BASEBALL
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On September 15th, 1902, at West Side Grounds Chicago’s infield combo of Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, and Frank Chance pulled off their first double play to back up Carl Lundgren’s 6 – 3 win over the Reds. These are the saddest of possible words:“Tinker to Evers to Chance..” With the possible exception of Lawrence Thayer’s Read more
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One of the advanced stats that you hear most often referred to these days is one called Wins Above Replacement, which is commonly abbreviated as WAR. I have spent a fair amount of time trying to understand and appreciate this stat. Many of the podcasts, articles, and books I read regularly rely heavily on this Read more
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On September 12th, 1979, future Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox collected his 3,000th hit against Jim Beattie during a 9-2 win over the rival New York Yankees. In 1967, Carl Yastrzemski had one of the best seasons anyone has ever had in the history of baseball. He won the Triple Crown, leading the league Read more
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On September 11, 1985, at Riverfront Stadium in front of 47,237 hometown fans, Reds’ player-manager Pete Rose collected his 4,192nd career hit to pass Ty Cobb. Cobb had actually had his last at bat on the same date 57 years earlier. With his 4,191st hit, Rose became the all-time major league hit leader. Pete Rose Read more
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On September 10th, 1963, Roberto Clemente provided a 420-foot footnote to a Sandy Koufax masterpiece. Roberto’s fourth career home run off Sandy is a typical Clemente clout off an atypical Koufax offering. “Koufax threw 133 pitches,” notes columnist Jim Murray. “3 were sliders, a pitch the Pirates didn’t know Sandy had picked up in the last ten days. Roberto Clemente Read more
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On September 8th, 1965, Bert Campaneris of the Kansas City A’s became the first major leaguer to play all nine positions in a game. Campy accomplished the unusual feat, which was prompted by A’s’ owner Charlie Finley, during a 5-3 loss to the California Angels. Usually a shortstop, Campy caught the ninth inning and was Read more
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On September 7th, 1973, New York Mets starting pitcher Jerry Koosman who had a streak of 31.2 consecutive scoreless innings had it snapped when a run crossed the plate in the bottom of the third inning in the team’s 4-2 victory in Montreal. At the time it was a Mets record. Koosman’s record of not Read more
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On September 6th, 1985, in a matchup of aces that actually lived up to its advanced billing, Mets phenom Dwight Gooden and Dodgers phenom Fernando Valenzuela hooked up in one of the best pitchers’ duel in recent memory. New York beat Los Angeles at Chavez Ravine, 2-0. Darryl Strawberry hit a two-run double to score Read more
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On September 5th, 1976, Reds’ Hall of Fame infielder Joe Morgan becomes the first second baseman in 26 years to drive in 100 runs when his third-inning single off Dick Ruthven plates Pete Rose and Ken Griffey in the team’s 6-4 victory in Atlanta. The last second sacker to reach the plateau was Bobby Doerr, Read more
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On September 4th, 1989, Fred Lynn hit his 300th career home run to help the Tigers to a 5 – 1 win over Kansas City. In 1975, Boston Red Sox center-fielder Fred Lynn won both the American League Rookie of the Year Award and the American League Most Valuable Player Award. In 1979, he had an even better year hitting 39 Read more
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