This Day in Sports History for Sept. 14 Includes MLB’s 1994 World Series Cancellation
The date features milestones and turning points across sports, from boxing and baseball to hockey, football, Formula 1 and tennis.
This Day in Sports History: September 14
September 14 is a date that includes one of baseball’s most damaging labor decisions: the 1994 cancellation of the rest of the Major League Baseball season, including the World Series. Acting commissioner Bud Selig announced the move after the players’ strike, which had begun Aug. 12, showed no immediate path to a settlement. It ended a season that had produced remarkable races and individual performances, notably Matt Williams’ 43 home runs for San Francisco and Tony Gwynn’s .394 batting average for San Diego. More important, it erased the postseason entirely. The 1994 World Series became the first Fall Classic canceled because of a work stoppage, and the dispute continued into the following spring before games resumed in 1995. The loss of the sport’s signature event left a lasting mark on clubs, players and fans and made September 14 one of the pivotal dates in modern baseball history.
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Long before that labor conflict, Sept. 14, 1923, produced one of boxing’s most enduring scenes. Heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey defended his title against Argentina’s Luis Ángel Firpo at New York’s Polo Grounds before a record paid crowd for a boxing match in New York State at the time. The fight lasted only two rounds but contained a remarkable 11 knockdowns. Firpo’s right hand sent Dempsey through the ropes and out of the ring in the opening round, an image later immortalized by artist George Bellows. Dempsey returned to the ring, regained control and stopped Firpo 57 seconds into the second round. The bout was Dempsey’s final successful title defense, but Firpo’s challenge also carried broad importance: he was the first Latin American boxer to challenge for the world heavyweight championship.
On Sept. 14, 1955, Cleveland Indians rookie left-hander Herb Score added another chapter to a season that made him one of baseball’s most feared young pitchers. Facing the Washington Senators, Score struck out nine batters and reached 235 for the year, surpassing Grover Cleveland Alexander’s long-standing major-league rookie record of 227 strikeouts, set in 1911. Score finished the season with 245 strikeouts in 227 1/3 innings, led the American League and earned Rookie of the Year honors. His early career later was altered by the line drive that struck him in the face in 1957, but his 1955 achievement remained the American League rookie standard for nearly three decades. Dwight Gooden finally passed it in 1984.
Baseball’s difficult Sept. 14, 1994, was followed two years later by a defining American victory in international hockey. On Sept. 14, 1996, the United States beat Canada 5-2 in Montreal in the deciding game of the inaugural World Cup of Hockey final. The Americans had lost the first game of the best-of-three series in Philadelphia, then won the next two games in Canada by the same 5-2 score. Canada led 2-1 late in the third period of Game 3, but Brett Hull tied it with 3:18 remaining and Tony Amonte scored the go-ahead goal 43 seconds later. Derian Hatcher and Adam Deadmarsh added empty-net goals. Goaltender Mike Richter, who was named tournament MVP, helped the United States withstand a Canadian attack filled with NHL stars. The title was a major best-on-best breakthrough for U.S. men’s hockey, its first at that level since the 1980 Olympic victory at Lake Placid.
Sept. 14, 2003, belonged to Baltimore Ravens running back Jamal Lewis. In a 33-13 victory over the Cleveland Browns, Lewis carried 30 times for 295 yards and two touchdowns, including scoring runs of 82 and 63 yards. His 295 rushing yards set the NFL single-game record, breaking Corey Dillon’s 278-yard mark from 2000. Lewis came within five yards of becoming the first player in league history to rush for 300 in a regular-season game. The record stood until Minnesota rookie Adrian Peterson ran for 296 yards in 2007, but Lewis still owns the Ravens’ single-game rushing record. The performance powered a season in which he rushed for 2,066 yards, then the second-highest total in NFL history.
Five years later, on Sept. 14, 2008, Sebastian Vettel turned a rain-soaked Italian Grand Prix into a breakthrough moment at Monza. Driving for Toro Rosso, Vettel won from pole position, finishing ahead of Heikki Kovalainen and Robert Kubica. At 21, Vettel became Formula 1’s youngest Grand Prix winner at the time; a day earlier, he had also become its youngest pole winner. The result was Toro Rosso’s first Formula 1 victory and remains its only victory under that name. Vettel later moved to Red Bull Racing, where he won four consecutive world championships from 2010 through 2013. His Monza win showed the first clear sign that a young driver and a small team could overcome difficult conditions and challenge the sport’s established powers.
On Sept. 14, 2009, Juan Martín del Potro closed the day’s timeline with a major tennis upset at the U.S. Open. The 20-year-old Argentine defeated Roger Federer 3-6, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 to win his first Grand Slam singles championship. Federer had won the previous five U.S. Open men’s titles and entered the final on a 40-match tournament winning streak. Del Potro rallied after falling behind by two sets to one and survived a fourth-set tiebreak before taking over the fifth set with his powerful serve and forehand. The victory made him the first Argentine man to win the U.S. Open since Guillermo Vilas in 1977. Injuries later limited del Potro’s opportunities, which gave his New York title even greater weight as the defining achievement of his career.
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