Events in Sports History on November 17

  • 1869 Englishman James Moore wins 1st bicycle race, racing 13K Paris to Rouen
  • 1883 British Open Men's Golf, Musselburgh Links: Willie Fernie beats defending champion Bob Ferguson 1-up in 36-hole playoff

Sullivan Arrested

1884 Cops arrest boxer John L. Sullivan in his 2nd round for being "cruel"

  • 1900 5th Iron Bowl: Auburn beats Alabama 53-5 in Montgomery
  • 1906 11th Iron Bowl: Alabama beats Auburn 10-0 in Birmingham
  • 1926 NHL's Chicago Black Hawks play their 1st game, beat Tor St Pats 4-1
  • 1940 Green Bay Packers become 1st NFL team to travel by plane
  • 1953 St Louis Browns officially become the Baltimore Baseball Club Inc

NCAA Record

1956 Syracuse fullback Jim Brown, scores NCAA record of 43 pts (vs Colgate)

McCovey Rookie of Year

1959 SF Giants future Baseball Hall of Fame slugger Willie McCovey wins NL Rookie of the Year

  • 1960 New MLB Washington franchise is awarded to Elwood Quesada
  • 1965 William Eckert is unanimously elected commissioner of baseball
  • 1974 Bonnie Bryant becomes the only left-handed player in history to win an LPGA Tour event; scores a 3-stroke victory in the Bill Branch Golf Classic in Fort Myers, Florida
  • 1979 Daniel Okrent sketches out 1st draft rules for Rotisserie Baseball on a flight to Austin, TX
  • 1981 NBA NY Knick Bill Cartwright, ties record of 19 of 19 free throws
  • 1983 Philadelphia Flyers win 13th straight NHL game
  • 1984 Golden State Warrior Purvis Short scores career high 59 points though team loses to NJ Nets 124-110
  • 1984 Islanders score 20 assists against Rangers

Waltrip Wins NASCAR

1985 35th NASCAR Sprint Cup: Darrell Waltrip wins

  • 1985 NY Jets best offensive production beating Tampa Bay 62-28
  • 1987 George Bell is 1st Blue Jay ever to win the AL MVP
  • 1989 Bret Saberhagen signs record $2,966,667 per year KC Royal contract

Earnhardt Wins NASCAR

1991 41st NASCAR Sprint Cup: Dale Earnhardt wins

  • 1991 Detroit Lion Mike Utley is paralized in a game vs LA Rams

Sampras' First ATP

1991 In an all-American final Pete Sampras wins his first of 5 ATP Tour World Championship tennis titles with a 3–6, 7–6, 6–3, 6–4 victory over Jim Courier in Frankfurt, Germany

  • 1992 Blue Jay Nigel Wilson is 1st pick of Marlins in expansion draft
  • 2001 66th Iron Bowl: Alabama beats Auburn 31-7 in Auburn
  • 2002 54th NASCAR Sprint Cup: Tony Stewart wins

Hewitt's Back-to-Back Titles

2002 Australian Leyton Hewitt scores back-to-back season-ending Tennis Masters Cup titles with a classic 7–5, 7–5, 2–6, 2–6, 6–4 victory over Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero in Shanghai, China

  • 2013 102nd Davis Cup: Czech Republic beats Serbia in Belgrade (3-2)

Vettel Wins 8 in a Row

2013 German Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel wins record 8th consecutive Formula 1 race with victory in United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas

  • 2013 Jimmie Johnson wins the NASCAR Sprint Cup for the sixth time

Youngest ATP Winner

2019 21-year-old Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas beats Dominic Thiem of Austria 6-7 (6-8), 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) in London to become the youngest winner of the ATP Finals in 18 years

  • 2021 Garbiñe Muguruza becomes first Spanish player to win WTA Finals defeating Estonian Anett Kontaveit 6–3, 7–5 in Zapopan, Mexico