April 21, 1951: The Rochester Royals' Title

Left to right: Bill Calhoun, Bob Davies, Paul Noel, Joe McNamee,

Arnie Risen, Jack Coleman, Arnie Johnson and Bobby Wanzer

April 21, 1951: The NBA Championship was also decided that day, and also in overtime, but in a Game 7. The Rochester Royals defeated the New York Knicks, 79-75 at the Edgerton Park Arena in Rochester, New York.

For the Knicks: Max Zaslofsky and Vince Boryla each scored 16 points, Harry Gallatin 12, Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton (the 1st black player signed to an NBA contract) and Connie Simmons 11, Ernie Vandeweghe (father of future NBA player Kiki) 5, Dick McGuire (brother of Hall of Fame college coach and announcer Al) 4, and Ray Lumpp none.

It wasn't enough, as Arnie Risen scored 24, and former Seton Hall star Bob Davies scored 20. Scoring 2 points for the Royals in this game was William "Red" Holzman. Ed Mikan, brother of Minneapolis Lakers star George, was on the Royals' roster at the start of the season, but was traded.

The Knicks would win 3 straight NBA Eastern Division Championships, but lose the Finals all 3 times: This one to the Royals, and 1952 and '53 to the Lakers. It would take them until 1970 to win their 1st title, with Holzman as their coach. They won again in 1973. But haven't won one since, also losing in the Finals in 1972, 1994 and 1999.

At least the Knicks still exist. The Royals don't, at least not under that name. Rochester proved too small a market for a growing sports league. In 1957, they moved, becoming the Cincinnati Royals. In 1972, they moved again. Since Kansas City already had a baseball team called the Royals, they became the Kansas City Kings. And in 1985, they became the Sacramento Kings. In the early 2010s, they came close to moving yet again, to Anaheim and to Seattle, before the building of their new arena was negotiated. Come to think of it, Minneapolis lost the Lakers to Los Angeles in 1960.

Nevertheless, at their arena, the Golden 1 Center, the Kings still hang a banner proclaiming themselves to be the 1951 NBA Champions.

Davies, Wanzer, Risen, and Holzman as a coach have been elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. The Kings retired Davies' Number 11. Nevertheless, when the NBA named its 50th Anniversary 50 Greatest Players in 1996, the '51 Royals were 1 of 4 teams with no representatives, the others being the 1947 Philadelphia Warriors, the 1948 Baltimore Bullets, and the 1979 Seattle SuperSonics.

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April 21, 1951 was a Saturday. The Stanley Cup was also decided that day. Game 5 of the Finals, and the Cup itself, were won at 2:53 of overtime, when Bill Barilko scored for the Toronto Maple Leafs, beating the Montreal Canadiens, 3-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. I have a separate entry for that event.

There were also Major League Baseball games played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Washington Senators, 8-7 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. The Yankees led 5-0 going into the bottom of the 6th inning, but Frank "Spec" Shea imploded. Allie Reynolds was brought in to stop the bleeding, but couldn't, and the Senators scored 7 runs.

But in the top of the 8th, Mickey Mantle, who had made his major league debut only 4 days earlier, doubled home Phil Rizzuto with the winning run. Joe DiMaggio, the man that right fielder Mantle was being groomed to replace in center field, also had an RBI double. Tom Ferrick ended up as the winning pitcher.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the New York Giants, 7-3 at the Polo Grounds. Jackie Robinson hit a home run off Larry Jansen. Ralph Branca won the game in relief of starting pitcher Chris Van Cuyk. For the 1st 3/4ers of the season, the Dodgers would have the edge over the Giants. Even the arrival of Willie Mays from the minor leagues in May didn't help much at first. But in mid-August, things began to change, resulting in the game that would make Bobby Thomson the Bill Barilko of baseball.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 6-3 at Fenway Park in Boston. Ted Williams hit a home run.

* The Boston Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-6 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-3 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-6 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the St. Louis Browns, 9-1 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* And a game at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis was rained out, and rescheduled for June 29. And they still couldn't find a winner: The Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals were tied 6-6 after 9 innings, when it rained again, and it was called. The next day's game was rained out, too. Eventually, the June 30 game was made up, but the April 21/June 29 game never was.

Also, Arsenal drew with Bolton Wanderers, 1-1 at Highbury in North London.

And actor Tony Danza was born on this day.