April Fools Day Sports Moments

April 1 begins the first full month of spring, and is widely known for April Fools Day across the globe. Depending on which country you're in, it is a time where you can expect jokes to be played on others as well as embarrassment to victims and hoaxes, too. Some teams and athletes were fools or fooled on this day in history while other moments weren't a joking matter. Baseball grabbed a lot of headlines on April Fools Day.

1854: Nine years after first establishing the "original 20 rules of baseball", a meeting took place in New York City to revise them. The Knickerbocker, Gotham, and Eagle baseball clubs weren't "fooling" around in wanting to change some of the rules which two of them stood out that changed the game forever. The major rule was No. 13 which was the proceeding batter that followed the one who made the last out in the previous inning would be batting first the next time that team batted. The other major rule change was that when a runner reached first base, he was to vacate it when a fair ball was in play. Also, runners could be forced out like running to first base according to their new revisions. It wouldn't be until over three years later that a game would be decided after nine innings by the team who scored the most runs. The one who scored 21 runs first won the game at this point in time.

1938: In Chicago, Boxing's World Heavyweight Champion Joe Louis put any chance down of being "fooled" for over-looking Harry Thomas in a title match on this day. The "Brown Bomber" had two successful title defenses in New York before fighting in Chicago for this one. Louis won with a 5th round knockout of Thomas in less than two months before his next bout and famous rematch with Germany's Max Schmeling, who beat him the first time they met back in 1936. Louis wouldn't be "fooled" in the rematch beating Schmeling that June. Beginning in 1939, Louis would defend his title 13 times from January 1939 to May 1941 which was the highest frequency of bouts since the bare knuckle era.

1962: The Chicago White Sox sign former University of Detroit basketball star Dave DeBusschere to a contract. DeBusschere would play two seasons for the White Sox compiling a 3-4 record with a 2.90 ERA as well as having one hit in 22 at-bats before focusing entirely on basketball. Also drafted by the Detroit Pistons in the NBA in 1962, many never took DeBusschere for a "fool" in deciding to stick with basketball. During the 1968-69 season, DeBusschere was traded to the New York Knicks in which he continued to blossom as one of the league's best power forwards. DeBusschere helped the Knicks win the 1970 NBA Championship and was an 8-time all-star in his career. In 1996, he was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA history, so he sure didn't make a "fool" of himself in giving up baseball for the NBA.

1970: The Seattle Pilots baseball franchise had played one season before being sold to future MLB Commissioner Bud Selig. Seattle was declared bankrupt by federal bankruptcy which allowed Selig to purchase them. The cost for the franchise was $10.8 million, and he moved them to his hometown of Milwaukee renaming them the Brewers. The very next day, tickets for the Brewers went on sale. The franchise was named Organization of the Year seven times during Selig's tenure as owner of the Brewers while appearing in the 1982 World Series in a loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. Selig would become Acting Commissioner of MLB in 1992 before he became permanent in 1998 while relinquishing ownership of the Milwaukee Brewers. You would have been called a "fool" to think Selig would eventually become Commissioner of MLB on this day back in 1970.

1980: The Executive Board of the Players Association votes 971-1 in favor of canceling the 92 remaining exhibition games with Kansas City's Jerry Terrell as the lone person against the cancellation due to religious beliefs. Also, they announce May 22 as a deadline to strike if a new collective bargaining agreement with owners isn't reached. Five hours after that deadline, a basic four-year deal is struck which raises minimum salary and addresses contributions to the player's pension fund. However, compensation for free agency remained the biggest issue which would later lead to the longest labor strike in sports history at the time the following season in 1981. At least they weren't "fools" enough to let this ruin the season which would later happen in 1994 after the season was stopped due to a dispute amongst players and owners.

1985: The National Championship Game of the NCAA Tournament takes place which sees one of the greatest upsets in sports history. Villanova, coached by Rollie Massimino, came into the tournament as a No. 8 seed facing the No. 1 seed and Big East foe Georgetown, who were the defending champions. The Wildcats were heavy underdogs, but they "fooled" everyone with a near flawless second half to win the national championship as the lowest seed ever. Villanova was dominated by Georgetown in their regular season meetings, but shot 79 percent from the floor including only one missed field goal in the second half. The great shooting effort led to a 66-64 which was a testament to how much of an upset it was because many felt it would take a perfect performance for Villanova to win. Those who bet on Villanova for this game didn't look like "fools" after all was said and done.

1991: Appearing in the Final Four for the fifth time in six years, coach Mike Krzyzewski and the Duke Blue Devils basketball team got another shot at the National Championship in the NCAA Tournament against the Kansas Jayhawks. Duke had avenged their embarrassing loss by looking like a "fool" to UNLV in the previous year's National Championship in the Final Four while Kansas knocked off Blue Devils rival North Carolina in their game. Kansas also had won the title in 1988, but Duke was not to be denied as the Blue Devils secured their first basketball championship with a 72-65 win. Christian Laettner won the NCAA Tournament's MVP. Duke wasn't about to play the role of a "fool" on this April 1, and they would win another title the following year in 1992.

1996: Major League Baseball began another season as the Cincinnati Reds traditionally hosted another opener against the Montreal Expos. Seven pitches into the season, tragedy struck which had nothing to do with the players. Umpire John McSherry collapses and dies on the field after a massive heart attack. Sources have said that his weight was near 400 lbs at the time of his death, and that he was scheduled for a physical the following day. The game between the Reds and Expos was postponed until the following day due to his death. As a result of his death, MLB wasn't "fooling" around when umpires were told by the league to get more physically fit.