Sports History

Washington Hosts the 1969 All-Star Game

7/9/2019

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in DC by Hannah Schuster

American League players at the 1969 All-Star game

Washington, D.C. hosted the 1969 All-Star game at RFK stadium. It was a thrilling event that drew baseball fans together to watch the greats of the MLB, including hometown hero Frank Howard, go head-to-head. But the game also made history as the first, and only, All-Star game to be postponed due to weather. A torrential rain storm disrupted the city's plans, but that didn't stop more than 45,000 fans from coming out to RFK the next afternoon.

Forrest "Lefty" Brewer, pictured here in military uniform, was a minor league baseball player and paratrooper involved in D-Day during World War II. (Photo Credit: Gary Bedingfield, "Baseball in Wartime")

Lefty Brewer's Sacrifice

6/6/2019

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in DC by Reagan Graney

Scout Joe Cambria of the Washington Senators was in Florida in the summer of 1938, seeking out new recruits for D.C.’s major league baseball team. When he watched Forrest “Lefty” Brewer pitch for the St. Augustine Saints that summer, the scout had no doubt that this was a player who could help turn around the struggling D.C. club. On June 6, 1938, Brewer threw a no hitter in the minor leagues. Exactly six years later he jumped out of a plane over Normandy, France on D-Day.

Rick Barry representing the Oakland Oaks in the 1969 ABA All-Star Game. (Source: Public Domain via Wikipedia)

The Curious Case of the ABA's Washington Caps

2/21/2019

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in DC, Maryland, Virginia by Blake Wilson

For one season the American Basketball Association set up shop in the Nation's Capital, as the defending league champion — and star player Rick Barry — moved from Oakland to D.C. But almost as soon as the Washington Caps arrived in 1969, they were gone. So why didn't D.C.'s team last?

Ted Williams in 1949. (Source: Wikipedia)

"The Splendid Splinter" Comes to Washington

7/25/2018

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in DC by Mark Jones

In the winter of 1969, the Washington Senators baseball club was in transition. After a flirtation with comedian Bob Hope, the team had just been sold to transportation magnate Bob Short. Short, who looked across town and saw the Washington Redskins hire legendary coach Vince Lombardi, was looking for his own splashy hire – “a storybook manager, the kind people dream about” who could be the savior he felt the franchise needed. The answer? Ted Williams.

The Washington Capitals Could Have Been the Washington Pandas

6/5/2018

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in DC, Maryland by Shaune Lee

Goalie Ron Low #1 of the Washington Capitals makes the save during an NHL game against the New York Rangers on October 9, 1974 at the Madison Square Garden in New York, New York. (Photo by B Bennett/Getty Images)

“Now this is no easy thing — naming a sports team,” Washington Post reporter Bob Addie wrote in the spring of 1973. Naming anything can have complications: the right name is memorable, hopefully catchy, and looks good on jerseys, while a bad name becomes a joke — or worse, an embarrassment. That was why there was such surprise that Abe Pollin, who had recently become owner of the new — and still unnamed — NHL hockey team that was coming to the D.C. area was “toying with the idea of having a contest to name the baby.”

Bert Shepard: The Washington Senators' "One Legged War Hero"

1/19/2018

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in DC by Mark Jones

Bert Shepard (left) and Washington Senators manager Ossie Bluege. (AP Photo)

Is it possible for a man to play Major League Baseball with one leg? Not for most men, but most men aren't Bert Shepard who played for the Washington Senators in 1945 after losing his right leg in World War II.

Roumania (left) and Margaret (right) Peters dominated the American Tennis Association in the 1940s. (Photo courtesy of Fannie Walker Weekes)

Tennis's Original Sister Act: Margaret and Roumania Peters

7/13/2017

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in DC by Lila Spitz

Decades before Venus and Serena Williams dominated women’s tennis on the WTA tour, the Peters Sisters — Margaret Peters, a.k.a. “Pete", and Roumania Peters, a.k.a. “Repeat” — from Georgetown, were unstoppable champions in the all-black American Tennis Association.

Iron Mike Calls it Quits in Washington

11/22/2016

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in DC by Avi Mednick

Mike Tyson, the so-called "Baddest Man on the Planet," was known for his antics, in and out of the ring, as much as he was known for his boxing ability. While Tyson's sole fight in the nation's capital isn't his most well-known fight, the bout was certainly historic.

Marathon Mania Comes to D.C.

8/12/2016

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in DC by Lafayette Matthews

When American Johnny Hayes won the marathon at the 1908 London Olympics, it set off a nationwide craze for long-distance running, dubbed "Marathon mania."

When Melissa Belote Went for Gold

8/8/2016

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in DC, Virginia by Lafayette Matthews

In 1972 a local teen took the Olympics by storm. At just 15 years old, Melissa Belote won three gold medals and set three world records. But in her hometown of Springfield, VA, she was already a household name.