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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 […]

War was raging in Europe as the 1941 baseball season came to a close. News of the fighting kept fans justifiably preoccupied, while the pennant races served as a badly needed diversion. The New York Yankees captured the American League flag, and then defeated the National League champion Brooklyn Dodgers in the World Series. A […]

In a period of volatility, heartbreak, and disaster for the New York Mets — including the death of owner Joan Payson, the trading of Tom Seaver to the Cincinnati Reds and Dave Kingman to the San Diego Padres on the same day, and last-place finishes from 1977-79 and 1982-83 — backup catcher Ron Hodges provided […]

A five-year veteran of the Negro Leagues, Ernesto Vibert Clarke was a one-hit wonder who followed the adage If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. The phrase may be a cliché, but in Clarke’s case it’s an accurate one.  The native of Panama recorded his first and only hit in the major leagues […]

On April 26, 1969, pitcher Al Raffo of the Triple-A Eugene Emeralds received the good news from his manager, Frank Lucchesi, that he was moving up to the parent Philadelphia Phillies. In his eighth season and eighth team in the Phillies organization, Raffo was asked shortly before he was called up if he thought he […]

He was equally as adept at coordinating pitchers and throwing out baserunners as he was as a leader and strategist in the dugout. However, Alfonso Ramon Lopez chose to credit his supporting cast of players for his successes rather than himself. Much like his mentor Casey Stengel, Lopez knew that he could not have won […]

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 […]

“I remember these summer days when it was hot and that cool air coming out of the mountains just felt so good.”1 — Danny Godby For the better part of the 20th century, baseballs disappeared against the lush foliage of the mountainside, and the crack of the bat competed with the drone of passing trains. […]

Fans cheer on their favorite team on June 29, 2021, at Dodger Stadium. (Copyright: Steven Cukrov / dreamstime.com)   On October 8, 1957, the stockholders and directors of the Brooklyn Baseball Club announced that the franchise would move to Los Angeles for the 1958 season.1 A welcoming parade jammed downtown LA streets.2 On the steps […]

Brock Holt admits he was swinging to hit a home run. And why not? It was the top of the ninth inning and the Red Sox already had a 14-1 lead in Game Three of the American League Division Series. Yankees manager Aaron Boone had conceded the game, inserting a position player – backup catcher […]

The “first-place Washington Senators” may seem like an oxymoron, but that was exactly the scenario when the undefeated Senators visited Yankee Stadium for a two-game series in April 1955. In Washington’s Griffith Stadium the day before, the Senators had defeated the Baltimore Orioles 12-5. The New York weather hovered around the 80-degree mark in mid-April, […]

Greatness, thy name is Tommy Davis. On June 5, 1966, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ left fielder went 5-for-5 in a 16-3 thrashing of the New York Mets at Shea Stadium. But he wasn’t the only LA lad with a stellar performance. Sandy Koufax, in his last major-league season, struck out nine to earn the win […]

The Pittsburgh Pirates traveled to Milwaukee in 1960 for their July 4 doubleheader with the Braves with both good and bad news on their minds. With 43 wins and 27 losses, they were in first place in the National League by 3½ games over the 39-30 Braves. It was the first time the Pirates had […]

A new baseball season was beginning in Baltimore. It brought lots of promise as the Orioles opened their new ballpark at Camden Yards. The ballpark was located in the heart of downtown with the historic B&O warehouse beyond right field and the Baltimore skyline behind that. It provided a link between the old and new […]

The Philadelphia Phillies were a year away from their infamous 1964 season when they arrived at Dodger Stadium in mid-May for a two-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Gene Mauch’s team had a mediocre 15-16 National League record, four games behind the first-place San Francisco Giants. However, the Phillies had reason for optimism. They […]

What makes a memorable night at the ballpark? How about a game featuring some of the major leagues’ biggest stars, an exciting come-from-behind win by the home team, five home runs, and a heartfelt tribute to a local baseball legend? Oh, yeah, and let’s not forget the announcement over the public-address system that the president […]

Baseball card collectors were treated to a unique surprise in 1985, as Topps’ flagship card set included a special subset devoted to the members of the 1984 US Olympic baseball team. This subset gave card buyers their first look at some names that would become familiar in years to come, like Mark McGwire, Bill Swift, […]

Baltimore Elite Giants pitchers at Oriole/Terrapin Park, 1940. Left to right: Emery Adams, Satchel Davis, Eddie Dixon, Woody Williams, Willie Hubert, and Bill Barnes. (Courtesy of David Stinson and Bernard McKenna)   The 1939 Negro National League Championship Series featured a matchup between the Homestead Grays, in pursuit of their third consecutive league championship, and […]

American League greats debate the designated hitter, 1973: “It’s legalized manslaughter. The only thing preventing pitchers from throwing at hitters now is that they must come to bat themselves.” – Carl Yastrzemski1 “I’m not sure the rule will do what it’s intended to do, and that is produce more hits and runs. It gives the […]

It was July 14, 1970, in Cincinnati, where the 41st Major League All-Star Game was played at the brand-new Riverfront Stadium in front of 51,838 fans. It was an era of turmoil. Just 2½ months earlier, President Richard Nixon had announced that the United States had invaded Cambodia to hunt out the Viet Cong in […]

Coming into the 2004 season the Padres had played 2,775 regular-season games in 35 seasons at San Diego/Jack Murphy/Qualcomm Stadium (1969-2003), a multipurpose stadium typical of other major-league baseball venues of that period. The opening of San Diego’s Petco Park represented another period in baseball venues, one in which stadiums were designed for baseball purposes […]

The World Series is baseball’s Big Stage. Of necessity, a Big Stage requires stars, and the history of the World Series abounds with them – Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, and so many more. The New York Yankees’ Mickey Mantle was one such star.1 Considered by many the game’s greatest player during the 1950s, […]

Perhaps more than 3,242 people would have shown up at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington on September 28, 1971, if they’d known that what was going to happen there wouldn’t occur again for more than 33 years. The Washington Senators, playing out the string before moving to the Dallas-Fort Worth area the next season, […]

The Toronto Blue Jays have played at the Rogers Centre, previously known as SkyDome, since 1989. (Creative Commons 2.0 image by Oliver Mallich)   Quest for a Franchise Canadian sports conjure up images of ice hockey, curling and three-down football. However, baseball has a long and somewhat overlooked place in the Canadian sports scene. Prior […]