November 9 Illinois History Minute

It’s November 9th, and baseball Hall of Famer Whitey Herzog was born on this day in New Athens, Illinois. That’s close to St. Louis, where Herzog managed the St. Louis Cardinals throughout the 1980s. He guided the Cards to three National League pennants, including a 1982 World Series championship over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Olympic swimmer Nelson Diebel (DEE-bul) was born in the Chicago suburb of Hinsdale on this day in 1970. Diebel set records and won two gold medals at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

1992 was also the year the all-female rock band L7 had a hit record with “Pretend We’re Dead”. Their drummer, Dee Plakas, was born in Chicago on this day in 1960.