Sports History Network July 14, 1914 – This is truly a great story of overcoming much in a short time. The National Leagues’ Boston Braves had just a day earlier been swept in a double header against the Brooklyn Dodgers. These losses were enough to drop them into the basement of the NL Standings at 26-40. To make matters … Read more
While the phrase “three-letter agency” is a euphemism for American spook organizations such as the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) and the NSA (National Security Agency), the NFL is a three-letter agency in its own right. Behind the game-day action of the NFL is a world much like the cloak-and-dagger realm of American intelligence agencies. The … Read more
July 13, 1930 – The first-ever football (soccer) World Cup competition begins in Uruguay. When soccer was dropped as a competitive sport for the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, FIFA President Jules Rimet decided to organize an international tournament for 1930. European football fans were disgruntled when, Uruguay, the winner of back-to-back gold medals at the … Read more
July 12, 1931 – Crowd control or crowd in control? It was an odd occurrence indeed caused by the fan placement. When the hated Chicago Cubs came to St Louis to play the Cardinals 45,715 fans paid and entered into the 35,000 seating capacity stadium of Sportsman Park. The throng of onlookers started arriving at 5 … Read more
For nearly twenty years (1966-85), the Baltimore Orioles were a team to be reckoned with. But those 1966-71 teams were, well, something to behold, and here’s why. It’s quite a story–from losing big to winning big. The losing part came at the beginning; from their first year as a Major League baseball team in 1901, … Read more