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History Headlines
By Ross Newhan
If Charles O. Finley, the visionary insurance man who owned the Oakland A's from 1960 to 1980, had totally gotten his way, baseball would be using orange balls and rainbow painted bases.
That never happened. But one of Finley’s other pet projects
– the designated hitter – is still around today and has forever altered the
baseball landscape.
The San Francisco Giants rode outstanding pitching to the 2012 World Series title.
But 100 years ago, outstanding pitchers seemed to be in every big league dugout. And for three of those pitchers, the 1912 season remains a season of near perfection.
In 1912 – for the only time in the game’s long history – a trio of hurlers put together in-season winning streaks of at least 16 games.
It took only three pitches for Reggie Jackson to beat the Dodgers and win Game 6 to capture the 1977 World Series title for the New York Yankees.
Three home runs in three at bats – each on the first pitch.
“I have never seen anything like that in a championship game situation,” said Dodger great Steve Garvey of that game 35 years ago on Oct. 18, 1977. “He beat us singlehandedly. And actually that’s exactly what he did. He knocked in five runs and we only scored four.”
The last time a National League batter won the Triple Crown, Franklin Roosevelt was President of the United States and Kenesaw Mountain Landis was Commissioner of Baseball.
World War I was still known as “The Great War.” And “World War II” was not yet part of our language.
COOPERSTOWN, NY – Forty-eight Hall of Fame players have spent their entire career with one big league franchise.
For the other 159 Hall of Famers who earned their election on the playing field, changing teams was a part of their resume.
As the big league trading deadline approaches at 4 p.m. ET today, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum presents some of the most famous deadline deals involving some future Hall of Famers:
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – For the second year in a row, Cal Ripken Jr. is celebrating the 30th anniversary of an event that stands as a testament to his durability.
Last year, he celebrated the 30th anniversary of the longest game in professional baseball history, a 33-inning marathon between Ripken’s Triple-A Rochester Red Wings and fellow Hall of Famer Wade Boggs Pawtucket Red Sox that began on April 18, 1981 and went 32 innings into the night and morning of April 19th before being resumed for the final inning on June 23rd.
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – They are the definition of “rare” – a club so unique that only a little more than one percent of all big league players have been admitted.
They are the members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame – 297 of the game’s most influential and successful heroes. But within Club 297 lies a subset even more unique: The nine umpires enshrined in Cooperstown.
World Series. Extra Innings. Walk-off home run. And that was only Game 6.
The Cardinals and Rangers will take the field in St. Louis again tonight for the 36th decisive World Series Game 7 in major league history. Game 7 is the dramatic culmination of an entire 162-game season plus playoffs into a winner-take-all one game finale. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any more exciting, the season once again comes down to one final day.
"This is pretty special," Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols told MLB.com. "This is what baseball is all about."
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – The Baseball Hall of Fame preserves the game's history – a history that dates back more than 200 years.
But it was the organization of the game that turned baseball into the National Pastime. And 135 years ago this week, that organization took hold with the founding of the National League.
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – When Luis Aponte, pitcher for the Pawtucket Paw Sox, didn't come home until around 2 a.m. after a night game on April 19, 1981, his wife was suspicious.
"I told her I'd just finished pitching at the ballpark, but she didn't believe me," said Aponte.
His wife had no way of knowing that Aponte actually went home while the game was still being played. That night he was a part of the longest game in the history of professional baseball, lasting 32 innings, more than eight hours and wasn't over yet.
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This Day in Baseball History
On June 19, 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court rules against former St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Curt Flood, who had sued Major League Baseball over the reserve clause after being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. The ruling upholds baseball’s antitrust exemption, which was originally granted in 1922.