April 29
1901 — His Eminence, ridden by Jimmy Winkfield, wins the Kentucky Derby by 1 1/2 lengths over Sannazarro in the only Derby ever raced in April.
1961 — ABC’s “Wide World of Sports,” debuts.
1970 — Los Angeles Lakers guard Jerry West hits a 60-foot desperation shot at the buzzer to tie Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the New York Knicks. The Knicks outscore the Lakers 9-6 in the overtime for a 111-108 win.
1985 — Tony Tubbs captures the WBA heavyweight title with a unanimous 15-round decision over Greg Page in Buffalo, N.Y.
1986 — Roger Clemens set a major league record by striking out 20 batters as the Boston Red Sox defeated the Seattle Mariners 3-1.
1988 — The Baltimore Orioles end their 21-game losing streak by winning their first game of the season, 9-0 over the Chicago White Sox.
1990 — Pat Riley becomes the winningest coach in NBA playoff history as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Houston Rockets 104-100. Riley’s 100th victory put him ahead of Red Auerbach.
1998 — For the first time in the 124-year history of the Kentucky Derby, a redraw is ordered during the post-position draw. Churchill Downs officials allowed ESPN to control the announcing of the draw. Commentator Chris Lincoln called the No. 15 pill twice while picking the draft order for post positions.
2000 — Lennox Lewis knocks down Michael Grant three times in the first round and knocks him out at 2:53 of the second at Madison Square Garden in New York to retain his WBC and IBF heavyweight titles. The combined weight of 497 pounds made it the heaviest title fight ever.
2003 — Indiana outscores Boston 5-0 in overtime for a 93-88 victory, cutting the Celtics’ first-round series lead to 3-2. It’s the first overtime shutout in NBA playoff history.
2007 — Phoenix guard Steve Nash has 23 assists, one shy of the NBA playoff record, to help Phoenix to a 113-100 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
2010 — The NCAA’s Board of Directors approve a 68-team format for the men’s basketball tournament beginning next season. It’s the first expansion since 2001 when the tourney went from 64 to 65 teams.
2013 — NBA veteran center Jason Collins becomes the first male professional athlete in the major four American sports leagues to come out as gay. Collins writes a first-person account posted on Sports Illustrated’s website. The 34-year-old free agent played for six NBA teams in 12 seasons.
2014 — Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling is banned for life by the NBA in response to racist comments he made in an audio recording. The Clippers’ owner is also fined $2.5 million, the maximum amount allowed under the NBA Constitution.
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April 30
1922 — Charlie Robertson of the Chicago White Sox pitches a 2-0 perfect game against the Detroit Tigers.
1961 — Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants hits four home runs in a 14-4 victory over the Braves in Milwaukee.
1971 — The Milwaukee Bucks become the second team to register a four-game sweep in the NBA championship, beating the Baltimore Bullets 118-106.
1975 — Larry O’Brien is named the NBA’s third commissioner, following J. Walter Kennedy (1963-75) and Maurice Podoloff (1946-63). O’Brien holds the position until 1984.
1976 — Muhammad Ali wins a unanimous 15-round decision over Jimmy Young in Landover, Md., to retain his world heavyweight title.
1992 — The Red Wings and Canucks become the ninth and 10th teams in NHL history to rebound from 3-1 deficits to win playoff series. Detroit beats the Minnesota North Stars 5-2 in the Norris Division, while Vancouver defeats the Winnipeg Jets 5-0 in the Smythe Division.
1993 — Top-ranked Monica Seles is stabbed during a changeover in Hamburg, Germany. Guenter Parche, 38, reaches over a courtside railing and knifes Seles in the back. She has an inch-deep slit between her shoulder blades and missed the remainder of the 1993 season.
2005 — James Toney outpoints John Ruiz to win the WBA heavyweight title in New York. Toney, a former champion at three other weights, wins his third heavyweight bout, becoming the third one-time middleweight champion to take boxing’s top crown.
2010 — Tiger Woods matches the worst nine-hole score of his PGA Tour career and winds up with a 7-over 79 to miss the cut at the Quail Hollow Championship. Woods finishes at 9-over 153, the highest 36-hole total of his career. It’s the sixth time in his 14-year career he misses a cut.
2014 — Anze Kopitar scores the tiebreaking goal late in the second period and Jonathan Quick makes 39 saves to cap the Los Angeles Kings’ comeback from three games down with a 5-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks in Game 7 of the first rounds. This is the fourth time an NHL team won a best-of-seven series after losing the first three games.
2015 — For the first time in 51 years, the NFL draft returns to Chicago. Florida State’s Jameis Winston is selected by Tampa Bay as the first selection.
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April 30
1922 — Charlie Robertson of the Chicago White Sox pitches a 2-0 perfect game against the Detroit Tigers.
1961 — Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants hits four home runs in a 14-4 victory over the Braves in Milwaukee.
1971 — The Milwaukee Bucks become the second team to register a four-game sweep in the NBA championship, beating the Baltimore Bullets 118-106.
1975 — Larry O’Brien is named the NBA’s third commissioner, following J. Walter Kennedy (1963-75) and Maurice Podoloff (1946-63). O’Brien holds the position until 1984.
1976 — Muhammad Ali wins a unanimous 15-round decision over Jimmy Young in Landover, Md., to retain his world heavyweight title.
1992 — The Red Wings and Canucks become the ninth and 10th teams in NHL history to rebound from 3-1 deficits to win playoff series. Detroit beats the Minnesota North Stars 5-2 in the Norris Division, while Vancouver defeats the Winnipeg Jets 5-0 in the Smythe Division.
1993 — Top-ranked Monica Seles is stabbed during a changeover in Hamburg, Germany. Guenter Parche, 38, reaches over a courtside railing and knifes Seles in the back. She has an inch-deep slit between her shoulder blades and missed the remainder of the 1993 season.
2005 — James Toney outpoints John Ruiz to win the WBA heavyweight title in New York. Toney, a former champion at three other weights, wins his third heavyweight bout, becoming the third one-time middleweight champion to take boxing’s top crown.
2010 — Tiger Woods matches the worst nine-hole score of his PGA Tour career and winds up with a 7-over 79 to miss the cut at the Quail Hollow Championship. Woods finishes at 9-over 153, the highest 36-hole total of his career. It’s the sixth time in his 14-year career he misses a cut.
2014 — Anze Kopitar scores the tiebreaking goal late in the second period and Jonathan Quick makes 39 saves to cap the Los Angeles Kings’ comeback from three games down with a 5-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks in Game 7 of the first rounds. This is the fourth time an NHL team won a best-of-seven series after losing the first three games.
2015 — For the first time in 51 years, the NFL draft returns to Chicago. Florida State’s Jameis Winston is selected by Tampa Bay as the first selection.
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May 1
1920 — Joe Oeschger of the Boston Braves and Leon Cadore of the Brooklyn Dodgers both pitch 26 innings in a 1-1 tie, the longest game in major league history.
1943 — Count Fleet, ridden by Johnny Longden, wins the Kentucky Derby by three lengths over Blue Swords.
1948 — Citation, ridden by Eddie Arcaro, wins the Kentucky Derby by 3½ lengths over Coaltown. It’s Citation’s toughest race in winning the Triple Crown.
1965 — The Montreal Canadiens beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-0 in Game 7 to capture the Stanley Cup.
1982 — Gato del Sol, ridden by Ed Delahoussaye, comes from last place in a field of 19 to win the Kentucky Derby. Gato del Sol, finishes 2 1/2 lengths ahead of Laser Light, who beat Reinvested by a neck for second. He finishes in 2:02 2/5 and returns $44.40 for a $2 bet. Air Forbes Won, the 5-2 favorite of the crow of 141,009, finishes seventh.
1991 — Nolan Ryan pitches his seventh no-hitter in a 3-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. Ryan faces 29 batters, striking out 16 and walking two.
1991 — Rickey Henderson of the Oakland Athletics sets a major league record by stealing his 939th base, eclipsing Lou Brock’s career mark.
1992 — The Pittsburgh Penguins become the 11th NHL team to rebound from a 3-1 deficit and win a playoff series after beating the Washington Capitals 3-1.
1992 — Rickey Henderson, baseball’s career stolen base leader, steals his 1,000th base in the first inning of Oakland’s 7-6 win over Detroit.
1993 — Bruce Baumgartner wins his 11th straight national wrestling title by beating Joel Greenlee 6-0 in the 286-pound freestyle division at the U.S. championships in Las Vegas.
2003 — The three-time defending champion Lakers beat Minnesota 101-85 to win the series 4-2. It’s the 13th straight playoff series won under Phil Jackson, and Jackson-coached teams have an NBA-record 25 consecutive series wins.
2004 — Smarty Jones splashes his way past Lion Heart in the stretch to win the Kentucky Derby. Smarty Jones runs his record to 7 for 7 and becomes the first unbeaten Derby winner since Seattle Slew in 1977.
2006 — Detroit, winner of the President’s Trophy by leading the league in points (124) this season, is eliminated in the first round for the third time in five postseasons after a 4-3 loss to Edmonton in Game 6.
2008 — Johan Franzen records his second hat trick in three games with three more goals and helps Detroit complete a four-game sweep of Colorado with an e is 8-2 win. He is the first player with two hat tricks in one playoff series since Jari Kurri did it for Edmonton in 1985.
2010 — Jockey Calvin Borel steers Super Saver through the mud to win his third Kentucky Derby in four years, beating Lookin At Lucky by 2 1/2 lengths. The win ends trainer Todd Pletcher’s Derby drought. Pletcher, who had four horses in the race, came into the race 0 for 24 since 2000.
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May 2
1904 — Laska Durnell becomes the first woman to own a Kentucky Derby starter and winner when longshot Elwood wins the 30th Run for the Roses. Elwood is also the first Derby winner whose breeder is a woman, Mrs. J.B. Prather.
1917 — Fred Toney of the Cincinnati Reds and James “Hippo” Vaughn of the Chicago Cubs pitch a double no-hitter for nine innings, but the Reds win 1-0 with two hits in the 10th.
1939 — Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees does not play against the Detroit Tigers at Briggs Stadium, ending his streak of 2,130 consecutive games played.
1953 — Dark Star, a 25-1 longshot, wins the Kentucky Derby, beating 7-10 favorite Native Dancer by a head. It’s Native Dancer’s first defeat after 11 straight wins and the only defeat in 22 career starts.
1964 — Northern Dancer, ridden by Bill Hartack, wins the Kentucky Derby by a neck over Hill Rise in a race record 2:00.
1967 — The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 to win the Stanley Cup in six games.
1970 — Diane Crump becomes the first female jockey to ride in the Kentucky Derby. Her mount, Fathom, finishes 15th in a field of 17. Dust Commander, with Mike Manganello aboard, wins the race.
2001 — James Hylton, a construction worker from Keizer, Ore., bowls the fifth perfect 900 series in the 106-year history of the sport.
2002 — Mike Cameron hits four homers and comes close to a record-setting fifth in leading the Seattle Mariners to a 15-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox. Cameron and Bret Boone become the first teammates to hit two home runs in the same inning.
2002 — Patrick Lalime becomes the 14th goalie in NHL history to record four shutouts in one postseason with his 27-save performance in Ottawa’s 5-0 defeat of Toronto.
2009 — Mine That Bird, a 50-1 shot ridden by Calvin Borel, wins the Kentucky Derby with a dynamic stretch run through the mud. Borel finds room along the rail and pulls away in one of the biggest upsets in the 135-year history of the race.
2010 — Ryo Ishikawa shoots a 12-under 58 — the lowest score on a major tour — to win The Crowns in Togo, Japan. The 18-year-old Ishikawa has 12 birdies in his bogey-free round on the 6,545-yard Nagoya Golf Club course.
2010 — Cleveland’s LeBron James becomes the 10th player in NBA history to win consecutive MVP awards.
2015 — American Pharoah rallies in the stretch to beat Firing Line by a length for trainer Bob Baffert’s first Kentucky Derby victory since 2002. Sent off as the 5-2 favorite by the record crowd of 170,513, American Pharoah is ridden by Victor Espinoza.
2015 — Floyd Mayweather Jr. uses his reach and his jab to frustrate Manny Pacquiao for a unanimous decision in their welterweight title bout. Mayweather remains unbeaten in 48 fights, cementing his legacy as the best of his generation.
2017 — Isaiah Thomas scores 53 points — the second-highest total in Celtics playoff history — to help Boston beat the Washington Wizards 129-119 in overtime and take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals.