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By the time mid-September rolled around in the 1920 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates had held down fourth place in the National League standings for six weeks. They were near the end of a 12-game road trip, facing the New York Giants for the third game of a four-game series on Friday, September 17. After a […]

An unlikely hero steps to the plate with the bases loaded on a comfortable fall night at an award-winning ballpark. Moments later, when the batter delivers one of the biggest hits in a team’s history, fans at this game are once again reminded of baseball’s ability to provide lifelong memories. On Saturday, September 14, 2019, […]

“The Cubs are going to the World Series,” gushed the North Siders radio broadcaster, Pat Hughes. “The Cubs win the pennant.”1 The long-suffering lovable losers systematically dismantled the Los Angeles Dodgers and beat the best pitcher on the planet to capture their first NL flag in 71 years. There was an electric mood at Wrigley […]

When Eddie Cicotte‘s first pitch crossed the middle of home plate for a strike, everything appeared normal to the 30,511 fans at Redland Field for Game One of the 1919 World Series. It was a festive day in Cincinnati, and one long overdue. The city was celebrating its first pennant winner since 1882 as well […]

On June 19, 1999, Todd Helton became the third person in the Colorado Rockies’ seven-season history to hit for the cycle.  Helton had just four at-bats, but he had four different hits — a single, double, triple and home run — and he became the first batter to hit for the cycle while leading off an […]

 Boston’s Tris Speaker, described in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch as “the greatest center fielder playing the game today,”1 led the Red Sox in a 9-2 romp over the St. Louis Browns, as he hit for the cycle, collecting a single, double, triple and home run in the same game. The 1912 American League Bostonians were […]

April 19, 1875, was a notable date in American history, being the centennial of the battles at Lexington and Concord which precipitated the Revolutionary War, and lavish celebrations were held to mark the day in those Massachusetts towns. President Ulysses S. Grant attended ceremonies at both sites, Ralph Waldo Emerson spoke, commemorative poems by James […]

“Steps back up onto the mound, tucks the ball in his right hand. Now into the glove. Holds it in front of the letters. Nods yes. The wind; the one-two pitch. Swing, and a groundball to the left side. Castro’s got it. Spins, throws. He got him! A perfect game for Roy Halladay! 27 up […]

When the Houston Astros called their Triple-A affiliate, the Round Rock Express, to send Luke Scott up to the majors on July 13, 2006, they “hoped he would be able to provide a spark for their struggling offense.”1 The Astros were six games below .500 and 10½ games out of first place in the National […]

When the 1960 season ended, Washington Senators fans had good reason to be optimistic about the team for the following season. The Senators narrowly missed out on a fourth-place finish, which would have been their highest since 1946. Losing 11 of their last 12 games of the season scotched hopes for the higher finish. The […]

In what could be billed as one of the wildest games in major-league history, the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs met on a Thursday afternoon in front of 14,952 fans at Wrigley Field. The wind was blowing out at 18 mph.1 A little more than four hours later, the Phillies emerged victorious, securing a 23-22 […]

Hank Sauer’s major-league career didn’t flourish until he was 31 years old in 1948, but then he proceeded to become one of the most prodigious home-run hitters (225) in the National League through 1954, second only to Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner (277). On August 28, 1950, the Chicago Cubs outfielder highlighted his propensity as […]

Henry Aaron and Tommie Aaron crossing bats at Bradenton, Florida on March 1, 1962. (SABR-Rucker Archive)   Henry Aaron was in his ninth season with the Milwaukee Braves in 1962 when his 22-year-old brother, Tommie, broke into the major leagues as his teammate. With Henry having already established himself as one of baseball’s premier sluggers, Tommie […]

Who was Andy Rudolph? Not much more than an especially rabid fan, really. Or so everyone thought until this fixture at early twentieth-century Detroit baseball games suddenly wasn’t there any longer. Then people realized local games would never be quite the same without him. Little is known about Andrew Rudolph’s early life. His obituaries indicated […]

“It is hard to keep me out of the game when I’m in shape to play. I play the game because I love it.” – Mike Roach, March 17, 1910, age 401 From amateur teams in Renovo, Pennsylvania, to the major leagues with the Washington Senators, Mike Roach’s life was a North American baseball odyssey. […]

If not for a spectacular catch by Hank Bauer in the ninth inning of the sixth and final game of the 1951 World Series, Sal Yvars might be remembered quite differently today. Yvars’ only appearance in a Series at first looked like the stuff of legend. He struck a ball deep into the outfield of […]

The Miracle Mets of 1969 rode their powerful young pitching to an improbable World Series championship, and the man who developed and nurtured that staff was an easygoing ex-catcher named Rube Walker. Despite not being a pitcher himself, he had an innate sense of the mental side of pitching and he used this to help […]

A fastball pitcher who spent his 15-year major-league career playing for five teams, Ed Whitson was an All-Star in 1980 and amassed a 126-123 career record in 2,240 innings pitched. The 6-foot-3 right-hander was a starter for the first half of the Pirates’ 1979 championship team, but he might best be remembered for his temper […]

During the mid-1930s, the Detroit Tigers fielded one of the most potent infields in the history of the American League, known to many as the Battalion of Death. A key member of that team was a hawk-nosed, sure-handed, scrappy shortstop named Billy Rogell, who later continued his hardnosed character as a city councilman for Detroit for […]

Announcer Dick Enberg once asked Stewart Cliburn when he knew he was a major leaguer. Cliburn replied that he knew he was a major leaguer when he saw his name and picture on a major-league baseball card for the first time. That first time came eight years after Cliburn had signed his first professional contract. […]

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 […]

“Dwight Evans was the best Red Sox right fielder I ever saw.” — Johnny Pesky A member of the Red Sox Hall of Fame, Dwight Evans was voted Red Sox MVP four times by the Boston Baseball Writers. It might not be a stretch at all to agree with Herb Crehan, who writes, “Dewey might […]

Perhaps the greatest example of the old baseball cliché “good field, no hit,” Raymond Francis Oyler was the regular shortstop for two late-1960s Detroit Tigers teams, including the world champion 1968 squad, as well as the original Seattle Pilots the following season. Ray compiled a sub-”Mendoza line” .175 career batting average—the lowest of any player […]

Mike Mussina pitched consistently well over 18 big-league seasons for the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees, winning a total of 270 games and becoming the first American League pitcher to win 10 or more games in 17 consecutive seasons. With a varied arsenal of pitches including four-seam and two-seam fastballs, a slider, a changeup, […]