More than 40,000 did, and another tradition was born.The 1960 Series was much different. Thanks again for your input.With the only stadium about to be replaced for some time being Atlanta’s Turner Field, it will be interesting to see how many of these monster shots stand the test of time like Williams’, Kingman’s, or Stargell’s.Thanks, Bobby. Red Sox fan Joseph A. Boucher was sitting in his seat 33 rows removed from the playing field when Williams hit his blast in the first inning of […] To learn more, visit www.williamisaac.com.The government and AIG announced an agreement to unwind the government’s ownership of AIG acquired under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). It’s unclear how long the unwinding process will take or how much taxpayers will ultimately lose.However, the TARP was not needed for capital infusions because the FDIC had existing authority to provide capital to banks. I preferred strongly that the FDIC manage a capital infusion program rather than the highly politicized program Treasury implemented.Forced to do damage control, the government declared that none of the 19 large banks would be allowed to fail no matter what the stress test results. Imagine how that action sits with smaller firms competing with the 19 banks.In truth, customers of money market funds had already been calmed when Treasury issued a 100% guarantee of their money – before TARP was enacted. The FDIC had the authority to reassure depositors under existing law, as was in fact done shortly after the TARP was enacted.The AIG announcement spurred a good many comments in the media proclaiming that TARP was a necessary program that will cost far less than anticipated. With a very important election around the corner, it’s important that we assess the TARP program objectively so we can evaluate the politicians who voted for and against it.Treasury made two egregious mistakes on the capital program and many smaller ones. The first blunder was to order nine large financial institutions – CitiGroup, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Bank of New York/Mellon, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and State Street – to accept $125 billion of taxpayer money that most of them did not need or want.The selling of the TARP to a doubting Congress and public was highly destructive to public confidence. Our national political leaders were in the media continuously during the TARP deliberations using highly inflammatory terms like “financial Armageddon” to describe the conditions we were facing. They panicked the public, wallets slammed shut, and the economy still struggles to recover from the damage. Moreover, the TARP created a political firestorm that will have hugely negative consequences for our financial system and economy for years to come.The FDIC through its special guarantees of bank debt and the Federal Reserve through its creative and ambitious liquidity programs calmed the markets. The TARP was not needed for them to do what they did. For a lot of people, I think it’s Roberto Clemente, Maz’s game seven home run, the “We Are Family” Pirates, and Forbes Field.Not much was going on at the time in Oakland/Schenley area – or, I should say, the soon-to-be Oakland/Schenley area. Chuck Noll's first home game as the Steelers' coach?