1989 in sports
See also: 1988 in sports, other events of 1989, 1990 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.
- Stock car racing:
- CART Racing - season championship won by Emerson Fittipaldi
- Formula One Championship - Alain Prost of France
- 24 hours of Le Mans:
- won by the team of Jochen Mass / Manuel Reuter / Stanley Dickens driving a Sauber-Mercedes
- Rally racing - Miki Biasion in a Lancia won the World Rally Championship
- the team of Miki Biasion / Tiziano Siviero won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Lancia Delta HF Integrale
- Drag racing - Gary Ormsby won the NHRA "Top Fuel" championship.
- April 8 - One-handed pitcher Jim Abbott makes his major-league debut with the California Angels, without spending a single day in the minor leagues. He went on to a 12-12 record for the season.
- August 10 - Ten months after undergoing surgery for cancer in his pitching arm, San Francisco Giants pitcher Dave Dravecky returns to the major leagues, winning his comeback 4-3.
- August 15 - Dave Dravecky's comeback bid ends tragically when his pitching arm breaks in the sixth inning of his second start. Two years later, the cancer-stricken arm would be amputated.
- August 24 - Following an investigation that he gambled on baseball, superstar player Pete Rose is banned from baseball for life.
- World Series: Oakland Athletics won 4 games to 0 over the San Francisco Giants. The Series MVP was Dave Stewart, Oakland.
- NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
- Michigan wins 80-79 over Seton Hall in overtime
- NBA Finals:
- Detroit Pistons win 4 games to 0 over the Los Angeles Lakers to win the franchise's first championship.
- February 11 - In Grenoble, France, Rene Jacquot won a 12 round decision over Donald Curry to win the World Welterweight Championship
- Giro d'Italia won by Laurent Fignon of France
- Tour de France - Greg LeMond of the United States
- World Cycling Championship: Greg LeMond of the United States
- November 16 - 24 - Eleventh Men's Champions Trophy held in Berlin, Germany won by Australia
- World Figure Skating Championships:
- Men's champion: Kurt Browning, Canada
- Women's champion: Midori Ito, Japan
- Pairs champions: Ekaterina Gordeeva & Sergei Grinkov, Soviet Union
- Super Bowl XXIII: San Francisco 49ers won 20-16 over the Cincinnati Bengals
- Victorian Football League
- Hawthorn wins the 93rd VFL Premiership (Hawthorn 21.18 (144) d Geelong 21.12 (138))
- Brownlow Medal awarded to Paul Couch (Geelong)
- Grey Cup: Saskatchewan Roughriders won 43-40 over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
- Vanier Cup: Western Ontario Mustangs won 35-10 over the Saskatchewan Huskies
- England - FA Cup: Liverpool won 3-2 (aet) over Everton
- Gaelic football
- All-Ireland Senior Football Championship: Cork 0-17 d. Mayo 1-11
- National Football League: Cork 0-15 d. Dublin 0-12
- Major championship results:
- PGA Tour leading money winner for the year: Tom Kite - $1,395,278
- Champions Tour leading money winner: Bob Charles - $725,887
- Ryder Cup: Europe and the United States teams tied 14-14 in world golf.
- US Women's Open - Betsy King
- LPGA Championship - Nancy Lopez
- Betsy King: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $654,132.
- Australia - Melbourne Cup - Tawriffic
- Canada - Queen's Plate - With Approval
- France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Carroll House
- Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Old Vic
- United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
- Hambletonian - Park Ave Joe & Probe (dead heat)
- Yonkers Trot - Valley Victory
- Kentucky Futurity - Peace Corps
- Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
- Pacers: Jodie's Babe
- Trotters: Yankee Loch
- Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins
- Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings
- Stanley Cup: Calgary Flames won 4 games to 2 over the Montreal Canadiens. The first time ever that the visiting team won their game at Montreal.
- World Hockey Championship
- Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Canada
- Junior Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Sweden
- Second European High Speed Telegraphy Championship held in Hannover, Germany.
- Alpine Skiing
- The men's overall season champion: Marc Girardelli, Luxembourg
- The women's overall season champion: Vreni Schneider, Switzerland
- World Snooker Championship: Steve Davis beats John Parrott 18-3
- World rankings: Steve Davis remains world number one for 1989/90
- Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
- Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
- Davis Cup: Germany F.R. won 3-2 over Sweden in world tennis.
- Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
- Joe Runyan won with lead dogs: Rambo & Ferlin the Husky
Births
- June 2 - Freddy Adu, Ghana-born football (soccer) player from America
- June 3 - Katie Hoff, American swimmer
- October 11 - Michelle Wie, golf prodigy
Deaths
- January 9 - Bill Terry, Major League Baseball player (1923-1936)
- January 21 - Carl Furillo, Major League Baseball player (1946-1960)
- January 29 - Halina Konopacka 88, Polish athlete
- February 17 - Lefty Gomez, New York Yankees pitcher (1930-1943)
- February 10 - Dan Kelly, NHL sportscaster
- March 18 - Piet Kruiver, Dutch soccer player
- April 12 - Sugar Ray Robinson, boxing champion
- June 17 - John Matuszak 38, NFL player with Oakland Raiders
- June 22 - Lee Calhoun, Olympic Gold Medal hurdler
- July 18 - Donnie Moore 35, Major League Baseball pitcher, suicide
- August 13 - Tim Richmond, NASCAR driver
- August 18 - Bert Oosterbosch 32, Dutch cyclist, world professional pursuit champion
- September 1 - A. Bartlett Giamatti, 7th Major League Baseball commissioner, heart attack
- September 10 - Jeff Stollmeyer, President, West Indies Cricket Board, murdered
- September 15 - Harry Cave, New Zealand cricketer
- October 4 - Secretariat, thoroughbred race horse, 1973 Triple Crown winner, two-time Horse of the Year
- October 4 - Norman Yardley, English cricketer
- November 13 - Victor Davis, 1984 Olympic and World swimming champion
- December 25 - Billy Martin, New York Yankees manager, auto accident
- December 26 - Doug Harvey, NHL superstar defenseman (1947-1969)