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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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Here’s a history lesson. On April 14, 1969, an American laid claim to Canadian territory for the first time since the War of 1812. The American was Montreal Expos left fielder Mack Jones. The territory was the left-field bleachers at Jarry Park, which was renamed Jonesville after his three-run homer and two-run triple helped the […]

The 1961 major-league season was barely three weeks old the day 29-year-old Willie Mays produced perhaps the greatest offensive performance of his legendary career. Led by Mays, the San Francisco Giants came to Milwaukee for a three-game series with the hometown Braves. Just a year away from the World Series, the Giants were a team […]

With the Atlanta Braves’ unprecedented playoff run one defeat from expiration, 21-year-old left-hander Steve Avery’s second dominant start of the 1991 National League Championship Series kept the Pittsburgh Pirates scoreless through eight innings of Game Six on October 16 at Three Rivers Stadium. Clutch play by Ron Gant, Greg Olson, and Alejandro Peña then secured […]

In their first visit to newly opened Three Rivers Stadium, the Chicago Cubs trounced the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-2, in the second game of a Labor Day 1970 doubleheader to secure the split. Leading a quartet of stars was Fergie Jenkins, who spanked a home run and held the Pirates to five hits for his major-league-most […]

After a whirlwind six days that saw Mike Piazza traded from the Los Angeles Dodgers and join the Florida Marlins in St. Louis for his first three games with the Marlins, the slugging catcher finally found himself with a true offday after the team flew home. The Miami area was where Piazza made his offseason […]

Oh, those New York Mets! In the first three seasons since the National League returned to New York in 1962, the Mets finished in last place. Would the 1965 season be their time to abandon last place for higher ground? To answer the question, manager Casey Stengel could be direct without resorting to some form […]

If Cleveland Indians fans were champing at the bit, one could hardly blame them. The Indians had held a commanding 3-games-to-1 World Series lead over Boston, and Game Five would be at Cleveland Stadium. Cleveland was sending Bob Feller to the hill. Feller had lost Game One, 1-0, after umpire Bill Stewart made a controversial […]

Frigid cold, a small crowd, and a career-ending injury are three things no one wants to see at an exhibition game. Unfortunately, all three marred the Boston Red Sox’ game against their Triple-A affiliate in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, on May 6, 1974. Temperatures in the 40s limited attendance to fewer than 2,500 people, and those […]

The 1976 Cincinnati Reds were on the cusp of accomplishing a first in franchise history. The Big Red Machine, as they had come to be known, were one win away from sweeping the New York Yankees and for the first time win back-to-back World Series. The Reds had won a thrilling seven-game Series over Boston […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

In 1955 the Kansas City Athletics coaching staff “observed [rookie right-hander Art] Ditmar during spring training and prophesied that he was destined for distinction on the mound.”1 This bright assessment was echoed three years later by New York Yankees manager Casey Stengel, who said, “I believe … Ditmar could grow into one of the big […]

Rubén Gómez was the second pitcher from Puerto Rico to reach the majors — and the first to start and win a World Series Game. He led the New York Giants to a 6-2 win in Game Three at Cleveland on October 1, 1954. A limber 6 feet even and 170-175 pounds, Gómez was amazingly […]

As is the case with so many Negro League ballplayers who were born before the twentieth century or just after it began, details of William Hoskins’ birth and early years are wanting. His draft registration card, issued in 1940, offers as much clarity as is available about his origins, including his reported birth on March […]

If you page through the annals of Black baseball, you will come across watershed moments – the “First Colored World Series,” Yankee Stadium’s first game between Black ball clubs, Satchel Paige’s first professional no-hitter – and you will find a single face peering across the ages. Historic moments seemed to cling to Clint “The Hawk” […]

Gene Kelly heard of Joe McCarthy’s death during a 1957 Phillies game at Connie Mack Stadium. On the air, he praised the man who never played in the big leagues, but played them like a cello. Some called McCarthy a pushbutton skipper, Kelly said over flagship WIP Radio. Others hailed perhaps the best manager of […]

In the 1970s, three decades after his four-year major-league playing career had come to an end Johnny Welaj (pronounced “WELL-eye”) wrote to author Harrington E. Crissey Jr. to reminisce. “It was great to be associated with [Philadelphia Athletics manager] Connie Mack,” he said. “There are not enough good things that baseball can say of him. […]

Aquino Abreu was a diminutive righty who pitched for a decade and a half during the formative years of the modern-era post-revolution Cuban League. That Abreu’s triumphs fell entirely outside the realm of professional Organized Baseball may be a prime reason he remains virtually unknown to North American and Asian baseball fanatics. Few know anything […]

On a warm September evening in 1995 at Baltimore’s Camden Yards, Oriole shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. helped restore America’s faith in baseball. The contentious nature of the previous year’s strike had left many of the sport’s dedicated fans wondering what the future held for their beloved national pastime. Following the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, the […]