1 November in Sports History

In this edition of the Sports Break, there are baseball accolades a plenty, football stars show their prowess, and so much more as we cover the top events in sports history along with the players and athletes that were a part of them on November 1. As a bonus, we place the jersey number worn at the time with the athlete as well.

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.

35- 3 - 11 - 39 - 92 - 32 - 1 - 16 - 32 - 17 - 13 - 88 - 23 - 8 - 80 - 13 - 83 - 1 - 71 - 4

November 1, 1913 - Notre Dame upsets Army, 35-13 in the colleges' inaugural football game; quarterback Gus Dorais (14 of 17 passes, 243 yards, 2 TDs) and receiver Knute Rockne use forward pass effectively

November 1, 1924 - Boston Bruins officially join the NHL, becoming the first United States based team to enter the League; Montreal Maroons also join NHL, but only last until 1938

November 1, 1938 - NL batting champion Ernie Lombardi, Number 35 of the Cincinnati Reds is named National League MVP; first catcher to win award; Boston Red Sox 1st baseman Number 3, Jimmie Foxx takes American League award

November 1, 1950 - Bosoton Celtics' forward Chuck Cooper, Number 11 becomes first African American to play in the NBA in Boston's 107-84 loss at Fort Wayne Pistons; future Hall of Famer Bob Cousy also debuts for Celtics

November 1, 1951 - Brooklyn Dodgers catcher Number 39, Roy Campanella won the first of his 3 National League MVP awards

November 1, 1953 - Herb Thomas, driving his own Number 92 Hudson Hornet wraps up the NASCAR Grand National Championship with 14th-place in 100-mile finale at Atlanta's Lakewood Speedway; Thomas first repeat champion of the series

November 1, 1959 - Future Pro Football Hall of Fame running back, Number 32, Jim Brown ran for 5 touchdowns in Cleveland Browns, 38-31 win over Baltimore Colts at Memorial Stadium

November 1, 1959 - Montreal Canadiens’ goal tender Jacques Plante, Number 1 becomes first NHL net-minder to wear a fibreglass protective face mask

November 1, 1964 - Cleveland running back Jim Brown rushed for 149 yards in Browns' 30-17 win at Pittsburgh to become the first NFL player to exceed 10,000 yards career rushing

November 1, 1964 - Houston Oilers quarterback Number 16, George Blanda attempted an AFL record 68 passes (37 completions) in 24-10 loss v Buffalo Bills at War Memorial Stadium

November 1, 1964 - Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Number 16, Len Dawson passed for 435 yards and 6 TDs in 49-39 win over Denver Broncos at Municipal Stadium

November 1, 1966 - LA Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax, Number 32 became the first 3-time winner of Cy Young Award; unanimous winner for 2nd straight year; final year only 1 award given for pitchers in both major leagues

November 1, 1968 - Detroit pitcher Denny McLain, Number 17 was named unanimous AL Cy Young Award winner after finishing MLB season, 31-6 for World Series winning Tigers

November 1, 1987 - New York Jets retired Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Don Maynard's jersey Number 13.

November 1, 1992 - NY Jets wide receiver Number 88, Al Toon became the 10th NFL player to make a reception in 100 straight games; Jets beat Miami Dolphins, 26-24 at The Meadowlands

November 1, 1994 - The Chicago Bulls organization retired basketball superstar Michael Jordan's jersey Number 23 in a 2-hour ceremony at the United Center

November 1, 1996 - Shaquille O'Neil wearing Number 32 made his Hollywood debut as Los Angeles Lakers beat Phoenix Suns, 96-82 at the Forum, Inglewood; O'Neil scores 23 points and pulls down 14 rebounds in 35 minutes

November 1, 1997 - Louisiana State University running back Number 33, Kevin Faulk rushed for 212 yards and a school record 5 touchdowns in a 63-28 win at Kentucky's Commonwealth Stadium, Lexington

November 1, 1997 - North Carolina State University wide receiver Number 81, Torry Holt caught 5 touchdown passes in a 48-35 loss to Florida State at Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee

November 1, 1998 - Steve Young (Number 8) and Jerry Rice (Number 80) hooked up for their 80th career touchdown in Niners' 36-22 loss to GB Packers at Lambeau Field; eclipse previous NFL mark held by Miami Dolphins tandem Dan Marino (Number 13) and Mark Clayton (Number 83)

November 1, 2003 - University of Pittsburgh wide receiver, who wore Number 1, Larry Fitzgerald established a new NCAA record with a touchdown reception in his 14th straight game as Pittsburgh beats Boston College, 24-13 at Alumni Stadium. Pitt retired Fitz's jersey soon after he was done playing college ball.

November 1, 2006 - Russian born hockey player, Number 71, Evgeni Malkin scored in the 1st period to become the first NHL player in 89 years with goals in his first 6 games as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Kings, 4-3 in Los Angeles

November 1, 2010 -  World Series: San Francisco beats Texas Rangers, 3-1 in Game 5 at Arlington to clinch Giants first title since relocating from NYC in 1958; MVP: SF shortstop Number 16, Édgar Rentería

November 1, 2015 -  World Series: KC Royals win first title since 1985; rally in 9th and break away in 12th to beat NY Mets, 7-2 in Game 5 in NYC; MVP: Royals catcher Salvador Perez, Number 13

November 1, 2017 -  World Series: Houston Astros win their first ever title; beat LA Dodgers, 5-1 in Game 7 at Dodger Stadium; MVP: Astros outfielder Number 4, George Springer III

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 1953–54 Boston Celtics basketball team practicing the pick and roll. From left to rightː Bob Donham, Ed Mikan, Bill Sharman and Chuck Cooper via the Hult Studio