1959: The championship streak began. Boston got the sweep over Minneapolis to win the NBA championship in four games. It was the first of eight consecutive titles for the Celtics.
1965: Baseball’s eighth wonder of the world opened. The Houston Astrodome hosted its first game, an exhibition between the Astros and the Yankees. The game featured MLB’s first indoor home run, hit by none other than Mickey Mantle.
1982: They were swatting balls like King Kong swats fighter planes. The Lakers recorded an NBA record 21 blocks in their 153-128 win over Denver. Leading the way for LA was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with eight blocks.
Birthdays in the sports world today . . . Philadelphia Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet is 62. San Francisco Giants infielder Luis Arraez is 29, and New Orleans Pelicans small forward Saddiq Bey is 27.