This Day in Sports History: April 7
Sports in April are all about the return of MLB, the NBA and NHL playoffs, NCAA basketball title games, the NFL Draft, and the Masters. April 7 has seen extraordinary…
Sports in April are all about the return of MLB, the NBA and NHL playoffs, NCAA basketball title games, the NFL Draft, and the Masters. April 7 has seen extraordinary sports moments and legendary achievements, and these are some of them.
Unforgettable Games and Remarkable Records
Great moments in sport that occurred on April 7 include:
- 1896: Australian athlete Edwin Flack won gold in the inaugural 1500-meter final at the first modern Olympic Games in Athens.
- 1956: In the 10th NBA Championship, the Philadelphia Warriors defeated Fort Wayne 99-88, despite 30 points from Pistons forward George Yardley, to secure the series 4-1.
- 1969: Ted Williams debuted as the manager for the Washington Senators, and they lost to the Yanks 8-4.
- 1979: Houston Astros' Ken Forsch no-hit the Atlanta Braves 6-0. He joined his brother, Bob, becoming the only MLB siblings to achieve this feat.
- 1979: The New York Islanders Mike Bossy scored four goals on his first four shots in a 9-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.
- 1984: Detroit Tigers' Jack Morris no-hit the Chicago White Sox 4-0.
- 2019: The Houston Rockets set an NBA record by making 27 three-point field goals in a 149-113 victory over the Phoenix Suns.
College Basketball Championships
April 7 has seen several upsets:
- 2003: Syracuse defeated Kansas 81-78 to win its first national title. Carmelo Anthony was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
- 2008: Kansas beat Memphis 75-68. It was the first time since seeding began that all four of the top seeds advanced to the Final Four.
- 2014: Connecticut defeated Kentucky 60-54, marking only the second time a school has won the men's and women's Division I national titles in the same year.
The Masters Tournament
Some of the biggest names on the links have featured on April 7:
- 1940: Jimmy Demaret won the first of his three Masters titles.
- 1946: American Herman Keiser won his only major title. This was the first Masters Tournament in four years due to World War II.
- 1951: Ben Hogan won the first of his two Masters titles.
- 1957: Doug Ford won his only Masters Tournament.
- 1963: 23-year-old Jack Nicklaus won the first of his record six Green Jackets with a 3-foot par putt on the final hole, finishing one stroke ahead of Tony Lema.
Looking back on these April 7 statistics, the main themes are no-hitters and multiple Masters titles. There have been 326 no-hitters in MLB history, and it's likely that the Forsch brothers will remain the only siblings to achieve this feat.
Jack Morris is famous for his 18-year MLB career as a pitcher, a workhorse mentality, 254 wins, and a legendary 10-inning shutout in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series, which led to his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018. Jack Nicklaus is one of 18 golfers who have won multiple Masters Tournaments, holding the record with six titles. Tiger Woods ranks second with five, followed by Arnold Palmer with four.
