A ballplayer has all kinds of entry points that beckon for organization: age, league, experience, team affiliation, and – so integral to whatever sort of classifying is at hand – position and what real estate he occupies when batting. The greatest teenage seasons, the most productive debut or final seasons, […]
On May 2, 1926, 17-year-old Mel Ott drove in his first career run. Joining the festivities in the sixth inning on a Sunday at the Polo Grounds, Ott pinch-hit for pitcher Tim McNamara, faced down right-hander Frank Ulrich and singled to score Ty Tyson. The names (other than Ott’s) aren’t […]
From the time the 20th century got rolling through the year before Franklin D. Roosevelt captured his first presidential election, big offensive seasons from NL or AL second basemen weren’t all that rare. This is in thanks, just about exclusively, to the immortal trio of Nap Lajoie, Rogers Hornsby and […]
When Dave Kingman joined the Mets for the 1975 season, Cleon Jones possessed more home runs than any other player in the franchise’s history, with 93. Over 664 games with New York, Kingman would clobber 154, ending his tenure with the Mets in 1983 as the club’s career home run […]
In the first game of a doubleheader on August 19, 1930, Cubs center fielder Hack Wilson delighted the home crowd with his 43rd home run of the year – an astounding total from a couple of perspectives. There was this: by day’s end, Wilson enjoyed a 14-homer leadership advantage over […]
Rickey Henderson’s 25-year journey across the big leagues saw him don uniforms for nine different franchises, a voyage that ultimately produced 297 longballs to pair with his 1,406 thefts. Many of the members of the 250-homer, 250-steal club experienced a fairly nomadic existence, with 10 of them playing for at […]
From 1893 through 2024, the records speak of 228 pitchers who amassed at least 20 starts in a season and finished that campaign by averaging less than a hit and walk allowed per inning pitched. In terms of volume of sub-one WHIP years, Walter Johnson claims the biggest piece of […]
The 1950 Red Sox scored 1,027 runs – the 12th highest buildup in history and one that hasn’t been matched or surpassed since it rose so high. That club had some doozies when it came to single-game pinnacles, tallying at least 20 runs on three separate occasions, with a high […]
In an easy-going, 20-4 rout of the St. Louis Browns on May 21, 1925, Philadelphia Athletics backstop Mickey Cochrane erupted for three home runs. The verb is useful here, as Cochrane entered the game with one four-base hit on his career ledger; then again, he had only played 27 games […]
In the famed 1941 season, the one that peaked with an historic hitting streak and a legendary batting title, neither the streaker (Joe DiMaggio) nor the titleist (Ted Williams) paced the AL in hits. Instead, that overshadowed accomplishment belonged to Washington’s shortstop, Cecil Travis. With his 218 knocks, Travis became […]