Historically Speaking: Not Dead Yet

Time now for your daily history lesson, lady and gentleman. Make like the above-pictured future broadcaster, and study hard. And of course, keep your eyes on your own papers.

* Today in 1906, the Cincinnati Redlegs beat the Philadelphia Phillies in friendly, double-header games of baseball. The final score of the second contest was 10-3, and Reds starter Bob Ewing logged the victory without a single assist from his teammates.

* Sonny Liston, today in 1963, knocked out Floyd Patterson in the first round for the heavyweight championship. The Las Vegas fight was Liston's first title defense since taking the belt from Patterson, uh, in the first round in Chicago the previous fall. Liston would hold the title for roughly eight months, losing it in his second defense the following February, to one Cassius Clay.

* In news from the wasted-time department, lawyers for former NFL player Rae Carruth filed an appeal on his murder conspiracy conviction today in 2002.

* In the year 2000...



...whoa. Sorry about that. Where was I? Ah, yes, the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers by the mark of 13-5. The victory, however, was interrupted for 54 minutes when a rainstorm soaked fans at Safeco Field. The $518 million stadium's roof, via a computer problem, wouldn't close, but thankfully it did some 20 minutes after the showers let up.

* Four years ago today, the National Hockey League board of governors voted 30-0 to pass the players-association-approved collective bargaining agreement that came with a shiny new salary cap. All of the agreeance ended a 310-day lockout that included the 2005-05 season in its entirety.

And your quote of the day came from the mouth of...



...John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil, who, at some point in his journey with Joe Posnanski, author of The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America, said, "In our beautiful memory we were all handsome. We could sing. We all had the heart of the prettiest girl in town. And we all hit .300."