Today in Sports History: July 25th

7/25/1941 - Grove gets 300th win

At 41 years old, Robert Moses "Lefty" Grove of the Boston Red Sox wins the 300th game of his career. Grove had a fantastic run as the ace pitcher of the Philadelphia Athletics; from 1929 to 1931, in the three years Philadelphia won the pennant, Lefty went 20-6, 28-5, and 31-4. He had eight seasons with at least 20 wins, led the league in strikeouts in his first seven seasons, led the league in ERA nine times, and finished with a .680 winning percentage, still one of the highest of all time.

Grove's win would be his last, making him the first pitcher to end his career with exactly 300 victories. 22 years later, Early Wynn would also end on 300 wins.

7/25/1990 - Roseanne butchers the anthem

Imagine, if you will, pulling your car out of the driveway and accidentally backing over a cat's tail. And as the creature shrieked for help, you instead put a microphone to its mouth and the cat was singing the Star-Spangled Banner. That my friends is the best way to describe Roseanne Barr's rendition of the National Anthem at Jack Murphy Stadium. Even Carl Lewis was rolling over in his grave after this performance (at least he didn't grab his crotch and spit on the ground).

Roseanne received an enormous amount of negative press from all corners. The New York Post had her on the cover for two straight days, and many thought it was unpatriotic. Even the first president Bush thought her singing was "disgraceful" (Of course, Bush also said The Simpsons was a bad influence on America, so take that for what it's worth).