BASEBALL
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On August 7th, 1958 the Pittsburgh Pirates signed 18-year-old Willie Stargell. Willie Stargell finished his 21-year Hall of Fame with 475 homers. All of them for the Pittsburgh Pirates. One of the highlights for me of my trip to Pittsburgh and PNC park last week was seeing the Willie Stargell statue. I like when teams Read more
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On August 6th, 1988, Goose Gossage becomes the second player in major league history to record 300 career saves when he faces one batter and gets the final out in the Cubs’ 7-4 victory over Philadelphia at Wrigley Field. The future Hall of Fame right-handed reliever joins Rollie Fingers, who reached the milestone in 1982. Read more
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On August 4th, 1993, Tony Gwynn had six hits against the Giants. It was the Padres outfielder’s fourth game of 1993 with five or more hits. He became only the third person to get five hits or better that many times in a season. Tony Gwynn won 8 batting titles and finished his 20-year career with a Read more
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On August 3rd, 1987, Twins pitcher Joe Niekro was caught with a file on the mound and was ejected during Minnesota’s 11-3 win over the Angels. He ended up being suspended for ten games by American League president Bobby Brown, who doesn’t buy Niekro’s story that he had been filing his nails on the bench and stuck the file Read more
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On August 2nd, 1979, Yankees catcher Thurman Munson, 32, died when the plane he was piloting crashed in Canton, Ohio. A crowd of 51,151 attended the memorial tribute at Yankee Stadium the following day (August 3rd).. In August of 1979, I was home in Dillon, Montana, preparing to return to my sophomore year at Concordia College Read more
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On August 1st, 1994, Baltimore’s Cal Ripken, Jr. became only the second major leaguer to play 2,000 straight games as the Orioles beat Minnesota, 1-0. There are a handful of historic baseball games that I have had the privilege of attending in person. The Twins-Orioles game on August 1st, 1994, is one of those games. My brother Read more
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On July 31st, 1897, John Grimes, who appeared in only three games during his one-year career with the St. Louis Brown Stockings, established a major league record by hitting six batters in a nine-inning game. The post-1900 record is four hit batsmen in nine innings, a dubious mark shared by many pitchers. According to Baseball Read more
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On July 30th, 1906, a New York State Supreme Court judge ruled that, despite “voluntary contributions” instead of paid admissions, Brooklyn was conducting a business enterprise and thus violating the law prohibiting Sunday baseball in New York. Sunday baseball in Brooklyn would not be legal until 1919. Sunday Blue Laws have always been a strange concept to me. I say that Read more
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On July 29th, 1915, 41-year-old Honus Wagner became the oldest player in the history of the modern era to hit a grand slam. Honus Wagner is probably most famous now for the being the player featured on the world’s most expensive baseball card, his 1909 T-206 card. In a 2022 auction someone paid $7.25 million Read more
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For me, it is always fun to watch a game where I love both teams. I am fully aware that for many “fans,” this idea of rooting for two opposing teams at the same time is unfathomable. What can I say? The advantage of following many teams means sometimes you get to watch a game Read more
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