1967 was the last full year in the lives of both Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, who were tragically shot and killed on April 4 and June 6, 1968, respectively.
3.2 million ATMS. Duh.
Carry on.
“Pride (In the Name of Love)” is a 1984 song by the Irish rock band U2, about American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. It was the band’s first song to crack the U.S. Billboard Top 40 chart, peaking at #33.
The song “Pride…” by U2 contains the erroneous reference to King’s shooting as “Early morning, April 4,” when it actually occurred after 6 p.m. Bono acknowledges the error and in live performances he often changes the lyric to “Early evening…” The error was corrected on the acoustic version of the song included on the group’s 2023 album Songs of Surrender; the updated lyric is “In the evening, April 4”.
An unadorned white flag is generally recognized as a sign of surrender. It was also an early flag of the French monarchy and, in the Middle-earth legendarium of J.R.R. Tolkien, the banner of the Stewards of Gondor. The British singer-songwriter Dido had a hit with her song “White Flag” in 2003.
Fido Dido is a cartoon character, originally created by Sue Rose and Joanna Ferrone in 1985. In the early 1990s, the character frequently appeared on licensed merchandise, and as a brand mascot for soft drinks, including 7-Up and Slice.
While hardly anybody names their dog ‘Fido’ anymore, the name has become a slang reference to any dog. The name is believed to have originated with Abraham Lincoln, who had a dog named Fido while practicing as a lawyer in Springfield, Illinois. When Lincoln was elected president, the name became very popular among dog owners and remained so for many years.
Hardly anyone names their dog Rover anymore either, but that’s the name of the title character in A. M. Lightner’s SF novel Star Dog.
As we now understand stellar dynamics, it is thought unlikely that the Sun, our star, a G2V yellow dwarf, will ever explode or go supernova. It will, however, probably greatly expand and either destroy or badly burn the Earth.
Red Dwarf is a British comedy science-fiction television series. The series originally ran on BBC Two from 1988 until 1999, and gained a cult following; it was revived in 2009, and now runs on “Dave,” a free-to-air channel in the U.K.
Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver sing an impromptu duet excerpt of “Tomorrow,” from the Broadway musical Annie, in the 1993 Ivan Reitman-directed political comedy Dave.
Little Orphan Annie was a daily syndicated comic strip that debuted on August 5, 1924, in the New York Daily News. The plot follows the wide-ranging adventures of Annie, her dog Sandy and her benefactor Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks. It has been serialized on radio between 1930 and 1942, produced as a Broadway musical in 1977 and a motion picture in 1982. The comic strip ended its run in 2010.
2010 marked the first full calendar year of the presidency of Barack Obama, Democrat of Illinois. His presidential library is now being built in Jackson Park, on the South Side of his adoptive hometown of Chicago.
The San Francisco Giants most recently won the World Series in 2010, 2012, and 2014. There are eight players who played on all three of those championship Giants teams:
Catcher — Buster Posey
Infielder — Pablo Sandoval
Starting Pitcher — Tim Lincecum
Starting Pitcher — Madison Bumgarner
Relief Pitcher — Jeremy Affeldt
Relief Pitcher — Santiago Casilla
Relief Pitcher — Javier López
Relief Pitcher — Sergio Romo
I personally call these Giants the “Core Eight” of their recent dynasty.
Of these eight, for these postseason runs the only player to have played every game for every inning and every out and every at bat in 2010 and 2014 was catcher Buster Posey.
In 2012 Buster Posey played all but 1 game in the NLDS (against the Reds), 2 games in the NLCS (against the Cardinals), and 1 game in the World Series (against the Tigers).
Put another way, in 2010 and 2014 the only player to have NOT played any game or any inning or any out or any at bat was the backup catcher for each of those postseasons. In 2012 the backup catcher did play, but only sparingly. The backup catchers were:
2010 — Eli Whiteside
2012 — Héctor Sánchez
2014 — Andrew Susac
In 2010 the World Series MVP was Edgar Renteria and the NLCS MVP was Cody Ross.
In 2012 the World Series MVP was Pablo Sandoval and the NLCS MVP was Marco Scutaro.
In 2014 the World Series MVP was Madison Bumgarner and the NLCS MVP was Madison Bumgarner.
Of this “Core Right”, only Madison Bumgarner remains active. The others have retired. Bumgarner is a free agent but his last years with his last team, he was poison as a teammate. While I love the guy for what he did for the Giants, in the end the guy is just a bratty, temperamental punk. IMHO, of course. Some references:
https://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/madison-bumgarner-twilight-ugly-dbacks-18112908.php
What a punk.
The New York Yankees won the World Series in 1998, 1999, and 2000. Since then, there have been no repeat winners of the Series.
Teams that have won multiple Series since 2001 include the Red Sox (4 wins), Giants (3 wins), Cardinals (2 wins), and Astros (2 wins).
In 2001, the Seattle Mariners finished with a 116–46 (.716) record, tying the major league record for wins set by the 1906 Chicago Cubs, and setting the record for wins by an American League team. Of those wins, 59 were by four or more runs, a record for the number of games won by such a margin. They also led the majors in both runs scored and fewest runs allowed. They would go on to their first playoff appearance, falling in five games to the New York Yankees in the ALCS.
Despite the record-setting win total, the Mariners would not reach the postseason again until 2022, which was the longest active drought in the four major North American sports.
The Seattle Pilots were an American League expansion team, which first started play in the 1969 season. The franchise had originally been awarded to the city with the expectation that they would begin play in 1971, but when the Kansas City A’s relocated to Oakland in 1968, interests in the Kansas City area forced the American League to accelerate their expansion timetable (so that KC could get a new expansion team immediately).
As a result, the Pilots were forced to begin their life in a sub-standard, run-down minor league ballpark, and suffered from financial issues. After only a single season in Seattle, the team went bankrupt just prior to the 1970 season, was sold to Milwaukee businessman Bud Selig, and relocated to Milwaukee, where they became the Brewers.
In the aftermath of the Pilots’ failure and relocation, the city of Seattle, King County, and the state of Washington filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against the American League; the lawsuit led to the awarding of a second expansion franchise, the Mariners, to the city.
(I went to that stadium with my cub scout pack to watch the Rainiers play; never saw the Pilots when they were there.)
Ball Four: My Life and Hard Times Throwing the Knuckleball in the Big Leagues was a memoir by pitcher Jim Bouton of his time with a number of teams including the Seattle Pilots.
The ace Negro League pitcher Leroy “Satchel” Paige did not develop a knuckleball pitch until well into his pro career; for several years he simply relied upon his blazing and very effective fastball.