25,000 days ago, Cubs slugger Bill Nicholson had the greatest game of his career. It was very nearly a day for the ages—and topping it off, the opposing team paid Nicholson the highest of all compliments. It was July 23, 1944, and Nicholson’s Cubs were in New York for a doubleheader against the Giants. In […]

Dick Green was the poor man’s Bill Mazeroski. He didn’t play as long as his Hall of Fame counterpart, nor did he have nearly the same durability. He wasn’t quite as quick at turning the double play, an area in which Maz shined above all others. Green’s inconsistent hitting also limited his playing time, as […]

Last week, I discussed the issue of teams “going for broke” and how significant increases in payroll may affect overall success (win totals). One of the more interesting findings in that piece dealt with teams who had great success the season before they increased payroll. I found that from 2001 to 2012 there were 28 […]

Forty years ago today was the saddest New Year’s Eve in Major League Baseball history. On Dec. 31, 1972, longtime Pirates star Roberto Clemente died in a plane crash. Clemente had just finished a season in which he’d hit .312 in a full-time role, not bad for a man who turned 38 years old in […]

5,000 days ago, Fernando Tatis had the greatest day in his career—and he did it all in one inning. It’s the greatest inning any hitter ever had. It was April 23, 1999, and heading into the top of the third inning, Tatis and his Cardinals teammates trailed the home team Dodgers, 2-0. That lead wouldn’t […]

15,000 days ago, the Dodgers made two notable trades involving prominent players. One involved a Hall of Famer, while the other featured two men that some people believe belong in Cooperstown. It was Dec. 2, 1971. LA had just completed a fine but ultimately disappointing season. They went 89-73 season, which was just enough to […]

On the surface, Ryan Freel was just a utility man, perhaps a super utility man in today’s parlance, a versatile and fast player who helped a team in a complementary role. He never made an All-Star team, never earned an MVP vote, and never signed a big-money free agent contract. All of that is unquestionably […]

40,000 days ago, one of the greatest baseball players in history was born—the Iron Horse Lou Gehrig. His career is so well known to be hardly worth recapping. He belted 493 homers and drove in 1,995 runs. Hitting behind Babe Ruth, Gehrig led the league in RBIs five times. Heck, he led the league in […]

Fifty years ago today, baseball took a step toward a brave new world of baseball stadiums. On Dec. 22, 1962, voters in Harris County, Tex., approved the construction of a domed field for the Houston Colt-45s team. The Astros, as they soon would be re-christened, had just completed their first season. While all expansion squads […]

10 years ago today, one of the strangest and most seemingly inexplicable trades of he 21st century occurred. On Dec. 20, 2002, the Atlanta Braves sent star pitcher Kevin Millwood to the Phillies straight up for back up catcher Johnny Estrada. An established pitcher for a backup catcher? What in Sam Hill is going on? […]