TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
1911 — New York Polo Grounds grandstand and left field bleachers go up in flames.
1926 — At age 41, Walter Johnson pitches his 7th opening day shutout.
1927 — NHL Stanley Cup: Ottawa Senators beat Boston Bruins, in two games and two ties.
1933 — NHL Stanley Cup: New York Rangers beat Toronto Maple Leafs, three games to one.
1940 — Cornelius Warmerdam becomes the first man to pole vault 15 feet.
1940 — Stanley Cup: New York Rangers beat Toronto Maple Leafs, 4 games to 2.
1944 — NHL Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens sweep Chicago Blackhawks in four games.
1946 — Eddie Klepp, a white pitcher signed by defending Negro League champion Cleveland Buckeyes, is barred from field in Birmingham, Ala.
1954 — Baltimore Orioles’ first game, lose to Detroit Tigers in Detroit 3-0.
1957 — 11th NBA Championship: Boston Celtics beat St. Louis Hawks, 4 games to 3.
1962 — Stan Musial scores his 1,869th career run, a new National League record.
1963 — Pete Rose triples for his first major league base hit.
1969 — 33rd Golf Masters Championship: George Archer wins, shooting a 281.
1970 — 34th Golf Masters Championship: Billy Casper wins, shooting a 279.
1970 — Oakland Athletics use gold-coloured bases during the club’s home opener; Rules Committee subsequently bans this innovation.
1975 — 39th Golf Masters Championship: Jack Nicklaus wins, shooting a 276.
1978 — New York Yankees defeat Chicago White Sox 4-2 in home opener on Reggie Candy Bar Day; Jackson slugs a three-run home run in the first inning, and the field is showered.
1980 — 44th Golf Masters Championship: Seve Ballesteros wins, shooting a 275.
1980 — Soviet news agency TASS denounces U.S. boycott of the Moscow Summer Olympics.
1984 — On the same date he got his first major league hit 21-years earlier, Pete Rose of the Montreal Expos makes hits 4,000th hit. 1986 — 50th Golf Masters Championship: Jack Nicklaus wins, shooting a 279.
1986 — Boston Celtics end season with a 40-1 home win record.
1990 — The first sellout in Seattle Mariners’ history occurs when 54,597 fans attend the season opener at the Kingdome.
1997 — In Augusta, Ga., 21-yearold Eldrick (Tiger) Woods wins the 61st Golf Masters Tournament by a record 12 strokes (total 270; 18 under par), his first victory in one of golf’s four major championships, the greatest performance by a professional golfer in more than a century, and the youngest golfer to win the Masters.
1997 — Hartford Whalers last NHL game.
1997 — NHL Pittsburgh Penguins’ player Mario Lemieux’s last NHL regular game.
2008 — In Augusta, Ga., the final round of the U.S. Masters golf tournament is held. Trevor Immelman wins by three shots over Tiger Woods, with a score of 75, the first South African to win the U.S. Masters in 30 years.