Today in 1958 - Kansas City A's vs Chicago White Sox - September 26, 1958

September 26, 1958 – Today in 1958, the Kansas City A’s visited Comiskey Park to take on the Chicago White Sox.

The game went scoreless until the bottom of the 6^th inning.  With runners on first and third, Johnny Callison hit a sacrifice fly to left field and John Romano scored.  Kansas City starting pitcher Bob Grim was relieved by Bob Gorman with runners on first and third again.  Gorman got out of the inning without allowing a run to score.  The White Sox led 1-0.

The score remained the same in the top of the 9^th.  White Sox starting pitcher Barry Latman was still on the mound.  He faced Roger Maris and struck him out.  Hector Lopez hit a single to right field and the tying run was on base.  Bob Cerv came to the plate.  Cerv hit the ball to shortstop Sammy Esposito, who turned a double play.  Game over.  The Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City A’s 1-0.

Latman got the win.  He pitched a three-hitter and went to 3-0.  Latman struck out 9 and hit 0-1, with a sacrifice hit.  Grim was charged with the loss and fell to 7-7. He struck out 1 and hit 0-2.

The White Sox went to 81-71.  They were 2^nd in the American League, 9 games behind the New York Yankees.  The A’s dropped to 72-80.  They were 7^th in the American League, 18 games behind the Yankees.

Notables

• There were 2 Hall of Famers playing or managing in the game, both with Chicago: Nellie Fox and manager Al Lopez.
• This was Harry Craft’s second season managing the A’s.  He managed the team from 1957-59.  He later managed the Chicago Cubs and Houston Colt .45’s.
• This was Al Lopez’s second season managing the White Sox.  He managed the team from 1957-65, 1968-69, and led the team to the World Series in 1959, losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
• Craft and Lopez were opposing players between 1937-42.  Craft played for the Cincinnati Reds the whole time and Lopez played for the Boston Bees from 1937-40 and the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1940-42 during that rivalry. Lopez played from 1928, 1930-47.
• Hector Lopez got two of the three hits Latman allowed.  Harry Chiti got the third.

Game stats and other data can be found on Baseball-Reference.com at Kansas City A's vs Chicago White Sox - September 26, 1958.

Last Place Update - September 25, 2011

September 25, 2011 – It’s official.  The 55-104 Houston Astros will be Major League Baseball’s Worst Team of the 2011 season.  They lead the 61-98 Minnesota Twins by 5.5 games and the 66-92 Seattle Mariners by 11 games.  The Twins sealed the second worst team by doing a classic collapse toward the end of the season, unlike the Astros.

The Boston Red Sox continue to crumble in the stretch.  Again, they’re 2-8 in their last ten games, losing their last four.  If their folding continues, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays may pass them for the wild card slot.  The Sox face the Yankees tonight and finish with a three game series at Baltimore.

Today’s honorable mention is the 71-87 Colorado Rockies.  They are 2-8 in their last ten games, but they closed the door on Houston in extra innings yesterday and spanking them today 19-3.

At least the Astros went down fighting.  They were 12-13 since August 28 and will finish the season in a three game series at home against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Note: The Last Place Updates for the NFL will start after Week 4. 

Today in 1978 - Atlanta Falcons vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers

September 24, 1978 – Today in 1978, the Atlanta Falcons went to the Sombrero at Tampa Stadium to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a Week 4 contest.

Atlanta got on the board first with a safety on a blocked Dave Green punt.  Tampa Bay answered on a blocked Fred Steinfort field goal return for a touchdown by Mike Washington.  At the end of the first quarter, The Bucs led 7-2.  The scored remained the same through halftime.

In the third quarter, the Falcons scored on a 5 yard touchdown pass from Steve Bartkowski to Alfred Jackson.  At the end of the quarter, the Falcons led 9-7.

The Buccaneers had the last word in the fourth quarter.  Doug Williams threw a 15 yard touchdown pass to Doug Obradovich and the Tampa Buccaneers beat the Atlanta Falcons 14-9.

The numbers show that it was a defensive struggle.  Steve Bartkowski passed 12-24 for 84 yards, a touchdown and threw three interceptions.  The only player in the game who posted decent numbers was Atlanta running back Haskel Stanback.  He ran 23 times for 112 yards.  He also had a catch for 13 yards.  Doug Williams threw 6-23 for 74 yards and a touchdown for the Buccaneers.  He ran 4 times for -8 yards.  Curtis Jordan, Dewey Selmon, and Mike Washington each had an interception for the Bucs.

Tampa Bay improved to 2-2 for the season and Atlanta fell to 1-3.  The Bucs finished the season at 5-11.  The Falcons finished at 9-7 and made the playoffs as a wild card.

Notables

• There were 2 Hall of Fame players or coaches in this game, both with Tampa Bay: Lee Roy Selmon and offensive coordinator Joe Gibbs.
• Falcon backup quarterback June Jones went on to coach the team from 1994-96.  He replaced his secondary coach from the 1978 season, Jerry Glanville, who was the head coach for the team from 1990-93.

Other scores on this day for teams facing each other this week…

1944 – Green Bay Packers 42 – Chicago Bears 28

1955 – Philadelphia Eagles 27 – New York Giants 17

1967 – Boston Patriots 23 – Buffalo Bills 0

1967 – Green Bay 13 – Chicago 10

1972 – Minnesota Vikings 34 – Detroit Lions 10

1989 – San Diego Chargers 21 – Kansas City Chiefs 6

1989 – Washington Redskins 30 – Dallas Cowboys 7

Game stats and other data can be found on Pro-Football-Reference.com at Atlanta Falcons vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers - September 24, 1978.

Some Top 25 College Trivia and Scores

September 23, 2011 - Here are a few trivia nuggets for this week in college football.

The #1 Oklahoma Sooners welcome the Missouri Tigers to Norman.  The Sooners dominate the series 66-24-5.  Missouri won last year’s game, but haven’t beaten Oklahoma two times in a row since 1965-66.  The Sooners are 33-5 against the Tigers since then.

In a battle of undefeated teams, the #9 Nebraska play the Wyoming Cowboys in Laramie.  Nebraska is undefeated in the series 5-0 and this is the first time the two teams play each other in Laramie.  Except for a close 13-10 game in 1968, Nebraska has never scored less than 42 points on Wyoming and scored as high as 56 in 1983.

#12 South Carolina play the Vanderbilt Commodores at home.  The Gamecocks lead the series 16-4.  Steve Spurrier is 4-2 against the Commodores. 

Kentucky hosts the #15 Florida Gators.  Florida leads the series 44-17.  The series began in 1917.  By 1956, the Wildcats led 12-4.  The Gators have dominated since and have gone 30-1 since 1980, winning 24 straight against Kentucky.

And now for a few scores…

On this day in…

1939 – Texas A&M shut out Oklahoma State 32-0.

1983 – Oklahoma State rolled over Texas A&M 34-15.

2000 – Florida spanked Kentucky 59-31.

2006 – Arkansas edged Alabama 24-23.

2006 – Florida easily beat Kentucky 26-7.

Today in 1975 - New York Giants vs Philadelphia Eagles

September 21, 1975 – Today in 1975, the New York Giants went to Veterans Stadium to take on the Philadelphia Eagles in a Week 1 matchup.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Eagles got on the board first with a 13 yard touchdown pass from Mike Boryla to Charle Young.  The Giants answered with touchdown runs of 1 and 3 yards from Ron A. Johnson.  New York had a failed extra point attempt on the first touchdown, so they led at halftime 13-7.

The third quarter was also scoreless and the Giants scored first in the fourth quarter on a 41 yard field goal by George Hunt.  The Eagles fired back with a 2 yard touchdown pass from Roman Gabriel to Harold Carmichael. New York led 16-14.

In the last minute of the game, Craig Morton threw a 50 yard touchdown pass to Ray Rhodes to seal the deal.  The New York Giants beat the Philadelphia Eagles 23-14.  The Giants went to 1-0 and the Eagles went to 0-1.

Craig Morton passed 14-28 for 240 yards, with a touchdown and in interception for the Giants.  Mike Boryla passed 19-31 for 204 yards with a touchdown and 2 interceptions, and Roman Gabriel passed 9-13 for 74 yards, with a touchdown for the Eagles.  Harold Carmichael had 6 catches for 89 yards and a touchdown, also for the Eagles.  He had one rush for 6 yards. 

This looks like it came from a video game, but it really happened that day:  Philly linebacker Bill Bergey blocked 3 field goal attempts by the Giants.

Notables

• There were 2 Hall of Famers present in the game, both with the Eagles: Head coach Mike McCormick and assistant coach Dick LeBeau.
• Bill Arnsparger was in his second season as head coach of the Giants.  He coached the team from 1974-76.  He later became head coach at LSU and led them to the 1986 SEC championship.
• Mike McCormack was in his last season coaching the Eagles.  He coached the team from 1973-75.  He later coached the Baltimore Colts and the Seattle Seahawks.
• Giants receiver Ray Rhodes went on to coach the Eagles from 1995-98.
• Dick LeBeau was featured in yesterday’s Notables section.
• McCormick was replaced the next season by Dick Vermeil.

The Giants face the Eagles in Philadelphia this weekend.

Game stats and other data can be found on Pro-Football-Reference.com at New York Giants vs Philadelphia Eagles - September 21, 1975.

Today in 1987 - San Francisco 49ers vs Cincinnati Bengals

September 20, 1987 – Today in 1987, the Cincinnati Bengals hosted the San Francisco 49ers at Riverfront Stadium in a Week 2 contest.

Cincinnati struck first blood with a 2 yard rushing touchdown by Larry Kinnebrew.  Jim Breech added to Cincy’s lead with a 23 yard field goal.  At the end of the first quarter, the Bengals led 10-0.

In the second quarter, the 49ers scored with a 38 yard touchdown pass from Joe Montana to Mike Wilson.  The Bengals answered with a 46 yard touchdown pass from Boomer Esiason to Rodney Holman and a 42 yard Breech field goal.  Cincinnati led 20-7 at halftime.

How many times have we seen this?  The third quarter belonged to the 49ers.  San Francisco scored on a 34 yard pass from Montana to Jerry Rice.  Ray Wersching kicked a 24 and 31 yard field goal, and at the end of the quarter, the game was tied 20-20.

But the Bengals wouldn’t cave.  In the fourth quarter, Breech kicked field goal from 41 and 46 yards to take the lead 26-20.

Okay, wait for it…

San Francisco had one of those famous Joe Montana comebacks, when Montana threw a 25 yard pass to (who else?) Jerry Rice.  The San Francisco 49ers beat the Cincinnati Bengals 27-26. 

Both teams went to 1-1.  Montana passed 21-37 250 yards 3TDs.  Wilson had 7 catches for 104 yards.  Rice had 4 catches for 86 yards and 2 touchdowns.  Esiason passed 14-29 180 yards TD INT.  He also ruched 10 times for 5 yards.  Kinnebrew rushed 22-64 yards and had a catch for 5 yards.  Cris Collinsworth had 3 catches for 32 yards.

Notables

• There were 7 Hall of Famers present in this game: Joe Montana, Steve Young Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott, and head coach Bill Walsh for the 49ers, and Anthony Munoz and defensive coordinator Dick Lebeau for the Bengals.
  
• This was Sam Wyche’s fourth season coaching the Bengals.  He coached the team from 1984-91.  He led the team to a Super Bowl appearance in the 1988 season against none other than the 49ers.
  
• This was Bill Walsh’s ninth season coaching the 49ers.  He coached the team from 1979-88 and led the team to four Super Bowl championships, including Super Bowl XXIII, when the Niners beat the Bengals on a Montana to John Taylor touchdown pass, 20-16.
  
• Wyche was a quarterback for the Bengals from 1968-70.
  
• Future head coaches Bruce Coslet and Dick LeBeau were the offensive and defensive coordinators for the Bengals.  Both men ended up becoming the head coach of the team; Coslet from 1996-2000 and LeBeau from 2000-02.
  
• Coslet and Wyche were teammates with the Bengals from 1969-70.  Coslet played for Cincinnati from 1969-76. 
  
• Future Super Bowl winning head coaches George Seifert and Mike Holmgren were assistant coaches with the 49ers.  Seifert led the Niners to two Super Bowl championships and Holmgren led the Green Bay Packers to two Super Bowl appearances, winning one, and the Seattle Seahawks to its first Super Bowl appearance.
  
• This was the last week before the NFL strike began.  There was no football in Week 3 and there were replacement games for the next three weeks before the strike ended.

Game stats and other data can be found on Pro-Football-Reference.com at San Francisco 49ers vs Cincinnati Bengals - September 20, 1987.

Last Place Update - September 19, 2011

September 19, 2011 – What is going on with the 52-100 Houston Astros?  They were supposed to collapse and take the cellar by now.  They’ve gone 4-4 since September 10.  Even though they broke the 100 loss mark, hats off to the Astros for refusing to give up and winning some games!!

The team that’s making its move is the 59-92 Minnesota Twins, who trails Houston by 7.5 games.  Minnesota is 1-9 in the last 10 games and lost the last 8.  They are 2-13 in September versus Houston’s 5-10 September record.

Last update’s honorable mention, the 87-65 Boston Red Sox, is still on the skids.  They are 1-4 since the last update and are 4-13 in September.  They face the 62-89 Orioles for a home and home series, but also face the Yankees.

Today’s honorable mention is the defending cellar dwelling champion 68-85 Pittsburgh Pirates.  They’re 2-8 in their last 10 games and have lost their last three.  Although the Chicago White Sox are also 2-8 in their last 10 games, they have a better record, so Pittsburgh gets the nod.  The Pirates are 6-11 in September and have a tough road ahead.  They have to face the Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Reds, and end the season against the Brewers.

The magic number is down to three for the Houston Astros.

Note: The Last Place Updates for the NFL will start after Week 4.