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Game Three of the 1975 World Series featured six home runs and plenty of late-inning heroics, but the outcome turned on a bunt by a reserve outfielder with a .185 batting average. With five future Hall of Famers on the field (Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk, Joe Morgan, Tony Pérez, Carl Yastrzemski) plus the all-time hit […]

“We won the game, and we went back to the hotel. I woke up at 4 o’clock the next morning, sat up in bed and screamed as loud as I could. I knew I would never have a chance to do that [pitch a perfect game] again.” – Brian Holman1   In May 1989 the […]

Box scores don’t lie. But sometimes they cannot tell the whole truth. Like a classic novel, whose layers are best understood by reading its criticism, a box score’s secrets can be revealed through game stories. Context enables a deeper understanding of history, allowing the pieces of the puzzle to expose the entire picture. The April […]

Clayton Kershaw pitched a magnificent game on April 13, 2022, but did he leave too soon? The Los Angeles Dodgers’ ace left-hander threw seven perfect innings against the Minnesota Twins on a cold afternoon at Target Field. Kershaw, making his debut in the Dodgers’ fifth game of the lockout-delayed season, threw 80 pitches and struck […]

Hall of Famer Paul Molitor’s illustrious 21-year career included seven All-Star Game appearances and four Silver Slugger Awards. He was instrumental to the Milwaukee Brewers’ only American League pennant, in 1982, and the Toronto Blue Jays’ repeat World Series title, in 1993.1 A native of St. Paul, Minnesota, and a product of the University of […]

It was the best of teams, it was the worst of teams. On August 29, 1980, the Durham Bulls – the first-place team in the North Division of the Class A Carolina League – met the Rocky Mount Pines, just a few days away from finishing one of the worst seasons in professional baseball history. […]

Kirk Rueter admitted that he was “scared to death” when he made his big-league debut for the Montreal Expos on July 7, 1993.1 The 22-year-old soft-tossing southpaw had good reason to be nervous. Rueter was facing the San Francisco Giants, a team that had bolstered its lineup in the offseason with free-agent superstar Barry Bonds […]

While fans at baseball games 100 years from now watch as their starting pitcher is removed after reaching his pitch limit of 25, an old-timer will regale them with stories he heard at his pappy’s knee about pitchers who actually pitched nine innings in a single game, and not just in their entire Cy Young […]

Going into this June 1967 Crosley Field game between San Francisco and Cincinnati, the mound opponents seemed a baseball version of David vs. Goliath. Starting for the visitors was right-hander and five-time All-Star Juan Marichal, then in his eighth season. Only weeks before, after a win against the Dodgers, he had become, “percentage-wise, the top […]

The New York Mets arrived in St. Louis for a weekend series in September 1991. They were on a three-game winning streak after sweeping the Chicago Cubs in a two-game series at Wrigley Field. In the series opener against the Cardinals on September 13, Kevin McReynolds’ two-run homer in the 10th inning gave the Mets […]

The 2007 and 2008 seasons had ended in disappointment when the New York Mets missed the playoffs on the final day of each season. In 2008 the team also bade goodbye to Shea Stadium, its home for 45 seasons. It was hoped the opening of the Mets’ new ballpark would bring better days in 2009. […]

Right-hander Ray Kremer can lay a legitimate claim as being the best pitcher in big-league history to debut in his 30s. After failing in a spring-training tryout with the New York Giants in 1916, Kremer logged more than 2,100 innings and won over 100 games in the Pacific Coast League in the late 1910s and […]

For the 1968 season, the major leagues sought to strictly enforce a rule prohibiting a pitcher from going to his mouth while on the mound. An especially unusual application of the rule took place at Shea Stadium in New York on May 2. Philadelphia Phillies reliever John Boozer entered a game against the New York […]

Over the years, the Red Sox have had players on their roster who were perhaps better known for the uniqueness of their name than for anything they did on the playing field. You may recall Jennings Poindexter, Carmen Fanzone, Creighton Gubanich, Gar Finnvold, Izzy Alcantara, Win Remmerswaal, Osee Schrecongost, Hipolito Pichardo, and Arquimedez Pozo, to […]

One of the first tragic figures in major-league baseball, Charles Ferguson might have become one of the greatest players of all time had it not been for his untimely death at the age of 25. An all-around natural athlete who starred for the Philadelphia Quakers of the National League from 1884 through 1887, Ferguson had a […]

There are many middle infielders who are tagged by scouts as “good field, no hit.” For the most part, these players are steady performers in the field. They make all of the routine plays with ease and the more challenging ones seem as if nothing is out of the ordinary. Their offensive contributions are minimal; […]

“The best birthday present I ever got.” – Ralph Mauriello, September 6, 19581 Ralph Mauriello had been born on August 25, 1934, in Brooklyn, New York, and less than two weeks after his 24th birthday, after six minor-league seasons, he joined the Los Angeles Dodgers. Within two weeks of joining the club, he had his […]

On May 26, 1956, the Cincinnati Redlegs and Milwaukee Braves faced off in the second game of a three-game series in Milwaukee. The result was one of the most unusual and memorable games in the history of each franchise. On the mound for the Redlegs was Johnny Klippstein, a hard-throwing right-hander in his seventh season […]

In the annals of baseball dating back to when it first became a game played by professionals, the great teams have always taken on the persona of their managers. This includes the old Chicago White Stockings of the National League led by their first baseman-manager Adrian “Cap” Anson, and continues with managers such as Ned […]

Arguably one of the slowest runners in baseball, Edward Frank Burtschy earned the nickname “Molasses Shoe,” or “Moe” for short. The bulky 6’3”, 208-pound hurler may have tarried on the base path but the hard throwing righty, in the vernacular, could bring it. The problem was where. Blessed with a blazing fastball and cursed that […]

The major league resume of right-handed pitcher-utilityman Dick Cogan is not particularly eye-catching, consisting of three brief and unimpressive stints with late-19th century National League clubs. But in his hometown of Paterson, New Jersey, Cogan (pronounced as if spelled Coogan)1 was a prominent figure, a force on the local athletic and political landscapes for decades. […]

Marty Sullivan was a ballplayer who, at his prime, “was second to no left fielder in the country,” according to Hall of Famer Cap Anson.1 In his five-year major-league career, Sullivan played for four different teams, compiling a .273 lifetime batting average. Martin C. Sullivan was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, on October 20, 1862, the […]

A backup catcher who amassed only 984 plate appearances in 12 seasons, Wallace Larry Haney nevertheless was a member of some historic teams, including the 1974 Oakland Athletics. Upon retiring as an active player, the right-handed hitting Haney spent an additional 34 years in professional baseball as a coach and scout, and his dedication to […]

Even the most casual of baseball fans are aware of Christy Mathewson’s on-field accomplishments, but the baseball career of his younger brother Henry Mathewson is less than common knowledge. And while the events leading to the death of the famous “Matty” have been told several times, few know of the tragic life of Henry or […]