When it comes to Dodgers kapowing a ballgame with a walk-off home run over the last half century, Andre Ethier is king. 2008 saw the first example of this flair, kind of a supporting role in the team’s drama that season. The following year, the 27-year-old grabbed hold of the […]
Since 1901, no Dodgers starting pitcher has accumulated more Opening Day wins than Don Drysdale and his five. The Hall of Fame right-hander owed some of that success to the Cubs, whom he bested in both 1960 and 1963. Drysdale went the distance in both of the victories, with the […]
Naturally and appropriately, Hideo Nomo carries a banner for introducing a “first” to the magic of season openers. The historic event occurred on April 3, 2000, when the right-hander became the first Japanese-born hurler to make an Opening Day start. Nomo allowed three runs over seven innings that Monday in […]
The very last games of a season being played to determine a champ, a series of games played within a tight window on the calendar. By its very formula, the World Series is an alchemist of drama, a stoker of tension and breathlessness. Sometimes, though, it really transmutes the ingredients […]
By the time Sandy Alomar established a new Indians postseason record with his 10 RBI in the 1997 World Series, the 31-year-old catcher was a long established member of the team. He had pre-dated Manny and Lofton and Vizquel and Thome and had represented Cleveland in five All-Star Games; he […]
League Division Series play has produced 39 winner-take-all contests – those ultimate, tension-filled testing grounds that have a way of squeezing out all of the possible drama. The very first year of this round – 1981 – was especially generous in its largesse, serving up three Game 5’s on the […]