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The Patriots Day dual-admission doubleheader at Fenway Park constituted just the second and third games of the 1950 season for the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. The Red Sox had lost a 15-10 slugfest to the visiting Yankees the day before, despite starting the game with a 9-0 lead by the fourth inning […]

With an impressive 67-37 record, Canton, Ohio, won the 1889 pennant in the Tri-State League.1 After this achievement, the team’s best players moved on, forcing Canton to rebuild. One player acquired in the spring of 1890 stood out: Denton True Young, a 23-year-old farmer and semipro pitcher from nearby Gilmore, Ohio. He was tall (6-feet-2) […]

Edgardo Alfonzo did what few achieve in New York – be great while going relatively unnoticed. Alfonzo didn’t receive much attention, nor did he seek it out. On a team with power-hitting catcher Mike Piazza and outspoken manager Bobby Valentine, even Alfonzo’s breakout season of 1999 – which culminated an eight-year climb to his personal […]

As the 2001 season entered October, the Atlanta Braves were in first place in the National League East. The team’s position in the standings was hardly remarkable – its roster was laden with talent, and it had captured nine straight division crowns – but with only a handful of games left in the season, it […]

On Friday, September 23, 1921, the New York Giants and St. Louis Cardinals were supposed to begin a three-game series in St. Louis. Friday’s game, however, was rained out and rescheduled for Monday, September 26, an open date for both teams. The Giants had to cancel an exhibition game that was to be played at […]

The start of the 1915 season was going so poorly for the Buffalo Blues that many thought the team might be jinxed.1 After winning five of 10 games to start the season, the Blues lost 16 of their next 19 games, and were sitting in last place in the Federal League, with a pitiful record […]

After winning their fourth division title in 1995, the Atlanta Braves were on a quest for their first World Series championship, having captured three division titles but losing two World Series in the first half of the decade. Their chances were looking optimistic after they defeated the Colorado Rockies in four games in the Division […]

In 1921, for the first time in the brief history of the modern World Series, all the games were played at one venue, in this case the Polo Grounds in New York.1 The same two teams played in the World Series in 1922, again with all the games at the Polo Grounds. The same two […]

As the 1998 NLCS began, two statements seemed certain. Given the way they dominated the National League, the Atlanta Braves were nearly a consensus choice to capture their fifth pennant of the 1990s. If they did not, and the San Diego Padres did, Kevin Brown would be the main reason why. Contrary to expert opinion, […]

For much of the rain-induced two-day gap between Games Three and Four of the 2017 Washington Nationals-Chicago Cubs Division Series, it appeared that Stephen Strasburg would be too sick to take the mound for the Nats in Game Four. But after enduring some withering criticism during the unscheduled offday, Strasburg told Washington manager Dusty Baker […]

Billy Williams was on fire, the 30-year-old hammering the ball out of the park and providing one of the few reasons to make time to see the Chicago Cubs as the 1968 season wound down. The Cubs entered the game on September 10 in fourth place, decidedly mediocre at 75-71, a half-game behind Cincinnati and […]

On September 4, 1935, Chicago Tribune sportswriter Irving Vaughan wrote an article analyzing the National League pennant race. He specifically reviewed how the Cubs were faring in a three-way race involving themselves, the New York Giants, and the St. Louis Cardinals. He observed that if the front-running Cardinals played just .500 ball the rest of […]

The game, rescheduled from an April 12 rainout, unremarkable. The 72-80 Cincinnati Reds visited Connie Mack Stadium to face the 63-88 Philadelphia Phillies. In the nightcap of a twi-night doubleheader, a paid crowd of 8,533 saw Vada Pinson hit his 20th home run of the season in the fourth inning, a two-run shot off winning […]

Boston’s 1911 National League team was not a good ballclub. The Rustlers (the team didn’t become the Braves until the next season) finished last in the eight-team league, 20½ games behind seventh-place Brooklyn and 54 games behind the first-place New York Giants. Defense was a problem: They made a league-worst 350 errors, which led to […]

The Pittsburgh Pirates bombed the St. Louis Cardinals before a meager gathering of 11,089 spectators at Busch Stadium. Three Pirates batters connected for long home runs and on top of that, Willie Stargell hit for the cycle, en route to a 13-2 Pittsburgh victory. At the 1964 All Star break, the fourth-place Pirates were 40-35, […]

Thirteen teams played in the Middle States League, an integrated minor league, in 1889. The season opened with one Negro team, the Cuban Giants, representing Trenton, New Jersey, and five white teams in Pennsylvania.1 Six more white teams and a Negro team known as the New York Gorhams joined the league in midseason, but nine […]

Johnny Mize, a country boy from Demorest, Georgia, had been given the nickname of Big Cat because of his defensive prowess, but it was Mize’s offense that made him a star early in his career. Mize had a fine pedigree, being a distant cousin of Ty Cobb and a relation to Babe Ruth through marriage. […]

The Los Angeles Dodgers (50-29), in second place a half-game behind the San Francisco Giants, were eager to host the last-place New York Mets at Dodger Stadium. The Mets, in their inaugural season, had won just 20 games and lost 52. The last time the Dodgers’ starting pitcher, Sandy Koufax, faced the Mets was Memorial […]

As the 1980 MLB season was winding down, the Houston Astros paid a visit to Dodger Stadium in hopes of accomplishing the one feat that eluded the franchise since its inception in 1962: clinching a playoff berth. By winning six of their last seven games, the Astros extended their lead in the NL West by […]

The second week of July must have seemed like a blur to LA Dodgers rookie Cody Bellinger. On Monday, July 10, the night before the All-Star Game, he was slugging his way through the Home Run Derby, reaching the semifinals after driving 27 dingers over the fence in the first two rounds. On Tuesday, July […]

In 1940, the Detroit Tigers ended the New York Yankees’ run of four straight American League pennants. The Tigers were led by American League MVP Hank Greenberg, who batted .340 with 41 home runs and 150 RBIs, and pitcher Louis “Bobo” Newsom, who finished the season with a 21-5 record and a 2.83 ERA, finishing […]

The lineups remained unchanged for Game Three of the 1967 World Series. Two right-handers were assigned mound duties. Boston’s hard-throwing Gary Bell (12-8, 3.16) faced curveballer Nelson Briles, who sparked the St. Louis staff after Gibson’s broken leg. Briles (14-5, 2.43 ERA) finished the year winning nine straight decisions after August 1. Though he’d had […]

When New York Mets and Kansas City Royals faced off in Game Two of the 2015 World Series on October 28 both teams may have been a bit tired. The night before, Game One had lasted more than five hours before the Royals won 5-4 in 14 innings. Although no one got much sleep, the […]

Right-handed pitcher Sam Dodge (0-0 in his career) appeared for the Boston Red Sox in 1921 and 1922, but never took part in anything but losing efforts. The Red Sox themselves didn’t do too well in those years, finishing fifth in 1921 (23½ games out of first) and dead last in 1922.  The “crack pitcher” […]