On This Day

Events in Sport on January 9

  • 1811 1st Women's Golf Tournament held
  • 1903 Baseball's National & American Leagues make peace
  • 1903 Frank Farrell and Bill Devery purchase the American League's Baltimore baseball franchise for $18,000 and move it to NYC (later the NY Yankees)
  • 1930 Boston Bruins wins then NHL record 14th straight game

Sport defeatBoxing Title Fight

1942 In his 20th title defence, Joe Louis KOs Buddy Baer in the 1st round of their rematch to retain his world heavyweight boxing title at New York’s Madison Square Garden

Boxer and World Heavyweight Champion Joe Louis
Boxer and World Heavyweight Champion
Joe Louis
  • 1947 Providence Steamrollers guard Dino Martin becomes the first NBA player to ever score 40 points in a game, in a 91-68 win over Cleveland Rebels at Rhode Island Auditorium
  • 1951 Washington Capitals NBA club folds
  • 1952 Karel Sys wins European heavyweight boxing title

Event of interestEvent of Interest

1952 Marines give notice that they will recall Ted Williams to active duty

Baseball Player Ted Williams
Baseball Player
Ted Williams
  • 1953 Bevo Francis, Rio Grande College, scores 116 pts in basketball game
  • 1954 Bert Olmstead of the Montreal Canadiens, ties NHL record of 8 points in game

Event of interestEvent of Interest

1958 In basketball Oscar Robertson (Cin) scores 56, Seton Hall team 54

NBA Player Oscar Robertson
NBA Player
Oscar Robertson
  • 1962 NFL prohibits grabbing of face masks
  • 1967 NFL New Orleans' franchise takes name "Saints"

Event of interestEvent of Interest

1972 Led by future Lakers star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Milwaukee Bucks beat LA Lakers, 120-104, ending LA's consecutive win streak at 33, the longest winning streak in major league sports history

NBA Legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
NBA Legend
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
  • 1975 Australia beat England by 171 runs in 4th Test to regain Ashes

Event of interestEvent of Interest

1976 Bryan Trottier failed in 4th Islander penalty shot

NHL Star Bryan Trottier
NHL Star
Bryan Trottier

Sport awardSuper Bowl

1977 Super Bowl XI, Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA: Oakland Raiders beat Minnesota Vikings, 32-14; MVP: Fred Biletnikoff, Oakland, WR

NFL Coach and Sportscaster John Madden
NFL Coach and Sportscaster
John Madden

Sport awardAustralian Men's Tennis Open

1977 Australian Open Men's Tennis: American Roscoe Tanner wins his first and only Grand Slam event; beats Guillermo Vilas of Argentina 6-3, 6-3, 6-3

Tennis Player and Australian Open Roscoe Tanner
Tennis Player and Australian Open
Roscoe Tanner
Tennis Player and Four-Time Major Champion Guillermo Vilas
Tennis Player and Four-Time Major Champion
Guillermo Vilas

Event of interestEvent of Interest

1979 Bobby Orr's #4 jersey is retired by the Boston Bruins

Ice Hockey Legend Bobby Orr
Ice Hockey Legend
Bobby Orr
  • 1984 Braves pitcher Pascual Perez is arrested for cocaine possession
  • 1985 Flames set NHL record 264th regular season game without being shut-out
  • 1986 NY Islanders repeat their greatest shutout margin (9-0) vs Pittsburgh Penguins
  • 1988 US male Figure Skating championship won by Brian Boitano

Hall of fameHall of Fame

1989 Johnny Bench & Carl Yastrzemski elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

MLB Catcher Johnny Bench
MLB Catcher
Johnny Bench
MLB Outfielder Carl Yastrzemski
MLB Outfielder
Carl Yastrzemski
  • 1990 Boston Celtics worst ever (6 pts in 2nd vs NJ Nets) & lose 87-78

Hall of fameHall of Fame

1990 Jim Palmer & Joe Morgan elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

MLB Hall of Fame Infielder and Broadcaster Joe Morgan
MLB Hall of Fame Infielder and Broadcaster
Joe Morgan
Baseball Player Jim Palmer
Baseball Player
Jim Palmer

Hall of fameHall of Fame

1991 Baseball officially bans Pete Rose from being elected to Hall of Fame for betting on baseball

MLB Player and Manager Pete Rose
MLB Player and Manager
Pete Rose
  • 1991 Dean Smith of NC is 6th to win 700 career coaching basketball games

Event of interestEvent of Interest

1991 Chicago's Michael Jordan scores a game-high 40 points to lead the Bulls to a 107-99 win over Philadelphia at the Spectrum; reaches the 15,000 point mark of his career

Basketball Superstar Michael Jordan
Basketball Superstar
Michael Jordan
  • 1993 Franziska van Almsick swims world record 100m free style (53.33)
  • 1998 Anatoly Karpov defeats Viswanathan Anand to retain chess title
  • 1998 Boston Red Sox Mo Vaughn pleads not guilty to drunken driving

Event of interestEvent of Interest

1998 Hockey News selects Wayne Gretzky as the best NHL player ever

Ice Hockey Great Wayne Gretzky
Ice Hockey Great
Wayne Gretzky
  • 1999 Hopman Cup Tennis, Perth: Mark Philippoussis clinches Australia's unassailable 2-0 lead, (ends 2-1), with a 6-3, 7-6 win over Sweden's Jonas Björkman; Australia's first title

Event of interestEvent of Interest

2000 Miami Dolphin QB Dan Marino wins his last career NFL game (20-17 vs Seattle)

Hall of Fame NFL Quarterback Dan Marino
Hall of Fame NFL Quarterback
Dan Marino
  • 2009 Hopman Cup Tennis, Perth: Dominik Hrbatý beats Russia's Marat Safin 6-7, 7-5, 7-6 for an unassailable 2-0 lead, and Slovakia's 3rd title

Event of interestEvent of Interest

2010 Hopman Cup Tennis, Perth: María José Martínez Sánchez & Tommy Robredo of Spain beat British pair Laura Robson & Andy Murray 7-6, 7-5 to clinch a 2-1 win; Spain's 3rd title

Tennis Champion Andy Murray
Tennis Champion
Andy Murray

Sport awardFootball Awards

2012 FIFA Ballon d'Or: Barcelona forward Lionel Messi wins award for a record 3rd consecutive year; Japanese midfielder Homare Sawa wins women's award

Football Star Lionel Messi
Football Star
Lionel Messi
  • 2012 College Football, 14th BCS National Championship, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans: #2 Alabama beats #1 LSU, 21-0
  • 2014 Yaya Toure wins African Footballer of the Year
  • 2016 Hopman Cup Tennis, Perth: Australian Nick Kyrgios beats Alexandr Dolgopolov of the Ukraine 6-3, 6-4 for an unassailable 2-0 lead and the home nation's second title
  • 2017 College Football National Championship, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa: #2 Clemson beats #1 Alabama, 35-31

January in Sport

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