On This Day

<<

August 1951 in Sports History

>>

Events in Sport

  • Aug 11 First televised baseball game in colour on WCBS in New York City; Boston Braves beat Brooklyn Dodgers, 8-1
  • Aug 11 New York Giants (NFL) beat Ottawa Roughriders (CFL), 38-6 in Ottawa
  • Aug 11 NY Giants lose 4-0 to Philadelphia Phillies at the Polo Grounds, NYC to go 13½ games behind Brooklyn Dodgers; go on to win NL pennant with 98-59-0 record
  • Aug 17 18th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: Cleveland 33, All-Stars 0 (92,180)
  • Aug 18 Cricket 1st-class debut of Raymond Illingworth

Sports History

Aug 19 Bill Veeck (St. Louis Browns) sends Eddie Gaedel, a 3'7" little person, to pinch-hit; he walked on four pitches.

MLB Team Owner and Promoter Bill Veeck
  • Aug 22 Harlem Globetrotters play in Olympic Stadium, Berlin before 75,052
  • Aug 24 Bill Veeck's MLB St. Louis Browns hold "Grandstand Manager's Day" - coaches hold up placards for fans to vote on strategy options; Browns defeat visiting A's, 5-3
  • Aug 25 Cleveland Indians win 16th straight home game
  • Aug 28 Braves sell pitcher Johnny Sain to the Yankees for $50,000
  • Aug 28 Pirates snap NY Giants 16 game winning streak

Birthdays in Sport

  • Aug 1 Bob Keselowski, American auto racer (ARCA Hooters SuperCar Series 1989) and team owner (K Automotive Racing), born in Rochester, Michigan (d. 2021)
  • Aug 2 Burgess Owens, American politician (Rep-R-Utah) and football player, born in Columbus, Ohio

Marcel Dionne (72 years old)

Aug 3 Canadian NHL center (LA Kings, NY Rangers), born in Drummondville, Quebec

Marcel Dionne
  • Aug 7 Gary Hall, American swimmer (Olympic silver 400m medley 1968, 200m butterfly 1972, bronze 100m butterfly 1976; 5 x WR), born in Cincinnati, Ohio
  • Aug 8 Phil Carlson, cricketer (Australian all-rounder 1979)
  • Aug 12 Hector Rodriguez, Cuban judoka (Olympic gold 1976)
  • Aug 13 Gwen Cheeseman, American field hockey goalie (Olympic bronze, 1984), born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
  • Aug 15 John Childs, English cricket spin bowler (2 Tests, 3 wickets; Gloucestershire CCC, Essex CCC), born in Plymouth, England
  • Aug 17 Alan Minter, English boxer (world middleweight champion 1980), born in Crawley, England (d. 2020)
  • Aug 18 Greg Pruitt, American football running back (LA Raiders, Super Bowl XVIII), born in Houston, Texas
  • Aug 21 Bernhard Germeshausen, German bobsledder (Olympic gold x 4 GDR 1976, 80), born in Heilbad Heiligenstadt, Germany (d. 2022)
  • Aug 21 John Stearns, American baseball catcher (MLB All Star 1977, 79, 80, 82; New York Mets), born in Denver, Colorado (d. 2022)
  • Aug 27 Don Pooley Jr, American golfer (US Senior Open 2002), born in Phoenix, Arizona

Deaths in Sport

  • Aug 3 Neville Tufnell, English cricket wicket-keeper (Test for England 1910), dies at 64
  • Aug 22 J. P. Bickell, Canadian businessman and sports team owner (Toronto Maple Leafs), dies at 66

Famous Sports Stars

Search the largest, most accurate site for today in history.