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“Jackie has been accepted in baseball, and we of the Philadelphia organization have no objection to his playing and wish him all the luck we can. Baseball is an American game, and there are no nationalities, creeds, nor races involved. Jackie Robinson is an American.”1 This quote, attributed to Philadelphia manager Ben Chapman, was made […]
The Dodgers were in a hole after losing the first two games of the World Series to their crosstown rivals the Yankees. But now the Series was headed to Ebbets Field and the Dodger faithful were confident that their team could bounce back. “Now that we’ve got the Yanks in our own backyard, they can’t […]
The pendulum kept swinging the same way after the New York Yankees had evened the 1951 World Series with a convincing win over the New York Giants in Game Four. Gil McDougald hit the third grand slam in World Series history, Eddie Lopat pitched his second five-hitter of the Series, and the Yankees bombed the […]
“I was a damn effective pitcher. It pains me to be remembered for one unfortunate pitch — and, unfairly, a pitch surreptitiously signaled to the hitter — as opposed to a hurler who, for a number of years, had good stuff.” — Ralph Branca1 The young Brooklyn Dodgers fan raced home from school on […]
On the morning of Tuesday, June 24, 1947, two titans of sport made their final preparations before doing battle that evening. Linked not only by their race, but by the last name Robinson, Sugar Ray would fight in the ring while Jackie would fight on the diamond. Walker Smith Jr., better known as Sugar Ray […]
A crowd of 25,762 showed up at Ebbets Field on August 20,1947, to see the final game of the Dodgers’ four-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Overcast skies delayed the game for 47 minutes. After winning the first two games of the series, Brooklyn had lost the third game, 11-3. The Dodgers still had […]
It was going to be a very hot day for the St. Louis Cardinals-New York Giants Sunday doubleheader at the Polo Grounds on June 15, 1952. The forecast was for temperatures in the 90s. The Giants had defeated the Cardinals 4-3 on Saturday behind Larry Jansen’s pitching and home runs by Bob Elliott and Wes […]
On December 23, 1958, the Philadelphia Phillies, after finishing last in the eight-team National League, made a trade to fill a pressing need at second base. The Phillies sent three players (Jim Golden, Rip Repulski, and Gene Snyder) to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Sparky Anderson, a 25-year-old who had spent the last six seasons […]
The Detroit Tigers headed to Cleveland for a three-game, two-day set with the Indians in August 1958. The Tigers were holding down fourth place in the American League. The Indians were right behind them in fifth. Both clubs, as well as the whole league, were double-digit games behind the first-place New York Yankees. Nobody was […]
“The Brooklyn Dodgers today purchased the contract of Jackie Roosevelt Robinson from the Montréal Royals.”1 Arthur Mann, an assistant to Dodgers president and general manager Branch Rickey, handed out the announcement in the press box at Ebbets Field during the fifth inning of the Royals’ 4-3 exhibition game victory against the Dodgers.2 Coincidentally, Jackie Robinson, […]
“What a difference a day makes.” Think Dinah Washington and you have a classic. Tweak it to “What a difference a week makes” and you’ve summed up life for the Philadelphia Phillies. On September 20, 1950, the great Red Barber would have said, “The Phillies are sittin’ in tall cotton.” They led the Boston Braves […]
When the New York Yankees won the first two games of the 1947 World Series, many fans started calling it the “worst World Series in history.”1 After Brooklyn beat the Yankees 9-8 in Game Three, Dodgers fans showed up at Ebbets Field hoping to see their team even the Series. History-minded Brooklyn fans might have […]
June 14 was the day before the 1949 trade deadline.1 According to the Boston Globe, the Boston Braves had sought Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Wally Westlake “for a couple of weeks.”2 The 1948 Braves had made it to the World Series and were looking to repeat as National League champion. Could they add one bat to […]
One evening in the summer of 1947, the National League’s best and worst teams put on a display that a future baseball commissioner labeled “a farcical exhibition which was a disgrace to baseball and a complete travesty of all the rules of sportsmanship.”1 The Philadelphia Phillies and Brooklyn Dodgers spent 12 anarchic minutes in Philadelphia […]
It is hard to find a more important date in Braves Field history than October 11, 1948. Not only was it Game Six of the World Series, a do-or-die contest for the hometown team, but it was also a chance for that club to take its biggest step yet toward reconquering the city it had […]
Neither the Giants nor the Dodgers were in contention for the pennant as the teams took to the field on September 19, 1945. The Dodgers were in third place with no chance of going higher, and the Giants, in sixth place, had only the slightest of chances of escaping the second division and catching the […]
It would have been a wonder had the New York Giants not felt dismal the morning of August 11, 1951. They had just lost three straight to Brooklyn at Ebbets Field and were a distant 12½ games out of first place. Now they had to face Philadelphia’s Robin Roberts who, at 15-8, was tied with […]
Tommy Brown first gained notoriety as a 16-year-old for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1944. His unique opportunity to reach the big leagues at such a young age came about because most of baseball’s regular players were serving in the military during World War II. He would be a part-time player during his entire nine-year major-league […]
Many famous major-league players had their careers interrupted by military service in World War II, and we wonder what records men like Ted Williams, Bob Feller, Joe DiMaggio, Phil Rizzuto, Pee Wee Reese, Hank Greenberg, and others might have achieved if it hadn’t been for those lost years. Furthermore, a large group of younger men […]
The first four men inducted into the Boston Braves Hall of Fame after its formation by fans of the long-defunct National League club were Warren Spahn, John Sain, Tommy Holmes, and Sebastian “Sibby” Sisti. In order, that’s one Hall of Famer, two All-Stars, and one .244 hitter who lasted for 14-plus years in the majors […]
Frankie Frisch, the 35-year-old manager and second baseman of the 1934 St. Louis Cardinals, was an infielder for 19 years, spent 16 years managing NL teams, and put in some time as a broadcaster, all in the National League. His playing and managing exploits won him election to the Hall of Fame. Frank Francis Frisch […]
John Buzhardt pitched in both major leagues from 1958 through 1968, primarily as a starter for the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago White Sox. He compiled a 71-96 won-lost record, and dominated the New York Yankees while with the White Sox, where he was in a rotation that ranked with the best in the American League. […]
As a rookie with the 1964 Philadelphia Phillies, Danny Cater said that “hollering or making noise” just didn’t fit into his style on the field. “If I told you I let my bat do my talking – that would sound corny,” he added.1 Corny or not, over the course of his 12-year major-league career, Cater […]
Although he had far from the best year of his career in 1948, Connie Ryan was a valuable utility infielder for the Boston Braves that season — primarily backing up incumbent Eddie Stanky (and later his replacement, Sibby Sisti) at second base. Ryan was an intense competitor as well as an occasional sparkplug for the […]