1920

January 3

• New York Yankees purchase Babe Ruth from Boston Red Sox for $125,000. [1]

January 4

• First Black baseball league, National Negro Baseball League, organizes. [1]

January 5

• Boston Red Sox sell Babe Ruth to New York Yankees. [1]

January 10

• Montreal Canadiens (14) and Toronto Saint Patricks (7) score NHL record 21 goals. [1]

January 12

• Annual drafting of baseball players from minor leagues to be done in inverse order of the final standings, agreed to. [1]

January 30

• Québec's Joe Malone sets NHL record of 7 goals in a game. [1]

January 31

• Joe Malone, Québec Bulldogs, sets NHL record with 7 goals in a game against Toronto. [1]

February 1

• Soccer team Quick Boys forms. [1]

February 9

• Joint Rules Commission bans foreign substances and alterations to baseballs. [1]

February 10

• Baseball outlaws all pitches involving tampering with the ball. [1]

February 12

• National League votes 6-2 for one commissioner American League votes 6-2 to keep group commission. [1]

February 13

• National Negro Baseball League organized. [1]

March 3

• Montreal Canadiens scores NHL record 16 goals beating Québec Bulldogs. [1]

March 10

• NHL's Québec Bulldog Jim Malone scores six goals versus Ottawa Senators. [1]

March 20

• US Ladies Figure Skating Championship won by Theresa Weld. [1]
• US Men's Figure Skating Championship won by Sherwin Badger. [1]

April 1

• Stanley Cup: Ottawa Senators (NHL) beat Seattle (PCHA), three games to 2. [1]

April 8

• LONGA soccer team forms in Tilburg. [1]

April 17

• American Professional Football Association forms (NFL). [1]

April 19

• 24th Boston Marathon won by Peter Trivoulidas of Greece in 2:29:31. [1]

April 20

• (to September 12) The Games of the VII Olympiad are held in Antwerp, Belgium. [7]
• Philadelphia Phillies manager Gravvy Cravath puts himself in as pinch hitter, his three-run homer and beats New York Giants 3-0. [1]

May 1

• Babe Ruth's first New York Yankees homerun and 50th of career, out of Polo Grounds. [1]
• Brooklyn Dodgers tie Boston Braves, 1-1, in 26 innings. [1]

May 2

• First game of National Negro Baseball League played in Indianapolis. [1]

May 8

• 46th Kentucky Derby: Ted Rice aboard Paul Jones wins in 2:09. [1]

May 14

• New York Giants inform New York Yankees that the lease allowing them to play in the Polo Grounds will not be renewed at end of 1920 season. [1]
• Washington Senator Walter Johnson wins his 300th game versus Detroit. [1]

May 15

• Soccer team ADO '20 forms in Heemskerk. [1]

May 17

• Maitland Hathorn cricketer (325 runs in 12 Tests South Africa 1901-11), dies. [1]

May 18

• 46th Preakness: Clarence Kummer aboard Man o' War wins in 1:51.6. [1]

June 20

• New York Yankees win protest of 1-0 Chicago White Sox win and game is replayed. [1]

July 1

• Washington Senator Walter Johnson no-hits Boston Red Sox, 1-0. [1]

July 6

• New York Yankees score team record 14 runs in one inning versus Senators. [1]

July 15

• Ruth ties his record of 29 home runs in a season. [1]

July 16

• Ruth sets season home run record with 30 en route to 54. [1]
• US wins Davis Cup sweeping Australia in five straight matches. [1]

July 25

• Boston Red Sox turn triple-play, but Ruth's 35th home run leads New York Yankees to 8-2 win. [1]

July 27

• Resolute beats Shamrock IV (England) in 14th running of America's Cup. [1]

August 8

• Detroit Tigers beat New York Yankees 1-0 in shortest American League game, 73 minutes. [1]

August 16

• Ray Chapman, of the Cleveland Indians is hit in the head by New York Yankees' Carl Mays pitch; he dies next day, only major league fatality. [1]

August 17

• Ray Chapman hit in the head by New York Yankees' Carl Mays pitch, dies. [1]

August 20

• Preliminary meeting in Akron to form American Pro Football League. [1]

August 25

• First US woman to win in Olympics (Ethelda Bleibtrey). [1]

September 12

• Games of the VII Olympiad close in Antwerp Belgium. [1]

September 17

• National Football League organized in Canton Ohio. [1]

September 25

• Vern Bradburn of Winnipeg Victorias kicks 9 singles in a game. [1]

September 28

• Eight Chicago White Sox indicted, threw 1919 World Series (Black Sox scandal). [1]

September 29

• Babe Ruth sets then home run season record at 54. [1]

October 2

• Cincinnati Reds beat Pittsburgh Pirates two games out of three in a tripleheader. [1]

October 3

• NFL (then American Pro Football Association) plays first games. [1]

October 10

• Indian's Bill Wambsganns makes first unassisted world series triple play (World Series #17). [1]
• Indian's Elmer Smith hits the first world series grand slam (World Series #17). [1]
• Phoenix Cardinals (then in Chicago) play first NFL game, a 0-0 tie. [1]

October 12

• Cleveland Indians beat Brooklyn Dodgers, five games to two in 17th World Series. [1]

October 17

• Chicago Bears (as Decatur Staleys) play first NFL game, win 7-0. [1]

October 29

• Edward Barrow named New York Yankees general manager. [1]

November 12

• Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis elected first baseball commissioner. [1]

November 14

• American Pro Football League's Chicago Tiger Joe Guyon punts 95 yards. [1]

November 25

• WTAW of College Station, Texas, broadcast first football play-by-play. [1]

December 4

• First Pro football playoff game Buffalo-7, Canton-3 at Polo Grounds. [1]
• 8th Canadian Football League Grey Cup: University of Toronto defeats Toronto Argonauts, 16-3. [1]

December 5

• Pro football playoff game Akron and Buffalo 0-0 tie, title undecided. [1]

December 14

• Heavyweight Jack Dempsey knocks out Bill Brennan in 12 for heavyweight boxing title in New York City, New York. [1]

December 17

• American League votes to allow pitchers who used the spitball in 1920 to continue using it as long as they are inthe league (The National League will do the same - 17 holdover spitballers in all). [1]

December 19

• First US indoor curling rink opens (Brookline Massachusetts). [1]

December 20

• Bert Collins scores 104 on Test Cricket debut versus England SCG. [1]

December 21

• Claude Tozer cricketer (dashing New South Wales batsman), shot to death. [1]

December 31

• Roy Park makes first-ball duck in only Test Cricket inning, versus England at Melbourne Cricket Ground. [1]

1921

January 12

• Kenesaw Mountain Landis becomes first commissioner of baseball. [1]

January 26

• Soccer team GVAV of Groningen Netherlands forms. [1]
• Toronto Saint Pat Corb Denneny scores six goals versus Hamilton Tigers. [1]

January 29

• Billy Gunn cricket (score 392 runs for England including a century), dies. [1]

February 5

• New York Yankees purchase 20 acres in the Bronx for Yankee Stadium. [1]

February 12

• Charles Leslie cricketer (4 Tests England versus Australia 1882-83), dies. [1]

February 15

• Arthur Mailey completes 9-121 versus England, Australian Test Cricket record. [1]

February 27

• Schofield Haigh cricketer (England all-rounder 11 Tests 1898-1912), dies. [1]
• US female Figure Skating championship won by Theresa Weld Blanchard. [1]
• US male Figure Skating championship won by Sherwin Badger. [1]

March 1

• Australia Cricket team complete 5-0 drubbing of England. [1]

April 4

• Stanley Cup: Ottawa Senators (NHL) beat Vancouver Millionaires (PCHA), three games to 2. [1]

April 11

• KDKA broadcast the first radio sporting event, a boxing match (Ray-Dundee). [1]

April 14

• NHL Championship: Ottawa Senators sweep Toronto Saint Patricks in two games. [1]

April 19

• 25th Boston Marathon won by Frank Zuna of New Jersey in 2:18:57.6. [1]

April 21

• Ottawa Senators beat Vancouver Millionaires three games to two for Stanley Cup. [1]

April 23

• Charles Paddock runs world record 100 metre (10.4 seconds). [1]

April 29

• Arthur Mold British cricket bowler (1893, banished for throwing), dies. [1]

April 30

• American Professional Football Association reorganizes in Akron. [1]

May 6

• American Soccer League formed. [1]

May 7

• 47th Kentucky Derby: Charles Thompson on Behave Yourself wins 2:04.2. [1]

May 16

• 47th Preakness: F Coltiletti aboard Broomspun wins in 1:54.2. [1]

May 30

• Memorial to Captain Eddie Grant, killed in WWI, unveiled at Polo Grounds. [1]

June 10

• Babe Ruth becomes all time home run champion with #120 (Gavvy Cravath). [1]

June 13

• New York Yankees' pitcher Babe Ruth hits two home runs beating Detroit Tigers 11-8. [1]

June 25

• Jack Hutchinson becomes first American to win golf's British Open. [1]

July 2

• First million dollar gate ($1.7m) boxing match (Dempsey knocks out Carpentier). [1]

July 21

• Cleveland Indians (9) and New York Yankees (7) hit a record 16 doubles. [1]

July 23

• Edward Gourdin of the US, sets then long jump record at 25' 2 3/4". [1]

August 3

• Due to a technicality, eight Chicago White Sox accused in the Black Sox scandal are acquited, however Landis throws them out of baseball. [1]

August 5

• First radio baseball broadcast Pittsburgh Pirates-8, Philadelphia Phillies-0 (KDKA, Pittsburgh). [1]

August 25

• New York Yankees pitcher Harry Harper hits three batters in an inning tying record. [1]

August 27

• J E Clair of Acme Packing Company of Green Bay granted an NFL franchise. [1]

September 27

• New York Yankees beat Cleveland Indians 21-7 in Polo Grounds. [1]

October 1

• First all New York series to be played entirely in one stadium (the Polo Grounds) and first New York Yankees World Series begins (World Series #18). [1]

October 5

• First World Series radio broadcast, New York Yankees beat New York Giants 3-0 (World Series #18). [1]

October 10

• NFL Decatur Staleys become Chicago Staleys, win 14-10. [1]

October 13

• New York Giants beat New York Yankees, five games to three in 18th World Series. [1]

October 16

• Jim Conzelman takes over as coach of Rock Island Independents from Frank Coughlin-only mid-game coaching change in NFL history. [1]

October 23

• Green Bay Packers play first NFL game, 7-6 win over Minneapolis. [1]

December 3

• 9th Canadian Football League Grey Cup: Toronto Argonauts defeats Edmonton Eskimos, 23-0. [1]

December 13

• Frederick Martin cricketer (14 wickets in two Tests for England 1890-92), dies. [1]

December 20

• American League votes to return to best-of-7 World Series, while National League votes best-of-9 Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis casts deciding vote for best-of-7. [1]