1951 in sports

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Years in sports:	1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954
Centuries:	19th century · 20th century · 21st century
Decades:	1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s
Years:	1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954

Contents 1 Athletics 1.1 Marathon 1.1.1 International Races 1.1.2 National Champions 2 Auto Racing 3 Baseball 4 Basketball 5 Boxing 6 Cycling 7 Figure skating 8 Football (American) 9 Football (Australian rules football) 10 Football (Canadian) 11 Football (soccer) 11.1 England 12 Golf 13 Thoroughbred Horse Racing 14 Harness Racing 15 Ice Hockey 16 Lacrosse 17 Snooker 18 Tennis 19 General sporting events 20 Awards 21 Births 21.1 January 21.2 February 21.3 March 21.4 April 21.5 May 21.6 June 21.7 July 21.8 August 21.9 September 21.10 October 21.11 November 21.12 December 22 Deaths

[edit] Athletics

[edit] Marathon

[edit] International Races

• March 6 — Pan American Games Marathon, Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • Men's Winner: Delfo Cabrera (ARG) 2:35:01

• March 11 — Asian Games Marathon, New Delhi, India
  • Men's Winner: Chota Singh (IND) 2:42:59

• September 1 — Enschede Marathon, Netherlands
  • Men's Winner: Veikko Karvonen (FIN) 2:29:02

• December 9 — Fukuoka Marathon, Japan
  • Men's Winner: Hiromi Haigo (JPN) 2:30:13

[edit] National Champions

• March 5 — Australia
  • Men's Winner: Gordon Stanley — 2:59:44

• May 4 — Canada
  • Men's Winner: Walter Fedorick — 2:58:42

• May 27 — United States
  • Men's Winner: Jesse Van Zant — 2:37:12

• July 1 — Finland
  • Men's Winner: Veikko Karvonen — 2:28:46

• July 21 — England
  • Men's Winner: James Peters — 2:31:42

• July 28 — Germany
  • Men's Winner: Wilfried Hogrefe — 2:46:06

• August 5 — Netherlands
  • Men's Winner: Joop Overdijk — 2:43:42

• September 6 — Hungary
  • Men's Winner: István Simon — 2:48:47

• October 14 — Japan
  • Men's Winner: Kiyoshi Shinozaki — 2:31:26

[edit] Auto Racing

• NASCAR Championship - Herb Thomas
• AAA Racing:
  • Tony Bettenhausen won the series championship
  • Lee Wallard won the Indianapolis 500
• Formula One Championship - Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina
• 24 hours of Le Mans:
  • Louis Rosier / Jean-Louis Rosier won driving a Talbot-Lago
• Rally racing:
  • Marcel Becquart / H. Secret won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Hotchkiss
• Drag racing - NHRA founded by Wally Parks

[edit] Baseball

• January 26: Mel Ott and Jimmie Foxx are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
• January 29: Baseball signs a six-year All-Star game pact for TV-radio rights for $6 million. A number of owners criticize lame-duck Commissioner Happy Chandler, believing that in a couple of years, the broadcast rights would be worth much more than $1 million per annum.
• April 17: Mickey Mantle makes his Major League debut.
• May 7: Johnny Vander Meer pitches in his final Major League game.
• May 25: The New York Giants rookie Willie Mays, goes 0-for-5 in his major league debut against the Philadelphia Phillies.
• July 10: Alfonso "Chico" Carrasquel became the first Latin American player to participate in an All-Star game, beating out reigning MVP Phil Rizzuto as the American League's starting shortstop. Carrasquel would go on to be selected to the All-Star team a total of four times.
• July 14 - St. Louis Browns sign Satchel Paige as a free agent.
• August 11: The New York Giants fall 13 games behind in the National League standings. Following this nadir, the Giants go 37-8 over their last 45 games in one of baseball's most famous comebacks. This enables them to tie their crosstown rivals Brooklyn Dodgers for first place and forces a playoff series.
• August 19: 3' 7" Eddie Gaedel becomes the only midget to play in a major league game, pinch-hitting and drawing a walk in his lone plate appearance.
• August 29 - The New York Yankees trade Lew Burdette and $50,000 cash to the Boston Braves for Johnny Sain.
• September 7 - Bobby Doerr plays in his final career game.
• September 30 - Joe DiMaggio plays in his final career regular season game.
• October 4: National League Playoff: The New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers finished the season tied for first place. The Giants then won a playoff series, 2 games to 1. In the final game, when all seemed lost for the Giants, Bobby Thomson hit a dramatic three run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Giants a 5 to 4 victory and the National League pennant.
• World Series: New York Yankees win 4 games to 2 over the New York Giants.
• MVP Awards: Roy Campanella (NL) and Yogi Berra (AL)
• Rookie of the Year Awards: Willie Mays (NL) and Gil McDougald (AL)
• Babe Ruth Award: Phil Rizzuto
• Sporting News Major League Player of the Year: Stan Musial
• Sporting News Pitcher of the Year: Preacher Roe (NL) and Bob Feller (AL)

[edit] Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • Kentucky wins 68-58 over Kansas State University.

• NBA Finals:
  • Rochester Royals won 4 games to 3 over the New York Knicks
• Amateur Basketball Association:
  • Basketball Jones single handedly beats the Harlem Globetrotters

• The seventh European basketball championship, Eurobasket 1951, is won by the Soviet Union.

[edit] Boxing

• February 25 to March 8 – Pan American Games held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
  • Flyweight (– 51 kg): Alberto Barenghi (Argentina)
  • Bantamweight (– 54 kg): Ricardo Gonzales (Argentina)
  • Featherweight (– 57 kg): Francisco Nuñez (Argentina)
  • Lightweight (– 60 kg): Oscar Galardo (Argentina)
  • Welterweight (– 67 kg): Oscar Pietta (Argentina)
  • Middleweight (– 75 kg): Ubaldo Pereira (Argentina)
  • Light Heavyweight (– 81 kg): Rinaldo Ansaloni (Argentina)
  • Heavyweight (+ 81 kg): Jorge Vertone (Argentina)

• July 10 – Randy Turpin becomes the middleweight boxing champion after defeating Sugar Ray Robinson.
• July 18 – Jersey Joe Walcott knocks out Ezzard Charles in round 7 during their bout in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

[edit] Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Fiorenzo Magni of Italy
• Tour de France - Hugo Koblet of Switzerland

[edit] Figure skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Dick Button, United States
  • Ladies' champion: Jeanette Altwegg, Great Britain
  • Pair skating champions: Ria Baran & Paul Falk, Germany

[edit] Football (American)

• January 14 - The National Football League has its first Pro Bowl Game (Los Angeles, California).
• NFL Championship: Los Angeles Rams won 24-17 over the Cleveland Browns

[edit] Football (Australian rules football)

• Victorian Football League
  • Geelong wins the 55th VFL Premiership (Geelong 11.15 (81) d Essendon 10.10 (70))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Bernie Smith (Geelong)

[edit] Football (Canadian)

• Grey Cup: Ottawa Rough Riders won 21-14 over the Saskatchewan Roughriders

[edit] Football (soccer)

[edit] England

• First Division - Tottenham Hotspur win the 1950-51 title.
• FA Cup - Newcastle United beat Blackpool 2-0.

[edit] Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Ben Hogan
  2. June - US Open - Ben Hogan
  3. July - British Open - Max Faulkner
  4. August - PGA Championship - Sam Snead

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Lloyd Mangrum - $26,089
• Ryder Cup: United States team wins 9 1/2 to 2 1/2 over the British team in world golf.

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Betsy Rawls

[edit] Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• July 14 - Citation won his 32nd race, the Hollywood Gold Cup, becoming the first equine millionaire.
• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Delat
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Major Factor
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Tantieme
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Fraise du Bois
• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Ki Ming
  2. Epsom Derby - Arctic Prince
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Talma
• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Count Turf
  2. Preakness Stakes - Bold
  3. Belmont Stakes - Counterpoint

[edit] Harness Racing

• Tar Heel, a standardbred horse driven by Del Cameron, produced the first two-minute mile in harness racing history.
• Little Brown Jug for pacers won by Tar Heel
• Hambletonian for trotters won by Mainliner
• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Vedette
  • Trotters: Gay Belwin

[edit] Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
• Hart Memorial Trophy: for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Milt Schmidt, Boston Bruins
• Stanley Cup: Toronto Maple Leafs win 4 games to 1 over the Montreal Canadiens
• World Hockey Championship
  • Men's champion: Canada's Lethbridge Maple Leafs
• NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship - University of Michigan Wolverines defeat Brown University Bruins 7-1 in Colorado Springs, CO

[edit] Lacrosse

• The 50th anniversaries of the donations of both the Mann Cup and the Minto Cup.
• The ­Peterborough Timbermen win the 50th Mann Cup.
• The Mimico Mountaineers win the 50th Minto Cup.

[edit] Snooker

• World Snooker Championship: Fred Davis beats Walter Donaldson 58-39.

[edit] Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Dick Savitt
  2. French Open - Jaroslav Drobny
  3. Wimbledon championships - Dick Savitt
  4. US Open - Frank Sedgman

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Nancy Wynne Bolton
  2. French Open - Shirley Fry
  3. Wimbledon championships - Doris Hart
  4. US Open - Maureen Connolly

• Davis Cup: Australia wins 3-2 over the United States in world tennis.

[edit] General sporting events

• First Pan American Games held in Buenos Aires, Argentina

• Asian Games held in New Delhi, India

• First Mediterranean Games held in Alexandria, Egypt

[edit] Awards

• Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year: Dick Kazmaier, College football
• Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year: Maureen Connolly, Tennis

[edit] Births

[edit] January

• January 2 — Bill Madlock, U.S. baseball player.
• January 4 — Steve Genter, American freestyle swimmer
• January 22 — Ondrej Nepela, Slovak figure skater (d. 1989)
• January 25 — Steve Prefontaine, U.S. distance runner
• January 26 — Jarmila Kratochvílová, Czech athlete
• January 27 — Charles Mooney, US boxer

[edit] February

• February 6 — Tineke Bartels, Dutch equestrian
• February 14 — Haruki Uemura, Japanese judoka
• February 14 — Graham White, Australian freestyle swimmer
• February 22 — Elaine Tanner, Canadian swimmer
• February 25 — Don Quarrie, Jamaican athlete

[edit] March

• March 4 — Kenny Dalglish, Scottish football (soccer) player and manager
• March 26 — Greg Brough, Australian freestyle swimmer

[edit] April

• April 6 — Bert Blyleven, U.S. baseball player
• April 29 — Dale Earnhardt, U.S. stock car racer (d. 2001)

[edit] May

• May 2 — Andrew Barron, Canadian ice ice speed skater
• May 12 — Gunnar Larsson, Swedish medley swimmer
• May 14 — Anita Miller, American field hockey player

[edit] June

• June 2 — Larry Robinson, U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman
• June 9 — Dave Parker, U.S. baseball player
• June 18 — Nobutaka Taguchi, Japanese swimmer
• June 23 — Minneula Azizov, Soviet field hockey player
• June 24 — Raelene Boyle, Australian athlete
• June 26 — Lieuwe de Boer, Dutch ice speed skater
• June 26 — Clarence Hill, Bermudian boxer

[edit] July

• July 5 — Rich Gossage, U.S. baseball player
• July 19 — Bob Schoutsen, Dutch backstroke swimmer
• July 26 — Eloi Schleder, Brazilian long-distance runner
• July 31 — Evonne Goolagong, Australian tennis player

[edit] August

• August 1 — Jürgen Fanghänel, East German boxer
• August 7 — Gary Hall, Sr., American swimmer
• August 9 — James Vrij, Dutch boxer
• August 13 — Gwen Cheeseman, US field hockey goalkeeper
• August 17 — Alan Minter, British boxer
• August 27 — Buddy Bell, U.S. baseball player

[edit] September

• September 6 — Samiullah Khan, Pakistani field hockey player
• September 16 — René and Willy van de Kerkhof, Dutch football (soccer) players and twins
• September 20 — Guy Lafleur, Canadian hockey player
• September 21 — Bruce Arena, American soccer coach
• September 29 — Hennie Penterman, Dutch medley swimmer

[edit] October

• October 3 — Dave Winfield, US baseball player
• October 6 — Manfred Winkelhock, German auto racing driver
• October 12 — Arnulf Sunde, Norwegian ice speed skater
• October 15 — Roscoe Tanner, American tennis player
• October 17 — Annie Borckink, Dutch ice speed skater
• October 17 — Oloph Granath, Swedish ice speed skater

[edit] November

• November 3 — Dwight Evans, US baseball player
• November 13 — Beth Anders, US field hockey player
• November 19 — Enrique Rodríguez, Spanish boxer
• November 25 — Johnny Rep, Dutch football (soccer) striker

[edit] December

• December 31 — Andranik Eskandarian, Iranian-American soccer player of Armenian descent

[edit] Deaths

• February 25 - Smokey Joe Williams, baseball star
• March 25 - Eddie Collins, Major League Baseball player (106-1930)
• July 9 - Harry Heilmann, Major League Baseball player (1914-1932)
• August 26 - Bill Barilko, Toronto Maple Leafs ice hockey player, plane crash
• December 5 - Joe Jackson, U.S. baseball player