11 August in Sports History

In this edition of the Sports Break, we cover the top events in sports history along with the players and athletes that were a part of them on August 11. As a bonus we place the jersey number worn at the time with the athlete as.

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.

11 - 3 - 24 - 21 - 29 - 53 - 14 - 44 - 5 - 8 - 21 - 10

August 11, 1907 - St Louis Cardinals pitcher Ed Karger throws a perfect game vs Boston Doves; wins 4-0 in 7 innings at Robison Field, St. Louis

August 11, 1919 - Green Bay Packers football club founded by George Calhoun and Curly Lambeau - named after sponsor Indian Packing Company. As a matter of fact the early Packers jerseys in 1921 had the word "ACME Packers" across the front of them. Check them out at GridironUniforms.com

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons of the The 1919 of the Green Bay Packers team photo, taken by an unknown.

August 11, 1926 - Cleveland Indians future Baseball HOF outfielder Tris Speaker hits his 700th double in 7-2 loss to Chicago White Sox at Dunn Field, Cleveland

August 11, 1928 - NY Giants future Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Carl Hubbell, who would evetually wear Number 11 registered his first MLB victory, a 4-0 shutout of Philadelphia Phillies at the Polo Grounds, NYC

August 11, 1929 - New York Yankees slugger Babe Ruth, Number 3 became the first MLB player to hit 500 home runs  on a pitch from off Cleveland's Willis Hudlin in 6-5 loss to the Indians at League Park, Cleveland.

August 11, 1950 - Boston Braves pitcher Vern Bickford, Number 24 tossed a no-hit gem against the Brooklyn Dodgers registering a 7-0 victory for his club at Braves Field

August 11, 1950 - In a 4 for 38 slump, New York Yankees great Joe DiMaggio, wearing Number 5 is benched for first time; replacement Cliff Mapes hits a HR in 7-6 win over Philadelphia Athletics

August 11, 1961 - Milwaukee Braves future Baseball HOF pitcher Warren Spahn, Number 21 records career victory #300; beats Cubs, 2-1 at County Stadium, Milwaukee

August 11, 1962 - LA Dodgers protest as San Francisco manager Alvin Dark orders Candlestick Park ground crew to water down base paths to hinder MLB All-Star Maury Wills' base-stealing attempts; Giants win 5-4

August 11, 1968 - Satchel Paige, Number 29 at the age 62 and needing 158 days on a MLB payroll to qualify for a pension, is signed by Atlanta Braves; doesn't pitch and becomes coach

August 11, 1969 - Future Baseball HOF'er Don Drysdale, Number 53, the last LA Dodger to play in Brooklyn, retires because of damage to his right pitching shoulder

August 11, 1970 - Future Baseball HOF pitcher Jim Bunning, Number 14 became the 2nd Cy Young Award winner to win 100 games in both NL and AL. In the game the Phillies defeated  Houston 6-5 at Astrodome

August 11, 1980 - New York Yankees Reggie Jackson, Number 44 smacked his 400th career home run off of Chicago's Britt Burns

August 11, 1984 - Cincinnati Reds retire Johnny Bench's Number 5 uniform

August 11, 1988 - It was worth the wait for catcher Gary Carter, Number 8. It took 225 at bats after  he smacked his 299th career home run, that the New York Mets Carter became the 59th MLB player to reach 300 HR milestone.

August 11, 1993 - Red Sox Roger Clemens, Number 21 registered his 2,000th career strike out on Danny Tartabul, Number 45 of the NY Yankees.

August 11, 2021 - Argentine soccer superstar Lionel Messi, Number 10 confirmed his signing a rich 2-year contract with French Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain after leaving FC Barcelona

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 The 1919 of the Green Bay Packers team photo, taken by an unknown.