BASEBALL
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On June 24th, 1979, Rickey Henderson made his major-league debut for Oakland in a 5-1 loss to Texas in the first game of a doubleheader. Henderson had a single and double in four at-bats and stole the first base of his big-league career. If you have ever watched a game when a rookie gets his… Read more
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On June 21st, 1917, “Scrappy” Moore, played his first Major League game for the St. Louis Browns vs. the Detroit Tigers. William Allen “Scrappy” Moore was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1892. He pinch hit and played 3B in a total of 4 major leagues games in his career, all in 1917. He also… Read more
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On June 18th, 1976, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn voided the A’s sales, totaling $3.5 million, of Joe Rudi and Rollie Fingers to the Red Sox and Vida Blue to the Yankees, saying they were ‘not in the best interest of baseball.’ A’s owner Charlie Finley filed a $10 million damage suit against Kuhn, and would refuse… Read more
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On June 17th, 1983 Andy Van Slyke played in his first Major League game. In his 13-year career, Andy Van Slyke played for the Cardinals, the Pirates, the Orioles, and the Phillies. For 8 of those seasons of course, he was the standout Centerfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he won 5 Gold Gloves. Van… Read more
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Born when I was, I grew up measuring hitters by the traditional Triple Crown stats: Batting Average, Home Runs, and Runs Batted In. Those were stats that were easy to understand and were available in any box score. The Sabermetrics Revolution started by Bill James and others introduced more “advanced” stats over the years like… Read more
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On June 11th, 1990, the ageless Nolan Ryan pitched his unprecedented sixth career no-hitter, striking out 14 batters in a 5-0 win over the A’s. He became the first to pitch a no-hitter for three different teams, and the first to throw a no-hitter in three different decades. Those of us who watch sports know that some… Read more
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On June 10th, 1944, pitcher Joe Nuxhall of the Cincinnati Reds became the youngest player in major-league history. Nuxhall, only 15 years, ten months old, pitched one-third of an inning in an 18-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. He managed to give up five walks and two hits before manager Bill McKechnie took him out. I am not… Read more
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On June 8th, 2015, Carlos Correa played in his first Major League Baseball game. Since shortstop Carlos Correa plays currently for my local nine, the Minnesota Twins, I get to see him play regularly. When he and Byron Buxton are healthy, I don’t think there is a better shortstop-centerfielder combination in the game. Correa has… Read more
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On June 4th, 1992, San Jose voters tell the Giants they don’t want them by rejecting a plan to build a new stadium in their town. Then the Astros add insult to injury by swatting the ball every which way in a 12-6 drubbing at Candlestick Park in front of just 8,850. Billionaires are a… Read more
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Besides the Yankees, the other teams that I can never root for in any sport are teams I think of as mere “Expansion Teams.” I put Expansion Teams in quotes because I am well aware that my definition of what makes a team an “Expansion Team” is peculiarly personal and completely and wholly subjective. Let… Read more
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