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Hall of Famer Jim Bottomley was nicknamed Sunny Jim for his happy disposition, and he had a lot to smile about on September 16, 1924. Bottomley went 6-for-6 and drove in 12 runs that day for the St. Louis Cardinals in their 17-3 win over the Brooklyn Robins, setting the major-league record for RBIs in […]

The game took only 1 hour and 48 minutes. Before a crowd of 10,941 on the last day of summer, Baltimore’s Hoyt Wilhelm joined the record books by pitching a no-hitter against the New York Yankees. He started against Don Larsen, who had pitched a perfect game in the 1956 World Series.1 Besides the few […]

The seventh game of the 1926 World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Yankees was played on a cold, damp day in New York City. Rain had fallen during the night and a steady drizzle continued throughout the morning threatening a postponement. However, about noon the rain stopped and conditions improved […]

Hank Aaron was tired and a bit on edge as he made his way to Crosley Field for the Atlanta Braves’ Sunday afternoon twin bill with the Cincinnati Reds to conclude a four-game series. He had fielded phone calls until 3 A.M. and had an upset stomach, too. “I didn’t eat much,” said Aaron. “I’m […]

Wes Ferrell is perhaps the best-hitting pitcher in baseball history. Over his 15-season major-league career, Ferrell hit .280 with 38 home runs, 57 doubles, and 12 triples.1 Ferrell put together his best season in 1935, with the Boston Red Sox. Based on the combined strength of his pitching and hitting, his 10.6 Wins Above Replacement, […]

A mid-August matchup between two middle-of-the-pack teams is seldom abundant with high drama or deep significance. But in this case, fate braided the threads of multiple storylines to produce a singularly fascinating game, one that marked a milestone in the St. Louis Browns’ topsy-turvy 1921 season. St. Louis had not been over .500 since the […]

Before a Saturday Ladies Day crowd of 5,247 at Crosley Field, “Frankie and Vada waved the big sticks as the powerhouse Reds battered out a 16-4 decision over the Los Angeles Dodgers.”1 Frank Robinson hit for the cycle and Vada Pinson contributed a 3-for-4 day as the duo knocked in nine of Cincinnati’s 16 runs. […]

A packed Riverfront Stadium celebrated future Hall of Fame catcher and lifetime Cincinnati Red Johnny Bench’s career achievements. The 17-year veteran had announced his retirement earlier in the season,1 and now the Reds’ faithful enjoyed the opportunity to acknowledge his many contributions to baseball and the Queen City. The two-time MVP and 1970s Big Red […]

It was a bright spot for Giants fans, though a victory would have been nice. In the first game of a doubleheader on June 30, 1978, Willie McCovey satisfied the anticipation of baseball fans when he hit his 500th home run. The Giants lost to the Braves 10-9 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, but the smash […]

There was baseball in Marlan Coughtry’s family. “My dad began throwing baseballs at me as soon as I could walk,” he said. “My uncle, Ray Coughtry, had played in the Cardinal chain; my dad wants me to rise even higher.”1 Perry Coughtry was Marlan’s father. A native Californian, Perry worked as a checker for a […]

It’s called the fall classic, and the 1975 World Series was indeed a “classic.” The Series waged between the Cincinnati Reds and the Boston Red Sox was one of the more memorable championship battles, as a single run decided five of the seven games. Cincinnati shortstop Dave Concepción entered the Series hoping that the old […]

In 1941, the book on 23-year-old Eddie Pellagrini was as a “good field, no hit” shortstop. “[He] may not hit as well as [others] but he’s certainly a fine prospect … ‘Pellagrini is a faster fielder than [most],’” said San Diego Padres player-manager Cedric Durst. It thus came as a surprise five years later when […]

On July 27, 1955, the players and staff of the Cleveland Indians presented a brand-new $3,000 Oldsmobile to coach Red Kress for his untiring work with the team. The Indians’ third baseman, Al Rosen. summed it up by saying that the team wanted to do something for Red to pay him back for all he […]

Gabby Street may not have been much of a batsman in his career. His high mark for batting average was .238 in 1905, a season he split between Cincinnati and the Boston Beaneaters. Perhaps he was aided by only 105 at-bats, the second lowest total of his career. There may have been a slight decrease […]

Charlie Snow had a perfect major-league batting average and a perfectly imperfect fielding average. He was probably the most unlikely player to get a hit in his first major-league at-bat and yet, perhaps, the most likely player to never get a second at-bat. Charles M. Snow was born on August 3, 1849, in Lowell, Massachusetts, […]

Homer Peel played five seasons in the major leagues, earned a World Series ring with the New York Giants in 1933, and was once traded for Grover Cleveland Alexander. He is more widely known, perhaps, as the “Ty Cobb of the Texas League.” His consistent hitting over 14 seasons in the Texas League resulted in […]

Perseverance and a love for the game guided sure-handed utility infielder John Donaldson through a 12-year career in Organized Baseball (1963-1974), including parts of six seasons with the Kansas City/Oakland A’s and the Seattle Pilots. The hard-nosed North Carolinian played in 405 big-league games and weathered trades, demotions, promotions, and outright releases, but looked back […]

America as a land of immigrants sometimes produces unexpected surprises. One of them was a Croatian nicknamed Catfish. The outfielder/first baseman George Michael Metkovich played in over 1,000 major-league games from 1943-54, with a career batting average of .261 working for six different big-league teams. He was dubbed “a meteor — never a star.”1 Metkovich […]

Earl Williams’ career was one marked by achievement and controversy. During his newsworthy career, spanning parts of eight seasons, Williams reached the heights of a 1971 National League Rookie of the Year season, and the low of leaving baseball as persona non grata at the age of 29. Born July 14, 1948 in Newark, New […]

In the spring of 1960 few high-school athletes in the country were more highly sought after than Pete Cimino. As a 17-year-old senior pitcher at Bristol (Pennsylvania) High School, he followed up a 14-strikeout perfect game on May 16 with a no-hitter four days later. His exploits on the diamond were overshadowed only by the […]

During the summer of 1954 the Cleveland Indians visited New York to play a three-game series against the Yankees with both teams in contention for the American League pennant. The story of the second game wasn’t the Yankees’ 4-1 victory, or Eddie Lopat outdueling Mike Garcia, but the 12-year-old batboy in the Cleveland dugout, Mike […]

The children of the elite often will have difficulty establishing their own identities and achieving success, particularly if their interests parallel those of a parent. Such was not the case with Joe L. Brown, whose father was Joe E. Brown, the popular comic actor, film star, and baseball aficionado who (unlike practically all celebrated sports […]

The only St. Louis Cardinal to play on the first five National League pennant winners in franchise history (1926, 1928, 1930, 1931, 1934), Jesse “Pop” Haines was a 26-year-old “rookie” when he debuted for the Redbirds in 1920. He was a three-time 20-game winner and pitched for the Cardinals for 18 consecutive seasons before retiring […]

In major-league baseball if a player has a very short career, with a relatively few number of games played, it is said that he was up for a cup of coffee. For Hugh Shelley, his cup of coffee lasted three months, though he had a long time on the bench to savor it. The outfielder […]