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Edward Morgan Lewis was the first player in Boston Red Sox franchise history born outside of North America.1 Ted Lewis was born on Christmas Day 1872 in what was then the market town of Machynlleth, Wales, population slightly over 2,000, set in the lower Dyfi Valley about 10 miles from the coast. It’s also known […]

Believe it or not, Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. had been in somewhat of a slump in the early part of the 1984 season. Although he started the season well, hitting safely in all but four of the Orioles’ first 23 games, in early May his batting average dropped from .352 on April 30 […]

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ bid for a fourth straight National League East Division title in 1973 remained alive, even though the Pirates trailed the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals when the schedule’s final day had concluded. With rainouts rescheduled for Monday, October 1 – a Mets-Chicago Cubs doubleheader and a single game between Pittsburgh […]

It was 1946, and “the boys were back” from World War II. Baseball had continued in the interest of public morale through four seasons of diminished quality. Now, however, as spring-training camps opened, there was “joyful relief that the war was at last over and old teammates were together again under the sun.”1 Navy veteran Jack […]

“The fans had departed, and the stands were dark.”1 This was the description of the end of the game on July 1, 1970, at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium. The Baltimore Orioles, headed to their second of three straight American League pennants and a World Series title, had defeated the visiting Cleveland Indians, 3-0, as rising ace […]

When inspirational writer Eugenia Price discovered St. Simons Island on the Georgia coast,1 she was already an avid baseball fan. She and Joyce Blackburn, her researcher and editor, were enchanted by St. Simons on a happenstance book tour visit in 1961. “We found St. Simons the day after Thanksgiving. From our first glimpse by that […]

It was time for Ted Williams to unload. He came into the Tuesday night game in Detroit hitless in his last six at-bats. He was facing Jim Bunning, against whom he had been 0-for-7 to this point in 1958. Nine days earlier, Bunning had no-hit the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Williams was 0-for-4 in […]

When New York Mets and Kansas City Royals faced off in Game Two of the 2015 World Series on October 28 both teams may have been a bit tired. The night before, Game One had lasted more than five hours before the Royals won 5-4 in 14 innings. Although no one got much sleep, the […]

On August 4, 1945, Pittsburgh Pirates rookie Bill Salkeld “joined an exclusive club as just the seventh catcher to hit for the cycle.”1 He also set a few records. Pittsburgh was hosting the St. Louis Cardinals in the second game of a four-game series matching the top two National League teams from the 1944 season. […]

Baseball brawls are usually limited to some vigorous pushing and shoving. Punches may be thrown, but few connect. The donnybrook on June 6, 1993, between the Orioles and Mariners, however, was the exception to the rule, with the scene at Camden Yards more reminiscent of an NHL hockey brawl. The dust-up delayed the ballgame for […]

June 14 was the day before the 1949 trade deadline.1 According to the Boston Globe, the Boston Braves had sought Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Wally Westlake “for a couple of weeks.”2 The 1948 Braves had made it to the World Series and were looking to repeat as National League champion. Could they add one bat to […]

In the years leading up to the First World War, baseball − not hockey − was Canada’s national sport.1 Inconsistent winter weather in many parts of the country, coupled with a lack of indoor ice, hampered hockey’s early development. The National Hockey League didn’t even exist until late in 1917.2 Baseball, on the other hand, was flourishing […]

It had been a long night at the ballpark. You couldn’t blame any fans who wanted to take advantage of a lopsided score to head home early, especially those who had to go to work the next day. After all, the home team was down by five runs in the bottom of the ninth … […]

As predictions go, it doesn’t rival Joe Namath’s guarantee that his New York Jets would defeat Baltimore in Super Bowl III. In fact, it wasn’t even a guarantee. Nonetheless, it was right on the money. A half-hour or so before he was to face the St. Louis Cardinals on June 29, 1990, Los Angeles Dodgers […]

The Cincinnati Reds, defending National League champions, were hosting the Phillies for a four-game series in June 1971. The Big Red Machine was not having a good season. At 32-38 they were in fourth place in the NL West, 14 games behind San Francisco. The visiting Phillies were no better off: At 27-40 they were […]

In baseball, as in every team sport, the team with the better players has an obvious advantage over its opponent; however, sometimes the line between winning and losing is a thin one, and it may also hinge to some degree on pure, dumb luck. Such was the case on May 10, 1972, when the Texas […]

It was “a baseball burlesque … a wild slugfest with a flock of pitchers being rushed in and out of the box.” — James M. Gould, St. Louis Star, May 11, 1923   The Philadelphia Phillies hosted the St. Louis Cardinals at Baker Bowl on Friday, May 11, 1923. It was the final game of […]

When Jeff Montgomery took the mound for the Cincinnati Reds on August 1, 1987, he was living out the storybook baseball tale. A three-sport athlete from small Wellston, Ohio, Montgomery grew up a couple of hours down the road from Riverfront Stadium in the era of the Big Red Machine. His idol, Reds manager Pete […]

The son of a brilliant but combative Hall of Fame baseball executive, Lee MacPhail inherited his father’s intelligence and a love of baseball, but a wholly different personality. While Larry had a short and somewhat mercurial baseball career colored by both triumph and controversy, his son Lee spent four decades in baseball and earned the […]

Oscar Dugey, a utility player, was called “the luckiest kid in baseball” after playing on two straight pennant winners, in 1914 and 1915. One of the best infielders to come out of the Texas League in the 20th century’s first two decades, the 5-foot 8, 160-pound right-hander hit just .194 in 195 games during his […]

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 […]

The Philadelphia Phillies’ World Series victory in 1980 was the culmination of a long rebuilding process. From 1968 to 1974, the Phillies suffered through seven straight losing seasons and had six different managers. While things seemed grim, the Phillies had a plan. They drafted well and stocked their farm system with good players, many of […]

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 […]

Left-handed pitcher Ray Dobens graduated as a bachelor of philosophy from Worcester, Massachusetts’ College of the Holy Cross on June 19, 1929 and signed a Boston Red Sox contract that same day. Eighteen days later, he broke in with the Boston Red Sox. College teammate Bots Nekola signed with the Yankees and had to wait nine more days for his first game. They […]