1951 in sports

yearbox
in?=in sports
cp=19th century
c=20th century
cf=21st century

yp1=1948
yp2=1949
yp3=1950
year=1951
ya1=1952
ya2=1953
ya3=1954
dp3=1920s
dp2=1930s
dp1=1940s
d=1950s
da=0
dn1=1960s
dn2=1970s
dn3=1980s|

Athletics

Marathon

International Races

* March 6 — flagicon|ARG Pan American Games Marathon, Buenos Aires, Argentina
**Men's Winner: Delfo Cabrera (ARG) 2:35:01

* March 11 — flagicon|IND Asian Games Marathon, New Delhi, India
**Men's Winner: Chota Singh (IND) 2:42:59

* September 1 — flagicon|NED Enschede Marathon, Netherlands
**Men's Winner: Veikko Karvonen (FIN) 2:29:02

* December 9 — flagicon|JPN Fukuoka Marathon, Japan
**Men's Winner: Hiromi Haigo (JPN) 2:30:13

National Champions

* March 5 — flagicon|AUS Australia
** Men's Winner: Gordon Stanley — 2:59:44

* May 4 — flagicon|CAN Canada
** Men's Winner: Walter Fedorick — 2:58:42

* May 27 — flagicon|USA United States
** Men's Winner: Jesse Van Zant — 2:37:12

* July 1 — flagicon|FIN Finland
** Men's Winner: Veikko Karvonen — 2:28:46

* July 21 — flagicon|ENG England
** Men's Winner: James Peters — 2:31:42

* July 28 — flagicon|GER Germany
** Men's Winner: Wilfried Hogrefe — 2:46:06

* August 5 — flagicon|NED Netherlands
** Men's Winner: Joop Overdijk — 2:43:42

* September 6 — flagicon|HUN Hungary
** Men's Winner: István Simon — 2:48:47

* October 14 — flagicon|JPN Japan
** Men's Winner: Kiyoshi Shinozaki — 2:31:26

=Auto Racing=

*NASCAR Championship - Herb Thomas
*AAA Racing:
**Tony Bettenhausen won the series championship
**Lee Wallard won the Indianapolis 500
*Formula One Championship - Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina
*24 hours of Le Mans:
**Louis Rosier / Jean-Louis Rosier won driving a Talbot-Lago
*Rally racing:
**Marcel Becquart / H. Secret won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Hotchkiss
*Drag racing - NHRA founded by Wally Parks

Baseball

* January 26: Mel Ott and Jimmie Foxx are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
* January 29: Baseball signs a six-year All-Star game pact for TV-radio rights for $6 million. A number of owners criticize lame-duck Commissioner Happy Chandler, believing that in a couple of years, the broadcast rights would be worth much more than $1 million per annum.
* April 17: Mickey Mantle makes his Major League debut.
* May 7: Johnny Vander Meer pitches in his final Major League game.
* May 25: The New York Giants rookie Willie Mays, goes 0-for-5 in his major league debut against the Philadelphia Phillies.
* July 10: Alfonso "Chico" Carrasquel became the first Latin American player to participate in an All-Star game, beating out reigning MVP Phil Rizzuto as the American League's starting shortstop. Carrasquel would go on to be selected to the All-Star team a total of four times.
* July 14 - St. Louis Browns sign Satchel Paige as a free agent.
* August 11: The New York Giants fall 13 games behind in the National League standings. Following this nadir, the Giants go 37-8 over their last 45 games in one of baseball's most famous comebacks. This enables them to tie their crosstown rivals Brooklyn Dodgers for first place and forces a playoff series.
* August 19: 3' 7" Eddie Gaedel becomes the only midget to play in a major league game, pinch-hitting and drawing a walk in his lone plate appearance.
* August 29 - The New York Yankees trade Lew Burdette and $50,000 cash to the Boston Braves for Johnny Sain.
* September 7 - Bobby Doerr plays in his final career game.
* September 30 - Joe DiMaggio plays in his final career regular season game.
* October 4: National League Playoff: The New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers finished the season tied for first place. The Giants then won a playoff series, 2 games to 1. In the final game, when all seemed lost for the Giants, Bobby Thomson hit a dramatic three run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Giants a 5 to 4 victory and the National League pennant.
*World Series: New York Yankees win 4 games to 2 over the New York Giants.
* MVP Awards: Roy Campanella (NL) and Yogi Berra (AL)
* Rookie of the Year Awards: Willie Mays (NL) and Gil McDougald (AL)
* Babe Ruth Award: Phil Rizzuto
* Sporting News Major League Player of the Year: Stan Musial
* Sporting News Pitcher of the Year: Preacher Roe (NL) and Bob Feller (AL)

Basketball

*NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
**Kentucky wins 68-58 over Kansas State University.

* NBA Finals:
**Rochester Royals won 4 games to 3 over the New York Knicks
*Amateur Basketball Association:
**Basketball Jones single handedly beats the Harlem Globetrotters

* The seventh European basketball championship, Eurobasket 1951, is won by the Soviet Union.

Boxing

* February 25 to March 8 – Pan American Games held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
**"Flyweight (– 51 kg):" Alberto Barenghi (Argentina)
**"Bantamweight (– 54 kg):" Ricardo Gonzales (Argentina)
**"Featherweight (– 57 kg):" Francisco Nuñez (Argentina)
**"Lightweight (– 60 kg):" Oscar Galardo (Argentina)
**"Welterweight (– 67 kg):" Oscar Pietta (Argentina)
**"Middleweight (– 75 kg):" Ubaldo Pereira (Argentina)
**"Light Heavyweight (– 81 kg):" Rinaldo Ansaloni (Argentina)
**"Heavyweight (+ 81 kg):" Jorge Vertone (Argentina)
* July 10 – Randy Turpin becomes the middleweight boxing champion after defeating Sugar Ray Robinson.
*July 18 – Jersey Joe Walcott knocks out Ezzard Charles in round 7 during their bout in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Cycling

*Giro d'Italia won by Fiorenzo Magni of Italy
*Tour de France - Hugo Koblet of Switzerland

Figure skating

*World Figure Skating Championships:
**Men's champion: Dick Button, United States
**Ladies' champion: Jeanette Altwegg, Great Britain
**Pair skating champions: Ria Baran & Paul Falk, Germany

=Football (American)=

*January 14 - The National Football League has its first Pro Bowl Game (Los Angeles, California).
*September 28 - Norm Van Brocklin sets NFL single game record for most passing yards (554) helping Los Angeles Rams beat New York Yanks 48-21.
*NFL Championship: Los Angeles Rams won 24-17 over the Cleveland Browns

Football (Australian rules football)

* Victorian Football League
** Geelong wins the 55th VFL Premiership (Geelong 11.15 (81) d Essendon 10.10 (70))
** Brownlow Medal awarded to Bernie Smith (Geelong)

=Football (Canadian)=

* Grey Cup: Ottawa Rough Riders won 21-14 over the Saskatchewan Roughriders

Football (soccer)

England

* First Division - Tottenham Hotspur win the 1950-51 title.
*FA Cup - Newcastle United beat Blackpool 2-0.

Golf

Men's professional
*April 5-8 - Masters Tournament - Ben Hogan
*June 14-16 - U.S. Open - Ben Hogan
*July 3 - PGA Championship - Sam Snead
*July 3-6 - British Open - Max Faulkner
*PGA Tour money leader - Lloyd Mangrum - $26,089
*Ryder Cup - United States team wins 9 1/2 to 2 1/2 over the British team.Men's amateur
*British Amateur - Dick Chapman
*U.S. Amateur - Billy MaxwellWomen's professional
*Women's Western Open - Patty Berg
*U.S. Women's Open - Betsy Rawls
*Titleholders Championship - Pat O'Sullivan
*LPGA Tour money leader - Babe Zaharias - $15,087

=Thoroughbred Horse Racing=

*July 14 - Citation won his 32nd race, the Hollywood Gold Cup, becoming the first equine millionaire.
*Australia - Melbourne Cup - Delat
*Canada - Queen's Plate - Major Factor
*France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Tantieme
*Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Fraise du Bois
*English Triple Crown Races:
*#2,000 Guineas Stakes - Ki Ming
*#Epsom Derby - Arctic Prince
*#St. Leger Stakes - Talma
*United States Triple Crown Races:
*#May 5 - Kentucky Derby - Count Turf
*#Preakness Stakes - Bold
*#Belmont Stakes - Counterpoint

=Harness Racing=

*Tar Heel, a standardbred horse driven by Del Cameron, produced the first two-minute mile in harness racing history.
*Little Brown Jug for pacers won by Tar Heel
*Hambletonian for trotters won by Mainliner
*Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
**Pacers: Vedette
**Trotters: Gay Belwin

Ice Hockey

*Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
*Hart Memorial Trophy: for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Milt Schmidt, Boston Bruins
*Stanley Cup: Toronto Maple Leafs win 4 games to 1 over the Montreal Canadiens
*World Hockey Championship
** Men's champion: Canada's Lethbridge Maple Leafs
*NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship - University of Michigan Wolverines defeat Brown University Bruins 7-1 in Colorado Springs, CO

Lacrosse

*The 50th anniversaries of the donations of both the Mann Cup and the Minto Cup.
*The ­Peterborough Timbermen win the 50th Mann Cup.
*The Mimico Mountaineers win the 50th Minto Cup.

Snooker

*World Snooker Championship: Fred Davis beats Walter Donaldson 58-39.

Tennis

*Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
*#Australian Open - Dick Savitt
*#French Open - Jaroslav Drobny
*#Wimbledon championships - Dick Savitt
*#US Open - Frank Sedgman

*Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
*#Australian Open - Nancy Wynne Bolton
*#French Open - Shirley Fry
*#Wimbledon championships - Doris Hart
*#US Open - Maureen Connolly

*Davis Cup: Australia wins 3-2 over the United States in world tennis.

Multi-sport events

* First Pan American Games held in Buenos Aires, Argentina

*Asian Games held in New Delhi, India

* First Mediterranean Games held in Alexandria, Egypt

Awards

*Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year: Dick Kazmaier, College football
*Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year: Maureen Connolly, Tennis

Births

January

* January 2 — Lula Ferreira, Brazilian basketball coach
* January 2 — Bill Madlock, U.S. baseball player
* January 4 — Steve Genter, American freestyle swimmer
* January 20 — Clyde Sefton, Australian road cyclist
* January 22 — Ondrej Nepela, Slovak figure skater (d. 1989)
* January 25 — Steve Prefontaine, U.S. distance runner
* January 26 — Jarmila Kratochvílová, Czech athlete
* January 26 — Mieczysław Nowicki, Polish road bicycle racer
* January 27 — Charles Mooney, US boxer

February

* February 3 — Felipe Muñoz, Mexican breaststroke swimmer
* February 6 — Tineke Bartels, Dutch equestrian
* February 14 — Haruki Uemura, Japanese judoka
* February 14 — Graham White, Australian freestyle swimmer
* February 22 — Elaine Tanner, Canadian swimmer
* February 23 — Corky de Graauw, Dutch ice hockey player
* February 25 — Don Quarrie, Jamaican athlete

March

* March 4 — Kenny Dalglish, Scottish football (soccer) player and manager
* March 7 — Nenad Stekić, Serbian long jumper
* March 26 — Greg Brough, Australian freestyle swimmer
* March 30 — Klaus-Jürgen Grünke, East German track cyclist
* March 30 — Anton Tkáč, Slovak track cyclist

April

* April 6 — Bert Blyleven, U.S. baseball player
* April 29 — Dale Earnhardt, U.S. stock car racer (d. 2001)

May

* May 2 — Andrew Barron, Canadian ice speed skater
* May 2 — Aleksandr Grebenyuk, Soviet decathlete
* May 3 — Larry van Wieren, Dutch-Canadian ice hockey player
* May 12 — Gunnar Larsson, Swedish medley swimmer
* May 14 — Anita Miller, American field hockey player

June

* June 1 — Anne Bailey, British bowler, winner of Bronze medal; 1972 AMF World Cup
* June 2 — Larry Robinson, U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman
* June 9 — Dave Parker, U.S. baseball player
* June 18 — Nobutaka Taguchi, Japanese swimmer
* June 23 — Minneula Azizov, Soviet field hockey player
* June 24 — Raelene Boyle, Australian athlete
* June 26 — Lieuwe de Boer, Dutch ice speed skater
* June 26 — Clarence Hill, Bermudian boxer

July

* July 4 — Beverly Boys, Canadian diver
* July 5 — Rich Gossage, U.S. baseball player
* July 5 — Penny Werthner, Canadian track and field athlete
* July 19 — Bob Schoutsen, Dutch backstroke swimmer
* July 26 — Eloi Schleder, Brazilian long-distance runner
* July 31 — Evonne Goolagong, Australian tennis player

August

* August 1 — Jürgen Fanghänel, East German boxer
* August 7 — Gary Hall, Sr., American swimmer
* August 9 — James Vrij, Dutch boxer
* August 13 — Gwen Cheeseman, US field hockey goalkeeper
* August 14 — Vern Hanaray, New Zealand road cyclist
* August 17 — Alan Minter, British boxer
* August 27 — Buddy Bell, U.S. baseball player
* August 30 — Daniel Clark, Australian track cyclist and road bicycle racer

eptember

* September 6 — Samiullah Khan, Pakistani field hockey player
* September 7 — Kebede Balcha, Ethiopian marathon runner
* September 12 — Eric Lindroth, American water polo player
* September 14 — Elizabeth Carruthers, Canadian diver
* September 16 — René and Willy van de Kerkhof, Dutch football (soccer) players and twins
* September 17 — Satymkul Dzhumanazarov, Kyrgyzstani long-distance runner (d. 2007)
* September 20 — Guy Lafleur, Canadian hockey player
* September 21 — Bruce Arena, American soccer coach
* September 28 — José Ibañez, Cuban judoka
* September 29 — Hennie Penterman, Dutch medley swimmer

October

* October 3 — Dave Winfield, US baseball player
* October 6 — Manfred Winkelhock, German auto racing driver
* October 12 — Arnulf Sunde, Norwegian ice speed skater
* October 15 — Roscoe Tanner, American tennis player
* October 17 — Annie Borckink, Dutch ice speed skater
* October 17 — Oloph Granath, Swedish ice speed skater

November

* November 3 — Dwight Evans, US baseball player
* November 13 — Beth Anders, US field hockey player
* November 17 — Jorge Hernández, Cuban boxer
* November 19 — Enrique Rodríguez, Spanish boxer
* November 25 — Johnny Rep, Dutch football (soccer) striker

December

* December 8 — Paul Brydon, New Zealand road and track cyclist
* December 31 — Andranik Eskandarian, Iranian-American soccer player of Armenian descent

Deaths

*February 25 — Smokey Joe Williams, American baseball player
*March 25 — Eddie Collins, American Major League Baseball player (106-1930)
*April 27 — Driekske van Bussel (82), Dutch archer (b. 1868)
*July 9 — Harry Heilmann, American Major League Baseball player (1914-1932)
*August 26 — Bill Barilko, Toronto Maple Leafs ice hockey player
*December 5 — Joe Jackson, American baseball player