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| Babe Ruth left Boston for New York, and World Series success took the same path. |
1919: Boston Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sells Babe Ruth’s contract to the New York Yankees for $125,000 and a $350,000 loan to finance Frazee’s Broadway production interests.
FOLLOW-THROUGH: Ruth, of course, went on to a Hall of Fame career with the Yankees, while the Red Sox endured an 86-year slump that saw no World Series championships and spawned the legend of the “Curse of the Bambino.” Curse or not, the Red Sox finally broke through with their 2004 sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals.
1951: The NFL Championship Game is televised coast-to-coast for the first time. The Dumont Network pays $75,000 for the rights to the game, in which the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cleveland Browns 24-17.
1966: Seattle is awarded an NBA expansion franchise, with the SuperSonics beginning play in the 1967-68 season.
1971: The Miami Dolphins defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 27-24 in double overtime of an AFC playoff game — the longest NFL game ever played. The game, played on Christmas Day, officially lasts 82 minutes, 40 seconds and is the final football game played at Municipal Stadium in Kansas City. The game, which drew 50,374 fans, was not shown on TV in Kansas City because of NFL blackout rules in place at the time.
FOLLOW-THROUGH: The following year the Chiefs moved into Arrowhead Stadium, which seats 79,101.
