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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 […]
If you were a fan of semipro baseball in New England in the late 1920s, you knew who Will “Cannonball” Jackman was, and you couldn’t wait for the Philadelphia Colored Giants to come to town, so that you could watch him pitch. Jackman’s semipro career began in 1921 with the Houston Black Buffaloes.1 He joined […]
The city of St. Louis was ecstatic that it would get to host at least two games of the 61st World Series during its bicentennial year. In addition to thrusting the Midwestern metropolis itself into the spotlight, “two sons of St. Louis,” Johnny Keane and Yogi Berra, were managing the Cardinals and New York Yankees […]
The ticker tape had barely settled from their World Series celebration in 1986 when the New York Mets faced an offseason of key departures and unwelcome headlines, the first signs that their reign might not last. On Opening Day 1987, however, the Mets again demonstrated championship form, parlaying Darryl Strawberry’s first-inning home run and Bobby […]
On June 29, 1972, newspaper readers in one California city learned that a new pitcher had arrived in the Class A California League. In a short roundup of league action from the previous night, the Fresno Bee reported that the Reno (Nevada) Silver Sox had won the second game of a doubleheader against the Visalia […]
On June 26, 1962, Earl Wilson of the Boston Red Sox became the first Black pitcher to throw a no-hitter in the American League, and his third-inning home run provided the game-winning run in Boston’s 2-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels. Wilson was the first Black ballplayer to sign with the Red Sox—in 1953—but […]
In The Science of Hitting, Ted Williams wrote, “I had a higher percentage of game-winning home runs than Babe Ruth.”1 Research shows that Ted Williams had 110 game-deciding home runs, among the 521 he hit (21.11 percent). Ruth hit 126 game-winners of his own total of 714 (17.65 percent). A “game-winning home run” is defined […]
The atmosphere was positively electric at Shea Stadium on the night of July 9, 1969, as the Mets prepared to play the Cubs in the biggest game in Mets history. The upstart Mets, in only their eighth season of existence, were in a position that no one thought possible before the season — contending for […]
The 1951 St. Louis Browns were one of the sorriest teams in the Browns’ often sorry history. They won barely one-third of their games, finishing with a record of 52-102, and they were the only team in the American League that averaged fewer than four runs a game. That would make the Browns an unlikely […]
“We were a rock star baseball team,” said right-hander Orel Hershiser about the 1995 Cleveland Indians. “You’d drive around and see Wahoo signs in almost every front yard. You’d walk into restaurants, and there were pictures of the players on the walls. I’d never quite seen anything like it. I get the chills just to […]
“Once a Designated Hitter assumes a defensive position this move shall terminate the Designated Hitter role for the remainder of the game.” — 1973 American League regulations, Section 2.71 On September 25, 1973, New York Yankees manager Ralph Houk managed himself out of a designated hitter. In so doing, he might have managed himself […]
The “Pebble” game. After 85 years it remains one of the most memorable games in the history of the World Series. On October 10, 1924, at Washington’s Griffith Stadium, in the seventh game of the World Series between the New York Giants and Washington Senators, the Senators’ Earl McNeely came to bat in the bottom […]
Donald Wayne Hankins, a tall, lanky right-hander who suffered a broken elbow as a teenager, enjoyed an 11-year professional baseball career — including ten seasons in the minors — during the 1920s. Hankins finished with a lifetime minor league record of 75-87. But during the four seasons he hurled in the Double-A (the highest classification […]
On August 8, 1962, Minnesota Twins left-hander Jack Kralick was nursing a two-hit, 2-1 lead over the Kansas City Athletics in the seventh inning when Kansas City right fielder George Alusik hoisted a two-run homer. The smash led to a 4-3 Twins loss. Protecting a similarly narrow ninth-inning 1-0 lead 18 days later, Kralick had […]
Jake Dunn was a versatile middle infielder and outfielder who played in the Negro leagues for parts of 11 seasons, from 1930 to 1943. He was a right-handed-hitting contact hitter who stood 5-feet-11 and weighed a solid 190 pounds.1 He also served as a player-manager late in his career. Joseph Phillip Dunn Jr. was born […]
“It happens every time. They cheer him even before he throws a ball. It’s the way he comes across. He’s a humble person, the underdog making good. People can relate to him. He’s not that big in stature (6 feet, 180 pounds) and he is not overpowering on the mound. Randy’s the common man’s pitcher.” — John […]
Do we call him Junior or Gene? Was Junior his given name or a nickname? Could it be both? No matter. As a fresh-faced youngster Junior Thompson helped the Cincinnati Reds win two consecutive National League pennants. As a mature veteran Gene Thompson impacted the game of baseball for half a century. Junior Eugene Thompson […]
He was the Montreal Expos’ Jim of all trades. As general manager, manager, vice president, scouting director, even broadcaster, Jim Fanning held almost every position a ball club could have, primarily for the Expos, but for the Atlanta/Milwaukee Braves, Colorado Rockies and Toronto Blue Jays as well. This baseball Renaissance man was an only child […]
Ferguson Arthur Jenkins, Jr. was a dominant right-handed pitcher known for strikeouts, eleventh (through 2013) on the all-time leader list with 3,192. He is the only pitcher to have more than 3,000 strikeouts with less than 1,000 walks (997). While he pitched for the Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers and Boston Red Sox, he is best […]
Bespectacled right-hander John Podgajny jumped from a Class C league to the Philadelphia Phillies as a 20-year-old September call-up in 1940. He completed three of his four starts and issued only one walk in 35 innings, suggesting a bright future. The Phillies, however, were at the nadir of their long history, in the midst of […]
Frederick Romaine Applegate, who won one of three decisions pitching for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1904, was born on May 9, 1879. His father, James, emigrated from England to America in 1871. James settled in Williamsport, Pennsylvania’s timber-industry hub, where he worked as a grocer. In April 1878 he married New York native Mary Williams.1 […]
Like a host of other marginal talents, pitcher John Connor owes his place in major league player ranks largely to the profusion of clubs accorded major league status during the 1884 season. At one time or other that year, no fewer than 33 different organizations claimed a National League, American Association, or Union Association franchise. […]
Right-handed pitcher Renie (pronounced REE-nee) Martin spent 10 years in professional baseball, including all or parts of six seasons (1979-1984) with the Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants, and Philadelphia Phillies. In 1980, he was an early-season hero for the Royals’ first American League pennant-winning team, earning victories in six of his first seven starts […]
Bill Grevell was a semipro pitcher from Philadelphia whose scatter-armed stint with the talent-parched 1919 Athletics indicated that he was not ready for the majors. After parts of two seasons in the minor leagues, he returned to the sandlots until illness ended his life at age 25. William Joseph Grevell Jr. was born on March […]