October 1953 in Sports History

Events in Sport

Event of Interest

Oct 4 NY Yankees slugging 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; Yankees win series, 4-2

Baseball Legend Mickey Mantle — Baseball Legend
Mickey Mantle

Oct 5 50th Baseball World Series: NY Yankees beat Brooklyn Dodgers, 4-3 in Game 6 for 4-2 series win; NY 2nd baseman Billy Martin's 12 hits sets WS record; Yankees win record 5th consecutive WS

Event of Interest

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

MLB Team Owner and Promoter Bill Veeck — MLB Team Owner and Promoter
Bill Veeck

Event of Interest

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

Baseball Player Jackie Robinson — Baseball Player
Jackie Robinson

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

NFL Quarterback Otto Graham — NFL Quarterback
Otto Graham

Oct 28 Red Barber, resigns as Dodger sportscaster to join Yankees

Birthdays in Sport

Oct 1 Grete Waitz, 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 (d. 2011)
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

Oct 13 Pat Day, American jockey who won $298m in 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 16 Susan Pedersen, American 4 X 100m medley swimmer (Olympic gold 1968)
Oct 16 Paulo Roberto Falcão, Brazilian footballer

Keith Hernandez

Oct 20 Keith Hernandez, 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