Greg Swindell: Representing the Best of Texas

Texas is best known for producing great beef and the best football in the world, but they have another commodity that they export with similar regularity; pitchers. Highlighted by the likes of Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, and Greg Maddux, the Longhorn State has had 431 pitchers appear in a major league game. One of the […]

A Composite Portrait of Barry Bonds Before He Reached the Majors

These items are pulled together from various articles in newspapers from 1974 to early 1986. They’re presented here to shed some light on Bonds’ early personality and the talent and power he displayed before reaching the majors, many years before the steroids talk began. In 1974, Barry Bonds’ father, Bobby, left the Giants for the […]

Touring The Bases With…John Castino

John Castino was selected co-rookie of the year (with Toronto’s Alfredo Griffin) in the American League for 1979 after batting .285 with eight triples. Due to the tie, the voting process (and point system) was changed in 1980. Castino hit .302 in 1980 and led the American League in triples in 1981, but back problems […]

Lefty Brewer: A D-Day Hero

On this day, 66 years ago, baseball lost a true D-Day hero. Lefty Brewer, owned by the Washington Senators, died fighting for his country more than 3,000 miles from home. Francis Field, home of the St. Augustine Saints of the Florida State League, was a magical place during the summer of 1938. As the smell […]

Their Reputation Preceeds Them

You know that going into San Diego, it’s going to be a tough place to score runs.  The park is designed for pitching and the Padres usually take advantage of that with some pretty solid pitchers.  Last night was a textbook example of that. Even though Adam Wainwright deserved so much better, striking out 12 […]