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See the full story · 2 sourcesAug. 17
Today in sports history
Today is Aug. 17. On this date in:
1920 : Cleveland Indians shortstop Ray Chapman died after being struck in the head by a Carl Mays pitch the previous day, becoming the only major-league player to die from an injury sustained during a game.
1933 : Lou Gehrig surpassed Everett Scott’s consecutive-games record on the way to 2,130.
1966 : Willie Mays hit his 535th career home run for the San Francisco Giants , passing Jimmie Foxx for second place on the major-league career list behind Babe Ruth.
1969 : The AFL champion New York Jets defeated the NFL’s New York Giants 37-14 in the clubs’ first meeting, a highly anticipated showdown in the final season before the AFL-NFL merger.
1972 : Philadelphia Phillies ace Steve Carlton won his 15th consecutive game, extending one of the most remarkable pitching runs in modern baseball history.
1973 : Willie Mays hit the 660th and final home run of his career for the New York Mets in a 2-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds .
1980 : George Brett went 4-for-4 with two doubles and five RBIs in Kansas City’s 8-3 victory over Toronto, raising his batting average to .401 during his pursuit of a .400 season.
1984 : Pete Rose made his debut as the Cincinnati Reds’ player-manager, collecting two hits and two RBIs while guiding the Reds to a 6-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs.
1997 : Davis Love III won the PGA Championship at Winged Foot for his first major title, finishing five strokes ahead of Justin Leonard.
2003 : Shaun Micheel captured his first PGA Tour victory and only major championship, sealing a two-stroke PGA Championship win over Chad Campbell by hitting his final approach within inches of the cup at Oak Hill.
2008 : Michael Phelps won his eighth gold medal of the Beijing Olympics as the United States captured the 4x100-meter medley relay, breaking Mark Spitz’s record of seven golds at a single games.
2008 : Rafael Nadal defeated Fernando González in straight sets to win the Olympic men’s singles gold medal in Beijing, one day before officially reaching No. 1 in the world rankings for the first time.
2016 : Japan’s Kaori Icho won her fourth consecutive Olympic wrestling gold medal, becoming the first woman to win an individual event at four successive Summer Games.
2016 : Brianna Rollins led an American sweep of the Olympic women’s 100-meter hurdles, winning gold ahead of Nia Ali and Kristi Castlin in the first medal sweep by one nation in the event.
2016 : Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson won the Olympic 200-meter final to complete the women’s sprint double, becoming the first woman since Florence Griffith Joyner in 1988 to win the 100 and 200 at the same games.
2021 : NBA MVP finalist Joel Embiid agreed to a four-year, $196 million contract extension with the Philadelphia 76ers , one of the largest deals in league history at the time.
— USA TODAY Network
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY Sports: Today in sports history, August 17
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