1951 IN SPORTS

==Athletics

Contents

National Champions

Awards

Births

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Deaths

=Marathon

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

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
==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
==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)
==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.
==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.
==Cycling==

★ Giro d'Italia won by Fiorenzo Magni of Italy

★ Tour de France - Hugo Koblet of Switzerland
==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
==Football (American)==

★ January 14 - The National Football League has its first Pro Bowl Game (Los Angeles, California).

★ September 28 - Norm Van Brocklin sets NFL single game record for most passing yards (554) helping Los Angeles Rams beat New York Yanks 48-21.

★ NFL Championship: Los Angeles Rams won 24-17 over the Cleveland Browns
==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)
==Football (Canadian)==

★ Grey Cup: Ottawa Rough Riders won 21-14 over the Saskatchewan Roughriders
==Football (soccer)==

England

★ First Division - Tottenham Hotspur win the 1950-51 title.

★ FA Cup - Newcastle United beat Blackpool 2-0.
==Golf==
Men's Golf

★ Grand Slam of golf results:

★ #May - The Masters - Ben Hogan

★ #June - US Open - Ben Hogan

★ #July - British Open - Max Faulkner

★ #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
==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:

★ #Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Ki Ming

★ #Epsom Derby - Arctic Prince

★ #St. Leger Stakes - Talma

★ United States Triple Crown Races:

★ #Kentucky Derby - Count Turf

★ #Preakness Stakes - Bold

★ #Belmont Stakes - Counterpoint
==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
==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
==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.
==Snooker==

★ World Snooker Championship: Fred Davis beats Walter Donaldson 58-39.
==Tennis==

★ Grand Slam in tennis men's results:

★ #Australian Open - Dick Savitt

★ #French Open - Jaroslav Drobny

★ #Wimbledon championships - Dick Savitt

★ #US Open - Frank Sedgman

★ Grand Slam in tennis women's results:

★ #Australian Open - Nancy Wynne Bolton

★ #French Open - Shirley Fry

★ #Wimbledon championships - Doris Hart

★ #US Open - Maureen Connolly

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

Awards

★ Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year: Dick Kazmaier, College football

★ Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year: Maureen Connolly, Tennis

Births

January

★ January 2 — Lula Ferreira, Brazilian basketball coach

★ January 2 — Bill Madlock, U.S. baseball player

★ January 4 — Steve Genter, American freestyle swimmer

★ January 20 — Clyde Sefton, Australian road cyclist

★ January 22 — Ondrej Nepela, Slovak figure skater (d. 1989)

★ January 25 — Steve Prefontaine, U.S. distance runner

★ January 26 — Jarmila Kratochvílová, Czech athlete

★ January 26 — Mieczysław Nowicki, Polish road bicycle racer

★ January 27 — Charles Mooney, US boxer

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

March

★ March 4 — Kenny Dalglish, Scottish football (soccer) player and manager

★ March 26 — Greg Brough, Australian freestyle swimmer

★ March 30 — Klaus-Jürgen Grünke, East German track cyclist

★ March 30 — Anton Tkáč, Slovak track cyclist

April

★ April 6 — Bert Blyleven, U.S. baseball player

★ April 29 — Dale Earnhardt, U.S. stock car racer (d. 2001)

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

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

July

★ July 4 — Beverly Boys, Canadian diver

★ July 5 — Rich Gossage, U.S. baseball player

★ July 5 — Penny Werthner, Canadian track and field athlete

★ July 19 — Bob Schoutsen, Dutch backstroke swimmer

★ July 26 — Eloi Schleder, Brazilian long-distance runner

★ July 31 — Evonne Goolagong, Australian tennis player

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 14 — Vern Hanaray, New Zealand road cyclist

★ August 17 — Alan Minter, British boxer

★ August 27 — Buddy Bell, U.S. baseball player

★ August 30 — Daniel Clark, Australian track cyclist and road bicycle racer

September

★ September 6 — Samiullah Khan, Pakistani field hockey player

★ September 7 — Kebede Balcha, Ethiopian marathon runner

★ September 14 — Elizabeth Carruthers, Canadian diver

★ 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

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

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

December

★ December 8 — Paul Brydon, New Zealand road and track cyclist

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

Deaths

★ February 25 — Smokey Joe Williams, American baseball player

★ March 25 — Eddie Collins, American Major League Baseball player (106-1930)

★ April 27 — Driekske van Bussel (82), Dutch archer (b. 1868)

★ July 9 — Harry Heilmann, American Major League Baseball player (1914-1932)

★ August 26 — Bill Barilko, Toronto Maple Leafs ice hockey player

★ December 5 — Joe Jackson, American baseball player