Happy Birthday to our man, Mr.Orlando Thomas. Orlando led the NFL in Interceptions as a rookie in 1995 when he nabbed nine.Thomas roamed the secondary for the Vikings for seven seasons becoming known primarily as The Dude who was either gonna make the ‘pick or the stick.’ Sadly Orlando lost a battle with ALS & passed away at the age of 42 in 2014. R.I.P.
October 17th, 1989
Can you guys name the scheduled starting pitcher for the Oakland A’s in Game 3 of the 1989 World Series? He was minutes away from taking the mound when the Loma Prieta Earthquake struck San Francisco, causing extensive damage to the city and the postponement of Game 3 for eleven days. In fact our guy never even got to throw a pitch in the series because when the Battle of the Bay resumed, Manager Tony Larussa opted to go back with his Game 1 starter, Dave ‘Smoke’ Stewart, instead of his # 3 Pitcher. Game #2 starter Mike Moore won again in Game #4, giving Oakland the sweep of the Giants.
He’s also an answer in the Blaze #10 Pop Quiz.
In his very first game starting at Quarterback for the University of Colorado, Kordell Stewart went 21-30 passing for 409 yards and threw 4 touchdowns against cross state rival Colorado State. The Slashing Sophomore added 21 yards on the ground for 430 total yards in the Buffs 37-17 victory back on September 5th, 1992. Happy Birthday Kordell!
October 4th, 1987 came to be known as ‘Scab Sunday’ when teams marched out random replacements for their striking players.
Clemson era Brian Dawkins was the coolest !! Weapon X roamed the secondary for the Tigers from 1993-95 where he picked off 11 passes including 6 of them in 1995, when he was named a 2nd team All American. Happy B-Day B-Dawk !!
Happy Birthday Charlie Ward!! The only Heisman Trophy Winner to also lace em up in the NBA.
Hall of Famer Steve Young had a miserable first couple years in the NFL when he was marooned in Tampa Bay during the 1985 & ‘86 seasons. Steve-O threw 11 touchdowns compared to 21 interceptions in 19 games for the back to back 2-14 Bucs. After Tampa picked Vinny Testeverde #1 overall in 1987, the lefty was traded to San Francisco to be Joe Montana’s backup. I think we all know what happened after he got a chance in S.F. Happy Birthday Steve!
Mike Scott won the Cy Young in 1986 while throwing heat for the Houston Astros. He led the National League in:
ERA
Shutouts
Innings Pitched
Strikeouts
ERA+
WHIP
Hits per nine innings
Strikeouts per nine innings
Strikeout to walk ratio
Happy Belated B-day to the great Rod Carew. Reading over some of his career highlights was quite the learning experience; so much cool stuff in there. Here’s a couple trivia nuggets to share with your buds:
Rod was an all-star for 18 consecutive seasons (‘67-’84) Every season but his last
1967 Rookie of the Year
7x AL Batting Champ. Won it in 1972 with a .318 avg and 0 Home runs
Hit .388 in 1977 & won AL MVP
Had 3,053 hits for his career. Only 92 of those were Home runs
Stole home 17 times in his career. Did it 7 times alone in 1969.
One of four MLB players to be born in an area of Panama known as the ‘Panama Canal Zone’
His mother went into labor on a train, and named him after the Good Samaritan Doctor who delivered him, Dr. Rodney Cline.
That’s just a few of the neat things I found out about Rod. Be sure to do some side reading of your own about one of the best hitters in MLB History.
Did you know Dave Magadan is the last batter that Nolan Ryan ever faced? On September 22nd, 1993 the 46 year old Ryan’s rocket right arm finally gave out while facing Magadan, who was playing for the Seattle Mariners, thus ending the 27 year run of The Ryan Express.
Dave Magadan made his MLB debut for the New York Mets on September 7th, 1986 and hit a double in his first at-bat. Happy Birthday Dave !!
Everybody remembers Craig ‘Ironhead’ Heyward for his years of running over defenders with the New Orleans Saints, but his best statistical year was in 1995 as a member of the Atlanta Falcons when he rushed for 1,083 yards, scored 6 TD’s and earned his 1st & only Pro-Bowl appearance. Happy Belated B-day Craig! R.I.P.
It was back on September 23rd, 1988 in a game against the Milwaukee Brewers that Oakland A’s slugger Jose Canseco stole two bases to become the charter member of the 40/40 club. 40 Homers & 40 Stolen Bases. The ‘88 AL MVP finished the season batting .307 with 42 HR’s, 40 SB, 120 runs and 124 RBI’s.
Happy Birthday to the 1980 NFL Man of The Year Mr. Harold Carmichael. Standing 6’ 8”, Harold is the tallest WR in NFL history. At one point in his Eagles career he compiled a streak of 127 consecutive games with a reception.
After winning a NBA Championship with the 1988-89 Detroit Pistons, the baddest ‘Bad Boy’ of them all, Rick Mahorn, was left unprotected in the 1989 Expansion Draft. Consequently Rick ended up being selected second overall by the upstart Minnesota Timberwolves. Mahorn would never actually play for the Wolves though, instead he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers where he & Sir Charles Barkley teamed up for two seasons forming the duo known as ‘Thump & Bump.’ Happy Birthday Rick!
