May 31, 1964 | BARRY BOWE

Maurice Cheeks punctuated the 115-108 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers by ignoring a wide open Julius Erving and racing to the basket for a rare dunk of his own. That victory completed the four-game sweep of the Lakers and gave the Sixers the 1982-1983 NBA championship.

The date was May 31, 1983 – 32 years ago today – and that was the last championship of any of the big four Philly teams until the Phillies won the World Series in 2008.

The victory also avenged losing to the Lakers four games to two in the NBA Finals the year before.

The Sixers finished the regular season with a record of 65-17 during the regular season and when asked by the media how he thought the Sixers would fare in the playoffs, Moses Malone boldly proclaimed “Four, four, four” – which became the slang expression “Fo-fo-fo.”

The Sixers swept the Knicks in four games in the Eastern Semifinals but needed five games to dispose of the Milwaukee Bucks four games to one in the Eastern Finals. So the Sixers playoff run became “Fo-Fi-Fo” and was commemorated in a song of that name by Philly’s own Pieces of Dreams.

At Connie Mack Stadium, the Phillies were going for a sweep of their three-game series with the Houston Colt 45s. Art Mahaffey (3-2) was on the mound facing former Phillie Jim Owens (1-3).

Owens lost a 2-0 shutout to Chris Short on May 17th in Houston, but won his last outing against the Mets.

Mahaffey shut out the Pirates in his last start.

Art Mahaffey retired the Colts in the first.

In the bottom of the first, Cookie Rojas led off with a single. Richie Allen followed with his 10th home run to put the Phillies ahead 2-0 ─ giving Allen 24 RBIs on the season.

Art Mahaffey and Jim Owen swapped scoreless half-innings through the top of the fifth.

In the bottom of the fifth, John Herrnstein led off with his second triple in two games. One out later, Ruben Amaro hit his first home run of the year to boost the Phillies lead to 4-0.

Ruben Amaro was born in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. His mother was Mexican and his father Cuban. He was a slick-fielding infielder who could play short, second, and first. He was originally signed as an amateur free agent in 1954 by the Cardinals. The Phillies got him from the Cards in 1958 in exchange for outfielder Chuck Essegian.

After three lackluster seasons in the Phillies chain with Buffalo, Indianapolis, and Eugene, Amaro made it to the big club in 1960. He then became a .240-hitter during his first four seasons with the Phillies.

He’s the father of Ruben Amaro, Jr.

In the top of the seventh, with one out, pinch-hitter Bob Aspromonte walked. Steve Hertz then came in to pinch-run for Aspromonte.

Bob Lillis and Nellie Fox both walked to load the bases with just one out.

With Mahaffey suddenly wild, Gene Mauch replaced him with Ed Roebuck (1-0). This was Roebuck’s 12th relief appearance since being acquired on April 21st when Johnny Klippstein was placed on the DL. He’d given up just six hits and no runs over his 12 innings of work thus far – accumulating five saves in the process.

Roebuck gave up a single to Al Spangler and the runners moved up a base. Steve Hertz scored to cut the Phillies lead to 4-1 and the bases remained loaded with still just the one out.

Roebuck then induced back-to-back come-backers to the mound. He went to the plate for the force both times to retire the sides.

From there, Roebuck retired the Colts in order in the eighth and ninth innings to nail down the victory.

Art Mahaffey (4-2) picked up his second straight win and Ed Roebuck notched his sixth save. Jim Owens (1-4) took the loss.

That was three straight wins for the Phillies and 6-of-7 on the season from the Colts.

Meanwhile, up in Shea Stadium, he Giants were wrapping up a four-game series with a Sunday afternoon doubleheader against the Mets.

In the first game, Juan Marichal (8-1) gave up a three-run homer to Jim Hickman (3) in the bottom of the second. But Marichal shut the Mets down on just four hits the rest of the way to pick up a 5-3 victory. It was Marichal’s eight win of the season.

The Giants and Mets then played a 23-inning game in the nightcap that took seven hours and 23 minutes to complete – making it the longest game time-wise in the history of baseball. Ironically, it was the first-ever extra inning game in the brand new Shea Stadium.

With the score tied 6-6 going into the top of the 23rd, Jim Davenport lined a triple to right off Galen Cisco. The Mets put Cal Peterson on intentionally to bring up the pitcher’s spot in the batting order.

Giants manager Al Dark sent Del Crandall up to pinch-hit hit for Gaylord Perry.

Del Crandall lined a double right. Davenport scored to put the Giants on top 7-6. Peterson stopped at third to make it runners on second and third with two outs. Jesus Alou singled Peterson home to make it 8-6 Giants.

Bob Hendley came in to pitch the ninth and got the Mets 1-2-3 to register his first safe.

Gaylord Perry (3-1) – who came in to relieve in the bottom of the 13th – pitched 10 innings of nine strike-out baseball to pick up the win.

Galen Cisco (2-5) took the loss.

The sweep pulled the Giants to within one-half game of the first-place Phillies.