Today in Sports History: June 13th

(Steve Kerr knocks down the shot. Photo by Manny Millan, SI Photos)

6/13/1912 - Mathewson wins No. 300

New York Giants pitcher Christy Mathewson wins the 300th game of his career, and is the first man to join the 300-win club since Cy Young did it 11 years ago. Mathewson finished with 373 wins and was one of the most respected players of his time. Nicknamed the "Christian Gentleman," he had a sterling record off the field and was said to refuse interviews to sports writers who had cheated on their wives.

After baseball, Mathewson enlisted in the U.S. army to assist in combat during World War I. While overseas, Christy was accidentally exposed to poisonous gas in a training session and developed tuberculosis. Mathewson died less than a decade later at the age of 45 and passed away on the first day of the 1925 World Series; both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Washington Senators wore black armbands for the rest of the series. In 1936, he was posthumously selected as one of the five original inductees into the Hall of Fame, joining Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, and Walter Johnson.

6/13/1993 - Suns and Bulls go 3OT

After two heart-wrenching losses to begin the 1993 Finals, the Phoenix Suns go into Chicago Stadium and defeat the Bulls, 129-121, in triple-overtime. It tied as the longest NBA Finals game of all time, joining Game 5 of the 1976 series between those same Suns and the Boston Celtics. Michael Jordan totaled 44 points, nine rebounds and six assists in a losing record, while Scottie Pippen chipped in with 26 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists. Charles Barkley led the Suns with 24 points and 19 rebounds, Dan Majerle hit a then-record six three-pointers, and point guard Kevin Johnson played 62 minutes -- only sitting down in the closing seconds.

"I told Kevin that he would be in there unless he told me he was tired," said Suns coach Paul Westphal, who was a member of that 1976 Phoenix team. "He forgot to tell me. He has taken a lot of criticism that is not entirely his fault. Tonight, Kevin Johnson showed all those watching what a sensational player he is."

Johnson, who shot an awful 6-21 in the first games, had gotten the blame for the Suns' poor start. Johnson had 25 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds in Game 3, but he came very close to being the goat once again. With the game tied at 103 with a few seconds to go, K.J. stole the ball and dished it up ahead to Majerle. Majerle had an uncontested dunk, but Johnson called timeout before he realized how open he was. The timeout was granted and the dunk was wiped away.

It didn't matter. The game went to overtime and both teams appeared extremely fatigued. It wasn't until overtime No. 3, with the help of an enormous steal and lay-in by Charles Barkley, that the Suns were at last able to seal the victory.

"I think it will go down as one of the outstanding and exciting games in history, along with the other three-overtime game in which I was a participant," said Westphal. "This time, the good guys won."

6/13/1997 - Kerr hits game-winner in finals

With 28 seconds remaining in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, the Chicago Bulls were on the sideline, listening to coach Phil Jackson. The Jazz had tied the game almost a minute ago on a Bryon Russell three-pointer. However on their last possession, Jazz rookie Shandon Anderson missed an open layup -- one of several uncontested shots that Anderson muffed in the final period. Now the Bulls had one final play before the Jazz got the ball back, and it was obvious who the shot was going to.

"When Phil drew up the play at the end tonight, everybody in the gym, everybody on TV knew it was coming to me," Michael Jordan said after the game. "I looked at Steve (Kerr) and said, 'This is your chance, because I know (John) Stockton is going to come over and help and I'm going to come to you.' And he said, 'Give me the ball.'"

There was no question who the Jazz preferred to take the last shot. Jordan had already scored 39 points -- 10 of which had come in the fourth -- and was coming off his legendary "Flu Game" in Game 5. Kerr was the holder of the highest three-point percentage in history, but he hadn't shot like it thus far in the finals. He had made just eight of his 24 shot attempts in the series and missed a shot in Game 4 that would've given the Bulls the win.

Sure enough, the ball came to Michael Jordan beyond the three-point arch with six seconds left on shot clock. Jordan took a couple steps in from the left side and was immediately flanked by John Stockton. With time running down, he passed it to Kerr, who was just inside the three-point line. With two seconds of the shot clock, Kerr launched a straightaway 14-footer that sank to the bottom of the net, putting the Bulls up 88-86 with 5.0 seconds to go. It was reminiscent of John Paxon, who gave the Bulls the championship in 1993 on an open jumper.

The Jazz never got off a final shot. On the inbounds play out of their timeout, Bryon Russell forced a pass to Shandon Anderson that was slapped away by Scottie Pippen. Pippen scooped the ball to Toni Kukoc as he fell to the ground, and Kukoc slammed it down as time expired. The Bulls had won their second consecutive title and their fifth in seven years.

Chicago and Utah met again in 1998 with essentially the same rosters. In that series, the Jazz had home court advantage and once again gave the Bulls a run for the money. But just like the 1997 series, the Bulls once again won it all on a game-winning shot in Game 6.

(Clemens waves after earning his 300th win. Photo by Gregory Bull, AP Photos)

6/13/2003 - Clemens gets 300 and 4,000

91 years after Christy Mathewson, Roger Clemens becomes the latest member of the 300-win club as his Yankees beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-2. Not only did the victory give him 300 for his career, he also collected his 4,000th career strikeout in the second inning. He had needed just four K's to join Steve Carlton and Nolan Ryan as the only players in the 300/4,000 club, and he did it by striking out the side in the first two innings.

''It's been a lot of hard work, and it's paid off,'' Clemens said after the game. ''I've been fortunate that I still have my fastball, and I've never wavered from that. I'm a power pitcher, and I enjoy that.''

Earlier in the year, the 40 year-old Clemens told the press that he would retire at the end of the season. That October, in a postseason game at Fenway Park, Clemens left the field in what was supposed to be his final game in Boston. He received a standing ovation from the Red Sox crowd, even though he had left Beantown for the New York Yankees, their archrival.

Clemens, mirroring Brett Favre of the NFL, did not retire as quickly as he planned. "The Rocket" wound up playing another four seasons, winning an extra 44 games, making three All-Star appearances, and even winning a seventh Cy Young Award. Clemens might have even played in 2008, however his listing in the Mitchell Report nullified any chance of that.

6/13/2006 - Heat make up 13-point deficit

The Miami Heat were dead in the water. Trailing two games to none in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, Miami trailed the Dallas Mavericks by 13 with a little over six minutes to go in the fourth quarter. That was when D-Wade saved the day, carrying the Heat to victory by himself.

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