Baseball History
This Day in Baseball History
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Writing this as I am in late June, I am merely guessing at the direction my Local Nine, the Minnesota Twins, have gone. I suspect though it has not been pretty. The Twins in late June are considered the slowest team in the Major Leagues. With the exception of Byron Buxton and Harrison Bader the Read more
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On August 16th, 1954, In a throwing contest between Jim Piersall and Willie Mays before a Red Sox-Giants charity game in Boston, Piersall hurt his arm. He started the game but left midway. He woke up the following morning with a sore arm that stayed with him a year, and he would never throw quite as well again. Injuries are part Read more
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On August 13th, 1962, Minor League infielder Bert Campaneris of Daytona Beach (Florida State League) pitched ambidextrously in a relief appearance. Bert Campaneris made 6 Major League All-Star Games over his 19-year career. As an OAKLAND Athletics fan growing up, he was one of my favorite players. I collected his cards and had a picture of him Read more
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On August 12th, 1994, The Major League Players Union went on strike for the sport’s eighth work stoppage since 1972. In August of 1994, I had a one-year-old daughter and another on the way. And since it was summer, I had baseball to watch. The Twins were struggling but everything in my life was good. Read more
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On August 9th, 1997, Twins pitcher Brad Radke had his winning streak end at 12 consecutive starts when Luis Sojo doubled home the go-ahead run in the eighth inning to give the Yankees a 4-1 win before a crowd of 42,151, the second-largest gathering of the season at the Metrodome. Radke (16-6) remains tied with Scott Erickson (1991) for the Read more
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On August 6th, 1967, against Chicago White Sox, future, Hall-of-Famer Brooks Robinson hit into the fourth triple play of his career for a major league record. Yesterday ClimbingSky featured a bad day by an obscure rookie named, ironically Sam Hope. Today we feature one by The Greatest Third Baseman of All Time, Brooks Robinson (pictured above Read more
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On August 5th, 1907, Philadelphia Athletic Sam Hope pitched in his first. Major League game. In one third of an inning, he gave up 3 hits and one unearned run. He never pitched in another Major League game. Sometimes for Major League prospects, a “cup of coffee” only lost a few minutes. For Sam Hope Read more
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On August 2nd, 1990, Yankees rookie Kevin Maas hit his tenth home run in just 77 at bats, the fastest any player had ever reached that mark. But the Yanks lost to Detroit 6-5 in 11 innings. In Mid-Summer of 1990, Kevin Maas was the talk of New York and of Fantasy and Rotisserie Baseball owners everywhere. Read more
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On July 30th, 1959, future Hall-of-Famer Willie McCovey had four hits in four at-bats in his Major League debut with the San Francisco Giants. He had two triples in a 7-2 win over Philadelphia. When I think of Willie McCovey, I always think of my father. When I was a kid and I would say something Read more
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On July 29th, 1955, Smoky Burgess of the Cincinnati Reds hit three home runs and drove in nine runs in a 16-5 rout of the Pittsburgh Pirates at Crosley Field. “Smoky Burgess did not possess the physique of a Greek god, nor even that of the average major leaguer. Standing in at a pudgy 5’8”, Burgess Read more
