In 1999, then Oklahoma Sooner Assistant Coach Mike Leach cooked up a plan ripped from a spy novel in an effort to gain an advantage over Texas in the Red River Rivalry.
In 1934, Ducky Medwick was ejected from a World Series game by commissioner Ford Frick but it wasn't because of something HE did.
In 1996, Derek Jeter's home run in game one of the ALCS series against Baltimore was aided by a 12-year old fan.
And in 1919, Chicago lost 10-5 to the Cincinnati Reds to close out the World Series. Eight men from the White Sox would be banned from baseball two years later for their role in the 'Black Sox Scandal.'
THIS DAY IN SPORTS BACKGROUND
Relive the greatest moments in sports every day of the year. From the triumphs to the tragedies, the first to do it to the last time it happened, the unbelievable to the strange, This Day in Sports History is a 365-day journey remembering those significant events that made a lasting impact.
Takeaways:
The dire situation in western North Carolina calls for donations to local charities aiding storm victims.
In 1999, Mike Leach's clever fake script nearly turned the tide in the Red River rivalry.
During game seven of the 1934 World Series, a fan's actions led to a notable ejection.
Derek Jeter's controversial home run in 1996 was aided by a young fan's interference.
The 1919 World Series became infamous due to the Black Sox scandal and gambling allegations.
QVC's first product sold was a shower radio, marking the start of home shopping television.
Mentioned in this episode:
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Transcripts
Steve White:
Hey, this is Steve White, the host of this day in sports history.
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The situation in western North Carolina continues to be dire for so many who lost everything.
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Those who still have a home may be without power or access to cleaner running water for several more weeks.
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Some are trapped by washed out roads.
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Communication has been severed.
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So consider a donation to the western North Carolina Red Cross or another local charity that's doing work to help those affected by the storm.
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I've put some links in the show notes if you would like a few suggestions.
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Thanks.
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And now heres todays episode.
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Its October 9 and this is this day in sports history.
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A brief journey around what happened in sports history on this day.
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And lets start in:
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tely, we lost him in December:
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So Leitch was the first year offensive coordinator for Oklahoma under first year headman Bob Stoops.
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Back in 99, the Sooners had taken a long ride on the struggle bus, going six consecutive seasons with a losing record.
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They entered the annual Red river rivalry game as a huge underdog.
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Texas was not setting college football on fire either, with a four two record, but they were ranked 23rd in the country at this point.
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So Leitch was, in his words, looking to get Texas to squander as many plays as they can.
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In his preparation for the game that week, he had an idea that would have made general Eisenhower and the Allies happy back in World War Two Europe.
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He devised a decoy script with dummy plays to see how honest Texas was.
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The next part of the plan happened on game day, and it involved tight end Trent Smith intentionally dropping the dummy script but making it look like he'd accidentally dropped it and was unaware a Texas grad assistant was the pigeon in this scenario.
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And the hope was that he would be enticed to check out what the player had dropped, pick it up, and take it back to the Longhorn coaches.
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And that's exactly what happened.
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It wound up in defensive coordinator Glenn Reese's hands, and he was licking his chops at the idea of knowing what Oklahoma was going to run.
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Of course, that's exactly what Leitch wanted.
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And the subterfuge worked for a bit, enough for the sooner's to score fairly easily in building a 17 to nothing advantage.
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At that point, Reese knew something was amiss and he tossed the script into the trash after reorganizing and getting back to their original game plan, the Longhorns got their offense rolling and they ended up winning the game 38 to 28.
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20 years later, when ESPN's Tom Rinaldi did a piece about the fake game script, the brilliant spycraft of Mike Leitch finally came to light.
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How about another strange one from this day?
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Back in:
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Louis Cardinals and the Detroit Tigers.
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Cardinal Joe Ducky Medwick slapped one down the line and then hustled around the base paths, sliding hard into third.
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Well, mostly he slid hard into Tiger.
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Third baseman Marv Owen.
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Owen took umbrage at that, and he started throwing punches at Medwick.
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And then Ducky unleashed a couple of jabs as well.
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It was finally quieted down on the field, with Medwick's RBI triple making it an eight to nothing game in favor of the Cardinals.
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The half inning ended and Medwick jogged out to left field to play some defense.
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But the Detroit fans were still very upset about the hard slide, and so they started throwing bottles and then some produce came out of the stands aimed at Ducky.
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There were oranges and some bananas thrown at him.
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There are even some stories of cabbage being thrown at him.
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Who brings cabbage to the ballpark?
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What are you making slaw at some point, anyway?
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Fruit, veggies, bottles and whatever else Tiger fans happen to stuff it in their bags and walk into the ballpark.
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That day, they were throwing them at Ducky Medwick.
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Commissioner Ford frick, who was in the stands, ordered Medwick off the field for his own safety.
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And it's the only time a commissioner of baseball has thrown a player out of a game.
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The Cardinals won the game easily, eleven to nothing, and they wrapped up their World Series championship.
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And who knows, maybe they celebrated with a few oranges and some cabbage.
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On this day in:
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This was game one of the ALCS between the Baltimore Orioles and the Yankees.
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The game was played at Yankee Stadium, and in the 8th inning the Orioles were up or run.
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Derek Jeter came to the plate hoping to do some damage with his bat, and he did, with a little bit of help from twelve year old Jeffrey Meyer.
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Cheater ripped one to right, but he didn't quite get enough of it.
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Tony Tarasco backed up to the wall, ready to corral it when Meyer reached over so slightly and he snagged it.
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Tarasco was immediately furious, and umpire Richie Garcia was working the right field line for the playoff series, and he had a great look at it, and he still called it a home run.
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Garcia should have called fan interference, and Jeter would have been out watching the replays again after nearly 30 years.
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It is so obvious.
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And yet there was no instant replay.
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So the call stood on Garcia's home run call.
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The Yankees tied the game with that home run and then went on to win the game in extra innings.
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The kid became an instant Bronx hero, exchanging high fives with all of those around him.
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The Yankees went on to win the ALCS in five games and then became world champs again when they beat the Atlanta Braves in the World Series.
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Also on this day in:
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Ironically, Major League Baseball had gone to the best of nine series to take advantage of its popularity and to make a little bit more money off the players.
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It would be that way for only three years before going back to a best of seven.
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But of course, what this series is known for is what happened before the series even began, and then for what happened to those involved.
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Two years later, rumors of their being a fix began swirling days before the series even started.
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Back on October 1, the word was that White Sox players were in the pocket of gamblers.
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It's long been rumored that New York mobster Arnold Rothstein was the man at the top of this whole thing, but it's never been proven.
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But there was an element of gambling involved, and the rumors only got stronger when Chicago starter Eddie Sickott plunked the first batter in game one as the supposed signal to the gambling syndicate that the fix was in and all had been agreed to.
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Midway through, the gamblers apparently welched on some of the payments, and the White Sox players called it off and started of playing to win.
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But they came up short on this day.
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So after the series ended, the rumors only grew louder.
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Several sports writers did some digging and reported on it.
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Most famously, Hugh Fullerton wrote an article for the New York Evening World titled, is big league baseball being run for gamblers with players in the deal?
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But the controversy began to calm down and was mostly forgotten until the following August.
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A game between the Chicago Cubs and the Philadelphia Phillies was thought to have been fixed, and a grand jury was brought in to investigate.
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The evidence began to uncover what had happened ten months before in the World Series.
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Major league owners also brought in Kennesaw Mountain Landis to become the first commissioner of baseball.
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verdict of not guilty in June:
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And time now for today's nothing to do with sports fun fact.
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when it launched in November:
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It cost $11.25 and they sold $7,500 worth of them.
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That's all I've got for you today.
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Thanks for checking out this episode.
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And once again, if you would like to help the folks affected by Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina, I have put some links in the show notes.
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I hope you come back tomorrow for another edition of this day in sports history.
