1923 in sports

yearbox
in?=in sports
cp=19th century
c=20th century
cf=21st century
yp1=1920
yp2=1921
yp3=1922
year=1923
ya1=1924
ya2=1925
ya3=1926
dp3=1890s
dp2=1900s
dp1=1910s
d=1920s
da=0
dn1=1930s
dn2=1940s
dn3=1950s|

Auto racing

*First 24 hours of Le Mans won by André Lagache and René Leonard

=Baseball (Major League)=

*World Series - New York Yankees defeat New York Giants, 4 games to 2. In the team's fourth season with Babe Ruth, this is the first championship for the New York Yankees.

=Baseball (Negro League)=

*The Eastern Colored League (ECL) plays its first season with six teams: Hilldale Daisies, Brooklyn Royal Giants, Cuban Stars (East), New York Lincoln Giants, Atlantic City Bacharach Giants, and Baltimore Black Sox. Hilldale wins the first pennant. Afterward the league votes for expansion to eight teams, accepting the Harrisburg Giants and the Washington Potomacs.

*The Negro National League completes its fourth season with the Kansas City Monarchs winning their first pennant after three years of domination by Rube Foster's Chicago American Giants. The other teams in the league are Indianapolis ABC's, Detroit Stars, St. Louis Stars, Cuban Stars (West), Toledo Tigers, and Milwaukee Bears. The Tigers and Bears disband during the season and three teams play under "associate" status for the remainder of the season: Cleveland Tate Stars, Birmingham Black Barons, and Memphis Red Sox.

*Oscar "Heavy" Johnson wins the NNL triple crown, leading in batting average, home runs, and RBI, while Wilbur "Bullet" Rogan leads in wins and strikeouts. Raleigh "Biz" Mackey is the batting leader in the ECL with Jesse "Nip" Winters leading in most pitching categories.

*There is no World Series between the two champions this year, owing to enmity between Rube Foster and the ECL president, Ed Bolden

Boxing

* September 14 - At New York's Polo Grounds, Jack Dempsey knocked out Luis Firpo in round 2 to retain his heavyweight title.

=Football (American)=

*Canton Bulldogs win National Football League title

Football (Australian rules football)

* Victorian Football League - Essendon wins the 27th VFL Premiership (Essendon 8.15 (63) d Fitzroy 6.10 (46))

Golf

*June 12-15 - British Open - Arthur Havers
*July 13-15 - U.S. Open - Bobby Jones
*September 29 - PGA Championship - Gene Sarazen
*British Amateur - Roger Wethered
*U.S. Amateur - Max R. Marston

=Hockey (Ice)=

* Ottawa Senators win their 5th Stanley Cup, defeating the Edmonton Eskimos 2 games to 0

Horse Racing

* May 19 - Zev wins the Kentucky Derby

Football (soccer)

England

*First Division - Liverpool win the 1922-23 title
*FA Cup - Bolton Wanderers beat West Ham United 2-0, in the very first final at Wembley Stadium, a match known as the "White Horse Final"
*The Third Division North expands from 20 to 22 clubs, bringing the total number of Football League clubs to 88

Romania

*Fotbal Club Rapid Bucureşti, a football club of Bucharest, Romania, is founded under the name "Cultural and Sporting Association CFR" (in Romanian: Asociaţia culturală şi sportivă C.F.R.) by a group of workers of the Griviţa workshops

Multi-sport events

* Sixth Far Eastern Championship Games held in Osaka, Empire of Japan

Births

* January 13 — Wim Slijkhuis, Dutch middle distance runner (d. 2003)
* January 23 — Horace Ashenfelter, American athlete
* January 23 — Bleddyn Williams, Welsh rugby player
* March 25 — Wim van Est, Dutch cyclist (d. 2003)
* June 18 — Gerrit Voorting, Dutch cyclist
* July 8 — Harrison Dillard, American athlete
* July 28 — Theo Bruce, Australian long jumper (d. 2002)
* October 13 — Faas Wilkes, Dutch football (soccer) striker (d. 2006)
* November 12 — Aleksy Antkiewicz, Polish boxer (d. 2005)

Deaths