It was the top of the sixth inning in Game Six of the American League Championship Series, and the Detroit Tigers were in a very good position. Victor Martinez had just driven in two runners to put his team up 2-1. He and Prince Fielder were on the corners, and nobody was out. Detroit had […]

Ten years ago today, one of the most famous games in the history of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry occurred. That’s right, today is the anniversary of the Aaron Boone Game. Or, the Aaron F. Boone Game, if you’re a Boston fan. Though I imagine Boston’s success in 2004 and 2007 has dimmed the pain of […]

Twenty-five years ago today, one of the most famous home runs in baseball history was hit. It’s the sort of game identified simply by that one swing. Today is the silver anniversary of the Kirk Gibson Game. First the background: On paper, the 1988 World Series looked like one of the most one-sided and uncompetitive […]

Ten years ago was a day of infamy on the North Side of Chicago. It was one of the most famous collapses any team ever had in the postseason, all the more notable because of the team having it—and its dreadful history. There is this team called the Cubs—maybe you’ve heard of them. They haven’t […]

Forty years ago today, one of the ugliest World Series games of all-time took place. It was an exciting game with lots of drama, but the drama and tension were often caused not by players making great plays, but by guys stumbling and bumbling around the field. In fact, it was so ugly that there […]

In the seventh inning of last night’s thrilling 13-inning contest, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny tapped veteran southpaw Randy Choate to face Carl Crawford in a relatively high leverage situation (1.53 LI). Choate, now 37 years old, has been the quintessential example of a high leverage LOOGY for as far back as many of us can […]

10 years ago today, one of the more unlikely and memorable bench clearing brawls happened. On Oct. 11, 2013, aged Yankees coach Don Zimmer charged ace Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez. It went about as well as you’d expect when a 72-year-old tries to fight a professional athlete. It was Game Three of the ALCS […]

We often speak of “baseball immortals,” but of course they aren’t. Former major league players are mortal, just like the rest of us. When we read that one has died, we may say to ourselves, “Oh, I remember him,” perhaps picturing a baseball card we had as a kid. Sometimes, for some reason, we identify […]

Brent Strom, formerly of the St. Louis Cardinals, has been hired as the Houston Astros big league pitching coach. I first heard the story through the SB Nation blog The Crawfish Boxes, where there’s a great bunch of comments about the hiring. A poster questioned whether Strom was a good pitching coach (in an inquisitive—not […]

As busy a day of October baseball as we can have. Opening ceremonies will be cut short so we can move straight to the game action. Game 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 F Pirates 0 1 2 0 2 0 1 1 0 7 Cardinals 0 0 0 0 1 0 […]