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George Culver was feeling sick. “I had an upset stomach,” said the 25-year-old right-hander in his first season with the Cincinnati Reds. “I felt lousy, real weak and listless.”1 Not only bothered by nausea and a loss of appetite, the converted reliever suffered from a terribly ingrown toenail. I had to get a shot of […]

The names Ed Spiezio, Steve Huntz, Dave Ricketts, and Eddie Bressoud dotting manager Red Schoendienst’s lineup on September 20, 1967, at Connie Mack Stadium were not typical ones for the St. Louis Cardinals. Yet, the men whom the strange platoon was replacing – Brock, Javier, McCarver, Maxvill, and others – had already completed their work. […]

Cincinnati arrived in Philadelphia on a five-game winning streak. After losing the first game of their four-game series with the Phillies, the Reds had won the next two and were hoping to continue their winning streak in the final game of the series. The Phillies were already 9½ games behind the Reds and were struggling […]

“This was the best I’ve put all my pitches together this season,” said Jim Bunning of his overpowering victory over the Cincinnati Reds.1 In what Philadelphia Phillies beat writer Allen Lewis described as a “dandy display of power pitching,” Bunning matched his personal high with 14 strikeouts to win his eighth straight decision, equaling his […]

It had been a terrible week for the Philadelphia Phillies. On Sunday, September 20, after beating the Dodgers in Los Angeles, 3-2, the Phillies had a 6½-game lead over their closest pursuers for the National League pennant, the Cincinnati Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals. After that win, the Phillies returned to Philadelphia and Connie […]

Arm’s length. The Philadelphia Phillies had held the rest of the NL at arm’s length for the better part of two months, maintaining a cushion over their rivals that made clinching the 1964 pennant seem only a matter of time. It wasn’t. On Wednesday, September 9, the St. Louis Cardinals rallied for five runs in […]

Part of the beauty of baseball is just how unpredictable the national pastime really is. No matter what the standings show, or what the prospects for a particular team are, on any given day at the ballpark, there is a chance that you might see something you’ve never seen before. That was certainly the case […]

The Philadelphia Phillies were finally mounting a rally against Mike McCormick and the San Francisco Giants. Trailing 4-0, they had the bases loaded with no outs in the bottom of the sixth with the heart of their order due to bat. Then the rain came. It was a “torrential downpour,” accompanied by thunder and lightning, […]

Phillies pitcher Robin Roberts took the mound of Connie Mack Stadium on August 1, 1958, with 199 career victories under his belt. The weather that night was hot, as were the team and its star hurler. The Phillies had just swept the Cardinals in three straight as they began the series against the Chicago Cubs. […]

It was a matchup of the NL’s two best pitchers: the Philadelphia Phillies’ Robin Roberts and the Brooklyn Dodgers’ Don Newcombe. It was also a rematch of the aces’ last clash, just five days earlier in the first game of a twin bill at Ebbets Field, when both went the distance, hurling 10 grueling frames, […]