Friday-Sunday, September 30-October 2, 2005

Truly 'a rebel without a cause'...

There are movie icons and then there are pop icons but what makes someone a 'cultural icon' ? Don't know the answer to that but that's what James Dean was considered...

When Dean at age 24 smashed his Porsche 55 Spyder in a California racing accident, he had only starred in 3 movies, "East of Eden", "Rebel Without A Cause" and "Giant". Maybe it was his sullen Brando-like swagger or perhaps that youthful angst that he wore on his sleeve Whatever it was, he had it...

Born on an Indiana farm, Dean was raised by relatives with a Quaker influence. Moving to Southern California he majored in pre-law before changing his major to drama which infuriated his father so that he was evicted from his parents' home. He would move to New York, study under the legendary Lee Strasberg, star in live television dramas and then branch out into a brief but storied Hollywood career...

50 years after his death on September 30, 1955, James Dean is still considered a 'cultural icon'...

More September 30 Memories...

1947) The World Series is televised for the first time with sponsors paying a "hefty" $65,000 for the entire Yankee-Dodger series...

1950) Radio's "Grand Ole Opry" is televised for the first time...

1951) "The Red Skelton Show" debuts on NBC-TV...

1955) James Dean is killed in a two-car collision (feature story)...

1960) "The Flintstones" premieres as the first prime time animation show...

1960) "The Howdy Doody Show" bows out with the silent Clarabelle (played by Bob Keeshan, future 'Captain Kangaroo') speaking for the first time. Clarabelle says "Goodbye kids"...

1962) The first-year New York Mets lose a record 120th game, hitting into a triple play to boot...

1965) Donovan debuts on "Shindig"...

1971) Rod Stewart & "Maggie May" top the charts...

1972) Future Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente picks up his 3,000th & final hit as he'll perish in a tragic plane crash on New Year's Eve...

1982) "Cheers" begins an 11-year run on NBC-TV...

1984) Yankee Don Mattingly wins the AL batting crown, edging teammate Dave Winfield with a .343 average...

1985) Howard Stern is fired by WNBC...

1992) Mariel Hemmingway appears nude on the TV show "Civil Wars"...

1997) Fleetwood Mac's reunion show at the Meadowlands grosses a house record $1,094,520...

1999) The Giants lose to the Dodgers in the last game played at 3Com Park, formerly known as Candlestick Park...

Happy Birthday to...

1921) Deborah Kerr...

1931) Angie Dickinson...

1935) Johnny Mathis...

1943) Marilyn McCoo...

1957) Fran Drescher...

Saturday, October 1, 2005...

Roger didn't need steroids for this record breaking performance on October 1, 1961...

On a cool autumn day at Yankee Stadium, Roger Maris would become the first major leaguer in history to hit more than 60 home runs in a season. As Maris followed the flight of his 61st home run off of Red Sox pitcher Tracy Stallard all the pent-up frustration was over with one swing of the bat and Roger Maris had become the new reigning home run champ wiping out Babe Ruth's 34-year old record. Of course records sometimes come with controversy. Was it unfair for Maris to have an advantage of playing 8 more games than the Babe to get the record ? Here's something to chew on regarding any advantage Maris may have had. While the Babe hit 60 in 154 games to Maris' 59, their total plate appearances were nearly identical, 698 for Maris and 692 for Ruth...

On this same October 1st date, in 1967, the Red Sox clinched their 1st pennant since 1946 by beating the Minnesota Twins 5-3 at Fenway Park. There was a 3-way tie going into the final day of the regular season between the Sox, Detroit and Minnesota. With the Tigers losing and the Red Sox victory it was on to the World Series for the Sox, the first time in 21 years. Oh yes, Carl Yastrzemski with 4 hits in 4 at-bats, 10 in his last 13 ABs, finished the season with the Triple (batting average, home runs, runs batted in) Crown. He is the last person in baseball to win the honor. The 1967 Red Sox were known as "The Impossible Dream" team. Indeed...

More October 1 Memories...

1952) "This Is Your Life" premieres on NBC-TV...

1955) "The Honeymooners" debuts on CBS-TV...

1961) Roger Maris hits his 61st home run (feature story)...

1962) "The Lucy Show" premieres...

1964) Vee Jay Records releases the LP "The Beatles vs. The Four Seasons"...

1971) Walt Disney World opens in Orlando...

1975) Heavyweight champ Muhammad Ali retains his title in the "Thrilla in Manilla" with a TKO in the 15th round over Joe Frazier...

1977) Brazilian soccer great Pele retires with 1,281 goals in 1,363 games...

1981) Walt Disney's EPCOT opens...

1984) Peter Ueberroth replaces Bowie Kuhn as 6th Commissioner of Baseball...

1993) 12-year old Poly Klaas is abducted from her California home. Her body is found more than 2 months later...

1994) The NHL owners begin a 103 day lockout of their players...

1995) The Yankees become the first AL wild card team...

1995) Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman and 9 others are convicted in New York of conspiring to attack the U.S. through bombings, kidnappings and assassinations...

1996) A federal grand jury indicts Unibomber suspect Theodore Kaczynski for a 1994 mail bomb slaying...

Happy Birthday to...

1921) Actor and giant tomato grower James Whitmore...

1924) Former President Jimmy Carter...

1927) Happy Days' Tom Bosley...

1949) Annie Leibovitz...

1950) Randy Quaid...

Commentary...

Of the 2 October 1st feature stories, the one that means the most to me personally is "The Impossible Dream" Red Sox of 1967. Living in Boston at the time and meeting Yaz and getting an autographed baseball from him, although lost over the years, 1967 was a special year for me. the Red Sox went from a next to last, dreadful team in 1966 to the AL champs the following season. And having seen Mantle, Mays, Snider, all those great New York players of the 50s, I would choose Yastrzemski's Triple Crown winning season of 1967 as the best single individual performance of any player I've seen ever...

Sunday, October 2, 2005...

Bucky (bleepin') Dent...

It depends which side of the fence you're on, Yankee fan or Red Sox fan. If you're a Yankee fan, Bucky Dent's home run in the October 2, 1978 playoff game goes down in the annals of Yankee history. If you're a Red Sox fan, the man will forever be known as Bucky (bleepin') Dent...

Dent's 7th inning home run that put the Yankees ahead to stay on their road to the 1978 world championship, just barely made it over the legendary "green monster" in left field. That home run gave the Yankees a 3-2 lead over the Red Sox in a game won by the pinstripers 5-4 and put a dagger into the heart of every Red Sox fan alive forever...

More October 2 Memories...

1946) With a cast of unknowns, "Faraway Hill" on the Dumont Network becomes the first TV soap opera...

1950) Charles M. Schulz' "Peanuts" comic strip debuts...

1953) Edward R. Murrow's "Person to Person" debuts on CBS-TV...

1955) "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" debuts on CBS-TV...

1959) "The Twilight Zone" premieres on CBS-TV...

1961) "Ben Casey" premieres on NBC-TV...

1962) Johnny Carson debuts as host of "The Tonight Show"...

1965) The Who make their debut on "Shindig"...

1967) Thurgood Marshall is sworn in as the first black Supreme Court justice...

1968) Bob Gibson strikes out a World Series record 17 batters as the Cardinals beat the Tigers in game one of the series...

1970) A plane carrying 30 members of the Wichita State football team crashes. All 30 players are dead...

1978) Yankees beat Red Sox in one-game playoff (feature story)...

1980) 30 year old heavyweight champ Larry Holmes defends his title with an 11th round TKO of 38-year old Muhammad Ali...

1983) Carl Yastrzemski goes 1 for 4 in his last game...

1985) Rock Hudson dies from AIDS at 59...

1994) For the first time in NFL history, father and son coaches face each other with father Don Shula's Miami Dolphins beating his son's Cincinnati Bengals 23-7...

1998) Gene Autry, Hollywood's "Singing Cowboy", dies at 91...

2002) A man is shot and killed in a grocery store parking lot, becoming the first of 10 victims in a series of sniper attacks in the Washington, D.C. area...

Happy Birthday to...

1938) Rex Reed...

1945) Don McLean...

1948) Donna Karan...

1951) Sting...

1954) "The Soprano's" Lorraine Bracco...

1970) Kelly Ripa...