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

Baseball Player and Manager 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)