Monday, December 07, 1981

We remember Pearl Harbor!

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Most of us read about it.   My parents remember listening to the news on the radio. 

Today, we remember Pearl Harbor and everyone who fought in World War 2!

Good movie about "Pearl Harbor"?   My favorite is "Tora, tora, tora", a very serious film with very good dialogue.








Sunday, November 29, 1981

November 1981 and still talking about Natalie Wood's death


How did Natalie Wood die or drown?   Was she killed or what?

It's a great mystery but some people are still looking for clues.


Will they re-open the case?   Can they re-open case?   We will follow the story.

 P.S.  Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

Monday, October 19, 1981

1981: Rick Monday's HR beat Montreal in game 5


We remember Rick Monday for a few reasons:

1) He was a good player:   241 HR and 775 RBI with the Kansas City/Oakland A's, Chicago Cubs and LA Dodgers;

2) In 1976, he stopped two people from burning the US flag in an afternoon game at Wrigley Field; and, 

3) Monday hit a top of the 9th HR off Steve Rogers to put LA rather than Montreal in the 1981 World Series.   I heard it on the radio!

I think that they called it "Blue Monday" in Montreal for several years.

Great player and big post season moment.

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Saturday, October 10, 1981

1957: Braves win!


We remember that The Milwaukee Braves beat the Yankees in 7 games in 1957.   The two teams had a rematch in 1958 but the Yankees won that one. 
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Tuesday, October 06, 1981

1981: Sadat killed in Egypt


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On this day in 1981,  Anwar Sadat, the president of Egypt, was assassinated during a military parade.   It all happened so fast that many thought that the soldiers jumping from the truck were part of the show.    Within seconds, it became clear that it was a terrorist attack against a head of state.

President Sadat and PM Begin of Israel won the Nobel Peace Prize for the Camp David accords of 1978.  
Unfortunately, the deal made him a target of Islamic extremists across the Middle East.

 P.S.  Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

Saturday, September 26, 1981

1981: Nolan Ryan no-hitter # 5

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Nolan Ryan pitched his 5th no hitter on this day in 1981.   It was in the middle of a pennant race between the Astros and Dodgers plus a national audience (NBC Saturday Game of the Week).    Let me add that I was lucky to catch the last few innings.   In the 9th inning, Ryan struck out Reggie Smith, a pinch-hitter for his 11th strikeout of the game.   Ken Landreaux and Dusty Baker grounded out to complete the gem.  Yes, the same Dusty Baker who is now the Astros' manager.

What's amazing is that he threw 2 more!  # 6 came 9 years later against the Oakland A's but I fell asleep because it was one of those Pacific time games that we hate on Central Time.   I woke up the next morning kicking myself for not drinking more coffee and staying awake.   # 7 was here in Arlington and incredibly not on TV.   Most of us heard that one on the radio.

What made Ryan so remarkable is that you always expected something special when he took the mound, as Talmage Boston, the author of "Baseball and the Baby Boomer" wrote in an article for The Society of Baseball Research:    

The most enduring memory of Texas Rangers fans who witnessed the Ryan Express during his five glorious years in Arlington, from 1989 to 1993, was not a statistic but a sound. 
Every time the 40-something power pitcher delivered his heat, he threw the ball with such total passion that a bellowing grunt could be heard throughout the ballpark.
  
By the way, I was at the stadium in 1989 when he took a perfect game to the 9th.  Unfortunately, the Tigers broke it with one out.  I missed my chance to watch history!

On the political front, his first 2 no-hitters came under President Nixon, the next 2 under President Ford, the aforementioned # 5 under President Reagan and the last 2 under the first President Bush.   Maybe he liked the GOP or that's what happens when voters elect a Republican in 7 elections between 1968-2004.

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Monday, September 21, 1981

1981 and Steve Carlton set NL mark for K's

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The great Steve Carlton made some National League history on this day in 1981.   Carlton set the NL mark for K’s!

Over an amazing career, Carlton 329 games with a 3.22 ERA.   He also completed 254 games with 4,136 strikeouts.   His best season was 1972:  27-10, a 1.97 ERA, 30 complete games, 8 shutouts and 320 strikeouts.   The amazing thing is that he pitched for a team that won 59 games.   It may have been the greatest pitching performance ever.

Great pitcher.   Maybe the best lefty after Koufax with all due respect to Randy Johnson!
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Sunday, September 06, 1981

September 6, 1981: Fernando Valenzuela pitched 7th shutout in rookie season

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On this day in 1981, Fernando Valenzuela pitched his 7th shutout of the season.   

It was an amazing rookie season for young Valenzuela:   13-7, 2.48 ERA, 11 complete games and 8 shutouts.    It earned him NL Rookie of the Year and Cy Young.

We remind you that 1981 was the “strike year" and teams lost about 50 games to the labor stoppage.   He would probably won 20 in a regular season, as he did a couple of times in his career.

Then he beat Houston in the first round, clinched the NL pennant against Montreal and won game 3 against New York in the 1981 post season.

Valenzuela won 173 games and threw a ton of innings for the Dodgers in the 1980's.







Wednesday, September 02, 1981

We remember Hugo Montenegro (1925-81)

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Hugo Montenegro was born in New York on this day in 1925.   He spent some time in the US Navy and then started writing and arranging music in the 1950’s.     We remember him for all of those Western film themes, such as “The good the bad and the ugly”.

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column.

Thursday, August 06, 1981

Leadership Reagan style and the air controllers



Like many of you, I am yearning for presidential leadership.  I want a president who leads and sets the tone.


32 years ago yesterday, President Reagan once again demonstrated that he understood leadership and presidency:

"On August 5, 1981, President Ronald Reagan begins firing 11,359 air-traffic controllers striking in violation of his order for them to return to work. The executive action, regarded as extreme by many, significantly slowed air travel for months.
Two days earlier, on August 3, almost 13,000 air-traffic controllers went on strike after negotiations with the federal government to raise their pay and shorten their workweek proved fruitless. The controllers complained of difficult working conditions and a lack of recognition of the pressures they face. Across the country, some 7,000 flights were canceled. The same day, President Reagan called the strike illegal and threatened to fire any controller who had not returned to work within 48 hours. Robert Poli, president of the Professional Air-Traffic Controllers Association (PATCO), was found in contempt by a federal judge and ordered to pay $1,000 a day in fines.
On August 5, an angry President Reagan carried out his threat, and the federal government began firing the 11,359 air-traffic controllers who had not returned to work. In addition, he declared a lifetime ban on the rehiring of the strikers by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). On August 17, the FAA began accepting applications for new air-traffic controllers, and on October 22 the Federal Labor Relations Authority decertified PATCO."

Don't you miss presidential leadership?

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Wednesday, August 05, 1981

1981: Leadership Reagan style and the air controllers



A few years ago, President Reagan once again demonstrated that he understood leadership and the presidency.    


On this day in 1981, President Reagan "fired" 11,359 air-traffic controllers on strike.  It was a tough call but President Reagan was right.  It was also one of the first times that a leader of a democracy stood up to a public sector union and prevailed.
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Monday, July 20, 1981

We remember Natalie Wood (1938-81)


We remember Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko who was born on July 20, 1938 in San Francisco, California.   We know her as Natalie Wood.

She tragically drowned on November 29, 1981.

Natalie Wood was a beautiful woman who left her mark in the movies.

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

Wednesday, May 13, 1981

1981: We almost lost Pope John Paul II

(My new American Thinker post)


Do you remember what you were doing when you got the news that John Paul II was shot? 

I was working for a US company in Mexico City and my desk phone rang:  It was my mother from Dallas telling me that John Paul II had been shot in Rome

It was an eerie feeling.  She had called me weeks before:  "Reagan was shot" said my mom.

I walked out of the office and saw people filling up churches to pray for the Pope.  I remember several nuns in tears praying the rosary.  The Spanish news reports were very grim.  I found the Voice of America and BBC in my little short wave radio and heard flashes from the Vatican. Several people in the office turned on the TV and we watched the video of the shooting for the first time.  

As with President Reagan, the early reports were confusing.  There were unconfirmed stories that the Pope had been killed. I remember turning to a senior partner in the office and asking the obvious question:  Has any Pope been killed before?  No one knew the answer.

Thankfully, Pope John Paul II survived and played a major role, along with President Reagan and PM Thatcher, in the fall of communism.

I always felt very close to John Paul II, from the moment that he was announced in 1978

I never felt that connection with Paul VI or John 23rd. (I'm growing very fond of Pope Francis.  I love his sincerity although we need to work on his views about wealth distribution.)

My connection with John Paul II was rooted in our mutual experience of having lived through communism and knowing its ugly side.  Of course, Pope John Paul II lived under the Nazis too.  I always told my friends that John Paul II saw the two great evils of the 20th century, the Nazis and the communists.

Over the next 24 years, or until his graceful death in 2005, I always looked at John Paul II on TV and asked myself several questions:  

What if he had died that day?  

How different would events in Poland had turned out?   Don't we all remember the reception that he got in Poland?

Who would have made all of those trips to every corner of the world?  No one did it better than John Paul II!   

Yes, we can see now that John Paul II made mistakes in how the "priest scandal" was solved.  It was a stain on his record.  However, he still stands in my mind as one of the great figures of the 20th century, a man admired and loved by more than just Cathoics.

It was 33 years ago but it still feels like yesterday when I heard my mom's emotional voice on the phone.


P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.




1981: What were you doing the day that Pope John Paul II was shot?

Do you remember what you were doing when you got the news that John Paul II was shot?

I was working for a US company in Mexico City and my desk phone rang:  It was my mother from Dallas telling me that John Paul II had been shot in Rome.

It was an eerie feeling.  She had called me weeks before:  “Reagan was shot” said my mom.

As with President Reagan, the early reports were confusing.  There were unconfirmed stories that the Pope had been killed. I remember turning to a senior partner in the office and asking the obvious question:  Has any Pope been killed before?  No one knew the answer.

Thankfully, Pope John Paul II survived and played a major role, along with President Reagan and PM Thatcher, in the fall of communism.

I always felt very close to John Paul II, from the moment that he was announced in 1978.

My connection with John Paul II was rooted in our mutual experience of having lived through communism and knowing its ugly side.  Of course, Pope John Paul II lived under the Nazis too.  I always told my friends that John Paul II saw the two great evils of the 20th century, the Nazis and the communists.

Over the next 24 years, or until his graceful death in 2005, I always looked at John Paul II on TV and asked myself several questions:

What if he had been killed that fateful day in 1981?

How different would events in Poland had turned out?   Don’t we all remember the reception that he got in Poland?

Who would have made all of those trips to every corner of the world?  No one did it better than John Paul II

Yes, we can see now that John Paul II made mistakes in how the “priest scandal” was solved.  It was a stain on his record.  However, he still stands in my mind as one of the great figures of the 20th century, a man admired and loved by more than just Cathoics.

It was many years ago but it still feels like yesterday when I heard my mom’s emotional voice on the phone.
P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.  

Wednesday, January 28, 1981

January 28: Remembering Jose Marti (1853-95)


Jose Marti was born on a day like this in 1853.  He died in 1895 during a confrontation with Spanish troops in the long and very costly Cuban War of Independence.

Back in 2013, we chatted with Jorge Ponce, a Cuban American who left the island as a youngster with his parents, and Alfredo Cespero from Miami.   They joined me for a discussion of Jose Marti's life and what it means for those of us who grew up in the US.  

P.S.  Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

Tuesday, January 20, 1981

1981: What were you doing when Governor Reagan became Pres Reagan?

It was 1981, or the day that Ronald Reagan became the 40th president of the US.   He succeeded President Carter who served one term.

Do you remember what you were doing that sunny January day in 1981?

I was driving some colleagues between Saltillo and Monterrey in the north of Mexico.  It was an isolated road but ideal for picking up the ceremony and speech over WOAI-AM of San Antonio, Texas.   It came in clearly in our car radio!

Later, we got to the hotel in Saltillo and heard that the Iran hostages had been released.

Quite a morning, from the new president to the release of the hostages.

P.S.  Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

1981: President Reagan took over


On January 20th 1981, Ronald Reagan was sworn in as the 40th president of the United States. A few minutes later, the 52 hostages held at the U.S. embassy in Iran were released......ending the Iranian Hostage Crisis......it was the first day of a very impressive two term presidency.....

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1981: The Iran hostages released

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On this day in 1981, Governor Reagan became President Reagan.   Shortly after, the Iranian hostages were released.    

Was there a connection?   We will never know but my guess is that the Iranian understood that a President Reagan would act differently than President Carter.

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

Thursday, January 15, 1981

1981: Bob Gibson elected to Hall of Fame

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In 1981, Bob Gibson was the only player elected to the Hall of Fame.   

As a young man in Omaha, Gibson excelled at baseball and basketball in high school.   He played college basketball at Creighton University and had a brief stint with the Harlem Globetrotters.   


In 1957, he signed with the Cardinals, and made his big-league debut in 1959.


His 17 years with St. Louis were awesome:  251 victories, 255 complete games, 3,117 strikeouts, 56 shutouts, and an ERA of 2.91.        
His 1968 season may have been the greatest modern pitching performance:   22-9, 13 shutouts, 28 complete games and an unbelievable 1.12 ERA!  And he won game 7 in the 1964 & 1967 World Series!

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