Today’s Sports Highlight in History:
In 1934, Babe Ruth hits his 700th career home run against Detroit.
On this date:
1881 — William Renshaw sets the record for the shortest men’s championship match by time and games by beating John T. Hartley 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 in 37 minutes at Wimbledon.
1941 — The PGA tournament is won by Vic Ghezzi with a 1-up 38-hole victory over Byron Nelson. at Cherry Hills CC Denver
1943 — The first night game in All-Star history is played at Philadelphia’s Shibe Park. Boston’s Bobby Doerr provides the big blow, a three-run homer, for the AL’s 5-3 win.
1963 — Early Wynn wins his 300th and last MLB game at 43.
1968 — Gary Player wins the British Open by two strokes over Bob Charles and Jack Nicklaus. It’s the second Open championship for Player and his fifth major title.
1971 — Reggie Jackson hits a mammoth home run off the power generator on the right-field roof at Tiger Stadium to highlight a barrage of six homers — three by each team — as the AL beats the NL 6-4 in the All-Star game.
1972 — Robert Irsay buys the stock of the Los Angeles Rams for $19 million and swaps the franchise for the Baltimore Colts. The players and coaches are not affected.
1980 — Amy Alcott shoots a record score of 280 to win the U.S. Women’s Open by nine strokes over Hollis Stacy.
1994 — Tonya Harding’s ex-husband Jeff Gillooly sentenced to 2 years in prison for attack on American Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan.
1996 — Cigar matches Citation’s modern North American record of 16 consecutive wins, pulling away to take the $1.05 million Arlington Citation Challenge by 3½ lengths.
1997 — Alison Nicholas holds off Nancy Lopez for a one-stroke victory in the U.S. Women’s Open. Nicholas shoots a 72-hole total of 10-under 274, the most under par in the 52-year history of the event.
2003 — Beth Daniel becomes the oldest winner in LPGA Tour history, birdying the final two holes to beat Juli Inkster by a stroke in the Canadian Women’s Open. At 46 years, 8 months and 29 days, Daniel breaks the age record set by JoAnne Carner in 1985.
2011 — Abby Wambach breaks a tense tie with a thunderous header in the 79th minute, and the United States earns its first trip to the Women’s World Cup final since winning it in 1999 with a 3-1 victory over France. Japan upsets Sweden 3-1 in the other semifinal.
2014 — Mo Martin hits the best shot of her life to become a major champion in the Women’s British Open. Martin hit a 3-wood that hit the pin on the par-5 closing hole at Royal Birkdale, settling 6 feet for an eagle. Martin closes with an even-par 72 and finishes at 1-under 287 for a one-shot win over Inbee Park and Shanshan Feng.
2014 — Mario Goetze volleys in the winning goal in extra time to give Germany its fourth World Cup title with a 1-0 victory over Argentina.
2017 — Venus Williams reaches her ninth Wimbledon final and first since 2009, turning in her latest display of gutsy serving to beat Johanna Konta 6-4, 6-2. At 37, Williams becomes the oldest finalist at the All England Club since Martina Navratilova was the 1994 runner-up at that age. She also stops Konta’s bid to become the first woman from Britain in 40 years to win Wimbledon. In the opening semifinal, Garbine Muguruza overwhelms Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 6-1, 6-1 in just over an hour.
2019 — Wimbledon Women’s Tennis: Simona Halep beats Serena Williams 6-2, 6-2 in just 55 minutes; first Romanian to win a Wimbledon singles title.
