27 January in Sports History

Here is what happened in Sports History on January 27 using the uniform numbers that the players wore to help tell the story. Rick Loayza of the Basketball History 101 Podcast joins us for a story on his favorite player Magic Johnson and the brilliant uniform of the Los Angeles Lakers!

Sports history is made every day of the year. We will preserve at least a small sampling from at least 4 great athletes every day based on the uniform number they wore.

37 - 14 - 12 - 19 - 99 - 82 - 15

January 27, 1894 - 1st college basketball game, University of Chicago beats Chicago YMCA 19-11

January 27, 1944 - Manager Casey Stengel, who's Number 37 has been retired by both the New York Yankees and the New York Mets, on this day resigned his position as the skipper of the Boston Braves, a post he held since the 1938 season. It may be directly connected to the fact that Lou Perini, Guido Rugo, & Joseph Maney bought the controlling interest of the Boston club.

January 27, 1955 - George Shaw from the University of Oregon became the top pick in the 1955 NFL Draft. The Baltimore Colts selected the quarterback as the number one pick in the draft. Shaw played for the Colts for four seasons, and wore the Number 14 jersey proudly. He would later wear 14 with the Vikings, 15 with the NY Giants and number 17 as a member of the Denver Broncos in the AFL.

January 27, 1956 - NFL's New York Giants move their home from the Polo Grounds in Upper Manhattan to Yankee Stadium in The Bronx

January 27, 1970 - Terry Bradshaw, of Louisianna Tech was selected as the number one pick in the 1970 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. The QB would famously wear Number 12 for the Steelers as he guided them to four Super Bowl Titles in 6 years during the 1970s.

January 27, 1989 - Detroit Red Wings center Steve Yzerman became the 4th NHL player to record 100 points in 50 games or less. Number 19 led Detroit with a goal and 2 assists as Red Wings beat Toronto, 8-1

January 27, 1980 - NFL Pro Bowl, Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI: NFC beats AFC, 37-27; MVP: Number 42, Chuck Muncie, New Orleans Saints, RB

January 27, 1985 - NFL Pro Bowl, Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI: AFC beats NFC, 22-14; MVP: Number 99, Mark Gastineau, NY Jets, DE

January 27, 1991 - Super Bowl XXV, Tampa Stadium, Tampa, FL: New York Giants beat Buffalo Bills, 20-19; MVP: Number 24, Ottis Anderson, NY Giants, RB

January 27, 2008 - 56th NHL All-Star Game, Phillips Arena, Atlanta, GA: Eastern Conference beats Western Conference, 8-7; MVP: Number 12, Eric Staal, Carolina, C

January 27, 2013 - NFL Pro Bowl, Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI: NFC beats AFC, 62-35; MVP: Number 82, Kyle Rudolph, Minnesota Vikings, TE

January 27, 2019 - NFL Pro Bowl, Camping World Stadium, Orlando, FL: AFC beats NFC, 26-7; MVPs: Number 15, Patrick Mahomes, KC Chiefs, QB; Jamal Adams, NY Jets, S

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