1989

Auto Racing

 * Stock car racing:
 * Darrell Waltrip won the Daytona 500
 * NASCAR Championship - Rusty Wallace
 * CART Racing - season championship won by Emerson Fittipaldi
 * Indianapolis 500 - Emerson Fittipaldi
 * Formula One Championship - Alain Prost of France
 * 24 hours of Le Mans:
 * won by the team of Jochen Mass / Manuel Reuter / Stanley Dickens driving a Sauber-Mercedes
 * Rally racing - Miki Biasion in a Lancia won the World Rally Championship
 * the team of Miki Biasion / Tiziano Siviero won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Lancia Delta HF Integrale
 * Drag racing - Gary Ormsby won the NHRA "Top Fuel" championship.

Baseball

 * April 8 - One-handed pitcher Jim Abbott makes his major-league debut with the California Angels, without spending a single day in the minor leagues. He went on to a 12-12 record for the season.


 * August 10 - Ten months after undergoing surgery for cancer in his pitching arm, San Francisco Giants pitcher Dave Dravecky returns to the major leagues, winning his comeback 4-3.


 * August 15 - Dave Dravecky's comeback bid ends tragically when his pitching arm breaks in the sixth inning of his second start. Two years later, the cancer-stricken arm would be amputated.


 * August 24 - Following an investigation that he gambled on baseball, superstar player Pete Rose is banned from baseball for life.


 * 1989 World Series: Oakland Athletics won 4 games to 0 over the San Francisco Giants. The Series MVP was Dave Stewart, Oakland.

See also 1989 in baseball

Basketball

 * 1989 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament:
 * Michigan wins 80-79 over Seton Hall in overtime


 * NBA Finals:
 * Detroit Pistons win 4 games to 0 over the Los Angeles Lakers to win the franchise's first championship.

Boxing

 * February 11 - In Grenoble, France, Rene Jacquot won a 12 round decision over Donald Curry to win the World Welterweight Championship

Cycling

 * Giro d'Italia won by Laurent Fignon of France
 * Tour de France - Greg LeMond of the United States
 * World Cycling Championship: Greg LeMond of the United States

Dogsled racing

 * Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
 * Joe Runyan won with lead dogs: Rambo & Ferlin the Husky

Field Hockey

 * Men's World Cup Qualifier Tournament in Madison, United States
 * Gold Medal: The Netherlands
 * Silver Medal: Canada
 * Bronze Medal: India


 * Men's Champions Trophy in Berlin, West Germany
 * Gold Medal: Australia
 * Silver Medal: West Germany
 * Bronze Medal: The Netherlands


 * Women's World Cup Qualifier Tournament in New Delhi, India
 * Gold Medal: South Korea
 * Silver Medal: China
 * Bronze Medal: Spain


 * Women's Champions Trophy in Frankfurt, West Germany
 * Gold Medal: South Korea
 * Silver Medal: Australia
 * Bronze Medal: West Germany

Figure Skating

 * World Figure Skating Championships:
 * Men's champion: Kurt Browning, Canada
 * Women's champion: Midori Ito, Japan
 * Pairs champions: Ekaterina Gordeeva & Sergei Grinkov, Soviet Union

Football (American)

 * Super Bowl XXIII: San Francisco 49ers won 20-16 over the Cincinnati Bengals

Football (Australian Rules)

 * Victorian Football League
 * Hawthorn wins the 93rd VFL Premiership (Hawthorn 21.18 (144) d Geelong 21.12 (138))
 * Brownlow Medal awarded to Paul Couch (Geelong)

Football (Canadian)

 * Grey Cup: Saskatchewan Roughriders won 43-40 over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
 * Vanier Cup: Western Ontario Mustangs won 35-10 over the Saskatchewan Huskies

Football (Soccer)
For fuller coverage, see: 1989 in football (soccer)

Gaelic Athletic Association

 * Camogie
 * All-Ireland Camogie Champion: Kilkenny
 * National Camogie League: Kilkenny


 * Gaelic football
 * All-Ireland Senior Football Championship: Cork 0-17 d. Mayo 1-11
 * National Football League: Cork 0-15 d. Dublin 0-12


 * Ladies' Gaelic football
 * All-Ireland Senior Football Champion: Kerry
 * National Football League: Kerry


 * Hurling
 * All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship: Tipperary 4-24 d. Antrim 3-9
 * National Hurling League:

Golf
Men's Golf
 * Major championship results:
 * April - The Masters - Nick Faldo
 * June - US Open - Curtis Strange
 * July - British Open - Mark Calcavecchia
 * August - PGA Championship - Payne Stewart


 * PGA Tour leading money winner for the year: Tom Kite - $1,395,278
 * Champions Tour leading money winner: Bob Charles - $725,887
 * Ryder Cup: Europe and the United States teams tied 14-14 in world golf.

Women's Golf
 * US Women's Open - Betsy King
 * LPGA Championship - Nancy Lopez
 * Betsy King: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $654,132.

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

 * Australia - Melbourne Cup - Tawriffic
 * Canada - Queen's Plate - With Approval
 * France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Carroll House
 * Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Old Vic


 * English Triple Crown Races:
 * Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Nashwan
 * Epsom Derby - Nashwan
 * St. Leger Stakes - Michelozzo


 * United States Triple Crown Races:
 * Kentucky Derby - Sunday Silence
 * Preakness Stakes - Sunday Silence
 * Belmont Stakes - Easy Goer


 * Breeders' Cup:
 * Breeders' Cup Classic - Sunday Silence
 * Breeders' Cup Distaff - Bayakoa
 * Breeders' Cup Juvenile - Rhythm
 * Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies - Go for Wand
 * Breeders' Cup Mile - Steinlen
 * Breeders' Cup Sprint - Dancing Spree
 * Breeders' Cup Turf - Prized

Harness Racing

 * North America Cup - Quite A Sensation


 * United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
 * Cane Pace - Dancing Master
 * Little Brown Jug - Goalie Jeff
 * Messenger Stakes - Sandman Hanover


 * United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
 * Hambletonian - Park Ave Joe & Probe (dead heat)
 * Yonkers Trot - Valley Victory
 * Kentucky Futurity - Peace Corps


 * Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
 * Pacers: Jodie's Babe
 * Trotters: Yankee Loch

Ice Hockey

 * Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins


 * Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings


 * Stanley Cup: Calgary Flames won 4 games to 2 over the Montreal Canadiens. The first time ever that the visiting team won their game at Montreal.


 * World Hockey Championship
 * Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Canada
 * Junior Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Sweden

Radiosport

 * Second European High Speed Telegraphy Championship held in Hannover, Germany.

Skiing

 * Alpine Skiing
 * The men's overall season champion: Marc Girardelli, Luxembourg
 * The women's overall season champion: Vreni Schneider, Switzerland

Snooker

 * World Snooker Championship: Steve Davis beats John Parrott 18-3
 * World rankings: Steve Davis remains world number one for 1989/90

Tennis

 * Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
 * Australian Open - Ivan Lendl
 * French Open - Michael Chang
 * Wimbledon championships - Boris Becker
 * US Open - Boris Becker


 * Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
 * Australian Open - Steffi Graf
 * French Open - Arantxa Sanchez Vicario
 * Wimbledon championships - Steffi Graf
 * US Open - Steffi Graf


 * Davis Cup: Germany F.R. won 3-2 over Sweden in world tennis.

General sporting events

 * Third World Games held in Karlsruhe, West Germany


 * 15th Summer Universiade held in Duisburg, West Germany


 * Fourteenth Winter Universiade held in Sofia, Bulgaria

Births

 * January 9 &mdash; Michaëlla Krajicek, Dutch tennis player
 * June 2 &mdash; Freddy Adu, Ghana-born football (soccer) player from America
 * June 3 &mdash; Katie Hoff, American swimmer
 * July 23 &mdash; Donald Young, American tennis player
 * July 31 &mdash; Victoria Azarenka, Belarusian tennis player
 * October 11 &mdash; Michelle Wie, American golf prodigy
 * November 12 &mdash; Jana Bieger, German gymnast

Deaths

 * February 10 &mdash; Dan Kelly, NHL sportscaster
 * March 18 &mdash; Piet Kruiver, Dutch soccer player
 * April 12 &mdash; Sugar Ray Robinson, boxing champion
 * June 17 &mdash; John Matuszak (38), NFL player with Oakland Raiders
 * June 22 &mdash; Lee Calhoun, Olympic Gold Medal hurdler
 * July 18 &mdash; Donnie Moore (35), Major League Baseball pitcher, suicide
 * August 13 &mdash; Tim Richmond, NASCAR driver
 * August 18 &mdash; Bert Oosterbosch (32), Dutch cyclist, world professional pursuit champion
 * September 1 &mdash; A. Bartlett Giamatti, 7th Major League Baseball commissioner, heart attack
 * September 10 &mdash; Jeff Stollmeyer, President, West Indies Cricket Board, murdered
 * September 15 &mdash; Harry Cave, New Zealand cricketer
 * October 4 &mdash; Secretariat, thoroughbred race horse, 1973 Triple Crown winner, two-time Horse of the Year
 * October 4 &mdash; Norman Yardley, English cricketer
 * November 13 &mdash; Victor Davis, 1984 Olympic and World swimming champion
 * December 25 &mdash; Billy Martin, New York Yankees manager, auto accident
 * December 26 &mdash; Doug Harvey, National Hockey League superstar defenseman (1947-1969)