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In a game played before a Fenway Park crowd of 34,113, the Minnesota Twins turned two triple plays against the Boston Red Sox, a feat that had never happened before in the major leagues. Despite the rare accomplishment, the Twins lost to the Red Sox, 1-0. Left-hander Tom Bolton, a veteran of the Red Sox […]

One game in June counts as much as the other 161, but in practice they often don’t feel that way. The newness of the season has dissipated, but the excitement of a pennant race is still weeks away. However, this game between the Royals and Rangers had a little extra shine to it. The teams […]

If it weren’t documented in books, scorecards, and newspaper articles, Juan Marichal’s endurance would be the stuff of legend, like Paul Bunyan, posthumous sightings of Elvis Presley, and the Loch Ness Monster. With a windup gesture extending his left foot somewhere toward Pluto, the San Francisco Giants right-hander sustained 14 innings against the New York […]

When Pat Gosney shipped off for US Army duty in the summer of 1952, he left with a good story to tell his buddies: Just before entering military service, he’d pitched a three-hit shutout against a major-league team. The story came with a few caveats, which Gosney no doubt admitted by and by. The shutout […]

Fifty-seven batters; four hits; one precious and decisive run. That was the story in a nutshell when the Baltimore Orioles hosted the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night, September 1, 1981. Seattle’s Glenn Abbott and Baltimore’s Steve Stone and Tippy Martínez threw dueling two-hitters, with all the hits bunched in the fourth and sixth innings. Abbott’s […]

In the midst of a career year with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2008, 29-year-old Xavier Nady was hitting .330 with 13 home runs and 57 RBIs in 89 games when he was dealt to the New York Yankees, along with Damaso Marte, for four players1 on July 26. Nady’s arrival at his new home field […]

On the very last day of the 1975 season, the Oakland Athletics employed four pitchers to no-hit the California Angels. Before a home crowd of 22,131, Oakland’s manager Alvin Dark had a plan to have Vida Blue, his ace starter, go only five innings and then rest him for the playoffs. Relievers Glenn Abbott, Paul […]

Talk about a spree, in which one player had a huge impact in three consecutive games. The second of the three games was the greatest comeback in Red Sox history. The Boston Red Sox entered the first game of the June 18, 1961, doubleheader with a dead-even record of 30-30. The sixth-place Washington Senators were […]

Fifty games into their 1967 season the Houston Astros were on another trip to the bottom of the National League standings. At 19-31 and 14½ games out of first place, they were on track for a won-lost record even worse than the previous year’s 72-90. But an early June trip by the Astros to St. […]

In late December 1959, it was widely published that Washington Senators owner Calvin Griffith “had looked one million dollars in the eye and expressed no interest.” It was an offer not for his Washington franchise but for just two of his ballplayers, first baseman Harmon Killebrew and pitcher Camilo Pascual. One of those published reports […]

Suspended baseball games, especially if completed months after they began, can lead to box scores full of substitutions, often resulting from trades and other transactions. Sometimes, they create anomalies in the record books,1 such as players being credited with feats backdated to occur before their debut games. This Washington Nationals-Houston Astros game, begun on May […]

After a successful inaugural season in 1943, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) expanded into Milwaukee and Minneapolis.1 It soon became obvious that the move into larger metropolitan areas was a mistake, as both teams struggled to draw fans.2 The Minneapolis entry, which had been previously known as the Millerettes and Lakers, picked up […]

The death of pitcher Bob Miller in September 2020 left only one survivor from the Philadelphia Phillies 1950 Whiz Kids, left-handed hurler Curt Simmons. Simmons was a key member of that 1950 pitching staff, going 17-8 during the pennant-winning season. Late in the season, he was called up to active duty in the Army and […]

The end was coming. Such is the reality any time a 46-year-old pitcher climbs atop a major-league mound. Charlie Hough hobbled and limped his way on and off of the field throughout the 1994 season for the Florida Marlins. But as spring turned into summer — and despite the longevity that had afforded the knuckleballer […]

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 […]

If the last word on the 1986 World Series was “unforgettable,” the first word was “freezing.” The heaters were on full blast in both dugouts at Shea Stadium, pitchers were allowed to blow on their hands, and bats were wrapped in towels. The fall classic felt like winter, but both teams would rather be in […]

Strong quick wrists, an open, positive demeanor, and unwavering confidence made young Ed Spiezio an outstanding baseball prospect. Cardinals Hall of Famer Red Schoendienst once told The Sporting News that Spiezio was the “the finest looking young hitter” he had ever seen.1 In five seasons with the Cardinals (1964-1968), Spiezio played on three National League […]

Fittingly, pitcher Leroy Matlock was called “the Black Carl Hubbell” in press releases promoting a 1937 barnstorming tour.1 Hubbell, who entered the Hall of Fame in 1947, had completed a high-profile streak of 24 wins in a row earlier in 1937 for the pennant-winning New York Giants. Matlock, also a lefty, had 26 straight victories […]

Paul Foytack is most remembered for one game at the end of his career. On July 31, 1963, while pitching for the Los Angeles Angels against Cleveland, Foytack became the first pitcher in major league history to yield home runs to four consecutive batters. That moment characterized two of Paul’s qualities. First was his propensity […]

On July 30, 1948, the New York Giants were within one out of a franchise-record four consecutive shutouts when Chicago Cubs lefty swinger Bill Nicholson connected for a drive into shallow right field. Les Layton, inserted in the game as a defensive replacement in right, raced to the ball. He seemingly secured the out as […]

At 6′ 2″ and 180 lbs, Vean Gregg was a lanky, loose-jointed southpaw who had a world of confidence, a wicked curve ball, and a roller-coaster career hampered by arm injuries. As a 26-year-old rookie for the 1911 Cleveland Naps, Gregg was only three years removed from pitching in the deepest bush of the remote […]

It was no surprise that Eddie McNichol would play professional baseball. Born on January 10, 1879, in Martins Ferry, Ohio, he grew up on Wheeling Island surrounded by baseball and baseball players. Wheeling Island, a tiny strip of land in the middle of the Ohio River between Ohio and West Virginia, produced several young men […]

On July 30, 1968, Washington Senators shortstop Ron Hansen pulled off one of baseball’s rarest and most difficult feats when he turned an unassisted triple play against the Cleveland Indians. This diamond rarity took place at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland during the bottom of the first inning after leadoff hitter Dave Nelson singled and Russ […]

Forever known in Toronto Blue Jays lore as the team’s first Cy Young Award winner, Pat Hentgen by his accomplishments on the mound has been anointed as one of the best pitchers in Blue Jays history. Standing at 6-feet-2 and 210 pounds, Hentgen was a high-command fastball/curveball pitcher who had a stretch of being one […]