August 26, 1987: Paul Molitor's streak ended at 39

On this day in 1987, Paul Molitor went 0-for-4 and the streak was over.  He hit .415 during the streak.  It is still the 7th longest streak and the best since Pete Rose in 1978 and Joe DiMaggio in 1941.

Molitor broke with the Brewers in 1978.   He went on to have a marvelous career:  .306 average, 3,319 hits, & 1,307 RBI.  

He hit .355 for the Brewers in the 1982 World Series and was the 1993 World Series MVP when Toronto beat Philadelphia.

Just a great player and recently managed the Minnesota Twins.

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1987: Tom Seaver retired from baseball

Tom Seaver broke with the Mets in 1967 at 22.     Along with Jerry Koosman and Nolan Ryan, he was part of the team's young pitching staff that took the team to the 1969 World Series.   

Seaver started fast in first full year of 1967:   16-13, 2.76 ERA and 18 complete games pitching for the 61-101 Mets that finished in last place.    He was the NL Rookie of the year!

Two years later, or 1969, Tom was the NL Cy Young with a terrific 25-7 & 2.21 ERA.      

Tom's career stats got him to the Hall of Fame in 1992:  311-205 & 2.86 ERA.    He played in 3 post season series with the Mets in 1969 & 1973 plus the Reds in 1979.

This is a partial list of his accomplishments:

1) one of only two pitchers in Major League history with 300 Wins, an ERA under 3.00 & 3,000 Strikeouts.   The other is Walter Johnson; and, 

2) he pitched twenty-seven 3-hitters, ten 2-hitters, five 1-hitters and a no hitter in 1978 wearing the Reds uniform.  

Just a great pitcher!

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June 12, 1987: It was a great day for freedom!

Time flies.   On this day in 1987, or many years ago today, we watched President Reagan call on the USSR to tear down the Berlin Wall.    

According to Peter Robinson, a speechwriter, the "line" was discussed and argued about in the US State Department.  Some of President Reagan's advisers thought that the line might be seen as provocative by the Kremlin. 

At the end, President Reagan said it anyway. 

What a great moment it was. 

I can still remember holding our 3-week old son and watching it on TV back then. 

Did President Reagan see the future?  We will never know but he definitely knew that the USSR and the Berlin Wall were doomed for failure.  As we know now, The Berlin Wall eventually came down 30 months later! 

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June 12, 1987: President Reagan's words that get better with age

Time flies but the threats from the left keep on coming.   As President Reagan himself said:   

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”

On this day in 1987, or many years ago today, we watched President Reagan call on the USSR to tear down the Berlin Wall.   I watched it later in the evening with our new three-week-old son.  

According to Peter Robinson, a speech writer, the "line" about tearing down the wall was discussed and argued about in the US State Department.  Some of President Reagan's advisers thought that the line might be seen as provocative by the Kremlin. 

At the end, President Reagan said it anyway. 

What a great moment it was.   It is critically important that we remind our young people that the communist threat is ongoing.  They want to destroy our way of life as much today as they did when President Reagan told them to tear down that wall.  

Who knew that evening in 1987 that we'd be facing the leftist threat to our country in 2021?  Who could have guessed that our universities today would be schools of political indoctrination graduating students who hate the country and don't have a clue about anything?  Who knew that math would be racist?   Or that "Dumbo," the Disney movie that my sons grew up watching, would insult anybody?   Or that we'd be debating whether boys who think are girls would be beating girls in competitions?

Did President Reagan see the future?  We will never know but he warned us that our freedoms are always under threat.  Freedom is not guaranteed, as my late Cuban parents would always tell me.  We must keep our guard and defend our way of life.

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1987: Aretha Franklin selected to the Rock Hall of Fame

On this day in 1987, Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman selected to The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.   

Aretha was in her 20's when she recorded "Respect" in 1967.    Over time, she put 17 songs in Billboard's Top 10 and over a hundred recordings.  It earned her the name of "Queen of Soul".

Aretha is # 9 in The Rolling Stone's Top 100 artists.   

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