Today in sports history, August 28

Aug. 28

Today in sports history

Today is Aug. 28. On this date in:

1884: Mickey Welch of the New York Gothams struck out the first nine Cleveland Blues batters he faced, establishing a major league record.

1886: Richard Sears defeated R. Livingston Beeckman to win his sixth consecutive U.S. National men’s singles championship.

1920: American swimmer Ethelda Bleibtrey set a world record of 4:34.0 in the women’s 300-meter freestyle.

1921: Babe Ruth began a major league-record streak of collecting an extra-base hit in nine consecutive games.

1926: Cleveland’s Emil Levsen pitched two complete-game victories over the Boston Red Sox, becoming the last major league pitcher to win both games of a doubleheader.

1942: Sweden’s Gunder Hägg set a world record of 8:01.2 in the 3,000 meters.

1945: Jackie Robinson met Brooklyn Dodgers President Branch Rickey and agreed to join the organization, advancing Rickey’s plan to integrate professional baseball.

1954: Arnold Palmer captured the U.S. Amateur Championship, a breakthrough victory in the Hall of Famer’s career.

1955: The Los Angeles Rams defeated the New York Giants 23-17 in Portland, Oregon, in the first NFL preseason game decided by sudden-death overtime.

1967: The Boston Red Sox signed free-agent slugger Ken “Hawk” Harrelson after his release by the Kansas City A’s, a move that helped propel Boston to the AL pennant. His release grew out of his criticism of A’s owner Charlie Finley.

1972: American swimmer Mark Spitz began his historic seven-gold-medal performance at the Munich Olympics by winning the 200-meter butterfly in world-record time.

1972: The United States won Olympic gold in the men’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay in world-record time at Munich.

1972: Fifteen-year-old Australian swimmer Shane Gould set a world record in the women’s 200-meter individual medley with a time of 2:23.07.

1972: Olga Korbut helped the Soviet Union win Olympic team gymnastics gold.

1973: Nolan Ryan reached 300 strikeouts for the season for the second straight year on his way to a then-modern record of 383.

1977: Pelé played the final competitive match of his career as the New York Cosmos defeated the Seattle Sounders 2-1 for the NASL championship.

1981: Britain’s Sebastian Coe reclaimed the world mile record by running 3:47.33 in Brussels.

1982: Darrell Waltrip won the Busch 500 at Bristol International Raceway for his fourth victory in what would become a record seven consecutive NASCAR Cup Series victory at the track.

1990: Top-seeded Stefan Edberg suffered one of the biggest upsets in U.S. Open history, losing in the first round to Alexander Volkov.

1990: Ryne Sandberg became the first second baseman in major league history to post consecutive 30-home run seasons.

1992: The Milwaukee Brewers collected an American League-record 31 hits in a 22-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

1994: Tiger Woods won the U.S. Amateur Championship at age 18, becoming the then-youngest champion in tournament history.

1999: St. Louis Rams quarterback Trent Green suffered a season-ending preseason injury, opening the door for Kurt Warner’s rise and the Rams’ eventual Super Bowl run.

2004: The United States defeated Australia 74-63 to win Olympic women’s basketball gold.

2004: Argentina won Olympic championships in men’s soccer and men’s basketball on the same day, defeating Paraguay 1-0 in soccer and Italy 84-69 in basketball at the Athens Games.

2004: The United States defeated Lithuania 104-96 to win the bronze medal in men’s basketball at the Athens Olympics.

2008: Major League Baseball made limited instant replay available for the first time, permitting reviews of disputed home run calls.

2014: San Francisco Giants pitcher Yusmeiro Petit retired his 46th consecutive batter, setting a major league record.

2016: Kyle Larson won the Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway for his first NASCAR Cup Series victory.

2021: Ryan Blaney won the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway for his second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series victory.

2022: Rory McIlroy won the Tour Championship and became the first golfer to claim the FedEx Cup three times.

2022: A 1952 Mickey Mantle baseball card sold for $12.6 million, setting a record at the time for the most expensive piece of sports memorabilia ever auctioned.

2025: Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber hit four home runs and drove in nine runs in a 19-4 victory over Atlanta, becoming the 21st player in major league history with four homers in a game.

— USA TODAY Network

This story was created with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of information gathering, review, editing and publishing. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY Sports: Today in sports history, August 28