Today, we turn back the clock half a century to 1969.
Neil Armstrong landed on the moon. The internet was born and Judy Garland passed away. Richard Nixon became president and the Vietnam War waged on. The Beatles played their last public performance and Woodstock attracted hundreds of thousands of music lovers. Sesame Street and The Brady Bunch premiered on TV.
Right here in KC, the city's population was at an all-time high and Municipal Stadium at the intersection of Brooklyn Avenue and 22nd Street was the destination for professional sports in the region as the home to three major league teams.
The Royals, led by American League Rookie of the Year Lou Piniella, debuted in 1969 as one of four Major League Baseball expansion franchises. The Chiefs marked their final year in the American Football League with their best season in team history, capping an 11-3 regular season with a victory over the Vikings in Super Bowl IV on Jan. 11, 1970.
And on this day 50 years ago, the Kansas City Spurs were crowned champions of the North American Soccer League with a 2-0 victory over the Baltimore Bays to capture the city's first professional soccer championship in their final game at Municipal Stadium.
Thirty-four-year-old Uruguayan playmaker Ademar Saccone opened the scoring in the 57th minute, but it was 26-year-old Costa Rican international Edgar Marin who came off the bench to score the decisive goal in the 84th minute that gave the Spurs an eight-point victory -- six points for the win plus two additional points for the two goals scored -- for a season total of 110 points, one better than the reigning champions Atlanta Chiefs (and 63 points better than cross-state rivals St. Louis Stars).
Uruguayan goalkeeper Leonel Conde was credited with seven saves in the shutout and was one of four Spurs players named an NASL All-Star following the 1969 season, along with league MVP Cirilo 'Pepe' Fernandez, William Quiros and Manfred Seissler. Hungarian head coach Janos Bedl was awarded NASL Coach of the Year honors after leading the Spurs to a 10-2-4 record.
