1950s Sports – 1952

FOOTBALL

• NFL Championship:
• Detroit Lions (17)   Cleveland Browns (7)
• This is the third time that the Browns had won their American Conference Championship to lose in the NFL Championship
• The Dallas Texans which was formed by the dissolving of the New York Yanks in 1951
  was again handed back to the NFL after posting a (1) and (11) season
• Professional football does not return to Texas until 1960
• Bill Wade, QB, Vanderbilt was the #1 draft pick of the year, he went to the Los Angeles Rams

BASEBALL

• World Series:
• (in 7 games) New York Yankee’s (4 games)   Brooklyn Dodgers (3 games)
• The Braves play their final season in Boston before being relocated to Milwaukee for financial reasons
• Ted Williams hits a two run, home run in his last game before being drafted to serve in the Marines in Korea
• The National League tops the American League, (3–2) in the All Star Game

BASKETBALL

• NBA Championship:
• (in 7 games) Minneapolis Lakers (4 games)  New York Knicks (3 games)
• This is the Lakers third Championship in four years, they would go on to win six titles
• George Mikan is the series MVP and the Sports Writers’ MVP for 1952
• New York may have lost the finals but it was their 6th consecutive playoff season
• NBA All-Star Game: Eastern Division wins (108) to Western Division (91)

Tennis

• Wimbledon:
• Mens Singles – (in a tie breaker) Frank Sedgman defeated Jaroslav Drobný (4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2)
• Womens Singles – Mo Connolly bested Louise Brough (7–5, 6–3)
• US (Open) National Championship:
• Mens Singles – Frank Sedgman over Gardnar Mulloy (6-1, 6-2, 6-3)
• Davis Cup:
• United States won the Americas Zone but lost to Australia in the Challenge Round

GOLF

• The Masters: Sam Snead shot a (286) played at Augusta National Golf Club
• U.S. Open: Julius Boros shot a (281) played at Northwood Club in Dallas, Texas
• Boros was 32 years old and wouldn’t win another major until he was in his forties
  when he would win 16 more tournaments until he was 53
• (webmaster note: Boros was a neighbor of my Father’s in Ft Lauderdale, FL and a very nice man)
• PGA Championship: Jim Turnesa shot a (289) at Big Spring Country Club in Louisville, Kentucky
• U.S. Women’s Open: Betsy Rawls shot (8 over par), she would go on to win 3 more majors

HOCKEY

• Stanley Cup:  (in a sweep)  Detroit Red Wings (4 games) Montreal Canadians (0 games)
• World Ice Hockey Championships:  Team Canada defeats Team USA for the fifteenth time  ..ouch!
• Gordie Howe is again the league MVP as well as the scored points champ
• The first televised Hockey game aired October 11, 1952 on CBC

WINTER OLYMPICS

• Held in Oslo, Norway
• Japan and (West) Germany were allowed to compete for the first time since WWII
• Norway won the total Medal count with (16) including (7) Gold
• The USA was second with (11) total and (4) Gold
• Norwegian Hjalmar Andersen was the games biggest winner taking home (3) Gold Medals for Speed Skating
• Dick Button of the United States performed the first ever triple jump to win Gold in Figure Skating

SUMMER OLYMPICS

• Held in Helsinki, Finland from July 19, 1952 to August 3, 1952
• The most number of world records were broken at these Olympic Games
• The United States won the total medal count with (76) total including (40) Gold medals
• The USSR was second with (71) totals including (22) Gold
• This was the USSR’s first Olympic appearance and first medal
• A total of (13) Countries made their Olympic debut including Bahamas, China, Ghana,
  Guatemala, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Israel, Netherlands Antilles, Nigeria, Soviet Union (USSR), Thailand, and Vietnam
• The Republic of China (Chinese Taipei/Taiwan) withdrew from the games in protest over The Peoples Republic of China (China) being admitted

CAR RACING

• Indianapolis 500:  Troy Ruttman,
  Ruttman was the youngest driver (22 years old) to win the Indianapolis 500
• The Hudson Hornet was the car of the year winning 27 of the 34 sanctioned races
  no other car company won over 3 races
• Palm Beach Speedway both opened and closed the 1952 NASCAR season the only time a track would do that
• Tim Flock won the Grand National Champion points competition
  after winning 8 of the 33 events driving of course, a Hudson

HORSE RACING

• Kentucky Derby:  Hill Gail,  Jockey – Eddie Arcaro
• Hill Gail was injured and couldn’t run in the other two legs of the Triple Crown
• Belmont Stakes:  One Count,  Jockey – Eddie Arcaro
• Preakness Stakes:  Blue Man,  Jockey – Conn McCreary