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No matter your perspective, the 1919 Patriots Day opening day doubleheader at Braves Field just didn’t feel the same as those previously played in the twentieth century. Many things swirled in the festive atmosphere that April 19, including the lingering sweet aroma of the January 15 molasses tank explosion/flood tragedy in the North End that […]

The 1966 Pittsburgh Pirates, featuring Roberto Clemente, Bill Mazeroski, Willie Stargell (having his first big season), and batting champion Matty Alou, topped the National League as late as September 10 before fading to third place, just three games behind the repeat champion Los Angeles Dodgers. At the end of June Pittsburgh (43-29) trailed only the […]

Brothers Norm and Larry Sherry shared one of the highlights of their careers for the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 7, 1960. They were batterymates for the final four innings of the Dodgers’ game against the Philadelphia Phillies, with Norm entering at catcher and Larry pitching in relief. Larry claimed the win when Norm’s walk-off […]

“Not bad for a junk pitcher, and for nine old men,” shouted Jackie Robinson after Carl Erskine’s no-hitter.1 Robinson’s ire was directed toward New York Giants scout Tom Sheehan, whose club had just been beaten by the team he considered to be over the hill. Erskine became only the 10th pitcher since 1900 to toss […]

The name Elroy Face conjures up many associations. One might think about one of baseball’s most durable and consistent relief pitchers with the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1950s and 1960s at a time when modern, post-World War II relief pitching was in its infancy; or his career-defining 18-1 record in 1959, marking the highest winning […]

Hall of Famer Wade Boggs’ illustrious 18-year career included 12 consecutive All-Star Game appearances, eight Silver Slugger Awards, and five batting titles. The 240 hits he collected in 1985 are tied for the 13th highest in a major-league season (as of 2023). Boggs was a member of the 1996 New York Yankees team that won […]

The 1982 New York Mets (64-95) were ending a dismal season under first-year manager George Bamberger.1 After going 14-15 in September, the Mets, who had a losing record for the sixth season in a row, offered Bamberger a multiyear contract on September 30. He requested a one-year deal, saying that he didn’t want to “walk […]

The New York Mets lost Mike Piazza to a strained left hamstring in the first inning of their 4-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on April 23, 2002.1 Despite missing their slugging catcher, they won four of their next five games to move into a first-place tie with the Montreal Expos in the National […]

On June 26, 1962, Earl Wilson of the Boston Red Sox became the first Black pitcher to throw a no-hitter in the American League, and his third-inning home run provided the game-winning run in Boston’s 2-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels. Wilson was the first Black ballplayer to sign with the Red Sox—in 1953—but […]

Rico Brogna’s high school athletic career was almost too good to be true. On the football field, where he led Watertown (Connecticut) High School to a 31-0 victory in the 1986 state championship game, Brogna was the first quarterback in state history to throw for over 6,000 yards, and his 59 touchdown passes were the […]

Luther Clifford grew up in an atypical town for the Depression-era United States, a suburban melting pot largely free from racial tensions. What’s more, he could draw inspiration from noteworthy ancestors dating back to the early days of the Civil War. His baseball career may not have been as remarkable, but there’s little reason to […]

Over the years, the Pittsburgh Courier, one of the nation’s leading African-American newspapers, used the following superlatives to describe Pittsburgh Crawfords infielder Chester Williams: Peppy, snappy, aggressive, hustling, scrappy, flashy. He was also referred to as sure-fielding, hard-hitting, a sparkplug, and even an inspired devil. From 1931 through the team’s demise in 1938, Williams was […]

Team captain Sal Bando was the glue that held the volatile Oakland A’s together during their three-year run as World Series champions (1972-1974). Respected by teammates, peers, and his managers, Bando was Oakland’s unequivocal leader, a durable, rough-and-tumble third baseman who averaged 23 home runs and 90 runs batted in over an eight-year span in […]

Byung-Hyun Kim, or BK, as he was known to his teammates, was one of the first and most successful major-league players from South Korea. Although he is most remembered for devastating back-to-back blown saves in Game Four and Game Five of the 2001 World Series, those failures obscure the fact that for several years he […]

[With research assistance from John Leidy] Ray Fisher has been justly honored for his 38 seasons as head baseball coach at the University of Michigan. He was elected to Michigan’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1959, the American Association of College Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame in 1966, and the University of Michigan Hall of […]

As a rookie in 1898, Vic Willis won 25 games as a key member of the pennant-winning Boston Beaneaters, one of the top teams of the nineteenth century. Eleven years later in his penultimate season, Willis again won over 20 games as a member of the world champion Pittsburgh Pirates, one of the top teams […]

One of the most ignorant things ever said about baseball was the labeling of catcher’s gear as “the tools of ignorance.” The origins of that regrettably memorable phrase date back at least to the 1930s, though the etymology is disputed. Suffice it to say, however, that anyone who repeats that ignorant utterance must never have […]

Tony Fossas was past his 30th birthday before he made the big leagues, but he pitched in 567 games for the Rangers, Brewers, Red Sox, Cardinals, Mariners, Cubs, and Yankees from 1988 through 1999. In 166 of those games, Fossas faced only one batter.1 He was what was once called a “LOOGY” (a Left-Handed One-Out […]

“I have a personality that some people call a flake or crazy or insane,” Larry Andersen acknowledged.1 “But if I thought about nothing except what I’m going to be doing that night when I pitch, I’d be a basket case. Of course, I’ve been accused of being close to that anyway.”2 “How come fat chance […]

“That long, long list of pitchers…like a lost platoon.”[1] So the Chicago Tribune described the many young hurlers who came through the Cubs system in the late 1960s. Some of those prospects went on to better things after trades, but others got only a cup of coffee – if that. Pat Jacquez – the elder […]

In his time, Enzo Hernández was a special player for fans of Venezuelan baseball. Both Hernández and David Concepción were thought of as successors to Alfonso “Chico” Carrasquel and Luis Aparicio, and Venezuela began to be seen as the cradle of the shortstop. Enzo Octavio Hernández Martínez was born on February 12, 1949, in the […]

A familiar baseball stereotype of the mid-twentieth century was the “good field, no hit” Latino shortstop.1 The prototype was captured by Willy Miranda – who many contend was the slickest Cuban glove man ever born but who ended his near-decade-long sojourn in the majors with a mere 70 extra base hits and a lightweight .221 […]

For two years, 5-foot, 9-inch Bob Saverine teamed with 6-foot, 7-inch Frank Howard on the Washington Senators. But, that’s not all. The talented pair, along with several other Senators players, formed a basketball team.1 Prior to the 1968 season, newly named manager Jim Lemon watched as they played an exhibition game and defeated a team […]

Ebbets Field has been gone for more than half a century, but the place still has a remarkable grip on our consciousness. At least three books have been devoted to the lovable old ballpark in Crown Heights.1 Yet even these in-depth works don’t shine much light on what happened after the Dodgers left Brooklyn. They […]