This Day in Sports History: April 5
Sports in April include playoffs for the NBA and NHL seasons, the first month of MLB, the Masters, the NCAA Basketball title game, the NFL Draft, and some Grand Prix…
Sports in April include playoffs for the NBA and NHL seasons, the first month of MLB, the Masters, the NCAA Basketball title game, the NFL Draft, and some Grand Prix events. Over the years, April 5 has witnessed many notable moments and stories involving sporting legends. Here are some of them.
Unforgettable Games and Remarkable Records
Great moments in sports history from April 5 included:
- 1915: Boxer Jess Willard knocked out Jack Johnson after 26 rounds and won the heavyweight boxing title.
- 1946: At the 100th Grand National, Captain Robert Petre won aboard 25/1 shot Lovely Cottage.
- 1959: At the 23rd United States Masters Tournament, Art Wall Jr. won by one stroke and it was his only PGA Tour major victory.
- 1967: Wilt Chamberlain set an NBA record of 41 rebounds in a playoff game.
- 1975: In the WTA Finals, No. 1 Chris Evert won her third WTA Tour Championship, as she beat Martina Navratilova.
- 1983: New York Mets pitcher Tom Seaver set a record with his 14th National League Opening Day assignment.
- 1984: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar broke Wilt Chamberlain's all-time career scoring record of 31,419 points.
- 1987: Betsy King won the first of her six major titles, as she beat golfer Patty Sheehan in a sudden-death playoff, and won the Nabisco Dinah Shore title.
- 1987: Wayne Gretzky won his seventh straight NHL scoring title.
- 1989: Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Orel Hershiser's consecutive scoreless streak of 59 innings comes to an end.
- 1990: John Stockton reached the 1000-assist mark for an NBA record three years in a row.
- 1991: The Detroit Pistons Joe Dumars' free-throw streak of 62 games comes to an end.
- 1992: Golfer Lee Trevino won his second Champions Tour major.
- 1993: North Carolina beat Michigan, 77-71, and got their third college basketball title.
- 1998: France beat Wales 51-0 and it was their second straight Five Nations Rugby Championship and Grand Slam.
- 2005: In the 24th NCAA Women's Basketball Championship, Baylor beat Michigan State 84-62 and the Bears' small forward Sophia Young was named the Most Outstanding Player.
- 2009: Golfer Brittany Lincicome eagled the final hole and won the Kraft Nabisco Championship. It was her first major title.
- 2012: The Toronto Blue Jays and Cleveland Indians played a 16-inning game and set an MLB Opening Day record.
- 2013: Orioles outfielder Chris Davis became the fourth player to homer in the first four games of an MLB season.
- 2014: Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire picked up the 1,000th win of his MLB career.
- 2019: OKC guard Russell Westbrook became the first player in NBA history to average a triple-double for three straight seasons.
Three athletes who stood out on April 5 were Tom Seaver, Wayne Gretzky, and John Stockton.
Seaver won 311 games, three Cy Young Awards, and led the Mets to a 1969 World Series title. Gretzky is the only player to total over 200 points in a season and he did this four times. Stockton is famous for his durability, old-school style, and pick-and-roll partnership with Karl Malone. He led the Jazz to the playoffs in every season that he played in.
