Events in Sports History in December 1969

Buck White

Dec 2 Oscar Brown, Jr's musical "Buck White", starring Muhammad Ali, opens at George Abbott Theatre, NYC, runs for 7 performances

  • Dec 2 Two years after doubling its size from six to 12, the NHL announces 2 new teams would be joining the League the following year; Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks
  • Dec 6 Oscar Brown, Jr's musical "Buck White", starring Muhammad Ali, closes at George Abbott Theatre, NYC, after 7 performances
  • Dec 12 Decathlon Bill Toomey achieves world record-score of 8417 points

Billy Martin Fired

Dec 13 MLB manager Billy Martin fired by the Minnesota Twins

  • Dec 21 Vince Lombardi (Washington Redskins) coaches his last football game, a 20-10 loss to the Cowboys in Dallas, for a 7-5-2 season and 105-35-6 career
  • Dec 22 Pete Marovich sets NCAA record of hitting 30 of 31 foul shots

Ballon d'Or

Dec 23 Ballon d'Or: Milan midfielder Gianni Rivera wins award for best European football player ahead of Cagliari forward Luigi Riva and Bayern Munich striker Gerd Müller

Flood Urges Free Agency

Dec 24 Curt Flood writes to baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn refusing to accept the Cardinals’ right to deal him and in favor of free agency [1]