Friday-Sunday, October 21-23, 2005

"Stay fair! Stay fair!...

Flashback to October 21, 1975. How can we ever forget Carlton Fisk looking up at his drive to left field, waving his hands toward fair territory with mouth wide open, begging the ball to "stay fair, stay fair" ? To refresh your memory, this was the 12th inning of Game 6 of the World Series between the Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds with the score tied 6-6. If Fisk's ball is fair it's a home run and there is a Game 7. We would have a Game 7 as the ball went barely inside the foul pole at Fenway Park...

That 7-6 Red Sox win is to this day one of the greatest World Series moments in history. But that win wouldn't have been possible without a 3-run pinch-hit home run by Bernie Carbo in the bottom of the 8th. Red Sox right fielder Dwight Evans contributed big time also with his circus catch stopping a Cincinnati threat in the 11th. A record total of 12 pitchers were used in this come-from-behind victory by the Red Sox...

There was another game after the 4-hour marathon that ended at 12:33, a bit of an anticlimactic affair won by the Reds as Cincinnati would win this World Series in 7 games but the highlight of the series was Game 6. Reds manager Sparky Anderson described Game 6 as "probably as good a ball game as I've ever seen". Pete Rose added, "this was some kind of game". Not disagreeing was Carlton Fisk who said "it was a fantastic game"...

More October 21 Memories...

1957) The Elvis Presley movie "Jailhouse Rock" premieres...

1958) Buddy Holly records "True Love Ways", It Doesn't Matter Anymore" & "Raining in my Heart" in his last recording session...

1959) The Guggenheim Museum opens to the public...

1960) JFK and Richard Nixon clash in their 4th and final presidential debate...

1973) The A's beat the Mets in 7 games to win the World Series and Dick Williams announces that he's stepping down as A's manager after the game...

1975) Carlton Fisk wins Game 6 of the World Series (feature story)...

1976) The Reds sweep the Yankees in 4 games to win the World Series...

1976) The Knicks retire Willis Reed's #19...

1988) Former Philippine President Marcos and his wife Imelda were indicted on fraud and racketeering charges (Marcos would die before his trial and Imelda would be acquitted in 1990),,,

1992) Madonna's erotic photograph book "Sex" is released. 500,000 copies are sold in the first run...

1998) Following a 4-game sweep of San Diego in the World Series, The Yankees set a major league record of 125 wins for a regular and postseason combined...

Happy Birthday To...

1928) Whitey Ford...

1940) Manfred Mann...

1941) Steve Cropper...

1942) Judge Judy Sheindlin...

1949) Former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu...

1956) Carrie Fisher...

Saturday, October 22, 2005...

The Rocket goes off...

Mets catcher Mike Piazza was again the target of Roger Clemens in Game 2 of the Subway World Series between the Mets and Yankees on this date in 2000. Beaned by Clemens in July, this time Mike had the shard of his bat hurled in his direction that cleared both benches before order was restored. Piazza was running to first on a ball that would go foul when Clemens picked up a piece of Mike's bat and threw it in his direction. Piazza was stunned and 'The Rocket's' "I thought it was the ball" explanation hard to swallow...

The game resumed with Clemens allowing but 2 hits, striking out 9 in a 6-5 victory over the Mets. While Joe Torre would go on to defend his pitcher he did add "It was just emotional. Should he have done it ? No". Meanwhile Clemens insisted "there was no intent there". No one except possibly Roger Clemens ever believed it...

More October 22 Memories...

1939) In the first televised pro football game, Brooklyn defeats Philadelphia 23-14...

1950) The Los Angeles Rams set an NFL record by defeating the Baltimore Colts 70-27. It was a record score for a regular season game...

1960) Cassius Clay wins his first professional fight...

1962) John F. Kennedy addresses a TV audience about the Russian missile bases in Cuba...

1966) The Supremes become the first all-female group to score a #1 LP with "Supremes a Go-Go"...

1966) The Beach Boys release the classic "Good Vibrations"...

1975) The World Football League disbands...

1975) The Reds beat the Red Sox in the 72nd World Series...

1978) Bill Rodgers wins the New York City Marathon while Grete Weitz sets a world record for females in 2:32:29.8...

1979) The government allows the deposed Shah of Iran to be treated at New York Hospital, a decision that precipitated the Iran hostage crisis...

1981) The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization is decertified for its strike the previous August...

1988) Elton John sells out Madison Square Garden for a record 26th time...

2002) The 13th and final attack linked to the Washington-area sniper kills a bus driver who is shot to death...

Happy Birthday To...

1917) Joan Fontaine...

1938) Christopher Lloyd...

1942) Annette Funicello...

1943) Catherine Deneuve...

1945) Leslie West...

1945) The Rascals' Eddie Brigati...

1952) Jeff Goldblum...

Commentary...

Living close enough to New York Hospital at the time the Shah of Iran was hospitalized in 1979 gave me an eye-witness view of the beginning of demonstrations against the United States. Located on First Avenue, crowds of irate demonstrators began assembling, shouting and marching in protest. The demonstrators started on First Avenue but then marchers took their protest to the U.N. This continued until the Shah left the hospital. It would lead to the hostage crisis in Iran...

Was this government right to allow the deposed Shah to be hospitalized here ? Absolutely. What was not expected was the devastating reaction to it...

Sunday, October 23, 2005...

The 1983 Beirut bombing...

What many consider the beginning of anti-U.S. attacks by Islamist groups took place in April of 1983 when the U.S. Embassy suffered a suicide bombing that took the lives of 16 Americans, a total of 63 fatalities and hundreds of others were wounded. What followed on this date in 1983 was far worse...

On October 23, 1983 at 6:20AM, a yellow Mercedes delivery truck packed with explosives barreled into U.S. Marine headquarters located at the airport in Beirut, collapsing the 4-story building into rubble and another bomb about 20 seconds later ripped apart the French paratrooper barracks. When the smoke had cleared 241 American servicemen were dead, 58 French paratroopers perished as well. It was the deadliest single-day death toll for the Marine Corps since World War II. To this day it's the deadliest post-World War II attack on Americans overseas...

Air strikes were launched in retaliation, the Marines were moved offshore and while responsibility for the attack remains uncertain, it is believed that it was the Hezbollah militant group, backed by Iran and Syria that was responsible...

This event is considered by many to be the beginning of the War on Terror...

More October 23 Memories...

1929) The Great Depression begins with the stock-market crash...

1945) Dodger President Branch Rickey announces the signing of UCLA football star Jackie Robinson to a baseball contract...

1956) NBC broadcasts the first video tape coast to coast. It's a tape of Jonathan Winters performing...

1965) "Turn! Turn! Turn!" by the Byrds is released...

1973) President Nixon agrees to turn over the Watergate tapes (uh-oh)...

1978) CBS Records raises its LP prices $1 to $8.98...

1979) Yankee manager Billy Martin is involved in a barroom fight with a marshmallow salesman (you couldn't make this stuff up)...

1983) The Beirut bombing (feature story)...

1991) Clarence Thomas is sworn in as a Supreme Court Justice...

1993) Blue Jay outfielder Joe Carter becomes the 2nd player to hit a walk-off World Series home run and for the first time a team from outside this country wins the fall classic...

1995) A jury in Houston convicts Yolanda Saldivar of murdering Tejano singer Selena...

1996) The civil trial of O.J. Simpson opens. Simpson will be found liable for the deaths of ex-wife Nicole and Ronald Goldman...

Happy Birthday To...

1931) Hall of Fame pitcher and now Senator of Kentucky Jim Bunning...

1940) Songwriter Ellie Greenwich...

1940) Soccer great Pele...

1942) Michael Crichton...

1959) Weird Al Yankovic...

1962) Patriot backup quarterback Doug Flutie...

1965) Former Met and Yankee pitcher Al Leiter...