Jan. 12, 2013
Blue Jay Jersey Countdown - #27
As we countdown to '13, a season Blue Jay faithful hope will end with a 10 on the 27th, HopkinsSports.com offers its own countdown … by jersey number … to the season-opener against Siena on February 8.
Today - #27
Did You Know: Between 1963-75, a Johns Hopkins player wearing #27 earned First Team All-America honors five times.
Player Spotlight - Franz Wittelsberger
Wittelsberger earned All-America honors four times in his career, including first team honors as a junior in 1975. He also grabbed second team honors twice and third team once.
Wittelsberger finished his career as JHU's career leader in goals (151) and ranked second in points (220). He remains in the top five in both categories more than 35 years after his career ended.
Wittelsberger helped JHU win its first NCAA Championship in 1974 and still holds the Johns Hopkins record for most goals in an NCAA Tournament game (7 vs. Hofstra in 1974 quarterfinals).
Homer Schwartz
Schwartz garnered First Team All-America honors inn 1963 & 1964. He totaled 39 goals, 21 assists and 210 ground balls in his career.
Charles Goodell
On JHU's star-studded teams of the late 1960s, Goodell was the top midfielder as he grabbed First Team All-America honors in 1968 & 1969. He totaled 48 goals and 10 assists in his three seasons (freshmen were ineligible during his career).
Brad McLam
McLam won a pair of national championships (1984 & 1985) during his career from 1983-86 and was a two-time All-American as a long stick midfielder. He also graduated as JHU's career leader in rushing (2,244) and all-purpose (3,921) yards for the football team. His 332 all-purpose yards vs. Lebanon Valley remain one of just seven 300-plus yard games in school history.
Lou Braun
Braun was a key member of JHU's decorated class of 2005. A traditional FOGO, Braun won 234-of-412 (.560) faceoffs and collected 89 ground balls in his career. In one of the most thrilling Johns Hopkins games of the Dave Pietramala era, Braun won 10-of-12 faceoffs and had four GBs in a 10-9 overtime victory for the top-ranked Blue Jays at 2nd-ranked Navy in front of more than 18,000 fans. Braun helped JHU to a 55-6 record and the 2005 NCAA Championship during his career.
Famous "27s" in Other Sports
Juan Marichal - HopkinsSports.com is too young to remember Marichal, but with a 2.89 career ERA, 2,303 strikeouts and an average of 20 wins over a 10-year span (1962-71), the high-kicking right-hander is among the best pitchers of the last 50 years.
Carlton Fisk - 376 home runs, 2,356 hits, 1,130 RBIs … that's all irrelevant. Fisk is best known for "waving fair" his game-winning home run in the 12th inning of game 6 of the 1975 World Series. The rest, as they say, is icing on the cake.
Note: Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse rosters are generally available back to 1950. In many years after 1950, only an alphabetical list is available. The Blue Jay Jersey Countdown is intended to be an enjoyable way to count down to the 2013 season. It is not intended to rank in any way the players who wore a particular number.
