2 November 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 November . 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.

4 - 9 - 7 - 17 - 12 - 32 - 44 - 11 - 37 - 45 - 25 - 99 - 42 - 48 - 33 - 21 - 24 - 18

November 2, 1913 - St. Louis Browns player-manager George Stovall, fired the previous summer, is the first MLB player to jump to the Federal League, signing to manage the Kansas City Packers

November 2, 1938 - Boston Red Sox first baseman Number 4, Jimmie Foxx is voted Most Valuable Player of the American League for the third time

November 2, 1947 - After just 6 games of the season, Chicago Blackhawks trade NHL scoring leader Max Bentley along with Cy Thomas  to Toronto Maple Leafs for Gus Bodnar, Bud Poile, Gaye Stewart, Bob Goldham, and Ernie Dickens.

November 2, 1960 - New York Yankees outfielder Roger Maris, Number 9 beats teammate Number 7, Mickey Mantle for American League MVP Award, 225-222; second-closest vote ever

November 2, 1969 - 41-year old Detroit right wing Number 9, Gordie Howe picks up his 19th and final NHL hat trick as the Red Wings beat Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3; Howe is the oldest player to score an NHL hat-trick

November 2, 1969 - Quarterbacks Number 17, Billy Kilmer of New Orleans and St Louis Cardinal's Number 12, Charlie Johnson each pass for 6 touchdowns for combined NFL record of 12 passing TDs in a game; Saints beat Cardinals, 51-42 at Busch Memorial Stadium

November 2, 1971 - Baltimore Orioles pitcher Pat Dobson, Number 37,  threw a no-hitter against the Yomiuri Giants, 2 - 0; first no-hitter in history of exhibition play between American and Japanese teams

November 2, 1972 - Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Number 32, Steve Carlton was unanimously selected National League Cy Young Award winner; wins 27 games for Phillies, who as a team win only 59 games

November 2, 1974 - Atlanta Braves trade then MLB home run king Number 44, Hank Aaron to Milwaukee Brewers for outfielder Number 11, Dave May

November 2, 1975 - First sports event at The Summit arena in Houston - NBA's Houston Rockets beat Milwaukee Bucks, 104-89; future Rockets coach Number 45, Rudy Tomjanovich was the leading  scorer in the contest with 24 points

November 2, 1977 - Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Steve Carlton (Number 32) won his second Cy Young Award, scoring just a tad higher than Number 25, Tommy John of the LA Dodgers; Carlton leads National League with 23 wins and posts 2.64 ERA

November 2, 1978 - Number 99, Wayne Gretzky's rights were sold to the Edmonton Oilers after just 8 games with the Indianapolis Racers of the WHA (scoring 6 points); scores 104 points in 72 games (both teams combined) and is named WHA rookie of the year

November 2, 1985 - Tulsa's Gordon Brown (Number 42) (214 yards) and Steve Gage (Number 48) (206 yards) set NCAA football record for combined rushing yards in one game for 2 teammates who gained more than 200 yards each in 42-26 win at Wichita State

November 2, 1988 - A's shortstop Walt Weiss, Number 17 won the American League rookie of year. It was the 3rd straight for Oakland; Jose Canseco (Number 33) 1986, Mark McGwire (Number 25) 1987

November 2, 1997 - Eric Metcalf, Number 21 of the San Diego Chargers returns punts for touchdowns of 85 & 67 yards in 38-31 loss at Cincinnati; joins Hall of Famer Jack Christiansen, Number 24 as only players in NFL history to return punts for TDs twice in a game

November 2, 2002 - Mark Messier, Number 11 plays his 1,616th NHL game, a 3-2 Rangers loss against the St. Blues, to move into 2nd place on the all-time games played list; passes Larry Murphy and ends career with 1,756 games, just 11 shy of Gordie Howe ( Number 9) 

November 2, 2011 - Portuguese striker Number 7, Cristiano Ronaldo scores his 100th goal for Real Madrid in his 105th game for the club in a 2-0 Champions League win over Olympique Lyon

November 2, 2016 - World Series: Chicago Cubs beat Cleveland Indians, 8-7 in Game 7 at Progressive Field, Cleveland; first Cubs' title in 108 years; MVP: Chicago utility Number 18, Ben Zobrist

November 2, 2021 - World Series: Atlanta Braves win 4th title in franchise history; beat Houston Astros, 7-0 in Game 6 at Minute Maid Park, Houston for 4-2 series victory; MVP: Braves outfielder Number 12, Jorge Soler

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 a cropped version of George Stovall, St. Louis AL (baseball) published in 1912 by the Bain News Service.