The Month of OCTOBER in History
By Mickey Dunaway | Reprinted with Permission by Limitless Magazine | Cornelius, NC
In 2020-21, The Year of the Pandemic, almost every person was inundated by the changing rules and regulations—many of them constantly changing, it seemed. Very few entertaining pursuits bore the brunt of the number of rules and regulations like sports. In the Year of the Pandemic, they were hardly recognizable as sports at all.
Now that sports have returned with crowds, albeit also with COVID protocols reduced but still present, I thought it might be fun to check out some sporting events to have occurred through the years in October.
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THE MONTH OF October in Sports
| OCT 1 1903 | First Baseball World Series game as played. | The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Boston Americans 7-3 at Huntington Avenue. |
| OCT 1 1932 | Babe Ruth pointed to the centerfield then hit the famous homer to that exact spot. | Yankees won this game three of the World Series 7-5. |
| OCT 1 1975 | Ali defeated Joe Frazier to maintain the Heavy Weight title | It was “The Thrilla in Manila.” |
| OCT 2 1964 | Atlanta Braves Hank Aaron hit the final home run of his career. | Hammerin’ Hank’s 733rd HR. |
| OCT 3 1971 | Tennis star Billie Jean King became the first female athlete to win $100000 in prize money in a single year. | Wins the $4000 Virginia Slams Tournament in Phoenix Arizona. |
| OCT 3 1964 | Jerry West retired after 14 seasons playing with the LA Lakers. | He scored 25192 career points and averaged 29.1 points per game in 153 playoff games. |
| OCT 4 1995 | OJ Simpson was acquitted of the murder of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman | “If the glove doesn’t fit you must acquit.” – Attorney Johnny Cochran |
| OCT 6 1990 | No. 12 Colorado defeated Missouri 33-31 on an extra 5th downplay. | The refs blew it. Coach McCartney refused to forfeit. UC went on to share a portion of the National Championship! |
| OCT 6 2007 | Unranked Stanford defeated No. 2 Southern Cal 24-23 | Stanford was 41-point underdogs. |
| OCT 7 1916 | Georgia Tech coached bylegendary John Heismandefeated Cumberland 222-0 | The most lopsided victory in the history of US college football. |
| OCT 7 2012 | New Orleans QB Drew Brees broke Johnny Unitas’ record for consecutive games with a TD pass. | Brees threw TD passes in 48 consecutive games. |
| OCT 8 1953 | Birmingham Alabama barred Jackie Robinson’s All-Stars Team of black and white players from playing there. Robinson gave in & dropped the white players from his group. | I was in the first grade and don’t remember the event but I am nonetheless ashamed. This is a good reminder that greatness has no place for prejudice and its ugly twin injustice. |
| OCT 9 1909 | Ty Cobb the Georgia Peach stole home in a World Series game. | Cobb stole home 54 times in his career. Amazing. |
| OCT 9 1994 | NY Giants retire OLB Lawrence Taylor’s #56 jersey. | Taylor was also an All-American at the University of North Carolina. |
| OCT 11 1992 | Deion Sanders played for the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons & and MLB’s Braves. | Both teams on the same day! |
| OCT 11 1992 | “Hitman” Hart defeated Charlotte’s Ric Flair for WWF heavyweight title. | Can you say “Wooooo!” |
| OCT 11 2014 | No. 5 Baylor defeated No. 9 TCU by a score of 61-58. | Baylor was down 21 points in the 4th quarter. The two teams combined for 1300yards of total offense. |
| OCT 13 2019 | Simone Biles became the world’s most decorated gymnast winning a record 25th medal at the World Championships. | Two years later she’s still the best. |
| OCT 14 1973 | Willie Mays got his last MLB career hit in World Series Game 2 in Oakland. | The “Say Hey Kid” was 42 years old. |
| OCT 15 2005 | No. 1 USC defeated No. 9 Notre Dame 34-31. | This was USC’s 28thconsecutive win. |
| OCT 14 1973 | Linda Ronstadt sang the national anthem before World Series Game 3 at Dodger Stadium Los Angeles. | OK. It is not really sports but I really like Linda Ronstadt! |
| OCT 17 2012 | Lance Armstrong lost a host of endorsements in the wake of his doping scandal. | A sad day for cycling and sports. |
| OCT 17 2015 | No. 7 Michigan State defeated at No. 23 Michigan 27- 12 | The Michigan punter fumbled the punt tried to pick it up. State caught the fumble. Returned it 38 yards for the winning touchdown. |
| OCT 21 2006 | Michigan State defeated Northwestern 41 – 38 | The biggest comeback in FBS history after trailing 38-3 in the middle of the 3rd quarter. |
| OCT 28 1922 | Princeton defeated Chicago 21-18 | It was the first national radio broadcast of a college football game. |
Satchel Paige was born in my hometown of Mobile Alabama. He remains one of America’s greatest sports heroes. A humble man Paige also was a star in the Negro League and later the Major Leagues. He remains one of my sports heroes. His career lasted five decades ending with his induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Satchel Paige was famous for many quotes. Two of my favorites are appropriate for America today.
“Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way.”
Perhaps his famous quote was this one: “Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.”
Southern Exposures 