A recent look through a Today in Baseball History database revealed this tidbit for December 17: The AL votes to allow pitchers who used the spitball in 1920 to continue using it as long as they are in the league. The NL will do the same. There will be […]
While the baseball world waits to see if Ichiro Suzuki becomes just the second player to earn unanimous induction to the Hall of Fame on the 2025 BBWAA ballot, another crop of Hall hopefuls is ready to hear the results of the semi-regular, often renamed Classic Baseball Era Committee. […]
With the Hall of Fame ballot available for assigned voters to muse over, I’m reminded of the thought I had at this time last year: This process is getting harder. That isn’t even taking into account the lingering issue of whether to vote for players with the stigma of […]
We’re all guilty of overestimating the capabilities of young players, particularly after they deliver a strong rookie season. After all, if they already show they can more than handle their own over the first extended look at the sport’s highest level, then surely they’ll be even better with more experience, […]
With the 2024 World Series in the books and its immediate highs and lows receding into the past, it’s time for all of us to take a collective breath and remember some of the non-baseball activities we may have overlooked since the postseason began. Just kidding! After all, we […]
In the fall of 2020, I started watching baseball with my then-6-year-old son for the first extended period of time. As his dad is a Yankees fan, he of course absorbed that they were the good guys, and he quickly picked up on the starring figures in this spectacle: The twin […]
“No way,” I insisted. “The Mets are not beating the Dodgers.” It was October 1988. I was huddled on a street corner outside our junior high school with a few other friends who enviously watched the braver boys interact with the girls, but at that point I was focused […]
A few days ago, the Mets sent the orange-and-blue-clad fans of the greater New York area into a frenzy by finishing off the rival Phillies in a memorable four-game NLDS that was much closer than some of the final scores indicated. There were several heroes for the victors, of […]
By the simple laws of math, a postseason baseball game matters more than one from the regular season. After all, we’re talking 162 games for a team spread over half a year versus maybe 20 games across a single month. But it isn’t the math that gets our senses tingling […]
A few days ago, I felt a twinge of surprise upon learning that Rich Hill had just thrown 1.1 scoreless innings for the Red Sox to mark his entry into his 20th big league season.