Were you alive in 1989? Straight up, now tell me what do you really remember? It was nearly 30 years ago! Let’s take walk down memory lane and reminisce about the last year of the 1980’s.
Here’s some athletes that were born in 1989:
- Andy Carroll, English footballer
- Michael Beasley, American basketball player
- Conor Dwyer, American Olympic swmmer
- Ricky van Wolfswinkel, Dutch footballer
- Jahvid Best, American NFL player
- Isaiah Thomas, American basketball player
- Rebecca Adlington, British swimmer
- Chris Conte, American NFL player
- Kosta Koufos, Greek-born American basketball player
- Emma, Australian professional wrestler
- Agnieszka Radwańska, Polish tennis player
- Blake Griffin, American basketball player
- Theo Walcott, English footballer
- Lars Bender, German footballer
- Sven Bender, German footballer
- James van Riemsdyk, American ice hockey player
- Earl Thomas, American football player
- Cam Newton, American football player
- Rob Gronkowski, American football player
- Tessa Virtue, Canadian ice
- Bas Dost, Dutch football player
- Anna Fenninger, Austrian alpine ski racer
- Jeffrey Earnhardt, American race car driver
- Gareth Bale, Welsh footballer
- Jamie Benn, Canadian ice hockey player
- Victoria Azarenka, Belarusian tennis player
- Madison Bumgarner, American baseball player
- Shanshan Feng, Chinese golfer
- DeMar DeRozan, American basketball player
- Anthony Rizzo, American baseball player
- Jason Heyward, American baseball player
- Ander Herrera, Spanish professional footballer
- James Harden, American basketball player
- Freddie Freeman, American baseball player
- Andrew Luck, American football player
- Thomas Müller, German football player
- Tyreke Evans, American basketball player
- Kimmie Meissner, American figure skater
- Viktoria Rebensburg, German alpine skier
- Michelle Wie, American golf player
- Eric Hosmer, American professional baseball player
- Nastia Liukin, American artistic gymnast and Olympic gold medalist
- Aaron Hernandez, American football player and convicted murderer (d. 2017)
- Giancarlo Stanton, American baseball player
- Adam Rippon, American figure skater
- Jake Livermore, English footballer
- Eric Bledsoe, American basketball player
- Catrina Kious, My Amazing Wife
Here are some of the athletes that died in 1989:
- Carl Furillo, American baseball player (b. 1922)
- Glenna Collett-Vare, American golfer (b. 1903)
- Lefty Gomez, Mexican-American baseball player (b. 1908)
- Sparky Adams, American baseball player (b. 1894)
- Aleksandr Prokopenko, Soviet footballer (b. 1953)
- Sugar Ray Robinson, American professional boxer (b. 1921)
- Jocko Conlan, American baseball player and umpire (b. 1899)
- John Matuszak, American football player and actor (b. 1950)
- Lee Calhoun, American Olympic athlete (b. 1933)
- Laurie Cunningham, English footballer (b. 1956)
- Lane Frost, American bull rider (b. 1963)
- Joe Collins, American baseball player (b. 1922)
- A. Bartlett Giamatti, American President of Yale University and MLB Commissioner (b. 1938)
- Grant Adcox, American Race Car Driver (b. 1950)
- Giuseppe Antonini, Italian football player (b. 1914)
- Ray Morehart, American baseball player (b. 1899)
- Haystacks Calhoun, American professional wrestler (b. 1934)
- Billy Martin, American baseball player and manager (b. 1928)
News of the Year:
- Ron Hextall becomes the first goaltender in NHL history to score a goal in the playoffs.
- Clint Malarchuk, hockey goaltender for the Buffalo Sabres, suffers an almost fatal injury when another player accidentally slits his throat in one of the most gruesome sports injuries of all time.
- Motorola introduces the Motorola MicroTAC Personal Cellular Telephone, then the world’s smallest mobile phone.
- The SkyDome (now known as Rogers Centre) opens in Toronto.
- The world’s first HDTV broadcasts commence in Japan, in analog.
- An unknown Chinese protestor, “Tank Man“, stands in front of a column of military tanks on Chang’an Avenue in Beijing, temporarily halting them.
- The Sega Genesis is released in North America.
- Pete Rose agrees to a lifetime ban from the sport following allegations of illegal gambling, thereby preventing his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
- Construction of the Denver Airport commences.
- The first full-length episode of the animated series The Simpsons, “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire”, is shown on Fox television.
- N.W.A are the first gangsta rap group to sell a million copies of an album; their album Straight Outta Compton.
- In WrestleMania V, Hulk Hogan defeats Randy Savage to become the WWF Champion.
- Kareem Abdul-Jabar becomes first NBA player to score 38,000 points.
- Dallas Cowboys fire coach Tom Landry after a 29-year career.
- NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle announces retirement as NFL commissioner after 29 years.
- Investor group led by George W Bush and Edward W Rose purchases controlling interest of Texas Rangers.
New owners of the Texas Rangers left, Rusty Rose and right, George W. Bush during a press conference announcing the sale of the team by Eddie Chiles, center. Rose and Bush bought the team for $89 million with several other in investors. - One-handed pitcher Jim Abbott‘s debut, but lasts only 4 2/3 innings.
- Nolan Ryan strikes out his 5,000th batter (Rickey Henderson).
- Wayne Gretzky wins his 9th NHL Hart Trophy (Most Valuable Player) in ten years.
- First NFL game coached by a black man (Art Shell), his Los Angeles Raiders beat New York Jets 14-7
- Minnesota Timberwolves‘ first NBA game, lose to Seattle SuperSonics, 106-94.
- Orlando Magic‘s first NBA game, loses to Nets, 111-106.
- Michael Jordan made “The Shot” as the Chicago Bulls defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in Cleveland, Ohio.
Championships:
- World Series – Oakland Athletics defeated San Francisco Giants, 4 games to 0, in a series that was delayed because of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
- Super Bowl XXIII – San Francisco 49ers defeated Cincinnati Bengals, 20–16
- Stanly Cup Final – Calgary Flames defeated Montreal Canadiens, won 4 games to 2
- NBA Finals –Detroit Pistons defeated Los Angeles Lakers, 4 games to 0 over
- NCAA Baseball World Series – Wichita State defeated Texas, 5-3
- NCAA Softball World Series – UCLA defeated Fresno State, 1–0
- NCAA Men’s Basketball – Michigan defeated Seton Hall, 80–79 in overtime
- NCAA Women’s Basketball – Tennessee defeated Auburn, 76-60
- NCAA Division I-A Football –Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeated West Virginia Mountaineers, 34-21 in the Fiesta Bowl
- European Cup – Milan of Italy defeated Steaua București of Romania 4–0
- UEFA Cup – S.S.C. Napoli of Italy defeated VfB Stuttgart of West Germany, 5–4 on aggregate.
- English Football League First Division – Arsenal beat Liverpool F.C., 2-0
- FA Cup – Liverpool defeated Everton, 3-2 AET
- CFL Grey Cup – Saskatchewan Roughriders defeated Hamilton Tiger-Cats, 43–40
- Tour de France – Greg LeMond of the United States
Horse Racing:
Men’s Golf:
- Masters Tournament – Nick Faldo
- U.S. Open – Curtis Strange
- British Open – Mark Calcavecchia
- PGA Championship – Payne Stewart
- PGA Tour money leader – Tom Kite – $1,395,278
- Senior PGA Tour money leader – Bob Charles – $725,887
- Ryder Cup – Europe and the United States teams tied 14–14 in team golf.
Women’s Golf:
- Nabisco Dinah Shore – Juli Inkster
- LPGA Championship – Nancy Lopez
- U.S. Women’s Open – Betsy King
- Classique du Maurier – Tammie Green
- LPGA Tour money leader – Betsy King – $654,132
Tennis:
- Grand Slam in tennis men’s results:
- Grand Slam in tennis women’s results:
- Australian Open – Steffi Graf
- French Open – Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
- Wimbledon championships – Steffi Graf
- US Open – Steffi Graf