9/24/1940 - Foxx hits historic blast
Today in Sports History: September 24th
Red Sox slugger Jimmie Foxx becomes the second player to join the 500 home run club, adding his name to a list that, at the time, only featured Babe Ruth. Foxx’s shot off Philadelphia’s George Caster came when he was 32 years and 337 days old. He was almost two years younger than Ruth when he hit his 500th, and he would hold the title as the youngest to reach the home run milestone for 67 years. He lost that claim in 2007 when A-Rod slammed his 500th home run at 32 years and 8 days old.
Foxx never reached another milestone. Towards the end of his career, severe sinus headaches and a serious drinking problem took its toll, and he would only play five more seasons before hanging it up with 534 homers.
9/24/1974 - Kaline gets 3,000th hit
Tigers outfielder Al Kaline collects the 3,000th hit of his career, assuring his place in the Hall of Fame. A 15-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove winner, Kaline needed all of his 22 seasons to reach the milestone; 1974 was his final year and he would finish with "only" 3,007 career hits. In 1980, the same year he was elected to the Hall of Fame, Kaline's No. 6 jersey was retired. It was the first number the Tigers retired in their franchise's history, partially because Ty Cobb played in a time where there were no numbers on the back of uniforms.
9/24/1994 - The Miracle at Michigan
Trailing 26-21 with six seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Kordell Stewart turned a to-be-forgotten college football game between #7 Colorado and #4 Michigan into an instant classic. The Colorado quarterback took the snap, moved backwards, and launched a Hail Mary to the Michigan goal line as time expired. Michigan had defenders Ty Law and Chuck Winters in the area.
“When the ball goes up, we’re all in position, and Ty tries to intercept it,” remembered Winters. “As we jumped, both of us got hit in the legs and thrown off balance.”
Colorado backup receiver Blake Anderson beat both of them to the ball and tipped it into the end zone, where fellow receiver Mike Westbrook came down with it. The Ann Arbor crowd of 106,427 fell in complete silence as Stewart dropped to his knees in tears, the Colorado sideline mobbing Westbrook in celebration. The scoreboard remained 26-21, as though the operator didn’t want to believe what had just happened.
It was a devastating loss for Michigan, who had held a 12-point lead with two and a half minutes to go. They allowed a touchdown shortly thereafter, but recovered the onside kick and spent the better part of two minutes running out the clock. And it still wasn’t enough.
It was a tremendous season for the 11-1 Buffaloes, who finished third in the rankings while running back Rashaan Salaam won the Heisman trophy. The 64-yard Hail Mary was the highlight of both Stewart and Westbrook’s football careers. The catch has been replayed thousands of times and is considered one of the most memorable plays in college football history. Stewart went on to have eight solid years in Pittsburgh before he was replaced by XFL MVP Tommy Maddox. For Michigan, it was the most mortifying end to regular season game ever... or it was until Appalachian State upset them 13 years later.
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