21 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 21 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.

9 - 31 - 27 - 5 - 19 - 20 - 17 - 18 - 2

October 21, 1973 - Baseball World Series: defending champion Oakland A's beat NY Mets, 5-2 in Game 7 at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum to retain title; A's manager Dick Williams immediately quits; MVP: A's outfielder Number 9, Reggie Jackson

October 21, 1973 - Fred Dryer of the then Los Angeles Rams becomes the first player in NFL history to score two safeties in the same game.

October 21, 1974 - NHL New York Islanders and goaltender Number 31, Billy Smith's 1st shut-out win, 5-0 vs Washington Capitals

October 21, 1975 - Boston Red Sox Number 27, Carlton Fisk's 12th inning home run beats Reds 7-6 in game 6 of the World Series

October 21, 1976 - World Series: defending champions Cincinnati Reds sweep New York Yankees; beat Bombers, 7-2 in Game 4 at Yankee Stadium; MVP: Reds catcher Number 5, Johnny Bench

October 21, 1976 - New York Knicks retired the franchise's first number, Number 19, Willis Reed

October 21, 1980 - World Series the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Kansas City Royals, 4-1 at Veterans Stadium to secure series, 4-2. Phillies won their 1st World Championship in their 98-year history. MVP: Phillies third baseman Number 20, Mike Schmidt

October 21, 1984 - Cleveland Browns' kicker, Number 15, Steve Cox sets club record with a 60-yd field goal

October 21, 1997 - Cleveland Indians outfielder Number 17, Marquis Grissom recorded a hit in his 15th straight World Series game; second longest 9 inning World Series game (4:12) as Florida Marlins beat Indians, 14-11. Remember Grissom played the two previosu seasons as Number 9 of the Atlanta Braves whoe were in the World Series.

October 21, 1998 - World Series: New York Yankees beat San Diego, 3-0 in Game 4 at Qualcomm Stadium to sweep Padres and win 2nd title in 3 years; MVP: Yankees 3rd baseman Scott Brosius, Number 18

October 21,  2007 - Tennessee Titans kicker Rob Bironas, Number 2 set an NFL record for most points scored in a game (no touchdowns) with 26 in 38-36 win over the Texans at Reliant Stadium, Houston

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 Red Sox retired numbers as hung on the right-field facade during the 2016 season in Fenway Park by MB27 at English Wikipedia.