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In the 1970s the Cincinnati Reds were one of baseball’s dominant forces. The power-packed Big Red Machine piled up World Series titles in 1975-76, National League championships in 1970 and 1972, and National League West titles in 1973 and 1979. As with any dynasty, the players who made the Reds great had to learn their […]

Imagine being a rookie pitcher, rushed directly from college to the major leagues, and being summoned into your first game to find Babe Ruth waiting in the batter’s box. It could have been the kind of beginning legends are made of. But for Moritz “Mort” Flohr,1 the outcome was best described as mortifying. The 22-year-old […]

In 1964 Boston Red Sox right-hander Dick Radatz struck out 181 opponents – which more than 60 years later remained the single-season record for a pitcher who worked exclusively in relief. His 16 wins as a reliever that year set an American League record.1  The 1964 Red Sox weren’t a winning team. They finished 72-90, […]

The social calendars for many a Louisvillian in the mid-1880s were anchored by two annual marquee events: the Kentucky Derby and the Southern Exposition. The Derby, which grew to become the signature event in American horse racing, was held on the first Friday in May at Churchill Downs.1 The Southern Exposition was a regional fair […]

“He is one batter who always knows what he is doing up at the plate and why.”1 — Tommy Henrich   Johnny Mize, Hall of Fame first baseman, could hit a baseball and he wrote about it in How to Hit.2 The 1953 book, co-authored with Murray Kaufman, is an easy read for those of […]

The New York Giants arrived in Indianapolis in August 1889 after winning five straight games – two against the Philadelphia Phillies, followed by a three-game sweep of the Chicago White Stockings. The Indianapolis Hoosiers had won two straight, and eight of their last 10 games, before facing the Giants.1 After the Hoosiers’ 14-4 win in […]

It was a story that could only happen in baseball. On the morning of October 1, 1982, the Baltimore Orioles arrived home from Detroit trailing the Milwaukee Brewers by three games. For Baltimore’s beloved manager Earl Weaver, who had announced in March that he would retire after the season, his final mission at the helm […]

A modest crowd of 8,693 passed the turnstiles at Briggs Stadium to see a matchup between the first-place Detroit Tigers and the Boston Red Sox, who entered the day 6½ games back. The fans were treated to a slugfest that also had made a bit of history, as Boston’s player-manager Joe Cronin hit for the […]

Through the 2021 season, there were 334 cycles hit in major-league baseball games.1 The first one was hit by Curry Foley of the Buffalo Bisons on May 25, 1882. The second was hit by Lon Knight, the right fielder and manager of the Philadelphia Athletics, on July 30, 1883. Knight, who was a native of […]

It was an unlikely time for the best game in Bill Monbouquette’s career. An emerging star and fan favorite, the Boston Red Sox’ 25-year-old right-handed local boy from Medford, Massachusetts, entered the 1962 campaign with a 38-36 career slate but hit a rough patch in July after earning his second All-Star berth. “I’ve been lousy […]

As if the 2020 season wasn’t strange enough, an unusual incident occurred at Fenway Park during a late-season Sunday afternoon game against the visiting New York Yankees. The announced attendance for the game was 0 – yes, zero – as it was for every game all season long at the Boston ballpark. The COVID-19 pandemic […]

The 1979 All-Star Game was the first held in Seattle, the largest city in the Pacific Northwest. Played before a sellout crowd of 58,905 in the Astroturf-carpeted Kingdome,1 it was the 50th midsummer classic and the second ever in a domed stadium.2 Home to the American League Mariners – in their third season as an […]

Hall of Famer Johnny Mize could hit a baseball. Author Joe Posnanski suggests of Mize, “He was Lou Gehrig good. He was Stan Musial good. He was Mel Ott good, Frank Robinson good, Joe DiMaggio good, Albert Pujols good.”1 So good, in fact, that in 1947 with the New York Giants Mize became the only […]

Second baseman George Cornelius Smith played professional baseball for 14 seasons, mostly in the minor leagues, but with two years in the Negro Leagues and four in the major leagues. Smith was born in St. Petersburg, Florida, on July 7, 1937 or 1938.1 He attended David Elementary School and graduated from Gibbs High School, where […]

Dwight Lowry spent the bulk of his four-year major-league career as a backup catcher for the Detroit Tigers between 1984 and 1987, including an extended stay with the 1984 Tigers during their championship run. Aside from his early tragic death after a heart attack, he is best known as one of the relatively few American […]

Dick Mills was a 6-foot-3,195-pound right-handed pitcher who appeared twice for the Boston Red Sox in 1970. They were his only two games in major-league baseball. Mills was a hard guy to pin down at first. Drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in June 1965, a 13th-round pick, he chose not to sign. Drafted by the […]

At spring training in 1921, Branch Rickey, vice president of the St. Louis Cardinals as well as the club’s field manager, was looking over the rookies in camp at Orange, Texas. Turning to veteran shortstop Doc Lavan, he said, “Tell that bat boy to get out of the infield.” Advised that the “bat boy” was […]

Charles Radbourn’s pitching achievements were hailed by contemporaries and sportswriters for decades as some of the greatest feats of nineteenth century baseball. Little known today, many considered an 18-inning game in 1882 as the finest athletic contest ever seen on a baseball diamond. That game was won, not by the pitcher Radbourn, but by the […]

In September 1976 Hall of Fame inductees Yogi Berra and Warren Spahn were only the two most prominent names among a large field of managerial candidates available to the expansion Toronto Blue Jays. But the Jays startled the baseball world by selecting the hardly-household-name Roy Hartsfield as the franchise’s first skipper. But the surprise may […]

Sam Mertes possessed a rare combination of speed and power. From 1899 to 1905, he was routinely among the league leaders in stolen bases, triples, and home runs. He was an outstanding defensive outfielder. Gritty and energetic, Mertes harassed opponents and umpires in his foghorn voice. He had the physique of a heavyweight boxer and […]

Joe Cunningham was a left-handed first baseman and converted outfielder who played parts of 12 major-league seasons with the Cardinals (1954, 1956-61), Chicago White Sox (1962-64), and Washington Senators (1964-66). In his All-Star season of 1959, he hit .345 to finish second for the batting title. Known for his excellent batting eye, Cunningham’s lifetime on-base […]

Twenty-five-year-old Jim McAndrew emerged from spring training 1969 to start the second game of the year for a New York Mets team that boasted one of the game’s top young rotations. Yet due to a series of misfortunes, injuries, and bad luck—a continuation from the previous year where the Mets were shut out in his […]

The careers of Jerry Stephenson and his father Joe embrace over 100 years of major-league experience. Jerry broke into the big leagues in 1963 and has been involved with the game ever since. Joe broke in with the New York Giants during World War II and scouted for the Red Sox from 1948 until nearly […]

  Baseball only decrees 90 feet between bases and 60 feet 6 inches from home plate to the mound. Elsewhere, look backward, angel.“Thanks to Alexander Cartwright,” said former Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, “the outfield distance, fence height, and space between the seats and lines vary. Parks could do as they liked.”1 Some have been liked better. […]