On this day in 1990, Nelson Mandela visited Yankee Stadium, where Mandiba would be honored after his death. Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images

June 21 in sports history: Nelson Mandela, forever a Yankee

By Jason Clinkscales | Last updated 6/20/20

Here's a look back at notable sports news on June 21 through the years:

1990: Nelson Mandela, freed from prison barely three months earlier after spending 27 years behind bars, would cause quite the stir in the first stop of an eight-city U.S. tour. Coming to America was about building solidarity and raising money for what became a yearslong marathon to negotiate the end of apartheid in South Africa.

Invited to New York by the city’s first and still only Black mayor, David Dinkins, the revolutionary-turned-political party leader was feted with honors befit of a World Series champion. After spending much of his day in Harlem, Mandela capped off the day with concert and rally at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

Mandela’s visit was not without controversy, though not of his own making. George Steinbrenner was infamously protective of the stadium’s field and conveyed fears that the raucous occasion would ruin the outfield grass. (Never mind the fact that Billy Joel, who donated equipment for the event, was set to perform at the stadium the next evening.) When Dinkins introduced Steinbrenner to the crowd, the Yankees owner was roundly booed until the mayor announced that he was covering the costs.

Mandela’s everlasting words to the packed crowd that day endeared him to the city and Steinbrenner himself, whose team was dead last in the AL East at the time. After the mayor handed him a Yankees jacket and cap, the civil rights icon told them, ''You now know who I am. I am a Yankee.''

Mandela, who became the first Black head of state in South Africa in 1994, died from respiratory failure in December 2013. The Yankees commemorated the event with a plaque in his honor on April 15, 2014, baseball’s venerated Jackie Robinson Day.

GEHRIG RETIRES

1939: The Yankees announced that Lou Gehrig was going to retire from from baseball after doctors diagnosed the Yankees legend with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The diagnosis stunned the world, as The Iron Horse was known equally as much for his durability as his prowess at the plate.

Ed Hughes of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle spoke of the shock and sadness from the news, saying, “No one ever seemed surprised that he stormed through 14 years of baseball without missing a game. It was almost expected of him. No one could picture him ill, out of repair.” Gehrig himself told reporters, “If this is the finish, I’ll just have to take it. You’ve got to take the bitter with the sweet, and at least I know what’s the matter with me now.”

His “farewell” speech took place the following July 4. He died from the ailment two years later at the age of 37.

BO NO-S BUCS

Bo Jackson is perhaps the most famous dual-sport athlete of all time. Montgomery Advertiser via Imagn Content Services, LLC

1986: Fresh off winning the Heisman Trophy and being selected as the top overall pick in the NFL draft, Bo Jackson signed his first pro contract. The former Auburn star signed to play baseball with the World Series champion Kansas City Royals instead of breaking tackles for the fledgling Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Much more contentious than the Kyler Murray decision over 30 years later, the Bucs offered Jackson more money than the Royals, but sensed that the two-sport star was motivated by something more than dollars.

Hugh Culverhouse, the Buccaneers owner at the time, said as much when he told the Tampa Tribune, "The thing that made me wonder as far as football was concerned was when he said, 'I like to prove people wrong,' like those who said he couldn't hit a curveball."

Tampa Bay forfeited his draft rights, but Jackson was drafted again a year later by the Los Angeles Raiders, who allowed him to play both baseball and football.

IT'S A NEW DAWN, IT'S A NEW DAY

1997: The WNBA officially began play as the visiting New York Liberty defeated the Los Angeles Sparks, 67-57, at The Forum. Sparks guard Penny Toler's layup a minute into the game were the first points scored in league history. Over 14,000 fans were in attendance.

2012: A kid from Akron, Ohio, won his first NBA championship. LeBron James led the Miami Heat to their second title (his first) with a 121-106 Game 5 clincher over the Oklahoma City Thunder. James, the NBA Finals MVP, was tremendous, averaging 28.6 points, 10.2 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 1.6 steals per game.

IN THE WORLD OF TENNIS

The legendary Arthur Ashe underwent heart surgery on this day in 1983. Bill Steber / The Tennessean-Imagn Content Services, LLC

1983: Tennis icon Arthur Ashe underwent heart bypass surgery. Unfortunately, it was believed that the 39-year-old contracted HIV from a blood transfusion during the procedure. Ashe announced his diagnosis in 1992 but died less than a year later. Recently, a statue in Richmond, Virginia, that commemorated the hometown legend was vandalized in apparent retaliation to the latest reactions to Confederate monuments.

1994: Steffi Graf became the first defending singles champion at Wimbledon to lose in the first round of a Grand Slam in the Open era, falling to Lori McNeil in straight sets. The German star had beaten the American McNeil in each of their previous eight matches against one another. While the match had been interrupted by rain, Graf said the loss was "very disappointing, and obviously it didn't help me that it started raining, but we both had to play the conditions, and she played better than me; that was obvious."

YOUTH IS SERVED

1965: At the age of 29, Gary Player completed his career Grand Slam. At Bellerive in the St. Louis suburbs, the South African bested Kel Nagle by three strokes in an 18-hole playoff for his first and only U.S. Open win.

2015: Twenty-one-year-old Jordan Spieth made believers out of millions by becoming the youngest golfer since Bobby Jones in 1923 to win the U.S. Open, beating Louis Oosthuizen and Dustin Johnson by a stroke at Washington State’s Chambers Bay.

DOWN IN MEMPHIS

2002: With an eighth-round knockout, Lennox Lewis defeated Mike Tyson to retain his WBC, IBO, WBA, The Ring and lineal heavyweight championships in front of a crowd of over 15,000 at the Pyramid in Memphis. The fight was initially scheduled to take place in Las Vegas the prior April, but an infamous press conference brawl between the two pugilists in New York compelled Nevada officials to not grant Tyson a license to fight.

Lewis showed why he was the best heavyweight of the late '90s and 2000s with crafty clinches and power in his fists. Although both men gauged each other in the early rounds, the Briton was able to hold often, which neutralized the former champ’s inside punching. Eventually, Lewis’ stiff jabs and long reach were too much for a weary Tyson to overcome.

Happy birthday...

Pro golfer Matt Kuchar, 18th in the World Golf Rankings. Kuchar has nine wins on the PGA Tour but no majors. The closest he has come is second, in the 2017 Open Championship. (42)

Happy 73rd birthday, Wade Phillips. Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Wade Phillips, most recently the defensive coordinator of the L.A. Rams. Son of the late Bum Phillips, Wade started his coaching career in the college ranks, then moved to the NFL where he was a head coach and assistant coach for several teams, including the defensive coordinator for the Super Bowl 50-winning Denver Broncos. (73)
Dana Holgorsen, head football coach at the University of Houston. Holgorsen served in the same role at West Virginia University, where in his first season he led the Mountaineers to a Big East Conference title and a 70-33 victory over Clemson in the Orange Bowl. (49)
Derrick Coleman, No. 1 draft pick by the New Jersey Nets in the 1990 NBA Draft. Coleman was the 1991 Rookie of the Year and played 15 seasons with four franchises. (53)
Basketball and football broadcaster Kevin Harlan. Harlan is part of the NBA on TNT team and has done Final Four coverage on Westwood One as well as “Monday Night Football” and 10 consecutive Super Bowls. He was twice voted National Sportscaster of the Year. (60)

R.I.P.

1973: Frank Leahy, football coach for Boston College and Notre Dame. Leahy is second all-time in winning percentage, trailing only his college coach, Knute Rockne. Leahy also was the GM for the Los Angeles Chargers in their first year, 1960. He died of congestive heart failure at 64.

1932: World champion bicyclist Marshall “Major” Taylor. Taylor broke through many racial barriers and prejudice to become the first African American cycling champion and just the second to win a world championship in any sport. Taylor set several world records in distance races and sprints, earning nicknames such as the Black Cyclone' and the Ebony Flyer. He was 53 when he died of a heart attack.

June 20: Johnny be good for Bulls

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