Cast Your Vote For the 1917 All-Stars!

The Voice of the Fan—YOU—will be heard! Here is your golden opportunity to cast your vote for the most deserving base ball players to play in the 1917 All-Star Series between the two great leagues, taking place July 13-15 at the spacious Polo Grounds in New York, N.Y. Voting is taking place right now.  The […]

In an Instant

What if you were known for one thing most of your life? What if that one thing was not favorable? That’s the story Ralph Branca tells in “A Moment in Time” with David Ritz. Read this book because: 1. Good or bad, baseball is one of life’s few constants. (Well, almost.) There’s nothing like the […]

Due To Darkness

The 1922 World Series featured a rematch of the previous year’s championship series between the New York Giants and New York Yankees. The series also included one of the most controversial calls in World Series history, up to that point, in game two of the series. The entire series was being held at the Polo […]

Serie Mundial inédita. (An original World Series)

Las sombras de Polo Grounds persiguen al pequeño centerfielder de los Gigantes de Nueva York que corre como un velocista de 100 metros. Lo único que se ve es el 24 burbujeando en la zona de seguridad, Willie Mays estiró el guante y la pelota aterrizó en la malla, parecía estar leyendo un libro. Giró y lanzó al cuadro en medio de su caida, a un lado flotaba la gorra.

Part Three: The Story Of The 1888-1889 New York Giants

The 1889 World Series would be a battle of the boroughs as the National League champion, New York Giants, would look to repeat as world champions against the American Association champion, the Brooklyn Bridegrooms. As soon as the pennants in both leagues were decided, representatives from both squads sat down and laid down the ground […]

Part Two: The Story Of The 1888-1889 New York Giants

Every player was smiling when the New York Giants departed the bus that had brought them home from St. Louis, where they had just captured the franchise’s first World Series. Even President John Day, who was feeling the effects of a flu he’d contracted on the trip, was in a talkative mood about the series. […]

Part One: The Story Of The 1888-1889 New York Giants

March 8, 1888 was the day the New York Giants arrived in Jacksonville, Florida to begin preparation for the upcoming National League season. The team, entering its sixth year of play in professional baseball, was coming off an 1887 season which saw them finish 4th in the National League. There was, however, plenty of reason […]

Meet the new Park Factors — Part III

Taming the Wind “This will be one of the most beautiful baseball parks of all time.”—Vice President Richard Nixon, 1960, opening day at Candlestick Park So many were fooled. Players, sports writers, and even future presidents were in awe of the new home of the San Francisco Giants. Mesmerizing visitors with its lush green grass […]

Buying A Manager

“I came here with $100,000 to get a new manager and two new players for the Chicago club.” said Chicago Cubs President Charles H. Weeghman as he arrived in New York City for the annual National League baseball meetings of 1916. “I have in mind for a leader two men who have attained national prominence […]

Babe Ruth Homered in $800 Million Baseball Game

On August 26, 1943, 48-year-old Babe Ruth hit a home run off 43-year-old Walter Johnson into the right field stands at the Polo Grounds. The blast – one of the last by the Babe – was witnessed by 35,000 fans and helped raise $800 million in War Bonds. Organized by the long-since defunct New York […]

Meet the New Park Factors – Part I

“It’s a park that could make you a hero or a bum.” – Stan Musial on the Polo Grounds, 1957 Stan Musial was truly one of the most consistently great hitters baseball has ever seen. With a lifetime average of .331, his slumps were like comets—showing up every few years, then disappearing in a flash. […]

Great What-If Matchups

One of most baseball historians’ favorite things to speculate about is how certain players would have done if their careers had happened in different times and places and against different opponents. How spectacular would Ozzie Smith have been on a dirt infield with a small glove instead of on Astroturf? Suppose Ted Williams had been […]

Babe Ruth, Movie Actor

Many baseball fans already know about how Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees after the 1919 season, apparently to fund his production of the play My Lady Friends in 1920, which became Frazee’s musical hit, No, No, Nanette, in 1925. But the superstar he sold did some acting of his […]