Marked This Day

Do you have a lucky day? Like an actual date. Maybe you got a promotion on it. Maybe you won the lottery on it. Or maybe you discovered the brilliance of Van Morrison on it. If your spouse is reading over your shoulder--maybe you got married on it. Well let me just say, whatever happened on your lucky day is nothing compared to September 28th for Ted Williams. On this day in 1941, Teddy played in a double header and went 6 for 8 to raise his batting average to .406, becoming the last player to hit over .400. That’s a pretty great day. Fast-forward 19 years, to Williams’ very last at bat in Fenway. Went yard. Smashed a homer his last time up on the exact same date he went over .400. That’s a lucky day. I’m sure the fact that Williams may have been the greatest hitter of all time had a little something to do with it. We make our own luck and all that. But still. If I’m charge of the Williams' estate and it’s up to me to decide when to thaw out cryogenically-frozen, popsicle Ted Willi...

On this day in 1780, Benedict Arnold met with Major John Andre. Might not have been all that big a deal except that Arnold was an American General and Andre was a British Major. And the two countries were fighting a little war at the time. Still could have been okay. Sometimes opposing generals meet under a truce to discuss various things. But Arnold was upset because he was underappreciated by the American Military. Although it is more likely that he was just jealous of Thomas Jefferson, because I mean come on. Who wasn't jealous of that brilliant ginger. Whatever the reason, when he when he met with Andre to discuss handing over West Point for position and monetary gain, he was being a big baby. A big traitorous baby. A big money-grubbing traitorous baby. But the plot was foiled and Arnold benedicted his ass over to the British side. And of course the British lost. They didn’t have Thomas Jefferson. After the war, Arnold moved to England, and remained there living out his days as...

The 1st MTV Awards (Music Videos) occurred on this day in 1984. Bette Midler and Dan Aykroyd hosted. The Cars won Video of the Year for “You Might Think” while other winners included David Bowie, ZZ Top, Cyndi Lauper, Michael Jackson, Van Halen, and Herbie Hancock. There were awards for editing and cinematography. Madonna gave her memorable performance of “Like A Virgin” as she writhed around the stage floor like a, well not like a virgin. Rod Stewart, Tina Turner, Huey Lewis and the News, David Bowie, ZZ Top, and Ray Parker Jr. also performed. It was like a real awards show. And if you read through those sentences and recognize all of those artists you may have come to the same realization that I have. I am old. I wondered when it would happen. Every generation feels intensely protective of their music. I remember my parents shaking their heads at the stuff I listened to growing up. I don’t know how many times I heard the rap-is-not-music argument from my elders. But the music isn’t ...

On this day in 1813, the United States had its nicknamed Uncle Sam cemented in print. The name refers to Samuel Wilson, a meatpacker from Troy, New York and a supplier of barrels of beef to the Army throughout the War of 1812. Wilson would brand the barrels with a U.S. but the soldiers began to call the barrels Uncle Sams. And on this day, the Troy Post ran the story, and the United States got its nickname. It is a rather good nickname all things considered. People don’t often think of the power a nickname holds. It can make or break you though. One ill-timed bathroom incident and you could wind up being called Skid Mark for the rest of your life. Excuse my language, but that shit follows you around. There are nickname rules as well. You should never try to give yourself a nickname. The caveat is that you can do it once, in jest (even though may be secretly hoping it catches on). Like you can say, “Just call me the King Maker,” because you actually made Skid Mark cool again after you g...

On this day in 1522, the Vittoria arrived back in Spain, becoming the first ship of Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition to circumnavigate the globe. I had always been taught that Magellan was the first to pull of the feat--sailing around the world. I don’t remember much focus on the fact that ole Magellan was murdered in the Philippines, and it was Basque explorer Juan Sebastain de Elcano who handled the last year of the expedition. Has the makings of one hell of a mini-series, but it's also interesting that Magellan got all the credit. Not saying he doesn’t deserve much of it. Visionaries always take precedent. But survival has to count for something. de Elcano finished the damn thing. But Magellan went down in the history books. Think Magellan's  becomes a travel and gear business if Juan doesn’t muscle his way back to Spain? I don’t think so. Drew Bledsoe was a fine QB, but it was Brady who won the Super Bowl. Not that the comparison is totally fair, but I’m just trying to re...