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Typically stocked with ballplayers past their prime or otherwise below average, major-league expansion teams have had little prospect of participating in pennant races during their inaugural seasons. As a result, their fans celebrated lesser triumphs – like their first win, their first win at home, and their first walk-off win. The Kansas City Royals collected […]

In a battle for the 1924 American League pennant, the defending World Series champion New York Yankees faced the Washington Senators in late August in the first game of a critical four-game series, played at Yankee Stadium. New York (70-52) was a half-game ahead of Washington (71-54) in the standings, attempting to reach the postseason […]

For the second season in a row, the Chicago Cubs claimed the World Series title in 1908 by besting the Detroit Tigers in five games. Cubs pitcher Orval Overall dominated the Tigers, allowing three hits in a complete-game, 2-0 victory. Overall became just the second post-1900 pitcher to strike out four batters in an inning, […]

When a team goes through a two-decade slide like the one the Pirates endured starting in 1993, the seemingly never-ending string of thrashings can run together as a whirlwind of despair in a fan’s mind. Still, in this plethora of defeats, some losses carry a much greater sting than do others. After a miserable 2010 […]

Depending on who you listened to, the New York Yankees were either shell-shocked or coolly determined as they approached the third game of the 1963 World Series. The venue had shifted across the continent to Los Angeles, but the pall of the Yankees’ losses to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first two games of […]

“When going through hell, keep running” – Winston Churchill1 “Beware of advice from experts, pigs and members of Parliament” – Kermit the Frog2   Mickey Cochrane was going through hell as he rounded the bases on his June 4 inside-the-park grand slam against the Philadelphia A’s in Shibe Park. He made it home, but he […]

A 6-foot-3, 220-pound right-hander with a prominent chaw of tobacco in his right cheek, Al Severinsen pitched parts of three major league seasons. In 1969 he relieved in a dozen games for the Orioles and earned one of Baltimore’s franchise-record 109 victories. Severinsen finished his career with the San Diego Padres, making a total of […]

The 21st-century epithet “ump show,” coined to describe umpires who make themselves the center of attention, could have been created 100 years earlier to describe Charles Van Sickle. Brawls, riots, ejections, and suspensions followed Van Sickle throughout his 20-year career, which included 67 games in the 1914 Federal League and stints in more than a […]

A collegiate star at the University of New Orleans, outfielder Ted Wood also stood out for Team USA in international competition in the late 1980s. The first-round draft pick never got an extended trial in the majors, as he appeared in just 47 games from 1991 to 1993. He continued to chase the dream longer […]

When Johnny Cash sang the Shel Silverstein song “A Boy Named Sue,” he was telling the fictional story of a boy given a girl’s name by a father who was about to leave him, so that the boy would grow up tougher and able to weather what life might throw at him. In researching Johnny […]

“Running! turning! leaping! like little Al Gionfriddo — a baseball player, Doctor, who once did a very great thing.” The great thing novelist Philip Roth described took place on October 5, 1947. It was Game Six of the World Series. Outfielder Al Gionfriddo, a little-used reserve, made a racing, twisting catch in deep left-center at […]

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 […]

On September 22, 1914, Shoeless Joe Jackson sat on the Cleveland Naps dugout bench watching his newest teammate, 19-year-old Frank LeMoyne Mills, make his major-league debut. Seconds later, Shoeless Joe applauded Mills as he stood on first base after hitting a single. At 19 years old, with a batting average of 1.000, the baseball future […]

“We wouldn’t have won the World Series without him.” – Kevin Millar1 Mark Bellhorn is quite possibly the most underrated player on the 2004 Red Sox team. While other players like David Ortiz, Curt Schilling, or Dave Roberts rightfully garner much praise for the success of the Red Sox’ 2004 championship run, Bellhorn and his […]