Events in Sport
- Apr 1 NHL players begin first strike in 75-year history; 10 day action earns large playoff bonus increase, more control over licensing of their likenesses and changes to free agency system
- Apr 1 Sheffield Shield Men's Cricket Final, Perth: West Australia beats NSW by 44 runs; Justin Langer 149
- Apr 3 1st exhibition game at Camden Field - Orioles beat NY Mets
- Apr 4 Game 1 of Mayor Challenge - NY Yankees beat NY Mets 6-4 at Yank Stad
- Apr 4 146th Grand National: 14/1 shot Party Politics, ridden by Welsh jockey Carl Llewellyn wins by 2½ lengths from Romany King
- Apr 5 11th NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: Stanford beats Western Kentucky, 78-62; Cardinal guard Molly Goodenbour MOP
Golf Tournament
Apr 5 The Tradition Senior Men's Golf, GC at Desert Mountain: Lee Trevino win his second Champions Tour major by 1 stroke from Jack Nicklaus
- Apr 5 Game 2 of Mayor Challenge - NY Yankees sweep NY Mets 6-5 at Shea
- Apr 6 1st game at Camden Field, Balt-Orioles beat Indians 2-0
- Apr 6 54th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Duke beats Michigan, 71-51; back-to-back titles for Blue Devils and coach Mike Krzyzewski
- Apr 9 Florida drops rape charges against NY Mets Gooden, Boston & Coleman
- Apr 9 Record 18 golfers shoot in 60s in Masters round 1 (old record 12)
- Apr 10 NHL strike ends after 10 days
- Apr 11 MLB Cleveland Indians set team record for long game loss to Boston Red Sox (19 innings - 6½ hr)
- Apr 12 2nd lowest NBA scoring game - Detroit Pistons 72, NY Knicks 61
US Masters Golf
Apr 12 56th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Fred Couples wins his only major title, 2 strokes ahead of 1976 champion Raymond Floyd
- Apr 12 MLB Boston Red Sox pitcher Matt Young no-hits Cleveland Indians, but loses 2-1
- Apr 12 NY Mets lose 1st 3 home games for 1st time since 1962
- Apr 13 Lou Carnesecca retires as coach of St John's basketball team
- Apr 13 Longest 2 undefeated baseball teams to meet (NY Yanks 5-0 vs Toronto Blue Jays 6-0); Yanks score 3 in top of 9th to win 5-2
- Apr 15 NY Islander, Al Arbour, coaches most NHL games (1,438)
- Apr 16 NY Rangers win team record 50th game
- Apr 18 Start of South Africa's 1st Test Cricket since 1970 (v WI Bridgetown)
- Apr 19 PGA Seniors' Championship Men’s Golf, PGA National GC: Lee Trevino beats Mike Hill by 1 stroke for his 3rd seniors major title
- Apr 20 96th Boston Marathon: Ibrahim Hussein of Kenya repeats in 2:08:14 for his 3rd title; Olga Markova first Russian women's champion in 2:23:43
Sports History
Apr 24 George Steinbrenner drops his suits against baseball
Baseball Record
Apr 26 Ozzie Smith steals his 500th base
Birthdays in Sport
Weddings in Sport
Stefan Edberg
Apr 18 Swedish tennis ace Stefan Edberg (26) marries Danish model Annette Olsen (27) in Sweden
Deaths in Sport
- Apr 2 Juanito, Spanish soccer forward (34 caps; Real Madrid 284 games, 85 goals), dies in car crash at 37
- Apr 4 Samuel Reshevsky, Polish-American chess grandmaster, dies at 80
- Apr 13 Stuart Surridge, English cricketer (Capt of Surrey), dies at 74
- Apr 20 Marjorie Gestring, American springboard diver (Olympic gold 1936), dies at 69
