Ducks On the Pond; Goose Eggs On the Scoreboard

Theoretically, a pitcher could give up three hits every inning and maintain a shutout.  A 27-hit shutout is conceivable but virtually impossible.  Of course, in an era when a complete game is a rarity, musing about complete game shutouts is an exercise in nostalgia. If the complete game shutout were a species, it would be […]

Red Barrett, Efficiency Expert

The starter was holding his own.  Pitching into the 5th inning, he had yielded just one unearned run.  Suddenly the manager came out of the dugout and beckoned for a new pitcher, a puzzling move to be sure.  As it turned out, the pitcher who came out of the bullpen was ineffective, as were his […]

Frank Lane’s Cardinal Sin

Some years ago, I had the opportunity to obtain an autograph of Wally Moon. Unfortunately, I had nothing in the way of a card or picture worthy of an autograph. So, I hied myself to a local card shop to see what I could find. The price for a 1957 Wally Moon card wasn’t as […]

Cobb Duels Sisler for King of The Hill

Given George Sisler’s 15-year career and lifetime .340 batting average, it is a bit surprising that he had but two American League batting championships – and he had to hit more than .400 (.407 in 1920 and .420 in 1922) to obtain them.  The competition was stiff in those days, and one of Sisler’s regular […]

A Legendary Southpaw South of the Border

If you ever visit the Baseball Hall of Fame or spend any time reading about it, sooner or later you will probably hear the inductees referred to as immortals. It is, of course, an exaggeration. On the other hand, that bronze plaque in the hall might qualify as immortal, as it will surely be there […]

When Walk-Up Music Walked Tall

The seeds were planted on the South Side of Chicago in 1913, when the White Sox installed a public address system. Only three years old at the time, Comiskey Park was renowned as “The Baseball Palace of the World.” The park was originally dubbed White Sox Park, so it might be that Charles Comiskey wanted […]

Promise Unfulfilled…But Why?

Some seamheads check the TRANSACTIONS web sites on a regular basis. Me, I check Baseball Almanac, not for transactions, but for obituaries. When a Hall of Famer (e.g, Rickey Henderson) dies, it makes the news. Lesser players receive less airtime or column space. Sometimes much less. Yet Baseball Almanac dutifully records the death of anyone […]

Minor League Ball; Major League Brawl

Two-team MLB markets have built-in rivalries. Even before inter-league play, the Yankees were, in a sense, competing against the Mets, and before 1958, against the Dodgers and the Giants, though the Yanks never played them in a regular season game. The same had been true for the Cubs and the White Sox since 1901, as […]

Tommy Lasorda: Magnifique Moundsman Of Montreal

There is not much one can say or write about Tommy Lasorda that hasn’t already been said or written…raconteur, comedian, linguini lover, show biz schmoozer, coach, manager, goodwill ambassador for baseball…and the game’s greatest bullshit artist, though I don’t believe Sabermetrics has advanced to the point where any statistics can be adduced to bolster that […]

Do You Feel Lucky?

In 1995 Nicolas Cage won a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of a man committing incremental suicide by alcohol in Leaving Las Vegas. Today a more appropriate remake might be titled Leaving Oakland, which is lacking in alliteration but an accurate description of the professional sports scene in the East Bay. Unlike Nicolas Cage, […]

The League of Mysterious Baseballists

When I was growing up, I lived in a National League metro area.  The only games I saw in person were Philadelphia Phillies games, and all I heard on the radio or saw on television were Phillies games.  There was a Game of the Week with Dizzy Dean on CBS but it was not available […]

Square Pegs, Round Holes, and Concrete Doughnuts

Eighteen-year veteran Richie Hebner once opined “I can stand at the plate at the Vet in Philadelphia, and I don’t honestly know whether I’m in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, St. Louis or Philly.”  Having spent his 1969 rookie year at Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field, he couldn’t help but notice the difference between that storied structure and its successor, […]

Baseball’s First Phenom

Nary a season goes by without the chattering classes of our national pastime heralding the arrival of one or more phenoms. The phrase “can’t miss” is bandied about with the self-assurance of racetrack touts. If you’re keeping score at home, however, you have probably noted how many can’t-miss players fail to live up to their […]

Mr. Rickey’s Plantation

Volumes have been written about Jackie Robinson, his career, and the social ramifications of his appearance on a major league baseball field on April 15, 1947. A question worth asking is why this point in time was so propitious for breaking baseball’s color line. As always, following the money is instructive, so let’s look at […]

The Vanishing Pinch-Hitter

Let’s start this essay with a FUN FACT: the Spanish term for pinch-hitter is bateador emergente, or emergency batter. Now there’s a phrase I’d like to see catch on in anglophone play-by-play accounts. It enhances the drama of the situation. I don’t think there are fewer emergencies in contemporary baseball than in ye olden times, […]

Uni-Cycling, Bi-Cycling, Tri-Cycling…And Beyond?

At some point during the 2024 season, you might hear your hometown play-by-play announcer say, “He’s only a (single/double/triple/homer) away from the cycle.”  More than likely, it will be a triple, since that it is the least likely result of any plate appearance that results in a hit. If said hitter does complete the cycle, […]

Magical History Tour: Of Beatles And Ballparks

A common Seamhead quest is to see a ballgame at every major league ballpark. Some attempt to do it in one season; others (myself included) take their time. And some aficionados sign up for those bus tours that promise eight ballparks in eight days; in other words, if it’s Tuesday, this must be Detroit. That’s […]

The 400 K Club

At the end of the 1965 season, Sandy Koufax, though just one year away from retirement, was riding high.  He led the National League in wins (26), ERA (2.04), and complete games (27) while setting a major league record with 382 strikeouts.  Less than a decade later (1973), Nolan Ryan astounded the baseball world by […]

Major Managers in Minor League History

Every now and then we read about a scout, coach, or manager who is described as a baseball “lifer.”  Well, that word also applies to someone serving a life sentence in prison.  Read into that what you will. Being a lifer is better than being on death row, I guess.  Of course, organized baseball does […]

Texas League Spitballin’

Chances are you knew about spitballs long before you learned about baseball history.  Somewhere in elementary school – or maybe in preschool if you were a prodigy – you learned how to chew up wads of paper into soggy little balls which you could throw at someone else or the blackboard.  Eventually, you learned that […]

The Grand Strand

Centennial years are a big deal.  When I was a teenager, they made a big deal about the Civil War Centennial.  The same was true several years ago when World War I “celebrated” its centennial.  And if we make it to 2041, I have no doubts that the 100th anniversary of Pearl Harbor will kick […]

A Star is Reborn: Satchel Paige in the Movies

You might be surprised to discover that Satchel Paige is included in the Internet Movie Database, the encyclopedic go-to source for film buffs. In fact, he has four credits, three onscreen and one behind the screen. The first is a formality, as the credit is for an unscripted TV role in the 1948 World Series, […]

Weird, Weirder, Weirdest

The independent minor leagues are not as independent as they used to be.  A number of them (namely, the Atlantic League, the Pioneer League, the American Association, and the Frontier League) are listed as Major League “Partner” leagues.  According to MLB, “These leagues will collaborate with MLB on initiatives to provide organized baseball to communities […]

When Cash Was King of Comedy

Nolan Ryan debuted with the Mets in 1966 but he didn’t make a name for himself till he was traded to the Angels after the 1971 season.  He pitched his first no-hitter on May 15, 1973 against the Royals.  Two months later, he followed up with another one against Detroit.  It was not quite as […]

A Most Memorable Memorial Day

In the United States Memorial Day has traditionally marked the beginning of summer.  Typically, MLB used to accommodate the fans celebrating the holiday by scheduling double-headers.  Weather permitting, fans would respond en masse.  In fact, Memorial Day 1948 set a one-day record for major league attendance.  The AL drew 192,300, the NL 145,456 for a […]

A Salute to the Senior Class

I recently came across an article about Art Schallock, the oldest MLB veteran still living.  Art debuted in 1951 with the Yankees and just turned 99 years old.  Perhaps a rousing rendition of “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” should accompany “Happy Birthday.” MLB has not had a centenarian alumnus since Eddie Robinson died […]

Cleveland’s Brookside Park: Not a Mistake and Not on the Lake

An old saying pertaining to Detroit is, “It’s like Cleveland without the glitter.” When it comes to economy of language, this quote is a gem, as it puts down two Rust Belt cities in one six-word sentence. For the purpose of this essay, however, let’s park Detroit and take Cleveland out for a spin. In […]

Making Singles Sexy

Do you know who led the majors in singles in 2022?  If so, go to the head of the class: you are the ultimate stat geek. If not, don’t feel bad. The one-base hit is the least sexy safety. Just check the stat sheets. Go to the Baseball Reference web site and dial up the […]

Shedding Light on a Sunshine State Curse

The phrase “pitchers and catchers report” resounds throughout the land in the middle of February. All well and good, particularly if you live in Arizona or Florida, but if you are a college baseball fan, the simultaneous opening of the Division I season may be more meaningful. Some of the less heralded divisions start playing […]

Bogo Baseball: When Double-Headers Attack

The number of seamheads who have ever attended a double-header is rapidly dwindling. Once a Sunday afternoon fixture on MLB schedules, the double-header is now a rarity, often a last resort in rescheduling a rainout. Better drainage, Doppler radar, and domed stadiums have resulted in fewer postponements, but in days of old the rainout was […]

Live Man Walking

Some years ago, I was watching a Mets/Orioles spring training game in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. As is often the case, I got into a conversation with a fan sitting next to me. He was an older gentleman, and since old-timers have a longer involvement with fandom, they are usually much better conversationalists than younger fans. […]

Dealing With a Decade Of Depression

Given the economic storm warnings that have been posted of late, I can’t help but wonder how they will affect the Good Ship Major League Baseball. It’s not as though we haven’t had economic ups and downs before, but now, depending on your financial guru, we are on the verge of…a cyclical downturn, Great Depression […]

The Curse of Rocky Colavito 2.0

Make a list of the all-time strangest – not necessarily the worst – trades and Frank “Trader” Lane’s 1960 deal involving Rocky Colavito and Harvey Kuenn will probably be on that list. At the time Rocky and Harvey were as intertwined in the sports pages as Rocky and Bullwinkle were on the tube. Colavito, age […]

The Shemp Syndrome

Relativity doesn’t begin and end with Einstein. I don’t think he was a baseball fan anyway. Also, I don’t think he was a movie fan, but if he was, I suspect he was not a Three Stooges fan. He probably never heard of Curly, Larry, or Moe, much less Shemp. But Shemp is all about […]

Positively POTUS

A few years ago, the Rangers had a minor leaguer called Benjamin Harrison. I saw him play a few games at Double-A Frisco (Texas League) and was rooting for him to make it to the Show. Since President Benjamin Harrison was the first President to attend a major league game (on June 6, 1892), it […]

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