Events in Sports History on September 7

  • 1880 Geo Ligowsky patents device to throw clay pigeons for trapshooters

Corbett KOs Sullivan

1892 James Corbett KOs 4 to 1 favourite and defending champion John L. Sullivan in 21 rounds at the Olympic Club, New Orleans for world heavyweight boxing title; Sullivan's only defeat and his last fight

  • 1896 A. H. Whiting wins the 1st automobile race held on a closed-circuit track in Cranston, Rhode Island
  • 1897 George Davis (Giants) HR off Sport McAllister (Spiders) in DH
  • 1903 Federation of American Motorcyclists organized in NY
  • 1923 Boston Red Sox Howard Ehmke no-hits Philadelphia A's, 4-0
  • 1932 Earl Grace, ends NL catcher record streak of 110 cons errorless games

US Men's Tennis Open

1941 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: 1939 champion Bobby Riggs beats Frank Kovacs 5-7, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3

  • 1941 US National Championship Women's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Sarah Palfrey Cooke beats fellow American Pauline Betz Addie 7-5, 6-2; sweeps all 3 women's titles
  • 1942 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: American Ted Schroeder wins his first of 2 Grand Slam events; beats countryman Frank Parker 8-6, 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 6-2

US Open Women's Tennis

1942 US National Championship Women's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Pauline Betz beats fellow American Louise Brough Clapp 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 for her first of 3 straight US singles titles

F1 World Champion

1952 Alberto Ascari of Italy in a Ferrari wins Formula 1 World Drivers Championship with victory in season ending Italian Grand Prix at Monza; wins title by 12 points from countryman Giuseppe Farina

  • 1952 NY Yankees Johnny Mize's pinch-hit grand slam gives Yanks a 5-1 win at Washington, giving him a HR in all 15 major league parks
  • 1952 Outfielder Don Grate throws a baseball a record 434'1" (Tenn)

Baseball Record

1953 Roy Campanella sets catcher record of 125 (en route to 142) RBIs

US Men's Tennis Open

1953 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Tony Trabert beats fellow American Vic Seixas 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 to win his first of 5 major titles

US Open Women's Tennis

1953 US National Championship Women's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: In an all-American final Maureen Connolly becomes first female to achieve a Grand Slam; beats Doris Hart 6-2, 6-4

Baseball History

1955 New York Yankee Whitey Ford becomes 5th MLB pitcher to hurl consecutive 1 hitters

US Men's Tennis Open

1958 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Ashley Cooper outlasts fellow Australian Mal Anderson 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 10-8, 8-6 for his 3rd Grand Slam event win of the year

US Open Women's Tennis

1958 US National Championship Women's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Defending champion Althea Gibson beats Darlene Hard 3-6, 6-1, 6-2

  • 1960 American weightlifter Charles Vinci wins 2nd consecutive bantamweight gold medal at the Rome Olympics with world-record equalling 3-lift (snatch, clean & jerk, overhead press) total of 345.0 kilograms
  • 1960 Danish yachtsman Paul Elvstrøm wins the Finn class at the Rome Olympics; his 4th straight Olympic gold medal in the category
  • 1960 Future Constantine II, last King of Greece, wins Dragon class sailing gold medal at the Rome Olympics
  • 1960 Japan wins the men's gymnastics teams combined exercises gold for the first of 5 consecutive Olympics at the Rome Games; beats Soviet Union by just 2.5 points
  • 1960 Ljudmila Shevcova runs female olympic record 800m (2:04.3)

Olympic Gold

1960 US sweeps the medals in the men's discus at the Rome Olympics; Al Oerter wins his 2nd of 4 career discus gold ahead of fellow Americans Rink Babka and Dick Cochran

US Open Women's Tennis

1968 US Open Women's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: England's Virginia Wade wins first Open era US singles title; beats Billie Jean King 6-4, 6-2

F1 World Champion

1969 Scottish Matra-Ford driver Jackie Stewart wins the Italian Grand Prix at Monza to clinch his first Formula 1 World Drivers Championship; his 6th F1 win of the season

  • 1970 White Sox use record 41 players in doubleheader & lose both games
  • 1972 American athletes Vincent Matthews & Wayne Collett finish 1-2 in 400m at the Munich Olympics; acted casually on the medal stand, did not face the flag during anthem; banned from the Olympics for life
  • 1972 American Rod Milburn with a world record 13.24 wins the 110m hurdles gold medal at the Munich Olympics; just 0.10 seconds ahead of Frenchman Guy Drut
  • 1972 East German sprinter Renate Stecher runs a world record equalling 22.40 in the 200m final to repeat her 100m win over Australia's Raelene Boyle at the Munich Olympics
  • 1972 Future world professional cycling road race champion Hennie Kuiper of the Netherlands wins the road race gold medal at the Munich Olympics in 4:14:37
  • 1972 Nadezhda Chizhova of the Soviet Union throws a world record 21.03m to win the women's shot put at the Munich Olympics
  • 1973 Mike Storen becomes American Basketball Association's 4th commissioner

US Open Women's Tennis

1974 US Open Women's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Billie Jean King wins her 4th and final US singles title; beats Evonne Goolagong Cawley of Australia 3-6, 6-3, 7-5

  • 1975 Cincinnati Reds, win earliest NL division title

Cricket History

1975 Pakistani all-time great batsman Hanif Mohammad plays final day of 1st-class cricket for Pakistan International Airlines v Hyderabad at Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad

US Men's Tennis Open

1975 US Open Men's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Manuel Orantes of Spain wins his only Grand Slam title; upsets #1 seed Jimmy Connors 6-4, 6-3, 6-4; played on green Har-Tru clay surface

  • 1978 1st game of Boston Massacre, NY Yankees beat Red Sox, 15-3
  • 1979 The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) makes its debut.
  • 1980 Oakland A's pitch record 78th complete game of season

US Men's Tennis Open

1980 US Open Men's Tennis: In centenary men's singles final John McEnroe retains title; beats Björn Borg 7-6, 6-1, 6-7, 5-7, 6-4

  • 1981 Cleveland Browns' Brian Sipe sets club record with 57 pass attempts
  • 1981 West Tampa Fl defeats Rich Va, 6-4 to win American Legion World Series

Baseball Record

1984 Met Dwight Gooden's 11 strikeouts gives him NL rookie record 236

  • 1986 Cleveland Browns become 1st team in NFL history to have a play reviewed by instant replay, Chicago 41, Browns 31

Sports History

1986 Dan Marino throws his 100th career touchdown pass, the fastest QB in NFL history to do so

Hockey Hall of Fame

1988 Guy Lafleur, Tony Esposito & Brad Park inducted in NHL Hall of Fame

Sports History

1988 NY Daily News reports boxer Mike Tyson is seeing a psychiatrist

  • 1991 1st South African international competition in 25 years, gymnastics
  • 1991 Brigham Young University quarterback Ty Detmer passes NCAA record 11,606 yards
  • 1992 Baseball commissioner Faye Vincent resigns
  • 1992 Former owner and team president of the Milwaukee Brewers Bud Selig is appointed interim Commissioner of Major League Baseball; holds office until becoming official Commissioner in 1998
  • 1993 St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Mark Whiten hits 4 HRs & 12 RBIs in 15-2 win at Cincinnati Reds
  • 1994 Jingyi Le, Ying Shan, Ying Le and Bin Lu swimming 4x100 freestyle (3:37.91)

US Open Women's Tennis

1996 US Open Women's Tennis: Steffi Graf retains her title; beats Monica Seles 7-5 6-4 for her 5th and final US singles crown

  • 1997 US Open Men's Tennis: Patrick Rafter of Australia wins his first Grand Slam title; beats Canadian Greg Rusedski 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5

US Open Women's Tennis

2002 US Open Women's Tennis: Serena Williams wins second US title; beats older sister Venus Williams 6-4, 6-3

US Men's Tennis Open

2003 US Open Men's Tennis: American Andy Roddick wins his only career Grand Slam title; beats Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain 6-3, 7-6, 6-3

Cricket History

2004 Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid is named Player of the Year by the International Cricket Council

  • 2014 American brothers Bob and Mike Bryan beat Spanish pair Marcel Granollers & Marc López 6–3, 6–4 to win their Open era record 5th US men's tennis doubles title; extends record for most Grand Slam doubles titles (16)
  • 2014 US Open Women's Tennis: Serena Williams wins her 3rd straight US title; beats Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 6-3, 6-3
  • 2019 US Open Women's Tennis: Bianca Andreescu becomes first Canadian to win a Grand Slam singles title; stuns Serena Williams 6-2, 7-5
  • 2020 Tour Championship, Men's Golf, East Lake GC: Dustin Johnson wins by 3 strokes from Xander Schauffele & Justin Thomas; claims FedEx Cup, equal biggest winner's prize in golf, US$15m