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Vince Jankoski Takes A Very Deep Dive Into Double Plays! Part Two

We continue with Vince Jankoski's extensive look into double plays and how they affect a team's standings. Today, Vince examines teams that he calls "double-play machines," and again looks for correlations...

Posted on: September 15, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 4 Comments

“Maybe the Best Play Ever!”

We welcome back Bill Schaefer with the first of a two-part series. Today's essay describes possibly the "Greatest Play Ever." It involves a never-duplicated unassisted triple play by an outfielder!...

Posted on: September 13, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 8 Comments

Norman Rockwell and Baseball, Part II: “The Dugout”

Three weeks ago, I posted an essay featuring Norman Rockwell's iconic painting, "The Three Umpires." Today, I'll repost an essay I wrote four years ago about another classic Rockwell baseball painting and a companion to the "Three Umpires": "The Dugout."...

Posted on: September 10, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 5 Comments

Mark Kolier Recalls “The Greatest Baseball Game I Was Ever a Part Of”

Mark Kolier returns today with another of his interesting personal reflections on the game we all love. This gives us the opportunity to take "time out" from our normal Baseball History Comes Alive fare with some fun, light reading...

Posted on: September 9, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 9 Comments

Vince Jankoski Takes A Very Deep Dive Into Double Plays!

Today we present something new: The first of Vince's four-part series on, yes...double plays...and how does the number of them over the course of a season affect the team's standings?

Posted on: September 6, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 8 Comments

Dom DiMaggio, “The Little Professor”

"In his post-baseball life, he was one of the most successful players of his generation."...

Posted on: September 3, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 6 Comments

Fun With “Erased” No-Hitters!

Wow…you learn sometime new about this game every day! Here’s something I was previously unaware of: Erased No-Hitters!...

Posted on: August 27, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 7 Comments

Did Ted Williams Ever Pitch in a Major League Game? You Bet He Did!!

As strange to us as it seems, yes, the great Ted Williams once pitched in a major league game....

Posted on: August 25, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 10 Comments

What Inspired the Famous Norman Rockwell Painting, “The Three Umpires”?

I’ve posted the iconic Norman Rockwell painting The Three Umpires before, but I never knew what rainy-day incident served as the inspiration for the painting. Was it based on something historic? Or did Rockwell just make it all up?...

Posted on: August 19, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 5 Comments

MAJOR LEAGUE VETERANS – KOREAN WAR CHAPTER

Today Vince Janoski turns his "what if" spotlight on major league baseball and the Korean War. He highlights a few baseball stars, among the many who served their country during this conflict...

Posted on: August 18, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 4 Comments

More Fun With Triple Plays…Especially Unassisted Triple Plays!

In reading the National Pastime This Day in Baseball History website, I discovered that yesterday was the twentieth anniversary of the twelfth unassisted triple play in major league history, pulled off by the Braves' Rafael Furcal on August 10, 2003...

Posted on: August 12, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 7 Comments

World War II and Major League Baseball

We welcome back Vince Jankoski will another of his specialties: "What ifs?" Today he tackles "what if" WW II hadn't rudely intruded on the careers of many of baseball's biggest stars...

Posted on: August 10, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 11 Comments

Beautiful Color Restoration of the Addie Joss Benefit Game by Chris Whitehouse

Addie Joss was a much-beloved ace starting pitcher for the Cleveland Naps whose life was tragically cut short at the age of 31...

Posted on: August 5, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 6 Comments

My Review of “Sugarball, A Novel of Negro League Baseball,” by R. Lee Procter

It’s not often that we baseball history buffs venture into the realm of historically-based novels. It’s also not often that we encounter one such book from this genre that happens to be right up our alley...

Posted on: August 2, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 5 Comments

Check Out this Beautiful Restoration of the Homestead Grays Team Photo!

Chris Whitehouse does some amazing work, as you can see from this beautiful color restoration of the 1939 Homestead Grays. Chris was kind enough to allow me to post it today on my Baseball History Comes Alive website...

Posted on: July 30, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 7 Comments

Babe’s Best Year Ever, 1923!

Steve Falco returns today with an interesting account of what was arguably the Bambino's best season, 1923. We hear a lot about his 1927 season, but this one is often overlooked...

Posted on: July 29, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 3 Comments

The Case For Eddie Mathews

Vince Jankosi is back today, this time making the case that Eddie Mathews is the best pre-Mike Schmidt third baseman. As usual, Vince has done his homework and makes a very strong case. See if you agree...

Posted on: July 28, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 15 Comments

The Greatest Games I’ve Ever Seen

Today Mark Kolier returns with the kind of essay I enjoy the most: personal reflections on the game of baseball from years gone by...

Posted on: July 26, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 14 Comments

Wes Ferrell: The 1930s Version of Ohtani!

Wes Ferrel may very well be one of the best players not in the Hall of Fame. As you will see, he was an outstanding pitcher and one of the best-hitting pitchers in major league history...

Posted on: July 22, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 12 Comments

Who Was the Better Third Baseman, Brooks or Clete?

Today we welcome back Vince Jankoski with another thought-provoking essay, asking the question: Who was a better fielder, Brooks Robinson or Clete Boyer?...

Posted on: July 20, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 25 Comments

Book Review: Some Catch – Thirty Gems Capturing the Humor and Drama of the Game

I'm very happy to report that contributor Bill Schaefer's first book, Some Catch: Thirty Gems Capturing the Humor and Drama of the Game, is now available on Amazon in both paperback and ebook versions...

Posted on: July 19, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 17 Comments

The Wit and Wisdom – and Luck! – of Yogi Berra

There are certain players you can never quite get enough of. For me, the list includes Willie Mays, certainly the great Bambino Babe Ruth, Stan Musial, Roberto Clemente, and, most definitely, the player born Lorenzo Pietro Berra, known to us as Yogi Berra...

Posted on: July 16, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 8 Comments

Refreshing Chatter: Recalling Baseball From the Back Yard to the Men’s Senior League

Today, we have something a bit different. We welcome back contributor Mark Kolier with an interesting essay reflecting back on what baseball meant to him in different stages of his life: From playing wiffle ball in the backyard, to coaching his son's Little League team, to playing on a Men's Senior League team against "real" players...

Posted on: July 14, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 13 Comments

Part Two: Was Kansas City Really a “Farm Team” for the Yankees?

Those of you who read Part One of this two-part series will recall that Vince Jankoski is doing a "deep dive' into the trades between the Athletics and Yankees from the early 1950s into the 1960s. Vince is making the case that K.C. serving as the Yankees' "farm team" is a myth...

Posted on: July 12, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 2 Comments

Michael Keedy’s Mystery Player No. Eight!

We welcome back Michael Keedy (fresh off his book signing tour!), with another edition of our ongoing series of Mystery Players. As usual, his identity won't be too hard for our crack, highly-informed readership to decipher...

Posted on: July 12, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 3 Comments

It’s All-Star Week: Let’s take a Look Back!

With All-Star Week upon us, it’s always fun to take a look back at some of the earliest games of the Mid-Summer Classic series...

Posted on: July 9, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 13 Comments

My Review of: “Baseball Photography of the Deadball Era”

THE BASEBALL HISTORY COMES ALIVE BLOG Please note: As we compose new blog entries, we will now send each one…

Posted on: July 7, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 2 Comments

Deep Dive Into the Question: “Was Kansas City Really a ‘Farm Team’ For the Yankees?”

Today, we welcome guest contributor Vince Jankoski, who takes an in-depth look at trades between the Kansas City Athletics and the Yankees in the 1950s and early 1960s, dispelling the myth that the A's were a "farm team" for the Yankees...

Posted on: July 5, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 11 Comments

What a Week! Including Baseball’s 24th Perfect Game!

My baseball history alarm bells went off so many times this week that I thought I was in a four-alarm fire! The week including Domingo Germain's Perfect Game...

Posted on: July 1, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 6 Comments

The All-Quirky All-Star Team!

"Ah...You can't beat fun at the old ballpark," famously said beloved broadcaster, Harry Caray. For that matter you can't beat fun here on our Baseball History Comes Alive website, either!...

Posted on: June 28, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 12 Comments

We’re Contacted by Relative of Joe “Ducky” Medwick!

My essay on Joe “Ducky” Medwick last week really touched a nerve. It’s now been seen by over 2.7 million Facebook users, has received over 6,400 “likes” and generated hundreds of comments...

Posted on: June 24, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 16 Comments

SLUGGER TURNED MALAPROP MAESTRO: RALPH KINER

Today Bill Schaefer returns with a long-overdue tribute to slugger Ralph Kiner. If you ever had any doubts that Kiner is a legitimate Hall of Famer, as I once did, I think you'll be in for a surprise...

Posted on: June 23, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 9 Comments

Baseball’s Forgotten Stars: The “Mayor of Wrigley Field,” Hank Sauer!

In doing a recent search through the content on my Baseball History Comes Alive website, I realized that I had never even mentioned one of the true stars of the early 1950s, Hank Sauer...

Posted on: June 21, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 20 Comments

Happy Father’s Day!

“It was at St. Mary’s that I met and learned to love the greatest man I’ve ever known…He was the father I needed. He taught me to read and write, and the difference between right and wrong.” -Babe Ruth, speaking of his father figure and mentor, Brother Mathias...

Posted on: June 18, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 8 Comments

Joe “Ducky” Medwick Beaned and Nearly Killed, June 18, 1940

"When he dies, half the National League will go to his wake just to make sure that S-O-B is dead." –Unknown former teammate, speaking of Joe Medwick...

Posted on: June 17, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 7 Comments

Great New Yogi Berra Documentary: “It Ain’t Over”

If you’re a baseball fan, you’ve got to find the time to watch the new Yogi Berra documentary, which I viewed last night. Aptly titled, It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over, I found it to be an outstanding production and gives equal coverage to both Yogi’s baseball career and his personal life...

Posted on: June 15, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 13 Comments

“Babe Ruth Day” at Yankee Stadium, June 13, 1948 and the Twenty-Five Year Reunion of the 1923 Yankees!

This photo was taken 75 years ago yesterday, June 13, 1948, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the opening of Yankee Stadium, which, of course, later became known as "the House That Ruth Built."...

Posted on: June 14, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 12 Comments

Baseball History Comes Alive Tops the One Million Hits Mark!

Seven and a half years ago, on January 20, 2016, the Baseball History Comes Alive website was born...

Posted on: June 10, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 13 Comments

Peter Wilt’s Journey to Find the “Eight Men Out,” Part Two

In Part One, Peter described his visits to the graves of Joe Jackson, Hap Felsch, and Buck Weaver. He continues his story with visits to the graves of Eddie Cicotte, Lefty Williams, Fred McMullin, Swede Risberg, and the ringleader, Chick Gandil.

Posted on: June 8, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 3 Comments

Michael Keedy’s Mystery Player No. Seven!

Today, our contributor and soon-to-be best-selling author, Michael Keedy - fresh off the release of his new book "Top Ten Greatest World Series Catches" - returns with another interesting installment in our ongoing series of "Mystery Players,"...

Posted on: June 7, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 12 Comments