Supersonic Match Game
in Basketball
Clemente Nunez - 1st player signed by Expansion Florida Marlins
in Baseball
This is Clemente Nunez. He became the 1st player signed by the Expansion Florida Marlins back on December 16th, 1991. Clemente was a 16 year old pitcher from the Dominican Republic at the time with an 88mph fastball.
He never did make it to the show however, but had a few decent seasons in the Marlins Farm system. His best outing came on May 28th, 1995 as a member of the Brevard Manatees, when he tossed a no-hitter against the West Palm Beach Expos. In fact he was only 1 walk away from a perfect game that day in the 2-0 decision.
The No-No was actually the 2nd one to occur for the new organization. A 25th round draft pick threw one in 1993 for the Elmira Pioneers of the New York-Penn League. Can you name him?
The Big League Marlins wouldn’t record their first no-hitter until the 1996 season. Who threw it?
Jason Kidd Ties Turnover Record
in Basketball
Back in 2000, during a 90-85 Phoenix Suns loss to the NY Knicks, Suns point guard Jason Kidd tied a record he probably wished he hadn’t by committing 14 turnovers in the game. Can you dig deep in NBA lore and tell us the player who also threw the ball away that many times way back in 1978?
Oh yeah! Despite his sloppy night, Jason did happen to also record a Triple Double. 18 points, 12 rebounds, & 10 assists.
Happy Birthday Mase!! R.I.P.
in Basketball
On This Day - Heat Win First Game
in Basketball
On this Day - 1988 The Expansion Miami Heat finally claim their first victory as a franchise. After a 0-17 start, the Heat were able to squeak out a 1 point win over the Los Angeles Clippers 89-88. Grant Long, Pat Cummings, & Billy Thompson each scored 15 for the victorious Heat. Danny Manning led the Clippers with 23.
NFL 1990 - Week 12 - Too Much Tryptophan?
in Football
November 26th, 1990
There must’ve been quite the Turkey Day Hangover happening back in Week 12 of the 1990 NFL Season, as all Six 1st place teams would lose over the Holiday weekend.
However, each of those teams would hold onto their first place standing over the last weeks of the season, winning their respective divisions. (There were only six divisions back in 1990)
Can you name those Six Teams? Select the Quarterbacks pictured below representing each team.
For more Bonus Points —Name the 1990 Quarterback that…
Was Voted League MVP
Won Offensive Player of Year
Threw most INT’s
Lost in Super Bowl
Won Super Bowl (not pictured)
Had longest Pass
Always one of my favorite cheap card sets back in the day. 1990 Pro-Set.
Barry Sanders 1997 Thanksgiving
in Football
Barry Sanders historic 2,053 yard rushing season in 1997 included a huge performance on Thanksgiving Day against the Chicago Bears. Sanders ran through the Bears Defense for 167 yards on 19 carries with three TD’s in a 55-20 Detroit win. Always thought it kinda sucked that the Lions were on TV every Thanksgiving, but at least we all got to watch Barry’s brilliance each year. Happy Turkey Day Dudes!!
Max Headroom Incident - November 22nd, 1987
in Football
November 22nd, 1987 - Chicago, IL- During the Sunday Evening News recap of a Chicago Bears 30-10 victory over the Detroit Lions, an un-identified person dressed in a Max Headroom mask, hi-jacked the WGN Channel 9 broadcast for almost 30 seconds. Sportscaster Dan Rohn seemed quite confused but waved off the wacky interruption as a computer glitch.
Approximately two hours later during an episode of ‘Dr. Who?’ on Chicago Channel 11 (WTTW) the mysterious masked Max was back. This time there was audio to go along with the disorienting frenetic visuals. Channel 11 engineers weren’t able to stop the feed for 1 minute & 28 seconds. During the masked bandit’s rant, for reasons unknown, he also called out local Sports Voice Chuck "The Swirsk" Swirsky as some kind of ‘Frickin Liberal.’ This is quite the odd mashup of Sports/Pop culture with True Crime. I suggest you guys check out the clips on YouTube, as well as the @unresolvedpod episode on this bizarre act of anarchy. Any other Blaze/True Crime fans out there??
Spoiler Alert!!
No one has ever been charged with the crime, nor has anyone taken responsibility. The statute of limitations has expired in this case. To be continuted………
The Battery Boys
in Baseball
Since 1961 there have only been 12 occurrences of a ‘Battery’ (Catcher & Pitcher) hitting back-to-back home runs. Montreal Expos Catcher Sal Buerta & Pitcher Bryn Smith hit back to back shots off Cubs reliever Ray Fontenot back on August 14th, 1985. It wouldn’t happen again until a couple of Cardinals did it in 1994.
I’ve got a FREE Issue of Blaze for the first person who messages over the Cardinals Battery who went back to back.
The Only Tie Game on Monday Night Football
in Football
October 24th, 1983
After kicking a 22 yard field goal with :54 seconds left in the 4th quarter to send the game into Overtime, St. Louis Cardinals kicker Neil O’donoghue would go on to miss 3 field goals in the extra period, to secure a 20-20 tie with NFC East foe, The New York Football Giants. This happens to be the only tie game in Monday Night Football history;
Ken Hubbs-R.I.P- 1962 NL Rookie of The Year
in Baseball
Ken Hubbs became the 1st Rookie to win a Gold Glove back in 1962. Sadly Ken would pass away at just 22 years old in February of 1964 as the small plane he piloted crashed in snowstorm near Provo,Utah.
An ** can go next to Boston Red Sox’s third baseman Frank Malzone, who arguably was first Rookie to win the award back in the inaugural year of the Gold Glove, 1957. See, Frank had already qualified as a rookie in 1956 by old standards, but using today’s eligibility guidelines, Malzone’s would have been considered a rookie in 1957.
Another fun fact is that Malzone, would win the 3B Gold Glove honor for the first three seasons of the awards existence, (‘57-’60) before a Baltimore Oriole named Brooks Robinson would emerge on the scene and take the award for the next sixteen seasons.
Jerome Walton- 1989 NL Rookie of The Year
in Baseball
📅 On November 8th,1989, Chicago Cubs OF Jerome Walton was named the National League Rookie of the Year. He was the 1st Cubbie to win the award in 27 seasons.
Any Blaze fans out there who can tell the crowd that previous ROY winner from 1962?
Bonus points if you can also name the runner up in 1989.
(Hint) He happened to be Jerome's teammate. 🔥
On This Day -Tom Dempsey Boots One From 63 Yards Away
in Football
Flashing it way back this Friday to November 8th, 1970 when New Orleans Saints Kicker Tom Dempsey kicked an NFL record 63 yard field goal. Tom was born without toes on his right foot, so he was forced to wear a modified square looking kicking shoe. The boot at the end of regulation gave the Saints a 19-17 victory over the Detroit Lions. A few dudes were able to match this feat over the years, but it wouldn’t be surpassed until 2013 when Matt Prater hit a 64 yarder. Happy Friday!!
On This Day - Dominique Reaches 20,000 Points
in Basketball
On November 5th, 1992 Dominique Wilkins poured in 30 points in an Opening Night 106-94 loss to the New York Knicks. For his efforts ‘The Human Highlight Reel’ became the 17th player in NBA History to reach the 20,000 point plateau. He would finish his playing days with 26,668 career points. Happy Friday Everybody!!
David Robinson NBA Debut - November 4th, 1989
in Basketball
After completing his two year Naval Commitment, 24 year old rookie David Robinson made his debut for the San Antonio Spurs on this day in 1989. The 1987 # 1 overall pick wouldn’t disappoint during a Spurs 106-98 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. ‘The Admiral’ led San Antonio with 32 points, while corralling 17 rebounds. It was just the 1st game in a phenomenal Rookie of The Year season for David. One in which he would average 24 points, 12 rebounds, & 4 blocks while helping the Spurs make a 35 win improvement over the previous season.
November 2nd, 1990 - Largest scoring game in NBA History
in Basketball
Thirty years ago today the Golden State Warriors out ran the Denver Nuggets in the largest scoring regulation game in NBA History, earning a 162-158 win . Chris Mullin led all scorers with 38, while is ‘Run TMC’ teammates Tim Hardaway & Mitch Richmond dropped in 32 & 29 respectively. Orlando Woolridge led the Nuggets with 37 , with our guy Walter Davis delivering a smooth 33 off the bench. Twelve players in the game scored in double figures. The 320 points combined is 4th most in an NBA Game in history, but the most in regulation. We’ll have more insight on those Wacky 1990-91 Denver Nuggets in a future Blaze Issue.
Most Blocked Shots In A Game - Elmore Smith
in Basketball
Who has the most blocked shots in a single NBA Game? Thats our dude Elmore Smith, who on October 28th 1973 blocked 17 shots against the Portland Trailblazers! Elmore led the league that season with 4.9 blocks per game. Did you know that blocked shots weren’t an official statistical category until the ‘73-’74 season?
Webster Slaughter Was The Coolest!
in Football
Webster was another childhood favorite growing up. I can remember writing a # 84 on the inside collar of my Dolphins jacket that I got for X-Mas back in 1989. That happened to be his best year too as he hauled in 65 passes for 1236 yards with 6 TD’s including a 97 yard bomb from Bernie..
Happy Birthday Jerry Rice!
in Football
I have such clear memories of sitting in Mrs. Wiltse’s 3rd grade class back in 1990 with Jerry Rice clippings placed in the front cover of my new Trapper Keeper while she drilled us on those multiplication tables. Happy Birthday FLASH 80 !!
On This Day - Walter Payton Becomes All-Time NFL Rushing Leader
in Football
On October 7th, 1984 Walter Payton passes the great Jim Brown to become the NFL’s All-Time Rushing Yards Leader. Sweetness bulled his way to 154 yards on 32 carries in a Chicago 20-7 victory over the New Orleans Saints.
Interestingly, Payton’s effort on that grey day in the Windy City, helped him earn his 59th career 100 yard game, tying him with one Jim Brown. Walter would finish his career with 77 100 yard games.
Who holds the record for most 100 yard rushing games?