October 18, 2012

125 years ago
1887

Born on this date
Takashi Sakai. Japanese military officer and politician. Lieutenant-General Sakai led the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong in 1941, and served as Governor of Hong Kong under military occupation from December 25, 1941-February 20, 1942. The Chinese War Crimes Military Tribunal of the Ministry of National Defense in Nanking convicted him of war crimes and handed down a death sentence on August 27, 1946. Lt.-Gen. Sakai was executed by firing squad on September 30, 1946, 18 days before his 59th birthday.

Baseball
World Series
Detroit Wolverines 9 St. Louis Browns 2 @ Boston (Detroit led 15-game series 6-2)

The game was played at Dartmouth Street Grounds.

120 years ago
1892

Baseball
The Boston Beaneaters edged the Cleveland Spiders 4-3 to take a 1-0-1 lead in the National League championship playoff series before 7,000 fans at National League Park in Cleveland. Harry Staley was the winning pitcher over John Clarkson.

110 years ago
1902

Football
CRU
ORFU
Ottawa (2-0) 9 @ Toronto (1-1) 4

70 years ago
1942

War
Vice Admiral William "Bull" Halsey was named to replace Vice Admiral Robert Ghormley as commander of U.S. forces in the South Pacific.

60 years ago
1952

Hit Parade
#1 singles in the U.S.A. (Billboard): I Went to Your Wedding--Patti Page (Best seller--1st week at #1; Juke Box--4th week at #1); You Belong to Me--Jo Stafford with Paul Weston and his Orchestra (Disc Jockey--6th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 You Belong to Me--Jo Stafford with Paul Weston and his Orchestra (4th week at #1)
--Patti Page
--Dean Martin
2 I Went to Your Wedding--Patti Page
3 Wish You Were Here--Eddie Fisher
4 Meet Mister Callaghan--Les Paul
5 Half as Much--Rosemary Clooney
6 High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me)--Frankie Laine
--Tex Ritter
7 Trying--The Hill Toppers
8 Jambalaya--Jo Stafford
9 Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart--Vera Lynn
10 The Glow-Worm--The Mills Brothers

Singles entering the chart were It's in the Book (Parts 1 and 2) by Johnny Standley (#18); The Ruby and the Pearl by Nat "King" Cole (#19); Outside of Heaven by Eddie Fisher (#20); Blues in Advance by Dinah Shore (#24); and The Mermaid by Frankie Laine (#31). The Ruby and the Pearl was the B-side (or maybe the A-side of Faith Can Move Mountains, which charted at #25. Outside of Heaven was the B-side of Lady of Spain, which charted at #14.

Football
CRU
IRFU
Toronto (5-3-1) 25 @ Ottawa (5-4) 6
Montreal (0-9) 1 @ Hamilton (7-1-1) 21

Al Bruno, Ted Toogood, Uly Curtis, and Billy Bass scored touchdowns for the Argonauts as they defeated the Rough Riders before 17,000 fans at Lansdowne Park. Choo Choo Roberts scored Ottawa's only touchdown in the 4th quarter.

Bernie Custis scored touchdowns in the 2nd and 4th quarters and Hal Waggoner added another in the 4th quarter as the Tiger-Cats beat the Alouettes before 9,200 fans at Civic Stadium.

WIFU
Winnipeg (12-3-1) 42 @ Calgary (7-9) 18
Saskatchewan (3-13) 31 @ Edmonton (9-6-1) 28

Tom Casey, Len Meltzer, and Gerry James each scored 2 touchdowns as the Blue Bombers defeated the Stampeders at Mewata Stadium.

Glenn Dobbs completed 18 of 34 passes for 391 yards to lead the Roughriders over the Eskimos before 10,000 fans at Clarke Stadium. Mr. Hamilton scored 3 touchdowns for the Roughriders, with others coming from Butch Avinger and Holland Aplin. Vic Mayson scored 2 touchdowns for the Eskimos; other Edmonton TDs were scored by Al Bryant, Rollin Prather, and Rae Enright. Ralph McAlister scored the other Winnipeg touchdown and added a single, while Jack Jacobs kicked 6 converts. Harry Hood, Sugarfoot Anderson, and Pete Thodos scored Calgary touchdowns. Bob Shaw added 3 converts to finish the season with 110 points, a single season record for Canadian football.

ORFU
Brantford (2-7) 0 @ Sarnia (9-1) 27

Johnny Chorostecki scored a touchdown, 4 converts, and a single as the Imperials blanked the Redskins.

Canadian university
Western Ontario (1-1-1) 6 @ McGill (1-2) 11
Queen's (1-2) 1 @ Toronto (2-0-1) 13

Bill Bewley rushed 2 yards for a touchdown and Bill McFarlane returned a fumble 25 yards for another TD as the Varsity Blues defeated the Golden Gaels before 24,455 fans at Varsity Stadium, about 1,000 of whom caused a delay late in the game when they attempted to take down the goal posts. Queen's failed to complete a single pass during the game.

50 years ago
1962

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): Telstar--The Tornados (3rd week at #1)

On television tonight
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, on CBS
Tonight's episode: Captive Audience, starring James Mason, Angie Dickinson, Arnold Moss, and Ed Nelson

Space
The U.S.A. launched the probe Ranger 5, whose mission was to land on the moon, send back television pictures, conduct X-ray spectroscopy of the lunar surface, and rough-land a seismometer on the moon.

Diplomacy
U.S. President John F. Kennedy met with Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrei Gromyko, who claimed that Soviet missiles in Cuba were there for defensive purposes only.

40 years ago
1972

Died on this date
O.W. Wilson, 72. U.S. criminologist and police official. Mr. Wilson was chief of police in Fullerton, California (1925-1927); Wichita, Kansas (1928-1939); and Chicago (1960-1967). In all three cities he initiated reforms to reduce corruption and improve performance.

Baseball
World Series
Cincinnati Reds 1 @ Oakland Athletics 0 (Oakland led best-of-seven series 2-1)

Winning pitcher Jack Billingham allowed just 3 hits in 8 innings as the Reds edged the Athletics before 49,410 fans at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in the first World Series game ever played in Oakland. The only run scored in the top of the 7th inning when Tony Perez led off with a single, advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Denis Menke, and scored on a single by Cesar Geronimo. Losing pitcher Blue Moon Odom gave up just 3 hits and struck out 11 in 7 innings. Cincinnati catcher Johnny Bench was fooled on a trick play in the 8th when he came to bat with runners on second and third bases and 1 out. With the count 3 balls and 2 strikes, Oakland manager Dick Williams went to the mound to talk to relief pitcher Rollie Fingers and motioned for Mr. Bench to receive an intentional base on balls. Catcher Gene Tenace stood up as if to receive an outside pitch, then went into his normal crouch as Mr. Bench stood there and watched a pitch go over the plate for strike 3. Tony Perez was then walked intentionally, and Denis Menke popped out to end the threat.



30 years ago
1982

Died on this date
Bess Truman, 97. U.S. First Lady, 1945-1953. Born Elizabeth Virginia Wallace in Independence, Missouri, she married future President Harry Truman in 1919.

Pierre Mendès France, 75. Premier of France, 1954-1955. First elected to the National Assembly in 1932 as a member of the Radical Socialist Party, Mr. Mendès France was Premier when the National Assembly voted to withdraw all French military forces from Indochina. His government fell in February 1955, just seven months after taking office.

Crime
Authorities in Chicago announced that James W. Lewis and his wife were being sought as the primary leads in the investigation of the deaths of seven people who had died from consuming Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules laced with cyanide. Mr. Lewis, using the name Robert Richardson, had been accused of trying to extort $1 million from the manufacturers of Tylenol by threatening to put cyanide in more Extra-Strength capsules.

25 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in France: La Bamba--Los Lobos

Diplomacy
Amadou-Mahtar M’Bow of Senegal withdrew on the fifth ballot of his attempt to be re-elected as director general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. He had been widely criticized for wastefulness and anti-Western attitudes, and the U.S.A. and U.K. had pulled out of UNESCO.

Football
CFL
Edmonton (9-6) 25 @ Saskatchewan (5-9-1) 34

Edmonton quarterbacks Matt Dunigan (5) and Damon Allen (2) combined to throw 7 interceptions as the Eskimos lost to the Roughriders before 24,282 fans at Taylor Field in Regina. Saskatchewan’s Walter Bender rushed 19 times for 76 yards and 2 touchdowns, and scored another TD on a 22-yard pass from Kent Austin. Mr. Austin, playing his second CFL game, completed 26 of 37 passes for 333 yards. The Eskimos scored both their touchdowns in the 3rd quarter. Don Wilson intercepted a pass from Mr. Austin on the Roughriders’ first play from scrimmage and returned it 47 yards, and Milson Jones added a 1-yard touchdown rush.



Baseball
World Series
St. Louis Cardinals 4 @ Minnesota Twins 8 (Minnesota led best-of-seven series 2-0)

The Twins scored 6 runs in the 4th inning as they beat the Cardinals before 55,257 fans at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis. Bert Blyleven pitched 7 innings to get the win over Danny Cox.



20 years ago
1992

Football
CFL
Ottawa (7-8) 4 @ Toronto (6-9) 10
Hamilton (9-6) 15 @ Winnipeg (8-7) 24
Saskatchewan (7-8) 30 @ Calgary (11-4) 34

Linebacker Jeff Braswell made 6 tackles, 2 quarterback sacks, an interception, and a fumble recovery as the Argonauts defeated the Rough Riders before 26,337 fans at SkyDome. Kevin Smellie rushed 4 yards in the 3rd quarter for the game’s only touchdown. Tom Burgess started at quarterback for the Rough Riders but completed just 9 of 24 passes for 118 yards before being relieved by Scott Campbell.

Michael Richardson rushed 24 times for 109 yards and a touchdown as the Blue Bombers beat the Tiger-Cats before 25,543 fans at Winnipeg Stadium. Warren Hudson rushed 3 yards for the other Winnipeg touchdown with 25 seconds left in the game. Hamilton quarterback Damon Allen scored his team’s only touchdown on an 8-yard rush in the 1st quarter. Winnipeg quarterbacks Danny McManus and Sammy Garza combined to complete just 9 of 26 passes.

The Stampeders withstood a late rally to defeat the Roughriders before 24,451 fans at McMahon Stadium. Calgary quarterback Doug Flutie completed 2 touchdown passes to Dave Sapunjis and another to Allen Pitts and rushed for a touchdown of his own as the Stampeders led 33-14 with 8½ minutes remaining in the game. Saskatchewan quarterback Kent Austin, who had completed a 34-yard touchdown pass to Byron Williams in the 3rd quarter, then completed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Ray Elgaard and a 2-point convert pass to Don Narcisse with 6:42 remaining to make the score 33-22. Lucius Floyd rushed 3 yards for a touchdown and Mr. Austin passed to Mr. Williams for a 2-point convert to make the score 33-30 with 2:46 remaining. Mark McLoughlin missed a long field goal attempt for a single point with 1:44 remaining to increase the Calgary lead to 4 points. Mr. Flutie completed 26 of 42 passes for 296 passes, while Mr. Austin was 23 for 43 for 334 yards; both quarterbacks went over 5,000 yards passing for the season. Mr. Sapunjis caught 9 passes for 120 yards to become the first Canadian with the Stampeders to go over 1,000 yards receiving in a season since Gerry Shaw in 1972.

Baseball
World Series
Toronto Blue Jays 5 @ Atlanta Braves 4 (Best-of-seven series tied 1-1)

Down 4-2 after 7 innings at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, the Blue Jays rallied for a run in the 8th inning and 2 in the 9th to record their first ever win in a World Series game. Pinch hitter Ed Sprague's 2-run home run off Jeff Reardon with 1 out was the deciding blow as the Blue Jays became the first Canadian team to win a World Series game. David Cone started on the mound for Toronto but lasted just 4 1/3 innings; Duane Ward, the fourth Toronto pitcher, pitched a scoreless 8th inning and was credited with the win, while Tom Henke allowed runners to reach first and second bases in the bottom of the 9th but was able to preserve the victory. John Smoltz started for Atlanta and pitched 7 1/3 innings. 51,763 attended the game at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, which began on an awkward note when a colour guard of U.S. Marines carried the Canadian flag upside down onto the field. Canadian singer Tom Cochrane then flubbed the lyrics to O Canada, providing another argument for doing away with singing of anthems before games.



10 years ago
2002

Scandal
The Vatican expressed criticism of the plan worked out by Roman Catholic bishops in the United States for dealing with the abuse of minors by priests. An official letter from Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re to Bishop William Gregory, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said that the agreement worked out at a bishops’ conference in June did not sufficiently protect the rights of priests under Church law. The letter said that the draft policy did not provide for a statute of limitations, and that it defined abuse too broadly, to include actions not involving physical force or contact. A commission composed of both Vatican and U.S. bishops was set up to review the plan.

Football
CFL
Winnipeg (10-6) 35 @ Calgary (5-11-0-2) 20

Khari Jones completed 20 of 34 passes for 311 yards and 4 touchdowns as the Blue Bombers defeated the Stampeders before 30,776 fans at McMahon Stadium. Milt Stegall caught 6 passes for 106 yards and 3 touchdowns, tying the CFL record of 22 touchdowns in a single season. Arland Bruce caught 5 passes for 93 yards, including a 52-yard pass from Mr. Jones for the other Winnipeg touchdown. Winnipeg’s Charles Roberts rushed 18 times for 141 yards and caught 4 passes for 42. The only Calgary touchdown was scored by Wane McGarity on a 37-yard pass from Ben Sankey in the 4th quarter.