The Last Game in Town

Sept. 30, 1971. Seventy years and 10,851 games into the story of American League baseball in the nation’s capital, the Senators, 38 games out of first place on the last day of the season, faced the Yankees in the final game in franchise history. The teams had split the first two games of the series […]

Lazzari’s Baseball Roundup 4

TRIVIA QUESTION: The 1987 Cincinnati Reds–who finished 2nd in the NL West under Pete Rose–had four players who hit more than 20 home runs apiece. How many of these players can you name? Answer to follow……….I used to think that a Steve Carlton slider was a pure thing of beauty–that is, until I saw a […]

Touring the Bases With…Dave Baldwin

The confrontation between batter and hitter defines baseball.  No one understands the scientific dynamic of those opposing forces better than Dave Baldwin, late sixties bullpen stalwart for the Washington Senators, a geneticist and engineer who studies batters and pitchers as mechanical and neurological entities.  His insights are fascinating and offer some important instructive insight into […]

Hammering Away with Henry

For much of his life, Henry Aaron has felt marginalized. Hank Aaron arguably sits atop the baseball pyramid as its home run king. But what about Henry? Blessed with baseball talent that landed him among the best all-around players ever, Hank Aaron assumed a public persona. Meanwhile, “The Hammer” effectively subjugated his private side, Henry. […]

Around the American League With George Case: 1939-1946

A couple of weeks ago, I got to write the kind of story I love for my blog. The son of a former Washington Senators and Cleveland Indians outfielder named George Case emailed me to say he had a 37-minute DVD compiled from 8 mm color footage his dad shot of his career, which spanned […]

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 […]

Book Review: Joe Cronin, A Life In Baseball

One of the perks of being a baseball bloggers is, at times, you get a chance to get a free baseball book on the off-chance that you’ll write about it to an audience that may care what you have to say.  I’ve had four or five of these opportunities come directly to me, but this […]

When Charlie Keller Tried to Come Back

In the spring of 1947, the Yankees’ Charlie Keller was at his peak as a power hitter. Now 30 years old, he’d long ago mastered the kind of left-handed swing New York management had envisioned when they signed Keller off the University of Maryland campus; he was the consummate pull-hitter, routinely muscling the ball into […]

Rambling on About My Glory Days – How I Became a Lifetime .380 Hitter – No Thanks to Nolan Ryan

Now that I have your attention and before you think of me as a liar, let me explain.

“Ted Williams and the 1969 Washington Senators, the Last Winning Season”

The author’s second book, Ted Williams and the 1969 Washington Senators: The Last Winning Season, is scheduled to be released by McFarland Publishing on February 24, 2009.

« Previous Page