Friday marked the 50th anniversary of one of the most remarkable individual athletic achievements in American sports history — Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game.
More attention is being paid to it now than when it happened on March 2, 1962 — in part because it happened in Hershey, Pa., where the Philadelphia Warriors were playing because some NBA teams played in surrounding cities to attract more fans.
Facing the Knicks, the Warriors drew about 5,000 for the game. There was no film and limited media at the game. There was very little fanfare until the word spread that the 7-foot-1 Chamberlain — who was like nothing the basketball world had ever seen — scored 100 points in a 169-147 win over the Knicks, breaking the record he had set earlier that year of 78 points.
It seems like as good of a time as any to offer some perspective about three often overlooked individual athletic achievements that are worthy of taking their place with Wilt’s 100-point game:
1. Everyone remembers Jesse Owens for the four gold medals he won in the historic 1936 Olympics in Berlin. But his greatest accomplishment may have been setting three world records and tying a fourth in a 45-minute span in 1935. Despite suffering from a back injury at the Big Ten track meet on May ?25, Owens set world records in the 220-yard dash, 220-yard low hurdles and long jump and tied the 100-yard dash mark.
2. Don Larsen’s 1956 World Series perfect game is often placed near the top of greatest individual sports achievements, but another that deserves consideration is Johnny Vander Meer’s two consecutive no-hitters in 1938.
Vander Meer, a pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds, allowed no hits against the Boston Braves on June ?11. In his next start four days later, he walked eight batters but no-hit the Brooklyn Dodgers in the first night game ever played at Ebbets Field. He is the only pitcher in major league history to throw two straight no-hitters.
3. Any list of greatest individual athletic achievements would include Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak in 1941. It still remains one of those records that likely will never be broken.
Well, if no one is going to break the 56-game record, then obviously no one will ever touch DiMaggio’s more impressive record — a 61-game hitting streak.
In 1933 DiMaggio was playing in his first season with the Pacific Coast League San Francisco Seals. As a 19-year-old, he hit in 61 straight games, crushing the all-time record then of 49 straight games by Jack Ness in 1914.
So as tribute is paid to the Big Dipper’s 100-point game, make room of the forgotten accomplishments on the list of greatest individual achievements of all time.
Examiner columnist Thom Loverro is the co-host of “The Sports Fix” from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on ESPN980 and espn980.com. Contact him at [email protected].
