May is a great month for sports fans with MLB, the NBA and NHL playoffs, lacrosse, the PGA Championship, and the French Open. Notable sports moments and legendary achievements have occurred on May 7 in past years. These are some of them.
Unforgettable Games and Remarkable Records
May 7 has witnessed the following memorable moments in sport:
- 1917: Babe Ruth outpitched Walter Johnson, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Washington Senators 1-0.
- 1922: New York Giants pitcher Jesse Barnes pitched a no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies.
- 1922: The Belgian soccer team defeated the Netherlands 2-1 in an international friendly match.
- 1925: Pittsburgh Pirates’ Glenn Wright completed an unassisted triple play against the St. Louis Cardinals.
- 1938: Eddie Arcaro won the Kentucky Derby riding Lawrin, securing the first of his five Derby victories.
- 1955: Bill Shoemaker won the Kentucky Derby aboard Swaps in 2:01.8.
- 1959: Roy Campanella Night drew the largest crowd in LA Coliseum history, with 93,103 in attendance. Fans watched the New York Yankees defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in an exhibition game.
- 1960: Michael Tal beat Mikhail Botvinnik to secure the World Chess Championship.
- 1969: The Oakland Oaks beat the Indiana Pacers 4-1 and won the ABA Championship.
- 1972: The Los Angeles Lakers secured the NBA Championship with a 4-1 victory over the New York Knicks.
- 1977: Jean Cruguet won the Kentucky Derby riding Seattle Slew with a time of 2:02.2
- 1983: The New York Islanders beat the Boston Bruins 4-1 to win the Prince of Wales Conference Final.
- 1986: Steaua București from Romania beat Barcelona on penalty kicks and won the European Cup.
- 1992: Angel Cordero Jr. retired after winning 7,057 horse races.
- 1994: The eighth-seeded Denver Nuggets defeated the top-seeded Seattle SuperSonics in the playoffs. It was the first time in NBA history that an eighth seed upset a first seed.
- 2005: Mike Smith won the Kentucky Derby aboard the 50-1 longshot Giacomo. The winning exacta payout was $9,814.80.
- 2006: Thierry Henry scored a hat-trick on the final day of the Premier League season.
- 2016: Mario Gutierrez won the Kentucky Derby riding Nyquist in front of 167,227 spectators, the second-largest attendance in the event’s history.
- 2021: Wade Miley pitched a no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians.
Looking back on these May 7 events, the most outstanding are Henry’s hat-trick, Wright’s unassisted triple play, and Arcaro’s first of five Derby wins.
Henry is a renowned and highly accomplished French football player and manager, celebrated for his exceptional goal-scoring record and prolific international success. There have been a total of 15 unassisted triple plays in MLB history. This is a rare feat, and it’s more uncommon than a perfect game. Arcaro is nicknamed “the Master” for his dexterity with the whip and the killer instinct to time a move to take first place.
