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This Day in Sports History: September 28

Sports that take center stage in September include MLB, the NFL, college football, UFC, the Ryder Cup, and Formula 1. Over the years, Sept. 28 has hosted many important moments…

Bill Daly, the deputy commissioner and chief legal officer of the National Hockey League (NHL) presents the Prince of Wales Trophy to the Tampa Bay Lightning after winning the Eastern Conference Championship
Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Sports that take center stage in September include MLB, the NFL, college football, UFC, the Ryder Cup, and Formula 1. Over the years, Sept. 28 has hosted many important moments and stories from sports legends. Read on to learn about some of them.

Unforgettable Games and Remarkable Records

Noteworthy moments in sports history from Sept. 28 include:

  • 1919: The fastest nine-inning MLB game in history took place, with the New York Giants beating the Philadelphia Phillies 6-1 in just 51 minutes.
  • 1920: Eight White Sox players were indicted by a grand jury and charged with conspiring with gamblers to fix the 1919 World Series.
  • 1921: Walter Hagen won the PGA Championship.
  • 1928: The Yankees clinched their sixth American League pennant.
  • 1930: Lou Gehrig's errorless streak ended at 885 consecutive games.
  • 1940: Michigan's Tom Harmon scored touchdowns on a 94-yard kickoff return, a 72-yard punt return, and an 86-yard run from scrimmage.
  • 1941: Ted Williams ended the baseball season with a .406 batting average.
  • 1951: Allie Reynolds pitched his second no-hitter of the season, and the Yankees clinched their 18th American League pennant.
  • 1960: Ted Williams hit the final homer of his career.
  • 1969: Vikings quarterback Joe Kapp passed for seven touchdowns in a game against the Colts.
  • 1972: Canada defeated the USSR in the eighth and final game of the hockey Summit Series.
  • 1974: Nolan Ryan pitched his third no-hitter.
  • 1975: Four Oakland Athletics pitchers combined for a 5-0 no-hitter against the California Angels.
  • 1976: Muhammad Ali won a 15-round unanimous decision against Ken Norton to retain his WBA and WBC heavyweight titles.
  • 1979: Larry Holmes beat Earnie Shavers with an 11th-round technical knockout, successfully defending his WBC heavyweight title.
  • 1980: Driver Alan Jones clinched his first Formula One World Drivers' Championship.
  • 1984: The Cleveland Indians came back from 10-0 down to beat the Twins 11-10.
  • 1986: Gerald McNeil returned a punt 84 yards for a touchdown, setting a Cleveland Browns team record.
  • 1993: Dennis Martinez became the seventh player in MLB history to win 100 games in the American League and the National League.
  • 1996: Iowa State's Troy Davis ran for a school-record 378 yards, the third highest in Division 1 college football history.
  • 1997: The European team won the Ryder Cup golf competition, recording the first of six consecutive victories at home.
  • 2008: The Red Sox retired Johnny Pesky's jersey number.
  • 2020: The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Dallas Stars in six games and won their second Stanley Cup.

Three athletes who stood out on Sept. 28 were Ted Williams, Larry Holmes, and Troy Davis.

Williams was a great American baseball player, widely considered one of the best hitters in history and known for being the last player to hit over .400 in a season. Holmes demonstrated technical skill, particularly his powerful left jab, in a boxing career that spanned from 1973 to 2002. Davis was one of the most dominant backs in college football in the mid-1990s. The two-time All-American rushed for over 2,000 yards in back-to-back seasons in 1995 and 1996.