Paschal: By slate and by date: when the baseball schedule meets the real world
From John Paschal at The Hardball Times on September 5, 2018:
On October 13, 1960, Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski stepped to the plate at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh and, with one swing of his Louisville Slugger, made history. It was the bottom of the ninth inning, Game Seven, and his leadoff home run off Ralph Terry had just given the underdog Pirates an unlikely 10-9 victory and a World Series title over the powerhouse Yankees.
On that same calendar date, Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy stepped to the dais at a television studio in New York and, with one waggle of his Boston Brahmin tongue, made history. It was the opening of the third presidential debate, Kennedy vs. Nixon, and moderator Bill Shadel had just given the Democratic nominee the first word in TV’s inaugural split-screen demonstration, with incumbent Vice President and Republican nominee Richard M. Nixon appearing on the opposite side of the TV screen from a studio in Los Angeles.
Like Mazeroski, Kennedy would ultimately emerge triumphant, surrounded, just as Maz had been surrounded at home plate, by joyous supporters at his victory speech in Hyannisport, Massachusetts. And like Kennedy, Mazeroski would emerge immortal, having made an everlasting impression, courtesy of the black-and-white days of TV, on the public’s collective consciousness.
Read the full article here: https://www.fangraphs.com/tht/by-slate-and-by-date-when-the-baseball-schedule-meets-the-real-world/
Originally published: September 5, 2018. Last Updated: September 5, 2018.