Today in sports history – 2 April

As sport grinds to a halt all over the world due to the coronavirus pandemic, we’ve decided to have a daily look back at those “simpler” times, when there was triumph, drama and disappointment on various fields and arenas.

This is today in sport history…

1906

The South African cricket team. Back row, left to right: Bert Vogler, Stanley Snooke and Dave Nourse; middle row, left to right: Maitland Hathorn, Reggie Schwarz, Percy Sherwell (captain), G Allsop (manager), Bernard Tancred and Jimmy Sinclair; front row, left to right: Aubrey Faulkner, Gordon White and Tip Snooke. (Photo by Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)

Almost 20 years of pain comes to an end as South Africa finally win a Test series against England. And it’s a proper walloping. Going into the fifth and final meeting at Newlands, Percy Sherwell and his fellow troops had already secured the series and seemingly didn’t have much at stake anymore.

However, decades of fearful beatings clearly had the South Africans smelling blood and they took full advantage, winning by an innings and 16 runs. Bert Vogler, considered one of the world’s greatest bowlers at the time, plays a starring role all-round. He bowled tightly throughout and then helped his side gain a crucial lead by hitting a swashbuckling 62 in just 75 minutes … from No 11!

1931

Star female pitcher Jackie Mitchell poses for a feminine portrait during the 1931 season in Chattanooga, Tennessee. (Photo by Mark Rucker/Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images)

In the grip of the Great Depression, the USA needed a distraction. A 17-year-old girl named Jackie Mitchell provided it. Fittingly, she did so – even if it was briefly – with an eye-catching feat in the country’s great pastime: baseball.

Women baseball player weren’t exactly a rare sight in those days. Lizzie Arlington became the first female to appear in the minor leagues way back in 1898, yet by a “gentlemen’s agreement” the fairer sex was barred from playing in the major leagues. Mitchell was exposed to the sport by Dazzy Vance, her neighbour in Memphis. She certainly couldn’t have hoped for a better mentor – Vance was later inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Vance, a superb pitcher, taught her his famous “drop ball”, though Mitchell later evolved that into a vicious curveball, which gained the attention of the Chattanooga Lookouts, a minor-league outfit. As it would turn out, she would be presented with the opportunity to face Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, two legendary batters for the New York Yankees. Just to put these men’s pedigrees into perspective: Ruth was one of five inaugural members inducted into the Hall of Fame; Gehrig had the incurable ALS disease named after him.

Joe Engel, the Lookouts’ new president, lived up to his reputation for the theatrical by organising the Yankees to visit the city as part of their spring training regime. They would play two exhibition matches. In keeping with his “name”, Engel signed Mitchell on a contract a week before the “series”. Many considered it a stunt. After all, Engel once traded one of his Lookout players for a turkey, which was cooked as the main course for a dinner with the local sport media.

After the Lookouts’ starting pitcher, Clyde Barfoot, got off to a poor start, manager Bert Niehoff yanked him off and brought on Mitchell. Ruth would be the first to face her. Tipping his hat before he commenced his inning, Ruth let the first delivery slide. He then swatted at and comfortably missed the next two pitches. Visibly concerned, Ruth asked for the ball to be inspected. It was fine. He left another, which was, apparently, narrowly in the strike zone. Ruth struck out. He verbally abused the umpire and threw his bat down angrily on his way to the dugout.

Next up was Gehrig, who didn’t even bother to suss Mitchell out. He swung and missed three straight pitches and struck out too. To everyone’s bewilderment, Mitchell struck out two of the greatest baseballers in history. Ruth was quite the sore loser afterwards, telling reporters: “Of course, they (women) will never make good. Why? Because they are too delicate. It would kill them to play ball every day.”

A week after her exploits, Baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis  voided her contract, allegedly saying the game was simply “too strenuous” for females.

1989

Corrie Sanders might’ve played golf with such finesse that he easily could’ve gone pro, but that talent couldn’t overshadow his brilliant boxing ability. Indeed, South Africans will always remember that memorable night in 2003 when he claimed the WBO heavyweight title against Wladimir Klitschko, the highlight of a fine career. Not that that success should’ve been unexpected.

31 years ago, Sanders announced himself on the professional stage in the most ruthless manner. Having won the SA amateur heavyweight title for four consecutive years between 1985 and 1988, he was slated to face King Kong Dyubele in Cape Town. That bout lasted less than a round as Sanders pulled out his trademark “sniping” punches to KO his opponent.

He would go on to win the first 23 fights of his career. A star had been born.

2011

Mahendra Singh Dhoni of India plays a shot during the 2011 ICC World Cup final match between India and Sri Lanka at Wankhede stadium in Mumbai, India on April 2, 2011. (Photo by Santosh Harhare/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

Mahendra Singh Dhoni reaches an Indian captain’s version of cricketing nirvana, smashing the second ball of the penultimate over of the World Cup final for six to clinch a six-wicket win in Mumbai. It’s India’s second title, but context is crucial in understanding the significance of the feat.

The last time the country lifted the trophy had been in 1983, a thoroughly unexpected win over the mighty West Indies in England. Four years later they looked set to retain their crown on home soil, only to be surprised by the Aussies in the semifinals. And so, the drought went on.

As the country steadily became an economic powerhouse, so did expectations rise for its veritable cricket factory to start producing more meaningful output. The fact that the 2011 title was co-held on Indian home soil made all those hopes even more suffocating. But Dhoni, the sultan of cool, took it all in his stride. His unbeaten 91 off 79 was simply legendary.

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