Pitchers have it easy with their triple crown. Batters find it more of a challenge. Only 18 have achieved it, and only 12 in the live-ball era. Miguel Cabrera managed it in 2012, but you have to go back to 1967 to find the next. And there you'll find Carl Yastrzemski. Yaz racked up 44 home runs, 121 runs batted in, while batting .326. More than enough to take the Triple Crown, along with the MVP, an All-Star appearance, and a Golden Glove. Yastrzemski and the Red Sox in 1967 lived "The...

Jim Perry made three appearances on the All-Star stage, won the Cy Young Award, lead the AL twice for wins, and in 2023 is 84th on the all-time wins list with 215 successful appearances. Yet you probably know him as the older brother of Gaylord Perry. Curiously, the two pitching brothers only met once. July 3, 1973 with Gaylord pitching for the Twins and Jim for the Tigers. Gaylord was charged with the 5-4 loss, and I'm pretty sure that Jim brought this up over Thanksgiving dinner for many...

Gaylord Perry won the Cy Young in both the American and National Leagues, had five seasons with over 20 wins, was the third pitcher to rack up 3,000 strikeouts, joined the 300 win-club in 1982, and many more achievements. As the 2023 season ends, Perry is ranked 17th in the all time winners list. Yet Gaylord Perry is remembered for one pitch in his arsenal, the spitball. A pitch with a wicked level of drop while offering a huge amount of control to break inside or out in the hands of a...

Three managers have taken three teams to three World Series wins. As Bruce Bochy joins this exclusive club in 2023, let's take a moment to look back at this incredibly rare achievement. Bruce Bochy led the 1998 Padres to the World Series, then winning three World Series for the Giants in 2010, 2012, and 2014; and rounding out the triple with the 2023 Rangers. The first triple manager was Bill McKechnie; winning the World Series in 19225 with the Pirates and 1940 with the Reds. His third...

St Louis' 'Gashouse Gang' are back in the World Series. Following victories in 1926 and 1931, and their fifth National League pennant in nine years, they are very much the favourites to earn their rings. Facing them are the Detroit Tigers who are coming off a massive 101-53 season (that .656 record is a mark the club has never beaten to this day). It's no surprise that the two teams would push each other to a World Series Game 7. Yet the 1934 Fall Classic has something even more unique. It...

No matter how you reach the Fall Classic, dreams are made at the World Series. Once in a while, the players create something legendary. That's the case with the 1962 World Series. Let's set the scene. The Giants have won their first National League Pennant since moving to San Francisco, although they needed a three game play-off series against the LA Dodgers. The Yankees have won five of the last ten World Series, including a win in the previous year. This World Series has been heavily...

Starting out as a pitcher in the minors, injury pushed Stan Musial to first base. In a Majors career that spanned twenty-three years and three world Series rings, Musial established himself as one of the greatest hitters of all time. You want numbers? How about a career average of .331 over 3660 hits, 1951 RBIs, and 475 home runs. In 1949 he was on course to win a Triple Crown in the National League, falling short by one home run… that he had a home run in a game subsequently rained off...

The New Yorks Mets have just won the World Series, in no small part to star pitcher Tom Seaver. The expansion franchise starts the new season with every intention of continuing that winning form, as does Seaver. How dominant? Only twenty pitchers have struck out 18 or more batters in a regular 9-innings game. As the Mets welcome the San Diego Padres, Seaver is about to become part of that exclusive club in an utterly commanding performance. 9 innings, 2 hits, 1 earned run, 2 walks, and 19...

The Designated Hitter rule was adopted by the American League in 1973. Nearly fifty years later, and with much debate that has started to quieten down, the National League followed. In that time leagues at every level around the world introduced the pitcher's replacement bat. Somebody had to be first though. And the first was the New York Yankees' Ron "Boomer" Blomberg. It was April 6th, 1973, the wind blowing out to right field, and Blomberg faces Luis Tiant… five pitches later, Boomer...

Ted Simmons was one of the MLB's greatest catchers.  Two games with the St Louis Cardinals in 1968 started his career in the game, but after a year in AAA his natural debut came in 1970. When he retired after 21 years in the majors, he held the catcher records for 2,472 career hits (with 483 doubles), ranked second for RBIs with 1389 runs, and 10th for home runs with 248 out of the park. Throw in seven years batting over .300, and catching two no-hitters with the Cardinals, and you get an...

With MLB's changes to the 2023 season has seen a resurgence in aggressive base running and stolen bases. It's not yet back to the levels seen in the seventies and eighties, but a new dimension has returned to the diamond. Which leads us to the Athletics' Bert Campaneris.  In the eight years between 1965 and 1972, Campaneris led the American League in Stolen Bases for six of those years. When he retired, he was seventh in career steals with 649 and is currently sitting 14th in the all-time...

Going in to the 1961 season, the single-season record for home runs was 60, held by Babe Ruth. Leaving the 1961 season, that record was earned by Roger Maris and his 61 Bronx Bombs. Except some argued that 1961's longer season meant it shouldn't be seen as a record. Baseball Commisioner Ford Frick announced that the record was for 154 games, not 162, so it should be shown seperately with a distinctive mark, such as an asterisk. Let's be clear, that's a load of baloney. This record stood in...

Duke Snider was, arguably, the first poster-boy for the Dodgers following their move to Los Angeles, but his legendary status (and seven consecutive All-Star appearances) was earned while the team was based in Brooklyn. During his career, this Center Fielder was named to the National League All-Star team eight times, appeared in six World Series, won the Fall Classic in both 1955 and 1959, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1980. What put him there? How about a high-water mark of 1031...

The Knuckleball… a pitch that is turbulent, unpredictable, and rarely mastered. One player who did was Phil Niekro. With 318 career victories he currently sits 16th on the All-time Winners list, the highest of any knuckleball pitcher. Of course the knuckelball is a fickle mistress. Niekro may have had three 20-win seasons, but he also had two 20-loss seasons as well; and to top it all off he is the sole MLB pitcher to pick up 20 wins and 20 losses in a single season, throwing 21-20 for the...

For many, Bob Feller is the fastest pitcher the baseball world has ever seen, with a reported 107 mph pitch once leaving his hand. And if Ted Williams says that's true, who is going to argue with that> In an interrupted career, Feller posted a lifetime ERA of 3.25 on 266 wins from 570 games, including 44 shutouts, 12 one-hitters, and three no-hitters. On retirement, he was the number three all-time strikeout pitcher (with just Cy Young and Walter Johnson ahead of him). Those records...

For 1.944 games, Eddie Mathews played Third Base for the Braves; first the Boston Braves, then the Milwaukee Braves, and then the Atlanta Braves. Travelling for the team as it moved cities in the fifties and sixties.  And he posted an impressive record; 12 All-Star appearances, two World Series victories, and nine consecutive season with thirty or more home runs. He retired with 512 homers, putting him sixth on the all-time home run record table… today he still sits in an impressive 23rd...

Bill Singer picked up the first ever save for the Dodgers in their game against the Reds on April 7th 1969. Four more pitchers joined Singer on April 8th; the Red Sox's Juan Pizarro, the Expos' Carroll Sembera, the Pirates' Chuck Hartenstein, and the Pilots' Jack Aker. It's to the Seattle Pilots' game we head to this week. Not only is it one of the first games to have a saving pitchers, it's also the very first game for the Pilots in their one and only season. To keep the league numbers...

Games can be important because of the players, of firsts, of society, or more. Today's classic baseball radio broadcast features an important first for umpiring that reflects society. In 1966 Emmett Ashford became the first African American umpire in the major league. Having umpired since the late 1930s  (by virtue of being the volunteer when another umpire failed to turn up to a game), he made a name for himself with his flamboyant style as he worked up through the league. He made his...

Jim Palmer won a World Series ring in the sixties. Jim Palmer won a World Series ring in the seventies. Jim Palmer won a World Series ring in the eighties… and Jim Palmer is the only pitcher win rings in three different decades. It's also worth flagging up his six All-Star appearances, three Cy Young awards, a no-hitter in 1969, his career ERA of 2.856, plus the simple to say but hard to comprehend fact that nobody ever hit a Grand Slam from a Palmer pitch in the  majors. And all that while...

When someone picks up awards for Rookie fo the Year, Most Valuable Player, and the Cy Young Award during their career, you know they are something special. And yes, pitcher Don Newcombe was something special. For today's classic game, let's go back to one of the many firsts that Newcombe had in his career, namely becoming the first black pitcher to start a game in the World Series. It's October 5th, and Newcombe is going to throw one of the memorable pitcher duels in the Fall Classic, as he...

A key pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the late fifties and early sixties, Bob Friend still holds the Pirates' career records for innings pitched (3480), strikeouts (1682), and batters faced (14,644).  The four-time All Star played with Pittsburgh for fifteen years, but the last year of his MLB career saw him play in New York… adding  delightful footnote. He played the first half of the season with the New York Yankees, and the second half of the season with the New York Mets. Truly a...

Warren Spahn has finished out the 1958 season with 22 wins. That's an important stat, as it marks him out as the first left-handed pitcher to have nine 'twenty win seasons' in the Majors. He will eventually record 363 wins in his career. It should come as no surprise that the best left-handed pitcher each year wins The Warren Spahn Award. His 22 wins in the 1958 season have brought the Milwaukee Braves to the World Series. Facing the New York Yankees, both teams have a 92-62 record from the...

Founded by the American Actor Gene Autry, the Los Angeles Angles was one of the the first expansion clubs (the other being Washington). The first year they played at the Los Angeles Wrigley Field - home of the previous LA Angels who had played in the PCL league. Four years as tennants of the Dogers followed, before Angel Stadium was opened. The team may not be as storied or as rewarded as the original teams (for example, the Angles are one for one in World Series apperances, the sole...

Milt Pappas made the All-Star Game three times, had a 10-year streak over .500 wins, an eleven year streak of double digit wins, pitched for 209 wins in his career… and never managed more than 17 wins in a season. That might feel about right for a pitcher in 2023, but back in 1972 Pappas was the epitomy of a long, slow burn into the history books.  June 17th 1972 saw the Los Angeles Dodgers are visting Wrigley Field, and Pappas is on the mound for the Cubs. We join the game during the top...

As the MLB works to bring the stolen base back into the game, let's remember one of the great power hitters who combined the hits with the speed.  Bobby Bonds was the first player have two season with 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases, setting the record of five thirty-thirty seasons… a record that has never been beaten, although he now shares the five season ticket with his son Barry Bonds. By the end of his career - a career that saw him play for eight different teams before returning to...