Events in Sports History in 1931

  • Jan 1 17th Rose Bowl: Alabama beats Washington State, 24-0
  • Jan 3 Montreal Maroons centre Nels Stewart scores fastest 2 goals in NHL history with a pair 4 seconds apart in a 5-3 win over Boston Bruins at Montreal Arena
  • Jan 5 First woman to purchase a baseball team, Lucille Thomas buys Topeka Senators franchise in the Western League

Bradman's One Day Test Record

Jan 16 Australian cricket batting prodigy Don Bradman scores 223 v West Indies in 3rd Test in Brisbane; most runs scored by a player in a Test match in Australia in one day

  • Feb 4 National League adopts a deader baseball

Campbell's Blue Bird Record

Feb 5 Malcolm Campbell sets world land speed record speed of 246.08 mph driving his famous Blue Bird car at Daytona Beach, Florida

  • Feb 15 Spring training site of NY Yankees in St Petersburg is renamed Miller Huggins Field in honor of the team's late manager
  • Feb 21 Chicago White Sox & NY Giants play 1st exhibition night game
  • Feb 28 Canadian Rugby Union adopts the forward pass
  • Mar 4 Don Bradman is bowled for a rare first ball duck by Herman Griffith (4-50) on the last day of 5th cricket Test vs West Indies in Sydney; Windies win by 31 runs but lose series to Australia, 4-1

Crawford's 1st Australian Title

Mar 8 Australian Championships Men's Tennis: Jack Crawford wins 1st of 4 Australian titles; beats fellow Australian Harry Hopman 6-4, 6-2, 2-6, 6-1

  • Mar 8 Australian Championships Women's Tennis: In an all-Australian final Coral McInnes Buttsworth beats Marjorie Cox Crawford 1-6, 6-3, 6-4

Maribel Vinson US Champion

Mar 21 US Ladies' Figure Skating championship won by Maribel Vinson

  • Mar 27 90th Grand National: 9-year-old Grakle, at odds of 100/6 and ridden by jockey Bob Lyall wins by 1.5 lengths from 1929 winner Gregalach
  • Mar 27 John McGraw says night baseball will not catch on
  • Apr 1 Jackie Mitchell becomes the second female (after Lizzie Arlington 1898) in organised baseball when she signs with the Chattanooga Lookouts Baseball Club

Girl Strikes Out Ruth, Gehrig

Apr 2 17-year old girl Jackie Mitchell strikes out New York Yankees stars Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in an exhibition baseball game at Engel Stadium in Chattanooga, Tennessee

Chicago Wins Game Three

Apr 9 Stanley Cup Final Game Three: Chicago Black Hawks defeat Montreal Canadiens 3-2 (Canadians eventually win in best of five series)

McCarthy Yankees Debut

Apr 12 Joe McCarthy debuts as New York Yankees manager

  • Apr 14 Stanley Cup Final, Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec: Montreal Canadiens beat Chicago Blackhawks, 2-0 for a 3-2 series win; Canadiens' back-to-back Championships
  • Apr 20 35th Boston Marathon won by Jim Henigan in 2:46:45.8
  • Apr 20 British House of Commons agrees for sports play on Sunday

Lou Gehrig's Big Mistake

Apr 26 Lou Gehrig hits a HR but is called out for passing a runner, mistake costs him AL home run crown; he & Babe Ruth tie for season

  • Apr 28 Program for woman athletes approved for 1932 Olympics track & field

Ferrell No-Hits Browns

Apr 29 Cleveland Indians pitcher Wes Ferrell no-hits St Louis Browns, 9-0 at League Park II, Cleveland

  • May 9 56th Preakness: George Ellis aboard Mate wins in 1:59
  • May 10 Golf ball size hail falls in Burlington, New Jersey
  • May 16 57th Kentucky Derby: Charley Kurtsinger on Twenty Grand wins 2:01.8
  • May 22 1931 George End introduces “Genuine Diamondback Rattlesnake with Supreme Sauce” in a can, by his Florida Products Corporation; the popular item ceases production in 1944 after when the owner dies, a victim of one snake's revenge [1]
  • May 30 Indianapolis 500: Defending champion Billy Arnold leads for 155 laps before axle trouble; Louis Schneider leads final 34 laps accompanied by riding mechanic Jigger Johnson

Baseball History

May 30 Phillies Chuck Klein homers off Ben Cantwell (Braves) in both ends DH

French Open Women's Tennis

May 31 French Championship Women's Tennis: Cilly Aussem of Germany beats England's Betty Nuthall 8-6, 6-1 for the first of 2 major titles in 1931

French Open Men's Tennis

May 31 French Championships Men's Tennis: Jean Borotra wins his only home title; beats fellow Frenchman Christian Boussus 2-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-4

  • Jun 5 British Open Men's Golf, Carnoustie: American based Scotsman Tommy Armour outlasts José Jurado of Argentina by 1 stroke to win his only Open title and his 3rd and final major championship
  • Jun 6 NY Yankees turn triple-play but lose 7-5 to Cleveland Indians
  • Jun 13 63rd Belmont: Charley Kurtsinger aboard Twenty Grand wins in 2:29.6

Collins and Heilmann Retire

Jun 15 Eddie Collins & Harry Heilmann retire from baseball

Ryder Cup

Jun 27 Ryder Cup Golf, Scioto CC: Walter Hagen captains his 2nd victorious American team; US wins, 9-3

  • Jul 1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium (MLB: Indians, NFL: Browns, 78,189 capacity) opens; demolished 1996

Boxing Title Fight

Jul 3 German boxer Max Schmeling beats American Young Stribling by TKO in 15 in Cleveland in his first heavyweight title defense; first major fight broadcast live on national radio

  • Jul 3 Wimbledon Women's Tennis: In the first ever all-German final, Cilly Aussem beats Hilde Krahwinkel Sperling 6-2, 7-5
  • Jul 4 Wimbledon Men's Tennis: Sidney Wood Jr beats fellow American Frank Shields in a walkover - ankle injury
  • Jul 6 US Open Golf, Inverness Club, Ohio: Billy Burke wins by 1 stroke from George Von Elm in a second 36-hole playoff; longest playoff in tournament history
  • Jul 11 NY Giants beat Phillies 23-8
  • Jul 12 45,715 fans in 35,000 seat Sportsman Park St Louis, help cause many ground ruled doubles, 11 in 1st game & 21 in 2nd game for 32
  • Jul 23 France announces it can't afford to send a team to 1932 LA Olympics

World Record

Jul 24 Paavo Nurmi runs world record 2 mile (8:59.6)

  • Jul 26 25th Tour de France won by Antonin Magne of France

International Lawn Tennis Challenge

Jul 26 International Lawn Tennis Challenge, Paris, France: Henri Cochet beats Fred Perry 6-4, 1-6, 9-7, 6-3 to give France 3-2 win over Great Britain and 5th straight title

  • Jul 26 LPGA Western Open Women's Golf, Midlothian CC: June Beebe beats Mrs. Melvin Jones, 3 & 2 for golf's only major title
  • Jul 28 White Sox score 11 in 8th to beat Yankees 14-12
  • Aug 8 Washington Senators pitcher Bobby Burke no-hits Boston Red Sox, 5-0 at Griffith Stadium, Washington D. C.
  • Aug 13 Cincinnati Reds second baseman Tony Cuccinello goes 6 for 6 in 17-3 rout of Boston at Braves Field
  • Aug 15 Dutch Spakenburg football team forms
  • Aug 18 Lou Gehrig hitless in Detroit, his 1,000th consecutively played game

US Open Women's Tennis

Aug 20 US National Championship Women's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Helen Wills Moody beats Eileen Bennett Whittingstall of England 6-4, 6-1 for her 7th and final US singles title

  • Aug 21 Yankees slugger Babe Ruth becomes the first MLB player to hit 600 career home runs as NY defeats St. Louis Browns, 11-7 at Sportsman's Park
  • Sep 1 Future Baseball Hall of Fame 1st baseman Lou Gehrig hits his 3rd grand slam in 4 days & 6th homer in consecutive games in NY Yankees' 5-1 win v Boston Red Sox

Sports History

Sep 10 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Ellsworth Vines beats George Lott 7-9, 6-3, 9-7, 7-5 for his first of 2 straight US singles titles

  • Sep 16 St Louis Cards repeat as NL champions with a 6-3 win over Phillies
  • Sep 17 Boston Red Sox outfielder Earl Webb sets record with 65 en route to 67 MLB doubles
  • Sep 19 Lefty Grove wins his 30th game of season over White Sox, 2-1

PGA Championship

Sep 19 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Wannamoisett CC: 20-year-old American Tom Creavy beats Denny Shute, 2 & 1 in the final for his lone major title

  • Sep 20 MLB's Lou Gehrig's 4 RBIs break his old RBI mark of 175 en route to 184
  • Sep 24 Round-robin playoff among NYC's 3 major league teams, to raise money for unemployed, concludes with Brooklyn losing to both Giants & Yanks

Baseball History

Sep 27 Closest NL batting race ends; St. Louis Cardinals Chick Hafey's .34889 beats NY Giants Bill Terry .34861 [1]

  • Sep 27 MLB's Lou Gehrig completes his 6th straight season, playing in every game (.3486) Jim Bottomley (.3481)
  • Oct 1 Philadelphia Athletics seek 3rd straight World Series baseball title; beat St. Louis Cardinals, 6-2 in opener at Sportsman's Park; lose series, 4-3
  • Oct 10 Baseball World Series: St Louis Cardinals beat Philadelphia A's, 4-2 at Sportsman's Park for a 4 games to 3 series win
  • Oct 27 Chuhei Numbu of Japan, sets then long jump record at 26' 2½"
  • Oct 29 Lefty Grove, A's pitcher who won 31 games, is named the AL's MVP
  • Nov 12 Maple Leaf Gardens opens in Toronto - Chic Blackhawks beat Leafs, 2-1
  • Nov 28 Australian cricket master batsman Don Bradman scores 226 in his first Test appearance v South Africa in 1st Test in Brisbane
  • Dec 5 CFL Grey Cup, Molson Stadium, Montreal: Montreal AAA Winged Wheelers shutout Regina Roughriders, 22-0 for their first title
  • Dec 7 After scoring 226 in 1st Test in Brisbane, Don Bradman belts 219 for NSW against the visiting South Africa at the Sydney Cricket Ground
  • Dec 9 Baseball cuts squad from 25 to 23 players & NL continues to prohibit uniform numbers
  • Dec 13 National Football League Championship: Green Bay Packers (12-2-0) win 3rd straight first past the post title