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Much of the off-field enjoyment of baseball is connected to the contemplation of its many and varied statistics. Literally everything that occurs on the baseball field during a game can be counted; the batters’ credits and the pitchers’ debits accumulate. The result is a mountain of statistical data for players and fans alike to ponder, […]

It was “Bloomington Night” at Metropolitan Stadium on August 17, 1976, when the Twins paid tribute to their home community as part of their game against the Baltimore Orioles. The reigning Miss Bloomington – Stephanie Nilson,1 a 19-year-old college student and aspiring opera singer – was invited to sing the national anthem a cappella before […]

If Catfish Hunter was going to pitch a perfect game, Minnesota Twins manager Cal Ermer was going to make him earn every out.1 Hunter, a 22-year-old right-hander in his fourth season with the Athletics, had retired 24 straight batters going into the top of the ninth inning at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, on May 8, 1968, […]

Terry Felton had nothing to say. Not that anyone could blame him – what could Minnesota’s loveable loser say that he hadn’t already said after the first 15 losses of his career? Felton was once again the tough-luck loser on September 12, 1982. This time he left the game in the sixth inning with two […]

Montreal Expos fans were stunned by the news.1 On April 5, 1972, the Expos traded the face of the franchise, 28-year-old superstar Rusty Staub, to the New York Mets for three promising young players: 24-year-old outfielder Ken Singleton, 23-year-old first baseman Mike Jorgensen, and 21-year-old shortstop Tim Foli. Although the ever-popular Staub helped the Mets […]

Willie Stargell began 1975 with a new assignment. For the first time in 14 seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Stargell was the club’s Opening Day first baseman.1 Already Pittsburgh’s all-time home-run leader, he celebrated by belting two more homers and going 4-for-4 as the Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs, 8-4, on April 10 at frigid […]

How hard did Jerry Vezendy throw? Hard enough to strike out 102 batters in 71 innings in the Class A New York-Penn League in 1964. Hard enough for the Boston Red Sox to sign him to a major-league contract that October to prevent him from being drafted by another team.1 Hard enough, too, to land […]

In January 1949, the St. Louis Cardinals sold right-hander Murry Dickson, a mainstay since their glory years earlier in the 1940s, to the Pittsburgh Pirates for $125,000. Dickson defeated his former club five times in eight decisions that season, with one victory especially harmful to St. Louis’s championship aspirations. His complete-game 7-2 win at Pittsburgh’s […]

After the 1973 season, Yankee Stadium underwent a $100 million renovation, forcing the Yankees to share Shea Stadium with the New York Mets in 1974 and 1975. Finally, on the unseasonably warm afternoon of April 15, 1976, the Yankees returned to the Bronx and their remodeled stadium, as a spirited crowd of 52,613 (the largest […]

The 1968 season is remembered as “the Year of the Pitcher,” and for good reason. For the first time since the Deadball Era, both the American and National Leagues posted ERAs under 3.1 Only one AL hitter, Carl Yastrzemski, finished with an average of .300 or greater, and major-league batters as a whole averaged just […]

For a pitcher who finished with a .500 record, Charlie Hough packed a lot of highlights into his major-league career. The Hawaii-born, Florida-raised knuckleballer pitched in 858 games across 25 major-league seasons, appearing in three World Series and an All-Star Game.1 He won 216 games,2 including the first game in Florida/Miami Marlins franchise history, and […]

Anyone who has stepped up to the plate in a baseball or softball game has dreamed about hitting a game-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth inning. On one magical weekend in 1985, it was more than a dream for Orioles center fielder Fred Lynn. On May 10 and 11 at Memorial Stadium, […]

This article appears in SABR’s “Go-Go to Glory: The 1959 Chicago White Sox” (2019), edited by Don Zminda.   On May 7, 2000, Dodgers announcer Vin Scully gave Fordham University’s 155th commencement speech. “Don’t let the winds blow away your dreams or your faith in God,” he said. “And remember, sometimes your wildest dreams come […]

In his major-league career Clay Kirby won 75 games, yet he is best remembered for one of his losses. On July 21, 1970, Kirby, on the mound for the San Diego Padres, pitched eight innings of no-hit ball against the New York Mets before manager Preston Gomez removed him for a pinch-hitter. Kirby had given […]

In 1884, Henry Lucas founded the Union Association as a third major league to compete against the existing National League and American Association. His club, the St. Louis Maroons, was by far the best club in the league, winning its first twenty games and putting together a 27-3 record going into the game on June […]

Fifteen months after the San Francisco earthquake, Henry Joseph Patterson1 was born in the city of San Francisco on July 17, 1907. His father, Henry Colquit Patterson, was a railroad switchman from Tennessee. His mother, Mary (Donohoe) Patterson, was a native of Ireland. By the time of the 1910 United States census, the family was […]

Loyd Christopher hit a home run on the first pitch he ever saw in professional baseball. He was playing for the Akron Yankees in 1938. New York Yankees scout Bob Coltrin had signed him the year before, and the team had assigned him to the Class-C Middle Atlantic League Akron team to start his career.1 […]

“(For Dykstra) no dare was too bold, no drink too strong, no car too fast, no poker hand too big.”  — Jeff Pearlman, author of The Bad Guys Won!1 “The Dude would be an experience even if it had nothing to do with baseball. You could meet the Dude away from the field and come […]

Known as one of the steadiest setup and capable closers in Blue Jays history, Duane Ward was instrumental in the organization’s back-to-back World Series championships, in the early 1990s. Standing at 6-feet-4 and 210 pounds, he was a powerful right-handed pitcher capable of throwing 95-mph fastballs and hard, sweeping sliders. Ward’s versatility allowed him to […]

Hanson “Hans” Horsey had a whirlwind four-inning cup of coffee with the 1912 Cincinnati Reds as a 22-year-old pitcher tasked with “taking one for the team” in an April blowout loss. But the slightly-built (5-foot-11, 165 pounds)1 right-hander, drafted after two seasons in Class-B baseball, pitched six more seasons in the minor leagues before returning […]

Redheaded lefty pitcher Charlie Perkins got into just 19 major-league games in 1930 and 1934. His record was an uninspiring 0-3, with a 7.50 ERA. “I had one fault,” he said looking back in 1976. “I had a good arm but I was wild. To stay in the big leagues, you had to throw that […]

Sam Jones was an intimidating pitcher. He was big (6 feet 4 and 200 pounds), threw hard, had a massive sweeping curveball, and could be quite wild. Three times he led the National League in both strikeouts and walks (1955, 1956, and 1958). He narrowly missed this feat a fourth time in his finest season, […]

John Stearns was a stalwart on some of the worst New York Mets teams of the late 1970s and early 1980s. He earned the nickname Bad Dude, which he picked up while talking to a reporter in 1970.1 It stuck with him throughout his playing days. The nickname was indicative of Stearns’s toughness and confidence. […]

Right-handed-hitting outfielder Ken Hunt and one-time major-league single-season home-run leader Roger Maris1 were boyhood friends while growing up in Grand Forks, North Dakota. After the Maris family moved to nearby Fargo, the two all-around athletes were high-school sports rivals. During Hunt’s senior year in football, his team lost one game, a 7-6 setback to Fargo […]