October 1983 in Sports History

Events in Sport

NHL Record

Oct 5 Edmonton super star Wayne Gretzky scores a goal and assist in 5-4 win over Toronto in the Oilers season opener; starts NHL record 51-game scoring streak; ends 28/1/84

Ice Hockey Great Wayne Gretzky — Ice Hockey Great
Wayne Gretzky

Oct 5 Panamanian jockey Jorge Velasquez wins his 5,000th career race, riding Banquet Scene to victory in the 4th race at Belmont Park

NHL Record

Oct 6 Islander's Mike Bossy's 25th career hat trick

Ice Hockey Great Mike Bossy — Ice Hockey Great
Mike Bossy

Oct 6 NY Jets announce they are leaving Shea for Meadowlands
Oct 8 Washington Capitals 1st NHL overtime game losing to NY Islanders 8-7
Oct 8 MLB National League Championship: Philadelphia Phillies beat Los Angeles Dodgers, 3 games to 1
Oct 8 MLB American League Championship: Baltimore Orioles beat Chicago White Sox, 3 games to 1
Oct 10 Tom Monaghan becomes CEO of Detroit Tigers
Oct 15 Black Hawks & Maple Leafs combine for fastest 5 goals (84 seconds)

Event of Interest

Oct 15 Nelson Piquet of Brazil finishes 3rd in the season ending South African Grand Prix at Kyalami to clinch his second Formula 1 World Drivers Championship; wins by 2 points from Alain Prost

Formula 1 Racing Driver Alain Prost — Formula 1 Racing Driver
Alain Prost

Ryder Cup

Oct 16 Ryder Cup Golf, PGA National GC: US wins 14½-13½; Bernard Gallacher's missed 3-foot putt for bogey gives Tom Watson 2 & 1 win and the US winning point

Oct 16 Baltimore Orioles beat Philadelphia Phillies, 4 games to 3 in 80th World Series
Oct 19 Philadelphia Flyers begin 13 NHL game winning streak
Oct 23 13th NYC Women's Marathon won by Grete Waitz in 2:27:00
Oct 23 14th NYC Marathon won by Rod Dixon in 2:08:59

Birthdays in Sport

Oct 1 Mirko Vučinić, Montenegrin soccer forward (48 caps; Lecce, Roma, Juventus), born in Nikšić, Montenegro
Oct 3 Frederico Chaves Guedes [Fred], Brazilian soccer striker (39 caps; Fluminense, Lyon), born in Teófilo Otoni, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Oct 4 Kurt Suzuki, American baseball catcher (MLB All Star 2014; Washington Nationals), born in Wailuku, Hawaii
Oct 5 Mashrafe Mortaza, Bangladeshi cricketer, born in Narail District, Bangladesh
Oct 8 Michael Fraser, Scottish football goalkeeper, born in Inverness, Scotland
Oct 8 Travis Pastrana, American motorsports competitor, born in Annapolis, Maryland
Oct 9 Jang Mi-Ran, South Korean weightlifter (Olympic gold 2008), born in Gangwon, South Korea
Oct 9 Andreas Zuber, Austrian racing driver, born in Judenburg, Austria
Oct 9 Stephen Gionta, American ice hockey player, born in Rochester, New York
Oct 10 Vusimuzi Sibanda, Zimbabwean cricketer, born in Highfield, Harare, Zimbabwe
Oct 11 Ruslan Ponomariov, Ukrainian chess player, born in Horlivka, Ukraine
Oct 12 Alex Brosque, Australian footballer (Sydney FC), born in Sydney, Australia
Oct 14 Lin Dan, Chinese badminton player (two-time Olympic champion, five-time World champion), born in Longyan, China
Oct 17 Ivan Saenko, Russian football player
Oct 20 Luis Saritama, Ecuadorian footballer
Oct 21 Zack Greinke, American baseball player
Oct 21 Andy Marté, Dominican baseball player
Oct 22 Glenn Loovens, Dutch footballer
Oct 23 Filipos Darlas, Greek footballer
Oct 24 Marc Leishman, Australian golfer (British Open 2015 runner-up), born in Warrnambool, Victoria
Oct 24 Brian Vickers, American race car driver, born in Thomasville, North Carolina
Oct 26 Dmitri Sychev, Russian football player (FC Pyunik), born in Omsk, Soviet Union
Oct 26 Francisco Liriano, Dominican MLB pitcher, born in San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic
Oct 26 Luke Watson, South African rugby player (Western Province), born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Oct 27 Brent Clevlen, American baseball player (Detroit Tigers), born in Austin, Texas
Oct 28 Jarrett Jack, American basketball player
Oct 29 Maurice Clarett, American football player
Oct 29 Dana Eveland, American baseball player
Oct 29 Jason Tahincioglu, Turkish racing driver
Oct 30 Iain Hume, Canadian footballer (Kerala Blasters), born in Edinburgh, Scotland
Oct 30 Trent Edwards, American football player (Buffalo Bills), born in Los Gatos, California

Deaths in Sport

Oct 16 Kelso, American racehorse (b. 1957)
Oct 18 Vijay Manjrekar, Indian cricketer (55 Tests for India), dies at 52
Oct 18 Willie Jones, American baseball third baseman (MLB All Star 1950, 51; Philadelphia Phillies), dies from cancer at 58
Oct 26 Mike Michalske, American football NFL guard (NY Yankees, Green Bay Packers), dies at 80

George Halas

Oct 31 George Halas [Papa Bear], American NFL coach and pioneering owner of the Chicago Bears, dies of pancreatic cancer at 88