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On the morning of October 2, 2005, the Philadelphia Phillies still had a chance at their first playoff berth since they won the National League pennant in 1993. Philadelphia trailed the Houston Astros by one game in the wild-card standings entering the final day of the regular-season schedule. A Phillies win in Washington, coupled with […]

In 1972 Dick Allen won the American League’s Most Valuable Player Award, and was named The Sporting News AL Player of the Year. Those tributes were tangible proof of Allen’s impact on the Chicago White Sox. After four straight losing seasons—including a franchise-record 106 losses in 1970—Chicago finished 87-67, and second in the AL West […]

Mark Davis brazenly introduced himself to the San Francisco Giants-Los Angeles Dodgers rivalry. On July 30, 1983, the Giants’ 22-year-old left-hander authored a crafty 8-0 shutout in his debut against the Dodgers before 38,771 fans at Candlestick Park. Making his eighth start since being recalled from the Giants’ Triple-A Phoenix farm club in June, Davis […]

“I think I just hit for the cycle.”1 That’s what Dwight Evans said to teammate Bill Buckner after hitting a walk-off three-run home run in the bottom of the 11th inning on June 28, 1984, versus the Seattle Mariners.  Ed Nunez gave up the homer to Evans in what must have felt like a déjà […]

Let’s ponder these statistics for a moment: 187 pitches in a 10-inning complete game, 10 walks and 12 punchouts, one hit batter, at least 13 full counts, bases filled twice, 10 stranded runners, and three outfield flies. Together they produced Cincinnati Reds speedballer Jim Maloney’s no-hitter, arguably the most astounding in big-league history.1 “It was […]

“The Browns went all to pieces, and all in all a worse bluff at playing ball was never made,” reported the Pittsburgh Daily Post following the Pirates’ lopsided 25-2 victory in St. Louis.1 The St. Louis Post-Dispatch added that the shellacking of the hometown Browns was “most disgusting to the 4,500 spectators,” most of whom […]

There was no reason to expect St. Louis Cardinals catcher Glenn Brummer to play a significant role in the team’s Sunday afternoon game against the San Francisco Giants on August 22, 1982. Though manager Whitey Herzog called Brummer “the best third-string catcher I’ve ever seen,”1 that was more a reference to his willingness to work […]

The Pittsburgh Pirates went 21-12 in August and upped their record to 70-61 as September arrived. They still trailed the first-place Milwaukee Braves by 7½ games. Their record for the first week of September was 5-3. Despite beating the Braves three times in their four-game series the previous weekend, the second-place Pirates closed the gap […]

Baseball fans are usually divided into two camps: those who enjoy good hitting and those who enjoy good pitching.1 On a hot and humid Saturday afternoon at Crosley Field, fans saw both. The Brooklyn Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds played the second game of a four-game series, and it seemed as though three Dodgers pitchers served […]

A respectable crowd1 passed through the turnstiles at the Polo Grounds for a Monday afternoon matchup between the top two teams in the National League, the New York Giants and the Chicago Cubs. Included in the audience were sailors from the German Navy,2 whose ships were docked in the Hudson River. Chicago (24-18) came into […]

While pulling on his gray Pittsburgh road uniform in the visitors’ locker room at Wrigley Field on the morning on September 16, 1975, Pirates second baseman Rennie Stennett grimaced in pain. Unsure if he would be able to play, Stennett gazed down at a heavily-taped sprained ankle “which he said has been hurting him for […]

When the Brooklyn Tip-Tops and Newark Peppers met in Brooklyn on September 6, 1915, for a repeat performance of the two states/one-day doubleheader they had played on Memorial Day, any hopes for Federal League box-office success were long since gone, especially in Brooklyn. Not only was Robert Ward’s Brookfeds team offering a lower-quality product, their […]

Before Joe DiMaggio had his 56-game hitting streak in 1941, the major-league record for consecutive games with a base hit was the streak of 42 consecutive games achieved by Bill Dahlen of the Chicago Colts in 1894. As the 1897 season began, the National League’s Baltimore Orioles had just completed their third straight pennant-winning season. […]

“Monge doesn’t need a rest; That’s why he’s among the best. He is one who earns his pay Pitching almost every day.” — Dan Coughlin, April 24, 1979   How many baseball players, good — even great — baseball players have never played in a World Series? Moreover, how many players can say that they […]

Billy Moran joined the Los Angeles Angels midway during the team’s inaugural season in 1961, but it was 1962 in which both Moran and his club broke out in a major way. The infielder, who would spend seven seasons in the major leagues, posted career numbers across the board that season. In 160 games he […]

Before the Wizard of Oz, the St. Louis Cardinals had Mr. Shortstop. Marty Marion never turned a backflip, but he was the National League’s premier defensive shortstop in the 1940s and is the only man to win a Most Valuable Player award with his glove. No Scooter or Rabbit or Pee Wee, he was a […]

The highlights of Dick Gray’s big-league baseball career all came in its first week – the first home run in Los Angeles Dodgers’ history and, two days later, the first major league home run hit in Los Angeles. But the highlights faded, the momentum could not be maintained and Gray’s career ended shortly. Richard Benjamin […]

When even the most casual baseball fan envisions a first baseman, they conjure an image that looks a lot like Ryan Howard. In other words, a surprisingly athletic, imposing 6-foot-4, 250-pound frame that looks more natural at defensive tackle than on the baseball diamond. For a time, Howard’s production was the pinnacle of that prototypical […]

With two major leaguers, a third brother, Charles, who coached the Villanova University baseball team for more than two decades, and a fourth, Hugh, who coached the Hazleton High School basketball team to three state titles, the McGeehan family of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, built a towering sports legacy in the first third of the 20th […]

“You dream of things like this, but you never think of it happening to you. It’s something out of the movies.” — Mike Devereaux, October 15, 1995, after being named NLCS MVP1   Mike Devereaux became an instant hero on an Atlanta Braves team filled with future Hall of Famers. Having played with five different […]

The only image of John Brown we could find is this cartoon from the July 10, 1942 St. Louis Argus.   John Wesley Brown came by his nicknames of “Lean Man” and “Slim Man” quite honestly. He stood 6-feet-1-inch tall and tipped the scales at less than 160 pounds. He was a right-handed pitcher who, […]

“It exceeded all proportion, It could not be contained, It bloomed round like a dark sunrise, It glistened in the rain. The little boys with crew cuts Or blond locks oh so fair Would look and cheer with wonder At Oscar Gamble’s hair.” —Roy Peter Clark1   Oscar Gamble made his big-league debut in 1969 […]

He was a sports broadcaster and former college football player from the Midwest. Tall and grey haired, he sported a crooked nose as a football injury badge. Answering to the name Harmon, he called gridiron action working for ABC telecasts. It would be understandable to many if he were often mistaken for the great Tom […]

“Jerry Lynch scares you with everything he does in baseball. He scares you when he tries to catch a fly ball. He scares you when he runs the bases. He scares you when he throws the ball. But most of all he scares you when he comes off the bench as a pinch-hitter with a […]