THIS WEEKEND IN SPORTS HISTORY
Saturday 1845 - First baseball team, New York Knickerbockers organize, adopt rule code. 1908 - New York Giants’ Fred (Bonehead) Merkle fails to touch second, causes third out in nine inning, disallows winning run (game ends tied, Chicago Cubs win replay and pennant). 1926 - Gene Tunney defeats Jack Dempsey for world heavyweight boxing title. 1933 - New York Yankees commit seven errors in one game but beat Boston 16-12. 1939 - Cookie Lavagetto goes 6 for 6; Brooklyn Dodgers get 27 hits and beat Philadelphia Phillies 22-4. 1950 - Philadelphia Athletics’ Joe Astroth is fourth to get six RBIs in an inning (6th). 1952 - First US closed circuit pay-TV telecast of a sports event: the Marciano-Walcott fight, in 49 theatres in 31 cities. 1952 - Rocky Marciano knocks out heavyweight champion Jersey Joe Walcott in 13 rounds for heavyweight boxing title. 1962 - Los Angeles Dodgers’ Maury Wills steals record setting No. 97 on his way to 104. 1979 - Lou Brock steals base number 938 to break Billy Hamilton’s record in a 10-inning St. Louis victory over the New York Mets, 7-4. 1983 - Philadelphia Phillies’ Steve Carlton wins his 300th game (beating St. Louis Cardinals). 1984 - San Francisco 49ers’ Joe Montana misses his first start in 49 games. 1984 - Sparky Anderson is first manager to win 100 games in both baseball leagues. 1988 - Jose Canseco becomes Major League Baseball’s first to steal 40 bases and hit 40 home runs. 1991 - New York Islanders’ Mike Bossy and Denis Potvin inducted into NHL Hall of Fame. 2006 - At Camden Yards, Baltimore Orioles player Jay Gibbons hits a foul ball that hits wife Laura in the rib cage. 2006 - In Milwaukee’s Miller Park, Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hits his 734th career homer surpassing Hank Aaron and establishing a new all-time National League home run record. Sunday 1919 - Babe Ruth sets season homer mark at age 28 off of New York Yankees’ player Bob Shawkey. 1922 - Roger Hornsby sets the National League baseball home run mark at 42. 1927 - NHL’s Toronto St. Patricks hockey team becomes the Toronto Maple Leafs. 1927 - New York Yankees set record of 106 Major League Baseball victories. 1930 - Portsmouth beats Brooklyn in first NFL game played under floodlights. 1934 – 2,500 fans see Babe Ruth’s farewell New York Yankees’ appearance at Yankee Stadium. 1938 - Don Budge becomes first tennis player to win a grand slam. 1940 - Jimmy Foxx hits his 500th career home run. 1957 - Brooklyn Dodgers play last game at Ebbets Field, defeat Pittsburgh Pirates 2-0. 1972 - Jack Tatum, Oakland Raiders’ player, returns a fumble a record 104 yards against Green Bay Packers. 1972 - New York Jets’ Joe Namath passes for six touchdowns versus Baltimore Colts (44-34). 1974 - Al Kaline gets his 3,000th career 1977 - Ken Hinton of CFL’s British Columbia Lions returns a punt 130 yards. 1978 - Ron Guidry beats Cleveland Indians 4-0, raising his record to 23-3 ERA 1.74. 1985 - Montreal Expos’ Andre Dawson is ninth to get six RBIs in an inning (5th). 1988 - Canada’s Ben Johnson runs 100m in 9.79 seconds to win the Olympic gold medal in Seoul, South Korea. 1988 - Jackie Joyner-Kersee of USA sets the heptathlon woman’s record (7,291). 1993 - The International Olympic Committee selects Sydney, Australia to be the site of the 2000 Summer Olympics.