Events in Sports History in 1942

Rogers Hornsby

Jan 4 7 x NL batting champion Rogers Hornsby is 14th player selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame

Bob Feller Enters Navy

Jan 6 MLB pitcher Bob Feller reports for duty in Norfolk, Virginia, after enlisting in the US Navy

Baseball Hall of Fame Pitcher Bob Feller

Louis vs. Baer

Jan 9 In his 20th title defense, Joe Louis KOs Buddy Baer in the 1st round of their rematch to retain his world heavyweight boxing title at New York’s Madison Square Garden

Boxer and World Heavyweight Champion Joe Louis

Jan 15 Chicago Cubs drop plans to install lights at Wrigley Field because of military's need for materials; takes 35 years before lights finally installed at the venerable ballpark

The "Green Light Letter"

Jan 15 US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt sends his famed "Green Light Letter" to MLB Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, encouraging baseball to continue playing during World War II

1st MLB Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis

Feb 3 Baseball owners agree to permit each club up to 14 night games in 1942
Feb 5 Braves get Tommy Holmes from Yanks for Buddy Hassett and Gene Moore
Feb 7 1st indoor 15' pole vault (Cornelius Warmerdam 15' 3/8")
Feb 9 Philadelphia "Phillies" change nickname (temporarily) to "Phils"
Feb 19 NY Yankees announce 5,000 uniformed soldiers admitted free at each of their upcoming home games
Mar 1 Major League Baseball owners decide not to allow players in the military to play for their clubs when on furlough

Black Players Try Out

Mar 18 2 black players, Jackie Robinson & Nate Moreland, request a tryout with the Chicago White Sox, they are allowed to work out

Mar 19 Thoroughbred Racing Association of US formed in Chicago
Mar 27 Joe Louis KOs Abe Simon in 6 to retain heavyweight boxing title (NYC)
Mar 28 4th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Stanford beats Dartmouth, 53-38; Cardinal forward Howie Dallmar is named tournament Most Outstanding Player
Apr 2 LPGA Titleholders Championship Women's Golf, Augusta CC: Dorothy Kirby retains title by 5 strokes ahead of Eileen Stulb

9th US Masters

Apr 13 9th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Byron Nelson wins an 18-hole playoff by 1 stroke over runner-up Ben Hogan

Apr 18 Stanley Cup Final, Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, ON: Toronto Maple Leafs beat Detroit Red Wings, 3-1 for a 4-3 series win; Toronto recovers after losing first 3 games
Apr 20 46th Boston Marathon won by Joe Smith in 2:26:51.2
May 2 68th Kentucky Derby: Wayne D. Wright aboard Shut Out wins in 2:04.4
May 8 1st twilight game in 24 years, the Dodgers top Giants 7-6 raising $60,000 for Navy Relief Fund
May 9 67th Preakness: Basil James aboard Alsab wins in 1:57
May 13 Helicopter makes its 1st cross-country flight
May 13 Pitcher Jim Tobin belts 3 HRs in a game
May 18 NYC ends night baseball games for rest of WW II
May 19 Braves Paul Waner is 3rd NLer to get 3,000 hits (Anson & Wagner)

Paige Defeats Dizzy Dean All-Stars

May 30 Satchel Paige pitches 5 innings to defeat Dizzy Dean All-Stars 8-1

Baseball Hall of Fame Pitcher Satchel Paige

25th PGA Championship

May 31 25th PGA Championship Men's Golf, Seaview CC: Sam Snead beats Jim Turnesa, 2 & 1 for his first PGA Tour major title

Red Sox Star Enlists

Jun 2 Red Sox star Ted Williams enlists as a US Navy aviator

74th Belmont

Jun 6 74th Belmont: Eddie Arcaro aboard Shut Out wins in 2:29.2

Jun 19 Paul Waner is 7th to get 3,000 baseball hits
Jul 6 10th MLB All Star Game: AL wins 3-1 at Polo Grounds, NYC, AL runs are homers
Jul 7 Baseball Military All-Star team (including Bob Feller) loses to American League All Stars 5-0
Jul 18 1st legal New Jersey horse race in 50 years; Garden State Park track opens
Jul 19 German occupiers confiscate bicycles in Rotterdam and The Hague
Jul 20 Barbados dismiss Trinidad for 16 in 69 minutes, Derek Sealy taking 8-8; West Indian cricket domestic first class record

Johnson Pitches to Ruth

Aug 23 Walter Johnson pitches to Babe Ruth in pregame attraction that draws 69,000 for NYY-Washington MLB doubleheader at Yankee Stadium; raises $80,000 for Army-Navy relief

Aug 28 9th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: Chicago Bears 21, All-Stars 0 (101,100)
Sep 6 Czech marathon runner Oskar Hêks transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau
Sep 7 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: American Ted Schroeder wins his first of 2 Grand Slam events; beats countryman Frank Parker 8-6, 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 6-2

US Open Women's Tennis

Sep 7 US National Championship Women's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Pauline Betz beats fellow American Louise Brough Clapp 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 for her first of 3 straight US singles titles

Sep 13 Cubs shortstop Leonard Merullo makes 4 errors in 1 inning
Sep 14 Yanks clinch pennant #13
Sep 27 NY Giants beat Wash Redskins 14-7 without making a 1st down
Sep 28 NY Americans NHL team folded
Oct 3 NY Yankees shortstop Frank Crosetti shoves umpire Bill Summers in Game 3 of the Baseball World Series; he is fined $250 & suspended for first 30 days of 1943 season
Oct 3 Triple Crown winner Whirlaway, ridden by George Woolf wins the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park to become the first thoroughbred to amass more than $500,000 in lifetime earnings
Oct 5 Baseball World Series: St Louis Cardinals win club's 4th WS; beat NY Yankees, 4-2 at Yankee Stadium for 4-1 series victory
Oct 16 National Boxing Association freezes titles of those serving in armed services

Dodgers Appoint Rickey

Oct 29 Branch Rickey named president and general manager of Brooklyn Dodgers

Baseball Player and Sports Executive Branch Rickey

Nov 3 Boston Red Sox outfielder Ted Williams wins American League Triple Crown (.356 average, 36 HRs, 137 RBI); but NY Yankees pitcher Joe Gordon is AL MVP

Fausto Coppi

Nov 7 Italian cyclist Fausto Coppi establishes world hour record 45.798km in Vigorelli, Milan, Italy

Nov 20 NHL abolishes regular season OT until WW II is over

Bill Terry

Nov 30 Bill Terry resigns as supervisor of NY Giants minor league system

Dec 1 With WWII travel restrictions in mind, MLB owners decide to restrict travel to a 3-trip schedule rather than customary 4; Spring training in 1943 limited to locations north of Potomac or Ohio rivers and east of the Mississippi
Dec 5 CFL Grey Cup, Varsity Stadium, Toronto: Toronto RCAF Hurricanes beat Winnipeg RCAF Bombers, 8-5
Dec 8 8th Heisman Trophy Award: Frank Sinkwich, Georgia (HB)
Dec 13 National Football League Championship, Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C.: Washington Redskins upset Chicago Bears, 14-6
Dec 27 5th NFL All Star Game, Shribe Park, Philadelphia: NFL All-Stars beat Washington Redskins, 17-14