Events in Sports History in 1997

Events 1 - 200 of 275

  • Jan 1 26th Fiesta Bowl: #7 Penn State beats #20 Texas, 38-15
  • Jan 1 83rd Rose Bowl: #4 Ohio State beats #2 Arizona State, 20-17
  • Jan 2 63rd Sugar Bowl: #3 Florida beats #1 Florida State, 52-20
  • Jan 3 Texas-El Paso head basketball coach Don Haskins becomes 10th coach in NCAA Division I history to record 700 career wins when the Miners edge SMU, 66-64
  • Jan 3 Zimbabwe cricket fast bowler Eddo Brandes takes ODI hat-trick as home team scores another upset against England, winning by 131 runs and sweeping series, 3-0 in Harare
  • Jan 4 Hopman Cup Tennis, Perth: Justin Gimelstob & Chanda Rubin clinch first title for the US; beat South African pair Wayne Ferreira & Amanda Coetzer 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 for a 2-1 victory
  • Jan 12 AFC Championship, Foxborough Stadium: New England Patriots beat Jacksonville Jaguars, 20-6
  • Jan 12 Ladies' figure skating star Oksana Baiul injured slightly while driving intoxicated in Bloomfield, Connecticut
  • Jan 12 NFC Championship, Lambeau Field, Green Bay: Green Bay Packers beat Carolina Panthers, 30-13

Rodman Kicks Cameraman

Jan 15 Controversial Chicago Bulls' forward Dennis Rodman kicks cameraman Eugene Amos in the groin during a game against Minnesota Timberwolves; ultimately pays Amos $200,000 settlement, and is suspended for 11 games without pay

  • Jan 15 San Francisco head coach George Seifert announces his resignation after 8 highly-successful NFL seasons with the 49ers: winningest coach in team history at 108-35; 2 Super Bowl titles
  • Jan 15 Seattle's Sam Perkins ties Jeff Hornacek's NBA single-game record by connecting on 8 straight 3-point field goals during Sonics' 122-78 win over visiting Toronto; Seattle also sets an NBA steals record with 27
  • Jan 17 NBA suspends Dennis Rodman indefinitely for kicking cameraman
  • Jan 18 47th NHL All-Star Game, San Jose Arena, San Jose, CA: East beats West, 11-7; Mark Recchi, Montreal, RW
  • Jan 25 In a high profile NHL trade, San Jose obtain future Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Ed Belfour from Chicago in exchange for goaltender Chris Terreri, Ulf Dahlen, Michal Sykora and a conditional pick in 1998 Entry Draft

Sampras Defeats Moyá

Jan 26 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Pete Sampras wins his 2nd and last Australian title; beats Carlos Moyá of Spain 6-2, 6-3, 6-3

Hingis Defeats Pierce

Jan 26 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Martina Hingis becomes first Swiss player – male or female – to win a Grand Slam singles title; beats Mary Pierce of France 6-2, 6-2

Lemieux Ties Record

Jan 26 Mario Lemieux ties NHL record with 4 goals in the 3rd period as Pittsburgh wins, 5-2 at Montreal; 39th career hat trick and 13th 4-goal game, tying NHL record shared by Wayne Gretzky & Mike Bossy

  • Jan 26 Super Bowl XXXI, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA: Green Bay Packers beat New England Patriots, 35-21; MVP: Desmond Howard, Green Bay KR
  • Jan 31 San Antonio forward Dominique Wilkins scores 27 points in the Spurs' 97-95 loss to Minnesota; gives him 26,009 career points; only the 6th NBA player to reach the 26k milestone

Bourque's Scoring Record

Feb 1 Future Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman Ray Bourque scores a goal and an assist to become the Boston Bruins' all-time scoring leader, with 1,341 points in an 18-year NHL career

  • Feb 2 NFL Pro Bowl, Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI: AFC beats NFC, 26-23 (OT); MVP: Mark Brunell, Jacksonville Jaguars, QB

Bowman Makes 1,000 Games

Feb 2 Scotty Bowman becomes first coach in NHL history to win 1,000 games

O.J. Simpson Liable

Feb 4 O.J. Simpson found liable in the deaths of Ron Goldman and Nicole Simpson in a civil court action

  • Feb 9 47th NBA All-Star Game, Gund Arena, Cleveland, OH: East beats West, 132-120; MVP: Glen Rice, Charlotte Hornets, F
  • Feb 10 O.J. Simpson jury reaches decision on $25M in punitive damages

Sports History

Feb 11 Bill Parcells becomes head coach of NY Jets

  • Feb 12 Fred Goldman says he will settle for a signed murder confession from O.J. Simpson in lieu of his $20.5 million judgement
  • Feb 16 39th Daytona 500: Hendrick Motorsports posts a 1-2-3 finish with Jeff Gordon winning the race, ahead of Terry Labonte and Ricky Craven

Baseball Record

Feb 20 San Francisco Giants Barry Bonds signs record $22.9M 2 year contract

Sports History

Mar 1 Canadian Elvis Stojko hits the first quad-triple combination jump in the history of figure-skating competition to win the Championship Series final in Hamilton, Ontario

Sports History

Mar 1 Puerto Rican boxer Héctor Camacho stops Sugar Ray Leonard in 5th round in Atlantic City, NJ to retain IBC middleweight title; only time Leonard's is KO'ed and sends him into permanent retirement

  • Mar 2 Australians Greg Blewett (214) and Steve Waugh (160) bat for the entire 3rd day of the 1st cricket Test against South Africa in Johannesburg; set up Australian innings and 196 run victory
  • Mar 2 Michael Andretti wins at Homestead in a Swift chassis, marking the first Champ Car victory in an American-built chassis since 1983; first-ever Champ Car start for the Swift

Baseball Hall of Fame

Mar 5 Tommy Lasorda, Nellie Fox and Willie Wells inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame

  • Mar 7 Athens, Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Rome & Stockholm are finalists for 2004 Olympics site
  • Mar 9 38th SEC Men's Basketball Tournament: Kentucky beats Georgia, 95-68
  • Mar 9 44th ACC Men's Basketball Tournament: #5 North Carolina beats NC State, 64-54
  • Mar 11 San Francisco Giant J T Snow suffers a fractured eye socket when hit by a pitch
  • Mar 14 Olympic gold medalist Michael Johnson wins 67th James E Sullivan Award
  • Mar 15 France beats Scotland, 47-20 at Parc des Princes, Paris to claim an 11th outright Five Nations Rugby Championship and 5th Triple Crown; fly-half Christophe Lamaison lands 6 penalties and 3 conversions
  • Mar 15 Pitts Penguins' Joe Mullen, is 1st American to score 500 NHL goals
  • Mar 16 NJ Devils' Dave Andreychuk is 26th NHL to score 500 goals
  • Mar 19 Major League Baseball announces 5 year/$50M deal with Pepsi
  • Mar 21 Ice Dance Championship in Lausanne, Switzerland won by Oksana Grishuk & Evgeny Platov (Rus)
  • Mar 22 Ladies' Figure Skating Championship in Lausanne won by Tara Lipinski (USA)
  • Mar 25 Indians trade Lofton & Embree to Braves for Grissom & Justice
  • Mar 26 NHL announces Anaheim Mighty Ducks & Vancouver Canucks to open 1998 season in Japan
  • Mar 29 1st game at Turner Field Atlanta, Braves beats Yanks 2-0 (exhibition)
  • Mar 30 16th NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: Tennessee beats Old Dominion, 68-59; Volunteers 5th national title

Golf Major

Mar 30 Nabisco Dinah Shore Women's Golf, Mission Hills CC: 41-year old Betsy King wins her 3rd title in this event, 2 strokes ahead of Kris Tschetter and Amy Fruhwirth; last of her 6 major titles

PGA Players Championship

Mar 30 PGA Players Championship, TPC at Sawgrass: Steve Elkington of Australia leads wire-to-wire to win his 2nd PC title, a record 7 strokes ahead of runner-up Scott Hoch.

  • Mar 31 59th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Arizona beats Kentucky, 84-79 (OT); Wildcats' first title in first title game

Cricket Debut

Mar 31 West Indies cricketers win 3rd Test at Bridgetown, Barbados by 38 runs after setting India a modest 120 run target; tourists dismissed for 81 in Brian Lara's debut as Windies' captain

  • Apr 4 Anaheim Ducks clinch their 1st-ever playoff berth
  • Apr 4 Braves officially open Turner Field against Cubs
  • Apr 6 The Tradition Senior Men's Golf, GC at Desert Mountain: Gil Morgan wins first of 3 Champions Tour majors by 6 strokes from Isao Aoki
  • Apr 7 150th Grand National: Tony Dobbin aboard New Zealand bred Lord Gyllene wins at 14/1 by 25 lengths; race postponed 2 days because of IRA bomb threat
  • Apr 9 Cleveland Indians pitcher Jose Mesa is acquitted of rape
  • Apr 9 Major League Soccer announces Miami & Chicago expansion
  • Apr 9 NFL announces it will give $3M to CFL & possible "World Classic Bowl"
  • Apr 13 48th time opposing pitchers hit HRs, Carlos Perez (Mon)/Darren Holmes

US Masters Golf

Apr 13 61st US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Tiger Woods wins his first major title, a record 12 strokes ahead of Tom Kite; 4-round total 270 (−18) is tournament record

  • Apr 13 Hartford Whalers last NHL game
  • Apr 13 NHL Pitts Penguin Mario Lemieux's last NHL regular game
  • Apr 13 Rare double doubleheader played in the same city Giants vs Mets & Oakland A's vs Yankees in NY after rain previous day

Sports History

Apr 15 Baseball honors Jackie Robinson by retiring #42 for all teams

Sports History

Apr 17 NJ Devil Martin Brodeur is 2nd NHL goalie to score in a playoff game

  • Apr 19 NFL Draft: Ohio State offensive tackle Orlando Pace first pick by St. Louis Rams
  • Apr 19 San Diego Padres & St Louis Cards play at Aloha Stadium Hawaii
  • Apr 20 1st baseball game in Hawaii, Cards beat Padres in doubleheader
  • Apr 20 Cubs beat NY Mets ending NL worst opening, lost 14 straight games

Sports History

Apr 20 Mark McGwire is 4th to HR on Detroit Tiger left field roof (others are Frank Howard, Harmon Killibrew, & Cecil Fielder)

Senior PGA Championship

Apr 20 Senior PGA Championship, PGA National GC: Defending champion Hale Irwin wins his second of 3 straight Senior PGA C’ships by streeting runners-up Dale Douglass and Jack Nicklaus by 12 strokes

  • Apr 21 101st Boston Marathon: Lameck Aguta of Kenya wins men's event in 2:10:34; Fatuma Roba of Ethiopia women's champion in 2:26:23

Baseball Record

Apr 25 Seattle Mariner Ken Griffey Jr. hits his 250th HR

  • Apr 29 KC Royal Chili Davis is 75th to hit 300 HRs
  • Apr 30 Atlanta Braves win record 19 games in April
  • May 3 123rd Kentucky Derby: Gary Stevens aboard Silver Charm wins in 2:02.3

Sports History

May 3 Russian chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov begins chess match with IBM supercomputer Deep Blue

  • May 6 NHL Hartford Whalers become Carolina Hurricanes
  • May 6 Rick Pitino becomes coach of Boston Celtics
  • May 9 San Diego Padres retire #35 worn by pitcher Randy Jones
  • May 10 Chicago Cubs turn baseballs 68th triple play (vs SF Giants)
  • May 11 Chess-playing computer Deep Blue developed by IBM defeats Russian grandmaster Garry Kasparov 3.5-2.5 in chess
  • May 11 NY Mets C Everett & Butch Huskey are 9th to hit consecutive pinch HRs
  • May 12 Angels scores 13 in 7th vs White Sox

Sports History

May 13 Eddie Murray is 6th baseball player to play in 3,000 games

Sports History

May 14 Baseball's Executive Council suspends NY Yankees owner George Steinbrenner for his suing other team owners

  • May 14 FC Barcelona of Spain win 37th European Cup Winner's Cup against Paris Saint-Germain of France 1-0 in Rotterdam
  • May 16 Atlanta Braves beat St Louis Cardinals, 1-0 in 13 innings
  • May 16 MLB Montreal Expos trailing San Francisco Giants by 9 runs comeback to win 14-13
  • May 16 MLB St Louis Cardinal Gary Gaetti records his 2,000th hit
  • May 17 122nd Preakness: Gary Stevens aboard Silver Charm wins in 1:54

LPGA Championship

May 18 LPGA Championship Women's Golf, DuPont CC: Christa Johnson wins her only major title on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff over Leta Lindley

  • May 20 White Sox Frank Thomas reaches base safely for 15th straight time

Sports History

May 21 Blue Jays pitcher Roger Clemens beats the Yankees for his 200th win

Sports History

May 25 Minnesota Twins retire Kirby Puckett's uniform #

  • May 25 NHL Eastern Conference Final: Philadelphia Flyers beat New York Rangers, 4 games to 1

Sports History

May 25 Todd and Mel Stottlemyre become 1st father and son to win 100 games in Major League Baseball

  • May 26 NHL Western Conference Final: Detroit Red Wings beat Colorado Avalanche, 4 games to 2

Baseball Record

May 26 Sammy Sosa (Cubs) & Tony Womack (Pirates) hit inside the park HRs

  • May 27 Indianapolis 500: Dutchman Arie Luyendyk wins from pole position for his second Indy victory; Treadway Racing finishes 1-2 with Luyendyk's teammate Scott Goodyear runner-up
  • May 27 Major league revenue sharing begins, NY Yanks pay out most $28M
  • May 27 Marv Albert pleads innocent to charges of sexual assault
  • May 28 5th UEFA Champions League Final: Borussia Dortmund beats Juventus 3-1 at Munich

NHL History

May 30 Ken Dryden becomes president of NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs

  • May 31 Super Rugby Final, Eden Park, Auckland: Blues win second straight title with a 23-7 victory over ACT Brumbies; fullback Adrian Cashmore lands 3 penalties & 2 conversions for the winners
  • Jun 1 LA Dodger Wilton Guerrero's bat breaks, revealing it is corked
  • Jun 2 Albert Belle's Chicago White Sox tying 27-game hitting streak ends
  • Jun 7 129th Belmont: Chris McCarron aboard Touch Gold wins in 2:28.8

French Open Women's Tennis

Jun 7 French Open Women's Tennis: Iva Majoli of Croatia wins her 1st and only career Grand Slam singles title; upsets world #1 Martina Hingis 6-4, 6-2

  • Jun 7 Stanley Cup Final, Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, MI: Detroit Red Wings edge Philadelphia Flyers, 2-1 for a 4-0 series sweep; 8th title in Wings' franchise history and first since 1955

French Open Men's Tennis

Jun 8 French Open Men's Tennis: Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil wins first of 3 French titles; beats Spaniard Sergi Bruguera 6-3, 6-4, 6-2

  • Jun 10 Kevin Brown of Florida Marlins no hits SF Giants 9-0
  • Jun 12 1st ever baseball regular season inter-league game SF Giants beat Texas Rangers 4-3
  • Jun 13 51st NBA Championship: Chicago Bulls beat Utah Jazz 4, games to 2

US Golf Open

Jun 15 US Open Men's Golf, Congressional CC: Ernie Els wins his second Open title, the second of his 4 major championships, 1 stroke ahead of runner-up Colin Montgomerie

  • Jun 17 NHL announces it will add Nashville in 1998, Atlanta in 1999 & Minneapolis-St Paul & Columbus, Ohio in 2000

Sports History

Jun 21 NHL Draft: Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL) center Joe Thornton first pick by Boston Bruins

  • Jun 21 Women's National Basketball Association begins as NY Liberty beats LA Sparks
  • Jun 22 WLAF World Bowl 5, Olympic Stadium, Barcelona: Barcelona Dragons beat Rhein Fire, 38-24
  • Jun 24 Despite an AL record 19-strikeout performance by Randy Johnson, A's first baseman Mark McGwire hits a massive 538 foot home run in Oakland's 4-1 defeat of Seattle Mariners

Sports History

Jun 25 NBA Draft: Wake Forest power forward Tim Duncan first pick by San Antonio Spurs

  • Jun 25 NHL approves franchises in Nashville, Atlanta, Columbus, and Minnesota-St Paul
  • Jun 29 US Senior Open Men's Golf, Olympia Fields CC: Graham Marsh of Australia wins by 1 stroke ahead of South African John Bland

Boxing Title Fight

Jul 1 Nevada Athletic Commission suspends Mike Tyson indefinitely & withholds $20m purse for biting Evander Holyfield's ear during their heavyweight title fight 28 June

  • Jul 5 Wimbledon Women's Tennis: 16-year-old Swiss Martina Hingis beats Jana Novotná 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 to become the youngest Wimbledon winner in 110 years
  • Jul 6 Australian cricket batsman Steve Waugh completes twin centuries (108 & 116) in 268 run 3rd Test win v England at Old Trafford

Sports History

Jul 6 Montreal Expos retire Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder Andre Dawson's uniform #10

  • Jul 6 Wimbledon Men's Tennis: Pete Sampras beats Cédric Pioline of France 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 for his 10th Grand Slam title
  • Jul 8 68th All Star Baseball Game: AL wins 3-1 at Jacobs Field, Cleveland
  • Jul 9 Baseball's triple A American Association (formed in 1902) votes to disband
  • Jul 10 Hideki Irabu makes MLB debut as a NY Yankee, beats Tigers 10-3
  • Jul 12 Cubs play in their 5,000th consecutive game without being no-hit
  • Jul 12 Pittsburgh Pirates duo Francisco Cordova & Ricardo Rincon no-hit Houston Astros, 3-0 in 10 innings at Three Rivers Stadium

Senior Players Championship

Jul 13 Senior Players Championship Men's Golf, TPC of Michigan: Larry Gilbert wins his lone career major title by 3 strokes from Isao Aoki, Bob Dickson, Jack Kiefer and Dave Stockton

US Women's Golf Open

Jul 13 US Open Women's Golf, Pumpkin Ridge GC: Alison Nicholas of England wins her lone major title, 1 stroke ahead of runner-up Nancy Lopez

  • Jul 20 British Open Men's Golf, Royal Troon: American Justin Leonard recovers from 5 strokes back after 3 rounds; wins by 3 from Darren Clarke and Jesper Parnevik
  • Jul 21 NY Yank Mike Whiton held in Milwaukee on charges of sexual assault

Sports History

Jul 22 Greg Maddux throws a complete game with just 76 pitches

  • Jul 23 Dallas TV Station KXAS settle with Dallas Cowboys Michael Irvin and Erik Williams for reporting false sex assault allegations against them

Sports History

Jul 25 QB Brett Favre, re-signs with Green Bay Packers for $50M for 7 yrs

  • Jul 27 84th Tour de France won by Jan Ullrich of Germany

Senior Open Championship

Jul 27 British Senior Open Men's Golf, Royal Portrush GC: Gary Player of South Africa wins with birdie on 2nd playoff hole against countryman John Bland

  • Jul 27 Detroit Tigers retire pitching great Hal Newhouser's #16

Sports History

Jul 28 NY Ranger center Mark Messier signs with Vancouver for $20M for 3 yrs

  • Jul 31 A's first baseman Mark McGwire becomes MLB's top home run hitter to be traded in the middle of a season when he moves from Oakland to St. Louis Cardinals (34 home runs and 81 RBI)
  • Jul 31 College Football's all-time winningest coach Eddie Robinson and his Grambling State University program are placed on 2-years' probation for rules violations, including recruiting and academic eligibility
  • Aug 1 6th Athletics World Championships open at Athens, Greece
  • Aug 3 Canadian Open Women's Golf (du Maurier Classic), Glen Abbey GC: Colleen Walker wins by 2 shots from Liselotte Neumann of Sweden
  • Aug 3 Manchester United beats Chelsea 4-2 on penalties to win the Charity Shield, after a bad-tempered 1-all draw at Wembley
  • Aug 6 Newly established NHL franchise Nashville Predators name Barry Trotz as inaugural coach; lasts 15 seasons and 1,196 regular season games

Cricket Record

Aug 6 Sri Lanka slams world record 952 for 6 in the 1st cricket Test against India in Colombo; Sanath Jayasuriya 340, Roshan Mahanama 225 - record partnership 576

  • Aug 8 Mariners Randy Johnson strikes out 19 Chicago White Sox
  • Aug 9 Yanks break Minnesota Twins Brad Radke's string of 12 straight wins
  • Aug 10 36th Walker Cup: US, 18-6
  • Aug 10 Anaheim Angels Tony Phillips arrested for purchasing cocaine
  • Aug 10 Atlanta Braves sign Greg Maddux to then record 5 year, $57.5 million deal
  • Aug 13 Boston Red Sox trade Mike Stanley back to the NY Yankees

Baseball Trade

Aug 13 San Diego Padres trade Rickey Henderson to Anaheim Angels

  • Aug 15 Dan Wilson hits Seattle Mariners 3,000th HR
  • Aug 15 L.A. Dodgers retire Tommy Lasorda's #2
  • Aug 16 For only 2nd time Stanley Cup leaves North America (heads to Russia)
  • Aug 16 New Zealand beats Australia, 36-24 in Dunedin to retain the Tri Nations Rugby Series with an unbeaten record; All Blacks flyhalf Carlos Spencer lands 5 penalties and 3 conversions; halftime NZ, 36-0
  • Aug 16 The South African soccer team, Bafana Bafana wins against the national team of the Democratic Republic of the Congo at First National Bank stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa

PGA Championship

Aug 17 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Winged Foot GC: Davis Love III wins his only major title by 5 strokes from Justin Leonard

Sports History

Aug 19 NY Yank 3rd baseman Wade Boggs pitches a scoreless inning vs Anaheim

  • Aug 24 97th US Golf Amateur Championship won by Joel Kribel
  • Aug 30 1st WNBA Championship: Houston Comets beat NY Liberty
  • Aug 30 Greg Rudaski is 1st to serve (2) 141 MPH serves in a match (US Open)

Sports History

Aug 31 Don Mattingly's #23 is retired by NY Yankees

  • Aug 31 Eddie George runs for 216 yards on 35 carries and scores a touchdown as the Oilers, playing their first NFL game in Tennessee, beat Oakland 24-21 in overtime at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis
  • Sep 1 Two-time defending US Open champion Pete Sampras has his 17-match winning streak, the 4th-longest of the Open Era in men’s singles, snapped in a 6-7, 7-5, 7-6, 3-6, 7-6 loss to Petr Korda of Czech Republic
  • Sep 5 Athens in Greece, selected to host 2004 Olympics
  • Sep 5 Orioles beat Yankes 13-9 in longest 9 inning game
  • Sep 6 US Open Women's Tennis: Martina Hingis wins her first US title; outclasses Venus Williams 6-0, 6-4
  • Sep 7 US Open Men's Tennis: Patrick Rafter of Australia wins his first Grand Slam title; beats Canadian Greg Rusedski 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5
  • Sep 10 Mark McGwire joins Babe Ruth as only the players to hit 50 HRs in 2 consecutive years
  • Sep 12 NY Met John Olerud hits for the cycle
  • Sep 13 Carolina Hurricane's 1st exhibition game beat NY Islanders 4-1
  • Sep 16 ABL MVP Nikki McCray signs with WNBA
  • Sep 16 Mark McGwire signs with the St Louis Cardinals for $26M
  • Sep 20 Yanks clinch 37th appearance in post season, 3rd consecutive
  • Sep 21 Mike Piazza is 2nd to hit a HR out of Dodger Stadium
  • Sep 21 NY Yankee Cecil Fielder hits his 300th HR
  • Sep 22 American sportcaster Marv Albert pleads not guilty to sexual assault charges
  • Sep 23 Seattle Mariners break record for most HRs in a year (258)
  • Sep 25 American sportcaster Marv Albert plea bargains in his sexual assault case
  • Sep 25 WNBA announces it will add Detroit & Washington, D.C. franchises
  • Sep 26 Seattle Mariner Ken Griffey Jr. hits his 56th HR of 1997
  • Sep 28 Ryder Cup Golf, Valderrama GC, Spain: Europe wins 14½-13½ to retain the Cup; first time event contested in continental Europe; first of 6 consecutive victories at home by Europe
  • Sep 28 St Louis Cardinals Mark McGwire hits his 58th HR of 1997 (34 with Oak A's)

Baseball Record

Sep 30 New York Yankees Tim Raines, Derek Jeter & Paul O'Neill are 1st to hit 3 consecutively homers in post season (Yanks beat Cleveland Indians 8-6)

  • Oct 1 Carolina Hurricanes lose franchise's debut NHL game, 4-2 to Tampa Bay Lightning at the Ice Palace, Tampa, Florida
  • Oct 1 Minnesota Timberwolves NBA forward Kevin Garnett, just 2 years out of high school, signs a record 6-year, $123 million contract extension
  • Oct 1 Zimbabwe and New Zealand tie their One Day International cricket match in Bulawayo; Black Cap tail-ender Gavin Larson is run out on last ball at 9/233 amidst crowd surging onto field; 13th ODI tie
  • Oct 2 The Bruins beat the LA Kings, 6-5 in Boston to extend their NHL opening game unbeaten streak to 11-straight years (9-0-2)