Historically Speaking: 4-16-09

Boy. For a tournament that always happens on the weekend, the Masters sure has fallen on a lot of different dates. But enough about that, get to readin'.

* I've had somewhat of a lousy morning with school-district overlords, so we'll start things off with something obnoxious: the Yankees. Today in 1929, they became the first team in baseball to have numbers on their uniforms, and 30 years later, they unveiled their first message scoreboard, whatever that is.

* We'll follow that up with a couple hockey tidbits: The year was 1939 when the Stanley Cup championship switched from a best-of-five to a best-of-seven series. The Boston Bruins were the first to take that title, and they did so at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who in turn, 10 years later, became the first franchise to string together three straight titles.

* More Masters: Arnold Palmer got the tourney victory today in 1958 when he put together a score of 284.

* California baseball? Why not? San Diego Padre Steve Garvey logged his 1118th consecutive game today in 1983, breaking Billy Williams' previous record. The Garvenator would go 2-4 in a loss to the Dodgers. The following year, Oakland A Dave Kingman thrice went yard, one of which was with the bases loaded. He accomplished this in his first three plate appearances, compiling eight RsBI in a win over the Mariners.

And your Sports Illustrated quote of the day came from the mouth of...



...former New York Rangers goaltender Glenn Healy, who, in 1996, was asked to comment on the practices of his fellow NHL goaltenders with regard to whether or not they follow the league's limit on leg-pad size. His response: "Sure, they're all in the minors."