Hank Aaron collected his 3,000th hit, in a game against the Cincinnati Reds, the team against which he played his first game. He was the first player to get 3,000 career hits and 500 career home runs. Also during that year, Aaron established the record for most seasons with thirty or more home runs in the National League.
Joe DiMaggio holds the MLB record with a streak of 56 consecutive games in 1941 which began on May 15 and ended July 17. DiMaggio hit .408 during his streak (91 for 223), with 15 home runs and 55 RBIs.
The streak began on June 1, 1925. Lou Gehrig entered the game as a pinch hitter, substituting for shortstop Paul “Pee Wee” Wanninger. The next day, June 2, Yankee manager Miller Huggins started Gehrig in place of regular first baseman Wally Pipp. Pipp was in a slump, as were the Yankees as a team, so Huggins made several lineup changes to boost their performance. Fourteen years later, Gehrig had played 2,130 consecutive games. In a few instances, Gehrig managed to keep the streak intact through pinch hitting appearances and fortuitous timing; in others, the streak continued despite injuries.
Roger Clemens was drafted 19th overall by the Boston Red Sox in 1983 and quickly rose through the minor league system, making his major league debut on May 15, 1984.
Clemens became the first pitcher in history to strike out 20 batters in a nine-inning major league game, against the Seattle Mariners at Fenway Park. Other than Clemens, himself, only Kerry Wood has matched the total. (Randy Johnson fanned 20 batters in nine innings on May 8, 2001. However, as the game went into extra innings, it is not categorized as occurring in a nine-inning game. Tom Cheney holds the record for any game: 21 strikeouts in 16 innings.) Clemens attributes his switch from what he calls a “thrower” to a “pitcher” to the partial season Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver spent with the Red Sox in 1986.
When Kareem Kareem Abdul-Jabbar left the game in 1989 at age 42, no NBA player had ever scored more points (38,387), blocked more shots (3,189, 3rd most in NBA history [Note: blocks were not officially tabulated until the 1973–74 season]), won more Most Valuable Player Awards, played in more All-Star Games or logged more seasons. His list of personal and team accomplishments is perhaps the most awesome in league history: Rookie of the Year, member of six NBA championship teams, six-time NBA MVP, two-time NBA Finals MVP, 19-time All-Star, two-time scoring champion, and a member of the NBA 35th and 50th Anniversary All-Time Teams. He also owned eight playoff records and seven All-Star records. No player achieved as much individual and team success as did Abdul-Jabbar.
Tom Seaver set a major league record by striking out the final 10 batters of the game in a 2-1 victory over the San Diego Padres at Shea Stadium. Al Ferrara, who had homered in the second inning for the Padres’ run, was the final strikeout victim of the game. In addition to his 10 consecutive strikeouts, Seaver tied Steve Carlton’s major league record with 19 strikeouts in a nine-inning game. The record was later eclipsed by 20-strikeout games by Kerry Wood, Randy Johnson, and twice by Roger Clemens.
“I think,” Larry Bird said after the game, “it’s just God disguised as Michael Jordan.”
Jordan was able to play in only 18 regular-season games in his second year in the NBA, after breaking a small bone in his foot in Chicago Bulls third game of the year. Although he was encouraged to sit out the end of the season in order to make sure he was fully healed for the next, he insisted on coming back late in the season and led the Bulls to the 1986 NBA Playoffs.
It was in Game 2 of Chicago’s first round matchup against the eventual NBA champion Boston Celtics that Jordan showed just how thoroughly he had recovered. In the hallowed halls of the Boston Garden, he set a playoff record by scoring an amazing 63 points against what many considered to be one of the greatest NBA teams ever. The Celtics won the game, 135-131 in double-overtime, and went on to sweep the Bulls, but Jordan’s playoff record still stands.
“It was a phenomenal performance, what Michael was able to do against a team like that,” Bill Walton said of the champion Celtics, who won 67 games and were a record 40-1 at home; with five of their top six players Hall of Famers. “That team could win any type of game, a speed game, a power game, a shooting game, a defensive game, a physical game, a cerebral game. It had balance, depth and talent, coaching experience, great leadership, top management with Red Auerbach, a great legacy as a franchise on top and a legend in Larry Bird.”
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Stephen Curry Becomes The NBA Single Season 3 Point Leader.
On the final day (April 17) of the regular season, Curry broke the NBA record for three pointers made in a single regular season. Curry finished the 2012-13 NBA season with 272 made three pointers, three more than previous record holder Ray Allen.
What makes this record even more special is Curry’s contribution to the Nothing But Nets awareness campaign. For each time Curry hit a three-pointer, he pledged to donate three life-saving bed nets. Curry is the kind of Nothing But Nets Champion who inspires us all to do more.
Stephen Curry’s Three-for-Three Challenge:
The Golden State Warriors’ Curry has supported the campaign since his days at Davidson College. Stephen is so dedicated to protecting families from malaria that he has pledged to send three life-saving bed nets for every three-point shot he makes during the ’12-’13 season. That’s hundreds of three-pointers this season, and hundreds of bed nets to keep families in Africa safe! Steph Curry is committed to the fight against malaria. You can learn more and join him by clicking here.
In the first game of a first-round playoff matchup against the Montreal Canadians, Martin Brodeur fired the puck the length of the ice and into the Canadiens’ empty net to ensure a 5–2 victory. It was only the second time in NHL history that a goaltender had scored in the playoffs, and the fifth time overall. The Devils went on to win that series, but lost in the second round to the rival New York Rangers.
“In a decisive set, confidence is the difference.” - Chris Evert
The 1949 Stanley Cup Final was a best-of-seven series between the Detroit Red Wings and the defending champion Toronto Maple Leafs, the second straight final series between Detroit and Toronto. The Maple Leafs won the series in four straight games to win their third consecutive Stanley Cup and eighth in the history of the franchise.
Fellow Lakers guard Michael Cooper said, “There have been times when [Johnson] has thrown passes and I wasn’t sure where he was going. Then one of our guys catches the ball and scores, and I run back up the floor convinced that he must’ve thrown it through somebody.”
In 905 NBA games, Magic Johnson tallied 17,707 points, 6,559 rebounds, and 10,141 assists, translating to career averages of 19.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 11.2 assists per game, the highest assists per game average in NBA history (second highest is John Stockton with a career average of 10.5 assists per game). Johnson shares the single-game playoff record for assists (24), holds the Finals record for assists in a game (21), and has the most playoff assists (2,346). He holds the All-Star Game single-game record for assists (22), and the All-Star Game record for career assists (127). Johnson introduced a fast-paced style of basketball called “Showtime”, described as a mix of “no-look passes off the fastbreak, pin-point alley-oops from halfcourt, spinning feeds and overhand bullets under the basket through triple teams.”
Billed as “The Answer,” Allen Iverson arrived on the NBA scene and immediately became one of the league’s most exciting players. With unmatched quickness, Iverson wowed crowds at the new CoreStates Center with a spectacular crossover dribble and a seeming ability to score at-will. While he couldn’t save the Philadelphia 76ers from a disappointing 22-60 season, his play gave every indication that he is indeed the Answer to many of the Sixers’ struggles.
Iverson proved his worth under the national spotlight on All-Star Saturday, winning Most Valuable Player honors at the Schick Rookie Game. But the telltale sign of his explosiveness came in April, when he set an NBA rookie record by scoring 40 or more points in five consecutive games, highlighted by a 50-point outburst against the Cleveland Cavaliers on April 12. He was named the NBA’s Rookie of the Year.
Ron Hextall became the first NHL goaltender to score a goal by shooting the puck into the opponent’s empty net, against the Boston Bruins in the 1987–88 season. The following season, he became the first to score in the playoffs, by shooting the puck into the Washington Capitals’ empty net. His mobile style of play, in which he provided support to his defencemen by coming out of the goal area to play the puck was revolutionary, and inspired future generations of goaltenders, such as Martin Brodeur. He was also known for being one of the NHL’s most aggressive goaltenders: he was suspended for six or more games on three occasions, had more than 100 penalty minutes in each of his first three seasons, and set new records for the number of penalty minutes recorded by a goaltender in the NHL.
Video of Ron Hextall’s first career playoff goal:
As the 1974 season began, Hank Aaron’s pursuit of the record caused a small controversy. The Braves opened the season on the road in Cincinnati with a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds. Braves management wanted him to break the record in Atlanta, and were therefore going to have Aaron sit out the first three games of the season. But Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn ruled that he had to play two games in the first series. He played two out of three, tying Babe Ruth’s record in his very first at bat — on his first swing of the season — off Reds pitcher Jack Billingham, but did not hit another home run in the series. The fence over which Hank Aaron hit his 715th career home run still exists outside of Turner Field.
The team returned to Atlanta, and on April 8, 1974, a crowd of 53,775 people showed up for the game—a Braves attendance record. The game was also broadcast nationally on NBC. In the fourth inning, Aaron hit career home run number 715 off Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Al Downing. Although Dodgers outfielder Bill Buckner nearly went over the outfield wall trying to catch it, the ball landed in the Braves’ bullpen, where relief pitcher Tom House caught it. While cannons were fired in celebration, two white college students sprinted onto the field and jogged alongside Aaron for part of his circuit around the bases, temporarily startling him. As the fans cheered wildly, Aaron’s parents ran onto the field as well.
