Today marks the 20th anniversary of a terrible tragedy in the world of baseball, an accident that killed two people and badly injured another. On March 22, 1993, Indians pitchers Steve Olin and Tim Crews died on a boating accident that left teammate and fellow hurler Bob Ojeda hospitalized. With the end of spring training […]

30,000 days ago, one of the most famous players of his generation was born: Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks. Banks had quite the memorable career for himself. Playing at a time when players on second-division teams virtually never won MVP Awards, Banks won two while serving as shortstop for the sad sack Chicago Cubs. Playing at […]

This is Tom Foley’s 1985 Fleer card, but I find the baserunner, San Diego’s Garry Templeton, far more interesting as subject matter. Now the third base coach of the Rays, Foley was basically a utility player throughout his journeyman career, which included stops in Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Montreal and Pittsburgh, while Templeton began his career as […]

5,000 days ago, one of the most grueling and amazing bits of baseball hell came to an end. 5,000 days ago was the fourth consecutive start for Randy Johnson in which he just couldn’t get a break. Despite pitching brilliantly, he couldn’t get a win because he got no help whatsoever. Late June and early […]

50,000 days ago, a new era of baseball began—the National League era. That was April 22, 1876. General George Custer was still alive, Reconstruction was still going on in the south, and America had just 37 states. And on that day, the Philadelphia Athletics hosted a Boston club later to be known as the Braves. […]

25,000 days ago, a genuinely unique event in major league baseball history happened. On Oct. 1, 1944, for the first, last, and only time, the St. Louis Browns clinched the American League pennant. As franchises go, the Browns don’t have much of a history. They were an AL club for a little over a half-century […]

I’ve already mentioned this—okay, I’ve mentioned it several times—but I won an award for historical baseball analysis and commentary at the SABR Analytic Conference last week. Actually, you folks did the voting, so I want to thank you again. Not only was I sitting next to Bill James when my name was announced (in other […]

When you last 19 years in the game as a catcher, the most physically demanding of all positions, you have done something right. A testament to durability and staying power, Bob Boone had the kind of defensive presence and complimentary offensive skills that allowed him to stay at the big league level for nearly two […]

For eight seasons, Billy Sample patrolled the outfield for the Rangers, Yankees, and Braves. He was a good role player, capable of hitting in the .270s, stealing bases, hitting an occasional home run, and playing a good left field. Smart and well-spoken, Sample then pursued a successful career as a broadcaster, first with the Braves […]

10,000 days ago, baseball entered a new era of management-player relations. It wouldn’t be a particularly long-lived era, and it certainly wouldn’t be a successful one. 10,000 days ago, collusion began. Collusion. The dictionary defines it as: “A secret agreement between two or more persons for a deceitful or illegal purpose.” Yeah, that sounds about […]