Here’s what happened on this date in sports history for December 10:


1896 – 1st intercollegiate basketball game (Wesleyan beats Yale 4-3)

1919 – The National League voted to ban spitballs by all new pitchers. The Rules Committee officially worked out the ban the following February.

1939 – The National Football League’s attendance exceeded 1 million in a season for the first time.

1972 – The American League voted to adopt the designated-hitter rule in a three-year experiment. In December of 1975 the American League voted to permanently adopt the designated-hitter rule.

1972 – The longest non-scoring pass in NFL history was made when Jim Hart (St. Louis Cardinals) threw a pass from his own one yard-line to Bobby Moore (Ahmad Rashad). Moore was tackled on the Rams’ one-yard line. The pass was officially 98 yards.

1982 – Heavyweight Michael Doakes KOs Mike Weaver in 1:03 in Las Vegas

2007 – Michael Vick was sentenced by a federal judge in Richmond, VA, to 23 months in prison for bankrolling a dogfighting operation and killing dogs that underperformed.

Birthdays


1960 – Paul Assenmacher, Detroit MI, pitcher (Cleveland Indians)