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It was a night like no other. A night to say farewell to an old friend. A night full of memories. A night that would go down in history. And so it was, on September 21, 2008, that more than 54,000 people showed up for the final game to be played at the old ballpark […]

Entering the final month of the 1935 season, a September 1 matchup between the Boston Red Sox and the Washington Senators had little relevance in the eight-team American League. Both teams had long since said goodbye to any possibility of capturing the pennant, with Boston looking upward toward four other teams in the standings, a […]

If you were listening carefully, you might have picked up on it — a subtle, perhaps unconscious acknowledgement that the curtain was falling. As Sportsman’s Park public-address announcer George Carson introduced the home team, he left something out. For the first time all season he didn’t refer to them as the “World Champion Cardinals.”1The New […]

Before the 1953 season, pitcher Alva “Bobo” Holloman predicted great things for himself. Acquired by the St. Louis Browns from the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs the previous October, he immediately started a campaign to assure himself a spot as a starter, telling team owner Bill Veeck that he would be his number-one pitcher and asking, “Am […]

Harmon Killebrew was the face of the Minnesota Twins during the team’s first 14 years in the Twin Cities. He hit 475 home runs as a member of the Twins, 244 of which came at Metropolitan Stadium.1 On this day, Killebrew was making his final appearance in Minnesota, wearing an unfamiliar Kansas City Royals uniform. […]

The 1935 edition of the Boston Braves weren’t just bad, they were historically bad. Many people credit the hapless 1962 New York Mets as being the worst team of the modern era with their 40-120 record, but the 1935 Braves actually finished with a slightly worse won-lost percentage than that Mets squad (.250 for the […]

It’s not often that a team hits two grand slams in one game, but when the Baltimore Orioles turned that very feat in one inning against the Texas Rangers at Memorial Stadium on August 6, 1986, the hometown fans surely thought that the game had turned in favor of their team. After Texas second baseman […]

The 31,389 fans attending this Wednesday midday game could expect a pitcher’s duel: Two first-time All-Stars were taking the mound, both with solid 2019 performances. The White Sox and Twins had split the first two games of the series: The Twins put up seven runs in the eighth inning the night before to win 14-4. […]

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 […]

Van Lingle Mungo was off to a better start than his team as the 1935 calendar hit June 13, easing out of spring and toward summer. The 24-year-old fireballing righty, workhorse of Casey Stengel’s Brooklyn staff, already had eight wins in 13 starts. He was three games over .500, but the Dodgers were only 23-22, […]

The St. Louis Cardinals held a three games to one lead before what could be the last game of the 1967 World Series. “It’s as one-sided as a cat eating a canary,” wrote Jim Murray in the Los Angeles Times.1 The Cards had overpowered the Boston Red Sox. They out-hit, out-ran, and with the exception […]

When Jack Maloof walked down the street in Auburn, New York, people said, “There goes the greatest hitter who ever lived.” OK, that’s an exaggeration. An outright fiction, in fact. But Maloof shares a rare distinction with Ted Williams, the man who famously wanted to be recognized in public as the greatest hitter of all […]

If any player could be called Mr. Brewer it is Robin Yount. He played his entire 20-year major-league career with the Milwaukee Brewers, debuting as an 18-year-old shortstop in 1974, and helped reinvigorate and re-energize a fan base that had been reeling since the Braves abandoned Milwaukee for Atlanta in 1966. Yount led the Brewers […]

George Tsamis, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound former left-handed pitcher, made his mark on the diamond managing in the independent leagues. Tsamis described himself as a “players manager” who asks “players to give 100 percent and run out every ground ball, and hustle, show up on time. If you don’t, you’ll be disciplined; but if you can’t […]

Kenneth Lowther Ash pitched in the minor leagues from 1924 to 1940 with trips to the majors for 49 games over four seasons. He compiled a none-too-impressive major league record of six wins against eight losses with a 4.96 ERA, mostly with Cincinnati between 1928 and 1930. As a minor league pitcher he notched over […]

Rodney McCray is known as “Crash” for the time he made his mark and then some on an outfield wall in the minor leagues. But though his major-league time was brief and he totaled only three hits at the top level, McCray left a positive impression on the game and baseball did likewise to him. […]

Jerry Cram’s signature moment in the big leagues came on September 11, 1974. He threw eight scoreless innings in relief for the New York Mets — the 17th through the 24th of what became a 25-inning loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. If the Mets could only have scratched across a run, Cram would have […]

Imagine being stationed in center field when your team records the final out of the World Series. To experience that twice is less likely than pitching a perfect game or hitting 500 career homers.1 Even rarer – being in center field for clubs from both the American and National Leagues when they became champions, something […]

From 1962 through 1968, right-hander Jack Lamabe pitched for seven different teams: the Pirates, Red Sox, Astros, White Sox, Mets, Cardinals, and Cubs. He won a world championship with the 1967 St. Louis Cardinals, helping them get through an August that was particularly challenging due to the loss of ace pitcher Bob Gibson to a […]

Cecil Kaiser earned the respect of his Negro League peers during a career that included seasons with the Homestead Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords, all-star appearances, a stint with a well-known barnstorming team, and one especially strong Winter League performance. The southpaw had two different nicknames that spoke of his prowess on the mound: “Minute Man,” […]

Jim Gosger was a hustling, hard-working ballplayer for 13 professional seasons, years that took him all over the baseball map, and to the majors for parts of 10 seasons with five different teams. He played a good center field but never really established himself as a good enough hitter to stay in a lineup long. […]

With his outstanding assortment of curveballs, John Burke pitched his way out of the treacherous coal mines of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, into the major leagues. Though he only appeared in four games, Burke spurned at least that many offers to focus on his studies financed with his pitching prowess. While he was still in his […]

Baseball writer Jack Ryder covered the Cincinnati Reds with unfailing dedication. He was a keen observer and witty commentator. From 1905 to 1936, his eloquent prose graced the pages of the Cincinnati Enquirer. The Reds were mostly mediocre during this period. Managers came and went, 14 in 32 seasons. Through thick and thin, fans could […]

While his major-league career spanned a mere three months in 1884, the game of baseball played an important part in the life of Joe Moffet and his family for nearly a quarter of the 19th century. Six family members were involved in professional baseball, playing on teams in Wheeling, Cleveland, Toledo, Indianapolis, Nashville, and Boston. […]