TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1863 — Football Association forms in England, standardizing soccer. 1869 — First American steeplechase horse race is held in Westchester, N.Y.

1887 — Detroit (National League) beats St. Louis (AA) 10 games to 5 in the World Series.

1911 — Philadelphia Athletics beat New York Giants, 4 games to two in 8th World Series.

1950 — Branch Rickey resigns as Brooklyn Dodgers’ president.

1960 — American League announces Minneapolis and Los Angeles to get teams in 1961.

1960 — American League’s Washington Senators move to become Minnesota Twins.

1974 — Cleveland Coliseum opens for NBA’s Cavaliers and MISL’s Crunch.

1980 — St. Louis Cardinals sack Baltimore Colts’ quarterbacks an NFL record-tying 12 times.

1981 — Los Angeles Dodgers beat New York Yankees, four games to two in 78th World Series.

1982 — Steve Carlton becomes first pitcher to win four Cy Young awards.

1993 — The Carolina Panthers become the NFL’s 29th franchise and the first expansion team since 1976.

1996 — The New York Yankees win their 23rd World Series with a 3-2 victory over the defending World champs Atlanta Braves in Game 6. John Wetteland is named Most Valuable Player of the series.

1997 — The Florida Marlins win Game 7 of the 1997 World Series against the Cleveland Indians 3-2 in 11 innings.

1998 — Catcher Mike Piazza signs the most lucrative contract in Major League Baseball history: over US$91 million for a seven-year deal. 2000 — The New York Yankees defeat the New York Mets in Game 5 of the 2000 World Series, 4-1, to win their 26th World Series title. This was the first matchup between the two crosstown rivals.

2005 — The Chicago White Sox of the American League defeat the Houston Astros of the National League in four games to win the World Series. This gives the team its first World Championship since 1917.

2005 — Chiba Lotte Marines win their first league championship in 31 years, defeating the Hanshin Tigers. Coach Bobby Valentine becomes the first foreign manager to win the Japan Series in the 70year history of Japanese baseball.

Brooklyn Dodgers’ president Branch Rickey, the four-time World Series champion and hall of fame member who was most famous for breaking the colour barrier changing baseball forever when he signed Jackie Robinson, above, to a contract, resigned as the team president and part owner, 68 years ago today.