2 October 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 October 2. 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.

14 - 11 - 35 - 60 - 21 - 32 - 45 - 17 - 26 - 7 - 8 - 62 - 12 - 50 - 10 - 33 - 16 - 37 - 77 - 21 - 12 - 23

October 2, 1904 - White Sox left-hander Doc White's streak of 45 consecutive MLB scoreless innings is snapped by the New York Highlanders in Chicago; White Sox win, 7-1 at South Side Park III

October 2, 1908 - Cleveland Naps and future Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Addie Joss hurled a classic perfect game, beating Ed Walsh, who pitched a gem himself, and the Chicago White Sox, 1-0

October 2, 1916 - Pitching in his 3rd start in 5 days, Philadelphia Phillies right hander Grover Cleveland Alexander recorded his 20th century MLB record 16th shutout of year, a 2-0 win v Boston Braves

October 2, 1921 - Chicago White Sox backstop Ray Schalk became the first and only MLB catcher to make a putout at all bases; White Sox beat Indians 7-4

October 2, 1921 - New York Yankees outfielder Babe Ruth hit a then record 59th HR in 7-6 win over former club Boston Red Sox at Polo Grounds in New York City

October 2, 1938 - Future Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller, Number 14 struck out a record 18 Detroit Tigers; his Cleveland Indians still lose 4-1 at Cleveland Stadium

October 2, 1938 - New York Yankees pitcher Number 11, Lefty Gomez defeated the Chicago Cubs, 6-3 in Game 2 at Wrigley Field; sets record of 6 World Series wins without a loss

October 2, 1947 - New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra, Number 35 hit the first pinch-hit home run in Baseball World Series history off Ralph Branca in the 7th inning of a 9-8 loss to the Brooklyn Dodgers in Game 3

October 2, 1950 - Bob Shaw, Number 60 of Chicago Cardinals sets NFL record with 5 TD receptions in 55-13 win against Baltimore Colts; Cardinals quarterback Number 21, Jim Hardy tossed 6 touchdown passes

October 2, 1963 - LA Dodgers' Sandy Koufax, wearing Number 32 struck out  a World Series record 15 NY Yankees in Game 1 of the Baseball World Series at Yankee Stadium; Dodgers win, 5-2 and sweep series, 4-0

October 2, 1964 - Philadelphia's Alex Johnson (Number 26) to Bobby Wine (Number 7) to Tony Taylor (Number 8) to Vic Power (Number 62) combination made for the Phillies' 3rd triple play of the season (tying MLB record) in 4-3 win v Cincinnati Reds

October 2, 1966 - Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax, Number 32 won his 27th game of the season, 6-3 v Philadelphia Phillies; clinches Dodgers 3rd National League pennant in 4 years

68 - For the first time, in MLB history that two soon-to-be-named MVPs oppose each other in World Series play. The Cardinals Bob Gibson, Number 45 faced the Detroit Tigers Number 17, Denny McLain. St. Louis pitcher Bob Gibson established a new Baseball World Series mark by striking out 17 batters as the Cardinals beat Detroit, 4-0 in Game 1 of the Fall Classic

October 2, 1974 - You couldn't ask for a better curtain call! Future Baseball Hall of Fame right fielder Hank Aaron, Number 44 hits his final home run as a member of the Atlanta Braves, in a 13-0 drubbing of the Cincinnati Reds; Aaron's 733rd career HR on his last NL at bat

October 2, 1977 - The LA Dodgers line up had some active bats in the season of 1977.  Dusty Baker (Number 12) hit his 30th homer of the season against Astros' Number 50, J R  Richard. The Dodgers became the first team in MLB history to have 4 players hit 30 or more HRs. Baker joined teammated Steve Garvey wearing Number 6 (33 HRs), Reggie Smith, Number 8 (32 HRs) and Ron Cey (Number 10) with 30 home runs.

October 2, 1986 - Houston Astros starter Mike Scott, Number 33 finished the MLB regular season with 306 strikeouts with 8 in a 2-1 win in San Francisco; 3rd NL pitcher to reach 300 in a season

October 2, 1986 - New York Mets' Dwight Gooden, Number 16 was the first pitcher to collect 200 strikeouts in each of his first 3 seasons when he records 7 in 8-2 win versus the Pittsburgh Pirates

October 2, 1999 - #21 University of Alabama football team beats #3 Florida, 40-39 in overtime to snap the Gators' 30-game home win streak; future Seattle Seahawks running back Number 37 Shaun Alexander crosses the goal line for 4 touchdowns for the Crimson Tide

October 2, 1999 - Boston's Ray Bourque, Number 77 became the highest goal-scoring defenseman in NHL history; 386th career goal in Bruins' 3-1 win v Carolina Hurricanes moves him 1 ahead of Paul Coffey who also wore Number 77 for many seasons.

October 2, 2001 - Cubs right fielder Sammy Sosa, Number 21 became the first player in MLB history to total 60 home runs in three seasons; Chicago slugger connects off Reds starter Lance Davis to reach milestone in 5-4 loss

October 2, 2004 - Jeff Kent, Number 12 became all-time home run leader for MLB 2nd basemen when he hits 2 in Astros' 9-3 win v Rockies; 302 overall HR to break Number 23, Ryne Sandberg's major league record established in 1997.

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 Ray Schalk, Chicago AL published by the Bain News Service in 1914..