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Going into the August 7, 2010, game between the Greenville Drive and the Rome Braves, six teams were locked in a battle to claim the second-half crown in the Southern Division of the South Atlantic League and earn the rights to a postseason playoff spot. Greenville (an affiliate of the Boston Red Sox) was tied […]

The game appeared to be merely the first in a meaningless, end-of-the-season doubleheader between two teams that many weeks earlier had been eliminated from the 1954 pennant race. The sixth-place Washington Senators trailed the league-leading Cleveland Indians by 39 games and the Philadelphia Athletics were even further out of contention: 51½ games back. However, as […]

A crowd of 35,093 showed up at Citi Field on September 25, 2016, for the Mets’ final regular-season home game, against the Philadelphia Phillies. The crowd brought the Mets’ home attendance to 2,789,602, their second highest since their inaugural season at Citi Field in 2009.1 The Mets and the Phillies had scored 50 runs between […]

The 1920 best-of-nine World Series opened on October 5 at Ebbets Field, where temporary bleachers were erected on the outfield. In a tight pitching duel featuring just five hits by both teams, Cleveland’s Stan Coveleski emerged victorious, 3-1, over the Brooklyn Dodgers. (Photo: Library of Congress)   The Cleveland Indians were making their initial appearance […]

To say neither the Dodgers nor the Phillies had much success in the years leading up to 1939 is to say the least. The Dodgers hadn’t won a pennant since 1920 and had finished sixth or worse 12 times in the 18 years since. They had become so comically inept that they were being called […]

Throughout human history, many cultures and religions have worshipped sun deities. The ancient Greeks had Apollo and Helios; the Aztecs had Tonatiuh. In Japan, Amaterasu is the Shintō sun goddess.1 Although it’s unlikely that Art Nehf did anything to anger any of these deities, the late-afternoon sun in Boston on September 4, 1915, still cost […]

By the numbers, Boston Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield’s start against the White Sox on June 10, 1996, looks like one of the worst games of his 19-season career. On a foggy night, Wakefield yielded a career-high 16 hits, along with eight runs, as Chicago steamrolled the struggling Red Sox 8-2 before a crowd of […]

“He did his job. He got 27 outs. … Not to put Joe Cowley down, but it wasn’t impressive.” – Wally Joyner, 0-for-2, 2 BB1   It had been nearly two years since the major leagues had seen a no-hitter.2 Just 11 days shy of the anniversary of Mike Witt tossing the 11th perfect game […]

In spite of the previous night’s 5-3 loss in 10 innings, the Houston Astros were confident of victory as they prepared to face the Philadelphia Phillies on October 12 in the “winner-take-all” Game Five of the 1980 NLCS. In addition to being a battle-tested team that had already survived a one-game playoff with the Los […]

Born as the Seattle Pilots in 1969, they moved to Milwaukee the following season and became the Brewers. In the first 12 years of their existence, the team never reached the postseason. That was about to change. The 1981 Brewers were a team that had been on the rise for the three prior seasons, but […]

William Edward White’s 1879 appearance for Providence made him the first Black player to play in a major league game. He played on Brown University’s 1879 championship baseball team. White is sitting directly behind the man in the suit holding the bat.   An answer commonly given to the question of who was the first […]

Between April 21 and June 19, 1951, the city of Detroit was mired in a transit strike. Downtown businesses suffered. The work stoppage may have been part of the reason only 2,723 fans showed up at Briggs Stadium for the Tigers’ game against the visiting Philadelphia Athletics.1 The A’s came into Detroit to begin a […]

Once again, a “7” figured in an American League Championship Series game in 2007. The Boston Red Sox had won Game One by a seven-run margin, 10-3. In Game Two, the Cleveland Indians won by seven, thanks to seven runs scored in the top of the 11th inning. In Game Four, the decisive inning was […]

With 2½ weeks left in the 1988 season, the Boston Red Sox were in a good position to capture their second American League East crown in three years. Surging out of fourth place by winning 12 in a row and 18 of 19 after Joe Morgan replaced John McNamara as manager at the All-Star break, […]

It was expected to be a glittering night of firsts. The 1968 All-Star Game was to be the first played on artificial turf, the first played indoors, and, if not the first played at night (the wartime games of 1943 and 1944 had been played under the lights), it was to be the first played […]

Relocated, renamed, and piloted by two generations of Black baseball royalty, the Columbus Buckeyes opened the 1921 Negro National League season to fanfare, hosting the Chicago Giants on April 30. But Chicago’s John Taylor struck out 12 Buckeye batters and the Giants capitalized on shaky Columbus defense for a 5-3 win at Neil Park. The […]

In 1897 Mark Twain wrote a quick note to say, “The report of my death was an exaggeration.” Twenty years later pitcher Louis Schettler found out exactly how Twain felt. The August 24, 1917, Dayton Daily News declared that “Outfielder Spencer and Pitcher Schettler were fatally injured” in a train wreck.1The article went on to […]

The 1901 Cleveland Blues were mired in seventh place as July came to a close. Dissatisfied with their pitching staff, club management replaced the older arms – Bill Hart (35), Bill Hoffer (30), and Ed Scott (30) – with Harley McNeal (23), Jack Bracken (20), and Bill Cristall (25). McNeal debuted on August 5 with […]

Hall of Famer Arky Vaughan spent most of his career playing shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates, but was a valuable member of the Brooklyn Dodgers for his last four years in the major leagues. He played a key role as a reserve on the pennant-winning 1947 squad. Vaughan’s presence on the team in any role […]

By the time he was 21 years old, George Rettger had established himself as a skilled pitcher at the semipro level in his native Cleveland, Ohio. He yearned for a professional career and earned his first pro experience with Akron in the Ohio State League in 1889. The league was formed in August and featured […]

One of the most influential figures in the history of the sport, Charles Comiskey had a 55-year odyssey through professional baseball that ran the gamut: captain of one of the greatest teams of the nineteenth century; league-jumper during the 1890 players’ rebellion; one of the chief architects of the American League’s emergence in 1901 as […]

The name John Lickert flickered momentarily at baseball’s top level. On September 19, 1981, the catcher appeared in half an inning for the Boston Red Sox. The game ended before he stepped into the batter’s box, and though he played on in the minors through 1985, he was never seen again in a big-league box […]

On July 30, 1968, Washington Senators shortstop Ron Hansen pulled off one of baseball’s rarest and most difficult feats when he turned an unassisted triple play against the Cleveland Indians. This diamond rarity took place at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland during the bottom of the first inning after leadoff hitter Dave Nelson singled and Russ […]

Signed as a shortstop by the New York Giants in 1949, Foster Castleman appeared in 170 games with them in four seasons (1954-57). Finally in 1958 the Baltimore Orioles platooned the right-handed-hitting Castleman with switch-hitter Willy Miranda at shortstop. Castleman had begun his pro career as a heralded fielder, but three knee surgeries had taken […]