In 1985, the two Major League Baseball teams which play in the state of Missouri – the St. Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Royals – faced each other in the World Series. The series was nicknamed “the I-70 Series,” after Interstate 70, which connects the two cities, and “the Show-Me Series,” after Missouri’s nickname as “the Show Me State.”
The Royals won the series, which went the full seven games, for their first World Series championship.
Edit: Despite the series being entirely contested in former president Harry S Truman’s home state, Truman did not attend the series, having passed away thirteen years earlier.
Game 6 of that I-70 Series was an umpiring fiasco. Umpire Don Denkinger, STL pitcher Todd Worrell, KC pinch-hitter Jorge Orta, and STL 1B Jack Clark were involved in one of baseball’s most infamous plays. Eventually, baseball would implement replay reviews to avoid an egregious mistake like this.
The short story is that in the 4th inning, Worrell tagged out Orta on his ground ball to Clark, but Denkinger’s view of the play was blocked by Orta’s running body. Orta was clearly out, but Denkinger did not see it. TV replays showed Orta being clearly out. Denkinger, though, called Orta safe.
The ground ball that Orta hit was leading off the bottom of the ninth, with the Cards leading 1-0. Orta was clearly out, but Denkinger ruled that Worrell’s foot was not on the bag. KC would eventually score two runs and win the game, and then won Game 7 11-0. (BTW, I was at Game 7 in KC in 1985.)
In play: After their 1985 World Series victory, the Kansas City Royals did not make the playoffs again until 2014, when they lost to the San Francisco Giants in the World Series in 7 games. The next year, in 2015, the Royals won their second world championship by defeating the New York Mets in five games.
It will probably be another 30 years before the Royals win another championship.
In 1908, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. It would be 37 years before they would be in the playoffs again, and 108 years before they won the series.
Across the street from Wrigley Field (home of the Chicago Cubs), and visible from much of the stadium, are two signs which have been placed on a building at 3633 N. Sheffield. One sign reads “EAMUS CATULI,” which means (roughly) “Let’s Go Cubs” in Latin. The other sign reads “AC”, plus six digits. The owner of the sign has confirmed that “AC” is an abbreviation for “Anno Catulorum” (“In the year of the Cubs” in Latin), and the six digits represent how many years have elapsed since the Cubs last won the National League Central divisional title, the National League pennant, and the World Series.
When the Cubs won the World Series in November, 2016, early the following morning, the AC sign was changed to read “AC000000.”
The Roman poet Gaius Valerius Catullus was known for his epigrams. One of the most memorable is Odi et amo. Quare id faciam fortasse requiris.
Nescio, sed fieri sentio, et excrucior.
Translated from Latin:
I hate and I love. Why I do this, you may ask.
I do not know, but I feel it happening and I am tortured.
Robert Mitchum’s character, serial killer Reverend Harry Powell, in the 1955 film The Night of the Hunter, had the words LOVE and HATE tattooed on his knuckles.
Hell’s Kitchen, in Manhattan, is sometimes called Clinton. It is in Midtown on the west side. Anthony Bourdain used to live there, as did the “Cinderella Man”, boxer James J. Braddock, and singer Tony Orlando, Tom Hanks, and Charlton Heston. Sylvester Stallone was born and raised there. Robert Mitchum grew up there.
The Altamont Speedway Free Festival was a counterculture rock concert held on Saturday, December 6, 1969 at the Altamont Speedway in northern California. The event is best known for considerable violence, including the stabbing death of Meredith Hunter and three accidental deaths: two caused by a hit-and-run car accident, and one by LSD-induced drowning in an irrigation canal. Scores were injured, numerous cars were stolen and then abandoned, and there was extensive property damage.
By some accounts, the Hell’s Angels were hired as security by the management of the Rolling Stones, on the recommendation of the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane (who both had previously used the Angels for security at performances without incident), for $500 worth of beer. This story has been denied by some parties who were directly involved. According to the road manager of the Rolling Stones’ 1969 US Tour, Sam Cutler, “the only agreement there ever was … the Angels would make sure nobody tampered with the generators, but that was the extent of it. But there was no way ‘They’re going to be the police force’ or anything like that. That’s all bollocks.”
Although “Fire is the devil’s only friend” may refer to the Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil” (Please allow me to introduce myself / I’m a man of wealth and taste / I’ve been around for a long, long year / Stole many a man’s soul to waste), the song “Friend of the Devil” is by the Grateful Dead. (Set out running but I’ll take my time / A friend of the Devil is a friend of mine / If I get home before daylight / I just might get some sleep tonight).
“Friend of the Devil” has been covered, live or in studio, by New Riders of the Purple Sage, Bob Dylan, Kenny Loggins, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Elvis Costello, Dave Matthews Band, Mumford and Sons and many others. The song evolved over time. Jerry Garcia said that the version the band played in later years was inspired by Kenny Loggins’ version of the song.
Loggins performing it live: 【CGUBA355】 Loggins & Messina 06/30/1972 - YouTube
[I’d heard the song title many times and expected it to be loud, twisted, dark. When i first listened to it I was surprised at how lyrical it was, what a pretty tune.]
“Yacht Rock” is a term used to describe a style of music, popular in the late 1970s through mid-1980s, characterized by smooth sounds, clean vocals, and catchy melodies (and, in some cases, lyrical themes related to sailing).
The term was coined in 2005 in a “mockumentary” online video series about the musical style, and was originally a perjorative term. In recent years, however, fans of the genre have begun to embrace the term, and Sirius XM now features a “Yacht Rock Radio” channel.
The artists who are most closely identified with “yacht rock” include Michael McDonald, Christopher Cross, Kenny Loggins, Toto, and Steely Dan.
I was wondering why there was an XM radio rock station named Yacht Rock.
In play: Kenny Loggins graduated high school in 1966 and released his first recorded singles in 1968. Before he set off on a solo career in the late ’70s, he worked with Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and more famously with Jim Messina (formerly of Poco and Buffalo Springfield).
In play: According to the U.S. Geological Survey there are currently 33 populated places named Springfield. They can be found in 25 U.S. states, including five in Wisconsin.
The Springfield Cardinals are the Double-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They play their home games in Hammons Field, some 215 miles southwest of Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Hammons Field is named after hotel mogul John Hammons. Originally called the Springfield Highlanders, the team has also been named the Jobbers, the Midgets, and the Merchants.
The term “midget,” as a descriptor of a small person (particularly one with dwarfism) came into use in the 19th century, and was popularized by P.T. Barnum, who used the term in publicity for the little people who were part of his shows, such as General Tom Thumb.
The term is now seen as perjorative by many who have dwarfism, due to the perceived link to those who had histoically been put on display due to their size. Thus, many dwarfs prefer other terms, such as “little person” or “LP.”
The General and Mrs. Tom Thumb were taken by P.T. Barnum to the White House three days after their wedding to meet President Abraham Lincoln, who was considerably taller. Other notable guests at the Lincoln White House were Clara Barton, Frederick Douglass and Harriet Beecher Stowe.
The General (1926) was a movie by Buster Keaton who was born in Kansas in 1895. Filmmaker Mel Brooks said of Keaton, “I owe (Buster) a lot on two levels: One for being such a great teacher for me as a filmmaker myself, and the other just as a human being watching this gifted person doing these amazing things. He made me believe in make-believe.”