Torre To Manage US In 2013 World Classic

Torre to manage US in 2013 World Classic (via AFP) Joe Torre, who guided the New York Yankees to four World Series titles as a Major League Baseball manager, will guide the US team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic, USA Baseball said Thursday. The 71-year-old American played for 18 seasons and served as a […]

The Glory Days: More 1960s Stars Depart

There were other players who retired in the 1960s after having helped the Dodgers and Yankees make regular treks to the World Series in the late 1940s and into the 1950s. The best-known players from that group were Dodgers Carl Furillo, Johnny Podres, Jim “Junior” Gilliam and Clem Labine, and Yankees Bobby Richardson, Gil McDougald, […]

This Daly On Baseball History

The Red Sox and Braves just collapsed this year.  Where they the worst collapses?  I’m a Red Sox fan and I’ve felt worse.  Maybe it is because the 2004 and 2007 World Series titles added a psychic cushion.  1977 and 2000 were probably the most disappointing Red Sox seasons for me.  I know that they […]

Terry Francona’s Do or Die Mission

“I think Francona should be gone by the end of the month and the pitching coach also. They both suck.” That’s not me saying it. I intercepted a message on an answering machine from one lifelong Red Sox fan (who lives in Rhode Island) to another lifelong fan. And, no I’m not talking the Twenty-oh-fours. […]

Red Ruffing: HOF Perseverance

How does a pitcher start his career 39-96 and end up in the Hall of Fame?  This is the amazing story of Charles  Herbert “Red” Ruffing.  He was born on May 3, 1905 in the tiny village of Granville, Illinois.  At an early age,  Ruffing dropped out of school and tended to a mine ventilation […]

The Ultimate Seven-Game Fall Classic: Game Five

In part one of my Ultimate Seven-Game Fall Classic series, I featured Game One of the 1988 World Series between the Oakland A’s and Los Angeles Dodgers, won by the latter on Kirk Gibson’s walk-off two-run homer off Dennis Eckersley, ironic because it was Eck who coined the phrase “walk-off piece.” Part two featured an […]

The Ultimate Seven-Game Fall Classic: Game Four

In part one of my Ultimate Seven-Game Fall Classic series, I featured Game One of the 1988 World Series between the Oakland A’s and Los Angeles Dodgers, won by the latter on Kirk Gibson’s walk-off two-run homer off Dennis Eckersley, ironic because it was Eck who coined the phrase “walk-off piece.”  Part two featured an […]

Lazzari’s Baseball Roundup

In search of some great, late-summer reading? Check out A Bitter Cup Of Coffee by author Doug Gladstone. This terrific publication references the plights of 874 MLB players who were active between 1947 and 1979; due to rules prior to 1980, these players have received NO pension money for their service to the national pastime. […]

There Will Never Be Another Owner Like ‘The Boss’

When I received news that George Steinbrenner had passed away at the age of 80, a wave of thoughts and emotions came over me. A lifelong fan of the Yankees, I was 10 years old when Steinbrenner and his partners bought the team for $8.8 million in 1973 in a deal that now rivals the […]

The All-Time Red Sox (a draft book chapter)

Who would be selected for a mythical All-Time Red Sox dream team roster? And how have others answered this fun question throughout the years?

Maple Street Press Belts One Onto Lansdowne Street

My buddy Matt Aber wondered aloud in his recent review of Maple Street Press’ Phillies 2010 Annual if these are the franchise’s “Golden Days,” which made me wonder if these aren’t also the Red Sox’ “Golden Days.”  Perhaps, although it’s going to be tough to top the 16-year stretch from 1903-1918 in which they won […]

Letters From Quebec: Remembering Willie Davis…

“There was only one Jackie Robinson and he was fantastic,” Willie Davis said about the Dodger immortal who broke baseball’s colour barrier, first with the old Montreal Royals and then with Brooklyn Dodgers.  Then he added, “There’s only one Willie Davis, and I’m fantastic too.” Willie Davis, to Montreal Gazette journalist Tim Burke, June 12, […]