Historically Speaking: 5-18-09

Well, there, boys and girls. If a Monday can be happy, then have at it. Here's to a fantastic Memorial Day weekend, just a tad early. If you're gettin' out of town for the weekend, don't forget to study before you go. Your guide, just after the jump.

* We'll turn a century or two back, and start off in 1897 when William Joyce of the New York non-football Giants set an MLB record by slugging four triples in one game.

* Today in 1929, the Dodgers and Phillies met for a double header. In game one, Philly lost 20-16 but managed a victory in the second affair, 8-6. The contests combined set an MLB record of 50 runs scored in the department of two-fers.

* Four years later, Major League Baseball announced that the first-ever All-Star game would be played. The location determined was Comiskey Park, handily convenient for the Chicago World's Fair.

* From the department of MLB oddities comes a 1957 match between the Baltimore Orioles and the Chicago White Stockings. The contest had a 10:20 p.m. curfew set in place so that Chicago could catch a train out of Baltimore. Seconds before the big hand hit the 20, Dick Williams of the Orioles hit a ninth-inning, game-tying solo home run, eliminating a Chicago victory. The curfew being all-important, the game was later replayed in its entirety, and the Orioles took the win.

* If my numbers are correct, and chances are, they're not, the Chicago Blackhawks have been to 10 Stanley Cup Finals and won three. The last time they won one was in 1961, a victory over the Detroit Red Wings. The two got the NHL's Western Conference Finals underway yesterday, and despite taking an early one-goal lead, the 'Hawks floundered, and fell 5-2 to the defending champs. The last time they appeared in a Finals was in 1992. Their opponent was none other than Scotty Bowman and the Pittsburgh Penguins. But it was Bowman and the Montreal Canadiens who downed Chicago in game seven on this day in 1973. The victory was Bowman's first championship as a head coach. He would go on to win a record nine Cups, and appear in 12 Finals. The Canadiens, historically speaking, have 24 Stanley Cup championships, while the Red Wings and Maple Leafs are tied with 11.

And for a bit of American football to cap things, your Sports Illustrated quote of the day came from the mouth of...



...former Dallas Cowboy running back Walt Garrison, who, in 1980, was asked if coach Tom Landry ever smiles. Garrison's response: "I don't know. I only played there nine years."