Detroit’s Bill Donovan issues his first pitch to Pittsburgh’s leadoff hitter, Bobby Byrne … Christy Mathewson and Smoky Joe Wood duel it out for the final three innings … Walter Johnson receives a chance at redemption … Pete Alexander comes on in relief to fan Tony Lazzeri with the bases […]
Ken Griffey, Jr. may have been gone. Álex Rodríguez may have left town. Randy Johnson may have been but a memory. But Ichiro Suzuki was the new king of Seattle. Jamie Moyer and Edgar Martínez and Dan Wilson were still around. Facing the Indians at Safeco Field on October 15, […]
In the very first postseason contest in Major League Baseball’s Modern Era – Game 1 of the 1903 World Series – Pittsburgh’s Deacon Phillippe baffled Boston’s batters and silenced the partisans at the Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds with a 10-strikeout, no-walk display. This established introduction – reach double-digits in K’s […]
Since the 20th century gave way to the 21st, 1,713 contests have abruptly and resoundingly concluded with a home run. Pinch-hitters have authored 104 of these dream (or nightmare) scenarios, going from witness to hero in whatever time it took to emerge off the pine, prep in the on-deck space, […]
Across his magnificent, inaugural Hall of Fame class career, Christy Mathewson paced all his NL peers in fewest walks per nine innings on seven different occasions, a repetition of supremacy that since Matty had his last leadership campaign in 1915, has been surpassed by only Greg Maddux. Before Mathewson started […]
Major League Baseball’s story in the 21st century has been significantly devoted to single-season longball feats – a Major League record here, an AL record there, a shuffling of NL and AL rookie records, perhaps a new record for catchers this season. The narrative has been much less consumed by […]
When Jimmie Foxx hit 50 home runs for the Red Sox in 1938, his home environs at Fenway Park offered a seductive set of dimensions for the slugger – so much so that 70% of his round-trippers (35 of 50) came in the home whites. Right now (but seemingly not […]
Casting an evaluative glance back 91 seasons, the choice for the AL’s starting pitcher in the 1934 All-Star Game appears as easy and devoid of controversy as any. 25-year-old Lefty Gomez entered the pause in regular season action pacing the circuit outright with 14 wins and a 2.03 ERA while […]
A jubilant Ted Williams almost galloping around the basepaths in the aftermath of his swing against Claude Passeau in 1941. Stan Musial thrilling the crowd at County Stadium with his typically understated trot from home to home in 1955. Johnny Callison taming The Monster – Dick Radatz – with a […]
If they (and we) are fortunate, defending MVPs Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge will end their respective seasons with somewhere north of 150 games played – an almost daily entry across six months of regular season baseball. In contrast, the best pitchers will present their arms and offerings – if […]