This Date in Chicago Sports------January 31, 1979

Center John Battle of Chicago's Cathedral High School scores 91 points in a lopsided 135-28 win over Roycemore Academy. Battle's 91 points in a game sets a new Illinois high school basketball scoring record.

This Date in Chicago Sports--- January 30, 1969

The Blackhawks slap a dozen pucks into the net at the Philadelphia Forum, as they trounce the Flyers, 12-0.

This Date in Chicago Sports--- January 29, 1981

The second Veeck era ends in Chicago, as the new White Sox ownership is established, headed by Board Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and President Eddie Einhorn.

This Date in Chicago Sports--- January 28, 1943

Center Max Bentley of the Blackhawks scores four goals and one assist in the third period, as Chicago crushes the New York Rangers, 10-1, at the Stadium.

"Tony O"

Tony Esposito was the dominant goalie in the National Hockey League from the 1969-70 through 1973-74 seasons. In those four seasons, "Tony O" recorded 44 shutouts for the Blackhawks, while winning 3 Vezina Trophys. Those of us watching "Tony O" at the old Chicago Stadium, marveled at his "butterfly" goaltender stance and his right-handed knocking down and catching of pucks.

This Date in Chicago Sports---January 27, 1972

The Blackhawks defeat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-0, as goalie Tony Esposito records his third consecutive shutout.

This Date in Chicago Sports--- January 26, 1986

Pop the champagne(or maybe we should say beer)in Grabowski City! The Bears soundly defeat the New England Patriots, 46-10, to capture the Super Bowl XX trophy, winning the coveted prize for the first time.

Blackhawk Name and Logo

I've always thought that the Chief Blackhawk logo was pretty neat. However in this day of political correctness, I'm surprised that a warrior chief with warpaint is still hanging in there. In these enlightened times, there are no more Marquette Warriors and Chief Illiniwek had been declared to be a "hostile and abusive" mascot and image by the NCAA. Let us remember that the former Fort Deaborn Massacre is now the Battle of Fort Dearborn by the wisdom of the Chicago City Council. I suppose you have to sugarcoat history at times.

Back in 1937, then Blackhawk owner, Major Frederick McLaughlin, wanted to change the team's name to the Yankees. And why not? A Yankee is synonymous with an American. And wasn't Chief Blackhawk once the enemy of our greatest President, Abraham Lincoln, during that eponymous war in the early days of Illinois history?

Yet today, Chief Blackhawk's visage, warpaint and all, remains the logo of our beloved Chicago National Hockey League team. This current image of the terrible Chief, poised for war, is undoubtedly frightening all those young kids who are now flocking to the United Center with their folks to watch the team play.

This is why I would like to suggest a new name to the great marketing genius, John McDonough, the boss of the current Blackhawks. My suggestion is to call the team "The Chicago Shots." Hockey is a game of "slapshots" and "shots on goal" after all. Plus the owners of the team, the Wirtz family, has a major liquor distributorship, so "shot" reinforces the idea of the family business as well. John, I think we have a winner!

This Date in Chicago Sports--- January 25, 1937

Imagine the Chicago Yankees! In a decision that thankfully never came to fruition, Blackhawk owner, Major Frederick McLaughlin, announces his plan to change the name of his hockey team to the Yankees for the 1937-38 season.

This Date in Chicago Sports--- January 24, 1981

Sting forward Ingo Peters scores five goals, as visiting Chicago romps to a 15-3 victory over the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers, in North American Soccer League indoor competition.

Sammy Esposito

Sammy Esposito was your classic good-field, no-hit baseball utility infielder. I always thought it was nice to have a Chicago neighborhood guy on the team. Esposito had a ten-year Major League career, despite a lifetime batting average of .207. He played all but 25 of his 560 games with the White Sox. Two-thirds of his games were played at third base, since future Hall of Famers, Luis Aparicio and Nellie Fox had so little bench time playing short and second.

This Date in Chicago Sports--- January 23, 1950

Future White Sox infielder, Sammy Esposito, establishes a Chicago Public School basketball scoring record, as he tallies 81 points in Fenger's 107-32 rout of Carver.

Dye and Jones

My son Mike suggested that the White Sox recent acquisition of Andruw Jones might want to be compared to the signing of Jermaine Dye six years ago. Mike pointed out that it was generally viewed that Dye was on the downside of his career when he was picked-up by the Sox in December of 2004. Dye's 2003 season was plagued with two stints on the DL, as he hit a horrible .172 for Oakland with 4 four homers and 20 RBIs in 65 games. However he did improve his numbers considerably the next year, batting .265 while hitting 23 homers and driving in 80 RBIs.

The Jones downside has been going on for three consecutive years. In 2007, his last year with the Braves,Jones batting average dipped to .222, a 40 point drop from the year before, although his power numbers of 26 homers and 94 RBIs were good. After signing with the Dodgers in December of 2004, there were high expectations in LA of the former Brave star. Yet Jones was on the DL three times in 2008 and hit a paltry .158 in 75 games, while hitting only 3 homers and driving in just 14 runs. Last year with Texas, Jones again had injury issues as he hit .214 for the year with 17 homers and 45 RBIs.

When Dye was signed by the Sox at age 31, the expectation was that he was going to be the everyday right-fielder. Jones, who will be 33 in April, will not be part of the regular White Sox outfield, that is set with Juan Pierre, Alex Rios and Carlos Quentin. The only place that he can fit is DH, a role that he will likely share with Mark Kotsay. If Jones can have a sensational Spring Training and overcome his career slide, then he might indeed be the everyday DH, with Kotsay playing a back-up role for Paul Konerko at first base. But what are the odds that Jones can comeback to his old form?

It is of interest that Jones and Dye were both rookie outfielders on the 1996 Atlanta Braves National League Championship team. Now the ex-teammates are both struggling to remain in the Big Leagues, Dye still yet not signed for 2010, while Jones must prove that he still has value to stay on the White Sox roster.

This Date in Chicago Sports------January 22, 1933

Blackhawk defenseman Art Coulter scores at 19:35 of the third period, to give Chicago a 2-1 win over the Ottawa Senators, before a rowdy Stadium crowd of 8,100.

Mike Caruso

Yesterday, at a luncheon at the Mid-America Club, I met a nice young man, a Financial Services Professional, by the name of Mike Caruso. He happened to be a White Sox fan. I began to recall his namesake, who played two full seasons on the South Side, and who started his career with such great promise.

The White Sox obtained Mike Caruso, the shortstop, from the San Francisco Giants in the White Flag trade of July, 1997. Caruso was 20 years old at the time, a great prospect, and the hype, at the time, was that he was going to replace Ozzie Guillen as the Sox regular shortstop in 1998.

The rookie did indeed assume that role. His hitting was fine, a .306 average, but he only had 14 bases on balls in over 500 plate appearances, for an awful .331 OBP for a lead-off hitter. He had good speed on the bases, stealing 22 bases in 26 attempts.
His fielding was atrocious. He committed 35 errors in 1998, a .944 Fielding Percentage.

Caruso's downside became apparent the next year. In 529 at bats, he only collected 17 extra base hits. He drove in just 35 runs, and walked only 20 times. His steals went down to 12, and he was caught stealing 14 times. He continued to make more errors than most major league shortstops.

After the 1999 season, the Sox released the 22 year-old Caruso. He tried a comeback with Kansas City in 2002, but after 12 games with the Royals he was cut from the team. He never played in the Bigs again.

This Date in Chicago Sports--- January 21, 1950

DePaul and Loyola both lose in a Chicago Stadium basketball double-header. The Blue Demons fall to Kentucky, 86-53, and the Ramblers are defeated,50-42, by Toledo.

This Date in Chicago Sports-----January 20, 1984

The Mets fail to protect Tom Seaver in the free agent compensation pool. The White Sox select the three-time Cy Young Award winner as their compensation choice for Dennis Lamp.

This Date in Chicago Sports--- January 19, 1983

The Penguin comes to Chicago! The Cubs acquire third baseman Ron Cey in a trade with the Dodgers, in exchange for infielder Dan Cataline and pitcher Vance Lovelace.

This Date in Chicago Sports-------January 18, 1977

The Blackhawks and the Colorado Rockies battle to a 7-7 tie in a hockey game played in Denver.

This Date in Chicago Sports--- January 17, 1950

DePaul defeats second-ranked St.John's,74-68,before more than 18,000 collegiate basketball fans at Madison Square Garden, Bato Govedarica leads the Blue Demons with 20 points.

This Date in Chicago Sports----January 16, 1932

The Northwestern Wildcats maintain the Big Ten Basketball conference lead by edging the Michigan Wolverines, 21-20, before a capacity crowd in Evanston's Patten Gymnasium.

This Date in Chicago Sports---- January 15, 1944

The Valparaiso Crusaders upset coach Ray Meyer's DePaul Blue Demons, 65-57. Future pro Bob Dille plays for Valpo and scores 28 points.

Hoyt Wilhelm

Hoyt Wilhelm, the Hall of Fame knuckleball pitcher, was simply spectacular in his six-year stint with the White Sox. Arriving on the South Side in 1963, at age 40, as part of the Aparicio trade with Baltimore, Wilhelm was pretty much used exclusively in relief in the 361 games that he pitched for the Sox (he started just three games, all in 1963). He recorded 98 saves, gave up just 2.2 walks per 9 innings, and posted a remarkable 1.92 ERA.

This Date in Chicago Sports----January 14, 1963

The White Sox swap Luis Aparicio and Al Smith to the Baltimore Orioles for Hoyt Wilhelm, Ron Hansen, Dave Nicholson and Pete Ward.

Good, Good Leroy Brown

Jim Croce sang about bad, bad Leroy Brown, the baddest man on a certain side of town in Chicago. Well that Leroy Brown was a creative figment of the imagination of that songwriter. The Leroy Brown whose obituary I read today, and of whom I had a passing acquaintance, was very real, and from what I observed personally and heard from others, was a very good man indeed.

I met Leroy Brown at several social and political functions about thirty years ago. His brother, Dr. Reginald Brown, was my boss at the Mayor's Office of Employment and Training. I recall having several conversations with Leroy Brown about DuSable High School basketball, remembering the great 1953-54 team that finished in second-place in the Illinois State Tournament, a team in which another brother, "Sweet" Charlie Brown starred on.

The Leroy Brown that I casually chatted with three decades ago was soft-spoken and gracious. He was very open and kind in listening to and responding to my inquiries about that great DuSable team that almost won State.

The obituary stated that Leroy Brown was an excellent athlete himself, receiving a swimming scholarship to Tennessee State. He was an accomplished bowler as well, and last week at age 74, he finished a game of bowling with five consecutive strikes. After that game, he collapsed at the bowling alley and died. Five consecutive strikes! What a way to go!

Johnny Lattner

Chicago native, Johnny Lattner, who is now 87 years old, went on to have a distinguished collegiate career at Notre Dame from 1951-53. During his three years with the Irish, Lattner was a two-way player, a running back and a defensive back. The legendary journalist Jimmy Breslin said that Lattner in 1952 "was the best two-way player in the business."

In 1953, Lattner had a great year generating 1279 yards of total offense. As a T-formation halfback, he rushed for 651 yards and caught 204 yards worth of passes. He ran eight kickoff returns for 321 yards, returning two for touchdowns. He also returned ten punt returns for 103 yards. Lattner also intercepted four passes on defense. Lattner won the Heisman Trophy that year and was elected to the College Hall of Fame in 1979.

Lattner was the Steelers first-round draft pick in 1954. He had a decent rookie year, rushing for 237 yards, with 305 yards of pass receptions. He returned kickoffs and punts, and gained 413 and 73 yards respectively. He scored seven touchdowns.

He served in the Air Force for two years after his rookie year, and he severely hurt his knee in a service game. This injury prevented him from ever playing in another NFL game.

This Date in Chicago Sports--- January 13, 1950

Defending Catholic League basketball champion, Fenwick, defeats Mt. Carmel, 53-43, as Johnny Lattner scores 23 points for the victors.

This Date in Chicago Sports--- January 12, 1935

Lynn Waldorf replaces Dick Hanley as head football coach at Northwestern. Waldorf had coached Kansas State to a 7-2-1 record during the 1934 season.

This Date in Chicago Sports--- January 11, 1977

The Cubs obtain Bill Buckner and Ivan DeJesus in a trade from the Dodgers in exchange for Rick Monday and Mike Garman.

This Date in Chicago Sports----January 10, 1966

Bears defensive coach, George Allen, is hired as head coach of the Los Angeles Rams, despite having two years remaining on his three-year contract with the Bears. Owner-coach George Halas denounces the Rams for "pirating" Allen.

This Date in Chicago Sports--- January 9, 1970

The Bears, with a record of 1-13 during the 1969 season, lose the coin toss for the first draft pick to the Steelers. Pittsburgh selects quarterback Terry Bradshaw in the January 27th draft.

This Date in Chicago Sports----January 8, 1970

The Bulls trounce the Phoenix Suns, 152-123, in NBA action at the Chicago Stadium. Center Tom Boerwinkle establishes a team record with 37 rebounds in the game.

This Date in Chicago Sports----January 7, 1981

Mark Aguirre scores 47 points, sinking 19 of 26 field goal attempts, as visiting DePaul defeats the University of Maine, 85-77.

This Date in Chicago Sports---January 6, 1935

Hungarian table tennis stars, Viktor Barna and Sandor Glancz, defeat a team of the best American players in that sport, sweeping all seven matches held at the Stevens Hotel.

This Date in Chicago Sports--- January 5, 1933

A crowd of 9,200 hockey fans watch the Boston Bruins and the Blackhawks battle to a scoreless tie on Stadium ice. Goaltender Charles Gardiner records the shutout for the Hawks.

This Date in Chicago Sports--- January 4, 1983

The Bulls and Pistons set a Stadium scoring record, tallying 285 points, as Chicago defeats Detroit 147-138, in double-overtime.

This Date in Chicago Sports---January 3, 1967

Visiting Loyola routs the Minnesota Gophers, 87-63, in collegiate basketball action. Jim Tillman leads the Ramblers with 26 points.

Abe Saperstein

Abe Saperstein began his basketball coaching career working for the Chicago Park District at Welles Park in the Lincoln Square neighborhood. He also started coaching young African-American basketball players at a Jewish youth center in the Maxwell Street area. He put together a semi-professional team in 1927 called the Savoy Five since they played their games at the Savoy Ballroom on the South Side.

Saperstein renamed the team the Harlem Globetrooters to suggest a traveling team with roots outside of the Midwest. Their style of play was razzle dazzle and comedic, and over the years the Trotters brought entertaining and spectacular basketball to millions of people throughout the world.

This Date in Chicago Sports---January 2, 1952

The Minnesota Lakers of the NBA defeat Abe Saperstein's Harlem Globetrotters, 84-60, before an overflow crowd of 20,864, at the Chicago Stadium.

This Date in Chicago Sports--- January 1, 1949

The Northwestern Wildcats start the year off right, as they defeat the University of California, 20-14, in the Rose Bowl at Pasadena.