Today In Sports History 4/20

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

Baseball

• 1903 – New York Highlanders play their first game, with Jack Chesbro losing 3-1 to Al Orth and Washington Nationals.
• 1910 – Cleveland Naps’ Addie Joss second no-hitter, beats Chicago White Sox, 1-0.
• 1912 – Fenway Park officially opens, Boston Red Sox beat New York Highlanders 7-6 in 11.
• 1912 – Tiger Stadium in Detroit opens, Detroit Tigers beat Cleveland Naps 6-5.
• 1916 – First National League game at Weeghman Park (Wrigley Field) in Chicago opens, Chicago Cubs beat Cincinnati Reds 7-6.
• 1920 – Philadelphia Phillies’ manager Gravvy Cravath puts himself in as pinch hitter, makes a three-run homer and beats New York Giants 3-0.
• 1946 – First televised baseball broadcast in Chicago, Illinois, Saint Louis Cardinals versus Chicago Cubs.
• 1950 – Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium opens – Orioles of International League.
• 1957 – New York Yankees’ Bill Skowron becomes third player to hit a ball out of Fenway Park.
• 1967 – New York Mets’ Tom Seaver’s first victory, beats Chicago Cubs, 6-1.
• 1982 – With a 4-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds, the Atlanta Braves record their 12th consecutive victory to establish a major-league record for the most victories from the beginning of the season.
• 1988 – Baltimore Orioles set worst record to start a season 0-14 (will go 0-21).
• 1988 – New York Yankees homerun 9,999 (Dave Winfield), 10,000 (Claudell Washington), and 10,001 (Jack Clark).
• 1990 – Eight and 2/3 inning perfect game pitched by Brian Holman of the Oakland Athletics is spoiled by a home run hit by Ken Philips.
• 1990 – Pete Rose pleads guilty to hiding $300,000 in income.
• 1997 – First baseball game in Hawaii, Saint Louis Cardinals beat San Diego Padres in doubleheader.
• 1997 – Chicago Cubs beat New York Mets ending National League worst opening, lost 14 straight games.
• 1997 – Mark McGwire is fourth to homerun on Detroit Tigers’ left field roof (others are Frank Howard, Harmon Killibrew, and Cecil Fielder).

Basketball

• 1986 – Michael Jordan sets NBA playoff record with 63 points in a game.
• 1996 – Chicago Bulls win record 72 games in a season.

Football

• 1944 – NFL legalizes coaching from the bench.
• 1945 – Cleveland Browns’ organization formed by Arthur “Mickey” McBride.

Golf

• 1958 – Louise Suggs wins LPGA Babe Didrikson-Zaharias Golf Open.
• 1969 – Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Lady Carling Golf Open.
• 1975 – 4th Colgate Dinah Shore Golf Championship won by Sandra Palmer.
• 1980 – Donna White wins LPGA Florida “Lady Citrus” Golf Tournament.
• 1997 – 58th PGA Seniors Golf Championship: Hale Irwin.
• 1997 – Karrie Webb wins LPGA Susan G Komen International.
• 1997 – Nick Price wins golf MCI Classic.
• 1997 – PGA Seniors Championship; Hale Irwin wins.

Hockey 

• 1958 – Montreal Canadians beat Boston Bruins 4 games to two for the Stanley Cup.
• 1988 – New Jersey Devils’ first playoff hat trick-Eric Broten.

Misc

• 1931 – British House of Commons agrees to allow sports play on Sunday.

Olympics

• 1920 – (to September 12) The Games of the VII Olympiad are held in Antwerp, Belgium.

Running

• 1903 – 7th Boston Marathon won by John Lorden of Massachusetts in 2:41:29.8.
• 1908 – 12th Boston Marathon won by Tom Morrissey of New York in 2:25:43.2.
• 1914 – 18th Boston Marathon won by James Duffy of Canada in 2:25:01.2.
• 1925 – 29th Boston Marathon won by Charles Mellor of Illinois in 2:33:00.6.
• 1931 – 35th Boston Marathon won by Jim Henigan of Massachusetts in 2:46:45.8.
• 1936 – 40th Boston Marathon won by Ellison Brown of Rhode Island in 2:33:40.8.
• 1946 – 50th Boston Marathon won by Stylianos Kyriakides of Greece in 2:29:27.
• 1953 – 57th Boston Marathon won by Keizo Yamada of Japan in 2:18:51.
• 1957 – 61st Boston Marathon won by John J Kelley of Connecticut in 2:20:05.
• 1959 – 63rd Boston Marathon won by Eino Oksanen of Finland in 2:22:42.
• 1964 – 68th Boston Marathon won by Aurele Vandendriessche of Belgium in 2:19:59.
• 1970 – 74th Boston Marathon won by Ron Hill of Great Britain in 2:10:30 (new US marathon record).
• 1981 – 85th Boston Marathon won by Toshihiko Seko of Japan in 2:09:26.
• 1981 – 10th Boston Women’s Marathon won by Allison Roe of New Zealand in 2:26:46.
• 1985 – Carlos Lopes runs world record marathon (2:07:12).
• 1987 – 16th Boston Women’s Marathon won by Rosa Mota of Portugal in 2:25:21.
• 1987 – 91st Boston Marathon won by Toshihiko Seko of Japan in 2:11:50.
• 1992 – 21st Boston Women’s Marathon won by Olga Markova of Russia in 2:23:43.
• 1992 – 96th Boston Marathon won by Ibrahim Hussein of Kenya in 2:08:14.
• 2009 – Ethiopia’s Deriba Merga wins the Boston Marathon (2:08:42), while Kenya’s Salina Kosgei wins the women’s race (2:32:16).