This day in sports: Baseball legend Rod Carew records his 3,000th hit
Rod Carew of the Angels slapped a single to left field in the third inning on this date in 1985 for his 3,000th hit during a 6-5 win over the Minnesota Twins, his first major league team, at Anaheim Stadium.
A crowd of 41,630 responded with a standing ovation when Carew looped a slider thrown by Frank Viola on a 1-and-1 count down the line and became the 16th player in baseball history to reach No. 3,000.
The hit put Carew in a tie for 15th place with Roberto Clemente on the all-time list.
“This is a great feeling but I’m glad it’s over,” he said. “I haven’t slept well for the last week.”
Other memorable games and outstanding sports performances on Aug. 4 through the years:
1945 — Byron Nelson won his 11th consecutive PGA Tour tournament when he beat Herman Barron in the Canadian Open at Thornhill Golf Club in Thornhill, Canada, by four strokes. His streak ended the following week when he finished in a tie for fourth place at the Memphis Open. Nelson would close out the year with a record 18 tournament wins for a season.
1984 — Carl Lewis won the 100-meter dash in 9.99 seconds during the Los Angeles Summer Olympics at the Coliseum, beating American teammate Sam Graddy and Canada’s Ben Johnson. Graddy won the silver medal in a time of 10.19 seconds and Johnson took the bronze in 10.22. Lewis would go on to win gold in three other events — the 200-meter dash, the 400-meter relay and the long jump.
1985 — Tom Seaver, 40, became the 17th big league pitcher to win 300 games when he beat the New York Yankees 4-1 at Yankee Stadium. Seaver, pitching for the Chicago White Sox, gave up six hits — all singles. He struck out New York slugger Dave Winfield with two on and two out in the eighth inning and got Don Baylor to fly out to end the game.
1996 — Laura Davies shot a six-under-par 66 to beat Nancy Lopez and Karrie Webb by two strokes at the Canadian Women’s du Maurier Classic at the Edmonton Country Club. Davies fired a 72-hole total of 11-under 277 after she trailed by five strokes going into the final round.
1996 — The Atlanta Olympic Games ended with American boxer David Reid's stunning gold-medal knockout, and the women’s basketball Dream Team's romp over Brazil. Reid won the U.S.’s only boxing gold when he stopped Cuba’s Alfredo Duvergel in the third round of their light-middleweight bout. Meanwhile, the American women, led by Lisa Leslie’s 29 points, rolled to a 111-87 first-place victory over the Brazilians.
2007 — Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees became the youngest player in Major League Baseball to hit 500 home runs when he connected off of Kyle Davies in the first inning of a 16-8 victory over the Kansas City Royals. Rodriguez’s drive hooked around the left-field foul pole, and the home run came eight days after he celebrated his 32nd birthday, passing the mark set by Jimmie Foxx at 32 years, 338 days.
2011 — Cappie Pondexter scored 15 points and Nicole Powell added seven of her 13 in the fourth quarter to lead the New York Liberty past the Chicago Sky 59-49 in a WNBA game at New York. The Liberty outscored the Sky 16-1 in the final period, a WNBA record. Chicago missed all 10 of its shots from the field and had nine turnovers in the fourth.
2012 — At the Olympic Games in London, Serena Williams beat Maria Sharapova 6-0, 6-1 to join Steffi Graf as the only women to complete the Golden Slam — winning the Olympics women’s tennis tournament, and the four major tennis championships. In a men's semifinal match, Roger Federer of Switzerland outlasted Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina 19-17 in the final set.
2013 — Missy Franklin of the United States claimed a record sixth gold medal on the final day of the world championships in Barcelona, Spain, when she became the most successful female swimmer ever at a world meet. Franklin collected her sixth gold when she swam the leadoff leg of the women’s 400-meter medley relay, won by the Americans in 3 minutes 53.23 seconds over Australia. Franklin erased the record shared by Tracy Caulkins — who won five medals in 1978 — and Libby Trickett, who also had five in 2007.
Sources: The Times, Associated Press
