Almost exactly 38 years ago, on July 20, 1987, the Yankees’ Don Mattingly tied the nine-inning, AL record for putouts as a first baseman, with 22. The landmark achievement, which had been accomplished twice before in the league (both occurrences coming in 1906), gave Mattingly a line in the record […]
A quick run-through of recent Major League Baseball news reveals the degree to which the sport relies on the wow factor of its lightning-strewing arms. One MLB.com article from late June, recounting Shohei Ohtani’s third mound outing following his return from elbow surgery, came with the headline “Ohtani dials […]
Late in the Giants’ season in 1923, first baseman George Kelly came to the plate five times, and, in the old refrain, “fell a triple shy of the cycle.” No matter, for Kelly, instead, homered three times in an exquisite 5-for-5 day at the plate. The performance marked only the […]
Since the NL and AL started tussling in the Midsummer Classic, 30 pitchers have been able to take a breath at the pause to the season and pridefully point to already owning at least 15 wins. Bob Feller was the first to have this chance, way back in 1941 when […]
120 years ago, a Reds center fielder named Cy Seymour emblazoned his 10th Major League season with a line so far beyond anything he’d accomplished before and anything he’d do in his final six years after this pinnacle: a startling, awe-inspiring mountain flanked by short, rolling hills. In 1905, left-handed […]
Across 16 seasons, representing seven franchises, while manning first (a lot) and third (a little) and adding about equal time behind the dish and as a DH, Carlos Santana has drawn 1,315 walks in 9,094 plate appearances. “So what?” you might ask. Here’s what. There are 23 players in baseball […]
Jacob deGrom started attacking (and silencing) big league hitters for the official accounting on May 15, 2014, when he allowed a single run over seven innings (and took the loss in a 1-0 affair). The right-hander was 25 years old for this debut and with four hits and two walks […]
Among the more robust RBI men in the game this year, there are four who belong to a family of sorts: let’s call it the Al Simmons Club (you’ll see why later on). Among other notables both hidden inside and blaring out of his Hall of Fame statistical record, Simmons […]
In 1963, outfielder Leon Wagner produced 26 home runs for his Angels club. It was a strong number, good enough to tie Daddy Wags for ninth in the AL, but was also a fairly steep drop from the previous season, when the first-time All-Star clocked 37. Wagner’s tally in ’63 […]
Sometimes, a player’s line doesn’t need the author’s flourishes – the adjectives, the superlatives, the flow-y and show-y. The numbers, with perhaps just a little context, are all that’s required to … sing. Here’s one such story – just the facts. On June 25, 1987, the visiting Reds lost […]