Wednesday, May 15, 2024
2024 like 1980?
2024 like 1980? - American Thinker https://t.co/ZV9n6QdWvt
— Silvio Canto. Jr. (@silvio_canto) May 15, 2024
We remember Trini Lopez (1937-2020)
Trini Lopez was born in Dallas in 1937 and died apparently of COVID in 2020. We should add that Trini had been sick for some time. He became a very popular singer in the 1960’s. One of his best songs was “If I had a hammer”, a # 3 song from 1963.
May 15, 1973: The first of Nolan Ryan's 7 no-hitters!
Ryan threw another in July 1973 against the Twins, the Tigers in 1974 and then Orioles in 1975. He threw #5 against the Dodgers in 1981, #6 against the A's in 1990 and #7 against the Blue Jays in 1991.
May 15, 1941: The streak began!
First, no one has come close: Pete Rose got to 44 in 1978, Paul Molitor got to 39 in 1987 and Jimmy Rollins got to 38 in 2005-06!
Second, he didn't just hit safely in 56 games. From May 15 to July 17. DiMaggio hit .408 (91-for-223), hit 15 home runs and drove in 55 runs.
Unbelievable is not enough!
Yes, I agree with my late father that DiMaggio's 56 game-hitting streak and Nolan Ryan's 7 no-hitters will never be surpassed.
May 15, 1972: George Wallace was shot
Fifty years ago, Joe Biden was running for the U.S. Senate, Jimmy Carter was governor of Georgia, Ronald Reagan was governor of California, George H. Bush was swimming uphill in still Democrat Texas, Gerald Ford was the House minority leader, and President Nixon was promoting his foreign policy credentials and wondering whom he'd run against.
Then the stuff hit the fan. On this day in 1972, George Wallace was shot during a campaign rally in Maryland. It was a shocker!
Wallace will always be remembered as the man who may have made the Nixon presidency possible. We don't know for sure, but many of those Southern states (46 electoral votes) would have probably voted for V.P. Humphrey, as Texas did in 1968. Who knows what other states outside the South would have gone to Humphrey without Wallace?
The final 1968 Electoral College vote was Nixon 301, Humphrey 191, and Wallace 46. The popular vote was also very close: Nixon 43%, Humphrey 42%, and Wallace 14%.
In 1972, Wallace was running on the same themes but inside the Democrat party. I don't think he would have won the nomination, but he could have forced the party to nominate a more centrist candidate, such as a rerun of Vice President Humphrey or Senator Scoop Jackson of Washington. A Jackson or Humphrey would have made it more difficult for President Nixon. He would not have run against a liberal like George McGovern or carried 49 states.
So the man shot fifty years ago had a lot to do with Nixon winning in 1968 and a landslide re-election in 1972.
George Wallace recovered and returned to Alabama politics. In the 1980s, Mr. Wallace renounced his segregationist ideology and reconciled with many civil rights leaders. In 1982, he sought a new term as governor and won the election with substantial support from Black voters. He died in 1998.
Happy # 71 George Brett
We say happy birthday to George Brett who was born in West Virginia on this day in 1953.
Brett broke with the Royals in 1973, became a regular in 1974 and the rest is history: .305 career batting average, 3,154 hits, 1,596 RBI & 3 batting titles.
His best season was 1980: .390 average, .454 on base average, 118 RBI & the AL MVP.
Brett hit .337 in 9 post-season series, including .370 when the Royals won the 1985 World Series.
He joined The Hall of Fame in 1999.