I always enjoy reading about baseball’s oddities: perfect games, four home runs in one game, hitting for the natural cycle, and five extra base hits in a game. All of these are comparable in terms of rarity, but all require extraordinary effort and skill. Right up there in rarity is the unassisted triple play. The difference, though, is that the unassisted triple play is more a matter of luck than skill…
Memorial Day Baseball Tribute: Eddie Grant and The Curse of Coogan’s Bluff!
Today, Ron Christensen pays tribute to Eddie Grant, the first major league player to be killed in action in World War I. Ron also shows Eddie’s connection to the Curse of Coogan’s Bluff, which followed the Giants to San Francisco after their move from New York…
Let’s Remember Vada Pinson!
As a long-time Cub fan, I’m old enough to remember Vada Pinson, especially when he played for the Reds. My recollection is that he was a dangerous clutch hitter with blazing speed and that he was also an outstanding defensive center fielder…
My Review of: “Marse Joe and Me, Recalling Baseball’s Greatest Manager”
Many thanks to author Robert O’Brian for sending me a copy of his interesting book, Marse Joe and Me, Recalling Baseball’s Greatest Manager. In it, Robert details the improbable story of how his then thirteen-year-old father – a paperboy in Buffalo, New York in the 1930s during the grim days of the Great Depression – was befriended by Joe McCarthy and his wife, Babe. It was a friendship that lasted for the rest of their lives until McCarthy passed away on January 13, 1978, at the age of 90…
THE CARRASQUELS, ALEX AND CHICO: A FAMILY OF FIRSTS.
Chico Carrasquel was a man of firsts. He was not only the initial batter in the initial major league baseball game played in Baltimore in half a century, he was also the first major leaguer to get a hit in Memorial Stadium, singling off of Turley in that initial at bat…
Major League Baseball at 150!
Today we welcome a guest essay from Randy Maniloff in which he celebrates the 150th anniversary of the National League’s first game, played on April 22, 1876. Randy also interviewed baseball historian John Thorn for this essay, and John offers interesting reflections on some of the rule changes baseball has seen over the years…
Happy birthday Yogi!
With today being the one hundred and first anniversary of the great Yogi Berra, I thought it would be a good occasion to repost one of my favorite Yogi essays. In this one, I try to put to rest the notion that Yogi was some kind of “lovable dolt.” Believe me, he was far from it, with a keen baseball mind combined with a lot of common sense…
Cubs’ Winning Streaks Recall the Great 1935 Cub Team!
Reading the Chicago Sun-Times yesterday, I learned that the Cubs’ recent consecutive game winning streak (which, sadly, ended last night at ten with a 6-0 loss to the Rangers), combined with an earlier 10-game winning streak, had placed the team in truly historic territory – at least for the Cub franchise…
BLUE LAW BLUES!
Most of us are familiar with the Blue Laws that prohibited sales of alcohol in the early 20th century. But how many know that the Blue Laws also forbade playing baseball on Sundays?…
Lou Gehrig’s Consecutive Game Streak Comes to An End!
Eighty-seven years ago this week, April 30, 1939, was a memorable day in baseball history. On that day, the consecutive game streak of the Iron Horse, Lou Gehrig, finally came to an end…
