Rockies still only trailed, 5-4, thanks to home runs by Yorvit Torrealba and Todd Helton.

The Rockies scored runs in the 5th and the 6th to take a 6-5 lead, but the Padres tied it in the 8th. The game went to extra innings. Brian Giles led off the top of the 13th inning with a walk, and Scott Hairston looked like the hero of the game, hitting a home run off Jorge Julio to give the Padres an 8-6 lead. Ramón Ortiz came in to pitch for the Rockies, and he got out of the inning with no further damage.

Counting the postseason, Hall-of-Fame reliever Trevor Hoffman appeared in 914 games for the San Diego Padres. This one, along with Game 3 of the 1998 World Series, when he gave up a game-winning home run to Scott Brosius, is one he'd like to have back. He gave up a double to Kazuo Matsui, an RBI double to Troy Tulowitzki, and an RBI triple to Matt Holliday.

Helton was intentionally walked to set up the double play. But Jamey Carroll hit a fly ball to right field. Giles caught it, and threw home, to try to get Holliday, who had tagged up at 3rd. Home plate umpire Tim McClelland ruled him safe, and the Rockies had won, 9-8.

The Padres lost their minds, sure that catcher Michael Barrett had tagged Holliday. This play is one of the reasons that instant replay review was instituted in Major League Baseball, but it wasn't in use yet. The replay showed that Padre catcher Michael Barrett had dropped the ball. Holliday was safe.

Needing a Playoff for the Playoffs, the Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres in the bottom of the 13th inning, 9-8. Jamey Carroll hits a sacrifice fly, and Matt Holliday scores on a disputed play at the plate.

The Rockies closed the regular season (and this game counts as such, as it's officially not a postseason game) winning 14 of their last 15. They swept the Philadelphia Phillies 3 straight in the NL Division Series, and the Diamondbacks 4 straight in the NL Championship Series. They had won 21 of their last 22, a late-season run unmatched in the history of Major League Baseball.

Which made it all the more stunning when the Boston Red Sox swept them in 4 straight in the World Series. They won the Wild Card again in 2009, but didn't make the Playoffs again until 2017. The Padres didn't make the Playoffs again until 2020, and this play still burns their fans up. 

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October 1, 2007 was a Monday. There was 1 other score: On ESPN Monday Night Football, the New England Patriots, in the middle of their almost-unbeaten season, beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 34-13 at Paul Brown Stadium (now Paycor Stadium) in Cincinnati.

September 28, 2011: The Boston Red Sox & Atlanta Braves Choke -- Again

September 28, 2011: This was one of the most remarkable days in the history of regular season baseball. The New York Yankees have won the American League East, with help from the Boston Red Sox, who went 7-20 in September, a month they began by leading the Division by 1 game and the Wild Card by 9.

But the Baltimore Orioles come from 3-2 down in the bottom of the 9th at Camden Yards, as Robert Andino singles off Jonathan Papelbon to give the O's a 4-3 win. This gives the Yankees the Division title.

The Sox can still win the Wild Card, but the Rays complete a sweep of the Yankees, coming from 7-0 down to win 8-7 in the 12th inning on Evan Longoria's 2nd home run of the game.

Ordinarily, this would be a great embarrassment for Yankee Fans. But they end up having a good laugh: The Sox become the 1st team ever to miss the postseason completely after having a 9-game lead for any berth in September. The Sox may have won the World Series twice in the 8 years following, but this night adds to their long list of chokes.

In the preseason, predictions were made that the Red Sox would not only win the World Series, but be one of the great teams of all time. One ESPN writer, who didn't put his name on his claim, said that the 2011 Red Sox would be the greatest team since the 1927 Yankees. But they lost 18 of their last 24, so the comparison brought up was to the 1978 Red Sox.

Apparently, the steroids weren't working anymore. Maybe that's why they started using Apple Watches.

During games when they were not scheduled to pitch, Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and John Lackey were not in the dugout with the rest of their teammates. Instead, they reportedly sat in the clubhouse, played video games, ate fast-food fried chicken and drank beer. This was technically allowed under team rules, but it certainly violated some of "the unwritten rules of baseball."

This was a far cry from Red Sox legend Wade Boggs eating chicken before the game, because he thought it helped him hit better. This habit was reflected in both the pitchers' weight gain and their results late in the season. Across September, Beckett, Lester and Lackey combined for a 2-7 record and a 6.45 ERA. This failure to impose discipline cost Terry Francona, at this point the only manager since Ed Barrow in 1918 to manage the Sox to a World Championship, his job.

The Atlanta Braves also choke, having led the St. Louis Cardinals by 10 1/2 games for the NL Wild Card on August 25, but going 11-20 since, while the Cards went 23-9. On the final day, the Cards beat the Houston Astros 8-0 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston, as Chris Carpenter pitches a 2-hit shutout, while the Braves lose to the Phillies, 4-3 at Turner Field in Atlanta, on a Hunter Pence RBI single in the top of the 13th inning. The Braves are out.

Also on this day, the Florida Marlins play their last game under that name, and their last game at the Miami Dolphins' stadium, now named Hard Rock Stadium. They lose 3-1 to the Washington Nationals, ending 19 years of play in the suburb of Miami Gardens. The next season, they will be named the Miami Marlins, and move to the new, garish, retractable-roof Marlins Park, now named LoanDepot Park, built on the Little Havana site of the Orange Bowl.

It is also the last game for Ivan Rodriguez, playing out the string for the Marlins, whom he and his steroids helped win the 2003 World Series.

In other MLB games played on September 28, 2011, a Wednesday:

* The New York Mets beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-0 at Citi Field. Miguel Batista pitched a 2-hit shutout. Mike Baxter hit a home run, the 1st of his major league career. He would hit only 3 more.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-4 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-2 at U.S. Cellular Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-3 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals, 1-0 at Target Field in Minneapolis. Carl Pavano pitched a 5-hit shutout. Seriously: Carl Pavano.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 7-5 at Chase Field in PHoenix.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Chicago Cubs, 9-2 at Petco Park in San Diego.

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

* The Colorado Rockies beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-3 at AT&T Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners, 2-0 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle.