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“From the depths of 17 consecutive second-division finishes,” the Chicago Cubs overpowered the Pittsburgh Pirates in their season opener at Forbes Field.1 In the extra-inning slugfest, Cubs right-hander Larry Jackson, who earned the win with Chicago’s four-run 10th, was kept afloat by his “brash, under-rated” offense.2 While the Pirates’ bats displayed their own power, the […]

The 1986 season began with low expectations for Red Sox fans as the team was predicted to be mired in mediocrity. Once the season commenced however, even the most pessimistic Red Sox fan started to believe this could be the year…or at least began to take notice of this team. Dwight Evans hit the first […]

“I’m going to give it (the All-Star MVP trophy) to my mom. I think she’s the one who deserves it. When we (he and his brother Sandy Alomar Jr., the 1997 MVP) were young, she used to take us to the ballpark. Without her, we wouldn’t be here.” — Roberto Alomar, who earned MVP honors at the 69th All-Star Game.1 […]

“[He] was tough in the clutch and deserved a shutout,” opined Los Angeles sportswriter Frank Finch about 22-year-old Sandy Koufax’s six-hitter on May 28, 1958, which extended his streak to a then career-best 19 innings without an earned run.1 “[He] could work when the chips were riding,” observed Pittsburgh Pirates beat reporter Jack Hernon about […]

Stan Musial’s first and last appearances in Forbes Field spanned just short of 22 years and 3,002 major-league games. The iconic ballpark in Pittsburgh’s Oakland section had been a fixture in the National League since 1909. Musial was born 11 years later in Donora, Pennsylvania, 20-plus miles down the Monongahela River from Pittsburgh.1 He’d played […]

In the throes of a nine-game losing streak, the Chicago Cubs were in last place in the National League with a 23-37 record when they visited the league-leading Pittsburgh Pirates, who were up 16½ games on Sunday, June 26, 1960. Manager Lou Boudreau’s team faced a daunting task in the first game of a doubleheader […]

The Philadelphia Phillies finished 81-80 in 1962, the franchise’s first winning season in nine years, but by June 23, 1963, they were nine games under .500. The ’63 Phillies’ fortunes turned, however, after a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field, highlighted by right fielder Johnny Callison’s hitting and throwing in a 13-4 […]

Like muddy urchins tromping through Buckingham Palace and into the queen’s drawing room, here were the upstart Pittsburgh Pirates. What business did they have in October, challenging the New York Yankees? Fifteen World Series titles in the previous 30 years had made the Yankees a metaphor for elite performance. For Pittsburgh, those same years had […]

The Chicago Cubs “maintained … their strange mastery,” gushed sportswriter Thomas Rogers of the New York Times, as the North Siders completed a four-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field with a 7-5 win in 10 innings on June 26, 1969.1 The Cubs scored all of their runs by blasting four home runs, […]

Dick Stuart was fun – as long as you didn’t have to be on the field with him. He ran the bases head down and looking anywhere except at the third-base coach or the outfield or a teammate who might be able to tell him something, often sending his team out of the inning. As […]

His big brother in college was Martin Luther King Jr. Somehow, it’s appropriate to begin with that fact when discussing Donn Clendenon. During his college years at Morehouse College, one of the most pivotal players in Mets history was mentored by the greatest and most pivotal African American of the 20th century. The big brother […]

On October 4, 1955, outfielder Edmundo Amorós helped “Next Year” arrive at last for the Brooklyn Dodgers. His racing catch off Yogi Berra near the left-field line at Yankee Stadium saved the Bums’ 2-0 lead in Game Seven of the World Series. Johnny Podres held on for the remaining three innings to bring Brooklyn its […]

Ray Rippelmeyer pitched 39 1/3 innings in 18 games for the 1962 Washington Senators. Over 11 minor-league seasons, the right-hander compiled a .579 winning percentage with a record of 114 wins and 83 losses in 330 games. He also played winter ball in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. After his playing days, Rippelmeyer’s work […]

Don Baylor was a hustling player who ran the bases aggressively and stood fearlessly close to home plate as if he were daring the pitcher to hit him. Quite often they did, as Baylor was plunked by more pitches (267) than any other player in the 20th century, leading the American League eight times in […]

For a brief time in the summer of 1961, Ken Hunt was mentioned in the same sentence with Sandy Koufax as the top two young pitchers in the National League. The 1961 Cincinnati Reds were expected to finish no higher than sixth in the eight-team National League.1 However, on the last day of June, Cincinnati […]

Don Chevrier was there from the beginning, a 9-5 win against the Chicago White Sox that began as a snowy Thursday on April 7, 1977, at Exhibition Stadium. And he was there for the next 20 years, too. He would have stayed even longer but the broadcasting contracts were moved as deftly as Roberto Alomar […]

From 1998 to 2010, Bengie Molina was a two-time consecutive Gold Glove Award catcher. Considered one of the slowest baserunners in his era, nevertheless in 2003 Molina was rated the best defensive catcher in the American League by Baseball America. He is the only player in baseball history to hit a home run but not […]

Once considered a prospect with tremendous promise, Alberto Lois was an outfielder and pinch-runner for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1978 and 1979. Lois had a strong arm and considerable speed, able to run 60 yards in 6.2 seconds by his own account.1 At one point he even drew comparisons to a “young Roberto Clemente.”2 Despite […]

“We drive on to Minneapolis. We are all relaxed at the game, cheering the Twins to an easy win, chanting ‘Bombo! Bombo! Bombo!’ each time the Twins’ right fielder Bombo Rivera is announced. He is a good young player, but not great. It is his name that intoxicates the crowd.”   W.P. Kinsella’s Shoeless Joe […]

You could say that John Candelaria’s story is a tale of heartbreak, or a tale of unfulfilled promise, or a tale of self-destruction, and you might be right every time. On the other hand, how unlucky can a person be if he managed to pitch in the major leagues for 19 seasons? The Candy Man […]

Julio “Monchy” de Arcos (1922-1966) was a Cuban executive and scout. He was associated with the major leagues as early as 1941, when the Brooklyn Dodgers trained in Cuba’s capital, La Habana. Thanks to his friendship with Leo Durocher, then Brooklyn’s manager, he was the Dodgers’ interpreter and batboy. In the mid-1940s, de Arcos became […]

The life of Alexander Bannwart unfolded like that of a junior-grade Baron Munchausen — except that Bannwart’s adventures were real, not make-believe. He first stepped onto the public stage in 1906 when, despite being bereft of professional ballplaying experience, he somehow managed to land a berth with the Lowell (Massachusetts) Tigers of the Class B […]

Julio Cruz made a strong statement about his value during a Seattle Mariners home game against the Cleveland Indians on June 7, 1981. Cruz’s glove and legs sparked Seattle in a 5-4 victory in 11 innings.1 He tied a major-league record for second basemen when he handled 18 chances without an error in nine innings.2 […]

After hitting his dramatic walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning in Game Seven of the 1960 World Series, Bill Mazeroski excitedly circled first and then second base, waving his arms with his cap in his hand. As he reached third base he was greeted by Pirates third-base coach Frank Oceak, who […]