Baseball History
This Day in Baseball History
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Last September here, I wrote a post about my attempt to understand and appreciate the “new” baseball stat of WAR, or Wins Above Replacement. Here is a link to that article. Now, after a year more of struggling to understand it and why it has become so widely accepted, here is how I am thinking Read more
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For the most part, inter-league play is one of the best ideas that Major League Baseball ever came up with. But having said that, for some reason the American League Central Division Minnesota Twins are ending their season this year with a 3-game series at the National League Eastern Division Philadelphia Phillies. That makes no Read more
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Yesterday I posted about research I had done on Lead-Off Homers hit by opposition teams/players at the two most recent Minnesota Twins stadiums: Hubert H. Humphrey Dome (1982-2009) vs. at Target Field (2010-present. Today, I want to look at the lead-ff homers hit by the Minnesota Twins in the bottom of the first inning when Read more
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When I tune into an away game and see that Byron Buxton is batting leadoff for my local nine, the Minnesota Twins, I always feel like the Twinkies have a chance. Nothing sets the tone of a game like a 1-0 start. As readers of ClimbingSky may know, my favorite leadoff hitter of all time, Read more
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On September 20th, 1980, George Brett who was trying to become the first hitter with a ..400+ batting average since Ted Williams in 1941 went 0-4 against the OAKLAND Athletics. That brought his season batting average below .400. He ended the season with a .390 batting average. In my mind, .400 is the Holy Grail Read more
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On September 17th, 1921, James “Red” Bird, at the age of 31, pitched in his first and last Major League game for the Washington Senators. Red Bird was born in Stephenville, Texas, on April 25th, 1890. Today Stephenville, in North-Central Texas, has a population of 20,000. In 1890, when Red was born, it had less Read more
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On September 16th, 1960, catcher Mickey “Fruit Loops” Tettleton was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Mickey Tettleton came up with the OAKLAND Athletics in 1984. He is primarily remembered though as a Detroit Tiger. In his 14 year career he also played for the Baltimore Orioles and the Texas Rangers. Tettleton’s nickname was “Fruit Loops.” Read more
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On September 10th, 1974, Lou Brock tied Maury Wills’ single-season stolen base record with a steal in the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies. He broke the record with steal No. 105 in the seventh inning. In baseball there are good trades and there are bad trades. The Chicago Cubs trading a young Lou Brock to their division Read more
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On September 9th, 1990, the OAKLAND Athletics beat the New York Yankees 7-3 to complete a twelve-game sweep of the Yankees that year. The season sweep was a first for the Yankees Sometimes the good guys win, even in baseball which like the economic system it exists in is, by definition, competitively imbalanced. In this Read more
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Dwight Gooden of the New York Mets struck out Ron Cey of the Chicago Cubs in the second inning – his 228th of the season setting a National League record for a rookie. Gooden passed Grover Alexander, who set the mark with 227 in 1911. New York won 10-0 behind Gooden’s one-hitter. Just for the hell of it, I asked ChatGPT what were Read more
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