75 years ago, a man played in his first, last, and only big league game, and struck out in his only time at the plate. Why should anyone care about him? Because he made the Hall of Fame, that’s why. It was Walter Alston, who became a long-time manager of the Dodgers. But on Sept. […]

The final regular-season series begin on Monday with both Wild Card spots very much up for grabs. Boston and Atlanta each hold one-game advantages over Tampa Bay and St. Louis, respectively, with three games left to play. For these four clubs, the playoffs started a couple of weeks ago, but this three-game stretch will ultimately […]

Yankees 6, Red Sox 2; Red Sox 7, Yankees 4: Early game: when you get beat by a strong outing from A.J. Burnett and a big homer from Jorge Posada, maybe the universe is trying to tell you something, Red Sox. Late Game: Wowzers. Jacoby Ellsbury is getting all the glory — as he should […]

Today marks the anniversary of multiple noteworthy events in the history of the New York Yankees. First and most importantly, a half-century ago today, Roger Maris made history. Sort of. Well, he did, but many people at the time didn’t want to believe it. On Sept. 26, 1961, Maris went deep off Baltimore’s Jack Fisher […]

Below are the top five most exciting games of the week. For an explanation of how they were determined to be the best, see this article by Max Marchi. date game stars 09-24 Rockies @ Astros *** box score 09-20 Nationals @ Phillies ** box score 09-20 Mariners @ Twins ** box score 09-23 Orioles […]

A hundred years ago today, a landmark event occurred in Red Sox history: the groundbreaking for Fenway Park. Iit’s the first major league park in any sport still in use 100 years after its creation (or, it will be once we reach the 100th anniversary of its first Opening Day, but close enough). Since it […]

*Today (Friday) is the last day to submit your story for consideration! The good folks at St. Martin’s Press have been kind enough to offer three copies of their new book, Fenway Park: The Centennial: 100 Years of Red Sox Baseball (reviewed by yours truly here) to The Hardball Times’ readers. And the powers that […]

Mets 8, Cardinals 6:  Wonder of wonder, miracle of miracles, the Mets saved the Braves’ bacon, at least for another day. The Cards had a 6-1 lead after seven, but the bullpen — obviously channeling April — blew it. Or La Russa blew it with the parade of relievers and intentional walks to load the […]

On Sept. 1, the Braves led the Cardinals by eight and a half games (nine in the loss column) and the Giants by nine and a half (10 in the loss column). Exactly three weeks later, that lead has decreased to one and a half games over St. Louis (one in the loss column) and […]

Cardinals 6, Mets 5: And now St. Louis is a mere one and a half back. With games against the Mets, Cubs and Astros left. And when guys like David Freese drive in five runs, you’re entering team of destiny territory. Marlins 4, Braves 0: Javy Vazquez is going to retire, he implies. If so, […]