1939 IN SPORTS

''Many sporting events did not take place because of World War II.''

Contents

Auto racing

Awards

Births

Deaths

Auto racing

★ Grand Prix racing - ''Main article: 1939 Grand Prix season.'' No European champion officially declared due to war breaking out.

★ August 11 - Jean Bugatti, automobile designer and the 30-year-old son of Ettore Bugatti, died in a crash on the Molsheim-Strasbourg highway.
==Baseball==

★ January 24: Hall of Fame election: The goal of 10 initial inductees from the 20th century is finally met as voters select George Sisler, Eddie Collins, and Willie Keeler.

★ April 23: Pitcher Alejandro "Alex" Carrasquel made his major league debut with the Washington Senators. He became the first baseball player from Venezuela to play Major League Baseball.

★ May 2: Cap Anson, Buck Ewing, Charles "Hoss" Radbourn, Albert Spalding, Charles Comiskey, and Candy Cummings are named to the Hall of Fame by a special committee, just weeks before the Hall opens. Along with the previous selections of Cy Young and Keeler in the writers' elections, Anson, Ewing and Radbourn arguably complete the 5 initial inductees from the 19th century which were promised but long delayed; Spalding, Comiskey and Cummings were largely elected as pioneers and contributors.

★ May 2: Lou Gehrig's streak of 2130 consecutive Major League Baseball games played comes to an end. The record will stand for 56 years before Cal Ripken, Jr. breaks it.

★ June 12: The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is dedicated in Cooperstown, New York.

★ July 4: Lou Gehrig announces his retirement from the game at Yankee Stadium.

★ August 26: The first televised major-league baseball game is Brooklyn's 6-1 victory over Cincinnati at Ebbets Field.

★ World Series: New York Yankees defeat Cincinnati Reds, 4-0.

★ The Winnipeg Maroons win the Northern League championship.

★ December: A special election results in Lou Gehrig being selected to the Hall of Fame; he had announced his retirement after the Hall's June opening.
==Basketball==

★ The third European basketball championship, Eurobasket 1939, is won by Lithuania.

★ The seventh South American Basketball Championship in Rio de Janeiro is won by Brazil.
==Figure skating==

★ World Figure Skating Championships:

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★ Men's champion: Graham Sharp, Great Britain

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★ Ladies' champion: Megan Taylor, Great Britain

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★ Pair skating champion: Maxi Herber & Ernst Baier, Germany
==Football (American)==

★ Green Bay Packers defeat the New York Giants 27-0 for the NFL title. It was the first shutout in a championship game. The game was played in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

★ Texas A&M University 14-13 Tulane in the 1939 Sugar Bowl for the NCAA Football National Championship.
==Football (Australian)==

★ Victorian Football League

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★ Melbourne wins the 43rd VFL Premiership (Melbourne 21.22 (148) d Collingwood 14.11 (95))

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★ Brownlow Medal awarded to Marcus Whelan (Collingwood)
==Football (soccer)==

England

★ First Division - Everton win the 1938-39 title.

★ FA Cup - Portsmouth beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-1.

★ The outbreak of World War II means all competitive football in England is suspended in September, and the 1939-40 season cancelled. Various regional leagues and cups are set up in place of normal Football League and FA Cup competition.
==Snooker==

★ World Snooker Championship: Joe Davis beats Sidney Smith 43-30
==Tennis==

★ Alice Marble wins Wimbledon Ladies' Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles, US Open Women's Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles, as well as Associated Press Athlete of the Year.

Awards

★ Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year: Nile Kinnick, College football

★ Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year: Alice Marble, Tennis

Births

★ January 3 — Bobby Hull, Canadian ice hockey player

★ January 6 — Valeri Lobanovsky, football player and manager (d. 2002)

★ January 6 — Murray Rose, Scotland-born swimmer from Australia

★ January 18 — Tsuyoshi Yamanaka, Japanese swimmer

★ February 27 — Peter Revson, Formula 1 race car driver (d. 1974)

★ March 8 — Lidia Skoblikova, Soviet ice speed skater

★ March 19 — Hilário, Mozambique-born Portuguese football (soccer) player

★ April 4 — JoAnne Carner, American female golfer

★ April 10 — Alan Rothenberg, American soccer president

★ May 9 — Ralph Boston, American track and field champion

★ May 9 — Ion Ţiriac, Romanian tennis player

★ May 19 — Jānis Lūsis, Latvian athlete

★ May 29 — Al Unser Sr., American auto racer

★ June 9 — Dick Vitale, American college basketball tv announcer

★ June 18 — Lou Brock, American baseball player

★ July 6 — Mary Peters, British pentathlete

★ July 25 — Hernán Barreneche, Colombian long-distance runner

★ July 29 — Witold Baran, Polish middle distance runner

★ August 12 — Pam Kilborn, Australian hurdler

★ August 22 — Carl Yastrzemski, American baseball player

★ September 2 — Nicolino Locche, Argentine boxer (d. 2005)

★ September 8 — Carsten Keller, German field hockey player

★ September 27 — Kathy Whitworth, American female golfer

★ October 11 — Maria Bueno, tennis champion

★ October 18 — Mike Ditka, American football coach

★ November 20 — Jan Szczepański, Polish boxer

★ December 1 — Lee Trevino, American golfer

★ December 14 — Ernie Davis, American football player

★ December 18 — Sandro Lopopolo, Italian light welterweight boxer

★ December 30 — János Kajdi, Hungarian boxer

Deaths

★ February 3 — C.C. Pyle, American pro football promoter

★ March 29 — Fausto dos Santos (34), Brazilian football (soccer) player (b. 1905)

★ April 29 — Charles Dixon (66), British tennis player (b. 1873)

★ November 28 — James Naismith, Canadian who invented the game of basketball