Today In Sports History 4/18

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

Baseball

1899 – John McGraw, at age 36, makes managerial debut as Baltimore Orioles’ manager.
1918 – Cleveland Indians’ center fielder Tris Speaker turns an unassisted double play.
1923 – 74,000 (62,281 paid) on hand for opening of Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York, USA.
1946 – Jackie Robinson debuts as second baseman for the Montreal Royals.
1950 – First opening night-game, Saint Louis Cardinals beat Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-2.
1950 – New York Yankees win 15-10 after trailing Boston Red Sox 9-0 in 6th inning.
1958 – National League single-game attendance record of 78,682, San Francisco Giants lose to Los Angeles Dodgers 6-5, in Los Angeles, California.
1964 – Sandy Koufax is first to strike out the side on 9 pitches.
1977 – Baltimore Orioles’ Eddie Murray hits his first homerun.
1981 – A Minor League baseball game between the Rochester Red Wings and the Pawtucket Red Sox at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, becomes the longest professional baseball game in history: 8 hours and 25 minutes/33 innings (the 33rd inning is not played until June 23).
1982 – Atlanta Braves win record 11th straight opening game (beat Houston Astros).
1987 – Mike Schmidt hits 500th home run (vs. Robinson-Pittsburgh Pirates).
1991 – A sellout crowd of 42,191 watch the Chicago White Sox play their first game at new Comiskey Park and sees the home team get crushed by the Detroit Tigers, 16-0.

Basketball

1962 – 16th NBA Championship: Boston Celtics beat Los Angeles Lakers, 4 games to 3.
1968 – First ABA basketball championship begins.
1991 – John Stockton breaks his own NBA season assist record at 1,136.

Boxing

Football

Golf

1935 – General Sarazen’s double eagle on the 15th wins him his second Masters tournament of golf.
1954 – Louise Suggs wins LPGA Babe Didrikson-Zaharias Golf Open.
1971 – Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Raleigh Golf Classic.
1976 – Judy Rankin wins LPGA Karsten – Ping Golf Open.
1982 – Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA CPC Women’s Golf International.
1993 – 54th PGA Seniors Golf Championship: Tom Wargo.
1993 – Trish Johnson wins LPGA Atlanta Women’s Golf Championship.

Hockey

1942 – Stanley Cup: Toronto Maple Leafs beat Detroit Red Wings, 4 games to 3.
1959 – NHL Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens beat Toronto Maple Leafs, 4 games to 1.
1963 – Stanley Cup: Toronto Maple Leafs beat Detroit Red Wings, 4 games to 1.
1999 – “The Great One” Wayne Gretzky plays his final National Hockey League game.

Running

1944 – 48th Boston Marathon won by Gerard Coté of Canada in 2:31:50.4. This is his second straight and third career win.
1977 – 6th Boston Women’s Marathon won by Miki Gorman of California in 2:48:33.
1977 – 81st Boston Marathon won by Jerome Drayton of Canada in 2:14:46.
1983 – 12th Boston Women’s Marathon won by Joan Benoit Samuelson in 2:22:43.
1983 – 87th Boston Marathon won by Greg Meyer of Massachusetts in 2:09:00.
1988 – 17th Boston Women’s Marathon won by Rosa Mota of Portugal in 2:24:30.
1988 – 92nd Boston Marathon won by Ibrahim Hussein of Kenya in 2:08:43.
1994 – 23rd Boston Women’s Marathon won by Uta Pippig of Germany in 2:21:45.
1994 – 98th Boston Marathon won by Cosmas Ndeti of Kenya in 2:07:15.

Soccer