Events in Sports History on September 17

  • 1897 US Open Men's Golf, Chicago GC: Englishman Joe Lloyd wins his only major title by 1 stroke over runner-up Willie Anderson of Scotland; last 36-hole US Open

Eddie Collins Debuts

1906 Playing as "Sullivan" Columbia University jr Eddie Collins debuts with A's

Sports History

1912 Center fielder Casey Stengel breaks in with Brooklyn & hits 4 singles

Honus Wagner Retires

1917 Honus Wagner, retires at 43, Pirates retire his #33

  • 1920 National Football League is born in Canton, Ohio; 12 teams pay $100 each to join American Professional Football Association; renamed the NFL in 1922

Sports History

1922 Cyclist Piet Moeskops becomes world sprint champ

US Men's Tennis Open

1927 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Forest Hills NY: Frenchman Rene Lacoste successfully defends title; beats Bill Tilden 11-9, 6-3, 11-9

  • 1928 Boston Braves pitcher Ray Boggs hits 3 batters in 1 inning during his 4th and final major league appearance, in 15-5 loss to Chicago Cubs

US Men's Tennis Open

1928 US National Championship Men's Tennis: Frenchman Henri Cochet wins his only US title; beats American Frank Hunter 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3

  • 1931 Boston Red Sox outfielder Earl Webb sets record with 65 en route to 67 MLB doubles
  • 1937 1st NFL game in Washington, D.C.; Redskins beat NY Giants 13-3

US Men's Tennis Open

1939 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Reigning Wimbledon champion Bobby Riggs beats fellow American Welby van Horn 6-4, 6-2, 6-4

US Open Women's Tennis

1939 US National Championship Women's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Dual champion Alice Marble beats Helen Jacobs 6-0, 8-10, 6-4

Sports History

1941 Cards' Stan Musial makes his major league debut, going 2-for-4

Sports History

1947 Jackie Robinson is named Rookie of Year by Sporting News

  • 1949 Ryder Cup Golf, Ganton GC: US beats Great Britain, 7-5; Americans win 6 of 8 singles matches to claim victory
  • 1950 San Francisco 49ers (formerly AAFC) play 1st NFL game, lose 21-17

Sports History

1953 Ernie Banks becomes Chicago Cubs 1st black player

Boxing Title Fight

1954 In a quick re-match at Yankee Stadium, NYC, Rocky Marciano KOs Ezzard Charles in the 8th round to retain his world heavyweight boxing title

Sports History

1955 Future MLB Hall of Famer Baltimore Oriole Brooks Robinson goes 2-4 in his 1st game

  • 1956 Yanks clinch pennant #22 on Mantle's 50th homer of year

Golf Tournament

1959 59th US Golf Amateur Championship won by Jack Nicklaus

US Men's Tennis Open

1960 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: In an all-Australian final Neale Fraser wins 2nd straight US title; beats Rod Laver 6-4, 6-4, 9-7

US Open Women's Tennis

1960 US National Championship Women's Tennis: American Darlene Hard wins her first US singles title; beats defending champion Maria Bueno of Brazil 6-4, 10-12, 6-4

Sports History

1961 Fran Tarkenton plays his first NFL Game against the Chicago Bears, coming off the bench to lead the Vikings to a 37-13 victory, also becoming the only QB to throw four touchdown passes in his first career game

  • 1961 Minnesota Vikings' 1st NFL game (beat Chicago Bears 37-13)
  • 1964 The Beatles are paid a then record $150,000 by baseball team owner Charles Finley for a concert at Municipal Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri on a scheduled day off; the group adds the song "Kansas City"/"Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey" to their standard setlist, much to the delight of the crowd

Sports History

1964 Yankee Mickey Mantle gets career hits #1999, 2000 & 2001 & his 450th HR in 6-2 victory over Los Angeles Angels at New York

  • 1966 Cleveland pitchers set AL record striking out 19 batters in 1st 9 innings
  • 1967 New Orleans Saints 1st NFL game, they lose to LA Rams 27-13

Sports History

1968 San Francisco Giants Gaylord Perry no-hits St Louis Cardinals, 1-0

  • 1974 Courageous (US) beats Southern Cross (Aust) in 23rd America's Cup

Sports History

1977 Dave Kingman hits his 1st Yankee homer, Reggie hits 2 more

  • 1977 Ryder Cup Golf, Royal Lytham & St Annes: US wins 12½-7½; last time a Great Britain and Ireland team competes for Ryder Cup
  • 1978 After 6 losses to the New York Yankees in September, the Boston Red Sox finally score a 7-3 win over their arch rivals at Yankee Stadium

Baseball Record

1979 Royals' George Brett is 6th to have 20 doubles/triples/HRs in a season

Sports History

1981 Fernando Valenzuela sets NL rookie record with 8th shutout of season

  • 1983 Chicago White Sox clinch their 1st-ever AL West championship

Baseball Record

1984 Dwight Gooden ties record of 32 strikeouts in consecutive games

Baseball Record

1984 Reggie Jackson is 13th to hit 500 HRs

  • 1988 24th Olympic games open at Seoul, Korea
  • 1988 Jeff Reardon becomes 1st to record 40 or more saves in both AL & NL
  • 1989 NYC court of appeals overturns lower court decision & returns America's Cup back to US (from NZ)
  • 1991 4,355 turn out to see Expos play NY Mets at Shea Stadium
  • 1992 NFL decides to suspend World League Football
  • 1996 Dodger Hideo Nomo no-hits Colorado Rockies, 9-0 at Coors Field

Sports History

2000 Dan Marino's #13 jersey is retired by the Miami Dolphins

Sports History

2001 Despite suffering from lung cancer and Parkinson's disease, Jack Buck stirs emotions by reading a patriotic-themed poem during the pregame ceremonies on baseball's first night back after the September 11th terrorist attacks

Baseball Record

2004 SF Giants outfielder Barry Bonds hits his 700th career MLB home run, off San Diego's Jake Peavy

Federation Cup

2006 Federation Cup Women's Tennis, Charleroi, Belgium: Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium withdraws with an injured knee with decisive doubles match level at 1-set all; Italy wins first ever title, 3-2

  • 2017 Evian Championship Women's Golf, Evian Resort GC: Anna Nordqvist of Sweden beats Brittany Altomare at 1st sudden-death playoff hole; event reduced to 54 holes after day 1 abandoned (bad weather)

Sports History

2019 MLB San Francisco Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski homers in his first game at Boston's Fenway Park, long-time home field of his grandfather Carl Yastrzemski of the Red Sox