On This Day

October 1931 in Sports History

Events in Sport

  • Oct 1 Philadelphia Athletics seek 3rd straight World Series baseball title; beat St. Louis Cardinals, 6-2 in opener at Sportsman's Park; lose series, 4-3
  • Oct 10 St Louis Cards beat Philadelphia A's, 4 games to 3 in 28th World Series
  • Oct 27 Chuhei Numbu of Japan, sets then long jump record at 26' 2½"
  • Oct 29 Lefty Grove, A's pitcher who won 31 games, is named the AL's MVP

Birthdays in Sport


Person of interestGlenn Hall

Oct 3 Glenn Hall, National Hockey League goaltender (butterfly goalkeeping), born in Humboldt, Saskatchewan

NHL Goalie Glenn Hall
NHL Goalie
Glenn Hall
  • Oct 4 Basil D'Oliveira, English cricket all-rounder (44 Tests, 2,484 @ 40.06, 47 wickets), born in Cape Town, South Africa (d. 2011)
  • Oct 7 Cotton Fitzsimmons, American basketball coach (NJCAA C'ship 1966, 67; Moberly Area CC; Kansas State; NBA: Phoenix Suns; Atlanta Hawks, San Antonio Spurs), born in Hannibal, Missouri (d. 2004)
  • Oct 8 Pepper Rodgers, American football coach (University of Kansas, UCLA, Georgia Tech; USFL: Memphis Showboats), born in Atlanta, Georgia (d. 2020)
  • Oct 8 Bill Brown, Scottish soccer goalkeeper (28 caps; Dundee, Tottenham Hotspur), born in Arbroath, Angus, Scotland (d. 2004)
  • Oct 13 Eddie Mathews, American hall of fame third baseman (Milwaukee Brave) who hit 512 home runs, born in Texarkana, Texas (d. 2001)
  • Oct 13 Raymond Kopa [Kopaszewski], French footballer 'the Napoleon of football', born in Noeux-les-Mines (d. 2017)
  • Oct 18 Ed Biles, American football coach (College: Xavier 1962-68; NFL: Houston Oilers 1981-83), born in Reading, Ohio (d. 2020)

Person of interestMickey Mantle

Oct 20 Mickey Mantle, American Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder (1956 Triple Crown, 20-time All Star), born in Spavinaw, Oklahoma (d. 1995)

Baseball Legend Mickey Mantle
Baseball Legend
Mickey Mantle
  • Oct 20 Zeke Bratkowski, American NFL quarterback and coach (Green Bay Packers), born in Danville, Illinois (d. 2019)
  • Oct 21 Jim Parks, cricketer (England batsman-keeper in 46 Tests 1954-68)
  • Oct 23 Jim Bunning, American Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher, politician (perfect game vs Mets 1965, Rep. Senator-Ky), born in Southgate, Kentucky (d. 2017)
  • Oct 25 Jimmy McIlroy, Irish footballer and football manager, born in Lambeg, Ireland

Deaths in Sport

  • Oct 2 Thomas Lipton, Scottish yachtsman (5-time America's Cup challenger) and tea merchant (Lipton Tea), dies at 81
  • Oct 2 George Bradley, American baseball pitcher (first no-hitter in MLB history 1876; NL ERA leader 1876), dies at 79
  • Oct 24 Murray Bisset, South African cricketer (South African wicket-keeper 1899 & 1910), dies at 55
  • Oct 26 Charles Comiskey, American baseball player, team owner and manager (Chicago White Sox), dies at 72