Events in Sports History in 1928

Jan 2 14th Rose Bowl: Stanford beats Pittsburgh, 7-6

Borotra Beats Cummings

Jan 30 Australian Championships Men's Tennis: Frenchman Jean Borotra wins his only Australian title; beats Jack Cummings of Australia 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 5-7, 6-3

Jan 30 Australian Championships Women's Tennis, Sydney: Daphne Akhurst wins 3rd title; beats Esna Boyd 7-5, 6-2
Feb 11 II Winter Olympic Games open in St Moritz, Switzerland

Olympic Gold

Feb 13 Clas Thunberg of Finland wins his 4th Olympic gold medal when he dead-heats with Norway’s Bernt Evensen in the 500m speed skating at the St. Moritz Winter Games

Feb 13 Legendary Norwegian speed skater Ivar Ballangrud wins the first of 2 straight 5,000m Olympic gold medals when he beats Julius Skutnabb of Finland by 9 seconds in St. Moritz
Feb 14 Clas Thunberg of Finland wins his 2nd gold medal of the Games and 5th career title when he takes out the 1,500m speed skating at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics
Feb 14 Per-Erik Hedlund leads a Swedish sweep of the medals in the 50k cross-country at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; Gustaf Jonsson & Volgar Andersson take the minor medals
Feb 17 American brothers, Jennison and John Heaton fight out the top placings in the cresta (now known as skeleton) at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; Jennison takes the gold by 1.0s
Feb 17 Johan Grøttumsbråten leads a Norwegian sweep of the medals in the 18k cross country at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; he also wins the Nordic combined gold the following day
Feb 18 Johan Grøttumsbråten of Norway wins the Nordic combined gold at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; doubles up with the 18k cross country gold the previous day
Feb 18 Norway goes 1-2 in the ski jumping at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics with Alf Andersen taking gold ahead of Sigmund Ruud

Olympic Gold

Feb 18 Sonja Henie of Norway wins the women’s figure skating gold medal at the St. Moritz Winter Olympic Games; her first of 3 consecutive titles in the event

Feb 18 USA 2 beats USA 1 by 0.5s for the 5-man bobsleigh gold medal at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; Germany 2 takes bronze
Feb 19 Canada retains the Olympic ice hockey title when they rout Switzerland, 13-0 in the final round in St. Moritz; Canadian left-wing Dave Trottier top scores with 15 points
Feb 19 Gillis Grafström of Sweden wins his 3rd consecutive Olympic men’s figure skating gold medal at St. Moritz; one of only 2 athletes to win gold at both Winter & Summer Games (won figure skating Antwerp 1920)
Feb 19 II Winter Olympic Games close at St Moritz, Switzerland
Feb 19 World champion French team Andrée Joly and Pierre Brunet win the Olympic pairs figure skating gold medal at the St. Moritz Winter Games; the couple marry in 1929 and take 2nd straight gold in 1932

Sports History

Mar 27 US Ladies' Figure Skating championship won by Maribel Vinson

Mar 30 87th Grand National: Mr. William Dutton aboard 100/1 long-shot Tipperary Tim wins as all of the 41 other starters fall during the race
Apr 7 44-year old NY Rangers GM Lester Patrick replaces his injured goaltender in a Stanley Cup game and beats Montreal Maroons, 2-1 in OT; Rangers go on to win series, 3-2
Apr 9 Top-Oss soccer team forms in Oss
Apr 14 Stanley Cup Final, Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec: In only their 2nd season in the NHL, New York Rangers beat Montreal Maroons, 2-1 for a 3-2 series win

Boston Marathon

Apr 16 32nd Boston Marathon won by Clarence DeMar in 2:37:07.8; back-to-back wins for his 6th race title

Apr 19 New York Yankees are out of 1st place for 1st time since May 1926
May 1 Rotterdam soccer club Black White '28 is established (2000 Women's KNVB Cup); declared bankrupt 2004
May 11 53rd Preakness: Raymond Sonny Workman aboard Victorian wins in 2:00.2

63rd British Open

May 11 63rd British Open Men's Golf Championship, Royal St George's GC: Walter Hagen wins 3rd of his 4 Open Championship titles, 2 strokes ahead of fellow American Gene Sarazen

May 19 54th Kentucky Derby: Chick Lang aboard Reigh Count wins in 2:10.4

Twelve Famers on One Field

May 24 Record 12 future Baseball Hall of Famers take the field as NY Yankees beat Philadelphia A's, 9-7 at Shibe Park; managers Miller Huggins & Connie Mack, umpire Tom Connolly also HOF'ers

May 30 Indianapolis 500: Rookie driver Louis Meyer takes first of 3 career Indy victories after 20 lap duel with Tony Gulotta and Jimmy Gleason
May 31 Charlie Hallows scores his 1,000th run of Cricket season
Jun 4 French Championship Women's Tennis: Helen Wills beats England's Eileen Bennett 6-1, 6-2 for her first of 4 French singles titles

Cochet French Champion

Jun 4 French Championships Men's Tennis: Henri Cochet wins his 2nd of 4 home titles; beats countryman René Lacoste 5-7, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3

60th Belmont

Jun 9 60th Belmont: Clarence Kummer aboard Vito wins in 2:33.2

Gehrig Collects 14 Bases

Jun 12 New York Yankees future Baseball Hall of Fame first baseman Lou Gehrig collects 14 total bases with 2 triples and 2 home runs in a 15-7 win over Chicago White Sox

Cobb's Record Steal

Jun 15 Philadelphia Athletics baseball star Ty Cobb, steals home for a record 54th time

Jun 23 Commencement of West Indies cricket's first ever Test match; England go on to win by an innings and 58 runs at Lord's

32nd Men's Opens

Jun 24 US Open Men's Golf, Olympia Fields CC: Johnny Farrell defeats amateur Bobby Jones by 1 stroke in a 36-hole playoff to win his only major title

Jun 25 NY Giants future Baseball HOF third baseman Freddie Lindstrom ties record of 9 hits in a doubleheader in 12-4 & 8-2 wins over Philadelphia Phillies at the Baker Bowl
Jul 6 Wimbledon Men's Tennis: In an all-French final René Lacoste beats defending champion Henri Cochet 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
Jul 7 American Edward Hamm sets then long jump world record at 25' 11" at Cambridge, Massachusetts
Jul 7 Wimbledon Women's Tennis: Helen Moody wins 2nd of 4 consecutive Wimbledon singles titles beating Lilí Álvarez 6-2, 6-3
Jul 8 Phillies set record of errorless 25 inning doubleheader
Jul 12 1st televised tennis match
Jul 15 22nd Tour de France: Defending champion Nicolas Frantz of Luxembourg holds yellow jersey from start to finish; his Alcyon team has all 3 podium positions
Jul 26 In only his second and final defense of his world heavyweight boxing title, Gene Tunney scores an 11-round TKO win over Tom Heeney at Yankee Stadium, NYC
Jul 26 New York Yankees score 11 runs in 12th inning, beating Tigers 12-1 in Detroit
Jul 27 Kent cricket leg-spinner Tich Freeman becomes only bowler ever to take 200 first-class wickets before end of July
Jul 28 IX Summer Olympic Games open in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Jul 29 23rd Davis Cup: France beats USA in Paris (4-1)
Jul 29 Cleveland Indians score 17 in 1st 2 inns to beat New York Yankees 24-6 at Dunn Field they also set a record with 24 singles in 1 game

International Lawn Tennis Challenge

Jul 29 International Lawn Tennis Challenge, Paris, France: Home team retains title as Henri Cochet beats American Bill Tilden 9-7, 8-6, 6-4 for 3-1 lead; ends 4-1

Jul 31 Halina Konopacka of Poland hurls discus world record 39.62m to win first gold medal in women's Olympic athletics at the Amsterdam Games; American Lillian Copeland and Ruth Sveberg of Sweden take minor medals
Jul 31 In the first women’s Olympic track event, American sprinter Elizabeth Robinson equals her own world record 12.2s to win 100m gold medal in Amsterdam; Canadians Fanny Rosenfeld & Ethel Smith dead-heat (12.3s)
Aug 1 Americans sweep medals at a rainy Olympic pole vault final in Amsterdam with Sabin Carr gold, from William Droegemuller and Charles McGinnis

Babe Ruth Hits HR #42

Aug 1 Babe Ruth hits home run #42 in the Yankees 12-1 win v St. Louis Browns, takes him 4 weeks ahead of his 1927 pace

Aug 3 Ray Barbuti wins 400m in 47.8 at the Amsterdam Olympics, the only individual track event won by an American at the Games

Sports History

Aug 11 NY Giants future Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Carl Hubbell registers first MLB victory, a 4-0 shutout of Philadelphia Phillies at the Polo Grounds, NYC

Aug 12 IX Summer Olympic Games close in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Aug 16 Belgian cyclist Georges Ronsse wins men's road race at UCI Road World Championships in Budapest, Hungary
Aug 25 Tri-City Rugby Football Union forms consisting of Moose Jaw, Regina & Winnipeg

US Open Women's Tennis

Aug 27 US National Championship Women's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Defending champion Helen Wills defeats fellow American Helen Jacobs 6–2, 6–1 for her 5th of 7 US singles crowns

Sep 3 Future Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder Ty Cobb records his 4,189th and final career hit, as a pinch hitter for Philadelphia A's in 6-1 loss v Washington Senators
Sep 9 Silvio Cator of Haiti, sets then long jump record at 26' ½"
Sep 11 Ty Cobb last hitting appearance, pops out against Yankees
Sep 15 Kent leg-spinner Alfred "Tich" Freeman takes 2-102 and 4-75 for Rest of England vs Lancashire to become the only bowler to take 300 wickets (304) in an English cricket season
Sep 15 St. Louis Cardinals set NL record of 18 men left-on-base; still beat Phillies, 8-6 at the Baker Bowl, Philadelphia
Sep 17 Boston Braves pitcher Ray Boggs hits 3 batters in 1 inning during his 4th and final major league appearance, in 15-5 loss to Chicago Cubs

US Men's Tennis Open

Sep 17 US National Championship Men's Tennis: Frenchman Henri Cochet wins his only US title; beats American Frank Hunter 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3

Sep 18 St. Louis beat Phillies, 4-2 at the Baker Bowl, Philadelphia; 20th Cards' win of 22 starts between the 2 clubs in 1928
Sep 28 NY Yanks clinch pennant #6
Sep 29 Yanks (17) Tigers (28) set 9 inning hit record (45)-Tigers win 19-10

Paavo Nurmi World Records

Oct 1 Finnish distance runner Paavo Nurmi runs 15k world record 46:49.6 and 10 miles 50:15.0 in Berlin, Germany

Runner nicknamed the Flying Finn Paavo Nurmi

PGA Championship

Oct 6 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Five Farms CC: Leo Diegel dominates Al Espinosa, 6 & 5 in the final to win the first of his 2 consecutive titles

Golfer and Two-Time PGA Champion Leo Diegel

Oct 7 Paavo Nurmi runs world record 10 miles (50:15.0)
Oct 9 Baseball World Series: NY Yankees beat St. Louis Cardinals, 7-3 at Sportsman's Park to become first to sweep consecutive World Series; Babe Ruth hits smashes 3 HRs for Yanks

Contract of Interest

Oct 15 Walter Johnson signs a 3-year contract to manage the Senators

Sports History

Oct 16 Mickey Cochrane wins AL MVP honors, edging Heinie Manush by 2 points

Cricket History

Nov 1 Australian cricket batting prodigy Don Bradman scores 133 not out in NSW 2nd innings v Queensland in Brisbane; follows his 131 in the Blues' 1st innings

Boston Gardens

Nov 20 Boston Gardens opens, Montreal Canadiens beat Boston Bruins, 1-0

Nov 30 Australian cricket legend Don Bradman makes an inauspicious Test debut; scores 18 & 1 vs England in 1st Test in Brisbane; dropped to 12th man for 2nd Test
Dec 1 CFL Grey Cup, AAA Grounds, Hamilton: Hamilton Tigers win 3rd Cup with 30-0 shutout of Regina Roughriders
Dec 1 National League President John Heydler first to propose a baseball rule change calling for a 10th man, or 'designated hitter', to bat in place of the pitcher; ironically, the NL vote in favour of proposal, but the American League turn it down