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Most Significant Sports History on November 1st
Learn about November 1st's most significant sports history including the NBA's first game, Jeter becomes "Mr. November", and more!
New York Knicks
The first day of November also witnessed the first professional basketball game in a league that became the NBA. As the clock struck midnight on the month of November, one Yankees legend became known as “Mr. November” after an iconic walk-off HR in the World Series. More World Series Wins, Jim Brown setting NFL records, and Sandy Koufax solidifying his status as an all-time great are some of the other significant events in sports history that have occurred on the first day of November.
#OnThisDay 🏀
— The Sports Wire (@_TheSportsWire) November 1, 2020
The first game in NBA history! 🏢
On November 1, 1946, New York Knickerbockers beat Toronto Huskies 68-66 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto in the first-ever game under Basketball Association of America (the predecessor of the NBA).#Basketball | #NBA pic.twitter.com/outNk378bm
YEAR: 1946
SIGNIFICANCE: The Basketball Association of America (later merged into the NBA) officially began play
When the BAA was originally founded, it was seen as a potential competitor to the established American Basketball League in the east and the National Basketball League in the midwest. Seeing their counterparts stuck in smaller arenas, the BAA owners had an idea to utilize the larger ice hockey arenas that lay dormant on many nights. Consummated on this date with the first game between the New York Knicks and Toronto Huskies, the NBA celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1996 by scheduling the Knicks and Raptors on the same date. After just three seasons, the ten BAA teams and six NBL teams would merge to become what we now know as the NBA.
YEAR: 2001
SIGNIFICANCE: Just after midnight, Derek Jeter hit the walk-off HR that earned him the nickname “Mr. November”
Right as the first of a nine-pitch at-bat was thrown, the Yankee Stadium clock struck midnight with two outs in the bottom half of the 10th inning. It was the first time in Major League Baseball history that baseball was being played in November (due to the 10-day delay after 9/11). Derek Jeter was facing Byung-Hyun Kim, who blew the save in the bottom of the 9th inning earlier in the game thanks to a Tino Martinez game-tying two-run shot. Kim was an out away from shutting down the Yankees 1-2-3, but the Captain had other plans. In the final pitch of an epic nine-pitch AB, Jeter drove a hanging slider just over the short porch in right field.
That home run not only won the game for New York, but it also evened the series out at two instead of facing a 3-1 series deficit. Right after the home run was hit, Yankees radio announcer Michael Kay dubbed Jeter as “Mr. November”, an homage to “Mr. October” Reggie Jackson. Later that night in Game 5, the Yankees came back from the dead once again vs Kim, with Scott Brosius hitting a game-tying two-run bomb in the 9th inning. Alfonso Soriano then walked it off with an RBI-single in the 12th inning. New York used up all of the Yankee mystique in those last two home games, as they headed towards Arizona where they would eventually lose the series in seven.
YEARS: 2010, 2015, & 2017
SIGNIFICANCE: The Giants, Royals, and Astros all ended their World Series dry spells
On this day in history, three teams ended their respective World Series droughts. First, the San Francisco Giants put an end to their title-less spell with a Game 5 win over the Texas Rangers. This win was the first Giants’ championship since 1958 and marked the start of a dynasty in the Bay that would claim three championships over five years. The veteran Edgar Renteria won WS MVP after posting a 1.209 series OPS with two home runs, including a three-run bomb that essentially won the series in Game 5. This World Series also saw the emergence of Madison Bumgarner, Buster Posey, and Sergio Romo, who would later be three of the main centerpieces for the next two championships.
Five years later, the Kansas City Royals won their second World Series championship in franchise history on the 30th anniversary of their first trophy. The Royals defeated the NY Mets in Game 5 by a final score of 7-2, but it was a pitching duel before KC blew it open in the 12th inning. Game 5 was the famous Matt Harvey game where Terry Collins made the wrong decision in sending the former Ace back to the mound for the 9th inning up 2-0. Harvey allowed two runs in the 9th which in essentially lost the game and won the series for the Royals. Kansas City scored five runs in the 12th frame by way of a single and two doubles.
Lastly in 2017, the Houston Astros defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games for their first World Series in the history of the franchise. The Astros and Dodgers fought tooth and nail for the 2017 title, with Game 5 being the prime example of how close and arduous those seven games were. The Astros came out on top in the finale with George Springer (WS MVP; 5 HR, 1.471 OPS) and Charlie Morton (1.74 ERA, 10.1 IP) leading the way. The ’17 Astros, however, will forever be controversial thanks to the sign-stealing scandal that became public in late 2019. But regardless of what happened, Houston in ‘17 began a four-year streak of at least making it to the ALCS every year, in addition to returning to the Fall Classic in 2019 just to be beat in seven games by the Washington Nationals.
Jim Brown, Cleveland Browns fullback, ran for five touchdowns in Baltimore as his team beat the Colts in National Football League pro game 38-31, Nov. 1, 1959. (AP Photo) pic.twitter.com/1WAJqx6UO1
— PFRA (@FootballHistory) November 1, 2020
YEAR: 1959 & 1964
SIGNIFICANCE: Jim Brown set an NFL record with 5 TDs in a game AND the 1st in NFL history to reach 10,000 career RUSH YDS
On this date over 60 years ago, Jim Brown and the Cleveland Browns traveled to Baltimore to take on the defending NFL Champion Colts and Johnny Unitas. Overcoming Unitas’ four TD passes, Brown took matters into his own hands and scored an NFL-record five TDs on the ground himself, beginning with a 70-yard scamper to take a first-quarter lead. A back-and-forth contest, the Colts out gained the Browns (426 to 397) and were penalized much less (3/35 yards to 9/113), but lost the turnover margin with Johnny U’s three INTs that led to their downfall.
Exactly five years later, Brown reached an unprecedented milestone in a victory over the Steelers by becoming the very first to reach 10,000 career rushing yards. After becoming the NFL’s career rushing leader a year earlier, Brown led the league in yards in each of his final two seasons to push the record north of 12,300 yards. Led by his 1,400 yards, the Browns would go on to win their fourth and final NFL Championship in 1964 then went 11-3 and lost the 1965 NFL Championship to the Green Bay Packers — the final game of Jim Brown’s illustrious career.
Today in #sportshistory in 1964 - Jim Brown @Browns became the first #NFL player to exceed 10,000 yards rushing. pic.twitter.com/9fvb24XwkI
— OTBS Online (@OTBSonline) November 1, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK5XTBClpBY
YEAR: 1966
SIGNIFICANCE: Sandy Koufax became the 1st pitcher in MLB history to win 3 Cy Young Awards
54 years ago, Los Angeles Dodgers SP Sandy Koufax became the first pitcher ever to become a 3x Cy Young winner. Koufax, a 1972 Hall of Fame inductee, really turned it up in 1962, after posting a 3.94 ERA throughout his first seven seasons. From 1962-66, Koufax won his three NL CYA and pitched to a brilliant 1.95 ERA. Koufax won his first Cy Young in 1963 with a 25-5, 1.88 ERA season, which saw him lead the majors in shutouts (11) and strikeouts (306). After finishing third in the 1964 NL CYA voting, Koufax won back-to-back unanimous awards in 1965 and ’66, the first pitcher ever to win a Cy Young unanimously, and then doing it again the very next year. Koufax was one of the most dominant, un-hittable pitchers in MLB history.
Between those two years, the “Left Arm of God” had a 53-17 record, and a 1.89 ERA in 658.2 IP. He struck out 699 batters within that span, including 54 complete games and 13 shutouts. Koufax threw four no-hitters between ’62-’66 (an all-time record at the time) with the most memorable performance coming during his perfect game vs the Chicago Cubs. 17 days after winning the ’66 NL Cy Young, Koufax announced his retirement from the game due to chronic arthritis, cutting short one of the greatest baseball careers of all-time at 30 years old. Koufax finished his 12-year career with a 2.76 ERA and 2,396 punch outs during his 12-year career.
