16 October in Sports History

We cover the greatest moments in sports history on a daily basis recognizing the athletes that performed them and the uniform numbers they wore for the date of October 16 in 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.

1 - 4 - 8 - 21 - 22 - 30 - 24 - 55 - 30

October 16, 1921 - Jimmy Conzelman, Number 1 took over as coach of Rock Island Independents from Frank Coughlin-only mid-game coaching change in NFL history. There is more on this story over at Pigskin Dispatch

October 16, 1936 - Lou Gehrig, Number 4 of the New York Yankees was voted American League MVP by Basball Writers Association 

October 16, 1968 - Jim Dorey, Number 8 set a Toronto Maple Leaf penalty record of 48 mins on 9 penalties in a game & 44 minutes on 7 penalties in a period

October 16, 1969 - New York Met Number 21, Cleon Jones was awarded 1st base when shoe polish on ball proves he is hit by a pitch, he scores on a HR in World Series. The New York Mets a 100-1 long shot beat Baltimore Orioles, 5-3 at Shea Stadium for upset 4-1 series win; MVP: Mets 1B Number 22, Donn Clendenon

October 16, 1974 - Oakland As' Ken Holtzman, Number 30 who hadn't batted all season, belts 3rd inning home run in Game 4 & gets the win, 5-2

October 16, 1976 - Toronto Maple Leaf Lanny McDonald, Number 7 scored a hat trick, with all 3 goals occurring within 2 min 54 sec of each other

October 16, 1983 -  World Series Game 5 action saw the Baltimore Orioles beat Philadelphia Phillies, 5-0 for 4 games to 1 series victory. MVP: Baltimore catcher Number 24, Rick Dempsey

October 16, 1988 - LA Dodger pitching phenon, Orel Hershiser, Number 55 became the first player to pitch a shutout in both an MLB playoff and a World Series game

October 16, 2004  - 17-year old Lionel Messi, wearing Number 30 made his league debut for FC Barcelona in a 1-0 win against cross-town rivals Espanyol at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, 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 Jimmy Conzelman and Milwaukee Badgers teammate Bo McMillin posed before a game against the legendary Jim Thorpe and his Oorang Indians in 1922, from an unknown author.