This week in history

By Shannon King
May 2, 2002

May 2, 1939
New York Yankee first baseman Lou Gehrig asked to be benched in a game against the Detroit Tigers, ending his streak of 2,130 consecutive games. He thought that he was just battling fatigue. He never returned to playing and died two years later of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which is now better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

May 3, 1979
Bobby Bonds became the second player in history to join the 300-300 club. The Cleveland Indian hit his 300th career home run and also had 300 stolen bases joining only Willie Mays in accomplishing this feat.

May 4, 1871
The National Association of Baseball Players, becomes the first professional league in baseball history. The first game, the Ft. Wayne Kekiongas vs. Cleveland’s Forest City Club, ended in a score of 2-0. Cleveland’s Deacon White led the game with a double, the league’s fist hit.

May 5, 1935
Ohio State student Jesse Owens broke four world records and tied a fifth in the Big Ten track meet. He had times of 9.4 in the 100-yard dash, 22.6 in the 220-yard hurdles, and 20.3 in the 200-yard dash, and he long jumped 26 feet, 8 1/4 inches in his only attempt. His 200-yard time was also accepted as the world record for the 200-meter.

May 6, 1998
Kerry Wood, 20-year-old rookie for the Chicago White Sox, struck out 20 in a 2-0 win over the Houston Astros to set a National League record and tie the major league mark.

May 7, 1959
Roy Campanella, major league baseball’s first African American catcher drew a record 93,103 fans to Roy Campanella Night at the Los Angeles Coliseum. The night was held in his honor after he was paralyzed in an automobile accident. The event included an exhibition game between the Dodgers and the Yankees.

May 8, 1954
Parry O’Brien became the first person to exceed the 60-foot mark in the shotput event at a Los Angeles meet. His record throw was 60 feet, 5 1/4 inches.

Information retrieved from www.hickoksports.com

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Shannon King

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