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The Atlanta Braves fortified their bench in 1986 with a spring-training trade for Ted Simmons. As the Braves remained in contention in May and June, Simmons boosted morale among his fellow reserves, dubbed the “Bomb Squad.” He also wielded a still-vital bat in the 19th season of his Hall of Fame career, capping a bench-driven […]

After foundering with fastballs and curveballs for the Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates in the first half of the 1960s, Wilbur Wood transformed himself into a quality knuckleballing reliever for the Chicago White Sox from 1967 to 1970. He then improbably metamorphosed into one of the top pitchers in baseball as an innings-eating workhorse […]

Dodgers center fielder Willie Davis won three Gold Gloves and hit in a franchise-record 31 straight games in 1969. (SABR-Rucker Archive)   Throughout the month of August 1969, the Los Angeles Dodgers were battling for the National League West Division crown. All season the NL West had been a close race between five teams, everybody […]

Cecil Fielder may have appeared to come from nowhere in 1990, but it had been a long road to major-league success. Drafted by the Kansas City Royals in June 1982,1 Fielder was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays before the 1983 season.2 At age 21, Fielder made his major-league debut on July 20, 1985, and […]

It was relatively early in the 1986 season, but when the Boston Red Sox (29-14) faced the Cleveland Indians at Cleveland Stadium on the night of May 27, 1986, they led the American League East Division and held a seven-game lead over the sixth-place Indians – who nonetheless owned a winning record (22-21).1 The Indians […]

The Baltimore Orioles were beginning their 11th season since relocating from St. Louis before the 1954 season. Because the Orioles inherited the Browns players, maturing into a competitive club after so many down years in St. Louis had been a slow process. This was not going to be an overnight success story. Not by any […]

Perhaps the St. Louis Cardinals were taking out their frustration … or sending a message. On Opening Day 1982, the Cardinals blasted the Houston Astros, 14-3, at the Astrodome. It came on the heels of the 1981 split season in which the Cardinals finished second in the National League East in both halves and did […]

During the sophomore season of the Houston Colt .45s in 1963, there were a few bright spots for the Colt Stadium community suffering humidity, mosquitoes, and a ninth-place baseball team. Left fielder Al Spangler hit .281; right-hander Don Nottebart threw a no-hitter; rookie outfielder Rusty Staub showed flashes of promise; and Johnny Temple offered solace, […]

When Tom Seaver pitched his last game in a major-league uniform, Top Gun dominated the box office. Two other Toms starred in this 1986 blockbuster. Tom Cruise played a Navy fighter pilot striving to be “the best of the best” and Tom Skerritt played his mentor, a veteran pilot who flew with the young pilot’s […]

On October 3, 1993, the Cleveland Indians were playing their 4,197th and last game at Cleveland Stadium. The Chicago White Sox were the last team on the season’s schedule as a beautiful sunny, 60-degree day greeted the sold-out crowd. In 1994 the club was to move to a brand-new open-air, baseball-only ballpark. They would no […]

Bob Quinn owned the Boston Red Sox from 1923 into 1933. In 1936 he became president of the Boston Braves and renamed them the Bees, changing the name of the ballpark from Braves Field to National League Baseball Park. More imaginative locals called the place the Beehive. Some continued to call it Braves Field. African […]

On September 28, 1983, the Philadelphia Phillies were on the verge of clinching their fifth National League East Division title in eight seasons. That afternoon they were scheduled to play the rubber match of a three-game series at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs. A victory against their division rivals would secure the title, and […]

If you were looking for one word to summarize Tom Norton’s no-hitter of June 21, 1975, you might choose “imperfect.” Pitching for the Triple-A Tacoma Twins, Norton issued 11 bases on balls to the opposing Hawaii Islanders. But the Hawaii lineup, made up entirely of past or future major leaguers, couldn’t solve him for a […]

On August 5, 1977, the Kansas City Royals gave the Chicago White Sox a taste of their own medicine. The host Royals smacked four home runs en route to a 12-2 victory in the Friday night opener of a three-game weekend series. Making the defeat worse for the visiting White Sox was watching the Royals […]

For nearly 30 years Minnesota baseball fans had a conflicted relationship with the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis. Though the multi-functional stadium had less charm and character than toilet paper, and even though it kept fans indoors when they’d rather watch their baseball while experiencing pleasant summer days and evenings, it produced fond memories […]

For Game Five of the 1981 mini-series playoff between the Montreal Expos and the Philadelphia Phillies, Expos manager Jim Fanning unleashed his best pitching weapon, Steve Rogers. He also unleashed his secret offensive weapon — Steve Rogers? The 1981 major-league season was interrupted by a 50-day midseason players’ strike that divided the campaign into two […]

Before the term “walk-off” homer became a cliché, a Huck Finn–like figure from Pennsylvania coal country, Tom Matchick, hit a dramatic two-run homer off Moe Drabowsky in the ninth inning with two out to beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5–4 on July 19, 1968. Many longtime Detroit Tigers fans have claimed they were at that game, […]

“Considered by many to be the nonpareil umpire of the Post-War Era. A model of consistency with invariable accuracy both behind the plate and on the bases.” Those words on Nestor Chylak’s Baseball Hall of Fame plaque describe him well. An American League umpire from 1954 through 1978, Chylak was highly respected by managers, players, […]

In 1949 left-handed hurler Alexander Raymond Kellner joined his namesake, Hall of Famer Grover Cleveland Alexander, among others with a 20-win campaign in his freshman season. The next year Kellner joined a smaller community, losing 20 games in his sophomore year. Through 2015, only 15 pitchers (11 from the 19th century) have won 20 games […]

May 11, 1964, was a good day for pitchers to be born to the majors. On that day, Red Sox hurler Jeff Sellers, 16-year veteran Bobby Witt and Expos staffer Floyd Youmans were all delivered into the world. It was the world at the height of the Cold War. Nuclear tests being performed in Nevada […]

While he made one hit in his only major-league at-bat in 1963, Roy Gleason is better known for the unfortunate one hit of shrapnel he incurred in 1968 from an enemy bomb explosion while serving in the US Army during the Vietnam War. Gleason, who had played five years in the minor leagues before he […]

Terry Steinbach grew up in an athletic family that focused on the fun of the games they played. Although he didn’t give a lot of thought to college scholarships or professional aspirations during his formative years, Steinbach took his baseball talents to a 14-year career in the major leagues that included three World Series and […]

Played out before the empty seats of Washington’s Griffith and D.C. Stadiums in the early 1960s, the “breath-takingly impressive”1 launch of Ken Retzer’s career was nearly “invisible to the [national sports]writers … [to the point that he was] mistakenly identified as Dick Retzer” in a Sporting News article about the rich crop class of rookie […]

The Larry Dierker Chapter in Houston welcomed spring with its monthly Zoom meeting on Monday, March 15, 2021, with 29 members in attendance. Chair Bob Dorrill led off with several news items. Eddie Robinson recently celebrated his 100th birthday and is at spring training in Arizona. Monica White, widow of the late Tom White, a […]