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A crowd of 25,762 showed up at Ebbets Field on August 20,1947, to see the final game of the Dodgers’ four-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Overcast skies delayed the game for 47 minutes. After winning the first two games of the series, Brooklyn had lost the third game, 11-3. The Dodgers still had […]
It takes two to tango and two to mambo But you can do it all with just one Bombo Bombo Rivera will carry us to victory!— “The Ballad of Bombo Rivera”1 Expos outfielder Bombo Rivera sported a career batting average of .224 with no home runs and four RBIs when the game began. Yet […]
There died a myriad of them, And of the best, among them, For an old bitch gone in the teeth, For a botched civilization, … — Ezra Pound, Hugh Selwyn Mauberley (1920) Friday, May 9, 1919. The Armistice ending the Great War was nearing its six-month anniversary. The Spanish influenza pandemic hadn’t loosened its […]
The 1915 World Series featured the upstart Philadelphia Phillies, who had swept to the National League pennant by seven games behind Grover Cleveland Alexander’s phenomenal 31 wins (including 12 shutouts, four one-hitters, and three two-hitters),1 against the heavily favored Boston Red Sox, winners of 101 games in a close pennant race against the Detroit Tigers.2 […]
Pee Wee Reese and Pete Reiser made their major-league debuts at age 21 for the Dodgers in 1940, became All-Stars, then missed three full seasons (1943-1945) during World War II. While injuries derailed Reiser’s promising career, Reese became the emotional leader of the team and a Hall of Famer. (Photo: SABR-Rucker Archive) Cincinnati’s Johnny […]
Gene Hermanski’s name will forever be etched in the long history of professional baseball in Brooklyn, dating back to the city’s teams in the National Association (1872-1875), American Association (1884-1889), and the National League beginning in 1890. Despite hitting only 46 home runs in his nine-year career, spent primarily as a reserve with three different […]
For fans of the Houston Astros, the month of June 1992 hadn’t yet delivered much excitement. In what had been so far a poor season, the Astros began their campaign with a promising 9-6 start, but after that had achieved a dismal record of just 17-29. For a team that hadn’t finished higher than third […]
The Cincinnati Reds’ Fred Toney was a big, 6-foot-2, rugged 200-pound pitcher, but even he didn’t expect to take the mound twice on a hot summer day in the Queen City. The Reds were in the midst of a grueling stretch of games when they prepared for a Sunday- afternoon twin bill with the Pittsburgh […]
As Pete Rose stood on second base, basking in the cheers of the Expos faithful on hand for the 1984 home opener, it’s reasonable to think that he was feeling pretty good. He had made it through the most difficult offseason of his major-league career to that point, with the Expos the only team to […]
Since 1881, 30 major-league players have hit an ultimate grand slam.1 This rare feat happens when a player hits a bases-loaded walk-off home run with his team down by three runs in its final at-bat. In essence, it gives the home team a one-run margin of victory. The list of ultimate grand slam hitters includes […]
After dropping Game One of the 1915 World Series, 3-1, the Red Sox came back with a narrow 2-1 win in the second game. Manager Bill Carrigan had said before the Series, “Outside of Pete] Alexander, I do not think any of the Philly pitchers compares with my men.”1 Alexander had won that first game. […]
No one in the history of major-league baseball had a first appearance like that of hard-throwing left-handed pitcher Pete Richert. In his debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 12, 1962, against the Cincinnati Reds at Dodger Stadium, Richert set a record by striking out the first six batters he faced. With the Dodgers […]
Chris Welsh was a prodigal son who returned as a journeyman southpaw pitcher for his hometown club. When his days on the mound ended, he ventured into the booth and gradually transformed himself into a broadcast fixture in Cincinnati. Born in Wilmington, Delaware, on April 14, 1955, Welsh was the third of four children and […]
Catcher Dave Criscione spent one month with the Baltimore Orioles in the summer of 1977. Though he appeared in just seven games, he made the most of them, receiving three standing ovations in one and connecting for a game-ending home run in another. David Gerald Criscione (pronounced KRUH-shone) was born on September 2, 1951, in […]
How did a first-year pitcher with a 3-11 record and a 5.70 earned run average in Single-A baseball make it to the major leagues the very next year? Right-handed pitcher Dave Gray was 20 years old in 1963, pitching in Iowa for the Waterloo Hawks that year. The next year he was pitching for the […]
“There’s no hidden agenda to Fay Vincent. … What you see is what you get.” — Peter O’Malley1 “A man of deep moral conviction.” — Guy McElwaine, motion picture executive2 Francis T. Vincent Jr. was the eighth Commissioner of Major League Baseball. After serving as Deputy Commissioner under his dear friend Bart Giamatti, he […]
The son of an All-Star, a two-time All-American at Harvard University, and a first-round draft pick, Mike Stenhouse seemed destined to thrive in the majors. But in a five-year career with three teams that never saw him play in more than half the schedule, Stenhouse never hit. While he did not make the postseason roster […]
Major-league right-hander Bob Chakales was one of five sons born to Edward Peter and Blanche Wiggs Chakales – (sons in order: Robert, Charles, Dwight, and twins John and James). Bob was born on August 10, 1927, in Asheville, North Carolina. His mother worked in retail, selling women’s clothing, and his father – known as Eddie […]
“The next Olympic Games must not have the same character. They must be kept more purely athletic, they must be more dignified, more discreet and more in accordance with the classic artistic requirements. The Games must be more intimate, and, above all, the Games must be less expensive.”1 — Baron Pierre de Coubertin As […]
Ray Kolp had an average fastball that appeared better when used in tandem with his assortment of spinners, most notably a curveball. His greatest talent came as a bench jockey. Blessed with a high tenor voice, he could easily get an opponent’s attention from the bench. But Kolp took it one step further. Veteran catcher […]
Thousands of baseball players have been labeled with a nickname. Some depicted the player’s size like “Rabbit” or “Jumbo”. Others were based on where they came from: “The Hoosier Thunderbolt”, “Vinegar Bend”, “Dominican Dandy”. Some became iconic like “The Babe”, “Joltin’ Joe”, “Hammerin’ Hank”. Some nicknames were so obvious that a player could not help […]
Clyde Kluttz, a journeyman catcher-turned-scout, convinced Charlie Finley to pay a young North Carolina pitcher named Jimmy Hunter $50,000 to sign with the Athletics in 1964. A decade later, Kluttz, then a super scout with the Yankees, persuaded the All-Star now known as “Catfish” to accept $3.75 million to come to New York in the first of a flood […]
In baseball parlance a journeyman is a player who is experienced, reliable, and a good, solid performer, as distinguished from one who is a brilliant or colorful star. Chick Fulmer was a prototypical journeyman ballplayer. He had his colorful moments, but mostly he was just a clever, dependable teammate of more flamboyant players, whom he […]
The March 20, 1941, edition of the Sporting News brandished this headline on page 5: “Loyal Watchers Daffy About Dodgers’ Flag Chances; Scribes Already Arguing About World Series Plans.” Brooklyn’s “Bums” had finished a distant second to Cincinnati in 1940, but the beat writers were predicting an all-New York World Series come October. The hubbub […]