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In the locker room celebration after the New York Mets won the 1969 National League pennant, he was quoted by the New York Daily News as saying, “I’ll walk down the street in New York now and people will say, ‘There’s Art Shamsky of the Mets.’ People used to laugh. They won’t anymore.’”1 Indeed, after his performance […]

No pitcher born and raised in Hawaii has had more wins in the majors than Sid Fernandez, who notched 114 (against 96 losses) from 1983 through 1997. Charlie Hough (216) grew up in Hialeah, Florida. Ron Darling (136) looked the part of a Hawaiian, thanks to his Chinese-Hawaiian mother, but he called Massachusetts home from […]

Luis Eleuterio Tiant (1906-1976) was one of the finest pitchers that Cuba has ever produced. So was his son, Luis Clemente Tiant, who won 229 games in the major leagues from 1964 through 1982 – more than any of his countrymen. When asked about his namesake, Luis C. said in 1974, “He was a better […]

Even though his 13 years in the Steel City fell between the World Championship seasons of 1909 and 1925, Wilbur Cooper was arguably the greatest pitcher in Pittsburgh Pirates history. Cooper holds the franchise single-season record for ERA (1.87 in 1916) and the all-time records for victories (202) and complete games (263). An exceptional control […]

Red Thisted never saw a professional baseball game until he was 20 years old. He made up for lost time, though. Over the course of four decades, he attended every home game played my Milwaukee’s ballclub, plus all of the away games when not prevented by wartime travel restrictions. From the start of the 1926 […]

After tearing up the Ohio and Pennsylvania League for the Youngstown Steelmen, pitcher Ed “Doc” Moyer appeared in six games with the 1910 Washington Senators. In a deflating debut in relief on July 20, 1910, against Cleveland, Moyer was greeted by the Naps’ 3-4-5 batters with three blistering base hits to lead off the sixth, […]

g nettleHe was blessed with cat-like reflexes, an accurate arm, and the ability to get his throws off quickly. His range at third base was as sweeping as a ten-foot leaf rake. He broke into the big leagues in Minnesota, honed his craft in Cleveland, and finally burst into stardom under the bright lights of […]

“National Disgrace! Worst. Loss. Ever!” — Headlines on the back pages of the New York Daily News and New York Post on September 4, 2019.1   Who won the ballgame last night? In the 1950s, that question was often answered by New Yorkers after a quick stop at one of the 1,500 newsstands that dotted […]

The St. Louis Cardinals evened things up, winning Game Two of the 2013 World Series, 4-2, and ending Boston’s five-game World Series winning streak over St. Louis, dating back to their sweep in 2004. One could well say that rookie right-hander Michael Wacha was the star of the game for St. Louis. After debuting with […]

At the end of the 1948 season, the New York Yankees fired their manager, Bucky Harris. The team had just completed what was for them a subpar year, finishing in third place behind the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians. Harris was not without credentials, having guided the Yankees to the 1947 World Series championship, […]

Unlike most other sports, baseball has no clock, so a team never has to “beat the clock” as well as an opponent. There are very few times when actual minutes are measured instead of outs in baseball. When a relief pitcher is not yet ready to come into a game, a manager will come out […]

On May 2, 1917 the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs squared off at Chicago’s Weeghman Park for the first game of a four-game series. At 10-7 the Cubs sat in second place, only a half-game back of the eventual National League champion New York Giants. The Reds were in sixth place with a mark of […]

With the deadline for a players strike less than 48 hours away providing an ominous backdrop, the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees faced off at Yankee Stadium on August 10, 1994, knowing that the game could be their last meeting of the season. As it turned out, the game would be the last for […]

When the California Angels captured the American League West championship in 1982 and bolted out to a commanding two-game lead in the best-of-five American League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers, Angels manager Gene Mauch could have been excused for feeling more than a twinge of satisfaction with his team on the brink of appearing […]

On April 30, 1887, their Opening Day and National League debut game, the Pittsburgh Alleghenys hosted and defeated the defending league champion Chicago White Sox, 6-2. Pittsburgh’s offense was led by Alex McKinnon’s four hits (two singles, a double, and a triple) and two runs scored. Teammate Fred Carroll, whose defensive versatility enabled him to […]

The Chicago Tribune called it “The Most Brilliant Contest in the History of the Game.” Sportswriter Henry Chadwick, an ardent supporter of low-scoring “scientific” games, labeled it “the model game.” Other news reports called the June 19, 1875, contest between Hartford and Chicago the “most extraordinary” and “most remarkable” game ever played. For years baseball […]

The Wednesday afternoon matinee between the Brooklyn Tip-Tops and St. Louis Terriers was an epic 18-inning battle. It was both the longest game ever played at Washington Park and the longest game in the short history of the Federal League.1 The game lasted 4 hours and 1 minute and was contested under a wide range […]

The ticker tape had barely settled from their World Series celebration in 1986 when the New York Mets faced an offseason of key departures and unwelcome headlines, the first signs that their reign might not last. On Opening Day 1987, however, the Mets again demonstrated championship form, parlaying Darryl Strawberry’s first-inning home run and Bobby […]

For Game Five of the 1981 mini-series playoff between the Montreal Expos and the Philadelphia Phillies, Expos manager Jim Fanning unleashed his best pitching weapon, Steve Rogers. He also unleashed his secret offensive weapon — Steve Rogers? The 1981 major-league season was interrupted by a 50-day midseason players’ strike that divided the campaign into two […]

Cincinnati arrived in Philadelphia on a five-game winning streak. After losing the first game of their four-game series with the Phillies, the Reds had won the next two and were hoping to continue their winning streak in the final game of the series. The Phillies were already 9½ games behind the Reds and were struggling […]

Because the third game of the 2018 World Series was being played in a National League city, NL rules applied – which meant there was no designated hitter. Red Sox manager Alex Cora elected to have J.D. Martinez play left field and Andrew Benintendi remain on the bench. Both teams started right-handers, Walker Buehler for […]

For Keith Hernandez, some reassuring words from his manager, Ken Boyer, at 30,000 feet proved significant to his career course. The St. Louis Cardinals were flying to Houston to open a three-game series against the Astros on May 8, 1979. Hernandez, their first baseman and number-three hitter, was batting a gloomy .236. And that figure […]

The revamped St. Louis Cardinals were off to a rousing start in 1981, winning six of their first eight games, when Lary Sorensen took the pitcher’s mound for the finale of a three-game series with the Chicago Cubs at Busch Stadium on Wednesday, April 22. Coming off a disappointing fourth-place finish in the National League […]