- Jan 1 19th Orange Bowl: #9 Alabama beats #14 Syracuse, 61-6
- Jan 1 19th Sugar Bowl: #2 Georgia Tech beats #7 Mississippi, 24-7
- Jan 1 39th Rose Bowl: #5 Southern California beats #11 Wisconsin, 7-0
- Jan 2 NBA Baltimore Bullets begin a record 32 game road losing streak (12 games in 1952-53; 20 games in 1953-54) with a 73-66 defeat at the Indianapolis Olympians
- Jan 10 3rd NFL Pro Bowl, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum: National Conference beats American Conference, 27-7; MVP: Don Doll, Detroit Lions, DB
Hoover Declines Offer
Jan 11 J. Edgar Hoover declines 6 figure offer to become president of International Boxing Club
3rd NBA All-Star Game
Jan 13 3rd NBA All-Star Game, Allen County Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana: West beats East, 79-75; MVP: George Mikan, Minneapolis Lakers, C
Rosewall Defeats Rose
Jan 17 Australian Championships Men's Tennis: In an all-Australian final Ken Rosewall wins his first Grand Slam title; beats Mervyn Rose 6-0, 6-3, 6-4
Connolly Defeats Sampson
Jan 17 Australian Championships Women's Tennis: In an all-American final Maureen Connolly wins 1st leg of her Grand Slam; beats Julia Sampson 6-3, 6-2
Owens Athletic Commission Secretary
Jan 19 American track and field olympian Jesse Owens named Illinois Athletic Commission secretary
- Jan 22 1953 NFL Draft: Harry Babcock from University of Georgia first pick by San Francisco 49ers
- Jan 23 Future Australian cricket captain and coach Bobby Simpson makes his 1st-class debut for NSW at 16 years and 357 days
- Jan 23 NFL Dallas Texans become Baltimore Colts (now Indianapolis Colts)
- Jan 23 NFL's National & American conference become Eastern & Western conference
Retaliation Against Veeck
Jan 31 MLB New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, & Boston Red Sox retaliate against St. Louis Browns Bill Veeck for trying to relocate the team, scheduling the Browns to play afternoon games to avoid sharing TV revenues
Albright World Champion
Feb 10 Ladies Figure Skating Championship in Davos won by Tenley Albright USA
Sports History
Feb 16 Ted Williams safely crash-lands his damaged Panther jet, later awarded the Air medal
- Feb 17 DSB soccer team forms in Eindhoven (now PSV Eindhoven), Netherlands
- Feb 20 August A. Busch buys St. Louis Cardinals MLB club from Fred Saigh for $3.75 million; pledges not to move the team from St. Louis, Missouri
- Feb 20 US Court of Appeals rules that Organized Baseball is a sport & not a business, affirming the 25-year-old Supreme Court ruling
- Feb 21 Longest collegiate basketball game (6 OTs) Niagara beats Siena 88-81
Golf Tournament
Mar 1 American golfer Babe Zaharias wins a controversial Sarasota Women's Open by 7 strokes as playing partner Louise Suggs refuses to sign the scorecard after Zaharias given a beneficial ruling
Golf Tournament
Mar 15 LPGA Titleholders Championship Women's Golf, Augusta CC: Patty Berg wins her 5th Titleholders title by 9 strokes from Betsy Rawls
- Mar 15 West Germany loses in soccer to Netherlands, 2-1
- Mar 16 AL rejects St Louis Browns owner Bill Veeck's request to move his team to Baltimore
- Mar 17 Bill Veeck says he will sell his 80% of St Louis Browns for $2,475M
- Mar 18 15th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Indiana beats Kansas, 69-68; Jayhawks' center B. H. Born is named tournament Most Outstanding Player
- Mar 18 MLB National League approves Boston Braves move to Milwaukee (1st shift since 1903)
- Mar 21 England beats Scotland, 26-8 at Twickenham, London to clinch their 14th Five Nations Rugby Championship
- Mar 21 NBA record 106 fouls & 12 players foul out (Boston-Syracuse)
- Mar 28 107th Grand National: Bryan Marshall wins aboard Irish 8-year old Early Mist; first of 3 consecutive GN victories for trainer Vincent O'Brien
- Mar 28 US Ladies' Figure Skating championship won by Tenley Albright
Three West Indian Centuries
Apr 1 West Indian cricket batsmen Frank Worrell (237), Clyde Walcott (118) and Everton Weekes (109) all make centuries in 1st innings of drawn 5th Test v India in Kingston, Jamaica
- Apr 10 NBA Championship Finals, Minneapolis Auditorium, Minnesota, MN: Minneapolis Lakers beat NY Knicks, 91-84 for a 4-1 series victory; Lakers' 5th title in 6 years
17th US Masters
Apr 12 17th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Ben Hogan shatters the Masters scoring record by 5 strokes with a 274 (−14) to finish 5 strokes ahead of runner-up Ed Oliver; Hogan's second Masters
- Apr 13 1st game of Milwaukee Braves, they beat Cincinnati Reds 2-0
- Apr 16 Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Connie Ryan bats 6 from 6 in a 14-12 defeat against the Pirates at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh
- Apr 16 Stanley Cup Final, Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec: Montreal Canadiens beat Boston Bruins, 1-0 for a 4-1 series win
Sports History
Apr 17 Mickey Mantle hits a 565' (172 m) HR in Washington, D.C.'s Griffith Stadium
Marciano KOs Walcott
May 15 In his first world heavyweight title defense, Rocky Marciano KOs former champion Jersey Joe Walcott in the 1st round at Chicago Stadium
- May 16 Philadelphia Phillies Curt Simmons gives up a lead-off single, then retires next 27 in a row in 3-0 win over Braves at County Stadium in Milwaukee
- May 17 Yanks & Browns use record 41 players in a game
- May 22 Yankee Irv Noren hits into a triple-play, Yanks beat Wash 12-4
- May 23 78th Preakness: Eric Guerin aboard Native Dancer wins in 1:57.8
- May 25 Braves Max Surkont strikes out record 8 Reds in a row
Mount Everest Conquered
May 29 Edmund Hillary (NZ) and Tenzing Norgay (Nepal) are first to reach the summit of Mount Everest as part of a British Expedition
- May 30 1st major league network baseball game-Cleveland 7, Chicago 2
- May 30 French Championships Men's Tennis: Ken Rosewall of Australia wins his 2nd Grand Slam title, beating American Vic Seixas 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2
- May 30 French Championships Women's Tennis: Maureen Connolly beats fellow American Doris Hart 6-2, 6-4 for the 2nd leg of her Grand Slam
- May 30 Indianapolis 500: Labelled "Hottest 500" due to high temperatures, Bill Vukovich wins first of 2 consecutive Indy 500 victories; Carl Scarborough drops out of race, and later dies of heat prostration
- Jun 4 Pittsburgh pirates trade outfielder Ralph Kiner & catcher Joe Garagiola to Chicago Cubs
- Jun 11 Test Cricket debut of Alan Davidson at Trent Bridge
- Jun 13 85th Belmont: Eric Guerin aboard Native Dancer wins in 2:28.6
Cricket History
Jun 13 English Cricketer Alec Bedser takes 14-99 (7-55 & 7-44) vs Australia
World Record Marathon
Jun 13 Jim Peters runs world record marathon (2:18:40.2)
- Jun 13 US Open Men's Golf, Oakmont CC: Ben Hogan wins a record-tying 4th US Open title, 6 strokes ahead of runner-up Sam Snead
- Jun 14 Yanks sweep Indians 6-2, 3-0 before 74,708 win streak at 18 straight
- Jun 15 Browns end Yankees win streak at 18 & Browns 14-game losing streak
- Jun 15 NY Yankees first baseman Johnny Mize is 93rd MLB player to get 2,000 hits
- Jun 16 Despite Johnny Mize 2,000th hit, NY Yankees lose ending an 18 game winning streak and also ending St Louis Brown 14 game losing streak
- Jun 17 Most runs scored in 1 inning (17 by Red Sox)
- Jun 18 Red Sox rookie Eugene Stephens is 1st player in AL history to register 3 hits in an inning as Boston scores 17 runs in the 7th during 23-3 rout of visiting Detroit Tigers at Fenway Park, Boston
- Jun 20 LPGA Western Golf Open Women's Golf, Capital City Club: Louise Suggs defeats Patty Berg, 6 & 5 in the final
- Jun 28 US Open Women's Golf, CC of Rochester: Betsy Rawls wins an 18-hole Sunday playoff by 6 strokes over runner-up Jackie Pung
Wimbledon Men's Tennis
Jul 3 Wimbledon Men's Tennis: American Vic Seixas wins his only Wimbledon singles title with a 9-7, 6-3, 6-4 over Dane Kurt Nielsen
- Jul 4 Wimbledon Women's Tennis: Maureen Connolly wins 3rd leg of her Grand Slam beating fellow American Doris Hart 8-6, 7-5
- Jul 5 Phillies pitcher Robin Roberts hurls his 28th consecutive MLB complete game in a 2-0 win over Pittsburgh
- Jul 7 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Birmingham CC: Walter Burkemo wins 2 & 1 from Felize Torza in the Tuesday final; his lone major title
- Jul 9 Phillies Robin Roberts ends streak of 28 consecutive complete games
- Jul 10 British Open Men's Golf, Carnoustie: In his only Open Championship appearance, Ben Hogan prevails by 4 strokes over Dai Rees, Antonio Cerdá, Peter Thomson, Frank Stranahan
- Jul 14 20th All Star Baseball Game: NL wins 5-1 at Crosley Field, Cincinnati
- Jul 26 Tour de France: Louison Bobet of France wins first of 3 consecutive Tour general classification events
- Jul 27 Dizzy Dean, Al Simmons "Chief" Bender, Bobby Wallace, Harry Wright, Ed Barrow, Bill Klem and Tom Connolly inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame
- Aug 1 Boston Red Sox pitcher Ben Flowers sets then MLB record of 8 consecutive games in relief
- Aug 4 New York Yankees hurler Vic Raschi sets MLB record for a pitcher by driving in 7 runs in a 15-0 win v Detroit
- Aug 6 Future Baseball Hall of Fame slugger Ted Williams returns to Red Sox from military service in Korea; ends abbreviated season with .407 batting average
- Aug 12 Ann Davison arrives in Miami in her 23 foot boat Felicity Ann, becoming the 1st woman to sail solo across the Atlantic
- Aug 14 20th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: Detroit 24, All-Stars 10 (93,818)
- Aug 19 England regains cricket Ashes from Australia after winning series 1-0
- Aug 21 Baseball player representatives Ralph Kiner (NL) & Allie Reynolds (AL) hire labor leader John Norman Lewis at $15,000 to give legal advice to players in negotiations with team owners
- Aug 23 Cyclist Arie Van Vliet becomes world champion sprinter
- Aug 23 Former Boston Braves pitcher Phil Paine becomes first major leaguer to play in Japan; on military service with U.S. Air Force plays first of 9 games for Nishitetsu Lions
F1 World Champion
Aug 23 Italian Ferrari driver Alberto Ascari clinches his second Formula 1 World Drivers Championship by winning Swiss Grand Prix at Bremgarten
- Aug 23 Phil Grate sets record for throwing a baseball (443'3")
- Sep 1 Buck Baker takes lead with 10 laps remaining to win the Southern 500 at Darlington in the most competitive event in NASCAR Grand National history; four drivers swap lead a record 35 times
Baseball Record
Sep 6 Roy Campanella sets record for HRs by a catcher at 38
- Sep 7 Roy Campanella sets catcher record of 125 (en route to 142) RBIs
US Men's Tennis Open
Sep 7 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
- Sep 7 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
- Sep 12 Brooklyn Dodgers clinch NL pennant earlier than any other team, defeating Milwaukee Braves 5-2. Brooklyn finishes season with record of 105-49.
F1 World Champion
Sep 13 Italian Ferrari driver Alberto Ascari retains Formula 1 World Drivers Championship although forced to retire (engine trouble) in season ending Italian Grand Prix at Monza; wins title by 6.5 points from Juan Manuel Fangio
Sports History
Sep 17 Ernie Banks becomes Chicago Cubs 1st black player
- Sep 20 Cubs Ernie Banks hits his 1st major league HR
- Sep 24 Rocky Marciano TKOs home town favourite Roland LaStarza in 11 at NYC's Polo Grounds to retain his world heavyweight boxing title
- Sep 26 Shortstop Billy Hunter smashes final home run in St Louis Browns history during a 6-3 loss to Chicago White Sox at Busch Stadium; franchise moves to Baltimore next season
- Sep 27 St Louis Browns play last game in Sportsman's Park, losing 100th game
- Oct 1 Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Carl Erskine sets a Baseball World Series record with 14 strikeouts in a 3-2 Game 3 win against NY Yankees at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn
- Oct 3 7th NHL All-Star Game, Montreal Forum, Montreal, QC: All-Stars beat Montreal Canadiens, 3-1
- Oct 3 NY Yankees legendary center fielder Mickey Mantle hits a grand slam off Russ Meyer; Bronx Bombers hold on to win, 11-7 v Brooklyn Dodgers in Game 5 of Baseball World Series; NY wins series, 4-2
- Oct 3 Ryder Cup Golf, Wentworth: San Snead wins 6 of 7 matches to lead US to 6th consecutive Cup win, 6½-5½ over Great Britain
World Series
Oct 4 50th Baseball World Series: NY Yankees beat Brooklyn Dodgers, 4-3 at Yankee Stadium for 4-2 series win; Yankees record 5th consecutive WS; MVP: NY 2B Billy Martin
- Oct 4 British runner Jim Peters sets world marathon record 2:18:34.8 in the Turku Marathon in Finland
- Oct 7 Bill Veeck tells St. Louis Browns stockholders he faces bankruptcy unless they drop their suit to block his move to Baltimore, they comply
Sports History
Oct 8 Birmingham, Alabama, bars Jackie Robinson's Negro-White All-Stars from playing there Robinson gives in & drops white players from his group
NFL Record
Oct 25 Cleveland Browns' QB Otto Graham sets club record with 4 fumbles
- Oct 28 Bud Grant of CFL Winnipeg Blue Bombers intercepts 5 passes (record)
- Oct 28 Red Barber, resigns as Dodger sportscaster to join Yankees
- Nov 1 Czech long distance runner Emile Zatopek sets world 10,000m record 29:01.6 & 6 mile mark 28:08.4 in Stara Boleslav, Czech Republic
- Nov 1 Herb Thomas, driving his own No. 92 Hudson Hornet wraps up the NASCAR Grand National Championship with 14th-place in 100-mile finale at Atlanta's Lakewood Speedway; Thomas first repeat champion of the series
- Nov 3 MLB Rules Committee restores the sacrifice fly rule, eliminated in 1939; rule says a sacrifice fly is not charged as a time at bat
- Nov 4 New baseball balk rule gives the batter option of accepting the outcome of the pitch or the balk
- Nov 9 Supreme Court rules Major League baseball exempt from anti-trust laws
- Nov 12 US district Judge Grim, rules NFL can black out TV home games
- Nov 17 St Louis Browns officially become the Baltimore Baseball Club Inc
- Nov 19 US Supreme Court rules (7-2) baseball is a sport not a business
Dodgers Sign Alston
Nov 24 Brooklyn Dodgers sign Walter Alston to a 1-year pact as manager for 1954; he signs 23 one-year agreements until his retirement after 1976 season
- Nov 25 Hungary beats England in soccer match, 6-3
- Nov 27 Indians 3rd baseman Al Rosen is unanimously named AL's MVP
- Nov 28 18th Iron Bowl: Alabama beats Auburn 10-7 in Birmingham
- Nov 28 CFL Grey Cup, Varsity Stadium, Toronto: Hamilton Tiger-Cats defeat Winnipeg Blue Bombers, 12-6
- Dec 1 Red Sox trade for slugger Jackie Jensen, sending pitcher Mickey McDermott and outfielder Tom Umphlett to Washington; Jensen averages 25 HRs a year for his 7 seasons in Boston; AL RBI leader x 3, and AL MVP in 1958
- Dec 8 19th Heisman Trophy Award: Johnny Lattner, Notre Dame (HB)
- Dec 9 Montreal Canadiens (106) & Toronto Maple Leafs (98) combine for 204 penalty minutes
Dodgers Sign Koufax
Dec 14 Brooklyn Dodgers sign pitcher Sandy Koufax
- Dec 22 Jack Dunn III, owner of Baltimore Orioles in Intl League, turns name over to newly relocated St Louis Browns
- Dec 23 Dodgers 2nd baseman Jim Gilliam wins NL Rookie of Year
- Dec 27 National Football League Championship, Briggs Stadium, Detroit: Detroit Lions beat Cleveland Browns, 17-16 to retain title
- Dec 31 42nd Davis Cup: Australia beats USA in Melbourne (3-2)
Shoemaker Shatters Record
Dec 31 Bill Shoemaker shatters record, riding 485 winners in a year
Baseball Players
Basketball Stars
Boxers
Footballers
NFL Stars
Tennis Champions