Early agate
ON THIS DATE
April 3
1963 – Pete Mazzaferro resigns as athletic director, head football coach and head basketball coach at Waynesburg College. In four seasons as the Yellow Jackets’ football coach, Mazzaferro had a 12-19-3 record.
1975 – Charles “Buzz” Ridl resigns as basketball coach at Pitt. He led the Panthers to a 97-83 record and a spot in the East Regional final in 1974. Ridl is replaced by 32-year-old Tim Grgurich, who has been an assistant at Pitt for 10 years.
1988 – Fort Cherry’s Wade Timmerson, who averaged 30.5 points per game, is named the Observer-Reporter Boys Basketball Player of the Year.
1989 – Michigan beats Seton Hall 80-79 in overtime to win the NCAA basketball championship. Rumeal Robinson makes two free throws with 3 seconds left for the Wolverines.
2003 – Ben Howland leaves Pitt to become UCLA’s ninth head basketball coach since legendary John Wooden retired in 1975.
April 4
1974 – The Atlanta Braves’ Hank Aaron hits his 714th career home run, tying him with Babe Ruth for the most in Major League Baseball history. Aaron’s homer comes off Cincinnati’s Jack Billingham.
1980 – Michael Seibert of Washington, who along with partner Judy Blumberg, competed in the Lake Placid Winter Olympics and finished sixth in ice dancing, is named the Observer-Reporter Sports Headliner.
1983 – Lorenzo Charles scores on a dunk after Derek Whittenburg’s 35-foot desperation shot falls short to give North Carolina State a 54-52 triumph over Houston in the NCAA national championship game.
1984 – Adam Sarson, Peters Township’s 6-7 senior center who averaged 18.6 points and 15 rebounds per game, is named the Observer-Reporter’s Boys Basketball Player of the Year.
2000 – On the last opening day at Three Rivers Stadium, Houston’s Richard Hildago hits a sixth-inning grand slam and the Astros defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-2. The game is played one night after the scheduled opener was rained out. Though 54,399 tickets were sold for the game, only 14,610 fans attend.
2003 – Dave Palone drives Down By The Bay to victory in the third race at The Meadows. It’s the 9,000th career win for Palone.