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Willie Mays recorded 141 career triples and led the National League three times in that category. (National Baseball Hall of Fame Library) The Giants were in the middle of a 21-game road trip when they took on the Phillies at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia (formerly Shibe Park) on Thursday, September 15, 1960. The […]
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 […]
Near the end of March 1954, Stan Hack was suddenly named to become the new manager of the Chicago Cubs.1 Phil Cavarretta had abruptly resigned after refusing a reorganization shuffle to guide Hack’s minor-league team at Triple-A Los Angeles (PCL).2 The Cubs had finished in the second division since 1947, and several unfavorable comments Cavarretta […]
Sometimes the best deal for a major-league team is the one it doesn’t make. In the first six weeks of the 1965 American League season, pitcher Jim Perry was given little opportunity to show the Minnesota Twins the truth in that adage. From the start of spring training through the first 35 games of the […]
“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 […]
The Cubs returned to Wrigley Field for Game Three of the 2017 National League Championship Series facing the prospect of being pushed just one loss from elimination. After managing a total of three runs and seven hits in two anemic losses in Los Angeles, the Cubs still seemed to be catching their breath from a […]
It takes a certain kind of person to play catcher. They have to be the sage in-game counsel to the pitcher, helping him navigate the opposing lineup. They have to have the endurance to squat and crouch for three-plus hours, game in and game out, for 120 to 140 games per season. You also need […]
Even the most “ageless” ballplayers, the ones who hold their places in the game the longest, eventually fade away. Pitcher Luis Tiant’s time came in the late summer of 1982, when he made six final appearances and earned two last wins with the California Angels to wrap up a 19-season big-league career. The Cuban-born fan […]
In 1965, the Pirates made an impressive second-half run at the pennant. That year, as they would the following year, the Bucs finished third to the Giants and pennant-winning Dodgers. On a rainy June 1 evening, with the Pirates riding an 11-game winning streak, fireballer Bob Veale struck out 16 Philadelphia Phillies batters in front […]
When Monty Stratton opted to take a solo hunting trip for rabbits around the family home where he grew up during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend in 1938, it was supposed to be a simple venture. But the hunt around the expansive Texas farm quickly turned tragic, when the 26-year-old Chicago White Sox pitching ace failed […]
In May 1949, 23-year-old Bobby Shantz took the mound for the fourth inning of an American League game between his Philadelphia Athletics and the Detroit Tigers, summoned by an 86-year-old manager born in December 1862, seven months before the Battle of Gettysburg. He pitched 10 innings in relief, allowing two hits and one run, and […]
Coming off a thrilling, 7-6 Opening Day win at Wrigley Field with pinch-hitter Willie Smith homering in the 11th inning over the brown ivy in right field (and Ernie Banks homering twice as well), the Chicago Cubs looked to keep the early momentum going in their 1969 season against the Philadelphia Phillies in the second […]
On July 3, 1911, the Philadelphia Athletics swept a pair of games from the New York Highlanders. A crowd of about 14,000 filled the stands at New York’s Hilltop Park, and “the assemblage was coatless to a man,”1 reported the New York Sun, as the players battled in the hot, glaring sun for more than […]
“Sure, there are days you don’t feel like coming to the park,” said Chicago Cubs All-Star Ron Santo. “But you’re getting paid. You can’t turn in your uniform.”1 Known for his competitive spirit, Santo was frustrated with losing. Heading into the first game of a three-game set with the Philadelphia Phillies, manager Lou Klein’s squad […]
After the Chicago Cubs finished second in their division in 1969 and 1970, their fans were optimistic as the 1971 season began. Noting that Cubs beat writer George Langford had picked the team to win the NL East Division, the Chicago Tribune mused, “It takes a lot more than hope to bring home a winner, […]
On a pheasant-hunting trip during the offseason, Fergie Jenkins said he would try to win 20 games again. His teammate, Billy Williams, stated that he would try to hit 40 home runs for the first time in his career.1 The 26-year-old Jenkins had won at least 20 games for three consecutive seasons coming into 1970. […]
Overcoming potentially career-ending shoulder injuries in the early 1950s to develop into one of the most feared sluggers of his era, Roy Sievers became just the 18th player to hit 300 home runs. With a powerful and graceful swing that Casey Stengel called “one of the sweetest,” 1 Sievers, known as Mr. Clutch for his […]
Henry Berthrong lived an amazing and varied life – some small part of it as a baseball player. At the time of his retirement, he was likely the longest serving US civil servant (certainly among the oldest); at the time of his death, he was the oldest living major-league baseball player. Henry Washburn Berthrong arrived […]
His potential was glimpsed when future Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, months removed from his Rookie League debut in 1965, was said to have the ability to “throw as hard as Dick Selma.”1 That fall, Eddie Stanky, who managed Selma in the Florida Instructional League, claimed the right-handed hurler could become “the best relief pitcher […]
Esteban Bellán was a pioneer. In 1871, the half-Irish Cuban became the first Latin-born player in a top professional league. Bellán, a pro since 1868, played for the Troy Haymakers in the National Association, which predated the familiar National League. He continued with Troy and the New York Mutuals through 1873. After that season, he […]
John J. Quinn spent 47 years working for major-league baseball teams, 28 of those as a general manager. During his tenure as GM of the Boston and Milwaukee Braves (1945-58), the franchise won three National League pennants and the 1957 World Series. After owner Bob Carpenter brought Quinn to Philadelphia in 1959, the savvy executive […]
New York Yankees scout Joe Devine approached a young, struggling outfielder toiling in the lower minors with the following advice: “Frank, the closest you’ll ever come to center field in Yankee Stadium is in a postcard. But I think you could make the major leagues as a manager.”1 The right-handed-hitting youngster, who’d unsuccessfully tried switch-hitting […]
More than a decade after the 2005 World Series win, the White Sox play their crosstown rival Cubs on a warm July 25 night in 2016. The Sox went on to win 5-4. (Courtesy of the Chicago White Sox) The saying “To retain respect for sausages and laws, one must not watch them in […]
Here are the SABR Bookshelf listings for Spring 2019. To get your NEW book listed on The SABR Bookshelf, make sure a review copy is sent to: The SABR Bookshelf, Cronkite School at ASU, 555 N. Central Ave. #416, Phoenix, AZ 85004. An e-book file will also suffice; please send the e-book in PDF, EPUB […]