This week in sports history August 1-7

August 05, 2021

1966

Former Coeburn High School baseball star Tracy Stallard improved his record with Lafayette, Ind., a farm team of the Boston Red Sox in Class D Midwest League to 4-3 with a complete-game 8-2 victory over Mattoon, Ill.

Coeburn High School Football coach Bill Blair resigned his position in Wise County to take a position as head football coach and assistant basketball coach at Luray High School.

1971

Nancy Simonton from Harlan Ky. won medalist honors with a score of 77-80 – 157 in a Cumberland Mountain Area Association tournament for women at Lonesome Pine Country Club in an event that drew 39 golfers from area country clubs.

The Ramsey Rockets’ final road game of the season at Hamblen was rained out.

1981

Steve Curran left the Pound Wildcats football team to join former Pound assistant Bucky Meade as a member of the Pennington Gap Bobcats staff.

Donna O’Dell and Danny Wood walked away with first-place trophies in the men’s and women’s A brackets of the Clinch Valley College Open tennis tournament. Wood and Oscar Neece also won the men’s doubles crown as O’Dell and her partner, Kathy Kilgore, won the women’s doubles title.

The Norton Little League baseball team fell to Manassas in Yorkshire Park in the quarterfinals of the state tournament.

1996

Dennis Sluss was preparing to compete in a state-wide karate tournament in August of 1996.

Rising Clintwood High School senior Shara Beth Carpenter won all-Lonesome Pine District honors in three sports.

Coeburn’s 11-12 year old little league team were the District 13 champions and progressed to state play in Portsmouth. Players on the roster were: Brad Ratliff, Michael Perry, Preston Salyer, Michael Collins, Richard Boone, Eli Norris, Cole Gibson, Travis Bollins, Jason Deel Josh Key, John “Hopie” Bliley, Josh Bond and Solomon Jones.

2001

The Blue Marlins swimming team claimed their sixth Summer League swimming title at Viking Hall Pool in Bristol. The Marlins won both the boys and girls titles.

Homer Jay Jenkins announced that 2001 would be his last summer of involvement in softball after 50 years of promoting and coaching sports in Coeburn.

Coeburn’s Stacey Castle was in first place in the Street Stock ranks at Galaxy Speedway in Kingsport, Tenn.

The Lonesome Pine Country Club made up seven strokes on the final day to win the team title in the 14th annual Kingsport Amateur golf tournament at Silver Lake Golf Club in Church Hill, Tenn.

Twenty-one teams participated in the MECC Golf Classic at Lonesome Pine Country Club in Big Stone Gap. The Wellmont-Lonesome Pine Hospital team was victorious with members Jim Cornette, John Hall, Bill Bowers and Brian Dotson taking home the trophy.

2006

Seventeen-year-old Michael Elliott of Clintwood won the dirt bike race at the Dickenson County Fair.

Coeburn’s Andrew Adkins entered the VHSL record book with the most consecutive free throws in a game at 19 and the most consecutive free throws in a quarter with 14.

Wise resident and former Lonesome Pine Raceway regular Jamie Whitt picked up a Hobby Stock victory at Volunteer Speedway.

WAXM radio station in Norton announced the start of a fund drive for the Tom Turner scholarship at UVA Wise.

Former Appalachia High volleyball coach Mike Goforth was recommended to fill the head coach slot for J.I. Burton’s varsity girls basketball team.

NASCAR Busch Series rookie Danny O’Quinn posted the best finish of his career, placing sixth behind Kroger 200 winner Kevin Harvick at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Clermont, Ind.

2011

The Coeburn Big League softball all-stars were one win short of advancing to the Big League World Series. The team, comprised of players from Coeburn and Clintwood, advanced to the Big League Southeast Regional tournament championship game after winning the Virginia Big League championship the week before in Bristol.

2016

John Hereford won the Men’s A division title in the UVA Wise Tennis Tournament, defeating Newport News native and incoming UVA Wise freshman Josh McFadden, 6-2, 6-4. Matt Kennedy of Central won the Boys’ 18 division. Hannah Thacker of Ridgeview won the Girls’ 18 division at age 15. Brianna Stallard teamed up with Hank Hankins III to win the mixed doubles division.

Central head basketball coach Robin Dotson was inducted to the Virginia High School Hall of Fame. Joining coach Dotson were two other Southwest Virginia legends in Honaker baseball coach Tom Harding and Honaker football standout Heath Miller.

The SWVA Storm basketball team won the Tennessee Premier Hoops Mid Summer Classic tournament in Johnson City. Team members are from Ervinton and Norton and included: Hadaya Abshire, Natalea Cusack, Azzy Hammons, Sarah Williams, Harper Potter, Abigail Absher, Taylor Phipps and Brenla McCowan.

National Sports History

1852 – America's first intercollegiate sporting event takes place as the Harvard heavyweight rowing crew beats Yale by two lengths over two miles on Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire.

1890 – Future Hall of Fame pitcher Cy Young throws 3-hit ball in his MLB debut for the Cleveland Spiders in 8-1 win vs Chicago Colts.

1906 – Washington Nationals' Tom Hughes becomes first MLB pitcher to win a 1-0 extra innings game off his own home run in 10th vs. St. Louis Browns.

1914 – New York Yankees catcher Les Nunamaker throws out three Tigers' runners to second base during the first inning, only time in 20th Century.

1921 – MLB Commissioner Kenesaw Landis hands out life bans to eight Chicago White Sox players accused in Black Sox scandal despite their acquittal by a Chicago jury. The players were Arnold “Chick” Gandil, Eddie Cicotte, Oscar “Happy” Felsch, Fred McMullin, Charles “Swede” Risberg, George “Buck” Weaver and Claude “Lefty” Williams as well as superstar “Shoeless” Joe Jackson.

1941 – Joe DiMaggio goes 0-4 in Yankees 6-2 loss v St. Louis Browns, ending his on-base streak of 74 games, second in MLB history.

1948 – Negro League veteran pitcher Satchel Paige debuts for Cleveland after controversial signing, goes seven innings in 5-3 win vs. Washington.

1948 – An American clean sweep of the medals in the men's 3-meter springboard diving at the London Olympics with Bruce Harlan winning gold, Miller Anderson silver and Sammy Lee bronze. American divers Vicki Draves, Zoe Ann Olsen and Patsy Elsener go 1-2-3 in a US clean sweep of the medals in the women's 3-meter springboard at the London Olympics. An American sweep of the medals in the 110m hurdles at the London Olympics with William Porter taking gold, ahead of Clyde Scott and Craig Dixon.

1949 – Basketball Association of America (BAA) & National Basketball League (NBL) merge to form National Basketball Association (NBA), Maurice Podoloff is elected head of new league.

1960 – For the only time in MLB history, teams exchange managers as Detroit trades Jimmy Dykes (44-52) for Cleveland's Joe Gordon (49-46).

1972 – Yogi Berra, Sandy Koufax, Lefty Gomez, Early Wynn, Josh Gibson, Will Harridge, Buck Leonard and Ross Youngs are inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame.

1961 – The Pittsburgh Pirates rout the St. Louis Cardinals, 19-0, the largest lopsided shutout in NL history.

1969 – Pirates outfielder Willie Stargell smashes first and longest home run ever hit out of Dodger Stadium; the incomparable shot off Alan Foster, measures 506 feet.

1984 – Mary Lou Retton scores 10 for final vault to win the individual all-round competition in Los Angeles and become first American woman to win an Olympic gymnastics medal.

1984 – American athlete Carl Lewis wins the 100m in 9.9 seconds in Los Angeles, first of nine Olympic gold medals over three Games.

1984 – Americans Al Joyner and Mike Conley take the gold and silver medals in the men's triple jump at the Los Angeles Olympics.

1984 – American Joan Benoit wins first Olympic marathon for women (2:24:52) ahead of Grete Waitz of Norway at the Los Angeles Games.

1992 – The original US 'Dream Team' wins the basketball gold at the Barcelona Olympics 117-85 over Croatia; features superstars Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Scotty Pippen, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing.

2006 – Warren Moon becomes the first black quarterback to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio; joined by Troy Aikman, John Madden, Rayfield Wright, Harry Carson and Reggie White.

2006 – Tiger Woods (30) becomes the youngest player to compile 50 PGA Tour wins with a three-stroke victory over Jim Furyk in the Buick Open at Grand Blanc, Michigan.

2007 – San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds hits his 756th career home run to break Hank Aaron's long-standing MLB record.

2010 – Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, John Randle, Russ Grimm, Rickey Jackson, Floyd Little & Dick LeBeau are inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

2012 – American super-swimmer Michael Phelps wins the 100m butterfly in London to take his all-time Olympic gold medal tally to a record 17.

2012 – Golden double for US at London Olympic tennis as Serena Williams destroys Maria Sharapova 6-0, 6-1 in women's singles; Bob & Mike Bryan win men’s doubles beating French pair Michael Llodra and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 7-6.

2012 - US takes the 4 x 100m medley relay double at the London Olympics with Michael Phelps collecting his 18th Olympic gold medal; women's team sets world record 3:52.05.