1991: And then Yeltsin said that it was over

It happened fast, and Boris Yeltsin made it official back in 1991:

After a long meeting between Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin, a spokesman for the latter announces that the Soviet Union will officially cease to exist on or before New Year’s Eve. Yeltsin declared that, “There will be no more red flag.” 

It was a rather anti-climactic culmination of events leading toward the dismantling of the Soviet Union. It was a stunner for those of us who had grown up during the Cold War. After all, who would have believed it during the Korean War? Or the Missile Crisis of 1962? Or when the USSR invaded Afghanistan at the end of 1979? Or when “perestroika” was supposed to save the system in the late 1980s?

 

For many of us, it was hard to believe, but it should not have been.  

 

The USSR was in fact a great failure. It was a superpower that could build nuclear weapons but not manufacture a basic tractor. It could subsidize Cuba but could not keep basic foodstuffs on its local shelves.  

 

The collapse of the USSR was also a tribute to a bipartisan foreign policy. From President Harry Truman to President George H.W. Bush, our willingness to identify the enemy and stand tough was too much for the USSR to survive.

 

Are we teaching the real story of communism in our schools?

 

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We remember Michael Landon (1936-91)

We remember Michael Landon, who was born on this day in 1936 and died in 1991.    Landon was one of the most talented actors or producers of the 20th century, from "Bonanza" to "Little House" to other very successful projects.

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July 28, 1991: Dennis Martinez pitched a perfect game

Where did so many years go? Dennis Martinez was perfect on this day in 1991.   

Dennis was born in Nicaragua and came up in the Orioles’ farm system in 1976.   

Before Baltimore, Dennis caught the eyes of scouts with masterful pitching against Cuba and the US in 1974.  He beat the US, 1-0, pitching 10 innings. Then he beat Cuba, 4-3, by throwing 7 strong innings.  

Dennis won 108 games with Baltimore, including playing in the 1979 and 1983 World Series. In 1987, he was traded to Montreal and that was really the prime of his career, including an ERA title and the aforementioned perfect game.

Dennis finished with 245 wins and a 3.70 ERA in 3,999 innings! 

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1991: Nolan Ryan no-hitter # 7

As they song goes, I heard it on the radio.   Incredibly, the game was not on local TV in the Dallas area.  

Nolan Ryan was pitching on 4-days rest as I recall.

In the 7th, I got my cassette player ready because it just felt that something good was going to happen that night in Arlington.   And so it did!  I recorded the last two innings with the late Mark Holtz calling the last strike!

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We remember Bobby Estalella (1911-1991)

Roberto Ventoza Estalella was born in Cardenas, Cuba, on April 25, 1911. Bobby, as he was known, made it to the majors in 1935.

Bobby played 9 years and retired with a very good .282 batting average with the old Senators (now the Twins) and the A’s.

His best seasons were 1944-45 when he  hit .298 and .299. We will never know for sure but the end of World War II probably impacted his playing career. In 1946, many American players returned and teams were under pressure to give them their old jobs back.

After baseball, Bobby worked as a butcher in Washington DC and was hired by the Senators to teach English to a new generation of Cubans:   Carlos Paula, Pedro Ramos, Juan Delis, and Camilo Pascual.

In 1975, Luis Tiant’s father was allowed to travel to the US to see his son Luis pitch in the World Series.    As a consequence, Luis, Sr. and Bobby met again after having been teammates in the old Cuba leagues.

Victor, his son, and grandson Robert, also played in the major leagues.

Bobby died in 1991 and is buried in Miami.

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1991: The First Gulf War

On this day in 1991, the First Gulf War began.   

It all started when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in August 1990.    The US, and UN, demanded Iraq's withdrawal but it did not happen.   My guess is that Hussein did not expect that President Bush would send ground troops and kick him out.

In the end, it was a smashing victory and Kuwait was liberated.  Unfortunately, President Bush lost re-election in 1992 and President Clinton did not confront Iraq and their constant violations of UN resolutions.   

So we had to go back in March 2003.

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