Search Results

Though Ken Harrelson of the Boston Red Sox got the game-winning grand slam in the bottom of the ninth and Bill Harrelson of the California Angels was the losing pitcher, there was no Harrelson vs. Harrelson last-minute drama at Fenway Park in August 1968. As the Red Sox and Angels resumed the suspended second game […]

When Guy Hecker tossed a no-hitter against the Alleghenys of Pittsburgh on September 19, 1882, it was a first in several ways: It was the first time the losing team scored a run in a no-hitter. It was the first time a team recorded a second no-hitter for the franchise. It was the first time […]

It was Saturday evening in Boston. Game Six of the 2013 American League Championship Series. The Boston Red Sox had taken a three-games-to-two series lead over the Detroit Tigers with a one-run win in Game Five at Comerica Park. If the Red Sox won Game Six, they’d have gone from last place in the AL […]

The Philadelphia Phillies arrived in Montreal on August 16, 1977, to play the Expos in search of their 13th straight win. If achieved, the win would give them the longest winning streak in their modern history.1 The Phillies had taken over the National League East during the streak, increasing their lead to 4 1/2 games […]

This game had everything that makes baseball great — nail-biting tension, great pitching, playoff implications, two rival teams, 17 innings, you name it. Throw a record-setting achievement and a walk-off hit to send the home team off happy, and you’ll get an idea of the marvelous, maddening 1-0 affair between the Expos and the Phillies […]

During their 1986 championship quest, the New York Mets minted unforgettable images of late-game magic. Scenes like Lenny Dykstra tracking the flight of a home run that transformed a ninth-inning deficit into National League Championship Series victory. Or Jesse Orosco flinging his glove in the air upon securing a berth in the World Series. Or […]

The 53rd major-league All-Star Game was the first midsummer classic played outside of the United States, and this landmark game paid tribute to both the global nature of the sport and the proud history of professional baseball in Montreal.1 The two-day celebration had a distinctly international flair that went well beyond the public-address announcements in […]

The Chicago Cubs were struggling. For the first two months of the season, they were a cute story. Since mid-May, the lovable losers of recent years had spent much of their time in first place in the National League East. Starting on June 6, however, the team lost ten of 16 games. The lowlight was […]

It didn’t have nearly the impact of Bobby Thomson’s pennant-winning home run or the World Series-winning blasts of Bill Mazeroski and Joe Carter, but for the perennially weak Boston Braves of the 1920s and ’30s, Wally Berger’s pinch-hit grand slam on the final day of the 1933 season was worthy of bold-face headlines and its […]

Dwight Gooden called it his “worst game in a long time. ‘I embarrassed myself,’ said Doc. ‘I couldn’t pitch, I couldn’t hit, I couldn’t field.'”1 He also had trouble controlling his curve. But none of that mattered. When the New York Mets walked off the field at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium after their game on April […]

In 16 big-league seasons, Phil Garner hit a total of 109 regular-season home runs.1 Three were with the bases loaded – and two of those grand slams came on back-to-back nights in September 1978. The second of Garner’s successive slams, a first-inning shot off Woodie Fryman, paced the surging Pittsburgh Pirates to a 6-1 win […]

Chicago’s Wrigley Field had already played host to a visiting team scoring at least one run in every inning of a nine-inning game against the Chicago Cubs. The date was September 13, 1964. The St. Louis Cardinals pounded out 18 hits in a lopsided 15-2 victory. The Cubs aided and abetted the Redbirds that afternoon; […]

Russ Kemmerer pitched a one-hit shutout in his first major-league start, on July 18, 1954, at Fenway Park, leading the Boston Red Sox to a 4-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles. Deprived of a no-hitter in the seventh inning when Sam Mele’s fly ball to left field eluded the outstretched glove of Ted Williams, the […]

When longtime third baseman and fan favorite Howard Easterling left the Homestead (Washington) Grays after the 1947 season, the team signed a promising young player named Bob Boston to replace him. Boston had played in East Liverpool, Ohio, in 1947 and had a reputation as a slugger. The Grays went to spring training on March […]

Herm Winningham’s professional career lasted 13 seasons. Yet only after the third time that he was a first-round draft pick did the speedy outfielder sign and turn pro. He played in the majors with four teams from 1984 through 1992. A skillful defender and bunter, Winningham got into 868 games at the top level, starting […]

Jerry Howarth is the longest-tenured Blue Jay broadcaster to date, having covered the team for more than 36 years. Following brief stints of three games in 1980 and 20 games in 1981, Howarth became a full-time radio voice with the Blue Jays from April 9, 1982, to October 1, 2017.1 Anyone who has heard Howarth […]

“The mentality of a basestealer is, when you get to first base, you see, you look around and say, ‘Now they’re in my ballpark.’ Know why? Cause I can get a lead and take two steps. Pitcher ducks. Catcher’s coming out. Shortstop’s coming across. Second baseman’s coming across. Center fielder’s coming up. Cause I took […]

Phil McCullough remembered sitting in sleet and freezing rain in the Washington Senators’ bullpen in Griffith Stadium on April 22, 1942. “It was just a terrible day. We tore up chairs and benches and furniture to make a fire in the bullpen to keep warm. It was so cold.”1 The sturdy (six-foot-four, 204 pounds), curly-haired […]

The year was 1865, and the Civil War had ended. Northern and Southern states now faced the overwhelming task of rebuilding physical, political, cultural, and emotional infrastructure. Hundreds of thousands of human lives had been lost, physical resources depleted, and the ideal of hope challenged. The state of Alabama was not immune to the repercussions […]

How about batting third in the lineup, between eventual Hall of Famers Max Carey and Honus Wagner, in your first major-league start? Frank Edington could rake, and he gave the second-place Pittsburgh Pirates an offensive shot in the arm for three weeks during the summer of 1912. Yet as it turned out, the 20-year-old never […]

The Cleveland Indians’ pitching staff for the 1957 season reads like a Who’s Who: Early Wynn, Mike Garcia, Don Mossi, Bob Lemon, Ray Narleski, Cal McLish and Herb Score. Then there was Stan Pitula, one of the Indians’ top pitching prospects, who spent the 1957 season with Cleveland. He made 5 starts and 18 relief […]

In February of 2006, Orestes “Minnie” Miñoso was preparing himself for the day he had anticipated for many years. Considered by a significant group of historians, statisticians, and old-time fans to be among the best baseball players not enshrined in the Hall of Fame, Miñoso awaited the voting results of the Committee on African-American Baseball, […]

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 […]