Events in Sports History in 1915

  • Jan 11 Jacob Ruppert and Colonel Tillinghast Huston purchase the New York Yankees for $460,000, Ruppert pays his portion in cash
  • Mar 13 Brooklyn Robins manager Wilbert Robinson tries to catch a baseball dropped from an airplane, but the pilot substitutes a grapefruit
  • Mar 19 VI Summer (Modern) Olympic Games: IOC President Pierre de Coubertin writes to Associated Press indicating 1916 Berlin Games won't take place because of WWI
  • Mar 26 77th Grand National: legendary jockey Jack Anthony wins his second of 3 GN's aboard 100/8 bet Ally Sloper
  • Mar 26 Stanley Cup Final, Denman Arena, Vancouver, BC: Barney Stanley scores 5 goals as Vancouver Millionaires beat Ottawa Senators, 12-3 for a 3-0 sweep of first non-challenge series; Vancouver first PCHA champions

Willard vs Johnson

Apr 5 Jess Willard KOs Jack Johnson after 26 rounds to win the heavyweight boxing title in front of 25,000 fans at Oriental Park Racetrack in Havana, Cuba

Marquard's No-Hit Game

Apr 15 NY Giant Rube Marquard no-hits Bkln, 2-0

  • Apr 19 19th Boston Marathon won by Canadian Édouard Fabre in 2:31:41.2
  • Apr 22 NY Yankees don pinstripes & hat-in-the-ring logo for 1st time

Ruth's 1st MLB Home Run

May 6 Future Baseball Hall of Fame slugger Babe Ruth hits his first MLB home run; pitches 12 frames in Boston Red Sox 4-3 extra innings loss to New York Yankees

  • May 8 41st Kentucky Derby: Joe Notter aboard Regret wins in 2:05.4
  • May 17 40th Preakness: Douglas Hoffman aboard Rhine Maiden wins in 1:58
  • May 17 Cubs George "Zip" Zabel relieves with 2 outs in 1st & winds up with 4-3 19-inning win over Brooklyn in longest relief job ever
  • May 31 Indianapolis 500: Italian-born American driver Ralph DePalma accompanied by riding mechanic Louis Fontaine wins from Englishman Dario Resta
  • Jun 5 47th Belmont: George Byrne aboard The Finn wins in 2:18.6
  • Jun 13 US National Championship Women's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: American based Norwegian Molla Bjurstedt beats Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 for her first of 4 straight US singes titles
  • Jun 18 US Open Men's Golf, Baltusrol GC: 4-time US Amateur champion Jerome Travers captures his only Open title, 1 stroke ahead of runner-up Tom McNamara
  • Jun 23 Yanks get record 16 walks & 3 wild pitches beat A's Bruno Hass, 15-0

Sports History

Jul 29 Pirate Honus Wagner at 41, hits a grand slam HR

  • Aug 7 Dario Resta, driving a Peugeot, wins the first Champ Car race ever to average over 100mph at a 100-mile race in Chicago; average speed 101.8mph
  • Aug 18 Braves Field opens in Boston to see Braves beat St. Louis Cardinals, 3-1
  • Aug 20 Chicago White Sox obtain 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson from Cleveland for Robert Roth, Larry Chappell, Ed Klepfer & $31,500; Jackson involved in 'Black Sox Scandal' 1919
  • Aug 21 Australasian Championships Men's Tennis, Brisbane: Englishman Gordon Lowe beats Horace Rice of Australia 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-4
  • Aug 31 Chicago White Sox Jimmy Lavender no-hits NY Giants, 2-0
  • Sep 1 Jerome Travers establishes a US Amateur Golf Championship record by downing George Crump, 14 & 13, in a 1st-round match at the Country Club of Detroit in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan

US Men's Tennis Open

Sep 8 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: William Johnston beats Maurice McLoughlin 1-6, 6-0, 7-5, 10-8 in first US event held at West Side Tennis Club, Forest Hills, New York

  • Sep 22 Boston Red Sox ask Boston Braves for use of Braves Field (10,000+ capacity) for Baseball World Series against Philadelphia Phillies
  • Sep 29 Philadelphia Phillies clinch their 1st pennant
  • Sep 30 Red Sox clinch AL pennant by beating Detroit

Ty Cobb's Stealing Record

Oct 5 Detroit Tigers speedster Ty Cobb steals his 96th base of the season in 5-0 loss to Cleveland Indians; stands as MLB record until 1962 (Maury Wills, 104)

  • Oct 8 Phillies win their 1st & only World Series game before 1980, beating Red Sox, 3-1, with an 8th inning 2 run rally

President Attends the World Series

Oct 9 Woodrow Wilson becomes first US President to attend a World Series game

  • Oct 13 Baseball World Series: Boston Red Sox beat Philadelphia Phillies, 5-4 at the Baker Bowl to clinch series 4-1
  • Nov 20 CFL Grey Cup, Varsity Stadium, Toronto: Hamilton Tigers win 2nd title; beat Toronto Rowing Association, 13-7
  • Dec 22 Organized baseball and Federal League sign a peace treaty at Cincinnati; Federal Baseball League dissolves