“The Greatest Game Ever Pitched” At 50

Today is the 50th anniversary of a pitching duel I chronicled in a book called “The Greatest Game Ever Pitched.” On July 2-3, 1963, 42-year-old Warren Spahn of the Milwaukee Braves and 25-year-old Juan Marichal of the San Francisco Giants staged a 16-inning, 428-pitch clash that might still be going if it weren’t for a […]

Astros Show Some Improvement in June

The Astros entered the final weekend of the month of June with a 12-12 record and a chance to have their first winning month in years.  However, they were swept at home by the Los Angeles Angels and finished 12-15 for the month. The month started on a positive note as the Astros won their […]

The Baseball Historian’s Notes for July 1, 2013: For the Love of the Game

One of the more endearing aspects of baseball is the way it can attract people and hold them in its gentle clutches for the remainder of their days. In an increasingly fast-paced world, professional players are more likely to be transitory; following the money or just the simple opportunity to stay in the game. No […]

Halfway Home and Competitive Balance is Winning With Pitching

The first half of the 2013 season is in the record books and surprises abound. Chris Davis is quietly on a pace to hit 62 home runs when most were predicting an end to the offensive surge of prior years. The Boston Red Sox team that unraveled under Bobby Valentine has vaulted to the lead in […]

Tracking the Big Cat’s Trail to the Hall of Fame

Johnny Mize set the record. He set it fair and square. In 1940 he hit 43 home runs, a St. Louis Cardinals record that would stand until 1998. Mark McGwire moved past Mize and others that year as he set a major league season record of 70 home runs. The powerful bat of McGwire brought great excitement to the game. Baseball was again taking center stage […]

Call to the Pen: The Great Lefty Gomez

Hey baseball fans! I just put up my latest post for Fan Sided’s Call to the Pen. This one is about one of the best Yankee pitchers ever, Lefty Gomez. If you want to read more about this, just click here. I hope you enjoy the post and thanks for reading it. Check back in a couple of days […]

Kansas Teams Excel in American Association, Wichita on Diamond, Kansas City at Box Office

Kansas‘s only two professional baseball teams, both in the American Association, have been creating positive headlines of late although for largely separate reasons. Wichita has been doing in mostly on the diamond where the Wingnuts, aptly named because of that city’s major aircraft-building industry, have the best record (26-14) in the sprawling, 13-team league.  Kansas […]

Greg Cadaret Has Left His Mark On the Game

Left-handed pitchers are one of the most valuable commodities in baseball. Any southpaw with talent has a ready-made major league career ahead of them, which can bring them stardom, or at the very least, allow them to see a lot of the country. Former pitcher Greg Cadaret perfectly fit the mold of the quintessential lefty, […]

Which Man Has Had the Best Overall Career in MLB History?

A blogging friend, Bill Miller, wrote about Walter Johnson’s hitting proficiency a while ago; it was something I had not known about. His post prompted me to come up with this question: Which man has had the best overall baseball career in MLB history, covering the roles of pitcher, position player and/or hitter, and manager? […]

Wally Pipp 100

Wally Pipp 100 One hundred years ago, June 29, 1913, Wally Pipp played his first major league game. We all know, or think we know, how his career ended. Not nearly enough is written about what occurred in-between. Born in Chicago, Pipp graduated from high school in Grand Rapids, Michigan and made his big league […]

Touring The Bases With…Jerry Reuss

Jerry Reuss, a 6’5″ southpaw, was drafted by his hometown St. Louis Cardinals right out of high school in the second round of the 1967 amateur draft.   After spending two years in the minors, the then 20-year-old made his major league debut on September 27, 1969 and tossed seven brilliant innings against the Montreal […]

The Baseball Historian’s Notes for June 24, 2013: Take the Time to Appreciate Baseball History

Even though no players were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame this year, the official start of summer is a good reminder that this jewel of a museum is a great place to visit. Whether it is taking the family on vacation or learning more about the National Pastime, Cooperstown, New York houses […]

Remembering Chuck Hinton

In a pregame ceremony Saturday, the Washington Nationals recognized the contributions of former Senators’ player Chuck Hinton who died January 27th, earlier this year. His wife Irma “Bunny” Hinton was at the game for the ceremonies along with daughter Kimberly and grand-daughter Gabrielle–they are pictured below. Though born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, Hinton and […]

October ’72

The Mustache Gang, the Big Red Machine and the World Series that climaxed one of baseball’s most memorable seasons (Following is an excerpt of Ed Gruver’s latest book, October ’72.) Reggie Jackson loved to hit a baseball. In the spring of 1972, the star right fielder for the reigning American League Western Division champion Oakland […]

American Jews & America’s Game: Book Review and Interview

Hey baseball fans! A while back, my friend Marty Appel, the renowned author of my favorite New York Yankees book, Pinstripe Empire, asked me to read a book called American Jews & America’s Game by Larry Ruttman and to review it. So first, here is my review of the book and then continue reading for the interview I […]

Nava Getting Some All-Star Buzz; Speculating on Cities for New Diamond League

As strange as it would have seemed a few months ago, onetime Independent leaguer Daniel Nava is getting attention for major league baseball’s All-Star Game. It still is a long shot for the Boston Red Sox outfielder and occasional first baseman to be part of the July 16 contest at Citi Field in New York […]

It’s Rookie Time!

We’ve made our way into mid-June and it’s time for the rookies to come out of hiding. They’ve been holed up in double and triple-a, just waiting to make an impact on your fantasy roster. You may wonder why I spend so much time talking about rookies and why every week I talk about minor […]

From Dylan to Steinbrenner: The ‘Catfish’ Chronicles

Ashes and Diamonds …In the early ’60s Bob Dylan wrote “Poor Boy Blues,” a song about the travails of a young man down on his luck. It’s a life of struggle for Dylan’s protagonist as he seeks to hop a train, convince a bartender he’s of legal age and assure a long-distance operator “this phone call is on […]

ML”what would”B: What if the Dodgers Never Moved?

Hey baseball fans! I just put up another ML”what would”B post on More Than a Fan. In every ML”what would”B alternative history post, I discuss what would have happened if a famous event in baseball history had gone differently than it did in reality. For my latest post, I wrote what would have happened if the […]

After Years in Dodgers Farm System and Play for Six Independent Teams, Bridger Hunt Catches Fire

One cannot wonder if Bridger Hunt, who turns 28 next month, is a late bloomer. The shortstop was a sixth round draft choice of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2006, had nearly four years in their farm system without climbing above Class A, and spent time with six Independent teams spread over three leagues the […]

MLB’s Most Over and Underrated Players

Discussing the most over and underrated players in baseball is an annual exercise that creates a lot of spirited debate and reaction. There’s no scientific formula to determine or verify who falls where; just opinion, eye-tests and carefully manipulated stats to prove points. That being said, the best reason to do it is because it’s […]

It All Started With Al Lopez

Recently the modest Ybor City ancestral home of Alfonso Ramon Lopez – Al Lopez as he was known as player and manager – was up-rooted and moved about a mile, where it will become the Tampa Baseball Hall of Fame. It is richly appropriate that the baseball history of Tampa be housed in the Lopez […]

Catfish, The “Million Dollar Man”

  Catfish Hunter had his mind made up.  He wasn’t gonna work on Finley’s farm no more. The son of a Hertford, North Carolina sharecropper, James Augustus Hunter, knew all about farms. He also knew when he was getting a raw deal, whether working the land or working the mound.  Hunter claimed Charles O. Finley, […]

Will There Ever Be Another All-Star Game In Washington, DC?

The Washington Nationals did an about face in their 2013 Rule 4 draft last week. For several years GM Mike Rizzo has pursued an aggressive draft strategy in which the team spent well beyond MLB recommended signing bonuses. If you were looking for a continuation of the Nationals spendthrift ways, look again. Jake Johansen was […]

Anthony Rendon Arriving Gate 4

Anthony Rendon’s path into the station was blocked by Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman. Yet most of the time he has spent in the minors–until very recently–was at third base. Like all good ball players Rendon has made his own opportunity. He has found an open track to run on at 2nd base and he […]

Baseball Notes for June 10, 2013

The big news of the week in baseball was an ESPN Outside the Lines report that Major League Baseball is seeking to suspend 20 or more current players for their involvement with the now defunct Biogenesis of America clinic. Tony Bosch, the company’s founder, agreed to provide MLB with documents to help their cases. Players […]

My Favorite Hall of Fame Duos

Hey baseball fans! I’m sure you all know the dynamic duo of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. If you don’t, let me just tell you that they are a great Hall of Fame duo. Do you think they made my list of my top favorite Hall of Fame duos in baseball history? Read on and find […]

Touring The Bases With…Billy Sample

The first major leaguer to come from James Madison University in Virginia, Billy Sample was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 10th round of the 1976 amateur draft.  The second baseman started his professional career with the Rookie League Rangers of the Gulf Coast League and batted .382 with an outstanding .505 on-base percentage […]

The 1988 California Angels

In the eighteen months that followed the Angels’ 1986 pennant race, GM Mike Port orchestrated a major roster turnover. Bob Boone, Brian Downing, Wally Joyner, and Dick Schofield were still on the squad when the dust settled. Mike Witt and Kirk McCaskill retained their positions in the starting rotation. Port traded Gary Pettis to the […]

Tyrus (The Georgia Peach) Cobb

One of the greatest players that ever played baseball Tyrus Raymond (The Georgia Peach) Cobb was born in Royston, Georgia, December 18, 1886.  He had a brother, John Paul and a sister, Florence Leslie.  He was a highly complex and misunderstood man. He was also the greatest player of his time and one of the […]

Mike Gedman Has Whirlwind Week With NCAA Regional And Game-Winning Homer; Coaching Has His Heart

Ask any minor league baseball player—Independent or affiliated—his primary goal, and the answer is very predictable.  “I want to play in the major leagues”.  One might think the proclamation would be doubled if your father had a 13-year career in the bigs, primarily as a bulldog catcher for the Boston Red Sox. Mike Gedman, one […]

Call to the Pen: My All Time Foreign Dream Team

Hey baseball fans! I just put up my latest post for Fan Sided’s Call to the Pen. This one is a position by position analysis of who I think are the greatest MLB players ever who weren’t born in the United States. If you want to read more about this, just click here. I hope you enjoy […]

O’Koyea Dickson is Powering His Way to the Los Angeles Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers have been in the news as much as any baseball franchise over the past year-plus. Following a highly-publicized team sale and offseason spending spree, they have stumbled out of the gate and looked lost so far during the 2013 season sitting in last place in the National League West. While things […]

Statement from MLBPA Executive Director Michael Weiner Regarding ESPN’s Biogenesis Report

New York, NY, Wednesday, June 5, 2013 … Major League Baseball Players Association Executive Director Michael Weiner today issued the following statement regarding ESPN’s Biogenesis report. “The Players Association has been in regular contact with the Commissioner’s Office regarding the Biogenesis investigation.  They are in the process of interviewing players and every player has been […]

Jackie Robinson ’56 WS Glove Sells For $373K at Auction‏

Worn During 1955 and ’56 World Series… Authentic Game-Worn Glove Used By The Immortal Jackie Robinson Sells For $373,002 On Auction Block On Steiner Sports “Ground Breaking” On-Line Auction; Robinson Louisville Slugger Sells For $114,000 ***Mickey Mantle Original Signed 1960 Contract Sells for $39,930, benefits Hurricane Sandy NJ Relief Fund*** New York, June 3 — […]

« Previous Page — Next Page »