22 January in Sports History

Celebrating the milestones in sports history made on January 22 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.

88 - 13 - 39 - 6 - 40 - 80 - 24 - 32 - 35 - 8 - 0 - 33

Sports History of the Day

January 22, 1953 - 1953 NFL Draft: Harry Babcock, Number 88 from University of Georgia first pick by San Francisco 49ers. He wore those same digits on his shirt with the Niners too.

January 22, 1960 - 10th NBA All-Star Game, Convention Hall, Philadelphia, Pa: East beats West, 125-115; MVPselected was Philadelphia Warriors, Center, Number 13,  Wilt Chamberlain

January 22, 1967 - Gale Sayers the star running back of the Chicago Bears who wore Number 40,was selected as the Offensive Most Valuable Player of the NFL Pro Bowl game. On the defensive side Floyd Peter the Defensive Tackle of the Philadelphia Eagles took home the MVP honor as the East double up the West 20-10 in the 17th annual Pro Bowl event this time played at the Los Angeles Coliseum.

January 22, 1969 - Brooklyn Dodgers catcher, Number 39, Roy Campanella and St Louis Cardinals ourfiled legend, Number 6, Stan Musial were elected to enter into the Baseball Hall of Fame

January 22, 1981 - State University of New York Womens Basketball star Annette Kennedy sets a record in Ladies Hoops by scoring 70 points in one game. The SUNY-Purchase team used Kennedy's 34 field goals, 2 free throws and 8 assists to embarass their opponent Pratt 116-21. The previous record was for 63 point set in 1978 by Francis Marion's Pearl Moore. We do not have Ms. Kenneddy's jersey number available, but if you have information on it please share it with us via email at PigskinDispatch@gmail.com.

January 22, 1989 - Number 80, Jerry Rice the standout Wide Receiver of the San Francisco 49ers earned the Most Valuable Player honor in Super Bowl XXIII as he and Niners defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 20-16 at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, Florida. San Francisco Head Coach Bill Walsh retired from his post soon after the game.

January 22, 1998 - Rickey Henderson, Number 24 that season, rejoined the Oakland A's for the fourth time in his career. Hos 57 RBIs and 66 Stolen bases showed that the 39 year old still had his wheels and could bring value to a club. In fact after 1998 he played with 5 additional clubs retiring in 2003 at the age of 44.

January 22, 1984 - Super Bowl XVIII, Tampa Stadium, Tampa, FL: LA Raiders beat Washington Redskins, 38-9; MVP selectee was Los Angeles Raiders, RB, Number 32, Marcus Allen

January 22, 1994 - 45th NHL All-Star Game, Madison Square Garden, NYC: East beats West, 9-8; MVP selected was New York Rangers, Goal tender, Number 35, Mike Richter

January 22, 2006 - Los Angeles Lakers scoring machine, Number 8, Kobe Bryant scored 81 points in a 122-104 Lakers victory over the Toronto Raptors; second-highest game total in NBA history, behind only Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game (1962)

January 22, 2018 - New Orleans Pelicans' Number 0, DeMarcus Cousins has 44 points, 24 rebounds & 10 assists in 132-128 double-OT win over Chicago Bulls; 1st player since Number 33, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1972) with 40+ points, 20+ rebounds & 10+ assists

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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