October 1953 in Sports History

Events in Sport

  • Oct 1 Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Carl Erskine sets a Baseball World Series record with 14 strikeouts in a 3-2 Game 3 win against NY Yankees at Ebbets Field
  • Oct 3 7th NHL All-Star Game, Montreal Forum, Montreal, QC: All-Stars beat Montreal Canadiens, 3-1

Baseball History

Oct 3 NY Yankees legendary center fielder Mickey Mantle hits a grand slam off Russ Meyer; Bronx Bombers hold on to win, 11-7 v Brooklyn Dodgers in Game 5 of Baseball World Series; NY wins series, 4-2

  • Oct 3 Ryder Cup Golf, Wentworth: San Snead wins 6 of 7 matches to lead US to 6th consecutive Cup win, 6½-5½ over Great Britain

Sports History

Oct 4 50th Baseball World Series: NY Yankees beat Brooklyn Dodgers, 4-3 at Yankee Stadium for 4-2 series win; Yankees record 5th consecutive WS; MVP: NY 2B Billy Martin

World Record

Oct 4 British runner Jim Peters sets world marathon record 2:18:34.8 in the Turku Marathon in Finland

Sports History

Oct 7 Bill Veeck tells St. Louis Browns stockholders he faces bankruptcy unless they drop their suit to block his move to Baltimore, they comply

Sports History

Oct 8 Birmingham, Alabama, bars Jackie Robinson's Negro-White All-Stars from playing there Robinson gives in & drops white players from his group

  • Oct 14 Charley Dressen resigns rather than take 1 year contract as Dodger mgr
  • Oct 18 Willie Thrower becomes 1st black NFL quarterback in modern times

NFL Record

Oct 25 Cleveland Browns' QB Otto Graham sets club record with 4 fumbles

  • Oct 28 Bud Grant of CFL Winnipeg Blue Bombers intercepts 5 passes (record)
  • Oct 28 Red Barber, resigns as Dodger sportscaster to join Yankees

Birthdays in Sport

Grete Waitz (1953-2011)

Oct 1 Norwegian long distance athlete (9 x NYC Marathon titles; World C'ship gold 1983; 5 x gold World Cross Country; WR x 4), born in Oslo, Norway

  • Oct 9 Hank Pfister, American tennis star, born in Bakersfield, California
  • Oct 10 Gus Williams, American NBA guard (Golden State, Seattle, Washington), born in Mount Vernon, New York

Pat Day (69 years old)

Oct 13 American thoroughbred jockey (9 x winner of the American Triple Crown; 6 x US Champion in wins; 2 x US Champion in earnings; $298m career purses), born in Brush, Colorado

  • Oct 14 Roland Butcher, Barbados born English cricketer (1st cricketer of Caribbean descent to play for England 1981), born in Saint Philip Parish, Barbados
  • Oct 15 Joe Klecko, American Pro Football HOF defensive lineman (NFL Defensive Player of the Year 1981; First-team All-Pro 1981, 85; 4 × Pro Bowl; New York Jets), born in Chester, Pennsylvania
  • Oct 16 Paulo Roberto Falcão, Brazilian footballer
  • Oct 16 Susan Pedersen, American 4 X 100m medley swimmer (Olympic gold 1968)

Keith Hernandez (69 years old)

Oct 20 American MLB 1st baseman (St Louis Cardinals, NY Mets), born in San Francisco, California

  • Oct 24 James di Donato, open water swimmer, one of the Tiger Twins (world record for swimming the butterfly in 40.6 miles)
  • Oct 24 Jonathan di Donato, open water swimmer, one of the Tiger Twins (world record for swimming the butterfly in 40.6 miles)
  • Oct 25 Mark McNulty, Irish-Zimbabwean golfer (The Tradition 2007; 16 European Tour titles), born in Bindura, Zimbabwe
  • Oct 25 Muffin Spencer-Devlin, American golfer (3 LPGA Tour titles), born in Piqua, Ohio
  • Oct 28 Mark James, British golfer (Senior Players Championship 2004), born in Manchester, England
  • Oct 28 Phil Dwyer, Welsh soccer defender (10 caps; Cardiff City 471 games), born in Cardiff, Wales (d. 2021)

Denis Potvin (69 years old)

Oct 29 Canadian born NHL defenseman (NY Islanders - Norris trophy), born in Vanier, Ontario

  • Oct 31 John Lucas, NBA guard (Houston, Golden State, Milwaukee), born in Durham, North Carolina

Weddings in Sport

Sparky Anderson

Oct 3 MLB player and manager Sparky Anderson (19) weds childhood sweetheart Carol Valle

Hank Aaron

Oct 6 MLB baseball player Hank Aaron (19) weds Barbara Lucas (divorced 1971)

Tony Trabert

Oct 26 Tennis champion Tony Trabert (23) weds beauty queen Shauna Wood at the Salt Lake Country Club in Salt Lake City, Utah