24 January in Sports History

Celebrating the milestones in sports history made on January 24 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.

42- 16 - 22 - 9 - 53 - 20 - 21 - 31 - 99 - 48

Photo is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and is a 1910 rare shot of A photo of "Wee Willie" Keeler playing for the New York Giants at the twilight of his career.

January 24, 1939 - Eddie Collins, Willie Keeler and George Sisler were all elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

January 24, 1950 - The most famous Number 42 in sports history, Jackie Robinson, became the highest paid Brooklyn Dodger to that point in history when he signed a $35,000 contract for the 1950 season.

January 24, 1956 - 6th NBA All Star Game, Rochester War Memorial Coliseum, NY: West beats East, 108-94; MVP chosen was St. Louis Hawks, C, Number 9, Bob Pettit.

January 24, 1962 - We spoke just a moment ago about Jackie Robinson he was also selected as the first black man to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame on this day. An important date in history for Number 42.

January 24, 1971 - 21st NFL Pro Bowl, LA Memorial Coliseum: NFC beats AFC, 27-6; MVPs selected were both of defense, Green Bay Packers, LB, Number 53, Fred Carr and Dallas Cowboys, CB, Number 20, Mel Renfro

January 24, 1973 - Legendary lefthanded pitcher, Warren Spahn, Number 21 for much of his career, was elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

January 24, 1978 - 31st NHL All-Star Game, Buffalo Municipal Auditorium, Buffalo, NY: Wales beats Campbell, 3-2 (OT); MVP selected was NY Islanders, G, Number 31, Billy Smith.

January 24, 1982 - Number 16 of the San Francisco 49ers, Joe Montana was selected as the Super Bowl XVI Most Valuable Player after he and the Niners knocked off the Cincinnati Bengals 26-21.

January 24, 1986 - Mike Bossy who wore Number 22 for the New York Islanders scored his 1000th NHL career point on this day.

January 24, 1999 -  NHL All-Star Game, Ice Palace, Tampa, FL: North America beats World, 8-6; MVP selected was NY Rangers, C, Number 99, Wayne Gretzky.

January 24, 2007 -  NHL All-Star Game, American Airlines Centre, Dallas, TX: West beats East, 12-9; MVP chosen was Buffalo Sabres, C, Number 48, Daniel Briere.

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Here is what happened in Sports Jersey History on January 24 as Listen in to the first of our daily episodes in my mission to learn more about sports history from the uniforms and jerseys the players wore. Today we cover names like Jackie Robinson, Joe Montana, Mike Bossy & a story about #12 Roger Staubach from John Davis of the For The Good of the Game Podcast!

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

The banner photo is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and is a 1910 rare shot of A photo of "Wee Willie" Keeler playing for the New York Giants at the twilight of his career.