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Most Phillies fans have Father’s Day 1964 etched in their hearts and minds. In the first game of a doubleheader against the New York Mets in Shea Stadium, Jim Bunning pitched the seventh perfect game in major-league history and the first in the National League since 1880. Acquired from the Detroit Tigers in the offseason, […]
The Washington Nationals had seen their season go south after a 50-31 start propelled them to first place in the NL East, where they remained as late as July 25. About to send John Halama, a reclamation project, to face 23-year-old Dontrelle Willis on a Wednesday night, the Nats were five games over .500 at […]
On the next-to-last day of the 1948 season, the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees had identical 94-58 records. They were tied for second place, both only one game behind the league-leading Cleveland Indians. If the Indians won on October 2 – which they did, beating the Detroit Tigers, 8-0 – whichever team […]
The big front page news in the Oroville (California) Mercury-Register on September 13, 1948, was the death of Julian Wera, a member of the fabled 1927 New York Yankees. Wera, the business manager of the Oroville Red Sox of the Class D Far West League, was found that morning dead in his apartment with a […]
Sam Jones was an intimidating pitcher. He was big (6 feet 4 and 200 pounds), threw hard, had a massive sweeping curveball, and could be quite wild. Three times he led the National League in both strikeouts and walks (1955, 1956, and 1958). He narrowly missed this feat a fourth time in his finest season, […]
When George Brett incurred some nuisance back problems in the late stages of his career with the [Kansas City] Royals, he sought relief from a chiropractor in Overland Park[, Kansas]. On one of his first visits, perhaps the first, Brett lay face down on the table — vulnerable, as he recalls — waiting for treatment, […]
Four cutouts of larger-than-life baseballs adorned the royal blue outfield wall at Cleveland Stadium. Each baseball sported a player’s name and the corresponding jersey number that had been retired by the Indians. Even the most casual of Cleveland fans would be familiar with Bob Feller’s number 19 and Lou Boudreau’s number 5. They may have […]
“Jiquí” Moreno was not big (5’8” and 165 pounds) — but he threw hard. How hard is jiquí wood? In Cuba, Moreno’s native land, linemen could not sink their spurs into telephone poles made from this tree — they had to use ladders. Brick stair steps wore down, yet their jiquí binding was simply polished. […]
Ozzie Virgil was the first Dominican to play in the major leagues, as well as the first player of color for the Detroit Tigers. Spending parts of nine seasons in the major leagues as a utility player, Virgil forged a lifelong career in baseball by transitioning to coaching. “Virgil should be for my country as […]
It would have been a great story, a former minor-league hurler and Army veteran who signs on as a batting practice pitcher with his hometown team. Then he gets put on the active roster due to injuries and gets a chance to live his dream and pitch in the major leagues. While it all sounds […]
“You dream of things like this, but you never think of it happening to you. It’s something out of the movies.” — Mike Devereaux, October 15, 1995, after being named NLCS MVP1 Mike Devereaux became an instant hero on an Atlanta Braves team filled with future Hall of Famers. Having played with five different […]
“They had a Tony Taylor Day in 1963 in Connie Mack Stadium, another in 1970 in Connie, and another Tony Taylor Day last year in Veterans Stadium,” said Antonio Nemesio Taylor Sánchez during spring training in 1976. “I must be doing something right. Right? There is this big love affair between the fans and Tony […]
Arturo (Art) López had 49 at-bats with seven hits for the 1965 New York Yankees. He was the first player born in Puerto Rico to be originally signed by the Yankees and play for them.1 The outfielder was also the first boricua to play for a Japanese professional baseball team. During a professional career that […]
November 1976 was a difficult month for fans of the Baltimore Orioles. After an 88-win, second-place finish in the just-completed season, the advent of free agency during the offseason stood to dramatically alter the team’s chemistry, and within a ten-day period the worst-case scenario was realized: On the 19th of November, 20-game winner Wayne Garland […]
Back when being a character could keep you locked in the minor leagues and being a reliever was considered a career demotion, Tug McGraw excelled in both roles like few before or since. As a rookie starter for Casey Stengel, McGraw ended the Mets’ long losing streak against Sandy Koufax; converted to a reliever by […]
Buddy Myer was the “cocky little second baseman” of the Washington Senators when they won their last American League pennant in 1933. In 17 seasons in the majors, he won a batting title and was a two-time All-Star. Myer was often cited as one of the few Jewish baseball stars and was chosen for the […]
David Palmer was an example of local boy makes good. Sort of. Palmer, who played for the Montreal Expos, Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, and Detroit Tigers, used to make the 3½-hour drive to Montreal from his hometown of Glens Falls, New York — which is halfway between Montreal and New York — to watch the […]
He could be considered one of the most reluctant, or perhaps contradictory, players to have ever walked on to a ball field. In July 1942 Buddy Rosar wore out his welcome with the New York Yankees after bolting the team to sit for a police department entrance exam (anticipating postcareer employment) and to visit his […]
“Ray Mack’s Lunging Play Ends Classic” read the sub-headline in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on April 17, 1940. The “Classic” was Bob Feller’s no-hit mastery of the Chicago White Sox on a cold, raw Opening Day at Comiskey Park. Through 2019, it was still the only Major League no-hitter pitched on Opening Day. Although Feller […]
When manager John McGraw needed a clutch win for his New York Giants during their four-year run as National League champions (1921-1924), he often relied on ace southpaw Art Nehf, winner of 184 games for four teams in his 15-year career (1915-1929). Described as a “money pitcher” by sportswriter Frederick G. Lieb, Nehf won the […]
When the 2015 season opened, Dominicans made up nearly 10 percent of the major leagues’ talent pool.1 They weren’t so common in 1971, though, when Frank Taveras made it to the majors for the first time. He was just the 28th of his countrymen to reach the top level — this list has now grown […]
James Thomas “Jim” Northrup, who was born and raised in a small town in Michigan, starred in several sports, including baseball and football, at Alma College, also in Michigan. Later, he made it to the major leagues and enjoyed a fine career as an outfielder with the Detroit Tigers. Highlighting his fourth full season with […]
On a road trip in 1954 with the Philadelphia Phillies, Stan Lopata, called “Big Stash” in the press and Lop by his teammates, was having trouble making contact with the ball. He and his roommate on the Phillies, outfielder Johnny Wyrostek, had just finished eating breakfast at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago. While Lopata […]
Patriarch of a three-generation big-league family, hard-hitting Negro Leaguer Sam Hairston played, coached, and scouted in pro baseball for over half a century. As a scout, Sam brought in at least five men who played for the Chicago White Sox, for whom he appeared briefly in 1951. Two of Sam’s three sons signed pro contracts […]