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1. Jackie Robinson shatters the color barrier, April 15, 1947, Ebbets Field
2. Joe Louis annihilates Max Schmeling, June 22, 1938, Yankee Stadium
3. Lou Gehrig proclaims himself the “luckiest man,” July 4, 1939, Yankee Stadium
4. The Fight: Ali-Frazier I, March 8, 1971, Madison Square Garden
5. Babe Ruth christens the “House That Ruth Built” with a homer, April 18, 1923, Yankee Stadium
6. The Giants win the pennant, October 3, 1951, Polo Grounds
7. “Next year” finally arrives for Brooklyn, October 4, 1955, Yankee Stadium
8. Willis Reed hobbles to the rescue, May 8, 1970, Madison Square Garden
9. The Amazin’ Mets win the World Series, October 16, 1969, Shea Stadium
10. Don Larsen achieves perfection, October 8, 1956, Yankee Stadium
11. Mookie Wilson hits a ground ball to first in Game 6 of the World Series, October 25, 1986, Shea Stadium
12. Fifty-four years later, the Rangers finally win the Stanley Cup, June 14, 1994, Madison Square Garden
13. The Giants crush the Bears in the NFL Championship, December 30, 1956, Yankee Stadium
14. CCNY wins its second national championship .º.º. of the month, March 28, 1950, Madison Square Garden
15. Willie Mays makes “the Catch,” September 29, 1954, Polo Grounds
16. Jack Dempsey outslugs Luis Firpo, September 14, 1923, Polo Grounds
17. Reggie, Reggie, Reggie, October 18, 1977, Yankee Stadium
18. Matty shuts out the A’s, October 14, 1905, Polo Grounds
19. Jimmy Connors defies Father Time, September 2, 1991, Louis Armstrong Stadium
20. Roger Maris beats the Babe, October 1, 1961, Yankee Stadium
21. The Babe hits 60, September 30, 1927, Yankee Stadium
22. Joe DiMaggio hits in his 45th straight game, a new record, July 2, 1941, Yankee Stadium
23. Army and Notre Dame shut each other out in “the Battle of the Century,” November 9, 1946, Yankee Stadium
24. The Yankees and the Dodgers both win on the season’s final day, October 2, 1949, Yankee Stadium and Shibe Park
25. The Marathon expands to all five boroughs, October 24, 1976
26. Arthur Ashe wins the first U.S. Open, September 9, 1968, West Side Tennis Club
27. The Yankees win a fifth straight World Series, October 5, 1953, Yankee Stadium
28. The Giants win 1–0 to finish the first Subway Series, October 13, 1921, Polo Grounds
29. The Subway Series rides again, October 21, 2000, Yankee Stadium
30. The Jets avenge their “Heidi” loss and win the AFL title, December 27, 1968, Shea Stadium
31. Notre Dame wins one for the Gipper, November 10, 1928, Yankee Stadium
32. The sky falls on Grady Little and Aaron Boone sinks the Sox, October 16, 2003, Yankee Stadium
33. Patrick Ewing lifts the Knicks into the NBA Finals, June 5, 1994, Madison Square Garden
34. Cookie Lavagetto ruins Floyd Bevens’s no-hitter, October 3, 1947, Ebbets Field
35. Every match goes the distance on Super Saturday, September 8, 1984, Louis Armstrong Stadium
36. The Giants win the NFL Championship in the “Sneaker Game,” December 9, 1934, Polo Grounds
37. The Brooklyn Atlantics hand the Cincinnati Red Stockings their first defeat, June 14, 1870, Capitoline Grounds
38. Man o’ War comes back to beat Grier at the Dwyer Stakes, July 10, 1920, Aqueduct Race Course
39. The Yankees win their first World Series, October 15, 1923, Polo Grounds
40. Reed goes down, but the Knicks come back to win in Game 5, May 4, 1970, Madison Square Garden
41. The Mets come back once more to win Game 7, October 27, 1986, Shea Stadium
42. Billy Martin saves the Yankees, October 7, 1952, Ebbets Field
43. Stephane Matteau scores in double overtime in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, May 27, 1994, Madison Square Garden
44. Tommy Agee saves the day .º.º. then does it again, October 14, 1969, Shea Stadium
45. John McEnroe gets revenge against Bjorn Borg, September 7, 1980, National Tennis Center
46. Tony Zale drops Rocky Graziano, September 27, 1946, Yankee Stadium
47. Carl Lewis lifts off at the Millrose Games, January 27, 1984, Madison Square Garden
48. Bill Tilden becomes the first tennis superstar with his revenge win over Bill Johnston, September 6, 1920, West Side Tennis Club
49. Summerall kicks a field goal in the snow, December 14, 1958, Yankee Stadium
50. Chris Chambliss homers the Yankees back into the World Series, October 14, 1976, Yankee Stadium
51. The Rangers beat the Islanders to reach the Stanley Cup finals, May 8, 1979, Madison Square Garden
52. Sugar Ray Robinson melts against Joey Maxim, June 25, 1952, Yankee Stadium
53. Fred Lebow and Grete Waitz run side by side, November 1, 1992, New York Marathon
54. Joe Louis comes back to KO Billy Conn, June 18, 1941, Polo Grounds
55. The U.S. Open crowns two unique but very different champions, September 9, 1974, West Side Tennis Club
56. At the All-Star Game, Carl Hubbell strikes out Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons, and Joe Cronin .º.º. in a row, July 10, 1934, Polo Grounds
57. Seabiscuit wins the Brooklyn in a photo finish, June 26, 1937, Aqueduct Race Course
58. Columbia ends Army’s winning streak, October 25, 1947, Baker Field
59. Ingemar Johansson’s “Toonder and Lightning” strikes Floyd Patterson, June 26, 1959, Yankee Stadium
60. Larry Johnson shocks the Pacers with his four-pointer, June 5, 1999, Madison Square Garden
61. In a match for the aged, Pete Sampras beats Andre Agassi one last time, September 8, 2002, National Tennis Center
62. Jim Corbett has his finest hour in a loss against Jim Jeffries, May 11, 1900, Greater New York Athletic Club, Coney Island
63. Steffi Graf, struggling with her father’s arrest, battles Monica Seles, struggling to overcome her stabbing injury, September 9, 1995, National Tennis Center
64. Tony Lazerri, Joe DiMaggio, and the Yankees make a statement against the Giants and start a new Yankee dynasty, October 2, 1936, Yankee Stadium
65. The Giants hold off the Packers for the NFL Championship, December 11, 1938, Polo Grounds
66. Graig Nettles flashes his leather and saves the World Series, October 13, 1978, Yankee Stadium
67. Ned Irish launches college basketball with the first double-header, December 29, 1934, Madison Square Garden
68. New York gets its first glimpse of a sports-mad future, May 27, 1823, Union Course
69. St. John’s revs up the Big East, March 12, 1983, Madison Square Garden
70. The “Four Horsemen of Notre Dame” triumph over Army, October 18, 1924, Yankee Stadium
71. Chris Evert becomes the “It Girl” with her comeback win, September 4, 1971, West Side Tennis Club
72. Robin Ventura hits a grand slam single, October 17, 1999, Shea Stadium
73. John Starks dunks over Michael Jordan in the Eastern Conference Finals, May 25, 1993, Madison Square Garden
74. Bernard King scores 44 in Game 6 to keep the Knicks alive against the Celtics, May 11, 1984, Madison Square Garden
75. Mike Piazza picks up New York with his post-9/11 game-winning homer, September 21, 2001, Shea Stadium
76. Brooklyn goes bonkers for its “Bums,” September 29, 1941, Brooklyn
77. Baseball returns to Brooklyn, June 25, 2001, Keyspan Park
78. Dykstra rolls a homer in NLCS Game 3, October 11, 1986, Shea Stadium
79. The Mets sing the praises of their unsung heroes, October 15, 1969, Shea Stadium
80. Dave DeBusschere saves the NBA Finals, May 8, 1973, Madison Square Garden
81. St. John’s gives Joe Lapchick a going-away championship, March 20, 1965, Madison Square Garden
82. NYU topples Fordham’s “Seven Blocks of Granite,” November 26, 1936, Yankee Stadium
83. Althea Gibson wins the U.S. National Championships, September 8, 1957, West Side Tennis Club
84. Carmen Basilio and Sugar Ray Robinson go to war, September 23, 1957, Yankee Stadium
85. Rocky has to go the distance, July 17, 1954, Yankee Stadium
86. Rod Dixon surges past Geoff Smith in the Marathon, October 23, 1983, Central Park
87. Salvator and Tenny go down to the wire, June 25, 1890, Coney Island Jockey Club
88. The Knicks beat the Celtics in double overtime in the Eastern Conference Finals, April 22, 1973, Madison Square Garden
89. Willie Pep gets revenge against Sandy Saddler, February 11, 1949, Madison Square Garden
90. Eamonn Coghlan breaks Glenn Cunningham’s record by winning his seventh Wanamaker Mile, January 30, 1987, Madison Square Garden
91. Rod Laver wins the Grand Slam .º.º. again, September 8, 1969, West Side Tennis Club
92. Jack Elder leads Notre Dame to victory with a 98-yard interception return, November 30, 1929, Yankee Stadium
93. Monica Seles and Jennifer Capriati introduce power to women’s tennis while Martina does her best Jimbo, September 6, 1991, National Tennis Center
94. Henry Armstrong collects another title as Barney Ross hangs on, May 31, 1938, Madison Square Garden Bowl
95. Harry Greb bests Mickey Walker amid a cavalcade of fists, July 2, 1925, Polo Grounds
96. Pete Sampras shows his guts against Alex Corretja, September 5, 1996, National Tennis Center
97. Secretariat shows his stuff, April 7, 1973, Aqueduct Race Course
98. The Giants beat Knute Rockne’s Notre Dame All-Stars, December 14, 1930, Polo Grounds
99. Marathon mania reaches its peak, April 3, 1909, Polo Grounds
100. Charles Miller rides (and rides and rides) into the record books, December 10, 1898, Madison Square Garden
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| New York City sports history, like the city itself, is noisy, self-important and endlessly fascinating. This book ranks the Top 100 greatest days in New York City sports, with essays on each event, but it also chronicles the Top 25 greatest days New York’s teams ever had, the 10 greatest performances by opponents against New York teams and the worst days in New York sports |
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