October 14, 1977: The Series

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(Pictured: Reggie Jackson swings and misses during a 1977 World Series game at Yankee Stadium.)

October 14, 1977, is a Friday. At the White House, President Carter meets with General Omar Torrijos and other Panamanian officials to clarify American military rights in the Canal Zone if the canal is turned over to Panama, as proposed in the Panama Canal Treaty signed last month. Later, Carter answers questions from a group of reporters and editors, meets author David McCullough, and attends a reception for Democratic Party fund-raisers, among his other daily activities. After a round of golf in Spain, singer and actor Bing Crosby dies at age 74. (He shot an 85.) Actor Keenan Wynn dies in Los Angeles. Speaking in Des Moines, Iowa, anti-gay activist Anita Bryant is hit in the face with a pie. The First National Bank of Chicago reports that a million dollars is missing from its vaults. “It’s possible that at some point we miscounted the cash,” says the bank’s senior vice president, “but as of now we are working on the assumption that it is a cash loss.” In 1981, $2,300 of the money will be recovered; the rest never will.

On TV tonight, ABC carries Game 3 of the World Series, to be played in Los Angeles. The Yankees beat the Dodgers 5-3 to take a 2-1 lead in the series. Yankee stars Reggie Jackson and Thurman Munson play in the game, after threatening to sit out in a dispute over seats provided to their family and friends at Dodger Stadium. In the Chicago Tribune, TV critic Gary Deeb blasts ABC for turning this week’s edition of its nightly newscast, anchored by Harry Reasoner and Barbara Walters, into a promotional vehicle for the network’s coverage of the Series, which ABC is carrying for the first time. Opposite the baseball game, CBS broadcasts Wonder Woman and Smile, a 1975 theatrical comedy about beauty pageant organizers, starring Bruce Dern and Barbara Feldon; NBC airs the Sanford and Son spinoff The Sanford Arms, Chico and the Man, The Rockford Files, and Quincy.

Before tonight’s World Series game, Linda Ronstadt sings the National Anthem. Ronstadt is also featured in the current edition of New Times magazine, and has two new singles out, “Blue Bayou” and “It’s So Easy.” The Grateful Dead plays Houston, Renaissance plays the Royal Albert Hall in London, Steppenwolf plays St. Louis, Keith Jarrett plays Paris, Rush plays Tulsa, and the Steve Miller Band plays Ann Arbor, Michigan. KISS Alive II is released. On the new Cash Box magazine chart, which will come out officially tomorrow, the top four are unchanged from the previous week: “You Light Up My Life” by Debby Boone is in its second week at #1, followed by “Keep it Comin’ Love” by KC and the Sunshine Band, “Nobody Does it Better” by Carly Simon, and Meco’s “Star Wars/Cantina Band.” New in the Top 10: “I Feel Love” by Donna Summer and “Cold as Ice” by Foreigner. New in the Top 40: “How Deep Is Your Love” by the Bee Gees, “I Just Want to Make Love to You” by Foghat, and “Send in the Clowns” by Judy Collins.

In Wisconsin, the leaves change and then they fall; the world gets a little bit colder every day. The radio talks to a guy who can’t help but listen, because it knows his life better than he does.

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