31 January in Sports History

Here is what happened in Sports Jersey History on January 31: A famous baseball player hosts a Bowling show, another legendary Diamon Star gets caught with a conflict of interest and more greats enter Halls of Fame. Listen in to learn more about sports history along with me from the uniforms and jerseys the players 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 - 11 - 2 - 4 - 12 - 8 - 21 

January 31, 1920 - Number 7, Joe Malone, a Center of the Quebec Bulldogs set an NHL record 7 goals in a 10-6 win against the rival Toronto St. Patricks on the ice of the Quebec Arena. Malone led the NHL with 39 goals on the season and his 49 total points also were tops in the League that year.

January 31, 1923 - Montreal Canadiens beat Hamilton Tigers, 5-4 at the Mount Royal Arena, Montreal; first penalty-free game played in NHL history

January 31, 1927 - The National League brass ruled future Baseball Hall of Fame infielder Rogers Hornsby couldn't hold stock in the St. Louis Cardinals and play for the New York Giants because of the obvious conflict of interest. Oddly enough the legendary ballplayer earned a $2,916 dividend on same day from his option with the Cardinals. That probably didn't help his case any. Though he may not have worn a uniform number in 1927, no big league mandated them then, Hornsby would eventually in coming years be seen wearing 4, 9, 11 & 16 for various teams including the St. Louis Browns, Chicago Cubs, and St Louis Cardinals.

January 31, 1952 - Harry Heilmann & Paul Waner elected to Baseball Hall of Fame. Heilman played ball from 1914 through 1929 as a Right Fielder and a 1st baseman for the Detroit Tigers. He also played a couple of seasons for the Reds at the end of his career. The majority of his playing days he did not wear a number, and I am not sure what uniform digits he wore in 1929, 1930 & 1932. Waner was an outfield player for the Pittsburgh Pirates for 15 of his 20 years playing Major League ball. For most other seasons in Pittsburgh he wore the Number 11. His career spanned from 1926 all the way through 1945 in the Great American Pastime.

January 31, 1958 - "Jackpot Bowling" premieres on NBC with former Major League Basball player and manager, Leo Durocher as its host. Leo was an infielder for a few teams. He spent most of his career wearing the Number 2 as a member of the St Louis Cardinals and the Brooklyn Dodgers organizations.

January 31, 1959 - Former Major League Baseball player and manager, Joe Cronin signs 7 year pact to become head of American League of Baseball. In his playing days Cronis was a Shortstop and he donned the Number 4 mostly during his seasons with the Washington Senators and the Boston Redsox.

January 31, 1971 - Special Veterans Committee adds 6 former players and 1 executive to the Baseball Hall of Fame: Dave Bancroft, Jake Beckley, Chick Hafey, Harry Hooper, Joe Kelley, Rube Marquard and George Weiss

January 31, 1977 - Joe Sewell, Amos Rusie and Al López are elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame

January 31, 1988 - Doug Williams, who wore Number 12 for the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XXII took home the Most Valuable Player Award at Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego as Washington beat Denver Broncos, 42-10.

January 31, 1991 - Denver Nuggets Michael Adams becomes shortest NBA player to have put up a triple-double in a game. Adams wore the Number 14 for most of career in the Mile High City. Adams was listed as being 5'-10" tall.

January 31, 1993 - Super Bowl XXVII at the Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California saw the Dallas Cowboys slap around the Buffalo Bills, 52-17. The MVP of this game Number 8 of Dallas, Quarterback Troy Aikman.

January 31, 1997 - San Antonio forward Dominique Wilkins, wearing Number 21 scores 27 points in the San Antonio Spurs' 97-95 loss to Minnesota. That evening points gave him 26,009 for his career;  and made him only the 6th NBA player to reach the 26k milestone.

January 31, 1999 - Pro Player Stadium, Miami, Florida - Super Bowl XXXIII featured the Dirty Birds of the Atlanta Falcons facing the AFC Champs the Denver Broncos. Denver was the defending champs as a year earlier they had defeated Green Bay for the franchise’s first championship per the Pro-Football-Reference. The Broncos were a little too much for upstart Atlanta though as they grounded the Falcons 34-19. Denver's Number 7, Quarterback John Elway who threw for 336 yards and a touchdown took home the MVP trophy

January 31, 2015  - The Atlanta Hawks set a new NBA monthly win record as they move to 17-0 for January, with a 91-85 win against the Philadelphia 76ers.

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