Today In Sports History 4/6

Our past has shaped present by many things in history including sports, here is how sports marked our history.

Baseball

1973 – Roberto Clemente Day, Pittsburgh Pirates retire his number.
1973 – New York Yankees’ Ron Blomberg becomes first designated hitter, he walks.
1974 – New York Yankees’ first home game at Shea Stadium, beat Cleveland Indians 6-1.
1977 – Kingdome opens, Seattle Mariners’ first game, loses to California Angels 7-0.
1982 – Largest crowd ever to see a baseball game in Minnesota: 52,279.
1982 – A blizzard unprecedented in size for April dumps 1-2 feet of snow on the northeastern U.S., closing schools and businesses, snarling traffic, and canceling several major league baseball games.
1992 – Oriole Park at Camden Yards opens, Baltimore Orioles beat Cleveland Indians 2-0.
1993 – Florida Marlins first loss ever (4-2 to Los Angeles Dodgers).
1994 – First scheduled Cleveland Indians night game at Jacobs Field is rained out.
1996 – Albert Belle shows off his arm by hitting Sports Illustrated photographer Tony Tomsic in the hand prior to a game.

Basketball

1935 – H Levitt sinks 499 basketball free throws, misses and sinks 371 more.
1992 – 54th NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: Duke beats Michigan 71-51.
2009 – North Carolina Tar Heels overwhelms Michigan State Spartans 89-72 in the final of the NCAA Tournament.

Boxing

1893 – Andy Bowen and Jack Burke box 7 hours 19 minutes to no decision in Saint Louis (111 rounds, longest bout in boxing history).
1900 – James J Jeffries knocks out Jack Finnegan in one round for heavyweight boxing title.
1987 – Sugar Ray Leonard upsets Marvelous Marvin Hagler.

Golf

1936 – Third Golf Masters Championship: Horton Smith wins, shooting a 285.
1941 – 8th Golf Masters Championship: Craig Wood wins, shooting a 280.
1947 – 11th Golf Masters Championship: Jimmy Demaret wins his second Masters golf tournament, shooting a 281.
1952 – 16th Golf Masters Championship: Sam Snead wins his second Masters golf tournament, shooting a 286.
1958 – Arnold Palmer wins first major golf tournament-the Masters.
1968 – Firestone World Tournament of Champions won by Dave Davis.
1980 – 9th Colgate Dinah Shore Golf Championship won by Donna Caponi Young.
1986 – 15th Nabisco Dinah Shore Golf Championship won by Pat Bradley.
1997 – 9th Seniors Golf Tradition: Gil Morgan wins.
1997 – Annika Sorenstam wins LPGA Longs Drugs Challenge.
1997 – Brad Faxon wins Freeport-McDermott Golf Classic.

Hockey

1926 – NHL Stanley Cup: Montréal Maroons beat Victoria Cougars (WHL), three games to 1.
1954 – NHL’s Montreal Canadiens score three goals in 56 seconds in playoff game against Detroit Red Wings.
1974 – Firestone World Tournament of Champions won by Earl Anthony 11/16.
1975 – Fastest hat trick by a Washington Capitals’ player: 3 minutes 26 seconds (Stan Gilbertson).
1980 – Gordie Howe completes a record 26th hockey season.
1988 – New Jersey Devils’ first playoff game; lose to New York Islanders 4-3 (overtime) in first round.

Olympics

1896 – First modern Olympic games begin in Athens, Greece, as the Games of the I Olympiad are staged; 60,000 spectators welcome 280 athletes from 13 nations to the international competition of 43 events. James Connolly of the USA wins first Olympic gold medal in modern history.

Soccer

1991 – Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona suspended for 15 months by Italian League for testing positive for cocaine use.
1996 – Major League Soccer kicks off in the USA in front of an overflow crowd of 31,683 packed in Spartan Stadium to witness the historic first game. San Jose Clash forward Eric Wynalda scores the league’s first goal in a 1-0 victory over D. C. United.