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In the one (and only) year that Bill Wakefield pitched in the major leagues, 1964, he set a Mets team record for game appearances that would stand up for 13 more years, and packed into a single season a full-length career’s worth of excitement and highlights, ending with a nail-biting season-ending game that decided the […]

One of the rarest things in baseball is a shut-down righty-lefty bullpen. Players, managers, and – let’s face it – agents, like relief roles defined. Today you have eighth-inning guys and ninth-inning guys. And if you’re lucky, you have hurlers who can form a human bridge from the starters to those players. Having two closers—one […]

Marvin Eugene Throneberry was born to be a Met. His very initials — MET — said so. As a member of the original 1962 New York Mets, Marv Throneberry’s colorful exploits (both good and bad) earned him the nickname “Marvelous Marv.” While remembered as much for his gaffes as his clutch performances, Throneberry carved out […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

“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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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 […]

It takes two to tango and two to mambo But you can do it all with just one Bombo Bombo Rivera will carry us to victory!— “The Ballad of Bombo Rivera”1   Expos outfielder Bombo Rivera sported a career batting average of .224 with no home runs and four RBIs when the game began. Yet […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]