Jan. 3
1920 — Boston Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sells pitcher-outfielder Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for $125,000 plus a $350,000 loan.
1931 — Nels Stewart of the Montreal Maroons scores two goals four seconds apart in the third period of a 5-3 victory over the Boston Bruins.
1946 — George Woolf falls off head first from his mount, Please Me, as he rounds the clubhouse turn in the fourth race at Santa Anita Park. Suffering from a concussion, the 35-year-old jockey, is taken to the hospital where he dies the following day. Woolf, known as “The Iceman” for his coolness in the saddle, has 3,784 mounts, 721 wins, 589 seconds and 468 thirds, with earnings of $2,856,125 in his 18-year career.
1973 — A 12-member group headed by George Steinbrenner buys the New York Yankees from the Columbia Broadcasting System for $10 million.
1991 — Wayne Gretzky scores three goals, including his 700th, as the Los Angeles Kings beat the New York Islanders 6-3.
1993 — The Buffalo Bills stage pro football’s biggest comeback to beat the Houston Oilers 41-38 in overtime in the first round of the NFL playoffs. The Oilers held a 35-3 lead 1:41 into the third quarter. Frank Reich throws four touchdown passes to give Buffalo its first lead of the game 38-35. Al Del Grecco’s 26-yard field goal ties the game. Steve Christie kicks the game-winning 32-yard field goal in overtime.
1995 — Nebraska, the fourth team to finish 13-0 in Division I-A football history, wins its first national football title since 1971 as the Cornhuskers are the overwhelming choice in The Associated Press poll.
1998 — Michigan wins its first national championship since 1948 as the Wolverines are officially declared No. 1 in the final Associated Press poll. The coaches poll jumps Nebraska to the No. 1 spot, creating a split national championship for the third time in the 1990s.
1999 — Brian Bellows of the Washington Capitals, has a goal and an assist, including the 1,000th point of his NHL career, to lead Washington past Toronto 5-2.
2003 — Ohio State completes an unlikely, unbeaten run to their first national title in 34 years with a 31-24 double-overtime win over Miami at the Fiesta Bowl.
2010 — Chris Johnson rushes for 134 yards and two touchdowns in Tennessee’s 17-13 win over Seattle and finishes the year with 2,006 yards.
2011 — Connecticut’s nearly three-year hold on the top ranking ends when they were overtaken by Baylor and drop to No. 2 in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll. Connecticut, which had it’s 90-game win streak snapped by Stanford on Dec. 30, had been the top team for a record 51 straight weeks, beginning Feb. 18, 2008.
2015 — A month shy of 43, Jaromir Jagr scores three times to pass Gordie Howe and becomes the oldest NHL player to record a hat trick, leading New Jersey to a 5-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.
2016 – Jimmy Butler breaks Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls record for points in an NBA half, scoring 40 of his 42 points in the second half to lead the Bulls in a 115-113 victory over the Toronto Raptors
___
Jan. 4
1970 — The Minnesota Vikings become the first expansion team to win the NFL title by beating the Cleveland Browns 27-7 in 8-degree temperatures in Bloomington, Minn.
1970 — Kansas City’s defense, highlighted by four interceptions, three in the final quarter, carries the Chiefs to a 17-7 victory over Oakland Raiders in the last AFL title game.
1976 — The Dallas Cowboys become the first wild-card team to make it to the Super Bowl with a 37-7 rout of the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC title game.
1986 — Eric Dickerson shatters the NFL playoff record with a 248-yard rushing performance and two touchdowns to lead the Los Angeles Rams to a 20-0 win over the Dallas Cowboys.
1991 — Fu Mingxia, a 12-year-old from China, becomes the youngest world titlist in the history of any aquatic event by winning the women’s platform gold medal at the World Swimming Championships in Perth, Australia.
1992 — Mike Gartner of the New York Rangers scores his 1,000th NHL point with a power-play goal in the third period of a 6-4 loss to the New Jersey Devils.
1997 — The Jacksonville Jaguars, in their second year, beat the Broncos in Denver to advance to the AFC Championship game.
2000 — Top-ranked Florida State, the preseason No. 1, holds off Virginia Tech 46-29 in the Sugar Bowl to finish 12-0 and win the national championship. Florida State is the first team to go wire-to-wire in The Associated Press’ poll since preseason rankings began in 1950.
2003 — Bode Miller wins his second straight World Cup giant slalom in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia to move into first place in the World Cup overall standings. It’s the first time an American man has held the overall lead since Phil Mahre in 1983.
2005 — Matt Leinart throws five touchdown passes and Southern California overwhelms Oklahoma 55-19 in the Orange Bowl. USC (13-0) is the first team to repeat as AP national champions since Nebraska in 1994-95 and joins Florida State in 1999 as the only teams to go wire-to-wire — from preseason to post bowls — as No. 1.
2006 — Second-ranked Texas ends Southern California’s 34-game winning streak, beating the two-time defending national champion 41-38 in the Rose Bowl. The Longhorns also snap USC’s record string of 33 consecutive weeks as the No. 1 team in The Associated Press Top 25. The Longhorns, a unanimous choice, wins a national championship for the first time since 1969.
2012 — Geno Smith ties a record for any bowl game with six touchdown passes, including four to Tavon Austin, and West Virginia sets a bowl scoring record by beating Clemson 70-33 in the Orange Bowl.
2013 — Mikaela Shiffrin becomes the first American woman to win two World Cup races before turning 18. The 17-year-old captures a slalom in Zagreb, Croatia by a massive 1.19-second margin. Her first victory came last month in Sweden.
2014 — Andrew Luck throws four second-half touchdown passes and scores on a fumble recovery, leading the Indianapolis Colts from a four-TD deficit to an historic 45-44 comeback victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in a wild-card game.
___
Jan. 5
1964 — Keith Lincoln of the San Diego Chargers, rushes for 206 yards in 13 carries, catches seven passes for 123 yards, completes one pass for 20 and scores two touchdowns in a 51-10 rout of the Boston Patriots for the AFL title.
1983 — In his 42nd game, Edmonton’s Wayne Gretzky scores his 100th point of the season with an assist in the Oilers’ 8-3 triumph over the Winnipeg Jets.
1991 — Kevin Bradshaw of U.S. International scores 72 points to break Pete Maravich’s NCAA Division I single-game scoring record of 69, but Loyola Marymount sets an NCAA team scoring record in defeating the Gulls 186-140.
1993 — Reggie Jackson, who hit 563 homers and played on five championship teams in 21 seasons, is the only player elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1997 — The second-year Carolina Panthers, behind John Kasay’s four field goals, beat the Dallas Cowboys 26-17 to advance to the NFC Championship game.
1999 — Nolan Ryan, George Brett and Robin Yount are voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, the biggest class of first-time candidates since Babe Ruth and four others were chosen in the original election of 1936.
2003 — Jeff Garcia hits Tai Streets with a 13-yard touchdown pass with 1 minute left, and the New York Giants botch the snap on a 41-yard field goal attempt as time expires in San Francisco’s 39-38 victory — the second-biggest comeback in NFL playoff history.
2009 — Pittsburgh makes it to the top of The Associated Press’ men’s college basketball poll for the first time. The Panthers are one of a record nine Big East teams in the poll. The 16-team league had a record eight schools ranked for three weeks earlier in the season.
2013 — Aaron Rodgers connects with an NFL playoff-record 10 receivers as he throws for 274 yards in his first playoff victory at home, leading Green Bay to a 24-10 victory over Minnesota.
2013 — Arian Foster rushes for 140 yards and a touchdown in Houston’s 19-13 win over Cincinnati, and becomes the first NFL player to have 100-yard games in each of his first three playoff games.
2017 — The Columbus Blue Jackets lose 5-0 to the Washington Capitals ending their winning streak at 16 games, one shy of the NHL record. Columbus lose for the first time since Nov. 26, ending a captivating run that fell short of the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins’ record of 17 consecutive wins.
2021 – 86th Heisman Trophy Award: DeVonta Smith, Alabama (WR)
___
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
