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The Pirates were in New York for their first series against the Mets in 1971. Pittsburgh had defeated New York six times the previous September to claim the National League East crown and keep the Mets from returning to the postseason. Both teams were vying along with the St. Louis Cardinals and Montreal Expos for […]

In 1975 Dave Parker became the Pittsburgh Pirates’ starting right fielder and began a half-decade reign as baseball’s best outfielder. His loudest declaration of onrushing superstardom came on May 9 against the defending National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers, when he bashed out run-producing extra-base hits in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings and drove […]

The 32,040 fans who came to Royals Stadium for a Monday night game in late June were in for a treat, as they saw California’s 39-year-old Dave Winfield become the oldest major leaguer to hit for the cycle. In addition, Kansas City’s Bill Pecota was involved in a few rare occurrences of his own. While […]

“Things just kept happening, unexpected things, rare things, exciting things, dramatic things,” wrote John Wilson of the Houston Chronicle after the Astros doubleheader split with the visiting San Diego Padres that involved everything from dramatic home runs, controversial plays at home plate, and game-interrupting disputes to stellar defensive plays and even occasionally good pitching.1 “It […]

At 3 P.M. on Tuesday, August 9, 1977, and then again at 4,1 baseball fans living in the area of Sherbrooke, Quebec, heard a mysterious message interrupt the French-language broadcast of that afternoon’s San Diego Padres-Montreal Expos game on radio station CHLT.2 “This is a message of special public interest,” radio newsman Richard Desmarais cut […]

Mike Corkins is one of many ballplayers with reason to dislike Jim Bouton’s Ball Four — not because it captured his personal indiscretions, but because it chronicled his professional failings. In his entry for September 8, 1969, Bouton summarized Corkins’ unfortunate major-league debut for San Diego against Houston, in which the rookie yielded two triples […]

Camilo Pascual was one of the original Minnesota Twins. The hard-throwing Cuban right-hander with a big curveball was on the Washington Senators roster when the franchise moved to Minnesota for the 1961 season. In that first season in Minnesota, Pascual led the Twins with 15 wins, tied for the American League lead with eight shutouts, […]

The major leagues are often referred to as “The Show” because they represent the highest level of competition in baseball. The games of the teams’ minor-league affiliates also provide their share of entertainment, showcasing rising stars as well as the occasional major leaguer on a rehabilitation assignment. In addition, there exist independent minor-league teams that, […]

Big-league success didn’t last for Jim Hughes, but when he was hot, no one was hotter. The Minnesota Twins’ rookie pitcher won the American League Player of the Month award for May 1975, posting a 6-0 record and an 0.87 ERA in six games.1 He worked seven innings of shutout relief on May 4 to […]

On Easter Sunday afternoon, April 19, 1981, an otherwise uncelebrated outfielder named Sam Bowen may have saved two full teams of minor-league baseball players from collapsing in sheer frustrated exhaustion. The Pawtucket Red Sox – Bowen’s team – and the Rochester Red Wings of the Triple-A International League had just played 32 innings of baseball […]

Many baseball fans are familiar with the story of Armando Galarraga’s lost perfect game in 2010.1 In the days before instant replays were used to review close plays at first base, an honest mistake by umpire Jim Joyce with two out in the ninth inning was all that separated Galarraga from perfection. What is less […]

When Jackie Robinson debuted with the Montreal Royals on April 18, 1946, he became the first Black player to appear in what was then known as Organized Baseball in nearly 47 years. Canadians feel a special connection to Robinson because of his year spent in Montreal. What many Canadians don’t know is that they have […]

Ameal Brooks played for semipro and Negro League teams from the late 1920s to 1950. He was known primarily for his work as a versatile catcher and outfielder, his clouting abilities at the plate, and an affinity for alcohol, which may explain his habit of jumping from team to team, sometimes in midseason. For more […]

Timothy Dean Birtsas, a pitcher whose only major-league hit was a home run, spent five years pitching for Oakland and Cincinnati. He was born on September 5, 1960, in Pontiac, Michigan, a Detroit suburb. He grew up in nearby Clarkston, where, outside of his baseball career, he has spent most of his life. He attended […]

Outfielder Mark Corey looked like a surefire star after winning batting titles in his first two pro seasons. He tore up rookie ball in 1976, hitting .400 with 17 homers; the next year he hit .310 with 15 homers in Double-A. As it turned out, though, Corey never did break into the crowded Baltimore outfield. […]

Tabbed “the best young catching prospect to try for a major league berth in many years” in the spring of 1948 by Pirates rookie manager Billy Meyer, Ed Fitz Gerald went on to have a 12-year major-league career as a backup catcher with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Senators, and Cleveland Indians.1 The gangly, six-foot, 170-pound […]

Mike Mussina pitched consistently well over 18 big-league seasons for the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees, winning a total of 270 games and becoming the first American League pitcher to win 10 or more games in 17 consecutive seasons. With a varied arsenal of pitches including four-seam and two-seam fastballs, a slider, a changeup, […]

In July 1883, the Cleveland Blues were in the thick of the National League pennant race. Pitcher James McCormick began complaining of a lame arm and leg problems.1 In an era where teams used a two-man pitching rotation, McCormick’s condition put a strain on his pitching partner, Hugh “One Arm” Daily. Manager Frank Bancroft was […]

Right-handed pitcher J.B. Young celebrated his 35th birthday in unique fashion — by appearing in his first, last, and only major league game.1 Unhappily for Young, his outing on behalf of the 1892 St. Louis Browns was a nightmare: two innings-plus, 13 runs surrendered. He never appeared in another Browns game and was back home […]

Ed Sukla made a career in the game of baseball, first in the 1960s and ’70s as a sinker-balling reliever for the Angels and in the Pacific Coast League, and then for decades with the Major League Scouting Bureau. Though baseball was the sport in which he made his living, he was an all-around athlete, […]

Willy Miranda epitomized the “good field, no hit” shortstop. He was a lot more than good in the field, though—Tom Lasorda, to name just one, thought the flashy little Cuban was the best he ever saw at short.1 Wielding the same battered, patched, and secretly doctored glove for nearly his entire pro career, Miranda was […]

A brilliant defensive outfielder who briefly starred with the Cincinnati Reds, Armando Marsáns was the first Cuban player to make an impact in the major leagues. Dubbed “an aristocrat by birth, but a big-league outfielder by choice,”1 he was among baseball’s top stars before his career was derailed by an ill-fated attempt to challenge the […]

Every great city has its own great bar. Elizabethan London had the Mermaid Tavern. Paris has its Deux Magots. In New York City in the 1950s, there was no shortage of options, but for sports fans there was only one choice: Toots Shor’s. Initially located at 51 East 51st Street, across the street from Radio […]

Umpiring provided Joe Linsalata with employment across five decades, from the 1940s through the 1980s, though he spent only one of those seasons working in the major leagues. The veteran Triple A ump got the call to the American League for the expansion season of 1961, then was sent back to the minors the following […]