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As future Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson approached Ty Cobb’s career runs-scored record of 2,244,1 he said that when the moment arrived, he “promised he would slide into home plate to officially mark his reign as baseball’s career runs leader.”2 In the 159th game of the 2001 season, before a home crowd of 21,606, Henderson, […]

On June 13, 2019, Los Angeles Angels two-way player Shohei Ohtani became the first Japanese-born US major leaguer to hit for the cycle. Ohtani’s cycle was the 326th in baseball history and the eighth for the Angels. The Angels entered the first of a four-game series on the road against the Tampa Bay Rays. Despite […]

In 1923, the National League Braves and the American League Red Sox, besides sharing the city of Boston, had a couple of other notable things in common. One was that they both had truly awful seasons. With a record of 61-91, the Red Sox finished at the bottom of the junior circuit, 37 games behind […]

Opening Day, at least as far as the Washington Senators were concerned, was Walter Johnson’s private domain. Johnson made his first Opening Day start for the Senators in 1910, shutting out the Philadelphia Athletics, 3-0. In the next 15 years, Johnson missed only three Opening Day nods, and won five straight openers between 1913 and […]

“Before Sandy Koufax became Sandy Koufax, before Clayton Kershaw was invented, there was Karl Spooner.” — George Vecsey1   It was the last week of the 1954 regular season, a disappointing one for the Brooklyn Dodgers. The archrival New York Giants were in town, grabbing the opportunity to clinch the National League title in the […]

The final day of the 1895 National League season, September 30, saw four games played in the 12-team league. The Baltimore Orioles, who had already locked up their second of three straight pennants, defeated the New York Giants, 8-3. The Philadelphia Phillies edged the Brooklyn Bridegrooms in a slugfest, 10-9. And the sixth-place Boston Beaneaters […]

When has a criminal paid his or her debt to society? When has an apparent psychiatric disorder been cured, or at least managed? When does an offender who violated social mores deserve a second chance? These are some of society’s weightier, knottier questions, and in an ideal world, people come to baseball parks to escape […]

Baseball’s All-Star Game was played at Griffith Stadium in 1937 and 1956, and now it was time for another generation of local baseball fans to gather at the new District of Columbia Stadium to watch the feats of the greats. History told us later that the 1962 All-Star Game featured 18 future Hall of Famers.1 […]

Anticipation of the 1931 World Series steadily peaked all summer in the St. Louis area as the Cardinals clinched their fourth National League pennant in mid-September. The Redbirds eventually finished 13 games better than the runner-up New York Giants, but their previous league flags, in 1926, 1928, and 1930, were all secured by meager two-game […]

In the world of digital photography, a pixel is the smallest element of a picture represented on the screen. A high-resolution 8-by-10-inch photograph comprised of 7.2 million pixels (2,400 by 3,000 pixels).1 Up close, a single pixel — or even one square inch of pixels — of the most captivating image is unrecognizable and unremarkable. […]

On the morning of August 24, 1974, the Boston Red Sox boasted a season-high seven-game lead in the American League East Division over the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles. They possessed the best record in the AL to that point. By September 4, this lead had dissipated, the Orioles – division winners in four […]

The Chicago White Sox celebrate on the pitcher’s mound at Minute Maid Park in Houston after winning Game Four of the 2005 World Series. (Courtesy of Ken Smoller)   People kept talking about the history. Eighty-eight years since the White Sox last won the World Series in 1917. Eighty-six since the Black Sox Scandal “cursed” […]

It was still early in the 1919 season, one in which the Chicago White Sox won the American League pennant. The Boston Red Sox – World Series champions from the year before – were headed for sixth place, percentage points behind the fifth-place St. Louis Browns, 20½ games back. Indeed, a “Sox” team had won […]

The last time the White Sox won a playoff series was also the last year they won the World Series, 88 years earlier, in 1917. They would need to overcome Boston in the Red Sox’ home ballpark in an American League Division Series to do so in 2005. Boston had broken its 86-year World Series […]

Stan Musial’s wrist ached from injuries. The St. Louis Cardinals’ star outfielder did not want to waste even one swing on September 22, 1948, against the Boston Braves at Braves Field. Indeed, he offered at just five pitches in five at-bats. That was enough. Stan the Man, nearing the end of a glorious season, went […]

With the 1952 season drawing to a disappointing close and the St. Louis Cardinals mired in third place, the team’s front office, looking for a way to draw fans to an otherwise meaningless game, decided to have its star Stan Musial hark back to the earliest days of his career.1 That meant having the one-time […]

After a pause in the action that lasted 86 years, the Boston Red Sox resumed winning a number of World Series titles. They had won five world championships from 1903 through 1918, then had not won again until 2004. Since 2004, they have added (as of 2020) titles in 2007, 2013, and 2018. It was […]

“It was just another one of his usual days. I got over being amazed at him 10 years ago.” – Ken Boyer, speaking of Stan Musial, September 27, 19621 “I’ll just have to try to stroke the ball to left field. O’Dell has good breaking stuff.” – Stan Musial, September 27, 19622   A late […]

Through the 2024 season, the Boston Red Sox have shut out the New York Yankees 61 times in Boston, dating to 1904 when the teams were known as the Boston Americans and the New York Highlanders. The scores of the 61 games ranged from 1-0 to 13-0.1 Three were extra-inning games – all 1-0 final […]

“He is another Vance, another Dazzy, I’m telling you. Hasn’t the best disposition in the world. You know some of those Carolina fellows get funny ideas sometimes, but he certainly can buzz that ball over. Best young pitcher I’ve seen since Rube Marquard. Only he is faster than Rube was. Say, maybe he is another […]

Although forgotten today, Frank McQuade was a figure well-known to New Yorkers of the Jazz Age. Among other things, McQuade was a highly visible Manhattan magistrate, an influential Tammany Hall operative, and widely regarded as “the father of Sunday baseball in New York.”1 He was also a peripheral target and/or government witness in various municipal […]

The cover photo on the Sunday magazine insert of the June 29, 1958, edition of the Columbus (Ohio) Citizen was of a young boy wearing a Little League baseball uniform gazing admiringly at an older, bespectacled gentleman who was squatting, a baseball bat in hand. As the accompanying article explained, the man in the photo […]

In May 1951, a brief Associated Press dispatch noted the death of old-time left-handed pitcher Ezra Lincoln. Curiously left unmentioned was anything about the deceased’s playing days. Rather, the dispatch focused on his mid-season release by the 1890 Cleveland Spiders, which opened up the roster spot that the club then allotted to a baseball immortal […]

John Park Henry, nicknamed “Bull,” was a catcher for the Washington Nationals from 1910–1917. The team was often called the Senators prior to, during, and after Henry’s career. Henry was recognized for his excellent fielding, throwing arm, and ability to call a game, eventually becoming Walter Johnson’s preferred catcher. The weakest part of Henry’s game […]