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THE DODGERS’ GOATS

THE DODGERS’ GOATS

Today Vince Jankoski returns with Part Two of his four-part series on baseball goats, focusing on the Dodgers. The first two incidents, involving Mickey Owen and Ralph Branca are well known, but the third involving the great Gil Hodges and his unfortunate - and uncharacteristically poor  - performance in the 1952 World Series is not as well known...
Here’s lookin’ at you Toots!

Here’s lookin’ at you Toots!

Today we welcome back Mark Kolier with something just a bit different. Mark recounts the story of Toots Shor's restaurant and sports bar. During its heyday, it was a favorite hangout of some of the biggest names in sports and show business...
THE GREATEST “GOATS” OF ALL TIME

THE GREATEST “GOATS” OF ALL TIME

Today, I'm happy to announce that we will be featuring the first of four installments by Vince Jankoski in his series on "Baseball's Goats." Today, Vince starts out with two well-known goats from the Deadball Era, Fred Merkle and Fred Snodgrass...
Happy Easter from Baseball History Comes Alive!

Happy Easter from Baseball History Comes Alive!

As many of you know by now, I always like to find a connection between baseball history and holidays. Today, Easter Sunday is no exception. But when I did a Google search for “Baseball and Easter,” I wasn’t expecting much to come up....
An Unlikely Path To The Negro Leagues

An Unlikely Path To The Negro Leagues

Today we welcome back Thomas Marshall with an interesting account of an ugly incident in American history. If ever a silver lining can be found in such an incident as this, it was that it ed to certain Leavenworth inmates playing in the Negro Leagues. I think you'll find Tom's essay interesting...
The Classic 1946 World Series: Enos Slaughter’s “Mad Dash” 

The Classic 1946 World Series: Enos Slaughter’s “Mad Dash” 

The 1946 season was a great one for MLB.  World War II had ended, the regulars returned, and attendance soared. The World Series that year pitted the St. Louis Cardinals versus the Boston Red Sox.  Both teams were stocked with superior players, including two of the greatest hitters of all time: Stan Musial and Red Sox Ted Williams...
Joe Louis and Satchel Paige meet at Comiskey Park on August 13, 1948!

Joe Louis and Satchel Paige meet at Comiskey Park on August 13, 1948!

“The fact that most baseball fans did not see him in his prime is one of the great tragedies of the game.” –Iconic Baseball photographer George Brace, speaking of Satchel Paige. With February being Black History Month, here's a salute to the great Hall of Famer Satchel Paige, who many baseball historians think may be the greatest pitcher ever...
Black History Month Trivia, Part Three

Black History Month Trivia, Part Three

Today we continue with our tribute to Black History Month with Part Three of Vince Jankoski's 28 trivia questions. Before we get to the questions, here's a few words about the Homestead Grays. Photo sent to me by Chris Whitehouse....
The Shot BEFORE the Shot Heard ‘Round the World!

The Shot BEFORE the Shot Heard ‘Round the World!

Today we welcome back Matt Kastel with an interesting account of a tragic incident that occurred at the Polo grounds on July Fourth, 1950. This is something I had never heard of before. Many years later, it's still painful to read about what happened to a fan casually sitting in the stands and enjoying a ball game...
Salute to The Great Josh Gibson

Salute to The Great Josh Gibson

Today, I'll continue with our month-long celebration of Black History Month with a short tribute to Josh Gibson I wrote a few years ago. How he would have hit if allowed to compete against major league pitching for his entire career career, we'll never know. But there's no debate that he was a great hitter, one of the best ever...
BLACK HISTORY MONTH TRIVIA, Part Two

BLACK HISTORY MONTH TRIVIA, Part Two

Today, in our ongoing tribute to baseball and Black History month, we'll continue with Vince Jankoski's baseball trivia questions. As I mentioned last week, I'll be posting seven trivia questions each Thursday, one for each day of the week for the entire month...
“42” MOVIE REVIEW

“42” MOVIE REVIEW

Today we welcome back Bill Schaefer with an interesting "review of a review." Bill analyzes Boston Globe sportswriter Bob Ryan's "take" of the movie "42," written in 2013. Bill then adds his own comments as he goes along. Read Bill's essay, and see if you agree with Bob Ryan and/or Bill Schaefer!...
Great Photo of Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby!

Great Photo of Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby!

Here’s a real neat photo sent to me by a friend. That’s Larry Doby on the left and of course Jackie Robinson on the right. But here's a real surprise...Who do you think is the player on the far left, sitting on the dugout steps??...
Equal Time for the 1939 Reds!

Equal Time for the 1939 Reds!

We’ve all read a lot about the great Yankee teams of the 1930s, especially the 1939 team, which many historians consider one of the greatest of all time. That got me thinking about their National League opponents in the 1939 World Series, the Cincinnati Reds...
Bud Harrelson, RIP

Bud Harrelson, RIP

Today Vince Jankoski shares with us a tribute to recently deceased Bud Harrelson with an interesting analysis of his career. Vince addresses the question of how the light-hitting Harrelson (.236 career average) could have survived for 16 seasons in the major leagues...
Vern Stephens: The Most Ignored Great Shortstop

Vern Stephens: The Most Ignored Great Shortstop

When my son Gordon and I began our Almost Cooperstown podcast nearly four years ago, we set out to put nine players in the Hall of Fame who had not been elected. This was in our very first episode, and Gordon put out Vern Stephens, a player with whom I was completely unfamiliar...
Joe McCarthy’s Boston Years, 1948-1950

Joe McCarthy’s Boston Years, 1948-1950

Forty-six years ago today, January 13, 1978, Hall of Fame manager Joe McCarthy passed away in a Buffalo hospital at age 90. We’re all familiar with Joe McCarthy’s success as the winningest manager in Yankee history from 1931-1946...
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