AP Sportlight

Published April 16, 2014 12:30PM (EDT)

April 17

1939 — Joe Louis knocks out Jack Roper at 2:20 of the first round in Los Angeles to retain the world heavyweight title.

1976 — Mike Schmidt hits four consecutive home runs and drives in eight runs as the Philadelphia Phillies overcome a 13-2 deficit to beat the Cubs 18-16 in 10 innings at Chicago's Wrigley Field.

1982 — The Denver Nuggets' Alex English, Dan Issel and Kiki Vandeweghe each average 20 points a game, the first front court to do so since Bob Pettit, Cliff Hagan and Clyde Lovellette of St. Louis in 1961.

1987 — Julius Erving of the Philadelphia 76ers becomes the third player to score 30,000 points in his pro career. Erving scores 38 points to join Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

1989 — Abebe Mekonnen pulls away from Juma Ikangaa of Tanzania, the runner-up for the second consecutive year, with about 1½ miles left for a 48-second victory in the Boston Marathon.

1994 — Carl Lewis and his Santa Monica Track Club teammates rewrite their world record in the 800-meter relay at the Mt. San Antonio College Relays. Lewis, Mike Marsh, Leroy Burrell and Floyd Heard are timed at 1:18.68, breaking the record of 1:19.11 they had set on April 25, 1992.

1995 — Kenya's Cosmas Ndeti wins the Boston Marathon for the third straight year and Germany's Uta Pippig captures the women's title for the second consecutive year.

1995 — Wayne Gretzky reaches 2,500 career points when he sets up a power-play goal by Rob Blake in Los Angeles' 5-2 loss to Calgary.

1997 — The New Jersey Devils' Martin Brodeur becomes the second NHL goalie to score in the playoffs. Brodeur's empty net goal caps a three-goal third period that gives the Devils a 5-2 win and a 1-0 lead in a first-round series against Montreal.

1999 — Quarterbacks go 1-2-3 in the NFL Draft as Tim Couch, Donovan McNabb and Akili Smith go to Cleveland, Philadelphia and Cincinnati — the first quarterback trifecta since 1971.

2001 — Barry Bonds becomes the 17th major leaguer to hit 500 home runs. Bonds' two-run, eighth-inning drive off Terry Adams leads the San Francisco Giants over the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2.

2006 — Robert Cheruiyot sets a course record in the Boston Marathon as he and women's winner Rita Jeptoo pull off a Kenyan sweep. Cheruiyot, the 2003 champion, finishes in 2:07:14, one second better than the winning time fellow Kenyan Cosmas Ndeti had in 1994. Jeptoo pulls away with about 2 miles left, becoming the sixth Kenyan woman to claim the title in seven years.

2006 — Sidney Crosby, scores three assists in Pittsburgh's 6-1 win over the New York Islanders to become the youngest player in NHL history to score 100 points in a season. The 18-year-old becomes the seventh NHL rookie to reach the 100-point mark.

2009 — Bill Guerin scores his second goal of the game during a rare 5-on-3 power-play as Pittsburgh wins 3-2 against Philadelphia. The goal is the second 5-on-3 overtime tally in the playoffs since at least 1933.

2010 — Ubaldo Jimenez pitches the first no-hitter in the Colorado Rockies' 18-year history, dominating the Atlanta Braves in a 4-0 victory.

2011 — Memphis earns the first playoff victory in franchise history with a 101-98 win over top-seeded San Antonio. New Orleans stuns the two-time defending NBA champion and the No. 2 seed Los Angeles Lakers 109-100. The losses mark the first time the top two seeds lost the opening game.

2011 — Jimmie Johnson wins the Aaron's 499, edging Clint Bowyer by about a foot. The official margin of 0.002 seconds, ties for the closest finish in NASCAR Sprint Cup history.

2013 — The Miami Heat wrap up the regular season with a 105-93 win over Orlando. The Heat (66-16) becomes the 14th team in NBA history to finish with a winning percentage over .800. Orlando finishes with the NBA's worst record, 20-62.

2013 — The Charlotte Bobcats defeat Cleveland 105-98, to become the first team in NBA history to triple their win total from the previous season. Charlotte (21-61) finished last year's lockout-shortened season 7-59 and its .106 winning percentage was the worst ever.


By Compiled By Paul Montella



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