On this Day in Sports History March 9
NBA
On this day in 1988, Los Angeles Lakers coach Pat Riley won his 400th career game as a coach in a 104-99 victory over the New York Knicks. Riley reached the 400 mark faster than any other coach in NBA history at 540 games.
On this day in 1997, Utah Jazz power forward Karl Malone became the fifth player in NBA history to score 25,000 career points and collect 10,000 rebounds during a 115-106 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
MLB
On this day in 1995, the major league owners voted 28-0 to admit two new teams to the league, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Arizona Diamondbacks. Both teams would complete their first season in 1998.
On this day in 2005, eleven former and current MLB players and executives were issued subpoenas to appear on March 17 of the same year by the House Committee on Government Reform. The eleven players included Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, Curt Schilling, Sammy Sosa, Frank Thomas, Jason Giambi, Rafael Palmeiro, Sandy Alderson, Rob Manfred, Kevin Towers, and Donald Fehr.
On this day in 2014, former San Francisco Giants star Barry Bonds returned to the Giants as a special spring training instructor for the younger Giants’ hitters.
