AP Sportlight
Jan. 18
1938 — Grover Cleveland Alexander is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. His 90 shutouts is second on the all-time list to Walter Johnson and his 16 shutouts in 1916 is still the major league record.
1958 — Canadian born Willie O’Ree becomes the NHL’s first black player for the Boston Bruins.
1972 — The Lakers’ Jerry West, hits a last second, 20-foot jumper to lead the West team to a 112-110 NBA All-Star victory over the East, as he garners the MVP award.
1973 — Orlando Cepeda becomes the first player signed specifically to be a designated hitter. He signs with the Boston Red Sox one week after the designated hitter rule is approved.
1976 — Pittsburgh wins the Super Bowl for the second straight year. Terry Bradshaw’s 64-yard touchdown pass to Lynn Swann and Glen Edwards’ interception on the last play of the game gives the Steelers a 21-17 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. Swann, with four receptions for 161 yards, is the game’s MVP.
1992 — Brett Hull scores two goals with the help of linemate Wayne Gretzky to lead the Campbell Conference to a 10-6 victory over the Wales Conference in the NHL All-Star game.
1996 — Baseball owners break with more than a century of tradition by unanimously approving interleague play in 1997.
2004 — The New England Patriots earn their second trip to the Super Bowl in three seasons by defeating the Indianapolis Colts 24-14 in the AFC championship game. The Philadelphia Eagles fall one win short of the Super Bowl for the third straight year as the Carolina Panthers post a 14-3 win.
2005 — Earl Boykins breaks the NBA record for points in an overtime, scoring 15 of Denver’s 21 points in the extra period as the Nuggets beat the Seattle SuperSonics 116-110. The 5-foot-5 guard, the league’s smallest player, broke the record of 14 overtime points set by Butch Carter of Indiana against Boston on March 20, 1984.
2014 — The NBA fines Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban $100,000 for confronting referees and using inappropriate language toward them after the Mavericks blew a 17-point lead in the final 5 minutes of a 129-127 loss at the Los Angeles Clippers on Jan. 15.
2015 — Russell Wilson hits Jermaine Kearse for a 35-yard touchdown 3:19 into overtime to lift the Seattle Seahawks to an improbable 28-22 victory over Green Bay in the NFC championship game. Outplayed much of the game and plagued by five turnovers, the Seahawks trail 16-7 with 2:09 remaining. That’s when Wilson runs 1 yard for a TD. Seattle recovers a bobbled onside kick at the 50, and Marshawn Lynch powers his way to a 24-yard TD run. Wilson’s desperate 2-point conversion pass is hauled in by Luke Willson to make it 22-19. But Aaron Rodgers leads the Packers to Mason Crosby’s fifth field goal, from 48 yards with 14 seconds to go.
2015 — Tom Brady throws for three touchdowns and LeGarrette Blount runs in three more to lead the New England Patriots into the Super Bowl with a 45-7 victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
2019 — Roger Federer beat Taylor Fritz 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 in his 100th match at the Australian Open. Federer, who has six Australian Open crowns, reached the Round of 16 at a Grand Slam tournament for the 63rd time.