Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Doc Holliday and the O.K. Corral

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2010

There was something very peculiar about Doc. He was gentlemanly, a good dentist, a friendly man and yet, outside of us boys, I don't think he had a friend in the Territory. Tales were told that he had murdered men in different parts of the country; that he had robbed and committed all manner of crimes, and yet, when persons were asked how they knew it, they could only admit it was hearsay, and that nothing of the kind could really be traced to Doc's account. He was a slender, sickly fellow, but whenever a stage was robbed or a row started, and help was needed, Doc was one of the first to saddle his horse and report for duty.

- Virgil Earp

Interview in the Arizona Daily Star, May 30, 1882


ON THIS DAY

The “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” took place at Tombstone, Arizona on October 26. 1881. Wyatt Earp and his brothers Vigil and Morgan were joined by Doc Holliday in a deadly showdown with the Clanton and McLaury brothers and Billy Claiborne. Three of the nine participants - Billy Clanton and Frank and Tom McLaury - were killed in the shootout.

John Henry “Doc” Holliday was a gambler and gunfighter of the Old West. Dr. Holliday was also a dentist. He graduated from the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery in 1872 at the age of 20. Holliday was born with a troublesome birth defect, a cleft palate. Plagued by ill health, he suffered from tuberculosis and died in Colorado on November 8, 1887. He was 36 years old.














Baseball

It’s official. The Toronto Blue Jays have a new manager. He’s John Farrell, 48, who served as pitching coach of the Boston Red Sox for the last four seasons. It’s interesting that Farrell is a former hurler because pitchers do not often become managers.

Blue Jays General Manager Alex Athopoulos must have considered Farrell’s experience as Director of Player Development in Latin America for the Cleveland Indians as an asset. Anthopoulos tends to make surprise moves and this is another one. Not many could have predicted this choice. I hope that Farrell, a native of New Jersey, finds much success in T.O.

- Joanne