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With two shortstops sidelined and their improbable run for the National League Central Division title in jeopardy, the Pittsburgh Pirates, who had spent 1997’s run-up trading off experienced players and shedding salary obligations, played against type by acquiring veteran Shawon Dunston from the Chicago Cubs at the August 31 postseason roster deadline. Dunston made an […]

No one knew it was the Athletics’ last home opener in Philadelphia, though if you looked closely you could see the writing on the peeling walls of recently rechristened Connie Mack Stadium. But Opening Day 1954 felt less like the end of an era and more like the beginning of one. The uniforms were new, […]

Ted Williams bounded down the first-base line at Briggs Stadium like the kid he was. He clapped his hands twice as he neared the bag then bounded over it with a joyful skip as he made his way around the bases. Williams’s three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth had just […]

Nothing in the early spring of 1951 gave any clue that this would be the New York Giants’ season of miracles. The year when the Giants overtook the Dodgers in baseball’s most dramatic pennant race saw the New Yorkers drop 12 of their first 14 games, and by the end of April they were in […]

Willie Mays had three hits, Ray Dandridge had four, and Hoyt Wilhelm threw seven shutout innings as the Minneapolis Millers defeated the Columbus Red Birds, 11-0, in the Millers’ home opener of the 1951 American Association season. Dubbed the “Black Mush Bowl,” the game was played in rain-soaked conditions in front of 6,477 fans.1 Included […]

After three consecutive seasons of finishing in second place in the National League, the 1921 New York Giants captured the pennant.1 The Giants began the season by splitting their first 12 games and then won 19 of 26 from April 30 to May 28. Further, they were victorious in 16 of 20 games played at […]

Of the Cincinnati Reds’ 18 extra-inning games in 1969, none was more dramatic than the extraordinary comeback win they accomplished on July 19. The Houston Astros appeared to have the game in hand with a 9-0 lead after their at-bat in the top of the sixth inning. But the Reds bounced back and tied the […]

It was a “Veeck” of a ballgame for the St. Louis Browns and their 1,115 managers in the stands at Sportsman’s Park on August 24, 1951, in yet another amazing stunt pulled by the Browns’ legendary owner Bill Veeck Jr. Since winning the American League pennant in 1944 and finishing third in 1945, the only […]

The Houston Astros (originally the Colt .45s) had begun play in 1962, and the Astrodome had opened in 1965, but the team had endured a long wait for its first postseason appearance. In 1980 the Astros survived a one-game playoff with the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the NL West division with a 93-70 record. […]

His first time up on August 20, 1960, in the final season of his 19-year career with the Boston Red Sox, Ted Williams drew a walk. It was career base on balls number 2,000.1 Only one player had ever walked more – Babe Ruth, who’d earned 2,062 walks.2 Ted got walk number 2,000 in his […]

Frank Robinson’s solo home run in the first inning was all the offense Baltimore needed, but the Orioles scored a total of 17 runs on as many hits in the first five frames to secure a blowout victory over the Chicago White Sox on July 27, 1969. According to the Baltimore Sun, “The merry-go-round was […]

Dick Kelley was a major-league pitcher for the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves from 1964 to 1968, and the San Diego Padres in 1969 and 1971. A nearly 6-foot-tall left-hander, Kelley pitched 520 innings in the major leagues, finishing with a record of 18-30 and an ERA of 3.39 that was just above league average. He […]

The leadoff men of the 1960s were known mainly for slapping singles and stealing bases. Into this game stepped Don Buford, a versatile switch-hitter with speed and a little power, and also the ability to draw walks and get on base. He had some success for a few years with the White Sox, but it […]

Nick Young’s baseball career illustrated important aspects of the game’s early development. He was a cricketer who took up baseball during Civil War service; afterward he joined a club of amateurs that grew increasingly competitive and came to include paid players. This evolved into helping organize the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, which […]

It’s perhaps difficult to blame Jim Steiner for “jumping” to the Mexican League for the 1946 season. Once there, unlike several other American ballplayers who made the move, Steiner stayed for a few seasons. Steiner began his pro career as a teenager and put in 11 seasons in minor-league ball (four times batting over .300) […]

A speedy line-drive-lashing lefty with a strong arm, veteran Wally Moses joined the Red Sox midway through the 1946 season, shored up right field during Boston’s run to the American League pennant, and batted .417 in four World Series games. A well-liked and respected Georgian who spent 41 seasons in the majors, 17 as a […]

Entering the twilight of a 12-year major league career, Nelson Potter joined the Boston Braves in midseason of 1948 and became the top relief man and spot starter for the NL champs with an impressive 5-2 record and a 2.33 ERA. This was his second stint with a pennant-winning team; as a nearly full-time starter, […]

Mel Allen was The Voice: “his boom box of a voice” – Curt Smith “that wonderful, unmistakable voice” – Dick Young “the venerable Voice of Summer” – Sports Illustrated He was the voice of the Yankees from 1939 through 1964 and became the most prominent sports broadcaster in America. His credits include twenty World Series, […]

Gerald “Gee” Walker was one of the most popular players in Detroit Tigers history, even though he often drove his managers crazy with his risk-averse approach to baserunning. Walker also played for the Chicago White Sox, Washington Senators, Cleveland Indians, and Cincinnati Reds in a major-league career that went from 1931 to 1945. Walker was […]

Tom Baird was present at the beginning of the Negro National League in 1920 and stayed nearly to the conclusion of the Negro Leagues themselves in 1956. His long tenure was spent solely with the Kansas City Monarchs, the dominant and longest-running franchise in the history of the Negro Leagues. He was the longest-serving club […]

Arthur Daley of the New York Times once wrote that Mike Ryba had been “too good for his own good.”1 One way or another, Mike Ryba seemed to be associated with saints for a great part of his life. He went to St. Adrian’s in DeLancey, Pennsylvania, a coal-mining town of about 2,000 people, for […]

They called him “Dirty Jack,” but John Joseph “Jack” Doyle never quite understood why. The name was given to him in recognition of his aggressive style of play and of his insistence that the base paths belonged to the runner. “I was a hard base runner,” he later recalled. “You had to be in those […]

He arrived on the big-league scene like a bolt of lightning through the evening sky. Fred Lynn played in his first game on September 5, 1974, and proceeded to smash major-league pitching to the tune of a .419 batting average and a .698 slugging percentage over his first 15 games. He followed that up with […]

Stan Pawloski spent his entire career in the minor leagues save for two games with the Cleveland Indians in 1955. His journey to the majors wound through half-a-dozen minor-league towns. Along the way, he earned the distinction of being called a “can’t-miss” prospect and voted to three All-Star teams. That made him among the last […]