Sports History Network July 19, 1922 – This was truly a monumental moment in swimming history! American swimmer Johnny Weissmuller became the first person to break the 1-minute mark barrier for the 100-meter freestyle swim. Weissmuller was like a torpedo as he swam the races duration recording a 58.6 second time at a pool in Alameda, California. The talented … Read more
July 18, 1921 – Babe Ruth smacked a ball fair 560 feet for his 139th career home run against the Detroit Tigers. Tiger pitcher Bert Cole served up the ball to the Bambino who launched it over the deepest portion of the fence at Navin Field. It was a significant hit indeed as with this 36 … Read more
In 1950, the Chicago Cardinals faced a challenging coaching predicament. After Jimmy Conzelman retired in 1948 following two straight trips to the NFL championship game, the club named Phil Handler and Buddy Parker as co-head coaches for the 1949 season. That experiment lasted only five games before Handler was booted upstairs while Parker was appointed … Read more
July 17, 1941 – All good things must come to an end. That was truly the case on this date as Yankees fans witnessed the end of Joe DiMaggio’s pretty awesome 56-game hitting streak in Cleveland against the Indians. The streak started without much fanfare back on May 15, 1941, when DiMaggio singled off of White Sox left-hander … Read more
July 16, 1936 – It is hard to fathom in any era of baseball, but when an MLB team is in the double digits behind the division leaders, that is usually “all she wrote.” However, the New York Giants are one of the rare teams that staged a back half of the season comeback. On this date, … Read more