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On an unseasonably chilly Tuesday night in early May, a small crowd gathered at Tiger Stadium to watch the Detroit Tigers take on the visiting Chicago White Sox. The 7,327 who braved the cold — there were chill warnings in effect for later that night — were in for a treat: arguably the greatest pitching […]

The Dodgers purchased 39-year-old Sal Maglie from the Cleveland Indians in mid-May 1956. The Barber bolstered a maligned staff, went 13-5, and was named Game One starter in the World Series. (Photo: SABR-Rucker Archive)   The 1956 World Series was the sixth between the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers in 10 years.1 The American […]

With an eye toward returning to the top of the baseball world, the 1983 Philadelphia Phillies united three key players from the 1976 World Series champion Cincinnati Reds to boost their roster. Joe Morgan, 39 years old, was acquired from the San Francisco Giants to play second base and 40-year-old Tony Pérez, who had spent […]

In 1987 Candido “Candy” Maldonado was in his second season with the Giants. After five years with the Dodgers, Maldonado had been traded to rival San Francisco after the 1985 season (for catcher Alex Trevino). Maldonado quickly became the everyday right fielder for the Giants. In 1987 he had arguably his best year in the […]

It wasn’t one of the storied Bill Veeck’s most creative promotions, but a “basketball-baseball doubleheader” featuring the Harlem Globetrotters put nearly 14,000 fans in the seats on Monday night, August 31, 1953, as Veeck’s moribund St. Louis Browns met the visiting Washington Senators.1 The eighth-place Browns were 46-85 and 41 games out of first, though […]

When the California Angels captured the American League West championship in 1982 and bolted out to a commanding two-game lead in the best-of-five American League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers, Angels manager Gene Mauch could have been excused for feeling more than a twinge of satisfaction with his team on the brink of appearing […]

It seemed an optimistic but relatively inconsequential signing at the time. In January 1990, the Detroit Tigers, coming off an abysmal 59-103 last-place season and in search of a power upgrade, gave a little-known and heretofore mostly unproductive former major leaguer named Cecil Fielder a $1.25 million incentive-laden contract and installed him as their starting […]

During the first six seasons of his stellar 17-year career with the St. Louis Cardinals, Bob Gibson won 71 games, achieved All-Star status, and pitched on a World Series winner. Early in Gibson’s seventh season, 1965, the 20-year-old Steve Carlton joined Gibson on the Cardinals’ pitching staff.1 The two were teammates for seven years, and […]

The Minnesota Twins were tied with the Kansas City Royals for third place in the American League West Division, one game under .500 with a 70-71 record, as they prepared for the Chicago White Sox, who were only a half-game behind the two teams. Minnesota had played sub-.500 baseball nearly all season; the team last […]

It began with a clap of thunder and a sudden deluge of rain, and ended with Babe Ruth cradling a dying teenager in his arms. In between were 4⅔ innings of baseball rendered meaningless by what is still the worst tragedy in the history of Yankee Stadium. It was May 19, 1929. The Yankees, after […]

Outfielder Manny Mota played the last 13 years of his career as a Dodger and excelled as a pinch-hitter. (SABR-Rucker Archive)   Going into the final weekend of the 1980 season, both National League division races were yet to be decided. In the East, Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies took care of business with […]

Struggling at third base during the first two months of the 1998 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates summoned their top-rated prospect, 19-year-old Aramis Ramírez, from Triple A. Ramírez, who had just 40 games of professional experience above Class A, went hitless in his first 24 big-league at-bats before breaking through with a game-clinching two-run double on […]

Right from the first inning it was obvious this was not going to be a typical game. Even by World Series Game Six standards, this one was out of this world. And that is where Mike Sergio came from, drifting down onto the Shea Stadium infield in a parachute with a modest “Go Mets” sign […]

At the end of the 1948 season, the New York Yankees fired their manager, Bucky Harris. The team had just completed what was for them a subpar year, finishing in third place behind the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians. Harris was not without credentials, having guided the Yankees to the 1947 World Series championship, […]

Frank Robinson’s solo home run in the first inning was all the offense Baltimore needed, but the Orioles scored a total of 17 runs on as many hits in the first five frames to secure a blowout victory over the Chicago White Sox on July 27, 1969. According to the Baltimore Sun, “The merry-go-round was […]

The seventh game of the 1926 World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Yankees was played on a cold, damp day in New York City. Rain had fallen during the night and a steady drizzle continued throughout the morning threatening a postponement. However, about noon the rain stopped and conditions improved […]

Boston Red Sox analyst and former major-league pitcher Lenny DiNardo speaks to the Southern New England SABR Chapter on November 27, 2021.   The Lajoie-Start Southern New England chapter’s first in-person meeting in two years drew a crowd of 40 members and guests to St. Philip’s Parish Center in Greenville, Rhode Island, on Saturday, November […]

In the one (and only) year that Bill Wakefield pitched in the major leagues, 1964, he set a Mets team record for game appearances that would stand up for 13 more years, and packed into a single season a full-length career’s worth of excitement and highlights, ending with a nail-biting season-ending game that decided the […]

Standing 6-foot-1 and weighing 185 pounds, Missouri native Johnny Sturm could accurately be described as tall, dark, and handsome, a ubiquitous term applicable to literally thousands of ballplayers. What’s rare about Sturm is his abbreviated major-league career, a single season as the regular first baseman on the 1941 New York Yankees. Although he legitimately contributed […]

Dwain Anderson was a utility infielder who played in 149 major-league games over the course of four seasons between 1971 and 1974.  He threw and batted right-handed and was a versatile infielder, playing second base, third base, and shortstop over a ten-year career in professional baseball.  Frequently included in early 1970s trades, Anderson played for […]

He could have been nicknamed “Tugboat” or, for that matter, “Giuliani the Magician,” for the many varied and workmanlike roles Angelo John Giuliani played during his life dedicated to baseball.  From a fledgling full-time backstop in the minors to sharp-eyed scout in the majors, Giuliani’s resume was a convincing testimonial of a player who, having […]

Mike Smithson, a 6-foot-8, 215-pound righty, pitched in eight seasons as a big leaguer from 1982 through 1989. He won 15 games for the Minnesota Twins and led the AL in games started in both 1984 and 1985, and finished his career with the Boston Red Sox, who had originally selected him in the fifth […]

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 […]

Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Tug McGraw celebrates after closing out Game Six of the 1980 World Series, clinching the first championship in franchise history. (Courtesy of the Philadelphia Phillies)   In the Beginning The first National League game in Philadelphia was played in 1876 with the Boston Red Stockings facing the Philadelphia Athletics, one of several […]