15 September 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 September 15. 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.

36 - 9 - 23 - 41 - 14 - 32 - 27 - 43 - 26 - 37 - 8 - 12 - 1 - 13

September 15, 1902 - Chicago Cubs infielders Tinker, Evers, & Chance turn their first double play together in a 6-3 win over Cincinnati

September 15, 1912 - Boston Red Sox pitcher "Smoky" Joe Wood tied a then MLB record of 16 straight wins with a 2-1 victory over St. Louis Browns at Sportsman's Park

September 15, 1922 - Philadelphia catcher Butch Henline becomes first National League player to hit 3 home runs in a game since 1897 during Phillies' 10-9 win over St. Louis Cardinals at the Baker Bowl

September 15, 1950 - For a record 6th time, New York Yankees' first baseman Johnny Mize, Number 36 hit 3 home runs in one game

September 15, 1960 - Skater Maurice Richard, who wore Number 9 for much of his great career with the Montreal Canadiens, announced his retirement. He finishes his career with 544 goals, an NHL record at the time.

September 15, 1963 - Three brothers - Felipe Alou (Number 23), Matty Alou (Number 41), and Jesús Alou (Number 14) - all appeared in the San Francisco Giants outfield for 1 inning in a 13-5 win over Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field

September 15, 1969 - MLB St. Louis Cardinals Steve Carlton, Number 32 set a record by striking out 19 New York Mets in a game

September 15, 1979 - Boston Red Sox player Number 27, Bob Watson became the first player to hit for cycle in both the AL & NL (Astros)

September 15, 1985 - New York Yankees trade 25-year-old pitching prospect Jim Deshaies to Houston Astros where he wore Number 43 for 40-year-old pitcher Joe Niekro who wore Number 26 in pinstripes that season

September 15, 1990 - Chicago White Sox Bobby Thigpen, Number 37 is 1st to record 50 saves

September 15, 1995 - St Louis Cardinals legendary shortstop Ozzie Smith, Number 1 set a record of participating in 1554 double plays

September 15, 1996 - Texas Rangers retire their 1st number, Nolan Ryan's Number 34

September 15, 2002 - Oakland Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon, Numbwer 12 began an NFL record-tying (Kurt Warner (Number 13), Steve Young (Number 8)) streak of 6 consecutive 300-yard passing games, throwing for 403 yards in Raiders' 30-17 victory at Pittsburgh

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 Smoky Joe Wood, Boston AL of baseball circa 1912 published by the Bain News Service .