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Of the more than 200 Negro League games played at Yankee Stadium in the 1930s and ’40s, one of the most memorable was a pitching duel between Satchel Paige and Stewart “Slim” Jones in September 1934 that ended not with a victory, but in a 1-1 tie. Black baseball’s fans could have been excused for […]

The best baseball players return reliably year after year until they seem as much a part of the game as bleacher seats and foul poles. But a career’s end comes to every player, no matter how beloved or talented they are. For Hoyt Wilhelm, the major leagues’ longtime leader in pitching appearances, that moment came […]

One of the more exciting days on the baseball calendar is the trade deadline on July 31.1 Networks and sports talk shows fuel the speculation and rumor mill about who could be on the move. Team officials must determine if their club is a pretender or a contender, a buyer or a seller. With the […]

In 1997 the Florida Marlins1 won 92 games and finished second in the National League East – nine games behind the 101-win Atlanta Braves – but they claimed the NL wild card, swept the NL West champion San Francisco Giants in the Division Series, and shocked Atlanta in the National League Championship Series. In a […]

Battles on the field and in the standings between the Hawaii Islanders and Tacoma Twins carried over from 1975 and into the following season. Hawaii, a San Diego Padres affiliate, produced the best record in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League in 1975, finishing 14 games ahead of Tacoma in the West Division, and then beat […]

The Boston Red Sox-Milwaukee Brewers Opening Day game of April 5, 1974, was not one to remember for fans of either crisply played baseball or proper decorum. The on-field action included three runs scored on wild pitches or passed balls, subpar outings for both starting pitchers, and relief pitching that allowed six of six inherited […]

It all began with a Dennis Eckersley fist pump. When the St. Louis Cardinals closer struck out Marquis Grissom with the tying run on second base to end Game Four of the 1996 National League Championship Series, he wound up his right arm and unleashed his trademark celebration on the mound, then stomped around the […]

  The old saying “timing is everything” has been proved true in most everybody’s life at one point or another. For Cleveland Indians owner Bill Veeck, this adage came to fruition when he moved his club’s home games from League Park to Cleveland Stadium on a permanent basis in 1947. The lakefront stadium, with its capacity of over 70,000 and […]

What is the best day of the year? If you were to ask this question of a Brewers fan, more often than not you would get an answer of “Opening Day!” along with a facial expression that speaks, “Was that rhetorical?” For many fans, Opening Day is a holiday; a guaranteed vacation day each year, […]

The Fourth of July in Washington, D.C., is busy – fireworks and crowds on the National Mall, the Capitol Fourth broadcast, and a baseball game that starts at 11 in the morning.1 In addition to the red, white, and blue bunting decorating Nationals Park, the day’s commemoration features a balloon arch over the third-base entrance, […]

It was a beautiful day for baseball, with the temperature in the mid-60s. Sunshine would have made it perfect, but despite the clouds and overcast, a great crowd of 52,168 showed up at Tiger Stadium on the afternoon of Friday, October 5, 1984, for Game Three of the American League Championship Series. Fans in Detroit […]

When second baseman Bill Ripken was named to the Double-A Southern League All-Star team in 1986, the stars seemed to be aligning for him to join his father, Cal Sr., and older brother, Cal Jr., in the big leagues with the Baltimore Orioles. The elder Ripkens had already spent several years together in the majors, […]

Described as a “dazzling performance,” by sportswriter Joseph Durso, St. Louis Cardinals rookie John Stuper overcame two rain delays to toss a complete-game four-hitter, beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 13-1, and force Game Seven of the World Series.1 “For him to pitch nine innings was one of the most impressive performances I’ve ever see under the […]

Bill Gullickson arrived in the National League with a record-setting splash in 1980. On September 10, the 21-year-old Montreal Expo became the first rookie pitcher to strike out 18 hitters in a game when he beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-2. On April 10, 1982, Gullickson – by then an established member of the Expos’ rotation […]

At the dawn of the 1966 season, San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Juan Marichal was primed to improve his impressive résumé. A six-season veteran, Marichal had already won 105 games and was a five time All-Star. The day before he started the season opener against the Chicago Cubs, Marichal said, “I’m stronger physically, my arms […]

The turnstiles at Busch Stadium, the renamed Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis, counted 15,444 customers for a game played on June 23, 1961, a Friday evening in early summer. The San Francisco Giants were in town, trying to halt a three-game losing streak against a hometown club not yet playing .500 ball. The Giants starter […]

In 1955 Cleveland News sportswriter Ed McAuley noted that “[George] Susce is a man of many admirable qualities, but the ability to hit a baseball frequently was not among his assets.”1 At the time this was offered, Susce was 11 years removed from his last major-league appearance and well along into a coaching career that […]

From manager Don Heffner’s perspective, hurler John Tsitouris drew favorable comparisons to Hall of Famer Red Ruffing because “when you sent him out to the mound, you knew he was going to give you a good job.”1 Splendid likeness for a pitcher with a lifetime 34-38 record. Tsitouris’s tantalizing ability caused teams to continually try […]

On October 14, 1976, the Kansas City Royals and the New York Yankees were locked in the winner-take-all fifth game of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium, going into the bottom of the ninth inning. The Royals had won Game Four the night before to force the deciding game. This evening, Royals third […]

In 1972 Hank Morgenweck achieved a long-held dream—a full-time umpiring job in the major leagues. Four seasons later, in bitter and disputed circumstances, he lost it. An experienced minor-league ump with a National League playoff game on his résumé, Morgenweck was named to the American League’s umpiring staff in spring 1972. But his contract was […]

Mickey Lolich described himself as “the beer-drinker’s idol.” With his portly physique and likable disposition, the pitcher was popular with Tiger fans during his 13 seasons in their uniform. His talented left arm didn’t hurt his cause either. Of Yugoslav descent, Lolich was born in Portland, Oregon, September 12, 1940, the same day that Schoolboy […]

When Craig John Counsell first reached the majors in 1995, a Rockies security guard wouldn’t let the 25-year-old in the clubhouse, mistaking him for a bat boy.1 Just two years later, the 6-foot 179-pound infielder scored the walk-off run in Game Seven of the 1997 World Series for the Florida Marlins. Remarkably, in 2001 he […]

“I place a premium on a thinking catcher,” said Gene Mauch, who managed Clay Dalrymple for eight-plus seasons in Philadelphia.1 Mauch and another great tactician, Earl Weaver, both stressed pitching and defense. Thus, while Dalrymple’s hitting declined after his fourth year with the Phillies, his skills behind the plate kept him employed. The Californian handled […]

Don Werner played 18 seasons of professional baseball and appeared in 118 major-league games, backing up one Hall of Famer and catching the only no-hitter pitched by another. Though he batted just .176 during limited opportunities in the major leagues, Werner grasped enough of the finer points of the art of catching to stay employed […]