September 30, 1973: The Last Game at the Pre-Renovation Yankee Stadium

September 30, 1973: The last game is played at Yankee Stadium before its renovation. The Yankees lose 8-5 to the Detroit Tigers.

The renovation was necessary, not because the Mets were talking about how much better Shea Stadium was, but because there were actual structural issues. The institution of Bat Day led to kids sitting in the upper deck, banging their bats on the floor, weakening the stadium structure.

So Mayor John Lindsay negotiated a deal in which the Department of Parks of the City of New York, which already owned Shea, bought both Yankee Stadium and the land on which it sat -- previously owned by separate entities -- and would renovate it, to reopen in time for the 1976 season. The Yankees would play the 1974 and '75 seasons at Shea.

This also forced the football Giants out of Yankee Stadium after 2 games, a 34-14 win over the Houston Oilers on September 16, and a 23-23 tie with the Philadelphia Eagles on September 23. The rest of their home schedule for 1973, and all of it for 1974, would be played 70 miles to the northeast, at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut.

Lindsay, angry that the Giants had already negotiated a deal to build a stadium in the Meadowlands of New Jersey, in time for the 1976 season, denied them the use of Shea, so they had to look elsewhere. So they made the deal to play '73 and '74 at the Yale Bowl. Lindsay's successor, Abe Beame, had no such grudge, and allowed the Giants to play the 1975 season at Shea -- meaning that it was hosting both of New York's MLB teams and both of its NFL teams at the same time.

(In other words: In 1975, the New York Tri-State Area had 8 teams playing in 3 buildings: Shea Stadium had the Yankees, the Mets, the Giants and the Jets; Madison Square Garden had the Knicks and the Rangers; and the Nassau Coliseum had the Nets and the Islanders. In 2022, with the Devils making it 9 teams, they are playing in 7 separate buildings.)

In order to avoid the kind of damage that fans had done to other ballparks in their recent closures, the Monuments were removed from center field, and the Plaques from the wall, before the game.

Duane "Duke" Sims, catching in the last game at the pre-renovation Stadium instead of Thurman Munson, hits the last home run, off Fred Holdsworth in the 7th inning. But Lindy McDaniel, in relief of Fritz Peterson, implodes in the 8th inning, allowing 6 runs, making a winning pitcher of John Hiller.

Sims' 1974 Topps card. Topps tended to take

players' card pictures in New York,

going back to the Polo Grounds.

The last play is 1st baseman Mike Hegan hitting a fly ball to, appropriately, center field, once patrolled by Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle. This one is caught by the Tigers' Mickey Stanley.

Attendance: 32,238, in a Stadium whose capacity was then listed as 65,010.

For all the greats who had played in Yankee Stadium, the only future Hall-of-Famer who played in this game was the Tigers' Al Kaline. He went 1-for-2, then, 39 years old, was replaced in the field.

After the game, Yankee manager Ralph Houk resigned, tired of the meddling of the team's 1st-year owner, George Steinbrenner. He had managed the Yankees in the 1961, '62 and '63 seasons, winning the Pennant each time. Then he became the general manager for 1964, and after 1 more Pennant, everybody seemed to get old and/or hurt at once, and there was hardly anybody to replace them with, because the farm system had dried up.

In 1966, he resigned as GM, and his last act as such was to appoint himself back as field manager. The 1st time around, he had been "a players' manager." Now, he was seen as too much of "a company man," and the younger players didn't like him. He got the Yankees to a 2nd-place finish in 1970, but 15 games behind the Baltimore Orioles. They were in the American League Eastern Division race late in both 1972 and '73, but they faded both times.

The '73 finale was his 1,757th and last game as Yankee manager, giving him a record of 944-806. He managed the Tigers from 1974 to 1978, and the Boston Red Sox from 1981 to 1984, but never came close to another postseason berth. Overall, he was 1,619-1,531 for his career.

George found finding a replacement for Houk difficult, as he tried to hire Dick Williams, who, after the subsequent World Series despite winning it, had quit as manager of the Oakland Athletics. A's owner Charlie Finley contended that Williams couldn't manage anywhere else as long as his contract with him was running. So George hired former Pittsburgh Pirate manager Bill Virdon. Houk was signed to manage the Tigers.

The day after the last game, the renovation began. Claire Ruth, the Babe's widow, was given home plate. Eleanor Gehrig, Lou's widow, was given the 1st base that was used in the last game.

The 1923-73 version of Yankee Stadium saw the home team win 27 American League Pennants and 20 World Series in 51 seasons. (The 1st 2 Yankee Pennants, 1921 and '22, came at the Polo Grounds.) It also hosted 3 NFL Championship Games in the pre-Super Bowl era: 1956, when the Giants beat the Chicago Bears; 1958, when the Giants lost to the Baltimore Colts in an overtime classic that has been called "The Greatest Game Ever Played"; and 1962, when the Giants lost to the Green Bay Packers.

It also hosted the Army-Navy Game in 1930 and '31; and 22 Army-Notre Dame games, including 1928, when Knute Rockne told his team to "Win one for the Gipper," and they did; and 1946, when both teams came in undefeated, and left that way, a "Game of the Century" that didn't live up to the hype, ending 0-0. And it hosted a long run of boxing champions, from Jack Dempsey to Floyd Patterson, including Joe Louis' 1938 knockout of Max Schmeling.

Remaining with the team until 1980, shortstop Fred Stanley was the last Yankee who had played a home game at the pre-renovation Stadium, although center fielder Bobby Murcer would be traded away and reacquired, playing his last game on June 11, 1983, nearly 10 years later.

*

September 30, 1973 was a Sunday. Other Major League Baseball games played on this day:

* The New York Mets split a doubleheader with the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. The Cubs won the opener 1-0, with Rick Reuschel and Bob Locker combining for an 8-hit shutout. In the nightcap, Jerry Koosman was backed by 3 hits from Rusty Staub, 2 each by Wayne Garrett and Felix Millan, and a home run by Cleon Jones, as the Mets won 9-2.

The regular season should have been over, but the National League Eastern Division race was a wild one that no one seemed to want to win. The Mets ended the day 1 game ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals, a game and a half ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3 ahead of the Montreal Expos, and 4 ahead of the Cubs -- who finished closer to the Mets this time than they had in their in famous 1969 "September Swoon."

But because of rainouts, the race still wasn't decided. The Cards had completed their schedule, but the Mets had 2 games left to play, the Pirates 1. It was still possible for any of the 3 to win the Division.

* Because the Cardinals had beaten the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-1 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* And the Pirates had beaten the Expos, 10-2 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. The next day, the Pirates would play a rainout makeup against the San Diego Padres at home, while the Mets would stay at Wrigley and play another doubleheader with the Cubs.

The Mets won the opener, 6-4, and clinched the Division. Until the 1986 Pennant, this would remain their only clincher on the road. (The 1969 and 1986 Division titles, the 1969 and 1973 Pennants, and the 1969 World Series win would all occur at Shea.) They beat the Cubs, and barely beat the rain, which canceled the nightcap, which was now unnecessary. It was made more so when the Pirates lost 4-3 to the Padres.

* Elsewhere on September 30, the Houston Astros beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-3 at Atlanta Stadium. (It was renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in 1975.) This was the 3,739th and last regular-season game managed by Leo Durocher, who was soon fired. He first managed with the 1939 Brooklyn Dodgers, while he was still an active player.

Hank Aaron got 3 hits, but none of them was a home run, so he finished the season with 713 career home runs. It would be a long off-season before he got the chance to break the career record then held by Babe Ruth. He hit Number 714 on April 4, 1974 in Cincinnati, and then Number 715 on April 8 at home to Los Angeles.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 3-2 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The California Angels beat the Minnesota Twins, 3-0 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium). Frank Tanana pitched a 2-hit shutout, outdueling Bert Blyleven.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-0 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Pete Broberg allowed 7 hits, but kept the shutout.

* And the Chicago White Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 1-0 at the Oakland Coliseum. The ChiSox won it in the top of the 10th, on a bases-loaded walk drawn by shortstop Russell "Bucky" Dent, who would later write his name in Yankee history. Speaking of which: Reggie Jackson did not play for the A's, but Catfish Hunter started, and did not get the decision. The A's would go on to beat the Mets in the World Series.

And there were NFL games played on the day:

* The New York Giants lost to the Cleveland Browns, 13-10 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The New York Jets lost to the Buffalo Bills, 9-7. It was the Bills' 1st game at their new stadium, south of the city, in suburban Orchard Park, New York. Originally known as Rich Stadium, for the Rich family of meat-product producers, O.J. Simpson and his teammates beat the Jets, 9-7.

The stadium was renamed Ralph Wilson Stadium for the team's founding owner in 1998, and, in 2015, was renamed New Era Field, as naming rights were bought by the New Era sports cap company. But New Era asked to be let out of the agreement in 2020. It was renamed Highmark Stadium. In 2026, it was torn down, and replaced by a new facility, also named Highmark Stadium.

* The Washington Redskins beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 28-7 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Baltimore Colts beat the New Orleans Saints, 13-10 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the New England Patriots, 44-23 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Houston Oilers, 36-7 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the football version of the St. Louis Cardinals, 45-10 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Green Bay Packers, 11-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Oakland Raiders, 16-3 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Chicago Bears beat the Denver Broncos, 33-14 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the San Diego Chargers, 20-13 at San Diego Stadium.

* The Los Angeles Rams beat the San Francisco 49ers, 40-20 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* The next day, on Monday Night Football, the Detroit Lions beat the Atlanta Falcons, 31-6 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. 

September 30, 1934: The Oldest MLB Player to Get a Hit

September 30, 1934: Baseball's regular season comes to a close. Among the games played on this day, the Detroit Tigers sweep a doubleheader from the St. Louis Browns, 10-6 and 6-2 at Navin Field in Detroit. The ballpark will be renamed Briggs Stadium in 1938, and Tiger Stadium in 1961. The Tigers played in it from 1912 to 1999.

The game doesn't mean much: The Tigers won the American League Pennant by 7 games over the New York Yankees, while the Browns, as was usually the case, were far in the other direction, 6th place, 33 games out of 1st.

But in the top of the 6th inning, Charley O'Leary pinch-hit for Browns pitcher George Blaeholder, and singled off Elden Auker. Following a single by Jake Garms and a double by Jack Burns, he scored.

At first glance, this doesn't seem all that remarkable. But it was: O'Leary had just become the oldest player in Major League Baseball history, the oldest to bat, the oldest to get a hit, and the oldest to score a run.

Charles Timothy O'Leary was born on October 15, 1875 in Chicago. A weak-hitting shortstop, he played regularly from 1904 to 1913, including for the Tigers' Pennant-winners of 1907, '08 and '09. He coached under Miller Huggins with both the St. Louis Cardinals and the Yankees. With the Yankees, he was a part of the team that won the 1923, '27 and '28 World Series. In 1920, he made the mistake of getting in a car driven by Babe Ruth, who had an accident. O'Leary was thrown from the car, but survived. In 1932, he was a coach for the Chicago Cubs, and they won a National League Pennant, but lost the World Series to the Yankees.

In 1934, Rogers Hornsby, his former Cardinal and Cub teammate, was managing the Browns, and brought him onto his coaching staff. On that last day of the season, Hornsby sent him up to bat, at age 58, 15 days shy of his 59th birthday. He remained on the Browns' staff until Hornsby was fired in 1937. He died on January 6, 1941, at age 65.

On September 25, 1965, the Kansas City Athletics activated legendary Negro League pitcher Leroy "Satchel" Paige, and he pitched the 1st 3 innings, without allowing a run. He came to bat, but didn't get a hit. At 59, he became the oldest player to play, the oldest to pitch, and the oldest to bat.

On September 12, 1976, the Chicago White Sox swept a doubleheader from the California Angels at Comiskey Park, 2-1 (in 10 innings) and 5-1. Minnie Miñoso, age 53, a coach for the White Sox and once a great player for them, batted 9th as the designated hitter, and went 1-for-3, singling off Sid Monge in the 2nd inning, making him the oldest player in major league history to get a hit.

Or so everybody thought. At the time, O'Leary was believed to have been born in 1882, so Miñoso got credit for breaking his record. Later, it was discovered that O'Leary was born in 1875. So, while Miñoso's achievement was remarkable, it was not unprecedented. In 1980, White Sox owner Bill Veeck sent him up to bat again, making him a 5-decade player (1940s to 1980s), but he did not get a hit. So O'Leary remains the oldest player to come to bat, the oldest to get a hit, and the oldest to score a run.

*

September 30, 1934 was a Sunday. These other baseball games were played.

* The New York Yankees lost to the Washington Senators, 5-3 at Griffith Stadium in Washington, despite a home run from Lou Gehrig. Babe Ruth goes 0-for-3, and it turns out to be his last appearance for the Yankees.

The Yankees finished 2nd in the AL, 7 games behind the Tigers. This is in spite of having players winning both the batting and the pitching Triple Crown. Gehrig batted .363, with 49 home runs and 165 runs batted in. Vernon "Lefty" Gomez won 26 games (against just 5 losses, and no Yankee has matched those 26 wins since), had a 2.33 earned-run average, and struck out 158 batters. All of those figures led the League. Gehrig and Mickey Mantle remain the only Yankees to win batting Triple Crowns.

So why didn't the Yankees win the Pennant? Yes, the Tigers had a great team, but that didn't usually stop the Yankees between 1921 and 1964. Part of the problem was injuries. Center fielder Earle Combs hit his head on an unpadded outfield wall on July 24, played only 63 games, and was never the same. In addition, 3rd baseman Red Rolfe played only 89 games. And while Gomez and Charles "Red" Ruffing were, as usual, the best lefty-righty combo in AL pitching, there wasn't really a good 3rd starter, let alone a 4th.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat their arch-rivals, 8-5 at the Polo Grounds. The Giants' 3rd-best pitcher, "Fat" Freddie Fitzsimmons, noted for his usually beating the Dodgers, did not pitch well, although he helped his own cause with a home run. In the top of the 10th inning, neither the Giants' starter and 2nd-best pitcher, Hal Schumacher, nor their ace, "King" Carl Hubbell, could hold off a Dodger rally.

The preceding January, a sportswriter had asked Bill Terry, the 1st baseman who had also managed the Giants to win the previous year's World Series, who would be their top challengers in 1934. He said, "Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Chicago will be the teams we'll have to beat. I don’t think the Braves will do as well as they did last year. I was just wondering, Is Brooklyn still in the league?"

Over the last 3 games of the regular season, the Dodgers proved that, yes, Brooklyn was still in the National League. That sweep of a doubleheader on Saturday and the single game on Sunday cost the Giants the Pennant. Had the Giants won 2 out of 3, they would have finished in a tie for the Pennant, and forced a best-2-out-of-3 Playoff with St. Louis.

For Dodger fans, who hated the Giants even more than Red Sox fans would eventually hate the Yankees, it was a rare moment in the Sun. In 1941, they won their 1st Pennant in 1920, with their ace being... a 40-year-old Freddie Fitzsimmons.

I have a separate entry for this event.

* A doubleheader was split at Fenway Park in Boston. The Boston Red Sox won the opener, 5-0. George Hockette allowed 8 hits, but kept the shutout. The Philadelphia Athletics won the nightcap, 4-2. Over the 2 games, Jimmie Foxx went 1-for-6 with 3 walks and an RBI.

* The Chicago White Sox won the 1st game of a doubleheader against the Cleveland Indians, 9-5 at League Park in Cleveland. Ted Lyons was the winning pitcher, and former Athletics star Al Simmons went 5-for-5. The Indians were leading the 2nd game, 5-3 after 5 innings, when the game was called due to darkness.

* The Boston Braves swept the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3 and 5-4 at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia. The 1st game went 10 innings, and the 2nd was called due to darkness after 7. (This was the day the U.S. switched from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time.)

The Braves finished 78-73, in 4th place, 16 games out of 1st. But the next year, they had one of the worst seasons in baseball history, going 38-115, the most losses of any MLB team between 1916 and 1962. For the 1936 season, as would be said today, they "rebranded": They became the Boston Bees, and Braves Field became National League Park, a.k.a. the Bee Hive. Neither name caught on, and in 1941, they went back to "Boston Braves" and "Braves Field."

* The Chicago Cubs swept the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-2 and 7-5 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The next season, Crosley Field in Cincinnati became the 1st major league ballpark with lights. From 1948 to 1988, Wrigley was the last one without lights. Yet, on this day, despite the doubleheader and the early sunset, they got a full 18 innings in. (Well, 17, as neither game needed a bottom of the 9th.)

* And the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds, 9-0 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The Cards needed a win, or a Giant loss, to clinch the Pennant on this final day. They got both. Jay "Dizzy" Dean pitched a 7-hit shutout, to advance to 30-7 on the season. No NL pitcher has won 30 games in a season since. Only 1 has won 28, and only 1 other has won 27.

Like the Giants, they had a player-manager. Like Fitzsimmons would in 1941, he was an ex-Giant who came back to haunt his former team: Frankie Frisch, the graduate of Fordham University in The Bronx who was nicknamed "The Fordham Flash." On this day, he went 3-for-5. The Cards got home runs from Bill Delancey and James "Ripper" Collins.

The Cardinals went on to beat the Tigers in the World Series. They are remembered as "The Gashouse Gang," but that nickname wouldn't come until the next season.

There were 4 games played in the NFL:

* The football version of the New York Giants lost to the Green Bay Packers, 20-6 at City Stadium in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

* The football version of the Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Boston Redskins, 10-6 at Ebbets Field.

* The Chicago Bears beat the Cincinnati Reds, 21-3 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati.

* And the Detroit Lions beat the Chicago Cardinals, 6-0 at the University of Detroit Stadium.

September 30, 1971: The Last Washington Senators Game Is Played

September 30, 1971: The last Washington Senators game is played, against the New York Yankees at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington. Team owner Bob Short, having already moved the NBA's Minneapolis Lakers to Los Angeles in 1960, has announced he's moving the Senators to the Dallas area, to become the Texas Rangers. He complains about the low attendance, despite having the highest ticket prices in the American League, and no subway access to RFK Stadium. (Washington's Metro would not open until 1976.)

Frank Howard, the Senators' most popular player in their 2nd go-around of 1961-71, hits the last home run. Dick Bosman starts, and stands to be the winning pitcher, as the Senators lead 7-5 with 1 out left in the 9th. All he has to do is get Bobby Murcer out.

Frank Howard

But he can't, through no fault of his own. Angry fans from the "crowd" of 14,461 people storm the field. The umpires cannot restore order, and they forfeit the game to the Yankees. The next April, Bosman also started the team's 1st game as the Rangers.

Only 2 AL games have been forfeited since, both promotions that turned into fiascos: The Cleveland Indians' Ten-Cent Beer Night in 1974, and the Chicago White Sox' Disco Demolition Night in 1979. Rusty Torres, who turned 23 on this day, was also in uniform on each of those occasions.

That last season had been a difficult one for the Senators, even before the move was announced. Ted Williams had been named their manager in 1969, and the man who literally wrote the book on hitting (The Science of Hitting, published the next year) really improved their hitting, to the point where the Senators won 86 games. It was the best season in Washington baseball since 1945, when the original Senators, who moved to become the Minnesota Twins in 1961 and were replaced by this expansion team, won 87 and missed the Pennant by a game and a half.

But the Boston Red Sox legend couldn't improve the pitching, and soon, the hitters stopped listening to his authoritarian ways. The Senators won only 70 games in 1970. In 1971, they traded for Denny McLain, the former 2-time Cy Young Award winner whose shoulder injury and bad attitude rendered him nearly useless; and the rights to Curt Flood, who had refused to accept a trade from the St. Louis Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies, but was willing to come back and play in Washington, and was so rusty after sitting 1970 out that he had to retire.

The Senators won just 63 games, and while a solid core of fans missed them, the D.C. metropolitan area as a whole did not. As Richard Nixon, President at the time, was quoted as saying, "All anybody cares about in Washington is the Redskins." And since the Redskins won the NFC Championship in 1972, and stayed contenders for the next 20 years, this was one time when Nixon was right.

In 1973, the NBA's Baltimore Bullets moved down the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, and were successful for the next 10 years, including a Championship in 1978. The 1970s also saw a renaissance in basketball at the University of Maryland, located outside the District of Columbia, but inside the Capital Beltway.

In 1974, the NHL introduced the Washington Capitals, and, while they were terrible their first few years, they have usually been contenders since the mid-1980s. The 1980s also saw the rise of the basketball team at Georgetown University.

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan went to the MLB city closest to Washington at the time, Baltimore, and threw out the ceremonial first ball before the Orioles' home opener, restoring the old Washington tradition. Although the Orioles fell into decline after a generation of winning, including 3 World Series wins (including 4 Pennants from 1966 to 1971, which took many Maryland fans away and, indirectly, helped to doom the Senators), Washington insiders began making the trip up the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, and the Orioles became D.C.'s team as well as Baltimore's.

The Orioles' 1989 Playoff run, though ultimately unsuccessful, increased interest from Washington area fans. The building of Oriole Park at Camden Yards in 1992 moved them just 4 miles, but it also put them next to Interstate 95, the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, and Camden Station, all with access to D.C.

This whetted capital-area baseball appetites even more, and led to the 2004-05 move of the Montreal Expos, becoming the Washington Nationals. They played the 2005, '06 and '07 seasons at RFK Stadium before moving to Nationals Park. Being in the other League means their rivalry with the Orioles isn't as nasty as Yankees-Red Sox, Dodgers-Giants, or even Cubs-Cardinals. The fact that the teams are partners in the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (the O's own 77 percent of MASN, and the Nats 23 percent) also helps.

The Nats finally started making the Playoffs in 2012, the 1st postseason for a Washington baseball team since the 1933 Senators, unless you count the Homestead Grays of the Negro Leagues, who split their "home games" between Washington and Pittsburgh. And in 2019, the Nats won the World Series, the 1st such win for Washington since the 1924 Senators.

The last active player for the "New Senators" was Toby Harrah, who played until 1986. The last active player for the "Old Senators," who became the Minnesota Twins in 1961, was Jim Kaat, who pitched until 1983.

*

September 30, 1971 was a Thursday. These 8 other Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-1 at Shea Stadium. Tom Seaver gets the win, his 20th of the season, and will go on to win his 2nd Cy Young Award. A young right fielder named Ken Singleton, who had grown up in New York as a Met fan, hits 2 home runs. But he will become better known for playing for the Baltimore Orioles, and broadcasting for the Yankees.

No one knows it at the time, but this is the last game the Mets will play with Gil Hodges as their manager. At the end of Spring Training in 1972, he suffers a heart attack and dies, not quite 48 years old.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Montreal Expos, 5-3 at Jarry Park in Montreal. The retiring Ernie Banks played his last game with the Cubs 4 days earlier.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell both went 1-for-4.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-2 at Atlanta Stadium (later Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). Pete Rose went 1-for-4. Both the Reds' Johnny Bench and the Braves' Hank Aaron got the day off.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres 5-1, at what was then named San Diego Stadium. (It was later renamed Jack Murphy Stadium, Qualcomm Stadium, and SDCCU Stadium.) The Giants thus clinch the National League Western Division title. This turns out to be their only postseason berth between 1962 and 1987.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 2-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The California Angels beat the Minnesota Twins, 3-2 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* And the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Houston Astros, 2-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

And actress Jenna Elfman was born.

September 30, 1967: The Spectrum Opens

September 30, 1967: The Spectrum, a new sports arena, opens in South Philadelphia, just to the north of John F. Kennedy Stadium. The new baseball and football facility, Veterans Stadium, had recently begun construction, just to the north. The first event at the arena was the Quaker City Jazz Festival.

Lou Scheinfeld, former President of the Spectrum, explained that the name "Spectrum" was selected to evoke the broad range of events to be held there:

* SP: "SPorts" and "South Philadelphia"

* E: "Entertainment"

* C: "Circuses"

* T: "Theatricals"

* R: "Recreation"

* UM: "Um, what a nice building!"

That last one was a bit of a stretch. Scheinfeld also said that a seat in the city's first superbox initially cost $1,000 a year: "For every Flyers game, Sixers game, circus, you name it, you got 250 events for $1,000."

The first sporting event at the arena was a fight card on October 17, headlined by hometown hero Joe Frazier defeating Tony Doyle. The next day, the defending NBA Champion 76ers, previously playing at the Convention Hall of the Philadelphia Civic Center, made their Spectrum debut, beating the Los Angeles Lakers, 103-87. Elgin Baylor of the Lakers led all scorers with 24 points. Wilt Chamberlain scored only 11, but had 30 rebounds. The day after that, the Flyers made their home debut, beating their fellow Pennsylvania expansion team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, 1-0. Bill Sutherland scored the 1st goal.

On March 1, 1968, wind blew part of the covering off The Spectrum's roof during a performance of the Ice Capades, forcing the building to close for a month while Mayor James Tate fought with Philadelphia County District Attorney Arlen Specter (later a U.S. Senator) over responsibility for the construction of the roof, and the damage was repaired.

The 76ers moved their home games to Convention Hall and to the Palestra, but neither of those arenas had ice rinks at the time, and there were no other NHL-quality sites in the Philadelphia area. Thus the Flyers hurriedly moved their next home game, against the Oakland Seals, to Madison Square Garden in New York, followed by a meeting with the Boston Gardens at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, before establishing a base at Le Colisée de Québec in Quebec City, home of their top farm team, the Quebec Aces. The roof was repaired in time for them to play their home Playoff games there.

In 1976, the nation's Bicentennial led to several events being held in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence was written, debated and signed. Veterans Stadium hosted MLB's All-Star Game, while The Spectrum hosted the NBA and NHL All-Star Games, and the NCAA Final Four, won by Indiana University.

In fiction, each of the fights between Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed were held at The Spectrum in 1976: The 1st, in the original Rocky, on New Year's Day, January 1; the 2nd, in Rocky II, on Thanksgiving Day, November 25.

The Spectrum also hosted the All-Star Game for the NBA in 1970, and for the NHL in 1992. A 2nd Final Four was held there in 1981, again won by Indiana. The Spectrum hosted the NBA Finals in 1977, 1980, 1982 and 1983, with the Sixers winning only the last of these; and the Stanley Cup Finals in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1985 and 1987, with the Flyers winning the 1st 2 of these.

The arena became home to statues of 76ers star Julius "Dr. J" Erving, a prominent goal scored by the Flyers' Gary Dornhoefer, the fictional Rocky Balboa (later moved to its site in the movies, the Philadelphia Museum of Art), and Kate Smith, the Flyers' "good luck charm" during their 1974 Stanley Cup run.

Elvis Presley sang there 4 times: November 8, 1971; June 23, 1974; June 28, 1976; and May 28, 1977. The Beatles did not perform there together, but all of them except John Lennon would give solo concerts there. The Grateful Dead played there more than any other act, 53 times. Other notable Spectrum concerts included Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin in 1969, The Doors in 1970, The Who in 1973, Bob Marley in 1975 and 1978, Queen in 1980, Bruce Springsteen paying tribute to John Lennon the day after his murder in 1980, Guns N'Roses opening for Aerosmith in 1988, N.W.A. and Metallica in 1989 (not on the same bill), and Philadelphia-area natives Pink and Taylor Swift in 2009 (not on the same bill).

Unlike most arenas, The Spectrum was not replaced due to it being technologically outdated, or in poor condition, or being in a bad neighborhood (it was an island in a sea of parking, therefore it was in no neighborhood). It was because Spectator, the company owned by the Snider family to operate the arena and the Flyers, was booking more events than it could handle.

So in 1992, JFK Stadium was torn down, and what was originally named Spectrum II was built on the site. The idea was that the new arena would host the headline events -- the 76ers, the Flyers, and the major concerts -- while the original Spectrum would host smaller events.

The 76ers' last game at The Spectrum was on April 19, 1996. They lost to the Orlando Magic, 112-92. The Flyers' last game there was in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, on May 12. They were eliminated from the Eastern Conference Semifinals by the Florida Panthers, 2-1. Mike Hough scored the winning, and last, goal at 8:05 of the 2nd overtime.

The Spectrum continued to hold public events until a series of Pearl Jam concerts from October 27 to 31, 2009. The building was torn down the following year. Xfinity Live! Philadelphia, a dining and entertainment complex, opened on the site in 2012.

In 2005, the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats opened a new arena, named the Charlotte Bobcats Arena. Neither the team nor the arena kept their original names. In 2008, the arena became the Time Warner Cable Arena. In 2014, the Bobcats were permitted to take the name of the city's previous NBA team, the Charlotte Hornets. In 2016, following Time Warner's breakup, its cable-TV operations were bought out by Charter Communications, and the arena became the Spectrum Center. Charter Communications and their Spectrum division have no connection to Spectacor or the Snider family, which sold Spectacor in 2011.

*

September 30, 1967 was a Saturday. Actress Andrea Roth was born. And, in college football, Nate Northington of the University of Kentucky became the Southeastern Conference's 1st black football player. I have a separate entry for this event. Kentucky lost to the University of Mississippi, 26-13 at McLean Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky.

Among the other college football games played that day were these:

* Number 1 Notre Dame were upset by Number 10 Purdue, 28-21 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana.

* Number 2 Southern California (USC) beat Michigan State, 21-17 at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan.

* The night before, Number 3 University of Houston beat Wake Forest, 50-6 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* Number 4 UCLA beat Washington State, 51-23 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* Number 5 Georgia beat Clemson, 24-17 at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina.

* Number 7 Nebraska beat Minnesota, 7-0 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

* Number 8 Texas lost to Texas Tech, 19-13 at Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas.

* Number 9 Alabama beat Southern Mississippi, 25-3 at Ladd Stadium in Mobile, Alabama.

* Among the service academies, Army beat Boston College, 21-10 at Alumni Stadium, just outside Boston in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts; Navy lost to Rice, 21-7 at Rice Stadium in Houston; and Air Force lost to the University of Washington, 30-7 at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

* In New Jersey, Princeton beat Rutgers, 22-21 at Palmer Stadium in Princeton.

And in New Jersey high school football, East Brunswick, the school that would one day be my Alma Mater, beat Woodbridge, 14-0 at home, at the stadium that would one day be named Jay Doyle Field.

And these games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 6-4 at Fenway Park in Boston. This was the next-to-last day of the regular season, and the Red Sox and Twins were battling the Detroit Tigers and the Chicago White Sox for the American League Pennant. Carl Yastrzemski of the Red Sox and Harmon Killebrew of the Twins each hit his 44th home run of the season. Neither of them homered the next day, so they finished in a tie for the AL home run lead.

With Yaz also leading the AL in batting average and runs batted in, that means that, despite only being tied for the home run lead, he was awarded the Triple Crown. There would not be another Triple Crown winner for 45 years.

At the time, the Red Sox' games were broadcast on WHDH-Channel 5. With the Sox involved in a Pennant race for the 1st time in a generation, the station went against protocol, which was to save money on videotape by taping over old games, and saved several games from that season. These clips were edited down into a highlight reel, except for the last 2 games, this one and the next day's. As a result, this Boston victory over Minnesota is, as far as is publicly known, the oldest surviving full color video broadcast of an MLB game.

* A doubleheader was split at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. The Detroit Tigers won the opener, 5-0. Mickey Lolich pitched a 3-hit shutout. The California Angels won the nightcap, 8-6. Over the 2 games, Al Kaline went 1-for-8 with a walk.

With this doubleheader, the AL standings now featured the Red Sox and the Twins tied for 1st place, with the Tigers only half a game back. The Red Sox and Twins played each other again the next day, with the winner assured of no worse than a Playoff for the Pennant the next day. The Tigers had another doubleheader, and if they swept it, they would have a Playoff with the Red Sox-Twins winner. As it turned out, the Red Sox beat the Twins, and the Tigers only split their doubleheader, so the Sox won the Pennant.

* The Washington Senators beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The White Sox had been eliminated from the race when the Senators beat them the night before, so this game was meaningless -- except, perhaps, to Senators pitcher Frank Bertaina, who pitched a 5-hit shutout.

* The New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Athletics, 5-4 at Yankee Stadium. Mickey Mantle drove in the Yankees' 1st run with a groundout, and then left the game due to injury. Rookie Reggie Jackson did not play for the A's in this game. The next day, the Yankees won, 4-3. This was the last game for the A's representing Kansas City. The next season, they moved to Oakland.

* The New York Mets beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Les Rohr pitched 8 shutout innings, and Ron Taylor completed a 7-hit shutout, to outpitch Don Drysdale. Ken Boswell hit a home run.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Atlanta Braves, 3-1 at Atlanta Stadium (later Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). In contrast to the AL, the Cardinals had the National League Pennant wrapped up several days earlier. Lou Brock went 3-for-4. Roger Maris went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Joe Torre went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Hank Aaron only appeared as a pinch-hitter, and struck out.

* The Houston Astros beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-3 with a walk. Willie Stargell went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Frank Robinson went 0-for-4, and Brooks Robinson did not play.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 9-4 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Ernie Banks went 4-for-5 with an RBI. Pete Rose went 1-for-5 with 2 RBIs. Rookie Johnny Bench did not play for the Reds in this game.

* And the San Francisco Giants swept a doubleheader with the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2 and 1-0 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Willie McCovey hit a home run in the 1st game. Willie Mays went 0-for-4, and then did not play in the 2nd game. Three Giant pitchers -- Bill Henry (3 innings), Nestor Chavez (4, winning pitcher) and Lindy McDaniel (2, save) combined on a 4-hit shutout. 

September 30, 1967: SEC Football's Painful Integration

Nate Northington

September 30, 1967: For the 1st time, a black man plays football for a school in the Southeastern Conference. The circumstances become physically painful. They were already emotionally painful, and for a reason above and beyond the region's racist history.

The University of Kentucky, the northernmost school in the SEC, and far better known for their basketball program, which had already won 4 NCAA Tournaments, was the 1st school to break the barrier. They signed 2 black players: Running back Nate Northington and defensive end Greg Page.

But on August 22, 1967, in a preseason practice, Page was injured. His back was broken, and he was paralyzed. Northington, his dorm-mate, would have to go into the season's home opener, at home to the University of Mississippi (a.k.a. "Ole Miss"), as the lone black player in the game.

Greg Page

The season did not begin with that home opener. Kentucky started the season away to Indiana University -- a major rivalry in basketball, but not in football -- and Indiana won, 12-10. Page did not play in that game.

Things went from bad to worse. Complications from his condition killed Page the day before the game. He was only 19 years old. A moment of silence was held before the game at McLean Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky.

Northington played the 1st 3 plays against Ole Miss, but on the 3rd play, he separated his shoulder, and had to leave the game. Ole Miss won, 26-13. With Page dead and Northington injured, the Wildcats went 2-8, beating only West Virginia at home and, in their lone SEC win, Vanderbilt away.

Northington left the team after his sophomore season, and transferred to Western Kentucky University. In 1970, he scored a touchdown in WKU's rivalry game with Eastern Kentucky.

In September 2016, 50 years after Northington, Page, Wilbur Hackett and Houston Hogg debuted on Kentucky's freshman team, statues of the 4 of them were dedicated outside Kroger Field, which (under the name Commonwealth Stadium) replaced McLean Stadium in 1973. As of September 30, 2022, Northington is still alive.

Here's when the other SEC schools -- the ones in the league then, and the ones who have since entered the league -- integrated their football teams:

* Tennessee: Lester McClain, September 14, 1968.

* Florida: Leonard George and Willie Jackson, both debuting on September 12, 1970.

* Mississippi State: Robert Bell and Frank Dowsing, both debuting on September 12, 1970.

* Georgia Tech (left the SEC in 1963): Eddie McAshan, September 12, 1970. He became the 1st black quarterback for a major formerly all-white Southeastern university -- but not the 1st in the SEC.

* South Carolina (did not join the SEC until 1992): Jackie Brown, September 12, 1970. Same game in which McAshan debuted for Tech.

* Auburn: James Owens, September 19, 1970.

* Alabama: John Mitchell, September 10, 1971.

* Vanderbilt: Taylor Stokes, September 11, 1971.

* Georgia: Richard Appleby, Horace King, Chuck Kinnebrew and Larry West, all debuting on September 11, 1971.

* Tulane (left the SEC in 1965): Charlie Hall, Charles Inniss, Robert Johnson and John Washington, all debuting on September 11, 1971.

* Louisiana State (LSU): Mike Williams, September 16, 1972.

* And Mississippi (Ole Miss), not surprisingly, was the last one: Ben Williams, September 30, 1972.

*

September 30, 1967 was a Saturday. Actress Andrea Roth was born. And, in Philadelphia, their new arena, The Spectrum, opened. I have a separate entry for that event.

Among the other college football games played that day were these:

* Number 1 Notre Dame were upset by Number 10 Purdue, 28-21 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana.

* Number 2 Southern California (USC) beat Michigan State, 21-17 at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan.

* The night before, Number 3 University of Houston beat Wake Forest, 50-6 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* Number 4 UCLA beat Washington State, 51-23 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* Number 5 Georgia beat Clemson, 24-17 at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina.

* Number 7 Nebraska beat Minnesota, 7-0 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

* Number 8 Texas lost to Texas Tech, 19-13 at Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas.

* Number 9 Alabama beat Southern Mississippi, 25-3 at Ladd Stadium in Mobile, Alabama.

* Among the service academies, Army beat Boston College, 21-10 at Alumni Stadium, just outside Boston in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts; Navy lost to Rice, 21-7 at Rice Stadium in Houston; and Air Force lost to the University of Washington, 30-7 at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

* In New Jersey, Princeton beat Rutgers, 22-21 at Palmer Stadium in Princeton.

And in New Jersey high school football, East Brunswick, the school that would one day be my Alma Mater, beat Woodbridge, 14-0 at home, at the stadium that would one day be named Jay Doyle Field.

And these games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 6-4 at Fenway Park in Boston. This was the next-to-last day of the regular season, and the Red Sox and Twins were battling the Detroit Tigers and the Chicago White Sox for the American League Pennant. Carl Yastrzemski of the Red Sox and Harmon Killebrew of the Twins each hit his 44th home run of the season. Neither of them homered the next day, so they finished in a tie for the AL home run lead.

With Yaz also leading the AL in batting average and runs batted in, that means that, despite only being tied for the home run lead, he was awarded the Triple Crown. There would not be another Triple Crown winner for 45 years.

At the time, the Red Sox' games were broadcast on WHDH-Channel 5. With the Sox involved in a Pennant race for the 1st time in a generation, the station went against protocol, which was to save money on videotape by taping over old games, and saved several games from that season. These clips were edited down into a highlight reel, except for the last 2 games, this one and the next day's. As a result, this Boston victory over Minnesota is, as far as is publicly known, the oldest surviving full color video broadcast of an MLB game.

* A doubleheader was split at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. The Detroit Tigers won the opener, 5-0. Mickey Lolich pitched a 3-hit shutout. The California Angels won the nightcap, 8-6. Over the 2 games, Al Kaline went 1-for-8 with a walk.

With this doubleheader, the AL standings now featured the Red Sox and the Twins tied for 1st place, with the Tigers only half a game back. The Red Sox and Twins played each other again the next day, with the winner assured of no worse than a Playoff for the Pennant the next day. The Tigers had another doubleheader, and if they swept it, they would have a Playoff with the Red Sox-Twins winner. As it turned out, the Red Sox beat the Twins, and the Tigers only split their doubleheader, so the Sox won the Pennant.

* The Washington Senators beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The White Sox had been eliminated from the race when the Senators beat them the night before, so this game was meaningless -- except, perhaps, to Senators pitcher Frank Bertaina, who pitched a 5-hit shutout.

* The New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Athletics, 5-4 at Yankee Stadium. Mickey Mantle drove in the Yankees' 1st run with a groundout, and then left the game due to injury. Rookie Reggie Jackson did not play for the A's in this game. The next day, the Yankees won, 4-3. This was the last game for the A's representing Kansas City. The next season, they moved to Oakland.

* The New York Mets beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Les Rohr pitched 8 shutout innings, and Ron Taylor completed a 7-hit shutout, to outpitch Don Drysdale. Ken Boswell hit a home run.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Atlanta Braves, 3-1 at Atlanta Stadium (later Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). In contrast to the AL, the Cardinals had the National League Pennant wrapped up several days earlier. Lou Brock went 3-for-4. Roger Maris went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Joe Torre went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Hank Aaron only appeared as a pinch-hitter, and struck out.

* The Houston Astros beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-3 with a walk. Willie Stargell went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Frank Robinson went 0-for-4, and Brooks Robinson did not play.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 9-4 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Ernie Banks went 4-for-5 with an RBI. Pete Rose went 1-for-5 with 2 RBIs. Rookie Johnny Bench did not play for the Reds in this game.

* And the San Francisco Giants swept a doubleheader with the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2 and 1-0 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Willie McCovey hit a home run in the 1st game. Willie Mays went 0-for-4, and then did not play in the 2nd game. Three Giant pitchers -- Bill Henry (3 innings), Nestor Chavez (4, winning pitcher) and Lindy McDaniel (2, save) combined on a 4-hit shutout.

September 30, 1964: The Phillie Phlop Is Completed

Unused game program from the 1964 World Series,

which was to be sold at Connie Mack Stadium,

with the other flag blank, since the opponent was yet to be determined.

September 30, 1964: The Philadelphia Phillies complete what remains the most stunning regular-season collapse in Major League Baseball history, losing their 10th straight game, 8-5 to the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium (formerly Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis. 

Going into the games of September 21, the Phillies led the National League by 6 1/2 games. There were 12 games left. Their Magic Number to clinch the Pennant was 6: All they had to do was win half of their remaining games, 6 out of 12, and it wouldn't have mattered what any other team did. The Phils would have won the Pennant.

Unused 1964 World Series press pin for the Phillies

Instead, the following happened:

* 1. September 21, at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia: Cincinnati Reds 1, Phillies 0. The only run came in the top of the 6th inning, when Hiraldo "Chico" Ruiz stole home plate, while Frank Robinson, the greatest power hitter the Reds franchise has ever had, was at the plate. It would have been an incredibly dumb move had it failed. But it worked. "The Chico Ruiz Game" has haunted Phillies fans ever since.

* 2. September 22, at Connie Mack Stadium: Reds 9, Phillies 2. This time, Robinson did hit a home run, and Chris Short, 17-7 going into the game, didn't get out of the 5th inning.

* 3. September 23, at Connie Mack Stadium: Reds 6, Phillies 4. This time, it was Ruiz hitting a home run, and Vada Pinson 2 of them.

* 4. September 24, at Connie Mack Stadium: Milwaukee Braves 5, Phillies 3. Jim Bunning came into the game 18-5, but lost.

* 5. September 25, at Connie Mack Stadium: Braves 7, Phillies 5. Manager Gene Mauch seemed to have pushed the right buttons all season long, until now. In this game, he started Short on just 2 days' rest, and he pitched 6 shutout innings, but allowed 2 runs in the 7th and 1 in the 8th. Johnny Callison homered for the Phils in the bottom of the 8th, momentarily saving them.

Both teams scored 2 runs in the 10th, the Braves on a home run by Joe Torre, the Phils on an inside-the-park home run by eventual NL Rookie of the Year Richie Allen (who hadn't yet begun to insist upon being called "Dick Allen"). But a bad throw by catcher Clay Dalrymple on a stolen base by Gene Oliver allowed the Braves to win it the 12th.

* 6. September 26, at Connie Mack Stadium: Braves 6, Phillies 4. The Phils led 4-0 after 2 innings, and 4-3 going into the 9th, with Art Mahaffey putting in a good start on full rest. But Bobby Shantz, the former Philadelphia Athletics ace back in his hometown, couldn't hold the lead, due in part to an error by 2nd baseman Tony Taylor, and Rico Carty hit a bases-loaded triple. It was Shantz's 39th birthday, and he made only 1 more big-league appearance, 3 days later. Hank Aaron went 2-for-5. Joe Torre went 3-for-4.

* 7. September 27, at Connie Mack Stadium: Braves 14, Phillies 8. Callison hit 3 home runs, helping to cement his case as the NL Most Valuable Player, should the Phils win the Pennant. But Bunning, sent out by Mauch on 2 days' rest, didn't get out of the 4th inning. He and his replacement 7 allowed straight hits, and allowed runs to score on 6 straight plays. Torre hit a home run (although not in the 4th).

There was a small omen for the Phillies: The pitcher who relieved Bunning would go on to become one of the most important figures in team history. He was a 20-year-old righthander from nearby Newport, Delaware. His name was Dallas Green.

* 8. September 28, at Busch Stadium in St. Louis: Cardinals 5, Phillies 1. Again, Mauch sent Short out on 2 days' rest, against Bob Gibson. Future Yankee broadcaster and NL President Bill White went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Future Cardinal broadcaster Mike Shannon went 1-for-3 with 3 RBIs.

* 9. September 29, at Busch Stadium: Cardinals 4, Phillies 2. Dennis Bennett was fully-rested, but didn't get out of the 2nd inning. For the Cards, Ray Sadecki got his 20th win of the season.

* 10. September 30, at Busch Stadium: Cardinals 8, Phillies 5. Tim McCarver hits a home run for the Cards, while Alex Johnson hits one for the Phils. Ironically, the winning pitcher for the Cards is Curt Simmons, whose drafting into the Korean War in 1950 cost him the chance to pitch for the Phils in their last World Series to this point, in 1950. Simmons also turned out to be the last surviving player from those 1950 Phillies "Whiz Kids."

None of it would have mattered if the Reds hadn't won 9 straight from September 20 to 27 (3 of them over the Phillies); and the Cardinals hadn't won 8 straight from September 24 to 30 (the last 3 over the Phillies). The Cards' Ken Boyer ended up winning the MVP.

Now, despite a Rookie of the Year season from Allen, a near-MVP season from Callison, and a near-Cy Young Award season from Bunning, they are 2 1/2 behind the Cardinals, while the Cincinnati Reds are 1 game back. The Phils have 2 games left, the Cards 3, the Reds 4. The Phils could still win the Pennant if they win their last 2 games, although a 3-way tie for the Pennant is still possible.

It was not to be. And, for those people in the Delaware Valley old enough to remember the Phillie Phlop of '64, not even the World Series wins of 1980 and 2008 could erase the scar on their hearts with "1964" branded onto it.

In 1978, the Phillies founded the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame, electing a Phillies figure every year since, and a Philadelphia Athletics figure every year from 1978 to 2003. From the 1964 team, they have elected Jim Bunning, Chris Short, Dick Allen, Johnny Callison, Tony Taylor, general manager John Quinn, and, for what he did as their later manager, Dallas Green. Richie Ashburn, by then a broadcaster, has also been elected. Interestingly, they have not elected manager Gene Mauch. Allen, Callison, Ashburn and Campbell have also been elected to the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame.

*

September 30, 1964 was a Wednesday. These other baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees swept a doubleheader from the Detroit Tigers at Yankee Stadium. This was crucial, because the American League race was also coming down to the wire with multiple teams still in it. The Yankees would end up winning the Pennant by just 1 game over Chicago and 2 over Baltimore.

The Yankees won the opener, 7-6. Mickey Mantle and Joe Pepitone hit home runs for the Yankees, Al Kaline for the Tigers. Ralph Terry was the winning pitcher, in relief of Al Downing. The Yankees won the nightcap, 11-8. Kaline homered for the Tigers again, and Bill Roman also hit one. But Tom Tresh hit one for the Pinstripes. Jim Bouton, later the author of Ball Four, started and won.

* The New York Mets lost to the Milwaukee Braves, 6-5 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Denis Menke won the game with a home run off Willard Hunter in the bottom of the 12th inning. Hank Fischer started, Warren Spahn pitched the 9th and 10th innings in relief, and Clay Carroll, later a bullpen mainstay of the Cincinnati Big Red Machine, was the winning pitcher.

Hank Aaron went 0-for-4, but he did draw 2 walks. Joe Torre went 1-for-6 with an RBI. Jim Hickman went 5-for-6 with an RBI for the Mets, and Charley Smith went 3-for-6 with 2 RBIs, but it wasn't enough.

* The Cleveland Indians shut the Boston Red Sox out for the entirety of a doubleheader at Fenway Park, 5-0 and 3-0. A young Luis Tiant, later to pitch so well for the Red Sox, allowed them just 4 hits in the 1st game, 2 of them by Félix Mantilla.

Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-4 in the 1st game, and didn't play in the 2nd; while Tony Conigliaro, just 19 years old, didn't play in the 1st game, and went 2-for-4 in the 2nd. But the rest of the Red Sox only got 5 hits off Sam McDowell in that 2nd game.

* A doubleheader was split at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, but the 2 teams then in the Chesapeake region. The Baltimore Orioles won the 1st game, 8-4, with Jerry Adair hitting 2 homers. The Washington Senators won the 2nd game, 6-3. Brooks Robinson went 2-for-4 in each game, and had an RBI in the 1st one.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds, 1-0 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Jerry May singled home future Met World Series hero Donn Clendenon with the winning run -- in the top of the 16th inning. Roberto Clemente did not play. Nor did Willie Stargell. Jerry May got 3 hits, the entire rest of the Pirates only 2 -- in 16 innings. Chico Ruiz went 4-for-8, but the rest of the Reds lineup got only 5 hits. Pete Rose went 0-for-7. Frank Robinson went 1-for-4, and drew 3 walks.

The Reds' Jim Maloney, who would go on to take 2 no-hitters into the 10th inning the next season, keeping 1 but losing the other game in the 11th inning, here went 11 innings allowing no runs on 3 hits. The Pirates' Bob Veale went 12 1/3rd, allowing no runs on 7 hits. Veale struck out 16 batters, Maloney 13. The winning pitcher was Al McBean, the losing pitcher Lou Tsitouris.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Athletics, 6-1 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-4, but Jimmie Hall and Don Mincher homered for the Twins.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 2-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. A 2-hit shutout was pitched by -- no, not Sandy Koufax, and not Don Drysdale, but John Purdin. It was his 1st major league win. There would be only 5 more. Both Cub hits were by catcher Dick Bertell.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Houston Colt .45s, 2-1 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Houston 3rd baseman Bob Aspromonte made an error on Jim Davenport's grounder in the bottom of the 11th, allowing Tom Haller, who had homered earlier, to score the winning run. Willie Mays went 0-for-4, but did draw a walk. The next season, the Colt .45s would rename themselves the Houston Astros.

* And the Chicago White Sox and the Los Angeles Angels were not scheduled for this day. The White Sox won their last 9 to finish within 1 of the Yankees, but it wasn't enough.

And in one of the best things that could have happened on any day, Italian actress Monica Bellucci was born.

September 30, 1958: "The Rifleman" Premieres

September 30, 1958: The Rifleman premieres on ABC. It is a Western, the most popular form of TV programming at the time.

Chuck Connors played Lucas McCain, a Lieutenant in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Having lost his wife Margaret to illness, in 1881, he buys a ranch about 3 miles outside the fictional town of North Folk, in the New Mexico Territory, where he raises his son, Mark, played by Johnny Crawford. (New Mexico gained Statehood in 1912.)

The opening theme at the beginning of each episode depicted McCain walking down the street of a town, while rapid-firing his Winchester 44-40 1892 model rifle that had been modified at the trigger and lever. (This makes the rifle an anachronism.) The rifle's modification allowed McCain to fire the rifle only by hand pumping the lever, which had a setscrew imbedded in it to trip the weapon's trigger.

McCain fires 12 shots from his rifle during the opening credits: 7 shots in the 1st close-up, and 5 more as the camera switches to another view. The blank cartridges are shorter than standard cartridges, so the magazine can hold more of the blanks. The soundtrack contained a dubbed 13th shot, to allow the firing to end with a section of the theme music.

The series ran for 5 seasons, had second chances as a common theme. Micah Torrance, the town Marshal, played by Paul Fix, was a recovering alcoholic. Some episodes saw the repairing of friendships broken by the Civil War.  

Like James Arness, the star of Gunsmoke, Connors was an imposing Western figure due to his height, in his case 6-foot-5. He played basketball at New Jersey's Seton Hall University, and 53 games for the Boston Celtics in 1946 and '47. He went on to play 1 baseball game for his hometown Brooklyn Dodgers in 1949, coming to bat once as a pinch-hitter, never playing the field for them. He then got traded to the Chicago Cubs, and played 66 games at 1st base for them in the 1951 season.

The Cubs' top farm team at the time was the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League. While playing in L.A., this athlete found off-season work as a stuntman, and, like John Wayne, moved from stunts to acting, mostly in Westerns. After The Rifleman, he played Jason McCord, the lead in Branded. He died in 1992, at age 71. Johnny Crawford, who had been a Mouseketeer on The Mickey Mouse Club, became a singer and the leader of a retro swing band, and lived until 2021.

*

September 30, 1958 was a Tuesday. Baseball was between the end of its regular season and the start of the World Series. Football was in midweek. And the NBA and NHL seasons hadn't started yet. So there were no scores on this historic day.