Today’s highlights in sports history:
In 2015, Alex Rodriguez hit his 3,000th career home run as the New York Yankees defeated the Detroit Tigers, 7-2.
On this date:
1867 – Ruthless, ridden by J. Gilpatrick, wins the first Belmont Stakes at Jerome Park in the Bronx. The filly wins the first prize of $1,850.
1914 – Harry Vardon wins his sixth and final British Open, shooting 306 strokes at Prestwick Club, beating J. H. Taylor by three strokes.
1936 – German heavyweight boxer Max Schmeling knocks out the previously unbeaten Joe Louis in the 12th round. Schmeling’s victory sparks a propaganda war between the Nazi regime and the United States on the eve of World War II.
1938 — FIFA World Cup Final, Stade Olympique Colombes, Paris, France: Luigi Colausig and Silvio Piola score two goals apiece as Italy defeats Hungary, 4–1.
1954 – Ed Fargor beat Gene Littler by one stroke to win the U.S. Open, the first golf tournament to be nationally televised.
1955 – Jack Fleck wins the U.S. Open, defeating Ben Hogan by three strokes in a playoff.
1973 – Pete Rose (Cincinnati Reds) and Willie Davis (Los Angeles Dodgers) each recorded 2,000 career hits in the MLB. Rose singled in a 4-0 win over the San Francisco Giants, and Davis homered in a 3-0 win over the Atlanta Braves.
1977 – Hubert Green wins the U.S. Open by defeating Lou Graham by one stroke.
1986 – Len Bias, who had been selected second overall in the NBA draft by the Boston Celtics two days earlier, dies of a heart attack brought on by a cocaine overdose.
1992 – Evander Holyfield defeats Larry Holmes by unanimous decision to retain the heavyweight title, remaining undefeated.
1992 – Little By Little finishes second in the sixth race at Hollywood Park, helping trainer Charlie Whittingham become just the second trainer in history to earn more than $100 million in prize money, after D. Wayne Lukas.
1999 – Dallas wins its first Stanley Cup. Brett Hull scores a controversial goal at 14:51 of the third overtime in Game 6 to give the Dallas Stars a 2-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.
2000 — NBA Finals: The Los Angeles Lakers defeat the Indiana Pacers 116-111 in Game 6 to win the franchise’s first title in 12 years. MVP: Shaquille O’Neal.
2005 – Michael Campbell answered every challenge Tiger Woods threw at him at the U.S. Open, winning by two strokes. Two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen suffered the biggest collapse in major tournament history, losing a three-stroke lead with three holes to finish the final round with an 81 and tied for 11th at eight over par.
2006 – Cam Ward stops nearly every pass to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to their first Stanley Cup championship with a 3-1 Game 7 win over Edmonton.
2011 — Rory McIlroy runs away with the U.S. Open title, winning by eight strokes and breaking the tournament scoring record by four strokes. McIlroy shot a 2-under 69 at the Congressional in Bethesda, Maryland, to finish at 16-under 268 for the four-day tournament.
2016 – Dustin Johnson makes amends for his past mistakes in major tournaments by winning the U.S. Open by three strokes. Shane Lowry, Jim Furyk and Scott Piercy, who started the final round four strokes behind, finished in a tie for second place.
2016 — LeBron James and his relentless Cavaliers pull off an incredible comeback in the NBA Finals to bring the city of Cleveland its first title since 1964. James fulfilled a promise he made two years earlier to bring a championship to his hometown of Northeast Ohio, and he and the Cavaliers became the first team to come back from a 3-1 deficit in the Finals, defeating the defending champion Golden State Warriors 93-89.
