October 1, 1988: Steffi Graf Wins the Golden Slam

October 1, 1988: Steffi Graf, as I mentioned earlier, had already won the Grand Slam. She goes one better: In the first Olympics in which tennis was a medal sport, she wins the Gold Medal -- making what remains, for either men or women, the only "Golden Slam."

Going into 1988, the native of Mannheim, Germany was 18, and had one major to her name, the 1987 French Open. She won the Australian Open on January 23, beating veteran Chris Evert, 6-1, 7-6. On June 4, she repeated as French Open champion, not losing a game in the Final, against Soviet player Natalia Zvereva.

Wimbledon would be a harder nut to crack. She got to the Final, and was up against the best woman Wimbledon had yet seen, Martina Navratilova. Martina took the 1st set, 7-5. But Steffi came back strong, winning the next 2 sets, 6-2 and 6-1.

On September 10, she went into Flushing Meadow, and took the court for the Final of the U.S. Open, against Argentine star Gabriela Sabatini. Graf won the 1st set, 6-3. Sabatini won the 2nd set, 6-3. Suddenly, the Steffi Slam was in doubt. But she removed all down, beating Gabby, 6-1, and finishing the Slam. She matched Maureen Connolly in 1953 and Margaret Court in 1970.

But neither Connolly nor Court had a chance to achieve a "Golden Slam." Off to the Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea, where tennis was a competitive sport for the 1st time since 1924. As with the U.S. and Australian Opens, it was on a hard court, as opposed to the grass of Wimbledon and the clay of the French Open. Miloslav Mečíř of Czechoslovakia won the Gold Medal in men's singles, defeating American Tim Mayotte. Graf played Sabatini in the Final again, and won, 6-3, 6-3. The 1st Golden Slam was done.

Graf won 3 out of 4 majors 4 more times, missing in the French in 1989 and 1993, and the Australian in 1995 and 1996. When her career was over, she had won 22 majors: Wimbledon 7 times, the French Open 6 times, the U.S. Open 5 times, and the Australian Open 4 times.

She topped the Golden Slam in 1999, by joining with President Jed Bartlet to win a mixed doubles match against White House Communications Director Toby Ziegler and Press Secretary C.J. Cregg. Sadly, this match took place prior to the pilot episode of The West Wing, and was only alluded to early in the first season, so we never got to see it.

In 2001, she married Andre Agassi, winner of 4 Australian Opens, 2 U.S. Opens, Wimbledon in 1992, the French Open in 1999, and a 1996 Olympic Gold Medal, for a career Golden Slam. They have a son and a daughter, and live in the suburbs of Agassi's hometown of Las Vegas.

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October 1, 1988 was a Saturday. I'm originally from Bloomfield, New Jersey, but the family moved before I could go to Bloomfield High School. That day, BHS broke a 40-game football winless streak, 39 losses and a tie going back 1983, beating Paramus Catholic, 7-0. I was there, my 1st game at Bloomfield's Foley Field. The night before, I saw my actual Alma Mater, East Brunswick High School, beat Edison, 29-18.

Among the major college football games played that day were these:

* Number 1 Miami beat Missouri, 55-0 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

* Number 2 University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) beat Number 16 University of Washington, 24-17 at Husky Stadium in Seattle.

* Number 3 University of Southern California beat Arizona, 38-15 at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Arizona. USC won the Pacific-Ten Conference title.

* Number 4 Auburn beat North Carolina, 47-21 at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama. Auburn won the Southeastern Conference title.

* Number 5 Notre Dame beat Stanford, 42-14 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. Notre Dame went on to beat Miami in this season's "Game of the Century."

* Number 6 Florida State beat Tulane, 48-28 at the Superdome in New Orleans. Florida State were invited to the Sugar Bowl, and beat Auburn.

* Number 7 West Virginia beat Virginia Tech, 22-10 at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Virginia. There was no Big East Conference for football at this point, but West Virginia would have won it. They were invited to the Fiesta Bowl, to play what amounted to a National Championship decider against Notre Dame, but lost.

* Number 8 South Carolina beat Appalachian State, 35-9 at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina.

* Number 9 Nebraska beat the University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV), 48-6 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. Nebraska won the Big Eight Conference title, but lost the Orange Bowl to Miami, for whom the Orange Bowl stadium was their home field. This was not the first time this happened to Nebraska.

* Number 10 Oklahoma beat Iowa State, 35-7 at Owen Field in Norman, Oklahoma.

* Number 17 Florida upset Number 14 Louisiana State University (LSU), 19-6 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida.

* Number 19 Michigan beat Wisconsin, 62-14 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. Michigan won the Big Ten Conference title, but lost the Rose Bowl to USC.

* Arkansas, not ranked at the time, beat Texas Christian University (TCU), 53-10 at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Arkansas won the Southwest Conference title, but lost to UCLA in the Cotton Bowl.

* Among the service academies, Army beat Bucknell, 58-10 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York; Navy beat Yale, 41-7 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland; and Air Force beat New Mexico, 63-14 at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

* And Rutgers beat the University of Cincinnati, 38-9 at the original Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey.

The regular season of Major League Baseball was winding up. These games were played on the next-to-last day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Detroit Tigers, 6-5 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Old warhorses Tommy John and Doyle Alexander started, neither of them making it through 6 innings. The Yankees got home runs from Claudell Washington, Randy Velarde and, yes, Ken Phelps. Don Mattingly went 1-for-5. Rickey Henderson went 3-for-5. Dave Winfield was injured. Chet Lemon's home run off Neil Allen in the bottom of the 8th made the difference.

* The New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-3 at Shea Stadium. Lenny Dykstra hit a home run, in support of Sid Fernandez. The Mets had won the National League Eastern Division title, and were probably the most talented team in baseball. But they blew it in the NL Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Montreal Expos, 5-4 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Mike Schmidt, in what turned out to be his last full season, did not play.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Red Sox, 1-0 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. John Farrell pitched 8 innings of 3-hit shutout ball, and Doug Jones pitched a perfect 9th. Sox starter Jeff Sellers allowed only 1 hit in 7 1/3rd innings, but it was a home run by Luis Medina in the bottom of the 8th.

The 1988 American League Eastern Division race was a wild ride. The Red Sox won the Division with a record of 89-73, the Detroit Tigers were 1 game back, the Milwaukee Brewers and the Toronto Blue Jays 2 each, and the Yankees 3 1/2. Five teams within three and a half games. Injuries and needing 1 more quality starting pitcher did the Yankees in. The Indians were 11 back, and the Baltimore Orioles, who got off to the worst start in MLB history, 21 straight losses to open the season, were 34 1/2 back, 54-107.

And yet, the Red Sox lost the AL Championship Series to the Oakland Athletics, getting swept in 4 straight.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-3 at Exhibition Stadium. Cal Ripken went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-2 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-7 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Barry Bonds did not play.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the California Angels, 10-5 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-0 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. Mélido Turpen Gross Pérez pitched a 2-hit shutout, no walks, 10 strikeouts, outpitching Mark Gubicza, who had won 20 games. Steve Lyons and Mike Diaz each got 3 hits. George Brett went 0-for-4.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Houston Astros, 6-3 at the Astrodome in Houston. Tony Gwynn went 2-for-3.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants, 2-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The Dodgers went on to upset the Mets in the NLCS, and upset the Oakland Athletics in the World Series.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Oakland Athletics, 8-3 at the Oakland Coliseum.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers, 4-3 at the Kingdome in Seattle. The M's blew a 3-0 lead after 7 innings, but won the game in the 11th, on a home run by Scott Bradley.

And in English soccer, Arsenal crossed from North London to East London, and beat West Ham United, 4-1 at Upton Park. Arsenal went on to win the Football League title the following May.

September 6, 1953: Maureen Connolly Wins the Grand Slam

September 6, 1953: The Finals of tennis' U.S. Open are played at the Forest Hills Stadium in Queens. Tony Trabert wins men's singles. Women's singles is won by Maureen Connolly. She becomes the 1st woman ever to win tennis' "Grand Slam."

Maureen Catherine Connolly was born on September 17, 1934 in San Diego. Her parents divorced when she was 3 years old, and she took up tennis because it was easier for her single mother to afford than her original passion, horseback riding. In 1951, she won the U.S. Open, making her the youngest player to win it up to that time.

In 1952, she won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Plane travel was making it easier to travel long distances relatively quickly. Prior to this era, due to the distance involved, many Australian tennis stars didn't travel to the other major tennis-playing countries, and many players from those countries found the trip to Australia not worth it. But on January 17, 1953, Connolly beat fellow American Julia Sampson, 6-3, 6-2, to win the Australian Open.

On May 31, she beat fellow American Doris Hart, 6-2, 6-4, to win the French Open. She had now won all 4 majors, and all in a row. But no one considered this to be "the Grand Slam": It had to be all 4 in the same calendar year. On July 3, she beat Hart again, 8-6, 7-5, to win Wimbledon.

She reached the Final at Forest Hills on September 6, and Hart stood in her way again. It was no contest: Connolly won, 6-2, 6-4. She had won the Grand Slam.

Her streak of 6 straight majors ended in the 1954 Australian Open, because she stayed home rather than defend her title, but she won the French and Wimbledon that year, giving her 9 majors. There would be no more. She had intended to turn professional after the 1954 U.S. Open, thus making her, under the rules of the time, ineligible for the majors.

But on July 20, 1954, the choice was taken from her: She was riding her horse when a truck spooked horse, throwing her against the truck, breaking her leg. She would never play tennis again, and was only 19. She sued for loss of professional income, and won $95,000.

In 1955, she married a fellow horse-lover, Norman Brinker, a member of the 1952 U.S. Olympic equestrian team. They had 2 daughters, Cindy and Brenda. Living in Norman's hometown of Dallas, Maureen earned a degree from Southern Methodist University. Norman became a restaurant magnate, running Jack in the Box, and founding Steak and Ale, Bennigan's, and Chili's. But Maureen developed ovarian cancer, and died on June 21, 1969. She was only 34 years old. Shortly after her death, Connolly was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

In 1957, she published an autobiography titled Forehand Drive. She wrote, "I have always believed greatness on a tennis court was my destiny, a dark destiny, at times, where the court became my secret jungle and I a lonely, fear-stricken hunter. I was a strange little girl armed with hate, fear, and a Golden Racket."

*

September 6, 1953 was a Sunday. These baseball games were played:

* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat their arch-rivals, the New York Giants, 6-3 at the Polo Grounds. Preacher Roe went the distance for the win. Roy Campanella and Jackie Robinson hit home runs for Dem Bums. Alvin Dark and Bobby Thomson hit home runs for the Jints. Not available, due to serving in the Korean War, were Willie Mays of the Giants and Don Newcombe of the Dodgers.

* The Boston Red Sox swept a doubleheader from the Philadelphia Athletics, 8-4 and 4-0 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Ted Williams, having returned from the Korean War, went 2-for-2 with a home run, 2 walks and an RBI in the 1st game, then got the 2nd game off. Mickey McDermott pitched a 6-hit shutout in that 2nd game.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-2 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Chicago Cubs swept a doubleheader from the Cincinnati Reds, 7-6 and 7-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Just 11 days later, Ernie Banks would make his major league debut, as the 1st black player, and maybe the greatest player, in Cub history.

* A doubleheader was played at Milwaukee County Stadium. The Milwaukee Braves won the opener, 3-1. Eddie Mathews hit a home run. Bob Buhl was the winning pitcher, with Warren Spahn notching a save. The nightcap was tied, 3-3 after 8 innings. According to Retrosheet, the game was called due to darkness, but that doesn't make any sense: Already, every ballpark in the major leagues, except for Wrigley Field, had lights. A Sunday curfew, with play having to stop at a specific time, is more likely. Over the 2 games, Stan Musial went 3-for-8 with a solo home run.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the St. Louis Browns, 5-2 at Busch Stadium (formerly Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis.

* And the New York Yankees and the Washington Senators were rained out at Griffith Stadium in Washington. The Yankees were running away with the American League Pennant, and the game was never rescheduled.

July 5, 1957: Althea Gibson Wins Wimbledon

July 5, 1957: Althea Gibson wins the ladies' singles title at Wimbledon, defeating fellow American Darlene Hard, 6-3 and 6-2. This made her the 1st black person to win Wimbledon.

Gibson had already become the 1st African-American to win a "major" or "Grand Slam" tennis event, the 1956 French Open. But Wimbledon was the tennis tournament. So it made the achievement considerably more hyped than her win at Roland Garros the year before.

She would go on to win the U.S. Open that year as well. The following year, she won both tournaments again.

It would take until 1968 for a black man to win the U.S. Open, and 1975 for one to win Wimbledon. In both cases, it was Arthur Ashe. It would take until 1971 for another black woman to win Wimbledon, the Aboriginal Australian Evonne Goolagong. It would take until 1999 for another black woman to win the U.S. Open, Serena Williams; and 2000 for another African-American woman to win Wimbledon, Venus Williams.

Born in South Carolina and raised in Harlem, she became one of the earliest black women to win LPGA tournaments. She was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1971. She lived out her life in East Orange, New Jersey, and worked with the Essex County Parks Department. By the late 1980s, her health turned bad, and she was unable to appear in public. When the Williams sisters began winning major tournaments, she wrote them an open letter, thanking them for picking up the torch.

Gibson died on September 28, 2003, at the age of 76. Because of her work with the Parks Department, a statue of her was placed in Branch Brook Park in Newark.

*

July 5, 1957 was a Friday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Washington Senators, 5-3 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Singles by Bill "Moose" Skowron and Yogi Berra in the top of the 10th inning made a winning pitcher of Art Ditmar, in relief of Tom Sturdivant. Mickey Mantle went 1-for-3 with 2 walks and an RBI.

* The New York Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 11-6 at the Polo Grounds. Johnny Antonelli was the winning pitcher. Willie Mays pinch-hit, and drew a walk. The Giants got home runs by 2 old heroes, Dusty Rhodes and the recently reacquired Bobby Thomson; and by Gail Harris and Eddie Bressoud.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-5 at Ebbets Field. Roy Campanella hit a 3-run homer off Robin Roberts in the 8th inning to give Dem Bums a come-from-behind win.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-5 at Fenway Park in Boston. Ted Williams went 1-for-4 with an RBI. For the Orioles, Gus Triandos hit 2 home runs. Brooks Robinson did not play.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Athletics, 8-4 at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. Al Kaline went 1-for-4.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 14-4 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Milwaukee Braves, 7-4 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Ernie Banks went 0-for-3 with a walk. Hank Aaron went 2-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBIs.

* And the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Redlegs (as the Reds were known from 1954 to 1958), 4-3 at the 1st Busch Stadium (formerly the last Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis. Joe Cunningham doubled home the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning. Stan Musial went 1-for-5. Frank Robinson went 1-for-4 with a walk.

Also, Doug Wilson, an 8-time NHL All-Star defenseman for the Chicago Blackhawks, and the 1st Captain of the San Jose Sharks, was born on this day.

June 5, 1971: Evonne Goolagong, Aboriginal Champion

June 5, 1971: Evonne Goolagong wins the Women's Singles tournament at the French Open, at Stade Roland Garros in Paris. She defeats her fellow Australian, Helen Gouray, 6-3, 7-5. Goolagong did not lose a single set during the tournament.

It was all the more remarkable in that she was still a teenager, and also that it was her 1st "major" tennis tournament. She was also the 1st Aboriginal Australian to become a well-known sports star.

Evonne Fay Goolagong was born on July 31, 1951 in Griffith, New South Wales, Australia. New South Wales is the same State that Sydney is in, but Griffith is no suburb: It's 350 miles to the west, deep into the Outback.

She grew up during the time of "the Stolen Generations," from 1905 to 1967, when, as part of the "White Australia Policy," the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent were removed from their families by the Australian federal and State government agencies and church missions, under acts of their respective parliaments. She was directly impacted by it, saying:

Lucky not to be taken away by the stolen generation, because I've had to hide a few times under the bed. We visited my cousin in Griffith, which is where I was born, in the mission there. Every time a shiny car would come down the road, my mum used to say, "You better run and hide. The welfare man's going to take you away." So I remember hiding very nervously under the bed, 'cause I didn't want to get taken away.

Despite this widespread disadvantage and prejudice, Goolagong was able to play tennis in Barellan from childhood, thanks to an area resident, Bill Kurtzman, who saw her peering through the fence at the local courts, and encouraged her to come in and play.

After winning the French Open, a few weeks later, she won Wimbledon. She won 4 straight Australian Opens: 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1977. She didn't complete the career Grand Slam, though, going 0-for-4 in U.S. Open Finals.

In 1975, she married former junior British tennis player Roger Cawley, who also became her manager. They moved to America, and settled in Naples, Florida. She played the 1976 U.S. Open while pregnant, and her daughter, Kelly Cawley, was born the following Spring. (Until 1985, the Australian Open was held in December. There was no 1986 Australian Open, and since 1987 it's been held in January.)

In, 1980, she won Ladies' Singles at Wimbledon for the 2nd time, making her the 1st mother to win the title in 66 years. The following year, her son, Morgan Cawley, was born. He went on to play in Australia's National Soccer League (The A-League).

Evonne also won 6 majors in women's doubles, and the 1972 French Open in mixed doubles. While she was never a member of a Davis Cup team, she helped Australia win the Federation Cup (now the Billie Jean King Cup) in 1971, 1973 and 1974. She retired from competitive tennis in 1983.

She went on to do commercials for Sears, which sold her "Go Goolagong" clothing line; Kentucky Fried Chicken, which is very popular on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, particularly in Australia and Japan; and Geritol: In a popular ad in 1984, Kelly taunted, "Mommy beat Daddy!" but Evonne mentioned it wasn't easy, saying she had become anemic after Morgan (with her accent, I thought at the time that his name was "Malcolm") was born, and that her doctor had prescribed Geritol.

She was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1988. Since 2005, she has run the Goolagong National Development Camp for Indigenous girls and boys, using tennis to promote better health, education and employment, and operates in the suburbs of Sydney.

*

June 5, 1971 was a Thursday. Actor Mark Wahlberg, formerly the rapper Marky Mark, was born.

These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Kansas City Royals, 11-7 at Yankee Stadium. The Royals scored 6 runs in the top of the 7th inning. Roy White hit a home run for the Yankees.

* The New York Mets lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Don Sutton allowed 8 hits in 5 innings, while Pete Mikkelsen allowed 2 over 4, but they kept a shutout. The losing pitcher was Nolan Ryan. Steve Garvey hit a home run.

* The California Angels beat the Boston Red Sox, 3-2 at Fenway Park in Boston. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-4.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Washington Senators, 6-1 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington. Jim "Catfish" Hunter was the winning pitcher. Sal Bando and Rick Monday hit home runs. Reggie Jackson went 2-for-5 with an RBI.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Chicago Cubs, 6-4 at Atlanta Stadium (later Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). The Cubs scored a run in the top of the 11th, but in the bottom of the 11th, Mike Lum hit a 3-run home run to win the game. Ernie Banks, in his final season, did not play. Hank Aaron only appeared as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.

* The Houston Astros beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-1 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Larry Dierker outpitched Steve Blass. The Pirates went on to win the World Series, anyway. Roberto Clemente appeared as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base. Willie Stargell went 2-for-4.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Joe Hague hit 2 home runs for the Cards. Lou Brock went 3-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Pete Rose appeared as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base. Johnny Bench went 1-for-4.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-3 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Al Kaline went 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 12-4 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Jim Palmer went the distance for the win. Paul Blair hit a grand slam. Frank Robinson went 3-for-3 with 2 walks. Brooks Robinson went 2-for-6.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Minnesota Twins, 10-2 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Ray Fosse went 2-for-5 with 4 RBIs. Graig Nettles went 4-for-6 with 3 RBIs. Eddie Leon went 4-for-5. Ray Lamb outpitched Jim Kaat. Harmon Killebrew went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Rod Carew did not play.

* The Montreal Expos beat the San Diego Padres, 2-1 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium).

* And the Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Francisco 49ers, 5-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Willie Mays appeared as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.

May 23, 1891: The 1st French Open

Stade Roland Garros

May 23, 1891: The 1st Championnat de France is held, at the Societé de Sport de Île de Puteaux, in the western suburbs of Paris. The tennis tournament eventually became known in English as the French Open. It is won by an Englishman, whose name is listed only as "H. Briggs," said at the time to be living in Paris. Nothing else is known of him today.

After Briggs, the tournament's men's singles was won only by Frenchmen until 1933, when Australia's Jack Crawford won it. The 1st American winner was Don Budge, as part of his "Grand Slam" in 1938.

Women were first admitted as competitors in 1897. Adine Masson won the singles title. The 1st non-French woman to win was Kea Bouman of the Netherlands in 1927. The following year, Helen Wills Moody became the 1st American woman to win.

Among the 4 majors, or Grand Slam, tournaments, only the French Open is held on a clay court. Few other notable tournaments are held on clay, including the Spanish Open. As a result of the unusual surface, the tournament is prone to upsets, and some of the sport's greatest players have found winning it to be difficult.

So it is not surprising that the 2 players who have won men's singles the most times have been experienced clay-court players. Max Decugis, of France, won it 8 times, from 1903 to 1914. But he has been far surpassed by Rafael Nadal of Spain: From 2005 to 2020, he has won it 13 times. (UPDATE: He made it 14 in 2022.) No American has won it more than twice: Frank Parker in 1948 and '49, Tony Trabert in 1954 and '55, and Jim Courier in 1991 and '92.

Adine Masson won the women's singles 5 times, the last in 1903. This would be topped by France's greatest tennis player, of either gender, Suzanne Lenglen, who won it 6 times, from 1920 to 1926. Chris Evert has now won it the most, 7 times between 1974 and 1986.

The tournament was not held from 1915 to 1919, due to World War I; in 1940, due to the Nazi invasion during World War II. Other than that, it has been held every year since 1891, including during the Nazi occupation from 1941 to 1944. (The Germans have liked tennis since it became a major sport.)

The current main stadium, in the XVIth arrondisement of Paris, is Stade Roland Garros, which opened in 1928. Roland Garros was an aviation pioneer, before becoming a fighter pilot in World War I. He was shot down in 1915 and, though he survived, was captured by the Germans. He escaped from a prisoner-of-war camp in 1918, and returned to the French Army, but was shot down again, on October 5, 1918, just 37 days before the Armistice that ended the war, and 1 day before his 30th birthday.

Garros did play tennis, as well as soccer and rugby, so naming the stadium after him, rather than someone else who was not a professional player, is not as odd as it sounds.

*

May 23, 1891 was a Saturday. Baseball was the only professional team sport in North America at the time. These games were played that day:

In the National League:

* The New York Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-2 at League Park in Cincinnati. The Reds played on the same site from 1884 to 1970, including from 1912 onward from the ballpark that, for most of its history, was known as Crosley Field.

* The Cleveland Spiders beat the Boston Beaneaters, 9-2 at the new League Park in Cleveland. The Beaneaters went through a few name changes before becoming the Braves in 1912. The Spiders folded after the 1899 season. They were replaced in 1901 by the American League team now known as the Cleveland Guardians.

League Park was replaced by a new park of the same name in 1910. Cleveland Municipal Stadium was built in 1931, and the team, then known as the Indians, began playing there in 1932, and played all their games there starting in 1947. 

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Colts, 3-0 at West Side Park in Chicago. The Colts became the Cubs in 1903.

In the American Association:

* The Boston Reds beat the St. Louis Browns, 7-1 at the Congress Street Grounds in Boston.

* The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Cincinnati Kelly's Killers, 7-3 at Athletic Park in Philadelphia. Mike "King" Kelly, former star catcher for the Chicago White Stockings (Colts/Cubs) and the Boston Beaneaters, was its manager.

* The Columbus Solons beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-4 at Union Park in Baltimore.

The AA folded after the season. The Boston Reds, Columbus Solons and Philadelphia Athletics folded with it. A new Philadelphia Athletics was founded in the American League in 1901.

The Orioles joined the NL, and won the Pennant in 1894, 1895 and 1896. But they folded after the 1899 season. The Browns also joined the NL, and became the Cardinals in 1900.