See also: 1956 in sports, other events of 1957, 1958 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Contents

1 Auto Racing 2 Baseball 3 Basketball 4 Boxing 5 Cycling 6 Figure Skating 7 Football (American) 8 Football (Australian Rules) 9 Football (Canadian) 10 Football (Soccer) 11 Golf 12 Thoroughbred Horse Racing 13 Harness Racing 14 Ice Hockey 15 Snooker 16 Tennis 17 General sporting events 18 Births 19 Deaths

Auto Racing

• NASCAR Championship - Buck Baker
• Indianapolis 500 - Sam Hanks
• USAC Racing - Jimmy Bryan won the season championship
• Formula One Championship - Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina
• 24 hours of Le Mans:
  • the team of Ron Flockhart / Ivor Bueb won, driving a Jaguar D-Type
• Rally racing:
  • the team of Erik Carlsson / Mario Pavoni won the Finland Car Rally driving a Saab 93
• Drag racing - George Dahir won the AHRA "Top Fuel" championship at the Nationals

Baseball

• January 5 - Jackie Robinson retires rather than move across town from the Dodgers to the Giants, to whom he had been traded in December.
• Roy Sievers lead American league with 42 home runs and 114 RBIs, for the last place Washington Senators.
• Cy Young Award: Warren Spahn, Milwaukee Braves
• World Series: Milwaukee Braves defeat New York Yankees four games to three.
• August 19- Horace Stoneham announces that the Giants are moving from New York to San Francisco, California.
• October 8 - Walter O'Malley announces that the Dodgers are going to move from Brooklyn, New York to Los Angeles, California.

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship:
  • North Carolina wins 54-53 over Kansas
• NBA Finals:
  • Boston Celtics won 4 games to 3 over the St. Louis Hawks

Boxing

• September 23 - Carmen Basilio won the World Middleweight Championship by a 15 round decision over Sugar Ray Robinson.

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Gastone Nencini of Italy
• Tour de France - Jacques Anquetil of France
• World Cycling Championship: Rik Van Steenbergen of Belgium

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: David Jenkins , United States
  • Women's champion: Carol Heiss, United States
  • Pairs champions: Barbara Wagner and Robert Paul , Canada

Football (American)

• NFL Championship: Detroit Lions won 59-14 over the Cleveland Browns

Football (Australian Rules)

• Victorian Football League
  • Melbourne wins the 61st VFL Premiership (Melbourne 17.14 (116) d Essendon 7.13 (55))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Brian Gleeson (St Kilda)

Football (Canadian)

• Grey Cup: Hamilton Tiger-Cats won 32-7 over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Football (Soccer)

• England - FA Cup: Aston Villa won 2-1 over Manchester United

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Doug Ford
  2. June - US Open - Dick Mayer
  3. July - British Open - Bobby Locke
  4. August - PGA Championship - Lionel Hebert

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Dick Mayer - $65,835
• Ryder Cup: Britain wins 7 1/2 to 4 1/2 over the United States in world team golf.

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Betsy Rawls
• LPGA Championship - Louise Suggs
• Patty Berg: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $16,272.

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Straight Draw
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Lyford Cay
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Oroso
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Ballymoss

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Crepello
  2. Epsom Derby - Crepello
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Ballymoss

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Iron Liege
  2. Preakness Stakes - Bold Ruler
  3. Belmont Stakes - Gallant Man

Harness Racing

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Torpid
  2. Little Brown Jug - Torpid
  3. Messenger Stakes - Meadow Lands

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Hickory Smoke
  2. Yonkers Trot
  3. Kentucky Futurity

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Radiant Venture

Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings

• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings

• Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens win 4 games to 1 over the Boston Bruins

• World Hockey Championship
  • Men's champion: Sweden defeated the Soviet Union

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship: John Pulman beats Jackie Rea 39-34

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Ashley Cooper
  2. French Open - Sven Davidson
  3. Wimbledon championships - Lew Hoad
  4. US Open - Malcolm Anderson

• American Althea Gibson became the first black player to win a Wimbledon singles championship.
• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Shirley Fry
  2. French Open - Shirley Bloomer
  3. Wimbledon championships - Althea Gibson
  4. US Open - Althea Gibson

• Davis Cup: Australia won 3-2 over the United States in world tennis.

General sporting events

Births

• January 6 - Nancy Lopez, golfer
• January 22 - Mike Bossy, ice hockey player
• April 9 - Seve Ballesteros, golfer
• May 7 - Sinjin Smith , volleyball player
• August 27 - Bernhard Langer, golfer

Deaths

• May - Len Eshmont - football player with San Francisco 49ers
• July 3 - Dolf Luque , Major League Baseball player (1914-1935)