1950s Sports – 1957

FOOTBALL

• NFL Championship:
  Detroit Lions (59) destroyed the Cleveland Browns (14)
• one week before the end of the season the Baltimore Colts, Detroit Lions and the San Francisco 49ers were all tied
  so a special two-week playoff series was arranged but not played because the Colts lost their last game
• MVP went to Jim Brown, running back for Cleveland

BASEBALL

• World Series:
  (in 7 games) Milwaukee Braves (4 games) topped the defending champion New York Yankees (3 games)
• Hank Aaron was the MVP with three home runs, eleven hits and seven RBI,
  Aaron had forty-four home runs and 132 RBI in the regular season
• Both the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants announce their plans to move the teams from the New York area
  the Dodgers to Los Angeles and the Giants will move to San Francisco

BASKETBALL

• NBA Championship:
• (in 7 games)  Boston Celtics (4 games) over the St. Louis Hawks (3 games)
• Boston was the defending champ and Bob Cousy the defending MVP, both repeated their prior victories
• Boston had a new secret weapon, the rookie Bill Russell set a record for most rebounds per game for a rookie
• Bob Pettit once again led the pack with the most field goals and free throws

Tennis

• Wimbleton: Men’s Singles
  (Australian) Lew Hoad over (Australian) Ashley Cooper in straight sets (6-2, 6-1, 6-2)
• Wimbleton: Women’s Singles
  (American) Althea Gibson trounced Darlene Hard (6-3, 6-2)
• Gibson would go on to also win the Womens US Open, the first black woman to win either
• US (Open) National Championship: (Australian) Malcolm Anderson defeated (Australian) Ashley Cooper (10-8, 7-5, 6-4)
• Davis Cup:  Australia again dominates, beating the U.S. in the challange round,
  the U.S. won the Americas, the Philippines won the Eastern amd Belgium took the European Zones

GOLF

• The Masters:  Doug Ford with a five under par (283), always played at Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, GA
• Sam Snead had led the Masters for three days but his par (72) on the last day couldn’t touch Ford’s six under (66)
• 1957 was Gary Players debut at the Masters
• U.S. Open :    Dick Mayer shot a (282) in the regular rounds but won the tournament in an 18-hole playoff against Cary Middlecoff
• U.S. Women’s Open :  Betsy Rawls shot a (299) but won by default when Jackie Pung was disqualified for a scorecard violation
• PGA Championship :  Lionel Hebert (match play) played at Miami Valley Golf Club in Dayton, Ohio
• British Open :  Bobby Locke with a (279), this was Locke’s fourth British Open win

HOCKEY

• Stanley Cup:  (in 5 games) Montreal Canadiens (4 games) over the Boston Bruins (1 game)
  this is the Candiens seventh Final in a row and their second consecutive win
• Boston won a suprising upset victory against the Detroit Red Wings to win their place in the Final
• The seemingly unstoppable Gordie Howe is again the league MVP as well as the scored points champ
• World Ice Hockey Championships:  While most of the Western nations boycotted the games, Sweden pulled an upset victory over the U.S.S.R.

BOXING

• • World Heavyweight Championship: Defending champ Floyd Patterson successfully fought Tommy (Hurricane) Jackson to a tenth round TKO
    and 30 days later defended the Title against Pete Rademacher, who was the 1956 Olympic games heavyweight champion, in a sixth round knockout
  • Light Heavyweight Title: was defended by Archie Moore knocking out Tony Anthony in seven rounds
  • World Middleweight Title: was lost, regained and lost again by Ray Robinson who lost a fifteen round decision to Gene Fullmer
    but five months later defeated him in a five round knockout
    Carmen Basilio the world welterweight champ then defeated Robinson in a fifteen round split decision to gain the Middleweight Title

CAR RACING

• Indianapolis 500:  Sam Hanks average speed was 129.502 mph, his qualifying speed was 142.81 mph
  Hanks drove a George Salih designed car with a revolutionary new engine design,the Salih built car would win again in 1958
• Chrysler found itself in last place after Kiekhaefer’s departure from auto racing, Ford and Chevy were now the cars to beat
• About mid-season the big three auto makers suddenly quit their lavish spending on racing cars when the Automobile Manufacturers Association
  decided that giving race inspired cars to the public was not only fooloish but dangerous as well
• NASCAR Grand National Championship:  Buck Baker won the points chase having (10) checkered flags and (38) out of (40) top ten finishes
  Marvin Panch finished second with (6) wins

HORSE RACING

• Kentucky Derby:  Iron Liege, Jockey – Bill Hartack
  in a bizzare incident, Gallant Man and Iron Liege were neck and neck when Willie Shoemaker Gallant Man’s jockey suddenly stood up in the stirrups thinking he had hit the finish line, by time he corrected his mistake he couldn’t catch up tp Iron Liege
• Preakness Stakes:  Bold Ruler ridden by Eddie Arcaro
• Belmont Stakes:   Gallant Man, Jockey – Willie Shoemaker

TRACK

• Don Bowden, a U.S. runner, breaks the 4 minute mile and the record
• The first American since 1945, John Kelley, wins the Boston Marathon