Batman, Baseball, and 1966

1966 was the year of the superhero, thanks to Batman.  After the camp version premiered on ABC in January, starring Adam West in the title role, Batman triggered a fascination that inspired a slew of iconic guest villains: Cesar Romero as the Joker Burgess Meredith as...

The Hall of Fame Case for Tommy John

Forget about the 288 wins. Forget about the four pennant-winning teams. Forget about the pioneering surgery that bears his name. You might as well.  The Baseball Hall of Fame voters have. Thomas Edward John, Jr., the Terre Haute native who stayed in his hometown to...

Rick Monday’s Star-Spangled Play

Old Glory.  Stars and Stripes.  Star-Spangled banner. America’s flag is, for some, a sacred fabric.  Rick Monday represented those devotees during a Cubs-Dodgers game at Dodger Stadium on April 25, 1976, when he prevented a duo—father and son—from igniting the...

The Great Holdout of 1966

In March of 1966, Bobby Hull set an NHL scoring record for a single season, Gemini 8 brought NASA one giant leap closer to a manned moon landing by completing the first docking with another space craft, and Julie Newmar set hearts of males from eight to eighty beating...