In 1932: Depending on what you believe, this was the day that Babe Ruth supposedly hit his famous “called shot” in Wrigley Field in the World Series. In the fifth inning, Ruth was being heckled by the Chicago Cubs’ bench and the crowd. After falling behind two strikes, Ruth made what some called a motion toward the centerfield bleachers and what others believed to be a gesture at Cubs pitcher Charlie Root. Either way, Ruth smashed a towering homerun into those bleachers while a stunned crowd looked on in complete silence. They were so shocked that they didn’t even seem to notice Lou Gehrig’s homerun on the very next pitch. The Yank’s easily won the series in four games. (baseball library.com)
In 1970: 14 members of the Wichita State football team were killed when their plane crashed into the Rocky Mountains outside of Denver on its way to Utah. It was one of two planes that were traveling to the game, and the team resumed its schedule three weeks later. The Shockers football program would never be the same, as it had only one more winning season and was discontinued in 1986. It was not the only air tragedy in college football that fall, as the Marshall football program was decimated by a crash a little more than a month later. (espn.com)
