On This Day

October 1949 in Sports History

Events in Sport

  • Oct 2 For first time in 41 years pennant races in both MLB leagues are decided on the final day of the season; (AL) Yankees upend rival Boston Red Sox, 5-3; (NL) Dodgers beat the Phillies, 9-7 for 97-57 record; Cardinals 96-58

Event of interestEvent of Interest

Oct 5 Sportswriter Robert Ruark first reports golfing great Bobby Jones's rare spinal disease (syringomyelia) which prevent him from playing any form of golf again

Golfer Bobby Jones
Golfer
Bobby Jones
  • Oct 9 NY Yankees beat Dodgers 4 games to 1 in 46th World Series
  • Oct 10 3rd NHL All-Star Game, Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, ON: All-Stars beat Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-1

Sport defeatBoxing Title Fight

Oct 14 Ezzard Charles TKOs Pat Valentino in 8 for heavyweight boxing title

Boxer and World Heavyweight Champion Ezzard Charles
Boxer and World Heavyweight Champion
Ezzard Charles
  • Oct 16 1st NASCAR Sprint Cup: Red Byron wins
  • Oct 19 A's trade 2nd baseman Nellie Fox to White Sox for Joe Tipton
  • Oct 29 White Sox trade Joe Tipton to A's for Nellie Fox

Birthdays in Sport

  • Oct 3 Dan Goossen, American boxing promoter (Michael Nunn, Terry Norris, James Toney), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2014)
  • Oct 4 John Wathan, American baseball catcher and manager (Kansas City Royals), born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Person of interestBill James

Oct 5 Bill James [George William James], American baseball writer and statistician (sabermetrics), born in Holton, Kansas

Baseball Writer and Statistician Bill James
Baseball Writer and Statistician
Bill James
  • Oct 9 Shep Messing, American soccer goalkeeper (NY Cosmos), born in Bronx, New York
  • Oct 10 Lance Cairns, New Zealand cricket all-rounder (43 Tests, 130 wickets; 78 ODIs, 89 wickets), born in Picton, New Zealand
  • Oct 13 Tom Mees, American sports broadcaster, born in Springfield, Pennsylvania (d. 1996)
  • Oct 13 Patrick Nève, Belgian racing driver, born in Liège, Belgium
  • Oct 18 George Hendrick, baseball player
  • Oct 18 Ed Farmer, American baseball pitcher (MLB All Star 1980; Chicago WS) and broadcaster (Chicago WS radio 1991-2005), born in Evergreen Park, Illinois (d. 2020)
  • Oct 19 Lynn Dickey, American NFL quarterback (All Pro 1983; Green Bay Packers 1976-85), born in Paola, Kansas
  • Oct 20 Valery Borzov, USSR, 100m/200m dash (Olympic gold 1972)
  • Oct 20 Wayne Collett, American 400m runner (Olympic silver 1972)
  • Oct 21 Michel Brière, Canadian ice hockey player, born in Malartic, Quebec (d. 1971)
  • Oct 21 Masao Ohba, Japanese boxer (WBA flyweight champion), born in Tokyo, Japan (d. 1973)
  • Oct 22 Arsène Wenger, French football manager (Arsenal 1996-2018), born in Strasbourg, France
  • Oct 25 Réjean Houle, Canadian ice hockey player (Montreal Canadiens), born in Rouyn, Quebec
  • Oct 28 Caitlyn Jenner [born Bruce Jenner], American decathlete (Olympic gold 1976), TV personality and prominent transgender figure, born in Mt Kisco, New York

Deaths in Sport

  • Oct 2 Frank Schulte, American baseball outfielder (NL MVP 1911; Chicago Cubs), dies at 67
  • Oct 27 Marcel Cerdan, French boxer (b. 1916)


1949 in Sport History