October 2nd.
At first glance, it’s just another date throughout history. Mahatma Gandhi, Groucho Marx, and former Dodgers shortstop Maury Wills were all born on this day. Contrastingly, Tom Petty, former California Angels owner Gene Autry, and actor Rock Hudson all passed away on October 2. This date also marked the premiere of The Twilight Zone in 1959, as well as a special occasion in baseball history.
That’s because 40 years ago, on a Monday afternoon in Boston, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox met in a critical one-game playoff to determine the winner of the AL East.