Events in Sports History in October 1991

NHL History

Oct 2 NHL #1 draft pick Eric Lindros rejects Quebec Nordiques' offer of a 10 year, $50m contract

Steffi Graf Wins #500

Oct 2 Steffi Graf beats Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria 6-2, 6-2 in the Volkswagen Cup in Leipzig to become the youngest woman to win 500 professional tennis matches

Oct 2 Toronto Blue Jays clinch AL East title with a 6-5 win v California Angels; become first sport franchise in history to draw 4 million fans in one season

NHL Trade

Oct 4 Edmonton Oilers trade captain Mark Messier (on the team for all 5 Stanley Cups) to the NY Rangers in exchange for Bernie Nicholls, Steven Rice & Louie DeBrusk; Messier leads Rangers to Cup 2 seasons later

Oct 4 San Jose Sharks play first NHL game in franchise history, a 4-3 loss in Vancouver; native Californian Craig Coxe scores club's first goal while Jeff Hackett makes an impressive 48 saves
Oct 5 Fresno State ties NCAA football record with 49 points in a quarter (2nd), as they route New Mexico, 94-17 at Bulldog Stadium, Fresno
Oct 6 NY Met David Cone ties NL record by striking out 19 Phillies
Oct 6 Orioles' last game at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium (vs Det Tigers)
Oct 7 Scorecard Harry, Space Appeal & Cafe Lex in 9th race at Belmont, creating 2nd triple dead heat in NY thoroughbred racing history
Oct 9 San Jose Sharks beat Calgary for their 1st NHL win, 4-3
Oct 11 Chip Beck ties PGA record lowest 18 hole score of 59 during 3rd round of the Las Vegas Invitational at the Sunrise GC
Oct 12 Boxer Hector Comacho arrested for driving while getting oral sex

Sports History

Oct 12 Doug Flutie of BC Lions sets CFL passing record of 582 yards despite losing to Edmonton Eskimos, 45-38 in overtime

Oct 12 Mike Lerch of Princeton ties NCAA record with 370 receiving yards
Oct 13 Blue Jay Cito Gaston is 1st manager ejected in a playoff game
Oct 13 Minnesota Twins win AL pennant beating Toronto in 5 games
Oct 13 MLB American League Championship: Minnesota Twins beat Toronto Blue Jays, 4 games to 1

Sports History

Oct 14 NY Rangers right wing Mike Gartner becomes 1st NHL player to score his 500th goal, 500th assist, and 1000th point all in the same season

Oct 16 Dallas Mavericks Roy Tarpley becomes 7th to be banned from NBA for life under the league's anti-drug agreement

Sports History

Oct 17 Ángel Cordero Jr. is 3rd jockey to win 7,000 horse races

Oct 17 MLB National League Championship: Atlanta Braves beat Pittsburgh Pirates, 4 games to 3

Sports History

Oct 17 Pitts Penguin Paul Coffey sets NHL defenseman scoring record with 1,053 career points (309 goals & 744 assists)

Oct 19 Longest NCAA football game (3:52) as Rhode Island beats Maine, 52-30 (6 OT)
Oct 19 Lonnie Glieberman purchased Ottawa Rough Riders from CFL

F1 World Champion

Oct 20 Brazilian McLaren driver Ayrton Senna clinches his 2nd straight, and 3rd overall F1 World Drivers Championship by finishing 2nd in the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka

Oct 24 Larry Ryckman purchases CFL Calgary Stampeders
Oct 25 Aaqib Javed takes 7-37 in 10 overs v India in cricket 1-dayer at Sharjah

World Series

Oct 27 Baseball World Series: Minnesota Twins beat Atlanta Braves, 1-0 in 10 in Game 7 at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome; win 2nd title since move to Minneapolis; MVP: Twins pitcher Jack Morris