Search Results

“When you win that kind, you’ve got to win the pennant. You appreciate that kind of game. The fellows really pulled me through today. It’s been a long time since I’ve won that kind of game.” — Vernon Law after the Pirates had scored three 10th-inning runs to come from behind and defeat the Giants 8-7.1 […]

Goose Goslin was a dangerous hitter, suggested St. Louis sportswriter Charles Regan, especially for pedestrians walking along Grand Boulevard in front of Sportsman’s Park, located on the north side of the Gateway City. Regan wondered whether the future Hall of Famer “would hurt many people” with his next moon shot in a slugfest with the […]

The Houston Astros rallied from a midgame 4-0 deficit to beat the New York Mets, 6-4, on May 9, 1983, in a game featuring a controversial call that helped Houston come back. Neither team entered the game playing well. The Astros would improve and finish third in the National League West, but entered this game […]

There was an air of excitement on Opening Day at Kauffman Stadium in 2004. More than 41,000 fans packed the ballpark armed with Royals magnetic 2004 season schedules.1 It was a comfortable 66 degrees, with clear skies, although winds were from the south at a potentially impactful 10 mph.2 The Royals’ 2004 slogan was “We […]

A good manager, like a good magician, always has a trick up his sleeve. But a true tactician has a trick up someone else’s sleeve. That’s how Cleveland skipper Birdie Tebbetts overcame the overpowering Jim Kaat and the first-place Twins on a night in June 1965 at Metropolitan Stadium, invoking an obscure rule about jersey […]

Boston and Montreal — two cities tied together by one of the greatest rivalries in sports. The Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League have been longtime rivals and frequent postseason foes. The Canadiens are the most successful team in the history of the NHL, with an astounding 24 Stanley Cups won […]

The San Diego Padres have been in existence since 1969 and as of 2018 had played nearly 8,000 games but just nine games in the World Series. Of those nine games, fans of the Padres have only one World Series game victory to celebrate. That victory came at home in Game Two of the 1984 […]

“The [Chicago] Cubs, who haven’t won a world championship since 1908, have had only one winning season since 1972,” wrote Sports Illustrated’s Steve Wulf in his assessment of the National League East prior to the start of the 1989 season. “You can be certain this will not be their second.”1 Wulf was not alone. Several […]

In 1972 the Boston Red Sox finished a half-game behind the Detroit Tigers in the American League East. It was a strike-shortened season and Detroit played one more game than Boston, finishing 86-70 to Boston’s 85-70, the win in that one extra game making all the difference. The Red Sox had lost 16 one-run games […]

“I’m not a strikeout pitcher,” said rookie right-hander Bill Gullickson of the Montreal Expos after he whiffed 18 Chicago Cubs in a dominant complete-game victory, 4-2, to establish a new record for most strikeouts by a rookie (since broken by the Cubs’ Kerry Wood in 1998).1 “He was just awesome,” said his batterymate, Gary Carter, […]

Griffith Stadium was death to home runs, yet inside-the-park home runs dictated the results in a game between the hometown Washington Senators and the Philadelphia Athletics. Ty Cobb, playing with the A’s at age 41 in what was his final year, batted second, going 0-for-4 and showing his liability in right field. Cobb hit 46 […]

On a sweltering summer afternoon on July 1, 1910, the ballpark that would one day be known as Comiskey Park hosted its first official game. At the time, the ballpark was known as White Sox Park. The Chicago White Sox would play 6,247 major-league games there before it closed on September 30, 1990. Charles Comiskey, […]

The 1949 World Series opened with Allie Reynolds facing Brooklyn’s best pitcher, Don Newcombe. Yankees manager Casey Stengel wanted the 1950 World Series to start that way as well. Reynolds against Philadelphia’s best pitcher. But it did not work out that way as Jim Konstanty rather than Robin Roberts started Game One. Eddie Sawyer’s gambit […]

Managers do not ordinarily vehemently protest an umpire’s decision during a spring training game, but when Cleveland Indians manager Mike Hargrove disagreed with a foul-ball call in the third inning on March 25, 1993, he strode toward umpire Durwood Merrill with purpose. Leading a roster of emotionally taxed players returning to action three days after […]

June 19, June 20, and July 3, 1928 – during a 15-day span, shortstop Freddie Moncewicz, fresh out of college, played out his entire major-league career with the Boston Red Sox on these three dates. He also played briefly in the minor leagues in 1929. Moncewicz may not have had a lengthy baseball career, but […]

(On arriving at Kauffman Stadium for the first time) “As we drive up we see the Crown. There was a little mist and I’m thinking ‘this is an unbelievable sight.’ The lights are on. It doesn’t get any better than that. Then all of a sudden we pull in, we go into the clubhouse, and […]

Jesse Orosco appeared in 1,252 regular-season games during his career, the most of any major-league pitcher. As of Opening Day 2015, the active hurler with the most appearances was LaTroy Hawkins with an even 1,000, so Orosco’s record endured for at least some time. The lefty spent most of his 24 seasons in the majors […]

Simon Rosenthal was one of only 16 Red Sox players who was actually born in the city of Boston and — joining Jack Slattery — one of only two to both live and die in Boston. He garnered more at-bats for the Red Sox than any other Boston native, 357 of them during the years […]

Joe DiMaggio put his name on a book titled Lucky to Be a Yankee. His teammate Arndt Jorgens seconded the emotion. In 10 years as a backup catcher behind Hall of Famer Bill Dickey, Jorgens cashed five World Series checks totaling around $30,000 without appearing in a single Series game. As the Yankees’ second- or […]

Frank Strong Lary, a talented, hard-throwing right hander for the Detroit Tigers, proved to be one of the American League’s best pitchers from 1955 through 1961. An All-Star hurler in 1960 and 1961, he was best known as the “Yankee Killer.” While fashioning a major league lifetime record of 128-116 with an ERA of 3.49, […]

Silvio García was a shortstop and pitcher who played in Mexico, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Canada, and his native Cuba, as well as the American Negro League and organized minor leagues, from 1931 to 1954. Known for his powerful right-handed line-drive swing and rifle arm, he won two batting championships in the Cuban […]

In 1966, The Sporting News quipped that “Tom Satriano has more gloves than [his wife] . . . not many husbands can make that statement.”1 “[N]o threat to [Olympic sprinter] Bob Hayes, or even [actress] Helen Hayes,” the slow-footed Satriano constructed a 10-year major league career with his adaptability at catcher and every infield position. […]

Tall righty Nate Minchey pitched in parts of four major-league seasons (1993-1994, 1996-1997), though he never appeared in more than six games in a given year. He then built a successful career in Japanese baseball, earning 74 victories from 1998 to 2004. Following his playing days, he spent more than 15 years working as an […]

Less than four months after his 19th birthday, Del Crandall became the youngest starting catcher in baseball history when he supplanted 32-year-old Bill Salkeld of the Boston Braves in 1949. Returning to the Milwaukee Braves in 1953 after a two-year tour in the military, Crandall was named to eight All-Star teams during the Braves’ first […]