THE 1900s: SPORTS: PEOPLE IN THE NEWS
On 30 April 1904 Aaron L. "Dixie Kid" Brown defeated Joe Walcott for the world welterweight boxing championship. In late 1904 he outgrew the welterweight title and fought successfully as a middleweight.
From 1899 to 1901 Dwight F. Davis captured three consecutive United States Lawn Tennis Association doubles championships. In 1901 he initiated the Davis Cup tennis tournament between the United States and Great Britain.
Playing in the "deadball era," Harry H. Davis, of the Philadelphia Athletics, led the American League in home runs for four consecutive seasons, with 10 in 1904, 8 in 1905, 12 in 1906, and 8 in 1907.
In 1904 Norman Dole became the first pole vaulter to clear twelve feet, with a vault of 12' 1 1/2".
From 1903 to 1906 Walter Eckersall led the University of Chicago football team to a 31-4-2 record through the execution of brilliant strategy, dropkicking, punting, blocking, and tackling.
Competing in the standing high jump, standing long jump, and standing triple jump, Ray Ewry won a total often Olympic gold medals from 1900 to 1908.
From 1897 to 1909 John Flanagan dominated the hammer throw, winning seven Amateur Athletic Union titles and three Olympic gold medals and setting eight world records, with a lifetime best throw of 184' 8".
In 1904 Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company, established a land motor speed record of 91.37 MPH. Throughout the decade he developed race cars, including the Model T that won the transcontinental race from New York to Seattle in 1909.
George Gaidzik won the first three national platform diving championships from 1909 to 1911.
From 1902 to 1908 Joe Gans held the world lightweight boxing title. Regarded as the greatest lightweight ever, Gans recorded 120 victories, 8 losses, 10 draws, and 18 no-decisions.
From 1906 to 1917 Frank Gotch held the American professional wrestling championship, posting a career record of 394 wins and 6 losses.
Archie Hahn, who equaled the world record of 9.8 seconds in the 100-yard dash in 1901, won Amateur Athletic Union titles in the 100-yard dash in 1903 and the 220-yard dash in 1903 and 1905. In the 1904 Olympic Games he won the 60-, 100-, and 200-meter dashes; in 1908 he defended his Olympic title in the 100 meters.
In 1908 Johnny Hayes won the first Olympic marathon contested at the now-standard distance of 26.2 miles.
From 1901 to 1904 University of Michigan halfback Willie Heston scored 93 touchdowns and averaged 113 yards rushing per game in leading the Wolverines to a record of 43 wins, 0 losses, and 1 tie.
Harry Hillman captured Amateur Athletic Union titles in the 220-yard low hurdles in 1904 and 1906 and the 440-yard dash in 1903 and 1908. In the 1904 Olympic Games he won gold medals in the 200-meter low hurdles, 400-meter intermediate hurdles, and 400-meter dash, setting a world record of 49.2 seconds.
On 9 June 1899 James J. Jeffries knocked out Bob Fitzsimmons for the world heavyweight boxing title. He retired in 1905, though he returned to the ring to challenge Jack Johnson, who soundly defeated him to retain the heavyweight title in 1910.
In 1901 Byron Bancroft "Ban" Johnson, president of the Western League, organized the American Baseball League as a rival to the National League and served as its president, secretary, and treasurer from 1901 to 1927.
Napoleon Lajoie, who played for the Philadelphia Athletics and the Cleveland Indians, led the American League in batting average in 1901 (.405), 1903 (.355), and 1904 (.381). He was the home run leader in 1901 with 13.
Sam Leever of the Pittsburgh Pirates led National League pitchers in 1901 with 19 wins, 6 losses; in 1903 with 25 wins, 7 losses; and in 1905 with 20 wins, 5 losses.
Joe McGinnity of the New York Giants led National League pitchers in 1900 with 20 wins, 6 losses. He was the top winner in 1904 with 35 wins, 8 losses.
As manager of the New York Giants John McGraw directed his team to the National League pennant in 1904 and 1905. After refusing to play the Boston Red Sox in the 1904 World Series, his team won the world title in 1905, defeating the Philadelphia Athletics.
Elisabeth H. Moore won the United States Lawn Tennis Association singles title in 1896, 1903, and 1905; doubles in 1896 and 1903; and mixed doubles in 1902 and 1904. In 1907 she captured the first indoor singles championship and in 1908 the indoors doubles championship.
On 20 December 1905 Philadelphia Jack O'Brien knocked out Bob Fitzsimmons for the world light heavyweight boxing championship. He retired as the champion in 1912, never having to defend the title.
At the 1904 Olympic Games in Saint Louis George Poage of the University of Wisconsin and the Milwaukee Athletic Club became the first African American Olympic medalist, winning bronze medals in the 200- and 400-meter hurdles.
Meyer Prinstein captured Amateur Athletic Union long jump titles in 1898, 1902, and 1906. In the 1900 Olympic Games he won the silver medal in the long jump and the gold medal in the triple jump. Besides defending his Olympic title in the triple jump in 1904, Prinstein also captured the long jump. He won the long jump as well in the 1906 Olympic Games.
Harry C. Pulliam served as president of baseball's National League from 1903 to 1909.
From 1907 to 1910 Ralph Rose won the Amateur Athletic Union shot put title. He won the Olympic shot put title in 1904 and 1908. In putting the shot 51' in 1909 he became the first man to go beyond 50'. Rose garnered the silver medal in both the shot put and discus throw in the 1912 Olympic Games.
Pitcher Ed Ruelbach of the Chicago Cubs led the National League in victories with 19 wins, 4 losses in 1906; 17 wins, 4 losses in 1907; and 24 wins, 7 losses in 1908.
From 1904 to 1908 Adolph George Schultz excelled as an interior lineman for the University of Michigan.
Mel Sheppard captured the Amateur Athletic Union 880-yard dash in 1906, 1907, 1908, 1911, and 1912.
He won gold medals in the 800 meters and the 1,500 meters in the 1908 Olympic Games and a silver medal in the 800 meters in 1912. Sheppard established a world record of 1:52.8 for 800 meters in the 1908 Olympic Games.
Martin Sheridan reigned as the Amateur Athletic Union champion in the discus throw in 1904, 1906, 1907, and 1911. He won the discus throw in the 1904, 1906, and 1908 Olympic Games. From 1902 to 1911 Sheridan set nine world records in the discus, with the last measuring 141' 4".
Amos Alonzo Stagg, the football coach at the University of Chicago (1900-1932), led his team to an undefeated season and a national championship in 1905. In his career Stagg compiled 255 victories and developed four undefeated teams as well as eleven All-Americans.
In 1904 sixteen-year-old May G. Sutton became the youngest winner of the United States Lawn Tennis Association women's singles title. As the top-ranked American throughout the decade, she won the Wimbledon singles title in 1905, becoming the first American, male or female, to win the British championship.
On 18 December 1901 Joe Walcott knocked out Rube Ferns for the world welterweight boxing championship. Although he lost the title to the Dixie Kid in 1904, he claimed it again after Kid outgrew the title later that year. He lost the title to Honey Mellody in 1906.
In 1906 seventy-year-old Edward P. Weston walked from New York City to San Francisco in one hundred days. In 1907 he completed the return trip in seventy days.
Jimmy Winkfield, riding His Eminence in 1901 and Alan-a-Dale in 1902, became the first jockey to win two consecutive Kentucky Derbys and the last African American jockey to win the Derby.
From 1901 to 1905 Fielding Yost, the football coach at the University of Michigan, led the Wolverines on a 56-game winning streak.
From 1890 to 1911 Cy Young won 508 games, with ten twenty-win seasons and five seasons of thirty or more wins.
