This Week in History: Sports
In recognition of the Olympics, I offer this as Quote of the Week: “The battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton.” (Duke of Wellington)
Sports events for the week of February 21 - 27:
1874 Birthday of Honus Wagner (baseball) … “The Flying Dutchman” was one of the five original inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He remained active in baseball as a coach until the World War II era.
1902 Birthday of Gene Sarazen (golf), who invented the modern sand iron.
1918 Birthday of Bobby Riggs (tennis), who played the “battle of the sexes” against Billie Jean King.
1946 Jorge Pasquel, President of the Mexican Baseball League, offered contracts to star US players - hoping he could attract them to his league.
1949 Greta Anderson of Denmark set a world record for 100-yard freestyle in Copenhagen.
1950 Birthday of Julius Erving (basketball), who first attracted attention for his skills on the playgrounds of Harlem.
1964 The Ali - Liston match in Miami Beach, FL, ended with Ali winning the world heavyweight boxing championship.