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Perhaps more than 3,242 people would have shown up at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington on September 28, 1971, if they’d known that what was going to happen there wouldn’t occur again for more than 33 years. The Washington Senators, playing out the string before moving to the Dallas-Fort Worth area the next season, […]

It was a perfect day for a perfect game. Under a clear blue sky 64,519 fans trooped into historic Yankee Stadium to witness a World Series contest between the two dominant teams of the era. The world champion Dodgers were facing the club that had won more World Series titles than any other two clubs […]

The Brooklyn Dodgers and Boston Braves were two teams headed in opposite directions. Brooklyn, with 96 wins and the National League pennant already clinched, had a World Series date with the New York Yankees. On Saturday, September 27, 1952, Dodgers manager Charlie Dressen gave the ball to pitcher Joe Black as a final regular-season tune-up.1 […]

The fireworks arrived a few days before the Fourth of July. On Wednesday, July 2, 1947, the Brooklyn Dodgers blasted the New York Giants, 11-3, in the first of a four-game series at Ebbets Field to gain sole possession of first place in the National League. The next day, the Giants exploded with five home […]

“Dressen first saw this boy in Boston in 1944 when a group of boys came to Braves Field for a tryout. Charlie liked him then and the club (Brooklyn) signed him.” – Brooklyn scout John “Red” Corriden, speaking about Clem Labine, October 2, 19511   He would ultimately become known as the man with the […]

It had been 12 years since the Yankees participated in the postseason. In 1964 they lost a thrilling seven-game World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals. Up to then they had won the American League pennant in 14 of 16 seasons beginning in 1949. Love the Yankees or hate them, it is unquestionably one of […]

The Washington Nationals (68-65) were coming off a big win the night before, having trounced Atlanta (54-80, 20½ games back of the Mets) by the score of 15-1. Although the Nationals were trailing the Mets by six games in the National League East, they hoped to gain ground in the standings before the Mets came […]

Wait ’til Next Year! The phrase became a euphemism for a baseball season gone awry and nowhere did it receive greater play than in the 1940s and 1950s with the Brooklyn Dodgers and their long-suffering fans.1 The Dodgers had never won a World Series and in those two decades leading to the 1955 season, they […]

Forty-year-old Warren Spahn of the Milwaukee Braves was only three victories shy of 300 for his career when he faced the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 22, 1961. Spahn pitched just three innings that day, preventing him from pushing even closer to the magical pinnacle, but he did hit a second-inning blast into Forbes Field’s right-field […]

With Washington’s new ballpark due to open, the Nationals lobbied Major League Baseball to let the team to start the National League season on ESPN’s Sunday-night game, March 30, 2008.1Despite the team’s dim prospects, MLB granted the request, putting Washington in the national spotlight for an opener for the first time since the Senators left […]

The Brooklyn Dodgers had their backs to the wall. After coming back from a two-game deficit in the World Series, they lost the fifth game to the New York Yankees at Ebbets Field. Now they were back at Yankee Stadium and needed to win to keep the Series alive. After Spec Shea’s four-hit complete game […]

As the New York Giants made the trek across the Hudson River to play the Brooklyn Dodgers in Jersey City, there was considerable speculation as to the future of the two franchises. On May 28, 1957, the National League owners gave unanimous approval for both the Giants and Dodgers to move to the West Coast […]

The Dodgers purchased 39-year-old Sal Maglie from the Cleveland Indians in mid-May 1956. The Barber bolstered a maligned staff, went 13-5, and was named Game One starter in the World Series. (Photo: SABR-Rucker Archive)   The 1956 World Series was the sixth between the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers in 10 years.1 The American […]

Throughout his 12-year major-league career, Ted Sizemore was known for his versatility and competitiveness, as well as for his love of baseball. When he was playing youth sports, some skeptics told him he was too short to be a major leaguer (sources would later claim he was either 5-feet-9”1 or 5-feet-10”; but in high school, […]

Due to a single base-running blunder on September 23, 1908, Fred Merkle became known by such unflattering epithets as “Bonehead,” “Leather Skull,” and “Ivory Pate.” Those who knew the right-handed cleanup hitter, however, described him as a “gentleman and scholar” and “voracious reader”; in fact, teammate Chief Meyers called him “the smartest man on the […]

Every life has a moment that reshapes its course, often without warning. For pitcher Jeff Randazzo, that turning point came on a cold Tennessee highway just after 2 a.m. on February 18, 2002. Randazzo – the Minnesota Twins’ fourth-round pick in the 1999 draft – was asleep in the passenger seat of his SUV, bound […]

Contemporary accounts of Cleveland second baseman Bill Wambsganss’ fielding almost universally used the word “slick” to describe his play. Ever since his final year in the majors, 1926, he’s largely been remembered as the man who pulled off the only unassisted triple play in World Series history but he was also an important member of […]

John Beckwith was a tremendous slugger who has received more attention for home runs hit outside of regular season Negro League play than for his superlative production during Negro League games. However, he has yet to receive induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. This lack of recognition may reflect his frequent position and team […]

Herbie Moran, a late-season acquisition in the Boston Braves’ pennant drive in 1914, acquired for his speed and outfield defense, was one of the heroes of the Braves’ unexpected Series sweep: The winning run in Game Three scored when his bunt with runners on first and second in the 12th inning was fumbled by Philadelphia […]

Jim “JD” Deshaies had a journeyman career as a left-handed pitcher for 12 years in the majors. At times he outshined some of his legendary rotation mates, but at others he suffered from shoulder injuries hampering his sneaky-fast velocity. Those injuries ultimately ended his playing days but paved the way for a second act as […]

Henry “Hank” Schenz was claimed off waivers by the New York Giants from the Pittsburgh Pirates midway through the 1951 season, setting in motion a unique connection to the most famous event in baseball history. As told by Joshua Prager in The Echoing Green: The Untold Story of Bobby Thomson, Ralph Branca, and the Shot […]

Like other marginal 19th-century playing talents, catcher Tom Gillen owes his initial entry in the record book to the proliferation of major league baseball in 1884. From the National League to the American Association to the upstart Union Association, no fewer than 34 different ball clubs were accorded major league status that year.1 A product […]

Mary Driscoll was born in Milwaukee and was a member of the baby boom generation. While media descriptions of her would later give an approximate birth year of 1948, based upon a Social Security death index listing and certain inconsistencies in these accounts, it appears that she was actually born on May 17, 1945. Her […]

Joe Hoerner lived to play baseball and nearly died to play the game. He endured nine years in the minor leagues, which included heart-related blackouts on the mound, before becoming one of the game’s early relief specialists. The left-handed sidearmer’s best seasons came with St. Louis (1966-69), during which the Cardinals won two National League […]