October 3
1942 – Whirlaway becomes the first horse to earn more than $500,000 in lifetime earnings when he wins the Jockey Club Gold Cup.
1951 — Bobby Thomson hits a single to Ralph Branca of the Brooklyn Dodgers with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning The three-run homer helped the New York Giants to a dramatic 5-4 victory in the playoffs and the National League pennant.
1971 — Billie Jean King becomes the first female tennis player to win $100,000 in one year when she wins the Virginia Slims-Thunderbird Championship in Phoenix.
1973 – The World Football League is announced.
1974 – Frank Robinson signs a $175,000-per-year player-coach contract with the Cleveland Indians, making him the first black manager in major league history.
1974 – Future Basketball Hall of Fame guard Jerry West (“Mr. Clutch”) retires after 14 NBA seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers; West totaled 25,192 career points; played in 153 playoff games Averaged 29.1 points per game.
1976 – Future Baseball Hall of Fame right fielder Hank Aaron hits a single and drives in his 2,297th run in his final MLB at-bat, Milwaukee Brewers Lost to the Milwaukee Brewers 5-2. Detroit Tigers.
1981 – Southern California’s Marcus Allen rushes for 223 yards against Oregon State, his fourth straight game with over 200 yards.
1981 – After a year’s hiatus, American boxer Mike Weaver defends his WBA weight title by defeating compatriot James ‘Quick’ Tillis in 15 rounds in Chicago Level boxing title.
1990 — George Brett of the Kansas City Royals becomes the first player in MLB history to win batting titles in three different decades.
1993 — The Toronto Blue Jays become the first team in American League history to have teammates go 1-2-3 in hitting games. John Olerud leads the league with a .363 batting average, Paul Molitor is at .332 and Roberto Alomar is at .326.
1995 – Former NFL running back, broadcaster and actor OJ Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman in Los Angeles, California.
1997 – Hall of Famer Gordie Howe, 69, skates with the Detroit Vipers in the International Hockey League’s opener, becoming the sport’s only professional player to compete in six years.
1998 – Ricky Williams rushes for 350 yards and five touchdowns to set NCAA records with 65 rushing touchdowns and career points by a non-kicker (394 points) for Texas Iowa State University defeated Iowa State University 54-33.
1999 – St. Louis first baseman Mark McGwire hits his 65th home run of the season in a rainy 9-5 win over the Cubs at Busch Stadium ; Defeat Sammy Sosa (Sammy Sosa), who won his 63rd HR title in the same game.
2001 – San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds draws his 171st walk in an 11-8 victory over Houston; breaking the MLB single-season mark set by Babe Ruth in 1923 Base record.
2004 — Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki sets a Major League Baseball (MLB) record with 262 hits in a single season.
2004 — The New England Patriots beat the Buffalo Bills 31-17 at Ralph Wilson Stadium to win their 18th consecutive NFL game; Tom Brady went 17-of-30 for 298 yards and two touchdowns.
2009 – Aqib Talib had three interceptions as Tampa Bay lost to Washington 16-13.
2010 – Angel McCoughtry scored 18 points and the United States defeated the Czech Republic 89-69 to win the gold medal at the Women’s Basketball World Championships.
2010 — Josh Scobee kicks a 59-yard field goal — the eighth-longest in NFL history and the longest in franchise history — as time expires and Jackson Vail defeated Indianapolis 31-28.
2012 – Portuguese star forward Cristiano Ronaldo scores his first Champions League hat-trick in Real Madrid’s 4-1 win over Ajax in Amsterdam.
2015 — Leonard Fournette has his third consecutive 200-yard game with a 75-yard touchdown run to help No. 9 LSU beat Eastern Michigan 44-22. Fournette became the first player in Southeastern Conference history to rush for more than 200 yards in three consecutive games with 233 yards and three touchdowns.
2015 — Max Scherzer pitches his second no-hitter of the season for Washington, striking out a franchise-record 17 and leading the Nationals to a 2-0 victory over the NL East champion New York Mets (New York Mets), achieving a double sweep.
2021 — Tom Brady becomes the NFL’s all-time leader in career passing yards, surpassing Drew Brees’ all-time record of 80,358.
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