Historic Events | Baseball History Comes Alive

Gee, Thanks Brooks!

Before we say our final goodbye to the great Brooks Robinson, who passed away last Tuesday at age 86, I thought it would be fitting to take a look at Norman Rockwell’s wonderful 1971 painting of Brooks signing an autograph for a young baseball fan...

Posted on: October 2, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 7 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

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

Happy Presidents’ Day! Let’s Recall President Eisenhower’s “Baseball Secret!”

“Not making the baseball team at West Point was one of the greatest disappointments of my life, maybe my greatest.” -Dwight Eisenhower

Posted on: February 20, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 4 Comments

1942 Baseball Game Halted by… a Prison Break??

There was a game played in 1942 at the Folsom Correctional Facility in California that was halted because of a prison break! That has to be a first!...

Posted on: February 11, 2023
By: Gary Livacari
With: 3 Comments

The “Amazin Mets!” 1962-69

"The Mets have shown me more ways to lose than I even knew existed." -Manager Casey Stengel

Posted on: December 9, 2022
By: Gary Livacari
With: 22 Comments

The Heart-Warming Story of Babe Ruth and Little Johnny Sylvester

“I'll knock a homer for Wednesday's game. Babe Ruth” –Inscription on baseball scrawled by Babe Ruth during the 1926 World Series and given to little Johnny Sylvester, recovering from a near-fatal illness....

Posted on: December 3, 2022
By: Gary Livacari
With: 7 Comments

Baseball’s Deadliest Day: Black Saturday – The tragedy that changed ballpark construction forever

Black Saturday began innocently enough when a 13-year-old girl ran an errand for her aunt that took her past where the Phillies were playing a doubleheader...

Posted on: October 11, 2022
By: Gary Livacari
With: 7 Comments

Babe Ruth’s Called Shot: “Did He or Didn’t He?”

The story goes that Ruth pointed to the center-field bleachers during the at-bat. But did he?...

Posted on: October 2, 2022
By: Gary Livacari
With: 5 Comments

Let’s Remember Two Baseball Immortals: Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson!

"Ethnic prejudice has no place in sports, and baseball must recognize that truth if it is to maintain stature as a national game." -Branch Rickey...

Posted on: August 27, 2022
By: Gary Livacari
With: 8 Comments

New Blog Topic: A Real Wacky Game! Blue Jays Beat the Red Sox 28-5!

Did any of you guys notice the crazy game between the Blue jays and the Red Sox last Friday? The Blue Jays defeated the Red Sox 28-5...

Posted on: July 24, 2022
By: Gary Livacari
With: 3 Comments

Twins Historic 8-5 Triple Play vs. White Sox Recalls Brooks Robinson’s Dubious Record!

In case you missed it, the Twins pulled off a historic 8-5 triple play in Monday's game against the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Park in Chicago. There's never been an 8-5 triple play before in all of baseball history...

Posted on: July 6, 2022
By: Gary Livacari
With: 20 Comments

“Lucky Lindy”—And Rogers Hornsby—Visit Sportsman’s Park, June 18, 1927

“The noisemaking [on Lindbergh Day] was reminiscent of the celebration here last fall when the Cardinals won the city’s first baseball pennant"...

Posted on: June 19, 2022
By: Gary Livacari
With: 2 Comments

June 3, 1932: A Truly Memorable Day In Baseball History With Three Historic Events!

I wonder if there’s ever been a day quite like June 3, 1932 when not one…not two…but three historic events occurred – two within the same game!...

Posted on: June 4, 2022
By: Gary Livacari
With: 4 Comments

Harvey Haddix Near-Perfect Game: One for the Record Books!

"Not a day goes by that somebody doesn't ask me about that game. I think I got more notoriety from it because I lost."-Harvey Haddix,...

Posted on: May 28, 2022
By: Gary Livacari
With: 5 Comments

Lou Gehrig’s Consecutive Game Streak Comes to An End!

Eighty-three years ago yesterday, 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...

Posted on: May 1, 2022
By: Gary Livacari
With: 8 Comments

Sammy Byrd, The Greatest Baseball Golfer Ever!

Here we are in the heart of winter caught that "no man's land" between the end of the World Series and the start of spring training...

Posted on: January 4, 2022
By: Gary Livacari
With: 3 Comments

Let’s Remember the Great Branch Rickey!

"Ethnic prejudice has no place in sports, and baseball must recognize that truth if it is to maintain stature as a national game." -Branch Rickey...

Posted on: November 14, 2021
By: Gary Livacari
With: 8 Comments

The Three Alou Brothers Make History: All Three In The Same Outfield!

Can we put this one in the category: "It'll never happen again"? I think that's a safe bet!...

Posted on: November 5, 2021
By: Gary Livacari
With: 4 Comments

“I SAW IT ON THE RADIO!”

Today, Paul Doyle offers us something a bit different: Paul gives us a brief history of baseball and radio broadcasting...

Posted on: September 26, 2021
By: Gary Livacari
With: 8 Comments

“M&M BOYS” HIT HOME RUNS GOOD & PLENTY!

With the overabundance of Home Runs being hit in the majors over the last twenty years or so, we have almost forgotten the 60th anniversary of Roger Maris' quest to break one of the iconic records in the game-most home runs in a season...

Posted on: September 15, 2021
By: Gary Livacari
With: 14 Comments

How Many of You Know What An “Immaculate Inning” Is?

Reading this morning's Chicago Sun-Times, I learned that Boston's Chris Sale threw what's called an "immaculate inning," tying Sandy Koufax as the only pitchers in baseball history to have thrown three in the entire history of baseball...

Posted on: August 27, 2021
By: Gary Livacari
With: 6 Comments

The Tragedy of Fred Merkle, Part Three: It’s Time to Right a Historic Wrong!

“I wish I’d never gotten that hit that set off the whole Merkle incident. I wish I’d struck out instead. It would have spared Fred a lot of unfair humiliation.”...

Posted on: August 21, 2021
By: Gary Livacari
With: 12 Comments

The Merkle Tragedy, Part Two: The Warren Gill Game

The game isn’t over until that man touches second base! Why don’t you wait until the game is over, you big fathead!...

Posted on: August 14, 2021
By: Gary Livacari
With: 1 Comment

1930: The Year Offense In Baseball Went “Off the Charts!”

1930 was a good year to be a hitter in the major leagues…but definitely not a pitcher!...

Posted on: July 24, 2021
By: Gary Livacari
With: 9 Comments

Joe DiMaggio’s 56-Game Streak Comes To An End: July 17,1941!

Even though I'm a couple days late on this, I couldn't let the week go by without mentioning the 80th anniversary of Joe DiMaggio's incredible 56-game hitting streak coming to an end...

Posted on: July 19, 2021
By: Gary Livacari
With: 4 Comments

The Cubs’ Recent “Combined No-Hitter” Calls to Mind 1917!

I'm sure most of you heard that the Cubs recently threw a combined no-hitter. When I heard about it, my baseball history antenna immediately went off...

Posted on: July 1, 2021
By: Gary Livacari
With: 14 Comments

Baseball’s Version of “The Thrill of Victory…and The Agony of Defeat!” Part Two

Here’s the "flipside" to one of the most memorable days in baseball history: Bobby Thomson’s “Shot Heard Round the World” at the Polo Grounds in 1951...

Posted on: June 18, 2021
By: Gary Livacari
With: 3 Comments

The Thrill of Victory…and the Agony of Defeat, Part One

There’s nothing better in the great game of baseball than being a World Series hero – even if it’s only for a day!...

Posted on: June 16, 2021
By: Gary Livacari
With: 4 Comments

Joe DiMaggio’s 56-Game Hitting Streak Begins!

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Posted on: May 16, 2021
By: Gary Livacari
With: 15 Comments

Our Annul Baseball Tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr.

As is my usual custom, I always like to find a connection between baseball history and national holidays...

Posted on: January 20, 2021
By: Gary Livacari
With: 1 Comment

“The Curse of Chico Ruiz”: The Phillies Blow the 1964 Pennant!

“It was about the dumbest play I’ve ever seen…except that it worked.” -Pete Rose, speaking of teammate Chico Ruiz’ 1964 steal of home...

Posted on: August 29, 2020
By: Gary Livacari
With: 8 Comments

A Historic Baseball Event Occurred This Week!

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Posted on: August 19, 2020
By: Gary Livacari
With: 5 Comments

Baseball Shootings, Part Two: Eddie Waitkus Shot by an Obsessed “Femme Fatale”

"If I can't have you, nobody else can either!" –Ruth Ann Steinhagen to the object of her obsession, Eddie Waitkus, just before shooting him...

Posted on: August 9, 2020
By: Gary Livacari
With: 13 Comments

Harvey Haddix Near-Perfect Game: One for the Record Books!

"Not a day goes by that somebody doesn't ask me about that game....

Posted on: July 29, 2020
By: Gary Livacari
With: 5 Comments

TOM SEAVER INTERVIEW, PRELUDE TO A MIRACLE…AND MORE

We welcome another guest post from Bill Schaefer, giving us a first-hand account of his interview Tom Seaver back in 1969...

Posted on: July 29, 2020
By: Gary Livacari
With: 12 Comments

“Hippo” Vaughn and Baseball’s Rarest of Feats: The “Double No Hitter”

What are the odds of a double no-hitter? Well, I read somewhere the odds of a no-hitter in any game are 13,000-to-one...

Posted on: July 26, 2020
By: Gary Livacari
With: 5 Comments

The 1930s Baseball Barnstorming Tours to Japan, Part II: The 1934 Tour

“The 1934 tour would have never happened without Babe Ruth, because – even though he was at the end of his playing career – he was still the most popular and famous athlete of his day”...

Posted on: July 11, 2020
By: Gary Livacari
With: 2 Comments

Babe Ruth’s 1924 Barnstorming Tour Visits Dunsmuir Ball Park…And It’s Still Standing!

With a rare second-place finish, the 1924 season was a disappointment for the Yankees. The team was aging with four regulars and nearly all their bench over the age of 30...

Posted on: July 4, 2020
By: Gary Livacari
With: 1 Comment

Here’s a streak from 1941 you probably aren’t aware of!

The 1941 baseball season is considered by many baseball historians to be one of the greatest ever...

Posted on: June 24, 2020
By: Gary Livacari
With: 13 Comments