In sports news today, the Chicago Bulls finished with 72 wins to cap off the most successful regular season in NBA history.
Ty Cobb debuted professionally with Augusta (South Atlantic League) in 1904.
1948: The Baltimore Bullets defeated the Philadelphia Warriors 88-73 in the Basketball Association of America (BAA) Finals, winning the series 4 games to 2.
1951: In the seventh game of the NBA Championship Series, the Rochester Royals defeated the New York Knicks 79-75 thanks to two turnovers by Bob Davies and a basket by Jack Coleman.
1951: The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 in the fifth game to win their fourth Stanley Cup in five years.
The Brooklyn Dodgers’ triumph in 1955 set a record for the most wins in a season to begin with ten straight.
Bill Rodgers won the Boston Marathon for the third time in a row in 1980. When it was found that Rosie Ruiz had not completed the entire distance, she was disqualified as the women’s champion eight days later.
George W. Bush and Edward W. Rose took on joint CEO responsibilities for the Texas Rangers in 1989.
1991: The Dallas Cowboys selected defensive tackle Russell Maryland of Miami University as the first pick in the NFL Draft.
Jack Nicklaus won his fourth of eight Champions Tour majors in 1991 at the PGA National Golf Club, the Senior PGA Championship for men’s golf. Nicklaus won by six shots.
With a score of 196.650, Utah, the defending champion, proved once again how dominant they are in the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championship, winning their eighth national title since the competition’s inception in 1982.
In 1996, Michael Jordan scored 26 points as the Chicago Bulls defeated the Washington Wizards 103-93 to cap off their most successful regular season in NBA history. Jordan’s eighth NBA scoring championship beat Wilt Chamberlain’s record of seven.
Men’s golfer Hale Irwin won his maiden Senior PGA Championship in 1996 at the PGA National GC, defeating Isao Aoki of Japan by a margin of two strokes.
Hasim Rahman made heavyweight boxing history in 2001 when he won the WBC and IBF titles by stopping Lennox Lewis with a spectacular right hand in the fifth round.
The Atlanta Falcons selected Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Vick first overall in the 2001 NFL Draft.
Kenya’s Robert Cheruiyot became the fourth runner to win the Boston Marathon four times in 2008 as he finished in 2:07:46. Alevtina Biktimirova was surpassed by Ethiopia’s Dire Tune in a thrilling last mile sprint, which resulted in a victory by just two seconds.
In 2012, the Chicago White Sox defeated the Seattle Mariners 4-0 thanks to a perfect game thrown by Phil Humber, their first in over two years.
At the 2013 Spanish Open, Rafael Jacquelin of France defeated Maximilian Kieffer of Germany in a record-tying playoff that ended on the ninth hole of their ninth try. The 1989 Dutch Open was the only other European Tour tournament to be decided in a nine-hole playoff.
At the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach in 2013, Takuma Sato made racing history as the first Japanese driver to win an IndyCar event.
2013 saw rookie Marc Marquez win the Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin, Texas, marking his maiden MotoGP victory. The 20-year-old Spaniard, who won the Moto2 class the year before, made history by being the youngest winner at the top level of motorcycle competition.
The first 900 series in the Professional Bowlers Association’s history was initiated in 2013 by 50-year-old independent electrician Joe Scarborough, who went on to win three straight flawless games. Throwing 36 consecutive strikes, he started the PBA50 Sun Bowl qualifying round with three games of 300.
A year after three people were murdered and over 260 injured in a bombing at the finish line, American Meb Keflezighi won the Boston Marathon in 2014. Since Lisa Larsen-Weidenbach’s victory in 1985, no American has won the race; Greg Meyer was the last American male winner in 1983. Rita Jeptoo of Kenya triumphantly defended her Boston Marathon crown, earning her seventh triumph overall and her third straight.
Sean Manaea, a left-handed pitcher for the Oakland Athletics, shut out the Boston Red Sox in 2018.
