Rocky and The Babe bow out...
Two great champions said goodbye on April 27th some nine years apart..
Over 58,000 fans jammed Yankee Stadium for Babe Ruth Day in 1947. The great Bambino bid farewell with a voice ravaged by cancer. Ruth's voice could barely be heard above a whisper as the greatest player who ever lived faced the end of a life that would be taken a year later...
The year was 1956 when The Brockton Blockbuster retired as the first and only undefeated world heavyweight champion with a perfect 49 and 0, as in zip, nada, zilch, no losses, a perfecto. Rocky Marciano was only 31 when he called it quits and when he made the announcement in New York, he added "you will never see Rocky Marciano make a comeback". The son of a shoe factory worker was true to his word, there would be no comeback but at the age of 44 one of the greatest boxers of all-time was killed in a small plane crash in Iowa.
More April 27 Memories...
1805] The Marines have landed as a force led by the Marines capture the city of Derna, on the shores of Tripoli (and that folks is why we have the line, "to the shores of Tripoli")...
1897] Grant's Tomb is dedicated in New York City...
1903] Jamaica Race Track opens in Jamaica, New York...
1937] The 1st U.S. Social Security checks are distributed...
1947] The Bambino says goodbye to his loyal fans at Yankee Stadium (see feature story)...
1956] Rocky Marciano calls it quits (see feature story)...
1959] Lloyd Price releases "Personality"...
| 1960] Two years after baseball comes to the west coast, the NBA votes to allow the Lakers to move from Minneapolis to L.A... 1965] Pampers is patented by R.C. Duncan (so why aren't they called Duncan's ? Dun-can's, get it ?)... 1967] Canadian Prime Minister Lester Pearson lights a flame to open Expo 67 in Montreal... 1968] Simon & Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson" is released... 1973] Opryland opens in Nashville... 1981] After grunting their way through the movie "Caveman", Ringo Starr and Barbara Bach (dressed like Fred & Wilma) get married in Durango, Mexico... 1981] Dodger rookie hurler Fernando Valenzuela becomes an overnight sensation by pitching his 4th shutout of the season over the Giants and lowering his era to a microscopic 0.20. (more on the then 20-year old (?) sensation in my commentary... 1982] John W. Hinckley Jr. goes on trial in Washington, D.C. in the shooting of President Ronald Reagan (Hinckley will be acquitted by reason of insanity)... 1983] Nolan Ryan of Houston passes Walter Johnson in career strikeouts for 1st place on the all-time list (the victim is Brad Mills of Montreal) P.S. Ryan still has the record to this day... 1987] The Justice Department bars Austrian President Kurt Waldheim from entering the U.S. saying he aided the deportation and execution of thousands of Jews and others as a Germany Army officer in WWII... 2002] The Red Sox' Derek Lowe becomes the 1st pitcher to throw a no-hitter at Fenway Park since Dave Morehead in 1965. Facing 28 batters, Lowe totals only 97 pitches in the 10-0 whitewashing of Tampa Bay... [To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]... Commentary... When Mexico's Fernando Valenzuela of the Dodgers became the hottest pitcher in baseball as a rookie in 1981, his age was listed as 20 but few believed it. Fernando would lead the Dodgers to the world championship over the Yankees that year and I just ran across a Tommy Lasorda quote that I wanted to share with you: "Fernando Valenzuela now makes one million dollars a year. Three years ago, Valenzuela's alarm clock was a rooster"... Happy Birthday To... 1922] Jack Klugman... 1932] Casey Kasem... 1939] Judy Carne of "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-in"... 1944] Cuba Gooding (the father)... 1950] Ace Frehley of Kiss... 1959] Sheena Easton... [Today is the 117th day of 2006 with 248 days remaining in the year and 32 days until Memorial Day]... |
