During the final days of the 1950 season, Robin Roberts carried the Philadelphia Phillies. The Whiz Kids had a seven game lead with nine to play. But suddenly, the Phillies were in Ebbets Field on the season’s final day needing a win to wrap up the title. Critics claim that the Phillies wilted under intense [...]
Archive for July, 2011
Double The Fun with Robin Roberts: His Yeoman Efforts Led the Phillies to the 1950 Pennant
Posted: 29th July 2011 by Joe Guzzardi in Famous doubleheaders1
What he did: Von der Ahe owned the 19th century equivalent of the St. Louis Cardinals and might have been a century ahead of his time. Free spending and nicknamed “The Millionaire Sportsman,” von der Ahe didn’t know much about baseball, though he loved the game, once bragging he had the biggest diamond. He was [...]
When the “Modern Day” Brats Were Too Much For Eddie Stanky
Posted: 27th July 2011 by Joe Guzzardi in MLBFor Eddie Stanky, one game back in Major League baseball as manager was enough to send him packing up for his native Alabama. Oddly Stanky won his last game as a manager when his Texas Rangers, behind recently inducted Hall of Fame pitcher Bert Blyleven, bested the Orioles at Baltimore, 5-1 on July 22, 1977. [...]
The Odd Couples: Baseball teams that have shared stadiums
Posted: 26th July 2011 by Graham Womack in MLBPhiladelphia Athletics/Philadelphia Phillies, Shibe Park: For much of the early 20th century, the Phillies played in celebrated hitters bandbox, the Baker Bowl. Players put up freakishly good numbers there, but the park was decrepit and roundly lambasted by the 1930s, and so in the middle of the 1938 season, the Phils moved in with their [...]
For those millions of us who will never be a Major League Baseball player, the thought of maybe working in the front office for our favorite team might be a worthy substitute. Serving as a general manager would probably be the ultimate goal, (well owner if we won a few million.) We all know we [...]
What he did: This was originally going to be a column about Derek Jeter. I was sent a copy of Derek Jeter: From the pages of The New York Times some months back, and I figured a review might be salient now since Jeter just collected his 3,000th hit. But after my post this week [...]
Double The Fun: Whitey Ford Breaks Out Against Senators in Second Game of 1950 Twin Bill
Posted: 22nd July 2011 by Joe Guzzardi in MLBIn my recent blog about the 1954 All Star Game, I wrote that New York Yankee manager Casey Stengel tapped Whitey Ford as the starter even though the lefty had pitched three innings of shutout relief the weekend before. Ford didn’t disappoint either Stengel or his American League teammates. He shut the National League down [...]
To say that my hometown of Pittsburgh is in the grips of Pirates mania is the understatement of the season. All of a sudden, fans are coming out of the woodwork. The question on everyone’s lips: “How about those Buccos?” As of Wednesday morning, the Pirates are in first place ½ game ahead of the [...]
After the show: 10 former stars who returned to the minors
Posted: 19th July 2011 by Graham Womack in MLBChief Bender: The Hall of Fame pitcher had his last full season in the big leagues in 1917 at 33 but pitched off and on in the minors until 1937. He won 67 games his first three years in the bushes, and, still in his mid-30s at that point, had offers from the majors. Tom [...]
I became a Pittsburgh Pirates fan five years ago after my beloved Montreal Expos were moved to Washington. Logically I suppose, I should have become a Nationals fan but there was seemingly little connection between them and my Expos anymore at that point. If I was going to pick a new team to cheer for [...]