April 23
1903 — The New York Highlanders, later renamed Yankees, win their first game as a major league team, 7-2 over the Washington Senators.
1939 — Boston Red Sox Ted Williams hits his 1st HR.
1946 — Ed Head of the Brooklyn Dodgers pitches a no-hitter against the Boston Braves 5-0 at Ebbets Field.
1950 — The Detroit Red Wings edge the New York Rangers 4-3 in Game 7 to win the Stanley Cup.
1950 — The Minneapolis Lakers become the first team to win back-to-back NBA championships by defeating the Syracuse Nationals 110-95 in Game 6 of the finals. George Mikan leads the Lakers with 40 points in a game marred by three fights, four Minneapolis players fouling out, and Nats coach Al Cervi being ejected for complaining too vociferously about a call.
1954 — The NBA adopts the 24-second shot clock.
1954 — Hank Aaron hits 1st of his 755 homers.
1969 — Jerry West scores 53 points to lead the Los Angeles Lakers over Boston 120-118 in the opening game of the NBA finals.
1989 — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scores 10 points in his last game as a Laker in a 121-117 win over Seattle SuperSonics at the LA Forum.
1989 — NFL Draft: #1 pick UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman by Dallas Cowboys.
1993 — The Dallas Mavericks avoid matching the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers as the worst team in NBA history, beating Minnesota 103-100 for their 10th triumph of the season.
1993 — Orlando’s Nick Anderson scores 50 points in the Magic’s 119-116 win over the New Jersey Nets at The Meadowlands. Anderson’s feat is overshadowed by Shaquille O’Neal, who rips down the backboard in the first quarter, delaying the game 45 minutes. 1999 — Fernando Tatis hits two grand slams in one inning to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 12-5 win over Los Angeles. Tatis becomes the first player in major league history to hit two grand slams in one inning and set the record with eight RBIs in an inning.
2002 — Brent Johnson of the St. Louis Blues ties an NHL record with three straight shutouts in the playoffs. That had not happened in 57 years. Johnson reaches the milestone with a 1-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.
2005 — NFL Draft: University of Utah quarterback Alex Smith first pick by San Francisco 49ers.
2008 — The Chicago Cubs win their 10,000th game, joining the Giants as the only franchise to reach that mark with a 7-6 victory in 10 innings at Colorado.
2011 — The Portland Trail Blazers rally from 23 points down in the second half, including an 18-point deficit to start the fourth quarter to defeat Dallas 84-82 and tie the first-round series at 2-2. Portland’s Brandon Roy scores 18 in the fourth quarter, including a 4-point play and the go ahead jumper with 39 seconds left. Roy outscores Dallas 18-15 in the quarter.
2017 — Kenyan runner Mary Keitany breaks Paula Radcliffe’s women-only marathon world record with a third victory in London. Keitany completes the 26.2-mile course in 2 hours, 17 minutes and 1 second to shave 41 seconds off Radcliffe’s 12-year-old mark.
2020 — NFL Draft: LSU quarterback Joe Burrow first pick by Cincinnati Bengals.
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April 24
1945 — Albert B. “Happy” Chandler, junior Senator from Kentucky, is elected baseball commissioner by a unanimous vote of the major league club owners. Chandler is elected to a seven-year term and succeeds Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who died in November 1944.
1962 — LA Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax’s 2nd career 18-strikeout, in a 10-2 win over Cubs in Chicago.
1963 — Bob Cousy ends his 13-year career by scoring 18 points as the Boston Celtics win their fifth consecutive NBA championship, beating the Los Angeles Lakers 112-109 in Game 6.
1967 — The Philadelphia 76ers win the NBA championship in six games with 125-122 comeback victory over the San Francisco Warriors. Billy Cunningham scores 13 points in the final 12 minutes as the 76ers overcome a five-point deficit entering the fourth quarter.
1974 — Tampa, Fla. is awarded the NFL’s 27th franchise.
1978 — Angels Nolan Ryan strikes out 15 Mariners, 20th time he has 15 in game.
1981 — San Antonio blocks 20 Golden State shots to set NBA regular season game record.
1988 — NFL Draft: Auburn tight end Aundray Bruce first pick by Atlanta Falcons.
1993 — George Branham III becomes the first black bowler to win a PBA Triple Crown event when he beats Parker Bohn III 227-214 in the Tournament of Champions.
1994 — David Robinson scores 71 points to win the NBA scoring title as the San Antonio Spurs end the regular season with a 112-97 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. Robinson, the fourth NBA player to score more than 70 points in a game, edges Orlando’s Shaquille O’Neal for the scoring title.
1994 — NFL Draft: Ohio State defensive tackle Dan Wilkinson first pick by Cincinnati Bengals.
1996 — Petr Nedved scores a power-play goal with 44.6 seconds left in the fourth overtime, ending the longest NHL game in 60 years and giving the Pittsburgh Penguins a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals.
2003 — Petr Sykora scores 48 seconds into the fifth overtime as Anaheim outlasts Dallas 4-3 to win the opener of the Western Conference semifinal series. The game is the fourth-longest in NHL history.
2004 — NFL Draft: Ole Miss quarterback Eli Manning first pick by San Diego Chargers.
2010 — Jamaican Usain Bolt dazzles a capacity crowd with a lightning-fast final leg, overtaking USA Blue’s Ivory Williams to win the 4×100-meter relay at the Penn Relays. A quartet of Mario Forsythe, Yohan Blake, Marvin Anderson and Bolt finishes in 37.90 seconds for Jamaica Gold, setting a Penn Relays record. Trailing entering the final leg, Bolt takes the handoff and finishes the final 100 meters in an unofficial time of 8.79 seconds.
2016 — Klay Thompson scores 23 points and the Golden State Warriors set an NBA playoff record with 21 3-pointers to overcome another injury to Stephen Curry and beat the Houston Rockets 121-94 for a 3-1 series lead. The Warriors made eight 3s in the third quarter alone to set a franchise playoff record for 3-pointers in a period. Thompson led the way from long range, going 7 of 11, and Draymond Green made four.
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April 25
1950 — Charles Cooper, an All-American from Duquesne playing with the Harlem Globetrotters, becomes the first black to be picked in the NBA draft when he’s taken by the Boston Celtics.
1952 — The Minneapolis Lakers, led by George Mikan’s 22 points, beat the New York Knicks 82-65 to win the NBA title in seven games.
1964 — The Toronto Maple Leafs win their third straight Stanley Cup with a 4-0 victory over the Detroit Red Wings in the seventh game.
1965 — The Boston Celtics score 42 points on a record 21 field goals in the final quarter of Game 5 to post a 129-96 rout of the Los Angeles Lakers and win their seventh consecutive NBA championship.
1974 — The NFL adopts the 15-minute, sudden-death overtime to avoid ties. The league also moves the goal posts to the back of the end zones.
1985 — For 2nd time, Wayne Gretzky, scores 7 points in a Cup game (3 goals, 4 assists).
1989 — Mario Lemieux ties NHL playoff records with four first-period goals, five overall and eight points as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat Philadelphia 10-7 to take a 3-2 lead in the Patrick Division finals.
1993 — Micheal Williams sets an NBA record for consecutive free throws with 84. He makes 10 straight as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat Utah 113-111. Calvin Murphy held the previous mark of 78 for Houston in 1981.
1993 — Pittsburgh’s NHL-record 14-game playoff winning streak and its overall 21-game unbeaten string are snapped as the New Jersey Devils beat the Penguins 4-1.
1993 — NFL Draft: Washington State quarterback Drew Bledsoe first pick by New England Patriots.
1995 — Major league baseball returns after a 257-day players’ strike as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Florida Marlins 8-7.
1997 — Phoenix’s Rex Chapman makes a playoff-record nine 3-pointers en route to career-high 42 points in a 106-101 win at Seattle. Chapman broke the old playoff mark of eight treys set by Dan Majerle of Phoenix against Seattle on June 1, 1993.
1997 — Seattle Mariner Ken Griffey Jr. hits his 250th HR.
2000 — The San Jose Sharks, the Western Conference’s No. 8 seed, eliminate the NHL’s regular-season champions, the St. Louis Blues, with a 3-1 victory in Game 7. The Blues are the second NHL regular-season champion to get knocked out in the first round, joining the 1991 Chicago Blackhawks.
2006 — Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams is suspended for the 2006 season by the NFL for violating the league’s substance abuse policy for the fourth time.
2009 — San Antonio’s Tony Parker matches George Gervin’s franchise playoff record for points in a half, scoring 31 by halftime of the Spurs’ 99-90 loss to Dallas in Game 4 of their series. Parker makes 12 of 17 shots, including two 3-pointers, to help the Spurs take a 55-51 halftime lead. Parker finishes with 43 points.
2009 — NFL Draft: Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford first pick by Detroit Lions.
2010 — Dwyane Wade sets franchise playoff records with 46 points, 30 in the second half, and Miami staves off elimination by beating Boston 101-92 in Game 4 of an Eastern Conference first-round series.
2013 — Miami’s Ray Allen scores 23 points and breaks the NBA career playoff record for 3-pointers, and the Heat beat the Milwaukee Bucks 104-91 for a 3-0 lead in their first-round series. Allen’s five 3-pointers against the Bucks gives him 322 for his career, two more than Reggie Miller.
2013 — NFL Draft: Central Michigan offensive tackle Eric Fisher first pick by Kansas City Chiefs.
2014 — In a historic vote, Northwestern University football players casts secret ballots on whether to form the nation’s first union for college athletes — a decision that could change the landscape of American amateur sports.
2015 — Ukraine’s Wladimir Klitschko easily outpoints a game-but-outclassed Bryant Jennings in the champion’s first fight in the United States in seven years, defending his heavyweight titles with a unanimous decision at Madison Square Garden in New York.
2017 — In a swift response to increasing debates over television reviews, golf’s ruling bodies issue a new decision on the Rules of Golf that limits the use of video evidence and could spare players from being penalized even if they violated a rule. The decision issued — and effective immediately on all tours around the world — has two standards. Players can avoid a penalty if the violation could not be noticed with the naked eye. Rules officials also can eliminate penalties if they feel players made a “reasonable judgment” in taking a drop or replacing their golf balls on the putting green.
2017 — Trea Turner hits for the cycle and drives in a career-high seven runs, helping Washington to a 15-12 win over Colorado.
2019 — NFL Draft: Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray #1 pick by Arizona Cardinals.
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