Bottom of Bird Cage 6/12
It’s the 163rd day of the year.
On this day in 1939, the Baseball Hall of Fame opens in Cooperstown, New York. On June 12, 1942, Anne Frank received a diary for her 13th birthday. Living in Amsterdam at the time, she and her family went into hiding in July 1942 because of persecutions of the Jewish population by the occupying Nazi forces. They lived undiscovered for two years until they were betrayed and sent to concentration camps. Anne Frank died in early March 1945 in the Bergen-Belsen camp. She was not yet 15 years old.
On June 12, 1963, civil rights leader Medgar Evers was murdered in front of his home in Jackson, Mississippi by Byron De La Beckwith, a member of the Klu Klux Klan. On June 12, 1964, Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life in prison in South Africa. He would be imprisoned for 27 years.
And it was on this day in 1978, David Berkowitz (right), otherwise known as the “Son of Sam” killer was sentenced to six life sentences or 365 years for killing six people from July 1976 through July 1977. It was a crime spree that left New Yorkers even more paranoid and afraid than normal. It became the subject of various books and a Spike Lee movie Summer of Sam. It also served as a backdrop to the ESPN mini-series The Bronx is Burning about the New York Yankees of that time.
From the Miami Herald: All Dolphins fans should monitor the situation between the Kansas City Chiefs and Brian Waters. We all know the Dolphins are lately not in the business of being interested in 30-year-old-plus veteran players who are unhappy on other teams. But there are exceptions to every rule and, while nothing is imminent or certain, the Waters situation might eventually qualify as such an exception.
Waters is the 32-year-old veteran guard for the Chiefs. Acting as his own agent and in his own best-interest, he has requested the Chiefs trade him. The Chiefs, acting in their best business interest, have told Waters they will consider that option as long as the right opportunity to upgrade their team (read acceptable compensation) becomes available.
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And it was on June 10, 1944 that Joe Nuxhall (left) pitched two-thirds of an inning for the Cincinnati Reds in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. At the time, Nuxhall was just 15 years and 316 days old, making him the youngest person to play in the major leagues in modern baseball history.
And on June 9, 1973 came one of the greatest sporting events in American history. A two-year old stallion named Secretariat finished horse racing’s Triple Crown with a convincing victory in the Belmont Stakes. Secretariat went off that day as a 1-10 favorite and there were just four other horses in the race, including Sham that finished second in both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.
And on June 8, 1917 in Ft. Collins, Colorado, Byron Raymond White was born. He would become known as Whizzer White, a name he would grow to despise. He was an All-America halfback at the University of Colorado, where he also played basketball and baseball. White was also the student body president. He graduated in 1938 and signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates of the still fledgling National Football League. White signed for $15,000, making him the highest paid player in the league.
impossible for any man afterwards to do anything to really impress their woman.
And born on this day in 1904 was Johnny Weismuller (left). He was born in Austria-Hungary in an area that is now part of Romania. He came with this family through Ellis Island on the S.S. Rotterdam in January 1905. He would grow up in a tiny coal mining town of Windber, Pennsylvania and in Chicago where his parents had family members.
And on June 1, 1925 that Lou Gehrig played the first of 2,130 straight games for the New York Yankees. The man who would become “The Iron Horse” actually started that day as a pinch hitter. It was the next day, when Gehrig was in the starting lineup at first base for the slumping Wally Pipp.
And on May 28, 1888 quite possibly the greatest athlete in American history was born in Oklahoma. His given name was Wa-Tho-Huk, which translated from the language of the Sac-Fox Indians to “Bright Path.” His baptismal certificate read Jacobus Franciscus Thorpe.
And on May 27, 2000 one of the greatest athletes in North America history passed away in Montreal. Maurice “Rocket” Richard died of complications from stomach cancer. He was 78 years old. A native of Montreal, Richard would play 19 seasons of hockey with the Canadians, and was the first NHL player to score 50 goals in 50 games and the first to reach 500 goals in his career. While he was with the Canadians, the team won eight Stanley Cups.
Born on May 26, 1939 in Portland, Oregon was sportscaster Brent Musburger. Hank Williams, Jr. arrived on this day in 1949 in Shreveport and on May 26, 1907 in Winterset, Iowa came the arrival of Marion Robert Morrison. He became better known as John Wayne, and went on to become a Hollywood icon, winning an Oscar and becoming America’s No. 1 box office draw for more than a decade.
And on this day in 1927, Charles Lindbergh touched down at LeBourget Field in Paris. He became the first person to fly across the Atlanta Ocean non-stop. At the time, it was considered one of the greatest feats in human history. Flying a specially built plane he dubbed “The Spirit of St. Louis”, Lindbergh flight took 33.5 hours. He skimmed over both storm clouds at 10,000 feet and wave tops at as low at 10 ft. He fought icing and had to fly blind through fog for several hours, and navigating was done only by using the stars, when they were visible.
