Search Results

Although the arrival of Major League Baseball in Southern California is usually dated to 1958, when the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, big league clubs had roots in the area going back several decades. The Chicago Cubs began training in L.A. in the spring of 1903, and the White Sox played an exhibition game […]

By any measure 1968 was a year of upheaval. Assassinations, riots, protests, and the decision by the incumbent commander in chief to forgo a reelection bid all pointed to the unrest and instability that wracked the nation, and the bloodiest year of fighting in Vietnam did nothing to soothe the collective angst. The national pastime […]

Once a very sparsely settled farming community, Holyoke, Massachusetts’s geographic location on the banks of the Connecticut River was ideal for development, utilizing its ample source of hydroelectric power.1 A group of four wealthy executives from Boston, about 90 miles to the east, believed the South Hadley Falls of the river was large and powerful […]

In 1983 Dale Berra of the Pirates set a major league record by being awarded first base on interference seven times in one season. There are six categories of plate appearances – official times at bat, sacrifice bunts, sacrifice flies, bases on balls, and hit by pitch are the other five. Being awarded first on […]

0-10, 10.32: That is the major-league career line for one William T. Stecher of Riverside, New Jersey. If you look it up, the record book tells you that Stecher also holds the records for the “most career games by a pitcher who lost all his games (0–10)” and “most career innings by a pitcher with […]

The cover illustration to the Amigos program shows the distinctively cantilevered roof of Miami Stadium, later known as Bobby Maduro Stadium.   Ever since the 1963 minor leagues realignment, the leagues that have held the Triple-A classification have been fairly consistent. The International League and Pacific Coast League have been fielding teams annually since then, […]

An important part of the folklore of baseball is the significance attached to pitching in winning games. John Schwartz in his article, “New Measures for Pitchers” in the 1979 edition of the Baseball Research Journal writes: “Pitching as the old cliche goes, is somewhere between 75 and 90% of baseball.” The legendary Connie Mack is […]

At the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the Dodgers tried to compensate for the short distance to left field with a high screen and national park-like dimensions for right and right-center. This is the 1958 layout. (National Baseball Hall of Fame Library)   With a seating capacity of over 90,000, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was […]

In slightly over a century of professional baseball history, seven major league clubs have attained a winning average of .750 or better for a single season. Five of those teams were relatively easy victors against little better than nominal opposition as shown by the following table.   Year Club League Won Lost Pct. Games Ahead […]

On October 13, 1985, a Pittsburgh resident by the name of Saul Finkelstein decided to personally commemorate the 25th anniversary of the seventh game of the 1960 World Series. Finkelstein went to the corner of the University of Pittsburgh’s campus where Forbes Field was once located to listen to a tape recording of NBC’s broadcast […]