Oct. 31 1961 — A federal judge ruled that Birmingham, Ala. laws against integrated playing fields were illegal. This ruling eliminated the last barrier against integrating the Southern Association. 1967 — San Francisco’s Mike McCormick won the National League Cy Young award. Mike McCormick led the league with with 22 victories. It was the first year in which pitchers are honored in both leagues. 1972 — Gaylord Perry, a 24-game winner with the fifth-place Cleveland Indians, won the American League Cy Young award. Perry won by a 64-58 margin over Wilbur Wood of the Chicago White Sox. 1973 — Tom Seaver of the New York Mets became the first pitcher to win the National League Cy Young award with less than 20 wins. Seaver went 19-10 and led the league in ERA (2.08) and strikeouts (251). 2001 — Derek Jeter hit a game-winning home run off Byung-Hyun Kim in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift New York over Arizona 4-3 and tie the World Series at 2-2. The Yankees’ Tino Martinez hit a dramatic two-run homer off closer Kim to tie it with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. It was the first time in World Series history that a team tied a game with a ninth-inning homer and won with a homer in extra innings. 2009 — Alex Rodriguez wound up with a home run after the first instant replay review in World Series history, and the New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia Phillies 8-5 for a 2-1 edge in the World Series. 2010 — Madison Bumgarner allowed three hits in eight innings, Aubrey Huff and Buster Posey homered and San Francisco beat the Texas Rangers 4-0 to take a 3-1 World Series lead. 2015 — The Kansas City Royals rallied for three runs in the eighth inning after second baseman Daniel Murphy’s error and beat the New York Mets 5-3 for a 3-1 lead in the World Series. The Royals posted their seventh postseason comeback win this October. 2017 — Chris Taylor hit a tying double off Justin Verlander during a two-run rally in the sixth inning and Corey Seager had a go-ahead sacrifice fly to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Houston Astros 3-1 to even the World Series at three games apiece. ___