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It was “one of the most spectacular closing chapters in all World Series history,” gushed sportswriter Grantland Rice about Mel Ott’s home run in the top of the 10th inning against the Washington Senators in Game Five of the World Series to give the New York Giants a surprising title.1 It was a stunning turnaround […]

An ancient Chinese curse says, “May you live in interesting times.” In the middle of August 1965, the times in California were interesting indeed. In the north, the Bay Area was with a hotbed of political activity, San Francisco was the epicenter of the national anti-Vietnam War movement, while across the bay Berkeley was a […]

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 the 30-year period from 1957 to 1986, the Baltimore Orioles compiled the best record in the major leagues, collecting three World Series championships, six American League pennants, and eight division titles along the way. And then suddenly, after winning the 1983 World Series, the team went into a rapid decline, winning progressively fewer games […]

When the Shaughnessy playoffs began after the 1958 American Association season, the chances of the Minneapolis Millers were viewed only as fair. The Shaughnessy playoff system was named after International League President Frank Shaughnessy, who promoted the plan in the 1930s. It paired the first-place team with the fourth-place team and the second-place team with […]

For much of the 2005 season, the White Sox cruised in the American League Central Division race. Even with slugger Frank Thomas missing almost all of the season because of an injured left ankle, the team dominated the division with strong pitching, steady hitting, and strong defense. The White Sox had a 15-game lead over […]

Heading into the 2005 season, the Chicago White Sox had been consistent contenders in the American League Central Division since their last divisional title in 2000. Chicago, as was its wont during that period, constructed its 2004 squad to compete one-dimensionally via the long ball – much to the dismay of manager Ozzie Guillén. The […]

In 1794, the legislature of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania codified a portion of English common law governing observance of the Christian Sabbath, or day of rest. The laws, known as “blue laws,”1 criminalized “any worldly employment or business whatsoever on Sunday (works of necessity, charity, or wholesome recreation excepted.)”2 Those laws were still very much […]

Red Grier wouldn’t have had the chance to pitch one of the most famous games in Negro leagues history in 1926 if he hadn’t hurled so poorly the day before. Grier was the choice to start the second game of the Negro World Series for his Atlantic City Bacharach Giants, the Eastern Colored League champions, […]

“This was a hell of a win for us,” said Pirates manager Chuck Tanner after his team rallied in the eighth inning with a pair of solo home runs to beat the Houston Astros 6-5 on July 21 at Three Rivers Stadium.1The win was the Pirates’ sixth in a row and 10th in 11 games, […]

In 1909 Joe Bernard was a bookkeeper for Springfield Marine Bank in Illinois, playing baseball two or three games a week for local amateur teams and a semipro club in Gillespie, Illinois. The 27-year-old, 6-foot-1, 175-pound righthander had never played a game in the minor leagues. His chances of ever pitching in the major leagues […]

Tod Sloan batted left-handed and earned the reputation in the minors of being able to handle lefty pitchers better than righties. He only played 143 major-league games, but his statistics bear out those beliefs. According to Baseball-Reference he batted .257 in games with a left-handed starter and .227 when a righty started.1 He was also […]

If the New York Mets only had confidence in Wayne Garrett as their starting third baseman, the franchise might have never traded Nolan Ryan and Amos Otis. Instead, New York’s National League team spent nearly every offseason during Garrett’s 7½-year Mets tenure searching for someone else to take over the third-base job. Considered a good […]

“Mystique” is a word often linked with Sandy Koufax. He was dubbed “The Left Arm of God” for his pitching feats – especially over the five years from 1962 to 1966. A long litany of statistics attests to his brilliance during this period, but perhaps the most salient points are these. Koufax became the first […]

From manager Don Heffner’s perspective, hurler John Tsitouris drew favorable comparisons to Hall of Famer Red Ruffing because “when you sent him out to the mound, you knew he was going to give you a good job.”1 Splendid likeness for a pitcher with a lifetime 34-38 record. Tsitouris’s tantalizing ability caused teams to continually try […]

Leroy Stanton overcame many obstacles on his path to a major-league baseball career. He grew up poor in an area overlooked by scouts, suffered a serious injury from an early-career beaning, and missed two seasons after being drafted into the Army. After cups of coffee with the New York Mets in 1970 and 1971, Stanton […]

Cal Koonce was a valuable and reliable member of the Mets bullpen under Gil Hodges. A starter early in his career, he became a reliever who won six games and saved seven for the 1969 Mets. His alliterative name and easygoing manner made him a memorable member of the Miracle Mets; his skill as a […]

In his memoir, former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Steve Blass extolled the virtues of the non-verbal communication between a catcher and pitcher. “The reality of a pitcher’s relationship with his catcher is that if he is on a roll, he is almost his own decision maker…But Manny knew me just as much psychologically as the nuts […]

Pitching isn’t just about throwing hard. It’s about contrast and ball movement, and Enrique Romo kept hitters off stride and guessing. He had a broad repertoire, featuring a screwball, which he delivered from various arm angles while constantly changing speeds. “He’s the kind of pitcher you don’t want to face even once in a game,” […]

Hub Pruett was an unassuming lefty with a screwball so good that Babe Ruth once told him, “If all pitchers were like you, no one would have heard of me.”1 But Pruett’s peak was brief. It served merely as the prologue to a lengthy and remarkable career outside the game. Hubert Shelby Pruett was born […]

Jordan Jankowski was a record-setting high-school power hitter in Western Pennsylvania, but a full-time turn to pitching in college opened his path to the pros. Taken by the Houston Astros in the 34th round of the June 2012 draft out of Catawba College, an NCAA Division II school in Salisbury, North Carolina, Jankowski reached the […]

It was a damp night at Shea Stadium in early August 1977. The last-place Mets, toiling through extra innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers, looked done for after the would-be National League champions took a 7-6 lead in the top of the 11th. But they managed to put runners at first and second with one […]

Right-handed pitcher “Wild” Bill Luhrsen spent three weeks in the major leagues, winning each of his first three games, only to lose to Christy Mathewson in his final appearance. Advancing from the low Class D Cotton States League to the majors in two months, the spitballer was a minor bright spot during the tail-end of […]

Left-hander George Brunet pitched professionally in a record 33 consecutive seasons. After his major league career with nine different teams ended in 1971, he pitched in Mexico until he was 54 in 1989.1 He eventually set the minor league record for strikeouts and earned a place in the Mexican League’s hall of fame. Counting winter […]