August 1956 in Sports History

Events in Sport

Sports History

Aug 7 51-year-old Satchel Paige (Miami Marlins) wins a game before the largest crowd in minor league history, 57,000 at Miami’s Orange Bowl; International League: Marlins 6-2 v Columbus Jets

Sports History

Aug 7 Boston Red Sox fine slugger Ted Williams $5,000 for spitting at heckling Boston fans, third incident in 3 weeks

Sports History

Aug 16 Indians' Rocky Colavito hits his 1st grand slam, Cleveland 5, Tigers 4

Aug 18 Cincinnati Reds (8) & Cubs (2) combine to hit 10 HRs in a 9 inning game

Sports History

Aug 25 To make room for Enos Slaughter, NY Yankees release Phil Rizzuto

Sports History

Aug 26 Yankees announce purchase of outfielder Enos Slaughter from KC

Aug 28 Australia clings on for a draw in 5th Test at The Oval, London; England retain cricket Ashes with Jim Laker's 46 wickets a record series haul

Birthdays in Sport

Aug 3 Balwinder Sandhu, Indian cricket all-rounder (8 Tests; 22 ODIs), born in Mumbai, India
Aug 3 Todd Christensen, NFL player (Oakland) and sportscaster, born in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania (d. 2013)
Aug 4 Gerry Cooney, American boxer (5 x World Heavyweight title loser), born in Manhattan, New York
Aug 10 Dianne Fromholtz Balestrat, Australian tennis player (1977 Australian Open doubles winner and single finalist), born in Albury, New South Wales
Aug 11 June Daugherty, American women's college basketball coach (Boise State Uni, Uni of Washington, Washington State University), born in Columbus, Ohio (d. 2021)
Aug 12 Sidath Wettimuny, Sri Lanka cricket opener (190 v England Lords 1984)
Aug 14 Rusty Wallace, American race car driver, born in Arnold, Missouri
Aug 16 Colleen Walker, American golfer (du Maurier Classic 1997), born in Jacksonville, Florida (d. 2012)
Aug 16 Daniel Willems, Belgian cyclist
Aug 16 Dominic Erban, French rugby international player
Aug 17 Álvaro Pino, Spanish cyclist, born in Ponteareas, Spain
Aug 18 Sandeep Patil, Indian cricketer (Indian batsman Great 174 v Adelaide 1981), born in Mumbai, India
Aug 19 Cindy Nelson, American skier (Olympic bronze 1976)
Aug 20 Alvin Greenidge, West Indian cricketer (WI opener, no relation to Gordon or Geoff), born in Bath Village, Christ Church, Barbados
Aug 22 Jeffrey Lloyd, South African jockey based in Australia, born in Durban, South Africa

Paul Molitor (66 years old)

Aug 22 American Baseball HOF infielder (7 x MLB All-Star Milwaukee Brewers; World Series MVP 1993 Toronto Blue Jays) and manager (Minnesota Twins 2015-18), born in Saint Paul, Minnesota

Aug 22 Peter Taylor, Australian cricketer (Australian off-spinner 1987-92), born in North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Aug 25 Henri Toivonen, Finnish rally driver (3 x World Rally C'ship round wins for Talbot, Opel, Porsche, Lancia), born in Jyväskylä, Finland (d. 1986)
Aug 26 Mark Mangino, American football coach, born in New Castle, Pennsylvania
Aug 28 Beverley Goddard-Callender, English track and field athlete (Olympic bronze 1980, 84), born in Barbados