Oct. 20
1923 — Zev, winner of the 1923 Kentucky Derby, beats England’s Papyrus, winner of the 1923 Epsom Derby, in a $100,000 match race at Belmont Park. The race, the International Special, marks the first time an English champion is sent to the U.S. to race. The race is so popular that it is broadcast on the radio, a first.
1944 — Michigan State and Maryland attempt one pass, the fewest in college football history. The Terrapins threw the pass, while the Spartans did not attempt a pass and Michigan State wins the game 8-0 in College Park, Md.
1963 — Jim Brown sets NFL single-season rushing record, 1,863 yds.
1963 — Clem Daniels of the Oakland Raiders rushes for 200 yards and two touchdowns in a 49-26 victory over the New York Jets.
1968 — American Dick Fosbury using his unconventional technique wins the men’s high jump gold medal at the Mexico City Olympics; “Fosbury Flop” becomes accepted as the most efficient technique.
1972 — The Buffalo Braves score an NBA record 58 points in the fourth quarter, but still lose to the Celtics at Boston Garden, 126-118.
1976 — The Philadelphia 76ers acquire Julius Erving from the New York Nets for $3 million.
1984 — Rueben Mayes of Washington State rushes for 216 yards and scores four touchdowns to overcome a 28-7 halftime deficit and lead the Cougars to a 49-42 victory over Stanford.
1994 — George McCandless, 83, becomes the oldest harness driver to win a pari-mutuel race when he guides Kehm’s Scooter to victory in the fourth race at Freehold (N.J.) Raceway.
2004 — Just three outs from getting swept in the AL championship series three nights earlier, the Boston Red Sox finally beat the New York Yankees, winning Game 7 in a 10-3 shocker to become the first major league team to overcome a 3-0 postseason series deficit.
2010 — Vancouver enforcer Rick Rypien is suspended indefinitely, pending a hearing, for grabbing a fan in the Canucks’ loss in Minnesota on Oct. 19. The NHL later sentences Rypien to a six-game suspension.
2012 — Kasey Carrier of New Mexico sets a Mountain West Conference record 338 yards rushing and has three TDs in a 28-23 loss to Air Force.
2013 — Tim Cahill scores the fastest goal in MLS history, and the New York Red Bulls beat the Houston Dynamo 3-0. Cahill puts New York ahead 8 seconds into the game. The previous fastest goal in MLS history was Dwayne De Rosario’s score 11 seconds into a 2003 game.
2016 — Nneka Ogwumike’s short jumper with 3.1 seconds left gives the Los Angeles Sparks a 77-76 victory over the defending champion Minnesota Lynx for their first title in 14 years in the deciding game of the WNBA Finals.
_____
Oct. 21
1950 — Tom Powers of Duke scores six touchdowns — three rushing, three receiving — in a 41-0 victory over Richmond.
1956 — Billy Howton of the Green Bay Packers catches seven passes for 257 yards and two touchdowns in a 42-17 victory over the Los Angeles Rams.
1961 — Eddie Arcaro wins the Jockey Club Gold Cup for a record 10th time. His mount, Kelso, wins his second straight Gold Cup.
1967 — The expansion Seattle SuperSonics win their first NBA game, a 117-110 overtime victory over San Diego.
1973 — Fred Dryer of the Los Angeles Rams becomes the first NFL player to record two safeties in a 24-7 victory over the Green Bay Packers.
1975 — Carlton Fisk breaks up a thrilling contest with a homer in the 12th inning to give the Boston Red Sox a 7-6 victory over the Cincinnati Reds and force a seventh game in the World Series.
1979 — Chicago Bulls guard Sam Smith scores the first 4-point play in NBA history during a 113-111 loss to the Bucks at Milwaukee.
1980 — The Philadelphia Phillies win the World Series for the first time in their 98-year history, defeating the Kansas City Royals 4-1 in six games.
1998 — The New York Yankees win 3-0 at San Diego, sweeping the Padres for their record 24th World Series championship.
2006 — Two rookie pitchers start the World Series for the first time. Anthony Reyes pitches into the ninth inning to help St. Louis cruise past Detroit and Justin Verlander 7-2 in Game 1.
2006 — Michigan State rallies from a 35-point, third-quarter deficit to beat Northwestern 41-38 in the biggest comeback in NCAA Division I-A history. Brett Swenson kicks the winning 28-yard field goal with 13 seconds left following an interception by Travis Key.
2007 — Rob Bironas kicks an NFL-record eight field goals, the last a 29-yarder with no time left to give Tennessee a 38-36 win over Houston. Bironas adds two extra points to set the NFL record for most points by a kicker, with 26. The Texans, trailing 32-7, survive backup quarterback Sage Rosenfels’ four touchdown passes in the fourth quarter. Rosenfels’ fourth touchdown pass, a 53-yarder to Andre’ Davis to put Houston up 36-35 with 57 seconds to play, ties an NFL record.
2007 — New England’s Tom Brady passes for 354 yards and a team-record six touchdowns in a 49-28 victory over Miami.
2012 — Tamika Catchings scores 25 points to help the Indiana Fever win their first WNBA title with an 87-78 victory over the Minnesota Lynx.
2015 — Daniel Murphy and the New York Mets finish a playoff sweep of the Chicago Cubs with an 8-3 victory to reach the World Series. Murphy homers for a record sixth consecutive postseason game.
2017 — Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov extend their season-opening points streaks to nine games, sending the Tampa Bay Lightning past the Pittsburgh Penguins 7-1.
_____
Oct. 22
1933 — Primo Carnera retains the world heavyweight title with a 15-round decision over Paolino Uzcudun in Rome.
1950 — The Los Angeles Rams beat the Baltimore Colts 70-27.
1961 — Erich Barnes of the New York Giants ties an NFL record by returning an interception 102 yards for a touchdown in a 17-16 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
1966 — Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins scores his first goal.
1975 — The 10-team World Football League, citing lack of television and season ticket support, disbands before the 12th week of a 20-week season.
1975 — The Cincinnati Reds beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-3 at Fenway Park Four games to three to win the World Series.
1976 — Twin brothers Tom and Dick Van Arsdale play together in a game for the Phoenix Suns, becoming the first and only pair of brothers to play for the same NBA club.
1984 — Future Pro Football HOF quarterback Ken Stabler retires after 17 seasons in the NFL with Oakland Raiders, Houston Oilers and New Orleans Saints.
1994 — Alcorn State’s Steve McNair becomes the NCAA’s career yardage leader with 15,049, surpassing the old mark set by Brigham Young’s Ty Detmer, who had 14,665. McNair’s 649 yards also breaks his own Division I-AA single-game record as he leads the Braves to a 41-37 win over Southern.
2000 — Bengals running back Corey Dillon rushes for an NFL single-game record 278 yards in a 31-21 victory over the Denver Broncos. Dillon betters Walter Payton’s 27-year-old mark by three yards.
2001 — New York routs Seattle 12-3 in Game 5 to win the AL pennant for the 38th time. The Yankees become the first team since their predecessors in 1960-64 to win four straight pennants.
2005 — Mount Union drops a regular-season game for the first time since 1994, losing 21-14 to Ohio Northern in a Division III matchup. The Purple Raiders, winners of 110 straight regular-season games, had not lost a regular-season game since they were beaten 23-10 by Baldwin-Wallace on Oct. 15, 1994.
2012 — Lance Armstrong is stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life by cycling’s governing body following a report from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that accuses him of leading a massive doping program on his teams.
2014 — Serena Williams is routed 6-0, 6-2 by Simona Halep in the WTA Finals round-robin, one of the most one-sided losses in the 18-time Grand Slam champion’s career. The last time Williams managed to win just two games in a WTA Tour or Grand Slam match was in 1998 when she was 16.
2016 — Kyle Hendricks outpitches Clayton Kershaw, Anthony Rizzo and Willson Contreras homers early and the Chicago Cubs won their first pennant since 1945, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-0 in Game 6 of the NL Championship Series.
2016 — Baker Mayfield has seven touchdown passes and 545 yards to help No. 16 Oklahoma beat Texas Tech 66-59 in the game that breaks the NCAA record for combined offensive yards with 1,708 yards.
2016 — Leonard Fournette breaks LSU’s single-game rushing record on just his first eight carries as the No. 25 Tigers beat No. 23 Mississippi 38-21. Fournette finishes with 284 yards rushing in his first action since aggravating a left ankle injury on Sept. 24. He averages 17.8 yards on 16 carries and his touchdowns go for 78, 76 and 59 yards.
2017 — The Phoenix Suns fire coach Earl Watson just three games in to the NBA season.
2020 — The National Hockey League announced the annual NHL All Star Game and Skills Competition would be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
_____
Oct. 23
1921 — Green Bay Packers play 1st APFA (forerunner to NFL) game; beat Minneapolis Marines, 7-6 at Hagemeister Park, Green Bay, Wis.
1945 — Jackie Robinson signs a contract with the Montreal Royals, minor league farm team of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
1949 — Don Doll of the Detroit Lions intercepts four passes in a 24-7 victory over the Chicago Cardinals.
1960 — Jim Martin of Detroit becomes the first kicker to kick two field goals over 50 yards in a game as the Lions beat the Baltimore Colts 30-17.
1964 — Joe Frazier dominates German Hans Huber for an easy points win to capture the boxing heavyweight gold medal in Tokyo.
1971 — Greg Pruitt rushes for 294 yards on 19 carries to lead the Oklahoma Sooners to an NCAA record 711 yards rushing and a 75-28 pounding of Kansas State.
1976 — Pittsburgh’s Tony Dorsett rushes for 180 yards in a 45-0 rout over Navy to become the top career rusher in NCAA history with 5,206 yards.
1988 — Dan Marino passes for 521 yards, three touchdowns and five interceptions as the Miami Dolphins lose to the New York Jets 44-30. Marino completes 35 of 60 passes as he produces the second-best single-game total yardage in NFL history.
1993 — The Toronto Maple Leafs break the NHL record for most victories at the start of the season, winning their ninth straight game by beating the second-year Tampa Bay Lightning 2-0.
1999 — Florida State’s Bobby Bowden gets his 300th win with a 17-14 win over his son, Clemson coach Tommy Bowden. With the victory Bowden joins Bear Bryant, Pop Warner, Joe Paterno and Amos Alonzo Stagg as the only major college coaches to reach 300 victories.
2000 — The New York Jets, trailing 30-7 at the end of the third quarter, come back to beat the Miami Dolphins 40-37 in overtime on Monday night. The Jets score four touchdowns and a field goal in the fourth quarter to force overtime.
2005 — San Diego’s LaDainian Tomlinson is held to a career-low 7 yards rushing on 17 carries and fails to score in the Chargers’ 20-17 loss at Philadelphia, ending his NFL record-tying streak of games with a touchdown at 18.
2008 — Carolina’s Brandon Sutter gives one of hockey’s most famous families another milestone, scoring his first NHL goal in a 4-1 loss at Pittsburgh. The 19-year-old Sutter, son of New Jersey Devils coach Brent Sutter, is the ninth member of the Sutter family to play in the NHL.
2011 — Tim Tebow rallies the Broncos for two touchdowns in the final 2:44 of the fourth quarter to force overtime, and Matt Prater’s 52-yard field goal gives Denver an improbable 18-15 victory over the stunned Miami Dolphins. The Broncos appeared beaten when they trailed 15-0 with 5:23 left and took over at their 20.
2016 — Jay Ajayi ties an NFL record by surpassing 200 yards rushing for the second game in a row, helping the Miami Dolphins rally past the Buffalo Bills 28-25. Ajayi rushes for 214 yards in 29 carries after totaling 204 yards a week earlier in a win over Pittsburgh.
2019 — All Star point guard Kyrie Irving pours in 50 points, setting a new NBA record for points on debut with a new team as his Brooklyn Nets go down 127-126 at home to the Minnesota Timberwolves.