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After he signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Jackie Robinson’s debut with the Montreal Royals in the 1946 season opener against the Jersey City Giants left a lasting impression in so many ways. Robinson’s four hits, four runs batted in, and two stolen bases led the Royals’ 14-1 rout. Joseph Sheehan, covering the game for the […]

Manager Casey Stengel was back at the helm for the fourth consecutive season as the American League took on the National League in the 1953 All-Star Game at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field. Stengel’s Yankees had won their fourth consecutive World Series the prior October, and his star young center fielder, Mickey Mantle, was elected by the […]

It was “my greatest thrill ever,” said carrot-topped Del Crandall after launching a walk-off home run in the 12th inning to give the Milwaukee Braves a dramatic 2-1 victory over their arch-rival Brooklyn Dodgers.1 The 25-year-old backstop had been mired in a terrible slump, hitless in his last 23 at-bats, before his extra-inning heroics made […]

On May 16, 1957, “a day after Sandy Koufax lost his bonus-baby status, meaning he could be farmed out by the Dodgers,”1 he and two Chicago Cubs pitchers, Moe Drabowsky and Turk Lown, combined to tie the record for the most strikeouts in a National League game: 23. The record lasted until the Philadelphia Phillies […]

Photo entitled “Famous Gate City Baseball Club of 1867” appeared in Atlanta Constitution, October 21, 1906, page 26. Left to right: Tom Johnson, Hugh Angier, Jim Gregg, Billy Sparks, Bob Dohme, Willis Biggers, George Cassin, Rube Tidwell and John Collier.   In the spring of 1866, a year after the end of the Civil War, […]

In his 1984 collection of essays on baseball, Why Time Begins on Opening Day, longtime Washington Post columnist Thomas Boswell described the sport’s Opening Day as a “symbol of rebirth”: an opportunity for every team and its fans to start fresh with a 0-0 record, ready to embrace new possibilities and put the previous season […]

On the morning of August 24, 1974, the Boston Red Sox boasted a season-high seven-game lead in the American League East Division over the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles. They possessed the best record in the AL to that point. By September 4, this lead had dissipated, the Orioles – division winners in four […]

Prior to the start of Game Two of the 1918 World Series, Fred Mitchell, manager of the National League pennant-winning Chicago Cubs, recalled George “Lefty” Tyler’s previous World Series appearance. Mitchell earned his current position at the helm of the Cubs from successful work with his pitchers, especially Tyler, during his tenure in Boston. During […]

It was a year in which the Red Sox had never lost more than three games in a row all season long. And now they had won the first game of the 2018 World Series, 8-4. The Dodgers started the same nine in Game Two. Facing them was David Price, who seemed to have overcome […]

The New York Yankees still had hopes for an American League wild-card slot when they hosted the Boston Red Sox in a four-game weekend series at Yankee Stadium in September 2013. As the series began, the first-place Red Sox were 7½ games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays and 10 games ahead of the Yankees […]

Heavy clouds hung over Yankee Stadium before Game Four of the 1978 World Series. The Los Angeles Dodgers led the New York Yankees two games to one in the best-of-seven series. Although Graig Nettles’ defensive heroics from the previous night lightened New Yorkers’ moods,1 the afternoon’s forecast for occasional showers and the tarp covering the […]

In 1926 the St. Louis Cardinals began their 35th season as a member of the National League. The franchise, known as the Browns from 1892 to ’98 and as the Perfectos in 1899, had not finished better than third place in the league standings. Second baseman-manager Rogers Hornsby, who had recorded his second career Triple […]

Today we would call Sherry Magee a five-tool player: he could hit, run, field, throw, and hit with power. For more than a decade he was the Philadelphia Phillies’ clean-up hitter and greatest offensive star, setting the all-time team record in stolen bases (387) and ranking among the top ten in almost every other category. […]

“The D is silent.” — Jamie Foxx as “Django” in “Django Unchained”   Joe Zdeb probably smiled when he first heard that line because he’s been saying it his entire life. Rare is the article in Zdeb’s early career that doesn’t include some reference to his name. Writers, or Zdeb himself, would typically settle on […]

A speedy, talented and versatile infielder, Sandy Alomar Sr. spent half a century in professional baseball as a player, coach, and manager. That time included 11 full seasons plus parts of four others in the majors from 1964 through 1978. Alomar made the American League All-Star team in 1970 and was a member of the […]

When considering the life of Dick Armstrong, most contemporaries think only of his ample accomplishments in the theological world. This is for good reason. Armstrong spent six decades of his life as a noted Presbyterian minister, pastor, educator, author, and humanitarian. Yet he had more than one career, and there is so much more, from […]

Commissioner Ford C. Frick presided over 14 of the most turbulent years in the game’s history: the first franchise moves in half a century, expansion of the major leagues, the near-death of the minors, growing unrest among players, the rise of television, and the exploding popularity of football. With change swirling around him, Frick often […]

He was, by wide acclaim, one of the finest second basemen to play in the segregated era, as well as before the formal creation of a Negro League. Elwood “Bingo” DeMoss played alongside not only John Henry “Pop” Lloyd, but on various teams whose rosters included a figurative “Who’s-Who” of Black baseball in the first […]

Until age and arm miseries precipitated his release in May 1919, right-hander Joe Benz was a valuable member of the Chicago White Sox pitching corps. During the preceding eight seasons, Benz had alternated between the starting rotation, spot-starter duty, and long relief, never posting an ERA higher than 2.90. Usually overshadowed by mound mates like […]

Best known as the player who Cleveland would not trade for the young Ty Cobb or as the man who won the American League batting title with the lowest average prior to 1968, Elmer Flick was more than just an answer to a trivia question. An underrated Hall of Famer whose on-the-field accomplishments are nearly […]

In the spring of 1973 Dick Ruthven achieved a rare baseball feat. He became just the fifth pitcher since the abolition of the final bonus rule in 1962 to leap straight from college baseball into the major leagues. Stardom was predicted. He drew comparisons to Tom Seaver. Ruthven became an All-Star and earned a World […]

Harvey Shank was a tall right-handed pitcher who appeared in a single game with the California Angels in May 1970, throwing three scoreless innings against a talented Oakland A’s lineup. After one more pro season, he walked away from baseball at age 25 to join the front office of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and never […]

As the unofficial but recognized spiritual adviser to the ever-mercurial Manny Ramírez, Ino Guerrero had a distinctive role on the 2004 World Series champion Red Sox.1 Given the nature of the team’s offensive prowess, his official role as batting-practice pitcher would seem to be enough for most people, and yet his role as the attendant […]

In 1976, Dennis Martínez became the first Nicaraguan to play in the big leagues – and he remains by far the most successful. Indeed, his 245 major-league wins stood for more than 20 years as the most by any Latino pitcher, two ahead of Juan Marichal. (Bartolo Colón finally broke that record in August 2018.) […]