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Bob Anderson was the prototype pitching prospect – big, blond, and with a blazing fastball. He was called a “sure thing” and a “can’t miss” candidate for the majors. Injuries shortened a promising career that produced a 36-46 record over seven seasons (1957-63). Yet Anderson still fulfilled his dream of pitching in the major leagues […]

After stagnating at the bottom of the National League for much of the 1950s, the Pittsburgh Pirates showed some life toward the end of the decade, finishing in second place in 1958 and in fourth place in 1959. They began the 1960 season with an Opening Day loss at Milwaukee. They began the home portion […]

“And in no field of American endeavor is invention more rampant than in baseball, whose whole history is a lie from beginning to end. … The game’s epic feats and revered figures … all of it is bunk, tossed up with a wink and a nudge.” — John Thorn, Baseball in the Garden of Eden […]

There is nothing more exhilarating or more intoxicating in baseball than the seventh game of a best-of-seven championship series. It is an unforgiving arena where history is written of both the heroes who carry the day and their vanquished opponents. Winning pitchers in a game seven instantly become legends not only to their own team’s […]

Harsh sunshine beat down on the Los Angeles Coliseum floor. Two men, drenched in sweat, practiced baseball drills while local temperatures soared past 100 degrees in the spring of 1960. Maury Wills, an eager Dodger infielder, and Pete Reiser, an enthusiastic LA coach, worked together for nearly two weeks. “You can’t quit,” Reiser said over […]

Luis Arroyo was a chunky little Puerto Rican southpaw whose out pitch was the screwball. He spent just four full seasons in the majors, plus parts of four others, from 1955 through 1963. He enjoyed modest success overall as a big-leaguer, but he had one outstanding season. That was 1961, when he helped the New […]

“He’s a quality player who’s getting better all the time. A year ago, he played on talent alone. Now he’s doing it on talent and know-how. His potential is unlimited.”1 — Pittsburgh Pirates manager Jim Leyland   No word better describes Bobby Bonilla’s baseball career than “potential.” He was selected as an All-Star six times. […]

One night at Toots Shor’s restaurant, Edward Bennett Williams was asked what he wanted to do when he grew up — an odd question for a man in his mid-30s who’d already gained a reputation as a distinguished trial lawyer. “I want to own a ball club and be president,” said Williams,1 who as a […]

Rob Picciolo sat in the Milwaukee Brewers dugout in the early summer of 1982, watching Robin Yount and Jim Gantner execute another double play. The smooth coordination of the two fielders told Picciolo what he already knew: Barring an injury, he wouldn’t be needed in the Brewers’ middle infield any time soon. Picciolo (pronounced \PEACH-uh-lo\) […]

Cuban outfielder Carlos Paula parlayed an all-star tour in the United States into a full-time minor-league role in the early 1950s. With his chiseled frame and stylish flair, he became the man who integrated the Washington Senators on September 6, 1954, making the Senators the 12th of the original 16 major-league teams to do so. […]

After his third year in organized baseball, 22-year-old right-handed pitcher Bill Burwell was drafted into the United States Army in 1917 and was assigned to the recently formed 89th Infantry Division, the “Rolling W,” and later deployed to Europe. During one of the last major offensives of the war, the Battle of Saint-Mihiel in northeastern […]

Curt Gowdy was the Cowboy behind the mike. Ned Martin quoted Ted Williams and Eudora Welty. Ken Coleman meant the Jimmy Fund. Bob Starr had a gentle lummox William Bendix kind of charm. In evaluating the Red Sox during the mid-to late 20th century, all helped baseball bewitch. Ken Harrelson was the Red Sox’ Southern-fried […]

During orientation week of Rob Ducey’s Grade 12 summer school English class, the teacher went around the room asking students what profession they wanted to pursue upon graduation. Some replied doctors, while others answered lawyers and dentists. When it was Ducey’s turn to speak, he said, “I want to be a major-league baseball player.” His […]

Joe Gibbon fulfilled his dream when he made the Opening Day roster of the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates, the World Series champion that season. Joe pitched 12 full big-league seasons plus part of a 13th before retiring in 1972. He was talented enough in basketball to be drafted by the NBA champion Boston Celtics in 1957, […]

Tony Oliva stands at the forefront of an exceedingly select group – one that also includes Tany (Atanasio) Pérez, Rafael Palmeiro, and Orestes “Minnie” Miñoso. These are the few unrivaled candidates for recognition as the greatest major-league hitter ever to emigrate to the professional big time from the baseball-rich island nation of Cuba. Palmeiro (with […]

Twenty-five-year-old Jim McAndrew emerged from spring training 1969 to start the second game of the year for a New York Mets team that boasted one of the game’s top young rotations. Yet due to a series of misfortunes, injuries, and bad luck—a continuation from the previous year where the Mets were shut out in his […]

“Jays Turn Victory into Defeat” read the headline in the Ottawa Citizen the morning after the Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 9-7, in a Sunday afternoon game at Toronto’s SkyDome.1 The home-team Blue Jays were three outs away from a 7-2 victory over the visiting Orioles when a terrible finish erased their terrific […]

It was an explosive night in Pittsburgh: St. Louis Cardinals hitters finally broke out of a grueling slump and Bob Gibson avenged a loss in one of his most commanding performances in a dominant season. Pirates rookie Freddie Patek called Gibson “the hardest throwing pitcher I’ve seen,” while All-Star Gene Alley could only shake his […]

Keith Hernandez of the New York Mets had three five-hit games from August 8 to October 3, 1985.1 The third game in this stretch occurred in the finale of a three-game set with the St. Louis Cardinals, whom the Mets were battling for first place in the National League East. After winning the first game […]

By 1986, San Diego Padres manager Steve Boros and first baseman Steve Garvey had built reputations as mild-mannered baseball men throughout their decades in the game. But during a series against the Atlanta Braves at Jack Murphy Stadium in June of that year, both suffered their first major-league ejections in back-to-back games, adding some pizzazz […]

On September 13, 1995, in front of 8,818 fans, the Ottawa Lynx, the Triple-A farm team of the Montreal Expos, hosted the Norfolk Tides, the New York Mets’ affiliate, in Game Four of the Governors’ Cup Finals. Ottawa had reached the finals by defeating the Rochester Red Wings three games to two in the East […]

In the summer of 1996, the Baltimore Orioles were looking to make the trade that could take them into the postseason. A long 13 seasons had elapsed since the Orioles had played past the last day of the regular season, when they won the 1983 World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies under manager Joe Altobelli. […]

It would have been fitting if Rod Serling had gone to a baseball game in Geneva, New York, on August 22, 1961, and found himself trapped in some kind of twist ending – hit in the head by a foul ball, perhaps, to wake up alone in a deserted ballpark. After all, the danger of […]

This article is the third and last in a series about the most famous sign in any baseball stadium and the man behind it. From 1931 until 1957, the Dodgers’ last season in Brooklyn, clothier Abe Stark’s sign, which offered a free suit to a batter who hit in on a fly, adorned the right […]