Some More 2020 Deaths, October-December: Gibson, Morgan, Dinkins, Maradona, Prowse, and Johnson

DEATHS IN OCTOBER

BOB GIBSON, 84

Baseball Hall of Famer and dominating St. Louis Cardinals pitcher.  Died October 2.

JOE MORGAN, 77

Hall of Fame second baseman became the sparkplug of the dominant Cincinnati teams of the mid-1970s.  Died October 11.

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DEATHS IN NOVEMBER

DAVID DINKINS, 93

Broke barriers as New York City's first black mayor.  Died November 23.

DIEGO MARADONA, 60

Argentine soccer great who scored the "Hand of God" goal in 1986 and led his country to that year's World Cup title.  Died November 25.

DAVE PROWSE, 85

British weight lifter-turned-actor who was the body of arch-villain Darth Vader in the original "Star Wars" trilogy.  Died November 28.

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DECEMBER

RAFER JOHNSON, 86

Won the decathlon at the 1960 Rome Olympics and helped subdue Robert F. Kennedy's assassin in 1968.  Died December 2.

World Champion Cincinnati Reds to Play DeKalb (Illinois) Baseball Team in 1920

From the May 27, 2020, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1920, 100 Years Ago.

"The Champions of DeKalb are going to play the champions of the world.  Arrangements have been made whereby the Cincinnati Reds, the champions of the world by virtue of licking the Chicago White Sox last fall, will play  in this city in a match game with the local nine on August 18."

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"DANCING -- At Electric Park, Saturday night , May 29th."

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Imagine a major league baseball team visiting a small town in Illinois for a game these days.  Plus, we know there was a problem with the 1919 World Series.  I couldn't find out anything about the game, but the Reds played at the Chicago Cubs on August 17 and won 3-2.  On August 19 they beat the Brooklyn Robins 3-2 in 13 innings in Cincinnati.

Plus, there was this thing called the Spanish flu still going around in 1920.

Electric Park was a big amusement spot just south of Sycamore on the DeKalb-Sycamore Road (now Illinois Highway 23).  Click on the Electric Park Sycamore Ill. label to find out more about the park.

--Cooter

12 Fascinating Facts 'WKRP In Cincinnati'-- Part 2: Les' Bandages

4.  Les Nessman wears a bandage in every episode because of a real injury in the first episode.  He accidentally cut it but decided to keep it as part of his character.

5.  Blondie donated a Gold Record to the show for helping "Heart of Glass" become a hit.  Acts like U2, Toto, Knack, Cars and Devo all count WKRP as pivotal in launching their careers.

6.  The posters and band stuff you see on the walls were gifts from real DJs.

"As God As My Witness...I Thought Turkeys Could Flt!"  --Cooter

12 Fascinating Facts About 'WKRP in Cincinnati'-- Part 1: Characters Based on Real People

From the September 13, 2018, MeTV site.  By the MeTV staff, March 29, 2018.

I have certainly enjoyed watching the reruns of my all-time favorite sitcom over this summer on MeTV.

1.  Andy Travis is based on real program director  "Captain Mikey."  Mikel  Herrington.    Arthur Carlson and Dr. Johnny Fever are also based on actual radio personalities.   Fever is Atlanta DJ "Skinny" Bobby Harper.

2.  Some of the characters were based on series creator Hugh Wilson's family.  Bailey Quarters is based on his wife.

3.  David Cassidy was originally cast as Dr. Johnny Fever.  Cassidy turned it down.  Howard Hesseman originally was called to be Herb Tarlek, but refused to read for anything but Fever.

Beware the Phone Police.  --Cooter

Cincinnati's Chester Park

It was located on the northwest corner of Spring Grove Avenue and Mitchell. Today, the Cincinnati Waterworks partially occupies the site.

It originally operated as a horse racing club and in 1876 the first Ohio Derby was held there. On August 29, 1885, 15,000 attended the John L. Sullivan-Dan McCaffrey boxing match at the site.

In 1895, the Cincinnati Street Railway Company bought the site and turned it into an amusement park. A large lake was made with one side for boating and the other for swimming. Circling it was a boardwalk and a miniature train.

One of the highlights was a 5-story fun house called Hilarity Hill.

All this and more drew up to 30,000 patrons a day.

From 1929 to 1932 it was called Rainbow Park. A combination of the Depression and loss of beer sales during Prohibition caused most of it tp close down, but the pool remained open until 1954.

Fun and Good Times out at the Old Chester Park. --DaCoot