Events in Sports History in 1944

Braves Lose Manager, Gain Owners

Jan 27 Casey Stengel, manager of the Boston Braves since 1938, resigns Lou Perini, Guido Rugo, & Joseph Maney buy control of Boston Braves

Baseball Hall of Fame Manager Casey Stengel

Feb 2 Baseball meets in NYC to discuss postwar action
Feb 14 Carl Wick publishes "Salmon Trolling for Commercial & Sport Fishing"
Feb 18 15-year-old Joe Nuxhall signs a contract to play baseball with the Cincinnati Reds just one day after playing in a high school basketball game; debuts later that year
Mar 28 6th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Utah defeats Dartmouth, 42-40; Utes' first title; small forward Arnie Ferrin is named tournament MOP
Apr 13 Stanley Cup Final, Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec: Montreal Canadiens beat Chicago Blackhawks, 5-4 in overtime for a 4-0 series sweep; Canadiens' first SC triumph since 1931
Apr 17 48th Boston Marathon won by Gerard Cote of Canada in 2:31:50.4; second straight victory; 3rd of 4 titles
Apr 19 1944 NFL Draft: Angelo Bertelli from University of Notre Dame first pick by Boston Yanks
Apr 20 NFL legalizes coaching from bench
Apr 21 NFL Chic Cardinals & Pittsburgh Steelers merge (dissolves on Dec 3)
Apr 27 Boston Brave Jim Tobin no-hits Bkln Dodgers, 2-0

Ott's Six Run Game

Apr 30 NY Giant, Mel Ott scores 6 runs in 1 game drawing 5 walks for 4th time

May 6 70th Kentucky Derby: Conn McCreary aboard Pensive wins in 2:04.2

NY Yankees Manager Returns

May 9 Joe McCarthy returns as New York Yankees manager after an illness

May 13 69th Preakness: Conn McCreary aboard Pensive wins in 1:59.2
May 15 Cincinnati Red Clyde Shoun no-hits Boston Braves, 1-0
Jun 1 Washington Senators MLB outfielder Stan Spence goes 6-for-6 in an 11-5 win over the St. Louis Browns; collects 5 singles and a home run
Jun 3 76th Belmont: G. L. Smith riding Bounding Home wins in 2:32.2

D-Day

Jun 6 World War II: All Major League Baseball games are cancelled in honor of the D-Day landings in northern France

Into the Jaws of Death by Robert F. Sargent

Jun 7 Achilles Veen soccer team forms in Veen
Jun 10 Relief pitcher Joe Nuxhall at 15 years, 316 days, debuts for Cincinnati Reds; youngest player in MLB history; becomes All Star and broadcaster
Jun 22 Longest shut out in Phillies history, Phils beat Braves 1-0 in 15 inn
Jun 26 Yanks, Dodgers & Giants play unique 6 inn game for War Bonds, each playing successive innings, final score Dodgers-5, Yanks-1 & Giants-0
Jul 3 Oriole Park, then a minor league baseball stadium burns down in Baltimore; cause, speculated discarded cigarette
Jul 11 12th All Star Baseball Game: NL wins 7-1 at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh
Jul 16 Dodgers score 8 unearned runs against Braves to win 8-5 & break their 16-game losing streak, they will lose another 5 in a row
Jul 20 Browns Nelson Potter is 1st pitcher suspended for throwing spitballs
Jul 23 Chicago Cubs Bill Nicholson hits 4 HRs in a doubleheader
Aug 10 Braves Red Barrett throws only 58 pitches to shut out Cincinnati Reds 2-0
Aug 17 Yanks Johnny Lindell ties record with 4 consecutive doubles in a game

PGA Championship

Aug 20 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Manito G & CC: Bob Hamilton wins his only major title, 1 up in the 36-hole final over heavily favoured Byron Nelson

Aug 30 11th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: Chicago Bears 24, All-Stars 21 (48,769)
Sep 4 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: American Frank Parker wins 1st of 4 Grand Slam titles; beats William Talbert 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
Sep 4 US National Championship Women's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Pauline Betz Addie wins her third straight US title; beats Margaret Osborne 6-3, 8-6
Sep 29 Browns last in AL attendance, only 6,172 watch them sweep Yanks in DH
Oct 1 St Louis Browns beat New York Yankees 5-2 at Sportsman's Park III to win their only AL pennant; lose World Series 4-2 to neighbour Cardinals
Oct 4 The only all-St. Louis World Series opens at Sportsman's Park with the visiting Browns beating the Cardinals, 2-1 on George McQuinn's home run; Cards win series, 4-2
Oct 9 Baseball World Series: in the only all-St Louis WS, the Cardinals beat the Browns, 3-1 at Sportsman's Park for 4 games to 2 series victory
Nov 11 New York Rangers beat Detroit Red Wings, 5-2 to end NHL record 25 game winless streak (0-21-4)
Nov 25 32nd CFL Grey Cup: Montreal HMCS defeat Hamilton Flying Wildcats, 7-6
Nov 28 Detroit Tigers pitcher Hal Newhouser is named AL MVP
Dec 2 10th Heisman Trophy Award: Les Horvath, Ohio State (QB)
Dec 3 Temporary merger of 2 NFL teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Cardinals, dissolves at finish of season; WWII ends before start of 1945 season, so both teams resume normal operations

Packers 6th League Title

Dec 17 National Football League Championship, Polo Grounds, NYC: Green Bay Packers beat New York Giants, 14-7 for 6th and final league title under long-time coach Curly Lambeau

Dec 28 Former Wash 3rd baseman Buddy Lewis wins Distinguished Flying Cross

Richard 8 Point Game First

Dec 28 Montreal right wing Maurice 'Rocket' Richard becomes first player in NHL history to score 8 points in one game with 5 goals and 3 assists in the Canadiens' 9-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings