If you are not happy with the results below please do another search
The 1945 Negro World Series, the final one before the desegregation of professional baseball, featured the veteran-led Homestead Grays vs. the upstart Cleveland Buckeyes. The Grays won both the first and second halves of the Negro National League season, with an overall league record of 40-20-2 (.667). Likewise, the Buckeyes won the first and second […]
A generational talent made his first postseason start in Game Two of the 2009 National League Division Series. A veteran big leaguer, extending his career for a few days, struck the game-winning hit. From beginnings to endings, Game Two between the Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals had all the elements of a great postseason game, […]
The New York Mets defense had about as much to do on September 12, 1984, as the Maytag Repairman. According to their advertisements, Maytag machines require minimal attention, if any. Thus, television commercials portrayed him as bored. And so, the same thing happened when Dwight Gooden handled the Pittsburgh Pirates with 16 strikeouts. The most exercise that […]
“I think I should get a word or two in edgewise about the 1942 Monarchs, who were the best team I ever played with. I do believe we could have given the New York Yankees a run for their money that year.” — Buck O’Neil1 The Negro League World Series was reborn in 1942, […]
In the early morning hours of July 27, 1971, the Philadelphia Phillies slumped away from Veterans Stadium after losing a 15-inning battle to the Houston Astros that took 4 hours 12 minutes to finish. The loss was bad enough to think about on its own, but manager Frank Lucchesi sent one of his players home […]
“Although Father Time has tried to mock the dean of pitchers in either major leagues,” opined a sportswriter poetically about 36-year-old Walter Johnson in 1924, “the old man with the scythe could not have the cunning and strength from that great arm today.”1 The Washington Senators hurler continued his season-long resurgence by holding the St. […]
For baseball, 1995 was a pivotal year. The sport was reeling from a 232-day players strike that saw the cancellation of the 1994 World Series.1 The strike resulted in a shortened 144-game season for 1995 that didn’t start until April 25. Fans expressed their disdain for the lost season and postseason and stayed away from […]
The Philadelphia Phillies surged to 10 games over .500 with their 4-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds at Riverfront Stadium on July 17, 1984. With six wins in seven games, the Phillies were 2½ games behind the National League East-leading New York Mets. Philadelphia, which had won five division titles, two NL pennants, and one […]
The New York Mets clinched their first postseason berth since 1973 with a win over the Chicago Cubs on September 17, 1986. As the players—19 games up on the second-place Philadelphia Phillies with 17 to play—celebrated around Shea Stadium’s mound, jubilant fans poured out of the stands to celebrate with their heroes. During the festivities, […]
The explosive Tigers-Yankees matchup that took place at Tiger Stadium on June 17, 1961, was one of the high points of a season that served as a pivotal one for the Tigers in a number of ways. The team surprised baseball by improving from a 71-83 mark the year before, to battling the iconic yet […]
On October 19, 1981, the Los Angeles Dodgers came from behind to defeat the Montreal Expos in the rubber match of the National League Championship Series. The next day, they found themselves in New York for Game One of the World Series against their longtime “bitter” adversary, the Yankees.1 The well-rested Yankees had swept the […]
The atmosphere was positively electric at Shea Stadium on the night of July 9, 1969, as the Mets prepared to play the Cubs in the biggest game in Mets history. The upstart Mets, in only their eighth season of existence, were in a position that no one thought possible before the season — contending for […]
On a cool 1960 September evening in Bloomington, Minnesota, one of the greatest rivalries in minor-league baseball came to an end. But nobody knew. When the St. Paul Saints visited Metropolitan Stadium to play the Minneapolis Millers on September 8, little did anyone know that it would be the last game ever between the two […]
It looked like the best-of-five National League Championship Series was going to be a short one. The Montreal Expos had outhit Los Angeles in Game One, but they couldn’t get the big hit when they needed it. The frustrating loss was their 10th in a row at Dodger Stadium and the 19th in their last […]
In December of 1945, several weeks after the signing of Jackie Robinson was announced, Branch Rickey tapped Mississippi native Clay Hopper as manager of the Montreal Royals.1 The hiring made a lot of sense. Not only was Hopper, who had managed minor-league teams for Rickey since 1929, a trusted field general, but he was a […]
A record-setting home-run barrage and a thrilling finish at Briggs Stadium left a big impression on even the most time-tested of baseball minds in June of 1950. Detroit Tigers manager Red Rolfe seemed amazed. “Did you ever see a game like last night’s? I never did,” he said.1 Will Harridge, president of the American League, […]
From April 7, 1977 through May 28, 1989, the Toronto Blue Jays played their first 968 home games at Exhibition Stadium.1 In the first 953 contests, only once had the ballpark hosted a player hitting a home run in his first big-league at-bat – Al Woods, on Opening Day 1977. On May 4, 1989, a second […]
From August 2002 through July 2004, Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Éric Gagné was a model of consistency. Summoned from the bullpen to hold Dodgers leads 84 times during that two year stretch, he was successful each time. Gagné became so automatic during the all-time record streak that when he entered games at Dodger Stadium, […]
When would-be saboteurs tried to pull distractions on Bob Gibson, it never seemed to diminish his work. Rather, it merely poked the bear. Before pitching the seventh game of the 1967 World Series in Boston, Gibson was disturbed in his hotel room three times in the middle of the night by “mistaken” wake-up calls. And […]
The Philadelphia Phillies’ World Series victory in 1980 was the culmination of a long rebuilding process. From 1968 to 1974, the Phillies suffered through seven straight losing seasons and had six different managers. While things seemed grim, the Phillies had a plan. They drafted well and stocked their farm system with good players, many of […]
Rance Mulliniks was a slightly built 6-foot, 160-pound left-handed-hitting infielder who played 16 major-league seasons with the California Angels, Kansas City Royals, and Toronto Blue Jays that culminated with a 1992 World Series championship for Toronto. The mustached and later glasses-wearing infielder from Central California developed into an excellent fielding third baseman who was also […]
“It exceeded all proportion, It could not be contained, It bloomed round like a dark sunrise, It glistened in the rain. The little boys with crew cuts Or blond locks oh so fair Would look and cheer with wonder At Oscar Gamble’s hair.” —Roy Peter Clark1 Oscar Gamble made his big-league debut in 1969 […]
A standout on the sandlots of Detroit, Willie Horton became the first black superstar for his hometown Tigers and spent parts of 15 seasons with the team. A tremendously powerful right-handed slugger, Horton was one of the strongest men in the game and launched 325 homers in his career. Extremely popular in Detroit, Horton worked […]
In a 16-year career marked by steady production, Todd Zeile was literally all over the place. He was traded five times, released once, and signed five separate free-agent contracts, toiling for 11 different organizations: Cardinals, Cubs, Phillies, Orioles, Dodgers, Marlins, Rangers, Mets, Rockies, Yankees, Expos, and Mets again. Ironically it was Zeile’s very dependability — […]