Sept. 29
1920 — Yankees slugger Babe Ruth sets then-MLB home run season record at 54.
1923 — Gene Sarazen beats Walter Hagen 1 up to capture the PGA championship.
1941 — Joe Louis knocks out Lou Nova in the sixth round at the Polo Grounds in New York to retain the world heavyweight title.
1954 — Willie Mays makes his over-the-shoulder catch of Vic Wertz’ long drive to center field and pinch-hitter Dusty Rhodes homers off Bob Lemon in the 10th inning to lead the New York Giants to a 5-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians in Game 1 of the World Series.
1967 — American boxer Emile Griffith regains his world middleweight crown on points in a brawling re-match with Italian Nino Benvenuti at Shea Stadium, NY; second of famous trilogy of fights.
1974 — Dr. Norbert Sander Jr. wins the New York City Marathon in 2:26:30 and Kathy Switzer capture the women’s division in 3:07:29.
1976 — Tommy Lasorda replaces Walter Alston as Los Angeles Dodgers manager.
1977 — Muhammad Ali wins a unanimous 15-round decision over Earnie Shavers at Madison Square Garden in New York to retain his world heavyweight title.
1984 — Mike Prindle of Western Michigan sets an NCAA record by kicking seven field goals in a 42-7 rout over Marshall.
1985 — Houston Oilers quarterback Warren Moon is sacked 12 times in a 17-10 loss to the Dallas Cowboys to tie an NFL record.
1988 — American athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee wins her second gold medal of the Seoul Olympics by taking the long jump with an Olympic record leap of 7.40m; previously won the heptathlon.
1988 — American sprinter Florence Griffith Joyner sets women’s 200m world record 21.34; completes sprint double at the Seoul Olympics.
1988 — U.S. men’s basketball team beats Australia 78-49 to take the bronze medal at the Seoul Olympics; last time US represented by a team that doesn’t feature NBA players.
1988 — U.S. retain women’s basketball title at he Seoul Olympics with a 77-70 win over Yugoslavia; star guard Teresa Edwards top scores for the Americans with 18 points.
1991 — Pat Bradley wins the MBS LPGA Classic by one shot over Michelle Estill for her 30th career victory, qualifying her for the LPGA Hall of Fame.
1995 — The NHL and NHL Players Association strike a deal to allow league players to participate in the 1998 Winter Olympics.
2000 — At the Sydney Olympics, the U.S. men’s basketball team escapes the humiliation of playing for a bronze medal with an 85-83 victory over Lithuania in the semifinals. It’s the closest victory and biggest scare for a U.S. Olympic team since NBA players started competing in 1992.
2002 — After losing to Iowa State, Nebraska drops out of the Associated Press Top 25 football poll after being ranked for 348 consecutive weeks. The last time Nebraska was missing from the poll was Oct. 5, 1981.
2002 — Seattle’s Shaun Alexander scores an NFL-record five touchdowns in the first half of a 48-23 rout of Minnesota. He finishes with 139 yards rushing and 92 receiving and one TD short of the league mark of six in a game.
2004 — Major League Baseball announces the Montreal Expos will move to Washington to begin play at RFK Stadium in the 2005 season.
2012 — Geno Smith throws for 656 yards and ties a Big 12 record with eight touchdown passes to lead No. 9 West Virginia to a 70-63 win over No. 25 Baylor. Smith outduels Baylor’s Nick Florence, who has a standout game of his own with 581 yards and five TDs. Baylor’s Terrance Williams sets a Big 12 record with 314 yards receiving. The old mark was set minutes earlier by West Virginia’s Stedman Bailey, who had 303 yards and five TDs.
2015 — NCAA bans the SMU men’s basketball team from the postseason and suspends coach Larry Brown for nine games, saying he lied to investigators and ignored a case of academic fraud by a player.
2018 — Seventeen-year-old Hailie Deegan uses a bump-and-run on her teammate to become the first female winner of a NASCAR K&N West Series race. Her last-lap shove of Cole Rouse at Meridian Speedway in Idaho gives her the victory.
2020 — Ben Ainslie wins the Olympic gold medal in the Laser class, beating previous Laser Olympic champion Robert Scheidt.
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Sept. 30
1916 — The Boston Braves snap the 26-game winning streak of the New York Giants with an 8-3 victory in the second game of a doubleheader.
1927 — Babe Ruth hits his 60th home run of the season in the eighth inning off Tom Zachary to lead the New York Yankees to a 4-2 victory over the Washington Senators.
1939 — Fordham participates in the world’s first televised American football game. In front of the sport’s first live TV audience, the Rams defeats Waynesburg College, 34-7.
1972 — Roberto Clemente hits a double against New York Mets left-hander Jon Matlack during Pittsburgh’s 5-0 victory at Three Rivers Stadium. The hit is the 3,000th and last for the Pirates’ star, who dies in a plane crash during the offseason.
1984 — The Los Angeles Rams set an NFL record with three safeties in a 33-12 victory over the New York Giants. Two of the safeties are on blocked punts in the end zone.
1992 — George Brett becomes the 18th player to get 3,000 hits in the Kansas City Royals’ 4-0 win over the California Angels.
1995 — Prairie View A&M sets the college football record for consecutive losses with a 64-0 loss to Grambling State. It is the team’s 51st straight defeat, an NCAA record for any level.
2007 — Osi Umenyiora has six of the New York Giants’ NFL record-tying 12 sacks in a 16-3 victory over Philadelphia.
2007 — Detroit scores an NFL-record, 34 points in the fourth quarter of a 37-27 victory over Chicago. The Lions combine with Bears for 48 points — also a league record.
2007 — Brett Favre passes Dan Marino to become the NFL leader in career touchdown passes, throwing Nos. 421 and 422 in Green Bay’s 23-16 victory over Minnesota.
2007 — Germany defeats Brazil 2-0 in the final of the FIFA Women’s World Cup held in Shanghai, China.
2012 — New England beats Buffalo 52-28 to become the first team since the 1950 New York Giants (48 points) to score at least 45 second-half points in a game in which it trailed at halftime (14-7). The Patriots become the second team in NFL history with a 300-yard passer (Tom Brady, 340 Yards), two 100-yard rushers (Brandon Bolden, 137 and Steven Ridley, 106) and two 100-yard receivers (Wes Welker, 129 and Rob Gronkowski, 104). The only other team to accomplish the feat was the 2008 Packers on December 28.
2015 — The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agrees that the NCAA’s use of college athletes’ names, images and likenesses in video games and TV broadcasts violate antitrust laws but strikes down a plan to allow schools to pay players up to $5,000.
2017 — Troy’s defense forces four turnovers and the surging Trojans upset No. 25 LSU 24-21. Troy is the first team from outside the Southeastern Conference to win in LSU’s Death Valley since UAB in 2000.
2017 — Detroit’s Andrew Romine becomes the fifth player in baseball history to play all nine positions in one game, helping the Tigers to a 3-2 win over Minnesota.
2018 — The Ryder Cup is won by Europe 17½-10½ at Le Golf National in Saint-Quentin-En-Yvelines, France. The home team secures the victory when Phil Mickelson knocks one in the water at the par-3 16th hole, conceding his match to Francesco Molinari right on the tee box. Molinari becomes the first European player to go 5-0 in the competition since the current format was adapted in 1979. Tiger Woods loses all four of his matches, capped by a 2-and-1 loss to 23-year-old Jon Rahm of Spain, the youngest player in the event.
2018 — Brittney Griner scores 15 points to help the United States beat Australia 73-56 and win the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup.
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Oct. 1
1903 — The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Boston Pilgrims 7-3 in the first World Series game. Jimmy Sebring hits the first Series homer, Deacon Phillippe is the winning pitcher and Cy Young the loser.
1932 — Babe Ruth made his legendary “call” as he points to center field before hitting a home run into the Wrigley Field bleachers in the 5th inning of Game 3 of the World Series. Yankees go on to win, 7-5.
1945 — World heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis is discharged from US army after being awarded the Legion of Merit.
1961 — Roger Maris hits his 61st home run of the season, against Tracy Stallard of the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. The blow gives New York a 1-0 victory and eclipses Babe Ruth’s 34-year-old single-season home run record.
1967 — Richard Petty continues phenomenal NASCAR winning streak by taking the Wilkes 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway; unprecedented 10th consecutive victory.
1975 — In the “Thrilla in Manila,” Muhammad Ali beats Joe Frazier in 14 rounds to retain his world heavyweight title.
1977 — 75,646 fans come to the Meadowlands to see soccer great Pele play his farewell game. Pele plays the first half with the New York Cosmos and the second half with his former team, Santos of Brazil.
1988 — Flamboyant American sprinter Florence Griffith Joyner wins her third gold medal of the Seoul Olympics anchoring the victorious US 4 x 100m relay team.
1988 — Steffi Graf beats Gabriela Sabatini 6-3, 6-3 to win the women’s singles tennis gold medal at the Seoul Olympics; clinches first and only Golden Slam in history (Grand Slam & Olympics).
1993 — In his first World Boxing Council heavyweight title defense Lennox Lewis beats fellow Londoner Frank Bruno by TKO in 7 at the National Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.
1997 — Kevin Garnett agrees to terms with the Minnesota Timberwolves on the richest long-term contract in professional sports history, a six-year deal worth more than $125 million.
1999 — In a blockbuster NBA trade, the Houston Rockets move All Star forward Scottie Pippen to Portland Trail Blazers for Kelvin Cato, Stacey Augmon, Walt Williams, Carlos Rogers, Ed Gray and Brian Shaw.
2000 — NBA stars Ray Allen and Vince Carter each score 13 points as the U.S. beats France 85-75 to win the men’s basketball gold medal at the Sydney Olympics.
2000 — United States wins the most medals (97), and the most gold medals (40) in Summer Olympics held in Sydney, Australia.
2004 — Ichiro Suzuki sets the major league record for hits in a season, breaking George Sisler’s 84-year-old mark with a pair of early singles as the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 8-3. Sisler set the hits record of 257 in 1920 with the St. Louis Browns over a 154-game schedule. Suzuki breaks it in the Mariners’ 160th game of the year.
2006 — Tiger Woods matches his longest PGA Tour winning streak of six at the American Express Championship. Woods finishes with a 4-under 67 for an eight-shot victory. It’s also his eighth victory of the year, making him the first player in PGA Tour history to win at least eight times in three seasons.
2011 — Tyler Wilson throws for a school-record 510 yards and Jarius Wright catches 13 passes for a school-record 281 yards as Arkansas turns an 18-point halftime deficit into a 42-38 victory over Texas A&M.
2017 — Frankie Dettori wins an unprecedented fifth Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe as Enable caps a memorable season. Enable, the 10-11 favorite, leads for most of Europe’s richest horse race to claim her fifth consecutive victory after wins in the Epsom Oaks, the Irish Oaks, the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the Yorkshire Oaks. The filly wins by 2 1/2 lengths over Cloth Of Stars.
2017 — Houston’s Deshaun Watson becomes the first rookie to throw four touchdowns and run for another one, since Fran Tarkenton in 1961 and tied an NFL record for most TDs by a rookie quarterback in Houston’s 57-14 victory.
2017 — Todd Gurley scores the go-ahead touchdown on a 53-yard catch-and-run, and Greg Zuerlein kicks a career-high seven field goals to lead the Los Angeles Rams to a 35-30 win over Dallas.
2017 — Former NFL star O.J. Simpson is released from Nevada’s Lovelock Prison after less than 9 years of detention of his 33 year sentence for armed robbery and kidnapping.
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Oct. 2
1906 — Canadian world heavyweight boxing champion Tommy Burns KOs American challenger ‘Fireman’ Jim Flynn in 15 rounds to retain his title in Los Angeles, California.
1950 — Jim Hardy throws six touchdown passes, including five to Bob Shaw, as the Chicago Cardinals pound the Baltimore Colts 55-13.
1969 — Seattle Pilots’ last game in Seattle; crash to 98th season loss, 3-1 to Oakland in front of just 5,473; move to Milwaukee as the Brewers next season.
1970 — Fourteen members of the Wichita State football team are killed in a plane crash in the Rocky Mountains.
1980 — Larry Holmes registers a technical knockout in the 11th round against Muhammad Ali to win the world heavyweight title in Las Vegas.
1983 — The Green Bay Packers score 49 points in the first half, including 35 in the second quarter, in a 55-14 rout of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
1988 — Future world heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis, representing Canada, wins super-heavyweight gold medal at the Seoul Olympics; beats American Riddick Bowe by 2nd round TKO.
1991 — Steffi Graf becomes the youngest woman to win 500 matches as a professional when she beats Petra Langrova of Czechoslovakia 6-0, 6-1 in the Leipzig International Tournament.
1993 — In the first all-British world heavyweight title fight, Lennox Lewis retains his WBC heavyweight title with a seven-round knockout of Frank Bruno in Cardiff, Wales.
1993 — California rallies from a 30-0 deficit to beat Oregon 42-41. Dave Barr throws three second-half touchdowns, including a 26-yarder to Iheanyi Uwaezuoke with 1:17 left in the game.
1994 — North Carolina’s 92-game winning streak in women’s soccer ends with a scoreless tie in overtime against Notre Dame.
1994 — Don Shula’s Miami Dolphins beat son Dave’s Cincinnati Bengals 23-7 in the first meeting between father and son coaches in professional sports.
2001 — Sammy Sosa becomes the first player in major league history with three 60-homer seasons, but the Reds hold on for a 5-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs. Sosa’s solo shot comes in the first inning.
2004 — Rice and San Jose State play in the highest-scoring regulation game in Division I-A history, with the Spartans winning 70-63. The 133 points surpass the total from Middle Tennessee’s 70-58 victory over Idaho on Oct. 6, 2001. The schools combine for 19 touchdowns to break the Division I-A record of 18.
2004 — Jeff Kent becomes all-time home run leader for MLB 2nd basemen when he hits 2 in Astros’ 9-3 win v Rockies; 302 overall HR to break Ryne Sandberg’s major league record established in 1997.
2004 — Montreal Expos earn the last win in the franchise’s MLB history, beating New York Mets, 6 – 3 at Shea Stadium; Brad Wilkerson hits the Expos’ final home run in 9th inning, his 32nd of the year.
2006 — Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth is given a five-game suspension — the longest for on-field behavior in NFL history — for stomping on Dallas Cowboys center Andre Gurode’s head and kicking him in the face.
2009 — Ninth-grader Alexis Thompson shoots a 3-under 69 for a share of the lead with top-ranked Lorena Ochoa and three others after the second round of the Navistar LPGA Classic.
2011 — Dallas has its largest lead blown in a loss in franchise history, frittering away a 24-point third-quarter cushion in a 34-30 loss to Detroit. The Lions turned a 20-point halftime deficit into an overtime win at Minnesota the previous week.
2016 — The United States win the Ryder Cup for the first time since 2008. Ryan Moore two-putts on No. 18 for a 1-up victory over Lee Westwood, giving the Americans a 15-10 lead that seals the win over Europe. The 17-11 victory over Europe is their biggest rout in 35 years at the Ryder Cup.
2016 — Atlanta’s Matt Ryan passes for 503 yards and four touchdowns, while wide receiver Julio Jones has 12 catches for 300 yards and a touchdown in Atlanta’s 48-33 win over Carolina.
2016 — Veteran broadcaster Vin Scully called his final LA Dodgers game after a record 67 MLB Seasons.
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