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Rucker Archives
Game Stories
April 17, 1974: George Mitterwald’s monster game leads Cubs to victory
In the 1950s announcer Jack Brickhouse dubbed Wrigley Field the “Friendly Confines.” Baseball fans know there is nothing friendly about the ballpark when the winds are blowing. As longtime WGN weatherman Tom Skilling put it, “When the northeast gales off nearby Lake Michigan howl in toward home plate, the most mediocre pitchers can perform as […]
Journal Articles
The Trading Record
Since the invention of the hook, fishermen have entertained one another with tales of the big one that got away. Baseball men are not so lucky: they know how big the one was who got away. To the San Francisco Giants, the outfield that got away (Bobby Bonds, Garry Maddox, and George Foster) is no […]
1975 Reds: Pete Rose mans the hot corner
Pete Rose’s move from left field to third base in early May 1975 often receives credit as a pivotal moment in the success of the 1975 Reds — and with good reason. That’s when the team began to win consistently, surging to the National League West Division title. Pete Rose roamed around the diamond during […]
Why Isn’t Gil Hodges in the Hall of Fame?
Gil Hodges has received more votes for the Hall of Fame than any other person not selected. He came as close as 44 votes shy of election, but unfortunately, that came in his last year of eligibility under the BBWAA vote. Gil Hodges’ Hall of Fame fate resides in the hands of the newly constituted […]
The Best Fielders of the 1970s
Mark Belanger, winner of eight Gold Gloves in the last ten years, received more votes than any other player in SABR’s recent survey to determine the best fielders of the 1970s. The Baltimore shortstop received more than 90% of the nearly 400 votes cast for American League shortstop. Johnny Bench led all National League players. […]
One Last Season in the Sun: The Saga of the Senior Professional Baseball Association
As shortstop Ivan De Jesus fired the ball across the diamond into the glove of first baseman Lamar Johnson to retire Toby Harrah for the game’s final out, to the casual observer it might have appeared to be little different from any other playoff series-concluding game. Pitcher Elias Sosa raised his hands in triumph on […]
The Fall of the Big Red Machine, 1976-1981
The Big Red Machine reached its destiny when Cesar Geronimo closed his glove around Carl Yastrzemski’s fly ball on October 22, 1975 at Fenway Park to end the World Series. In that moment of ecstasy and exhaustion the Cincinnati Reds became world champions, finally grasping the ring that had eluded their reach in the first […]
1919 White Sox: Walking Off to the World Series
On September 24, 1919, Shoeless Joe Jackson stepped up to the plate at Comiskey Park in the bottom of the ninth inning with a chance to make history for the Chicago White Sox. The score stood at 5-5 with one out. The winning run — the American League pennant-clinching run — stood on third base […]
Baseball’s Big Hitters
Ralph Kiner the seventh-leading home run hitter of all time? Mike Schmidt already ranked 15th? Babe Ruth still Number 1? If career home runs is your measure of leading homer hitters, these ratings don’t make sense, because Kiner is 26th, Schmidt is 41st and Ruth second. But career homers are not the only measure of […]