Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on June 3, according to the Tribune’s archives.
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Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)
- High temperature: 95 degrees (1895)
- Low temperature: 37 degrees (1945)
- Precipitation: 2.9 inches (1885)
- Snowfall: None
1975: Walter Payton became the then highest-paid rookie in Chicago Bears history, signing a three-year contract that would pay him at least $150,000 a year (roughly $897,000 in today’s dollars). The Bears’ first-round pick decided to sign with the team while fishing on property in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, owned by his attorney, Bud Holmes.
Also in 1975: “Chicago the Musical” debuted on Broadway 50 years ago. It was based on the 1926 play of the same name by former Tribune reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins. Directed by Chicago native Bob Fosse and starring Gwen Verdon, Chita Rivera and Jerry Orbach, the tale of an unfaithful wife who murders her lover then works the judicial system to secure her freedom was set against the backdrop of Prohibition and the Jazz Age.
1992: Michael Jordan dropped six 3-pointers en route to 35 first-half points during Game 1 of the NBA Finals — known as “The Shrug” game — versus the Portland Trail Blazers and Clyde Drexler, whom some thought should have won the regular-season MVP award that Jordan captured.
2003: Chicago Cubs right fielder Sammy Sosa was ejected in the first inning of a game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays after his bat shattered on a groundout to second base and pieces of cork were found among the shards. Plate umpire Tim McClelland conferred with his crew, then ejected Sosa for using a corked bat.
Sosa had 505 career home runs at that point, Tribune columnist Paul Sullivan later wrote, and many wondered how many had been hit with an illegal bat. The incident forever stained Sosa’s reputation, though not as much as the belief he used steroids, which effectively has kept him out of the Hall of Fame.
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Sosa apologized “from the bottom of my heart” after the game. He acknowledged ownership of the bat, explaining that he occasionally used it for batting practice and for home run exhibitions to entertain his fans. He said it had been inadvertently mixed in with his regular bats.
Sosa was suspended for seven games and was traded after the 2004 season. He remained estranged from the Cubs until December 2024.
2019: Naperville native James Holzhauer’s “Jeopardy!” win streak ended after 32 consecutive days with total winnings of $2.46 million. The professional gambler lost to University of Chicago librarian Emma Boettcher.
Holzhauer won the “Jeopardy! Masters” tournament in 2023 for which he took home the Alex Trebek trophy and a $500,000 grand prize.
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