August 30, 2012

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Michelle Kent!

150 years ago
1862

War
In the U.S. Civil War, the Second Battle of Manassas, also known as the Second Battle of Bull Run, concluded a long campaign in northern Virginia with a victory by Confederate forces.

125 years ago
1887

Baseball
The Louisville Colonels routed the New York Metropolitans 23-5 in an American Association game.

100 years ago
1912

Born on this date
Nancy Fiocca. N.Z.-born U.K. spy. Captain Fiocca moved to Sydney as a child and then to Paris. She married French industrialist Henri Fiocca, and they were in Marseille at the beginning of World War II. Capt. Fiocca served with the French Resistance, helping Allied airmen evade capture by Germans and escape to neutral Spain; her husband was captured and executed. She then joined the British Special Operations Executive (SOE); using the code name "Hélène," she parachuted into occupied France, participating in a battle between the Maquis and a large German force in June 1944. Capt. Fiocca's heroics earned her honours from New Zealand, Australia, France, the United States, and the United Kingdom. She died on August 7, 2011, 23 days before her 99th birthday.

Baseball
Earl Hamilton pitched a no-hitter as the St. Louis Browns beat the Detroit Tigers 5-1 at Navin Field in Detroit.

75 years ago
1937

Boxing
In the first defense of the world heavyweight title that he had won on June 22, Joe Louis (33-1) won a unanimous 15-round decision over Tommy Farr at Yankee Stadium (69-22-16) in New York.

60 years ago
1952

Hit Parade
#1 singles in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Auf Widerseh'n Sweetheart--Vera Lynn (Best seller--8th week at #1; Disc Jockey--6th week at #1; Juke Box--4th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart--Vera Lynn (6th week at #1)
--Eddy Howard
2 Half as Much--Rosemary Clooney
3 Botch-A-Me--Rosemary Clooney
4 Delicado--Percy Faith and his Orchestra
5 Here in My Heart--Al Martino
6 Wish You Were Here--Eddie Fisher
7 I'm Yours--Don Cornell
--Eddie Fisher
8 High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me)--Frankie Laine
9 Vanessa--Hugo Winterhalter and his Orchestra
10 Walkin' My Baby Back Home--Johnnie Ray
--Nat "King" Cole and Billy May and his Orchestra

Singles entering the chart were Too Old to Cut the Mustard by Marlene Dietrich and Rosemary Clooney (#20); Luna Rossa (Bluching Moon) by Alan Dean (#22); Feet Up (Pat Him on the Po-Po) by Guy Mitchell (#29); Indian Love Call by Slim Whitman (#31); String Along by the Ames Brothers (#34); Zing a Little Zong by Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman (#38); Roses of Yesterday (#41)/You Could Make Me Smile Again (#45) by Tony Bennett; and Meet Mister Callaghan, with versions by Les Paul and Harry Grove (#50).

Died on this date
Arky Vaughan, 40. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Vaughan was a shortstop with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1932-1941) and Brooklyn Dodgers (1942-1943, 1947-1948). In 1,817 games, Mr. Vaughan batted .318 with 96 home runs and 926 runs batted in. His best season was 1935, when he led the National League with a .385 percentage and a slugging percentage of .607. In his New Historical Baseball Abstract (2001), Bill James ranked Mr. Vaughan as the second-best shortstop in history, behind only fellow Pirate Honus Wagner. Mr. Vaughan was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. He and fishing buddy Bill Wimer, 45, drowned in Lost Lake, near Eagleville, California, when Mr. Wimer reportedly stood up and their boat overturned. The lake was said to be "bottomless," which may explain why two men could drown only 20 feet from shore.

Football
CRU
ORFU
Toronto (1-0) 17 @ Brantford (0-1) 11

Ken Wagner's 71-yard touchdown rush in the 4th quarter was the difference as Balmy Beach beat the Redskins in the Brantford club's first game in the ORFU. Toronto quarterback Gerry Tuttle passed to Bob Settle for a touchdown and rushed for another himself. Brantford quarterback Al Dekdebrun, who had led the Toronto Argonauts to the Grey Cup championship two years earlier, threw touchdown passes to George Kunkel and Tom Moran.

WIFU
Edmonton (0-2-1) 7 @ Calgary (3-0) 14

Calgary quarterback Stan Heath threw a 7-yard pass to Paul Salata for one touchdown, and Sugarfoot Anderson scored the winning touchdown when he recovered a fumble by Edmonton punt returner Rollie Miles in the Eskimos' end zone. Mr. Miles scored the Eskimos’ touchdown immediately after that of Mr. Salata when he returned the kickoff 95 yards. Dick Steere converted and Rod Pantages punted for a single to complete the Edmonton scoring before a capacity crowd of 12,000 at Mewata Stadium.

50 years ago
1962

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): I Remember You--Frank Ifield (6th week at #1)

Football
CFL
Calgary (1-4-1) 1 @ Winnipeg (3-1) 26

Leo Lewis scored 2 touchdowns to lead the Blue Bombers over the Stampeders before a Winnipeg Stadium crowd of 16,059. Mr. Lewis rushed 9 times for 56 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown run, and caught a 43-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Kenny Ploen. Mr. Ploen also connected with Ernie Pitts for a touchdown. Joe Williams, in his first CFL game, added to the Winnipeg attack with 7 carries for 50 yards and 1 pass reception for 7. Gerry James converted all 3 touchdowns and added a field goal. Jack Delveaux, replacing the injured Charlie Shepard as the Blue Bombers' punter, punted 11 times for a 48-yard average and 2 singles. Walt Weaver scored the Stampeders' lone point on a punt single.

40 years ago
1972

Diplomacy
After 38 preliminary sessions over a period of almost a year, delegates of the Red Cross Societies of North and South Korea began full talks in Pyongyang to work for the reunion of 10 million members of dispersed families. The talks were slated to alternate between Pyongyang and Seoul, and were seen as giving an impetus to eventual Korean reunification.

Football
CFL
Toronto (0-5) 13 @ Ottawa (4-0) 14
Edmonton (4-1) 16 @ Winnipeg (4-1) 49

Mack Herron returned the opening kickoff 120 yards for a touchdown to set a CFL record for a regular season game and Don Jonas threw 3 touchdown passes to lead the Blue Bombers to a rout of the Eskimos before a Winnipeg Stadium record crowd of 25,210. Paul Williams caught 2 of Mr. Jonas’ touchdown passes, for 8 and 57 yards. Jim Thorpe caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Mr. Jonas as the Blue Bombers rolled up a 17-1 lead after the 1st quarter, 31-2 at halftime, 35-2 after 3 quarters, and 41-2 early in the 4th quarter. Mr. Herron rushed 10 yards for a touchdown in the 4th quarter, and Clay McEvoy scored the final Winnipeg touchdown on a 1-yard rush with 3:13 remaining in the game, both on handoffs from backup quarterback Tommy Pharr. Sam Scarber rushed 2 yards for the first Eskimo touchdown in the 4th quarter, and backup quarterback Dave Syme connected with Tyrone Walls for a 38-yard touchdown just 13 seconds after Mr. McEvoy’s score. Tom Wilkinson started at quarterback for the Eskimos but left with a sprained ankle, and Mr. Syme completed 18 of 30 passes in relief. Mr. Walls caught 6 passes for 100 yards, while Bobby Taylor caught 7 for 93 and George McGowan 7 for 89 for the Eskimos. Edmonton defensive tackle Rock Perdoni pulled a groin muscle in what turned out to be his last game as an Eskimo.

Baseball
On the regular Wednesday Expos Baseball telecast on CBC, Ernie McAnally was the winning pitcher as the Montreal Expos edged the Atlanta Braves 3-2 at Atlanta Stadium. Jackie Robinson provided the colour commentary to augment Dave Van Horne's play-by-play.

30 years ago
1982

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): The Other Woman--Ray Parker, Jr.

World events
Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat was forced to leave his headquarters in Beirut as a result of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon which had begun several months earlier.

Baseball
The Houston Astros traded veteran starting pitcher Don Sutton to the Milwaukee Brewers for minor league players Kevin Bass, Frank DiPino, and Mike Madden.

25 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): La Bamba--Los Lobos

#1 single in France: Joe le taxi--Vanessa Paradis (5th week at #1)

Labour
A three-week strike by 250,000 black South African gold and coal miners ended with the union accepting the mine owners’ offer of pay increases of 15%-23%. The miners had demanded a 30% pay increase.

Football
CFL
Winnipeg (6-3) 23 @ British Columbia (6-3) 24

Lui Passaglia’s 53-yard punt for a single with 36 seconds remaining in regulation time gave the Lions the winning point against the Blue Bombers before 38,338 fans at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver. Winnipeg’s Ken Winey fielded the punt 4 yards deep in his end zone, but was tackled there by B.C.’s Paul Nastasiuk. The Lions scored both their touchdowns within a 29-second span in the last 2 minutes of the 1st half. Roy Dewalt connected with Ray Crouse for a 26-yard touchdown at 13:10, and Keith Gooch returned an interception 36 yards for a TD at 13:29. Two more quick turnovers led to Lui Passaglia field goals and a 20-1 halftime lead for the Lions, which became 23-2 late in the 3rd quarter. Willard Reaves rushed 1 yard for a Winnipeg touchdown on the last play of the 3rd quarter and caught a 17-yard TD pass from Tom Clements in the 4th quarter to reduce the deficit to 23-16. The Blue Bombers then tied the game on a converted touchdown by Ken Hailey on a 68-yard interception return with 7:33 remaining in the 4th quarter. Winnipeg’s James Murphy led all receivers with 145 yards on 12 receptions.



Baseball
The San Diego Padres traded pitcher Storm Davis to the Oakland Athletics for two players to be named later. Mr. Davis was 2-7 with an earned run average of 6.18 in 21 games with San Diego in 1987. On August 31, the Athletics sent pitcher Dave Leiper to San Diego; he was 2-1 with a 3.78 ERA and 1 save in 45 games with Oakland in 1987. On September 8, the Athletics sent first baseman Rob Nelson to the Padres to complete the deal; he was batting .167 with no home runs or runs batted in in 7 games with Oakland in 1987.

Kirby Puckett batted 6 for 6 with 2 home runs, 2 doubles, 4 runs, and 4 runs batted in to lead the Minnesota Twins to a 10-6 win over the Milwaukee Brewers before 22,417 fans at County Stadium in Milwaukee.

George Bell hit 2 home runs and Jesse Barfield, Ernie Whitt, and Nelson Liriano also homered for the Toronto Blue Jays as they routed the Oakland Athletics 13-3 before 38,211 fans at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.

The Detroit Tigers blanked the Texas Rangers 7-0 before a Tiger Stadium crowd of 38,641, aided by an American League record-setting and major league record-tying 6 passed balls allowed by Texas catcher Geno Petralli, who had difficulty catching the knuckleballs thrown by losing pitcher Charlie Hough, who also threw a wild pitch on a third strike that allowed a batter to reach first base--who eventually came around to score. Doyle Alexander pitched a 3-hitter to improve his record to 3-0 since being acquired from the Atlanta Braves on August 12.

Dwight Evans hit 2 home runs and Jim Rice added another to help the Boston Red Sox defeat the Cleveland Indians 7-3 before 17,189 fans at Cleveland Stadium. Joe Carter homered for the Indians.

Jamie Quirk hit a 3-run home run to climax a 5-run 6th inning and Kevin Seitzer hit a grand slam in the top of the 8th inning to provide the winning margin as the Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 11-7 before 21,319 fans at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The White Sox opened the scoring when Gary Redus led off the bottom of the 1st with a home run. Gary Thurman made his major league debut with Kansas City, playing the first 8 innings in left field and the 9th in center field. He batted 1 for 4 with a base on balls and a run, and made 1 putout and an error.

Doug Drabek pitched a 3-hitter for the Pittsburgh Piates as they shut out the Houston Astros 7-0 before 26,867 fans at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. John Cangelosi's 3-run home run with 2 out in the bottom of the 5th inning opened the scoring.

Jack Clark scored on a sacrifice squeeze bunt by Jose Oquendo with 1 out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th inning to climax a 3-run rally and give the St. Louis Cardinals a 4-3 win over the Atlanta Braves before 39,370 fans at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. The Braves scored all their runs at the beginning of the game when Albert Hall led off with a single, Ken Oberkfell followed with a double, and Gerald Perry followed with a 3-run home run.

The Montreal Expos, trailing 4-1 after 5 innings, scored a run in the 6th and 3 in the top of the 9th and held on to edge the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-4 before 27,360 fans at Dodger Stadium. Pinch hitter Wallace Johnson doubled home Vance Law and Pascual Perez with the tying and winning runs. The Dodgers had Phil Garner on second base with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th, but Tim Burke struck out Danny Heep and retired Mickey Hatcher on a fly ball to end the game.

The Nashville Sounds defeated the Buffalo Bisons 7-5 in an American Association game before a capacity crowd of nearly 40,000 at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo in the last major event to be held at the facility. The Bisons moved into Pilot Field in 1988.

20 years ago
1992

World events
The nine-day old siege at Ruby Ridge in northern Idaho continued, with Kevin Harris, a friend of white separatist Randy Weaver, surrendering to U.S. authorities. Mr. Harris was arrested for the August 21 killing of U.S. federal marshal Bill Degan.

10 years ago
2002

Labour
A strike of major league baseball players was averted when the Major League Baseball Players Association and major league owners agreed on a contract.

Football
CFL
British Columbia (5-5) 28 @ Ottawa (2-8-0-1) 4

Damon Allen threw touchdown passes to Jason Clermont and Alfred Jackson and rushed for another touchdown to lead the Lions past the Renegades before 22,343 fans at Frank Clair Stadium. Lyle Green rushed 12 yards for the other B.C. touchdown. The Lions led 21-4 at halftime.