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
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 Indians set team record for long game loss to Red Sox (19 inn - 6½ hr)
- Apr 12 2nd lowest NBA scoring game - Detroit Piston 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
Fred Couples
Ray Floyd
- 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
Event of Interest
Apr 24 George Steinbrenner drops his suits against baseball
George Steinbrenner
Birthdays in Sport
- Apr 13 Mohammad Amir, Pakistani cricket bowler (5-year ban for spot-fixing), born in Changa Bangial, Pakistan
Weddings in Sport
- 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
