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As a September call-up in 1970, right-handed pitcher John Harold “Hal” Haydel joined the American League’s West Division’s first-place team, the Minnesota Twins. On September 7, the day after the 26-year-old Louisiana native reached the big leagues after nine minor-league seasons with five organizations,1 the Twins hosted the Milwaukee Brewers for a Labor Day doubleheader […]

The Pawtucket Red Sox were supposed to have one final season in 2020 – one last go-round to honor the deep-rooted connection between the Boston Red Sox and the city in northern Rhode Island before their half-century of affiliation ended. Pawtucket had hosted Boston’s Triple-A affiliate since 1973 and was home to its Double-A team […]

The Pittsburgh Pirates were leading the National League East Division in June 1975 when they promoted 21-year-old John Candelaria to patch up their injury-eroded rotation. In Candelaria’s third big-league start, against the New York Mets at Shea Stadium, the Brooklyn native dazzled his hometown and outdueled superstar Tom Seaver by taking a no-hitter into the […]

“I think this might go down as one of the great games in the annals of World Series history,” proclaimed Philadelphia Phillies manager Jim Fregosi after his team fell to the Toronto Blue Jays in a wild, high-scoring affair.1 Declaring a game as one of the all-time greatest is not something you’d expect from the […]

From 1976 to 1985, the Kansas City Royals were one of the American League’s best teams. In that 10-year span, they made the playoffs seven times, and finished second in the other three years. When Darryl Motley squeezed Andy Van Slyke’s fly to right to clinch the 1985 World Series title, Royals fans had no […]

The slow climb of Gil Hodges’ Washington Senators teams had brought the 1967 squad to heights unknown: a 55-55 record after shutting out the Twins in Minnesota on August 7. None of the previous expansion Nats had reached .500 so far into the season. A month earlier, on July 8, Washington’s record stood at 34-47, […]

Clayton Kershaw has won 210 games for the Dodgers through 2023 and has struck out nearly 3,000 batters. (Copyright Scott Anderson /dreamstime.com.)   The game ended with one more strikeout and a roar from the crowd. The celebration began with a starting pitcher who raised his arms in triumph and hugged his catcher, who had […]

When Montreal Expos pitcher Dan Warthen wound and delivered the first pitch of the game to San Diego Padres rookie Gene Richards on the evening of May 21, 1977, it’s safe to assume few among the crowd of 16,892 expected to still be at Stade Olympique more than 5½ hours later. The two teams shared […]

On Saturday, April 16, 1955, pregame activity at Busch Stadium was lively hours before the 1:30 p.m. tilt between the Cubs and the Cardinals. While Chicago manager Stan Hack amused reporters talking about his badly swollen hand, St. Louis skipper Eddie Stanky and his coaching staff were busy hosting a morning baseball clinic for more […]

Catcher Pete Daley played in seven major-league seasons, including five with the Red Sox backing up Sammy White. In 233 games behind the bat for Boston, his defensive skills earned him a fielding percentage of .996; in 1,005 total chances, he was charged with only four errors. Despite irregular playing time with Boston the 6-foot, […]

Five major league teams, four NLCS home runs, three 20-home-run seasons, two All-Star Game appearances, one Flap-Down = No. 00, Jeffrey Leonard. In the scope of baseball history, Jeffrey Leonard’s career was a brief candle, a poorly understood player whose home-run strut fretted the baseball universe in a brief but spectacular hour upon a national […]

Approximately 200 diehard fans returned to a cold and cloudy Ebbets Field on February 23, 1960. Among those present were former players Ralph Branca, Roy Campanella, Carl Erskine, and Tommy Holmes, reminiscing about the glory days in the iconic ballpark — opened in 1913 and vacated following the close of the 1957 season. Attendees sadly […]

In a 1968 interview, former pitcher Bob Logan said this of his friend and one-time teammate, Frank Sigafoos: “He was a swell guy, one of the best, quiet and unassuming . . . he never bragged about himself and he had great talent.”1 Indeed, Sigafoos had a standout career as a skilled infielder at the […]

World War II veteran Dick Kryhoski was a lefty-hitting first baseman for seven years in the majors. The son of Polish immigrants played for five teams, including the final St. Louis Browns club and the first edition of the modern Baltimore Orioles. Richard David Kryhoski was born on March 24, 1925, in Leonia, New Jersey. […]

The dreaded trip to the woodshed altered many a young life; however, in the case of a young Washington, D.C., native, the effort was futile. Luzerne Atwell Blue was born on March 5, 1897, in the District of Columbia. Lu always claimed he was the youngest of seven sons; however, a look at the 1900 […]

The scene has been played out in every backyard, schoolyard, and makeshift ball diamond across the country. If not on a ball field, then the scene certainly unfolded in a child’s dreams. Hit a game-winning home run in the World Series. Better yet, make it Game Seven, bases loaded, full count, a packed stadium. Then […]

Pat Gillick served four different stints as a general manager, and during each his task was different. That he succeeded at all four marks Gillick among the very best in the history of the game. In Toronto, he built an expansion team into one of baseball’s best organizations (winning 86 or more games for 11 […]

Boston Red Sox first baseman Al Flair answered a want ad and got a job playing baseball. The Sporting News explained: “An advertisement placed in the classified section of a Memphis newspaper [by Little Rock Travelers manager Doc Prothro] led to Flair’s entry into O.B. [Organized Baseball] A woman friend of the Flair family in […]

Labeled “a right-handed Eddie Lopat … [George Susce] was regarded as a junkman, just like the great [New York] Yankee lefthander.”1 The son, brother and uncle of professional baseball players who made their mark collectively over seven decades, Susce dreamed of reaching the big leagues ever since his days as a child selling scorecards and […]

“Where is the furniture?” To Luis Rivera and his five Latino teammates, it must have seemed like a cruel prank. More than a decade before the dot.com boom made the San Francisco Bay Area an outlandishly expensive place to live, they expected their rented home to be furnished. Wasn’t that common? Their already-stretched $600 monthly […]

MLB Network produced a television special calling versatile switch-hitting infielder-outfielder Lenny Randle “The Most Interesting man in Baseball.”1 The 12-year major-league veteran learned to speak five languages; wrote, published, and performed a hip-hop song;2 worked as a stand-up comic for free steaks; was principally responsible for the popularity of baseball in Italy; and ran a […]

Three days before World War II ended, Philadelphia Phillies scout Fred Mathews convinced the mother of Stephen George Ridzik that she should let her 16-year-old son become a professional baseball player.1 Julia Ridzik agreed to sign the contract, provided that Steve finish his last two years of high school. Thus began a 22-year pitching career […]

Willy Miranda epitomized the “good field, no hit” shortstop. He was a lot more than good in the field, though—Tom Lasorda, to name just one, thought the flashy little Cuban was the best he ever saw at short.1 Wielding the same battered, patched, and secretly doctored glove for nearly his entire pro career, Miranda was […]

No less an authority than Ted Williams referred to him as “the greatest young hitter I’ve ever seen.”1 His immense power drew comparisons to Hall of Famers Harmon Killebrew and Eddie Mathews, while his value was glimpsed in an unexecuted one-for-one swap with the California Angels’ future Cooperstown inductee Nolan Ryan. (The talks collapsed only […]