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In 1910 attendance at the South End Grounds, home of the Boston Doves, was the lowest in the National League. By all accounts, only 985 fans showed up to see “the first game of the last series of 1910 on the local grounds,”1 a contest between Boston and the Philadelphia Phillies. The spectators witnessed the […]

On the morning of October 2, 2005, the Philadelphia Phillies still had a chance at their first playoff berth since they won the National League pennant in 1993. Philadelphia trailed the Houston Astros by one game in the wild-card standings entering the final day of the regular-season schedule. A Phillies win in Washington, coupled with […]

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Except if you’re Jerry Lewis. In 1966 this star of films, TV, and nightclubs contravened the accepted norm of celebrities wearing accoutrements appropriately reflecting the moment when honored by cities and their teams.1 After guest-hosting The Tonight Show in late May, Lewis launched a nationwide tour to […]

California starter John Candeleria pitched seven strong innings and the Angels got seventh-inning home runs from Dick Schofield and Gary Pettis and beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-3. The victory — which gave the Angels a 2-1 lead in the ALCS, provided some comfort to Angels manager Gene Mauch, who was ejected in the fourth […]

On August 17, 2004, switch-hitter Mark Teixeira “returned to the form that won him American League player of the month honors in July,”1 with a career-high seven-RBI performance that culminated in hitting for the cycle. Playing in only his second season in the majors, Teixeira led the Texas Rangers as they blasted the Cleveland Indians, […]

A sellout crowd of 30,111 watched their hometown Cincinnati Reds fall to the Los Angeles Dodgers by a score of 3–2 in the 1969 National League opener. This game “launched the second century of professional baseball in the city where the Cincinnati Red Stockings were organized in 1869.”1 Don Drysdale and Bill Singer of the […]

It was “perhaps the most remarkable pitching performance in the nine-year history of the Amazin’ Mets,” gushed Gotham City sportswriter Dana Mozley after 23-year-old flamethrower Nolan Ryan surrendered a single to the first batter he faced, then finished with a sparkling one-hitter and a team-record 15 strikeouts in his 1970 debut.1 “Nobody throws the ball […]

For teams already eliminated from a pennant race, the last game of a season typically means very little. In many of these instances, managers, players, and umpires might be more concerned about bringing the final game to a swift end to facilitate an expedited trip back to their offseason homes. For bench players and untested […]

The Milwaukee Brewers were 44-39 midway through July 1983, not matching their pace of the previous year when they won the American League pennant. Not only that, in in a loaded American League East Division in 1983, they were buried in fifth place. Their opponents for a Saturday night game at County Stadium on July […]

“Being the best is great, it means you’re number one. But being unique is greater, because you’re the only one.” This quote, which can be found all over the internet (reportedly anonymous, a bit ironically), applies to Marty Pattin in at least one regard: On April 8, 1969, he became the only Opening Day starting […]

Few one-game major leaguers led a baseball life as rich as pitcher Ernie Lindemann’s. From 1903 through 1915, he was a dominant force in the New York City area’s thriving semipro scene. He routinely faced, and often succeeded against, major-league teams and elite African-American independents. Indeed, Lindemann’s sole major-league appearance, with the Boston Doves in […]

This righty pitcher’s big-league career consisted of just one game with the 1968 Chicago Cubs. His baseball days ended after the following season because of a rotator cuff injury – but the Grambling alumnus then turned to an exciting new life as one of Hollywood’s top stuntmen. Jophery Clifford Brown was born on January 22, […]

When Ruthford Eduardo “Chico” Salmon stepped up as a pinch-hitter in the fifth inning of Game Two of the 1970 World Series, Baltimore was trailing Cincinnati, 4-1. Salmon was batting for Tom Phoebus, already the second pitcher used by Earl Weaver. “I got the greatest thrill of my life just walking up to the plate,” […]

In retirement, Ted Wills lived at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac in a planned community on the outskirts of Clovis, California, near Fresno in the central park of the state. His house overlooked seasonal wetlands protected by the Department of Reclamation, a setting that suggested a lifelong love of hunting and fishing. Wills’s cheerful […]

“In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened!” — Vin Scully, October 15, 19881 Alejandro Peña appeared in three World Series during his 15-season major-league career, but his first appearance was the kind of thing that you can only dream about. He was called in from the Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen […]

In the history of Bucknell University athletics, George Cockill’s name looms large. A three-sport varsity athlete in football, basketball, and baseball at the college in central Pennsylvania, the Class of 1905 alumnus returned to serve as varsity head coach in all three sports. He was posthumously selected to the school’s athletic Hall of Fame.1 Cockill’s […]

Jack Phillips spent almost a decade on Major League rosters and never got into more than seventy games in a season. But that less-than-stellar playing career was followed by an all-star second act: twenty-four seasons as a baseball coach and athletic administrator at his alma mater, Clarkson University. Jack Dorn Phillips, the second son of […]

With the last name of Roenicke, you’d think he’d be a “baseball first” kind of guy. Righty pitcher Josh Roenicke’s father, Gary Roenicke, was a major-league outfielder, as was his uncle, Ron Roenicke. So, it seems strange that Josh was a “recruited walk-on”1 at UCLA as a quarterback but walked on to the baseball team […]

Stories about Art Quirk’s golden arm and Ivy League degree accompanied the left-handed pitcher on his rise to the major leagues. There were double-digit strikeout games and a no-hitter. Most newspaper profiles mentioned the rarified source of his college diploma. But the excitement of his 1962 debut was short-lived when he was bumped from the […]

The names of baseball’s most famous lineups are familiar: Murderers’ Row, the Big Red Machine, the Black Sox. The people who make up those lineups are familiar, too: Ruth, Rose, Shoeless Joe. However, even baseball’s most prominent teams include men more or less forgotten to history. Of the nine men in the starting lineup for […]

After a rough rookie season with the lowly St. Louis Browns in 1933, Jack Knott emerged as a rubber-armed swingman-reliever. He appeared in more games over a four-year stretch (1934-1937) than any other AL hurler, and later transitioned into a once-a-week-type starter for the Chicago White Sox and Philadelphia Athletics. Like those of many players […]

Two Long Islanders joined the Boston Red Sox in 1961: Carl Yastrzemski and Chuck Schilling. It was Schilling, a second baseman, who won the team’s MVP award that year. Of course, Yastrzemski went on to become a Hall of Famer and one of the most celebrated Red Sox ever, whereas Schilling’s big-league career ended after […]

In November 1970 Boston Red Sox slugger Carl Yastrzemski was in Florida working with the organization’s young hitters when a hard-throwing right-handed hurler commanded his attention. “[Lynn McGlothen] is going to be a winning pitcher in the major leagues,” predicted the future Hall of Fame outfielder. “I don’t just mean a pitcher. I mean a […]