Events in Sports History on August 31

  • 1881 1st US men's single tennis championships held at Newport, Rhode Island
  • 1891 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Newport R.I.: Defending champion Oliver Campbell beats Clarence Hobart 2-6, 7-5, 7-9, 6-1, 6-2; second of 3 straight titles
  • 1894 Phillies outfielder Billy Hamilton equals George Gore's MLB single game stolen bases record with 7 steals in 10-8 win vs Washington Senators in Philadelphia
  • 1900 Brooklyn pitcher Brickyard Kennedy walks 6 straight Philadelphia Phillies in 2nd inning of the Superbas' 9-4 loss at Washington Park; Kennedy still achieves his 4th 20-win season
  • 1903 New York Giants future Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Joe McGinnity wins his 3rd doubleheader of month, beating the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-1 and 9-2 at the Polo Grounds
  • 1904 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Newport, RI: Holcombe Ward beats William Clothier 10-8, 6-4, 9-7 for his lone major singles title
  • 1905 25th US National Championship Men's Tennis, Newport, RI: Beals Wright beats defending champion Holcombe Ward 6-2, 6-1, 11-9 for his lone major singles title
  • 1909 A. J. Reach Co. patents cork-centered baseball
  • 1909 Swedish runner Thure Johansson runs world record marathon (2:40:34.2) in Stockholm
  • 1913 Soccer club PSV forms in Eindhoven, Netherlands
  • 1915 Chicago White Sox Jimmy Lavender no-hits NY Giants, 2-0
  • 1918 Boston Red Sox, win earliest AL pennent ever (season ended Sept 2)

World Record 10,000m

1924 Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi runs world record 10,000m (30:06.2)

  • 1934 1st NFL Chicago All-Star Game: Chicago Bears 0, All-Stars 0 (79,432)
  • 1935 Chicago White Sox Vern Kennedy no-hits Cleveland Indians, 5-0
  • 1938 5th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: All-Stars 28, Washington 16 (74,250)
  • 1947 NY Giants set season record for HRs by a club 183 (en route to 221)

Baseball History

1950 Dodger Gil Hodges hits 4 HRs & a single in a game vs Braves

  • 1954 Cincinnati 1st baseman Ted Kluszewski hits 2 HRs in a 9-3 loss v Phillies at Connie Mack Stadium, Philadelphia; 1st Redleg to ever hit 40 MLB HRs, en route to season total 49
  • 1954 Indians beat Yanks 6-1 for record tying 26 wins in August (1931 A's)
  • 1959 48th Davis Cup: Australia beats USA in New York (3-2)

Baseball Record

1959 Sandy Koufax breaks Dizzy Dean's NL mark of 18 strikeouts in a game

  • 1960 US sweeps the medals in the shot put at the Rome Olympics; Bill Nieder wins gold with 19.68m, ahead of countrymen Parry O'Brien and Dallas Long
  • 1964 Ground is broken for Anaheim Stadium, future home of MLB California Angels
  • 1966 Referee Leo Horn whistles his last soccer match (Ajax-Bulgaria)
  • 1968 68th US Golf Amateur Championship won by Bruce Fleisher

Cricket History

1968 Garfield Sobers becomes the first cricketer to hit 6 sixes in one over

  • 1970 59th Davis Cup: US beats Germany in Cleveland (5-0); American 22nd title
  • 1971 Adrienne Beames runs female world record marathon (2:46:30)

World Record 200m Relay

1972 American 4 x 200m freestyle relay team of John Kinsella, Fred Tyler, Steve Genter & Mark Spitz swim a world record 7:35.78 to beat West Germany for the gold medal at the Munich Olympics

  • 1972 American super swimmer Mark Spitz wraps up the Olympic butterfly double with a world record 54.27 in the 100m in Munich, having already won the 200m in world record time 2:00.70
  • 1972 Australian swimmer Gail Neall with a world record 5:02.97 wins the 400m individual medley gold medal at the Munich Olympics
  • 1972 Finnish runner Lasse Viren runs Olympic and world record 10,000m (27:38.4)

Darling of Munich

1972 Soviet gymnast Olga Korbut wins balance beam & floor exercise gold medals at the Munich Olympics; follows gold in the teams all-round

Teen Prodigies Face Off

1979 In the battle of American teenage tennis prodigies, 16-year-old Tracy Austin beats 14-year-old Andrea Jaeger 6-2, 6-2 in the 2nd round at US Open

  • 1980 80th US Golf Amateur Championship won by Hal Sutton
  • 1981 Dirk Wellham scores 103 on Test Cricket debut, v England at Lord's
  • 1981 MLB Kansas City Royals fire manager Jim Frey, replace him with Dick Howser
  • 1984 Pinklon Thomas beats Tim Witherspoon in 12 for heavyweight boxing title

Sports History

1985 Ángel Cordero Jr. becomes 3rd jockey to ride horses earning over $100m

Sports History

1987 Curtis Strange sets golf's earning for year record ($697,385)

  • 1987 The Great Potato Incident: Minor league Williamsport Bills catcher Dave Bresnahan attempts to lure an opposing baserunner off third base using a potato carved to look like a baseball. Umpire calls runner safe, and the catcher is fined $50 and released by the team [1] [2]

Sports History

1990 Baseball outfielders Ken Griffey and Ken Griffey Jr. become the 1st father and son to play on same team (Seattle Mariners), the pair hit back-to-back singles in the first inning and both scored

  • 1990 Dennis Eckersley saves his 40th game of the season
  • 1991 Houston QB David Klingler sets NCAA record with 6 touchdown passes in the 2nd quarter as the Cougars clobbered Louisiana Tech 73-3
  • 1993 Minnesota Twins beat Cleveland Indians 5-4 in 22 innings

Sports History

1994 Pentium computer beats world chess champ Garry Kasparov

Sports History

1994 Thierry Henry makes his professional debut for Monaco in a 2–0 loss against Nice

Sports History

1997 Don Mattingly's #23 is retired by NY Yankees

  • 1997 Eddie George runs for 216 yards on 35 carries and scores a touchdown as the Oilers, playing their first NFL game in Tennessee, beat Oakland 24-21 in overtime at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis

Sports History

1999 Dino Ciccarelli retires from the NHL

Sports History

2003 The Tradition Senior Men's Golf, Reserve Vineyards & GC: Tom Watson wins his third of 6 Champions Tour majors by 1 stroke from Jim Ahern & Tom Kite

  • 2019 Minnesota Twins smash 6 HRs in 10-7 loss to the Tigers in Detroit; break MLB record by hitting 268th home run of the season

Appointment of Interest

2021 36-year old Cristiano Ronaldo is confirmed as a Manchester United player for a second time when his transfer from Juventus is ratified; Ronaldo left United in 2009 to join Real Madrid