If you are not happy with the results below please do another search
The Pittsburgh Pirates spent most of the first 2½ months of the 1979 season struggling to play at the .500 level before they engineered a blockbuster trade that beat reporter Charley Feeney considered “too good to be true.”1 On June 28 the Pirates sent three pitching prospects (Fred Breining, Al Holland, and Ed Whitson) to […]
One of the attributes of the great game of baseball is the memories, whether it is of a favorite player, a beloved team, or a stadium. Perhaps the recollection is of the company of your family or friends at the ballgame. It is also the memories that are passed on to the younger fans by […]
Babe Ruth’s offensive domination has been well documented.1 From 1919 through 1930, his name was often at the top of the offensive lists for runs scored, runs batted in, bases on balls, and on-base percentage. Perhaps more impressively, he led his contemporaries in power statistics: home runs, slugging percentage, and total bases in the season, […]
“Here they have the All-Star Game, and they are holding it for the first time in Dodger Stadium, where more people see baseball games than anywhere else in the country,” wrote the Chicago Tribune’s Richard Dozer.1 The Chicago sportswriter noted that being close to Hollywood fit this game perfectly, because Steve Stone, a mediocre pitcher […]
The early-season Friday evening match-up was a game between two American League teams ready to make a move in their respective divisions. Although much was expected of the Tigers in 1982, they finished with a somewhat disappointing record of 83-79. A little more than a week into the 1983 season, the Tigers were 4-4 and […]
Thunder Thornton hit the ballOver and against the wall.Cleveland copied Boston styleSmashing them a Fenway mile.1 Spring had arrived in New England, and with it Red Sox baseball sprang anew. It was early in the 1978 season and optimism was high for a return to October baseball in Boston. Just three weeks earlier, the […]
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 […]
“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 […]
The Atlanta Braves were the kings of major-league baseball heading into the 1996 season. Their 1995 season was capped off with the franchise’s first world championship since 1958. Led by a pitching staff that one day would boast three Hall of Famers (Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz) the Braves dismantled the powerful offensive […]
The Cleveland Indians boasted a big three who anchored their pitching staff in 1948. The triumvirate featured Bob Lemon (20-14, 2.82 ERA), Gene Bearden (20-7, 2.43), and Bob Feller (19-15, 3.56). They were followed by spot starters Sam Zoldak (9-3, 2.81) and Steve Gromek (9-6, 2.84). Since one of the big three had each pitched […]
“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 […]
Sports columnist Charles Johnson wrote of the 1961 Twins team: “Actually it’s strange that a team which hasn’t played .500 ball at home can keep the spectators excited, enthused and applauding.”1 It was more than just the fact that it was the first year of major-league baseball in Minnesota. It was the kind of competitive […]
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, pondering his fate prior to his inevitable demise, proclaims, “Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more.”1 As the Houston Colt .45s hosted their 1962 expansion brethren, the New York Mets, at Colt […]
If there was ever a pitcher who was the face of bad luck, it had to be Dave Stieb. Three times, the ace right-hander of the Toronto Blue Jays was one out away from pitching the franchise’s first no-hitter. All three times, he came up empty. On September 24, 1988, at Cleveland Stadium, Julio Franco […]
In the summer of 1955, Robert Leroy Powell became the first player from Flint, Michigan, to make the major leagues. Bob signed a $36,000 bonus contract with the Chicago White Sox following the spring quarter at Michigan State University, where he starred as a hard-hitting outfielder for the Spartans’ baseball nine. As it happened, Powell […]
When wild-eyed rookie right-handed pitcher Bruce Kison was thrust into relief with two outs in the first inning of Game Four of the 1971 World Series against the overwhelmingly favored Baltimore Orioles, the Pirates were in a three-run hole and in danger of losing their third game of the Series with just one victory. But […]
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 […]
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 […]