April 20, 2024

Fun With Retrosheet: League Leaders With the Fewest Games Played

October 16, 2011 by · 1 Comment 

Cliff Blau recently mentioned to me that Vince Barton led the NL in getting hit by pitches in 1931 despite playing only 66 games and wondered what were the fewest games for players leading their respective leagues in a hitting category. So since major league baseball returned to a 150+ game schedule in 1904 (and […]

Koufax or Ryan? Tough choice for Torborg

July 18, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 

Don’t ask Jeff Torborg to choose between Sandy Koufax and Nolan Ryan. The only man to catch no-hitters thrown by both can’t make up his mind. A former back-up catcher for the Dodgers and Angels, Torborg caught a perfect game thrown by Koufax in 1965 and no-hitters thrown by Bill Singer in 1970 and Ryan […]

Scenes and Quotes From San Francisco and the Giants Clubhouse After Winning the 1962 Playoff

October 26, 2010 by · Leave a Comment 

A while ago I hunted down the San Francisco Chronicle from the day after the Giants beat the Dodgers to win the 1962 N.L. pennant. It’s been overlooked by the World Series that followed, but the race was a thriller that nearly matched 1951’s, and was the start of the Giants-Dodgers rivalry in California. To […]

Back to the Future: SPORT’s “Five Hottest Questions” of 1961

August 12, 2010 by · 1 Comment 

Last month I delved into SPORT’s predictions for the 1969 All-Stars made five years before in 1964.  This time around, I’m looking at five questions writer Tom Meany asked prior to the 1961 season.  In the May 1961 issue of SPORT, which actually hit newsstands in March, Meany penned an article titled, “The Big Leagues’ […]