April 17, 2008

130 years ago
1878

Born on this date
Emil Fuchs. German-born U.S. baseball executive. Mr. Fuchs emigrated to New York City with his family in 1883. He was a catcher in the Class D New Jersey State League (1897), but an injury ended his career. Mr. Fuchs became a lawyer, and served as a New York City Magistrate (1917-1918), and was thereafter referred to as Judge Fuchs. He returned to the practice of law,and was the lawyer for the New York Giants before buying the Boston Braves in partnership with Christy Mathewson and others in 1923, and taking the title of vice president. The Braves engaged in various promotional gimmicks in an attempt to increase attendance for a losing team. After Mr. Mathewson died from the effects of tuberculosis in 1925, Judge Fuchs was elevated to the title of president. He succeeded in getting Sunday baseball legalized in Boston, which had the effect of increasing attendance at Braves' games. Judge Fuchs managed the Braves in 1930, leading them to a 56-98 record, eighth and last in the National League. The Braves slowly improved, and contended for the NL pennant in 1933, but declined in 1934. Judge Fuchs continued to lose money on the franchise, and an attempt to have dog racing at Braves Field was disallowed by baseball commissioner Kenesaw M. Landis. Babe Ruth joined the Braves in 1935, but he was at the end of career, and played only 28 games before retiring. The Braves finished with a dismal 38-115 record--the worst of any major league team in the 1930s--and Judge Fuchs turned over control of the team to partner Charles Adams on August 1, 1935. Judge Fuchs returned to the practice of law, but continued to attend baseball games in Boston and New York until his death from a coronary thrombosis on December 5, 1961 at the age of 83, following a 10-week illness.

110 years ago
1898

Died on this date
Bobby Mathews, 46. U.S. baseball player. A pitcher and outfielder, Mr. Mathews played for 3 teams in the National Association from 1871-1875, and 5 teams in the major leagues from 1876-1877 and 1879-1887. In the NA he won 132 games and lost 111 and batted .212. His best season in that league was 1874, when he won 42 and lost 23 and batted .234 with the New York Mutuals. His major league totals were 166 wins, 138 losses, .192 batting percentage. Mr. Mathews recorded three straight seasons of 30 victories in each from 1883-1885 with the Philadelphia Athletics in the American Association.

80 years ago
1928

Died on this date
Ovila Bourassa. Canadian jockey. Mr. Bourassa was fatally injured in a race at Havre de Grace, Maryland.

Art
After a long inquiry, the authorities of the Louvre Art Gallery in Paris pinned identity, i.e., genuine papers, on Leonardo da Vinci’s painting Mona Lisa.

60 years ago
1948

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard) (Best Seller): Mañana (Is Soon Enough for Me)--Peggy Lee (6th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Now is the Hour (Maori Farewell Song)--Bing Crosby (5th week at #1)
--Gracie Fields
--Margaret Whiting
--Eddy Howard and his Orchestra
--Charlie Spivak and his Orchestra
2 Mañana (Is Soon Enough for Me)--Peggy Lee
3 I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover--Art Mooney and his Orchestra
--Russ Morgan and his Orchestra
--The Three Suns
--Uptown String Band
4 Beg Your Pardon--Francis Craig and his Orchestra
--Frankie Carle and his Orchestra
--Larry Green and his Orchestra
5 Sabre Dance--Woody Herman and his Orchestra
6 Because--Perry Como
7 Haunted Heart--Perry Como
--Jo Stafford
8 Little White Lies--Dick Haymes
9 Baby Face--Art Mooney and his Orchestra
10 St. Louis Blues March--Tex Beneke and his Orchestra

Singles entering the chart were The Peanut Vendor by Stan Kenton and his Orchestra (#33); Beyond the Sea (La Mer), with versions by Benny Goodman and his Orchestra, and Harry James and his Orchestra (#34); and The Loveliness of You (#38)/Completely Yours (#40) by Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra.

Basketball
BAA
Finals
Philadelphia 75 @ Baltimore 78 (Baltimore led best-of-seven series 3-1)

NBL
Finals
Minneapolis 75 Rochester 65 (Minneapolis won best-of-five series 3-1)

50 years ago
1958

Hockey
Rocket Richard’s goal at 5:45 of overtime gave the Montreal Canadiens a 3-2 win in the game and a 3-2 lead in the Stanley Cup finals. The game was played at the Montreal Forum.

40 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): Congratulations--Cliff Richard (2nd week at #1)

Australia's top 10 (Go-Set)
1 Love is Blue (L'Amour est Bleu)--Paul Mauriat and his Orchestra (4th week at #1)
2 Simon Says--1910 Fruitgum Company
3 Magical Mystery Tour (EP)--The Beatles
4 Delilah--Tom Jones
5 Green Tambourine--The Lemon Pipers
6 Lady Madonna/The Inner Light--The Beatles
7 Underneath the Arches/Friday Kind of Monday--Johnny Farnham
8 The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo)--Manfred Mann
9 Sky Pilot (Part 2)--Eric Burdon & the Animals
10 The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde--Georgie Fame

The only single entering the chart was Valleri/Tapioca Tundra by the Monkees (#30).

Died on this date
Heriberto Jara Corona, 88. Mexican military officer, politician, and diplomat. General Jara was a hero of the Mexican Revolution in 1910; he became involved in the revolution while working at a factory in the municipality of Rio Blanco in his native Veracruz. As a member of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), he was first elected to Congress in 1911; he was re-elected in 1916 and helped to draft the Constitution of 1917. Gen. Jara was Governor of Tabasco (1918-1919) and Governor of Veracruz (1924-1927). He later served as Ambassador to Cuba, and received the Stalin Peace Prize in 1950. Gen. Jara was awarded the Belisario Domínguez Medal of Honor--the highest award bestowed by the Mexican Senate--in 1959.

Bill Engeln, 69. U.S. baseball umpire. Mr. Engeln worked in the Pacific Coast League from 1936-1951 before being promoted to the National League, where he worked 749 games from 1952-1956.

War
20 North Koreans attacked an 11-man patrol of South Korean soldiers south of the DMZ; three of the South Korean soldiers were reported missing and presumed dead.

Basketball
NBA
Eastern Division Finals
Philadelphia 106 @ Boston 114 (Best-of-seven series tied 3-3)

Baseball
Dave McNally pitched a 2-hitter and Boog Powell, Mark Belanger, and Brooks Robinson hit home runs as the Baltimore Orioles beat the Oakland Athletics 4-1 before 50,164 fans at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in the first home game for the Athletics since moving to Oakland from Kansas City. Rick Monday hit a solo home run for the Athletics.



Al Kaline drew a base on balls with 2 out and nobody on base in the bottom of the 10th inning and Willie Horton followed with a 2-run home run to give the Detroit Tigers a 4-3 win over the Cleveland Indians before 9,970 fans at Tiger Stadium. The Tigers had tied the game 2-2 with 2 out in the 9th when pinch hitter Jim Price singled home Bill Freehan, but the Indians had regained the lead with a run in the top of the 10th.

Cesar Tovar and Ron Clark each drove in 3 runs, and Mr. Tovar and Harmon Killebrew hit home runs as the Minnesota Twins routed the Washington Senators 13-1 before 22,926 fans at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington. Jim Merritt pitched a 6-hit complete game victory, drew 2 bases on balls, and scored a run. The Twins put the game away with 7 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning. It was the first major league game for both Minnesota left fielder Jim Holt and catcher Bruce Look, who played the 9th inning, with neither player having a fielding chance.

Lee May singled home Pete Rose with the bases loaded and 1 out in the bottom of the 12th inning to give the Cincinnati Reds a 4-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals before 3,374 fans at Crosley Field in Cincinnati.

Every man in the Pittsburgh lineup had at least 1 hit as the Pirates routed the Houston Astros 13-4 before 30,779 fans at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. The Pirates scored 6 runs in the bottom of the 3rd inning to take an 8-1 lead. Maury Wills and Jerry May each had 3 hits for Pittsburgh.

30 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Stayin' Alive--Bee Gees (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Southpaw--Pink Lady (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Ballade pour Adeline--Richard Clayderman

Diplomacy
U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and British Foreign Secretary David Owen completed their African trip with talks in Salisbury, Rhodesia with the government of Ian Smith and the three black nationalist leaders who were participating in the transitional government which wasn’t recognized by most nations. The Salisbury leaders rejected the Patriotic Front guerrillas’ participation in an accord, despite Anglo-American warnings that the internal settlement, by excluding the Patriotic Front, could eventually lead to a full-fledged war with Soviet and Cuban support for the guerrillas.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to issue an injunction sought by members of Congress to bar ratification of the treaties handing the Panama Canal to Panama on December 31, 1999 until the court could consider claims that the House of Representatives as well as the Senate had to ratify them.

Economics and finance
63.5 million shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the largest volume in the exchange’s history. According to a story in Newsweek, institutional investors, who accounted for 75% of the volume, had accumulated huge cash reserves and were ready to pour them into the market.

Disasters
Tornadoes in eastern India killed 600 people.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Quarter-Finals
Detroit 2 @ Montreal 6 (Montreal led best-of-seven series 1-0)
Chicago 1 @ Boston 6 (Boston led best-of-seven series 1-0)
Toronto 1 @ New York Islanders 4 (New York led best-of-seven series 1-0)
Buffalo 1 @ Philadelphia 4 (Philadelphia led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Mike Kaszycki scored 2 goals to lead the Islanders over the Maple Leafs at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale.

25 years ago
1983

Died on this date
Peter Potter, 78. U.S. disc jockey and television host. Mr. Potter, a Hollywood disc jockey, was host of Juke Box Jury, one of television’s earliest game shows. The show, which began airing in 1948, had a panel of celebrity guests who would rate a new record as a "hit" or a "miss."

Emil "Dutch" Leonard, 74. U.S. baseball pitcher. Mr. Leonard played 20 years in the major leagues from 1933-1953 for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Washington Nationals, Philadelphia Phillies, and Chicago Cubs. His lifetime record of 191 wins and 181 losses belies the fact that Mr. Leonard played virtually his entire career with bad teams. His best seasons were 1939, when he was 20-8 with Washington, and 1945, when he went 17-7 with the Nationals, posting a 2.13 earned run average. Mr. Leonard was one of four starting pitchers with the 1945 Nationals who threw a knuckleball; the others were Roger Wolff, Mickey Haefner, and Johnny Niggeling. Mr. Leonard led the American League in losses with 19 in 1940 as a member of the Nationals, and led the National League with 17 losses in 1948 when he was with the Phillies. Other notable achievements for Mr. Leonard included leading the National League in saves with 8 with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1935, and leading the American League with 3 shutouts as a National in 1938. Emil "Dutch" Leonard is not to be confused with (and wasn’t related to) Hubert "Dutch" Leonard, who pitched with the Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers from 1913-1925.

New Zealandiana
Prince Charles and Princess Diana arrived in New Zealand for a two-week visit.

Hockey
The Edmonton Oilers whipped the Calgary Flames 10-2 at the Olympic Saddledome in Calgary to take a 3-0 lead in their Stanley Cup second-round series. The game degenerated into a brawl in the third period.

Football
USFL
Los Angeles (4-3) 18 @ Tampa Bay (5-2) 13
Washington (1-6) 22 @ New Jersey (2-5) 23



Denver (4-3) 9 @ Birmingham (2-5) 7
Chicago (4-3) 12 @ Michigan (3-4) 17
Boston (5-2) 44 @ Arizona (3-4) 23

Baseball
Nolan Ryan struck out seven Montreal Expos in a 6-3 Houston victory to become only the second pitcher in major league history to record 3,500 career strikeouts.

20 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): One Tree Hill--U2 (4th week at #1)

Diplomacy
During three days of talks in Managua, the Sandanista government of Nicaragua proposed that the Contras enter seven cease-fire zones and begin disarming in June. Contra leaders rejected the idea because they said it contained no government concessions. Adolfo Calero, head of the Contra delegation, expressed doubts that the peace process would work.

Curling
Eigil Ramsfjell of Norway upset previously undefeated Pat Ryan of Canada 5-4 to win the world men’s championship in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Baseball
After 10 consecutive losses the Atlanta Braves won their first game of the season, 3-1 over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Zane Smith was the winning pitcher. Atlanta's 0-10 start was the worst in National League history.

10 years ago
1998

Died on this date
Linda McCartney, 56. U.S.-born photographer. The wife of ex-Beatle Paul McCartney was born Linda Eastman; when she was a child, the song Linda (one of the biggest hits of 1947) was written in her honour. She became a photographer of rock musicians, which is how she met Paul McCartney. They married in 1969, and spent only one night apart voluntarily in 29 years of marriage. The 1971 hit single Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey was credited to Paul and Linda McCartney as both artists and songwriters and Linda shared songwriting credit for the earlier hit Another Day. Linda also contributed to Wings, the group that Paul led in the 1970s. Despite leading a healthy lifestyle, Linda McCartney developed breast cancer, which ultimately prove fatal. Sir Paul’s taste in wives has gone downhill since then, and now he really is The Fool on the Hill.

Economics and finance
The United States trade deficit was reported to be the biggest in a decade. Exports to Japan had plunged in February, showing the effects of the stagnant Japanese economy.