1 August in Sports History

The top athletes and their jersey numbers that they wore when they made the headlines for August 1 in sports history.

Sports history is made every day of the year. We will preserve at least a small sampling from some great athletes every day based on the uniform number they wore.

3 - 11 - 4 - 25 - 14 - 50 - 43 - 17 - 32 - 8 - 15 - 27 - 44 - 31 - 9 

August 1, 1906 - Brooklyn Superbas MLB pitcher Harry McIntire no-hit the Pittsburgh for 10 2/3 innings but ended up losing the fame in the 13th inning, 1-0 on of all things an unearned run.

August 1, 1924 - Brooklyn pitcher Dazzy Vance struck out a MLB record 7 consecutive batters as the Robins beat Cubs, 4-0

August 1, 1928 - Future Number 3 for the Yankees, Babe Ruth hit home run number 42 of the season in the Yankees 12-1 win v St. Louis Browns. This wall clearing hit set him some 4 weeks ahead of his 1927 pace

August 1, 1933 - New York Giant's future Hall of Fame pitcher Carl Hubbell, Number 11 set an MLB record for consecutive scoreless innings at 45 1/3 as Giants lose 3-1 v Boston Braves

August 1, 1941 - New York Yankees pitcher Number 11, Lefty Gomez set an MLB record for most walks in a shutout, issuing 11 in 9-0 win v St. Louis Browns

August 1, 1945 - New York Giants outfielder Mel Ott wearing Number 4 hit his historic 500th career MLB home run off Braves Johnny Hutchings. With this milestone smash he joined Babe Ruth (Number 3) and Jimmy Foxx (Number 3) as only players to reach the 500 homer plateau.

August 1, 1953 - Boston Red Sox pitcher Ben Flowers, wearing Number 25 set a then MLB record of 8 consecutive games in relief

August 1, 1957 - Gil Hodges, wearing Number 14 hit his 13th MLB career grand slam, a NL record and the last ever by a Brooklyn Dodgers player

August 1, 1957 - Former MLB outfielder Glen Gorbous, Number 50 had quite an arm when he played. He showed that even after his pro baseball career was over that he still could use the rocket launcher as he threw a regulation baseball a record 136m (445' 10") in a game promotion.

August 1, 1962 - Boston Red Sox pitcher Bill Monboquette no-hit the Chicago White Sox, 1-0

August 1, 1964 - Dan Big Daddy Garlits became the first drag racer to run the 1/4 mile at over 200mph (201.34mph at Island Dragway, New Jersey)

August 1, 1970 - Future Hall of Fame Pittsburgh outfielder Willie Stargell, Number 8 hammered out 3 doubles and 2 homers in a 20-10 Pirates win versus the Braves at Atlanta Stadium

August 1, 1971 - Richard Petty in the Number 43 STP sponsored Plymouth wins the Dixie 500 in Atlanta, Georgia to become the first NASCAR driver to win $1m in career earnings

August 1, 1972 - San Diego's Nate Colbert, Number 17 hit an MLB record tying 5 HRs and record 13 RBI as Padres blanked the Atlanta Braves by the score of 9-0 and then turned around and won 11-7 in a doubleheader

August 1, 1973 - A struggling ABA club Virginia Squires trades star forward Julius Erving, Number 32 to New York Nets for George Carter and some much needed cash

August 1, 1973 - MLB All Star catchers Thurman Munson, Number 15 of the NY Yankees and Boston Red Sox' Carlton Fisk wearing Number 27 brawl at home plate Fenway Park; Red Sox win, 3-2

August 1, 1977 - San Francisco Giants 1st baseman Willie McCovey, Number 44 hit his NL record 18th MLB career grand slam

August 1, 1978 - An abrupt halt came Number 14, Pete Rose's NL record hitting streak of 44 games when the Reds played the Atlanta Braves. The Braves came out swinging and playing good defense in their 16-4 overturn of the Reds.

August 1, 1982 - Darryl Waltrip in car Number 17 became the first driver the win the Talladega 500 twice in just the 13th running of the mid-summer NASCAR event.

August 1, 1985 - St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Vince Coleman, wearing Number 29 stole 2 bases in the 1st inning of a contest against the Chicago Cubs. The Cards still however suffered a 9-8 loss to the Cubs. Coleman went on to set a NL rookie record 74 base swipes that season.

August 1, 1993 - Reggie Jackson who famously wore the jersey Numbers of 31, 9 and 44 and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. Mr October was a 14-time MLB All Star.

August 1, 1994 - Baltimore Orioles shortstop Number 8, Cal Ripken Jr. became only the second player after Lou Gehrig to appear in 2,000 consecutive MLB games, in a 1-0 win vs Twins

A Very Special thanks to information obtained from the following brilliant internet sites: On This Day Sports, the Sports Reference's family of website databases & Stathead.com.

Banner photo is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons of the professional basketball player Julius Erving performing a slam dunk against the Spirit of St. Louis on November 6, 1974 at the St. Louis Arena, St. Louis, Missouri, taken by an unknown.