This Day in Sports History - 10/31/1999

The Cleveland Browns claim their first victory as an expansion team with a dramatic 21 - 16 win over the New Orleans Saints at the Louisiana Superdome. Browns owner Art Modell moved the Browns to Baltimore following the 1996 season. Cleveland was granted an expansion team to begin play in 1999 and retained the previous team's nickname, colors, and records. The Browns start the '99 season 0-7 and seem headed for an eighth loss when Doug Brien kicks a 46-yard FG to give the Saints a 16 - 14 advantage. The Browns hold the ball on their own 44 with time for just one more play. QB Tim Couch launches a Hail Mary into the air, and WR Kevin Johnson catches it in the corner of the end zone for the game-winning score. The Browns will finish 1999 with a 2 - 14 record. The other win is achieved on a FG as time expires, to down the Steelers, 16 - 15, at Three River Stadium in Pittsburgh on November 14.

This Day in Sports History - 5/20/1999

Robin Ventura of the New York Mets becomes the first player in major league history to hit grand slams in both ends of a double header. In the first inning of the opener, Ventura clears the bases with a homer off the Milwaukee Brewers' Jim Abbott to give his club a 4-0 lead and the Mets hang on to win, 11-10. Facing Horacio Estrada in the fourth inning of the second tilt, he belts grand slam number two and the Mets win again, 10-1. He'll finish his career with 18 grand slams in 188 at-bats with the bases loaded.