Milestones, sports and otherwise, bare examination today
Have you ever just picked a day and looked back through history to see what happened on that date? Several sports milestones and even personal things are on the July 18 almanac page, so let’s look at a few...
1896 - James Foulis won the U.S. Open golf title at Shinnecock Hills in Southampton, N.Y.
1927 - Major League legend Ty. Cobb, playing with the Philadelphia Athletics, doubled for his 4,000th hit, on the way to 4.191, a mark that would stand until the Reds’ Pete Rose broke it in 1985.
1951 - Jersey Joe Walcott became, at 37, the oldest boxer to win the World Heavyweight Championship with a seventh-round knockout of Ezzard Charles at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.
1960 - National League owners vote to add franchises in Houston and New York. The Houston team would be known as the Colt .45’s before changing it’s name to the Astros, while the New York squad would start life as the Metropolitans before shortening it to the Mets.
1969 - New York Jet quarterback Joe Namath agreed to sell his interest in the Bachelors’ 3 night club in order to stay in pro football.
1970 - San Francisco Giant star Willie Mays collected career hit 3,000 off Montreal pitcher Mike Wegener in the second inning of a National League game.
1975 - Hockey player Dave Forbes of the Boston Bruins, the first pro athlete to be indicted for a crime committed during play, was set free after a Minneapolis jury reported it was hopelessly deadlocked. Forbes had been on trial for using excessive force against the Minnesota North Stars Henry Boucha. Forbes was accused of poking the butt end of his stick into Boucha’s eye.
1976 - Nadia Comaneci becomes the first gymnast to earn a 10 score while competing for Romania in the Montreal Olympic Games.
1987 - New York Yankee Don Mattingly ties former Yankee Dale Long’s 31-year old record when he homered in his eighth-consecutive game, which ended in a 7-2 loss to the Texas Rangers.
1992 - Copperas Cove Bulldawg fan Sherry Hoffpauir marries Bulldawg radio and gymnasium announcer Joe Lombardi.
1993 - Australian golfer Greg “the Great White Shark” Norman shoots a round of 64 to win the British Open with a record 13-under par 267.
1996 - Shaquille O’Neal signs a seven-year, $121 million contract with the Los Angeles Lakers. Fans soon discover that ticket prices for the cheapest seats at the L.A. Forum have increased from $9.50 to $21.
1999 - Yankee pitcher David Cone throws a perfect game against the Montreal Expos in a 6-0 New York win.
Did I mention this is anniversary No. 25 for Sherry and I? Thanks for being my biggest fan, baby! Love you bunches, sweet girl!