Sandy Koufax, Jim (Mudcat) Grant, Yom Kippur 1965 & number 8

בסייד

The Pitching Duel That Never Happened – Yom Kippur, October 6, 1965

Game 1 was set to be a pitching duel between Los Angeles Dodgers’ Don Drysdale and the Twins’ Mudcat Grant (21–7, 3.30 ERA on the year). Drysdale was starting because the game fell on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year in the Jewish calendar. Dodger ace Sandy Koufax, who is Jewish, stated he would not pitch that day.

It did not seem to matter who pitched for the Dodgers on Yom Kippur, because the Twins’ bats were very hot and when the game was over Minnesota won by the score of 8-2.

Jim (Mudcat) Grant Passed Away Only A Few Days Ago On June 11 After Parshat Shelach (See Below)

There is no doubt that Grant was one of the most valuable players for the Twins during 1965. Therefore, his passing must be sending all of us reminders of special events both past and present we will never forget.

In 1965, Grant became the first black pitcher to win 20 games in a season in the American League and the first black pitcher to win a World Series game for the American League. He pitched two complete-game World Series victories in 1965, hitting a three-run home run in game 6, and was named The Sporting News American League Pitcher of the Year.^[2]

Highlights Of The 1965 World Series

The following video records highlights of the 1965 World Series-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNWwWm7i4bo

Vice President Hubert Humphrey Throws Out The First Ball In Minnesota

Of all people who could have been chosen for this honor, Vice President Hubert Humphrey appears at the 2 minute and 44-second mark of this video.

Casey Stengel Throws Out The First Ball In Los Angeles

At the 9 minute 45 second mark.

Sandy Koufax Is The Only Pitcher To Defeat The Twins In Minnesota During The World Series

The Twins also appeared in the 1987 and 1991 World Series and won all 8 home games they played.

Sandy Koufax And His Refusal To Pitch On October 6, 1965, Begins Two Eight-Year Cycles

Cycle One Ends October 6, 1973 –The Yom Kippur War Begins

The Yom Kippur War was fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 or 19 days, by a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria against Israel. The war took place mostly in Sinai and the Golan—occupied by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War—with some fighting in African Egypt and northern Israel.^[57][58] Egypt’s initial war objective was to use its military to seize a foothold on the east bank of the Suez Canal and use this to negotiate the return of the rest of Sinai.^{[59][60][61][62]}

Cycle Two Ends October 6, 1981 – Egyptian President Anwar Sadat Assassinated

The assassination of Anwar Sadat occurred on 6 October 1981. Anwar Sadat, the President of Egypt, was assassinated during the annual victory parade held in Cairo to celebrate Operation Badr, during which the Egyptian Army had crossed the Suez Canal and taken back a small part of the Sinai Peninsula from Israel at the beginning of the Yom Kippur War.^[1] The assassination was undertaken by members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad.^[2]

Following the Camp David Accords, Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin shared the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize. However, the subsequent 1979 Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty was received with controversy among Arab nations, particularly the Palestinians. Egypt’s membership in the Arab League was suspended (and not reinstated until 1989).^[3] PLO Leader Yasser Arafat said “Let them sign what they like. False peace will not last.”^[4]

Egyptian Islamic Jihad

Earlier in Sadat’s presidency, Islamists had benefited from the “rectification revolution” and the release from prison of activists jailed under Gamal Abdel Nasser,^[8] but his Sinai treaty with Israel enraged Islamists, particularly the radical Egyptian Islamic Jihad. According to interviews and information gathered by journalist Lawrence Wright, the group was recruiting military officers and accumulating weapons, waiting for the right moment to launch “a complete overthrow of the existing order” in Egypt. Chief strategist of El-Jihad was Abbud al-Zumar, a colonel in the military intelligence.

In February 1981, Egyptian authorities were alerted to El-Jihad’s plan by the arrest of an operative carrying crucial information. In September, Sadat ordered a highly unpopular roundup of more than 1,500 people, including many Jihad members, but also the Coptic Pope and other Coptic clergy, intellectuals and activists of all ideological stripes.^[10] All non-government press was banned as well.^[11] The roundup missed a jihad cell in the military-led by Lieutenant Khalid Islambouli, who would succeed in assassinating Anwar Sadat that October.^[12]

Conclusion

This year will mark exactly 40 years since Sadat was assassinated.

Arafat’s statement of false peace describes perfectly how false his Nobel Peace Prize turned out to be.

Israel has banned two US Congress “Squad” members for planning a trip under false pretenses. They were being sponsored by Miftah who had strong ties to Arafat.

How much longer will it take those Democrats to realize this?

The Meraglim

The episode of the meraglim (meaning spies) is Shelach (Numbers, 13-14). Ten spies brought back frightening reports, and because the children of Israel rebelled, G-d decreed they wander 40 years in the desert, with their children entering the Land instead of them.  I have been watching how Israel has grown with many more youth making Aliyah before their parents.

Hamas And Palestinian Leadership Refuse To Change

The Palestinians keep on complaining about Israel and have only themselves to blame because they refuse to invest in their children and provide better living conditions for their own people. Rather, they want more weapons to launch terrorist attacks on my country and my fellow Israelis and allow their own people to suffer.

Logic Dictates That Sooner Than Later Hamas Will Become Much Weaker

And now with the new Government allowing an Arab party to take part, this proves again that any future claim made that Israel practices Apartheid is totally false.