This day in sports: Babe Ruth shines in baseball’s first All-Star game
The American League was led by a pair of Leftys and a Babe on this date in 1933 when baseball’s first All-Star game was played before nearly 49,000 fans at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The exhibition was part of the Chicago World’s Fair.
Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees hit a two-run home run to deep right field in the third inning off National League starter Bill Hallahan of the St. Louis Cardinals, and Lefty Gomez of the Yankees and Lefty Grove of the Philadelphia Athletics pitched six scoreless inning between them in the American League’s 4-2 win.
Ruth also contributed with his glove when he ran down a drive off the bat of Cincinnati’s Chick Hafey at the wall in the eighth inning that saved at least one run, possibly two.
Frankie Frisch of the Cardinals had two hits for the NL, including a sixth-inning home run.
In a game that was postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Angels were scheduled to play the Detroit Tigers on Monday in the first of four at Angel Stadium.
Assuming the NBA can resume play July 30 in Florida, Zion Williamson, Ja Morant and Luka Doncic will seek to make their postseason debuts.
Here is a look at other memorable moments on this date:
1949 — On a sweltering day in Cincinnati, catcher Walker Cooper of the Reds goes six for seven, hitting three three-run home runs, and drives in 10 runs against the Chicago Cubs at Crosley Field. Cooper also has three singles and scores five times to lead the Reds to a 23-4 rout. His 10 RBIs and 15 total bases are team records; the former is tied and the latter is broken in 2017 by Scooter Gennett, who gets 17 in a game against St. Louis.
1957 — Althea Gibson, 29, is the first Black tennis player to win a championship at Wimbledon when she beats fellow American Darlene Hard 6-3, 6-2 for the singles title at the All-England Club in London. It is Gibson’s second Grand Slam win following her victory at the French Open a year earlier. She would return to Wimbledon the following year and win again.
1975 — Ruffian, an undefeated filly, and Foolish Pleasure, the Kentucky Derby winner, compete in a match race at Belmont Park in New York. After taking the lead, Ruffian suffers a severe leg injury when she breaks the sesamoid bones in her right ankle and is pulled up by jockey Jacinto Vasquez. After a surgery that is unsuccessful, she is put down the following day and later buried in the track’s infield.
1986 — Slugger Bob Horner hits four home runs, the 11th player in big league history to do so, but they aren’t enough to help the Atlanta Braves beat the Montreal Expos, who pound the Atlanta pitching staff for an 11-8 victory. Horner’s first three home runs come off Expos starter Andy McGaffigan. The fourth is allowed by closer Jeff Reardon in the ninth inning, a deep drive over the fence in left-center that puts Horner in the record book.
1994 — On a warm, humid evening, Leroy Burrell breaks the world record in the 100-meter dash in a meet in Lausanne, Switzerland. Burrell’s time of 9.85 seconds betters Carl Lewis’ 9.86 at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo. Davidson Ezinwa of Nigeria edges Dennis Mitchell for second place. Both runners are timed in 9.9 seconds. Lewis is absent from the IAAF Grand Prix meet because of a disagreement over appearance money.
1997 — Pete Sampras continues his grass-court wizardry when he wins his fourth Wimbledon singles championship in five years, easily defeating Cedric Pioline of France 6-4, 6-2, 6-4. It is Sampras’ 10th career Grand Slam title which ties Bill Tilden and leaves him two short of equaling Roy Emerson’s record, which Sampras would match in 1999 and break in 2000.
1998 — Se Ri Pak, 20, of South Korea is the youngest winner of the U.S. Women’s Open when she sinks an 18-foot birdie on the 20th hole of a playoff to beat amateur Jenny Chuasiriporn, also 20, at Blackwolf Run in Kohler, Wis. Pak and Chuasiriporn finish 72-hole play tied at six-over-par 290, which forces an 18-hole playoff the next day. The tournament goes into sudden death when both players shoot a 73 in the extra round.
2010 — Caster Semenya of South Africa is cleared to return to track by the IAAF, the sport’s governing body, ending an 11-month hiatus while she undergoes gender tests after becoming the 800-meter world champion. Semenya is allowed to keep running in women’s events.
2013 — Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan, the identical twins from Southern California, win their fourth straight major doubles championship, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 over Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Marcelo Melo of Brazil at Wimbledon. The victory is the third at the All-England Club for the Bryans and makes them the first men’s team in the Open era to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time.
Sources: The Times, Associated Press
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