1969: Paul and Linda were married

On this day in 1969, Paul McCartney and Linda Eastman were married in London.  

It was a long and very successful marriage.   Linda had a 6-year old daughter Heather from a previous marriage.   Paul and Linda had 3 children of their own:  Mary (1969), Stella (1971), and James (1977).

Linda died in 1998.

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We remember the versatile René Monteagudo (1916-1973)

René Monteagudo Miranda was born in Havana on this day in 1916. He came to the majors as a pitcher but became a pinch-hitter, part-time outfielder and reliever. The Washington Senators signed Rene as a pitcher and proceeded to make the major league team in 1938. Unfortunately, he hurt his arm and was out of baseball for a year. Down in the minors, he started hitting, playing the outfield and came back to the majors with the Philadelphia Phillies, known for a short time as the Blue Jays.  He hit .301 in 193 ABs. Rene got the nickname of “versatile” because he could do so many things on the diamond.

So what happened to Rene? He was banned from baseball.  Rene and another 13 major-leaguers signed a contract with Jorge Pasquel, a promoter for a new Mexican League actively trying to compete with the majors.  The 13 became the “jumpers!” Monteagudo played for a while in Mexico but was never given a chance to play in the majors again.  

Rene died in Miami in 1973.

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1933: We remember FDR first fireside chat!

In 1933, a president on the radio was probably as weird as a president tweeting today. 

We remember today another anniversary of President Roosevelt’s first fireside chat.

President Roosevelt’s first chat was to explain his decision to close the banks, an extremely sensitive topic in the middle of The Great Depression.   It happened about a week after he became president.

During his presidency, FDR communicated often with US voters.   At one point, he had voters buy maps so that they could follow him when he was talking about the strategic importance of this or that region to the war effort.

This is from a 1942 chat:    

“That is the reason why I have asked you to take out and spread before you a map of the whole earth, and to follow with me the references which I shall make to the world-encircling battle lines of this war.
Many questions will, I fear, remain unanswered tonight; but I know you will realize that I cannot cover everything in any one short report to the people.”

It pays to stay in touch with the voters.   It pays to explain your positions.   

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We remember Jim "The Toy Cannon" Wynn (1942-2020)

We remember Jim Wynn, who was born in Cincinnati in 1942 and died in 2020.

Jim broke with Houston in 1963 and became a regular in 1965 when the Astrodome opened.   

Over the next 10 years, he hit 223 HR in arguably the ultimate pitcher's park in baseball.   His best season was 1967:  37 HR & 107 RBI.

Later, he played a couple of years in Los Angeles and made it to the 1974 World Series.  He hit 32 HR & 108 RBI for NL Champion LA Dodgers.

Wynn retired with 291 HR & 964 RBI.   

 

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1947: Remembering The Truman Doctrine

We recall today The Truman Doctrine, or a "de facto declaration" of the Cold War made by President Truman on this day in 1947.

The Doctrine was based on the idea that the US was in a life-or-death struggle with the USSR.  It set the guidelines followed by every president, from Truman until the collapse of the USSR in 1991.

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