Today in sports history, October 31

Oct. 31

Today in sports history

Today is Oct. 31. On this date in:

1900: American League president Ban Johnson wrote National League president Nicholas Young seeking major league parity and peace between the circuits, a pivotal step in the formation of the modern American League.

1942: Maurice “Rocket” Richard made his NHL debut for the Montreal Canadiens, recording an assist 36 seconds into a 3-2 victory over the Boston Bruins.

1943: Washington’s Sammy Baugh threw six touchdown passes in a 48-10 NFL victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers.

1948: Washington quarterback Sammy Baugh threw for an NFL-record 446 yards and four touchdowns in a 59-21 victory over the Boston Yanks, surpassing Sid Luckman’s league record by 13 yards.

1950: Washington Capitols forward Earl Lloyd became the first Black player to appear in an NBA game, breaking the league’s color barrier in a 78-70 loss to the Rochester Royals.

1973: New York Mets star Tom Seaver won the National League Cy Young Award, becoming the first pitcher to capture the honor without winning 20 games in the season.

1981: Edmonton Oilers star Wayne Gretzky scored four goals and added an assist in an 11-4 victory over the Quebec Nordiques, becoming the first NHL player with seven career hat tricks before his 21st birthday.

1987: New York Rangers forward Marcel Dionne scored his 700th NHL goal in an 8-2 loss to the New York Islanders, joining Gordie Howe and Phil Esposito as the only players to reach the milestone at the time.

1989: Wayne Gretzky recorded his 46th career NHL hat trick and three assists for a six-point game as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 8-4.

1994: Fourteen-year-old Venus Williams made her professional tennis debut at the Bank of the West Classic in Oakland, California, defeating Shaun Stafford in straight sets to begin a career that produced seven Grand Slam singles titles.

1997: Future Hall of Famers Tim Duncan and Tracy McGrady made their NBA debuts, with Duncan helping San Antonio defeat Denver and McGrady appearing for Toronto in a loss to Miami; Chauncey Billups also made his NBA debut for Boston that night.

2001: Tino Martinez hit a two-out, two-run homer in the ninth inning to pull the New York Yankees even with Arizona in World Series Game 4, setting up the extra-inning game that crossed midnight and ended on Derek Jeter’s “Mr. November” homer.

2009: New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez hit the first postseason home run awarded after an instant-replay review, a two-run shot in an 8-5 World Series Game 3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

2010: San Francisco Giants rookie Madison Bumgarner pitched eight scoreless innings in a 4-0 victory over the Texas Rangers in World Series Game 4, earning the first World Series win of his career and giving San Francisco a 3-1 series lead.

2013: Miami’s Cameron Wake recorded a walk-off safety sack of Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton in overtime, giving the Dolphins a 22-20 victory in one of the rarest finishes in NFL history.

2018: Minnesota Timberwolves guard Derrick Rose scored a career-high 50 points and blocked Utah’s final shot in a 128-125 victory over the Jazz, the highest-scoring performance of his NBA career.

2021: Alex Bowman won the NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Martinsville Speedway for his fourth victory of the season and first career playoff win, after late contact with leader Denny Hamlin.

2025: The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 in World Series Game 6, escaping a ninth-inning threat with a game-ending double play to force a winner-take-all Game 7.

— USA TODAY Network

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Today in sports history, October 31

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