ClimbingSky

Why Baseball, Books, and the Grateful Dead matter


BASEBALL

  • On May 7th, 1960, Dodger legend Carl Furillo played his last Major League game. He went 1 for 1 vs. the Phillies. Carl Furillo came up as a rookie with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1946. This was a year before Jackie Robinson joined the Dodgers to break the Color Barrier. Having been born in a… Read more

  • Bobo Holloman

    On May 6th, 1953,  Bobo Holloman of the St. Louis Browns pitched a 6-0 no-hitter against the Philadelphia Athletics in his first major league start. He never pitched another complete game in the majors. Born Alva Lee Holoman, “Bobo” Holloman was the first rookie in MLB history to throw a no-hitter in his first start. Only… Read more

  • On May 4th, 1982, Twins rookie outfielder Jim Eisenreich (Pride of St. Cloud), who suffers from the nervous disorder Tourette’s Syndrome, is forced to remove himself from a 5-3 loss to the Red Sox when he is taunted mercilessly by bleacher fans and his violent twitching becomes uncontrollable. Eisenreich, hitting .310 after making the jump from… Read more

  • The Penguin

    On May 3rd, 1986, Cubs third baseman Ron Cey hit his 300th and 301st home runs and Chicago scores four times in the top of the ninth to beat San Francisco 6-5. Ron Cey played for three teams that are close to my heart: He also played for one team that I have always been ambivalent about:… Read more

  • “If somebody came up and hit .450, stole 100 bases, and performed a miracle in the field everyday I’d still look you in the eye and say Willie was better. He could do the five things you have to do to be a superstar: hit, hit with power, run, throw and field. And he had… Read more

  • The Greatest

    On May 1st, 1991, Rickey Henderson surpassed Lou Brock as baseball’s career stolen base leader with his 939th steal as the Oakland Athletics beat the New York Yankees 7-4. I have written a lot about Rickey here because he deserves it. He was that great. Rickey got a bad rap when he broke Lou Brock’s record for Stolen… Read more

  • The Rocket

    On April 29th, 1986,  Roger “The Rocket” Clemens set a major league record by striking out 20 as the Boston Red Sox defeated the Seattle Mariners 3-1. How great was Roger Clemens? Clemens even won the American League Most Valuable Player Award in 1986 (an award generally considered for everyday players NOT pitchers!). And yet, like… Read more

  • Scott Erickson

    On April 27th, 1994, Twins right-hander Scott Erickson no-hit the Brewers 6-0 for Minnesota’s first no-hitter since 1967. Scott Erickson actually pitched more seasons for the Orioles (7) than he did for the Twins (6). But he will always be a Twin in my mind because of his no-hitter and the role he played in the 1991… Read more

  • Conflicted

    On April 26th, 1941, The Chicago Cubs become the first team to install an organ in their stadium. When I was growing up (and training to be a pastor), I thought that the worst part of being in church was having to listen to the organ. My feelings about that have never changed. In fact,… Read more

  • Teddy Higuera

    On April 23rd, 1985, Teddy “Yankee Killer” Higuera got his first start as a Major League Rookie. Teddy Higuera pitched for the Milwaukee Brewers from 1985 to 1994. In 1986, he won 20 games for the Brew Crew when he became the first Brewers’ pitcher to strikeout more than 200 batters. Before 1998, the Brewers… Read more