Friday Flashbacks: Hammerin' Hank Becomes the Home Run King

“Whammin Sammy” Snead wins his first Masters (1949) . . . 23 year old Jack Nicklaus becomes youngest to win Masters, holding off defending champ Arnold Palmer and 50-year old Sam Snead, who had a lead on the back nine (1963) . . . Tom Watson finally wins the Masters, is no longer a choke artist (1977) . . . Jack Nicklaus wins his sixth Masters and final Major at age 46 (1986) . . . If this is true, then Colts fans should send Jim Mora a thank you note (1998) . . . rookie head coach Norv Turner wants to draft either Heath Shuler or Trent Dilfer (1994) . . . Art Schlicter is allegedly into gambling (1983) . . .

The Kansas City Royals had the highest payroll in baseball on opening day ($22 million) after signing free agents Storm Davis and Mark Davis (1990) . . . Rogers Hornsby in a showdown with the league over value of Cardinals’ stock after being traded to the Giants (1927) . . . Speculation on the Red Sox to San Francisco (1956) . . . Mets GM Steve Phillips had a brilliant offseason that included signing Mo Vaughn (2002) . . . “JFK unveils a high hard one” don’t worry, it’s SFW (1961) . . . When the Brewers announce that they will be bringing the beer “from the land of sky blue waters (waters)” to County Stadium, it causes an uproar (1980) . . .



An article about cockfighting and dogfighting in New York (1935) . . . Bruins coach Terry O’Reilly smashes out car window in Hartford with a tire iron (1988) . . . Bobby Orr with a goal, an assist, and an ejection in game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals (1971) . . . Congressman Dilweg, former player with the Packers, supports a bill that would end “work or fight” order aimed at athletes during the war (1943) . . . Big Time Soccer debuts in the U.S. (1967) . . . Wimp Sanderson settles lawsuit by secretary Nancy Watts alleging he slapped her (1993) . . . Nick Van Exel attacks referee Ronnie Garrettson (1996) . . . The Duke Lacrosse Case (2006).

[photo via Getty]