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Chasing their fifth consecutive American League pennant and 14th in 16 years, the New York Yankees had experienced a more difficult season than expected as they hosted the Kansas City Athletics on September 19, 1964. Beginning play that day, the Yankees were embroiled in a tight three-way battle for first place. New York was in […]

As July 1973 drew to a close, the Milwaukee Brewers were struggling to stay alive in the American League East. An incredibly hot stretch that began on June 1 (in which they went 15-1, mostly on the road) had propelled them into first place for about a week in the middle of June. But their […]

In 1956 the Dodgers won their fourth pennant in five seasons and faced yet again their archenemies, the New York Yankees. In nine World Series at Ebbets Field, the Dodgers went 14-14. (Photo: SABR-Rucker Archive)   For the sixth time in 10 years, October baseball was the exclusive preserve of the same two boroughs of […]

While playing for the Oakland A’s in 1976, Reggie Jackson once commented that if he played in New York, they would name a candy bar after him.1 Jackson must have been prescient because that is exactly what happened, and that confectionery treat would make a big contribution to the dramatic lore of Yankee Stadium. A […]

When healthy, Eric Davis possessed a rare combination of power and speed, but he could never stay completely healthy in his career. Injuries and inconsistent performance limited Davis to 113 games in his first two seasons with the Cincinnati Reds. But in the next five seasons, 1986 to 1990, Davis hammered 148 homers and swiped […]

“The baseball writers, on the eve of going South to watch the athletes in action, are beginning to write pieces for their assorted papers regarding the coming campaign and, strange as it may appear to the followers of the fighting Griffs, few are picking the World champions to repeat,” Washington Times sportswriter Louis Dougher told […]

Would “The Kid” still have it? Opening Day of the 1946 season saw Ted Williams come back after three years in military service during the Second World War. He’d set a rookie record in 1939 that still stood in 2020, with 145 RBIs. In 1941, he hit .406 — the last batter in major-league baseball […]

“On August 8 I won a tough game in Milwaukee,” Sandy Koufax recounted of his second victory over the Braves in 1964. “Tougher than I thought.”1 Indeed, the star Los Angeles Dodgers lefty had to struggle through a complete game after jamming his throwing arm while diving back to second base and avoiding a fifth-inning […]

One way to make a good impression with a new team is to homer in your first game. In 1965 outfielder Lenny Green, a nine-year veteran, joined the Boston Red Sox, his fourth American League club. Green had reached the big leagues in 1957 with the Baltimore Orioles, who traded him to the Washington Senators […]

“I’m just relieved to have this over with,” said 43-year-old Nolan Ryan after tossing 146 pitches (including 103 strikes) over 7⅔ innings against the Milwaukee Brewers at County Stadium to win his 300th big-league game. “The last 15 days have been the toughest emotionally that I’ve ever gone through.”1 Since holding the Detroit Tigers to […]

“Night baseball will never happen in Washington,” said Clark Griffith, the president of the Washington Senators and owner of the team’s ballpark. In 1930, Des Moines, Iowa, had hosted the first professional night baseball game. This failed to impress Griffith, who said, “You can make it as strong as you want that I’m opposed to […]

The 1991 Atlanta Braves (94-68) were the surprise of the National League, putting to rest a dreadful six-year stretch of losing at least 89 games each season. Fighting their way back from a 9½-game deficit to the Los Angeles Dodgers at the All-Star break, the Braves clinched the West Division crown on the next-to-last day of […]

The streets of Baltimore were jam-packed with an estimated 350,000 baseball fans who warmly welcomed (at least in name) their Orioles home. “A wonderful, wonderful parade!” exclaimed one fan, Blanche McGraw.1 She was the widow of John McGraw, the longtime New York Giants manager whom old-timers would tell you was first a star on the […]

Johnny Vander Meer was enjoying a summer to remember. A spot starter for the last-place Reds in 1937, Vander Meer played a significant role as Cincinnati emerged into a first-division club in 1938. Achieving fame from pitching consecutive no-hitters in June, the 23-year-old Vander Meer sported a 10-3 record and 2.28 ERA as Crosley Field […]

A packed Riverfront Stadium celebrated future Hall of Fame catcher and lifetime Cincinnati Red Johnny Bench’s career achievements. The 17-year veteran had announced his retirement earlier in the season,1 and now the Reds’ faithful enjoyed the opportunity to acknowledge his many contributions to baseball and the Queen City. The two-time MVP and 1970s Big Red […]

Statistics can tell you a lot about a baseball player. In the case of George Kelly, they don’t say nearly enough. The first baseman for the New York Giants when they dominated the National League in the early 1920s, he was a clutch hitter par excellence and an astonishing defensive player. A quick-wristed slasher who […]

In Detroit’s Briggs Stadium on April 17, 1951, Opening Day, 43,470 fans braved 39-degree weather to watch the Detroit Tigers host the Cleveland Indians. For the Tigers, veteran third baseman George Kell was out with an injury. Indians first baseman Luke Easter, also was injured but started and played five innings (two singles) before being […]

Left-handed pitcher Spike Merena had a rather brief baseball career – four games in the big leagues and 77 games in all. His major-league career began with the Boston Red Sox on September 16, 1934, and ended exactly two weeks later, on the last day of the month. John Joseph Merena had grown up in […]

Of all the many achievements that fill the Hall of Fame dossier of Walter Emmons Alston, perhaps the most impressive was the first, one that came with the final out of the seventh game of the 1955 World Series. That Brooklyn Dodger win in the final game of the season gave the city, and the […]

Rick Wise won 188 major-league ballgames, was a two-time All-Star, threw a no-hitter (and barely missed three others), and was the winning pitcher in what many still say was the greatest baseball game ever played, Game Six of the 1975 World Series. He had a lot of support from his family growing up. Wise’s father, […]

The plight of the World War II-era (replacement) player included questioning stares and unflattering comments from fans wondering why seemingly healthy specimens were wearing flannel instead of khaki. The jaundiced looks were especially tough on a strapping 6-foot-3, 193-pound first baseman from Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, named Ed Butka. Despite numerous trips to his local induction center, […]

“It’s a shame … he would have been a helluva player if he hadn’t gotten hurt. Ron Jones was a hitting machine.” — Lee Thomas, general manager, Philadelphia Phillies (1988-1997) 1   Ron Jones was a stocky outfielder from Seguin, Texas. Shortly after he reached the majors, in September 1988, the Philadelphia Daily News wrote, “Jones, […]

What came to be known as the Yankees Dynasty began under the twenty-four-year stewardship of Jacob Ruppert. Known as “Colonel” because of his prior service in the National Guard, Ruppert owned and operated a profitable brewery, served four terms in the United States Congress, and in 1915 purchased half of the New York Yankees. His […]

“People don’t know how good the Pacific Coast League is,” a onetime miner named H.V. “Hardrock Bill” Lane said in 1935. “There’s Oakland, or San Francisco.”1 A year later he moved the then-Double-A Hollywood Stars to San Diego, renamed them Padres for a nearby mission, opened single-tier 9,100-seat Lane Field, and began to fill a […]