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On June 14, 1952, Billy Harrell signed a contract with the Cleveland Indians which began a 15-year professional baseball odyssey. Across this career, he appeared in 153 major league games (136 with Cleveland and 37 with the Boston Red Sox) and 1520 minor league games with eight different teams. While his big league stats were […]
In September 1959, after the Buffalo Bisons, the Philadelphia Phillies Triple-A affiliate, captured the International League pennant, The Sporting News noticed Jimmie Coker, the club’s All Star catcher. He “has the assets to become … the top catcher produced in the International League since Roy Campanella graduated from the Montreal Royals,” Cy Kritzer predicted in […]
Pitcher Mark Worrell, who was known for his funky sidewinder delivery, will forever be linked to two home runs – one he hit and the other he gave up. In his second major-league game, on June 5, 2008, Worrell blasted a three-run homer in his first career at-bat. Three years later, in his final game […]
There are hundreds of major-league players who fall into the nebulous category of having had a “cup of coffee” in the big leagues; a baseball idiom for a short time a minor-league player spends playing in the major leagues. It could be for a single game, or a few short weeks. The time period is […]
A late-inning home run by Willie Mays was the decisive blow in San Francisco’s dramatic 2-1 victory on the last day of the 1962 regular season, clinching a playoff berth for the Giants against their downstate rival Los Angeles Dodgers. Meanwhile, Dick “Turk” Farrell, the right-handed hurler for the Houston Colt .45s who surrendered the […]
The third pitcher selected by the New York Mets in the 1961 National League expansion draft, French-Canadian Ray Daviault (pronounced dah-vee-yoh) debuted in New York’s inaugural home game, at the Polo Grounds. He walked the first batter he faced, then chased him home with a pair of wild pitches. After two eventful innings, Mets manager […]
Cleveland manager Kerby Farrell rushed to the mound after pitcher Herb Score was struck in the face by a line drive off the bat of the Yankees’ Gil McDougald on May 7, 1957. “He was bleeding from his eyes, nose, mouth and ears. All we could think of doing was trying to save his life,” […]
Robert B. Ward didn’t get involved with professional baseball to make money. Ward, a successful businessman who owned the largest baking company in the United States, got involved with the Federal League after listening to a sales pitch from James Gilmore, the president of the league. “I never expected to make any fortune in baseball,” […]
As the Houston Astros entered their final game before the 2017 All-Star break, they were setting new franchise records and dominating the American League for the first time since they joined the junior circuit in 2013. Their 59-29 record put them 15½ games up on the Texas Rangers in the AL West and had them […]
Mark Worrell enjoyed a memorable few days in Washington, DC, in early June of 2008. Recalled by the St. Louis Cardinals from Triple-A Memphis on June 2, the right-handed relief pitcher with the funky side-arm delivery1 made his major-league debut the next night against the Washington Nationals. He worked a scoreless ninth inning, allowing a […]
At the end of the 2003 season, his ninth with the Houston Astros, Hall of Fame-bound reliever Billy Wagner publicly questioned management’s commitment to winning after the Astros missed the postseason by one game. He was swiftly traded to the Philadelphia Phillies, who were in search of an upgrade at closer. In the Phillies’ second […]
“Sure, there are days you don’t feel like coming to the park,” said Chicago Cubs All-Star Ron Santo. “But you’re getting paid. You can’t turn in your uniform.”1 Known for his competitive spirit, Santo was frustrated with losing. Heading into the first game of a three-game set with the Philadelphia Phillies, manager Lou Klein’s squad […]
The Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis entered the opening game of the three-game series, tied for the second-best record in the National League (40-28), 3½ games behind the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs (43-24).1 The starting pitchers, Kyle Kendrick (Phillies) and Todd Wellemeyer (Cardinals), entered the game going in opposite directions.2 Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard […]
There have been many baseball games in which the fans have been confused by actions on the field or the infield fly rule. It is less common for that confusion to extend to the players and managers – but it happens. This was one of those games. This was the last regular season meeting of […]
They didn’t know it at the time, but the Indianapolis Indians began the 1954 season with the right ingredients. The American Association club was affiliated with the major-league Cleveland Indians. What was the recipe for success? Start with a smart manager, Kerby Farrell, promoted to Indianapolis after leading the 1953 Reading (Pennsylvania) Indians to 101 […]
Baseball is a game of inches, but it is also a game of numbers. On April 8, 1974, Number 44 hit Number 715. Every baseball fan in America knew what that meant: Hank Aaron had just surpassed Babe Ruth to claim the career home-run record. The Atlanta Constitution showcased Aaron’s feat on its front page, […]
One of just two Philadelphia Athletics to make the 1934 American League All-Star roster, third baseman Mike “Pinky” Higgins was the subject of gossip that offseason that he might be sold to the New York Yankees for as much as $50,000. Owner-manager Connie Mack was peppered with questions about the proposed deal in January 1935 […]
The San Diego Padres hosted the Cincinnati Reds in a National League West Division game two weeks before the 1993 All-Star break. Neither team was making a move in the standings. The sixth-place Padres (28-44) had returned to Jack Murphy Stadium for a four-game series against the Reds following a 3-6 road trip. They lost […]
The Philadelphia Phillies could not have picked a better day for a batting-helmet giveaway than Sunday, August 3, 1969. The 13,181 in attendance at Connie Mack Stadium witnessed one of the highest-scoring games in the ballpark’s fabled history and, unbeknownst to them, the birth of the Cincinnati Reds’ fabled Big Red Machine. The 1968 season […]
As the Boston Red Sox arrived in Baltimore for a three-game set starting on July 18, 2011, they were riding a hot streak, having won 12 of their last 14 games to reach the top of the AL East, a game and a half ahead of the New York Yankees. But as the Red Sox […]
When the Negro National League opened play in 1920, its membership included the Chicago Giants, piloted by Black baseball veteran Joe Green and federated in Rube Foster’s organization after many years as an independent club. The Giants won only five league games in their debut season but were two outs from starting 1921 with back-to-back […]
Budding media mogul Ted Turner, who had obtained the rights to broadcast Atlanta Braves games on his television station, WTCG, in 1973, purchased the franchise in 1976 and attempted to engineer an immediate reversal of its faltering fortunes. Turner dipped into the brand-new free-agent market and signed one of its trailblazers, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher […]
The long, record-setting, and sometimes turbulent career of umpire Joe West began about as quietly as could be imagined, in front of fewer than 1,000 paying customers on a rainy Tuesday evening in Atlanta on September 14, 1976. At age 23, West umpired his first big-league game in the first half of a doubleheader between […]
As of the start of the 2019 season, the San Diego Padres are the only existing major-league team that has not had a pitcher toss a no-hitter. While they have never had a no-no, the club has thrown 30 one-hitters.1 One of these one-hitters took place on Thursday, July 19, 2012, when journeyman Edinson Volquez […]