3 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 for September 3. 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.

3 - 21 - 4 - 26 - 44 - 50 - 1 - 42 - 8

September 3, 1906 - Philadelphia Giants won the Negro Championship Cup in Philadelphia before 10,000 fans. The game was black baseball's largest crowd ever

September 3, 1906 - After an 8 minute argument over an umpire call the NY Highlanders win on forfeit over Philadelphia A's; Highlanders' MLB record 5th doubleheader sweep on consecutive days

September 3, 1928 - Future Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder Ty Cobb recorded his 4,189th and final career hit, as a pinch hitter for Philadelphia A's in 6-1 loss v Washington Senators

September 3, 1932 - Philadelphia A's first baseman Jimmie Foxx, Number 3 smashed his 50th & 51st home runs to become only 3rd player to reach 50 in a MLB season. With this reached he joined the exclusive club with members Babe Ruth (Number 3) and Hack Wilson

September 3, 1957 - Milwaukee Braves pitcher Warren Spahn, Number 21 set an NL record for a left-hander with 41st shut-out; beats Cubs, 8-0

September 3, 1966 - Future Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Orr, Number 4 signed his first NHL contract with the Boston Bruins; 2 year deal paying a then record $70,000 plus signing bonus

September 3, 1970 - After playing a National League record 1,117 consecutive MLB games, Chicago Cubs outfielder Billy Williams, Number 26 asked for a day off from the field to rest and sit the bench.

September 3, 1972 - Atlanta Braves slugger Hank Aaron (Number 44) earned his 6,135th total base to break Stan Musial’s MLB record in an 8-0 home defeat to the Philadelphia Phillies

September 3, 1974 - San Francisco Giants' pitcher John Montefusco, wearing Number 50 in his MLB debut, homers in his first at bat and pitches 9 innings in relief to earn a 9 - 5 victory over the Dodgers

September 3, 1974 - Future Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame guard Oscar Robertson, Number 1 retired from professional hoops. Mr. Robertson left the NBA with an amazing 26,710 points, 9,887 assists and 7,804 rebounds in 1,040 games. Oscar also was known to have worn Number 14 with some other clubs in the Association.

September 3, 1977 - Japanese baseball superstar Sadaharu Oh, Number 1 on the Yomiuri Giants of the Japanese baseball hit his 756th career home run to surpass Number 44, Hank Aaron as all-time career leader in professional baseball

September 3, 1984 - St. Louis Cardinals closer Bruce Sutter, Number 42 surpassed the National League record for saves in a season with his 38th in 7-3 win over the NY Mets

September 3, 1985 - New York Mets catcher Gary Carter, Number 8 was on fire when crushed 3 consecutive home runs in an 8-3 win against the San Diego Padres at Jack Murphy Stadium

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 Oscar Robertson with the Bucks in 1971 taken by Walter Iooss Jr. for Sports Illustrated
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