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As the first Red Sox season after World War II got underway, the team got off to a very strong start, winning its first five games before dropping the second game of a doubleheader with the Philadelphia Athletics on Sunday, April 21.1 The Washington Senators came to town, managed by Ossie Bluege, and played a […]

New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner became the champion of player free agency and trade transactions, routinely looking past his top prospects to build out his roster. His 1984 team was built around free-agent acquisitions Dave Winfield, Don Baylor, Steve Kemp, and Phil Niekro, as well as Ken Griffey, Omar Moreno, Toby Harrah, and Butch […]

“It was a dark and stormy” day. It was the kind of day that might have inspired Edward Bulwer-Lytton to open his 1830 novel, Paul Clifford, with the now cliché “It was a dark and stormy night.”1 It was the kind of day the fictional Snoopy, in myriad Peanuts cartoons, would start with those same […]

St. Louis Cardinals fans saw one of their favorite sons reach a milestone on June 4, 1982. Right-handed pitcher Bob Forsch, in his ninth season in St. Louis, won the 100th game of his major-league career as the high-flying Cardinals defeated the defending World Series champion – but now flailing – Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-2, […]

The fans at Griffith Stadium were in for a treat in the first game of the September 9, 1916, doubleheader between the Boston Red Sox and the Washington Senators. The game featured a dream pitching matchup between the veteran Walter Johnson and 21-year-old Red Sox phenom Babe Ruth. It was the fifth time the two […]

After a tense pitchers’ duel that saw Red Ruffing of the Yankees defeat Cincinnati and Paul Derringer 2-1 in Game One of the 1939 World Series, the Reds turned to the second of their two aces, Bucky Walters, to try to even the Series against veteran Marcellus “Monte” Pearson. Reds manager Bill McKechnie professed to […]

The outlook was not good for the Texas Rangers when they squared off against the Baltimore Orioles in the finale of an early-season three-game series at Arlington Stadium. Not only was Texas winless in four home games to start the season, the Rangers had yet to even have a lead while allowing first-inning runs in […]

With Babe Ruth’s 50th home run of the year in the record books, newspaper accounts of the game celebrated the accomplishment in a manner that suggested it might be a once-in-a-lifetime event. The Chicago Tribune wrote, “Such batting as Babe Ruth has done this season never before has been accomplished. Perhaps it never will be […]

Pete Rose’s return to the Cincinnati Reds on August 17, 1984, marked a high point in a desperately low season for the team. At 51-70, the Reds had little left to play for and only the San Francisco Giants gave the Reds a cushion from the dampness of the NL West basement. Rose, Cincinnati-born and […]

The Chicago White Sox exploded, according to sportswriter Robert Markus of the Chicago Tribune, “like so many 4th of July skyrockets” on Wednesday, July 7th, knocking off the Detroit Tigers, 7-0.1 This game signaled the emergence of a new offensive threat, 23-year-old Harold Baines. The third-year player walloped three consecutive home runs, one of which […]

On June 10, 1991, Major League Baseball awarded one of the two National League expansion franchises, set to begin play at the start of the 1993 season, to South Florida businessman H. Wayne Huizenga. Part-owner of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, Huizenga paid the $95 million expansion fee but looked at ownership of the Florida Marlins […]

After falling nine games off the pace on May 8 and treading water during the month of August, the Los Angeles Dodgers battled back to finish the 2018 season with a record of 91-71, tied for first in the National League West Division with the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies won nine of their final 10 […]

Willie Mays became just the fourth major leaguer to hit at least three home runs twice in one season. (National Baseball Hall of Fame Library)   One week after a legendary four-homer performance,1 the Say Hey Kid stood on the steps of Connie Mack Stadium, looking out at a cool, foggy May 6 night. He patiently […]

The 1961 American League baseball season ushered in change. The Washington Senators moved to Minnesota, becoming the Twins. It was the inaugural season for two new expansion teams, the Los Angeles Angels and the new Washington Senators. Julio Becquer also experienced change as the season got under way. Beginning in 1955, Becquer had played for […]

Eleanor Callow was more than just the greatest power hitter in All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) history. On top of being the all-time leader in home runs and triples, Callow was perhaps the league’s best all-around position player. A speedy outfielder with a strong throwing arm, Callow ranks in the Top 10 in career […]

In 1966 New York Mets’ coach Yogi Berra scanned the Pittsburgh Pirates’ spring training camp in search of the right-handed reliever whose contributions from the bullpen led the New York Yankees to an American League crown two years earlier. “Where’s Mikkelsen?” the former skipper asked. “He helped me win the pennant in 1964 . . […]

A shortstop by trade, Bob Bailor could also play the outfield quite well. In fact, he played every position but first base and catcher during his 11 big-league seasons. Bob Murphy, the late New York Mets radio announcer, said, “He’s not a heavy hitter, but he is a tough competitor.” Like Rex Hudler and Joe […]

In the long history of the Rookie of the Year Award, Butch Metzger gained the dubious distinction as the recipient with the fewest innings played over a major-league career. This was a bizarre idea to teammates and coaches alike, who once projected a far more productive path for the righthander. In 1976, Metzger tied Hooks […]

By the time Mike Schmidt retired early in the 1989 season, he was regarded as perhaps the greatest all-around third baseman in baseball history. No major-leaguer hit more homers during the 1980s, but he was not a one-dimensional threat: he curbed his tendency to strike out and stole bases when needed. In the field, he […]

“I will never forget my brief but memorable big league stay.”1 That’s what Jay Kleven told author George Rose for the 2004 book One-Hit Wonders. Kleven, a catcher, appeared in two games for the New York Mets in June 1976. He spent less than two weeks in The Show that month and was out of […]

As a 30-year-old in 1945, George Alvin “Bingo” Binks was the American League’s top rookie batter. He hit .278 in 145 games. His 32 doubles ranked second in the A.L. His 81 runs batted in, tops on the Senators, were fifth in the league. Yet he is best remembered for a fielding blunder that critics […]

“[Joe] Taylor has such a vile reputation that I guess I couldn’t have the remotest interest in him, but he impressed me very much as a player.” – Branch Rickey1 “When Taylor is ‘right’ he is definitely a Major League hitter. He has great reflexes, terrific wrist action and tremendously quick hands. He has as much […]

Whenever the subject of best baseball names comes up, Scipio Spinks is sure to be on the short list. A classic wild flamethrower, Spinks was breaking through to success in 1972. If he hadn’t torn up his knee in a collision with Johnny Bench, he would have more to show than a career record of […]

Jay Bell stepped into the batter’s box in Minneapolis wearing his Cleveland uniform for the first time. The date was September 29, 1986, the place the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, and not only was this Bell’s first major-league game as a player, it was also the first major-league game he ever attended. The Cleveland Indians […]