ON THIS DATE
1907: Weeb Ewbank, the coach who beat young Don Shula and the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, is born in Richmond, Indiana (d. 1998)
1915: Babe Ruth hits the first of his 714 home runs.
1917: Bob Groom of the St. Louis Browns pitches a no-hitter, matching teammate Ernie Koob’s feat of the previous day. 1937: Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, who could have been the champion of the world, is born in Clifton, New Jersey (d. 2014). 1944: Tommie Smith, San Jose State sprinter and Olympic icon, is born in Clarksville, Texas. 1944: Giants pitcher Masanori Murakami, who in 1964 became the first Japanese player in major leagues, is born in Otsuki, Yamanashi, Japan.
1953: St. Louis Browns pitcher Bobo Holloman pitches a nohitter in his major league debut. 1954: Roger Bannister becomes the first person to run a sub-4-minute mile, finishing in 3:59:4.
1972: Hall of Fame goalie Martin Brodeur is born in Montreal,
Quebec.
1974: A’s pitcher Paul Lindblad makes an errant throw to end his record streak of 385consecutive errorless games. 1978 : Affirmed, ridden by Steve Cauthen, wins the Kentucky Derby (and goes on to win the Triple Crown).
1982: Gaylord Perry becomes the 15th pitcher to win 300 games.
1985: Chris Paul, basketball player and insurance salesman, is born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
1988: New Jersey Devils coach Jim Schoenfeld tells referee Don Koharski to “eat another doughnut you fat pig!”
1990: José Altuve, baseball player and suspected garbagecan banger, is born in Maracay, Venezuela.
1991: Sergei Bubka of the Soviet Union breaks his world outdoor pole vault record by clearing 19 feet, 11 inches. 1997: The Hartford Whalers become the Carolina Hurricanes.
1998: Kerry Wood strikes out 20Houston Astros to tie the major league record held by Roger Clemens.
2010: Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts dies at 83. 2010: Johan Franzen of the Detroit Red Wings scores six points, including a natural hat trick in the first period, to beat the Sharks 7-1 in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals. 2014: Boxing champion Jimmy Ellis — he won the WBA heavyweight title by beating Jerry Quarry at the Oakland Coliseum in 1968 — dies from dementia at 74.
2019: Pablo Sandoval of the Giants joins Christy Mathewson (1905) as the only player since 1900 to throw a scoreless outing, hit a home run and steal a base in the same game.