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Willie Mays stole four bases in a game twice in his career. (National Baseball Hall of Fame Library) Always capable of doing the spectacular, Willie Mays stole four bases and hit a home run against the Cincinnati Redlegs on May 18, 1957. The New York Giants won, 6-3, before a ladies day crowd of 8,538 […]
On July 18, 1923, the Philadelphia Phillies rallied in the bottom of the ninth inning to win a see-saw battle with the Chicago Cubs at the Baker Bowl. The win pulled the Phillies out of last place, but had little impact on the fortunes of either team that season. Philadelphia sank back into the National […]
Rickey Henderson and Dave Stewart grew up in Oakland, playing youth baseball together.1 Whether it was at Bushrod Field in North Oakland or on diamonds in East Oakland,2 they played regularly with buddies who also made it to the majors, such as Gary Pettis and Lloyd Moseby. The Oakland area has a proud tradition of […]
Father Time remains undefeated, but for one day in June 1966 at Houston’s Astrodome, 35-year-old Ernie Banks of the Chicago Cubs turned back the clock to a decade earlier, when he was in the top 10 in triples in the National League.1 The Houston Astros (30-25) had won the opening game of the three-game series […]
It was nailbiting time in Cincinnati when the Reds met the Pittsburgh Pirates for the second game of a three-game set at Crosley Field. The Reds unexpectedly found themselves in one of the most contested pennant races in history and appeared headed to an unprecedented three-way with the St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies. Just […]
“The base ball fever was never more contagious than it is at the present time.” — Philadelphia Times, August 27, 1887 Among the Philadelphians who attended Phillies1 games in 1887 were magistrates, hotel proprietors, and city councilmen. Stockbroker Benjamin Johnson never missed a game; he “waves his hat and shouts himself hoarse” at the […]
The uniform seemed strange. Gone were the Yankee pinstripes and the interlocking “NY” on the left breast. The jersey that Babe Ruth buttoned over his considerable paunch was that of the Boston Braves, his new team. “Trimmed with red piping, (it) looked comical and cheap after the sober Yankee garb he had worn for so […]
On June 3, 1956, Richie Ashburn rapped two doubles and three singles in the second game of a Sunday doubleheader to lead the Philadelphia Phillies past the St. Louis Cardinals, 9-3. It was the only game in Ashburn’s 15-year Hall of Fame, career in which he collected five hits. It may be surprising that Ashburn, […]
When Tampa Bay takes on Toronto, it’s the Rays against the Jays.1 When Baltimore travels to Houston, or vice versa, it’s O’s vs. ’Stros. You have to be a pretty serious baseball fan, though, to remember a third rhyming matchup: Mets vs. Cadets. The US Military Academy in West Point, New York, is roughly 60 […]
The American dream of being a well-known baseball player was firmly established years before Babe Ruth’s major-league debut in 1914. For instance, in 1910 a New York Times article on recreation centers and urban parks asked, rhetorically, “What youngster nowadays dreams of being President of the country when it is just as easy to conjure […]
Three days before World War II ended, Philadelphia Phillies scout Fred Mathews convinced the mother of Stephen George Ridzik that she should let her 16-year-old son become a professional baseball player.1 Julia Ridzik agreed to sign the contract, provided that Steve finish his last two years of high school. Thus began a 22-year pitching career […]
In the eyes of Pittsburgh Pirates fans, Don Robinson showed up right on time for a city and a team looking for homegrown talent to fill out the Pirates pitching staff and add a piece to a team capable of winning a pennant in the late 1970s. Had the Philadelphia Phillies selected Robinson in the […]
Controversy and contrast defined Scott Perry’s brief major-league career. In 1918, his first full season, the Boston Braves and Philadelphia Athletics battled for his services, exposing the increasing inability of Organized Baseball to govern itself in the pre-commissioner era. Philadelphia retained Perry, and he produced a memorable rookie effort, becoming one of only seven pitchers […]
Injury has curtailed the career of major league pitchers since the beginning of the professional game. In the days before rotator cuff and Tommy John surgery, pitchers had to hope for recovery or look for another line of work. Theodore A. Kennedy was one of those pitchers, but he was much more than a couple […]
Colombia has been sending more men than ever to the majors in the 21st century. But when shortstop Jackie Gutierrez made his debut with the Boston Red Sox in 1983, he was just the second man who learned the game in that nation to make it to the top level. Way back in 1902, Colombian-born […]
Bobby Mathews, nearly forgotten today, was one of the top pitchers of the early professional era despite his small stature (5-feet-5½-inches tall, weight about 140 pounds). Between 1871 and 1887, he won nearly 300 games, 297 to be exact – more than any other pitcher not inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. His […]
Aquino Abreu was a diminutive righty who pitched for a decade and a half during the formative years of the modern-era post-revolution Cuban League. That Abreu’s triumphs fell entirely outside the realm of professional Organized Baseball may be a prime reason he remains virtually unknown to North American and Asian baseball fanatics. Few know anything […]
Controversial, flamboyant, excitable, volatile, hot-headed, crazy, wild, and emotional are among the many adjectives used to describe Julián Tavárez during his 17-year major-league career spent with 11 teams. Over the course of his career, Tavárez developed a reputation as an unpredictable pitcher who was not afraid to pitch inside. The 6-foot-2, 165-pound right-handed hurler hit […]
From 1901 through 1928, a future member of the Baseball Hall of Fame won the American League batting title in every season but one. The exception was in 1906, when outfielder George Stone of the St. Louis Browns hit .358 and beat out four-time batting champion Napoleon Lajoie for the AL batting crown. Stone’s great […]
The son of an All-Star, a two-time All-American at Harvard University, and a first-round draft pick, Mike Stenhouse seemed destined to thrive in the majors. But in a five-year career with three teams that never saw him play in more than half the schedule, Stenhouse never hit. While he did not make the postseason roster […]
The Chicago Cubs have a long history of famous games. There was “Merkle’s boner,” which helped the Cubs eventually win the 1908 NL pennant. There was also Babe Ruth’s called shot, which helped the Cubs eventually lose the 1932 World Series. “The Homer in the Gloamin’” is one of the most famous home runs in […]
“Don’t ever get comfortable, because the game has a way of humbling you.” – Terry Adams1 A relief pitcher most of his career, Terry Adams won his first and only World Series with the Boston Red Sox in 2004. Standing 6-feet-3-inches tall and weighing 225 pounds, the fiery right-hander was an imposing presence on the […]
Ralph Houk was the first manager to have two World Series championships in his first two seasons, piloting the 1961 and 1962 New York Yankees to triumphs over the Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants. His Yankees won a third consecutive pennant in 1963, but lost the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers. A […]
Sportsman’s Park was home of the St. Louis Browns from 1902 to 1953. (National Baseball Hall of Fame Library.) Introduction Achieving on-field success has often proved elusive to owners of the Baltimore Orioles and its predecessor teams, the St. Louis Browns and Milwaukee Brewers. The franchise, dating back to the inception of the American […]