We remember today the life and times of Martin Dihigo, the great Cuban player and member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was inducted in Cooperstown this week in 1977. Dihigo was born in 1905 and played in the Negro Leagues from 1923-47.
We say happy birthday Dave Davies of The Kinks, one of the greatest British bands ever. They recorded rock classics like "You really got me" and the very interesting "Lola". The original band was Pete Quaife, Dave Davies, Ray Davies and Mick Avory. Ray was born on this day in 1947.
We remember Fred Lynn who was born in Chicago on this day in 1952. Lynn set the baseball world on fire in 1975: Rookie of the Year and MVP. His numbers were awesome: .331 BA with 21 HR and 105 RBI. He was the first player to win both awards in one season. In the post season, Lynn was a key part in Boston winning the AL pennant & the dramatic 7-game loss to Cincinnati in The World Series. Later in 1979, he hit .306 with 39 HR & 122 RBI. Overall, Lynn had a pretty career: .282 BA, 306 HR and 1,111 RBI.
It was on this day in 1959 that Buddy Holly (along with Ritchie Valens & The Big Bopper) were killed in a plane crash . I don’t think that anyone in 1959 had a clue that we’d be talking about them so many years later.
Back in February 2005, President Bush got off to a historic start with his second term Cabinet appointments. President Bush appointed a black woman as Secretary of State and a Mexican-American man as Attorney General. Alberto Gonzalez is a great American story, or as they say "Only in America". He is the son of poor Mexican immigrants, worked hard and made his way to Harvard Law School. In the 1990's, he met Governor Bush in Texas and later became Attorney General of the US.