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It was a groundbreaking event in White major-league baseball’s southernmost city when the Negro National League St. Louis Giants engaged the St. Louis Cardinals in the first game of a barnstorming exhibition series at Sportsman’s Park on October 3, 1921. The monumental series occurred just four years after Phil Ball, owner of the ballpark and […]

In April 1969, with its Opening Day imminent, the Triple-A American Association received permission to implement a dramatic rules change — the “designated pinch-hitter.” This newly created “tenth man” batted and ran the bases in place of the pitcher but stayed on the bench while his team was in the field.1 The American Association was […]

The 1972 pop hit “It Never Rains in Southern California”1 came into question as quickly as four years later, at least at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Rainouts on September 10 and 11, 1976, forced the visiting Atlanta Braves and homestanding Dodgers into consecutive doubleheaders on September 12 and 13 to complete the Braves’ West […]

The first series of the 1916 season between the Washington Senators and the Boston Red Sox began on April 17. The Red Sox were the defending champions, coming off a four-games-to-one mastery of the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1915 World Series. The Senators, perennial residents of the second division from 1903 through 1911, had begun […]

Described as a “dazzling performance,” by sportswriter Joseph Durso, St. Louis Cardinals rookie John Stuper overcame two rain delays to toss a complete-game four-hitter, beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 13-1, and force Game Seven of the World Series.1 “For him to pitch nine innings was one of the most impressive performances I’ve ever see under the […]

On the dusty shelf of forgotten US Bicentennial knickknacks, behind the commemorative plates and drinking glasses and red, white, and blue iron-on decals, you’ll find a Williamsport Tomahawks cap and T-shirt. The 1976 Tomahawks — known to sportswriters as the “Tommies” or “Toms” — were a single-season entry in the Double-A Eastern League, affiliated with […]

Babe Ruth put on a home-run show in his hometown on April 18, 1919. The Boston Red Sox pitcher-outfielder swatted four round-trippers in four at-bats during a chilly, one-sided exhibition game against the Baltimore Orioles. The Babe had begun to make his grand transition from top-flight left-handed pitcher to full-time outfielder and slugger. In 1918 […]

On Sunday, October 9, 1921, the sporting world was obsessed with one question: Would Babe Ruth play in Game Four of the World Series? Three days earlier, the Yankees slugger seriously injured his left forearm, gashing it below the elbow while sliding into third base in the eighth inning of his team’s second consecutive 3-0 […]

Baseball fever found its way to Comiskey Park on October 7, 1983, for the first time since the final game of the 1959 World Series. The White Sox hosted the Baltimore Orioles in Game Three of the American League Championship Series. Both teams ranked in the top three in their league in runs scored, home […]

“The game will go down in the history of the San Diego Padres as perhaps one of the most dramatic ever played. Gaylord Perry, in the final game of the 1978 season against the Los Angeles Dodgers, accomplished a feat that only two other pitchers in the history of baseball before him were able to […]

As the spring of 1974 turned to summer, the San Francisco Giants were slumping. They were 33-36 and in fifth place in the six-team National League West Division, already 12 games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers. By Friday, June 21, as they arrived in Los Angeles to open a three-game series with the Dodgers, […]

It was the “most astonishing piece of pitching,” gushed sportswriter John Drebinger about New York Giant Cliff Melton’s 13-strikeout performance in his major-league debut.1 The New York Daily News commented that Melton’s “fireball had plenty of zip, but the Giants bats had no zing,” as they lost a heartbreaker in the final frame.2 The reigning […]

Wait ’til Next Year? The cry became a euphemism for a baseball season gone awry and nowhere did it receive greater play than in the 1940s and 1950s with the Brooklyn Dodgers and their long-suffering fans.1 The 1955 World Series title meant that next year was finally here. All the suffering was relegated to the […]

The Toronto Blue Jays in early May were hovering near .500, five games behind the American League East-leading New York Yankees. The Blue Jays had been mired in third place the past two seasons, behind the Yankees and Boston Red Sox during another peak period of the historic New York-Boston rivalry, finishing 14 games behind […]

“We play the game the right way” is a phrase commonly bandied about in baseball. But baseball players are judged and rewarded based on their personal performances. What happens when these two sometimes disparate philosophies collide? Such was the case on September 26, 2019, at Globe Life Park, where the Texas Rangers beat the Boston […]

The New York Mets’ playoff hopes hung on by a thread. They led their division by seven games on September 12. Then they lost five games in a row and their lead dropped to just 1½ games. After winning three in a row to widen their lead, they lost five and dropped to second place, […]

Weather forecasts predicted rain but when the sun rose on New York, there were clear skies as the Brooklyn Dodgers prepared to face off against the Yankees for the second time since 1941. The wind “played tricks with the pennants high above the roof” of Yankee Stadium and “sweaters and topcoats formed standard equipment for […]

“There haven’t been many — if any — finer finishing touches put on a no-hit performance,” gushed sportswriter Jack Hernon after the Chicago Cubs’ Toothpick Sam Jones struck out the side with the bases loaded in the ninth inning to author a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates.1 Jones “put a bizarre finish to the greatest […]

Clyde “Hardrock” Shoun didn’t plan on playing in the big leagues in 1944. Since the end of the previous campaign, the 32-year-old Cincinnati Reds southpaw had expected to be drafted any day, and did not report to spring training. The call from Uncle Sam finally came in late March, and Shoun was inducted into the […]

The Detroit Wolverines visited Chicago’s West Side Park to battle the Chicago White Stockings on July 28, 1888, and “the result was a cannonading more terrible than any seen here this season.”1 The 1887 National League champion Wolverines (47-26) were looking to repeat as pennant winners and had assumed the top spot in the standings […]

When the Houston Astros hosted the Los Angeles Dodgers for a midseason series in July 1967, struggle and disappointment were themes applicable to both clubs. For the 28-47 Astros, their 10th-place standing represented an all-too-familiar spot. The Sporting News cited relief pitching that failed to materialize, bad infield defense, and overall poor team play as […]

“You know what they say about Chicago. If you don’t like the weather, wait fifteen minutes.”1 As Warren Corbett noted in his SABR biography of Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner, the longtime New York Mets broadcaster became famous for his “verbal strikeouts.”2 Although this one of the many Ralph Kiner quotes3 was uttered after the […]

“By gory,” blurted Jack Manning to former teammate George Wright at Braves Field. “They say these fellows are faster than we were, George, but they make as many mistakes. See that, now, he’s pitching outside to him, when it’s a cinch he could not hit a ball in close.”1 A trip to Braves Field in […]

Like his father before him, John Michaelson may have been destined for a life working in the copper mines had it not been for his ability to throw a baseball. After the right-handed pitcher was discovered by scouts, he had a spring training invitation from the Detroit Tigers and a two-game trial with the Chicago […]