Events in Sports History in 1941

Louis vs. Burman

Jan 31 In his 13th title defense Joe Louis KOs Red Burman in the 5th round at Madison Square Garden, New York to retain NYSAC heavyweight boxing crown

Boxer and World Heavyweight Champion Joe Louis

Feb 17 In his 14th title defense Joe Louis KOs Gus Dorazio in the 2nd round at the Convention Center, Philadelphia to retain NYSAC heavyweight boxing crown
Feb 25 Boston Bruins set NHL record of 23-game unbeaten streak (15-0-8)
Mar 1 Former University of Notre Dame star fullback Elmer Layden is named first Commissioner of the NFL
Mar 1 Rangers' goalie Dave Kerr becomes the 5th goaltender in NHL history to record 200 career victories when New York wins, 3-1 over the Canadiens at Montreal
Mar 4 Chicago Black Hawks goaltender Sam LoPresti faces NHL record 83 shots in a 3-2 loss to the Bruins in Boston
Mar 8 1st baseball player drafted into WW II (Hugh Mulcahy, Phillies)
Mar 10 Lee MacPhail, Dodger GM predicts all players will wear batting helmets

Nagurski vs Steele

Mar 11 Bronko Nagurski regains the World Wrestling title from Ray Steele in Minnesota, after losing to him a year earlier

Hall of Fame American Football Player Bronko Nagurski

Mar 21 In a hard fought 15th title defense Joe Louis KOs Abe Simon in the 13th round at Olympia Stadium, Detroit to retain NYSAC heavyweight boxing crown

Glenn Miller's 1st Film

Mar 24 Glenn Miller begins work on his 1st movie "Sun Valley Serenade", starring Sonja Henie and John Payne, for 20th Century Fox

Big Band Leader and Jazz Composer Glenn Miller

Mar 24 LIU beats Ohio U 56-42 for NIT basketball championship
Mar 29 3rd NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Wisconsin beats Washington State, 39-34; Badgers' forward John Kotz is named tournament Most Outstanding Player

8th US Masters

Apr 6 8th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Craig Wood wins his first major title, 3 strokes ahead of runner-up Byron Nelson; Masters' first wire-to-wire champion

Apr 8 In his 4th title defense in 9 weeks Joe Louis beats Tony Musto by TKO in the 9th round at the Arena, Saint Louis, Missouri to retain NYSAC heavyweight boxing crown
Apr 9 LPGA Titleholders Championship Women's Golf, Augusta CC: Dorothy Kirby wins comfortably by 16 strokes ahead of Helen Sigel
Apr 9 PGA establishes Golf Hall of Fame
Apr 12 Stanley Cup Final, Olympia Stadium, Detroit, MI: Boston Bruins defeat Detroit Red Wings, 3-1 for a 4-0 series sweep
Apr 14 45th Boston Marathon won by Leslie Pawson in 2:30:38; his third victory in the event
Apr 20 Dodgers start to wear liners in their caps
Apr 26 A tradition begins, 1st organ at a baseball stadium (Chicago Cubs)

Sports History

May 2 MLB player Ted Williams' lowest average (.308) in year he hit over .400

67th Kentucky Derby

May 3 67th Kentucky Derby: Eddie Arcaro aboard Whirlaway, 1st leg of successful Triple Crown

May 10 66th Preakness: Eddie Arcaro wins aboard Whirlaway, 2nd leg of successful Triple Crown

DiMaggio Starts Streak

May 15 Joe DiMaggio starts 56-game hitting streak; Yanks lose 13-1

May 16 First US radio performance of Robert Russell Bennett's "Symphony in D for the Dodgers"
May 19 Germany occupiers in Holland forbid bicycle taxis
May 20 White Sox Taft Wright sets AL record of RBIs in 13 consecutive games
May 23 In his 20th World Heavyweight Boxing title defense Joe Louis knocks out Buddy Baer in round 1 at New York's Madison Square Garden
May 24 German athlete Rudolf Harbig runs world record 1,000m in 2:21.5 at Dresden, Germany
May 25 Ted Williams raises his batting average over .400 for 1st time in 1941
May 28 1st night game at Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C. (NY Yankees pip the Senators 6-5)

29th Indianapolis 500

May 30 29th Indianapolis 500: Floyd Davis/Mauri Rose win final 500 prior to United States involvement in WWII; final time one car would carry 2 drivers to victory at Indy

May 31 German occupiers forbids Jews access to beach & swimming pools
May 31 Nazi occupiers forbid Jews access to beaches and swimming pools in the Netherlands

Ott Hits 400th HR

Jun 1 Future Hall of Fame outfielder Mel Ott hits his 400th career HR and his 1,500th RBI to help New York Giants to a 3-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds

Jun 5 Sandor Szabo beats B Nagurski in St Louis, to become wrestling champ
Jun 6 MLB New York Giants use plastic batting helmets for 1st time
Jun 7 73rd Belmont: Eddie Arcaro wins aboard Whirlaway to claim first of 2 Triple Crowns

45th US Open

Jun 7 US Open Men's Golf, Colonial CC, Fort Worth: In sweltering heat, Craig Wood wins by 3 strokes ahead of runner-up Denny Shute

Jun 18 In his 18th world heavyweight title defence Joe Louis KOs Billy Conn in 13th round in front of a crowd of 54,487 at the Polo Grounds, NYC
Jul 1 NY outfielder Joe DiMaggio, on way to a record 56, ties Willie Keeler's 44 game MLB hit streak in a 9-2 win over Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium
Jul 2 Joe DiMaggio hits a 3-run homer off Boston's Dick Newsome to pass Willie Keeler's MLB record 44 game hitting streak

Sports History

Jul 6 New York Yankees team unveils a monument to former captain Lou Gehrig in center field at Yankee Stadium; the future Hall of Famer died the previous month

Jul 8 9th All Star Baseball Game: AL wins 7-5 at Briggs Stadium, Detroit
Jul 13 Eddie Mayo (LA-Pacific Coast League), spits in face of umpire Ray Snyder
Jul 13 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Cherry Hills CC: Vic Ghezzi wins his only major title over defending champion Byron Nelson in 38 holes
Jul 16 Joe Dimaggio goes 3 for 4, hitting in his 56th straight game
Jul 17 NY Yankee Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak ends in Cleveland
Jul 20 Yanks beat Tigers 12-6 in 17
Jul 25 41-year-old Lefty Grove wins his 300th and final MLB career game as the Boston Red Sox defeat Cleveland Indians, 10-6 at Fenway Park
Aug 1 NY Yankees pitcher Lefty Gomez sets MLB record for most walks in a shutout, issuing 11 in 9-0 win v St. Louis Browns
Aug 3 Joe DiMaggio goes 0-4 in Yankees 6-2 loss v St. Louis Browns, ending his on-base streak of 74 games, 2nd in MLB history
Aug 4 Brooklyn Dodgers catcher Mickey Owen becomes 1st MLB player to take 3 foul pop-ups in one inning (3rd) in 11-6 win v NY Giants
Aug 6 Detroit Tigers pitcher Al Benton collects 2 sacrifices in an inning, a MLB record; wins 11-2 vs Cleveland Indians
Aug 18 Phillies commit 8 errors in a baseball game

Sports History

Aug 19 Baseball umpire Jocko Conlan ejects Pirate manager Frankie Frisch for coming out on field holding an umbrella to get a rainout

Aug 28 8th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: Chicago Bears 37, All-Stars 13 (98,203)
Aug 30 St Louis Card Lon Warneke no-hits Cincinnati Reds, 2-0
Sep 4 New York Yankees clinch their 3rd straight AL pennant; beat the Red Sox, 6-3; earliest date in baseball history a team has captured a flag

US Men's Tennis Open

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

Tennis Player and Three-Time Major Champion Bobby Riggs

Sep 7 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

Sports History

Sep 17 Cards' Stan Musial makes his major league debut, going 2-for-4

Sep 25 Brooklyn Dodgers win their 1st pennant in 21 years
Sep 28 Phillies lose club record 111th game
Sep 28 Ted Williams ended the baseball season with .406 batting avg
Sep 29 Joe Louis TKOs Lou Nova in 6 for heavyweight boxing title
Sep 29 Million jam downtown Brooklyn to cheer NL champ Dodgers in a parade
Oct 5 Brooklyn Dodgers catcher Mickey Owen drops a 3rd strike and Tom Hendrick reaches 1st safely for Yankees for a famous Baseball World Series error; would have been last out, instead Yankees score 4 and win 7-4; win series, 4-1
Oct 6 Baseball World Series: NY Yankees beat Brooklyn Dodgers, 3-1 at Ebetts Field for a 4 games to 1 series win; Yankees 5th title in 6 years and 9th overall
Oct 19 1st woman jockey in North America, Anna Lee Wiley in Mexico
Nov 25 Lou Boudreau, 24, becomes Cleveland Indians player manager
Nov 26 Amateur American tennis stars Bobby Riggs and Frank Kovacs turn professional after being suspended by the US Lawn Tennis Association for undisclosed financial gain
Nov 27 New York Yankee Joe DiMaggio is named AL MVP, for the 2nd time
Nov 29 CFL Grey Cup, Varsity Stadium, Toronto: Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeat Ottawa Rough Riders, 18-16 for their 3rd Championship
Dec 2 New York Giants name Mel Ott as player-manager; replaces another future Baseball Hall of Famer Bill Terry, who heads Giants' farm system
Dec 9 7th Heisman Trophy Award: Bruce Smith, Minnesota (HB)

Australia Abandons Matches

Dec 11 Australian state cricket associations, South Australia, Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales decide at meetings with new Prime Minister John Curtin to abandon all interstate first class matches for the duration of WWII

Dec 11 NY Giants acquire future Baseball Hall of Fame first baseman Johnny Mize from Cardinals for 3 players & $50,000
Dec 14 1st NFL division playoff, Bears beat Packers 33-14
Dec 21 Chicago Bears Ray McLean makes last NFL drop kick for an extra point

Chicago Bears Beat NY Giants

Dec 21 National Football League Championship, Wrigley Field, Chicago: Chicago Bears beat New York Giants, 37-9; first team in NFL championship game era (since 1933) to win consecutive titles; Bears 5th title overall