2020 October 17, 2020, at Petco Park, San DiegoTampa Bay Rays vs. Houston AstrosAL Championship Series Game SevenAt Stake: Spot in World Series The Rays eliminated the
Rare video of Bob Feller’s pitching delivery.
The first game played at Houston’s Astrodome was an exhibition between the New York Yankees and Houston Astros on April 9, 1965.
After an 88-year journey, the Braves finally made it to the .500 mark again in 2011 after 88 years.
With the Hall of Fame ballot cleared of top-heavy candidates, Barry Larkin bolted to the top of the voting ranks and was elected to Cooperstown today. The
Anyone who thinks Ty Cobb was a sonofabitch has Al Stump to thank for that opinion.
In his second season in the Yankee organization, Derek Jeter committed 56 errors at shortstop for the Greensboro Hornets of the Sally League. Given his shoddy work
After serving a “time out” of sorts for his behavior during his playing career, which included an umpire spitting incident, Roberto Alomar was elected to the National
Pat Gillick has always liked to have Roberto Alomar around. This summer, he’ll get another chance to spend time with Alomar, when both are part of the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2011.
On Wednesday, Bert Blyleven was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, earning his place among the greats of the game. After 14 tries, the Baseball Writers Association of America finally repaired its most glaring mistake, electing a man who most baseball experts concluded was Hall of Fame worthy years ago.
For the first time since 1999, the Baseball Hall of Fame will induct a starting pitcher this summer, but it won’t be Jack Morris. Morris, who won more games (by far) than any other pitcher in the 1980s, and who pitched one of the greatest games in baseball history in Game Seven of the 1991 World Series, is still waiting for his Cooperstown call. With Blyleven now off the ballot, Morris’s candidacy will take center stage over the next three years – his final three chances via the Baseball Writers.
When a much different America suffered its “9/11” moment, Bob Feller – the best pitcher in baseball – didn’t hesitate to take action. On December 8, 1941, one day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Feller voluntarily enlisted in the U.S. Navy. At the age of 23, already a six-year veteran of the major leagues, Feller was at the height of his fame and pitching brilliance. But his decision to enter the military wasn’t difficult.
Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller died on December 15, 2010, after living an amazing life that included inspirational service in the United States Navy in World War II and a storied baseball career. Here are nine things you may not have known about this great American.
Normally, trading a future Hall of Fame player is the death knell for a major league general manager. But when Pat Gillick did it he laid the groundwork for historic success. In 1999, Gillick, with impressive credentials on his resume, replaced Woody Woodward as General Manager of the Seattle Mariners. The team’s superstar center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. was grumbling about the lack of support on the roster and issued a trade demand. Woodward had famously told reporters, “I don’t want to be the guy remembered for trading Ken Griffey Jr. away from the Mariners.” Gillick had no such fear.
In one of the the worst cases of Hall of Fame voting in the history of that wonderful organization, Ron Santo failed to earn induction despite his obvious qualifications. It was puzzling to many who saw him in his prime. His detractors, whom apparently numbered enough to keep the Baseball Writers and Hall of Fame Veterans Committee from electing him, claimed his career was too short to have reached major statistical milestones, he never played on a winner, or that his career batting average was too unimpressive.
Next week the Baseball Hall of Fame will announce the results of a veterans committee election that considers 12 candidates from the Expansion Era. It’s the first election in the new Hall of Fame balloting process that has the voting separated into three ballots based on era: Expansion (1973-present), Golden (1947-1972), and Pre-Integration (1871-1946). Every year one of the ballots will be addressed. A small group (16) will vote in seclusion during the winter meetings. Any candidate receiving 12 votes will be elected.
In many ways the New York Yankees and owner George Steinbrenner helped create the free agent market in baseball. When the Oakland A’s failed to pay an insurance premium on Catfish Hunter following the 1974 season, the right-handed pitcher became baseball’s first free agent. Nearly every team in baseball bid on Hunter’s services, but the Yankees won the war.
Veterans Day is a day to remember and thank those who have sacrificed so much for our country. Some gave their lives. Even those who came back from war have given up much for our country. In the history of baseball, one ballplayer gave up perhaps more than any other with his service to the country. Though he came back alive from World War II, he almost certainly was deprived of baseball immortality.
When the Cincinnati Reds named 36-year old George Anderson as their manager during the 1969-1970 off-season, newspapers in the city asked “Sparky Who?” Within a few years, he was one of the few men in sports who was known by one name.
From 1903-1989, every World Series winning team except two have boasted at least one future Hall of Famer on their roster. In most of the cases, the winning team has had more than one player who have gone on to be immortalized in Cooperstown.
Throughout baseball history, great players have produced great moments in dramatic games, and Hall of Fame members are no exception, providing numerous memorable moments in a winner-take-all contests of the Fall Classic.
When we think of the greatest hitting seasons ever, we think first of the players who set the standards in batting average and home runs. Hit over .400, reach the 60-HR plateau, or win the Triple Crown, and baseball fans and historians won’t hesitate to include you on their lists of the best seasons.
On October 2, 1935, J. Edgar Hoover, America’s wildly famous FBI agent, was in the stands at Navin Field for the start of the World Series. At the end, it was another “G-Man” who made healdines, as Goose Goslin’s single drove in the game-winning run in the ninth inning of Game Six, giving the Tigers their first championship.
Neither the Cleveland Indians nor the Detroit Tigers had any chance to win the pennant when they met in a late September game in 1946. But a much-anticipated meeting between the league’s two top pitchers drew a large crowd to Memorial Stadium.
Thanks to a mistake by the Washington catcher, Tiger slugger Hank Greenberg was able to deposit this baseball into the left field stands of Briggs Stadium. Not only was the home run of importance in that game, which Detroit won, 6-4, it was the 300th such blast of Greenberg’s esteemed career.
Those who work in baseball for a living are fond of saying that without the fans there wouldn’t be a game. Rarely, however, do the fans get their due. One owner, Hall of Famer Bill Veeck, did his best to pay tribute to the fans and put them center stage.
When Detroit fans settled into Navin Field for the traditional Labor Day doubleheader in 1918, they had no idea that they would see a 41-year old coach pitch and get a victory, and that a pharmacist who came to watch the game, would play the outfield in place of Ty Cobb. But that’s what happened.
When Walter Johnson pitched his first professional game, he lost 21-0. Almost all of the runs were scored on third strikes that his catcher failed to secure because of their speed. Johnson threw hard.
In the “Peach State” on May 8, one of the most popular beverages in history was first concocted, and on December 18, a legendary ballplayer was born. As a result, Coca-Cola became a household name and one of the most profitable companies in the world, and Tyrus Raymond Cobb became a batting champion and eventually one of the first members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Here’s our list of the greatest Cinderella teams in baseball history, from the 1914 Miracle Boston Braves to the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays, these teams wore the glass slipper for one magical season.