12 January in Sports History

Celebrating the milestones in sports history made on January 12 throughout history by remembering the athletes and the jersey numbers that they wore.

Sports history is made every day of the year. We will preserve at least a small sampling from at least 3 great athletes every day based on the uniform number they wore.

7 - 32 - 39 - 80 - 4 - 19 - 89 - 12 - 19 - 32 - 5 - 27 - 8 - 11 - 9 - 5 - 10 - 14

January 12, 1918 - Center Joe Malone Number 7 of the Montreal Canadiens scored 5 goals in a a game against Ottawa to lift Montreal to a 9-4 victory as Malone became the first skater to score 20 golas in one season. Joe ended up with 44 on the season that year!

January 12, 1952 - At the 2nd NFL Pro Bowl, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum: National Conference beats American Conference, 30-13; MVP of the game was the Los Angeles Rams, Fullback, Number 32, Dan Towler.

January 12, 1958 - 8th NFL Pro Bowl, LA Memorial Coliseum: Western Conference beats Eastern Conference, 26-7; MVPs were San Francisco Halfback, Number 39, Hugh McElhenny, and of the defensive side of the ball, Washington Redskins, DE, Number 80, Gene Brito.

January 12, 1958 - Dolph Schayes wearing Number 4 as a power forward for the NBA's Syracuse Nationals posted an League record of 11,770 career points as the Nats fell to the Detroit Pistons. Schayes knocked home 31 points in the losing effort.

January 12, 1960 - Syracuse National Dolph Schayes became the 1st NBA player to score 15,000 points

January 12, 1964 - 14th NFL Pro Bowl, LA Memorial Coliseum: Western Conference beats Eastern Conference, 31-17; MVPs were Baltimore Colts, QB, Number 19, Johnny Unitas . On defense it was his future Hall of Fame teammate, Gino Marchetti, Number 89, a defensive end with the  Baltimore Colts.

January 12, 1969 - New York Jets QB Joe Namath sporting his famous Number 12, promised and led the J-E-T-S to an unlikely victory over the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, 16-7, also earning the signal caller the game's MVP.

January 12, 1971 - 21st NBA All-Star Game, San Diego Sports Arena: West beats East, 108-107; MVP selected was Seattle SuperSonics, PG, Number 19, Lenny Wilkens. He was the oldest MVP in All-Star history (33), but he earned it with hard play scoring 21 points against the World's top hoops players.

January 12, 1975 - Super Bowl IX, Tulane Stadium, New Orleans, LA: Pittsburgh Steelers beat Minnesota Vikings, 16-6; MVP was Pittsburgh, RB Number 32, Franco Harris.

January 12, 1983 - Brooks Robinson (Number 5, Orioles) and Juan Marichal  ( Number 27, Giants) were both elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame

January 12, 1988 - Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder/first baseman, Number 8, Willie Stargell elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

January 12, 1994 - Philadelphia Phillies Lefthanded pitcher, Number 32, Steve Carlton was elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

January 12, 2006 - The New York Rangers held a ceremony, where they retired the Number 11 jersey in honor of Mark Messier.

January 12, 2009 - Cristiano Ronaldo ( Number 7) was awarded 2008 FIFA World Player of the Year for the first time at a ceremony in Zurich

January 12, 2013 - "Mile High Miracle", In AFC Divisional Playoff Game Denver Broncos ahead of Baltimore Ravens 35-28 with 1:09 remaining, quarterback Number 5, Joe Flacco heaves 70 yard touchdown pass to receiver Number 12, Jacoby Jones to tie the game. Ravens win in overtime.

January 12, 2015 - FIFA Ballon d'Or: Real Madrid & Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo won for a 2nd consecutive time; his 3rd award overall; VfL Wolfsburg midfielder Number 8, Nadine Kessler is women's award winner

January 12, 2020 - Argentine striker Number 10, Sergio Agüero becomes top-scoring overseas player in English Premier League football history with a hat-trick in Manchester City's 6-1 rout of Aston Villa; total 177 takes him past Number 14, Thierry Henry

A Very Special thanks to information obtained from the following brilliant internet sites: On This Day Sports, the Sports Reference's family of website databases & Stathead.com