See also: 1950 in sports, other events of 1951, 1952 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Contents

1 Auto Racing 2 Baseball 3 Basketball 4 Boxing 5 Cycling 6 Figure Skating 7 Football (American) 8 Football (Australian Rules) 9 Football (Canadian) 10 Football (Soccer) 11 Golf 12 Thoroughbred Horse Racing 13 Harness Racing 14 Ice Hockey 15 Snooker 16 Tennis 17 General sporting events 18 Births 19 Deaths

Auto Racing

• NASCAR Championship - Herb Thomas
• AAA Racing:
  • Tony Bettenhausen won the series championship
  • Lee Wallard won the Indianapolis 500
• Formula One Championship - Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina
• 24 hours of Le Mans:
  • Louis Rosier / Jean-Louis Rosier won driving a Talbot-Lago
• Rally racing:
  • Marcel Becquart / H. Secret won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Hotchkiss
• Drag racing - NHRA founded by Wally Parks

Baseball

• January 26: Mel Ott and Jimmie Foxx are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

• January 29: Baseball signs a six-year All-Star game pact for TV-radio rights for $6 million. A number of owners criticize lame-duck Commissioner Happy Chandler, believing that in a couple of years, the broadcast rights would be worth much more than $1 million per annum.

• May 25: The New York Giants rookie Willie Mays, goes 0-for-5 in his major league debut against the Philadelphia Phillies.

• July 10: Alfonso "Chico" Carrasquel became the first Latin American player to participate in an All-Star game, beating out reigning MVP Phil Rizzuto as the American League's starting shortstop. Carrasquel would go on to be selected to the All-Star team a total of four times.

• October 4: National League Playoff: The New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers finished the season tied for first place. The Giants then won a playoff series, 2 games to 1. In the final game, when all seemed lost for the Giants, Bobby Thomson hit a dramatic three run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Giants a 5 to 4 victory and the National League pennant.

• World Series: New York Yankees win 4 games to 2 over the New York Giants.

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • Kentucky wins 68-58 over Kansas St.

• NBA Finals:
  • Rochester Royals won 4 games to 3 over the New York Knicks

Boxing

• July 10 - Randy Turpin becomes the middleweight boxing champion after defeating Sugar Ray Robinson.
• July 18, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Jersey Joe Walcott knocks out Ezzard Charles in round 7.

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Fiorenzo Magni of Italy
• Tour de France - Hugo Koblet of Switzerland
• World Cycling Championship: Ferdi Kubler of Switzerland

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Dick Button, United States
  • Women's champion: Jeanette Altwegg, Great Britain
  • Pairs champions: Ria Baran & Paul Falk, Germany

Football (American)

• January 14 - The National Football League has its first Pro Bowl Game (Los Angeles, California).
• NFL Championship: Los Angeles Rams won 24-17 over the Cleveland Browns

Football (Australian Rules)

• Victorian Football League
  • Geelong wins the 55th VFL Premiership (Geelong 11.15 (81) d Essendon 10.10 (70))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Bernie Smith (Geelong)

Football (Canadian)

• Grey Cup: Ottawa Rough Riders won 21-14 over the Saskatchewan Roughriders

Football (Soccer)

• England - FA Cup: Newcastle United won 2-0 over Blackpool

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Ben Hogan
  2. June - US Open - Ben Hogan
  3. July - British Open - Max Faulkner
  4. August - PGA Championship - Sam Snead

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Lloyd Mangrum - $26,089
• Ryder Cup: United States team wins 9 1/2 to 2 1/2 over the British team in world golf.

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Betsy Rawls

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• July 14 - Citation won his 32nd race, the Hollywood Gold Cup, becoming the first equine millionaire.
• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Delat
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Major Factor
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Tantième
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Fraise du Bois
• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Ki Ming
  2. Epsom Derby - Arctic Prince
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Talma
• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Count Turf
  2. Preakness Stakes - Bold
  3. Belmont Stakes - Counterpoint

Harness Racing

• Tar Heel, a standardbred horse driven by Del Cameron, produced the first two-minute mile in harness racing history.
• Little Brown Jug for pacers won by Tar Heel
• Hambletonian for trotters won by Mainliner
• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Vedette
  • Trotters: Gay Belwin

Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
• Hart Memorial Trophy: for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Milt Schmidt, Boston Bruins
• Stanley Cup: Toronto Maple Leafs win 4 games to 1 over the Montreal Canadiens
• World Hockey Championship
  • Men's champion: Canada's Lethbridge Maple Leafs

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship: Fred Davis beats Walter Donaldson 58-39.

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Dick Savitt
  2. French Open - Jaroslav Drobny
  3. Wimbledon championships - Dick Savitt
  4. US Open - Frank Sedgman

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Nancy Wynne Bolton
  2. French Open - Shirley Fry
  3. Wimbledon championships - Doris Hart
  4. US Open - Maureen Connolly

• Davis Cup: Australia wins 3-2 over the United States in world tennis.

General sporting events

• February 25 - The first Pan American Games are held, in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Births

• March 4 - Kenny Dalglish footballer and football manager
• April 29 - Dale Earnhardt, stock car racer (+ 2001)
• June 2 - Larry Robinson, Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman
• July 31 - Evonne Goolagong, Australian tennis star
• August 13 - Gwen Cheeseman, US field hockey goalkeeper
• October 6 - Manfred Winkelhock, auto racing driver
• November 13 - Beth Anders, US field hockey international

Deaths

• February 25 - Smokey Joe Williams, baseball star
• March 25 - Eddie Collins, Major League Baseball player (106-1930)
• July 9 - Harry Heilmann, Major League Baseball player (1914-1932)
• August 26 - Bill Barilko, Toronto Maple Leafs ice hockey player, plane crash
• December 5 - "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, Major League Baseball player (1908-1920)

fr:1951 en sport