31 July in Sports History

Some of the top historical sports events ever that ocurred on July 31 throughout 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.

4 - 9 - 14 - 12 - 35 - 24 -16 - 21 - 15 - 14 - 35 - 5 - 27 - 33 - 7 - 1 - 26 - 34 - 50 - 10 - 32 - 25 - 5

July 31, 1930 - New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig, eventual Number 4 drove in 8 runs with a grand slam and 2 doubles in a 14-13 win over the rival Boston Red Sox

July 31, 1954 - Milwaukee first baseman Joe Adcock, Number 9 became only the 3rd player in 20th century to hit 4 HRs in 9-inning game (Lou Gehrig and Gil Hodges, Number 14) in the 15-7 Braves' win over Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. Adcock's day was so good that he finished the game with an MLB record of eighteen total bases!

July 31, 1963 - The Cleveland Indians tied the record of 4 consecutive home runs as they beat the California Angels, 9-5. Woodie Held (Number 12), Pedro Ramos (Number 35), Tito Francona ( Number 24) and Larry Brown (Number 16) all drive balls deep over the wall off of Paul Foytack, Number 21 pitches in the 6th inning

July 31, 1972 - Chicago infielder Dick Allen , Number 15 became only the 7th player in MLB history to hit 2 inside-the-park home runs in a game. Both wall bombs were off of Bert Blyleven in a 8-1 White Sox win over Minnesota Twins

July 31, 1978 - Cincinnati's star infielder Pete Rose, wearing Number 14 singled off Atlanta's Phil Niekro, Number 35 to extend his hitting streak to 44 games as Reds edge the Braves, 3-2. With that hit Rose tied Willie Keeler's 81-year-old NL record.

July 31, 1983 - Brooks Robinson (Number 5), Juan Marichal (Number 27), George Kell (longtime Number 1, 7 & 21) and Walter Alston (Number 21) were all inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame

July 31, 1987 - Baltimore first baseman Eddie Murray, Number 33 hit his 299th and 300th career home runs to lead Orioles to an 8-4 win over Texas Rangers

July 31, 1988 - Oakland A's Designated hitter Jose Canseco, Number 33 crushed two home runs off Scott Bankhead, Number 15 in A's 6-2 win over Seattle Mariners. With these Canseco became the first MLB player to hit at least 30 home runs in his first 3 years in the majors.

July 31, 1988 - The Pittsburgh Pirates 1st baseman/left fielder and 7-time All Star Willie Stargell, Number 8 became the 200th man inducted in Baseball's Hall of Fame

July 31, 1989 - The Minnesota Twins traded AL Cy Young Award winner Frank Viola to New York Mets. Viola wore Number 26 with the Mets that year and Number 16 while with the Twins

July 31, 1990 - Texas Rangers pitcher, the great Nolan Ryan, Number 34 recorded his 300th career victory, an 11-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers; 20th MLB pitcher to reach the milestone

July 31, 1993 - Toronto Blue Jays obtain future Baseball Hall of Fame outfield sensation Rickey Henderson who wore Number 14 & Number 24 from Oakland in exchange for minor leaguers Steve Karsay (Number 50) and Jose Herrera

July 31, 1994 - Baseball Hall of Fame inducts New York Yankees shortstop Phil Rizzuto, Number 10 and Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Steve Carlton, Number 32

July 31, 1997 - Oakland A's first baseman Mark McGwire, Number 25 became the MLB's top home run hitter to be traded in the middle of a season when he moves from Oakland to St. Louis Cardinals (34 home runs and 81 RBI)

July 31, 2007 - The NBA's Boston Celtics obtained the rights of former MVP and 10-time All-Star player Kevin Garnett, who Number 5 with the Celtics in a 7-for-1 deal with Minnesota Timberwolves; then the NBA's biggest ever trade for one player

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 ofMilwaukee Braves player Joe Adcock in a 1954 issue of Baseball Digest.