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It could only have happened in September. By the time the 14-inning, 5-hour 34-minute marathon was over, the two teams had combined to use 51 players including 18 pitchers; suffered three blown saves; seen three lead changes in extra innings; watched two pitchers escaping extra-innings, bases-loaded one-out jams; and had a pitcher pinch-hitting. At least […]

A bouncer to the first baseman leading off the game called a hit. This judgment call remains the only hit until two out in the ninth inning when the potential last batter singles to right, replacing the lonely ‘1’ that had sat on the scoreboard for more than two hours. “That’s about as far down […]

Probably the greatest rivalry in the history of baseball was the Brooklyn Dodgers versus the New York Giants, especially in the late 1940s and 1950s.1 During this period the rivalry escalated as a result of Jackie Robinson becoming a major leaguer in 1947 and Leo Durocher joining the Giants as manager. Durocher had been manager […]

After “two days of aimless wandering,”1 the Dodgers returned home for World Series Game Three in front of the largest crowd of the season at Ebbets Field, 34,209 boisterous fans. There was an enthusiasm among Dodgers fans that belied their 0-2 Series deficit and rather long odds of being able to finally win a World […]

Minnesota Twins manager Bill Rigney had a plan for the game on Tuesday against the Kansas City Royals. With three games to go in the regular season and the American League West title already clinched, Rigney wanted to get his players ready for the playoff opener Saturday against the AL East champion Baltimore Orioles. His […]

Early in his career, John Francis Smith was a pitcher of great promise. As a 20-year-old in 1885, the southpaw struck out 147 batters in 11 games for the Newark team of the Eastern League, and he became known as Phenomenal Smith.1 A clever hurler who mastered a variety of deceptive curveballs,2 he pitched for […]

In 2010 manager Buck Showalter’s arrival seemed to provide a spark for the moribund Baltimore Orioles, who mustered a .596 winning percentage under Showalter after beginning the season with a brutal 32-73 record. The 2011 Orioles had failed to continue that success, however. After starting the season 6-1, they fell off immediately with an eight […]

On the eve of the 1926 season, the venerated New York Giants were the consensus pick to win the National League pennant, while the Cincinnati Reds were expected to finish in fourth place.1 But when the two teams met on September 17, the underachieving Giants were mired in fifth place − 15½ games out − […]

The Baltimore Orioles returned to the postseason for the second straight season in 1997. They did it in style, winning the American League East championship by two games over the New York Yankees. There was some bitterness from the season before when Baltimore met the Yankees in the LCS. In Game One, at Yankee Stadium, […]

It was a bad day. The weather was drab, home plate was missing, and the Minnesota Twins lost their last game ever at Metropolitan Stadium. When the grounds crew reported for work they discovered that vandals had gotten into the ballpark and had sliced through the rubber tarpaulin that covered the home-plate area and removed […]

The Indians and Tigers opened their 1960 campaigns on Tuesday, April 19, in Cleveland. The Indians had finished 1959 in second place, five games behind the AL pennant-winning Chicago White Sox. Detroit had ended the year in fourth place, 18 games out of first place. Two days before the season opener, the teams made headlines […]

With multiple hits in four of his past five games, Philadelphia Phillies center fielder Dode Paskert probably felt frustrated after popping up on the infield against New York Giants rookie Jeff Tesreau to lead off the bottom of the first inning on September 6, 1912. But what should have been an easy out for the […]

On occasion over the years, some of Boston’s Green Cathedrals have served as venues for outdoor boxing programs. Fenway Park staged its first fight on October 9, 1920, and would continue to host fisticuffs within its confines through 1956. Braves Field got a later but more auspicious start. Just three days later, on October 12, […]

Bill Shettsline was the most identifiable face of the Philadelphia Phillies during their first half-century. After joining the team in 1884 as a ticket salesman, he soon became team secretary, before being suddenly thrust into a managerial role in 1898. Reckoning with cheap ownership, unruly players, and a baseball war, Shettsline nonetheless achieved a .548 […]

Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis called the 1935 World Series “the greatest ever.”1 Goose Goslin was the man of the hour after smacking a clutch ninth-inning single to cap the victory. Teammates mobbed the Goose; the incessant backslapping accompanied a bloody nose, mussed hair, and a torn uniform. The mood in the Chicago Cubs’ clubhouse […]

Every successful team should have a player like Glenn Hubbard. Though undersized, he played with a tremendous amount of heart and always left all his energy on the field. Teammates recognized his value. Hubbard hit just .244 over his 12 seasons in the majors, but he had some pop in his bat, connecting for 70 […]

Right-handed pitcher Jim Wright contributed eight wins to the 1978 Red Sox team which took their drive for the American League pennant to the famous one-game tiebreaker. Wright complemented a staff that featured Dennis Eckersley, Bob Stanley, Mike Torrez, Luis Tiant, and Bill Lee. Manager Don Zimmer gave the 27-year-old rookie 16 starts and he […]

Jason Jennings had what might be the greatest debut in baseball history. His first game at the major-league level was so impressive that no less an authority on greatness than the National Baseball Hall of Fame contacted the Colorado Rockies to inquire about displaying memorabilia from the game. The Rockies promoted pitcher Jennings from Triple-A […]

Floyd Rayford’s soft hands and even softer belly, combined with his underrated athleticism and good nature, made him an Orioles’ fan favorite in the 1980s. With the skills to play six positions — primarily third base and catcher — during his professional career, and what one manager called the “perfect temperament for baseball,” Rayford spent […]

Circuit Judge William Corwin Johns was a staple of the Decatur, Illinois, courthouse during the early twentieth century. When he died suddenly in 1914, he was eulogized for having laid down the law with impartiality while “preserv[ing] more strict decorum in his court room than any judge ever on the bench in Macon county.” (Decatur […]

William Edward Voss had an eight-year major-league career playing outfield for the Chicago White Sox, California Angels, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland A’s, and the St. Louis Cardinals. Voss was born in Glendale, California, on October 31, 1943. When he was a youngster, his baseball idol was Mickey Mantle. In 1968 he commented, “I think he’s a […]

Four swings made Dusty Rhodes famous. The pinch-hitting hero of the 1954 World Series, when the underdog New York Giants swept the Cleveland Indians, Rhodes delivered key hits in three of the four victories. And he never had to pay for another drink in New York. “You know what Rhodes was?” his manager, Leo Durocher, […]

At the close of the 1890 season, the Cincinnati Reds had high hopes for rookie backstop Jerry Harrington. The 21-year-old had proved a major asset for the fourth-place (77-55-2, .583) ball club – an able handler of pitchers; a sure-handed receiver with a powerful and accurate throwing arm, and a decent enough batter for any […]

Long-limbed southpaw Graeme Lloyd became the first Australian to win a World Series ring. The 6’8”1 reliever joined the New York Yankees bullpen late in the 1996 season and remained with the club for the 1998 championship too. Through the 2011 season, this distinction remained unique among Aussies. Just one other of Lloyd’s countrymen, Grant […]