This Day in Sports History: October 25
Notable sports events in October include the MLB playoffs, NBA and NHL preseason games, college football, the Xfinity 500 NASCAR Cup Series, track meets, the UEFA Champions League, and Formula…
Notable sports events in October include the MLB playoffs, NBA and NHL preseason games, college football, the Xfinity 500 NASCAR Cup Series, track meets, the UEFA Champions League, and Formula One racing. In past years, Oct. 25 has been a day filled with brilliant sporting moments from gaming legends, some of the most outstanding of which are highlighted below.
Unforgettable Games and Remarkable Records
Oct. 25 featured the following memorable sporting events:
- 1884: The first MLB World Series was played. The Providence Grays beat the New York Mets 12-2 in six innings and got a three-game sweep.
- 1905: In the first college football Crab Bowl Classic, Navy beat Maryland 17-0.
- 1909: Anthony Wilding won his second Australian Open men's tennis title.
- 1926: Lester Patrick became the first coach and general manager of the New York Rangers.
- 1953: The Cleveland Browns' quarterback Otto Graham set a franchise record with four fumbles in a game.
- 1964: Jim Marshall of the Vikings did a wrong-way run. He ran 66 yards in the wrong direction and picked up a safety.
- 1964: Racing driver John Surtees clinched his first F1 World Drivers' Championship.
- 1968: The United States men's basketball team beat Yugoslavia 65-50 to win the gold medal at the Mexico City Olympic Games. It was their seventh time in a row.
- 1972: Eddy Merckx cycled 30 miles in 60 minutes, setting a world one-hour record.
- 1978: San Diego Padres pitcher Gaylord Perry won the National League Cy Young Award. He became the first pitcher in MLB history to win the award in both the American and National leagues.
- 1980: Mike Weaver knocked out Gerrie Coetzee in 13 rounds and won the WBA heavyweight boxing title.
- 1981: Alberto Salazar retained his crown in the New York City Marathon with a winning time of 2:08:13.
- 1987: The Minnesota Twins beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-3 to win the World Series. It was also the Twins' first win in Minneapolis.
- 1990: Evander Holyfield knocked out Buster Douglas in three rounds, winning the heavyweight boxing title.
- 1997: In the ninth annual College Football Holy War, Notre Dame beat Boston College 52-20.
- 2003: The Florida Marlins beat the New York Yankees 4-2 and won the World Series.
- 2005: The Chicago White Sox beat the Houston Astros 7-3 in Game 3 of the World Series. The game lasted five hours and 41 minutes, making it the longest World Series game at the time.
- 2024: The Los Angeles Dodgers' Freddie Freeman hit the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history.
The most outstanding athletes from Oct. 25 were Otto Graham, Evander Holyfield, and Freddie Freeman.
Graham was nicknamed Automatic Otto for his toughness and consistency. He won seven championships (four in the All-America Football Conference and three in the NFL) and holds the highest winning percentage among quarterbacks, at 81.3%. Holyfield is famous for being a dominant boxer who won world titles in both the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions. He earned the nickname "The Real Deal" and is one of the few boxers to have won the heavyweight title multiple times. Freeman is recognized for his hitting ability and for winning the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 2020.
