Today in Sports – Jackie Robinson becomes 1st African-American to play in U.S. major league baseball

April 15

1901 — Boston Marathon won for second straight year by Canadian Jim Caffrey.

1907 — Boston Marathon won by Canadian Tom Longboat.

1927 — Yankees slugger Babe Ruth hits MLB record 60 HRs is a season.

1937 — The Detroit Red Wings beat the New York Rangers 3-0 to take the Stanley Cup in the fifth and final game.

1947 — Jackie Robinson becomes 1st African-American to play in US major league baseball.

1952 — The Detroit Red Wings beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-0 to capture the Stanley Cup. The Red Wings holds the Canadiens to two goals in the four-game sweep.

1958 — 1st baseball game in California, SF Giants beat LA Dodgers, 8-0.

1979 — 43rd US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Fuzzy Zoeller wins his only Masters with a birdie on the 2nd hole of a playoff with Ed Sneed and Tom Watson.

1984 — Ben Crenshaw wins the Masters by two strokes over Tom Watson.

1985 — Marvin Hagler retains his world middleweight title by stopping Tommas Hearns in the third round at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Both slug it out with reckless abandon for eight minutes, which many consider the most electrifying three rounds in boxing history.

1990 — PGA Seniors’ Championship Men’s Golf, PGA National GC: South African Gary Player wins his third event title by 2 strokes.

1991 — Magic Johnson sets an NBA record for career assists in a 112-106 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. Johnson, who needed nine assists to break Oscar Robertson’s record of 9,887, gets 19.

1993 — Sparky Anderson earns his 2,000th victory as a manager as the Detroit Tigers rally to beat the Oakland Athletics 3-2.

1993 — Andre Dawson becomes the 25th player to hit 400 home runs as the Boston Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians 4-3.

1997 — Baseball honors Jackie Robinson by retiring #42 for all teams.

1998 — The first-ever AL-NL doubleheader is held in New York’s Shea Stadium. The New York Yankees beat the Anaheim Angels 6-3 and the New York Mets edge the Chicago Cubs 2-1.

2000 — Cal Ripken becomes the 24th player to reach 3,000 hits when he lines a clean single to center off Twins reliever Hector Carrasco. He reaches the milestone with his third hit in a 6-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins and becomes the seventh player in major league history to get 3,000 hits and 400 home runs.

2000 — NFL Draft: Penn State defensive end Courtney Brown first pick by Cleveland Browns.

2005 — Top-ranked Roger Federer’s 25-match winning streak ends when French teenager Richard Gasquet saves three match points before capturing a third-set tiebreaker at the Monte Carlo Masters. Federer’s 35-1 record this year is the best start on the men’s tour since John McEnroe was 39-0 in 1984.

2005 — Two-time Olympic champion Steven Lopez of the United States wins his third world taekwondo title, capturing the welterweight gold medal with a 3-2 victory over Ali Tajik of Iran.

2018 — Victor Oladipo scores 32 points and the Indiana Pacers hold off Cleveland’s second-half rally for a stunning 98-80 victory in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference series, handing LeBron James and the Cavaliers’ their first loss in the opening round in eight years.

2019 — LA Clippers overcome an NBA record 31-point deficit to score an improbable 135-131 Game 2 playoff victory over the Golden State Warriors.

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