This Day in Sports History: Sept. 23
Albert Pujols gave St. Louis Cardinals fans, and baseball at large, one of the defining moments of his remarkable career on Sept. 23, 2022. In a road game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Pujols hit career home runs No. 699 and No. 700, becoming only the fourth player in American and National League history to reach 700. The achievement placed the Cardinals icon alongside Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth. Pujols, who was 42 and in the final season of his 22-year major league career, also became the first Latino player to reach the milestone. For a franchise and a region that watched him grow from an unheralded draft pick into a superstar, the two-homer night was a fitting late-career celebration.
Sept. 23 has repeatedly produced moments that changed how sports history is remembered, from a teenage golf champion in Scotland to a St. Louis hockey game that broke a barrier. The date also has brought several baseball turning points, including a controversial play that helped decide a pennant race and a record that reshaped the value of speed.
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In 1868, Young Tom Morris won The Open Championship at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Morris was 17 years and 156 days old when he defeated his father, Old Tom Morris, by three strokes. He remains the youngest champion in the history of golf’s oldest major championship. The victory launched an extraordinary run for Young Tom, who won four Open titles: 1868, 1869, 1870 and 1872. His win over his father also captured a passing of the torch in the sport’s early professional era. Old Tom had already become one of golf’s foundational figures as a player, club maker and course designer; his son soon emerged as the game’s brightest competitive star.
Baseball’s most famous baserunning mistake occurred on Sept. 23, 1908, when the Chicago Cubs and New York Giants played at the Polo Grounds. With the score tied in the bottom of the ninth inning, Giants rookie Fred Merkle stood on first base as teammate Al Bridwell singled what appeared to be the winning run home. Fans flooded the field before Merkle advanced to second. Cubs second baseman Johnny Evers obtained the ball and touched second base, recording a force out under the rules. Disorder on the field prevented the game from being completed, so it was declared a 1-1 tie rather than a Giants victory. The clubs finished the season tied, forcing a replay that Chicago won, 4-2, before the Cubs went on to win the World Series. The play, long labeled “Merkle’s Boner,” became a lasting lesson in baseball rules and the enormous consequences that can follow one unfinished play.
Philadelphia hosted a heavyweight championship upset on Sept. 23, 1952, when Rocky Marciano knocked out Jersey Joe Walcott in the 13th round. Walcott had dropped Marciano in the opening round and was ahead on the scorecards when Marciano landed the crushing right hand that ended the fight. The victory gave Marciano the world heavyweight title and set him on the path to one of boxing’s most enduring records. He retired in 1956 with a 49-0 record, still the only heavyweight champion to finish an undefeated career. The Walcott bout was the pivotal breakthrough for a fighter whose relentless pressure and punching power made him a sports legend.
Five years later, on Sept. 23, 1957, Hank Aaron delivered one of the great dramatic swings in Milwaukee Braves history. In the 11th inning against the St. Louis Cardinals, Aaron hit a two-run, walk-off home run that gave Milwaukee a 4-2 victory and clinched the National League pennant. Aaron later said it was the best moment of his career. That statement carries special weight considering that he would become a World Series champion that fall, earn the National League MVP Award and eventually surpass Babe Ruth’s career home run total. The 1957 Braves defeated the New York Yankees in the World Series, winning Milwaukee’s only championship.
On Sept. 23, 1962, Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Maury Wills stole his 97th base of the season, breaking Ty Cobb’s modern-era single-season record of 96 that had stood since 1915. Wills eventually finished with 104 steals. His season changed the game’s strategic conversation, demonstrating how a player’s speed could pressure pitchers, catchers and infield defenses throughout an entire game. Wills won the National League MVP Award as the Dodgers captured the pennant, and his record stood until former Cardinals standout Lou Brock surpassed it with his 105th steal in 1974.
The St. Louis area was the setting for another landmark on Sept. 23, 1992. Goaltender Manon Rhéaume played the first period for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a preseason game against the Blues, becoming the first woman to appear in an NHL game. Rhéaume faced nine shots and made seven saves. The game did not erase the obstacles women faced in professional hockey, and it was an exhibition rather than a regular-season contest. Still, her appearance was a highly visible barrier-breaking event, and it remains a key chapter in the history of women’s hockey. Rhéaume had already challenged limits in Quebec youth and junior hockey, and she continued to influence the game later as a coach and advocate for young players.
From Young Tom Morris becoming golf’s youngest Open champion to Pujols joining baseball’s 700-home run club, Sept. 23 shows how one day can connect distant sports eras. It has supplied unforgettable finishes, record-setting performances and moments that widened the possibilities for the athletes who followed.
