This Day in Sports

1863 Recognized as the birth of soccer. In a press conference held at Freeman's Tavern in London, the formation of the Football Association (F.A.) was announced. 1911 Danny Murphy of Philadelphia had four hits as the Athletics beat the New York Giants 13-2 to win the World Series in six games. The A's put the game out of reach with a seven-run, seventh inning. 1934 Senators owner Clark Griffith dealt his son-in-law and manager, future Hall of Fame shortstop Joe Cronin, to the Red Sox for $225,000 and Lyn Lary. 1949 Bill Shoemaker rode to his first stakes victory, the George Marshall Claiming Handicap at Bay Meadows, aboard a five-year old horse named AL. 1951 Joe Louis was defeated by Rocky Marciano in a heavyweight bout at Madison Square Garden, New York City. 1960 The American League approved the move of the Washington Senators to Minnesota and announced the first baseball expansion of the 20th century with 1961 franchises for Washington and Los Angeles. 1968 In an amazing display of firepower, Texas-El Paso QB Brooks Dawson threw for 304 yards in the final 10:21 of the fourth quarter to lead the Miners past Brigham Young, 31-25. 1980 Alberto Salazar, a native of Cuba, won the New York marathon. A record 14,012 runners started the race in the 11th running of the New York City event. Bill Rodgers, who had won the previous four New York City marathons, finished a distant fifth. - Baltimore Colts quarterback Bert Jones set an NFL record by getting sacked 12 times in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals. - Houston running back Earl Campbell rambled for 202 yards and two scores in a 23-3 blowout of the Cincinnati Bengals. 1989 Paul Tagliabue was elected NFL commissioner. 1990 Jockey Julie Krone rode her 2,000th career winner, aboard John Forbes-trained Rainbow Quartz, at the Meadowlands. - Wayne Gretzky became the first player in history to register 2,000 points with his assist to Tomas Sandstrom in the first period of the Los Angeles Kings game against the Winnipeg Jets. 1993 NFL unanimously voted to award an NFL franchise to a group from Charlotte, headed by ex-player Jerry Richardson. 1996 Cigar, bidding to become the first horse to win the coveted Breeder's Cup twice in a row, finished a disappointing third to Alphabet Soup. It would be Cigar's final race. - The New York Yankees won their record 23rd World Championship and their first since 1978 with a 3-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves. John Wetteland, the Yankee closer, was named series MVP. 1997 Edgar Renteria's line single up the middle drove in Craig Counsell with the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning, giving the Florida Marlins a 3-2 win over the Cleveland Indians in the seventh game of the World Series. The Marlins, who entered the league in 1993, became the fastest expansion team to win the World Series. Rookie Livan Hernandez, who won games one and five, was named the World Series MVP. - Atlanta Falcons owner and CEO Rankin Smith, responsible for bringing football to Atlanta in the 1965, died of heart failure at the age of 72. - The Tampa Bay Lightning fired their first and only head coach Terry Crisp after the club got off to a 2-7-2 start. Crisp had a 142-204-45 mark in five years at the helm. - Jaime Moreno and Tony Sanneh each scored to help Washington D.C. United repeat as MLS Champions with a 2-1 victory over the Colorado Rapids before a crowd of 57,431 at RFK Stadium. - Denver Broncos running back Terrell Davis rushed for 207 yards en route to a 23-20 over the Buffalo Bills in overtime. The Broncos, due to snow conditions, had to fly cross country and did not land in Buffalo well past midnight for a 1:00 p.m. (et) kickoff. The Broncos had problems with their flight due to a major snow storm in Colorado. - New York's Wayne Gretzky set up a pair of goals giving him 1,851 assists for his career. That edged him past Hall of Famer Gordie Howe, who had 1,850 total points for his career. Gretzky, in addition to his 1,851 assists, also had 866 goals or 2,717 points so far in his career. 1998 The New York Mets announced All-Star catcher Mike Piazza agreed to a seven-year, $91 million contract, the richest deal in baseball history.