This Day in Sports History — August 7
Here are just some of the notable sports moments that happened on August 7:
1907 — Pitcher Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators recorded the first of his 417 career victories, 7-2, over the Cleveland Indians. (More info.)
1932 — US teammates Babe Didrikson and Jean Shiley each cleared the world-record long jump height of 5 feet, 5 and 3/4 inches at the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The judges awarded Shiley the gold because of the form that Didrikson had used to clear the bar. (More info.)
1954 — In the “Mile of the Century” race, Britain’s Roger Bannister defeated John Landy of Australia by running the mile in 3 minutes 58.8 seconds at the British Empire Games at Vancouver, British Columbia. (More info.)
1984 — Japan beat the United States, 6-3, to win the first-ever Olympic gold medal in baseball at the Summer Games in Los Angeles. (More info.)
1992 — San Francisco Giants’ owner Robert Lurie agreed to sell the franchise to a Tampa Bay syndicate. (More info.)
1999 — Linebacker Lawrence Taylor of the New York Giants was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. (More info.)
1999 — Wade Boggs, then with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, became the 23rd major league player to reach 3,000 career hits when he homered off Chris Haney of the Cleveland Indians at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL. (More info.)
2007 — Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hit his 756th career home run to break the record held by Hank Aaron since 1974. (More info.)