Events in Sports History on March 4

  • 1846 8th Grand National: William Taylor aboard outsider Pioneer wins by 3 lengths from Culverthorpe
  • 1857 19th Grand National: Charlie Boyce wins aboard Emigrant at 10/1
  • 1868 30th Grand National: George Ede victorious aboard Irish 9/1 shot The Lamb; horse wins second GN in 1871
  • 1903 Stanley Cup, Montreal Arena, Westmount, Quebec: Montreal HC beats Winnipeg Victorias, 4-1 for a 2-1 challenge series victory
  • 1913 NY Yankees are 1st to train outside US (Bermuda)

Ruth Highest-Paid

1927 Babe Ruth becomes the highest-paid player in MLB history when he signs 3-year, $70,000 per season contract with the New York Yankees

Bradman's Duck

1931 Don Bradman is bowled for a rare first ball duck by Herman Griffith (4-50) on the last day of 5th cricket Test vs West Indies in Sydney; Windies win by 31 runs but lose series to Australia, 4-1

  • 1933 Noordwijk soccer team forms
  • 1941 Chicago Black Hawks goaltender Sam LoPresti faces NHL record 83 shots in a 3-2 loss to the Bruins in Boston
  • 1949 Piet Van de Pol of the Netherlands crowned world champion in billiards
  • 1961 8th ACC Men's Basketball Tournament: Wake Forest beats Duke, 96-81
  • 1967 Ice Dance Championship at Vienna won by Towler & Ford (GRB)
  • 1967 Men's Figure Skating Championship in Vienna won by Emmerich Danzer (AUT)

Peggy Fleming World Champion

1967 Worlds Ladies' Figure Skating Champion in Vienna won by Peggy Fleming (US)

Sports History

1968 Italian boxer Nino Benvenuti regains world middleweight title with a 15-round points decision over American champion Emile Griffith at Madison Square Garden, NY; last of famous trilogy of fights

Boxing Title Fight

1968 Joe Frazier takes his record to 20-0 and captures vacant world heavyweight boxing title; stops Buster Mathis in 11th round TKO at Madison Square Garden, NYC

  • 1970 Jacksonville is 1st college basketball team to avg 100+ pts per game
  • 1970 NY Rangers set then NHL record of 126 games without being shut-out
  • 1976 MLB's San Francisco Giants are bought for $8 million by Bob Lurie and Bud Herseth
  • 1977 West Indian cricket fast bowler Colin Croft takes 8-29 against Pakistan in 2nd Test win at Port-of-Spain; best Test figures by a pace bowler from the West Indies
  • 1978 25th ACC Men's Basketball Tournament: Duke beats Wake Forest, 85-77

Sports History

1980 40th hat trick in NHL New York Islander franchise history, scored by Mike Bossy

Baseball Hall of Fame

1984 Pee Wee Reese & Rick Ferrell elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame

Sports History

1984 Tennis legend Martina Navratilova retains her WTA Tour Championship in NYC; beats Chris Evert 6–3, 7–5, 6–1 for her 5th overall Championship title

Sports History

1986 Allan Border completes twin Test tons (140 & 114*) v NZ

  • 1989 Javier Sotomayor high jumps indoor world record (2.43m)

Boxing Title Fight

1995 George Foreman loses WBA boxing title, refusing to fight Tony Tucker

  • 1995 Replacement NY Yankees beat NY Mets 2-1